Arizona Picture fun!

We dyed Easter Eggs, Blessed Kadin, ATE good fun, and had so MUCH FUN!!!

Arizona Part 1

This weekend I headed down to Chino Valley, Arizona to spend Easter with my sisters. My younger sister, Brittany and I left Fresno at 11pm as I got off work. We headed straight there with boys. The drive was smooth and the boys did great! I of headphones for the DVD player before I left so they were able to listen to their movie while Brittany and I listened to the radio. It was the best investment ever made! We drove straight to Arizona. Brittany drove the whole way and I stayed awake to keep her company. It was so much fun. We will never discuss rural areas the same! We got to Arizona a little after 7am on Saturday. My mom had gone up earlier on Friday with my girls so we met everyone at Terra's house. It was so nice to see my nephews and neice (and my sisters and brother-in laws too). Sheryl came down from Utah with Kaylie. She loves me. I made her gigle and put her to sleep and everything! Kaiden - the newest addition, is so little and such a cuddler. I loved watching all the kids play together. I remember when I was little and my cousins were always so much younger. I wished I had cousins my age to bond with - and I wish that for my children too. Hard for my girls because the cousins are atleast 7 years younger, but they love being little mothers to them!

Blonde moment of the day

Yes I'm naturally blonde. However, I consider myself smart and usually get offended when people start cracking jokes about how dumb blondes are. BUT- there are moments when I do something to live up to that "dumb blonde" stereotype. Yesterday I had one such moment. You see, I bought a new car. It had no back license plate - as most new cars don't. I didn't think anything about it. I got my registration paperwork in the mail from the DMV but no license plate. Ok I thought, maybe it will come separately. One day when cooling to work, Dennis (the guy I carpool with) was saying I should call the DMV to make sure there wasn't an oversight. I thought nah- it will come. Another week goes by and Dennis begins to make fun of me... telling me I'm going to have this green and black paper license plate because it's never going to come. I laughed off. They'll come! Well this time 2 weeks go by. All I keep hearing is "ha they will never come." So yesterday I called the DMV ... waited on hold for 10 minutes to speak to someone. I explained the situation to the girl on the phone who asked me for the license plate number (there was already one on the front). I ran out front to get the number and she asked "are you sure there aren't two on there but they are stuck together?" It couldn't be that easy right? Nope...even dumber than that! I went to the back - while still on the phone- and touched the ugly green paper plate....there it was - under the paper was my license plate - already on the car!!!!! I apologized to her for being dumb and went inside. So as smart as I think I am - I still have my dumb moments!

Doctors

I haven't been to the doctors as much as I have been in the last year. Many visits and ALMOST all have been because we were well. Between annual physicals for each person in the house, immunizations for Kindergarten, Preschool, and 7th grade, multiple trips to the dentist for each person AND an emergency room visit for Jonathan....I've been at the doctor's office more than ever. A few weeks ago Sarah was diagnosed with having a hypothyroid. It's the early stages and she's started taking medication to see if it will level everything out. It seems to be working and her energy has improved. We go to the doctor (yet again) in two weeks to check some blood work and make sure the medication is at the right dosage to do the job...THEN we'll be making routine visits every 4 months to stay on track. Too bad we can't get a discount for being frequent good visitors!

Room for a TWEEN

I realized that I forgot to blog about Miranda's birthday present. My second oldest, Miranda, turned 10 on November 29 of last year. One day before her birthday I asked, "If you could have any present in the world what would it be?" Her response.... " a teal bedroom and to kick Sarah out of it." Well - I could do the first part, but being that we live in a 3 bedroom house - Sarah would have to stay. I had bought Miranda her teal bedding earlier that Summer. Completely opposite of the bright pink and orange flowered bedding that Sarah has. SO here was my challenge... I had to make it AWESOME, it had to be a color that both Sarah and Miranda's bedding matched, it had to be a room she could grow into (a soon to be teenager doesn't want a themed room anymore) and it had to be inexpensive. I was totally up for the challenge!!!

Step one - IDEAS. I knew I wanted to do stripes from the beginning. The girls bedroom is small. I need it to look and feel larger. I found some ideas for vertical stripes, but at the last minute I decided I didn't need the room to look taller, just wider, so I went for the horizontal large stripes.

Step Two - garbage! At one point my girls had bunk beds. They grew out of them and they were using them as two twin beds. But with the head boards and foot boards, the beds just took up to much room. I sold them on Craigslist and made $50! I told the girls we were just making room for all the stuff in their room. They didn't mind. The bed I found to replace theirs is perfect. It's a white platform bed with a headboard. It was $60 on Craigslist and the people delivered it to me. I gave Miranda the platform bed portion and Sarah the headboard. It ties their beds together perfectly!

Step Three - shopping! I took my $50 and headed to Lowes for some paint. The walls were an antique white already, but I knew that I would have to paint the walls bright white for it to look new and fresh. 2 cans of the cheapest eggshell paint $35. I then headed to Home Depot. I know from experience that a cheap fan is better to buy from Home Depot. For some reason the cheap brand from Lowes is just that - cheap. I found a white fan (52" blades) for $50. For a few years now my girls have had picture boards in their rooms. One was purple and the other was pink with butterflies. They wouldn't work in the new teal room. I gave Miranda a weekend craft project. She thought we were doing it for fun - she had no idea it was for her birthday! I headed to Target for some accessories. I LOVE the clearance at Target. You can find such great deals! I started shopping early so it was right as the store was clearancing out the student decor to make room for Christmas items. I hit the JACKPOT!

I saw a pack of shelves.... 2 shadow shelves for $2.45! Well I grabbed 5! (you could never use enough shelves!) I got a chair, table, mirror, and table lamp as well....all on sale! Accessories purchased for less than $50.

The Friday before her birthday I sent her to her grandmas house. I painted all night. It was tedious, but having a 4 foot level helped! I marked out the lines and taped it all off. It was hot and the paint dried REALLY fast. I painted the ceiling first and was so happy with the color. I knew she would love it! I had all the paint done that night (I worked from about midnight to 4 am). I spent Saturday dressing up the room and hanging the shelves. I had to de-clutter their room. Thanks to pinterest, I got this cute Idea to hide the room with balloons. It was super cute too!

So for around $200 I gave Miranda a room that she loved and that she will continue to love and grow into! Her friends think its awesome too! So much better than buying stupid toys they will stop using in a week. Best present EVER!!

George washington

My son is OBSESSED with George Washington. He learned who he was last month at preschool. Now he points him out everywhere.... not just menbfrom his time period, but he can tell which one is George Washington. He came in my room earlier this week to show me he's on a dollar bill, but yesterday at Target, he really surprised me. We we in line to pay and I heard him quietly whispering "mom....mom..." I turned around and he quietly said "I found him!" I asked who and he said really loud "George Washington!" Sure enough there he was on the cover of TIME.

Hayden's 5

Tomorrow, March 16Th, Hayden turns 5 years old! I can't believe how much he has grown. Currently, he is in pre-school. He loves it and has tons of friends. He's very good at writing his first and last name (which isn't easy with a name like williquette). He is still obsessed with monster trucks and cars. I swear he has every monster jam ever made - and he knows it too! He's super smart and has such a great memory. I registered him for kindergarten a few weeks ago. He's so excited to go to kindergarten because they have a basketball hoop. I told him he had to go to the doctor so they could say he could go to kindergarten and he was excited, but then when he realized he was getting shots - he completely freaked out! On Saturday we are having a birthday party at Blackbeards - a local arcade and amusement place for kids. He's so excited. He keeps counting down the days until his birthday. I can't wait to see his face when he sees his presents and realizes it is his birthday!