The tire swing

I love this picture of Taryn. After we moved back to Oregon, Taryn asked if we could have a tire swing. She has always wanted one, and since we had a lack of trees in our home in Livermore, and our trees are not the hundred year old oak trees at our house, the next best place is at Grandpa house. A couple of Saturdays ago, Jesse, Taryn and my dad went out to find a tire, some rope, and the perfect tree.

This tree was it, the only problem....it was also near the pet cemetery. Didn't bother me, none of my pets are buried there, but my brother has a thing or to to say about it. He won't even go over there to push the kids (I think it's his way of getting out of doing it). Of course he is the one with 3 dogs over there. Let us pay our respect to our dogs and cats:

The most resent, Daisy the black lab.

Simon, the beloved cat.

Teddy, a cat that drooled when she was petted.

Sidney, our huge, six toes cat.

Annie 1, dog, hit by a car.

Annie 2, don't know what happened, or why you name a dog the same name as before.

Jenny, a Sheltie that, well I was never a dog lover.

I'm sure there were other animals, but I can't think of them right now. But I want my brother Aaron to know, that the swing is well loved, just like all the animals, and we all need to share. And lets not forget that it keeps the kids outside, and happy, therefore, I'm happy.

And yes, that is an outhouse in the background, original with the house. Never used by us, at least I hope not.

Laurens 10!!!

So since we are staying at my parents house, I don't have my own computer and so there will be no new pictures for a while. That's OK since I lost my camera for a few weeks but found it yesterday, after Lauren Party.

Lauren turned 10 on Monday. She had a sleep over with some cousins on Friday. She wanted Chinese food for dinner, no pizza. She decorated her own cake, with horses. From her parents, she got a lava lamp, jewelry, a shirt, lip gloss, a video camera, and drum roll, and dog. For now just a stuffed animal dog that she will trade in for a real dog when we move. Lauren is so excited! From her grandparents, money. Lauren is a saver, and now has enough saved to open a savings account. From her cousins she got hair clips (that are so cute I will use them for Bree too), a DS game, Carrie Underwood CD, and from her sister, money, and some candy. That took a lot of Taryn to give her candy away.

Jacob had a hard time watching lauren open presents,he not get any. Too close to Christmas, and remembering how much fun he had this year. He told Lauren that when it's his birthday she won't get any presents, and she will be crying. Probably not, but we can let him think that.

moved

So we did it. We have moved. I have had very mixed feelings about it. Love my family, and my friends here, but I felt like I had my own life in California. I still feel like I am on vacation when I am here, and I can't wait till we get into a routine again. Can't wait till we get into our house again. Come on construction! It should be fun. The good things about moving back home is that we are near to family. We can be here for each and every birthday, graduation, missionary farewell and homecoming, and weddings. Our families are getting older, an may need our help in the future, and Jacob just needs to "go fishing with Grandpa" his words.

Since we have been home, it's been busy. Just the packing, loading the truck, unloading, and unpacking is busy enough, then you add Christmases at both sides of the family, missionary coming home and daughters that want to shop and a 4 month old baby that wants to eat, I'm exhausted. I even went to bed at 9:30 New Years Eve. Party pooper, that's me. I felt like I have barley seen my girls, they are always with cousins. I guess I won't complain about that.

To top it off Our ward meets to 1:00. All the rest of our family go at 9:00.

Well I will say how much I miss all my friends in Livermore. We will be back for a visit soon.

The last on Jacob!

So, I know I write a lot about Jacob, but he is at an age where he does and says the most silly things!
-The other day I asked him if he had poopy pants, and he said, "no, do you".
He also gets very relaxed whenever he gets his diaper changes, he put his arms behind his head for a pillow.
-He was mad at me yesterday because he wanted to sit in the front seat, I told him no, that you have to be bigger, like Taryn to sit there, and he still needed to sit in his car seat. He was really quite as we were driving, and I thought he was asleep, but he was crying, and said "I am bigger, I eat all my lunch like a big boy, you said I was a big boy." What can you say to that?
-The day before Thanksgiving, his Grandma picked him up to take him to her house, on the way there, she needed to stop at Wal-mart, and Grandma said she would get him a new truck, and they were discussing what kind he wanted. Right before they got to Wal-mart, Grandma said, lets get you some big boy pant too, Jacob replied "I don't want to go to Wal-mart anymore".



Jacob loves his Grandma, she gives him just about anything he wants, chips for lunch, chocolate donuts for breakfast, and he get fed when he gets "tired". I guess that's what Grandmas are for!!

Overheard

So, the other night I had Tom put Jacob to bed, and as Tom was laying in bed with him, This is what I heard:
Jacob: Dad I feel bad for you.
Tom: Why son?
Jacob: Because you don't have any hair.
Tom: Well, what do we need to do about it?
Jacob: We need to go to the library.
Tom: Why the library?
Jacob: Because they can fix it. We have to ask the girls where the hair movie is.
Tom: OK, we will go tomorrow.
Jacob: Yea, I don't want you to get cold.

Different!

So, this weekend I have been thinking a lot about how different your kids can be. Taryn and Lauren are 18 months apart. They are best friends, yet, worst enemies. One daughter is a little like me, yet the other is nothing like I was at her age. One likes to wear fake fingernails, and earrings, and necklaces, while the other one doesn't care.
Lauren shot her first buck this weekend. I was excited for her, yet I don't know what to think. I didn't grow up in a hunters house, and never ate game meat. I never got used to it, so we will have a lot of beef jerky. She got the hunter gene from Tom. She also loves to play sports, but also like me, it doesn't come naturally for her, and she must work harder. Hopefully she will put a little meat on her bones soon. She is very competitive like both Tom and I, and that is why she likes sports.



Taryn on the other hand likes anything that sparkles. While Lauren was on her hunting trip, Taryn had the great opportunely to stay home with me. Friday there was no school, so we went to the mall and did what she wanted. I felt like a husband holding his wife's purse while she tried things on in the dressing room. We spent about 45 minutes at Clair's, where she bought some fake nails. We spent some time at both Hollister and A&F. And of course Justice. I had to drag her out. She is growing up too fast.

I was a tom boy all the way when I was a kid. My dad was worried that I was not feminine enough, and sent me to a modeling school, thinking some of the girly stuff would rub off. I went once. My dad also famously said when I was around 16-17 years old "if I didn't learn to cook, I would never find a man to marry me". Well after he said that I went out of my way to never learn to cook, just to prove him wrong. You could say that was my teenage rebellion. Poor Tom paid the price. For a full year we only ate "shake-n-bake" chicken. I have learned to cook other things since then, don't worry.

Now I didn't mind wearing church clothes, as long as they were off by 12:15. I even wore skirts on game days, or for speech and debate tournaments, but most of the time, I was in jeans and t-shirts. Not much has changed. ( I know you are jealous of the black/green leggings in this picture)

I think Taryn is a lot like my mom, in the way that she always dressed nice, and had makeup on and the right jewlery. Me not so much! With a dash of Toms humor.

Lauren is a little mix of Tom, and a little of me.

I just find it amazing that even when you treat kids the same, how different they are.

Busy few weeks!!

Since I am still new at blogging, I don't know how to put pictures where I want them, They are all at the top. Sorry. I think you can get what picture goes with what.

Wow, I didn't think these last few weeks would ever end. They did. First and foremost, the primary program is done. I can't tell you how relived I am about that. But it shouldn't be something you stress over that much. It's going to turn out good every time. The parents just want to see their adorable kids sing and do their parts. And no one else knows what the script is, so no one would know if a part was missed. The program was very cute, and everyone did such a good job helping it be great.

Next, there are so many women in our ward expecting babies right now, it crazy. There have been 2 baby showers in the same amount of weeks. One of which was at my house, so I cleaned, and cleaned and cleaned. Then we carved pumpkins the day before the shower, and my kids decided they would have a pumpkin guts fight while I was out of the room. Lets just say I am not one of those moms who find humor in things being really messy, and taking a picture, even when the kids had fun. They had to help clean it up then go to bed early. I was not happy!

So back to the baby shower, I wanted to make these cake pops I have seen online. I couldn't wait. They were so good too, but they were a lot of work. But they were so good. We had a great time at the shower, and had a great turnout.

I am making some aprons for some of my family. Now it may not seem to hard, but I have never sewn a day in my life. I have a very patient friend, Drew, who is helping me do it. She had made an Apron for a prize at my baby shower, and everyone loved it. I thought it would he a great gift for them. I have been getting to know my seam ripper real well. I'm learning a lot, and I love learning to sew.

This weekend we had Bree blessed, so some family from Oregon down for that. All the kids went trick-or-treating together with some friends in our ward. Jacob really is getting the right idea this year. He won't let anyone near his candy.

this week we also had family pictures that we are so happy with. They turned out great!

Here is a link:http://nicolehoxiephotography.blogspot.com/2009/10/sweet-t-family.html

The next ting is, and by looking at the pictures, Tom broke 3 bones in his hand. We find out on Monday if he will need surgery or not.

After a very busy week, I always think next week will be a little less crazy, and looking at my calender, it is, but things come up, and it still gets crazy. Having a 4th child might be part of that too. I love my crazy life!