The Wright Place and the Wright Times

The Best Cat That Ever Was!

2009-08-24T08:45:00.003-07:00

Buddy Lee Vincent Wright

Sept 2, 1992 - Aug 24, 2009

My best little friend for the past 17 years finally gave up the fight this morning. Buddy was the best cat that ever was. We got Buddy when I was a sophomore in high school. He was a gift for my sister from her date for a dance. I still remember seeing that little fur ball come running at me for the first time. He had the cutest little face and the best personality. He always knew when someone did not like cats and made it his mission to change their mind. He worked his magic on my dad who eventually gave him his name. I think we were considering the name Bear or something like that but my dad said, "no, this guy is a little Buddy!" Though he was technically my sisters cat, I was attached to him like my own. When I got engaged to be married, I had a moment of cold feet and started to get very homesick. My sister walked in and said, "I was going to save this for your wedding day, but I want you to have Buddy!" That solved it, I knew if Buddy could come with me, I could make it through anything. Ryan had to bribe our landlord $100 to let us bring the cat but I would have paid 100 times that, it was well worth it. I credit Buddy for saving my life on several occasions. He just knew me and knew when to force himself on my lap and make his presence known.

Buddy endured his own challenges. It took him several years to win over Ryan's love. Along with that fight came many assisted trips down the stairs, into walls, off couches, etc. He had his whiskers cut, tape on his paws, attempted double back flips. Most people that entered our home wanted nothing to do with Buddy. There were those who refused to come to the house because we had a cat. They never understood what a magnificent, loyal friend he was. That little animal was better to me than most humans could ever dream of. I am certain Buddy endured it all to be there for me. That cat loved me so much!!!

Buddy has not been himself these past few months. He could not be the cat he was used to being and it was hard to watch. Our neighbors here in Iowa fell in love with Buddy immediately and tried to help nurse him back to health. They came to us last night and said they did not think Buddy was going to make it through the night. I had Ryan go bring him home. I laid by him on the couch all night. He gave up his fight around 5am this morning. Buddy was a part of my life for more than half my life to this point. I will miss him everyday! We love you Buddy!

The Half Bath Makeover

2009-06-28T10:55:00.005-07:00

I have received several threatening emails and phone calls wanting me to post some pictures of the house. I have mentioned to several people that we have a lot of before and during pictures of projects but nothing I can call finished. Well my sister and her superhero husband came to visit for a week and man did they leave a mark. My sister and I took on a little project on our own and am proud to say, it is the first mostly finished project in the house. The reason I say mostly finished is because the floor still needs to be redone but we will wait to do that when we do the kitchen floor so it is a seamless floor.

Anyway.....here is the before picture of our wonderful half bath.

There are several things I would like to point out about this bathroom. First of all, that is not tile on the walls, it is vinyl flooring. Sweet huh? Next, this bathroom is on the first floor and that window offers ZERO privacy from the neighbors when they are on their second floor. I am certain they have seen a lot of "crack" up to this point. Next, the faucet. It never really turns off. Then there is the light. It is a fluorescent light and there is a ten second delay from when you push the button, yes I said button, to turn it on and when it actually decides to shed some light. And last but not least, the beautiful black, white and grey cabinetry. There are several nay-sayers out there that might argue, well at least there is storage. This bathroom is the size of a coffin, storage is the least of my concerns. I am just saying......

Now brace yourselves, this is the after.

Nikki and I gutted the place. We hung bead board where there once was vinyl. I rewired the light switch to be an actual switch and changed out the light to one that works. The sink is new with a faucet that is actually operational. A fresh coat of paint and a set of $15 blinds and presto, a brand new bathroom. I still need to "accessorize" but I thought I would share the progress so far. I sit in this bathroom to escape the disaster we are living in everywhere else. It brings me peace. So, what do you think? Do you likey or should we go back to the black and grey color scheme?

Payton Stats - Age 4

2009-03-09T19:56:00.004-07:00

Height: 3 ft 4 inches
Weight: 32 lbs

Payton was a very brave girl at the doctors office today. We decided to get her kindergarten shots over with early. She got 4 shots and a finger poke today. The nurses took one look at her scrawny little arms and opted to go with the legs. She only cried for a minute and I was so very proud of her. Afterwards, we went to Wal-mart to cheer her up then went to McDonalds for lunch. Of course, she made me carry her everywhere because her legs apparently were no longer able to function. Must be some weird side effect of the immunizations or something. I think they effect princess's in a different way than normal children. I will have to read up on that. I was extremely impressed with her bravery during the whole process, however, and am just really glad to have all that over with.

It's Official!

2009-03-04T16:18:00.002-07:00

It is official, as of 3:38pm, Iowa time, we became the proud owners of a 1920 Victorian home. We are multi-home owners. Yipee!!! We are so excited but still a little in awe. I was not sure this was ever going to happen. I think I am in the biggest shock because it was so easy with Wells Fargo. There were no hoops to jump through, no letters to write, no begging, no pleading, no explaining. It was such an extreme opposite of our Countrywide experience.

It is ours, all ours. Now the real work begins.............to be continued!

Fun Pix of Maggie

2009-02-26T16:57:00.005-07:00

So I have a very talented sister who is great at photo editing. I sent her some pictures I snapped of Maggie and they came back looking like this......
Simply.....ADORABLE! Thanks Nik, you are the bestest!!!

Iowa House

2009-02-25T17:42:00.003-07:00

I will give you all a glimpse of the house we are fighting so hard for. Maybe now you will understand my determination.
That is all you get for now. I will let your imaginations do the rest for a bit. I would hate to torture you too much in case we don't get it. Plus I need to take better pictures of the inside. There will be amazing before and after photos if I am able to get my paws on this place and make it our own.

Cutie Petuties etc.

2009-02-22T08:19:00.006-07:00

Here are the latest and greatest pictures of the kiddos. We took these just before making the 40 minute trek to church. I just had to take a picture of the girls in their matching outfits with matching bows. Cute stuff!! Payton's clothes ended up being a little big but I guess they will just last her longer, right? Maggie did not want to sit still for the picture so this is the best we could do. Payton was holding on with all her might to keep Maggie there and still keep that picture perfect smile Payton always brings to a photo.I had to also take a picture of my handsome little man with his new church shirt. We had to get him one with long sleeved. Have I mentioned before that it is cold in Iowa? Just wondering! Anyway, this is the only picture I managed to capture where he was not pulling a goofy face. He prefers to show the artistic impressionistic side of himself whenever the camera is out.

Well the smiles and happy day were short lived. Maggie started freaking out in Relief Society which never happens. After her screaming uncontrollably in the hall for 20 minutes, I dragged Ryan out of priesthood to help out. Maggie fell asleep on his shoulder within 1 minute, which also, never happens. She screamed and cried most of the car ride home, then the real fun began. Maggie got sick!!! She started throwing up about every 15 minutes for the next 6 hours. I have never had a baby get sick before besides a cold. This was sheer torture. She would fall asleep sitting up on our laps until the next bout of heaving. That night, the only way she was comfortable was sleeping on her belly with her knees underneath her and her bum in the air. The one good thing about having a sick child is......lots of snuggle time. That is looking at the glass half full, eh?

Back By Popular Demand

2009-02-19T16:42:00.002-07:00

BEWARE......long post!

Well, I cannot guarantee how much I will blog right now or how bright and cheery the posts might be but I will do my best. Here is a quick synopsis of our past couple of months since my last post. This may not make any sense either because I am frustrated, so bare with me.

We are alive in Iowa. Within the first week of arriving here, we found and put an offer in on our dream home. I had actually found this home on a website before even moving here and fell in love. It was priced way too high for us since we did not have a down payment and still have the home in Arizona. We looked around when we got here and could not find anything in very good condition that fit the needs of our family. We decided to put a really low offer in on our dream home just to see what happened. Well luck was on our side and they came down over $30,000 on their original price to accept our offer of $152,500. The only draw back to the home was there were renters in it that required a 60-day notice to vacate. So our close date was set for Feb 13th and the countdown and heartache begun. We moved into a little apartment. We did not need any space, we had no furniture. We borrowed air mattresses and our lovely realtor had a kitchen table, that was it. We sat on the floor and slept on air, but we stayed happy.

The appraisal on the home happened immediately but we could not get the results of the inspection for over 2 weeks. Turns out that our mortgage company just failed to return several phone calls to get a loan number to file the inspection. The owners of the home refused to give notice to the renters until the inspection came back so every day we waited, is one more day longer until we closed. It was also one more day we had to pay for all our belongings to be stored, NOT cheap. Finally, almost a month after we put in the offer, the ball started rolling. Don't most mortgages take a month from start to finish? Hmmm, interesting!

While all this was happening, the renters in our Arizona home decided they did not need to pay rent. OUCH! They produced lie after lie to postpone getting evicted. Then once they were evicted, they refused to leave. Our amazing property manager got tricky to motivate them to move out but it came down to having to take them to court to have the physically removed. I guess the prospect of court finally motivated them and they left after living in the house for free for 6 weeks. We were able to get amazing renters in there within a few days of the others leaving which has taken a huge burden off our shoulders. We LOVE you ZIERSE's!! This was all just a lot to handle for us!

So back to the Iowa home......we had to deal with our loan processor. She requested information from us which I provided within a day. We emailed her several times and left her numerous messages to see if she got the information. Our realtor started calling as well, no luck. Finally 2 weeks later, she emails us asking for the information I already sent her again. The next 3 weeks were followed by several frustrating attempts to get her to answer her phone or return messages to no avail. She would occasionally send an email saying she would call me later to discuss things. She then began asking for information beyond what is the normal for a loan request, stuff that I am certain was illegal for her to require. I was always so nervous and on edge during this whole process. I had that gut wrenching feeling that things were not going well with each email and phone call. You would have thought we would have clued earlier. So after giving blood samples and our left lung, we were assured everything was okay and we were good to close on Feb 13th. I had Ryan make a specific phone call on the Tues before closing and pleading that if there was anything that could hold this loan up, to let us know because our truck was scheduled to be delivered and we needed to cancel it if we were not going to be closing. She promised all was well and there was no need to stress. She gave us the amount we needed to bring to closing and we got our cashiers check and finally felt calm we might actually close. On Thurs, Feb 12th, I sent our processor several emails and left several messages because the title company did not have our paperwork yet so I was wondering when she would get it to them. She never called me back. At 3pm, I received an out of office reply saying she had left the office for the day and would not be back until after the weekend. I then frantically called her manager, no answer. At 5pm, the night before we were scheduled to close, her manager called me and informed me they would not be funding the loan. WHAT THE &%*#!!! They said the Arizona house was too big of a liability. But they knew about the Arizona home from the get go, why at 5pm did they just discover this? She basically told me that the loan originator and the loan processor dropped the ball and should have never proceeded with the loan. She assured me she would have a talk with them. A TALK? So they get a slap on the wrist while we just totally got screwed!!! Our truck was coming, we had to be out of our apartment and they get a talking to. She had the audacity to tell me it was hard for her to have to make this phone call so she was suffering too! Seriously, I would have punched her in the face if we were sitting next to each other. I asked her what we were suppose to do? I offered a co-signer, anything. They said there was no circumstance they could think of that would change their mind, they would not give us the loan.

Our realtor contacted the owners of the home and asked if we could rent it from them so we could have our stuff delivered somewhere. They were hesitant because they said if we could not get a loan through this mortgage company, why are they to think we could get a loan through any mortgage company. After a very long night, he finally convinced the owners at 9:40am, 20 minutes before our truck arrived, to let us rent the house. They gave us 30 days to get a loan or move out. Not a great situation here. The kids love the house and love having their stuff back but it is hard to unpack until we know if we get to stay or not. I cannot even believe this happened. I am not upset that they did not feel comfortable giving us the loan, just the timing of their refusal to do so. It felt just as bad as the day Ryan got laid off. Just an awful feeling! We are helpless. It takes on an extra burden with children trying to provide for them and give them a place to live.

So as of now, we don't know what the next month holds for us. We are trying to get a loan through another mortgage company. They sounded hopeful they could give us the loan but so did the other place. I am not sure what the point of getting pre-approved is when they can un-approve you later. I just want to belong somewhere. It seems like we have lived in limbo so many times over the past 7 years of our lives. I want to settle in and get comfortable for awhile and I hope we can do it in this house. Never mind it being my dream home, I just want a home. I want to unpack and hand stuff on the walls. I want to RELAX and not be so stressed out like I have been since Oct 14, 2008. Come on, throw me a bone here, give me some peace!!!

Well, enough venting for now. Well, wait, one more thing.....I was not going to do this but if I can save someone else from this hell, it will be worth it. NEVER, EVER do business with COUNTRYWIDE!!!! Whew, I feel better!

I never ask for this, I always feel like there are better things and more deserving people. But I am desperate here so if you all could please, pray for us. Just pray for peace for us, I just need some gosh darn peace.

I will try and post pictures of the kids later tonight or tomorrow. No promises, but I will do my bestest!

What did you have for breakfast, golfballs?

2009-02-16T20:04:00.002-07:00

As if we did not have enough to worry about, the day after our stuff arrived at the house, Kutter started complaining of a toothache. I kind if dismissed it thinking it had something to do with the 8 Fun Dips he ate that day. I brushed his teeth really well, gave him some Motrin and sent him off to bed.

Sunday morning rolls around, and the pain was still there. I brush his teeth again, give him more Motrin and send him off to play. Shortly after noon, he spiked a 104 degree fever and started throwing up. A normal parent would panic at this point, but not me. You see, for Kutter, a 104 is normal. He would get that high of a temp any time he cut a new tooth. Three trips to the emergency room when he was a baby to discover that is just how he cuts teeth. So, I drew the conclusion that he was cutting his 6 year molars causing pressure on his other teeth therefore, a toothache. The fever was because of the new teeth and the vomiting because of the fever.

Monday morning comes around and it is President's Day so no school. I decide, since he is off from school anyway, to make him a dentist appointment just to be sure my diagnosis was correct. They make him an appt for 2:45. Kutter then comes downstairs and proclaims he knows why his tooth hurts. I turn around to look at him as he says "there is a bump on it!" I gasp as I see the deformation of once was my son. His face was so swollen he was nearly unrecognizable. He looked as if he had a golf ball in his cheek. His eye was almost swollen shut and his nose was nearly flat from swelling. I panicked and called the dentist back and frantically explained Kutter's appearance. They told me to bring him right down.

Two x-rays later, the diagnosis is an abscessed tooth!! Given the swelling and the pain, they opt to pull the tooth and put a spacer in its place to keep his teeth from drifting together. Kutter was amazing during it all. He did not even flinch when they gave him multiple numbing shots. He squirmed a little when they pulled the tooth only because it took such force to get it out. He walked away with a couple cool prizes and one more missing tooth. He did not even need an antibiotic. Apparently, kids are resilient. If it was me, I would need IV antibiotics and some morphine. Kutter felt so much better once the tooth was gone. All he could focus on was calling Connor Zierse and also seeing what the tooth fairy was going to bring him. Awww, to be a kid again!

This picture gives you an idea of what he looked like, but not quite! He is still a handsome little guy, golf ball and all.

Moving is so......EXHAUSTING!

2009-02-14T10:21:00.003-07:00

While we were trying to get moved into the house, we put Maggie in her newly unpacked activity center. She loved being in it and it kept her safe from all the boxes and baby dangers. I was upstairs working on some stuff for a bit. When I came back downstairs, this is what I found:
This is a big deal in our family. Never has any of our babies fallen asleep anywhere but in their bed or car seat. Kutter told me that she was kind of crying so he gave her the binky. She just laid her head down and fell asleep. It was a nice little distraction from a hectic day. So sweet!

The Daddy Nail Salon

2009-02-10T11:47:00.005-07:00

Payton and her daddy have a very special activity that they do together. They are called mani's and pedi's. Now you would think this would be an activity between a mother and a daughter. Not in our family! Payton refuses to let me paint her nails, she always wants daddy to do it. This has gotten so extreme that I have found Ryan wandering down the nail supply isle at Wal-Mart. He is checking out any tools that might make his nail painting skills more perfected. He has come home with everything from toe separators, to stickers, to tools to paint flowers on her big toe. He gets very into his nail painting responsibilities. Should I be worried? I love to see the two of them together when the Daddy Nail Salon is open for business.

Maggie, 9 months

2009-02-06T08:17:00.005-07:00

Stats:

Height: 30 Inches

Weight: 23 lbs 6 oz

At 9 months Maggie is crawling all over the place. She has 4 teeth and is working on 4 more. She took after her brother and got her top side teeth before her top middle teeth. She has the greatest smile where she raises her eyebrows and shows those fangs. She looks so devilish, in a good way. But the funniest part about Maggie is that we made it 9 months without Maggie ever even wanting a binky. But alas, you can't call us quitters. She now can't live without her binky. I am not sure what happened here and I am not sure what we were thinking. But for now, she sure is cute. It also helped with the noise factor. Mags used to crawl around screaming in happiness which does not go over so well with our neighbors in the apartment next to us. The binky tends to lessen the sound. It also reduced the amount of bottles she demanded in the middle of the night. I think I will take the orthodontic bill in the future in exchange for a few more hours of sleep. : )

(Note: In case you were wondering, yup, that is a bathtub drain plug Maggie is playing with. We are just building up her immunities, making her stronger!)

My Princess is 4!!

2009-01-19T21:09:00.009-07:00

I cannot even believe it, my sweet Princess Payton is 4 years old! Sharon flew in for the weekend. It was so GREAT to have her here. It was nice to have familiar faces around in an unfamiliar place. Sharon has not missed a birthday of Payton's yet. She was there when Payton was born, came to Vernal for her 1st BD, Arizona for her 2nd and 3rd, and now Iowa for her 4th. Thanks so much for coming Sharon! Don't stop now, the tradition must carry on. Here is a picture of the three kids with their Build-A-Bears brought to them with love from Grandma Sharon and Papa Dale. We went to Chuck-E-Cheese the day before Payton's actual birthday because Sharon flew out the morning of the 19th. I took mostly video of the time there but here is one with Payton and her Chuck-E cake, letting us know how old she is.
On Payton's actual birthday, I had to get up and leave for Omaha to take Sharon to the airport, we left at 6:30am. I took Maggie with me and Ryan got Kutter off to school. He then took Payton to breakfast, at McDonald's of course, for a little daddy-daughter date. After that, Payton wanted to go to Wal-mart where she was able to pick out a couple small "prizes" for her birthday. I think she came home with some Lee press-on nails, a purple wig, and some lip gloss. She is ALL girl!!

Daddy went to bed when I got home from Omaha and Payton and I spent the day together. We went out to lunch with the girls, McDonald's of course. When Kutter got home from school, we had a little party and opened presents before Daddy had to go to work. She wanted a Nintendo DS like her brothers. She got that and a purse to carry it in, surprise, surprise. We figured we would splurge on her gift this year since we were not able to have a party for her like we did for Kutter. She got a game that you take care of babies on, right up her alley.
Ryan had ordered a Hello Kitty cake for her at Wal-mart when they were there earlier. She was so excited for it because it came with a real purse on top with a kitty that opened up to a mirror. When she got her slice of cake, she was not willing to wait for a fork. It was her birthday, she can do what she wants, I guess.

Happy Birthday our perfect little Princess. You are such a joy to have around and we love you so, so much! We are so lucky to have you as a part of our family!

Kutter Lost His First Tooth

2009-01-10T21:28:00.006-07:00

Kutter finally lost his first tooth. He discovered it was loose when we arrived in Iowa. I thought for sure it would be out in a week. A month later, the tooth still was hanging on and did not seem to be getting any more loose. I really did not think much about it until Kutter came out of his room one night and said he had a bump in his mouth. Upon further examination, I found his permanent tooth was coming in behind his baby tooth. No wonder his tooth was hanging on so tight. I told Kutter he needed to work real hard to get his baby tooth out or we were going to have to go have a dentist take it out. Over the next couple of days, he wiggled as much as he dared. Finally, one night he let me have a go. I tried to tie a piece of floss around it but there was just nothing for the floss to hold on to. Every time I yanked a little, the floss would slip off. Kutter told me he would go to bed that night and would let me have two more chances with the floss. So the next night came. I still felt it would be hard to get the floss around it. I ended up pushing on the tooth until he said OUCH! This loosened it up enough that it gave me an edge to slide the floss around. I tied that thing good and tight. I can testify to you now that I was way more nervous that Kutter was. I was having horrific flashbacks of being a kid and my mom trying to yank out my tooth. I was motivated to get this tooth out for Kutter because I knew it really needed to come out. So I closed my eyes, gripped the floss, and pulled on that thing like I was starting a lawnmower. I screamed when the tooth flew out and hit me in the face. The scream was the only thing that scared Kutter. He was so excited that his tooth was actually gone. He immediately wanted to call his best friend from Arizona, Connor. We called Daddy at work and told him the good news. Later, when Ryan came home from work for lunch, I had to have him console me because I was so traumatized that I had to pull Kutter's tooth out. Plus, I was in shock that my child was to the point of losing teeth. Where does the time go?
Kutter lost his second tooth about 2 weeks later. It was a much easier process this time. The tooth was good and loose. Kutter wanted me to pull it out again with the floss. I reluctantly agreed but it went much smoother. The tooth came out like it was stuck in butter. It was almost fun this time around. I think Kutter would let me pull out any tooth I want just so he can get a visit from the tooth fairy. He is totally bummed out that he only has 20 teeth to lose. I told him to hit up his grandpa's next time he is around them, ha ha ha. So grandpa's, beware! Kutter is losing teeth and is expecting to be paid!

Taking Down the Christmas Tree

2009-01-05T08:24:00.000-07:00

I had planned on leaving the Christmas Tree up in our apartment until we moved into our house. I was just trying to keep some life in the place since we had no decorations or furniture for that matter. Maggie had other plans in mind. I was doing the dishes in the kitchen when I heard the tree tip over. I turn around to see this:Now being the good mother that I am, I went and checked to see if she was okay, then I left her there to go find the camera. She, luckily, pulled the tree down so her head was sticking out the bottom. The tree fell on her from her shoulders down. She planned it well. I guess the tree had to get put away, I am sure she would not be so lucky next time. After the initial shock wore off, it was actually a bit hilarious. The funny part is, she was not even phased. Most kids would cry just out of shock, not our solemn, somber Maggers. Not even a peep!

Christmas 2008

2008-12-25T09:50:00.001-07:00

We seem to be having a trend of "memorable" Christmas's and this one was no different. Three our of our last 6 Christmas's have been spent in what I affectionately refer to as "limbo-land." We seem to always be finding ourselves living in transit or in temporary situations around the holidays. Every time this happens, I make Ryan swear to me we will not move in the fall ever again. But, some things are out of our control. We make the most of it though. It is hard being without our stuff and our own decorations but this year, we did things Charlie Brown style. The majority of our tree decorations are homemade. We had popcorn string as well as fruit loop string. There were homemade snowflakes and other decorations. It was fun making them together as a family. The kids attention span did not last long enough to even decorate 2 feet of tree but Ryan and I had a good time finishing them up on our own. The kids fell right to sleep while we were up late Christmas Eve night putting together things for Santa. It was challenging putting toys together while getting yelled at and the walls pounded on by the neighbors for being too noisy. Ahh, the joys of apartment life.

The kids were a bit spoiled by their grandparents. The major gifts they got from us was a Nintendo DS for Kutter and a Princess car for Payton. Payton was disappointed it was not the Barbie car. (The princess car was on special for $100 cheaper) We tried to convince her that it was a princess car for a princess. She bought it, for now. Santa brought Kutter some Star Wars stuffed animals while he brought Payton some Barbie dolls and accessories. (I have officially become a sell-out) Maggie got a few fun toys which she loved all of them. She is the first of our kids that actually played with the toys at Christmas instead of the boxes or wrapping paper.

Ryan was spoiled with a new TV for the apartment. We were going NUTSO without one. He actually got that present about a week early. He also got an iPod so we could get all his lame-o songs off mine. Ha ha ha. He spoiled me with a new Kitchen Aide mixer since mine was "lost" on our last move. I also got a pair of much wanted earrings and some pampering items. He always takes such good care of me.

For Christmas breakfast, we headed over to the Barnes' for some Eggs Benedict. This was my first experience with eggs benedict and I am officially hooked. It was the yummiest stuff ever! We then went home and napped and played with toys. We went back over to the Barnes' for a combined Christmas dinner. We had ham and potatoes and all the fix ens. It was very, very, very tasty.

It is hard being so far away from family and friends at such a significant time of year but we made the most of it. All things considered, it was a pretty dang Merry Christmas!!

Franklin Does Christmas!

2008-12-19T07:35:00.005-07:00

We were so excited to find out that Kutter's school actually celebrates Christmas! It seems like Christmas is being taken out of so many schools, it was so refreshing to be somewhere that the world has not taken over yet.

The kindergarten put on a little singing program. Kutter was the M. He got to hold it up and say very proudly..."M, is for the Magic of Christmas!" They sang a few Christmas songs that represented the letters of the alphabet. It just reminded Ryan and I of when we were kids and were able to do these little programs. It was such a surreal experience to be the ones there watching our child do the things we remember doing ourselves.

After the singing program, they invited the parents back to the classrooms to make little gingerbread houses with our children. It was so much fun! Let me tell you, the little kindergarten room gets pretty crowded with all the kids and all the parents. The gingerbread houses we made were graham crackers stuck to a mini-milk carton. It was fun to watch Kutter just create with no direction. I like to see how kids minds work. It is also funny to watch him put a candy on the house, then put a candy in his mouth. I am certain he ate more than ended up on the house but it was sure fun. I was so glad Ryan was able to be there and experience this special moment with Kutter as well. I was also glad Kutter's teacher, Ms. Borcher, offered to take a picture of us all together. It is a rarity that both Ryan and I get to be in a picture with our kids at the same time.

Making Gingerbread Houses!

2008-12-17T23:05:00.002-07:00

One night, the kids and I decided to make a gingerbread house. You would think that would be no problem since you can buy these kits to make it all easy for you. For a normal person, it would be easy. But you see, I am not normal. I found it very difficult to get the frosting bag cut open, then I could not use it right, and I ended up a mess and the house looked like poopy. But the kids had fun decorating it so I guess that is all that mattered. I realized that I need to let loose a bit more. I was twitching watching my kids put the candy on because they were not putting it where the picture on the box showed it going. It was a difficult thing for me to watch. But it was a fun memory nonetheless. I am quite proud of our family's little creation. Not bad for our first and possibly our last gingerbread house.

This second picture says so much to me. Maggie finally noticed the gingerbread house right in front of her and realized it was within her reach. She goes for it only to be intercepted by her brother. I am just quite impressed at Kutter's ability to hold Maggie, protect the gingerbread house, and smile all at the same time. That's my boy!

I love Payton's little wrinkle nosed smile in this picture. She has some of the most animated facial expressions of anyone I know. You should see the dirty looks she is able to give me. She is very talented!

Kutter's Second 1st Day of Kindergarten

2008-12-08T23:01:00.001-07:00

Honey, we are not in Arizona anymore!

Kutter's first day of Kindergarten at Franklin Elementary was on Dec 8, 2008. Let me just say it has taken quite the getting used to for me to have to wake up extra early just to allow enough time to get Kutter's coat, gloves, hat and boots on. Not to mention the fact that my car's are in severe pout mode and will not run for us unless we warm the up for at least 15 minutes before going anywhere. I guess that explains why I am only getting 150 miles to a tank of gas. Whoops! The nice thing about the weather in Iowa, is they cancel school for even the hint of snow. Either that or they do a late start which gives us an extra 2 hours to convince ourselves to get out of bed. The first 10 days of Kutter's start of school, only 2 were full days. The others were either cancelled or late start due to weather. I have to admit, I thoroughly enjoy late start days. But it is funny, even at 10:30am, I am still taking him to school in my P.J.'s. Poor kid!

Now back to Kutter.....Kutter had a great first day. He came home saying he likes being the new kid. For a solid week he begged that we can move more often so he can always be the new kid. He says that everyone has to be nice to the new kid. He did take his new found fame to a new level when he took it upon himself to become the class tattle tale. He felt since he was the new kid and so loved and respected that he must announce every mis-behaviour that happened around the classroom. Kutter is an expert at following the rules (at school anyway), so he just wanted to make sure everyone was as good at following the rules as him. I was a bit mortified by the discovery of Kutter's tattle-tailedness. I would rather my kid be the class clown that the class tattle tale. But when sitting down and discussing things with him, I discovered that he had only the purest of intentions. He really did think it was his job to tell the teacher everything that happened. I guess his teacher, Ms. Borcher, told him on the first day that he should come tell her if anyone is mis-behaving or being mean. I think she meant if they were being mean to him. I am happy that the teacher tried to help Kutter feel comfortable and now I can see how Kutter took this statement so literally instead of the intended purpose of just making him feel comfortable at his new school. He is much better now. In fact, I don't think he tells his teacher anything, even if it is warranted. I guess we need to work on him finding a middle ground.

We are really liking the school here and the education seems to be top notch. Kutter is one of only two LDS kids in the school so that is interesting. It is all quite the adventure!

Kutter's Stats - Age 6

2008-12-06T19:49:00.000-07:00

Height: 4 ft 11 1/4 inches

Weight: 53 lbs

Here is a picture of Kutter doing two of his most favorite things in the world: playing DS, and hanging out with his daddy.

Kutter's Real Birthday...Party #3

2008-12-05T21:50:00.012-07:00

Kutter's actual 6th birthday was spent in a hotel room. The Holiday Inn Express in LeMars, Iowa. The kids affectionately refer to this place as big Iowa. Ryan tried to make it extra special and decorated the room in the middle of the night. When Kutter woke up, he wanted to have a little photo shoot with his little buddy, Maggie. It was cute! All throughout the day, Kutter kept referring to himself in the 3rd person. But not just by his name, he would refer to himself as the "birthday boy." He would say things like, "the birthday boy is thirsty!" Or "Payton is not being nice to the birthday boy!" It was cracking me up!

Ryan took Kutter on a little outing to the dollar store. He came home with some fun junk (reference the first picture and Ryan's glasses). We got a cake from Wal-mart's bakery. We went to lunch and McDonald's, of course. He wanted to go to McDonald's for dinner too but we had to but the kibosh on that one. My arteries can only handle so much McDonald's in one day. We convinced him to go to Archie's, a local steakhouse. It was most excellent! They made a big deal and special dessert for Kutter so he liked that. All in all, with 3 parties and a full day devoted to attention only on him, I think Kutter had a pretty darn good birthday after all.

Happy Birthday our little man! We love you so much. You bring so much joy to our lives and we are so filled with pride that you are ours. You are one amazing young man!

We're Here!

2008-12-04T21:18:00.002-07:00

In case any of you were wondering, we have safely arrived to our destination. I have officially left hell, and arrived in hell frozen over! Ha ha ha. No seriously, my butt has not thawed out since we arrived!!!

Our current residence is a Holiday Inn Express. We found an itty bitty apartment (unfurnished) that we will hopefully move into this weekend. If any of you need gift ideas for me for Christmas, I would recommend gift certificates for massages or chiropractic visits since I am facing weeks of sleeping on the floor. Ouchy!! What a Merry Christmas this is shaping up to be! We miss you all!

Kutter's BD party, #2...Colorado

2008-12-01T21:13:00.006-07:00

On our long trek to Iowa from Arizona, we stopped for the night in one of our favorite places on earth, Colorado!!! We stayed at our parents away from our parents house, the Jenkins. They were so excited to see us and had not met Maggie yet. They were very prepared for our arrival and had set up a mini-birthday party for Kutter. Dale picked out a giant cookie and they had it decorated for Kutter. They had plenty of gifts for all the kids. We came away totally outfitted for the upcoming colder climate of Iowa. We are so blessed to have Sharon and Dale in our lives. Our kids are really lucky to have so many people who love them and consider them family. I know and have always known that the reason we went to Colorado was to meet Sharon and Dale. I cannot imagine my life being complete without have them in it.

WWF- The Wright Way

2008-11-30T08:00:00.028-07:00

Whenever the Wright family gets together, a wrestling match always seems to erupt between the boys. I say boys because when these guys get into each other's company, they immediately revert back to when they were boys. I have said it since the day we got married, Ryan turns into a 14 year-old every time we walk into his house. He has to be constantly reminded he has a wife and kids. I would be the one to unload the car, take care of the kids, pretty much everything since he was caught in La-La land. I have since started being a bit meaner and have begun nagging him until he helps out. I am sure his family things I am quite the beast but a girl has got to do what a girl has got to do.

I have wandered off the subject, where was I.........okay, I remember. So Thanksgiving was no different. We were staying at John and Stacey's house and everyone had left from a full day of baby blessings and food. I am never sure how these things begin but all I remember is looking down and seeing Ryan on top of John. These things can get out of control so us mom's have to immediately go into protect mode so the kids don't get hit with flying bodies. Here is how the wrestling match usually goes:

Ryan starts the fight

Ryan pretends he is in 7th grade wrestling again and shows off all his moves.

John cannot move......only because he is laughing too hard.

John regains his composure

John throws his weight around and gets on top of Ryan

Ryan gives up immediately

Game over

Since this is my blog and I have to "support" my husband. I have withheld the pictures of Ryan actually losing and only posted the pictures in which it looks like he is dominating the competition. (You're welcome honey, sorry John!)

Babies, Blessings, and Baby Blessings

2008-11-30T04:26:00.007-07:00

Our extremely busy and eventful week continued in Logan on November 30th. There have been a lot of babies born into the Wright Clan this past year. Three of which came very recently. Ryan's sister, Kathy, had twins in September and Ryan's brother John, well his wife, had a baby girl in Oct. They were all so kind as to have the baby blessings while we were in town. We were so excited that we got to be there and even more excited that we got to meet these little bundles of joy.

With baby blessings, comes food and we sure had a lot of it. We had a full on meal at Kathy and Todd's house for their blessings and another one at Stacey's house for hers. It was a very tasty day and such a great day to be all together again. We miss our families so much and just relish in the times that we do get to be around each other.

Going on an Adventure!

2008-11-27T11:49:00.037-07:00

Before Thanksgiving dinner was served, we sent Kutter and Gage (his cousin that is 2 weeks older than him) out to play. Kutter was dying to play outside, even though it was freezing cold to our Arizona blood. We bundled them the best we could with what we had and sent them on their way. Later, I went to get them for dinner and found that they wandered into a field behind Gage's house and was a good 200 yards away. I had to travel a good distance before they could hear my voice calling their name. They came running back and were so excited to tell me about their adventure. They made me promise they could go on another adventure after dinner. It was a deal!

So dinner was served and before the last bite was swallowed, the boys were harassing us to let them go on their adventure. Seeing the distance they had traveled before, I felt it necessary to send Ryan with them. One thing led to another and somehow all the boys were heading out. Well, all the boys and me and Payton. We probably should have left the princess home (Payton, not me!) because she was cold and miserable in the elements. She demanded to be carried everywhere. I guess that is the proper transportation for a princess!

We were off! I was actually mortified when I discovered where the boys had traveled to earlier in the day. There was a creek with rushing water that they crossed on their own. I had sudden images of one of them falling in so I was glad we all decided to come along this time. The two travel guides took off ahead of us, having their own little expedition. They were throwing rocks, picking up sticks, and hiding in bushes. By the end of the journey, they were filthy, muddy little creatures.....all boy!! It turned out to be a pretty fun, freezing but fun little hike. It definitely made the Thanksgiving Day a memorable one. By the end of the trek, I have never wanted hot chocolate and a hot tubber more in my entire life. Brrrrr!

Thanks boys for taking us on your little adventure!

Maggie's First Thanksgiving

2008-11-27T05:07:00.004-07:00

So I failed to get any pictures of Maggie actually eating her first Thanksgiving meal, but Maggie had a very significant day besides the food. This was the first time the majority of Ryan's family had actually met Maggie. Ryan parents and brother, Nate, came down when she was blessed but no one else had met her yet. The most significant introduction for the day came when Maggie met one of her namesake, Ryan's Grandma Wright. Maggie was also named after Sharmae, Ryan's sister. But it was a special moment when Maggie and Grandma Wright met. You see, Grandma Wright never liked me much but I think I finally made great strides in that department when I helped produce a child that carries her name. It does not take much to please that lady, right? I think we had solidified that Maggie was her favorite great-grandchild for about 6-months. Then Kathy had to steal our thunder and have Lanie Mae. Oh well, can't win em' all! I am totally kidding Kathy, I love that our kids have the same middle name.

I also snapped a cute picture of a granddad-granddaughter moment. I love sitting back and watching people spend time with my kids. Such important memories being made.
This last picture is just of Maggie in an army hat. Kutter finds all sorts of hats and always puts them on Maggie. So far, she does not seem to mind. I think Kutter could do whatever he wanted to her and she would be fine. She sure does love her big brother!

Traveling to Utah

2008-11-23T07:40:00.008-07:00

We started our move to Iowa by heading to Utah for the Thanksgiving holiday. We made it as far as Page, AZ the first night then made the rest of the trip the next morning. The car was packed to the gills and each child only had a small hole dug out of stuff for them to squeeze into. Kutter even managed to smuggle a few extra things into the car which he then had to carry on his lap. Our fantastic neighbors, the Gibasons, bought the kids some movies for the road. Here they are enjoying Journey to the Center of the Earth, in 3-D. Thanks Kimmy and Eric, your gift was a hit....and a lifesaver!

All three kids were such troopers on the entire trip. I complained about the 3 hour drive to Salt Lake City from Vernal when I was a kid. We used to have to stop in Duschesne and Heber to take a break and get a drink. My kids can sit in the car for an entire day and not even complain. I think they just must be used to it. We have been traveling since they were itty bitty babies, maybe they don't know life any different. Let's just hope they don't figure out how to complain in the car. If that happens, our family may never see us again because we won't be driving long distances any more!

Kutter's Last Day of Freedom (Elementary, that is!)

2008-11-21T07:49:00.010-07:00

Kutter's last day at Buckeye's Freedom Elementary School was November 21, 2008. This was also the day our truck was being loaded and leaving for Iowa. I had talked to Ms. Nunez, Kutter's teacher, to see if we could do something special for him. My plans were to make a special treat but then I realized all my kitchenware was packed and gone so.....I bought donuts. Mom of the year, right! The kids did not seem to mind my store bought treat, however. The class had made that Friday all about Kutter. All the sentences written on the board for them to read had Kutter's name in them. He got to be the line leader, treat helper, paper helper, everything. Now to us adults, this seems like slave labor on a day you should get to kick back and be pampered. But to a kindergartner, this was heaven. He felt very special.

I came at the end of class with the treats and to gather his things. All the kids wanted their picture taken but I thought I would just post the group photos. There is one exception to this, I had to post Kristi, Kutter's first crush. Well I should rephrase this, I am not sure if Kutter had a crush on her but she sure did have a crush on him. She followed him around like a lost puppy. What can I say, the girl's got taste. She had made him a birthday card and drew a picture of him and her holding hands....awwww!

We sure loved Freedom Elementary and especially Kutter's teacher, Ms. Nunez. She just loves her students so much and it shows.

I Hate Goodbye's!

2008-11-20T22:32:00.003-07:00

I have not posted in awhile. I have had quite the crazy past few weeks. I tell people I have not posted because I have nothing good to say. That is not to say good things have not happened to us , it is just to say I have not had a very good attitude about it.

A quick summary of the life changing events: On Oct 14th, 2008, Ryan was laid off from his job at Pepsico/Gatorade. Talk about a punch to the gut. It is indescribable the feelings that ensued those few days after the layoff. Ryan being the amazing man he is always had a great attitude about it. Me, being the not-so amazing person that I am, was mad as h-e-&-%!!! But, we are very lucky and Ryan had 5 job offers within 2 weeks of being laid off. When you have an entire day to talk, I will fill you in on that whole ordeal. To make a long story short, he accepted a position in Iowa and we are on the move. The packers are finishing loading the truck tomorrow and then we are abandoning our lives in Arizona on Sat, Nov 22nd. I admit, I still do not have the best attitude about it. I am always up for an adventure but I am leaving some amazing people behind. I need to learn a lesson from this and quit making friends wherever I go because it hurts so much to leave them behind. But to those I love here in Arizona, I thank you, you truly made this a home for me which I never imagined was possible. I am struggling more than you could ever imagine with not having you in my daily life. I made so many fantastic friends here, too many to name. But there are a few that I have to give an extra special shout out to. (Disclaimer: These are in no particular order!)

Bridgette: You showed me what a true friend is. I knew I could count on you for anything and you would not hesitate to be there for me, regardless of what you had going on in your life. My only regret is that I was not half the friend to you, that you were to me. I think about that every day and I apologize for not holding up my end of the deal. I am a better person for knowing you and I will miss you so, so much! You, my friend, are so amazing! And I thank you for all the moments I shared with you. They are all treasured memories! I cannot tell you how much it hurts me to leave you behind. Would you consider trying to fit in my suitcase?

Megan: What can I say about Megan, so many great things!! I had the pleasure of experiencing some of the biggest moments of my life so far with you right along side of me. And I cannot think of anyone I would have rather shared them with. You were there for me when almost no one else was and I will always be indebted to you for that. You have taught me so much about being a better person, a better wife and a better mother. I will miss our get togethers with our little families when the hubbies were at work. I will miss your kids and I will miss so much seeing all our kids play together. I am not sure what you did wrong in your life to have to be my friend but I am thanking my lucky stars for whatever I may have done right to be able to be your friend. I will miss you every day! I am not sure I am going to be able to make it without you.

Holly: I will miss so much having a little sunshine in my life whenever I am around you. You have a way about you of making me feel so happy, regardless of how bad I felt before I was near you. I am not sure I will ever be the same without you around. Most of my early and best memories of my time here in Arizona involved you and your family. Hey, if anyone can motivate me to visiting teach, they must be amazing. Not to mention Rockband...."Pleasure!" You are one of the most thoughtful people I have ever known. From the first moment I met you, I always thought there is no way I deserved to be your friend. You seemed just too good to be true and definitely a much better person than me. But you are the real deal and you never made me feel anything but great when I was around you. Thanks so much, you are awesome!

Sage: Ah, Sage! The trouble we got in, and the messes we made! I don't think I will ever have quite the adventures in life with anyone else, like I had with you. We are crazy kids together! Ah, good times, good times! I know you will be fine without me, but I am not sure I will be fine without you. I am just holding on to the idea of Halston and Maggie getting married so we will just say, see you later, not goodbye. You are such a giving person and would do anything for anyone regardless of what it costs you personally. I am certain you have given up your shirt on your back several times over. You are a true example to me and I want to thank you for being my friend!

Tisha: Oh my goodness, Tisha Bierman. Or should I say, Linda Miles, Jr. When I grow up, I want to be just like you. You are hands down the hardest working, most giving person I know. I am blown away every day by the things you do for others. I don't think I have ever even seen you make a sandwich for yourself, you are just too giving. You and I are bonded for life so don't ever forget it. I will fly back and paint your house with you any day so we can have our little talks. You grab a roller, I have got my brush and we will meet over a gallon of paint. You saved my life once, and I will never forget it.

Cheryl: I just love to listen to your stories. I am certain you have a story for every occasion. I find you so entertaining. I am already missing our little rendezvous over t-ball practice or play dates with the kids. I know Ryan hopes someday I am as good of wife to him as you are to Scott. You are a great example to me. I cannot wait to meet your new baby. You are such a great mom and you have great kids. My poor kids are losing some amazing people to be around. The kids are amazing because they have amazing mom's!!! I am still plotting out how to do that bead board-doorknob project so stay tuned.

Brooke: I wish you had more house to paint and I wish I had more time!!! I loved our painting dates and I loved our dinner dates and conversations. I wish you and Chris the best of luck with the upcoming year. Good things are coming your way, I can feel it. You are such an example to me as to what a woman, wife, LDS member, and especially mother should be. All you ladies make me realize how much I need to work on but I am so grateful for your examples and support. I am a work in progress but I am excited about the progress I have made in large part because of you.

Kim: We will always have Vernal. Ha ha ha, that is the only mark against you. I wish I could be half the wife and mother you are. Ryan wishes I could at least cook half as good as you. You are so talented in so many ways. I am amazed by you at what you can accomplish. I am in awe at the trials that you go through and how you are able to take things in stride. I am so sorry that I failed you as a friend but I want you to understand how wonderful I think you are and how I will always treasure our friendship. I value our time together and our project endeavours. There were so many good times. I will miss you.

Kimberly aka Kimmy: Man, you are one amazing person. You were the first to welcome us here. Eric sacrificed life and limb (well, toe) to help us. You took us in as a part of your family so easily and just made us so comfortable. I do not think I will ever experience compassion and welcoming like I have felt with you. You have taught me so much about life and "how to deal!" You are an inspiration to me and I am a better person for knowing you. I will miss our late night bike riding sessions where the kids crash and burn and we get to just talk. At least we have NCI to keep us together. Thanks so much for taking such good care of me/us!

If I have offended anyone, I assure you it was unintentional. I would never want to hurt anyone and if I have, I would work the rest of my life and beyond if I have to too make things right. I am the lucky one and am so honored to have known you and been considered your friend. I love you all!

T. Funny

Payton's Preschool Field Trip

2008-11-20T08:35:00.012-07:00

Payton's Joy School had a little field trip to the Buckeye Fire station. This happened when the packers arrived to pack up our house to move to Iowa. I was able to sneak away for a few minutes so Payton would not miss out. She did not like the field trip very much. She cried, a lot. I think it was a scary, intimidating place for her. I can't say I blame her, I am certain I would have been scared at her age. She managed to dry up the tears when I was about to take a picture of her though.

The field trip was great though. The firefighters taught the kids all about 9-1-1 and how to escape a fire. They showed them how the truck works and also got dressed up in their uniforms so the kids would know not to be afraid of them in case of a fire. The firefighters seem to love having the kids around. They played games with the kids, which Payton refused to do. They were given them high fives, and putting their clothes on them, again, Payton wanting nothing to do with it. The firefighters let them in the truck, which I threw Payton in kicking and screaming. They also sent them all home with firehats and a bag full of goodies.... Payton loved that. It was a hit!

May The Force Be With You

2008-11-18T19:24:00.019-07:00

Seeing as how we decided, or more that we were forced, into moving so suddenly, I felt we needed to throw a BD party for Kutter before we moved. He has made so many great friends here and his birthday was just the week after we moved away. I don't know why I do these things to myself. As if moving is not stressful enough but Ryan was already in Iowa so I was alone with the three kids trying to get the house packed and cleaned. Who in that situation thinks to themselves, "self, why not throw a birthday party while you are at it?" Then I thought, well lets make it a going away party for Payton too. I think we invited 36 kids. All but 7 came! That is a big ol party. Luckily I have some amazing friends who came to my rescue. Tisha Bierman deserves all the props in the world. She made the most amazing pinata and made light sabers for all the kids who came. I mean seriously, this life like Darth Vader came equipped with gloves, all the mechanics and even a cape. It was the coolest thing I have ever seen. Kutter was inconsolably crying when it got all busted up with a bat. He wanted to keep it forever, I felt bad. But it truly was an amazing creation.

Megan and Bridgette jumped in and helped get food served and cupcakes decorated. Then there is Kelly who stepped in as my knight in shining armour for the party. Kelly is Megan's husband and he became the entertainment portion of the evening. He took on all the kids in a light saber war. It was so funny and such a stress relief for me. He also manned the pinata and figured out all the tricky stuff that came up that evening. It was a sad time for all when he had to duck out early to go to work. Thanks Kelly, you da man! Seriously, I could not have done it without any of you guys. All in all it was a perfect party and a great send off for my kids. I don't regret doing it one bit. I am so grateful for the friends my kids made during our time in Arizona. They will forever have a place in all our hearts.

My First 5K

2008-11-08T21:45:00.003-07:00

Since I recently decided I was going to become a runner, my Bridgette dragged my butt out of the house a few times a week to get me started. After Ryan got laid off, it was a great release for me and I cherished every minute I got to spend with Bridgette. She approached me one day about a 5k race that was being held 2 weeks before I moved. My first thought was a loud chuckle followed by a "no way!" But then, as time went on, I thought was a perfect thing for me to get to do with Bridgette before I move. It became very clear it was something I had to do. I just hope I survived!

Well...I survived, barely! I thought it would be a piece of cake because Bridgette and I had been running nearly 2 miles a day anyway so another 1.3 miles was not going to be a big deal. Well, I was wrong. Especially because the last 1.3 miles was uphill, the last half mile or so was straight up a hiking trail up a mountain. What kind of sick person designed that course. I mean really, if you want us to run up a mountain, at least put it at the start of the race, not at the end. I am sad to report that a 60-year-old lady passed me on that trail. Hey, I never said I was a fast runner, I just said I was running.

When I crossed the finish line, however, I was so happy. It was a feeling I have not had in quite some time. It was such an amazing experience for me and I cannot think of anyone I would have rather done it with that Bridgette. I just hope I keep up the running and make her proud.

Recipe Group 2008

2008-11-05T21:34:00.004-07:00

I was lucky enough to be a part of an incredible group of women here in Buckeye. We got together once a month to swap recipes. Holly Wallin was the one who started the group in January of 2008. We rotated houses and whomever hosted that month picked a theme. We all brought a food item associated with that theme along with enough cutsie recipe cards for everyone to take one home. It was such a perfect thing because we were all able to try out each other's recipes so we would know which ones we would like and want to make for our families. Throughout the year, I have come home with some of the most amazing recipes. I am totally blaming my insane weight gain this year on this recipe group. Nope, it was not the pregnancy, it was the recipe group. It was my turn to host in December, maybe that is why Ryan got laid off so we had to move before I could subject the group to my hosting abilities. I was very sad to leave so many great people behind and I miss the ladies and the food so very much. I am pretty sure they disbanded after I left because they just could not bare to go on without me, at least, that is what I tell myself. : ) Thanks for the book full of recipe cards, the extraordinary memories, and the 15 pounds.

Pictured above are:

Back: Kaci Perkins, Katie Hunter, Cheryl Wellman, Bridgette Jankowski, Charity Rose, Holly Proctor, Kim Rolfe, and Sage Harper.

Front: Brooke Jenkins, Holly Wallin, Tifany Wright, Brianne McKinley, and Tisha Bierman

Halloween 2008

2008-10-31T18:46:00.003-07:00

One of my favorite things about living in Arizona is Halloween. It is such great weather this time of year. The kids actually get to show off their costumes instead of covering them up with layers of warm clothing. Most people sit outside in their drive ways to give out candy so they can see all the trick-or-treaters. It is quite the event around these parts.

Our activities for the day started out by me attempted to put Payton's hair in curlers. I really wanted her hair to be perfect. She was Little Bo Peep for Halloween and when I think of Bo Peep, I think of blond hair with big ringlets in it. The day before, I made a trial run at it by using a curling iron. It did not work. So I attempted the curlers, it was quite the step for me. I have to say, not bad for my first time. Her hair was actually quite perfect!

The next adventure of the day happened at Kutter's school. Since I knew it was a possibility we may have to move, I wanted to take special treats to Kutter's class and make Halloween a memorable one. I had way too much fun making goody bags for each of the kids. The bags included such items as pencils, bugs, eyeballs, funny glasses, candy, etc. Ryan came with me when it was time to deliver the goodies. He somehow convinced Kutter's entire class including his teacher to put on the funny glasses and pose for a picture. This was so fantastic!

After school, we got the kids all in their costumes to go trick-or-treating. This turned out to be a bigger challenge than initially anticipated because Maggie's costume did not fit her. The hat was way too small. Go figure! I had to make a few little modifications to get it to sit on long enough for pictures. I was so excited for the girls costumes this year. I found Payton's at TJ Max for $20 and found Maggie's at Wal-mart for $11.88. Sure wish I would have tried on the hat on Maggie earlier. The costume fit fine, just not the hat. But you get the idea. The idea of Payton as Little Bo Peep and Maggie as her sheep was just too good to pass up. It was priceless!
Kutter wanted to go as Spiderman again this year. We found a great "Black Spiderman" costume with the big cushy muscles. I like finding good costumes for the kids because they wear the costume all the time. My kids play dress up nearly every day, several times a day if you are Payton. So it saves me a whole lotta heartache if I can buy one that will last awhile.

We met up with the Zierse's to hit the road for trick-or-treating. It was such a fun night watching the kids run from house to house and the adults just getting to walk and talk. It was a bit of a depressing Halloween on our street, however. There was only about 1 in 10 houses giving out candy. Our town has been hit pretty hard with foreclosures. We then loaded up all the kids and headed to Weinerschnitzel for dinner. Cheap and easy, that is my motto! All in all, it was a pretty terrific Halloween!

Joy School Halloween Party

2008-10-30T18:37:00.000-07:00

For Payton's Joy School class, my friend Megan and I were in charge of the Halloween party. Trust me when I say, we did not hold back. We made green punch that had a gummy severed hand in the bottom of it. We froze fake bugs and eyeballs into ice cubes. We had a super fun craft project where the kids got to paint their own Halloween masks. We had some fun games to play and yummy food to eat. We made peanut butter and jelly sandwiches which we cut into shapes of ghosts and witches. There were, of course, yummy cupcakes in which the kids got to decorate their own. That was just the beginning. It was a very messy but very fun little party. Thanks to Jami Snyder who let us invade and trash her house in the name of good fun.

In this picture are: Kaycie Wellman as a zoo keeper, Cambri Harper as a patriotic dancer, Kennadee Manutai as Wonder Woman, Brittlee Harper as a patriotic dancer, Payton as Little Bo Peep, Carson Zierse as a pirate, Kali Manutai as a kitty, and Colby Snyder as Mr. Incredible. What is it with the boys? They could not seem to keep their costume on.

It was a very fun and extremely memorable little party with an amazing group of kids.

Tif is 31 Today, October 6.

2008-10-05T23:54:00.009-07:00

Tifany is 31 today and I wanted to post 31 things about Tifany since she is so special to me!!! I am a first time poster so hopefully this works. I love you Tif!!!

1- Tifany is the most Beautiful woman I know, both inside and outside.
2- Tifany has her Masters degree in Business Administration. She completed her bachelors and masters in the time it took me to get a bachelors degree. I think there was one quarter she took 24 credits? I don't know how she did it.
3- I think Tif was an interior decorator in another life. She is very good at decorating painting etc. and she loves it.
4- Tifany took state in Tennis while she was in high school. She still loves to play. She will not pass up a chance to beat any of my friends on the tennis court, especially the one that think it would be easy to beat a girl. She likes to rub it in when she beats the guys. She usually takes it easier on the girls.
5- Tifany likes it when you call her T-funny. She tells great stories and always makes me laugh.
6- Tifany is always up for a challenge. Her newest challenge taken on is the goal of running a marathon. Next summer, Go Tif! I am her biggest fan.
7- Tif loves music. She is always singing along to a song or doing her wave dance.
8- Tifany can make anything on home design shows come to life. Then she usually one-ups it.
9- Tif loves sports. Sports come very easy to her and she gets really good, really fast.
10- Tifany loves photography. She takes casual, scenic and even family photos. I love the personal touch she adds with pictures.
11- Tifany is the most giving person I know. She is always helping!
12- Tifany would die with out Dr. Pepper. She is beyond addicted. I am starting to get really worried.
13- Tifany has been married to me for over 12 years. She must be really patient.
14- Tifany acts tough and will never cry, but has a very tender heart. So take care of her!
15- If you haven't noticed Tifany does not trust your driving. I think she puts it something like this. "I just like to drive, so even though it's your turn to drive, and we are taking your car, do you mind if have your keys and drive?"
16- Tifany is way cooler then me. She is fun to talk to, tells good stories, and I just love her!
17- Tif is a packer. I once watched her pack our entire house inside of our Mazda MPV minivan.
18- Tifany can paint like a pro. She has a special brush she uses to trace in lines. She loves that brush. I am pretty sure it has its own name.
16- Tifany loves being a big sister. She was the baby growing up in her family, but loves being a big sister to my younger brothers and sisters.
17- Tifany has had a baby in every state that she has lived in (3).
18- Tifany has the most beautiful hazel eyes with fire around the edges.
19- Tif is a great cook! She has these chocolate chip cookie that are awesome! Good luck getting the recipe out or her though.
20- Tifany is a good listener. She has great insight and is a good friend!
21- Tifany has intuition about our kids and family. I am really glad for it if she has a sense, I listen.
22- Tifany can hit really hard. I am still waiting to find out how hard, cause she takes it easy on me. But, she tells me she can hit really hard, so watch out.
23- Tifany can not stand an unfinished project. I think they make her twitch. She pushes me and her friends to finish projects. Sometimes she does them by her self it bothers her so much to leave a project unfinished.
24- Tifany is a great mom! Our kids almost always have a great temperament. They have great personalities. She teaches them how to work, learn and get along in society. They are as smart and well behaved because of her. Our kids will always know that their mom loves them.
25- Tifany puked her guts out for the first 5 months of pregnancy with all of our kids. She had severe heart burn for the last 4. She loves the kids with everything she has!
26- Tifany has had the same cat for 16 years. A stray cat had babies in our back yard about 4 weeks ago. It has been fun to get her and the kids all excited about 6 baby cats running around.
27- Loves movies. We have seen almost everything.
28- She has a great laugh and a great smile!
29- Tifany started dabbling in sewing over the last few years. What does she need me for she can do everything?
30- Tifany loves the holidays. She decorates, has the kids help and gets them all worked up. It is good times!
31- Tif is a great wife. She challenges me to be better. She is fun, funny, and a great life friend. Tifany you are my best friend! I am looking forward to spending forever with my best friend! I love you with all of my heart!

Tifany you are Awesome! You make me the happiest man in the entire world! I hope you have a great 31st Birthday!

4ish Months Old!

2008-09-11T15:36:00.003-07:00

Maggie had her 4-month doctor appointment today. Here are her stats:

Height: 26 inches 95th percentile
Weight: 17 lbs 95th percentile
Head Size: ....... 105th percentile

That a girl!

Here is a picture of Maggie in her first pair of wheels. She is one crazy driver, must take after her mama.

Family Pix in Mexico

2008-09-10T20:31:00.001-07:00

While in Mexico, we decided to attempt some family pictures. Sage did a great job snapping these photos and my sister, Nikker Picker, did a great job helping me edit them. Our kids were such troopers during these pictures and I am loving how they turned out.

Here is a funny story that happened while taking the pictures. After finished with the pictures of just the three kids in the sand, Kutter just let go of Maggie to get up. Well, she does not know how to sit up yet so she tipped face first into the sand. So basically, we rushed Maggie to the hose and had to get sand out of all her important facial crevices. It was so sad but yet, so funny! What kind of person does that make me?

Rocky Point Mexico, cont......

2008-09-10T19:10:00.000-07:00

This isn't how I wanted to post our vacation but there was so much I wanted to write about, it would have taken 50 more posts to get it all in. So here is the rest of our trip in a nutshell, as captured on camera:

We went to a local bakery for breakfast and ate fresh rolls and pastries. The streets were trash covered and the smell all around was terrible but the food was delish. Yum!!

We went shopping at the flea markets. This is Payton trying on all the designer knock-off purses to see which one "fit" the best. When she found it, that purse never left her arm again. The look on Kutter's face cracks me up. I think he thought this whole process was nuts. I was a bit surprised at the interest Ryan took in the whole process. He pulled down every purse and even asked the owners if they had more options in the back. I was just standing back in awe and my princess and the unbreakable hold she has on her daddy.
Here is a picture of what the babies did most of the time. They just chilled. We were so lucky to have such great babies on vacation. It could have been such a miserable experience if the babies were cranky. They just loved to lay next to each other and play. Halston taught Maggie how to roll over. He taught her by example as he was constantly rolling over on top of her.
Our other kids got along so great together and just played, non-stop. There were no fights and no one got left out. It was such a perfect scenario for such an amazing place. Here are some great group shots we got of them. Let's play a game....which person in this picture does not belong? Hint: Compare skin colors

We pretty much swam non-stop. The kids loved playing at the beach and swimming in the ocean. As soon as we walked back from the beach, they were then all begging to go in the pool. The amenities were so nice at the place we were staying that we all enjoyed going swimming. The babies both fell asleep in their floaties at the pool. Kutter loved doing flips off the side of the pool and also when Ryan would launch him in the air. This lasted until mama (aka: me) could no longer handle it.

I did not have enough of burying Maggie in the sand the first time around, I had to try it again, this time in dry sand. She loved every minute of it. Afterwards, Payton wanted a turn, she hated every minute of it. This is her trying to smile because I would not let her out of the sand until I got a decent picture. Yet another reason, I should be mother of the year.
Our last afternoon there, we splurged and rented a jet ski. Man, can I tell you, worth every penny. It was $40 for one hour which was a pretty good deal. We utilized every minute of it. It was a windy day so I had the best time going full throttle over some massive waves and catching some gnarly air. Ryan said I was crazy, but I was never scared. I was having so much fun! Ryan was pretty gutsy out there himself. Poor Hayden, he did not have any sun glasses on so he got a salt water beating in his eyeballs that he will not soon forget. We even managed to get Kutter, Payton, and Cambri on there for a ride. Wow, what a great time! The only pictures captured were of Ryan riding. I guess he did not feel it was important enough to take a picture of me flying 50 feet in the air! Totally kidding, I am pretty sure he caught my rides on video.

I hated to leave when the trip was over. We immediately started planning our next trip back. We love the Harper's and had such a great time spending time with them. Good times, good times!

The Mexican Aquarium

2008-09-09T00:02:00.004-07:00

On our last day in Rocky Point, we went to the local aquarium so the kids could see some of the fish life native to the area. We arrived a bit early so the owners opened up the gate and let us walk along the nearby beach until the aquarium opened. It was a windy day so the waves were huge but it was gorgeous. We took some cute pictures of our feet prints in the sand.

The aquarium was awesome. It was like nothing we had ever been to before. It was not your typical American aquarium but it was so fun, nonetheless. Kutter and Payton loved seeing the fish and other sea creatures up close and personal. They had giant sea turtles that you could feed and touch. Ryan was trying to let Maggie touch one of the turtles but every time he would get her hand down there, the turtle would stick up its head and open its mouth. I am pretty sure Maggie almost ended up as turtle food because her pale skin resembled a raw fish. Whoopsie! None of the kids wanted to actually feed any of the sea creatures but we all had a good time watching Ryan jump everytime a turtle took the food from him. Good times, good times!
The aquarium had little sharks, eels and sting rays, crabs and jelly fish. There was also a sea lion you could feed and talk to. I am quite certain our home videos has me using profanities because of that sea lion. I was just standing there minding my own business when that thing stuck its head up right next to mine. I probably could have kissed it. I turned and saw it staring me in the face and I jumped and swore. Everyone had a good laugh at my expense. The aquarium was well worth the $2 admission fee.

Rocky Point, Mexico - Day 2

2008-09-07T20:07:00.021-07:00

On our second day at Rocky Point, Sage and I ran some errands which involved going to the local grocery store. This was an interesting experience for so many reasons. Everyone was obsessed with our babies and would push me out of the way to get to Maggie. The people just got all gaa-gaa over how cute she was. They have good taste!! It was strange how there were so many people doing tasks for you wanting to be paid. Some guy took our cart and wanted paid. Another said he watched our car while we were shopping so he wanted a tip. Another man backed us out of our parking spot in hopes for some spare change. I was broke after one trip to the grocery store.

The rest of the day was spent at the pool, playing in the sand, and relaxing at the beach house. We headed down to the beach in the late afternoon and had a good time playing in the ocean. Kutter spent his time karate chopping the waves. Here is a picture of him showing me how it is done. He could have stayed out there for hours. I think he was made for the beach with his love for sand, waves, and ability to be tan.

Payton was more content to just hang out on the beach and watch all the action. Those waves were a bit much for her 30 pound little body to handle. She loved being out there just the same. However, I am not sure her snow white skin and strawberry-blonde hair not are as made for the sun as her brother's.

Maggie is the most chill kid you will ever meet. She was just fine hanging out in her car seat, snuggled in a blanket in the 100+ degree heat with 500% humidity. The rest of us were down right miserable unless we were in the water. Maggie on the other hand was dripping sweat and not complaining one bit. Amazing!!!

We convinced the kids into riding on a banana boat/whale with us. It was so much fun and so cheap. We talked the guy into giving us a ride for $5 for the adults and the kids rode free. I think we got a pretty screaming deal if I do say so myself. Kutter loved wearing the life jacket and was showing off in it. He had no idea what it was for so I took him out in the deeper part of the ocean for a bit to show him how it worked. Once he knew he would not sink, he was raring to go. Payton was a little hesitant but Ryan just kept reassuring her she would be fine. I made him promise me that if she went off, he would go off with her. I think I was more nervous than the kids because I was terrified of deep water when I was younger. It did not help my fears when the engine of the boat was smoking like a chimney and the second man in the boat's primary responsibility was to bail out the water to keep it from sinking. Good times, good times!

We asked the guy to just go slow. It got kind of boring so we had a discussion and decided to go for it. We had him crank it up on the way back to the beach. It was so much fun!! We did not lose any of the kids which was an added bonus. I was so sore the next day from trying to hang on the boat while hanging onto Kutter. I am still not sure how I ended up hanging onto the 55 pound kid while Ryan had the 30 pounder. Hmmm, interesting!

After we arrived back from our adventure on the sea, we decided to bury the kids in the sand. Strike that, we decided to bury the babies in the sand. The sand was so wet, however, that we only buried them up to their waste for fear of the weight crushing them. No worries though, I buried them in the dry sand the next day so we could bury them up to their necks. Those pictures will come later. The babies loved being buried. Seriously, they did! After we were done with the babies, we buried the girls. They did not like it so much. Payton screamed the whole time but we did manage to capture one good picture with the sun setting in the background.

After all that activity and entertainment, we headed back to the beach house where we bathed and showered sand out of all our nooks and crannies, if you know what I mean. I am not sure there was any sand left on the beach, I am certain we took it all with us. The kids crashed soon thereafter and the adults stayed up and played cards to the wee hours of the morning. It was such a fun, fun day!

Here is a little eye candy for all you ladies out there.....your welcome!

On the Way to Mexico...Ole!

2008-09-06T23:32:00.008-07:00

We had a trip planned to Rocky Point Mexico to spend a few days on the beach with our friends, the Harper's. This would be our first vacation since moving to Arizona nearly 3 years ago. Kutter spent the night at Connor's house and we were going to pick him up on our way out of town. The "plan" was to leave around 8am. So at 11:30am, we were on our way. We decided to leave the mini-van at home and venture south of the border in the Corolla. We could not believe all 3 car seats fit! The kids did pretty good on the trip. Kutter and Payton were big helps to feed Maggie and they did a fairly good job sharing the snacks and the travel television. We had to stop at a little town called "Why" (Good question!) to buy Mexican car insurance to cover our vehicle while we were in Mexico. We also stopped at the border for a photo shoot.

Once we were in Mexico, it felt like we were in some other country. Oh wait, we were! The speed limit signs were in kilometers. There were people flagging you down to sell you stuff every few feet. It was interesting to say the least. There was a lot of gorgeous scenery along the way and also some not-so-gorgeous scenery. I was so glad we went with someone who had been there before, however, or we would have ended up in Tijuana or something. The roads were confusing and my Spanish is rusty. Once we arrived at our private villa on the beach, we were in heaven. It was such an amazing house right on the beach with the most gorgeous view and a pool right out the front door. We already were feeling as if 3 1/2 days was not going to be enough. It was amazing how all my cares, stresses, and worries seem to disappear while I was there. It felt good!

Our first day consisted of getting settled in. We immediately went swimming where Kutter ran and did flips off the side. Yikes!Maggie seemed right at home in the pool and Payton loved the water. Later, Ryan and Hayden took the kids to the beach while Sage and I unpacked. We headed out for dinner to an authentic Mexican restaurant. Hayden ordered a meal suited for 6 people and I lost $10 when I bet him he could not eat it all himself. My mistake! No one slept great that night because the air could not cool the house that fast and the humidity was really bad this time of year. I ended up having to take a cold shower and fall asleep wet. The next 2 nights were much better. Kutter and Payton had their own beds in their own room with their own bathroom. Ryan and I had a queen bed and our own bathroom with Maggie in a pack n play. Hayden and Sage stayed in the master suite with their girls. Everyone had their own beds and bathrooms, it was so nice and so comfortable. We were so happy to just be there and relax!

Payton's First Day of Preschool

2008-09-02T16:19:00.005-07:00

Payton started preschool today. A few friends of mine got together and are doing a Joy School. We were not going to do a preschool for her until next year since she is still two years away from kindergarten but with Kutter gone all day, we felt she needed something to break up her day. She misses Kutter so much! Payton will go twice a week for 2 hours and she could not have been more excited.

It was fun to see Payton get her clothes all picked out and tell me how she wanted her hair done. (I am sure it did not come out quite how she pictured it, I am not very good at the hair thing.) She wanted her picture taken with her school clothes on and then with her backpack. She wanted this day all about her so she was not inviting anyone to be in the picture with her. When we took her to "school" she wanted her picture taken with her teacher. I guess I will be taking her picture every week with her new teacher since it just rotates houses. : )

The day went great and she loved her new adventure. She loved it so much, she did not want to leave. She threw quite the fit when I showed up to pick her up. Plus she was devastated at the idea that her pencil box and school supplies had to stay. I literally had to carry her out of the house. She cried for another half hour or so until she zonked out asleep on the couch. That two hours of learning really did her in.

One thing for sure about Payton, there is never a dull moment with her around. She is so much fun even when she is kicking and screaming. I love you so much my little Pay-Paylicious!

This is a picture of her first teacher, Megan Zierse, and of her fiancee' Carson Zierse. Right now she is planning on marrying him and Ty Jankowski. At least she will have great in-laws!

Ryan is.....old! : )

2008-09-02T10:53:00.004-07:00

Well, today is Fry Guys birthday. I am following the inspiration of some fellow bloggers and thought I would post about Ryan. He is 34 today so I will post 34 "facts" about Ryan.

1. He has a twitchy leg. (His leg rarely stops bouncing. I used to hate this until we had kids....now I just put the kid on that bouncing leg and it calms them right down.)
2. He absolutely loves his kiddos.
3. He drove a Ford Tempo in high school and just got rid of it a few years ago. To this day, no car seems to fit him like that Ford Tempo.
4. He is excellent at building stuff. I can draw him a picture, he will make it come to life.
5. He is extremely patient and very rarely gets mad. One of the few times in our marriage that Ryan has ever gotten mad was at a sofball game. He ended up yelling at the umpire for something and felt so bad he immediately went back and spent 5 minutes apologizing to the guy. I think he even tried to give him a hug, just kidding!
6. He hates olives.
7. He doesn't get jokes.
8. He says his laugh instead of actually laughing. This is awesome...when he laughs, he just says Ha ha ha ha ha, over and over again. Classic!
9. He loves WWE.
10. He is a complete fantasy football addict. I always joke that it is going to be funny someday when the judge asks why we are getting divorced and I answer.."fantasy football." Okay, it is not that bad. But answer me this, is it just me or is 4 separate fantasy football teams a bit excessive?
11. He is a mamma's boy.
12. He is a daddy's boy.
13. He is an amazing big brother. I guess I should ask his brothers and sisters if this is true but from my perspective, his a good one.
14. He LOVES baseball.
15. We named our first born after a nickname given to Ryan by a mechanic.
16. He primps way longer than I do.
17. A good analogy about Ryan given by his friend Brett...."Ryan could be neck deep in poop and still find something good about his situation."
18. He is a hard worker
19. He is allergic to tomatoes. (Not really but this is the excuse he used to use to avoid eating them.)
20. He likes to cook.
21. He is a tremendous help with the kids, always. He is a pretty dang good daddy.
22. He can fall asleep in the middle of a conversation.
23. His favorite food is Lasagna. (Funny since he is allergic to tomatoes)
24. He likes to fix stuff. He does not like to pay other people to fix stuff he thinks he can fix himself. This was the inspiration for # 15.
25. He recently developed a snoring habit.
26. If you ask Ryan to hurry, he slows down. : )
27. He does not know how to dust.
28. He is really good at stacking. This is how he cleans, he stacks but he is really, really good at it.
29. Everyone loves Ryan. He has got to be the most likable guy. I have never met anyone who has ever even been mad at Ryan, except for me, of course.
30. He is a bit gullible. He pretty much has such a trusting, big heart that he believes anything anyone tells him. I love this about him, so much!
31. He is a band wagoner. Love it!
32. He loves me. Don't ask me why, but he does.
33. He would do anything for his family.
34. Last but certainly not least.... he has got to be the best husband ever. I am not sure what he did wrong to deserve me but I am certain I must have done something very right to deserve him. The only flaws in our marriage stem from me. He is as pretty much as close to a perfect dad and a perfect husband as any human being could get. We are so very lucky to have him in our lives. Love you Ryan!

Sisters

2008-08-27T13:35:00.004-07:00

Payton has been in love with her little sister since before she was even born. Payton has a funny sense of responsibility to take care of her, she is a natural little mother, she definitely did not get get that from me. Payton is constantly telling me what Maggie needs and doing everything in her power to take care of her. She cries if I change a diaper or make a bottle without her. It really is an amazing thing to witness.

With Kutter in school, Payton has entertained herself by playing with Maggie. It is funny because Payton is constantly asking me if she can go wake Maggie up to play. I always want to say........"are you insane?" But I usually politely say...... "maybe later, princess!"

Maggie is quick to smile at the sound of both her brother and her sisters voice so it is so great to see how much they all truly do love each other. I try to remember these moments because all too soon they will be fighting. At least this reminds be that the foundation of their feelings for each other is love, it just may have some other layers on top of it sometimes.

I love you this much!

2008-08-21T11:43:00.000-07:00

I had a bear growing up that my grandma gave me. It was white with a little red shirt on it. His arms were stretched out as far as they could go and the shirt read....I love you this much!

Maggie fell asleep on the floor while watching the fan and this is how she looked. Reminded me so much of that bear and made me miss my grandma. Anyway........I love you this much, Mags!

Look Ma, No.....Training Wheels!

2008-08-19T23:04:00.000-07:00

On Tuesday, August 19th, Kutter J Wright rode his bike for the first time with no training wheels. Ryan decided he and the kiddos were going to ride bikes to the park. I headed outside to wave goodbye and noticed Ryan taking Kutter's training wheels off his bike. I panicked at the thought of this new milestone. I promptly put Kutter's helmet on and headed inside to check on Maggie. A few minutes later, Kutter comes in and told me I need to get my camera. I asked why and he said because he rode without training wheels and did not fall. Apparently, Kutter hopped on his bike and took off riding while Ryan was chit chatting with our neighbor. Ryan took off running after him and caught up to him and helped him stop.

I ran out with the video and digital camera to capture this moment. Kutter got right back on and did it again. After that, he became more consumed with me taking pictures than with concentrating on keeping his balance. Ryan then took him to the park and had him practice in a safer environment. They came home full of stories about all the places Kutter rode and did not fall. I am so proud of my little boy learning this and I am proud of Ryan for teaching him.

On a side note, Ryan is extremely sore today. I think someone is out of shape. He said it was all that jogging he did next to Kutter. I was sore just thinking about running. Sounds like we need to get to the gym.

Maggie's Pouty Face

2008-08-14T19:47:00.000-07:00

Ryan was trying to get Maggie to smile and/or laugh.....apparently she was not in the mood!

2 ft tall and bulletproof!

2008-08-13T14:31:00.000-07:00

Maggie had her 3-month doctor appointment today. (I realize she is almost 4 months. I actually think it was suppose to be a 2-month appointment. Whoopsie!)

Stats:

Height: 25 in 95th percentile
Weight: 15 lbs 9 oz 95th percentile
Head Size: 43 cm 95+ percentile

That's my girl!

Maggie's 1st Laugh

2008-08-12T11:05:00.001-07:00

Although we attempted to catch it on video but failed, Maggie laughed for the 1st time on Aug 5th, 2008. I was sitting at the computer doing some stuff for work when I heard it. I turn around to see Ryan on the couch with Kutter and Payton and they were collectively getting Mags to laugh. It was such a great sound and such a great moment. I was happy that they all were able to contribute to making Maggie so happy. Now, daddy has become the expert at getting Maggie to laugh on demand. He is also the expert at getting her to cry on demand too but that is another story for another time.

It is so great to have the laughter of a baby fill our home again! Love ya Mags!

D-backs vs Braves: Maggie's 1st Baseball Game

2008-08-09T22:41:00.009-07:00

On Aug 9th, we met our friends the Glenn's for our traditional D-backs game. Baseball seems to be our common bond so we try to get together for games as much as possible. It usually only ends up being one game a year and a spring training game but we enjoy whatever we can get. This year, we went and watched the Diamondbacks take on the Braves. This was a tough one for me because I love the D-backs but I am a true blue Braves fan. I basically had to be quiet during the game. The D-backs choked with some little league type errors that cost them the game. We all had a good time at the game despite the poor performance by the home team.

Here is a little drama to the evening....I dropped Ryan off with all the kids because parking was a nightmare and we were late meeting the Glenn's. I found parking and met them at our seats in the nosebleed section. We were pretty cramped in our seats so we decided to move to another section where no one was sitting so we could stretch our legs. It was perfect and made for a great game. That is until Maggie started crying and her bottle was nowhere to be found. Somewhere in the hustle and bustle of jumping out of the car and finding our seats, her bottle was lost. We thought she would be fine and make it through the game but she had other plans. She started screaming and could not be consoled. I decided to go on the hunt for the bottle and retrace our steps. As I was scouring the floor of the ginormous stadium, a light bulb clicked on in my head to try the souvenir shop. I looked and looked in hopes of finding a Diamondbacks baby bottle. The dang shop had everything imaginable but no bottle. One last attempt before heading to the car and I found it. A wonderful sight for sore eyes, a D-backs bottle. The price was a bit steep at $9.95 but it was well worth it. I walked in the stadium making my way back to the seats when I noticed everyone staring at me in suspense. I held up the bottle like it was the World Series trophy and the whole section cheered. Apparently Maggie had threw quite the fit and everyone was concerned and relieved to see the solution to the problem in my hands. Yay for the souvenir shop for saving the day!!!

Kutter's 1st Day of Kindergarten

2008-08-06T20:43:00.000-07:00

Prepare yourself for a novel:

Kutter's official 1st day of school was August 6th, 2008. It has taken me a week to come to grips with this whole new life so now I am able to talk about it.

Kutter was so excited. He bounced right out of bed and was ready to walk out the door. I made him a "special" breakfast of waffles and eggs. I think he only ate about 3 bites. Our family is not used to waking up so early so it was hard to eat breakfast that soon. Not knowing how long it would take to get him ready, I jumped the gun a bit on when I woke him up. We ended up having nearly a half an hour to spare so I quickly filled that time with picture taking. I think I took over 50 pictures just to make sure I got one good one. My neighbor nicknamed me the paparazzi. Here are a few samples:

We had gone to meet Kutter's teacher the night before school started so we were feeling more comfortable with the idea of Kutter being with her all day. She resembles Ryan's grandma but she reminded us of Ryan's mom because she had the sweetest and most patient temperament. She seemed to have the demeanour of a grandma and acted as though her students were more her grand kids than her pupils. That made us feel pretty good about Kutter's first year in school.

Ryan and I both took him in and our neighbors stayed with Payton and Maggie in the car. Ryan ran the video camera while I snapped the still pictures. I think I got every one of his first steps in the classroom, I may have overdone it a bit. Kutter said his cheeks hurt from smiling for so many pictures. He was a good sport though, he knows his mama is a bit looney toons. I had a hard time leaving him but he was ready for us to go. I think he has been looking forward to this day for a year. He was a bit sad that he did not get the same teacher as his "best bud" Connor but it brought him comfort knowing they could play together at recess. The day actually went quickly for us at home because we took Payton to get her cast off. YEAH! (More on that later) We ended up getting home from taking care of her and basically loading back up in the car to head to the school to pick up Kutter. I am certain we were there way too early but I could not help it. I wanted to be there for him to see me right away when he came out of school. It took all my strength and will power to not run and tackle him when I saw him come out of his classroom.

The next day seemed to be much worse for me. Ryan had to work and I had nothing to do. Payton went to a friends house and I literally just sat on the couch and stared most of the day. I knew I had so much to do but I could not figure out how to go about doing it. I felt so lost! I love my little Kutter Man and he is so great to have around. It has been fun getting to spend time with Payton and Maggie but it just does not seem right without big brother around.

Here are some funny things Kutter has said since starting school:

When asked what his favorite thing about school is, he proudly answers "Lunch!"

As he was preparing to leave for school on his 3rd day, he said "Mom! You need to have this house cleaned up for when I get home from school." He then explained that he gets to be the one to mess it up when he comes home but he expects it to be clean when he arrives.

He came home on his first day and said "I do not know how to read yet!"

After his second day of school, he proudly proclaimed "I have been to school for 2 days and have not been sent to the principals office yet." Kutter always gets a kick out of me telling him that my dad was my principal so when I was bad, I had to go see him. I am not sure why, but he thinks that is the funniest thing ever. He always says, "that is so weird!"

He makes sure and lets me know every day which kids were bad and what they did. It is like the little kindergarten soap opera. But he lets me know "I don't break any rules! I am being a good boy mom!" You are a good boy Kutter J!

I am so proud of my little guy. He is being so responsible. He is making sure he has his blanket, backpack, and water every day. I watch him fold his arms and walk to class so he does not break the "turtle" rule. I hear him tell me stories of how a kid at his table could not do his work so Kutter helped him. He says he always says hi to a boy in his class that does not know anyone. And he makes sure and lets me know that he plays with everyone he knows at recess. Then he proceeds to name them all so I understand that he did not leave anyone out. He is an amazing son and I am honored to be his mom. Love you buddy!

Free at last, free at last!

2008-08-06T19:57:00.000-07:00

August 6th was a big day for our family. Along with Kutter going to kindergarten, Payton got her cast off. She was a brave girl. It took quite the coaxing to get her to go to the doctor. Several bribes later we had her convinced to go and she even said she would not cry. She kept true to her word until they turned on the saw. It was loud and it vibrated her arm. She tried not to cry and then could not help it any longer. It did not last long, however, when she realized the vibrations were actually tickling her. When the cast came off, she really cried because she lost her security blanket. She tried to move her arm and it felt strange so she basically freaked out.

The doctor told us that if she fell again in the next 2 months or so, it would break again. I just said "see you next week then!" I mean come on people, she is 3, she falls daily if not hourly. But it has been a week and although she did fall out of the car yesterday, the arm seems to be fine. Maybe it is because it has been glued to her body ever since she the doctors office in the same position as if her cast was still on. She barely moves it and we have yet to get it to straighten all the way. (This picture was taken over a week after her cast coming off. It was the first time she semi-straightened her arm) Because of her nervousness to move it, she has become Princess Payton again and we have again been summoned to serve her every whim. Do you think she is playing me?

Kutters 1st Sleepover

2008-08-03T15:59:00.000-07:00

Kutter has a "best buddy" named Connor. If they could, these two kids would play together all day, every day. Connor went to Utah to visit family for nearly 6 weeks. When he finally got back, the two were inseparable. If they were not together, they were begging to be together. On July 30th, after a 3 1/2 hour playdate at Peter Piper Pizza, the boys convinced us moms to let them have a sleepover. Little did I realize that Ryan had already talked to Kutter about this the day before and had made all the plans. I guess us moms had no choice. : )

They were such good kids. They went to bed at 9pm with no complaints. Now before you get all impressed that they went to bed so early for a sleepover, I will finish by saying they finally fell asleep at midnight. I guess it is our fault, we put a movie on in Kutter's room and popped popcorn. Payton was a having a hard time with being left out so we let her watch the movie for a few minutes. It was funny to me that when she went to sit down, the boys had her sit in the middle. She was in heaven. Cute Connor on one side and her best big brother on the other.

I have never seen Kutter laugh so much. Kutter and Connor are a good fit because they have similar personalities and are such good kids. Plus, neither one of them can say their "C' and "K" sounds so they call each other Tutter and Tonner. So great!

Mullet....be gone!

2008-08-01T16:27:00.000-07:00

Ever since Maggie was born she had a sort of mullet. It has driven Ryan crazy. He has been begging me for weeks now to let him cut it. Again, I caved. Mags mullet is not as bad as it was when she was born but none the less, it had to go so Ryan could be at peace. So I guess August 1st, 2008 marks the day of Maggie's first hair cut.

Tag, You are IT!!

2008-07-29T23:44:00.001-07:00

I have now been tagged twice with this same thing so I guess I will get off my booty and do it. (Thanks Heather and Megan)

3 Joys: (In no particular order)
1. Watching a movie with my hubby after the kids have gone to bed.
2. My kids
3. A clean house.

3 Fears: (Again, in no particular order)
1. Death
2. Dying
3. Someone I am close to dying

3 Goals:
1. Help Megan finish painting her upstairs.
2. Get my craft room organized so I can start scrapbooking.
3. Run a marathon. Who am I kidding, run a mile is a more likely goal.

3 Obsessions:
1. Unfinished projects, (I hate em!) I have a hard time with other peoples unfinished projects.
2. Dr Pepper (Okay this is more of an addiction but I am obsessed with my addiction)
3. TV (Sad but true)

3 Random Facts:
1. Hmmm, well, I got ran over by a car when I was in the 9th grade.
2. I have had my cat since I was a sophomore in high school. (He is now nearly 16 years old)
3. I am crazy, certifiable, nutso. Yup, it is true!

I tag: Melanie (I cant remember if you did this already), Cheryl (Trying to give you something to post about), and...................drum roll please................my imaginary friend, Judy. (Told you I was crazy!)

My Life Savers

2008-07-20T23:00:00.000-07:00

Thanks to my mom for coming out and watching Kutter and Payton when Maggie was born so Ryan and I could focus on getting Maggie here safe and sound. It was such a relief knowing my kids were happy and sleeping in their own beds. This allowed Ryan to get to stay with me and the baby without having to rush home or be preoccupied with the other kids. The experience was perfect and I hold you personally responsible for making that happen. Thanks mom!

Thanks to Nikki, (sorry I don't have a picture) for coming and seeing me through my first weekend with Ryan back to work and me back to work as well. I could not have done it without you. And thanks for making me so many great treats and wonderful meals. I could not have gained those 15 pounds without you! Thanks for going shopping with me even though you hate shopping. Thanks for loving my kids and for loving me despite all my "issues." You are awesome and a true life saver!

Thanks to Becky for coming to my rescue while Ryan was out of town for a week. Thanks for understanding that your sister is crazy and not judging me for it. Thanks for falling in love with my new baby girl and spoiling her rotten. Thanks for playing with Kutter and Payton and going with me on adventures. And most importantly, thanks for being there when I had no one else. You saved my life, yet again!

And last but certainly not least (I listed these people in chronological order), thanks to my other mom for coming to my aid on another one of Ryan's out of town trips. Your timing could not have been better especially with Payton breaking her arm. I nearly lost my mind with you here and can only imagine how loony toons I would have gotten had you not been here. Thanks for reading the same books over and over to my kids. Thanks for playing BINGO at least a thousand times. Thanks for doing flash cards with my kids and showing enthusiasm each time you read them like it was your first time looking at them. (By the way, does anyone know how long Pluto has been classified as a dwarf planet? Jeez, where have I been!!!) You are an amazing grandma and I was so happy and thankful you were here for us.

And most of all, thanks for raising such a wonderful son that I have the honor to be married to. He has got to be, hands down, the best person I know and he is a perfect husband and a perfect father. I know you are responsible for that so thank you so much!

You each showed up at times when I was all alone and had no one to turn to or lean on and you all let me lean on you. You are true life savers and I am so grateful to you! Loves to everyone!

Maggie's First Swim

2008-07-18T23:27:00.000-07:00

We had a ward swim party back on June 21st. I know, that is a whole month ago but time has gotten away from me. I am trying to make up for it now. The party was a lot of fun. The kids loved it, Maggie too! I was just happy to get a chance to show off her new swim wear thanks to Aunt Jen!

This first picture, Maggie's tummy seems to be busting out of the swim suit. She is trying to keep up with her cousin Wyatt.

These next couple of pictures are of Ryan and the kids enjoying the water. Kutter and Payton were fearless and Maggie loved the water. She never even complained about it. There were a few times that I looked over and Ryan had her all the way submerged. I think he forgot that he was holding her. She did not seem to mind, but I about had a heart attack. I guess she did live in water for 9 months ......or...... maybe she is part fish. I will have to check to see if she has webbed toes, or gills behind her ears. That would explain her lack of drowning. Ha ha ha!

Ryan was definitely a bunch of fun that night, we were so glad he was able to get off a few minutes early to make it to the pool. I am sure the lifeguard would have preferred he stay home. She kept getting after Ryan for throwing Kutter in the air. One time, she was trying to get his attention and he could not hear her. She ended up falling in the pool trying to get him to stop. Whoopsie!

Here is Mags just chillin after she got done with her dip in the pool. She ended up falling right to sleep. I ended up leaving her asleep in her car seat and went to eat watermelon. A little bit later, I was heading to go check on her when I noticed a man holding a baby near where she was sleeping. I thought to myself, "how funny, that baby is wrapped in the same towel that Maggie is!" It took me a minute to realize, duh, it was Maggie. He said she was crying and I looked like I was enjoying my watermelon so he was just calming her down. Whoopsie again!

Bling, Bling

2008-07-17T15:36:00.000-07:00

I finally convinced Payton to let me at her cast. I have been offering to paint flowers on it or something since she got the cast but she refused. One day a friend of mine was trying to get her to let her put rhinestones on it. Payton matter-of-factly turned to her and said..."no, my mom is going to paint it!" So that night, Ryan got home from work and she promptly ran to him and yelled..."Daddy! Mommy is going to paint my cast!" Before she could change her mind, I was up the stairs and digging through paint to find just the right color. I love how it turned out and she is quite fond of it as well.

Payton is scheduled to get her cast off on Aug 6th. She is adamant that she does not want the cast to come off. I tell her that she will grow too big and the cast will keep her arm from growing and she explains to me that she will just stop growing then. I ask her why she does not want it off and she cries...."I love it! It is cute!" I guess I may have done too good of job painting it.

Superman!

2008-07-16T19:18:00.000-07:00

Going.....
Going.....
Going.....
Gone!!!

Kutter and Payton just finished up swim lessons two days before Payton broke her arm. At the end of each lesson, the instructor let Kutter jump off the edge. I think he was actually trying to clear the whole pool when he jumped. There was one time that he landed on the stairs on the other side of the pool. Pretty much every time he jumped, he slapped his face on the water but he did not seem to mind.

You will notice that Payton is not in the pictures. That is because she refused to get in the pool. That was $40 well spent, don't you think? She usually loves the water but we could not get her to get in after the first day of lessons. I think she had a crush on the 19-year old hottie that was teaching the lessons. She was playing hard to get.

Note: Thanks Cheryl for allowing us all to invade your pool this summer. It was so nice to have the lessons so close to home. You're awesome!

My Princess Chose Blue?

2008-07-10T10:53:00.000-07:00

Through all of this broken arm business, I tried to look at the bright side. I thought to myself, "at least we can get a princessy pink cast and make the most of this." Boy was I mistaken. Payton had originally wanted a red cast but I deviously told her they were out of red because I knew pink would be her second choice. My evil plan was working until the nurse broke the news to me that they were all out of pink. I wanted to punch her in the face....how could they be out of pink. So I swallowed hard and thought "well purple is a pretty good princess color too!" So I talked Payton into purple and the casting began. She was holding really still and not crying a whole lot until they started wrapping her arm in purple.

Payton screamed."I don't want purple!"

The doctor said, "you don't want purple? How about blue instead?"

I looked at him with eyes that said "are you insane!"

Payton laughed and said "Ya, blue!"

I told the doctor "NO! Just put on the purple!"

He threw the purple away and said, "it is okay, we can do blue!"

No, it is not okay. It is not okay at all. I wanted purple! I wanted to cry at the thought of my little princess in a blue cast. I was heartbroken. : ) I later asked Payton why she picked blue and she said "because it is Kutter's favorite color!" Oh, now isn't that the cutest thing ever. I had to hold back tears on that one. So now, although I would have still loved the princessy pink, I am okay with the blue. I am, however, considering the suggestions given to have her blue cast bedazzled. A little bling couldn't hurt, right?

No More Monkeys.........

2008-07-08T15:04:00.001-07:00

Well it is official, we have the first broken bone ever in our family. And the winner is......Payton. Here are some things I have learned about broken arms that I did not know before. For example.... if your arm is broken, your legs don't work either. When Payton is in the house, she must be carried, everywhere. Next, even if you have been potty trained for nearly 2 years, when you break your arm, you cannot go potty in a big-girl potty. Also, even though you are left handed and you broke your right arm, you cannot, I repeat cannot, feed yourself. And...you are only able to drink from sippy cups. It is strange how a broken arm effects your ability to drink. Hmmm....strange. And finally, broken arms require all around you to bow down to the princess!!! If there is anyone out there that would like the opportunity to serve the princess, just let me know.

Saturday, July 5th, was an interesting day for us. We were all just hanging out while Ryan was at work. I was upstairs in my room feeding Maggie a bottle and Payton came up to join me. She was sitting on the end of the bed watching TV and did not realize how close to the edge she was. She started bouncing a little and off she went. Her feet were caught a bit in the foot board so it made her nearly land on her head. Instinct kicked in and she tried to catch herself resulting in a broken elbow.

I knew immediately something was wrong. She screamed like nothing I have ever heard before and she would not stop crying. No matter what I did over the next hour or so did not calm her down. I called Ryan and told him I was heading to the ER because I was certain Payton broke her arm. He just said.."OK." Leave it to Ryan to show a lot of emotion in a situation like this. (Love ya babe!) I knew I would get there ahead of Ryan and could not imagine being there with three kids. I called my friend Bridgette and she was so willing to take Kutter so I could focus more on Payton. I loaded the kids up and drove to Bridgette's house to drop off Kutter. Her husband came out to look at Payton's arm and I noticed Bridgette taking out Maggie. She insisted on keeping her too so I could just deal with Payton. I was hesitant to leave Bridgette with such a load but so grateful that I did not have to worry about my kids, they were being taken care of. It was such a good thing I did not have Maggie because I had to carry Payton into the ER and could not have done that and carry Maggie at the same time.

I was in the waiting room only 5 minutes or so and was taken back to have Payton examined. This hospital was great, they gave her stuffed animals and just took really great care of her. Ryan arrived a few minutes later. They took some x-rays and our fears were realized, Payton's elbow was broken. All the thoughts of my little princess in a cast in the heat of the summer and not able to get wet were so sad. I felt so bad for her. The hospital splinted her arm and we have an appointment tomorrow morning with an orthopedic specialist to get her permanent cast put on. Here is one of the x-rays of her arm..................

You can see on this x-ray the break. It is pretty obvious right above the elbow. Sweet!

Props to Bridgette and Jeff

2008-07-05T18:36:00.000-07:00

I only have a quick second but I would be a terrible person and friend if I did not quickly give props to two people that saved my day today. I will explain more about my day in a later post but have to thank the Jankowski's for truly being my heroes today. Bridgette and Jeff, you guys are awesome!! I don't know how to thank you enough for what you did for me today so I thought posting it on cyberspace for the whole world (or at least the few people who read my blog) to see would be a start. I was overwhelmed by your quick response and kindness to help me in a helpless situation. I don't know how I would have made it through the day without you. I was so glad you guys were there for me and so willing to drop whatever you had planned to come to our family's aid. You are a great example to me and showed true selflessness and pure kindness. We am so truly honored and incredibly lucky to have you guys as our friends. Thank you, thank you, thank you, infinity thank yous! You guys rock!!!

How Does He Know These Things?

2008-07-01T15:26:00.000-07:00

Okay, so Kutter has said a few priceless "kids say the darnedest things" this past week. The first happened about a week ago. We were driving down the road and Ryan and I were having a conversation about something or other. Payton was trying to talk to me and I asked her to wait until Ryan and I were done talking. Payton starts crying and Kutter steps in like he usually does to save the day. He says to her, "Payton, Payton!! Don't worry, mom and dad are really good listeners......(pause).......well mom is a really good listener so just wait until she is done!" I was laughing so hard I almost drove off the road. Ryan is a good listener, he is just still not used to being called "dad." I usually have to say "Ryan!" to jolt him into realizing the kids are talking to him.

This next instant happened just today and it was friggin hilarious!! Payton was walking around the house in her swimming suit and from a distance, it looked as though she had her hands in her swimming suit bottoms. Kutter saw this and screamed, "Payton!! That is gross! If you put your fingers in your bum and smell them, they stink real bad!" I looked at him and thought, "I wonder how he knows this?!" Aw, these are the proud moments of being a mother. He was just helping teach his sister one of life's key lessons. That's my boy, so responsible!

Hi, my name is Tifany and I am a blog addict!

2008-06-30T23:43:00.000-07:00

I know I cannot officially be classified as an addict when I have only had a blog for 1 full day but I do believe I am on the verge of addiction. Seriously, I have a problem. Admitting I have a problem is the first step, right?

Here are my symptoms and you can judge for yourselves:

I dreamt about my blog all night last night
I checked my blog about every 20 minutes or so
I spent the last 3 hours finding cool stuff on the internet to put on my blog
I accidentally called my children blogs today
I faked sick so I could stay home and nurture my blog
I yelled at my husband for trying to kiss me goodnight while I was working on my blog
I am not sure that I fed my kids today (that may have nothing to do with my blog)

I think it is official, I am an addict. I will start my 12 step program tomorrow as soon as I am done "tweaking" my blog.

Good night, blog, I will see you in my dreams!

P.S. I will post pictures of my other kids as soon as I find ones. The pics of Maggie, or baby blog as I referred to her today, are just the ones I had on my computer. Patience people, jeez!

You can now add blogger to my list of accomplishments!

2008-06-29T15:47:00.000-07:00

Okay, finally I am trying to start a blog. Everyone can thank Melanie for her "motivation" to help make this happen. We will see how well I do at it and see how long it lasts. If you want me to keep up on my blog, then you better read it!!! : ) Wish me luck!