Matthews Birthday Party

We celebrated Matthews birthday on the 4th. The kids had a great time. We Bar-B-Qued and had potato salad, macaroni salad and chips and salsa. Everything was great. We did have some good thunderstorms though. They did clear up for some swimming and fireworks.

geez, what to do with her

I walked into the bedroom because it sounded like they are having way to much fun and there were a bunch of stuffed animals on the ground. I totally busted my butt in there with the toys and dolls and stuffed animals. I said," come on you guys, thats not fare" Kaitlen says (matter of factly) " lifes not fare" i said "o' really" her- "nope, it really isn't"
Where does she come up with this stuff?

Going on a trip, in our favorite rocketship

OK, if you have kids you know were that title came from.
Since moving here, there are a couple fast food places that we actually miss. Actually there are alot of restuarants in Ca that they just don't have anything compairable here. So back to the fast food places since they are chains and reach almost to Arkansas. The two I'm talking about are Jack in the Box and Weinerschnitzel. We use to have Weinerschnitzel after every football game, yep, it was a little overkill but i could definitly go for some now and JITB monster tacos.... yum.... It just so happens that both of these place are located in Ok. One in Ok city and the other in Ada. I've been wanting to go back to OK City for a while now to go back to the memorial. We've been twice, but still havn't made it to the museum. It's quit an emotional place. The first time we went was one our way to Ar. for a vacation and we brought one of Bens LASD patches to put on the fence. I pinned it up next to a tiny toddler shoe, her shoe was white and her name was written on the side of it but faded from the sun. I'd like to go see her shoe again, hopefully her mom or dad has rewrittened her name so I know who she is. So i imagine this summer we will make a trip to OKC. I know i have taken a pic of the shoe, but this was way before we had digital and I'd have to dig the picture up. I know it's not in an album. I'll see if i can find it.

Matthew and Christians Birthday invite

We went with the football theme. The kids should have a blast. We are heading out of town for this. So it'll be like a mini vacation and birthday party.

Bens Ghosts

I doubt any of you know that Ben sees ghosts. He actually sees them alot. Well, we were just mentioning it's been a while since he has seen any. *jinx* so he sees one tonight. I was looking up Mr noodle on the internet and he says "we just had a visitor" i looked at him and he pointed into the livingroom. I said oh, really (no big deal, it's about time right?) well ben says he's there again. the next thing i see Ben doing is holding his hand in a way to block his own veiw from the living room. I said what are you doing? He says well it making me sick to see him. I guess they were both kinda *peeking* in on each other. lol. I told Ben to tell it to go away, to leave. It doesnt know any better. I guess he didnt want to talk to it. But it's gone. There was no need for me to get up and look, because i wasn't going to beable to see it. One time i was walking behind Ben into the living room Ben shouts did you see that? and had goose bumps and hair on end, an orb had come straight at him and i totally didnt see it. Once he saw a littel girl in our room. there has been alot more stuff here, but he also saw stuff in Ca. Maybe one day I'll post most of his sightings.

random pics

Cody was the catcher, he couldn't wait to be the catcher only to find out it is extremely hot with all that gear on.

Kaitlen and Matthew using someones skateboard

Matthew not wanting to take a picture

Kaitlen and Emily at Emilys birthday party, went to Precious Moments

Fountain at Precious Moments

MAtthew playing with his balloon

Basketball camp

Cody had basketball camp and really enjoyed it. Though he'll have wrestling during basketball season so i don't know how that'll work.

football camp

This is a couple pictures of Cody at football camp. They teach them the basics of football. It was pretty much all drills and then on the last day they had a kinda scrimage. Cody is wearing his cousins jersey. I actually miss La Mirada Football.

There was a down pour on the first day of camp and the boys went to the gym to finish up practice, but Kaitlen danced in the rain.

Won tickets to...

The great passion play, bible museum and sacred art center in Eureka springs. It's free admission for 2, wonder if kids are free or do we bring auntie and uncle with us and they can babysit while Ben and I spent time together. Plus we won free admission for a family of 4 to the national park aquarium in Hot Springs. oh, can't forget we also got free kids admission to the Arkansas air museum. Sounds like we are going to have a fun summer. Bens work put on an event they do every year called Discovering Safety. Well you enter your name in a drawing and with as many people that are in our family we ended up with a couple of the prizes. I think he actually drew more of our names because ben said he laughed and threw the ticket back in and drew someone else.

Brandon pitching

Here's Brandon pitching today!!!

Cody's Kindergarten graduation

I forgot to post cody's graduation pictures. We thought he was going to have a gown too, but thats ok. After the graduation they had a pizza party in his class. Kaitlen and Matthew love to participate in his classroom activities. Kaitlen actually fits in really well with the kids and is the same hight as one of the girls. I think she'll be really excited about going to K when that time comes.

House struck by lightening

Well first thing this morning i got online to check my email and cody had started playing his xbox360 and there was thunder rolling but i didnt think nothing of it, just figured the lightening was shooting from cloud to cloud. Well there is this loud noise and the house gets hit by lightening and huge static shock comes through the computer and gets me while at the same time it goes through codys video system and through the controller and shocks his hand. All this happens at the same time, the noise, the strike, and it going through the computer and game. it also went throught the big tv. even though cody was playing his game he had the cord all the way stretched to were he was in front of the tv, so he could have gotten some from the tv too. i couldnt tell you were i was struck at, i was so worried about cody and when he was ok i though well forsure the house is on fire. it wasnt :o) but our phones were down. so i went to the car and can i say yeah for having onstar!!!! i called ben through onstar and told him what happened and ofcourse i start crying since the kids were in the house and couldnt see me. my nerves were shot for the rest of the day especially when i would think about how bad it could have been. i couldnt tell you how many times our house has been hit by lightening, you'd think it would prefer the enormouse rod instead of our house........ then this afternoon was my f/u appt with my dr for the breast ultrasound and he turned it into an OB appt............... I'll post the appt over in the 'my pregnancy' blog

Breast ultrasound

I had my breast ultra sound today. Let me just say it was amazing to see the inside of my breast on ultrasound. After the tech did the ultrasound she went and showed the pictures to the radiologist and said that he'd probably come in and he did. he went over the areas that i had told him that were bothering me and it turns out that the pain in my axillary is a lymphnode, But the lymphnode measures and looks very normal. and there is nothing that shows a reason for the breast pain and he had said that 99% of the time there is no known reason for breast pain and that if he had a dollar everytime he had a patient with unexplained breast pain that he'd be living at the fishing hole. He's says the next step is up to my Dr but that he would just recommend having follow ups on the lymphnode to make sure it doesnt inlarge and if it does then to do a biopsy, but he says nothing looks alarming or like any cancer. So good news all around. The tech did say that horomones can cause breast pain. So going from one pg to breast feeding to another pg and breast feeding to another pg (and will breast feed) and no break in between, i imagine that could be behind some of this. I F/U with my Dr on the 5th

Bought a Suburban

We didn't want to wait around and have something else go wrong with the Expidition so Ben talked me into going and buying a new Suburban. I don't really like the '07 body style but they don't have anymore '06's. Which is crazy because we are only in May. It turns out that the dealerships knew that Chevy was going to release the '07's early because of the new body styles and only ordered a few of the '06's

Happy Memorial Day

I hope everyone enjoys Memorial Day and don't forget those who have served and are serving for us.

breast pain update

I never really directly posted about this but it's mentioned in my weaning Matthew post. Well the pain is still there and matthew has been weaned for a while and though the breast feeding aggrivated the pain it wasn't the cause of it. The plan with the Dr had always been to have a mammo, well they won't give me a mammo because i'm pg. He talked with the breast specialist up in our area and they schedualed an ultrasound that'll be done on the 1st of June and if that doesn't show anything then they'll do an MRI.

Cody's field trip

The kindergarten classes at Codys school went to the Police Dept, Fire Dept and to the childrens library. After that they went to a very big park. I decided to skip the rest of the field trip because Matthew wasn't going to make it the whole way. The first part of the feild trip was all walking. We walked from the school to all these places and then after the library the kids hopped on a bus and off they went to the park. I decided to take the kids to the grocery store and get some grapes and then head over to the local park. they had a blast and then we walked all the way back to the school. I swear it was all up hill and pushing 70#'s of kids didnt help. lol. I'll post pics of the two youngest at the park, but the ones of the field trip i'll have to edit the other school kids out because i don't have anyones permission to show their children on the internet.






Matthew holding on for dear life.















Kitty Kat swinging like a monkey











Kaitlen sitting with the girls at the FD

Cody with his class in orange shirts

The class and Kaitlen next to the fire truck.

At the PD in the court room

Our Mothers Day weekend

That Saturday afternoon we headed out to go to Mountain Veiw. Along the roadside about an hour or so into the trip we saw where these ladies had made flower arrangments that go on top of the headstones which was perfect because we needed to get a new one for Betty. The ones at Walmart are so tiny. So we stopped and picked out a very pretty one. We got to the hotel at about 7 and I have that little kitten im raising with us and right on the office window it says No Cats. When we went into and left the room we would tuck her in the middle of Thomas' clothes so no one could hear her meow and when i fed her i ran the water so noone could here her. She was only 3 weeks old and lived in her inccubator so not that she was go to stir up any allergies. we went out to dinner and then I got to take my bath with the bath salts that Cody had given me for Mothers Day from school. After my bath Ben and the kids gave me my flowers and cards with there signatures on them :o) the next day on Mothers Day we ate at the only place open, the same place we had dinner. they had a pretty good breakfast buffet. After that we headed out to the cemetary. Ben told kaitlen we were going to the cemetary to see Nana. She got all excited jumping up and down, where going to see nana. This trip was the first time we've gone without other family members with us. We put the flowers on the headstone and spent a little time there. When we left Kaitlen said bye Nana. I was ahead of Ben and he started throwing up and dry heaving on the way back to the car. He tried to blame it on breakfast but we all ate the same stuff. What do you say to your husband who is not only emotional upset but physical sick from the loss of his mother?....... nothing.

Our first ultrasound

Here is baby V. We had our first ultrasound today. The Dr. asked why i was having the ultrasound and the funny thing, I really didnt know. So we figured it was to confirm my due date. Turns out I was in between using the 1st trimester measurments and the 2nd trimester measurments, but came up with 13.3 weeks pregnant. which is exactly what i have me at. The Dr. also went off the day i concieved and it matched up. Other than that there really wasn't much more he could do. It was neat though since he had two students in there he was going over everything in detail, so i got to hear stuff you normally don't get to hear during the ultrasound.The heart beat looked good and s/he has two arms, two legs, two hands and two feet. (yea!) after the ultrasound I had a Dr's appt, but it wasnt my normal Dr. since the ultrasound was within 2 weeks of the duedate he came up with, he wanted to go with the Nov 9th date. There is no way that is correct or we wouldn't be pregnant. So i'll talk to my Dr. at the next appt. Oh the Dr that did my ultrasound said since i was so early and that he couldn't get all the information that he needed that he wouldn't charge for this one and wanted to see me back in 6 weeks for another ultrasound. Crossing my fingers that we can find out. :o)

ETA: I made a poll and you can go vote for a boy or a girl, vote carefully i think you can only vote once and I don't think you can change it. have fun. http://snappoll.com/poll/97707.php

Cody's first T-ball game

The pictures are not in order but thats ok

Cody up to bat

Cody throws the ball and gets an out.

Catches the ball to throw an out

Sitting in the dug out before the game begins

Cody before heading out for his first game

Cody And Daddy

Gonna Be A Bear

In this life I'm a woman. In my next life I'd like to come back as a bear. When your a bear, you get to hibernate. You do nothing but sleep for six months. I could deal with that.

Before you hibernate, your suppose to eat yourself stupid. I could deal with that too.

When your a girl bear, you birth your children(who are the size of walnuts) while you are sleeping and wake to partially grown, cute, cuddly cubs. I could definitly deal with that.

If your a mama bear everyone knows that you mean buisness. you swat anyone that bothers your cubs. If your cubs get out of line, you swat them too. I could deal with that.

If your a bear, your mate EXPECTS you to wake up growling. He EXPECTS that you will have hairy legs and excess body fat.

Yep, gonna be a bear.

We got our car back

Ben got up really early on Saturday to go to Searcy to get our car. It looks as if the oil pump(s)?went out on it causing the engine to go. Even some more great news. They said our air conditioning is going out and would be 1,300 to fix. They said we might make it through summer. We are going to take our chances and not do anything and hopefully it'll make it until we trade it in in Dec...... if you see use driving with the windows down then you know it didnt make it, lol.

Rain Rain Go Away

Cody has a baseball game. Uggg, His first T-ball game looks like it's going to be rained out. I just went out to the car to get the phone tree list. I'm waiting for my call to come so I can call the next person on the list.

9 years ago today

Ben and I met. Tina and I went out dancing at the Cowboy Boogie and Ben asked me to dance. I know if you scroll down I had posted pictures before from that night. We all went out to breakfast. Im sure Tina and I ordered a scram slam with ranch and syrup. Our first official date was that Tuesday his RDO, we went to dinner at my favorite mexican resturaunt, Don jose's. We've been together ever since..... got married 8 1/2 months after we met. So 9 yrs- 5 kids, 2 houses, 2 trucks, 2 states, 2 law enforcment departments.

Our CrAzY weekend

On Thursday I got everything packed and ready to go for the weekend. Ben's brother was getting married. It was 2:55 and i had to be at the school to get cody at 3:05. it takes me 10 minutes to get there. I make it there on time and then we get thomas and head over to Bens work to pick him up. We then go to the University chicken farm to pick up 100 #'s of frozen chicken. Not just frozen but -20 degrees frozen. definitly dont need ice in the coolers. We arrive in RoseBud Ar. at about 8:30 and start cutting up ginger and garlic to make the teriyaki chicken. since the chicken is so frozen we put it in bags and pour in the marinade and seasoning and put the bags in the bathtub so the chicken can thaw. we all thought by 3am or so it could go into the fridge. we went to the hotel and the next day when we met matt at the church we found out that by morning the chicken had only defrosted enough to pull apart from each other. so he added hot water to the tub. we were going to cook the chicken that night in the pig roaster. so we had time. But now it was time to go pick up the pig. so we are following behind Matt heading to pangburn?? and our Expidition starts to act funny and stalls. Ben pulled into a driveway and try's to start it and it does nothing. his brother comes over and trys to figure it out. the longer we sit the more the car trys to start and when it cools down enough it starts. yea!!- kinda- matt and thomas go on to get the pig and we head back toward town. we pull over about evey two miles so it doesn't over heat (thinking that was the only problem) but everytime we restart the car it sounds horrible and getting worse. we finally make it to the Searcy Ford dealership at 2:30 on a friday. two technitians stood there when Ben started the car and told us the grim news that our engine had blown?!?!?!?! they were surprised that there was oil in the car, we just changed it 3 weeks ago. The oil wasn't a problem. so our 2 choices were 1) pay 5,500 for a new motor or 2) buy a new car off the lot. We had been talking about gettting a new car, but i didn't want to get one under those conditions and besides we werent planning on going with Ford again. We are actually thinking of a Chevy Suburban, Jeep Commander or a H3( we've had nothing but problems with the Expidition, the transmission went out on it when we only had it for 9 months, the fuel pump has gone out on it twice plus a couple other things) so our car will be getting worked on this week and we will be picking it up on Friday, Right now we are using a rental minivan. Im just really not a minivan mom, but the cool part is the sliding doors open at the press of a button..... now off to the wedding rehearsal.... the kids did a great job and afterward there was an ice cream party. I can't eat sweets but the kids enjoyed it. By then it was late and i was worn out so ben dropped me and the kids off at the hotel while he went to Matts to start the chicken in the pig roaster. At the hotel Matthew screamed for about 2 1/2 hours because he was over tired and couldnt fall alseep. I am surprised that no one was banging on my door, it was bad. I finally found cartoons on and he sat for a hour before falling asleep. i literally turn the TV of and turn over and Ben walks in, it's 12am. the chicken wasnt done cooking but matt and thomas are going to finish it up, come to find out it was 1:30 am before they get done. Now it's Saturday the Wedding day!!!! It is pouring down rain (hawaiian wedding, suppose to eat out in the pavillion) Ben heads to the church to start the pig in the pig roaster, i get the kids and me ready. Ben comes and gets us at noon and we wait around, help here and there they go ahead and get the pictures out of the way and finally the kids line up to get ready to throw flowers, there is something like 13 kids in the wedding. It was so cute to see them all. Then Judith was walked down the isle and met up with Matt and the Pastor said a prayer and then Matt and Judith each said a prayer and they recited there vows and lit their unity candle and Matt kissed his Bride!!!!!!!! there were married. We all ate, the food was wonderful. the cake was beautiful. When the bride and Groom headed out everyone blew bubbles and off they went. We got into the car and as we were pulling out of the church driveway kaitlen says, I miss Nana.......

Easter pics

The joy of a daughter

who knows her anatomy, lol. Ben took the kids to wal-mart to get some groceries and Kaitlen turn to Ben and said,"do you see my boobies?" ( i guess there was a lady standing near by that could hear this conversation)- Ben said no :os.. Kaitlen then says "do you see my nipples?"....... i would have loved to snap a pic of Ben at that moment :o)

cut and color

I went last night to the Regis salon to get the gray out of my hair and the layers put back in. It was interesting how he did the layers. He would take a section of my hair, twist it and then hold the scissors at an angle and cut. After the color and the cut he put my hair in rollers an put me under the dryer. When he took the curlers out and fluffed and sprayed it, it looked very cute!!!!!! but all that is to much work for me so today it was the same ol' curly hair. Oh i forgot, he did the dark brown, but also surprised me by adding a highlight so were the sun hits it it would shine lighter. It turned out good.

Thomas was baptized

On Sunday Thomas and about 6 other youth from Church were Baptized. It was a very nice ceremony and afterward the church had a potluck. The food was great. It's funny because Thomas was baptized on the same day as Cody just 6 years later, April 9th 2000/2006. I dont have pictures because my camera is broken, but the church did take pictures so I'll post those when I get them.

A hard day for Ben

Saturday was a tough day for Ben. He and his 3 brothers had to go clean out their moms house. It sold and they had to divide everything up between the 4 of them. Not only that but that would be the last time he'd walk in her house. He said her bottle of water was still beside her bed and one still in the living room next to her chair. Its where we've had our last two Christmas's and Thanksgivings. Where Ben made her her last two birthday dinners, Prime rib. Where the kids would take there bubble baths and eat Oreo cookies. Were little miss Kaitlen and mathew would jump off the coffee table with their Nana saying," get ready, get set, jump!" how many grandparents would let there grandkids do that. If it brought joy to the kids then it brought joy to her. The kids and i couldnt be there with him and i feel bad we werent there to support him. One of the things ben brought home was her bed with her bedding. we set it up in Codys room and it'll be Cody's bed. I was working and Ben brought the sheets over and had me smell them and they still smelled like her. Ben and Cody slept in the bed that night. we will have to wash the sheets and then we wont have that smell ever again. It was very comforting to smell that. ETA: I forgot about the iron that Ben also brought home. Back in Ca. i didnt have an iron to iron bens uniforms so i borrowed Betty's which was also her moms iron. I'm guessing she got after her mom passed. So i was always extra careful with it. Well, i never returned it to her untill we moved from Ca. to Ar. So when saw I had the iron back. I immediatly thought I got to call betty and tell her HA HA i got your iron again ....................................... let me just say that friggin sucked!!! i actually forgot she passed away. It wasnt the first time i had forgotten, but it's such a shock in that split second of realising it. Ben would call her several times a day and we always called her and told her when the kids did something funny or said something funny or after each dr's appt. It's hard to change your habits.

Started a pregnancy blog!!

I wanted to keep the family happenings seperate from my pregnancy since towards the end of the pg it can consume most of the posts and crowd out the other kids. So i started a pregnancy blog. there is a link to it in my Links in the sidebar.