Just in case you are missing me or are wondering where I've been...
here's the low down.

1). I have been working like crazy in my scrapbook room. I was able to accomplish a ton this week.


2). Busy cleaning up my house because of the lack of attention it received this week.(see #1). There are no photos, I am too embarrassed.

3). Getting these boys ready for their Pack meeting.

Carter is now a Cub Scout & gung ho. He is all about the handbook right now.
Tanner earned his Bear award last night & he is now a Webelo.

Very exciting times.
Poor Garrett wants to be a Scout so bad but is quite a few years away...this little shirt that I found for him @ the Scout store will have to do for now.

Can you believe I will have to endure the scouting program 4 times-eeeekkkkkk! Don't worry, I already feel sorry for myself :).

4). John & I got to spend 20 minutes with Tanner's class this morning. He was the mystery student this week - aka Star Student.

At the beginning of the year, each student had to make their mystery wheel. They had to create a wheel filled with clues about themselves & their classmates take turns guessing who it is. It was finally Tanner's turn this week. He has been waiting for this all year long. His teacher had a us come in & talk about Tanner & our Family. It was fun! We told a few stories. John shared how Tanner was a very busy little boy in his younger years, ALWAYS on the go. One Sunday @ church, John had taken him out into the foyer because he was being too loud. As soon as he put Tanner down, Tanner bolted. As he ran down the hall he happened to pass by the fire alarm. So, as you might have guessed, yep, he pulled it. I still don't know why anyone would put that alarm @ a 2 year olds height. Mind you, I was sitting in Sacrament meeting, trying to enjoy the silence when the alarm goes off. I turned & looked at my friend & said "I bet you a $100 that Tanner just pulled the alarm". Sure enough, it was Tanner :). Anyway, it was fun to chat with his class & share a little about the boy we love so much! We even brought in homemade brownies for the class & they were a hit.
p.s. did you notice his name on the board? TanMan, it still makes me giggle that his classmates & teacher call him that.

5). I am busy cleaning & organizing my scrapbook room...AGAIN! I am getting ready to head to the coast next week for our Scrapbook weekend..
I can't wait to see/scrapbook with these girls






In five days, this will be my view! I can't wait.


Have a great weekend! Hope it is filled with FUN-shine!

grandma & the weekend funnies

Amidst the sadness we felt while attending Grandmas funeral this past weekend, there were bright rays of sunshine that we felt & experienced through it all. Her service was wonderful. I think the day was exactly as she would have wanted it...to be surrounded by friends, family, fond memories, laughter & lots of yummy food! My Mom did a wonderful job with the Eulogy & described Grandma & her life to a "T".
My Grandma was always up for a a good party & that is what Saturday felt like, minus the tears. It really was a wonderful day in which we were able to remember & honor her & spend time with family & friends.

{the Davis children: Sommer, Brandon, Amber, Tyson & me}


(my family: Sommer, Brandon, Amber, Raimi,, Tyson, Mom & Dad}

These are the flowers that graced the top of Grandmas casket.

We were all able to place a few of these roses on her casket before she was laid to rest. It really was a wonderful day. Thanks again for all of the kind words, hugs, notes, & phone calls.

On to the weekend funnies. We had a little time to waste before the funeral. We ended up driving around town, showing the boys where we went to school & where we hung out, etc... We were stopped @ a light by a Home Depot. All of a sudden Garrett exclaimed "hey those guys are waiting to be picked for the football team". John & I turned around to see what he was referring to & there stood three different groups of labor workers, standing on the sidewalk in groups, waiting for work. We laughed so hard. In Garrett's eyes, men huddled together = a great football game waiting to be played.

Then on Sunday evening, I was going through the Sunday paper & Brody noticed Steve Martin on the cover of the Parade magazine. He immediately began to yell "Grandpa, Grandpa, Grandpa". I am not sure what is funnier...1). that he thinks Grandpa looks like Steve Martin or 2). that Steve Martin looks my Dad. I think it must be the hair color-sorry Dad :). Brody did not just stop with the yelling of Grandpa's name, he then began to give Grandpa, aka Steve Martin kisses. It was very funny & tender.

randomness - Raimi style

I have no business blogging right now :). I need to start & finish my thoughts/talk for my Grandma's funeral this Saturday. My Dad called on Tuesday & asked if I would like to speak, to represent the Grand kids. I will tell you right now that it is a good thing that I am speaking before my Mom. I know I will already be a mess but if I had to follow my Mom, it would be a disaster. She is a wonderful public speaker & usually brings me to tears @ some point during her talks. Here I am blogging, avoiding getting my thoughts in order. I am nervous to commit it to paper. I have so many things flying through my head, so many things I want to say. I want to say them in a way that everyone knows & feels how I feel. So...instead of making a commitment to paper right now, here is a glimpse at our week :).

- I was able to clean up my scrapbook room(another thing I did to avoid getting my thoughts down). Needed to get that room in order, a fresh space to begin creating.

- Have you seen the Green Tangerines blog lately? Exciting news at Green Tangerines. check it out HERE. Scroll one post down to read all about the exciting news.

- I found these cute shoes for Brody @ Old Navy. He got to play in them today!




- I am enjoying the rain. Kind of makes it feel more like January...imagine that!

- my good friend Stephanie showed up on my porch with this cute rice bag. She made it, using flannel polka dot fabric. I LOVE it! It is filled with rice & you place it in the microwave for a minute or so & then you can use it like a heating pad. I need to take a photo of it & add it to this post. Thanks Steph, you are the best.

- Kinda bummed that I am not at CHA with Kelly, Paula, & Brandi! Okay, I am REALLY bummed, not kind of... but REALLY bummed. I can't wait to hear all about it. In hind site, it is a blessing in disguise that I didn't go. Grandma's funeral is on the day I was to depart for LA. My pal Marie Osmond is even debuting her new craft collection(tote bags & organization pieces). Paris Hilton will be there too!!! Can you believe that girl is launching a line of scrapbook items with her name on them -blah!!!

- Here is Garrett predicting the weather for us.

Gotta love preschool & all of the fun things he gets to make.

- I need to hide this candy jar. Brody is constantly dragging the kitchen chairs over to the counter & picking out treats for himself. His favorite is 5 @ a time.


- Just found out that my Grandma Pung was in the hospital & nobody in our family received a phone call letting us know that she was there. Wishing her a speedy recovery. I will call you in the morning Gram!

- Okay, seriously! I did not vote for this guy for President but I could not feel anything but great pride to be an American as I watched TV on Tuesday!

Tanner came home from school sick on Inauguration day. We were able to watch a piece of history in the making right in our own family room. Again, so thankful & proud to be an American. Saying lots of prayers on his behalf.

- Loved having my hubby home today! We are getting ready to attend Grandma's viewing/funeral. I am so grateful for his constant support & help around the house & with the boys. It has made today a little better.

- We a had homemade Chicken Pot pie for dinner. It was the perfect rainy day kind of meal. It was so easy to make & very tasty.

CHICKEN POT PIE
Pie Crust (I used the Pillsbury pre made crust)
1 small bag of mixed vegetables(corn, peas, carrots)
2 chicken breasts, boiled & cut into chunks.
3 TBS. of butter
2-3 TBS. of flour
1 small can of chicken broth
salt & pepper to taste

Boil chicken the night before or morning of. Let cool & cut into bite size chunks.
Bake pie crust according to the pkg.. Let cool.
In a sauce pan, melt butter, add a pinch of salt & the flour. Stir together until it sticks together. Add a little bit of chicken broth, a little at a time & stir till flour butter/mixture is dissolved.You will end up using the entire can. I used my whisk to help dissolve the flour/butter consistency. I believe this is called making rue(sp?). Kind of like making a white sauce. Once your sauce is done, pour it into a bowl with your vegetables & chicken chunks. Stir together & bake according to your pie crust Instruction. Our pot pie took about 20 minutes to cook on 450 degrees. Enjoy!

- Look @ this sweet boy getting ready to say the blessing on the food.

He totally folds his arms, bows his head & says AMEN! So cute!

Okay, I have put it off long enough. I am off to get my thoughts down on paper. Maybe I will watch Grey's Anatomy first :). Send good vibes my way!
Have a happy Friday!

{1-18-09}

Here is todays photo for Project 365.

This is just a little glimpse @ our Sunday.
Four cute little boys feet, all ready to head out the door to church.
We were happy to have just found every ones shoes with out experiencing the "shoe hunt" this afternoon! I love how they are all leaning to the right (towards Tanner) except for Brody, who looks like he is going to bolt the other way.

A bonus picture because they are all so cute! Enjoy your day!

In Memory of my sweet Grandma Davis

This has been a hard day for me, as it has been for my entire family. I have been so lucky to have been blessed with many grandparents in my life. I have been lucky enough to know all 3 Grandmas & all 3 Grandpas. What a lucky girl -huh? What a sweet lady this woman was. She passed away early this morning after having gone through a triple by pass yesterday. As you can imagine, a million things are running through my mind & I wanted to get them down in one place so that I can look back on them & remember the wonderful things about her. Plus, I want the world to know what a great lady she was. Here are a few things I LOVE & will always remember about my Grandma Davis.
- she has a great smile & twinkly(is that a word?) eyes.

-she was a thoughtful note sender(snail mail-my favorite). She was one of the 1st people to send us a Congrats card when we moved into our 1st home, here in Roseville almost 6 yrs. ago.

- she never forgot your birthday. There was always a card in the mailbox the day before your birthday or on your actual birthday. She always included a sweet note & birthday cash to buy what YOU wanted.

- she always decorated your snail mail envelopes with cute stickers.

- we always spent Christmas Eve with her, & the entire Davis side of the family. Something we all looked forward to each year.

- she had the best sea shell collection. I remember "ooohhong & aaahhing" over her shells when we'd visit her.

- she recycled long before GOING GREEN was ever in/popular. She would have you give back all of the bows that she had put on your Christmas packages.

- she loved her cats. She adopted many of them from the Humane Society.

- she loved to receive hugs.

- her favorite colors were blues & purples-FUN!

- she loved to make intricate Christmas cards, lots of exacto knife work & they were always 3-D & pop outs. She was crafty with some help from a friend.

- she would wear her black leather gloves when driving her car around, her most recent car was a cute little PT cruiser. Gram cruised in style :).

-She got me to try her Garbanzo Bean salad. It was a Christmas Eve tradition. I can see the silver bowl she'd bring it in & I can even smell it as I type. I thought it would be yuck (mind you I was like 10)& it was actually good. I never did get that recipe. I hope it is written down somewhere.

-she knitted something wonderful for each of my boys when they were born. Tanner got a sweater, hat & booties, Carter & Garrett got blankets, & Brody got a hat that he wore the first few weeks of his life. Then his head got too big & we had to put it away-LOL.

- she always had earrings to match her outfits.

-she was a quiet, simple lady, with great faith.

I am grateful for the knowledge & belief that I have in forever families. I know that I will see Grandma again someday! I can only imagine the reunion she is enjoying with my Grandpa :). He has been gone for many years & what a joy it must be for her to see him again. As my sweet friend Wendy said, she has not be taken away, but given back. Thank you for the out pouring of love by the way of emails, FB messages, & phone calls.

Carter sure does love Brody! He is forever trying to get Brody to say new words. Tonight, while Brody was in his high chair finishing up his dinner, Carter said "Brody, can you say I LOVE You"? Right on cue, Brody held out his arms for a hug & and started making cute little kissing sounds & gave Carter a kiss


Talk about melt my heart. That my friends, is how Brody says "I LOVE YOU"! Lots of smooching going on at our house.

In the mood...

to scrapbook! Yes, you read that right. I am in the mood to scrapbook. I haven't scrapbooked my own stuff in a long time. With the Grandma calendars(times 2), Kit of the weeks for Green Tangerines & Monday night make n takes, I haven't been in the mood to scrapbook my own stuff. I have been working on a few Kit of the weeks this week & it has totally put me in the mood to work on my own stuff.
Here are two sneak peeks @ future Kit of the Weeks.

Don't hold me to it, but I think this one is this weeks kit.
It is a birthday layout with super fun colors, great for a boy or a girl.

You can pick up a new kit every Thursday. If you don't live in the area, you can call Green Tangerines @ 916-771-8010 & they will totally ship it to you! Our kits come with all the paper & embellishments, & you get a color picture of what the project should look like. You just add the photos after you whip out your cute little layout. It is a pretty sweet deal.

So what have you been in the mood for lately?

Our boys are back on the basketball court. They love the game. We attended 3 games today, all before noon. Two were @ 10 am, so we had to divide & conquer. 3 out of our 4 boys are playing ball this season. This is the 1st sport that Garrett is old enough to participate in. It is all he has talked about this week. He had his game bag packed on Thursday, water bottle filled & all. He tried on his basketball shoes multiple times each day. All the boys played awesome today. Tanner was a great defensive player. The coach said that Tanner surprised him on the court, he really hustled.
Carter was on fire & made lots of baskets, he even made a 3 pointer...too bad he traveled right before shooting it-LOL!




Garrett hustled up & down the court. He was just so stinkin' excited to be there. John said he did act a little reserved on the court...so not like him.




We are looking forward to a great season. We can't imagine life when all 4 of them can play.

This ones for Nick...

Brody says THANK YOU for passing on your ABC Elmo.
As you can see, he loves it & totes it all around the house.
He sure does love his "Melmo's". Thanks for making our boy happy!

Totally COOL!

I have been on a major cleaning binge. I am throwing things out, making room for everything. Brody & Garrett's room was my target last night. I threw out/gave away two big Hefty bags worth of Stuff(toys, clothes, garbage, etc...) not to mention the 150 books I put in storage bins for the garage. Their room was a nightmare. Brody literally dumps "everything " out of every single bin, swipes every book, off every shelf & empties ALL the clothes drawers. This is a daily occurrence & is wearing me out. Hence, the motivation to purge everything!

The whole point to this post is that while I was cleaning, I found some of Garrett's clothes that were buried under something or another. He was elated to find that I had re-discovered his ROCKSTAR shirt & Carter's old black track pants that are now his. Got love the whole 4 boys thing & hand me downs. Well, when I walked out of my room this morning, there stood Garrett in the outfit, mentioned above. He asked, "Mom, do I look totally cool"? He had his hands in his pockets & his cute little head tilted. It was so stinkin' funny & cute! And for the record, I do think you look totally cool G-man.

Look what I scored this week!

Safeway was having an awesome deal on cereal.
The cereal was on sale to start with and then if you bought 5 boxes, you got $5.00 off & then I had several $1.00 of coupons for each box of cereal that I purchased.
With 4 boys, we go through mass amounts of cereal.
My friend Laina posted about this super deal on her site. I got 10 boxes of cereal for $7.98.
Well I thought I was going to pay $7.98 for my 10 boxes of cereal (I thought this was a super deal).

{Another photo for my project 365}
Then the cashier noticed two more $1.00 off coupons on my cereal
boxes. Since the transaction had already been charged to my ATM card,
she handed me $2.00 cash back. I paid $5.98 cents for 10 boxes of cereal. This was an AWESOME deal. I paid about .58 cents a box.
I don't care if the boys want to have cereal for breakfast, lunch & dinner this week...they can have at it. If you haven't checked her site out, you should. I can't score all of the deals she posts but I try to hit the stores where I will save the most money. Happy shopping!

Proof...

that I live in a house filled with little boys.

I found this Nerf gun dart on the kitchen cupboard this morning.
This is the cereal cupbooard, above one of our counters.
I can't even begin to tell you the places I have found these darts-LOL!
I am jumping on the Project-365 band wagon that has taken the scrapbook world by storm. I am highlighting a photo a day, for a year. It should make for a great "look back" through our year. This photo is definitely going in the book.
Life with boys, never a dull moment!

Tanner's birthday party re-cap

Tanner had a wonderful day. Thanks for all of the birthday wishes. Tanner loves to read the comments.
He got to start celebrating his BIG day, a day early. Aunt Petra came down & took him to lunch. She started this tradition a few years back & the boys look forward to it every year. He got to pick the restaurant...any guesses? He chose Costa Vida, it is his absolute favorite right now.

{Tanner's lunch date, Aunt Petra}
I struggle each year to get his invites out & the party planned. I am so exhausted after Christmas...throwing another party is the last thing on my mind. We asked Tanner what he wanted to do for his party & he said "play soccer". So that's what we did. We invited a few friends, played two soccer games down @ the park, had pizza, enjoyed cupcakes, & opened presents. Let me just tell you. this party, with eight, 10year old boys was much better than the one I threw for him when he was in preschool at the age of 4. We had thirteen, 4 years old & it was INSANE! We enjoyed the 10 years old this year.



{a few rounds of dog piles-such a boy thing}


{opening presents}






One last photo. I LOVE this one. John was playing Goalie. It was hard to keep Brody off the field. I was afraid he was going to get smacked in the face with the soccer ball. That is Brody in the yellow jacket with his blankie in tow. LOVE IT!
Happy Birthday Tan-man!

Happy Birthday to you! Happy Birthday to you! Happy Birthday dear Tanner, Happy Birthday to you! Today is Tanner's 10th birthday.

This boy was due on Christmas day 10 years ago. He decided that he was very comfy right where he was. After playing the waiting game with this boy, my Dr. finally decided to induce me. After checking in @ the hospital @ 5:00am on the 2nd of January, Tanner made us wait another whole day to meet him. He finally graced us with his presence @ 12:32 am on Jan. 3rd. It was one of the happiest days of our lives. We thought we'd share 10 things we love about Tanner.

Mom's 10 things she loves about Tanner:
1). I love that Tanner loves to read, a boy after my own heart.
2). I love that Tanner re-named himself Tan-Man in this years 4th grade class. There is another Tanner K. (can you believe that?)& so his entire class & the teacher call him Tan-Man K. He even signs his papers this way.
3). I love that Tanner is quick to say "I LOVE you".
4). I love that Tanner is a loyal friend & a friend to all.
5). I love that Tanner is excited about life & you can tell!
6). I love that Tanner is a great big brother to his 3 younger brothers, he puts up with a lot.
7). I love that Tanner is a happy boy.
8). I love that Tanner is dedicated to his school work.
9). I love that Tanner likes to receive snail mail just as much as I do.
10).I love that Tanner is my oldest, one of my pride & joys in this world.

I love you Tan-Man & hope your 10th year of life is just as wonderful as you are.

Dads 10 things he loves about Tanner:
1). He is so excited for school everyday and is so thoughtful to his teacher and fellow classmates.
2). I love the way Tanner laughs so hard at movies and funny sayings. He is so happy and loves to laugh
3). Tanner's love for reading is amazing. He loves to read and often finds himself so excited about the book that he's reading that he can't put the book down.
4). Made the honor role at school. This was the first year he received letter grades and he stepped up to the plate.
5). I love the fact that Tanner bares his testimony often. It melts my hear to hear him at the pulpit.
6). Tanner loves his blanket that his Grandma Sandy made for him. It is green with a large T on it. He can't sleep without it.
7). I love his desire and competitiveness when playing any type of sports. I can't wait to see him play.
8). I love that Tanner is very strong willed. When he wants to do something he will push until he gets it. This was the first year we allowed him to ride his bike to school and he would ride in the rain if we let him.
9). I love Tanner's smile. He smiles often and I look forward to seeing him smile to brighten my day.
10). Tanner always kisses me goodnight. He won't go to bed until he finds me to give me a kiss.

We could go on & on but since he is just turning 10 today, that's all you get!
Happy birthday Tanner, we sure do love you.

Happy New Year

We hope you had a Happy & safe New Years Eve. We enjoyed a fun night @ home with all the boys, big & small. New Years Eve at our house is not complete without these babies.

You enjoy them on New years Eve, right before you kick off your New Year with the resolution to eat better. Here's the recipe.

Little Smokies
1 pkg. of Little Smokies
1 pkg. of bacon(we like the maple flavor)
1 c. packed brown sugar
1/2 c. of honey
1/2 c. butter
preheat oven to 325.

Cut your pkg. of bacon in half. Wrap a piece of bacon around each smokey. Secure with a toothpick. We always have a few somkies left over/not enough bacon. I throw them in with the others. Place smokies in a 9 X 13 pan. On the stove, melt brown sugar, honey, & butter. Bring it to a slight boil. Pour over smokies & place in oven & bake @ 325 degrees for 1 hour. These are delish. Enjoy!

We had fun playing a few games of CandyLand,
a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCIco_EsrhM1BhlYw-0Tu1WV1lrdsbVz51HVRebbGR73uxfMpDzoDdn9xLyMNdkV1LXoo76u4mz54cG6FvPz0QO1b-9SlOJoOOPX-uquhOJulQR5jVi8jWoGPEQJCOPuRQj-W-hGFHtBI/s1600-h/New+Years+Eve+Dec.+31st+20082009+020.JPG">drinking Hot Cocoa, eating Little Smokies & other yummy treats. At 10 pm we turned on The Rockin' New Years Eve show with Dick Clark & Ryan Seacrest. It would not be New Years w/out them. At about 11 pm, this is what was going on



I thought they were all going to wimp out on me & fall asleep. I think John did. I heard him snore. Carter jumped up & started saying "I'm going to make it. I'm going to make it". After that, he was pretty amped to ring in the New Year. We all made it to midnight(Brody & Garrett went to bed @ their normal times).


We watched the ball drop & then we headed outside. We found some of the neighbor girls running up & down the street in their swim suits...do you know how cold it was last night??? Crazy girls. Some of the neighbor boys were running up & down the street, banging their pots & pans. We did our little poppers


& enjoyed a few fireworks that another neighbor set off. It was a festive way to kick off our 2009. Wishing you & yours a Happy New year!
p.s. I just finished putting the last of our Christmas decorations away..WAHOOO! We are free of Christmas decorations, inside & out!