happy earth day! Look @ this cute little art project that Garrett brought home from preschool. I asked Garrett what earth day meant to him & he said "picking up all the trash that we see on the ground". I love it....what a great way to be kind to our planet earth. I love that my boys are learning how to be kind to our planet. We pick up trash, we recycle, we turn off the lights when we aren't using them to save energy. If we all do our part, it WILL make a difference. I was @ Wal*mart today & I had my favorite checker(now you know how often I shop @ Wal*Mart...I have a favorite checker). She is this middle aged Russian lady. Very nice & she loves Brody. I remembered to bring my canvas tote bags with me...remember, I am trying to do my part. My little Russian friend looked @ me & said "when did you get bags? You have never had them before!" I told her that I was just happy that I had remembered to actually bring them. I could tell she wasn't happy about it(I think it takes them extra time to load them on to their little spinner thing -whatever!). I just smiled @ her & told her I was doing my part.
Just a note to all of you local blog readers,Carter's select soccer team is doing their part too! They are fundraising for their 2009 season & are collecting plastic/glass bottles & cans to recycle. If you'd like to help out & get rid of your cans/plastics, let me know. John & Carter will be making their rounds to pick them up. Thanks!
Happy Earth Day!

It has been a few days since my last post. I am trying so hard to stay caught up on my bloggin'. This seriously has become my journal, my spot to record the ups, downs & in betweens of our family. I am really enjoying the whole blog thing :-). I still have my trusty, black leather bound journal that houses deeper thoughts & feelings, things that are too personal to post on the family blog. We have had another great week. Here are a few highlights:

It is 90 degrees outside again. Hello, where did our spring go? The only sign of Spring I am seeing today is the Mama bird who has returned to our tree. You may have remembered my post from last Spring, we enjoyed the MAMA bird & her babies for a few weeks. Well, she is back & is perched pretty high up in her nest. I am guessing that we will see some babies any day now. It is pretty exciting.

































I headed to San Fransisco on Saturday to see WICKED @ the Orpheum theatre. I went with a couple of friends & had the best time. The show was AMAZING! The cast was phenomenal, the music was fantastic & it was funny! I think I like it better than the original Wizrd of Oz. I hope to see it again before it leaves San Francisco. If you have not seen it, run & get your tickets NOW! You will not regret it.

I have been busy creating in my scrapbook room! During this process, I thought it would be fun to rearrange my room. It is a total wreck right now. I am trying to get rid of things or find homes for them. I will totally admit it, half the fun of scrapbooking for me is the shopping. I love paper, embellishments, ribbon, albums, etc...I am stating it right here, right now...I, Raimi will not purchase another piece of pattern paper no matter how cute or fun it is unless I am going to use it right then & there on a specific project. I will not buy it just because it is cute or the latest & greatest find in the scrapbook world at the moment. I need to use what I have. I could totally wallpaper the inside(and maybe the outside) of my home with the collection of pattern paper I have sitting in my scrapbook room. Amongst the mess of reorganization, I was able to create my project (2 little layouts) for National Scrapbook Weekend @ Green Tangerines. NSW is the first weekend in May. It really is a National day set aside for the scrapbookers of the world & what a party it is. Ladies come & scrap Fri.-Sun.. Everyone has a SUPER time. I am teaching that Saturday & I can't wait. We alwasy have a super group of ladies. I was also able to create last weeks Kit of the Week, birthday style. Again, this kit is available till they are sold out. I used Dasiy D's pattern paper, rub on's, & punch out die cuts for the title. Everything you see on the layout is included in the kit. All you have to do is create the layout by following the sample picture(included in the kit) & then plug your own photos in. I like to call it scrapbooking made easy.























I can't believe Brody's first birthday was almost a whole year ago. Time really does fly when you are having FUN!
































We are loving park days. We are trying to squeeze in as many as we can before the HOT summer weather is here to stay. Garrett & Brody had so much fun down @ our neighborhood park. I love that they love to run around & play together.





















I have been trying to get some reading in every day. It usually happens in bed right before I fall asleep. So depending on the day & how tired/not tired I am, determines how much I read. I really do love to read, I just wish I had more time in my day to do so. I always feel like I should be cleaning or doing laundry, not sitting on my tush reading a book. I think I just need to readjust my mind set :-)!

I'm still clipping my coupons. Today I scored 2 bottles of Dawn dish soap, 3 pkgs. of floss, 1 deodorant, & 1 Skintimate shaving cream for oh...about .38 cents. Woot-Woot! Oh, the power of coupons & register rewards @ Walgreens makes me happy -LOL.

I hope everyone is having a great week. As for my local friends, I hope you are staying cool. I finally caved & turned the AC on & up full blast.

garrett funnies & family tradtions

The boys headed back to school this week...happy days for everyone!
Each night at the dinner table, we share our happy & sads from our day. This is something my parents started way back when with my family when we were all little. Now it is a tradition we have carried on with, with our own little family. This is how it works, we go around the table & each family member gets a turn to share what made them happy/sad that day. With such crazy, busy lives, this really gives us a chance to check in with each of our children to see what was important to them that day. Carter came home on Monday & shared with us how excited his classmates were to see him after being out sick the entire week before Spring Break. He said that made him feel really happy because everyone was giving him hugs & telling him that he was missed. Then he went on to tell us that he was still really sad about missing the ONE & only field trip his class would take this school year. He was also sad that he missed the cultural pot luck day in the classroom. Each child was asked to make & bring something to share with the class that represented their heritage. Carter went on to tell us that he missed Daniel's Russian food. He missed Emmanuel's egg rolls & had he been there, he would have shared something German. Well, Garrett had to pipe in & give his two cents. He said "well ya Carter, I would have brought my North Carolina food". John & I were laughing so hard. This boy has never even been to North Carolina. Can you tell that our family just recently enjoyed/experienced March Madness, North Carolina style - LOL? North Carolina is John's favorite basketball team & now it is Garrett's favorite team too!
GOOOOOO Tar Heels!

One more Garrett funny. I was getting all of the ingredients out to make John's birthday cake this week & Garrett asked if he could help. I said sure & told him to wash his hands. He pulls the chair over to the counter & points to me & says " I need to wear one of those". He was pointing to my apron, of course & then proceeded to get one of his own. I helped him put in on & told him I needed to get a picture. After I snapped the picture he said, "Don't put that on your blog Mom". With out further ado, because he looked so cute, here was his apron of choice for cake baking.






























I love this little boy so much & the laughter he brings to me on a daily basis with his quick whit & sense of humor.

23 months & counting...

the days till his 2nd birthday! Brody is almost two years old, can you believe it? The last 23 months have been the fastest moving months/years of my life. Brody is getting so big & is becoming Mr. independent. Here are a few of his favorite things @ 23 months:

- he can mimic any word you ask him too! A few of our favorites are "OOOHHHH", "STINKY", "MELMO", "TAN-MAN", "NOOOOOO", "MATER"

- as soon as he sees the camera, he says "CHEESE" & gives you a silly smile(see photo above)

- he is really starting to talk & express himself through his words. His latest is p-pod when referring to an i-pod. I didn't even know he knew what an ipod was till he asked for it one day! This boy is high tech..

- he is still a great eater. He ate an entire Chicken fajita (the onions, red peppers, & zucchini included) all by him self last night. He devours Go-Gurts, P&J sandwiches, bananas, cheese, tacos, oranges.

- he is so into baseball right now. Loves to swing the bat, pretends to run the bases & loves when we yell "You're safe" as he slides into home base.

- he is still a mover & a shaker...he loves to bop to the music.

- he is trying to learn how to dress himself. I found him trying to put Garrett's CARS underwear on over his pants the other day. It was pretty funny.

- it takes him forever to go to sleep, for both his naps & bedtime. It is so frustrating but this mama is not ready for him to give up the naps just yet.

- he loves to color. You should see my dresser & a few walls in our home-aaaghhhhh!

- he loves nursery & his friends...makes church so much easier for us.

- he loves to be outside & simply says "outside" all day long.

- he does not like to wear his shoes. He will kick them off as soon as we put him in the car or his stroller.

-he gives the best smooches & makes the cutest kissing sounds while doing so.

- Elmo is still his favorite. We read lots of Elmo books, play with lots of Elmo toys, & giggle while doing so.

- he can dribble to soccer Ball really well & loves to score goals!

- He is a Daddy's boy for sure. As soon as he wakes up, he runs into our room to find Dad. He is not happy M-F when Dad has already left for work.

- still LOVES his "baby", aka blanket. We now have two "babies". The blanket has totally lost the seam around the edges & fell apart, thus creating two "babies".

We love this little boy so much! He is a constant source of joy, love, happiness & smiles for all of us. Looking forward to this last month before he officially turns two!

happy birthday to YOU

{photo taken last year on his 40th birthday}

Wishing John boy a very special Happy Birthday!
We are so thankful for his life. We hope he knows
that he is the world to us & we would be so lost
without him.


Forty ONE-derful things we love about our 41 year old
1. He always tries to make everyone happy. - Raimi
2. Dad always plays with us. -Tanner
3. He tucks us in @ night. - Carter
4. He plays baseball with me. -Garrett
5. I know he loves me. -Carter
6. He can fix just about anything, even if he has to be creative to do so - Raimi
7. He will lay down with me @ night if I am having a hard time falling asleep - Brody
8. He is really good @ math. -Tanner
9. He gives me a piggy back ride to bed each night. - Garrett
10. He tells me that he loves me everyday. - Raimi
11. He will let me call him @ work just to say "Hello" over & over again. - Brody
12. He practices my pitching with me. - Carter
13. He has gorgeous blue eyes. - Raimi
14. He taught me how to "Rock out" to good music. - Tanner
15. He will keep my side of the bed warm for me in the winter months when I stay up later than him. -Raimi
16. He will stop what he is doing to read me books when I say "couch, couch" - Brody
17. He works super hard so I can be a SAHM. -Raimi
18. He gives us the best haircuts. -Tanner & Carter
19. He uses his vacation days from work to spend time with our family. -Raimi
20. He taught me how to ride a quad & I love to ride with him. - Carter
21. He takes me for rides up & down the street on his quad. - Garrett
22. He is a great basketball player. - Tanner
23. I love that he went to see Twilight with me even though it may not have been on his list to see. -Raimi
24. He takes me to the park. - Garrett
25. He makes me happy & wants to see us all smile. - Raimi
26. He honors his Priesthood. - Raimi
27. I love that he wears shorts in the winter too like me. - Tanner
28. He was able to baptize me as a member of the church. Carter
29. He gives great massages. - Raimi
30. He will ride bikes to school with us when he works from home. - Tanner
31. We love that he can speak Spanish, so cool. - Tanner, Carter, Garrett
32. I love that he knows when to jump in & help when I am at my wits end. -
34. He is our biggest fan(next to Mom)off & on the court & fields. - the boys
35. He has a great smile. - Raimi
36. He is an awesome soccer coach. - Carter
37. He tickles me & wrestles with me, I love that! - Garrett
38. He humors me with all my picture taking. - Raimi
39. He has a strong testimony of the Gospel. - Raimi
40. He is the best snuggler. - Raimi
41. He is ours & we are lucky enough to call him hubby & Daddy!

Happy Birthday baby! We hope your day is filled with the things that you love & enjoy! We love & appreciate you! Happy 41st birthday.

Happy Easter

Wishing each of you a Happy Easter.
We dyed 3 dozen eggs last night. Lots of fun colors & white crayons helped us get the look we wanted...simple, bright colored eggs.


































We set the baskets out for the Big Bunny to fill & sent the boys off to bed. They were too excited to sleep.

Our kiddos were up @ the crack of dawn...Tanner was the first one to come into our room @ 6 am. The Big Bunny left the boys baskets on the kitchen table, filled with lots of goodies. John & I were so tired that we stayed in bed till 6:30 am. It was pretty amazing to go out into the kitchen & find every ones baskets still in tact...exactly like the bunny had left them.



















It was so fun to watch Brody look out into the backyard & notice all of the eggs everywhere. He got so excited & headed right out into the backyard. It was hysterical to watch him during the egg hunt. Each time he would find a plastic egg, he would sit down & crack the egg open. He would crack the egg as you would if you were baking in the kitchen. Once the egg was open, he would sit down & eat whatever was inside of it. He quickly caught on that you leave the hard boiled eggs alone & look for the plastic ones. Can we say sugar high by 7 am?

This is the first year that my boys did not having matchy-matchy Easter outfits. The older boys are getting a little too old for that & I didn't want to push it. It makes me kinda sad. I did end buying the older boys new ties last night & Brody finally got to wear his Easter outfit that I found @ Target a month ago. They looked so handsome.

































































































Church was wonderful & a nice reminder of why we celebrate Easter. Thankful for simple reminders.

We headed up to Yuba City to enjoy Easter dinner with John's side of the family. The boys enjoyed an egg hunt with the cousins, more candy, & birthday cake for John.




















So very grateful for my family & the time we were able to spend together today.
Happy Easter.

Spring Break

You gotta love having two whole weeks for Spring Break...unless one week is spent down with a little nasty virus. 5 out of our 6 family members had high fevers & awful coughs that would not go away. We spent that first week recovering & getting better. The 2nd week of Spring Break had off & on again rain. We made the best of it & found some fun family activites to enjoy.

First stop was the Jelly Belly Factory. This is a perfect rainy day weather kind of field trip. All of us have been to the Jelly Belly Factory before except John. The boys had fun taking Dad on the Factory tour. You gotta love the hats you get to wear while touring the factory. This is one of the few times I am happy to stay behind the camera :-). The boys then convinced Dad to buy them a few treats from the sweet shop.
























































Dad decided to take everyone out to breakfast on Thursday. We grubbed @ IHop-John's favorite breakfast stop. We were hoping for the ZOO but the rain had started up again. While enjoying our breakfast, a very nice man came to our table & made balloon animals/motorcycle for the boys. It was fun to watch him create these super cute animals/motorcycle.
Brody got a motorcycle, Garrett got a monkey in a tree, Carter picked a dog(are you surprised?) & Tanner asked for a penguin.






















We could not have asked for a better San Francisco day! When we left the house @ 8:00am & it was pouring down rain. As we headed farther west, the clouds began to part & the sun began to shine. It was a gorgeous day in the city. We had promised the boys we would take them to the SF Zoo during Sping Break. Well,as stated before,the nasty virus ruined our first week of break & with the rain that poured off & on during the second week, we weren't sure if we were going to be able to make good on that promise. We watched the weather all week & decided that Friday would be the best day. We are so glad we waited & were able to enjoy the sunshine.

What was even better was that my nephews were able to join us for a day of fun @ the zoo. You should have seen some of the looks we received as those SEVEN boys ran through the zoo...good times for sure!




















First up, the Giraffe's. There were two baby Giraffes. One was 4 months old & the other was two weeks old. They were so sweet.
































Next we headed over to the Gorilla World. Tami C., these photos are for you :).
John & I decided that when we are empty nesters someday, we are going to go to the zoo, just the two of us & spend half of the Day just watching the Gorillas. I think they are fascinating to watch. The boys just kept snickering every time the Gorilla's would get up & moon us...sorry there are no photos from that angle.

































My nephew Malakai loved this little duo. The baby monkey was so fun to watch. It was very squirmy & that poor Mama kept trying to keep her baby in check. Don't get me wrong, I am so glad these little critters are in cages but it sure makes it hard for good photography :-).




















These two little monkeys were so excited to spend the day together. It is great to watch them interact & have their own little conversations.































Brody's favorite spot was the Little People Zoo - AKA the petting zoo. This photo cracks me up. He wanted to be right up close & personal with the ducks. I was so nervous that one of them was going to bite him on the nose. He would get down to their level & start quacking with them. It was pretty funny. So made me wish I had remembered the video camera.



















He seriously had NO FEAR. He would jump up onto the tree stumps & sit with the goats. Eventually he would bug them enough & they would jump down. He loved feeding them & brushing their hair.































I don't think Kai was a big fan of the goats but he humored me & posed with one!






























Next we saw the Flamingos.


































Here are the boys, mimicing the flamingos...standing on one leg.





















If you know Tanner, you know that he loves penguins. We were able to watch the penguins eat their lunch. Did you know that they swallow their fish in about one second, whole? They were so much fun to watch. They would waddle along the edge of the rock & then dive into the water. This will be another stop for John & I when we are old & grey & go to the zoo by ourselves. We will watch the penguins for the other half of our day!



































Whew, are you still with me? I didn't think I had much to say about the zoo. I will leave you with a few more of my favorite photos from the day.























































































Hope you are enjoying your Saturday! We have been busy doing chores & laundry. We are getting ready for the Big Bunny to make a stop here. We are dying Easter Eggs tonight & leaving the baskets out in hopes that the Big Bunny will fill them.

KOW...

Here is a peek @ this weeks Kit of the Week @ Green Tangerines.





























I don't scrapbook with pastel colors very often...it has been fun!
I LOVE Spring & the breath of fresh Air it brings. I used a few of my favorite Spring photos from this year. The great thing about this kit is that you are going to get an entire sheet of Basic Grey ABC letters, you can customize your LO & create your own title...it doesn't have to say Spring. These Spring kits are available until their gone. You can call the store @ 916.771.8010 to get yours.
p.s. they will ship your kit to you if you live out of state...awesome customer service.

happy monday...

yes indeed, it has been a happy Monday. The sun is shining. I got to play outside with my boys & we enjoyed blowing bubbles. A new scrapbook magazine came in the mail. It has been a great day! One thing you need to know about my family is that any day can be a happy day. For example, if my Grandma Shore were to show up on my porch with flowers on a Tuesday, she would say happy Tuesday. If my sister mails me a surprise in the mail, the note would say Happy Wednesday(she prays that the note from San Mateo arrives on that Wednesday -LOL). It is just a fun little thing my family does. I LOVE it. Grandma's random acts of happy days has totally rubbed off on everyone in my family. So...today I went to get our mail & there was a note addressed to me from my Mama. Inside was this sweet little note:




















Tucked in that sweet little note was a $100.00 Target gift card. WOW!




















How fun is that? Thank you so much Mom! When I called to thank her, I told her a $5.00 gift card would have made me totally happy! She is the best!!!So kind & so very thoughtful. She said it was her way of helping the economy, her stimulus package to me -LOL.

I hope you are finding the happy things in your world today!
Have a happy Monday!