Resolutions

2011 Resolutions Review
1. Read the Doctrine and Covenants and the Pearl of Great Price as a family....COMPLETED!
2. No soda...COMPLETED! Side note on this one just to show how amazing this was.  I drank alot of Pepsi.  I'm talking 3-4 sodas per day...minimum.  I quit cold turkey.  For about the first two weeks I would get terrible headaches and the shakes.  It was awful. (This is starting to sound like I was on drugs or something!)  Now I feel wonderful. Brent and I went to Cancun in June and this was going to be my week that I would allow myself soda.  I had one sip and it was not satisfying!  I didn't even want any soda the entire week.  Sip#2: I was at the movie theatre with Brookie and Christine and we went to get popcorn and a drink for Auntie Bean.  I took a bite of popcorn and got a kernel or something stuck in my throat and started choking. I had to have a drink of Christine's soda to help wash down the popcorn.  Dang it!!  Other than that...one year...no soda!!!  This is going to be ongoing.  I will never let something like SODA have that much control over my body ever again. (How Molly Mormon was that!)
3. Don't nag Brent.  Ask once and then just do it myself... BETTER! I can't say that I never nagged Brent; but I was very conscious of it and I think that I did much better at this one!
4. Become consumer debt free...ALMOST! We have NO credit cards and NO car payments.  This was the harderst one.  We still have Brent's student loan (that I think we will be paying for the rest of our lives) and my 401K loan that we took out to keep Silver Spirit up and running.  Other than that, on our personal stuff, Brent and I only have a mortgage.  It sounds so simple when I type it out but let me tell you...this was a hard one and it feels soooo good!

I'm sure I had more resolutions and I had them all in my phone but when I got a new phone the notes didn't transfer over.  However, these are the ones that I worked my butt off at this year.

2012 Resolutions
1. Read the Book of Mormon as a family.  I really wanted to do the Old Testament of the Bible but as a Ward we were asked to read the Book of Mormon.  So we will!
2.  Have family night EVERY week!  This one will be tuff but we are SOOO going to do it! Latter-day prophets have promised that "our dedication to this program will help protect our families against the evils of our time and will bring us abundant joy now and throughout the eternities."  Reason enough for me!
3.  No snacking and no desserts.  This means no sugar treats and snacks throughout the day and night.  (I'm really bad at this.) I'm hoping to lose a few pounds with this resolution.  Here's the kicker: I get to have the "treat" for family night.  So, I'm hoping this will guarantee we have family night every week!  Brilliant, I know!
4.  Be on time!  I'm sure this was a resolution last year but this year it's going to be a serious one!
5. Do a blog post every night until I am caught up.  I am going to start now and stay current and hopefully with the post-a-night plan I can back post so I will be all caught up and can print out my book for 2011.

Guess who's 37?!?

 HAPPY HAPPY BIRTHDAY DADDY!!

Picture Day Mishap

On picture day, I got a phone call from the school nurse that Brookie had taken a pretty good head dive at recess and had scraped up her forehead and nose pretty good.  Me, being the excellent mom that I am, immediately asked, "Was it before or after pictures?"  I think this kind of threw the nurse because she hadn't even asked Brooke that obviously important question. (That must not be the typical parent's response.) They said I should probably come get her and take her to see the Dr. because it was a head injury.  This is what I saw when I walked in:

Ouch!  Funny thing is the first thing Brookie said to me when I walked in was, "Don't worry Mommy, it was after pictures!"  Haha...I guess she knows me! She said she was running out to recess after pictures and her toe caught on the wood border of the swingset and she fell face first into the sand.  She said she should have just ducked her head and she could have done a forward roll!  She wasn't crying at all and said she just had a little headache.  We headed to the Dr.'s office and on the way she said she was hungry, so we went and had a yummy lunch and after that she said it didn't hurt and could we just go home.  We did and had a fun little afternoon of no school! Just some mommy/daughter time.

First Day of School 2011

 School: Pinion Hills Elementary School

Date: August 17, 2011

Our two sweet big girls!  They are both so very different and unique and special.  They treat each other so well and take very good care of each other!  I always get a little teary eyed after I drop them off on the first day of school.  It's like they are officially a year older!  I love them so much! Braden has a late birthday so we decided to have him wait a year to start kindergarten.  He graduated from the speech program last year, so this year I'm going to being doing an online reading program with him from home.  Kaylee Nicole and I are excited we get him all to ourselves for one more year!!!

Brookie
Teacher: Mrs. Davis
Grade: 4th

Brookie requested hair curled with the hot curlers .

Jessie
Teacher:  Mrs. Glick (one of Daddy's former students)
Grade: 3rd

Jessie requested crimped hair down.

Amiya and Brookie.  They were so excited they have the same teacher this year!

Baseball with my babies!

Brent stayed in Idaho to work on a rental.  The two older girls got to stay at Grandma Telford and Papa's for the week. So, I had Braden and Kaylee Nicole at home with me.  We had such a fun time! (Minus the two mice that Braden had to carry out in traps cuz Mommy was terrified!)

One night we went to a Reno Aces baseball game.  It was so much fun!

Rental Remodel by Brent

Much to Brent's parents dismay, he is an amazing carpenter!  He can fix pretty much anything...quite the handyman, I'd say!  We don't care what Nana and Grandpa think.

Kitchen gutted.

Sub-floor is down.

Almost finished.

Sadly, we didn't get a picture of the fnished product.  But believe me, it looked amazing...brand spankin' new!

Nik Nik's "mommies"

This was Nik Nik's second time to the dentist but Brookie and Jessie took such good care of her again. They held her hands and talked to her the whole time.  It was very sweet. I think Nikki would have been fine but it was so precious I just let them "mommy" her! 

Boy's Day at Wild Island

Auntie Jen Rhead took Braden and Trevor to Wild Islands for the day.  It's a water park in Sparks and the kids LOVE it. This day was just Trevor and Braden and they had a blast. Thanks Auntie Jen!

New Rooms

Room changes:  Brent agreed to let Brookie change her cute little girly room into a red and black 5 star room.  Actually it turned out super cute and Jessie moved into the room with her.  We got them bunk beds with a full size bed as the bottom bunk.  They ended up sleeping in the same bed every night anyway.  We got rid of the bunk beds in Jessie and Nikki's room and moved Brookie's bed in there and it is now  Nik Nik's room. At least we call it her room...she ends up most nights in bed with Brent and I.

Here are some before and after pictures:

Hiking with Daddy

I took Brookie to cheer and Kaylee Nicole came with so Brent could take Jessie and Braden on a hike.  Those two love hiking with their daddy.  They always find the perfect hiking stick and then look for "dead things".

Where's Nik Nik???

I was looking all around for Kaylee Nicole at the cheer gym and look where I found her...in a cubbie.

More BMX racing

Riders Ready, Watch The Gate, BZZZZZ
Then the gate lowers and they are off!

Braden was under 7 so he had to have a helper on the gates.  He'd sneak in a few times without one and can't wait until he is 7 so he can do it by himself.

Braden's least favorite part of the track was the small jumps.  He always seemed to loose speed on these.  Mostly because he was riding on a Target Hot Wheels bike instead of a BMX bike, but it never seemed to slow him down too much!

Braden coming in first!

Happy Birthday Kenneth

Kenneth had a surprise birthday party.  It was a fiesta' and the girls had fun wearing their little hats that we brought them back from Cancun.  It was just Brent and me and the girls.  It was fun to spend some time with just them.

Hey Mom! Is my bump high enough?

I was working in the office at the computer and Brookie yells downstairs, "Hey Mom, do you think my bump is high enough?"  Me: "I don't know Brookie, let me see it. "  She burst down the stairs.  She was laughing so hard she couldn't even stand!  I was laughing so hard at her laughing! She's such a goof sometimes!