The Henderson Family

Keeping up with the Henderson's

2011-12-12T05:35:00.000-08:00

I have not been on my blog in such a long time! It is on my list of things to do BUT yet I always find myself so overwhelmed and busy I sit down at night and think SERIOUSLY I can finally breath. Since, Life seems to by flying by I'm going to make every effort to Keep up with the Hendersons Blog. Our days are not consistant by any means I practically could have my own reality show on how funny things are.

This year I continue to work in Surgery Scheduling as a casual employee. I was on the fence for a long time about going full time but as arrogant as this sounds I know that I could always do that later. The position would take up more time than I'm willing to give up at this point with my kids social life and school events. Recently I have been training for the Staffing Office which is just next door to our office but makes me a little nervous messing with peoples time cards. Shannon who is training me is the same ages and a little jokester. She makes the day go by fast because we spend most of it laughing. She was recently told by one of the managers that a future in health care is going to require your name have the RN behind it. Made me really start thinking about going back to school. The thought of homework, test, and sitting in a classroom makes me itch. I would not graduate until my kids where almost in high school. Things have been moving so fast I'm sure that is only a blink of an eye. Lately, I have been giving it a lot more thought.

Kevin, well what can I say other than he is a ROCK. He is such an amazing husband/dad I'm so thankful for him everyday. This year has brought him huge responsiblities.....running million dollar jobs, a truck full of blue prints, tools, and all the car pool junk from the other guys. I'm so extremely proud of him! WORDS can even begin to express my respect for him. BUT here is the part that gets me- No matter how stressed he is He ALWAYS leaves it at the door. He never talks about work. As soon as he walks thru the door he isn't a Foreman Journeyman Plumber he is Dad. Comes home every night opens the door and Yells Hello my loving family :)

Melayna, this year has really grown up. She suprises me every day on how she has stuck being her own person. It is hard to believe she will already be in middle school this time next year. This girl is sooooooo smart! She excels in everything she does. When I'm not working I like to meet the kids in the front of the school office and pick them up from school. This gives me a fresh chance to ask them about there day. When they get off the bus they already had time to wind down and don't seem to remember. The other day I picked them up and Melayna said "Mom you know how you always tell me to do my own thing"? I said "yes, I'm glad you listen to me!" She said "Well I took your advice and I started an art lesson for the younger kids". I was confused "What kind of art lesson"? Melayna said "Well I made up a schedule and I'm going to start teaching art every other day. It feels good to teach. Are you proud I took your advice". Of course I was shocked thinking wow, I'm glad how much she absorbs.....she listens to all my advice. Made me feel so good.

Mason, on a daily basis makes me smile. He is such a little comedian. Last Friday I had his IEP for speech. The teachers just love him so much. Mason is super competitive (not sure where he gets that LOL). He is always striving to be the best he can be! I'm told he is quite the ladies man. He is always trying to smmmoooth the girls......UGH! This started early and continues. I would like to think I'm setting to be the perfect guy.....loves to shop. I recently got into this coupon craze. He loves to help me! The Sunday paper comes and we cut coupons together, organize, and look up the match ups. The part he loves it that you can use a coupon instead of money. He asked for his own binder~ That just is just too awesome :)

I'm going to do my best in keeping up this blog. It is nice to look back on..........because time is in luda speed.

My lil Mason Man's first E.R. Visit

2010-03-11T21:55:00.000-08:00

The morning starts off at 6:30 am Wednesday morning. Mason climbs down from his bunk bed and walks out of his room says good morning mama. I was sitting drinking my coffee and said good morning buddy. You need to go take a shower and make sure before you get into the shower you lift the toliet seat this time because you have been making a mess lately. Mason just ignored me and decided to go get his DSI and start playing games. I said, Mason, I'm not kidding please go get in the shower because Mommy needs to take on after you to get ready for work. He started whinning and crying...I don't want to take a shower. Well, it normally is a fight to get him into the shower but today was a little more difficult so I pulled out the big guns.....I said Mason if you get in the shower and hurry I will let your get on Webkinz (the internet) before the bus gets here. A huge smile went on his face and he ran into the shower.

I heard the water shut off and then a loud THUG. Kids fall all the time but this one sounded bad. I sprinted for the bathroom and I seen he had slipped getting out of the shower onto the toliet and was bleeding alot. I instantly grabbed his towel and new I had to apply pressure to stop the bleeding. He was naked and I was a hot mess that haven't even taken a shower yet. I Ran into melayna's room still carrying my naked little 5 year old and asked melayna to please grab her shoes and where leaving. She said what happened what's wrong. Mason really wasn't crying he would just saying ouch mommy it hurts alot. I said Melayna we need to take mason to the hospital to get his cut fixed. I would not lift the towel for fear of it bleeding on him and freaking him out. So I was putting his clothes on and when I went to put his shirt of his head he seen the blood. Oh boy, from there on it was massive tears. He just kept crying saying he didn't want his brain to fall out. I said, oh buddy it's ok the doctor is going to fix you. Melayna wrapped her "special blanket she made all by herself around him" then off the ER we went.

I haven't worked at the hospital in five years but for some reason they all seem to think I'm still down in surgery. It is nice having that advantage of going straight back over other patients :) especially when it's your baby.

We went back into the room and they put some gauze inside the wound to numb it before the lidocaine shots and stitches. It was hard your little baby in pain. They asked me if I would be able to hold him down while they did the stiches or did I want another nurse to come in. I said no way am I leaving him, that would just scare him more. We wrapped him up like a burrito and Dr.Vanasche stitched him up. Mason did amazing. I was so proud of him. What a strong lil man!

He still is convinced that the shower is a bad place....oh great! He thinks his brain will fall out if he gets in it again. I'm hoping that will change, but I still think he is such a strong lil buddy ;)

Waiting to Exhale........

2009-12-27T23:37:00.001-08:00

When it is quite in the house is when I sit back and think of all the good, bad, and ugly. This was a wild rollercoaster ride year, maybe one of the biggest rides so far.

So I begin this blog with the good: January 2009 My baby girl turns eight and is in 3rd grade (all ready)! It really is crazy how times flies by you. She is so so so smart and sooooooo beautiful. I see so much of Kevin in her eyes. The wheels are always rolling which makes this mama so proud. I was still working at Wah Chang as a temp and loved it there. It was a really good job and I actually felt pretty important. Kevin was working for Robert at Complete Plumbing, wasn't his favorite place to be but he is amazing and will do anything for his family. Mason is just a little ball of fire. It is fun to sit back and just watch him. So the beginning of the year started off ok, there was still some emotions that where carried over from the previous year but we all where trying to just put it past us.

THE UGLY: Then the rug was swept from our feet. Around Februaray Kevin was laid off due to lack of work. Man, you always hear about the bad ecomony on TV at night but never really think that would affect you.........when it does you have to make it work. I received a another job at a different company but this time I hated it. It was a 360 from being at Wah Chang. Kevin was staying at home and now I was the one working. He did such an amazing job of taking care of the kids and the house. It still was just hard because my pay checks would not even add up close to Kevin's wages. It was working thou because Kevin was able to claim unemployment. We had a strict budget that he would make work and did a great job. Then another suprise came our way. Kevin's boss got upset when he would not come back as an "oncall" person. There was no way we could make that work usless he was going to be sure working(what would we do with the kids) So they called unemployment office and we no longer would be receiving unemployment anymore. Well why not bring on more stress.......Kevin's lost his dad with a battle of cancer on November 16, 2008. He would receive a nasty attorney letter every week about the estate and just other garbage his "wife" would like to dig up. Don't get me started about such an evil person! So not to drag out more drama all over the internet I will leave it at that. So needless to say there was alot of stress and I'm glad I had Kevin there to help me with it........I would cry alot. I'm not a crying person but did shed alot of tears this year.

The BAD: Without trying to cry more I will talk about gramps. He has been battling Cancer for two years and was hospitalized again over christmas. He just doesn't look like my grandpa so small and weak. What an amazing man! He truly is one of the hardest working men I have ever met. Constantly trying to fix something his mind is always going on what needs to be done next :) Today he was moved up to Georgia's house and looks like he will be staying there. Hospice is going to come in so that will help out.

Getting older seems to be getting easier and harder at the same time? Makes no sense, trust me I know but no other way of putting it. So I would like to be thankful for the good memories this year and try to think the bad and ugly memories made me even stronger person. I'm so grateful for having Kevin, Melayna, and Mason....they make me who I am. It's not bad to be me :) I'm ready for a new year, and I know it has great things in store for us.

Elvis has broke my machine

2009-10-21T10:19:00.000-07:00

Well It could have been me that broke it :) My sister has been love with Elvis since we watched Elvis and Me in Florida. Grandpa would take us to Sam Goody to rent movies and we would always rent the old ones. We watched the Patsy Cline story, Shirley Mc Downy story, Ritchie Valens story, and and and.......well you get the idea all the old people movies. Grandpa would also take us to the library a lot. We had to read at least two books a week so we always picked the easy craft books. Neither one of us really enjoyed reading so we would get books that we could make stuff. Shawna was always interested in scary movies. One time we got a make up book and had this great idea to make her look like Freddy Kruger from nightmare on elm street. We didn't really have any one the right stuff so I decided let melt some wax and pour it on her face, LOL well to make a long story short it didn't work~

Being stuck at home without my kids or my man I remember these old days and they make me laugh. It's amazing how much time flies. One day your making up dance video in the back yard and you blink and you see your kids doing the same thing.

Well for Shawna birthday I decided I was going to make her an Elvis blanket. I thought it would be cool to interlock Patsy Cline and Freddy Kruger some home but couldn't find the material. You would be surprised that they don't have that LOL. So, after making Kevin's blanket I got into a small grove of making it go faster. IT still is a process I get a little obsessed with......once I start I don't like to stop. Unfortunately getting older your body does too and I noticed my wrist getting more and more swollen each day. After this blanket I might take a little time off. Oh, and the fact that my sewing machine isn't working might make me day a couple days off. So here is the blanket. It is not complete yet but should be soon.

Remember the Old Days....

2009-10-16T13:39:00.000-07:00

I was sitting at home this morning thinking.............. The other day Kevin was working outside in the garage I heard him whistling while he works. Ah, that brought a smile to my face. It's weird to me the little things like this you miss when you get older. I remember when I was a kid my dad whistling all the time. There was the good whistling while he worked, there was the whistle when you where down the road you better get home fast, and the whistle when you looked really cute to embarrass you in front of all your friend. Just wonder, why people don't whistle as much anymore?

SUMMER< SUMMER SUMMERTIME!

2009-08-13T06:47:00.000-07:00

I can't remember the last time this last month I have sat down. The kids and I have been running from one thing to the next.....and enjoying every minute of it! Since a picture can tell a thousand words I thought I would add a lot to this blog.

Oh boy, Did the kids fall in love with Kyles house! So much stuff to do it was almost better than Disneyland. This is "Grandpa Kelly" giving Mason a ride on his hog. He told mason you want to take a ride on my hog? Mason looked and him kind of in shock because they had just placed the pig in the BBQ. He said ok, so Kelly went and got his motorcycle out of the shop and Mason wanted to drive it. He said not this time buddy :) Melayna and Ashlee got to go for a ride and they were grinning from ear to ear.

The Mason Man and Harley Man

The Kids love there grandmas! Georgia took a couple days off this summer to take the kids to the beach. Grandma took the kids to the Albany Linn County Fair and we spent all day riding the rides and looking at all the exhibits.I went with Mason while my mom went with the girls for awhile. The girls were going on all the big and fast rides. Mason and I are more a slow speed :) He wants you to think he is tough, but he is a softy like him mom.
My Summer Love is Gardening! I could spend hours out in the yard just messing around with all the flowers. This was the best my hanging plant has ever done. I got it for mother's day and it is still alive! It some kind of record because hanging plants are so hard!

This took our breath away. This is the Vietnam Memorial at Timberlinn Park. The kids and I went around to all the monuments. I think on a every day basis we sometimes forget we are at war.

Our NEW CAMPER!!! After endless craigslist adds, car lots, and magazines we finally found a camper! It was hard to agree on this one. I wanted a fifth wheel or trailer. There huge and more roomie but Kevin wanted a camper. My reasoning was you get more bang for your buck! The trailers are so huge on the inside and have bunk beds for the kids. Kevin's side was we could pull a boat if we got a camper. He was right. After several months of looking because we had to have specific stuff we wanted, A north to south bed (so no one is jammed up against the side) a camper that would fit a short box (which who knew it was so rare) and a bathroom. We found this up in portland and feel in love. We have only had it since a couple days before the pig roast.

Lisa and I at the pig roast.

So last year we decided we should do another Pig Roast with Kyle. We had one before about ten years ago we we lived on Airport Rd in Lebanon. It was such a hit not sure why we haven't brought it back till now. Kyle made arrangements for the pig and BBQ. It all came together so well. Kyle put so much time and effort into this party! It first started with him pouring 10 yards of concrete to make a patio for everyone to walk on.......then he decided we need two Kegs so him and his dad built a kegorator for the party. We set up the huge Elk tent and several other tents for food and drinks. Kenny made a whole cooler of jungle juice. There were so many kids and teenagers that would look at the pig and say "EWWW GROSS, I'm so Not Eating that! " It was so cute because they are the ones that came back for seconds and thirds! We are going to have to have another BBQ like this every summer. Not sure we will do a whole pig but everyone really enjoyed themselves. We did a loose count and had around 80 people show up, there was still half the pig left over. It all turned out so amazing!

Kyle and Kevin getting felt down to cover up some of the wires on the ground. Can' have a party without lights and a radio.
The night before we were all a little shocked on how big the pig was. This one was 250 lbs.
Took up the whole tail gate. Kyle started the BBQ at Friday 2:30 AM and did not finish till 5:30 pm Saturday.
The kids thought it was pretty cool.
It took all four guys to lift it into the BBQ.

The Sea Lion Caves.

I have never been to the Sea Lion Caves at the beach. We started off in Florence and worked our way down the coast line till we reached the caves. It was really neat to see them. We all enjoyed it very much.

Melayna loved the view of the bird and watching the sea lions come in from the ocean.

Triangle Lake.
Vacation Bible School.

The kids look forward to it every year. The South Albany Community Church does such a great job every year!

House Project aka MELAYNA Rooom

Well there was only one plug in her whole bed room. SOOOOOO, I decided to do something about it :) We tore off all the sheet rock and Kevin put in seven new ones. Maybe an overkill but at least she will have electricity now. We are still working on this one, will keep the blog posted.

They are great helpers!

Daisy the Trucker.

The newest Addition to the family Daisy the Hampster. When Matt came back from Iraq he bought a hampster in Texas where he was living. He drove from Texas to Oregon with his Hampster Booger. When we went over to the house the kids could not get enough of him. I have been going every week for sewing and noticed Gracie has a hampster too. They are pretty cute so we had to get a little Dwarf Hampster and the kids named her Princess Daisy.

this is so true....a letter to the grandkids

2009-06-29T09:59:00.000-07:00

We tried so hard to make things better for our kids that we made them worse. For my grandchildren, I'd like better. I'd really like for them to know about hand me down clothes and homemade ice cream and leftover meat loaf sandwiches. I really would.

I hope you learn humility by being humiliated, and that you learn honesty by being cheated. I hope you learn to make your own bed and mow the lawn and wash the car. And I really hope nobody gives you a brand new car when you are sixteen.

It will be good if at least one time you can see puppies born and your old dog put to sleep.

I hope you get a black eye fighting for something you believe in.

I hope you have to share a bedroom with your younger brother/sister. And it's all right if you have to draw a line down the middle of the room,but when he wants to crawl under the covers with you because he's scared, I hope you let him.

When you want to see a movie and your little brother wants to tag along, I hope you'll let him. I hope you have to walk uphill to school with your friends and that you live in a town where you can do it safely.

On rainy days when you have to catch a ride, I hope you don't ask your driver to drop you two blocks away so you won't be seen riding with someone as uncool as your Mom.

If you want a slingshot, I hope your Dad teaches you how to make one instead of buying one. I hope you learn to dig in the dirt and read books.

When you learn to use computers, I hope you also learn to add and subtract in your head.

I hope you get teased by your friends when you have your first crush on a boy\girl, and when you talk back to your mother that you learn what ivory soap tastes like.
I don't care if you try a beer once, but I hope you don't like it.. And if a friend offers you dope or a joint, I hope you realize he is not your friend

I sure hope you make time to sit on a porch with your Grandma/Grandpa and go fishing with them.

May you feel sorrow at a funeral and joy during the holidays.

I hope your mother punishes you when you throw a baseball through your neighbor's window and that she hugs you and kisses you at Christmas time when you give her a plaster mold of your hand.

These things I wish for you - tough times and disappointment, hard work and happiness. To me, it's the only way to appreciate life.

Never a dull moment....even at 330 AM

2009-06-26T07:13:00.000-07:00

Whoooo Hooooo, Date Night!

My mom said the kids could stay the night at her house. She just got back from Florida. Mason and Melayna asked every day how much longer till grandma got home. They missed her everyday.

Kevin and I decided to meet at Calapooia for some tater tots and drinks. We left the house and came home to watch tv and relax. Funny you finally get a moment with no kids and all you can think about is how wonderful your bed sounds. I woke up at 230 feeling kind of sick to my stomach and decided to get up and watch tv. The previous day Mason was throwing up all day so I thought I might have a touch of what he had. The news in the middle of night got kind of boring so I decided I better make myself go to sleep. I turned the tv off and heard a weird noise. I thought it was the dog, so I yelled Kolbe go to sleep. Then I heard it again, it was a swooping sound across my head. I thought I better get up to see what is making that sound. I turned the light on and BAT Was diving towards my head!!! I screamed and ran into the bed room to wake Kevin up. I said, KEVIN WAKE UP!!! There is a bat in our house. He was half asleep and said....Well kill it then. I said, NO WAKE UP I'm scared! He got up and put his hoodie on and opened the door. The bat was doing figure 8 thru the kitchen to the living room. Swooping down by our heads every pass. I was screaming and laughing at the same time. How the heck did a bat even get into the house? The little black hairy thing was BIG! Kevin was running around the house with the broom trying to get him out the front door.

So finally the thing flew out......Just to fly back in! It was too funny I had to record some of it. I didn't get him flying thru the house like a crazy bat I kept hiding in my bed room because he was trying to dive bomb me. The bat decided he was done flying around and made himself a little home inside the wall. In between the window and the sheet rock is open. We still are working on what kind of trim we want to put up.....never ending homeowner battle. The bat would not come out of the wall so we decided to shut our door and go to bed. Kevin had to be up in a few hours to go to work.

A few hours pass and it's time for Kevin to go to work. He looked in the wall and you could see the bat hanging upside down. He would look at you with his beaty little eyes but wouldn't move. Kevin said, way to go Trina buy some curtains that invite Vampires into our house! I couldn't stop laughing. I finally broke down and bought some new curtains....they said on the DIY network there supposed to start at the top of the window.

Later that night it started to get dark. We decided after getting input from Lisa (who used to work with bats at the aqauarium) that they are very delicate and we have to be careful getting it out of the wall. Kevin grabbed a rip rod from the garage and tried getting him to move. All the bat would do is bite the rod. It was actually really funny seeing his little mouth biting it. I was holding the flash light with the curtain half closed. FINALLY he flew out the window!!!

My Esty Account!

2009-06-18T07:26:00.001-07:00

My Girl!

2009-06-10T06:59:00.000-07:00

Last night concluded the final episode of Melayna's "most favorite show EVA" .

Every tuesday night we all get together to watch the Discovery series - Out of the Wild "The Alaska Experiment". In these show they have a group of every day people (mostly city people) that are dropped of at the beginning of winter in the middle of Alaska. The do not get paid a large amount of money for winning.......it is strictly volunteering. You are there to push yourself to see how far you can make it. The people are given a map and a compass. With just this and some basic materials they have to hike back to civialization.

Melayna fell in love with all of the people on the show. She would talk about it during the week and always ask how many days till Tuesday, so I can watch Alaska Experiment. She would say Dad, I really want to go on that show. I know I would be able to eat squrriel :)

Melayna was born with an extra big heart. She has always had her own way of thinking and the way she does do them makes sense to her. I remember when she was little she was coloring a picture. Grandpa said "Melayna you need to color inside the lines" she said "but why grandpa? I like it like this". Grandpa smiled and said well Princess I don't know why you have to color in the lines" If that is the way you think it looks pretty than you do it how ever you want. From that moment on I knew she was going to be different, and I LOVE IT!

Back to the story, last night the final four finally found a train track, which meant they found civialization. Melayna was sitting on the couch and Yells...... YES!!!! I knew it, I'm going to cry now. I said, Melayna are you really crying?? I looked over and she had big crocodile tears running down her face. I said are you ok? She had a huge smile on her face and said "I'm just so happy"!

In the future I see Melayna as an avid outdoors person. She loves camping and just being in the outdoors. She can't wait till she old enough to go hunting with her dad.

360 degrees

2009-04-02T20:12:00.000-07:00

Wow, how things can change in the matter of months. Some days I wake up and I feel like I'm on that movie "Click" the one with Adam Sandler and things just keep getting hit in fast forward. I keep trying to hit the pause button but it just doesn't work. My daughter is already eight and next month I will have a baby that is already 5! Seems weird to me cuz I remember like yesterday I was changing diapers and mixing formula. Everyday I'm so thankful when I wake up.....I have an extremely awesome husband, two healthly kids, a mother and father that are still married and more important still here, an extrememly funny sister, an very supporting mother and father in-law, and a few friends that I can still trust that love me for who I am! No matter how bad of a day I have I still remember all of this :)

The Mystery Van to Splash for Melayna's 8th Birthday!!

2009-01-21T19:04:00.000-08:00

This year for my Melayna's birthday we decided we were going to let her have a few friends go swimming. It started with inviting 2......well then turned into 10. She has too many people in her life to leave one out. She is so thoughtful.

Since I did a terrible job of planning her birthday I have to figure out last minute how I was going to get twelve people up to Springfield for her birthday party.

The transition from being a stay at home mom (for two years) to working full time has been a difficult one for my whole family. I was always there at everyones beck and call, but now that is more difficult.

I was thankful to find a cargo van that Mark Thomas motors rented out. I got very lucky because it just has been serviced and was going to be put up for sale Monday. The receptionist said she would rent it to me for the whole weekend.

Saturday arrives and all the kids start showing up. Melayna had invited 5 boys and 5 girls. I decided since we are going swimming I was going to feed the kids so they had at least 45 minutes for there food to settle. I did an easy hot dogs and french fries :) Right of the bat, I realized there was going to be the girls against the boys. One of the boys was in the kitchen I head him say ewwww that's got girl germs on it....LOL! I said, I will spray it for you....and pretended to get the cooties off of the plate. We were waiting on my sister and dustin to make it before we could leave. They wanted to come and watch the kids play too. They arrived and we loaded up the van. I felt like Thelma from Scooby Doo, I told Kevin this reminds me of the "Mystery Van" :) Shawna and Dustin decided they were going follow behind us because Dylan was to shy to ride with the other kids. I said come on, Dylan there is lots of room and I know it will be fun!

We started off down the road and my phone rings.....Shawna says can you drive my car Dylan wants to ride in the van but won't go without his dad. I said no problem, so Kevin pulled over and started following the van. You could see all the kids from behind, I felt so bad I left Kevin :) He had it under control.

We got to Splash in Springfield. The boys went with Kevin and Dustin to the boys locker room and the girls with me and Shawna. The girls decided they all needed there own lockers and had to do there hair and go to the bathroom and dilley dalley arounds :) They all held hands and walked down the hall, it was soooo cute. I said, now there is only a few rules 1. You have to wear a life jacket, I know you girls know how to swim but it would make me feel better 2. If you have to go potty you have to check with me first, if I don't see you I will freak out 3. If there is anytime you want to call your mom or your done swimming let me know. They all agreed and ran screaming into the water.

The boys were already in the water so I didn't give them the same rules. I was immediately a stress case. I seen mason out in the middle of the wave pool and no one around him. The waves kept going over his head and he looked a little stressed out. I told Kevin, ummm no! we can't let him in there anymore. I can't see him do that again....so he was demoted to the kiddie pool right in front of us. He still grinned from ear to ear being in the kiddie pool. I did so many laps around the pool, always making sure I could see all the kids. My sister laughed at me. She said you always get your self into these sitituations. I kept watching the boys more than the girls. The girls were following my rules. I seen Iyan sitting on the side and it looked like he was crying. I went over and asked him what was wrong? He didn't answer me....I said you want to call your mom? still no answer...I said you really need to tell me what is wrong. He started crying and said he got sucked under by a wave and almost drowned. I'm sure he just got scared not almost drowned there were lifeguards everywhere. Any ways I had him go chill out in the warm kiddie pool and 5 minutes later he was ready to head back into the wave pool with the kids. I said there is one rule you have to follow and that is put a life jacket on like eveyone else. He was not very happy with me.....It made me feel better thou.

Melayna walks up to me and said Mom look! Her front tooth was hanging by a limb. There was blood coming out of her mouth. We went into the locker room and she took a tissue and it just fell out.

The end of two hours I was ready to back up and head home. We got all the kids out of the pool. Kevin called me and said where are you? The boys and I have been waiting by the van. The girls and I where walking out to the van and the boys already ripped into the cupcakes. No big deal, I was smiling and taking pictures of the kids eating there cupcakes and I saw Kevin have a smurk on his face. I said, what? He said look by the tire of the van. I looked down and there was a used condom on the ground. I just started laughing....gross!! I didn't want the kids to see it so I moved them to the other side of the van. I said what are the odds, there are hundred parking spots and this is the one we choose.

The cupcakes were so big the kids that I think only one kid finished the whole thing. He were on our way home and all the kids say where thirsty :) So we pull off the next exit and Kevin ran in and bought them all a Dasani Water. We made it home to let the kids watch Melayna open her presents. When she was finished we loaded up and took everyone home. It was a very good birthday. It was a very good 8th birthday party. Melayna had a blast, and I pretty sure the rest of the kids did too!

2008-12-01T15:30:00.000-08:00

The season is all over :(

Call me a football nerd but I was so excited about college football this year!

My first college football game was against USC in 2006. I fell in love! It was so much fun. The sun on your face, the crowd jumping up and down, and the smell of fresh air and hot dogs :)

Kevin and I sat by the USC band. I still can hear there theme song in my head. I don't think they stopped playing it over and over the whole game. It was almost as bad as the Disney ride it's a small world after all. The same night was also a huge halloween party and we were supposed to head to Lebanon to meet everyone. I was so exhausted from the game I didn't even have any energy to get ready. I knew everyone was expecting us so I pulled myself together and went to Lebanon. The next day I remember looking at Kevin and said I'm hooked. I want to go again. He said really? You liked it that much? YEAH, let's get season tickets.

Fast Forward to 2008*** I was so excited this year for our season. I'm finally starting to understand the plays and love our Beaver Players! I probably know everyones stats and injuries more than a dude. I would look forward to every saturday to watch college football every weekend.

Doug at Kevin's work asked if he would like to start some kind of poll every week. Doug would pick the games for the top 10 games of the week and he would give them to kevin at the beginning of the week. Kevin said to Doug can Trina play with us? Doug and Robert laughed, is that something she would want to do they asked? Kevin said yeah she is getting good. They said ok, but let her know who ever loses at the end of the season they have to buy everyone lunch. I said, I can do that! You like costco hotdog right? lol

So walking up to the civil war game I was really sad. Knowing this is the last beaver game of the season at Reeser stadium. I was also excited at the same time because I had already reserved my tickets to the Rose Bowl the night before. I had no doubt in my mind I wasn't going to go home and start packing for Pasadena, CA!!! The beginning of the game I saw Doug and just smiled.....I was thinking in my head HA that's what you get for making fun of a girl!! I placed second in our polls!!! Doug LOST! None the less everyone was pumped for the game. The guy in front of me kept high fiving me before the game even started :) The first play you felt it.....we didn't come to play. I felt my gut start to hurt. I looked at Kevin and said I'm confused what's going on??? We had lost our star "Quizz Rogers" but I had no doubts about this game.

Well it ended badly and I was heart broken. The Ducks ended up walking all over us and I seen the dumb mascot walking around with a Rose n his mouth. They took it away from us. No cali trip and I'm still in disbelief. I'm sad it ended that way but still had an amazing year of football. I'm sad it's over!!!! Who would have ever known I would love it so much. I'm already looking forward to next year. I have big plans for our Beavers! I can't wait to bring my kids.

GO BEAVERS

Fall Pictures

2008-10-24T08:32:00.000-07:00

Yesterday at the park I took some fall pictures. My original plan was for a black and white picture for my front room. After looking at all the pictures I'm not sure I want to change it to B&W. Let me know what you think? What picture do you like the best?

Decorating a Paint Can....Didn't know it could be so much fun!

2008-10-15T07:22:00.000-07:00

I was in the craft warehouse last week looking for little things for the kids Halloween costumes. I saw over by the sticker area they had all these really cool paint cans that were decorated with different themes. The had ones for baby showers, birthday parties and christmas. I thought that would be cool to make some for christmas. Inside you could put all the stuff to make cookies (like the ones you see in Mason jars).

So laying in bed and not being able to sleep, what do I start thinking about PAINT CANS! LOL I was obsessively think of all the things I could make these for. The next morning I decide to google this idea. Much to my surprise there wasn't alot of ideas. The few that I did find were very boring and basic looking.

I decided to go to home depot and find a can. The cans there were actually kind of expensive. I was only expecting to pay around 2.00 for just an empty 1 gallon can. When I found them at the home depot they were 5.50. That seemed kind of high so I went down the road to the paint store. They had the exact same cans for only 3.00. I know not a huge savings but seemed a little easier to pay.

I took a picture of all the steps I took....

I started with an empty paint can!

Next I broke out all my scrapbooking paper. I took I 12x12 piece of paper and cut it in half. Then used my scrapbooking tape to adhesive all the paper.

I wasn't happy the way the paper was sticking up so I decided to try Modge Podge, the coolest inventions since shrink wrap :) I might have over did it because I did two large coats of the podge. I thought it would be fun to add some glitter to her name while it was still wet. I'm glad I did it really added alot to the can. I made sure to use my finger nail to wipe of the glue around the name so it really would stand out when it dried.

After adding the glitter. I found some bright colored ribbons and attached to the top of the handle.

The finished producted does not look as good on camera as it does in real life. You can't see the glitter. I was really happy with the way it turned out. I'm going to make more for birthdays and christmas!

I just wanted to share :)

After letting it dry for three hours I added some flower foam stickers.

My baby is getting so big!

2008-10-14T08:46:00.000-07:00

She didn't like the hot curlers! HAHA

The hot curlers did the trick.

I had her stand next to a picture of her when she was 2.

This morning started out with a bang :) Today is picture day at school. Melayna has been waiting since this summer to wear this dress for picture day. She has been saving it and has not even tried it on. She is so cute. It is crazy how fast time flies when your not paying attention. I can remember being pregnant with her. Seems like yesterday.

No Regrets

2008-08-18T01:45:00.001-07:00

I found out last thursday night, Kevin's dad Bob is "fighting for his life". He has been struggling with cancer as long as I have known kevin.

The story is a long difficult one but when I heard he was "giving up" it really hit a nerve with me. I don't want anything to happen to him. To be totally honest I don't even know him but I care for him because of him being my husbands dad. I woke up this morning to a text message (well more in the middle of the night). Of course, the first thing you think of is there is something wrong. I thought for sure it was with Bob. It was a message from Kevin's brother Matt saying he made it to Germany. He just left back to Iraq for another six months.

I want to go see him in the hospital but was told he his mood altering days because of his treatment. There is a good possiblitie he might not even know it's me :(

Today being the "Day of No Regrets" I still have alot with him.

I don't want him to pass away and me not saying good bye. I still think about the things I should've said to David. Life is way to short!

2008-08-06T06:00:00.000-07:00

Summer Pictures

2008-08-06T05:55:00.000-07:00

My family at Yukwa, Camping
Daddy and Mason fishing.
He has a huge list for his next birthday :)
After the Gilbert House we went to the carsouels

Mason loves them

Pandora's Box

2008-08-06T05:22:00.000-07:00

I have been going through alot of emotions since last week! Crazy thoughts, prementions, and weird dreams.

It all started a couple weeks ago when I decided to take the kids to pick blue berries. They were so excited! With each of them a stainless steal bowl in there hands we jumped into my car. I decided to head to my old boss Marilyn's house. She has been the first place I go whenever I want blueberries. I headed down hwy 34 and thought it would be easy to cut over that way since she lives done behind bryant park. I had no idea if I was going the right way but it looked good :) We were in no hurry anyways and Mason had pink eye so my options of going anywhere were slim. I found the fields and there was a huge sign that had said CLOSED FOR RIPPING.

I called Tiesha, she had told me earlier in the week she had picked some. There was another place on hwy 20. I head off that way and saw a sign for blueberries...so we stopped. They were only selling them not picking them. SO the kids load pack up in the car with there bright silver bowls. I said we are going to go up the road to another place to see if they have any there. This was the farm Tiesha told me about. Almost to Corvallis I see the sign and pull in. You pull around to the back of the field and there is another sign Closed for Ripping.

I told Melayna, "I'm sorry babe, I'm not sure we are going to pick anything today". She said mommy I saw a sign down the road you passed and it had blueberries on it." I said Davis farms? "Yeah down the road, can we please stop there"? I was willing to try anything at this point. I said ok, let's go check it out. We pull in and the the kids get out of the car. We walk around and I ask the employee there is the have anything for the kids to pick :) She said no...UGH!

We pile back into the car and at this point I just felt bad. I decided to go look on Independece Highway to see if they could at least put some blackberries in there bowls. I take a left off of hwy 20 to independence hwy. Right by the flashing yellow light and the railroad tracks I pull around to this old run down building. Sure enough the blackberries were not ready either. The kids in the back were fighting, my phone was ringing and I was just fustrated. I pull up to the flashing yellow light to take a left to head back home and there was a huge semi truck turning onto independence hwy. I went to take a left and for some reason....I tapped on my break. Right as I tapped on my break a huge full size truck came hauling around that huge semi truck. My heart just sank. I instantly said oh my god. Melayna in the back said what mommy, what? I just couldn't even talk. I have no idea why I tapped on my break? I didn't see the truck coming around the semi.

I thought about it the whole way home. I was so shakin by what just had happened. I kept thinking, I could be in the hospital right now or even dead. It would have hit my side and possibly hurt Mason too.

Later that evening I was sitting on my porch watching my sprinklers water the lawn. I thought I'm so thankful to be sitting here and not in a hospital bed. I kept thinking about the i.v's and all the pain and how my kids could've hurt. I was obsessing about how many things could've gone bad. I kept all these feeling to myself until this Saturday.

This Saturday Kevin and I sat down and told each other stuff that neither one of us knew. How is it that I have been with this man for so many years and not know about some of his feelings. It is sad that the both of us are bad about our feelings. He told me about people that he loved that have passed away, dreams, goals, and just really great memories he has had of the two of us together. I told him about that day and the blueberry fields and how I was so messed up because just for that second our lives could've been changed forever and how thankful I was to still be here. I told him I belive we all have a plan from god and it just wasn't my time to go. What scares me is when it is my time: did I love my childern as much as I could, did I tell everyone that I truly care about how I really feel, and most importantly will my kids and family be ok? He made me feel so secure about all my doubts. I just can express how much I truly love him. Just the word love doesn't say enough about how I feel for him. He can say he really completes me!

I keep having crazy dreams. I'm not sure if it is because of that day or even saturday but alot of emotions I haven't dealt with keep coming back to haunt me. The biggest thing I keep thinking about is my miscarriage. I have had dreams about my daughter that was never born. It's so weird but I can even remember her name. It's sad to think I'm missing out on one child.

Too much

2008-06-10T09:14:00.000-07:00

It was hard to come home from vacation. I forgot how hard it is to be a mother, daughter, wife, best friend, and aunty. For the first time in a long time I laid in my bed and just cried. I'm so sad because sometimes I don't think I can live up to the expectations people put on me. It is so overwhelming to feel like I have to be everything to everyone. It might have been self pitty but I just felt like it was too much yesterday. Seems like when I ask for the same in return I don't get it. I have so much going on behind the scenes that really I don't ever let anyone see. I'm constintly jungling more than I can handle.

I can honetly say it is just hard somedays. I always try to make everyone happy and not to hurt anyones feelings. I don't like when the people I most care about are mad.....especially when they are mad at me.

For the first time in a really long time I smiled for a whole week. It was so nice to not have to worry about anything or anyone for a whole week. That sounds selfish but I think I really needed it. I really didn't do a whole lot on my vacation but drive. That whole time I was never stressed about friends, money, kids or parents. In california my family was so welcoming. It was nice to feel apart of something....that I really don't feel like here. I feel like my family here i give so much and don't get a whole lot back in return.

When I heard my mom practically had a nervous breakdown from watching my kids for two days it broke my heart. I don't understand. I know they can get out of hand somedays but I really don't think my kids are that bad. If you were to ask me I think there the BEST!

Today is Mason's last day of school. I have to go talk to him teacher about next year what is making me sick to my stomach just thinking about. It is so hard to have your child that is so far behind the other kids. It makes even more difficult that I scheduled his cardiology appointment yesterday to find out if he still has a whole in his heart.

I know this is just alot of venting but I just really don't have anyone to talk to right now other than a computer.

Don't mess with Texas! May 31st

2008-04-25T08:35:00.000-07:00

Kevin and I are going on an adventure. We met with our friends in February about going on an another road trip. Last year we had such an amazing time that we all decided we wanted to continue every year going on some kind of trip together. As a group we decided that every year someone will get to pick where we go. This year was Kevin's turn to choose. Without out any restraint Kevin yells out "TEXAS"! We should all go to TEXAS!

We all agreed that is sounded fun. Kevin was there in October to see his brother off to Iraq. He didn't get to visit everything and really wanted to go back to see it all.

Things have changed, as life does. Our fellow road trippers are not going with us.

Kevin and I decided that we are still going to go! His brother truck is in storage down in Texas. We are going fly to texas and pick up his truck and drive it back to Oregon. According to mapquest it is 33 hours and aroun 2300 miles. That is alot of miles in a little Ford Truck. I'm really excited to go with just Kevin. We always have so much fun together! It will definetly be an adventure. The kids will still be in school. I'm a little worried about leaving them for such a long time but on the other hand know that they will be in great hands! I will make sure to post pictures when we get back. I can't wait!

Saying Goodbye

2008-04-18T08:51:00.000-07:00

Have you ever had one of those dreams......Your family comes to say goodbye?

Every Memorial Day we go to Dorothy's house. I can't remember how old I was when I first met Dorothy. I think around 15. Kevin invited me to come to the memorial day picnic at her house. We had so much fun that year. There was so many people we ate our potluck then decided to go play a softball game at the school that was right down the farm road. I remember walking thru millions of filbert trees. It was so amazing her landscaping. Kevin said her and Delbert have lived there for over 50 years. Delbert passed away before I had ever met him. I sure he was a pretty cool guy from the stories I have heard.

Last year my mother inlaw had to have a hip replacement. She had some time off from work for recovery. She wanted to have one more "HooRah" before she had to go back to work. She thought it would be cool to rent a beach house for the week and have Granny, Zachary, Dorothy, and my kids come stay over. I was so glad I went over. I really got to meet Dorothy. She was a silly lady! She was always making me laugh. One night we were sitting on the couch and she was knitting. I said " I have always wanted to learn how to do that". Next day we were in a craft store looking for knitting needles and yarn. She said she would love to teach me. Granny said she would teach Zachary. So we are sitting on opposite couchs learning how to knit. Zachary has a scarf almost done before I even have a row! LOL! I said Dorothy what am I doing wrong, she just started giggling! I said What! She said well I taught you how to do it a little different. You see this is how I was taught the old german way. I said oh that's cool I know if how it used to be done. We sat on the couch for hours and she was just giggling the whole time. I'm remember thinking I'm so glad I came!

Thursday night Kevin calls Tim to ask him a question and he tells us Dorothy passed away. I was really sad. That night I had a dream and I could hear her tell me to take care of those wonderful kids. I promised her I would. She said that she was happy. That's all I remember but I heard her voice say it too me. I was not sad anymore.

Yesterday I went to her service. Clear Lake church is just down the road from her house. She had help build that church up! She has been a faithful member for 60 years.

During her service I never cried. I had the lump in my throat but I just remember her telling me she was happy. I had to leave before the service was over because I had to get Melayna off the bus. I was walking out to my car and notice I had just received a text message. I got to a stop sign and opened my message............and this is what it said

What would y do if ofr every moment u were truly happy there would be 10 moments of sadness?What would u do if best friend died tomorrow and u never got to tell them how u felt?So, I just wanted to say even if you never talk to u again in my life, u r special to me and u have made a difference in my life. I look up 2 u and resepect u, and truly cherish you. Let your old friends know you haven't forgotten them, and tell your new friends you never will. Remember everyone needs a friend. Don't ever leave the one love for the one you like b/c the one you like will lleave you for the one they love.

My friend Isla whom I have been friends with since we were 4 sent this too me. I had to pull over to side and start crying. I have not talked to Isla in over 2 months and out of no where get this text. It really could have not been better timing.

I will miss dorothy!