HAPPY BIRTHDAY OLIVIA!!!

Dec 4th Olivia celebrated her 1st birthday!! i keep saying it but i cant believe how time flies!!! rick and Anna put in a lot of effort to make this a very special day. rick completely redid their back patio put up new fencing and gates and it turned out beautiful! and Anna I'm guessing planned most of the party events. first they had a "ball pit" that was actually my birthing pool that i used for Olivia. don't worry no "gunk" ever got in the pool and its been cleaned since.

they also had a jumper that wasn't much of a hit with Olivia especially with the bigger kids being in there.
they also had a petting zoo. this was Olivia's favorite part! she even started crying when she saw the animals being packed away to go home. it was really cute.

Anna had a special cake made to. Olivia ended up chowing down on a cupcake that Anna fed to her since Anna isn't a huge fan of the food mess.

jazzy, jayvin and ridge got Olivia her first quad which she seemed to LOVE! she must have gotten like 50 presents and she deserves every single one of them =)

her grandma got her this really cute car. she was getting pushed around in it and laughing it was so cute!!

the party ended up turning out great. I'm really glad i went. when i first got there i was really uncomfortable and even kinda broke down. Anna talked me down though. i just didn't feel like i belonged, i felt out of place and its just another time that i feel like no matter what I'm that constant reminder of how Olivia really came about. but we stayed and we enjoyed every bit of it.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY OLIVIA!!!

Our Stockings

the kids are stoked that Christmas is coming up and I'm sure you can relate if you have kids that the constant "is it almost Christmas" question can wear on any parent. i saw these cute Christmas tree count down things at the dollar section of target and i thought it would be perfect for them. since i got it i haven't hear the "is it almost Christmas" question since.

we found these HUGE stockings at the dollar store so i bought each of the kids one and had them decorate it with paint, glitter etc. and then ill iron on some transfers with their names on it. it will deff make for good memories and its much more personal then those ooberly fancy, ooberly expensive stalkings at the stores these days.

despite what previous blog pictures might show, my kids DO have clothes! were just a nudest friendly family lol

we cant wait till Christmas and have so many plans but that's for a future blog.

Gobble Gobble

we started turkey day out at my dads house for a few. my dad and i don't really see each other much (by choice) but i was really hoping to see my sis and my nephews. we only stay for an hour and got to see my sis as we were walking out. next we stopped at my moms house where she took on turkey day practically by herself.

the second best thing about thanksgiving is the food, the first being family of course. below is all the food my mom managed to make. except for the salad which was made by my cousins friend.

whats a holiday without the Brandi and nogg??? not much of a Holiday in my opinion!! funny enough i didn't even have any (I'm not much of a drinker)

this would be my mother. as you can see she just mixed herself some nogg so I'm guessing that's where her cheesy smile is coming from.

here is one of my fave and most fabulous cousins, Micheal.

here is Nathan and i blessing you with an awesome picture of us.

Micheal and i trying to take a picture. that would be jazzy petting the dog and ridges head in the lower left corner. doesn't get more candid then this.

theres my boys! well 2 out of 3 of them. they are so darn cute!!!

my mother and Micheal

this thanks giving was awesome and i think next year we will do our own thanks giving and of course everyone is invited. it will be a sight trying to fit everyone in our small apt lol.

Thank You

LIFE! the good and the bad. just when i want to throw my hands up out of pure frustration ridge dumps a whole bag of flour over his head that i was using to make a cake. jazzys marker leaks all over her new white shirt and jayvin has just completely taken apart every neatly organized Tupperware container in the cabinet just to put it back in a way that better suits his taste. believe it or not these are not the moments in life that have me in fetal position in bed with a pillow over my face. these moments are what I'm thankful for. its called life and in life things are not perfect, the pieces don't always fit together right away and your not guaranteed 24 hours in a day to accomplish your to do list. instead of cursing life, i salvage what flower i can and finish my cake with a smile on my face while looking at my little marshmallow baby, i change jazzys shirt and turn her newly colored one into an art project and i praise jayvin for actually putting them away, even if its not MY way. in those passing moments life just taught me how to use what i have and be thankful that i have it at all, it taught me that when one door closes another one opens and it taught me how to let go. that's life, the good and the bad and every moment in my life is another moment that I'm thankful for.

When Our Country Goes Down The Pooper, Point The Finger At Yourself!!

when i was younger i use to LOVE playing with barbies. i had over a dozen barbies and about every pet shop, car, house, baby, doctor set imaginable. i would spend a good 3 hours just setting it all up and then a few hours playing with them. back then barbie had cute 50's style dresses, suits, longer skirts and less reveling tops but now that i have a daughter of my own that has caused me to pay more attention to the girlie toy isles of the stores Ive noticed the new trampy style that barbie has taken on, not all but i would say about 95% of them. needless to say I'm no longer a huge fan of barbie.

well a few years ago i noticed these dolls .....

wait...sorry these are go go dancers, their striking resemblance must have confused me

here are the dolls

there called BRATZ. the name in its self is something i wouldn't want near my kids and the skanky clothes just top it off. they look like street walkers for cryin out loud! i wouldn't let my child touch these hideous things with a 10 foot pole.
now if those aren't bad check these new "monster high" dolls. i think this is a new kids TV show. now its not their gothic punk style i hate in fact i think some of them are cute BUT not for my 4 year old. in fact i wouldn't even let my 13 year old play with these. some might think that's a little to extreme but if i dont want my 13 year old dressing like a skanky gothic punk (its the skanky part that gets me) then i wouldnt want her to idolize a doll that expresses that exact style.



here are the monster high dolls. they are accessorized with vampire teeth, hooker make up and trashy little outfits.

now again if i was 18 id be into these but again id be 18 and since these dolls are located right next to the Polly pockets, play kitchen sets and the pretty princess dresses I'm guessing they aren't aiming these towards 18 year olds.

between censoring my kids toys, friends, clothes and movies/TV shows, I've heard plenty of parents telling me i should back off and not be so strict however most of those parents kids ARE the "friends" i don't let the kids play with on regular basis due to their, bratty behavior, diva attitudes and their sense of entitlement. harsh? maybe. but I'm just being honest. now i understand rebellion due to over sheltering however sheltering my kids is not what I'm doing. i show the dolls to my kids, i expose them to bad behavior, and later will expose them to the realities that bad choices bring like, teen moms, ex drug addicts, and people who have commited crimes and i will and do tell them why these choices in life are not proper, irresponsible, and selfish . i was exposed to these things as a child, definitely not in a way i will be exposing my children to them however i still learned from it. I've never done drugs or smoked and have only drank alcohol on occasion. i was a teen mom but i stepped up and took care of my babies properly. now before i ramble any longer my whole point this blog is this. every one keeps complaining about our next generation and how our country is going to crap because of them. its "your" fault ("your" is not meant to be directed towards everyone but responsibility should be taken) between kids violent video games, over sexualized TV shows and dolls, parents who would rather clean house and obtain materialistic objects rather then be hands on or take a part time job and live with in their means, cartoons with to much adult humor and lazy parents who would rather give into their child's every whim then face a tantrum is why our generation will let our country go to crap, because of YOU

The Twins And Their Chores

I've gotten asked a handful of times as to how we do the kids chores, if we use chore charts and what type of chores we could possibly ask out of our four year olds. so i thought i would blog to explain.

jazzy and jayvin each have 2 small metal box containers (whatever you wanna call them) that we just put magnets to the back to keep them on the fridge. two of them have the kids names on them and the other two have "good job" on them. we marked their chores on Popsicle sticks (they decorated the other side).

below is the boxes (jazzy's)

here are her chores that we expect her to do. clean her room, wash their dinner table, take out their bathroom trash, make her bed, brush her teeth, and vacuum (they have a miniature vacuum that is their size).
how it works is in the morning all the sticks start in the box with their name on it. when they complete a chore through out their day they put the completed chore stick in the "good job" box. if at the end of the day before they go to bed all the sticks are in the "good job" box then they get 3 quarters for that day. if all the chores sticks aren't in the "good job" box at the end of the day then they get no money and we have always stuck with this.

here is jayvins chore keeper the only difference between his and jazzys is he has a "put away dishes" and she has the "take out trash" which we occasionally switch up. they are only required to put away their own plastic dishes which we keep in one of the bottom floor cabinets.

the twins each have 2 piggy banks and 1 pouch money bag thing. at the end of the day 1 quarter goes in a piggy bank to save, another quarter goes into the other piggy bank to donate to church, the salvation army people in front of the store etc. and the other quarter goes into their pouch and they are free to do what they want with that money, they usually save it for a couple weeks and they buy crayons, a new book from the dollar store or something they like out of the dollar bins at target.

so there you have it that's how we do the chores and allowance in our home and the kids have always done great with it. we started this when they were 3 and will probably stick with it.

Baby Jax Is Here

Johnny Alexander is finally here...well as of a few weeks ago but this blog is a bit late. Jennifer had a welcoming for Jax and it turned out great! Jax is so darn cute with his fuzzy black hair, round face and tiny little Gerber lips. so far Jen says hes a great baby and she seems to be adjusting well. as far as any other details ill leave that all up to her but i was so excited to finally have a boy cousin that i had to blog about him, and to tell the new momma congrats.

here are a few pictures from Jax's welcoming.

here's Jax's room. she decided to do a Noah's Ark Theme and it turned out really cute. its not your typical Noah's Ark it has a bit of a whimsical feel to it and that's why i really love it!

Here the new daddy. congrats Johnny (Nathan swears this is how your name is spelt so i blame him if its wrong)
here's the daddy and great grandpa

here the new mommy and i caught Jax in a Yawn. look at that spiky hair!

mommy Jen looks so happy! and baby Jax looks pretty snuggled

the food was really yummy. here's Miss Braelyn helping herself to round numero dos

another admirer. yes, calling him an admirer is a cop out since i don't remember who he is...sorry =)

congrats to the Woodworth-Mckinney family. Jax is really cute and i cant wait to watch him grow into his own. love you all!!