Another red-head :)

We've been thinking of getting a dog for a while. The kids have been begging for years, and our cat died a year ago. On a whim, we started looking on all the pet adoption websites and visiting a couple of shelters. One shelter happens to be about 5 min away, so I started going every few days to see what new dogs had become available. One day we found a little lab, retriever mix that we liked. We knew another family was interested, so we decided to get there first thing the next morning to adopt her. Of course that was one of the few days my kids (who make 3 really good 7 am alarm clocks) let me sleep in. The other family had left with the dog 30 min before I got there. We were a little bummed, but it worked out. Because about a week later, we found this little guy! He's super cute, sweet, snuggly, eager to please, playful, and all around a great little pup :) The shelter thinks he's a sheltie mix, and he is about 7 months old. It took us about 3 days to finally name the little guy. We each had our favorites.  Kayson wanted Zack, Ella wanted Shadow, I wanted Charlie, and Chad wanted Milo. Milo was the only one that everyone liked. I had my reservations because that is my grandpa's name. It's still a little weird for me, but in the end, we went with Milo. It fits him really well. Although I'm sure I'll get some interesting reactions from my family ;)

So, here is our little Milo pup!

Summer's almost here!

I can't believe the school year is almost over! But I am so ready for Summer :) Summer to me means baseball (or t-ball), soccer, parades, swimming, Popsicles, BBQ's, garden tomatoes, watermelon,  hikes, Strawberry days, freshly mowed lawns, and running through the sprinklers. I LOVE summer, and can't wait for the craziness to start! 
Our garden is almost finished, we just need to get some more flowers. And the fruits and veggies have already doubled in size, I can't wait til they're ready to eat!
I've also started running with a friend of mine, and we signed up for a 5-k coming up next month. I'm so nervous for it! I've always been a sprinter, never a distance runner. Dinstance is HARD for me! We've been running 3-5 times a week for 3-4 months and I can sadly say that it hasn't gotten a whole lot easier. But I haven't given up, and am determined to give it a decent shot! 
Ella had her last preschool class today and has a program next week, then she's done! Kayson still has a couple of weeks left in Kindergarten. I have been asked to help at Field Day, which is the funnest day of school all year. I still remember how much I loved it, so I'm excited to be able to help out. 
Chad is working hard in the truancy court and is working to change the way the whole program works. So far, it has gone really well, and he has had a lot of support from his supervisors and even the judge. I'm really proud of him for his hard work and not being afraid to try out his ideas. 
We're still doing the paper route. With no end in sight. *sigh* Which means we won't be going anywhere any time soon. But it is really nice to have that little bit of extra income.
Hm, I feel like this has turned into a Christmas news letter... oops, that's not quite what I had in mind! Oh well. Next post will hopefully be a bit more interesting with pics and everything :)

Hee Haw Farms

Ella had her first field trip and Sawyer and I were able to go. We went to Hee Haw Farms. We got to pick a pumpkin from the pumpkin patch, see the animals, slide down a big slide, go on a hay ride and a corn maze. Ella's favorite was the hay ride. Preschool has turned out to be fun. I wondered about her going at only 3, but it was a way for her to see her friends from our old ward. (In August, our steak was completely redrawn. All the wards were split up and put together to make new wards. So now our old ward is split up into 4 different wards.) There are about 6 kids from the old ward in her class. She LOVES going, and asks every day if she gets to go today :)

Summer Sum-up

I REALLY stink at keeping the blog up lately. Maybe one of these days I'll decide to get back into it regularly.... Anyway, here's the sum-up of our summer.
We bought the Pass of all Passes, so we spent a LOT of time at Trafalga mostly playing mini golf. We also played plenty of laser tag, bumper boats, race cars, watching the 4-D movies, and riding the carousel and airplane ride. And if the kids are lucky, play a few games. Super fun! Ella is our brave one who will try everything here. Kayson is more tentative, but we did manage to get him into the race cars once and he likes the bumper cars and rock climbing now, but his favorite hands down is laser tag. And Sawyer has to make do with the carousel since he is too small for anything else. The poor kid REALLY wants to get into those race cars. Darn height limits or I would take him :(
We also played a lot during Strawberry Days. The Children's parade, Huck Finn Day, Mammoth parade, carnival (we let the kids each do 2 or 3 rides), and of course a bowl of strawberries and cream, yum!
While we were at the carnival, Kayson won a free month to Bobby Lawrance Karate. He LOVED it!! I wish we could keep him in, but $100 a month for my 5 year old is too rich for my blood...
Kayson and Ella spent 2 weeks in swimming lessons. It really helped Kayson become more confidant. Which was great because the pass of all passes also included 7 peaks and we spent a lot of time there. So fun! Chad and I even got to go for a day with some friends and leave the kids at home. I love going with the kids, but it was fun to finally be able to go on all of the slides :)
We managed to squeeze in a few hikes, a few with some of Chad's family.
We got to have Landon (Kayson's cousin) come and stay with us for a few days, and took him on a hike and to the splash pads.
We were also able to visit the zoo, always a favorite for me :)
We did lots of sprinklers and swimming in the back yard, visits to the park, and all the usual summer things.

I'm sure I've left a TON out, but I said this would be a sum up so I had better stop. Our summer was GREAT and now we're excited for what the fall will bring!

May the Force Be With You

Kayson had his first friend b-day party this year. We decided to go with a Star Wars theme since Kayson is into it lately, and it ended up being pretty fun!


Again, we didn't take many pics because of our TERRIBLE camera, so bear with the few that we have.

We started out with Pin the Light Sabre on the Jedi. The kid that won had it spot on, I swear he was peeking ;)


Then we had a pinata, which Kayson asks for every year and the kids LOVED. (Didn't get pics of them breaking it :( )


Next came the Jedi training. They had to squash some bad guys, go through an obstacle course, and after a few more games, they earned their own light sabres (that they got to take home). Then they played with balloons, keeping them in the air with the sabres and finally popping all the balloons with them. Just when they thought that part was over, a visitor dropped in. Darth Vader himself ;) attacked, and the kids had a blast fighting him! And of course the dark side was defeated.


Finally, we had presents and cupcakes (of course with little light sabres on them), and just let the kids play. All in all, pretty fun for a 5-year old's party.

Let me sum up

I haven't posted in over 3 months, so I'm just going to do a super quick summary of what we've been up to.


First, we celebrated Ella's 3rd birthday.


Next up was Chad's 31st b-day


Followed by Sawyer's 1st b-day. Let's just say he liked his cake ;)


We can't forget that we said goodbye to Red 5. We literally ran this car into the ground and had to tow it to the scrap yard. RIP


We had a great Easter with parties, egg hunts, and even good weather that day. (Yes, this was the only picture that day.)


And last of all, we celebrated Kayson's 5th birthday.

We've had a pretty eventful few months. But, if you've noticed, very few pics. That's because our camera SUCKS. It takes terrible pictures that are almost always out of focus. So, if you have a good recommendation of a good point and shoot, let me know!!

Vorolo

My dad recently introduced me to a Web site called Varolo where you get paid for watching 30 second commercials. It cost nothing in terms of money and takes only about 30 seconds of your time for each commercial you watch (kinda like watching Super Bowl commercials). It doesn’t pay much at first but has potential for big monthly pay off for those who build their “village” by introducing the web site to others.


If you register using this link: http://www.varolo.com/village/Pacwmn and watch a few commercials it will make a little $ for my dad for referring me, and for me for referring you, and for you for whoever you refer and so on. The site is currently in beta but if it catches on it has potential .


I’m a little shy of asking others to do things like this but I have been playing with it and it’s kinda fun and there is nothing to lose



A link that shows how the compensation works is: http://blog.varolo.com/flash/VaroloComp.html



Let me know if anyone is interested!