Happy Hollidays

I realize that I haven't posted anything worth while for a long time. It is crazy in our house this time of year. Between school, being a mom, and a maid, I feel like I am running nonstop. And with Christmas rapidly approaching, life hasn't seem to slow down one bit. I never send out Christmas cards, mostly because I don't want my fat face for all to see. So here is an update of our last year.

Cayge:
Man this kid is getting big. Each time I turn around he has grown both physically and emotionally. He is a very generous loving kid. He has already taken the big brother role to heart and protects his sisters at all times. He has a great outlook on life. He truly takes lemons and makes lemonade. He is excelling in school beyond all measure. He is in second grade and is currently reading on a 4th grade level and a 3rd grade math level. He gets upset if he ever has to miss school. He LOVES his teacher (as do I) and plays football every recess with his friends. We go through pants like crazy these days with all the holes in the knees! Cayge is still and amazing artist and LOVES to draw all the time, especially when he can do it with his dad. Cayge got a great BDay present this year from his best friend George: he (or his Grandpa who is the offensive line coach for the Detroit Lions - the boys FAVORITE team) got Cayge and Rayce tickets to the Detroit Lions @ Seattle Seahawks game. They drove there and back all in the same day. It was both of their dreams come true! We love our tender-heart Cayge. He shows us on a daily basis why he was sent to us. He keeps the spirit in our home happy and light!

Icelynn:
I have one word for my little Icee: GENIUS! This girl constantly amazes me. She is in Kindergarten this year, and by summers end, she was reading on a 1st grade level. She begs every night to do homework (which she never gets from school so I have to buy her supplementary books at the store). She is constantly reading or drawing or just being creative. We have discovered that Icelynn is very musical. She is in perfect tune and can sing like an adult. Her favorite way to sing is to put a little growl in her voice when her dad plays rock n roll on the guitar for her. (she's the good version of Janise Joplin!) She also can play the piano by ear. She hears a song on the radio that she likes, and will just sit down and find the right key and play it! She amazes me, I have wanted to be able to do that all my life, and now my 6 year old can do it. She is super social, and is constantly talking. More like bossing, she is definitely holding that middle child persona to a "T". She bosses Cayge and Shylee every chance she gets. Icelynn really wanted to do Wrestling this year, but we found out that we felt better letting her flip around on gym mats rather than being fliped onto a wrestling mat by other boys. So we signed the girls up for Gymnastics, and Icee is a natural. On the first day, she was asked to do a cartwheel, and instead landed a front flip. I love my Icee-Fart (as her dad calls her)! She keeps us in line and we like it that way. She loves to be the center of attention, and we like to give it to her!

Shylee:
This kid has such spunk! She never lies... EVER! She lets us know what we have done wrong, or what she thinks we need to improve on, such as my weight. She always says to me that my tummy looks like there is a baby in it, so I need to get skinny cause my tummy is empty. We are always laughing when she is in the room. Whether it is something funny she has just said, or the facial expression she just pulled, or just because she is a klutz and tumbled to the floor for no apparent reason. I love spending my afternoons with ShyShy before the two other kids get home. I think she gets out her mean words on me, and is super nice to her sister when she gets home and is ready to play. Shylee also LOVES school, but not for the academic reasons. She just loves her teacher Miss. Debbie. She tells me all the time that she wants to live with her because she is much funner than me, but Shy insists. Shy also has gymnastics, but is kind of a turd when she's there. She thinks she can just do her own thing, but they keep her in line. She still loves to go though. I am so glad that I have this fire cracker in my life. She defiantly keeps me on my toes.

Rayce:
This guy truly amazes me. He is constantly busy! Between being a full time student and a dad, he is working on an Internet graphic design online store called iStock, but he also tattoos. He started his apprenticeship in April, and was tattooing on his on by May (which normally takes 2 years! Not two months!) He is a Jr. in his degree here at the U of Idaho. This man is constantly moving, or working on something. From 5 in the morning till usually after midnight. I am so grateful to have such a wonderful, dedicated, and loving man in my life. His kids are his world, and he constantly says that he would probably still be living in his parents basement if it wasn't for their beautiful spirits to be with every day.

As for me, I am doing the same old. Going to school, being a mom, and being a maid. It is a never ending battle, but one I wouldn't trade the world for. I love being a mom. It is truly the greatest gift that anyone could ever be blessed with. I try to take in something from my kids every day. I love to look at their smiling faces, or to hear them giggle while playing with each other. I even like finding the little piles of doll hair that randomly show up in my bathroom when the girls decide that the poor dolls hair is too long. At least it is not their own! We haven't had that problem for a year now! I am so greatful for all of my blessings.
In this beautiful season, I hope that you and your loved ones read this message in good spirits. I hope that the Lord has blessed your lives in some way. I am greatful for all of my family, and hope that this season is a wonderful Holiday Season for all.
Merry Christmas!

Poor me Moment

Okay, I realize I have better things to do than to have this little sob fest. I haven't posted something for a while, but I just wanted to vent a little. Having said that, here it goes...
1.) In August, the girls in the Bird family decided that it was time for a "Girly Trip". The boys go and do fun stuff all the time, and the gals get to stay home. Which isn't as bad as it sounds, but not as fun as it sounds at the same time. In all our planning, it came to my attention, (by a very rude gesture from he-who-must-not-be-named) that I was not going to be able to go. That I had spent all summer at home, and that it just wasn't a good idea to drive BACK to Idaho Falls, for a weekend trip to Vegas. So I graciously bowed out, and the other girls went minus myself.
2.) Rayce is a HUGE Detroit Lions Fan. I was looking at their schedule and saw that they played the Seahawks in Seattle. Knowing that we probably wouldn't be able to go again (because it has been 4 years since these two had met up) that we should go to the game. Priced tickets, hotels, gas costs, food, the whole works. Put some Lions memorabilia into the budget to bring back to Cayge (following in his Paws footsteps as a Lions fan) , and had everything all planned out, just needed to make sure Rayce was on the same page. We decided that if we went, we would not go home for Thanksgiving break so that we could afford to go home for Christmas break.
Now, this is where it all went wrong (for me at least)
Rayce's brother called saying that the weekend before Thanksgiving, the Bird boys all wanted to go to Vegas and watch a UFC fight. Without any hesitation AT ALL, Rayce said yes. He tells me that we will not be going to the Lions game, and that he was going to Vegas with the boys. Which isn't to bad, because I am in desperate need of being away from my house, and it will be fun to go home. But the more I think about it, the more jealous I get, because it was ME that wanted to go to Vegas all along, not Rayce. But I remind my self to not be a selfish brat, and not say anything to him and let him go have a guilt free trip.
Then today, a friend of mine calls Rayce (this gal happens to be the daughter of the Detroit Lions Offensive Line) and says that she has one extra adult and one extra child ticket if Rayce and Cayge were interested in going to the game. It is an all expense paid trip. They don't have to pay for gas, tickets, natta. Once again, he doesn't hesitate to say yes. Which in so many ways, I don't blame him.
But here I am, not getting to go to Vegas or to the Lions game. And here is Rayce, getting to go to Vegas and to the Lions game.
You all probably think I am being a brat, and have it out for my hubby. But just remember that he said no to these two trips when it was me going, and my idea!

IN NEED OF IDEAS!!

To all you creative people out there, Icelynn & Cayge are having a Birthday/Halloween party on the 31st. I need some ideas on what do do with a bunch of 8 year olds and 6 year olds. PLEASE! I am dying here (he he, halloween joke!)

It's a Longen...

So I promised pictures of this summer. But instead of uploading all 200 of them, one at a time, I just decided to do a slideshow. We did losts of fun stuff, with lots of fun people. We had a great summer!

This 1st slideshow has a few different events in it. The very first picture is of the 4 girls (my 2 + their 2 cousins, Naomi & Katlin) Shy absolutely malled these kittens the whole time we were there. Cayge got a really bad sunburn after spending most of the days out in the water. Then we have my 2 girls with their 2nd cousin Mj (Sorry Nikki, I don't know how to spell her full name) They decided they were going to be kittens, and so I filled some little plates with water and they were lapping it up. The next night we went and stayed in Bone, ID at my grandparents cabin. I spent LOADS of time there as a child, and I wish my kids had the same opportunity, but instead they did get to stay one night. We toasted hotdogs, played with cousins Hayden and Chance, and went fishing.

This 2nd slideshow is of when my two sisters, Genice & Danyelle, their two boys, and my kids and I went to the Rexburg Splash park. One Sunday a huge storm rolled in with high gusting winds. We got a call from Rayce's grandma (who lives nextdoor to his parents) and said her big pinetree fell over. This is the pictures from that. It was crazy because it was a HUGE tree. My family signed my kids up for swimming lessons, these were the first day of that.

This 3rd Slideshow kind of speeks for itself. The ones of Shy with the puppies are pretty cute. My Aunt came from CA and brought her 3 week old pups. They fit perfectly in this toy baby carrier thingy, so she packed them all over my grandma's house in them. The girls spent 2 whole days malling those poor pups to death!
The other swim pix are of my kids on the last day of lessons. They let the kids jump off the diving board, and go off the slide. They loved it and can't wait for lessons next year.

This 4th slideshow is of our trip to Yellowstone National Park. We decided to stay one day longer than planned, and was really glad we did. We went with Rayce's parents, and our friends Oliver & Amanda (and their son Oliver). We had lots of fun. Our 3 kids rode with Rayce's parents, and us two went with the Maxwells. We so TONS of buffalo. At one point, we were stopped for like 45 minutes right infront of one. I kept telling Rayce he should go slap it on the butt, but he ever so kindly declined. (I don't blame him, I wouldn't do it either! Those things are like monsters!) We went to Old Faithful to find that it wasn't that faithful anymore. It used to go off every hour, but this night we waited almost 2 hours and it was FREEZING! I didn't think to bring jackets and the wind was blowing and it was cold. But we had fun anyway.

Thanks to Brian and Corolee for hosting us for 36 days, putting up with all the craziness, and giving us tons of love. We love and miss you guys. Also thanks to all of you that we did stuff with. (Sorry Bree, for whatever reason, I only have one picture of your kids, and it's just the girls sleeping, but I know that your mom took a ton!)
We love you all and miss you tons already. Thanks for helping us to have a great summer!

Lots going on!

As some of you may know, I have not been home for nearly a month! Rayce was working MANY hours between his day job and tattooing, so on the 23rd of June, we decided that the kids and I would come "home" (Shelley, ID) for a month, and he would come on the 24th of July (which was when we originally planned on coming). A friend said he would give him a ride to Boise, and we just needed to get him from there to here. SO, the next morning, I packed my car and my kids for the 9 hour trip home. After a few bouts of car sickness, 11 hours later, we made it to Shelley. We have only had 1 or 2 down days since we arrived. There is always something to do and someone to visit. It has been really nice to be able to have a long visit with family. No rushing around and making sure we at least get to say "Hi" to everyone. We have gone camping at Heise (which we got flooded and had to leave), swimming at Lava, camping, lots of sleepovers with cousins, WAY too much time playing with the kittens (seeing that we are all alergic to them) and TONS of other way fun things. The sad part about all of this is Rayce is back in Moscow, slaving away. We even missed the 4th of July with him. There are a few downers about this statement. #1 I have never spent a holiday away from Rayce since we started dating! (12 years!) #2 Pullman, WA fireworks if really fun, and the kids really missed em. #3 Missed the traditional "Hang out with the Cann's" during the fireworks (and yes Jess, I nearly cried when you called me, that's half the reason I didn't call you back, you might have convinced me to drive home!) Those are just a few of the many reasons. Rayce and I have NEVER spent this much time apart. (the most time apart before this stent was for 16 days when he went to Australia before we were married!) SO the countdown has begun! He will be here in 4 days, yes that's right, FOUR days!!! The kids and I have been counting every day since we left, but I can't believe how long it has been. We love Rayce SSSSOOOOOOOO much! And miss him like crazy! Friday can't come soon enough. Also, he will only get to spend a few days here, because we will be leaving to go back to Moscow on Tuesday the 28th. I feel like such a slave driver :( I have TONS of pictures that I will post when I get back to my house (my in laws don't have internet, and I am mooching off anyones I can get my hands on about once a week!)

Camping

This weekend we went camping. It is our first weekend in FOREVER that we got to spend the whole time with just the 5 of us. We were supposed to go Friday afternoon, but it rained all morning, and Rayce's crew didn't get their work done because of it. So we had to settle for Saturday around noon. The area is called the Blue Lagoon, and it is only about 45 minutes from our house. It is gorgeous! The water is warm, and the camp site is pretty secluded. It was a nice weekend, but unfortunately, we got rained out Sunday afternoon. But that was okay, it was nice to get home and get cleaned up.

Shylee was the die-hard with the water. If she had it her way, she would have slept out on the water. The water was nice and warm, but the breeze wasn't. So that's why they look so cold.

Icelynn was freaked out by the whole thing. We had to hold her the whole time we were in the water because she thought she was going to get sucked away from us. I have know idea what that is all about.

Always posing!

Hanging out while everyone else was swimming.

This was our campsite view!

Icee's genius idea to wear her goggles while by the campfire so that the smoke didn't get in her eyes.

Shy's winking face!

Cayge enjoying a smore! (Or more like 6 smores)

I don't know what to say about this picture. It is just Icee being herself!

We had a GREAT weekend as a family. Now we are headed off to Shelley for 5 weeks without Rayce. We are super bummed to leave him behind. But we never really see him anyways. He will be joining us down there the last week we are there. So I probably won't be posting for a while! Enjoy your Independence Day, and have a safe and fun summer!

Girl's Hair

Lots have changed since the girls cut their own hair in November. Like INCHES! You can really notice how long Shylee's has gotten. Icee's has really grown too. Any of my followers know that I post pictures of my girls' hair every once in a while, so here are some new ones. The first two are of the day the girls cut their own hair, and the others are just newbies on old hair do's that I have done before.

Shylee cut her hair SO short, I cried!

Icelynn's was do-able, luckily she didn't cut it to the scalp like Shy did.

Shy's is a mix of two of my favorite hair do's. It's cris-cross pony piggy's up to messy bun piggies.

She's so Cute!!! ~ I was a nice mommy and did make up on them too.

Icelynn is SO beautiful. She looks just like her Aunt Brianna (Rayce's sister), and I am so glad. Brianna's pictures at Icee's age look likes they could be twins! (and when I did her mascara, I hardly had to put any on, she already has long dark lashes, unlike Shylee!)

I really think she will a beautiful model when she gets older!

Well, that's my first hair post of the summer. Hope you liked it, and if you did, you can look forward to more throughout the summer! (the summer is the only time I have TIME to do fun do's like these!)

My AMAZING Hubby Rayce

Okay, I have decided to inform all of you how truly AMAZING my husband is. Not only is he a the best dad to my children, but he is probably the most talented person I have ever met. He is my own personal Midas. I swear that everything he touches turns to gold (minus myself, I am not perfect, contrary to popular belief!!!!). Any hobby that he has ever tried, he does such an amazing job. These are some pictures of just a few things that he has done in the past 10 years or so. Not only is he very artistic visually, but VERY artistic with music. When he was in his band, he wrote all the music for each instrament, and also all the lyrics. A few things he can do is:
Make masks (from start to finish)
Sing
Compose music
Play Guitar & Bass
Airbrush
Draw anything he can imagine
And SO much more. His newest talent is Tattooing, and he does a really good job at that too! He is at the top of his class for Vertual Technology & Design here at the UofI. Like I said, everything he touches turns to gold!

Here is my tattoo. He was a little nervous, but not as much as him. I knew that he would do good, but I am a baby when it comes to pain. He did a really good job, and I am very happy with the end result. Thank Rayce, and thanks for being such an amazing man!

(the pictures aren't the best, but here ya go)

Water fun! (Sorry this is kind of long! ~ as ususal)

As you all know, my grandparents came this weekend. I didn't get to take as many pictures as I had hoped. But yesterday morning, they left super early (like 6:30 in the dang morning) and as you can tell by this picture, my kids are SUPER tired!

It has finally been warm enough to play in the water. The kids LOVE jumping on the trampoline with the sprinkler under it. (This day Shylee fell asleep and missed it all, but she did played on it today!) They have a blast doing it, and they can do it ALL day!
Icelynn doing a flip. They are getting so agile on the tramp!

Try as I might, I could not get Cayge during the flip. I took like 8 pictures, and none of them took, and they were blury on top of that.

Icelynn loves to draw and write. And she is really good at it. This is what she does everyday. I love seeing this.

Rayce is full fledge into working now that summer has really hit. He works for TLC lawn care. They mostly mow lawns. He is such an amazingly hard worker. And we love him so much! Today him and his guys stopped by the house for work, and mowed our lawn while they were waiting for me to finnish up lunch.

This is Rayce and his friend Eric. They are pretty good friends, and they work really good together.

Shylee and her leaf crown

Icelynn and her leaf crown (sorry, the picture is blurry)

This is Deng. He works with Rayce, and he made the girls their leaf crowns. Thanks Deng, the girls love their crowns!

Last day of School & Arboretum

I had quite the week last week. It started off by deep cleaning everything in my house. I had my granparents coming, and so, the first few pictures are of the kids scrubbing the chairs for me. They do a pretty good job, plus they love doing it. The rest of the pictures of the last day of school for the girls. It was really fun, and the girls are sad to be not going to school today.

On Friday, we went to the UofI Arboretum for a couple of hours. We spent most of our time at the ponds. We saw turtles, fish, and ducks. Ducks were Shylee's favorite. They followed her around the whole pond. At one point she said "Mom! The ducks are going to babysit me!!" I swear to you all, I have never EVER, left my kids with an animal in charge of them. But we really enjoyed our time there.

PrePost

So, today I am writing a "PrePost". My grandparents are coming into town this weekend, and I am sure I will be taking tons of photos. I am super excited for this weekend, in fact, they should be here tomorrow evening. My kids are excited, I am excited. Lots of hustle and bustle around the house. I scrubbed bathrooms today, and did some tidying up around. It will be a great weekend.

Also, the girls have their last day of school tomorrow, so I will be spending the day with them and taking lots of photos. So keep posted, I will be letting you know how the next few days go.

Sunday Walk, Homemade Rock Band, and a new Girlfriend

Last Sunday the kids and I went for a walk. It was such a gloomy rainy day, but it was better than being stuck inside all day. The rain was just soft enough that we weren't soaked, but enough that we were getting pretty wet. Shylee decided that she wanted to hunt for worms. I thought that she had her fill of worms, but now she just likes them even more. Every worm she saw on the sidewalk she needed to pick up. At one point she had like 5 in her hand. It was pretty cute, even though it was really cute.

Walking up the road behind out house.

Cayge and Icee checking out all the worms in Shy's hand. If ya look closely, you can see that they are trying desperately to get out of her hands. It was pretty gross, there was worm slime all over her hands. I made her wash them in the run off from the rain.
This is the trail right in front of our house. The trail was pretty slick, so the kids tried as hard as possible to walk on the grass.

Showing off his gun! (This is something he does ALL the time. On the path, in Walmart, ANYWHERE!)

I like how her gun is pointing! Ha! Not a very straight gun

Watching each other's back.

HOME MADE ROCK BAND:

The other day the girls said they wanted to play Rock Band. I told them they had to wait for a while because I was busy doing homework and studying. Pretty soon I heard music coming out of their room. This is what I found. It was pretty darn cute!

Cayge's Girlfriend:

This is a little girl named Amilia in Cayge's class. They also ride the bus together, and she hangs out with Cayge for a few minutes while she waits for her mom. One day I asked him if he liked her. He said yes, and that she liked him back. I am the math tutor in their class, and she is one of the kids that I help. I was helping her one time and she said that he liked her, and I asked if she liked him. She said yes, and that one time she tried to kiss him. WOW I didn't realize that this kind of stuff happened at 7 years old. I have a lot of work cut out for me if this is happening so soon!

She's a cutie, and has a cute little spunky personality. She calls me Miss Sweets, because all the other kids in class calls me Miss Candi. She's a fun little girl. And also the cutest in his class. Good call Cayge.