just a little more rain...

We got a ton of rain last night! We got somewhere between 6-8 inches I think. Shawn and I woke up at 3:30am cuz the hail was pelting the windows and it was so loud. We wandered downstairs to look out the windows and this is what we saw. The water came much higher than last week. It's all gone now...it's just soggy. The flooding was so bad in places though that school was canceled today! The kids were very excited about that! :) We are supposed to still get more rain this week...I don't know how much though!
{in the picture you can see 2 or 3 rectangle things...those are water covers that ended up in our yard...I have no idea which direction they came from? they are still in the yard!}

Ty is a Tie

We were telling Ty to go find a tie for church. He didn't want to....I tried to distract him with a little humor and say "Look at that, Dad already has a "Ty" he can put on!" Ty immediately got up to run away but didn't make it very far.

Dad was trying on his "Ty". While he was on Shawn's shoulders {before I had even thought to get the camera out he said 'No flash photography please!'} So of course I had to pull out the camera and get a picture. Ty knows me too well...he knows I get my camera out for everything! :)

This Ty didn't tie so well around dad's neck but we will keep him around anyway! :)

Flood Waters

So we ended up getting just a little bit of rain on Saturday. It was actually really fun. The kids and I sat at the windows and watched the rain come down--hard, we watched the lightening and listened to the thunder and rated it to see which one was the best and loudest! :)

Of course it was garbage day...so there were all sorts of garbage cans floating by...I think 4 or 5 went past our house. You can see that our can is still on grass. {keep an eye on the little piece of grass that the garbage can is on in the next few pics}

Ok...it's still hanging in there but the water is almost taking over where the can is.

Grass is gone...this all happened in a matter of minutes! It ended up being about 8 inches on our street. It covered the sidewalk and came up into the front lawn and we had a small lake in the backyard for a little while too!

Shawn decided to go save our cans so he wouldn't have to look for them later down the road. I am not really sure why the shirt needed to come off...but it did!All the kids went out and played in it after the rain slowed down. It drained pretty quick but they still had fun. If we would have had a little raft we could have floated down our street! I only got a few pics of Ty...all the other kids took off down the street to see their friends and compare yards. Tyson didn't want the rain to drain so here he is trying to cover the holes in the sewer cover! :)

Feeding the Ducks

We have ducks wandering all over our neighborhood. On Friday, Kyler stayed home with a cough and the ducks were in our yard so I let him go out and feed them some bread. He had fun!

some things never change

The kids and Shawn were outside playing freeze tag the other night. I took pictures. Look at this sweet little Ty. Even when he is upset he is just so darn cute!

Check out the 2 pictures...April 2009 {8 yrs. old}

May 2004 {3 yrs. old}

Kyler's first soccer game

Getting ready for the parade. The teams get together and decorate the cars and then drive to the soccer fields honking horns and hollerin'! Kyler loved that part. We still have our car decorated...Kyler hasn't wanted to wash it just yet!
Do you see that tongue? When he is really concentrating that tongue came out every time!! :)
He ran it down the field and kicked it into the goal but it was blocked! He didn't care...he felt like he scored!
Throwing the ball in after blocking a goal. He likes to play goalie. He blocked all the shots that came to him!
Monkeyin' around while the teams were at the other end of the field.
Kyler had his first soccer game this weekend! It was so much fun! Watching 5 and 6 yr. olds play soccer has got to be one of the most entertaining things ever! He did really well and had a super fun time! He can't wait till this Saturday to play again!

Kailee's black hair

Kailee spent the night with her friend last Friday. They did some babysitting, then they took their money and went and bought some hair color. Permanent hair color. Black permanent hair color.
Now let me just start by saying this: I have let Kailee color her hair a few times and I have never said no to coloring her hair when she has asked (except for when she wanted to bleach it). So when she came on Saturday morning with black hair I was a little surprised! She didn't get the shock factor she was going for with me though. I thought it looked cute! I just thought it was funny...this was kinda her first teenagerish thing. Shawn on the other hand...he played right into the reaction she was hoping for. He gave her a "dad" speech about what kind of message was she trying to convey to the world with her black hair and make-up. (the black eye make-up she came home in, looking slightly raccoonish)--->again...that was a girly sleepover thing...she knows she can't actually wear it that way. Anyway...shortly after "the speech" and talking with me Shawn apologized for over reacting but still feels justified, cuz it is his little girl growing up. :)

cute, cute, cute

also...if the black hair is the start of her downward spiral and she is forever lost to this world...I can just blame the Relief Society President...it was her house she slept over at! :) :)

A Broken Window

Well...our 4 day weekend was eventful to say the least! I will get to all the other fun pictures I have later today or tomorrow. I will have some time to blog since my next couple of days are going to spent at home waiting for the glass man to come measure and then install a new front window.
Why you ask do need a new front window? No biggie...just someone threw a rock through it in the middle of the night on Saturday!! About 1:30am Shawn woke up up to the sound of the window shattering {he thought maybe a lightbulb had popped} After checking on all the kids and seeing that they were fine he headed downstairs to see what was going on. He got to the office and luckily turned the light on before stepping to far in. He saw the rock and the broken piece of the blinds and then saw glass everywhere!!! He called the cops and filed a report. They said what we already suspected...just some kids messing around. I woke up about 2:20am after the cop had left {yes I slept right through that noise...a little scary. I had actually just finally went to bed about 12:30-12:45} When I came downstairs I saw the mess, Shawn filled me in on what had happened. Someone walked by, picked up a rock from our front yard, threw it, really, really hard. It went through the double paned glass, broke a piece of the blinds that were closed, went across the room and put a hole in the wall opposite the window and then the rock landed on the floor. We started cleaning up, we didn't get to bed till after 4:00am. I didn't really sleep after that, not for fear of another rock but listening for the kids to wake up. Even though we cleaned up, I knew there were pieces we had missed and I knew the kids would be anxious to get downstairs to see their easter baskets.
The office has been off limits unless you have mom's permission and then you must have shoes on.
So what did we learn from all this? Well Shawn and I both are extremely grateful and felt blessed that our continuing prayer of safety was answered. Nobody was hurt and the kids slept through the whole thing. It was frustrating and I was a little nervous Sunday night as we went to bed...but mostly I was feeling bad for the kids who did this. I felt bad that they were out that late...parents not knowing or caring that they were out wandering the streets. I was grateful for my own children who I know would never do such a thing...finding entertainment in being destructive. I was also grateful for the opportunity we had Sunday night to talk about forgiveness. Right at first I felt a little violated...then after a prayer I felt safe again and have been so thankful for the peace we have had in our home. We have moved on and have decided to be a little more specific and include in our prayers that not only will we be safe and protected but that our house will be too! :) Of course the kids were so great about the whole thing. Sunday morning the comments were:
Kailee..."What?"
Austin..."Mom you saved that rock right? Where is it? We need to dust it for fingerprints! We will of course eliminate you & dad and then we will find out who did this!"
Tyson..."Kids these days...they don't respect anyones things!"
Kyler..."Do I have to look at this? Can I go back to my Easter Basket?"Don't ya love the ghetto cardboard look? I am diggin' it!! I'll miss it when it's gone! :)

Wacky Wednesday

Kyler had Wacky Wednesday at school on April Fool's Day. He loved it! He had so much fun getting dressed in the morning. This was his idea of wacky. A pajama shirt with a nice shirt over it, with his tie on facing the wrong way...basketball shorts and his shoes and socks were all thought out. A church sandal with a white sock and his tennis shoe with a church sock. Oh and don't forget the sailor hat! :) I went to his class that day to help out...it was so fun to see all the kids and Ms. Rigling all wacky! I just wish I would've taken a picture with Kyler and Ms. Rigling! I just wasn't thinking though!

Happy Birthday Kyler!!!

Can my baby really be 6? It's crazy?...right? I think he had a pretty good day! This is our year for family birthdays...{we switch so every other year is parties with friends} He wanted to go get doughnuts for breakfast. We did that at the little doughnut shop down the street and I let him and Ty go a little late to school. Then I brought him Chik-Fil-A for lunch and got to eat with both him and Ty since they have the same lunch time. Then back to the school at 2:00pm to help Ms. Rigling with cupcakes and juice for his class. When he got home from school we let him open presents so we could go to an early dinner. He wanted and needed a new bike...I found a really cool Transformer bike online...unfortunately it hasn't quite made it here yet so I printed off a picture of the bike and put it in a card. When Kyler opened the card and saw the picture he immediately threw it to the side to open a present! I said "Wait, Kyler why do you think I gave you that picture?" He said "Cuz I like Transformers?" I had to explain about the bike and then it clicked and he was excited...to think I could've gotten away with just a picture of a bike...not a real one! :) After gifts we went to dinner and Texas Roadhouse...Kyler picked this place cuz he really likes that you can throw all your garbage on the ground! {not really just the peanut shells...but I think he likes the idea of not having to be very clean} He ordered a very special birthday dinner of mac and cheese and french fries and chocolate milk! {that is different from every other day how?} He announced that it was his birthday as soon as we walked into the restaurant to every worker that came our way...so after we were finished eating he got to get on the"horse" and have a happy birthday and yee-haw from the workers.

When we came home we had chocolate cupcakes and sang Happy Birthday...his wish this year is that the Transformers will become real! Shawn's thing is to always give out the birthday spankings and usually when he announces this, the kids run to hide and get chased, they love it more than they let on! Shawn told Kyler "Ok time for some birthday spankings and Kyler did this {see picture above} He is such a goof!! HAPPY BIRTHDAY KYLER!!!

**This morning (March 12th) he told me I can't wait till March 11th to come! Oh brother!

Here is a picture of Kyler's birthday banner...I just did his name so he can hang it in his room...there are more pics on my stamp blog if you want to see more. :)

Rodeos, Career Day and Cub Scouts

Kyler had career day at school last week. He dressed up as a builder...as you might have guessed! Let me just clarify though...he is not just any kind of builder...he had a story! He is a builder of Transformers and Robots. {was there any doubt in your mind?} He will be working underground "Oh so mom I won't be able to be a dad and you can't be a grandma from me...cuz when you work underground you can't have kids!" out of the mouths of babes!

This is Kyler and Kami...Kami is a friend of Kylers. She did the mutton bustin at the rodeo...Kyler was a little jealous, he says he wants to try that too! We'll see about next year. Kami did a great job mutton bustin!! :)

friends...Austin and Josh

loved, loved, loved the bulls! I love the rodeo! The Katy Rodeo is perfect! The weather was perfect, it's local so no huge crowds and it has it all! This is the 2nd year we have gone and we will definitely be going every year!! It was sooo much fun!

Kyler doing the stick horse race...there he goes!

ahead of the crowd!

yeah he won! If you talk to him...he won. It's not worth explaining that everyone gets a ribbon for participating and he didn't actually come in "1st"! He did run fast and was one of the first kids down to the finish line! :) So in our house...he won!

The Buckin' Bronco! They were sooo fun to watch...those guys get whipped all over!

These dogs have kapoochi monkeys on their backs and they heard the goats into the pen. Then they all get in and onto the truck to ride off! It was pretty funny! :)

This is the calf scramble. They let loos the calves and the high school kids have to get them to the ground and hold them there until the last one is down! It's hilarious!

there they go! Some of the young men and women from our ward do this although none of them did it the night we were there.

The day after the Rodeo we had Tyson's first Blue and Gold Banquet. He and Shawn had to make a "feller" cake. They did a great job! it was chocolate cake with chocolate frosting...crushed oreo cookies for the dirt and then worms and flowers! Some little kids came up to Shawn and said "May I please have seconds, your cake is so moist!" Shawn is feeling pretty good about his cooking sckills! :) Ty won the award for the dirtiest cake which he thought was awesome! :) He got lots of belt loops and pins. He has been a hard working cub scout! I promise that when we first showed up he looked presentable. He was tucked in and his face was clean! What are ya gonna do?...he is an eight year old boy who loves to play and staying appropriately dressed is not top on his priority list! {insert my shoulders shrugging here} Austin is the Den Chief for the Wolves and the Den Leaders gave him a special pin and recognized him for all his hard work and help. They said he was helpful and kind and a terrific example to the younger boys! {Austin you rock bud!!}