OK - So I found a computer at the hotel - and now that I am addicted I am trying to figure out when is the best time to sneak down here and blog! Things are going well - after setting off the fire alarm the first day at the hotel - things have gotten easier. Kids are doing well and adjusting great - better than I expected. So far we have a new move in date of Sat Nov 5 - That is all I will say, we'll see how it all goes! I found the camera but can't down load pics until I get our computer up - I have to run only have a minute to check emails and blog!



Here is a pic of Josie last Sat - at the Children's Museum in Seattle - isn't she adorable??

Kids went down for a nap before we go to the hotel and I am blogging - I have such issues. Jess this is your fault! Now if only you can get me as hooked on dieting and the gym.... .hmmmm I will work on that. I have learned to say I like myself unconditionally! lol that was a quote someone in my class wrote my senior year - and it always made me laugh out loud so there you go!



Here is Derrick and his second momma Nora , being commissioned along with 4 others; Sun. Oct. 16th for the ministery through Real Life Church. He is already recognized since May as a National Certified Chaplain for the King County Fire & Police in Maple Valley. But the church had a special service to recognize those in te ministry who have recently stepped out in faith or graduated from school. I think I mentioned it earlier but I had a pic now for you to view.

I have missed placed our camera after taking adoarable pics of the kids in a huge pile of leaves - so I will post more pics after we find the camera!! I think it is in one of the boxes already closed up - it will show up at some point!!

ok, so we didn't move did hell and high water come?

No, it didn't happen, the house wasn't ready and our town had issues with us moviing our stuff into the garage. Actually they didn't have a problem they would have just fined us! So we are staying the weekend at The Shooks and going to a hotel Mon. Looks like maybe the 1st or so of Nov. we may move in. Our contractor is doing some awesome custom stuff, so we want it to be great so we are just trying to relax and enjoy this time! Sometimes harder than it sounds. But we are all doing good. What more can you ask for? In a short amount of time we will be in a new home - so I have no complaints. Hope all is well with all of you too!!


This is John being a boy - like the expression on his face? I told him not to get dirty! yeah right! Grandma Pris takes him on Tuesday to story time or to play at the cmu center near there home.... so he is playing at the center.


Here is Dad and Josie - aren't they cute - dad out whitted mom this time and has been secretly teaching Josie to say "da da", so that is all she will say - no "ma ma" yet! Darn he got smarter with this one!


This is John at Grandma Mary's house..... click on the pic to see his face too cute!!

How times have changed

Since we are moving Sat (I think we still are!) It may be a little while until I get everything all set up to post - our computer has been packed away since last Feb. So I thought I would take this chance to put up a few pics of the kids. Some are a couple of weeks old, you will be able to tell by how short John's hair is.

Over the weekend our church recognized a few people for doing work in the ministry and commissioned them. I think I am saying that correctly. Derrick was one of the people that was recognized on Sunday - So I just wanted to say how proud I am of him! Just think, 9 years ago when we met Sep 24, 1996 to be exact I didn't have a clue that we woul dbe married now and have three great kids - - and that Derrick would be a chaplain. Wow. I think about what we were up to when we first met, there has to be a God, because we lived through it all!!

As soon as I get up and going I will post new pics of the house -

House pics - - we are almost done!

they are mudding today - texture tomorrow! We move next Sat. Yes I said we move next Sat. If the house is not done, which I think it will be they are working very hard, our contractor is putting us up in a hotel. So come hell or high water we are moving!

These aren't the most recent pics of what the house looks like - but it is of the sheet rock.



One is of the master bedroom and the other is from te kitchen looking out to the living room. For those who had seen the old house - where the three windows are now - was where there was just one big one before, and the punched that wall out 2 feet.

Bath tub

This is John (before the haircut) and Josephine. What kind of a parent would I be if I didn't take their picture in the bathtub? Isn't that what you do when they are little and then torture them when they get older? OK, that is what my mom did - Yes mom you did, remember it is the picture of me and Ryan Gay in the bath tub! OK, now she can't say it didn't happen! Sometimes we all have selective memories..... my family is more selective then most! ha lol.

The haircut

I just love this picture - John looks so enthused and then sister is smiling away - it is like she knew what he just went through!


Derrick and I have been trying to get John a haircut for a couple of weeks now, we have gone out a couple of times but it has been too late at night and the place is closed. I can't (won't) take John when it is just me and Josie, that would be too hard. John does ok in the seat but he needs full attention. After all haircuts can be hard on kids. We do have a friend that has done his hair - but it is hard to get an appt and plan ahead all at the same time! So I was saying to Justin (who we are staying with) that John needs a hair cut. Justin says we have clippers we should do it at home. Sure I thought. John woke up from his nap, and Justin said to him do you want us to shave your head? Yes he said. I thought ok, maybe he will warm up to it. So dad gets home and we ask him a couple of more times, want to get a hair cut, yes he says. The last time they ask Justin and Derrick jump up and John goes running after them "Yes!!" he exclaims as they head up stairs. I look at Shanda, and we both kind of smile. I said I am waiting fot the crying to start, sure enough he was all excitted, right up until they turned on the clippers. Then melt down occurred. Let's just say he wasn't very happy. When I went up stairs I think 10 minutes later - poor Justin was holding his head as dad was trying to clip is hair off, he had a bowl cut at this point. Actually didn't look to bad, you know the hair cut where you put a bowl on your head and cut around it.... long on top short on the sides and back. So we tried to actually cut the top so it was a little longer, this was not happening - I think Derrick cut himself with the scissors as John moved his head. So out came the clippers and we gave him a crew cut. He finally stopped crying towards the end, but he kept pointing to all his hair on the floor, saying "daddy did, daddy did" yes I said Daddy cut your hair, you look like daddy. Yes he would say. At the end we said John you look like daddy do you like it? Yes. Should we cut some more? "NO!"



I think John was pretending to sleep so he could forget about his haircut!!

Test results

So as it turns out our litttle girl is a little anemic, who knew the test was worth doing? so I need to go get her iron drops. Just an FYI

Just a little prick

Josie had her nine month appt. today, there are no official shots for this appt (vaccines) but since I wanted her to get the flu shot, they gave that to her. The told me they typically test to see that the babies are not anemic at this appt as well. Why they are testing I don't know - but I went along with it (Nora, don't give me that look!!!!!) so we went down to the lab for the finger prick. All went well, as well as can be expected when you take a perfectly happy baby prick their finger and then squeeze the blood out of it! So they get the desired amount of blood, and put a bandaid on her finger. I think to my self, I wonder if that will stay on. Grab her up and gather everything else up and head to the car. Half way to the car I look at her and realize she is drooling something looking like blood - its a mixture of spit and red stuff. Oh crap! She ate the bandaid. Have a small panic attack stick my finger in her mouth, after dropping diaper bag and purse, to ge tthe bandaid out. The girl has some great teeth now (six to be exact!) so she chomped on my finger before giving up the bandaid. Now she is just bleeding. For some reason her finger bled better after we left the office then when the were squeezing it - go figure. Now you can't really hold a 9 months old finger to stop the bleeding so - I did my best and have blood droplets all over her clothes (not too many) but then I got irritated after I got her in the car. Is that the best solution they can come up with after all these years of technology is a bandaid which slides off? ugh. Sometimes I think we have advanced very far as a civilization, other times not.

She is happily sleeping now - no permanent damage. lol

I forgot to mention at her 9 month appt. she is 28" long in the 50% tile for heighth and 17# 2 oz and in the 25%tile for weight, it seems my big girl has now shrunk!

Six Year Anniversary!

Yesterday was our six year anniversary! It is hard to believe it has been that long. We talked about the wedding - and how much fun we had, and ofcourse the honeymoon. We want to go back to Hawaii, ok who doesn't? We weren't going to do anything for our anniversary until we got into the our house, but Derrick decided anniversaries only come around once a year, so he called in Grandma Mary to babysit and we headed out for a nice dinner. We ended up going to Muckleshoot Buffet. They have a seafood buffet - I think we ate 5 pounds of crab! (ok Derrick did) it was awesome. It was kind of funny we went to dinner and we were gone for 3 1/2 hours and all's we did was eat! Too funny. Oh we even got to see Elvis sing, I forgot about that, he was actually really good. So Happy Anniversary to us!

Share!

The other night Derrick was teaching John how to share... and Derrick was sharing his dessert with John. John then went over to Justin and wanted Justin to share his dessert with him too. Please share he'd say. We thought ok, he is kind of is getting the concept, after explaining it for the last year. So later John is playing with Josephine, everything Josie wants John won't let her play with. She finally grabs onto a toy pretty hard so he can't take it..... we hear John yell at her SHARE! I guess sharing only applies when you are the one who is going to benefit from the situation!!

The ballet I think?

So I have to tell you this story, a couple of weeks ago Shanda won tickets to the ballet. Since Justin wasn't a willing participant in the adventure (and I happen to like ballet's and theater in general) I got to go! I really like ballets and I absolutely love broadway shows, I thought this would be a good experience for Shanda who had never been before. We were a tad late coming in to the first act, due to a Nine inch Nails concert happening at Key arena.... we looked quite funny all dressed up next to drunk fans on NIN going into the concert!! We made it in for the last part of the first act... seemed good, people were even giving a standing ovation. So we thougt great we'll catch up on the story line after the intermission. They start the second half with the weirdest formations you have ever seen. They were wearing all gold skin tight outfits, and doing the weirdest dances, now I guess it was ballet, cuz well we were at the ballet - but it was so horrible.... we were practically laughing .... then it got worse... the third act, by the way non of the acts were connected together in a story like they normally are at a ballet - they made no sense. The third act was a couple dancing to a pianist and a violinist. The pianist was good, the violinist should have been shot - sounded like they were killing a cat. And the couple that danced well - they were a tad strange to say the least. So after almost going into histarics in the auditoriam (MCaw Hall) we left with out seeing the last act... I couldn't have sat through the rest of it...it was scary. So after explaining to Shanda that usually they are a story about something... I'm not sure if she is convinced they can be better. So, so much for the ballet! I am thining about getting tickets for Shanda to the Nutcracker - now that should be a normal ballet.

Tuesday and Tired

You ever have those days you are just so tired you can't think straight? I don't know why but today is that day! I got enough sleep Josie slept, pretty good, just one of those days I guess! ugh.. it is hard to get motivated to do anything.... A million things I should be doing so I decide to write on the blog! Got to have priorities I guess!! we picked up our gas stove yesterday, that was a lot of fun. After much thought, we are going with black appliances! Yes major decision in our lives here... lol the stove is great - and looks good I can't wait to cook fajitas on a gas stove - they are better on a gas stove for some reason. Our friend Liz had a gas stove when they lived here - - and the fajitas were so much butter on her stove! hmmm could have been the cook! Nahhh it was the stove! So when we move in we will have to have a mexican themed party!

Later.

So excitted!

We are getting so pumped about our house being done!! It will be all sheetrocked on Wed, then mud and all that fun stuff. Paint on the 10th! woo hoo so nice cuz we get to pick al lthe colors out - so we don't have to move into a new house and then paint again that is no fun. It looks so different with the sheetrock up, like an actual house we can live in! who new?

Everything else is rockin' and a rollin' around here. Hadn't updated in a while so I thought I would do a quick one... pics to come soon.