we are again blessed!!

we have been given the opportunity to care for another of gods wonderful reptiles! he is a kenyan sand boa. it's been a lot of fun learning about him! he is a type that won't get too big (he can always live in a 20 gal tank)
i'm off to learn more about him... (we picked him about noon today)(todd doesn't know about him yet!)

he likes to hide... he is a surprise hunter
well move him to a bigger home soon... this one works for now
he needs a name.... any suggestions?

thanksgiving weekend

my rock star son


emily and oliver playing at grandmas
michael and ron playing
my cute bug
mike, tammi, and tyler
emily, oliver, shellbe, and ron
emily telling me how it is (she gets this look every time she gets bossy)
shellbe and emi
oliver at the restraint before we left bend
there is something about thous red eyes :~) he's up to something!!
michael loves his brother!
joe being cool
ya he's being cool again :~P
the boys playing
me
oli throwing the ball for goldie ....sweet old dog poor thing had no hair on his tail and cherry eye
emily, michale, and drew ( mollys grandson)(he's 10)
molly (mollys daughter)
drew, molly(mollys granddaughter),emily, and oli (yes there were 3 mollys!)
emily and a self moving ball
oliver stepping on the dog
emily and the ball again... there is something scary on tv!! LOL!
oliver and his daddy home at last!!
ok ok mom no more pics!!
what i am thankful for.....
I am truly blessed!
I am thankful for for my god and all that he has given me. The love of a wonderful husband, 4 incredible children, a warm home and all the earthy things i could need.
I am thankful for a wonderful family 11 sibling, a strong father (strong in more ways than mussel) a step mom i'm proud to look up to! A huge extended family! too many to name, but they are always in my heart and mind.
but most of all i am thankful for my god and how he has blessed me! THANK YOU!!


I hope all of your holidays are as wonderful as mine!!

the brain study

like his hat?
we went to the u of o for a study. that thing reads brain waves. michael watched tv played with toys and games wile the computer read what parts of his brain were working (kind of like a ultrasound for your head) i got to sit there and watch him on tv and watch the computer read his brain waves.(or sit with him but he was having fun with out me and it was really cool to "see" his brain working) we all had lots of fun! the first two days the kids took tests that they thought were games. then michael did this, emily didn't want to. so she didn't :~) but she's wanted to do everything else.
now once a week(at night) we go to there school and i meet with a group and learn new things about parenting (most of which i already do with the kids) building self esteem and stuff. and the kids play with other kids from there school class and learn stuff like what it means to pay attention, think, make choses and what thous chooses mean to them. oliver even gets exited when we go to the night class. and it's all done on a 3 to 5 year old level. we will do that for 8 weeks. then we will go back to the u of o and do the game testing and hat thing again to see what they have learned.

i'll keep you updated :~)

MICHAEL AND MYKAYLA'S 5TH BIRTHDAY!

We went to bounce gymnastics for there split party. lots of fun! the kids took classes there last summer, but it was in a smaller building. it was great 45 min of the kids playing (with a teacher) wile we set up, 15 min of cake and presents and then they cleaned up after us! not the cheapest place but truly the funnest!!




mykayla's cake

michael's cake
that cake has so much sugar you could feel your heart beat faster after eating it :~)

emily and samantha (friend) on the swing
almost all the kids
this was lots of fun!

yep there all in there
michael at school. the boy behind him is his best friend sudi
emily and mykayla got to leave there class to join in on michaels party (and michael and emily got to go to mykayla's class for her class party)

OLIVER'S 1ST BIRTHDAY

I know i'm a bit late...but here is oliver's 1st birthday.




oliver and his daddy

the cake



olivers cake (they only get there own cake on there 1st birthday!)



he didn't like being sang at, there was a lot of people here we were loud

athena made him feel better

opening gifts...there were too many he didn't want to play with any of them

1st time on a bike...see my hand :~)
oliver and his grandma donna (todd's mom)
emily, athena, and nick (todd's brother and sister)
this was also the 1st get together held at my house, wow that was a lot of people! my house has never felt so small! we went out for the next party....as we will do from now on tell we move to a bigger house! :~)