Itsy Bitsy Spider - Sneak Peek

We have been soooooo busy getting ready for Halloween. Here is a sneak peek of what is in store this year (these pictures are what we accomplished last week - there is already so much more!) -







I think this is our best year yeat! Don't miss out!

Norm's Business

On July 14th, Norm started working full-time for his own business. He is no longer "working for the man". He is a Managing Partner of Vista Inspections.

A couple of things I've noticed: he has worked INCREDIBLY hard - he knows that we are depending on him and he won't let us down. He is willing to do anything necessary to make this work. Also, his phone rings - A LOT!! Sometimes, even when he's home, he's not - because he is still taking care of work. These last couple of weeks have been ESPECIALLY busy - more so than normal!!! He has worked double shifts, through the night, with little or no sleep - for a couple of weeks now. I feel like I'm a single mom lately.

So it shouldn't surprise you that I cherish any time that I get to spend with him - even if it's 20 minutes alone together at the local nursery. He ALWAYS finds a way to have fun!!


Thanks babe - for working so hard for us! And being willing to do whatever it takes to make it work! We love you!

It's been a while since we visited .............Our Second Home

This week (ya' heard me!!! THIS WEEK - I'm almost caught up!! woo-hoo)...This week, on Sunday the boys were goofing around and Bradin got kicked in the face, which caused him to bite his tongue. It was pretty bad! He was bleeding all over the place. He almost bit his tongue all the way through.


We took him into urgent care. (Wouldn't you know it - our insurance doesn't kick in until Thursday!! We've tried to be sooooo careful too - sometimes it's hard to not get injured with three boys!) After sitting for a couple of hours in urgent care (which was packed so you had to sit right next to another patient) being breathed on by sick people - YUCK!! - we got to see the doctor.

The doctor visited with us for 5 minutes and told us that due to the location of the injury they wouldn't stitch his tongue. (Which I knew that they generally don't stitch tongues - but it was bad!! Did you see that gaping hole!!) So they sent us home to heal.

I wonder how much that trip is going to cost me? grrrrrrr

One Word Says It All

On Sunday I was trying to take some pictures of Shelly for her upcoming baptism. All of the kids were dressed and ready to go to church, so I took a couple of group shots.





There is only one word to describe him - MISCHIEVOUS!!

Braces

On September 23, the boys got braces. They were excited and nervous about getting them. The orthodontist didn't put the full set on for the first appointment. After two weeks they'll have another appointment, and then another appointment two weeks after that. By then, their mouths will be full of metal and very sore!

Tayler chose blue and white for the Cowboys (he must be related to Norm) :)

Ryan chose red because that's his favorite color.


Rice Krispies, Vanilla Shakes, and mushy french fries.....that's what I remember :)

Happy Birthday Shelly!

Shelly recently celebrated her 8th birthday! She got the traditional breakfast in bed and a day with no chores.

After school we went to Disneyland to celebrate.

She spent her birthday gift card on a new Cinderella dress and gloves. Yah - dress-up clothes that fit!!


Happy Birthday Shelly!!

Happy Birthday Norm!

At the beginning of September, Norm celebrated his birthday!

Norm's Stash - Yah! Finally a Cowboys hat to replace the one that got stolen!


We went to Disneyland and had a blast!

Happy Birthday Babe!

The Last of the Summer Fun!

When we got home from our vacation, we tried to squeeze every bit of fun out of summer that we could! (Which was almost two months ago, which means that I'm behind -again [sigh]. Oh well - that seems to be my theme - a day (month) late, and a dollar short!)

When we got home from our Sierra trip. I found that all the leaves had been eaten off of my tomato plants.

By these blurry little creatures!

Dang Tomato worms!



The kids enjoyed some cousin fun!

Sometimes poor Bradin gets to be the dressed-up one. Shelly is sad to not have a sister, and sometimes Bradin has to deal with the brunt of that. I'm sure he'll LOVE these when he's a teenager!



We went to Disneyland and my FAVORITE sandals broke.

I had to spend my birthday gift card on shoes at Disneyland - aghhh! I walked all over the park (in broken sandals) to find something that I liked enough to spend a small fortune on. I settled on these:

Then I had to spend my birthday money on bandaids. By the end of the night I determined that although cute, the shoes didn't fit (their size 9 is probably an 8). Dang shoes!


The kids got creative and practiced magic. They put on a magic show for us.

I love this picture!



We had fun at the park!



"Thanks mom for taking us to the park!" - that's Ryan - what a sweetie!



Notice the theme - inexpensive fun!! We thought that it would be fun to sleep out on the trampoline. Norm had to go to work the next day so he opted to stay inside next to the alarm clock (at least that's the excuse he used) :).




Sometime in the middle of the night Norm came out and took our picture. This surprised me because I thought that I was awake for MOST of the night swooshing bugs away and missing my bed. I didn't realize that sometime during that stretch I actually fell asleep.

The next morning, we work up and were COVERED in bug bites! Mostly our faces and arms - anything that wasn't covered up.
Ryan had it the worst!!

Shelly showing her grouchy face that the bugs snacked on her during the night.




The next morning the kids said "Mom do we HAVE to do THAT again?" :)


We got the opportunity to go to Grandpa Larsen's shooting range (that belongs to the gun club he is a member of) for the first time. We had a LOT of fun!!
Grandpa reviews the rules with the kids before getting started.

Earplugs - a must!

Eye protection too!! (Notice the bug bites from the trampoline experience!)

Everyone gets in on the fun - Bradin too - with some help!

Grandpa shows Ryan how to reload the gun clip.




I'm a pretty good shot!!

It must be in the genes! :) Grandpa and Grandma Larsen took a turn too!





We enjoyed the time we had off track! Usually I'm ready to send the kids back to school so they will quit arguing - not so this time. We really had a good time and I was sorry to see our vacation come to an end. We found creative, inexpensive ways to have fun!

Woo-hoo - now I'm caught up to the end of August!