Hallelujah!

She did it before, so I knew she would do it again, but...
the amazing, talented, thoughtful,

Makenna Maurine...

SLEPT THROUGH the NIGHT!

I don't even care if she does it again tonight(well, that's not true). I know she will do it eventually. What I care about right now is that she did it last night! Hip, hip, Hooray! Mak -E- Mak ROCKS! Thanks, girl!

Happy at 6 months!

Amy and the babe.

Makenna loves to move around and we are hoping she will learn to crawl before she learns to walk. She loves to kick and laugh.

Princess and the pea is the title of this video.


Makenna learns to crawl. Grandmas and family will love this one.

Mobile Makenna is the title of this video.

Seth's first Dentist visit

In the waiting room, I read a magazine.

Angel cleaned my teeth.

Seth did such a good job, that he got a treat afterwards with Daddy. They went to In and Out Burger. Seth ordered a milk shake. Do you think that will help or hurt his 2 cavities? I think I just won parent of the year!

Then Seth decided to come home and relax. (I know this is horrible, but Travis took this picture, not me. I just couldn't resist. This blog will probably be edited soon. )

Holding Pattern

Travis had a job interview today. Hip, hip, hooray! They want him to go to Boise. Boo!

We are still looking in Phoenix!

Maurine had her surgery today! We got a call and she made it home. I guess that means all is well. Travis doesn't ask for the details that I like to know. I guess the most important detail is that his mom is OK!

GOOD DAY!

Side note - the window in the van, obviously got fixed. Everything is fixable. Isn't that nice to know. EVERYTHING is fixable. Comforting to me right now. You break a dish, you fix it or buy a new one. You hurt someone, you repent and apologize. You lose your job, you find a new one. Simple. Your window breaks while you are hiking, you CLEAN up the glass and get a new window. I am still finding glass in the car, but that makes carpooling more exciting. I just say - watch out for the glass kids! JOKING (well, sort-of).

The holding pattern is waiting for Maurine's test results from the surgery. The other holding pattern is waiting for the big job break. I know the Lord will provide. That is my only comfort. Faith.

Blessings?

A broken window SURPRISED me after my hike.

TOP 10 blessings
1. no one was hurt
2. it is just glass
3. I had a great hike
4. the window will get fixed today
5. it is just a window
6. my diaper bag was still there
7. my car was still there
8. my wallet was still there
9. my driver's licence and cards were still in the wallet
10. it is covered under insurance


I guess now is a good time to let you know that we have been prepared for a small trial in our family. Travis got laid off on Thursday. As Travis would put it, it is a Catch 22. He is just sad they beat him to the punch.

TOP 10 reasons this is could be a blessing

1. Travis was NOT happy with his old job

2. He was already looking for a new job

3. He now gets paid to look for a new job

4. He has time to look for a new job

5. He can be public about looking for a new job

6. We still have insurance for 6 weeks

7. I already had Makenna

8. We have dentist appt already scheduled during the next 6 weeks.

9. Travis can help me with the kids while I go VTing this week.

10. We all get a fresh start with glowing recommendations from the old job.

Weird. But I feel very calm.

Thanks ahead of time for your thoughts and concerns, but we are fine.

The get the work done day!

Saturdays are special to us! We pack as much in as we can! It can be crazy, but we manage.
if you consider bowling - WORK. Hee hee.
This past Saturday we were involved with a Primary water Activity! Very FUN! no pictures. Still, very fun! Then Rylee went to a birthday party at Water World! Go, Rylee! She has great friends! Then Travis' work paid for a bowling day! Here are the pictures:

Broccoli part 2

If you read my blog regularly, you will know that my sister Chrissy doesn't like broccoli! Well, I couldn't resist a chance to tease her when Makenna was "chewing" broccoli the other night. Here are some pictures and a video. ENJOY!

Seth's first day of preschool and the FOUND cat!

It was harder on me than him! This is Seth in front of Miss Debi's house on Monday. He seemed to have a good first day. TOO bad I am writing this 2 days later. Now I know that his "nervous" tummy was really the beginnings of the 24 hour stomach flu. He missed his 2nd day of preschool on Wednesday.

Isn't Miss Debi pretty? Seth thinks so. He also said that he used the bathroom 3 times (in 3 hours) "all by myself!" Thank goodness for big boys.

5 minutes before we had to leave for preschool a lost cat was dropped off at my door! We babysat the cat that day and Seth and I put up signs around the neighborhood. By the time JT and Rylee got home from school, we found the owner. FUN day for Seth!

(It wasn't till that night that Seth got sick. Tuesday was spent keeping Seth and Makenna away from each other. That sounds much easier than it really was, but we lived to tell about it.)

Monday for me - the only things I have to add is that I taught 4 lessons that day and added 3 more students to my week! I love teaching kids! I don't think I am a "pianist" in the truest sense of the word, but I love what I do. I am now up to 17 students. (2 are my kids, but they count, right?)

Breast Cancer

A few weeks ago my mother in law was diagnosed with breast cancer. "Infiltrating ductal carcinoma, with intraductal carcinoma, intermediate to high grade, solid, cribriform and comedo subtypes." She finally made it to her "cancer" doctor on Monday after a delay because of referral problems. Maurine called me during a piano lesson, but this is the info that I gleaned.

They caught it early. YEA! It is small. YEA! And she will have a lump removed next Tuesday or in a week (Not the best news, but I was thinking of more drastic measures - so it sounded positive to me.). They will do some tests when they remove the lump. When they get those test results back, they will know what her follow up care will entail. Scary.

So this blog is dedicated to Maurine and her fight with breast cancer! I know she will make it through this challenge in life with flying colors, but my thoughts and prayers are with you, Maurine! I love you!

A day in the life of Makenna

Can a little brother love his sister too much? I never thought so, but my mind is changing. Seth loves to maul his sister with love and affection. Poor girl. She lives to tell about it everyday!

Later that night in the 2nd outfit of the day, Makenna was happy and moving around. Her new trick is getting up on her elbows and knees. She goes backwards and not forwards, but she moves. I wouldn't call it crawling, but soon. She sees something and trys to pick it up! She is SO FUN right now! All the sleepless nights are starting to payoff.

When I go to her room after a nap or in the morning, she is smiling and kicking with joy when she sees me! That is my favorite. She is saying with her eyes, "I know you. You are my mom. You are going to pick me up and love me forever!"

All I say is, "You know it!"

You know you are old when...

You are signing up for something on-line and having to scroll down, down, and down again to get to your birth year. CRAZY! I wonder how all the computer literate Grandma's feel? That will be me someday. Blogging, emailing, and scrolling down even further for my birth year.

What makes you feel old? (I really don't feel old, till something like that happens.)

What kind of yummy dessert are you?

You Are a Cupcake

Cute and fun, you never take life too seriously. People are constantly surprised by how delightful you are.

What Dessert Are You Most Like?

Do you think that fits me? Doesn't matter really. I like cupcakes. Check it out and tell me what you are?

First days of school

JT and Mrs. Vig - 4th grade

JT and Mrs. Tefteller - 3rd grade

JT and Mrs. Wilber - 2nd grade

Rylee and Mrs. Fulmer - 3rd grade

Rylee and Mrs. Wilber - 2nd grade

Rylee and Ms. Jubb - 1st grade (below)

Exciting morning in the Nuttall house, it's the first day of school. We love school! Here is a little history of our clan and the past 3 years. This is going to be a great year for the kids! Seth starts pre-school next week. More pictures are coming! You poor people. Are you sick of my kids yet?

Speaking of sick kids, Rylee went to school! YEA! I am waiting for a call from the nurse. No throw up, no fever in 24 hours - so technically she can go.

Truth behind the pictures

Hip Hip Hooray!
It's Seth's Birthday and

he is 4 years old!

I am sick (so is Rylee and so is Travis). I made Seth's cake and (thank goodness he wanted) pizza for his birthday lunch. I had it mostly ready by the time they got back from church. The "girls" all stayed home today!

Rylee is not in a lot of these pictures because she is still in her pjs. I am in NONE of the pictures because I am in the same outfit from Saturday! Let's just say we were both up in the night.
We had one piece of cake eaten (JT only likes ice-cream) and 1whole and a 1/2 pizzas left over for when we all feel better.

The Diego bubbles are a big hit. Definately an outside toy. Too messy for me.

Seth loves to help in the kitchen and now has all the accessories to have his own kitchen. Truth is Travis wasn't too happy about buying him kitchen stuff. I tried to explain that he plays with it all the time at Ashelyn's house.

Happy Birthday Seth! I hope you never remember how many of us were sick on your 4th birthday!

The week before school starts. Grrrrrrrrrrrrrr!

I got back Sunday night. Monday morning I put together a breakfast for the teachers at my kids' school at 6:30am! DO YOU KNOW WHAT TIME I HAD TO GET UP TO DO THAT? (sidenote, I am on the parent organization at our Charter School, so it was my job to do this.)

Monday I visited a friend and discussed preschool for Seth. Argh! I had him signed up to go to a great lady's house, but...she MIGHT be moving. I am a planner and I can't live in "mights". So now I am fretting about what to do and where to take him or to just teach him myself - which I am able to do (I just don't want to). I am a mom and I know I "should" (btw, I hate that word, should. No one "should" do anything) want to teach my child. Seth would be a fun boy to teach. He is a very bright child, but I want a break. I want a break. I want a break. Did I tell you that I wanted a break? Just checking.

Thanks for reading my tantrum. I am a mom. I can do what is best for my child. I can teach him preschool. I think it is too late to get him in ANYWHERE. I will love working with him, mostly because he is so smart. I just wanted a break. Maybe next year. ANYWAY...

Tuesday was busier than Monday. I hiked. I biked the kids to an Eagle Project and helped sort school supplies. Then I went to a foot reflexology class. Then made some brownies and went to "Back to School Night" and promoted my committee at the school to all new kindergarten parents. FUN!

That only gets me to Tuesday night. Still more to come. YUCK! Meet the teacher day is Friday. Off to bed.

Camping - beach vs. forest

I am not a camper. Let me start by saying that. I don't love dirt. I don't love air matresses. I don't love bugs.

BUT...I do love dutch oven cooking. I do love relaxing. I do love beach camping - not a lot of bugs (a few ants). I also LOVE SMORES!!!!!!!!!
When our family goes to the beach for a week in the summer it is a true vacation. We wake up and make a hot breakfast most mornings (another great smell), which is more than what I do at home. Then we pack a nice lunch as we do a few dishes. The kids help with all of this, because the faster we get ready the sooner we get to the BEACH!

Then we load up to go down the cliff for the day to the beach. We stay there all day! The kids never ask what they should do, who they should play with, or when they can go back to the campsite. They just play all day. The adults sit and talk and watch and boogie board or body surf when they want. It is very relaxing to just sit there and relax all day. Everyone has fun. The kids play in the sand, build sand castles, dig holes to "China", find sandcrabs, boogie board, jump the waves, collect shells, find jellyfish and then an adult will take care to it, etc. THEY JUST PLAY!

I would highly recommend beach camping.
After we play, we walk up the stairs, take showers, and get ready for dinner. We then make a yummy dinner (taco salad, chicken n rice, soup, mac n cheese, hobo packs, hamburgers, hot dogs, and peach cobbler. Don't forget - smores!) We eat very good. Then it is time to get the kids off to bed and the adults stay up and play games into the night. FUN TIMES!

If you ever want to camp I would recommend the beach vs the forest. Less chance of forest fires. Heehee.

The smells of the beach!

Ah! The smells of camping at the beach is what I miss the most!

The salt water in the air.

The camp fire.

The smell of crisp ocean breezes.

I miss it all and it has just been a day.

These are the stairs that we walked down everyday at the beach.

SO worth it!

Who said I didn't workout? Actually, I did a little yoga, too!

Big sis taking care of lil' sis.
Makenna the first time I put her down on the beach. Mmmmm. Yummy!
Makenna's shirt says,

"Caution will eat sand".

Truth in a tee. Who knew?JT coming in from catching a wave or two.
JT caught a Junebug at our camp ground.
Great Grandpa holding Makenna.
This picture reminds me that Wednesday night we found out that Maurine, my mother in law, has breast cancer. It was very sad news for the family. Her dad in the picture above is holding Makenna Maurine! Our prayers and thoughts are with my mother in law continually. XOXOXO

Travis splitting wood. EXCITING!

Kids sleeping in the tent.

Believe it or not, Seth asked to go to bed most nights. Cutie! I have a foot fetish. Honest.
I LOVE feet.
These pictures didn't turn out the way a wanted, but still cute.


Happy baby!

Dad and Seth on the skim board. JT can do this, but Seth tried. Skim boards hydroplane on very little water near the surf's edge. It rides like a skateboard.
Rylee and Seth being buried by Aunt Mary.
Thanks, Mary for the sculptors! All in all a great vacation. Now - back to reality - laundry!