Gotcha

This past week our friend Mike had some work stuff to do in Tucson. Since he was going to be down this way and drive right past our house he had planned to come and stay with us for a night. Becky unfortunately had to stay home because the kids are in school and football right now. So her and I have been sulking and having a pity party because it wasn't fair that Mike got to come and see James, and Becky and I are miserable being apart. Well lo and behold the sneak walked through my front door (elk burgers in hand by the way) a few minutes after Mike! Mike being the awesome guy he is arranged for the kids to be taken care of and brought Becky to see me! It was a short visit but it was a great visit! We went and had coffee (4 hours of gabbing and catching up) with the girls just like the good ole days and we had some much needed laughs. It was a totally AWESOME surprise and I loved every minute of it! Thanks Mike for making my week and thanks Becky for a great time!!!! I miss you guys!

Backyard ropin'

I took these pictures the other day of the kids for Laurel's birthday coming up. She is learning to barrel ride so what better picture right? The kids weren't really in the mood to co-operate for a picture (imagine that!) but they turned out alright. I just thought that these pics were super cute and the series of pictures shows how well my kids listen to me when I say "Smile and don't move!"

Oh baby, baby!

What???? Baby???? No I am not pregnant! James' cousin Jake and his wife Kelsey recently had their first baby. Maddi, being the baby lover she is, carried around baby Max's birth announcement everywhere for weeks. This past weekend Jake, Kelsey and baby Max came to town for a visit. Maddi got to finally meet baby Max! She got to look at him, touch him, admire him, and told us all about what he did and didn't like. She even got to hold him! She was so excited and proud that she got to hold baby Max!
James, Laura, and Kenni also got to hold him but I missed getting pictures of Laura and Kenni. I of course got to hold him too...twice!!!!

In and Out...

In a recent past post I have told you about the Caught Ya's at school and how the kids can get drawn to win a prize for getting Caught Ya's. 1st Laura was drawn a couple of weeks ago then James came home and he had won too. Besides the goody bag and water bottle the kids get a certificate for a free In and Out burger. Since we had two free burgers we decided to go cash in our prizes and treat the fam to a burger. Well contrary to the name In and Out...it takes a bit of time to receive your food there. Being the kids that my kids are, they were getting a bit rowdy in the back seat. The boys were sitting next to each other and James thought, for some odd reason, that it would be a good idea to bite the strap of his backpack. Kenni then decided that it would be funny to pull the strap out of James' mouth. Not only did the strap come out but also a tooth of his that had been loose! Of course all of this took place as I was pulling right up to the window receiving our food. The lady probably thought we were all a bunch of kooks because from the back of the van you hear James yelling "My tooth! There's blood!" Then there was me going "What?!?!?! What just happened?" as I was realizing what was happening and I was just laughing! What else could I do? So I got the food and asked the lady for a bunch of extra napkins and we headed out on our way. My kids I tell ya!!!!! NEVER a dull moment!

Mister Mantis

Kenni is and always has been...well....Kenni! He has his passion for the color orange and ANYTHING that is orange. He has always been on his own time, Kenni time, which reminds me so much of Grandpa Wilson who was also know as Pokey. He has always been a story teller and he tells his stories in his own little Kenni way (the word AND starts almost every sentence). He has also been a lover of animals and not afraid of any creepy crawlies we see about. He is always finding different bugs that he loves and wants to keep as pets. Until recently, he hasn't known his own strength when it came to picking up bugs. They would always get a little squished! Ooops! Lately he has been doing great at finding bugs, being able to pick them up without pinching them dead and putting them in a jar to be a part of our lovely household. A few weeks ago he had this bug in a jar and he swore to me it was a praying mantis. Of course I, thinking of a praying mantis as a big huge nasty jungle bug, didn't believe him. I said it was a stick bug! James agreed with Kenni so of course I had to prove them wrong and do some internet research. Sadly......I was wrong! Kenni had managed to catch a Praying Mantis! Then I felt bad for neglecting this nasty bug for weeks. We found a bigger jar, made him a very nice home and Kenni caught some more mini bugs for the Praying Mantis to eat. I had the bright idea of planting beans in the jar so that the little guy would have cover and fresh oxygen. Unfortunately I am not good with watering things. I have a very bad tendency to over water. I know, you are thinking how in the world can you over water anything in Arizona, but sadly I have killed MANY plants this way! Eventually mold started to form on the dirt. We tried to clean it up with new dirt and make a nice, clean, un-over watered environment for Mr. Mantis but he didn't survive. Kenni was crushed of course and is now always on the look out for our next house guest!

Starve a Cold Feed a Fever

Yesterday Maddi was super whiny and clingy. She would want me then she didn't want me. She would want to eat then she didn't want to eat. Pretty much that is an everyday thing with her but yesterday she was extra difficult. I thought that she felt a bit warm but by the time James got home she felt very warm. He took her temp and sure enough 100.5! So not too bad but still not normal. She fell asleep last night at around 6 pm and woke up at a little after 7 pm burning up. I gave her motrin and it wasn't too much longer and she was out again. She continued to wake up multiple times during the night and today she still has the fever. I've been trying all day to get anything I can down her but she just isn't interested. She's nibbled here and there on some toast and crackers and has taken a few sips of water and gatorade. She's even refused popsicles! She's just been sleeping it off today which is good and hopefully she'll be as good as new tomorrow!

What a sweet big sister reading her sick baby sister a book.

Maddi passed out on the couch. The poor thing!

On A Roll

The school collects Box Tops for Education. The kids that turn in the box tops are entered into a drawing to win the Legacy Eagle. The more box tops the better the chances. Yesterday Laura came home from school and she was the one drawn to win the Legacy Eagle!!! What you do with a stuffed animal eagle I have no idea but she was so proud because she won!

Welcome to Girlhood

Last week Maddi let me curl her hair for the very first time. Her hair is getting so long a beautiful but she will never let me do anything to it. If I so much as put a clip in her hair it's out in no time. She started out doing really well. Not too far a long she was getting a little fidgety. It didn't help any but we were listening to a cd of hers while we were doing her hair. It wasn't no time and those little legs just couldn't resist the urge to move with the music. Lo and behold...I burnt her! Right on the arm. At first I didn't think it was that bad so we put a wet rag on it and I finished her hair. She didn't want me to finish but I couldn't just do it half way. When we were done I got some Aloe Vera and doctored her up. She was still very mad at me though. I tired to take a picture of her but this is what I ended up with....

If you look really close you can kind of see her hair. It was so beautiful! I can't remember if I mentioned it before but this year I my babysitting my friends little boy, Caden. Well it wasn't too much later I heard Maddi and Caden laughing and having a good ol' time in the dining room. They usually get the play dishes and play at the table in there. When I went in there they were not playing dishes. I had just gone and got our 5 gallon water jugs filled and one of them was sitting on a little table in the dining room. They were sitting right under the spicket drinking from the spiket and clapping water in their hands. They had a nice little puddle going for themselves! After I got them changed and the water cleaned up then Maddi was happy and she let me take a picture of her hair. This is what it looked like by then...

And this is the burn.....

I guess getting burned by the curling iron is just a part of being a girl because I have burned MANY times and the very first time I curled Laura's hair I burnt her ear...Being beautiful is not easy!

And The Winner is.....

Laura Belle!!!!! At the kids' school they have what they call caught ya's. Whenever a student gets "caught" doing something good they get a caught ya. The caught ya is a little ticket saying what the good deed was. Part of that ticket gets sent home to the parents and the other part gets put into a school wide drawing. Once a week the drawing is done and the names that are picked get a prize. This week Laura was one of the names drawn. She won a Legacy Eagles water bottle and a certificate for a free burger at In and Out burger. She got the caught ya last week for helping clean up the class without being asked. If only I could get her to do that at home more often! James also got a caught ya the very 1st day of school for being the best example of how to behave in and out of class. Kenni hasn't gotten one yet this year but it was just about every other day last year that the kid was coming home with one!

Pies, cookies, and cupcakes...Oh My!

Yesterday was Art in the Alley in town. It is a little street fair held monthly downtown and various people come to sell goods or just advertise. My friend Holly is super crafty and can do just about anything. She makes the best sugar cookies (besides Laurel's and Aunt Vicky's) awesome looking cakes that taste good too, purses, hair accessories and the list goes on and on and on for Holly! Check her out at www.hollywhodesigns.com Anyway...Holly was telling me that she was going to make some stuff and have a table at Art in the Alley. I asked if she minded if I make some pies and tagged along. So yesterday I spent my WHOLE day in the kitchen making pies. I made 8 total pies and cut two into slices to sell by the slice. I ended up selling 3 whole pies and 7 slices. One of the whole pies and 3 slices really don't count though.....Greg, Laurel, Mikey and Josh came down and showed there support and also the best teacher in the world Mrs. Erickson came too. We had a lot of lookers but not too many buyers. We were told business is much better during the winter months with the cooler weather and winter visitors. At the end of the night one of the head honchos came by and told us she was going to have to check with the health dept to see if we could come back :( Holly had called and asked before hand but never really got a total straight answer on the subject so we just tried our luck. So we'll see if we can continue on our venture.....

My kitchen counter with all the pies

The kids' wagon (which came in super handy) all packed

My van wagon and all ready to roll

Bittersweet

It was a bittersweet weekend in the Ozbirn household. We decided it was time to get rid of the dogs. The dogs were not happy outside and were causing a lot of trouble. We had trial of letting them in the house. That didn't work out well either. Gunner ended up going to a friend of James' and Macy ended up going just a few houses down the street. We can see both of them still, and they both went to good homes with kids and other dogs. Even though it was super stressful on me having the dogs I miss them.