Dickman Bunch

The things kids say

2011-12-27T21:30:00.000-08:00

I love to hear what comes out of my kids mouths sometimes. They can be quite funny! Today they cracked me up several times, but I only remember a couple of funny quotes. We bought Fruit Loops, the cereal, at the store today and when we got home Seth wanted some. But I was not wanting to give him any, so he kept walking around and in a sort of angry, loud, demanding and growly tone, he kept saying, "I want Foot Woops!" We thought it was so cute that we started imitating him, and then he thought it was funny too. We were at the store today and had to go into the women's dressing room to nurse Roslyn and when we got in there and sat on the bench, Justin said, "Aw, home sweet home!" What?! That kid is so funny!

Brothers

2011-12-17T01:22:00.001-08:00

Wow! It's been a long time since I've posted! A lot has happened in these last several months! But I just have to write this down before I forget. It's too sweet and such a summary of my sweet boys and their relationship. This morning I went into Trey and Justin's room to wake them up for school and to my surprise, they were both sleeping in Justin's bed. They were sleeping in their own beds when we put them to bed the night before. I asked Trey why he was in Justin's bed and he said that Justin was crying and was scared at around 3:00 in the morning so Trey came down to sleep with him so he wouldn't be scared anymore. I am so grateful for my boys. Trey is an outstanding young man with such a huge heart. He loves his brothers so much and expresses his love to them often. And he adores his new little sister (one of the big things that has happened that I haven't blogged about yet-I had a baby girl!). He is so helpful with her and is always asking to hold her and is so tender with her. He is a wonderful helper and son and I'm so proud of him!

Family Campout

2011-06-26T22:24:00.000-07:00

We just successfully went on our first family campout! We've been camping many times with Ryan's family, but never all by our lonesomes. We have always bummed gear off of his family, but this time we went out and bought our own stuff. And I'm happy to say, over all it was a great trip! The boys loved it! We went down to Del Valle in Livermore, CA, only just over an hour away. The weather was perfect. It was pretty chilly at night though. I was freezing the first night, but changed things up a bit to warm up the second night.

This was our campsite. It was a little weedy, but the boys didn't care. They loved playing in the dirt. Seth and Justin were constantly dirty, literally the whole time. The minute we washed their hands and feet, they'd be back in the dirt again digging. As long as they were having a good time, I wasn't too worried.

We set up the horse shoes. Trey especially loved that.

Lunch is served!

Trey brought a little wooden airplane that broke on the way down, but luckily the camp store had just the same one, so we bought another. He was thrilled.

Just got the first ringer!

And I got the next few! Yep, that's right! You can't beat mama sass, that's what Ryan calls me!

All my boys.

We stayed two nights and had one full day there. We went to the lake that day and rented a boat. Justin and Seth were a little apprehensive at first, but by the end they couldn't stop talking about it. Trey's driving the boat here! Shhh! Don't tell!

Ryan took a dip.

I was in the back with Justin asleep on one side of me, and Seth trying to dive in on the other. Actually he wasn't trying to dive in, just trying to touch the water, but would have if I wasn't holding on to him.

Justin helping Ryan drive the boat.

I wish I had a better picture of Seth. He kept leaning over like this the whole last half of the boat ride and putting his hands in the water while we were moving (I was still holding him from falling in) and he was getting all splashed and cracking up. But here it looks like he's almost asleep! He was anything but asleep.

Once Justin had a little nap, he was all smiles, especially with his can of soda.

What cute boys I have, seriously!

As we were packing up to come home, the boys found a little creature thingy. I don't know what it was, maybe a ground hog. But he wasn't too afraid of us, he kept popping his head out of his hole.

It was a great trip. We definately want to go again.

Special Kids Day

2011-06-26T21:33:00.000-07:00

Every year for the third year in a row now we've attended Special Kids Day. The Lions Club puts on this event for kids with special needs, and we are always invited. It's like a big fair that we get to go to for free! It's such a neat event they put on. There's free BBQ and tons of treats, tons of booths and a petting zoo and a fire truck and games and lots more. Anyway, we love it every year. Here's a few pictures from it this year, a couple of months ago now. My belly is a lot bigger now!

On the tractor ride.

Free popcycles, what can beat that?!

This year for Mother's Day the boys made me a little shrine. I heard them come into my room early in the morning and then sneak out. I was so out of it, I didn't see it until over an hour or so later. They were so sweet, they just played quietly in their bedroom until Ryan and I decided to get up. Trey is always the mastermind behind all these projects. And he is so creative and cute about it. He painted these stones and then helped Justin paint one for me too.

What we've been up to!

2011-06-26T20:33:00.000-07:00

I know no one likes a super long blog post, but that's what this one is going to be! I just need to catch up a little bit and pictures is how I'm going to do it. This is what's been going on at the Dickman household these past several weeks. And there's more to come to, but I figured this was enough for one post!

We've been to a couple of 3D movies lately, and they are so much fun! Seth didn't even flinch the whole movie, he never took his eyes away from the screen even once, he loved it! Justin is accessorizing with all three glasses, plus his regular ones on the bottom.

Seth in his monkey mask.

Seth jammin' on the guitar.

Justin having fun with bubbles in the tub!

We went to the petting zoo at Tilden park and this was the best shot of this cow's tongue! I can't believe how long their tongues are! Justin LOVES to feed the animals and is pretty much a pro at it.

Seth got pretty comfortable too after a while. In fact to make the pieces last longer, he was breaking off tiny pieces of lettuce and feeding it that way.

All three boys!

Just a cute picture of Seth in his hat, and Beast (Justin) in the background.

This one is for you Amber, you wanted me to post a belly pic! By the way, I don't think I formally announced it on my blog, but we are expecting another one! Due October 4 and it's a girl this time!!!!

We're trying to get Seth potty trained, we're not having too much success yet. And now Seth is potty training the giraffe!

Trey just recently started Cub Scouts and he got his first awards this last Pack meeting. He became a Bobcat and I got to paint his face, that was great.

Tonight we had Family Home Evening and for the activity we played, "Guess the Feet." It's a cute little game I learned from a friend where everyone hides under a blanket and one person has to guess who's feet belongs to who. It's great for the little ones!

Everyone got them all right! It's not real hard. :)

Justin lost his two front teeth! This isn't a very good picture of it, but I think there's nothing cuter than a little boy with 2 missing front teeth! I'll get a better picture later.

These boys love to play in the water in the backyard. This week was hot so they did it a lot.

Seth got his own goggles this year and loves being like his older brothers.

Last day of school!

2011-06-09T21:14:00.001-07:00

Yippee! School is out! I love summer! The boys were in a new school this year, well of course new to Justin because he was a kindergartener, but new to Trey too, we transfered him so they could be in the same school. It's been a great year and the boys have loved it. Today we got a picture of the boys in the front of the school.

Justin and his teachers. Some of them at least. Justin is in a special needs class, with other kids that have orthapedic needs, and these are his aids. He was mainstreamed into the regular kindergarten class every day too, he loved both classes.

And here is the girl that wants to marry Justin! Her name is Lilja and she is in his kindergarten class. She is darling, I approve!! She is telling everyone that she wants to marry Justin D. That's what they call him because there are two Justin's in the class.

The story of my life is that I'm always way behind on my blog. I always have a million things I need/want to blog about, the adventures that we have, but don't get around to it enough. So I hope to play catch up in the coming weeks. So here are some "funnies" as I like to call them that have happened recently.

Seth was recently looking at the Angel Moroni on top of the temple and asked if he was playing baseball!

Seth was trying to get his poo poos out and Trey patted him on the butt. Seth said, "No Trey! Don't hurt my poo poos!"

Justin got a bunch of Root Beer flavored jelly bellies from the Jelly Belly Factory. He came home, put them in a cup and filled it with water. Trey saw what he was doing and said excitedly and seriously, "You're a genius Justin! He's making root beer!" That was not Justin's intention.

Justin was riding his tricycle around the kitchen, my boys always ride their trikes in the house, and I told him it was time to stop and come do something. He's getting pretty clever these days. He kept saying, "I can't stop, someone's pushing me!" Of course no one was there. It's always nice to blame things on invisible people!

Splishy splash

2011-05-07T00:13:00.000-07:00

Well it felt like summer this week! We had a couple of 90 degree days and we loved it! The boys got out their summer water slides and had a blast. It was their own little water park. This is the first year Seth has participated. It was quite funny to watch them all going down over and over one after the other.

The boys in action.

Afterwards, they got in their towel robes to warm up and have a tasty snack.

What a sweet hug!

Trey giving a shoulder ride.

Grandma Sandie

2011-03-27T20:20:00.000-07:00

It seems like a whirlwind has hit over the last week or so. So many wonderful things have gone on, and in the midst of them all, something tragic has happened. My mother-in-law Sandie suffered from a ruptured brain aneurysm last week. She was actually at her father's funeral of all places when it hit. She thought it was just a migraine and just waited it out until a few days later she passed out and they took her to the hospital and found it. She went in for surgery a day or so later and they were hopeful that she could be okay. But since that point everything has gone downhill. She never woke up after the surgery and have discovered several vasospasms in the brain since, which I believe is where the blood vessels in the brain constrict and doesn't allow blood through. Thus the tissues die. It is not looking good for Sandie right now. This morning we got a phone call and all Ryan's siblings were on the phone on a conference call, they basically told everyone to fly out now to come see her, probably for the last time. She is in a coma and she has such severe brain damage that if she ever came out of it the doctors say she would be a vegetable. The machines and meds are what is keeping her alive right now. So they are deciding when to take her off. It is a bad situation. She is such a wonderful woman. I am only her daughter-in-law and I feel cheated. I feel like I didn't get to spend enough time with her. The last time we saw her was last summer, that's a long time ago. And I'm so sad she didn't get to come to Trey's baptism and we didn't get to spend that time with her one last time. I went looking for pictures of her with my family and I don't hardly have any close-ups. Take pictures with your grandparents! I want her around longer to glean from her insights and learn her faith and wisdom. She is such a faithful, strong, dedicated and loving person. I wish my kids could have known her better. I feel sad that I can't be there with the family now to say good bye, I can only imagine what the scene is like.

This was taken in the summer of 2009 at the annual Dickman family reunion. Robert and Sandie with their 6 children. What a great group!

This is the rest of the group, with spouses and grandchildren, and even great grandpa (Sandie's father who just passed).

Also at our beach trip family reunion with her sister Chrys, who is like her twin.

Grandma with Trey at Legoland.

Sandie we love you so much! We know that whatever happens, it is in the Lord's hands. Thank you for everything you've taught us and for the legacy you leave.

The stuff people say

2011-02-20T10:20:00.000-08:00

Sometimes you have to write down what others say, not just your family members. Just the other day Trey and his friend were sitting in my car watching a couple of girls playing. One girl kicked the other girl (playfully) and Trey said, "Whoa, she kicked her in the privates!" Trey's friend said, "Girls don't have any privates!"

Recently I went to a girl's night out with friends. There were a few girls I didn't know. I met a cute young mom and she said to me, "What was your last name again, Pelosi?" She quickly realized that wasn't right!

December Recap

2011-01-23T23:14:00.001-08:00

December came and went, and not a blog entry was entered throughout the whole month. So here's a little recap of our holiday adventures. Christmas was nice, but busy. I started off with a school craft fair project, my first one ever, and maybe my last! It was a lot of work, for not a whole lot of pay. But I'm glad I did it. I made caramel apples and they were yummy!! My kitchen was a mess.

We were jammin while practicing for the ward Christmas party, Ryan played the guitar and Justin practiced too!

My 2 Santas!

Seth was skeptical of this guy in a red suit.

Christmas Eve.

Santa brought Trey a piano for Christmas! We love it!

This was a project for Seth. I found it in Family Fun Magazine, thought it was going to be quick and I waited until late Christmas Eve to start, not a good idea. And it's still today not quite finished.

Seth LOVES his monkey!

Justin was excited about all his gifts.

Especially this one.

"YESSSSSSSS!"

Ryan had the week off after Christmas, we went to a couple of museums.

This cool air blower blew balls...

...and hair.

Justin's nick name is "Beast."

Justin loves his new glasses.

Feeding the ducks.

Justin's little mouse friend fell in the toilet. So we had to wash him and then blow dry him.

Trey put on a magic show for us. He got all his tricks from a book and made his little stage.

Seth was impressed with his tricks. Notice Seth is wearing pants AND shorts.

No ordinary moments

2011-01-23T21:57:00.000-08:00

Why is it that so many blog entries of mine start something like this..."Wow I haven't blogged in a really long time, there's so much to say...now I'm going to do so much better!" Whatever, I blog when I get around to it! But tonight I was inspired. I went to a Stake Relief Society fireside (a church meeting for women) and sat by a lady in my ward who is a blogger, she has like 17 blogs. Then, one of the speaker's themes tonight was, "there are no ordinary moments" and she shared several special and precious moments with us that she's had. And I realized that I need to record in my blog my special moments! When I am writing in my blog more frequently I become more aware of those moments that I really want to remember, the ones that get me through the rough spots. They don't have to be grand or life-altering, but they are just those moments that I see Heavenly Father's love for me. So I thought of one of my special moments that I had just today. During church today in Sacrament Meeting Seth and Justin were fighting over crackers (I should just leave the crackers at home,) and Seth got mad and started throwing the crackers everywhere. I took him out, I was frustrated at that point with both of them. I told Seth he was in trouble and that he needed to share and not throw his crackers. His face got really sad, it was such a priceless face with his bottom lip sticking way out. He knew he was in trouble. He recovered. This is the special moment...he decided he needed to hug and cuddle and snuggle. He kept burying his face in mine and then gave me Eskimo kisses (where you rub noses) for like a minute straight. I loved it. I didn't want to go back into the meeting and make it end. I cherish moments like these that make me want him to stay little forever.

I love the thought that there are no ordinary moments. Every moment is important, no matter how mundane or unimportant it may feel. I think it makes one be more grateful and more aware of the good things that are happening around you. It helps you seize opportunities and cherish every laughter, hug, giggle, smile, even every tear.

Mormon Messages

2010-12-11T23:40:00.000-08:00

I love Mormon Messages! I could watch them all day long. They fill me so much with peace and love and hope. If you need a boost, go watch some, they will make you feel better! Find them on lds.org.

Funny boys

2010-12-05T22:42:00.000-08:00

Justin is such a funny character. He does things that always crack me up. Recently he said he felt sick and couldn't go to school. I didn't really believe him, and I should have listened to my gut. The carpool came and picked up Trey, they usually take Justin too, and as soon as they pulled away, he said, "I feel better!" And went and ate breakfast! What a stinker!

The other day I was having a Primary meeting at my house and Justin was home sneaking around and somehow ended up on the floor in the room where we were and fell asleep in this position. He did not look comfy!

Justin got some new glasses from the dentist!

Seth likes them too!

Thanksgiving

2010-12-05T22:19:00.000-08:00

We got to go to Grandma and Grandpa's house for Thanksgiving, in Utah, this year! We had some obstacles, as ALWAYS, but overall it was a great trip! We got stuck in a snow storm heading out there and had to stop and buy chains, so the drive took 2 days instead of one. But it was fun to stay in a hotel because we never do. Then, two days after Thanksgiving, 14 of my family members, including Seth, woke up vomiting and diahrrea-ing like crazy! We're pretty sure we had some food poisoning from turkey day! That wasn't fun, but at least we weren't the only ones throwing up this trip! :) Other than that, we had a great time. We did some Cougar bowling, met up with old friends, went to Cabella's, shopped, hot tubbed with Grandpa, saw my nephew who just got home from a mission from India, and just hung out with family! Lots of plans fell threw, we just did a lot of hanging out with cousins and family, and my kids LOVED it.

We had my sister Krissy take some pictures for us for our Christmas card while we were there. We actually got some good ones, here are some of the winners. We don't get many pictures where we're all in it, someone always has to take the picture.

By this time, we were FREEZING! Justin was crying and look at Seth's face, his little nose was so red.

Justin and Trey got in the hot tub with Grandpa and loved it. Too bad they only did it once.

Halloween

2010-11-05T21:36:00.001-07:00

I think this year was the best Halloween yet! Everyone was old enough to enjoy it, everyone could walk, even though Seth chooses not to often. And we basically had 3 Halloween days, which was fun.

Justin and I carved this pumpkin in his kindergarten class. He was so proud.

The Friday before Halloween we made pumpkin shaped pizza. Before it had toppings...

...and after. Looks a bit scary now. But it tasted good!

Trey decorated his own pizza faces.

This year Halloween fell on a Sunday. We don't trick of treat on Sundays, so we went Friday instead. We asked some ward members if we could trick or treat early and they said yes. So we went out with a few other families and it worked out great.

Seth did not want to put on his Halloween costume every time we tried to have him try it on prior to Halloween. But luckily that night, after he saw the boys put on their costumes and get black eyes, he wanted to do it too!

"Yo Adrian!" My boys are obsessed with Rocky.

Trey lands his own punch.

What a good looking group!

The next night we had a ward trunk or treat at church. Yes!! More candy!

There were some pretty impressive costumes. Like Ken the doll. He glued every sequins on one by one! His wife Barbie was there too.

The Little Mermaid and Family. She made these, very impressive. And little Sebastian the crab to the right too.

So finally when Halloween came along, we had already trick or treated 2 times and the boys were fine not going again. And then we actually got to be home for when the trick or treaters came, it worked out great!

Trey carved some pretty awesome pumpkins. Three of them, all by himself. He's such a little artist. I kept telling him he couldn't carve this little pumpkin, it was too hard. But he did it! I didn't think it could be done. But he proved me wrong, as always.

His haunted castle .

And his skeleton pirate.

Yummmm...whipped cream on a Crunch bar! Can it get any sweeter?

Justin's tooth

2010-11-05T21:29:00.000-07:00

Justin has had 2 loose teeth forever. But he's not really a wiggler, he doesn't wiggle them much. So finally I just asked him if he wanted me to pull them out, and to my surprise he said yes! So I pulled one out. And then two days later I pulled the other one out. And I'm happy to report that the tooth fairy came! She was not sick, or too busy, or vacationing, like with so many of Trey's teeth. :)

Pumpkin Patches

2010-10-20T21:27:00.001-07:00

Justin's class went to the pumpkin patch last week. Justin actually has 2 classes, his orthapedic class and his kindergarten class. He was a little intimidated by his special class at first. There are several in wheel chairs, 5 out of the 9 are, and 4 are mobile. But as we have come to know these kids, they are wonderful and funny! His teacher, Terri, is amazing as are the 4 aids in the class. Justin goes to kindergarden for most of the day with an aid. I get to volunteer in the K class and I love to observe Justin and get to know the other kids. He's doing great.

To be honest, I was a little intimidated too by Terri's class. But last week I got to go to the pumpkin patch with them and I tell you, you spend a day with these kids and it can change your life. These kids have it rough and they are troopers and some of the most special people you could be around. And those teachers of these kids are heaven-sent also. Some of these kids make Justin's life look easy. These kids range from K-4th grade.

Jusin, Caleb, and Lidia. Big Al (is what they call him) with the black glasses and big grin, he's a hoot!

In the gigantic box of corn. They loved it. It was a therapist's dream for all these kids! Sensory input here we come!

Justin loves Caleb. He talks about him all the time. Apparently they are quite the pair in class, they crack each other up constantly and then it makes everyone else crack up too!

It was a wonderful day at the pumpkin patch with this class. Makes you really grateful.

Last weekend we went to a different pumpkin patch here in Clayton. Here the boys are in a hay maze.

Big bowl of some sort of seeds. I found seeds for the next few days all over my house, in the washing machine and even all in MY clothes. Just when you thought there couldn't be any more, there always was. We must have brought a pound of it home with us in our clothes.

Justin's favorite thing...putting seeds in his pants...

...and in Seth's shirt...

...and on Seth's head...

...and on Mom. Thank you Ryan. He threw me in!

And my favorite...the digger. He just learned how to self clean this summer.

First Day of School!

2010-10-20T21:07:00.000-07:00

I know the first day of school was forever ago, but here it is! I haven't even wrapped up summer yet on my blog! Here are Trey and Justin on their first day of school. Trey is in 2nd grade and Justin started kindergarten. Justin was placed in a special class in a different school, called Monte Gardens, and I really didn't want them in different schools so I tried to get Trey into the same school. I didn't think he got in, but I called one last time the day before school started and found out he did! We were thrilled, well not Trey. But then he found out one of his good friends was going to be in his class and then he was okay. Here's Trey and his friend JT.

Even Grandpa was there for the big day!

I was so sad for summer to be over and school to begin, but now we're in the swing of things and it's all good. I was worried about Justin going 5 days a week and starting so early, but he's loving it. He wasn't at first. He didn't want to go or be dropped off. We started a carpool with our friends the Taylors, and it has been wonderful. Trey and JT are great friends and Justin LOVES Caroline, the 5th grader and she loves him too. So it works out great!

Sweetest boys

2010-10-11T12:41:00.001-07:00

I know I'm their mama, but I have the sweetest boys. I mean it, I really do. They all have their moments when I want to run away and put myself in time-out, and then they have those other moments where I couldn't be prouder. Trey in particular has been so sweet these past few days. On Friday we went for a walk. Trey was on his bicycle, Justin on his tricycle, and I was pushing Seth in the stroller. Justin kept telling me that his trike was not working, but I was thinking he was just tired. Finally I noticed that one of his tires was flat. He was right! So Justin was going to have to walk all the way home and I had to push the trike and the stroller home. We were literally at the furthest point from home on our walk. But Trey quickly said, "Justin, let's play follow the leader! Just follow me!" And he did. Trey rode really slow and stayed on the side of the road or the sidewalk and made Justin very happy to be playing a game on the way home and it kept him safe because he followed right where Trey was going. Now that was a proud mama moment. He got him home safely and happily.

Yesterday, we had another sweet moment. I went outside and Trey and Justin were playing baseball. Trey is so clever and natural with Justin. Justin's motor skills are slow and wobbily, but Trey knows exactly how to help him. When Justin was up, Trey set up the t-ball and had Justin hit the ball and Trey would go get it and slowly chase Justin while he ran the bases and then fall so he couldn't catch him and Justin would get a homerun every time. Then, when Trey was up, he put a hoola hoop where Justin should stand (so he knows where to stand to pitch) and had Justin pitch to him. Trey told him to pitch to the tree so it would go to the right spot. Trey stood in front of the tree and to the side of it and it was a perfect way to have Justin pitch to the right spot. He's so clever! Then when he'd hit it, he'd run really slow and always let Justin get him out. Man, if that's not a sweet kid, then I don't know what is. He had no prodding or urging from his parents to play with Justin and let him win or anything. He just did it. He's a good kid and I am extremely proud of him. I am so lucky to be the mother of such incredible boys.

Mice, Mice, Mice!!!

2010-10-05T21:37:00.000-07:00

Yuck! I do not like to see little feet scrambling around my house. A couple of weeks ago, Ryan and I were in the kitchen talking and he said, "Was that a mouse I just saw?" He thought he might have seen one run under the fridge. So we moved the fridge and sure enough out came a mouse! We didn't see it for several days and I thought that maybe it had left. But yea right! I started seeing mouse poop all over my house! And then the sightings started happening, I saw them all the time running from here to there. They are seriously fast! Sometimes I would see it out of the corner of my eye and think it was a fly. We tried a weird covered up mouse trap, hoping it would be safe with kids around, but they didn't fall for that. Then we tried the regular mouse traps and within 5 minutes, I heard a snap and walah...we had a mouse! I didn't know how many we had, so I set another one. And not 5 minutes later again, it went off again. And yes we had another mouse! It was that easy! I haven't seen one since, or any poop. Here's a picture of the poor guy.

I LOVE that Trey is a reader and can read books to the younger ones. It's soooo nice.

My little Seth is getting so big. He's growing like a weed. I got out the bins of old clothes the other day and found new/old clothes for him. (His brothers' old clothes, but new for Seth). Wow, that's pretty good, we're getting good use out of a lot of these clothes. Go BYU!

He was really mad here.

Justin was cracking me up tonight. He kept saying, "Nanci Schade, do you want to...?" "Nanci Schade, will you...?" "Nanci Schade, I'm going to..." He's one funny boy. He got this from Ryan, who is the king of nick names and is always calling all of us something or other.

And finally, I just finished my first triathalon! It was awesome! It was only a sprint triathalon, which are one of the shortest kinds. It was a 1/4 mile swim, then 11 mile bike ride, then 5K run. I was pooped by the end, but I finished in 1 hour and 25 minutes including transition times. I hope to improve that time by a lot next time. I signed up with a bunch of friends, we're a bunch of moms. Our name was "Moms Tri Hard." I can't wait to do it again.

And yes, if you click on the picture, my shirt does say, "Uplands Unicycle Club." That shirt is the best! I was on the unicycle club in 5th and 6th grade and the shirt still fits and I still wear it! And it says Nanci on the back, I love it. I should have done the bike portion of the triathalon on my unicycle, now that would have been sweet! :)

Happy Birthday Ryan!

2010-09-15T22:12:00.001-07:00

YOU are my everything!

Photo and video editing at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Justin

2010-09-12T22:26:00.000-07:00

Justin dressed himself the other day, and this is what it looked like.

Both legs in one pant opening. It was great. He was so proud of himself.
Too bad the pictures aren't better, this was taken with a camera phone.

Justin's Birthday!

2010-09-12T21:54:00.000-07:00

Justin turned 5!! July 17, a while ago now, better to post late than never! We had a little birthday party for him at our house.

Pin the motorcycle to the road. The kids were blind folded but these two opted for the unblind folded version.

Dress-up relay.

Two of Justin's good friends: Jonathan and Parker.

Obstacle course.

His motorcycle cake! He loved it and it was so easy.

Happy Birthday to my sweet Justin!

Swim

2010-09-12T21:23:00.000-07:00

I can't believe the summer has come to a close! It's so sad...wipe away my tears. We had such a fabulous summer. We got involved in swim team this summer and we loved it. I had no idea this even existed, but swim team is HUGE here in the Bay Area. Half my ward belongs to this local swim team called the Forest Park Flyers and so we joined. It was great for both Trey and Justin. Trey finally learned to swim this year and Justin is on his way. Trey got to swim in a few meets right at the end of the season and I was so proud of him! I just started training for a mini triathalon last week and I swam for the first time and I thought I was going to die! Swimming is hard!

Here are some photos of a couple meets Trey was in.

Trey's first race in his first meet ever. His coach Kelly instructing him.
We could easily find Trey, he was the only kid with a shirt on and red swim trunks! We didn't have the uniform yet.

The next swim meet...we got the appropriate attire. His friend Thayne.

Trey happy to be done!

Justin in action! He loved swimming lessons, except when it was time to get in. The older kids on the swim team give lessons to these younger ones.

Toothfairy

2010-07-25T22:15:00.000-07:00

The toothfair is so lame! She has forgotten, or better put, been delayed, 3 times! That's 3 out of 7 teeth! First she was sick, then the next time she couldn't get here because so many kids lost their teeth that day, then last night she was vacationing in Hawaii! She is one busy fairy! Hopefully next time, she'll make it the first night! Poor Trey, but at least the Tooth Fairy is leaving more money when she comes late. So I guess it's not so bad for him.

Grandma and Grandpa

2010-07-21T22:19:00.000-07:00

My sister-in-law Janelle had this really cute idea and I want to share it. There are 6 kids in Ryan's family and we are all married with our own kids. So we all had to take a picture with a letter and then she put all the letters together and it spelled out Grandma, and another spelled out Grandpa. It was for Father's Day and my mother-in-law's birthday. Check it out.

Where's Nolan?

2010-07-21T22:09:00.000-07:00

My friend Lacy went to Girl's Camp for our church this week and I watched her 2 kids for two days. I had the brilliant idea of taking all 5 kids swimming! Two one and a half year olds, and a 4, 5, and 7 year old. Only the 7 year old can swim. What was I thinking?! My friend Laura said she would do it with me, along with her two young kids. I apologize Lacy, it wasn't the smartest idea. It all turned out fine though. But it was so funny when we were leaving, I was a bit frazzled after constantly trying to keep track of everyone, and I couldn't find Nolan (the other one and a half year old). We were walking out and I was looking everywhere for him and couldn't see him and was getting nervous and was yelling out, "Where's Nolan?!" Laura looked over at me and said, "He's in your arms." Well, thank goodness for that.

Summer

2010-07-21T21:14:00.000-07:00

Oh my, the list of blog entries is growing much too long, I need to write about our summer! We have had such a great summer so far and I can't believe we're half way over already. That makes me a little sad. I just love the freedom that summer brings, the time with my boys, and all the summer fruits! I go crazy for fresh fruits, especially watermelon, YUM! And I have some of my boys hooked as well!

I keep lists on sticky note paper of all the little funny goings-ons in my home, and here are a few of them...

A couple weeks ago, Seth wore a shirt to church that clips under the crotch. You know the kind that little ones wear so their shirt always looks like it's tucked in. He never does that anymore, so when Trey and Justin saw it they thought it was so funny because it really showed off his cute little belly bulge. They called him little Grandpa all day, I guess they have the same bellies!

Justin will often do something like not pee entirely in the toilet, but on the seat and the floor, and when that happens, it doesn't make me very happy. So I'll say something to him and he seems to always say, "I sorry mama." How can I be mad at that? So sweet.

One day I was telling Trey that Schade, that's my maiden name, means "too bad" in German. He said, "I'm glad I don't have that last name!" What's so funny is that he has no idea at all what his own last name means, Dickman!

Yesterday Justin was getting out of the tub and said, "Put a little dime in the jukebox baby..." And I couldn't figure out what he was talking about! He still refers to Seth as "baby" so I thought he was talking to him. Then I heard him say, "I love rock n' roll" and quickly I realized he was quoting lyrics. It was so funny, these boys listen to all kinds of music with Ryan!

These stories are more funny if you know Justin, because you just wouldn't expect him to say these things. Here's another story...Seth took Justin's little racecar and Justin was chasing him saying, "You little rascal!" Apparently that's what my mom says all the time and that's where they got that, I didn't know she always says that.

About 3 months ago if Ryan ever had sports on TV, Trey would walk over and turn the TV off, he hated it. Well, practically over night, he LOVES to watch them all! If something is on, he's GLUED to the TV. He loved the World Cup and was so excited when Spain won! That's where Ryan and I served our missions. Ryan is happy he has someone to cheer with him!

My boys are addicted to two things (besides otter pops) Rocky and the accappella group Inside Out. They constantly ask to listen to the Rocky soundtracks while jumping on my bed and they watch you-tube videos of it. And we always have Inside Out on in the car, even Seth demands it. Trey knows every word of the whole CD. I have to say, the CD is very fun, we just bought another one.

Justin constantly eats peanut butter on a spoon, several spoonfuls a day!

Trey is reading on his own! Yeah! He's reading those Magic Treehouse books, and he loves them. Thanks for the idea Amber!

I made a chore chart for my two oldest boys and they are actually doing chores every day! YES!! It's working and I'm thrilled.

Whenever Justin wants something, he'll bribe me to give him what he wants. It's hillarious. He'll always say, "Please mama, I'll give you 100 ______" (fill in the blank). It's usually either M&M's or dollars.

Angels Camp

2010-07-02T21:07:00.001-07:00

We went to Angels Camp, California this week with just my little family. We hardly ever go somewhere with just us, and it was great. We always travel to see family, which I love, but this is nice too. But man it's hard traveling with small children! There is so much work, before, during, and after! But it was worth it.

Angels Camp is about 2 hours east of where I live. It's a gold rush history area. We stayed in a time share resort. The pools were the best part, that's what my boys wanted to do. But anyone who knows us well, knows that when we travel, my kids get sick! Particularly Justin!!! So of course, I pack my whole medicine cabinet so that I'm prepared, but I wasn't prepared this time. We got there Sunday evening and by Monday morning Justin was wheezing bad and having trouble breathing. He hasn't had asthma problems in years, he did as a baby, but he's been fine. So I have a bunch of medication at home that never gets used. We had to get his doctor to transfer perscriptions over to us and we paid $200 on things we have at home! But of course it was worth it, it was a little scary watching him breath so fast. Once he got the meds in him though, he did much better and we were able to have a nice trip after that. Thank goodness! Of course we had some cranky kids at times and tantrums, more than normal, but I guess that's expected when the kids are out of their schedules.

Tuesday we went to Calaveras Big Trees State Park. It was amazing! They had a perfect path for us and our stroller and the boys loved the gigantic sequoia trees. I put a ton of pictures in, I didn't leave many out. I didn't want to.

We're standing on a tree stump, it's huge!

We did this a lot, looking up at the tall tall trees. It's kind of what I have to do when I kiss Ryan!

Seth is my biggest wonderer. My other boys didn't do that so much, they stayed by me much more. Seth just goes off wherever.

It looks like Ryan is standing between two huge dinasaur legs!

We rarely ever get a whole family shot, but a nice passer-byer offered to take a picture for us.

Each of the boys, including Ryan, picked out walking sticks, which were occasionally used as hitting and poking sticks.

This was my favorite spot in the whole park. A perfect place to take in the tall views. I wish all benches were made like this one. It would be a great place for a nap, very comfortable!

Some of these trees were, I don't know, I can't remember very well now, but maybe 1400 years old! This one had fallen over and was decaying away and you could walk through it.

That whole day was so fun! It was the ideal day, in my opinion. We spent the morning and into the afternoon at the big tree park. Then off to a park for a bit for the boys to play around. Then to the local pizza parlor, then back to the resort for swimming. And it had been a hot day, so the pool was nice and warm. Ahhh, it was so great. By far the best day we had there.

The next day was good, but not as good. Swimming and a tour of an old deserted rail station, literally, no one was there! It was like a ghost town! My boys most enjoyed the train table in the gift shop! And it was hot.

We went and saw Mark Twain's cabin. He lived there in a small cabin for a couple years, pretty cool. And it was tiny. Here are the picts.

Seth kept trying to give the donkey his pacifier, it was funny. And I think he/she would have taken it if I'd of let him give it.

The boys on the way home, they were pooped!

Life Part II

2010-06-16T16:19:00.000-07:00

So of course I was feeling way better this morning, but it didn't take long for life to happen again and to get frustrated again. But I did remember the original feelings that I was having that made me write in my blog yesterday. It just seems like someone is ALWAYS crying! And I get tired of it. But really what's new? That pretty much is the story of my life, and everyone who is reading this is experiencing the same thing, with small children. So you just hope that the sweet moments outweigh and help you forget the tough ones.

For example, today (and most days) the 3 boys love to jump on my bed (that's okay with me as long as everyone is happy) and rock out to the Beach Boys. Or when Justin comes to me while I'm in the shower and tells me he got an owie, but that he's okay. Or how so many times when Justin or Seth leave the room, they blow me kisses. Or how at the end of prayers in my house Seth claps, and he does it at church too while everyone else is silent! Or when Justin does something bad, he then says, "Just kidding!" As if that makes it okay. Or my last example happened the other day when Justin slammed the back sliding door on Seth's finger and so we had a little talk about that not being okay to do. He looked at me and said, "We'll just buy him a new one!"

Those moments make everything okay, in fact way more than okay, great! This morning Seth was really fussy and crying a lot and Trey said to him, "Oh Seth, life is just so hard, isn't it!" I just chuckled inside.

One more thing, recently I watched this video and it made me realize how easy and blessed my life is. Not that I don't know that already, but it's a nice reminder. WATCH IT...it's great. Here's the link...www.lds.org. Scroll down to the videos and watch, "My New Life". You won't regret it.

Life

2010-06-15T21:12:00.000-07:00

Life is hard. Life is so hard. I always post things that are generally fun, or cute, or happy, or crazy, but today I'm going to write about how sometimes life is hard. I realize as I get older that I am so imperfect, especially as a mother. I feel that motherhood is one of the most noble callings you can have, and sometimes I feel like I'm just screwing it up. Not always, just sometimes. Maybe it's the stage we're in right now, 3 boys, I don't know, but some days are tough. Today we all went to Target and everyone was staring at us. Seth would not stop screaming, he was mad because I had him locked in the cart. It was one of those extra long carts with two seats in front. And Seth wanted to get in and out and in and out. Well that doesn't work when we're trying to move. I was so frustrated, I just ignored him and kept shopping. People were staring at us so much, I felt like yelling at them! I don't want to be stared at, no matter what my kids are doing! Haven't you ever seen a mad kid before?! Finally, I decided he maybe just needed some mommy time, so I bent down and nestled my face next to his and he stopped. He was calm for the first time in a long time. We kept our faces hugging together for a few minutes, and then he was okay. And then my sweet Trey hopped in the seat next to him and said, "what will make Seth happy?" And he started playing little games with him and Seth stayed happy the rest of the shopping trip.

Earlier today we went to swim lessons for the first time this summer. Justin has been talking about swim lessons for several days and he's been so excited to wear his new goggles. So we got to swim lessons and he's freaking out and doesn't want to get in. He's pulling on me and crying. A friend came and took Seth so I could help Justin and I picked him up and he was kicking and screaming and his swim teacher came and got him and he was still kicking and within a minute, he was smiling and laughing and loving it.

We have so many episodes like these throughout each day. And it wears on me. We go form good to bad and bad to good in seconds! And so does my temperment and mood sometimes!Some days I'm better at staying calm and patient, and other days I'm not. I literally have my hands full so much. I will have Seth in my arms while holding Justin's hand who is using me for stability. Sometimes I feel like I have 2 toddlers. Justin will be 5 next month, but seems much younger. Justin has special needs. He has spino cerebellar ataxia. His cerebellum is smaller than normal which affects his motor skills all the way around. Coordination, balance, muscle strength, speech and much more are all difficult for him. I can't even explain how often I see other kids and am amazed at their abilities. When they are perfectly normal, but my perception is a little warped. I wish so much for my little Justin that he could have a body that worked normal. Where he could run and speak clearly and do all of the other things that comes so naturally to others. I know someday he'll have a perfect body, which gives me great comfort.

Another part of life that is hard is that we often have scares with Justin. His whole life has been a struggle, from early on. He was literally always sick the first two years of his life. He didn't crawl until 14 months and didn't walk until he was 2. His eyes were crossed and he had to get surgery to fix them, and also get tubes in his ears. The crossed eyes were a blessing in disguise because then we found out that he had bad vision, so he started wearing glasses at the age of 18 months. He had a grand mal seizure a month before he turned 2 years old and had to be life flighted to Primary Children's Hospital from Bear Lake where we were having a family reunion. He had another grand mal seizure the next day. He went on anti-seizure medication at that time and has been way better with the seizures. A few months after he turned 2 years old, his immune system turned around and all of a sudden he was Mr. Healthy. He wasn't hardly sick anymore, it was the most wonderful thing. We could actually keep plans and he was able to make so much more progress without being so sick.

So ever since that point, 2 and a half years ago, life has been better. But we still have Justin scares. Every time I think things are good and there is smooth sailing, something happens with him and it gets me all nervous again. And I realize how fragile life is. Lately he's been having weird eye problems. Where his eyes rapidly go back and forth or up and down. At first it scared him, but now he thinks it's sort of funny. But I still don't like it, it scares me. This post has turned into a Justin post. I've been meaning to post about him and a little bit of his history, so I guess that was part of it.

I don't really even have a point to this post and it's so random, but I just needed to vent a bit. It helps me feel better. Maybe my need to vent also has a little to do with the fact that today is the second day without Ryan, he's traveling for work. And Seth has been so so clingy the last few days, I can't even leave the room in my own house without him crying. And Justin has had diareah for, let's see, how many days now, like 6 days now! Yea, maybe those things have a little bit to do with it. Life is not perfect, and neither am I. But I am trying. Life is hard, but life is good.

Gross!

2010-06-01T22:17:00.001-07:00

Today we were at Trey's baseball game and Justin told me he had to go potty. So we went into the restrooms. They are disgusting and stinky and I would never want him to sit on the toilet seat in there. But conveniently they had a urinal. Justin's a little too short so I had to lift him up and I thought this was the perfect plan to avoid all the germs. Well, as I'm lifting him up and he's doing his thing, Seth comes along and spits his pacifier into the urinal while Justin is doing his thing. Let me just say, gross!

You stink mama!

2010-05-25T20:05:00.000-07:00

I just have to get these written down. So many funny things happen throughout our days that make me smile and laugh and I never want to forget them.

This morning Justin climbed in bed with us before anyone else was awake. He layed between us and I snuggled into him and he said, "You stink mama! P U!" And pushed me away. I turned the other way and giggled a lot.

The other day Seth and Justin were standing at the sliding glass door fighting about whether it should be closed or open. Justin was standing on the outside of the door and Seth was inside, they were facing each other. Justin was winning the battle. So Seth turned around and walked away, then turned around again to face him, lifted up him toy gun that he was holding and started shooting him. I got a kick out of it. They learn so young.

You can't imagine how many times strangers tell us that Justin looks like that kid from Jerry Maguire. They say, "you know the one that says...the human head weighs 8 pounds!" Or if you haven't seen that movie, it's the same kid from Stewart Little. Well, it's true, he really does look like that kid!

One day Trey said to me, "Mom, is that called a UPS truck or an OOPS truck?"

Trey was recently telling me about all the girls he loves at school. He went on and on, and then finally said, "I just LOVE girls for some reason!" And through volunteering in his classroom, I've found out from the other kids that he likes to chase several of them and kiss them! And then two days ago we picked up Trey from school and one of the little girls that Trey "loves" said, "Bye Trey!" His mom heard him and said, "Oh so that's Trey! We find little notes all around that say I love Trey!" I'm discovering that he is quite the little lady's man!

The other day we were picking Trey up from school and we kept hearing Trey's name being called from a distance. Finally Trey said, "I think they're calling me because I'm one of the smartest kids, or because I got new shoes."

Trey was recently in the Woodside Elementary 1st grade school play. It was called, "How Does Your Garden Grow." Trey was a crow and he loved every minute of it. He's the kid on the very left. And notice the bald head front and center in the picture!

This is a very typical scene in my backyard. The boys hanging out eating popcycles. We love popcycles, especially when it's warm! But even when it's not warm, that doesn't stop us from eating them!

Happy Mother's Day

2010-05-09T15:51:00.000-07:00

Just have to laugh

2010-05-05T11:19:00.000-07:00

Ugh!! Don't you hate those days (and nights) when your kids won't sleep! No one is sleeping this morning! And one was awake last night a lot too! But, I have to write what Justin said when I put him down for a nap. He layed down and said, "I'll be right here if you need me mama." I cracked up.

Sho-o-ort hair!

2010-05-04T22:20:00.000-07:00

Seth just got his hair cut, well so did I! And it's shorter than ever! It just keeps getting shorter and shorter! I think it's going to end up like my boys' buzzes at some point! This was actually over a month ago, but I'm going in again this week for another cut. Like I said before, I like short hair, not just for my boys. I do get bed-head though. :)

Class gift

2010-05-04T22:08:00.001-07:00

We made these bags for Trey's class at school to auction off for a school fund raiser. It was really fun and I thought they turned out really cute. The grapes, bugs and flowers are the thumb prints of the kids in Trey's class. And the rest is puff paint that we added later. So fun. This is a great project to do at home with your kids for mother's day gifts, or for any occasion.

Seth's hair cut

2010-05-04T21:57:00.000-07:00

No, it's not Seth's first hair cut! He's had so many I can't keep track any more. He's the kid that was born with a FULL head of blonde hair. We got so many comments about his hair when he was born. I have to say, it was pretty darn cute. I would include a picture of when he was born, but it's too much work. Those pictures are on a cd somewhere else. Maybe I'll add it later.

Anyway, here's Seth before his hair cut. We let it get really long. It was kind of fun and quite curly. I'm a fan of short hair for my boys because I DON'T like dealing with BED-HEAD!! I'm not a fan. And when it's short, you don't have to do anything. But this was so cute on Seth, we let it hang out for a while before I finally chopped it.

The after shot in the tub.

Funny things

2010-04-23T22:28:00.001-07:00

Sometimes little funny things will happen that will just make my day. Yesterday one of the things happened. And it won't even be funny to retell, but when I re-read it, it will put a smile on my face and make me chuckle. Yesterday after I picked up Trey from school, we all got in the car and Trey and Justin sit way in the back of the van. Seth and Emma (she's our friend that we carpool with) in the middle. I could hear lots of laughter, but I wasn't paying attention to what it was about. It went on for a couple of minutes before I really paid attention and I looked in my rear view mirror and Trey and Justin were being blown to pieces, and LOVING it!! They were cracking up hysterically. The sight was just too funny, I started laughing and couldn't stop. I was driving and laughing so hard and having a hard time keeping my eyes open because I was laughing so hard. The wind was blowing against us and making it extra windy and blowing right on the boys. It just made my day. I love laughing like that. I wish it happened a lot more. But when it does, I love it! I wish I had a video of it. It'd make a great you-tube video!

Utah Disaster!

2010-04-11T20:45:00.001-07:00

Surprise surprise! We went to Utah again and yes...everyone got sick!!! I swear it happens every time! But this time it lasted about the entire time! The day we got to Utah, Justin threw up and was sick and was sick the next day Friday too. He was doing better and everyone seemed to be fine the next couple of days during General Conference and Easter, which we were so grateful for because my parents had the whole family over for Easter dinner. Then Monday night Justin threw up all night long and was sick the next day. Then Thursday Seth was throwing up, Friday it was Trey's turn to throw up. And just when I thought it couldn't get any worse, Seth was miserable on Saturday and I took him in to the doctor and he had double ear infections, just as I had suspected!! What a chaotic mess! And now we're back home and my family that we left there is sick! I felt so bad, we couldn't leave, we were just infecting everyone around us! I had so many moments of frustration, I wanted to scream and shout! Why did this have to happen?! I was feeling sorry for myself a lot, and I was angry. And then today at church, I started thinking about a trip that we took to Utah almost three years ago. It had a similar story, with a much different attitude. Basically Justin got very sick and was hospitalized for four days. It was one of the most terrifying weeks of my whole life, but instead of having a miserable attitude like I had this trip, I felt so close to Heavenly Father. I had nowhere else to turn, and I felt His arms around me the entire time. I still remember after Justin got released from the hospital finally and we were back at my parents house, I caught what Justin had and was sick in bed upstairs. But I had this overwhelming feeling of joy and gratitude for my family that surrounded me. I was in tears with happiness and feeling the spirit of God. It was possibly the worst week of my life, and at the same time, one of the most spiritual weeks of my life. I thought of this today, and felt bad that I had such a terrible attitude this week and that I had such hard feelings. What a difference at attitude can make. Next time I'll try to do better, but I'm hoping there is no next time! I mean no more sick vacations.

We did however have a few moments where we felt good, so these are our highlights of the trip.

Easter Sunday we had everyone over to my parents house. We had an Easter egg hunt in the backyard for the kids.

Two of my sisters, Krissy and Linda.

Sweet little Megan, my niece.

Ryan didn't actually come with us, but was there with the young men at church for General Conference. So he snuck away for Easter festivities to come hang out with us, it was great.

The whole trip, my boys were in love with these bead necklaces, especially Seth. He couldn't get enough of them.

It snowed a few days, which was kind of fun! Trey built a little snowman and Justin kicked it over, Trey was not too happy.

The doctor told my dad not to be working in the yard or shovel snow because of his heart, so Trey went out on the deck one morning and asked for a shovel. I thought he was just going to play around. But when I looked out there a few minutes later, he was shoveling the deck. I asked him what he was doing and he said that he was going to shovel the deck because Grandpa wasn't supposed to. I was so touched by this little act of service!

Another highlight was when we got to go see our friends the Edwards that moved away from us last summer! It was wonderful to see them and we miss them so much! Kristen was such a great friend and our kids got along great. They live in Highland in a beautiful house.

Justin and Ellie

Blake and Trey were busy playing video games, and loving it.

We had a few nice days of sunshine toward the end of the trip. They found my brother's wagon and Trey gave Justin and Seth rides around the yard. We love Grandma and Grandpa's yard and wish it was ours!

Another huge highlight was going skiing with my sister Krissy. I haven't been for 10 years and it was incredible! It's like riding a bike, you don't forget how to do it. It was one of the best days I've had in a long time. Thanks Krissy for a WONDERFUL day! AND, thanks mom for watching the kids, even though Trey was sick that day!

Although we had to cancel many of our plans, and we couldn't hang out with family members and friends that live there, we still love to visit Grandma and Grandpa. Trey said when we were leaving, "We have three months of summer vacation, and I want to spend the whole three months at Grandma and Grandpa's house!!" What do you think about that mom?! It was just too funny because although I know my parents were so happy to have us, it had been a long and exhausting week for everyone, especially after cleaning up so much vomit! The timing of the comment was great.

Are we ghetto or what?!

2010-03-31T21:02:00.000-07:00

Tonight we had an open house at Trey's school. When it was over, Ryan went to get the car and the three boys and I waited at the curb for him to come pick us up. It was dark outside so it was hard to see the cars. Trey was watching each car that approached carefully to see if it was Ryan. Finally he said, "Isn't Dad EVER going to come?" And right after he said that, I heard a loud, squeaky car coming down the street, and I said, "Well can't you hear the car coming now Trey?" And then just as he was about to pull up in front of us, the front right headlight (which had been dangling for a while now) fell off the car. It couldn't have been more perfect timing!! It was like straight from a movie. We had a good laugh. That car is just falling apart more by the day. We do have a much nicer and newer version, but it's in the shop today.

Another Family Walk

2010-03-28T22:03:00.000-07:00

We went for another family walk last weekend, and captured some more pictures. I love the green grass on Lime Ridge Open Space right now. Soon though, it will be all yellow, so I'm enjoying it while I can. We found a scenic spot and snapped some photos, not of the scenery of course, but of us! :)

I love having Ryan on our walks, then he gets to pull the wagon instead of me.

St. Patrick's Day

2010-03-28T21:37:00.000-07:00

I was trying to be a little more like my friend Amber this year on St. Patrick's Day. She's always doing fun and festive food for holidays. So this St. Patrick's day I made a fun little pudding pie with a kiwi clover on it, it was yummy. For dinner I found a great idea, but it didn't work. I was going to do little bagel pizzas with the cross section cut out of a green pepper (would would also look like a clover) but my green pepper ended up being way bigger than my mini bagels. Oh well, it was a cute idea. There's always next year. The boys wouldn't have eaten the green peppers anyway, so we just did the pizza bagels. And a funny little thing...I was talking about leprechauns with my boys and we were headed to the store and when we got out of the car, Trey was totally convinced that he saw a leprechaun funning away! Then he went all around the car searching for him and found a little gold looking piece of medal and thought it was a gold coin that the leprechaun left him. I couldn't have planned it any better!

Trey's Birthday

2010-03-28T21:15:00.000-07:00

It seems like I just posted Trey's birthday party from last year, and here we are again already! I was just thinking about how Diana Bullock, my cousin and long time friend, posted some old birthday party pictures of hers on facebook and how fun it was to see everyone and try to remember everyone's names. Some of the people I haven't seen in years and others I have lots of contact with. Someday these pictures will be that same thing for Trey. It's fun to think about.
So Trey had another birthday, March 12! And we actually got to do it on his actual birthday this year, it was great! Usually his birthday is midweek, so we end up celebrating at home on that day and then again when his birthday party happens on the weekend. So only doing it once this year was great! We had it at the church, where there's lots of space and a big gym. We played some games in the gym, you know the good ones that we used to play when we were kids like freeze tag and red light-green light, a balloon relay and a pinata. Then we came in the room we had decorated for pizza, cake and gifts. It was simple and fun. And everyone had a blast.

I made these easy cupcakes that look like ice cream cones. You bake the cup cakes and put the cones on top before you put them in the oven. When it's done and cooled, frost and put some sprinkles on. So easy and cute.

Okay, I forgot, we did do a little bit more celebrating. For several months, ever since we went to Chevy's and Trey saw the hat that you get when it's your birthday, he has asked if we could go there for his birthday dinner. So the next night, we went to Chevy's. He loved it. I don't know how much he loved his food, but he sure loved his sombrero!

Mud Party

2010-03-16T12:38:00.000-07:00

I LOVE the time change! I love having longer evenings, especially as it starts to warm up a bit. We went for a late afternoon stroll last Sunday and found ourselves a mud pit! At first we were trying to avoid it, but then Trey rode his bike through it and got his feet all muddy. Then Justin wanted in. Sometimes I just have to let them do it, after all, they're little boys, and that's what they love! So we put Justin in there and then Seth wanted in too, why not!

Seth put his feet in and quickly decided it maybe wasn't for him. The problem was there were little rocks that hurt their feet, but it didn't stop the other two.

This is the picture I love the best. If you can see, Trey is holding Justin and helping him get around. He is so good about that. Justin's balance isn't very good and the terrain was difficult, but Trey was right there to help. Of course Ryan or I couldn't help because we didn't want to get our feet all muddy! :) This picture reminds me of this little statue that my mom gave me that sits on Justin's dressor. It's a little boy carrying his little brother and it says, "He ain't heavy Father, he's my brother!" My mom had it and I actually asked her if I could have it because it reminded me of these two so much. Trey lifts and holds and carries Justin so much without being asked, it's just part of him now. He really watches out for him. It is so sweet.

Justin and the potty

2010-03-16T12:15:00.000-07:00

So as I explained in an earlier post, Justin is now potty trained and doing great! Some funny things happen along the way that I want to write so I always remember. The other day we were in the car and Justin told me he had to go "pee pee." We were headed home, so I asked him if he could hold it until we got home. He quickly put both hands over his crotch and held on tight! I realized he only understoond the literal meaning. Another funny happened the other day when Justin was sitting on the potty. We figured out a great way for the pee to actually get into the toilet and not shoot right out and completely miss; he leans way forward and tucks his head down so he can watch everything that's going on, and it makes the pee go down instead of straight forward. Well he did this one particular time and it came out hard and fast this time and because he was watching, he yelled out excitedly, "bubbles!" Most of the time it comes out slow, but this time he had a lot and he was right, there were tons of bubbles! He was super excited about them.

Big Things Happening in the Dickman House!!

2010-02-27T21:12:00.000-08:00

Yes! Two great things have happened recently here that we are thrilled about!
#1- Justin got potty trained! Yippeeeee! I am ecstatic about it! Not too long ago he had some doctor visit his preschool that looked at him and said that he probably wouldn't be able to be potty trained until he was about 8 years old! Well we proved her wrong!! Justin's muscles are hypotonic (loose) and this had been difficult for him. We've tried the last year on and off to potty train but with not too much luck. But a few weeks ago I decided that we needed to stick with it, and apparently he was ready too and it worked, in fact pretty easily! We've had less accidents than when Trey was potty training! Anyway, he's doing great and he's only 4, not 8!! Yipee, less diapers!

#2- Seth is walking! We're so excited about this too. It took him until about 16 months, but it's happened, and it's wonderful. So many people say, "oh, now he's going to get into everything!" But I think that's a wonderful thing. I love going out and about or even just in the back yard and he can walk now, instead of crawling everywhere in the filth and dirt.

Valentine's Day

2010-02-14T21:20:00.001-08:00

Last week for Family Home Evening we talked about love and Valentine's Day and we each made a little Valentine's box/envelope. Throughout the week we were each supposed to write little notes to each person and put them in their box. So tonight for FHE, we do FHE on Sunday nights instead of Mondays, we took turns reading what each person had written to us. It was really sweet and special. Justin needs help with what to write for each person, but Trey did his all on his own and it was so sweet to read his notes to each person. It brings such a nice feeling into the home when we're focusing on loving each other. I loved it. I think we'll start that as a yearly family Valentine's tradition.

I couldn't ask for a sweeter little family. I feel so blessed to have each of my 4 boys in my life. Each brings so much joy to me. And Ryan if you read this at some point, I love you so much. You are the love of my life and I'm so glad you decided to marry me. Everything we have together is wonderful and good and we have the sweetest 3 little boys in the whole world. I love you, happy Valentine's Day! (You'll probably be reading this in May!)

Glasses

2010-01-26T09:27:00.000-08:00

Ever since Seth has come along, he loves to grab at Justin's glasses and pull them off. Well yesterday the funniest thing happened. Justin and Seth were playing and Seth grabbed Justin's glasses and instead of pulling them off, they just slid down and ended up on the tip of his nose. I waited for Justin to get mad, but instead he paused and then looked up at me and said, "Grandma!" It was hillarious! That's how Grandma wears her glasses so much of the time and he knew it! I laughed so hard and called Grandma.

Catch up time!

2010-01-24T21:33:00.000-08:00

Wow, I have not blogged in a very long time. And now I'm so incredibly far behind. But I pretty much missed all the holidays, and you can't just miss that. So I'm going to have to back up, and catch up. I'm going to "try" and blog almost every day and get caught up this week. I'm tired of being behind.

But first, I have to share this. You know you have all boys when boy #3 at only 15 months is laughing at his own burps and farts! And then after he burps, makes sounds as if he's doing it again and again and cracking up at himself! The other two did not start that so young, but this one has some good examples of this to follow!

SAN DIEGO-Visit with old friends

This summer in August we had a Dickman family reunion in San Diego, which I posted about months ago. Well, what I didn't get to was what we did afterwards. Our best friends from Madison, Wisconsin moved to San Diego two months after we moved from Madison to San Francisco. So at least we're still in the same state! The Price's are amazing people. And I actually think they liked us as much as we liked them. I shouldn't say "liked" because of course we still like them! Trey and Nathan hit if off when we first moved in, and they were best friends from the start. And it wasn't long after that Amber and I followed suite. We hung out almost every day. It's not every day, in fact almost never, that you find a friend like that. We each have three boys, and they're all about the same ages. When we moved in we each only had two, but currently we each have three. Anyway, that was one of the hardest things about leaving Madison, leaving the Price's, but luckily they sort of followed us! So when we went to San Diego for the reunion, we of course decided to stay a few extra days and hang out with our friends. Here's a picture of all the boys. Guess which ones go together? Isn't it obvious? Hint: look at the shapes of all their heads. Three roundies/squares and three ovals. Maybe not as obvious in this picture as in real life.

Trey and Nathan

Justin and Jack

Seth and Dallin

They loved playing the Wii. Especially Trey because we don't have one.

Amber--aka motor butt! She can't sit still, she's always doing something. This woman knows how to get things done and is just amazing.

It just happened to be my birthday while we were out there! And my husband went home to go back to work and her husband went out of town to work. So it was just us and all the little boys. It was nuts, and so much fun. So we went out to dinner to this little Italian place. As soon as we walked in this older woman was gauking and talking about us and how many boys we had! She did not know how to be quiet, we could hear everything she was saying! It was hillarious! And she didn't stop, she just kept on saying things to her husband, nothing bad, but she was just stunned. So finally she said something and I decided to correct her, so I turned around and corrected her, and she was so embarrassed that we could hear her! But what do you expect when you're practically yelling! So later she came over and talked to us, and she was very sweet. The whole thing was just hillarious. Dinner was crazy with 6 little boys. Amber was happy to get out of there! I do think it's odd that every time I leave the house with all three boys, I get so many comments about my boys, like no one has ever seen a person with three kids, or all boys!! Of course when I'm visiting Utah that doesn't happen, but everywhere else.

The best part of my birthday were the candles on the giant chocolate cookie that Amber made for me. They said "29!" LOVE THAT!! (Note: I turned 33)

It was a great visit and we loved catching up with our friends. Can't wait until this summer's reunion!

My last name

2009-12-13T20:20:00.000-08:00

Ryan just reminded me of this story the other day and I just have to share it. We marry for love, not for a last name! Certainly in my case, DICKMAN! Well, this happened way back when we were still at BYU and not too long after we were married. Ryan was in a band with some of his buddies and one of them, Matt, was engaged. They were performing at some place one night and each band member could get one guest in free. So this girl was writing down the names of the guests of the band members who would be admitted for free that night. She came to Ryan and Matt and asked them who their guests would be and Ryan said, "Nanci Dickman" and Matt said, "Lisa Balls." Lisa Balls was the name of his fiance. She started writing and then paused and looked up and asked if they were messing with her. They explained that they were for real!

All I want for Chrithmuth ith my two front teeth!

2009-12-09T23:45:00.000-08:00

Was lost and now is found

2009-12-05T23:29:00.000-08:00

"Jelly Bean" as Justin calls him was lost about a month ago, and Justin was so so sad (see previous post). He would call out over and over again, "Jelly Bean, where are you?" I was sad for Justin because he was so sad. Justin likes to have something that he carries with him everywhere, and that has been Jelly Bean for a while now. In the past weeks while he's been gone, he's had several substitutes. My favorite was the play dough turtle, but he could only last so long. Anyway, the other night, Ryan was looking under our bed for something, and who did he find but Jelly Bean!!! Justin had just got in bed and Ryan called everyone in the room to witness this great reunion. He showed Justin who he had found and Justin was glowing. It was seriously so cute, and funny too. He sat and held him and stared at him forever just smiling away! Ryan caught a picture of it. I have to say, I'm happy that Jelly Bean is back!

New best friend

2009-10-28T23:22:00.000-07:00

This is Justin's new best friend. Grandma and Grandpa Schade bought this for him recently when we went up to the Jelly Belly Factory. He takes this straw everywhere, including preschool and bed, and includes it in everything. Just tonight we were saying who our best buddies are and "Jelly Bean" was mentioned by Justin too. That's what he calls him, Jelly Bean. I told myself I would never put pictures of food I made on my blog, but here I go! I guess this isn't really food, but treats, yum yum! These are the Halloween treats I made to give mostly to all the boys' teachers at school and church. And I just think they're really cute and wanted to remember them so I'm putting them on my blog. The caramel apple idea is from Enrichment Super Saturday a few weeks ago. These are the Enrichment ones. They were SO tastey! They're my new favorite treat at night afters the buds go down to bed. I also made these at Super Saturday, cookie ingredients in a jar.

Also, soups in a jar.

Lately, I've had an obsession with wigs!! I bought 4 wigs this Halloween season, this one I like best on Justin. He actually likes it too. We went to the store a number of times and Justin was the only one willing to try on all the wigs for me. We got some good laughs in the store, some other people walking by did too.

Justin showing off Ryan's Halloween wig...an 80's mullet!

Trey's turn, I finally convinced him to put it on, and then he really got in character!

Last Friday, Justin came home from preschool with this all over his face. I thought it was so cute and apparently so did he. We finally got him happy with his Halloween costume just a few days earlier, a race car driver, and then he came home with this on his face and wanted to be a kitty instead!

But we finally convinced him to be the race car driver. Here's the boys before the ward trunk or treat.

The ward Trunk or Treat.

Ryan--80's mullet guy

Nanci--70's disco girl

Trey--Indiana Jones

Justin--race car driver

Seth--chicken

Justin posing with his Sunbeam teachers! They definately won for costumes of the night. She made them, they were amazing. The baby is Boo (from Monsters Inc.), she doesn't have her hood on.

Justin won a pumpkin for trying so hard at pumpkin bowling.

3-2-1-Crynee!

2009-10-25T21:41:00.000-07:00

When Trey was about 2 years old, he couldn't say the word Triangle well. Instead he said crynee. I'm not even sure how to spell that. It's pronounced like the words "cry" and "knee" put together. Eventually he was able to say triangle, but we have a new use for the word these days. One day last summer we were having a picnic lunch and Justin wouldn't eat his sandwich, so randomly, don't know how he thought of this, but glad he did because it worked, Ryan told Justin that he was going to count backwards from 5 and then Justin would have to take a bite and then everyone would yell out "crynee!" Well, it worked! Justin thought it was so exciting when we all yelled crynee that he did it, in fact we did it every time he took a bite until the whole sandwich was gone! So we've tried this peculiar strategy again and again and it seems to work most of the time. It cracks me up. Tonight we were eating dinner and he didn't want to eat his chicken and rice and so Ryan decided to try it out again. Needless to say, it worked again. This time though it got really rowdy and fun. Even Trey needed the trick to finish up his food, but hey, it worked for him too! We all got musical instruments (tambourine, rhythm can, morocca, and more) and in addition to yelling out crynee, we shook our instuments wildly including Justin and even Seth. It was pretty fun. The boys loved it and everyone finished their food!

The Tooth Fairy forgot!

2009-10-15T22:30:00.000-07:00

Yesterday Trey lost his 3rd tooth. He and Justin were headed to the dentist today and he had a very loose tooth. I told him that the dentist might try to pull it out, so last night he asked me if I would do it so the dentist wouldn't have to. So we got the tooth out.

Trey put the tooth in a bag and set it on his dresser for the tooth fairy to come. Well, that darn tooth fairy completely forgot to come!! So this morning he came in my bedroom with the tooth and told me how she forgot to come, I sat up quickly from bed and I felt so bad! I told him that one time that happened to me when I was a kid and I ended up getting more money. Ryan and I were out this evening and Grandma and Grandpa were babysitting, so I found this note on his dresser when we got home.

If you can't read it, it says, "Dear Tooth Fairy, you forgot my tooth. Will you please give me extra money." Pretty funny, we had a good laugh.

So the tooth fairy wrote him back, and here's what she said,

Dear Trey,
I am sorry I didn't get by your house last light, you wouldn't believe how many children lost teeth yesterday! Here’s a dollar for you!
Love,
The Tooth Fairy

He received a quarter for the first two teeth, so hopefully he'll be happy with a dollar! And maybe he'll be glad the tooth fairy forgot!

Hair

2009-10-06T14:21:00.001-07:00

You can never not have fun when you've got a wig around the house. I bought this wig last week for me for Halloween, but I had to put it on my boys, for my enjoyment. Justin is the only one I got pictures of, but all of the boys were wearing it. I guess I'm the one that has the most fun!

It seems like somebody always needs a haircut. Check out Justin's mohawk, he wasn't too pleased, but again, I had a lot of fun with it! His hair is so blonde and beautiful, I wish I could take it put it right on my head!

Then it was time for Seth to get another hair cut. That kid was born with so much blonde hair, well they all were, but especially Seth. So he's been getting hair cuts his whole life. This was probably his sixth one and he's not even one year old yet! It's almost impossible to cut his hair, he moves around like crazy, and I can't use the clippers yet because his hair is too soft and fine. But we eventually get it cut, it's pretty uneven, but it's better. Now he looks like a little boy to me.

This is a pretty typical picture of when Justin goes outside. He always seems to end up in the pool, clothes on and sopping wet. He got caught here. But he loves it!

General Conference

2009-10-04T21:52:00.000-07:00

I LOVE General Conference! I remember so well being young and being so anxious for General Conference to be over, but now I can't get enough. I could keep listening for days. It fills me completely. And it went so well this weekend, the little boys played nicely and pretty quietly with toys and Trey actually really listened, without even being asked, he wanted to and sat through pretty much all of it! I was so proud of him. Last Sunday we attended a baptism at church. After it was over, I asked him if he liked it. He said that at the end he felt really happy and cried a little. I explained to him that he was feeling the influence of the Holy Ghost, telling him that these things were true and right. He told me he knew that already! We've been very filled lately. I'm so grateful for the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Dickman Family Reunion

2009-09-25T22:02:00.000-07:00

This post is going to have a TON of pictures! In August this summer we went down to San Diego for the Dickman annual family reunion. They go to San Elijo beach and camp and they've been doing this since before Ryan was born. The group has grown big now. This picture is Ryan's family, there are 6 kids in his family and all are married with children. There are 16 grandchildren and one on the way. (No, I'm not pregnant) We go for a week and on Sunday we went to Ryan's brother Brian's house who lives down there for Sunday dinner, that's where this picture was taken. Ryan's mom Sandie has a sister that also has 6 kids and they've been going to the beach just as long and all still do. They have their own campsite next to ours.

All Ryan's siblings and his parents. They're a tall bunch! Ryan's brother Adam, he's a fireman, my boys think that's pretty cool!

We hang around at camp a lot waiting for the morning clouds to burn off so we can get to the beach. We do a lot of eating. We take turns cooking dinners at night for the whole group.

One day we went to Balboa park and went to the train museum. My boys LOVED it! Especially Justin this time. A few years ago we went and took Trey for the first time when he was about 3, I've never seen him so excited in my whole life to this date.

The kids love to ride their scooters and bikes all around the roads at the campsite. Trey rediscovered his scooter there. They had a blast with their cousins. I don't have pictures of all the cousins, but there are a bunch around my boys ages, not all of them were there. This is Sophie and Trey.

This is Sarah, Colleen's little girl. She's so fun. My boys haven't been around most of these cousins in a few years so they had no memory of most of them, so it was like meeting each other for the first time. When Sarah first saw Justin, she said, "So this is who we always pray for!" It was cute.

Little Abby, Sarah's sister. I just wanted to squeeze here the whole time, she's so darling.

Grandma and Grandpa, look like they're having a great time!

We had pinata night 2 times! Here's the first one.

And the aftermath...

Here's the second pinata night, Justin's turn to take a swing.

Colleen

The kids had fun with the pinatas the next morning trying to recreate the night before. Then the most funny thing, Sarah cut off all the poky cone pieces to this pinata and set up shop. She put out an upside down bucket and put out all the cones and started to sell them as hats. It was hilarious, what a little entrepreneur!

Cousin Ollie

Cousin Adele

Seth didn't have fear of this dog, Amber (the name cracks me up because of Amber Price! He he!)

The view of the beach from our campsite.We loved being at the beach. The boys were so happy there and we could stay forever. Even Seth loved crawling around all over, and didn't mind being completely covered in sand one bit.

Love this picture.

The Grandmas

After the beach, we'd put the little ones in the bucket for a bath. It was honestly Justin's favorite part about the beach trip!

Happy...

...not so happy

One night we all took a trip to IN-N-OUT, yum yum!

This is Breakfast Bob's at it's finest.

We used to live in Poway, close to San Elijo and used to go feed the ducks at Lake Poway when Trey was little, so we had to take a trip down memory lane to Lake Poway to feed the ducks. Justin loved it. We had the best time with all the family. We went Saturday to Saturday. Finally by about Thursday I was getting the hang of it, but then it was time to go on Saturday! Oh well, I guess that's camping with little ones. I can't wait for next year.

Seth's prom dates

2009-09-25T21:40:00.001-07:00

The other day we were in the Kaiser pharmacy waiting for a perscription and this really old lady walks in with her husband, and stops when she gets to us. She looks at my boys and is just giddy, she makes several comments on how handsome they are and then she says, "Now which one should I take to the prom?" She studies all the boys and then tells me she'll tell me her decision on the way out! So on her way out, we were still sitting there waiting, she finally decides on Seth. It was really funny and cute. So then at church a few weeks later, Addison Merrill, this cute 11-year old in our ward, is playing with Seth and says, "Seth will you be my prom date?" Well, I had to inform her that he was already going with an 85 year old woman!! Seth is bringin in the ladies right and left! He's not even 1 year old and already has 2 prom dates!

Seth's new nursing position

Seth has always been my wiggliest baby, starting from in the womb. Well recently he has decided he can't be still when nursing either. Well, he's never really been still, he's always playing with his hands and kicking his legs, but now he's really all over the place. He'll latch onto me and stick his butt completely up in the air with his legs straight beneath him and then walk all around, and it just cracks me up. I just can't stop laughing every time he does it. I'd put a picture of it in, but I don't take pictures of myself while I'm nursing. It's a site to see though.

Cute Kissable Justin

2009-09-17T22:54:00.000-07:00

Recently Justin loves to give kisses. We had a family reunion this summer and when it was time to say goodbye to everyone Justin insisted on giving everyone a hug AND a kiss, not all his cousins appreciated that! We were outside in the backyard recently and he bent over and kissed an ant walking on the cement. Luckily the ant didn't end up inside his mouth. Then another day, he was hitting the wall with a toy helicopter, so I told him to be nice to the wall instead of hitting it, so what did he do, he kissed the wall!

No such thing as privacy

2009-09-16T11:23:00.000-07:00

It seems like whenever I'm sitting on the pot, I always have a child or two or three at my feet or even on my lap! Does anyone else ever experience this?! Alone time is hard to come by, I guess that's why I stay up so late every night.

Contra Loma

2009-09-06T23:21:00.001-07:00

Contra Loma pool is one of the coolest pools I've ever been to. It overlooks a big reservoir. It's got the best of everything. It's zero entry with twenty feet or so of sand and then as it gets a little deeper the sand ends and it's just cement bottom. So sand and pool all in one, perfect! Plus, there's grass to put your towels on, so it's nice and soft, and not sandy, it's wonderful! Too bad we just discovered it at the end of the summer. We went last week with some friends from the ward.

Race Car Song

Recently Ryan introduced the song "Going the Distance" by Cake to my kids, not exactly a kid's artist, but they love it. They call it the race car song and always want to listen to it. Well, this video just hits me funny when I watch it, they just don't stop what they're doing the whole time, Justin bouncing and Trey munching on some carrots.

Mad cow

2009-09-06T22:13:00.000-07:00

This weekend we went to a little animal farm. We discovered a couple of things, that cows have super long tongues and that they can get a little frustrated! After several unsuccessful attempts at feeding this cow, he was not too happy, and then the kids got sad. It's pretty funny. I decided that if pictures are worth a thousand words, well then videos must be worth a million. So here's how it went.

Well, I decided to try again with another cow, and man this one had some major tongue action goin' on. But I was successful at the feeding!

Finally, the boys decided it was safe to try, but only with the sheep and goats.

Here are the still shots:

All dudes in the tub

Tonight I put all three dudes in the tub together, it was a first. A little messy, but fun.

Happy 8th!

2009-08-24T10:16:00.001-07:00

Ryan-- Thanks for giving me our beautiful family. Life is so sweet with you in it. We have the best buds I could ever ask for and I couldn't be happier. I'm the luckiest girl in the world. Happy Anniversary.

Schade Family Reunion

2009-08-23T22:59:00.000-07:00

Well here I am the night before school starts, feeling a little sad, the summer is over. I have loved every minute of having my boys at home with me these past few months. I hate sending them off to school again, starting tomorrow. We've had so much fun this summer swimming, eating popsicle after popsicle after popsicle, playing in the backyard, meeting friends at the park, going on adventures all over town, watching movies, and going to family reunions. I love the freedom of no schedule (well at least not as busy of a schedule), not running out the door frantic because we have no time to spare to get kids to school, and just being together. I'm so sad it's come to a close. Trey will be starting first grade and Justin his second year of preschool. Although they'll enjoy it, I miss them when they're gone. It takes some getting used to. Fall is always great to look forward to, but I'm not ready to say goodbye to summer quite yet.

We went to Bass Lake, California for a week for the Schade family reunion at the end of July. My parents have a time share and donate their points for all of the family members. There are six kids in my family and most of us are married and have our own children too. There are 18 grandkids, and just about all of us were there this year, except for 3 nephews I think, one who is on his mission in India. It was the best! I LOVE family reunions, they are what I look forward to all year long. Here are some pictures from the trip. I'm bummed, I don't have any pictures of several of my family members, I don't do very well at pulling out my camera and taking pictures. So I don't have so many things captured. One day we went boating at the lake and I have not a single picture from that day, ughh! These are all out of order, what a pain! I hate loading these pictures, and you have to do it backwards and you can only do 5 at a time, ughhh! Well, I didn't do it right this time, but oh well, here they are.

We started an annual 5k run/walk, thanks to Krissy, and these are the participants, all my sisters and one niece! Linda, me, Krissy, Cyndie, and Brieanne.

Justin wearing his sand bucket.
One morning my little family left and found a little park nearby.

Seth loves to eat, he's my best eater, so far anyway.

Bed time. We always rearrange the whole room to accomadate us. We put the mattresses on the floor, or the boys will fall off for sure. Seth slept in the bathroom!

We spent a lot of time here at the pool, we loved it. My boys have really discovered the water this summer with swimming lessons every day for 7 weeks. We made big progress for us, everyone is at least now comfortable in the water.

Justin loves to lounge around in his floaties!

Seth loves it too!

See, now here is where we get out of order, this is when everyone is leaving, so these three buddies/cousins (Scott, Trey and Bryan) are hugging Grandpa goodbye.

Bass Lake is close to Yosemite, so we went hiking one day. It was great, we had the whole bunch up there. Ryan took Trey and hiked up to these falls with my brother Steve and his boy Scott.

Chris Mortensen, Bryan, Trey, Bob pushing Megan.

Cynthia Sue!

Krissy, mom and dad.

Tyler

Ryan from behind.

Lea looks confused, going the wrong way!

Pushing the stroller, man we got a good work out that day. We didn't know we were hiking up a pretty steep little mountain at one point. Ryan and I took turns carrying Justin on our back and pushing Seth in the stroller. Wow, my glutes and calves burned!

The buds tired out, Justin and Seth snoozing.

Always take a water bottle to cool off, or for a little refreshment!

Looking lovely here.

Trey and Scotty hiking up.

At some more falls, taking a rest.

Ryan took off his shirt and hopped in for a swim here in the freezing water!

Waiting for the bus to take us to another stop.

It was hot, and we were sweating, I had to peal off my top shirt.

Half Dome!

Again, this is very out of order, this is the very beginning, when we first arrived in Yosemite.

These are 3 of my darling nieces: Megan (Bob's), Kylie (Linda's), Krista (Steve's).

Justin and Brieanne having fun in the rocks.

These three cute cousins had a good time together.

This video is funny. Seth has a clean-up helper that you don't see at first. Then, Seth loves to take Justin's glasses, poor guy, he never gets them back this time!

Birthday songs

2009-08-02T22:36:00.000-07:00

These are two video clips of Justin's birthday song two years in a row. One in '08 and one in '09. The one on the left is '08. It probably won't be funny to anyone else, but we've watched it a million times and we crack up because of how excited Trey gets when Justin finally blows out the candles. He says, "yeah!" really loud and we imitate that all the time. So for my family that has heard us imitate it but never seen the real thing, here it is. Then this year at Justin's party, Trey claps wildly after Justin blows out the candles, which he does the year before too, and that's why Ryan is laughing in the video.

Monster Truck Birthday Parties!

2009-08-02T21:52:00.000-07:00

Trey and Justin just recently had birthdays. Trey's was in March, and Justin's in July. Trey had a monster truck birthday party, and when Justin's birthday came around, he wanted one too! So I basically did the exact same birthday party twice! It was great! Pretty much the only thing I did different was the cake. Same games, same party invites, same park, it was great! So here are some pictures from the two parties.

This is from Trey's party. The game--hot potato, but using a monster truck. It was really funny because the kids at Trey's party did great, but the kids at Justin's party were younger, so they just couldn't catch on very quickly that you were supposed to pass the monster truck quickly! They just wanted to keep it when it got to them.
Some of Trey's best buddies. Blake, Tyler, JT, and Tyler again.

I bought a spider man pinata because it was less than $5 at Food Max! Kids don't care if it doesn't follow the theme, as long as there's candy!

Trey breaking open the pinata, what a good shot!

Trey's cake. It was fun to make, it was a hit with the kids.

Trey's birthday morning. We had his party a different day. He's on his new bike.
Justin's birthday! He was sampling the cake batter! Actually it was brownie mix, not cake. Justin's cake was still fun, but easier and faster. I think he likes it.

Justin's cake.

Here's the pass the monster truck game at Justin's party. This little boy Daniel didn't want to pass it on! It was pretty funny.

Aunt Krissy (my sister) was in town for his birthday! It was so fun having her around, she stayed for a week.

Here's the pin the license plate on the monster truck game that we also played at Trey's. We used the same paper that I made for Trey's, glad I kept it! Again, the younger kids were a bit confused about what to do!

Justin taking a wack at the pinata. Again, Food Max has cheap pinatas, so this time we got a clown!

Lighting the candles.

It was about 100 degrees that day, poor Seth was so hot. We kept squirting him down with a squirt bottle to keep him cool.

Gift time!

Hustle!

2009-07-11T21:05:00.000-07:00

This may not be funny when I retell it, but at the moment, it was hillarious. We went to a park today to play baseball. I was batting (Nanci), Ryan was pitching, and Trey and Justin were fielding. Seth was grazing on the grass off to the side. Trey was running back and forth, back and forth fielding the balls as Justin just watched him pass by him over and over. If anyone knows Justin, he doesn't really run because of his motor difficulties. At one point, Trey said as he was running by Justin, "You need to hustle!" It was so funny because first he wasn't even moving, let alone hustling, and second, if he was moving, he doesn't hustle very well! Trey was having to do all the work! Ryan and I had a good laugh.

On the pot

2009-07-11T16:07:00.000-07:00

Trey was "on the pot" today, and desperately wanted company, just like he always does. So he yells out for Justin in an attempt to get him to come to the bathroom. He says, "Are you silly?" Justin says, "no," and continues to play in the kitchen. That didn't work, so he tries again, "Justin come talk to me!" Justin says, "no." That didn't work either, so he tries again. "Free chocolate, who wants free chocolate?!" Well, he got him, Justin was up in a second and on his way to the bathroom only to find out there was no free chocolate. Well, it worked!!

4th of July weekend

2009-07-05T21:56:00.000-07:00

Whew! We had a busy, crazy, really fun weekend! We did a ton of stuff, for us anyway. Doing a lot can be difficult with little ones, but they're real troopers and had a great time! On Thursday, July 2nd, we went to a local show and fireworks display here in Concord called The Singing Flag. My friend and I went at 6am and put out blankets for the evening show, I can't believe I did that. I've never done that before, we're more often the type of people that go at the last minute and squeeze in somewhere, but this was great! We had great lawn spots and I can't believe how much I got done that morning before anyone else in my house was awake! We met up with some other families and had a little potluck before the show. Kristen if you're reading this, you're amazing. She brought her table and crockpot full of food and 4th of July plates and so much more. It was great fun.

Yum yum!

Seth is seriously the biggest little ham! He is the best smiler you'll ever meet! Well, I guess Justin is quite the smiler too :) But whenever you just point the camera in Seth's direction, he puts on a huge grin for you! I wish I looked so cute in all my pictures.

Trey with our friends the Edwards. They're moving to Utah, and we're really sad about that!!

On Friday, Ryan had the day off and we went to the Berkeley Marina. It was windy, and a bit chilly, but that's San Fran for you! We went to go to this cool playground which was closed, so we found other things to do. Here's the pier that we walked out on, it was super windy.

It's difficult to get a picture of Seth when he's not looking and smiling, but Ryan managed to get one in! (Not that we don't want the smiling ones, those are really the best.)

We found a rocky beach for the kids to play around in. It was just as good as the playground, if not better. Justin was sopping wet in no time, typical Justin!

Here's the ham again!

We finally decided to let Seth out. He loved it, no matter how uncomfortable those rocks were, he didn't mind!

Nice.

Nice dance moves! Tah dah!!

Okay, now we're to the fourth of July. We went to a parade in the morning.

Interestingly enough, about the most exciting things in the parade, were the mexican cowboys. The Mexican restaurants had bands and horses that danced. There were some pretty non-exciting things walking by. Actually it was a fun parade, it got better as it went on. Trey counted his favorite cars, 53 of them! Not too many that weren't his favorite!

Trey on the bounce house thing.

Now, the evening fireworks. Now this was more our typical fashion. We showed up right before the fireworks started! It definately wasn't as fun as the other one. In fact, it was pretty cold, but we enjoyed the fireworks.

Trying to take a picture ourselves, doesn't quite work. We got half of Seth.

Still doesn't work out quite right! Now half of Justin.

Swimming and tight spots

2009-07-05T21:29:00.000-07:00

Seth has started crawling! And he just loves to get himself into some tight spots. This is his favorite spot!Trey and Justin are in swimming lessons. It's kind of funny, Justin just wants to get in and go all by himself, which of course he's not quite ready to do, he's not swimming yet, but he wants to! And then there's Trey, who's much more cautious. As you can see by the pictures, he never even leaves the side of the pool! He does, but his teacher has to work very hard to get him to do it!

Go Justin go!! Trey still hasn't even done that!

There's Trey, still thinking about it carefully.

My little burritos.

Funnies

2009-06-28T21:22:00.000-07:00

I have two funny stories that just happened recently. One was just today. I found out today at church that our friends don't have AC and it was over 100 degrees today, it was a scorcher. So we invited them over for dinner to escape the heat of their house. They were over for only about an hour or less when all of a sudden our power went out! So much for keeping them cool! So we were burning up all together! And then of course, just as they were heading out, the power came back on. Poor gang, they just can't keep cool!

The other story happened several weeks ago. I went to get my hair done and I asked the lady to put a little bit of bleach at my hairline right in the front. She didn't have time to rinse me, so she made sure I was headed right home to rinse it out myself. I assured her I was going right home. Well, on my way home, about two blocks from my house, my car died! I was almost in an intersection. I was freaking out, how could my car die with a bunch of bleachy gunk in my hair, of all the times! I thought my hair was going to fry off! And not to mention it looked like I had some head disease! So I remembered that water stops the processing of bleach, so I started pooring water from my water bottle into my hands and dumping it on my head and then rubbing it with Seth's diaper cloth. I did it several times until I felt it was sufficient, but by now I was looking rather scary! Okay, so now I fixed the hair problem (it still looked really scary), but now I had a car problem! Seth and I made our way out to the sidewalk and I made some calls to get the tow truck out there. My car was totally obstructing traffic, so they were sending a police officer. I waited and I waited and I waited, nobody came. By this time my preschooler who comes home to me on the bus was going to come any time now, but I was still hoping they would come first. They kept telling me on the phone that I HAVE to be present when the tow truck arrives. Well, I look up and there goes Justin's bus right past me, UGHHHHH!!! Well, I couldn't wait any longer, I had to leave my broken down car there all alone! So I grabbed Seth and we were weaving in the traffic to my car to grab my stoller when I heard a honking horn, I looked up at it was the police officer. I quickly explained the situation and he said he'd give my a ride to my house. So I buckled Seth in the back and opened the front door to sit down and there were guns everywhere all over the seat! Wow!! I didn't know they were that armed! So he puts the guns in the back with Seth, which I didn't really like! So he drives me to my house and I'm thinking, what is the bus driver going to think?!!! I'm not there and then I pull up in a cop car! Well, the bus was still waiting, luckily and I explained to him that I hadn't been arrested, it was my car that broke down. He liked to joke around with me about that one! So I got Justin, but my car was still out there and I was not. The police officer said he would have them tow it to the right place, so we just stayed home. Later on, the tow guy called me and was not very happy with me because I was not present. He said, "Next time mam, if you could plan things better..." I said, "What?! Are you kidding me? Do you think I planned this?!!!!" Anyway, it all worked out in the end, and we all got home safe, and my car got towed and then fixed, AND my hair was not fried.

Seth's first run

2009-06-21T22:18:00.000-07:00

This last week Seth got his first jogger stroller run in. I pushed Justin and Seth in the stroller and Trey rode his bike. Seth looked so cute all bundled up, I had to take their picture. It wasn't actually that cold at all, but I'm sort of a freak about temperature and want to make sure they stay warm. Here are the picts.

Father's Day

2009-06-21T21:54:00.000-07:00

Today turned out pretty well, it turned out to be a great day. Let me run through it quickly...let's back up first though. Stayed up late last night almost finishing a long-time promised blanket for Ryan, which I don't have a picture of, but I'm pretty proud of. I made it from old scraps of blankets I had made for us several years ago. Ryan's very picky about his blankets, and he's very tall, so they have to be long enough to cover his feet! After church today, I made...get this...chocolate chip cookies without the chocolate chips! Isn't that funny! Well those are Ryan's favorite kind!!! They're actually pretty good, but I do prefer them with the chips. Then we made dinner, well I did, it's father's day, but he did do the grilling. We had family home evening and learned a little more about dad when he was young and then we hid sticky notes around the house of the reasons why we love dad. The boys had fun with that. Then we had World's Greatest Dad chocolate bars that some friends made for us and chocolate-less cookies for refreshments! It was great. The boys love FHE and especially the refreshment part!
Dad and the boys:

Some of our chocolate fun!

We got this cute idea from Family Fun Magazine to make a rock Dad, so Trey did it all by himself. He's my artist. He spent forever just picking out the rocks today! Turned out pretty cool!

We love Dad, Ryan, or whatever you want to call him! We're a lucky bunch to have him around!

Special Kids Day

2009-06-19T23:30:00.000-07:00

I'm being a little retroactive here for a bit. I've wanted to start a blog for a while, but just haven't got around to it until now. So there's some things I want to include even though they happened in the last months. So a couple of months ago, we were invited to Special Kids Day. Our son Justin has some muscle and balance problems and so he goes to a special preschool where he gets therapy for these things. The Lions Club sponsored this event for kids with special needs and their families. It was awesome. And the best part was that everything was free! We love free! There was live music, tons of food and treats, games, bounce houses, prizes, petting zoo and tons more. Justin is my little angel that is just the sweetest little thing. I knew that Heavenly Father sent me someone very special before we had any clue there was anything up with Justin. He is so happy and loving and makes me appreciate the little things. Justin seems to be okay cognitively, but just doesn't have a body that works as easily as the rest of ours. Sometimes it's hard to watch, that he can't run and keep up with the other kids, but his optimism and determination are contagious. While we were at this event, I kept thinking how grateful I was for Justin. There are a lot of other people that have it a lot tougher than him. Here are some photos.

Graduation day

2009-06-19T23:13:00.000-07:00

I can't believe I'm old enough to have a graduate! It's only kindergarten, but still. It seems like only yesterday I was dropping him off for his first day. Half days are over and now the school gets him a full day next year, yuck! That just seems like too long. He started school without knowing anyone, but made some really good friends this year. Here are some of them during the last week of school.

During graduation, Trey wouldn't crack a smile. In fact he looked rather miserable, that's just what he does when he knows he's on the spot. Kind of funny. All the kindergarten classes put on a singing performance and then they each got to walk across the stage and receive their little diploma.

Here's Trey in line to receive his diploma. He's not the kid waving! Here he is about to walk out. He's so serious! His teacher asked us if he ever loosened up at home! He's a different kid at school!

Just couldn't leave these out!

2009-06-18T20:53:00.000-07:00

Well, I had to put these in. When we got the boys' pictures taken, Justin had so many funny faces in the pictures, it cracked me up, I just had to post them! The photographer kept having Trey put on his "mean" face, so here's his best mean face too.

Portraits of the boys

2009-06-11T22:11:00.000-07:00

Recently we went to get the boys pictures taken at Portrait Innovations in Utah when I was visiting there. They turned out awesome!! There were so many good pictures, I couldn't buy them all, but I did buy a ton. Ryan thinks we have pictures of our kids all over the walls of our home now! But I did get them all on CD. So here are some of the darling pictures, some of my favorites.

Okay, okay, I started a blog!!

2009-06-05T22:59:00.000-07:00

Finally! I decided to start a blog! I always said I would never do it, but I decided I can't stand scrap booking and I need a way to preserve our memories. Too many funny, crazy, wonderful, and chaotic things go on around here and I want to remember and have something for my boys to look back on some day. So if anyone else wants to check it out, they can also. I'm sure things will change as I go, but for now, I just need to get some of what's going on in our lives recorded, so here we go!

Here's a little bit about my family. I live with my husband Ryan, and my three little boys, Trey-6, Justin-3, and Seth-8 months. We live in northern California and have been here for about one year. Ryan and I met at BYU in Provo, Utah about nine years ago and got married about a year and a half later. Now jump to several years later and here we are with three sweet little boys. They are my everything!