Another picture Kris used for her Spring catalog with the girls picture. She is so amazing.

Dont duct tape .. pony tial it

Zoey is so funny about things. She is very particular with her clothes. If everything isn't just perfect she really freaks out. MOst of our mornings are spent with tears and chaos right up until I drop her off at school. Well the other day she was wearing legging. The bottoms were not tight enough for her so she got her hair elastics one red and the other yellow and got the excess material and put each leg in a pony tail, hard to explain but you know when kid wear a long tshirt the tie the back up with an elastic, that is what she did. Well today she was wearing her black tights that had a huge hole in the knee, I told her she couldn't wear them. Well as she got out of the car I saw that she had pony tailed the hole in her knee so she had an elastic bubble know on her knee. So dont duct tape, pony tail. I would have taken a picture but Jodie took the camera to Ca. but I will have to reinact for full effect.

Happy Valentines Day

For the girls Valentines we hand made 55 cards, glitter stamped every card, and then tied it to a full size Hersey bar. We did this last year for Zoey's class now she wants to do this every year and now Addi is in school that is a lot of Valentines. I should have taken a pic but didn't. I got a doz pretty roses delivered and a gift cert a Karma. This is a cute picture on Kristines website for her scrapbook business. It is a few years old now but still one of my favorites.

Zoey was 2, and Addisyn was 6 months old. So cute!

Sorry teacher but my mom tore up my homework!

Just a quick note of some things I will want to remember or quickly forget.  Last week it was foggy in the morning and while I was driving the girls to school avery was in her car seat blowing like crazy.  She thought she could blow it away, how cute and creative is she at solving big problems.  On another note of creative parenting I am not to proud of but somehow did the trick.  Zoey was being absolutely as rotten as she could possibly be.  Bad attitude, yelling, screaming and being so difficult.  She needed to get her homework done and I was trying to help her  she was scribbling on it and tearing it with her pencil.  I lost control and grabbed all her homework pages and tore them to shreds.  She about had an anxiety attack and was close to throwing up.  Later I taped back together and copied it so she could write on it.  I think she was shocked I would go so crazy on her, and for about 4 days she was an absolute angel.  Now I have to come up with something more drastic to get her attention because it sure did the trick.  Man it is so hard to not to lose control when your kid is being an absolute maniac 80% of the time and all you feel is chaos.

USA Cheer Comp

The girls had their second cheer competition.  It was the USA cheer competition.  There little cousin Briylee was up their too with the Flash.  They did really well and smiled it up, the other level one girls have a little more experience.  This is their clubs first year.  They took third today and qualified for LA.  USA is the same competition that my Varsity squad qualified for 20 years ago and went to LA and took 3rd in the nation.  Great memories.  I get so excited when I see all of the routines, there is so much energy.  These girls are starting out at 5 I can't imagine what they will be like in High School.  When we competed it was just getting started and we didn't grow up competing like these girls will.  Times definitely have changed and everything is getting started at such a young age.  As long as my girls are having fun that is all that matters.I am so proud of them, they get excited to perform instead of nervous.  So far they love it and want to go everyday.  I am a little sick of non stop cartwheels all over the house.  I 

New Years Eve

We took the trax up to Body Works, it is real bodies in art poses.  You can see all the organs inside.  I was a little worried to take the kids but it was a real learning experience for them to see what is underneath and how it works.  Zoey snagged by bling hoops, she thinks she is at least 16, Ms. Fashion

Avery thought riding the cho cho was fun for the first 3 minutes but 43 was just to long.  It is well worth it to just drive downtown from now on.

That's Avery climbing in the background, we finished up our day at the Children's Museum at the Gateway.  It was an eventful day that lead to an uneventful countdown.  We made it home about 8:00 just in time to watch Dog the Bounty Hunter marathon.  How is that for fun after the 5th Dog I called it quits and went to bed at 10:30.  Happy New Years.  Hopefully next year we pack in a little more excitement.  It has been great having 2 weeks off and though I am grateful to have a job I am dreading going back to work.  I could get real used to just hanging out with the kids and not stressing about Corportate America and all the changes in the Pharma world.

Events over Christmas break

Jodie turned a big 38. Happy Birthday daddy!

We had a White Winter with plenty of snow.  It snowed for 2 days straight.  Not good when your driveway is so steep and slick you can't get up.  The girls enjoyed a little sledding action behind the 4 wheeler from grandpa Jim

Addi lost her first tooth and then a few days later her second.  We were in a restaurant and she asked me to just take it out.  I love pulling teeth.

Mocha got a new fur real friend, what's this little guy all about?

We finished out our busy day with my dad.  He made an awesome crab dinner.  He is such a good cook .

Addi got an idog

Dyson sporting a blazer so cute

They just don't get any cuter than these little ones.

Christmas 2008

Another awesome christmas, and as usual my kids got way to much even though I thought I was cutting back.  We started off at my moms for Christmas Eve dinner, since she lives next door it isn't much of a trek.

Who teaches her this stuff, I said smile

Amber, Laren , Avery and Crew
Santas mom made us all.  My mom also gave me a cute necklace with an A, and a eiffel tower, and a watch I love.  It was really fun.

Christmas morning we made crepes with strawberries, nutella, and bananas soo good just like Paris. That will be my new tradition crepes for christmas.  The girls woke up at 9:00 thank goodness they still like to sleep in and that is fine with me.  Avery got a 3 ft horse that is pretty real.  It kind of scared her at first.

  

Christmas Morning what a surprise

Zoey on her new Trek beach cruiser, she loves it

Addi got a scooter and her fav is her lava lamp, she has wanted one forever.  She is happy with whatever

Dixie Reunion

Andy McKane, Matt Morgan, Kirsten Ruden, John Burt, Me and Mike Pugmire

Kirsten and I got together with our old buddies from Dixie.  We were inseparable our first year at college.  They went to Bingham High and all except Andy they have stuck around.  Matt now works with Joe at the post office so because of him we all reconnected via Facebook.  They are the funniest people around and although I was only with them for a few hours including a movie I laughed my guts out.  I really miss them and hope we can stay in touch more often the 18 years at a time.  I don't know where the time went but right when I sat down with these guys the years in between faded instantly.  So much fun.

Twas the Sunday before Christmas

The girls were all dressed up for church in their Christmas dresses and looked so cute. So here is our dressed up in front of the Christmas Tree shot with our dog Mocha.

Do you know how many times I have told Zoey to get out of the clothes hamper, well this time she got stuck pretty good. Before I could help her out of her mess I had to snap a shot even though she couldn't breathe very well. I don't think she will insist on getting in it anytime soon.

Dyson and Avery checking out Santa inching closer while Addi has his attention

Richards Family Christmas Party 12-13

Avery wasn't shy this year, when she first saw Santa she cried hold me mama, then she warmed up to him and pulled his beard.

Twisters Cheer Competition 12-11-08

Zoey and Addi started Twister's competitive cheer this fall and they love it. They had their first competition Monday and took second place (out of 2). The other Twister squads took 1st in all four of their groups. They had some tough competition and they were awesome. It gave me hope that if they continue on this road they are in a good program. The little ones haven't had the attention they need, I didn't realize what kids their age are capable of until I saw the little group that took first, wow. They have 3 more in January and they hope to qualify for nationals in Vegas. The most important thing at this time is that they have fun and like it and they do. Go Mini's!!