Ashlyn is 4!!!

ASHLYN

aka 

"Brown Eyed Beauty"

"Sticky Idget"

"Ashlyn Bashlyn"

"Little Bun Buns"

"Brown Bear"

"Princess"

"Sweetie"

She has been a roller coaster of a child.  When she is up, she is UP, but when she is down, she is DOWN.  She doesn't want to learn much from me but rather Kylie.  She loves her "Dada".  She loves her po-nees (ponies) and is always decorating their tails with bows and such.  Words we hope she doesn't change are "bay-cation" (vacation), Santa Clause says "Ha! Ha! Ha!" (instead of Ho! Ho! Ho!), "eye-browns" (eyebrows),  "hippoponanis" (hippopotamus), "baby-soup" (bathing suit), are among many.  She loves her brother and sister, vegetables and vitamins.

Times like these remind us how much we love our children

Useful Information

If you ever need FREE moving boxes, you can get up to 500 with USPS.  And they deliver them to your house!  This photo is only 1/4 of them (I'm not kidding). 

David was so proud of his accomplishment.  But...

When we realized we were not going to need 500 BOXES, we decided to take them back to the post office.  It took him FOUR flat bed cart loads to get them inside!  The lady working there said, "Wow!  That IS a lot of boxes."  David replied with, "Yeah, my wife just got a little crazy with ordering them." 

Thanks, Honey.

It's December 1st...

..time for a new post!  But, it will have to wait until tomorrow....

It's a BIRD, it's a PLANE, it's...

just a big cardboard box.  

David changed out someone's dishwasher, so we were left with a fun box to play with.  I had big plans for this box for the kids to play with.  They could use their imagination and make it into ANYTHING.  We just read a book where a little boy made it into a spaceship, so I thought they might go with that idea.  Nope.  What about a fun tunnel to hide, eat snacks and have a 'secret' passageway out the back?  Denied.  A house?  No.  A barn (they are always pretending to be animals?) No way.

Spencer's reaction:  run as far away from the box.  It scared him. Only until I crawled through it did he.  Once.  Then, he jumped on top of it.

Ashlyn's reaction:  Why do we have Daddy's box inside?  Why did you throw away the trash inside it?  Why are you cutting a hole in it?  (Sound familiar?)

Kylie's:  What are we supposed to do with this?  I gladly gave her my ideas then she proceeded to write her spelling words on it, every name in our family and a story. 

So, what does this all mean?  I have no idea.  We need to bring more big boxes in the house, I suppose.

Happy 40th, Mom and Dad!

All nine children pulled together to devise a surprise party for this lovely couple. 

 

And we actually pulled it off (with a few bumps on the way)!  They were actually surprised!  

It was so fun full of their favorite food, games, people and photos.  My mom won a hula-hoop contest years ago, so that had to be a part of the fun.  And guess what?  She won again!  

Spencer and Peter were tough competition.   

And, Katy, I'm sorry, but I already forgot the hula-hoop lessons we received - I need more practice.

(And maybe one day we will actually learn how to use our camera and get crisper pictures.  Maybe by their 50th.)

One word

Amazing!

To explain the picture, can't keep it to one word.  David's sister and her husband adopted 3 children and they already have 3 of their own.  What's the best word to describe this?  Amazing.  If anyone would have the courage and love to do this, it is them.  We are excited to get to know our new nieces and nephews and cousins!

Sweet 6

A way over due post, but our sweet Kylie turned the "sweet 6" in August (and, in case you are wondering, in our eyes, she'll never be old enough for it to be her "sweet sixteen" birthday).

She never ceases to amaze us with her curiosity, kindness and cleverness. She is always processing information - noticing relationships, cause/effects and conclusions. You can't hide anything from this girl. Her memory is beyond sharp. She is a great little mommy, big sister and friend. She will never pass up a snuggle and pushes her bedtime further and further back. She complains about doing homework, but once started, it is hard to pull her away from it. Her reading skills have flourished quickly, I think it is due to scripture reading every night.

She loves to work outside with daddy and get greasy. She always has a question to ask (sound like anyone?). She has quite the appetite and can eat more than David, but has all the energy to work it off. Dancing is one of her favorite pastimes. Crank that music up and she is good to go! Drawing and writing also make it on that list. I love getting her notes and drawings that say the same thing every time "I love you Mommy. You are the dest (she still gets her 'd's and 'b's messed up sometimes) mommy ever." Then she'll draw a picture of her and I. The drawings are more detailed each time, sometimes with the color, other times with the technique. She loves being with her family whether it be just us or her cousins, grandparents or aunts/uncles - she loves it ALL!

We love her and will keep her FOREVER!

Just to clarify

A few were wondering about the previous post, so here it goes:

1. My loot doesn't always look like this each week. Sometimes it is chicken heavy (because that's the meat we eat around here) or produce heavy or just even amounts of every thing.

2. I don't buy only the processed foods. I buy organic and whole grain as well.

3. I always have enough produce to have a fruit and/or vegetable at every meal (yes, even breakfast).

4. I have been stockpiling (or in our church we call it food storage) for awhile now, so I already lots of beans, rice, pasta, spices, canned meats, fruits/veggies and other basic items.

5. Any other questions?

We are on a serious diet

Financial diet, that is.

$50 a week on everything except gas. Groceries, toilet paper, paper towels, hygiene items...everything.

Here is what I did for $27.58 last week,


but then went to Whole Foods to snag a few things like 8-pack of yogurt for $1, 2 bags of chips for $2.69 and 2 cereals for $3.

I have always been fairly good, but, now I am going to get really good. If we run out of something, I'll use my food storage and get creative. And now I am motivated to re-plant our garden.

Instead of this being stressful, I'll think of it as a competition - Me vs. Me. I have a pretty good chance of winning this one.

Training Module #3 - BodyCombat

This past weekend was an amazing training session for my 3rd LesMills program - BodyCombat. It is a mixed martial arts group exercise class. The goal is to make the class authentic as possible, so our technique has to be right on. We went through drills upon drills of an array of disciplines like boxing, karate, muay thai, kickboxing, MMA, taekwondo and others. Talk about sore shoulders, trapezoids, rhomboids and glutes.

I would love a group to practice on...anyone willing? Come on, we don't look scary.

While Ashlyn was snoozin'....

the rockstars were rockin'....

It's all Greek to Me

Okay, well not all...but Mediterranean nonetheless.

I love making fresh pita. It is versatile and yummy. We make (and devour) gyros, hummus or just plain tzatziki (love, love, love me some tzatziki!) with them.

Tonight I am going to try this Lebanese recipe. Who knows, maybe I will just lick the tzatziki sauce off the meatballs.

Little Man is 2!

(I am totally going out of chronological order in my catch up posts.)

This kid is a BLAST!

He loves to:
-wrestle,
-copy everything his sisters say and do,

-be with his sisters. If we ever keep him home alone, he is such a pill and wants us to be by his side the entire time. He cries if his sister(s) are not with him in KidZone.
-smile,
-say 'ba-ket-ball' for every type of ball,
-not listen and whine when he doesn't get his way. I know you are thinking, 'All kids do this', but he is extremely whiny when things don't go his way. It is hard to not cave.
-run and run FAST! He swings his arm so dang fast when he runs and seems as if only his knees down are moving as he sprints.
-snuggle while sucking on his thumb and tag of his blanket (it has to be the silky tag),
-eat. He finally will eat vegetables because we can now bribe him with treats and he understands what it means.
-walk down/up stairs by himself,
-collect money around the house,

(thanks Grandmas Johnson for the dollar!)
-chew/swallow gum and mints and
-play basketball, soccer, baseball, football, whatever-ball and he can throw!

He is growing up so fast. He is not our skinny, spitting up little baby anymore. We love him to pieces!

Tales of a Gecko

At the end of the school year, Kylie's teacher asked for volunteers to take home either the class gecko or bird. I knew the bird was out of the question, because David would go berserk with the chirping. But, I thought, hey, the gecko would be fun. The kids would love to see it prance around its tank, eat crickets and drink from the water bowl. We would only have to feed it and clean out the tank once a week. And the BEST thing? We wouldn't have to keep it forever.

No big deal, right? Only one BIG problem, we all strongly dislike handling reptiles of any kind. Well, we were going to conquer that fear.

Well, the first day was rough. It was the David was released from the hospital, so everything was crazy. And I was already stressed that I was going to kill this thing. What if it didn't have enough light? Enough water? Enough crickets?

The first day, 2 crickets got loose...there is no mercy for loose insects in this house...they got squashed. I was having to buy crickets 3xs a week because they kept dying on me. (I later realized it was because I was getting the non-chirping kind which die off faster). And I still hadn't gotten over my fear of holding it, so I enlisted help - my neighbor, a friend from church, my sister, it got ridiculous. I needed to fight my battle once and for all, so I did this:






Yep, I held him, double gloved and everything. The kids were cheering me on, but no way were they going to handle it.

As the summer progressed, things got better and we learned so much. We checked out a book about geckos, watched it shed and eat its skin twice

and saw it pounce on his food. Spencer would walk by the tank each day, puts his hands behind his back and say, 'Hi, Pots' over and over. It was a lot of fun to watch. And the BEST thing...it goes home tomorrow!

After...

After...
A week of Girls' Camp with the Young Women of our church,
10 days in blissful Colorado,
Hitting the ground running with 27 classes in 10 days,
Neighborhood drama,
Our 7th anniversary,
Spencer's 2nd birthday and
Catching up with my Church duties...

I am back to blogging!

My age is showing

In the car we were listening to a song about a prune. It says something like, "no matter how old it is, the prune is always wrinkled".

Kylie piped up from the back, "Hey, mom, this song is like you."

Me: "What do you mean by that?"

Kylie: "Because you have wrinkles."

Me: "I do not."

Kylie: "Yes, you do. They are all on your hands. Well, you haven't always had wrinkles, like, when you were a baby like the prune, but you do now."

(Now, I should post a picture to prove that they are not all over my hands.)

The story of the chicks

One day they were there and the next...

they were gone.

The End.

Sorry Katy you couldn't snap pictures as our children chased them away.

Yes! Another post!

The "exciting things happening at the Astorga house" ended up being even more exciting than I originally thought.

Picture this:

9:00 p.m. Thursday -
A call from David one night while relieving stress at Target saying that he had just called 911 and they were on their way. I seriously thought he was kidding. Okay, he wasn't. Now, who for? The kids? Nope. David. What? What is he thinking? He has no insurance! (I know, I am a great wife.) Okay, fine, whatever. What is so terribly wrong? His heart. Oh, that is no big deal. What? HIS HEART!

Arriving on the scene as the EMTs finish up and rescue is on its way. He is stable and we refuse the Rescue, because it's cheaper if I just take him. A few good friends come to the rescue to administer a blessing and watch the children. We go to the hospital and just wait in the parking lot. We want to make really sure we have to go in. Remember, no insurance. He feels much better an hour later. We go home.

Friday - David rested. All. day. long.

Saturday - typical Saturday

Sunday - typical Sunday UNTIL 1:30 am. David jumps out of bed. It's his heart again. He says he has to go NOW. We call our neighbors and don't even wait until they get there. On the way, I ran my first RED light ever and drove the fastest I have ever driven (any guesses?). We go right in this time just in time for him to pass out on the wheelchair. They wheel him back. Sound exciting enough? I, for one, can't take anymore. And good thing it doesn't get too much more exciting. Everything looks good except for his potassium...normal is 5.0, his was 2.2...critically low. 7 hours , 3 potassium pills and an IV with potassium later...we are discharged with orders to follow up with his doctor.

So, here we are 15 days after the onset. After seeing a cardiologist, heart is great, but potassium is still low...3.2. Here begins another journey...WHY?

Father/Son Campout

David was so excited to take Spencer on their first camp out (I was equally excited). We were nervous that Spencer wouldn't sleep and they would have to leave in the middle of the night, so he decided to not set up a tent and sleep in the Tahoe instead. I received a call around 9:30 from David that went like this:

"Hey, how's it going?"
"He won't sleep." (I hear Spencer talking in the background.)
"How long have you been laying there?"
"About 45 minutes."
"Go let him out to run around, " I suggested. (That is because I would have almost given up at this point.)
"No, I'll just keep snuggling him."

I thought for sure I would hear them come home in the middle of the night. But, they made it! David said it took Spencer 1 1/2 hours to finally fall asleep.

Spencer loved the outdoors, the fire, the dirt, big boys to play with, the food, running, the birds, etc. He was in dreamland. I suspect this will be the first of many.

New

A new tooth.

She lost her first tooth on May 10th and already another one is getting ready to fall out. I am jealous. When I was a little girl, it took me until the 1st or 2nd grade to lose any of my teeth. But, she will have 2 out/in by the end of her kindergarten year!
(FYI: Those are strands of hair across her face.)

New eggs.

We had a mommy and daddy duck scoping out place to lay eggs. We thought they would choose our neighbor's yard, but they chose ours! There are 6 six eggs. I didn't pull back the leaves any further in fear I would be attacked by a hidden parent. I realize now that I would have been safe. The mommy lays all morning on the eggs and is no where to be seen in the afternoon just to return in the evening. I hope we get to see the little chickadees when they hatch.