Go Pokes

Something we have always enjoyed, and maybe before the kids in a different "enjoyable" way...is a Cowboy football game. Since the kids were born we have brought them to a Wyoming Cowboy game, even though last year was more of "oh look people running around down there" this year it is more of a cheering and enjoyable part for the kids.

Layla's gets really into the yelling along with us and other people around us. Yelling "Get 'em! Stop 'em", and "Go, Go, GO!!!!!!!!!" She also got really into one of the songs played between plays which has lyrics "raise a little hell" she replied with as clapping "Raise Hell!". It it is absolutely adorable when she yells "get 'em" because a little vein in her for head will pop out as her face turns red from yelling. I mean c'mon cowboys GET them already so the little toddler doesn't freak out up here!

Aidan as always is a little more laid back, but he still does his share of cheering...he loves clapping to the music between plays and he occasionally will yell "get em" but he is more of a guy that concentrates on the game, and yells "tackle!" when the offencive and defencive tackle eachother and such. This picute i love, even though he is trying to push me away, it makes me so happy that i can share time with him that he enjoys. He really loves yelling "go pokes!" the kids know everytime they see the steamboat sign to yell "Go Pokes!!!"

Layla as i mentioned before loved to yell at the game and the players. Before each game i explain what colors we are cheering for and what to say. She will get so into the game sometimes it is hard to even get her attention to get her from stop yelling between plays.
Aidan and Kendall, him and his daddy hanging out,...he really enjoys the football games too, not only does he get to go out, he gets to sit on whoever he wants if it is Kendall, Gary, or Skylar (i swear Layla has a crush on him). He just wants so badly to be "one of the guys."
After the games we will usually have a BBQ or some sort of get together somewhere...usually at our house so the kids can get a quick nap in since the games fall during naptime. Here they are enjoying a fruit smoothy together...so sweet, each have their own straw! I hope it can be a family tradition to go to football games together and share the cheering and yelling together! Even tonight the kids before bed begged to watch a "football game!!!" they love getting in the three point stance and running the ball before getting tackled by one of their framily.

Charlie Bit My Finger

Ok, so at work the other night Laurel and I were playing on youtube.com and came across some pretty funny kid clips...man kids always have cracked me up, i think Aidan and Layla say or do something daily that leave me rolling on the floor and wishing i would have had the camera out! Here is one i thought was pretty funny from youtube check it out, i still laugh, maybe it is just the British accent i dont know!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_OBlgSz8sSM

Private

If anybody could figure out how to get on here, i have sent an invite email, if you know of anybody else that reads this and would like an invite please let me know, i do not have everybody's email.

On the note of why i decided to change to a private blog is the increasing amount of strangers that read blogs and take down bits and pieces of information to figure out where the blogger is. The scarier thing is, some cases have had strangers actually take pictures from the blog of children and post or sell them and where they live, almost pin pointing their location from just that sort of information. Scary, i still want to share with friends and family so this is what i have done.

Hope all can get here now!

Hardly Working

Even though i am co-manager of the call center for the foundation, i still feel as if i do not do much throughout the night. Although i wonder why i complain about this, i try and stay busy. Either by wrong number research or homework. This year we are only having 8 stations for callers to use each night, downsizing from 15. Both my boss, and his boss left this summer, so things for us have been starting off slow, considering everything was put on another another person in the foundation.
To add to the chaos of figuring everything out on ourselves this year, we recently moved to a whole other building, off campus and ant infested. I am not one to complain about ants, but i am talking about big black flying ants everywhere despite constant spraying and bug bombs. I guess that is how much the University appreciates the individuals that help bring in 45% of their fundings.

Anyway, it is nice to feel important and the one in charge and actually having to conduct interviews, train, and run the whole thing. This year we have a girl from my hometown, the little sister of a girl in my class, so in a way it is nice to hear whats going on back there.

Enough said on that, i have had a pay increase and this will be something awesome to put on my resume. I have been watching for jobs near here that would be something that i could do from my major when the job arises. I have gotten information from the local Big Brothers Big Sisters, Department of Family Services, the Hospital, Safe Project, and the local Youth Crisis Center. We will see how any of that goes.

What Happened to Small?

So, looking at McDonalds menu, i realized my regular size french fries (use to be 99cents) has become the small, at 1.49, which in reality my regular size french fries (the one in the middle) in the beginning wasn't even the large! The little paper size french fries use to be the regular size, now it is only found in kids menus...i think unless they have discontinued it now. Makes you realize why America has a weight problem, look at the growth of french fries over the years....AWWW! Now imagine those french fries along side a big mac and a large coke ( i won't even get in to how THOSE have grown). Kind of makes me sick, but in a way the fries are SOO good, ill just have to make sure i limit to staying with the small now. I will restrain from putting the calories of these bad boys up for now, considering i think we are have McDonalds for lunch, the bright side i guess is i don't eat all of mine due to little fingers grabbing the rest. Maybe kids are like a diet, they eat half of my food most the time, and nothing on their own plates.

More S'mores

About 10 years ago, my parents did something really special for me. I had been wanting a dog for my own for awhile, and even though i had some great little dachshunds that i shared with my sisters and brother, i really wanted a "real" dog. Definition of a real dog for me then was a dog that would play more than fetch, but that would go hiking with me without me having to carry it after a few hundred yards, a dog that would swim in the lake with me, and a dog that was bigger than a cat. My parents were not ready to commit to the big dogs that i wanted, so in the end we settled on a beagle. Still classified as a small or medium size dog, however, still enjoyed the outdoors and could keep up with me. One afternoon after school they surprised me with a trip to Laramie to pick out a beagle puppy. I was thrilled and was very excited. We brought S'more home after that, and i began training him. After a few years pasted, i began getting busy with high school but still had time to take him swimming at the lake and up to the mountains to run after rabbits and occasionally chase out a cow elk from the woods. College came and i was unable to keep a dog at any of the apartments that i rented. Being a college town here, the majority of apartments refuse pets, since college students are a big enough mess themselves for landlords to clean up after.

Immediately when Kendall said we were going to look and buy a house, i became excited that maybe he wouldn't mind me bringing S'more here to live! Finally after 4 years. Sure enough we found a house with a huge yard and even added in the contract that the previous owners leave the small dog kennel in the back for when we brought S'more here.

Last Thursday i went home and brought S'more back, even though my parents miss him terribly, i want to give him a chance here to see if he is happy. He has adjusted well, and loves to play with Emily's border collie Sage. He is learning that the kids are here all the time and he needs to get his patients built up. It has been nice to have the security of a dog, i have always felt safe when i am home alone if i have a dog here, S'more can be pretty protective of me, always has been and i hope he grows to do that for the kids. Layla adores him, Aidan seems to not enjoy dogs as much as he did, maybe it is just the dogs he enjoys. Layla always sits with him to give a little hug, or to just pat him on the head calling to him "here More!" She is a lot more gentle than Aidan and you can tell that the dogs really pick up on that and avoid Aidan a bit more. He will learn.

Monkey George!

Since we moved in, i had the idea that the kids play room would be a place where they could go and everything about that room would reflect fun and playful. I asked our friend Chris if he could draw anything on the wall just to give it a more "kids only" room feeling. He agreed, and him, Emily, and Kendall helped paint what he sketched out on the walls. I wanted it bright and fun, so the balloons are very bright and the kids love pointing them out. Next we have Curious George who the kids insist on calling "monkey George". I absolutely love the tree, it is set in the corner of the room spreading over two of the walls. The kids LOVE it, and as soon as we clean up the paint they can go in there again and actually play! We have shown them the picture on the wall and they always say goodbye to the balloons, monkey george, the tree, the leaves and the paint still sitting in there. :) I Love it!

Deadwood/Lander...

Things have been pretty busy around here. Two weekends ago we headed up to Spearfish/Deadwood to see friends Karl, Amber, and newly born Karl II. It was a lot of fun being able to take the kids on a mini vacation, they got their first experience of Chuckie Cheeses and also the family got to take a old time photo at a local place in Deadwood, very cool.

This past weekend we went up to Lander to visit some friends for a housewarming...there was a caravan of us, Gary, Nikki, Chris, Em, Skylor, Kendall, the kids and I. It was a great time and we got to enjoy their lovely big house! :) The kids had fun chasing the cat and playing with fake turtles (Layla broke one on accident and tried putting it back together before we found her, in which we owe Katie a new one!!!) Here are some pictures from here an there.

Kendall holding Karl II, he is close to three months old now. Such a cuddlebug, we were lucky to be one of the first people to hear him laugh, such an amazing thing!!
Aidan and Kendall at Deadwood matching in their white polos. We had a lot of fun at Deadwood, with the kids, and also at night without them gambling...i lost my money i had brought to play with so had to quit early haha.
Layla and Aidan wrestling at Lander, of course Layla seems to always somehow pin Aidan. She really uses her extra half a pound on him.
We went to this really neat place up by Lander called "the Sinks. It is a river which goes down into a cave, and about a quarter mile down it comes back up out of the ground. You can then walk down there and feed some trout reaching up to at least 12 pounds. Here is Layla and Kendall posing in front of the river as it goes down into the cave/ground.

Aidan along the river as it goes into the ground, sitting along the rocky bank as he throws smaller rocks into the water. The kids really enjoyed this and would not stop talking about the "river and rocks" that they saw.

Other than that, i have a phone that works now and can actually answer when people call. Whoohoo!