Geckos

After all that happened with Richard (the lizard) We decided to get Sammy a gecko for Christmas. It was the only thing she wanted! So we started looking to see what our options were. She decided she liked the crested geckos the best. We found a girl on craigslist that was selling baby geckos and we were so excited. Hoping if we got the gecko young it would like to be held, and well loved. So Scott and I headed to Garden Grove to get our new pet. Of course it looked like some crack house and I was afraid we were going to die. I am not joking it was the dirtiest grossest house I have ever been in. Trash and stuff everywhere, the floor all ripped up and the smell AAGGGHH! They were in the back bedroom and as we walked back I was having flashes of law and order and CSI running through my head. Thank God Scott did not let me go alone ! Well we went for 1 and came home with 3. I know I never wanted to go back there again. Sammy was so excited Christmas morning! After all presents were opened Scotty came out and told her he cut his hand as he opened it there was her gecko. She screamed and hugged him . Taylor hid in the corner and cried. She hates lizards. Scott then came out with the other 2 and said they needed friends. Taylor just cried and buried her head in a pillow. She has now adjusted and will even hold them. Sammy loves them and not even to death yet. So here are our newest members of our crazy family! This is jumper.

Sammy made a lizard circus one day and taught them how to walk a tight rope. Yep they made it across. And no lizards were hurt in the performance. She was so proud of herself and her pets !

This is jumper crossing the rope. He made it across !

Jumper

freckles

And last but not least Gary ! Not sure if they are boys or girls yet but I am sure with our luck there is a mix of both. I will let you know if we get eggs.

The whole gang.

Happy Anniversary Babe!

On February 5th Scotty and I celebrated 11 years of marriage. Yay us ! It is crazy to think that it all started 17 years ago with a kiss after a superbowl party . Actually it goes even further back to junior high, but since he thought I was a dork back then we will skip to the part where he actually wanted to hang out with me. So thank you to his friend who bet him I would never go out with him ! Scotty won that bet ! Man I love this guy! I am so glad he is my husband , best friend and the father of our beautiful kids. I am truly blessed! He knows me like no one else and loves me anyway! He laughs when he comes home to find me singing (way off key and making up my own lyrics ) and crazy dancing with the kids . He is patient when I am not and wise when I am impulsive. We are a great balance to each other! I could go on and on but I guess I will save that for him . So babe thanks for choosing me to be your wife ! I love you more today than when we started !

ipod drama

This post is crazy long but I want this memory documented. Believe it or not this really did happen to us !
For Christmas this year we decided the little girls were old enough for ipods. I thought I would just go to Target and buy a nano and be done. No things never are that easy for me. They changed the nanos this year so they are really small and don't play video ,and so the quest to find last years model began!
I found them on ebay for a good price so I got one for each of them . ( Sam wanted lizards and not an ipod but I knew there would be fighting if only Tay got one . Lizard post to follow.) So I bought them , and 2 days letter ebay sent a note saying we might not get them the vendor was pulled. AAAGGGHHH !!! So we wait and sure enough they came. I literally jumped up and down and thanked the mail man profusely because I was so excited. This was going to be the best Christmas ever!
Well as most of you know things do not ever go that easy for me. So Christmas Eve we removed them from the cases and of course they were fake. So frustrating ! All the stores were closed and no big gift for Tay. Scott had gotten Sam the lizards so she was covered but poor Tay just got promises of an ipod . She took it fine and I was thankful she is so sweet.
I went on Apple's web site to get her a refurbished nano but they were out. So we gave her the choice to wait or get the new one. She chose to wait......a week later still nothing, wait ,wait, wait! Then a refurbished i touch for the same price as the nano comes up. We decide to get that! So I buy it and she is ecstatic! But no conformation email comes so I call apple and they have no record of my purchase and of course they are now out of them. AAGGHHH! Tay again is ever patient.
Another 2 weeks go buy and still nothing available. So Scott and I decide to buy her a new one. Way more than we wanted to spend but this was getting out of control . We started out spending $71.50 then $149 now we were up to $229 . So I bought her the new one had it engraved for free and finally we could be done! An hour later Scott calls to tell me they have a refurbished ones again. Of course they do ! I call apple and they have already engraved and prepared it to be shipped. I explained my whole drama and the guy said he would let me return it this one time. All I have to do is ship it back after we get it. So I purchase the other one as well. I have now bought 4 ipods and have nothing to give my daughter .
Yesterday the i touch's came and Taylor is so excited! I have been fighting with the vendors on ebay for the last month but they have finally agreed to a full refund. All I have to do is return the fakes. Sounds easy but they gave me the address in Chinese. Iprinted it out and took it to the post office and the lady said it had to be printed on the shipping envelope. I told her I can't write Chinese and she told me to find a Chinese person and bring them with me. REALLY ??? Oh yes that was her answer. Thankfully I do know a Chinese person (thanks Alice) and she translated for me. We started off spending $143.00 and ended at $521.00 I can't wait for all the refunds to come in !!What a disaster. I will never buy anything on ebay again !
Hope you all had a Merry Christmas and more luck shopping than we did !

Cali our new Kitty

We have a new member of the family. Cali is a little kitten that came to live with us in October. She was rescued by a friend of ours when she was just a few days old. She nursed her back to health and now she thriving here with us. We love her to pieces !

The Elf on the shelf

We started a new tradition this year. Frisbee is an elf that has come to live with us through Christmas. Everyday he watches to see who is naughty and nice then flys home to the North Pole to report to Santa. Every day he picks a new spot to hide......well most days he picks a new spot. We have had some issues with him forgetting to move. He even forgot the first night! Taylor who is 10 woke me up at 5 in the morning all upset because he was in the same spot. Well being the sweet morning momma that I am I informed her that she must have scarred him when he was coming back so he went to the same spot ! Then I told her it was way to early to be up and to get back in bed. The other day Jake was in time-out and I told him he was going to be on the naughty list for sure. He looked at me and said "That elf does not even know my name!" I looked right at the elf and said " Frisbee this is Jake Gayer ,J-a-k-e- G-a-y-e-r" Jake cried NOOOOO! Then as I turned He looked at Frisbee and said"That's not my name, it's not !!!" Got to love 4 year olds! I will miss this little elf next week !

The story of Richard

Richards story is not a long one but heart felt none the less.Last month Sam caught a lizard in our back yard. She does this pretty much everyday so I am not sure how this one got to stay. Well stay he did . Craziest thing you have ever seen he would just sit on her homework paper while she worked.Ride on her shirt or in his cage while she roller bladed oh and even sit next to me for hours in the grass during soccer practice. I have many witness who can confirm this madness. Yes we fed him. At first Sam caught crickets for him. Not sure how because I can never catch them. Then we moved on to meal worms and ants. Richard lived with us for about 3 weeks then one night he did not wake up. :( It was a very sad day so after Scott got home from work we had a service in the back yard. We said a few words and prayed. Sam started sobbing with her hand over her face. Not gonna lie I teared up as well. It is so hard to watch your kids hurt. He was a very special lizard who we will never forget ! Homework time . He sat there the entire time she did her work!

Just hanging out

Rollerblading..... I know in a bikini with a lizard. This is our crazyness

Playing in the yard

I just showed Sam what I wrote and she teared up and said "it's good mom "!She kills me!!!!

Soccer at the beach

Taylor's soccer team played in a tournament in Hunington Beach this summer. These little girls are amazing athletes! It was a blast to watch them play, although sand in the eyes is not fun ! We have the best team ! It was a great day hanging out with everyone . We are blessed to have a great coach and parents on this team.

Canyon FC girls U10 2010

Changes

This journey of being a mom is so crazy! We spend all these years teaching and preaching to our little ones and they learn and grow . They make good choices and bad and all along we are there. We hold on tight and pray sooo hard. And although there are times we can't imagine why God thought it was a good idea for us to be this child's mom . He did, he hand picked us for the job and God makes NO mistakes. I know because I looked into this at several points along the journey and the Bible gives the same answer . So we love them, laugh with and in our house at them, pick up broken pieces , and live in all that God has taught us. Now 19 years into this journey I get to let go. I know, I know this is the point of being a mom . To be honest there were several occasions where I knew the number of days till I could be done.
Well my job is changing it is never really done. But I am excited for the change ! Caitlen is going to work at Hume for the summer. It is a great change and I can hardly wait to see all God has in store for her. I prayed so hard she would get this job. Cate wanted to work in security and they only hired 8 , 5 boys and 3 girls.Well God answered my prayer exactly and she is one of the 3. I got to meet the other 2 girls who are doing security and they were great. She is going to have an amazing summer. I can not wait to see all that God does in her life and heart this summer. It will be an adventure I am sure. As I drove away I had no reservations . We have prayed and God has answered ! Cates I will miss you this summer ! Have fun little one !

Hiking the Hills

I love hiking in the hills! Last summer a group of us would go several days a week and run/walk the hills. It is so beautiful up here. Taylor's soccer coach has taken the team on several hikes up here now and they are a blast. Even the little kids enjoy it most of the time. We have gone 4-8 miles on each hike. The 8 mile hike took us all the way to Irvine park. ending with a huge hill at the end. Jake was crying and I am not going to lie I wanted to too. Dragging /carrying 2 kids is not all that easy. After the 8 mile hike Jake and Sam decided to hang out with Aunt Billie instead of with us. I did not push it. It is amazing how easy it felt without 70 pounds of drag . It was a beautiful day and Taylor and I had a great time !

I think God put these flowers here just for us today. They were so pretty and were taller than us. They were all along the trail and it was so cool to walk through them.

Tay wanted to be done right here. Not even close !

The team !

Jamba juice is a great way to finish the day ! So fun to spend the day with great friends and my little Tay.

Samantha

Last month Sam decided she was tired of sharing a room so she would move to the bathroom.So she gathered her blankets and pillow and crawled in the tub. She slept there all night. There were some benefits. No fighting with her sister ,no egging her brother to get out of bed, no talking and laughing. So the next night she wanted to sleep there again and we said SURE ! This time she brought in dolls and stuffed animals and even pinned her soccer pin on the shower curtain. She slept there for about a week and then moved back to her bed. I love how creative and quirky my little one is.

This is where I found her this time. She dumped out all the clothes and taped the baskets together. She is a nut !!!

I know the room is a mess . Partly because she dumped out the basket and partly because my children are part pig !