Weekend Kitten

Andrey and I were outside after a big storm when we heard meows. We found an injured and sick runt kitten. We instantly fell in love and had to care for it until monday, when animal control could get to her. She was such a patient and sweet kitty, while we bathed her, cleaned out her infections, tried to force feed her, and care for her. The girls loved her and it was hard for them to see her go on Monday, but they were glad that the "doctors" were coming to care for her. This was a good experience for the girls to get a taste of what a pet would be like, and a taste for me to decide that we are not yet ready for one. But she sure was a sweet little thing.

Emma's Fundraiser

Friends and family:
Emma is selling the Entertainment book for her school fundraiser. It is for the 2012 year. She is so excited (to win a prize for selling them) so let us know, after looking over your budgets, if you are intersted. She will be selling them through Sept. 8, 2011 so give us a call or e-mail, or shoot a message on over. It is only $25 and has a lot of great coupons inside: your favorite restaraunt, golfing, water parks, etc. We have loved having one this year and have saved so much by using it. Let us know. Thank you!!!

Ethan's little Personality-6 months old

Ethan love his big sisters. They have so much fun with him and they can get him laughing harder than anyone else.After church today Ellie started making noises and he thought it was the funniest thing (video to come). We love seeing his little personality coming out as he is getting older. He communicates more, is very observant, and loved giving (wet) kisses.

2011 Garden

We were told by our Stake President this year to make sure everyone plants a garden. Even if you llive in an apartment, plant something in a box. He didn't care. His challenge for us was to make sure we had something.

We took this seriously and after getting our food storage caught up, we went full out on a garden. Our backyard is on almost a half an acre, so we tilled the ground and picked anything and everything to plant.

It was a lot of fun for Emma and Ellie this year since they are older and could help out more, so they are very proud to see what we have grown.

It is a treat for them to pick everything and to water. Today Emma and I went a harvesting and this is what we found:

New crib for Ethan

I have been spoiled and have been spoiling Ethan by letting him sleep in bed with me. I am a light sleeper, so rolling on him is not a concern for me. I don't want to have him in my bed till he is 25, so we decided it was time for a crib.

I am always worried about losing a child by malfunctioning of a crib, so we bought a brand new one. Andrey got such a great deal on it because it was the display crib at the store and there was a small scratch on it. It was such a good price, we couldn't pass it up.

I was excited because that meant my bedroom was going to be re-arranged (until my real room is finished), so we got to work and I just love the crib. Ethan seems to love it and we will see how he does tonight not being next to mom. Crossies!

Preschool with Ellie

Ellie so badly wanted to go to Kindergarten with her big sister, Emma, but I told her she needed to wait one more year. We decided to enjoy this one on one time and do preschool.

We started this week by focusing on the letter 'A'. Each week I will teach her a new letter and a few numbers. We start by singing our "A,B,Cs" and counting to 20.

We have done crafts, read books, learned songs that go along with that letter we are focusing on, practice writing her name, the learned letter and numbers. Ellis is having a great time and loves being able to show Emma and dad what she learned when they get home from school/work.

Ellie is a smart girl and is very excited to learn new things. I am grateful for this time that I have with her.

Cereal

Ethan has been drinking bottle after bottle lately and just can't get full. Our pediatritian said with his weight to hold off on baby food and cereal till he is 6 months. Andrey and I decided to try it now (a few weeks early) so he could stay full longer. The girls were so excited to see him try cereal for the first time, they raced out of the tub. Ethan made funny faces but couldn't get enough of the food. It's so sad to see him growing up so quickly. He loves rolling over and has mastered from his tummy to his back and back to tummy, so he is all over the floor. He is going to be scooting soon with his cute chicken legs. We just love him. (video soon to come).

First day of Kindergarten

What an exciting morning for Emma (and mom and dad) today was. After getting a father's blessing last night, Emma quickly fell asleep, excited for the next morning when she would begin Kindergarten. She did great on her assesment test with her new teacher, Mrs. bennett, where her teacher was shocked to hear that Emma was already sounding out words. Emma loves her teacher and was so excited for the day to begin. She had her outfit and backpack all ready to go, her homework done and ready to be turned in.

After making her eat breakfast, we loaded up the kids and dad and I went on the fun walk to school. Ellie was sad she didn't get to go, but excited to start preschool with mommy.

As the children lined up, Emma was excited to see one of her best friends, Micaela, in her class. It was fun for me to see other parents there, some very emotional, and some excited to see their children enter this next step in their life. "They are so excited, but only if they really knew what they were really getting into...." said one of the fathers. After cameras were done flashing, and Mrs. bennett told the students to wave goodbye to their parents, tears wiped, the parentes headed into the garden area where the PTA had a breakfast set up for us to mingle and eat. It was a nice morning to get a tour, sign up for clubs and programs the school has to offer (I am excited to be on the PTA, over the Reflextions program). I am so excited for Emma to come home and to hear about her first day of school. She is so grown up.

5 months old

Ethan loves rolling over now. He is getting fast. The only problem is he doesn't know what to do from his tummy, so he plays for a minute then gets fussy when he can't see his sisters. He is getting two teeth in and always chews on his fingers and makes a cute "dinosaur" growl and squeal when he "talks" to us. He is growing up so fast and it is fun to see his big personality. My favorite is the tantrums that he throws (arching his back, growling while clenching his fists and kicking out his legs). =0)

(video not working, but i will get it up and going later)

Happy 4th birthday Ellie

My sweet Ellie turned 4 this week. We missed her actual birthday because Andrey and I were at girls camp, but she had a fun day with Grandma and Grandpa Sampson. They took her to see "Hop", out to dinner at Arctic Circle (THERE WAS A SLIDE!!!), she opened presents (Barbies, clothes, etc.), and had "2 sleeps" as Emma calls sleep overs.
Sat. night we had a birthday party for her at my mom's house. It was full of pink and Princesses. She loved seeing family and getting presents.
Ellie has grown up so much. She loves dancing and singing, she loves playing with Barbies, babies, loves being a big sister, she is excited to do pre-school with me (mom), she loves sleeping on the top bunk, and her best friend is Emma.
Ellie is a sunbeam and loves going to primary. She is so grown up and the best helper.
Happy Birthday!

Ethan is 4 months now!

Ethan is finally growing. He is a whopping 11 lbs. and 2 oz. at his last appointment. He is getting longer and longer each visit, but still a bean pole. He is so happy-always smiling and has the world's cutest laugh-so contagious (like his sister, Ellie). He loves sitting up all the time now that his head is stable enough. He coos really loudly and started throwing temper tantrums-extending his legs out, clenching his hands into fists, and yelling really loud. It is kinda' scary. It works to keep his sister, Ellie from mauling him all the time.

He is almost rolling over and just needs to figure out how to get his darn arm out of the way. He loves to be with people and cries out when he is alone in a room. He loves sitting in his "Bumbo" chair so he can see everything, and discovered his hands so they are always in his mouth. It helps now that he is teething (two are coming in soon) so he can hold toys now and, of course, they go into his mouth. He knows his name and turns when he hears it, and loves getting kisses all over his face and his most tickelish places are his legs, feet, and mostly his neck.

He gets so excited to see familiar faces and kicks his legs in excitement and flings his arms all over the place-he sure knows how to make you feel special.
His favorite way of communicating now is growling, yelling, and making a sing-song sound.

We are having so much fun with him. We love you, Ethan!

3 months old

Ethan is just growing up so much-so Quickly! He is so happy, always smiling and very ticklish, so we can get the cutest giggle out of him. He sleeps through the night (thank you!), he is holding his head up really well now. He loves playing with his sister-watching them run around and play. He loves when we talk and sing to him. He coos and babbles all the time and loves when we converse with him in excitement. He loves his Bumbo chair Aunt Serenie bought for him. He feels like such a big boy being able to sit up in it. He is the best cuddler. Now if only we could get him to like taking his baths. We are so grateful to have Ethan in our family and just love him so much.

Happy birthday Dad!

It was my dad's 53 birthday on the 22nd. We had such a great time celebrating this special day with him. I love my dad's sense of humor, his great support and love for his grandchildren, and always making each of us feel special. We love you dad and hope you had a wonderful birthday!

Ethan's Baby Blessing

Ethan was blessed by his daddy on May 1, 2011. We are so excited to have Ethan in our family and love him so much. He is such a little stud. Thank you friend and family for your love and support and being there to celebrate this special day with us.

Happy 1st Birthday Lucy

Lucy Green is 1 years old. She is such a beautiful baby. We just love her. She is always giving smiles, blowing kisses, making us laugh as she plays with toys, tries new foods, and does silly little things We had a great time at her birthday party watching her not blow out her candle and open all her fun presents. She is such a sweetheart with her cute chubby cheeks, big blue eyes, and adorable smile. We are so blessed and lucky to have Lucy in our family. Happy birthday Lucy!

Happy Easter

We had such a great Easter this year. It was fun for us because we got to show Ethan off to family who has not yet met him. He was such a good baby-so happy.

We had a great time starting the holiday off with treats and movie night at Aunt Arlene's house, watching "Tangled." It was so much fun hanging out with cousins and meeting Spencer's girlfriend, Kim Pay. Emma just adored her and told me at the end of the weekend that "we have to work harder at getting those two together." Spencer just blushed like crazy when he heard this.

We woke up and had a fun family breakfast with Aunt Wendy's famous breakfast rolls and sausage. We then got eggs filled with candy for our annual easter egg hunt.

While preparing food for our barbeque, the eggs were hidden by the adults and we then went on to our baseball game. I am so out of shape and not as good at baseball as I remembered. So we voted a new sport for next year. Ha,ha. It was still a fun evening.

We then returned to Arlene's and had our easter egg hunt. It is so fun watching the kids go crazy for candy and all the shiny easter eggs. We finished the night with a barbeque, games, and Lucy's first birthday party at mom's.

Easter Sunday was an emotional one for me as I thought and pondered about our Savior and all He has done for us. I know He loves each of us. He atoned for our sins, and was resurrected and made it possible for each of us to have perfect bodies and be happy with our families forever as we live according. We finished off our Easter holiday with a few more easter egg hunts (at home and then at Aunt Serenie's) and a nice dinner with Andrey's family.

We hope you all had a wonderful Easter and felt of our Savior's love for each of you.

Happy Birthday Andrey

Andrey turned the big THREE-ZERO on April 14.

Serenie (his sister) and I, with the help of family, planned a surprise party for him and had such a great time. The best part is that I was actually able to keep it a secret so he was surprised ( i am not so good at keeping secrets. My mom is agreeing right now).

Andrey's brothers took him golfing for the day and we set up his parent's church gym into a "Transformers" party. Serenie made an amazing "Transformers" cake. We had pizza, salads, people brought memries they had of Andrey and we put it together in a scrapbook/album. There was a microphone set up where, throughout the night, family and friends could share a memory of Andrey. It was so fun to hear all those stories-especially for me where i didn't know Andrey 'till after his mission. It was nice to visit with family and friends we have not seen for years. Andrey later said it was his best birthday ever. I am so glad he had a great night. It was so fun to do this for him. Thanks Ser. and family! And thank you for those of you that came and supported him and those that wanted to. We love you Andrey and hope you had a wonderful birthday.

Newborn Pictures

Travis Green took these amazing pictures of our sweet Ethan for us in March since we were not able to at the hospital. He is so talented and we are so grateful for him sharing his talents with us. Above are a few of them.