BLOGJACKED!!!

HA! Becky's gone to the women's retreat for the weekend so I'm giving this blog thing a go.

Problem: rotted board in our deck; actually not really a problem until Ryan decided to break part of it away. Now we've got a twisted ankle waiting to happen...

So, why not have all the kids help me fix it while mommy's gone for the weekend? Sure, it'll be fun. Ok, so since Becky took the 4runner, we first had to get a 9 foot 2x6 home in my Jetta. Much easier than I thought! It only stuck out about twice as far as my side mirror - ha ha.

Kelly & Eric primed the new board while Ryan I handled removal of the old one.

Look at the size of that nail! He's so proud:

We got it painted, including two coats on the top side. Then we all took turns nailing the new board in place of the old one. Believe it or not,no eyeballs were harmed in the fixing of this deck!

The finished product is pretty good I think. Now we just need to replace every OTHER board on the deck LOL!

No more diapers!!!!!!!!!!!

Kelly decided all on her own, that she was going to use the potty (after months of refusing) and has only had one accident in over a week (and that was on the first day). She's doing awesome. I even got rid of the diapers for good. Now I really feel old - my last kid is out of diapers!!! She wears a pull up at night just for my sake, but she has yet to even wake up wet. I'm sooo proud of her!

Eric lost a tooth!

Eric had his first visit from the tooth fairy! the big tooth is already poking through and the next one is loose. Man he's growing up!

We lost a family member

One of our turtles passed away the other day. We've had 2 Russian Tortoises for about 8 years now. Basically we ignored them for too long and Gabbie got sick. Nattie is not doing well either but I think he's getting better now that I'm spoiling him rotten. The kids aren't too upset - mainly they keep telling me they're sorry for me that my turtle died. So yah, we're horrible reptile owners . . . if he's not more active by Friday I'm taking him to tortoise rescue.

Nattie, being lonely:

Uncle Scott

My dad came to visit for a couple days and I actually got a shot of my little brother (although he's taller than me) with my kiddos.

New Xrays

Kelly had her yearly trip to the podiatrist . . . Her metatarsus adductus seems to be much better - you can barely tell anymore, but she has lots of pronation (meaning she's flat footed now). She will still be wearing orthotics for basically the rest of her life to give support to her feet. But we don't have to be so crazy about them - if she skips a couple days a week, no big deal - yay!! Cute shoes here we come :). The xrays almost look normal - not as crazy as the ones I posted last year. At least all these dumb orthotics have been doing something :).

Ryan & Kelly's Birthday Party

Kelly turned 3!!! And Ryan turned 5!!! I can't believe they are so big. Craziness - who gave them permission to grow up??

We had a pool party at grandma and grandpa's house. The kids decided on pirates and little mermaid for their cake. Lots of our friends were able to make it this year and we had so much fun. Course it was the hottest weekend of the summer so it was a good thing we had the pool!! Thanks to everyone who joined us for making the day awesome :).

Best Buds

We took our friends to the country club to swim in the lake. The kids had so much fun splashing around together and Jenny & I enjoyed the cooler weather next to the water. I only got one pic of the whole day though :(.

Tea Party

The country club puts on an annual tea party for little girls so Kelly and I went last month. It was really hot out so be baked in our nice dresses but it was a blast. Kelly had so much fun dressing up and acting all lady like. We had pink lemonade and tons of tea-time snacks. Kelly was all excited to use real tea cups and really got into the whole thing. It was a nice afternoon for us girls :).

Campout @ The Country Club

The day we got back from Utah was also family camp out night at Wrightwood Country Club. So I packed up the camping gear and set up along the lake at the country club in time for pizza dinner. Matt met us there right before it was time for Spider Races. The kids raced wind up spiders in the gazebo. Then we had a rubber duckie hunt by flashlight around the lake. That was the kids' favorite part of the night - running around in the dark with flashlights looking for rubber duckies LOL! Then we played some pictionary and had smores by the big bonfire. By the time scary stories were to start we took off to the tent for bed. The crazy wind kept us awake most of the night but it was definitely worth it. We all had fun and loved hanging with Daddy after a week away.

Summer in Utah

The kids and I took a roadtrip up to Utah to visit Chrystal. We missed Matt, but had lots of fun (of course - its the Calandrino house!). We stopped in Hurricane first to visit Christy's new place. Stayed the night there and played with her kiddos. We ventured out to a cool park in St George that had water fountains to play in. We had lots of fun and wore the kids out pretty good. Then we headed up to Cedar City to hang at Chrystal's for the rest of the week. We lounged around the house, did a few trips to Walmart, played at the park, went to the pool in town (when Christy came up to Cedar to visit us), pulled weeds, had otterpops with breakfast lunch and dinner, had a birthday breakfast for Kelly, Ryan and Lily (complete with cupcakes), Chrystal did our toes/nails, Christy did Kelly's hair way better than I ever will, and Ryan developed a love for Zelda. It was a fun week away and I can't wait for Chrystal to get her butt down here for a visit! Maybe next time we go up there my husband will be able to join us . . .

Matt & Mike's hike from Wrightwood to Baldy

On 4th of July weekend, Matt and Mike headed out the front door of our house and took off for Mt. Baldy. They went up Acorn Trail, then headed up Pine Mountain, then Dawson Peak, and finally up Baldy. I guess the trail was incredibly strenuous and pretty much straight up - I will never know cuz he'll never get me up there with him :). So they camped on top of Mt. Baldy, watched the sunset and sunrise, and hiked down into Baldy village in the morning. Killed their knees on the way down and had a nice lunch and beer at the lodge. I'm glad they had fun and got some hiking out of their system for a while. Course my husband took my PINK camera on his guy trip and took hundreds of pictures of trees, dirt, and mountains. I just included a few -- I'm sure he'll show them ALL off if you ask :).

Kelly's Room

The bedroom on the main floor started out as the playroom and eventually turned into Kelly's room when we moved into the loft. When Matt went on an overnight hike to Baldy, I got bored and tore out the "closet" that was in her room so that we could paint and put in a bigger bed. Then I painted her room purple and Matt came home to a whole new room :). Eventually the plan is to build a bigger closet in a different spot. So this weekend we put in a new big girl bed and decorated. She's is soo excited to have her new room. Can we say super girlie??

Ryan's Sleepover

Ryan's friend Josiah came over for a sleepover during WWF. They danced to some music, ate chocolate chip pancakes (made into peanut butter and jelly sandwiches), played some wii, and chatted till well past any normal bedtime :). The kids had fun and surprisingly behaved perfectly!

Wacky Week of Fun

Our church had Wacky Week of Fun (VBS) back in June. All three kids were on their own teams this year. Eric was with the Orange Horses, Ryan was with the Purple Knights, and Kelly was with the Teal Tinmen. Since I was volunteering everyday, Kelly was able to hang with the pre-k group even though she was only 2. Course she seemed to blend in pretty good and did awesome - just like a big girl. And she was excited to hang out with Jordan, Natalie, and Jasmine. Ryan and his friend Josiah were on the same team and completely inseperable. Every time I saw them, I was begged for a goofy picture :). Eric was his typical self and buddied up with the leaders and the girls. He did get to be David in a skit and used a sling shot on Goliath. All the kids had a blast and are talking about next year's already.