Happy Birthday Andrew boy!

Holy moley macaroni and cheese. This is his new favorite saying
My little boy turned 4 yesterday and we had fun. It ended up being an early release day so Tyler was done at 1 then we headed off to go see The princess and the Frog which I almost fell asleep in. It was cute but not my most awake time of day. We opened presents at Nana's and then went to Chilis for dinner where they sang him Happy Birthday along with about 5 other people celebrating at Chilis. He had a great day and lots of attention. What more could a kid want. His smile lights up a room and is so contagious. He is so tenderhearted one minute and then tough as nails the next. He makes our life so much fun and lets me kiss him every once in a while. Happy Birthday Andrew aka Ocho, cutie pie, AJ!

As some of you know Trev started working for 3-G Construction Co this summer in addition to his other two companies he's running. This company has a been a great blessing for us. He's on salary and have provided everything he needs to do the job. The downfall of this job is the traveling he does. They gave him a work van and GPS to get to his jobs that stretch to almost southern Cal, Oregon border, Reno, and everywhere in between. Yesterday he was on his way to Stockton to finish up a job and got in an accident. Of course he doesn't call me because "I'll just freak out", in his words. He called hi brother to come and help after he called CHP of course. He was on Moore Road, our own street and the doors that were stacked and held up by a tie fell and Trev looked back to check it out as the road was turning and went off the road and couldn't bring it back because the road and grass on the side were so slick from the recent rain. So the van found a power pole and cut the pole in half also cutting out power to our house and those of us out here in the country. I always call him after I've dropped the kids off to make sure he's safe. Yesterday when I called I asked if he was listening to the books we spent all night downloading and he said he hadn't gotten to it yet because he was in an accident and was in the CHP car writing down his statement of what happend. I know that by him talking that he's obviously not unconscious but he doesn't always give me all the details I need. He said he was fine and nobody was hurt, but I don't tend to believe him. So I continued to start to cry and memories of his previous accident 8 years ago when we were engaged came flooding back. He of course doesn't like that I've told people, hellow cyber world, but I was scared that he could've been seriously hurt or worse.

So today no matter how mad you are at your husband for not putting his clothes in the basket, or forgot to take the Trash out for your garbage day, be glad that he's there to be mad at. I love my husband and I know how stressed he is by work on a constant and daily basis, but I love how hard he works for us. Me and the kids are always praying for his safety even when he's home. We are so grateful for him and how much he loves us. This was more of a journal entry for me than for others but I needed to write about it. Have a safe and lovely day.

Grace's 5th Birthday

Birthday Girl with Balloon hat at Wacky Tacky with cousins.
We went to The Old Spaghetti Factory for dinner then headed to Wacky Tacky to surprise the kids with a fun night with their cousins. We are so lucky to have family around to celebrate these special times with!

For those of you are are excellent at your blogging jobs, my hat is tipped to you. I think I have learned that the computer means work, banking, and other things that don't bring up happy feelings. I am going to try to do better.
Our Summer has been crazy already. First week I was at Twilight Camp for the cub scouts with my friend Debbie representing our pack as Station leaders. Second week was Girls camp so Grandma was out here watching the cousins so we played all week long with them.
Third week I took off with the kids, Elizabeth and Caitlyn Elzea and Grandma for Utah. On the way there the kids were awesome never even asked for one treat. We only stopped twice for food and we were making excellent time when this little warning light popped up and said 1 tire low pressure. This was about 20 miles before Wendover. My mother in law and I looked at each other and said let's just get to Wendover and we'll be fine. About five minutes later major blow out on my passenger rear tire. Immediately we were off the road and jumping into gear on what the next step is. Call the husband locate spare tire, which by the way on our Town and country is is underneath where the center console is. Get jack out of back and "T" tool to lower spare. Call husband again he's finding someone to sell us a tire in Wendover, of course they're not answering because it's about 9 pm and well it's past closing. Of course we're stopped so that means the kids need to go potty all at once. I take my handy dandy little go potty out and we're off to find some privacy for Grace and bushes for the boys. Meanwhile Grandma is on the ground putting the jack in place. Well I have to tell you how tough this mother in law is. Not a second went by that she wasn't trying to change the tire. Caitlyn and Elizabeth watched the kids while we tried to get the last lug nut off. Of course the only thing that would get it off is by jumping on top of the crank to loosen it. A funny sight I know! Finally get that last one loosened after about 15 minutes of all four of us trying to pull on the crank together. This so called jack that came with the car is the cheapest looking thing I have ever seen. The handle is all of like 12 inches long so putting under the car and trying to turn the crank to lift the car that is loaded was impossible. We finally had someone that from the other side of the freeway came across the divider and asked if we needed help. Um Yes! They were a couple of firefighters from Wendover. And their names wee Zach and Cody. Don't think that my kids didn't take the time they had to interview these guys. So they continued to put the spare on for us and load up the nasty old tire. Off to wendover to Many's garage. To make a long story somewhat shorter. We arrived in Utah after a15 hours on the road. The Elzea's had their first trip out of state and boy was it memorable. Andrew still asks when his girls are coming over. Any babysitter we've ever had he calls his girls. So cute! Since getting home from Utah we've swam a lot at Nana's, my dad, Trev and a couple of friends of ours all ran in a 5K on the 4Th. It's been busy but a fun summer so far. I'll try to up date more regularly so to avoid this huge post again! Happy Summer everyone!

Our late bloomer

My little boy is now a full fledged kid. He's 6 going on 7 and just lost his first tooth today. You can only imagine how anxious I have been with my Dental Assisting background to "assist" in getting a tooth out of there. After examining his tooth on Friday I found that his permanent tooth couldn't wait any longer and was coming in behind the baby tooth. Yeah I stressed. We then went into the whole "T you have to keep wiggling your tooth, if you don't pull it out then we'll have to take you to the Dentist and she'll use tools and you won't like it as much!" He gets stressed very easily and last night when I went in to check on him before I went to bed I walk in to him stirring and say " No, it's gonna hurt, don't touch it anymore!". Yes we gave our child a nightmare, don't judge us. Tonight after dinner we decided to pull out the tooth as our activity. After 15-20 minutes of bleeding, pulling, flossing, restraining, mom got a hold of the tiniest tooth I have ever seen and pulled as tears came down his face and was telling me to stop because he thought I was going to pull out the other one too! I had already got it out and he didn't even notice. He was crying and said mom stop it's going to hurt, I held up his tooth and said well I guess it didn't because I already have it out. Then we went into crazy happiness cheers from the other two onlookers who I am sure are going to never let us touch their mouths again. Following the extraction was immediate bleeding with paper towels and then the Popsicle reward to help stop the bleeding and calm the stressed out kid. He was really excited and proceeded to call Nana and Papa to tell them and ask what his reward is. Hey they trained him to think that way! He also had gotten 100% on his spelling and math tests so we were really proud of him today. He has become such an awesome reader and loves to read everything now. He has been way into the Magic Tree house books. We're on #13 this week and I love reading them with him. In case you were wondering that's why I haven't put anything on Good reads for a while. We are loving this age with Tyler, he is so smart and truly an amazing kid. Between his surgery and how much he has going on he is a really good kid and still runs to me everyday after school and gives me and Andrew a hug. O.k. I know a mom rant! Love ya Ty!

Thinking about Your Mothers Day

So many of you have been to one of my Demarle Rendez-Vous and have fell in love. Well mothers day is coming up and I encourage you to go through your catalog, and if you don't have one go online, and make a wish list in order of what you want first. Simply show your husband and say this is what I want for mothers day or do as I do sometimes for Holidays and say this is what you bought me for ______ day! My husband always loves it because less work for him and I get what I want. So please have your husbands or children call me and I will help them out. I take check, visa, mastercard and cash. Here is a link to look online but call me and I can help you through the process. It usually takes about a week and a half to get your order so you have to plan two weeks ahead, we also have a mothers day kit that I am considering buying for my own mother in law. Always a better deal to get a kit than sperately! O.k. sorry about the sales pitch but it was on my mind so feel free to call me.

8 Years of Marriage!

On September 9th 2000 I meet Trev on a blind date. 2 1/2 months later we were engaged and five months after that we were married on April 14th. I thought that went by fast. Now we've been married 8 years and I don't know how it went by so fast. We have 3 gorgeous children and a fun, happy family that we have created. I love him so much. He is the hardest working person I know. He can do it all. Hard labor, or hard fun, he succeeds and at least appreciates it all. I'm so grateful for him and his love for me. He is always serving others and I have a lot to learn from him. We have our moments but they're so worth it. Happy Anniversary Trev!

Wow!

I can't believe how long it's been since I blogged. It's been a whirlwind couple of months. I became a rep for a company as many of you know and have been volunteering for a lot of stuff. Between church, work, school breaks, holidays, surgery for Tyler, it has been crazy. I will be posting pictures soon because the weather has changed out here and I am loving it. Everything is green and bright. I loved conference last weekend. It really did me some good, as always, renewed my dedication to some aspects of my life that might have been deglected. I am more commited to being a missionary to all that I encounter and having more love for my fellow man by serving with a charitable heart. I just thought I would check in before tomorrow becasue I hope to have Easter pictures and more to tell about. Hope you all have a wonderful Easter!

Dermarle At Home

I have decided to start pitching in a little financially around here and I am now a rep for Demarle At Home. This stuff is so cool. It's bake ware and cookware that gives your food an aesthetic appearance to your already tasty food. I am so excited about his stuff. My wonderful cousin has been a rep for a couple of months now and has done a wonderful job of getting me hooked on this stuff. I was mainly interested in Hostessing a Rendez-Vous so I could get free stuff but now I am a rep and will be selling it as well. So you are all invited to my Launch parties. I'm having two. One on the 26th@ 7 pm and on the 28th at 10:30 am both are at my house so call if you're coming. I am so excited to show you how wonderful and marvelous this stuff is. Nothing sticks to it! I made meringue cookies this year for Christmas and they slid right off and I didn't have to scrub anything! OK I'll stop now but check out this website if you can't wait to see what it is. www.demarleathome.com

Afraid to Blog

So have you ever been afraid to post about what's going on on your life because then it means it is really happening. I know a lot of us are going through some interesting things right now. Bizarre, scary, signs of the times kinds of things. But here is what I have learned. Canned chicken from your mother and father in law is an awesome gift. Home ground wheat makes much better tasting bread. And Food storage is a blessing. Some how every day around 4 pm I start panicking that we don't have anything to eat and then one of my children will suggest something and I'll look and prepare and it get made and eaten. I have been a witness to prayer and faith this past couple of weeks. But my children are still my children and they love me no matter if they get macaroni and cheese, top ramen or something a little bit fancier like honey balsamic glazed chicken. I know many of you feel the stress of cooking everyday. I love cooking don't get me wrong but it's the thought of my kids saying ew gross what is this, that scares me. I do make them eat what I make so that puts more pressure on making it kid friendly and tasty and healthy. Tyler doesn't like tomatoes or cheese, Andrew eats almost nothing dinnerish, and Grace wants me to feed her because she seems to be reverting back to her toddler years of needing me for everything. This is just my rant so don't feel compelled to comment. It's just part of my daily battle with dinner. One things I've learned is that if you play Josh Groban while you're cooking Italian you feel classier and it makes you try a little harder to make an inordinary dish. Happy cooking!

Baptism Fireside

So tomorrow we have our Baptism Fireside and I'm giving the talk on baptism. I have such wonderful insightful friends in this blogging world of ours so I was wondering what are some good ideas you could share. I've checked out a lot of websites but I think first hand experience is priceless. I really want the kids to be excited about their baptism. So any thoughts you might have I will gladly take. We're all doing good. My friend Cristy had her baby on Tuesday and I got to go visit and hold, and even sneak in a diaper change while Nikki watched Andrew for me. He is so adorable, truly a cute baby. I even took some pictures. His name is Dean Owen and he was 7lbs 7 oz. So cute. He is just adorable.

The Home and Landscape Expo

Because we were getting a little bored yesterday Trev decided to rent a booth at the Home and Landscape Expo. That means a lot of "Mandi, Hon, Sweety, where is ...?" Can you do this and get this and pick this up for me here. My answer was sure, no problem, whatever I can do to help. Which wouldn't have been a big deal but here was my schedule with out prep work for the show.
8:00 - Tyler school
10:00- 1st Target trip to get b-day present and tablecloths for expo and baby shower.
11:30 -feed kids and Trev lunch
12:00- Take Grace to school
12:21 - finally leave school to go to Rocklin to pick up tables and chairs from mom's
1:30 - volunteer at school for PTO "Pennies for patients"
2:35 - Get Tyler out of school and take tables and chairs out of car so kids can sit in seats.
2:45 - meet Nikki at church to take Tyler to Kumon in Rocklin
2:55 - Take Atali to her house
3:15 - Go pick up Grace from school
3:30 -Take Grace to B-day party
4:35 -Go pick up Pizza's
5:00- Pick up Grace from party
5:15 -Drop kids off at sisters to watch kids while I go to parent teacher conference for Grace
5:30 -Parent teacher Conference.
6:00 -Pick up kids from Sisters
6:15- Scramble to get homework done and get ready for bed.
8:00 Trev comes home from setting up booth
8:30 -2nd run to target for lunch bags
9:00- Head on pillow good night!
I'm sorry if this made you dizzy. But I thought I would share my day in the car with you. I have to say this isn't everyday but it easily could be. Now that is scarey. Come see Trev at the expo this weekend. Friday 12-8 Sat 10-7 and yes unfortunately Sunday 10-6. Bldg "A" lower level.

Power to the Small Businesses!

How many of us or our spouses are self-employed? I'm thinkin' a lot . So here's my chance to give you all some free publicity. Comment on my post and lists the small business and a small description of what it is. This way we help friends and family out before taking our business to the big corporate man. So here's our small Businesses
M2 Builders- General Contractor, remodels, commercial, residential, tenant improvements, blown down fences, he does it all, nothing is too small or big of a job. m2builders@gmail.com
Advanced Engergy Audits- Tests the energy consumption in your home, efficientcy etc. And also tests new systems that have been installed. aeaudits@gmail.com
Call Trevor at 916-257-1222 for both.
Yes that's right the Nielsen's have two small businesses now and are in need of free publicity and work. So I'll post your business in my side bar if you do the same.