Enjoying Dad

It's been awhile since I posted anything, because once Ryan got back from Driggs he took this whole week off. We have been taking advantage of Dad being home after being gone for so long.

The kids and I really missed him and the kids have been having lots of fun.

This post will have mostly pictures of our goings on. I think it is just more fun that way, and who wants to read all my blah, blah, blah, anyway right? So here we go...

The day before Ryan got home we went to our wards "trunk-or-treat". I didn't know if I really wanted to take them all by myself but the kids where really excited about it and they wore me down.

The kids on our steps waiting till it was time to go. The haze is little figure prints on my camera lens. A clearer picture is in our new title picture above.

Holly all made up to be "Cinderella". She was so excited to have some make up on. She has since asked to put some on every morning as I'm putting on my own make up. Girls...
Then on Saturday morning we took Ethan to his last soccer game of the season. He was very happy because he says that all the running makes him tired.Ryan got home on Saturday after noon and boy were the kids happy!!

Then for Family Home Evening we carved pumpkins. Ethan wasn't too sure about the "yuck" so he had to have some gloves. And Ethan (and Ryan's) finished result. Then all week the kids and Ryan have been having a great time playing around.

Ryan taught Ethan how to be a chicken.

And then of course the silly string fights.
Helping Mason get into the Halloween spirit.
Then Ethan had his Halloween Program at school. He was so very excited to ware his costume at school. Ryan took Holly on her "Pumpkin Patch" field trip with her Preschool class. She was so excited to have her Dad all to herself for awhile. They had lots of fun on the tracker rides, slides, and picking a pumpkin for her to take home.

Now the kids are getting ready for the big night. Holly is very upset that she has to wait to go trick or treating until tonight.

I will take a lot of pictures and post then in the next couple of days.

Hope that everyone has a fun and safe Halloween!

Yo Gabba Gabba

My kids have been into this kids show on Nick Jr. called "Yo Gabba Gabba" for some time, especially Holly. But Mason has started watching it with Holly and it is amazing how it can hold his attention.

I like it because it teaches some really good lessons. One of the creators of it is a return missionary from Rexburg, Idaho as well as the lead singer of the "Aquabats". Ryan likes it because of the Aquabats thing as well as one of the reoccurring charters on the show is "Mark" who just happens to be the lead singer of the 80's group "Devo". For those who don't know Devo is one of Ryan's favorite groups. It has lots of guest appearances from different celebrities like Elijah Wood, Tony Hawk and "Jan" from the office. It also has musical guests like Super Nova, Paul Williams (does anyone remember him?) and Boy Meets World.

Anyway it is a really fun show so check it out. And for those who don't have cable a DVD is coming out later this month so you can rent it, or you can just come over and watch it with Holly because we have all 24 episodes ever aired on our DVR. Here is a sample I found on You Tube..

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h2q55gMrOgA

But Holly has really gotten into the charter "Fufa" (the pink one with the flower on top of her head). She has a "Fufa" shirt and a set of the action figures.

Now they are coming out with a whole bunch of new clothes and toys. I saw that they had the hats and mittens at Walmart and got Mason a set of "Brobee" ones. Holy cow did Holly freak out!! We picked her up from school and saw the hat on Mason and said "I want one!". When I told her not today and maybe she would get one from Santa. She did NOT like that answer. She wanted to go to Walmart right then and get a "Fufa" hat. So now she is mad at me and just tells me I'm not very nice.

Oh the things that our kids go crazy over!

Tagged!

Take the forth picture from the forth folder, from your "Pictures" folder and post it.

Here is mine...

I have a whole bunch of coloring pages saved in a folder so that when my kids want to have something to color, we just go to this folder and they can pick one and I print it off for them. It's cheaper than buying coloring books all the time.

So now I tag Heather, Katie, Liz, Annie and Raimi. Those are the people that I know who read my blog regularly. But anyone else who would like can consider themselves tagged too!

Happy & Sad

Yesterday and today have been very happy and at the same time sad days.

Sad because Ryan left for Driggs, Idaho and will be gone all the way till the 25th. He is going to try and come home Saturday afternoon for only about 24 hours but there is no guarantee that he can get away.

Why is he in Driggs you may ask? Well in an attempt to broaden his skills set and open new opportunities within his job he volunteered to go up and help a branch of the Bank of Idaho, which Wells Fargo recently purchased to convert over to. He went up two times before but it was just for a couple of days, but now it is the big switch over and so he is there for 10 days.

While I am happy to support Ryan in his career aspirations it is hard for me to have him be away. We have been married to long for me to sleep soundly without him beside me. So by the time he gets back I will be exhausted, not to mention stir crazy with a need to talk to someone else other than my 5, 3 and 1 year olds.

I also realize how much of a codependent person I really am when I don't have him here. I know that it is a good thing that he didn't choose to join the military because I just couldn't handle a deployment for 6 months to a year.

But I can take heart that Ryan is just as bad or worse than I am. He is a total homebody, just like his Dad. He can't be away from his family for long before he starts getting a little crazy and if you think about it, that is a good thing since he is stuck with me and the kids for all eternity!

I also admit that I miss him just because I love him and can't imagine my life with out him. So I'm a sap, sue me!

The happy news is Mason took is first steps! A couple of hours after Ryan left he was in the middle of the living room and just stood up with no support. I think I scared him half to death because I just screamed and jumped up and down so excited at his accomplishment. He just smiled the biggest smile ever and kept trying to stand up.

On the third successful attempt at standing up on his own I got down on the floor across the room from him and encouraged him to try to walk to me. I knew he could do it if he set his mind to it as he has been walking well while only slightly holding on to just one of my hands for a week now.

I guess with the joy of his standing success he felt like he could take the steps on his own and took three tiny little steps before he fell. He just looked up with a smile that looked like it would crack his face in half.

I made such a big deal out of him. Then I went right to the phone and called Ryan. Wouldn't you know it that the day that Mason took his first steps that Ryan would not be here to share in the joy. But we did our best to celebrate over the phone and with the help of the speaker phone Ryan was able to make a big deal out of Mason too.

So watch out world here comes Mason!

About Tess

Now I really think that a dormant gene I got from my Aunt Joan is coming out. Or I've have been with Ryan too long. Or my Mother-in-law is starting to ware off on me. I don't know maybe a little bit of everything because I have just turned into the biggest "suck" when it comes to animals.

We have another cat!

Yes that is three now. But let me start at the beginning...

The first part of July our across the street neighbours, the Kilboy's found two little kittens, one boy and one girls, in their garage abandoned by their mother. I have mentioned Patrick Kilboy before, he is Ethan and Holly's friend that is at our house all the time. Anyway the kittens couldn't have been more than two weeks old. Holly Kilboy, our neighbour/Patrick's Mom, came over and wanted to know what she should do. I guess she thought since we had cats we would know what to do. Well we told her to leave them where she found them and see if their mother would come back for them. 24 hours later the Mommy cat hadn't come back and the kittens where getting weak from lack of food. So Holly Kilboy called a shelter and they told her what to do to feed them. She didn't have the heart to take them to the shelter because they were already almost full.

So over the next couple of days they feed them goats milk with a bottle. The little girl kitten didn't look like she would make it because she was all bent up and even stopped breathing for a few minutes. But Holly and her kids were vigilant and nursed these two little kitten back to health. Since Holly didn't have the heart to take them to the shelter the kittens have lived in their garage all summer. We found out latter that their mother with the rest of the litter was two doors down, but since they had been at the Kilboy's so long the rest of the litter didn't accept them. So they became the Kilboy's cats with all the neighbourhood kids coming over to play with them.

Well the boy kitten we think was adopted by someone who was looking at the house two doors down because he was just gone one day. Which left the girl kitten, who they named Ta-coon. Strange name I know.

This past week it has been getting colder, especially at night so I told Patrick that they needed to put a blanket or some old towels out in their garage for Ta-coon so she could keep warm or they needed to bring her in at night. Well they didn't and I told him again. Patrick told me they didn't have any old blankets or towels to put out there and they couldn't bring her in because Andrew, his older brother was allergic to her.

This is where I turn into the big softy. I talked to Ryan and asked him what he thought. He didn't want to make the decision and just told me "do what you want". That night they were forecasting snow and freezing temperatures and I made the decision that I didn't want to be the one to see the cat freeze to death or to be taken to the shelter where she would probably be put down since all the shelters are overflowing now, so we took her in.

Holly Kilboy was very happy that we took her in because she didn't know how much longer they could keep her. Holly is a single Mom with three kids and a very big dog and has been trying to get her kids to agree to giving Ta-coon a better home. With the better home just across the street she hoped that it would make it easier on them. Patrick informed his Mom and I that he was Okay with it as long as he got visitation. LOL

The first thing we did was change her name. I'm sorry I just can't call a cat Ta-coon and that name just didn't seem to fit her anyway. So we named her Tessie or Tess.

She is now very happy to be warm and has fit right in. Since she has been around kids since birth and is very good with the kids, even Mason, who just loves her. He lights up whenever he sees her and tries to give her kisses. She loves to be held and has a really loud "purr".

She has been really good with the litter box, which I was a little worried about since she has been outside almost all her life, but she has been a lot better than even Toofer did. Tess doesn't really like the Indoor Cat formula food because it has a lot more roughage in it than regular cat food but she is eating it. She just is trying to eat off of our plates at dinner time. But she will learn how to be an indoor cat with time.

The other two cats have been really good and they are slowly starting to warm up to her. Tess has succeeded in melting Ryan's heart and he has taken her on as "his cat" now. Not that it was that hard to get Ryan to love a new cat. He says that she reminds him of a cross between two of his other cats he had growing up, Gracie and Radar. Two strays that he brought home to his parents house, by the way. See what I mean about me being around Ryan too long and turning into a "suck". Tess has Radar's coloring and she talks like Grace. She even talks in her sleep! Can you believe it a cat that talks in her sleep. Well I guess if a dog can kick it's legs while dreaming I guess a cat can talk.

Anyway now we have three kids (2 boys and a girl) and three cats (2 boys and a girl). So now I hope we are done! With the cats at least. Kids I'm not 100% but cats, yes. I don't want to turn into the crazy cat lady.

And the Winner IS...

First I would like to thank all of you who made comments. It was great to read about all the wonderful women that have touched the lives of so many.

Now to make it fair I put every body's name on slips of paper. Then we folded them up twice and put them in a bowl. We mixed them around REALLY good and then Holly drew the big winner.

Ethan just couldn't be left out so I had him hold the big winners name for all to see.

Congratulations Mickey!! And what do you win??

The 2oth Anniversary Collector's Edition of "The Princess Bride". I love this movie and I decided to get it so that if a guy won the prize it would be a movie he could enjoy too.

Anyway Mickey you need to email me (barbigranquist@msn.com) your address so that I can mail it to you.

This was really fun!! I think I will do another drawing another time.

I hope it was fun for all of you too.

Disapointment

Okay so I'm a little disappointed that not that many people are making comments on my blog. Is it because you don't have any wonderful women in your life or is it just that no one is reading? And if people are reading but not making comments because they don't think that I will mail the "prize" to them if they live in Canada, Idaho, Oregon, and California you are so very WRONG!!! I wouldn't have sent out emails to everyone telling them to read my blog had I not been prepared to mail it.
So are you wondering what the big prize is? I think I will get a movie. They have pink covers with the words "DVDs for the Cure" on it. They are romances, but if a wonderful man was to win my great prize then they could give it to their wife, girl friend or significant other and look like a well, wonderful man.
There is only a few days left!! So leave a comment on this post or the last one and I will put your name in for the grand drawing.
And if no one makes a comment, I will feel hurt and you all will feel terrible forever!! LOL ;)

"You are just like Juile"

Over the past few weeks my dear sweet husband has turned to me several times with a big smile on his face and simply stated, "You are exactly like Julie". The first time I asked him what he meant, he just said "I just can't see too much of your Mom, but I can see your Aunt Julie in you." Ryan didn't know my Mom when she was younger. I have tried to find a picture of Julie but I haven't been very successful, Sorry!
Anyway, I have taken this to mean the way I act toward others, mostly my kids when I am frustrated with them and the way I act when I am running late. Julie can be a little high string when she is overwhelmed and she does have a good temper on her, so I guess I AM like her. I will also take it to mean that I am a very strong women because that is also Julie. And if I am like her in other ways too then I think I am doing pretty well.
My Aunt Julie is loving, giving, a VERY hard worker and one of the strongest women I know. She is a breast cancer survivor and an great example to her 4 wonderful children as well as to all those around her.
Julie's place was my safe haven when I was at Rick's and she became my friend not just my Aunt during those years I was there. I know my Mom hates to hear this but I feel more like her sister rather than her niece and if I am like her I will take it as one of the best compliments I have ever received.
So Ryan, my love, thanks for the compliment. I am just like my Aunt Julie!

In honor of my Aunt Julie and Breast Cancer Awareness month I am going to have a drawing. Everyone who leaves a comment telling me a little something about a strong women that has been an example to them in their lives, I will put your names in a hat and draw out a winner for a grand prize.
I don't know what it will be yet, just something that will have it's proceeds going to Breast Cancer Research, and let's say you have until October 9th. Okay!
Looking forward to all the comments!