They Just Keep Coming...

Today, Papa Nielson took Brad and Jeylin with him to Dave's Golf Shop in Colton. While Papa was busy deciding what to buy, Brad took Jeylin to the putting green and let him play around...he said it was about the size of our living room so there was a lot of fun to be had. Anyway, Dave came over to chat and asked Jeylin, "Can you get the ball over there in that hole?" Jeylin put the ball down on the green, looked up at Dave & Brad and said...

"Watch and learn."

Brad said he swung really well and just barely missed sinking the ball in the hole which left both of the men quite amazed, especially after making such a confident remark, a remark which even made Brad ask Dave, "Did he just say that?"

Oh how I wish I could have been there to see the look on their faces...but, having Brad tell the story was just as hilarious!

The Kid Just Cracks Me Up

A commerical comes on TV today and Jeylin, watching intently says to me...

"On a Hover-Round, you have to be a Grandpa oooor, a Grandma."

And that was it.

Asking for your prayers...

I would like to ask everyone I know to offer prayers for a few people who are close to me.

First off, please pray for Jordan & Randee Moss. These two people are really good friends of ours who just lost their first child. Baby Caleb was born four months premature and weighed 1 lb 6 oz. Sadly, he just wasn't strong enough to survive and is now back in God's loving hands. Please pray for Jordan & Randee and for all their families that they may get through this most difficult time.

Secondly, please pray for my brother, Brad. He is going through some medical issues right now and needs our prayers. My entire family has really been going through some tough times over the past year and a half and really need the help of all our friends, neighbors and relatives. Thank you to everyone who has already extended their blessings.

May the Lord bless each and every one of you for your gracious acts.

Another Jeylin-ism

So we're eating dinner last night and Jeylin is acting incredibly WEIRD. I don't know if it's just being hyper or if he's just really happy or if he has a lot of energy he needs to expend since it rained for most of the afternoon...I just don't know. Whatever the reason, he's acting crazy and I had had enough. I said..."Jeylin, I'm done being nice to you!" Up until that point, I was trying to just speak calmly and correct his behaviour rather than have Brad cart him away to the bathroom and really scold him (we were at Bishop's Bistro). Not more than a second after I told him that, he fires back with, in his most quizzical yet sarcastic tone...

"Soooo, you're done being nice to me huh?"

Once again, the scolding failed due to the amount of laughter generated by Bradley and myself. It was all over from there....however, he did start acting better so I guess something must have worked.

A Funny Story

My mom came down Friday and spent this past weekend with all of us. She wanted to spend some time with the kids on their last weekend of summer vacation and we did it ALL!! It was a lot of fun.

Saturday afternoon, the kids were hyper (usual behaviour with Nana in town) and thought for some off-the-wall reason that they would jump repeatedly while holding onto the back of the couch. It didn't seem like a big deal since they weren't jumping ON the couch, just behind it on the floor at least until...they almost tipped it over on themselves!! Our couch is incredibly heavy but they managed to stop it and return it to it's original position....of course not without me snapping at them to make sure they never do that again! About a minute later, Jeylin sneaks out from behind the couch and exclaims...

"Whoa, that was NOT awesome!!!"

Mom and I had the laugh of the day...it was hilariously adorable.

Just Because I'm BORED!!!

What are your initials? BLN

What is your favorite thing to wear? WHATEVER IS THE MOST COMFORTABLER WHICH USUALLY TRANSLATES TO SWEATS AND A TANK TOP

Last thing you drank? COFFEE

I say "shotgun," you say? TOO LATE, I'VE ALREADY SAID IT

Last person you hugged? KIERRA

How many US states have you been to? I'M NOT SURE...AT LEAST 6 THAT I KNOW OF

How many of the US states have you lived in? 2

Does anyone you know wanna date you? YEPPERS...FOR THE REST OF MY LIFE

Name something you like physically about yourself? MY SKIN TONE

Why are you still up? BECAUSE IT'S ONLY 5:42PM

Who/What made you angry today? NO ONE AND NOTHING

Favorite food? IT VARIES...BUT PROBABLY THE MOST CONSISTENT THING IS OLIVE GARDEN BREADSTICKS WITH THEIR ALFREDO SAUCE...YUMMO

Favorite holiday(s)? CHRISTMAS & FOURTH OF JULY

Do you download music? SOMETIMES

Do you care if your socks are dirty? WELL, I WON'T WEAR THEM IF THEY ARE DIRTY TO BEGIN WITH BUT GETTING THEM DIRTY WHILE WEARING THEM IS UNAVOIDABLE SO I GUESS I REALLY DON'T CARE THAT MUCH

Name one of your bad habits. PROCRASTINATION

What are you wearing? WOW, THAT'S FUNNY...SHORTS AND A TANK TOP...RARE

Has anyone ever sang or played for you personally? I DON'T THINK SO

Do you love anyone? MORE THAN LIFE ITSELF

Have you ever bungee jumped? NO AND I HONESTLY HAVE NO DESIRE TO

Have you ever gone white-water rafting? NO AND THIS IS ANOTHER THING THAT I DON'T THINK I WOULD LIKE TO DO...I LOVE THE RIVER BUT I JUST DON'T LIKE THE IDEA OF BEING THROWN OUT OF A BOAT AND POSSIBLY GETTING STUCK UNDERNEATH IT...I KNOW, IT'S PARANOID

How is the weather right now? CLOUDY & DRIZZLY...IS THAT EVEN A WORD??

What are you listening to right now? I CAN HEAR KIERRA PLAYING WITH A RATTLE UPSTAIRS

What was the last movie you watched? IN THE THEATER, KUNG FU PANDA...AT HOME, SUPERBAD

Do you wear contacts? NOPE...DON'T NEED TO

Where was the last place you went besides your house? IHOP

How many piercings have you had? I HAVE HAD NUMEROUS PIERCINGS IN MY EARS AT ONE TIME OR ANOTHER BUT NOW, ONLY ONE HOLE IN EACH LOBE

How many pets do you have? ONE LOVELY CAT....MADDIE

What's one thing you've learned today? I'M STILL SORT OF TRAINING AT WORK SO I LEARNED QUITE A FEW THINGS BUT TO EXPLAIN THEM WOULD JUST CONFUSE EVERYONE SO I'LL SAVE YOU ALL THE DETAILS

What do you usually order from Starbucks? THE MOST COMMON IS A VENTI WHITE CHOCOLATE MOCHA (EITHER ICED OR HOT)...OTHERWISE, I GO WITH OTHER RANDOM CHOICES....WHITE CHOCOLATE AMERICANO, CARAMEL MACCHIATO...YOU GET THE POINT

Are you currently missing someone? I MISS SOMEONE EVERY SINGLE DAY

Favorite TV shows? LOST, GREY'S ANATOMY, DESPERATE HOUSEWIVES & THE OFFICE...THAT SHOW IS FREAKIN' HILARIOUS

Do you have an iPod? NEGATIVE

Who would you like to see right now? LOVED ONES THAT I HAVE LOST...BUT, IN A MORE REALISTIC MOMENT, I WOULD LOVE TO BE ABLE TO HAVE SOME GIRL TIME WITH EITHER ALAINA, DAWN OR TAFFEE

Have you ever been caught doing something you weren't supposed to? HEY, NOBODY'S PERFECT

Have you ever ridden in a limo? I CERTAINLY HAVE....TWICE TO BE EXACT. THE FIRST TIME WAS A RED LIMO IN VEGAS FROM THE AIRPORT TO THE MIRAGE FOR MY 21ST BIRTHDAY AND THE SECOND WAS A WHITE LIMO ON MY WEDDING DAY

Do you like Michael Jackson? I LIKED HIS SONGS WHEN I WAS A TEENY-BOPPER BUT NOW, I REALLY CAN'T STAND ANY OF IT BECAUSE WHEN I HEAR HIS NAME, I THINK PERVERT!!!

What's your favorite smell? I HAVE LOTS OF THEM...HARVEST ON THE PRAIRIE RANKS PRETTY HIGH....BUT FOR THE MOST PART, IT VARIES FROM SEASON TO SEASON....EXCEPT, I DO LOVE THE SMELL OF A FRESHLY BATHED BABY

Favorite baseball team? I LIKE TO WATCH THE YANKEES PLAY BUT I WOULDN'T NECESSARILY SAY THEY ARE MY FAVORITE...I REALLY DON'T THINK I HAVE A FAVORITE

Favorite cereal? SHREDDED WHEAT W/ BANANAS OR FROSTED MINI-WHEATS...RAISIN BRAN IS ALSO GREAT BUT I USUALLY ADD MORE RAISINS

What's the longest you've gone without sleep? I DON'T KNOW...PROBABLY TWO DAYS

Last time you went bowling? WE TOOK THE KIDS BOWLING IN JUNE I THINK

Where is the weirdest place you have slept? IN THE BATHTUB...I FALL ASLEEP ALL THE TIME WHEN I'M ACHY AND SOAKING....DON'T WORRY EVERYONE, I'M LONG ENOUGH TO WEDGE MYSELF IN SO I DON'T FALL UNDER THE WATER

Who was your last phone call? I CALLED BRADLEY'S CELL BUT HE DIDN'T HAVE IT WITH HIM...OTHER THAN THAT, THE LAST PERSON TO CALL ME WAS I THINK MY MOM

What's the closest orange object next to you? BESIDES THE "PUBLISH POST" BUTTON ON THE COMPUTER SCREEN, AN ORANGE PERMANENT MARKER OR AN ORANGE PENCIL...BOTH ABOUT EQUAL DISTANCE

Kissed anyone in the past two weeks? UM DUH!!!

"Da-Da"

It's happened, our baby girl has started to talk and according to Bradley, it's the "sweetest little voice"....

....I must say, I agree 100%!!

Such a Great Daddy & Husband I Have!!

Yesterday was our friend Shane's birthday and a bunch of friends were all going to go out and celebrate. While getting ready, I realized that I had absolutely nothing to wear. I got really angry and frustrated because it seems as though everything cute I owned was either dirty or too small and everything that was clean and fit was out-of-style or too dressy/too casual. I decided OK, I'm not going and I sat around downstairs on the computer and fumed. A little while later, Bradley came downstairs holding a diaper-clad baby wrapped in a towel. The wonderful husband that he is had given her a bath (without even being asked) and had fed all three kids while I had my "woe-is-me" moment all to myself. When I told him I didn't think I was going to go, he said that was ridiculous...he really wanted me to go and he didn't care what I wore. And then of course, he had to add this line...

"You have to come...otherwise, I just wasted a bath!"

Well, it was a pretty sweet moment while it lasted. I love my husband, he is the greatest!!

Bradley's Wake-Boarding Videos

TRY #1

TRY #2

THIRD TIME'S A CHARM

A Day of Boating Fun Part IV...Brad & Brandi

Now it's the time for the big kids' posting!! We had a blast being on the river. I was a little nervous at first simply because I had forgotten what it feels like to be on a boat. That smooth gliding motion over the water...even though you're safe...it just feels a little uneasy. It all went away as soon as we reached the Park. I didn't really want to do much tubing or wake-boarding but Jordyn really wanted me to so I decided I would try it. I managed to stay on the tube the entire time even with our wonderful Captain trying to trick me up...it was a great upper body work out. I also tried wake-boarding but was completely unsuccessful. My ankles kept coming out of the bindings but it didn't really matter because I wasn't able to get myself in an upright position anyway...but, I did try it!!!

Bradley was the first to go tubing. Mr. Captain wasn't as easy-going with him as he may have been later in the day with me and at one point, Bradley flipped over. He did really well though and you could tell he was having the time of his life.

Wake-boarding was a little different story. He, like me, couldn't get himself upright the first several times he tried and eventually gave up because you can only hold onto the rope so many times before your hands start to blister and your arm muscles burn. Later on, he tried again and was finally able to get up. The kids were so excited to see their dad gliding across the water.

Even though I'm sure the Lee's don't read this blog, I would like them to know that we are ever so grateful they took us out on a wonderfully exciting day. What was expected to be a day of sitting around turned into an adventure we'll never forget. Thanks for bringing back the memories for Bradley and I and for giving our children their first experiences on a boat. We will never be able to repay you for your kindness (especially with gas prices as they are) but we will most definitely try. We can only hope there will be many more trips like this to come.

A Day of Boating Fun Part III...Jordyn & Jeylin

Jordyn and Jeylin couldn't have been more excited to go on their first boat ride...they were also a little apprehensive. We found out last night around 6:00 that we would be going today but waited to tell the kids until right before bedtime. We loaded the kids up to go to Shopko and told them that we needed to go up there to get a life jacket for Kierra because we were going boating with the Lee's. They just screamed in the van and couldn't believe it!! When we told them where we were going, we had to explain it simply by saying....

We're getting on the boat at the park by our house and then we're going under this bridge (Southway) then we'll go under the blue bridge (Interstate) and we'll go by Costco and under another bridge (Red Wolf) and we'll stay on the boat for a while until we get to a little island with a campground on it. Then we'll stop at the beach and we'll play there.

Just then, the excitement changed a little.

Jeylin asked, "Are we going under the bridge?"

"Yes, we are."

"Are we going under the road?"

"Yes, we are doing that too."

"I DON'T WANT TO GO UNDER THE ROAD!!!"

He really didn't pursue that much anymore because he was excited to go under the bridge...just not the road. They both were a little curious if the boat would "go up" in the water. I finally got out of them that they were concerned that the front of the boat would go up in the water when we started to go fast. This all diminished the minute we were on the boat as well, as you can see.

When we first got to Chief Timothy, Jordyn wanted to go on tubing. Since she doesn't know how to swim yet and has only used a life jacket a couple times before, we wanted to have her tread a little water and "practice" first. We weren't going to let her go by herself but we wanted her to be prepared. She refused, saying the water was too cold and she really didn't want to do it anyway. We went on about our days and then, only after Mommy went tubing, would she try it. We had a good ride but when she thought we were going to fast, she begged for the boat to slow down. When we did slow down, we needed to turn around to head back towards our beach but the turn was too slow and we ended up sinking into the water. She came up a little panicked but calmed down when I grabbed her and put her back on the tube. But then she was done and only wanted to be on the boat. We might have continued tubing back to the beach but I couldn't lift my body back onto the tube...I think I need a little more upper body strength or just a little less weight on my lower half :)

Jeylin was happy just staying on the beach with the tube or in the boat with the orange caution flag. But he loved the trip home because he was able to sit in the front of the boat with Daddy. He wasn't worried at all about anything at that point. I wish I had pictures but by then, my memory card was full. Maybe next time :)

A Day of Boating Fun Part II...Kierra

Kierra's first experience on a boat was mild to say the least. She simply laid around on my lap in her steal-of-a-deal life jacket and enjoyed the ride. If it would have taken five minutes longer to get to Chief Timothy Park, she would have been asleep. The first thing we did was to strip her of her life jacket since we want to avoid her hating it since she's going to have to put it back on later in the day. We stood around and let the kids play in the water while we all just gabbed. The weather wasn't sweltering hot but the water was just right. It didn't take anytime to all to adjust to the temperature. Kierra pretty much stayed on the beach the entire day. She did manage to take a nap even though it was a short one (we didn't have an umbrella so she had to lay under a towel and it got a little warm) and she even enjoyed some wonderful "whole wheat oat bran with raisins" at a wonderful riverside cafe called the USS Lee. Her attitude was great with only one downfall...she hated that when she had her life jacket on she couldn't cuddle. No big deal, we'll just keep you on the beach and you don't need it. At the end of the day, we had everything packed up, all the life jackets on and we were on our way. No more that five minutes away from Chief Timothy but she fell asleep in my arms...life jacket and all. She slept the entire way back to Swallows Nest and only cried when I had to take her out of her life jacket to put her in her car seat. Here are a couple pictures of her first trip on the river...

Life Jacket OFF...Princess Robe ON...

(Just so there isn't any confusion as to who's really in charge)

You know, Princess Kierra would really like to go for a ride on this thing.

A Day of Boating Fun Part I

One might find it interesting that our family, living only minutes away from a river, would have been on boats many times but, that couldn't be farther from the truth. It has been over 10 years for either Brad and I and our kids have never set foot on a boat. Well, that all changed today! Our wonderfully generous friends, the Lee's, invited us to go with them today on their boat. We were overjoyed. They had all the life jackets and materials except, we did need to buy one for Kierra. Late last night, we headed to Shopko and found the last one they had, in her size, and what a steal, it was marked down to only $12!!!! SOLD!!! So, off we headed this morning at 10:30 from Swallows Nest boat launch (about a two minute drive from our house) towards Chief Timothy Park where our other friends, the Borland's, were camping with their boat. Here are a couple pictures of us when we first set foot on the boat...

All of us with Myka...it's shaping up to be a fun day!

Kierra & her new life jacket...she was a little unsure at first

Jordyn & Myka...she was so excited!

Jeylin just couldn't quit giggling...he was so amazed that we were about to pass under three bridges to get to our final destination!!!

When we finally arrived, we had much more fun with tubing & wake-boarding. In the next post, I'll have some pictures of that as well as some video!!

Too Cute Not To Post

Hope you all Enjoy...

How does that NOT just make your day that much better???

Happy Birthday Baby Girl!!

Well, it's official...my baby girl is growing up. My sweet baby girl Jordyn turned 7 yesterday and had her first official sleepover! Of course, what would a sleepover of all girls do for my little man, Jeylin but leave him left to torment them so I decided he could have a friend over as well. Crazy, I know!! It all kicked off on Friday afternoon at 1:30. The kids and I headed to the Boys & Girls Club to pick up Makayla and then to Tendercare Daycare to pick up Braeden, her younger brother. This arrangement actually works out wonderfully because Makayla and Braeden are the same difference in age as Jordyn and Jeylin which probably means double sleepovers from here on out. At 3:30, my mom arrived to join in on the celebrations and help to keep the masses entertained. Since Jordyn's party wasn't until 5:30 that night, we had a little time to get things set up. At 4:15, another 7 year old girl arrived, Kendyll.

The weekend had officially begun. We had beautiful, hot and still weather all day until of course it was party time and then the winds picked up. We spent most of the party trying to keep everything from flying away but all-in-all, it was a fun outing. We celebrated Jordyn's birthday this year at Beachview Park. We were lucky to have the party early enough, we didn't need to compete for the playground or the covered picnic area. We enjoyed a wonderful BBQ hamburgers and hot dogs...provided by Bradley and a lovely Costco cake which I might add, the five kids decorated before the party (I was feeling a little lazy this year).It doesn't look incredibly appetizing...but, Kierra loved it

At 7:30, it was time to come home and have some fun. I had bought a lot of craft things for the kids to do. Each one got a white t-shirt and iron-on transfers. The girls also had canvas bags and puffy fabric paint and purple bags and stickers to decorate them with. We did the boys' shirts Friday night since Braeden was going to be picked up early on Saturday. They were so excited and so stinking cute.

The boys were sent to bed around 10:00 and the girls were able to stay up until 11:00. The next morning, the girls were awake at 7:30 and ready for breakfast. After Braeden was picked up, the girls started on their crafts and fun. Another classmate of theirs turned 7 the same day as Jordyn so I had all three of them until her party which was at 2:00. It was a long day but it was fun. They are all such wonderful kids and I wouldn't hesitate to have the same group back anytime. I didn't get many pictures taken because of either the wind or the fact that I had six children in the house all weekend. I also would like to point out that my beautiful niece Jaycee shares her birthday with Jordyn. She turned 18!!! Seven years ago, we just had no idea what to get her for her birthday so we decided that Jordyn could be her present. I am so incredibly proud of her and love her as if she were one of my own. She is incredibly beautiful, hard-working and talented and I know that she can do and be anything she could ever dream of.

Happy Birthday to both of my August girls

Jordyn & Jaycee.