Anderson Adventures

Spring Break 2009

2009-03-24T16:14:00.000-07:00

We finally had a break in the weather where we could get out of the house!!!! I forgot how much being outside helped the boys be calmer in the house. We are definitely park people. I have been taking the kids to the park since we lived in Texas and before Christopher could walk. I love living right next to one!!! And I love the fact that the weather is finally starting to warm up. I love the smells and the fresh air and being able to open up the windows!!! And I love being able to open up the back door and telling the kids to take it outside and run, run, run!!! Soon we will be planting a garden and taking lots of walks and playing soccer!

We were at the park today (along with everyone else!) and I took some fun pictures. If you want to see all of them, well most of them, check out my facebook albums. But here are a few of my favorites!

Kyle's Baptism

2009-03-01T14:34:00.000-08:00

Caden and Katy ready for the baptism, as cute as ever.

We had a wonderful weekend this weekend. Kyle turned 8 on the 2nd and was baptized at our stake baptism yesterday. It was a fun day with family around. Kyle's grandpa bear flew in just for him. His papa baptized him and his grandpa bear confirmed him. It was nice to have all of our family there. Kyle had a special day!!!! Thanks to all who helped his day be special.

Kyle and his papa

Kyle and his grandpa bear

Kyle's 8

2009-02-08T16:46:00.001-08:00

We have had lots going on these last few weeks. Kyle turned 8 on the 2nd of February. He had a great birthday. We celebrated with nana and papa and grandpa Hawkley on Sunday night. Then on his birthday we celebrated with Jake's family. Grandma took him out for icecream and some shopping as she does every year. They love that tradition. He got lots of presents and had a great week. He also got to start scouts on Wednesday and he gets baptized on the 28th. Grandpa Bear is coming in for that weekend to confirm him. We are looking forward to that special weekend.

On a harder note, the divorce is final now. The judge got the paperwork signed pretty quickly, faster than we had anticipated. Jake is in Kentucky working with the Guard for 10 days and when he gets back will have his own home. I start a new job this next week and have been very blessed to have things fall into place at the right times. With the economy the way it is right now, I am so grateful for a job. This job just fell into my lap and is exactly what I needed right now. I hope that it goes well and I can work towards the things that will benefit me and my children. Thanks everyone for their support and well wishes. This time for us has been tough, but I have felt the strength that I need and peace to know that things are going to work out well.

Just a note

2009-01-25T17:31:00.000-08:00

Life has been crazy these last few weeks. Once Christmas was over with I was able to start working on getting my nursing license reinstated. I had to do 80 hours in a job setting under the supervision of an RN. I finished that a week ago. I was able to work at the VAMC and really liked it there. Now I have to get my resume out and start looking for a job. Even with the nursing shortage, jobs are slim picking, especially when you want to work a night shift. I hated working the evening shift from 3-11:30pm. I missed my kids sooooooo much. I missed talking to them after they got out of school. I missed snuggling with them before putting them to bed. I just plain missed them. But I have to remember that things will work out how I need them to and Heavenly Father will bless me. My kids are resilient. I think it will be harder on me to go back to work than it will for them to have me gone more. I wish I had that strength.

Christopher was supposed to start basketball last week. I was so excited for him to have this opportunity to get out there and have that social experience. Well the very week before he was supposed to start, he fell on the ice at school and broke his arm. It took me 3 days to take him to the doctor. I wanted to make sure it was really broken and not just bruised before I paid all that money to get him seen. Of course our insurance had changed and we had a gap. Of course...... But he broke both his radius and his ulna. They put him in a splint and told us to come back in a week. When we came back, they said it was healing but thought a different splint with more support would be better. So now we are on splint number 2. Luckily we have not needed a cast. We are at least grateful for that. As long as it is healing in the splint we won't need a cast. He is bummed that he doesn't get to do basketball. But that is life. Ever changing and never boring.

At home things are tense. Jake is still living here in Katy's room. The divorce is almost final. We are just waiting on the judge to sign the papers. It will be nice to be able to move on with life..... Whatever life may bring......

Here is a picture of Katy with a few of her favorite things. Her binky, her blanky and her baby.

Merry Christmas!

2008-12-28T13:17:00.000-08:00

I know it has been a while since I blogged last, and I want to thank everyone for their love and support. It is good to know what great friends we have in this life.

We had a great Christmas this year. Very simple and spoiled by the grandparents. Money was very tight for us this year and we have survived with a lot of support. The boys woke up at 6:45 and I held them off by taking a shower to give time for Caden and Katy and dad to wake up. It was really hard to make them wait. In our house, Santa still comes and they loved their gifts.

We had gone to our ward Christmas party and I had told the boys beforehand that if they misbehaved we would not stay for the whole thing. It is hard when it is just me and the 4 kids. (Jake was at home and yes he is still living with us.) We made it through the dinner and then had to leave. They were very upset that they did not get to see Santa. I guess he made a special appearance there. The next week we were invited to go to my parents' ward's Christmas breakfast. Santa was coming and I thought we would try it again. This time with a little help and back up from nana and papa. They did better and were so anxious that they were the first in line to see him. As you can see in the pictures, Christopher is getting a bit big for this. And the picture of Katy with the binky was her face after we tried to introduce her to Santa and she refused.

This season has been busy with family visiting and parties to go to and shows to do and see. It has made the time fly by very quickly. But this is my favorite time of year when I remember how blessed I am and how grateful I am for everything and everyone in my life. It is a very humbling time for me. I am especially grateful for everyone who has expressed concern for me and my family right now. This time is not easy, but I know that soon peace will be in my home and my life. The divorce is not final yet, but we should have the stipulation signed by both of us this next week and then it is a waiting game for the judge to sign it. I think I will relax slightly when Jake has signed the stipulation and it can't be changed without him getting a lawyer. Then I will know we will be on the path to finalize everything. I am sorry that this has had to happen. I am seeing the effects it has had on the kids. But it just isn't meant to work out, not when both are not willing to put in 100%. Again everyone, thanks for the love and support. I look forward to a new year where we can move forward and have positive experiences.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!!!!!!

(if anyone can help me with how to make a slide show on a post I would appreciate the help, until then sorry about all the pictures.)

Hard Decision

2008-11-30T21:16:00.000-08:00

This is a hard post to write..... After a great deal of praying, pondering and talking, Jake and I have decided it is best for us not to be married anymore. There were so many mistakes made in our marriage and there is no one person to blame. I would love to blame everything on Jake and make myself feel better, but that would not be the truth. We both feel that we work well as friends, but were not cut out to be husband and wife.
Our kids are taking this rather well. They are sad, but it amazes me how resilient they are. They are my number one concern. I feel at peace and empowered to take on the challenges that lie ahead. I am getting my nursing license reinstated and look forward to being busier (NOT). I have a lot of support and things are looking up. I am ready to be happy again and standing on my own two feet.

Pretty in Pink Princess (playing in dirt)

2008-11-03T11:01:00.001-08:00

Ok, I have said in another post that my little princess hates wearing dresses. Well, here are some more pictures to show you that she comes from a house full of boys. Here she is, so cute in her pink, playing in the dirt and having a fabulous time.

Just some fun pictures!

2008-11-03T10:51:00.000-08:00

Kyle had his first basketball game this weekend. He has played only once before and did a great job at the game. His coaches this year are fantastic. We have had awful experiences with Yball coaches. But this year I am pleasantly surprised, they are great!!!!

Happy Halloween everyone!!! This was a fun picture after trick or treating on Friday. The kids had fun. Katy was originally a princess but she hates wearing dresses. Go figure in a house full of boys. She screamed even when she saw it. So my sister-in-law let me borrow the doctor costume. Much better except she wouldn't touch the hat. Caden was a knight, but by the time trick or treating was done, he had taken half of the costume off.

All it took was confidence!!!!

2008-10-24T15:07:00.000-07:00

Katy finally started walking. She is just shy of 16 months and has been walking holding on to things for months. Last night she started trying it without holding on. She got a kick out of it and loved how happy we were about it. I got a video today of her walking. She only makes it a few steps, but she finally has the confidence to set out on her own.

Pumpkin Patch

2008-10-20T12:36:00.001-07:00

One of the things my kids like to do every year that we are in Boise is to take nana and papa to the pumpkin path at Linder Farms. They hate waiting for it to come. The boys especially love the Halloween season and Christopher loves making pumpkin pie from what we picked. I hate to tell him that it usually comes out of a can!!!

This was Katy's first year to go. She loved the fact that we would let her get down and dirty. That's my girl!

Every year that the boys get bigger we seem to bring home bigger pumpkins. Christopher carried his all the way back to the farm without any complaints. He even had 2 small ones in his pockets of his sweatshirt.

They will look forward to that tradition again next year now that we are in Boise to stay. It is nice to know that now they can count on things every year and look forward to them, instead of change.

Daddy and Daughter Working Together

2008-10-20T12:28:00.001-07:00

It has been getting cold outside lately and winter is coming soon. We are new to having a gas fireplace and Jake was trying to get the pilot lit so we could have some extra warmth. Katy decided that she was going to help and see what she could do to see that daddy succeeded. It was so cute to see her down there copying him.

Here they are enjoying the finished work!!! Yea it is done!

Now she is trying to blow out the fire!!!! I guess we don't have to worry about the birthday candles anymore, she's a pro.

HELP!!!!

2008-10-01T15:56:00.000-07:00

Ok, I have been looking at everyone's blogs this last week and I have decided that mine definitely needs help. Everyone else's are so cute!!!! Is there anyone out there willing to help an inept person update her blog? I don't even know where to begin!!!!

Loves to Eat!!!!!!

2008-09-17T07:37:00.000-07:00

My little Katy sure does love to eat. She will eat almost anything. The first picture is of the fun she had devouring a warm chocolate chip cookie that we had made. She was in heaven.

The next picture we went through nana's garden and found that the carrots were ready. Katy nibbled and nibbled and loved chewing on the carrot. She has her 4 front teeth and just went after that carrot. Of course, the boys were full of, "What's up docs?" while they were eatting the carrots. Glad to see they will eat straight out of the garden. I hope next year when we have our garden they will be just as enthused.

Caden's new year

2008-09-16T07:41:00.000-07:00

Caden is loving how this new year for him is starting. He is going to preschool 2 days out of the week this year. He loves how big he is getting. And mommy loves that he has something of his own to go to. It seems we are always taking him along when we go to something for his brothers. He is so good at just coming along and staying with mommy. But he got to the point where he would cry everytime I left for a short while. His first day he wasn't sure of he wanted to go. He said that he didn't want to go until he was 4. Took some coaxing, but now he loves it and says, "see ya, mom" when he gets out of the van.

Caden also had his 4th birthday yesterday. We celebrated with family on Sunday, and then celebrated Monday with Jake. He was very spoiled and loved. We love being in Boise where we can do things like this with family. He had a great birthday. It was exciting for him to realize that he actually was 4. We have been telling him for weeks that he was almost 4. Now he can actually say he is 4. Happy Birthday Caden!!!!!

What do you think?

2008-09-15T09:00:00.000-07:00

Ok, I am curious to get feedback on this addition of our blog. So please feel free to express your opinion on how you feel or what you think. Maybe this will all help you to understand why Jake does not sit home and watch the kids alone, hardly ever. A week before school started I went shopping with my mother, it was nice to get out of the house for a change. When I got home I had a surprise waiting for me. Under the covers of my bed, 2 heads popped out and said surprise. Needless to say as you can see from the picture, they had mohawks. I didn't know whether to laugh at what they looked like, or be totally angry with Jake. I had just given them all haircuts to look nice for school. Needless to say it was a little bit of both. I told them that they could keep their hair until Saturday and then we would have to shave it because I would not let them have mohawks at church. Kyle didn't realize that in order to get rid of it we would have to shave him completely. He wasn't very happy about that. He didn't want his friends to laugh at him. Luckily his hair grows really fast and he could already use another hair cut.

Needless to say, if I ever leave the kids with Jake alone again, I will take the clippers with me.

Happy 4th!

2008-08-01T16:27:00.002-07:00

We had a great 4th of July. We were able to go out and see some friends that Jake had worked with before we left for Kentucky. They live out in Marsing, Idaho and have a beautiful home there. Once we were there the boys and Katy were able to ride horses and had a great time feeding them. I am sure that the horses were so full after our kids got through with them. We had a marvelous time and had a great dinner. They roasted a pig and had everyone contribute to the spread. We had a great time.

Then we were able to get back in time to do fireworks with papa and Uncle Travis. They had gone way out to show the boys a good time. I wonder if it was for the boys or more for them. I know Uncle Trav enjoys them almost as much as the kids do. We had a great holiday and are very grateful for our country that we live in and the freedoms that we have. I hope that all of you enjoyed the holiday as well.

This last picture was taken by Kyle. I actually think he did a great job. He had fun with the camera and I had to delete quite a few of our friends hay.

Jake's Great Find

2008-08-01T16:27:00.001-07:00

We have moved into this great house that we absolutely love. The people before us did not take care of the yard and it looked horrible. I had mentioned to Jake that we should find some river rock that would match the rock on our house. One day that Jake went out to the desert with the boys shooting, he came back and surprised me with almost a truck full of rock. I was so excited!!!!!! So here are the before and after pictures of something that we were able to do for free, which for us is important right now.

My Baby's 1!!!!!

2008-08-01T16:27:00.000-07:00

It has been way too long since we have updated our blog. We have moved into a house and are still waiting for our stuff. But we finally have internet and a monitor to plug our dying laptop into. So much has happened since I last updated. Katy is now one, actually 13 months by now. Christopher is now 9 and will not stop growing. We have had to replace all shoes on his feet as they have grown so much in the last few months. We now have to shop in the men's section of shoes. I was not prepared for that one.

I can't believe that my baby has turned one so fast. On June 28th we had a good time with family and friends celebrating her day. She has changed so much in the last few months, finally crawling and pulling herself up onto things. I think it will help her to start walking when we finally have our stuff and she has something to cruise on. I think we are now entering my favorite stage of learning and growing so much in this next year. I love toddlers. My babies are always good until they reach 3. We shall see how Katy does. Our last Sunday in church was the first time I looked forward to nursery. She is way to mobile now and loves to make noises so we are unable to not be noticed and have to wander the halls. Hopefully the next few months go better than last week.

Success

2008-05-29T08:43:00.000-07:00

Well I guess Caden has decided it is time to be a big boy. Last week after running out of diapers and really not being able to afford any more that we were going to potty train Caden. He is 3 1/2 and we felt it was time. We had accidents for 2 days, then he figured it out and we haven't had an accident since. I was so surprised how well he did after our last attempt to potty train. But I am so proud of him. He is such a big boy. And it goes to show that he actually is related to me as I was always one who would wait until I was sure I could do it and made up my mind to do it, then I could do anything. Caden seems to have to have his mind made up that he can do it too. We even went to Utah last weekend for Memorial day. I worried that we would be stopping all along the road for bathroom breaks. But it seems I worry too much.

We had a great weekend in Utah. We got to see a lot of family. It was Jake's grandpa's birthday and we had a big party. Grandma and Aunt Mary worked hard and the weekend was a huge success. It was so fun to see Jake's family again, some we haven't seen in a few years. The boys are still talking about swimming in their jeans at Aunt Mary's (we didn't take their swim suits).

On our way home we got to see some old friends from Iceland, Sean and Jen Thomas. Kyle was so excited to see their old friend Daxton. Everytime I even mention Utah it has brought up his name and the desire to go and see him. The boys had fun playing and we had a good time visiting with the Thomas's. I have to say we miss the military and our friends.

Jake has started working a few other jobs besides the landscaping. We are in desperate need of an income and Jake is stepping up and working even harder. This business has taken a long time to get moving and I fear that it will still take longer.

The boys are ready for the summer break and ready to swim at grandma's. Katy, I fear, might have allergies to dogs. Our friends that we are staying with have 2 inside dogs and Katy has been so stuffy. She has had 2 ear infections since we have been here, which is not common for her. It is either the dogs, or it is Idaho. If she didn't have allergies to Kentucky, I am not sure she would have allergies here. Hopefully we can get her cleared up soon.

Life is always interesting in the Anderson household. I am ready for it to slow down and get boring. We love everyone and love to hear from you.

Yearly competition

2008-05-15T14:02:00.002-07:00

Well each year at Jake's mom's pool, there is an annual competition. The competition consists of whoever is the first in the pool after it is opened. However, the water is still freezing cold!!! So, Jake and the boys set out to get the prize for being the first in the pool for the year. Little did they know that they were not the first since Corinne, their cousin had already been in earlier that week. The water was 50 degrees that day and the boys were troopers for trying it. I don't know if we will get them in next year, but we shall see.
Sorry the video is sideways, I haven't figured out how to rotate the video.

Fun in the Sun

2008-05-15T14:02:00.000-07:00

The days are finally getting warmer in Idaho. I know they have been warmer in Kentucky. But the sun was out yesterday and we decided to see how Katy would like nana and papa's sandbox. Nana and Papa have a great backyard for kids, we will be spoiled this year between their backyard and grandma's pool. I am looking forward to being outside all summer. Anyways, Katy loved the sandbox as you can see from the picture. It was fun to sit her there next to her cousin Allie. They are 7 weeks apart and should have lots of fun this summer. Hopefully by the end of the summer they will both be chasing each other around.

New pictures

2008-05-08T09:22:00.000-07:00

We have had a busy few weeks getting settled in Boise. We are staying with friends as our house and stuff are still in Kentucky. Hopefully that will all be settled soon and we can find our own place. Jake's business has been slow going, but hopefully with some progression in the next few weeks it will soon take off.

When we first got here to Boise I had a great weekend seeing my whole family. We had some fun pictures taken and I have a few that I really liked, especially of all of my boys. I am not sure how I will get them all on this post. But enjoy them as I have.

We miss everyone in Kentucky and I am sorry that I haven't been emailing as well as I should. The screen on Jake's laptop keeps blacking out and it frustrates me. So I just stay off it as much as I can because I really don't want to throw it against the wall. As soon as we get our computer from Kentucky I will be on more and be able to communicate more.

Surprise!!!!!

2008-04-21T16:16:00.000-07:00

I know I have titled another post "Surprise!!!!" But this surprise trumps the other surprise. Last week the boys and I decided that we were tired of being away from Jake. We have spent most of the last year or so apart. With some proding from my friends and some prayers we decided it was time for us to make the move to Boise. So, with the help of our wonderful branch in Kentucky, I packed up a few things, left the house clean and ready for showings, and packed up the van and the kids and we drove to Boise. Jake had no idea that we were even thinking of coming. I felt bad with all of the fibs that were told, but we really wanted to make the surprise special for Jake. Jake would call while we were on the road and I would tell him we were in the car on the way to the zoo. One time I couldn't get Kyle to stop talking while I was talking to Jake (he was supposed to be at school at that time) and I threw a water bottle back at him and mistakenly hit him in the head. Which was not the outcome I needed because it caused him to cry. Poor Kyle, I felt so bad, he got a lot of apologizing from me when I got back in the van.
But needless to say, it was all worth it to see Jake's face (and tears) when he saw us in his room. He will never admit to the tears, but he got pretty choked up and if you ask Caden he will say that daddy cried. We are here in Boise safely and I am forever grateful for the wonderful help we received from our friends in Kentucky. I miss the green and our home. But it is good to ba a family again and to have some help with the boys.
I also had a great time surprising our family. We had a busy weekend this weekend with 2 baby blessings and surprising our family. No one knew we were coming home. My family (brothers and their children) haven't been all together for over 2 years. I didn't think it was very fair that we were the only ones that wouldn't be here. But it was good to see my brothers again and meet my new niece and be all together.
So, since I pulled off, packing and moving myself and 4 kids across the country without Jake figuring it out. So thanks to the people that helped me pull this off. It was worth it. We love you all and will miss Kentucky, especially our branch.

Spring break

2008-04-13T08:05:00.001-07:00

We have had a busy week here in Kentucky. We were told that it would rain all week except for Monday. So on Monday we went to the zoo, along with everyone else in Louisville. I guess everyone had the same thought process, it is spring break and sunny, everyone to the zoo!!!!! We went with a bunch of families from our branch and had a great time.

The Friday before Spring Break we had Christopher's pinewood derby. Well, needless to say, he and mommy have learned a few things about making a car. Next year we will be unstoppable. Of course daddy will be helping. Christopher came in 3rd a few times and 4th quite a few more times than that. We had some tears and a talk about being a good sport. We also talked about learning from our mistakes. Next year will be much better. Hopefully his first year with he and mommy making the car will not continue to be a bad memory.

We had a good week. We had a lot to do and kept pretty busy. This weekend we spent cleaning the house after a week of kids at home. They are excited to go back to school on Monday. Mommy is excited for them to go back too, and for us to get back on our schedule.

Conference

2008-04-08T17:45:00.000-07:00

I didn't get to watch all of conference this weekend. But what I did see, was so good. It is hard to say that only one topic stood out to me, because there were so many good talks and topics that I needed to hear. There were good talks on prayer and accepting the Lord's answers as He would have them be and not what we want and feel we need when we need it. There were good talks on being a shining example to those around us, missionary work, the scriptures, and the family. I loved how all the general authorities lovingly talked about their wives. But my favorite talk was by M. Russell Ballard who talked about mothers. I loved the story of him, after 10 years, having to sit alone with their 6 kids during church on the back row. I only have 4 and I completely understand. It was a wonderful talk that made me feel appreciated as a mother. I encourage all of you who missed to read it and the husbands should even give it a read (especially mine!!!!!). I also loved President Monson's closing remarks. I was so sad when President Hinckley dies, because I thought that I would miss that special spirit and humor about him. But I have seen that in President Monson this conference. Many people have mentioned that they see the prophet's mantle being rested on him. What a special man.
So for all of you who enjoyed conference, I did too. For those who played hookie I encourage you to feast.

Angel baby

2008-04-02T04:44:00.000-07:00

This week started off a little interesting. Katy was up Sunday night with a fever. She has never had a fever, and except for croup, she has never been sick up to this point. On Monday, the fever was still there and she was a little irritable. I could tell she wasn't feeling well, but the only symptoms she gave me were the fever and she got irritable when her fever was up. It got up to 102.9 axxilary. I finally called the doctor and luckily their office was open until 9 on Monday. (I love our doctor's office here, I am so sad to leave it.) She had an ear infection. So my poor sweet girl is finally feeling better and the fever has gone. But to have an ear infection and only get slightly irritable when the fever gets high is new to me. She has been so sweet and is finally back to herself. She is such a trooper for being so good when she was sick. Someone said yesterday, as they were watching my kids, that Katy was such a good baby. She just hangs out and watches and plays. She has been so much fun for me. After those horrible first 5 months, she is an angel baby now. I wouldn't trade her for anything.

Finally!!!!

2008-03-30T14:33:00.000-07:00

We have been waiting a long time for this day. Christopher finally has a loose tooth. We have been concerned about him, since he is 8 1/2 and has not lost any teeth. He has Jake's gums. We worried that they might have to work on Christopher like they worked on Jake. (If you want to know what happened to Jake, you will have to ask him. I will get in big trouble if I tell everyone the story.) Christopher still might need some help with his teeth. But having a loose tooth is a good sign. He is pretty excited and already knows that he wants to save the money he gets from the tooth fairy for Pokemon cards.
I got to spotlight Caden in Primary today. He was pretty excited that he got to come up front with mommy. And Kyle gave a great talk on how he knows the Savior loves him.
They have decided to keep me in Primary to help out wherever I am needed. I think I will be doing secretary work for a little while.
I hope that it doesn't take much longer to sell our house. Although our realtor did not have good things to say about the market and our situation. She wants us to lower our price more and we just can't. We will barely break even if someone gives us a full price offer, which will be a miracle if it happens. I guess we might have to look into renting it out, or lease options. We will hold out for another month or so keeping things how they are, then we will have to pow wow on what we need to do. Life just doesn't always give us what we need or want. I guess that is life.

Anderson Birthday's

2008-03-29T14:58:00.001-07:00

I have a funny story today, and I know the Anderson family will enjoy this one..... Today Caden got to go to his first little friend's birthday party without mom or brothers. He was very good and had a lot of fun. But there was one thing that he did that the parents couldn't figure out. When they lit the candles on the birthday cake, Caden covered his ears. Now, I wonder why he would do that? Oh yeah, the Anderson birthday song. I know that many of you have heard our version of the birthday song, and you know how loud it can be. Caden covers his ears every time. These parents wondered if we did fire crackers or something because of Caden's immediate reaction. I guess you never think how things we are used to affect our kids when they are out of our presence.

Katy's First Easter

2008-03-23T14:14:00.000-07:00

Ok, I have to say I love Easter Sunday at church because of all the beautiful dresses on the little girls. And today was so much more fun because I got to put my pretty girl in a pretty dress. I have been carrying this dress around since before I was pregnant with Christopher. I was finally able to use it today.

The boys had a good Easter with new ties from nana and papa. Kyle wrote a note to the Easter Bunny and was so excited this morning to see that he had actually wrote back!!!! They had fun quickly finding the eggs (it took 5 seconds!!). And spent the morning eating chocolate. Luckily the easter bunny only had 2 bags of chocolate for them! Hopefully it will last longer than today. Katy had fun looking in her basket. Wasn't sure what to make of the grass. The primary children sang a song today in sacrament meeting and did wonderful. I couldn't convince Caden to go up, even with his friend Jayden up there. It was definitely a no go.

I got some cute pictures of the boys. As soon as we have enough income to catch up on bills and get moved, I will have the kids' pictures done. It has been way too long. It is fun to see the boys still dote over their sister.

I finally tried it!

2008-03-21T05:47:00.001-07:00

I finally got up the guts to try to hassle with Katy's hair. I have been so wary at trying because I am so used to boys hair. I guess she and I will figure everything out together. She is definitely a girl. I sat her on my dresser in front of my mirror and gave her something to play with. I had to wet her hair down, because it is so fine, it kept slipping out of my fingers the last time I tried. What a trooper she is. She is the calmest baby I have ever seen. What an angel.

Personality quiz

2008-03-19T15:22:00.000-07:00

You're green, the color of growth and vigor. Good-hearted and giving, you have a knack for finding and bringing out the best in people. Green is the most down-to-earth color in the spectrum — reliable and trustworthy. People know they can count on you to be around in times of need, since your concern for people is genuine and sincere. You take pride in being a good friend. For you, success is measured in terms of personal achievement and growth, not by status or position. Rare as emeralds, greens are wonderful, natural people. It truly is your color!

I took this personality quiz from a link I found on my brother's blog. What do you think? Did it get me right? I don't take much stock in these, but sometimes they are fun. Here is the link.
http://web.tickle.com/jumpto?test=colorogt&c=50652
Enjoy.

Kyle's a Gentleman

2008-03-19T04:24:00.000-07:00

Ok, there comes a time when you wonder how you are doing as a parent and if your children will still be the same person at school that they are at home (hopefully better). We got this email from Kyle's teacher yesterday and I was so proud that I wanted to make sure I remembered what he did. Enjoy, and know that Jake and I are both very proud of Kyle for the person that he is.
Sara,I just have to brag on Kyle for being such a gentleman today!!!! While walking to the bus in the pouring rain, he offered to share his umbrella with a girl that only had a cotton jacket---not only did he do this, but he was polite enough to offer to hold her Bratz doll while she put up her hood. I don't believe in any way he likes her and would not want him to be embarrassed, but I thought it was such a nice gesture and I believe he would have done it for anyone in the class! It just goes to show how considerate it is of others! I literally stood in the rain, waiting on them, holding back the tears for the kindness he was showing at that moment. He really is such a sweet boy. He told me the other day that he would be moving in a few weeks (He reminds me on a daily basis) I held my ears and said, "Kyle I can't hear you" He said "Mrs. Minor" like he was surprised, but I explained that I did not want him to move and that we would miss him, but I was betting that his Daddy missed him more and would be glad to have the family together again. I just wanted to share with you what happened today and say thanks to you and your husband for the time and effort you put into your family!Mrs. Minor

2008-03-09T07:16:00.001-07:00

I thought this pictures was great!!! It is Kyle sitting at the bottom of our driveway in a pile of snow. With the help of the snow plow and the snow off of our driveway it was a pretty big pile. They like to dig out tunnels and caves in the piles they help create.

2008-03-09T07:12:00.000-07:00

Jake didn't realize when he surprised us that he was bringing the snow with him. We knew the snow storm was coming and how severe it would be, but we didn't' realize it would bring jake right along with it. I am glad he was here though. He was wonderful at shoveling off the driveway. Poor guy had to do it two days in a row.

2008-03-09T07:10:00.000-07:00

The boys love playing in the snow. Christopher and Kyle were out almost all day long yesterday.

2008-03-09T07:07:00.000-07:00

Caden venturing out in his new snow boots. He really doesn't last long outside in the snow. But he had fun for a few moments.

Will the snow ever stop?

2008-03-09T06:57:00.000-07:00

Well the boys got to stay home on Friday from school, it was going to start snowing soon..... It started snowing at about 7am and didn't stop until Saturday at about 2pm. We recorded 10.4 inches. I sure am glad that Jake was here to shovel the driveway. He was really proud of the way the boys helped him. Of course he doesn't realize that they do it for purely selfish reasons. They want the snow in a huge pile so they can play in it. But jake still is proud of how hard they worked both days. Saturda morning they came and plowed the road and 30 minutes later you could hardly tell that they had come. It was crazy. The sun is now finally shining and it should warm up quite nicely starting tomorrow. Of course now the weather reports warn about flooding. I have some great pictures from this weekend. Hopefully i can figure out how to put them all on the blog. Wish me luck.

Surprise!!!!

2008-03-07T10:04:00.001-08:00

Well I had a nice surprise last night. Actually it scared me to death..... My doorbell rang at midnight last night. No cars outside, it just started ringing. Finally I just went down and looked out the front window, because I would not just open the door at that hour without knowing who it was. Well, it was Jake!!! He came for a visit because he missed us. We have wonderful friends who helped him out with a buddy pass so he could fly. It was a good surprise. This morning the boys nearly hit the ceiling jumping out of bed when they heard daddy's voice. Well to make matters interesting we have another snow day today. We had a snow storm come through and it has been snowing all day. So they are pretty happy that they get to spend the day with daddy. Jake came this weekend so he could see Christopher's pinewood derby, but they have now cancelled that. Jake is upset that he won't get to see it now, but there isn't much he can do about it.
So we get to spend a wonderful weekend with daddy and I get to have some help. Jake is pretty good at these surprises, I should be used to them by now.

Folding socks

2008-03-04T16:22:00.000-08:00

Today Katy helped me match the socks. She loved sitting in the laundry basket and playing with the socks. Hopefully that can be her job one day soon. I always look forward to the summer and flip flops because then I don't have to wash and match a ton of socks.

We have been cleaning and getting things ready for another showing of our house tomorrow night. We are praying that this is the one. More are coming out on the market and we need to sell it quick before all the great deals from bank foreclosures come on the market. We will be praying a lot the next day or so and until we finally sellt his house. I have to keep reminding myself that I knew it would take a long time. It is humbling.

Katy

2008-03-01T18:58:00.000-08:00

I just have to share this picture of Katy. It is my favorite. She is growing up so fast, 8 months already. She sits up on her own and rolls and scoots on her back all around the room. She loves to eat and loves fruit and cereal. Although I haven't really found anything she won't eat. I hope that when she gets older she can remember how much her brothers adored her. They dote on her and love to play with her and hold her and get her attention. I know it won't last too long, but it is nice while it lasts. She really completes our family quite nicely. We were sitting around the family room one night watching a movie together and she was sitting on the floor right in the middle of it all. She just loves watching everything going on. I sat there looking at the 4 of them knowing that our family was complete. What a beautiful gift to give after all of those energetic boys, a nice, calm sweetheart.

Katy's New Smile

2008-02-28T11:25:00.000-08:00

We had a scary moment this week. On Tuesday night I laid Katy down to sleep and she woke up 2 hours later with croup. She was having a hard time breathing and coughing and was very upset. We have had croup before with the boys and it scares me. We steamed up the bathroom and called someone to come and stay with the boys while i took her to the hospital. Needless to say, by the time I got her there she had calmed down quite a bit and you could barely hear the wheezing. But the cough was still there. So they gave her a steroid and she went to sleep just fine. She has been fine the last few days, but I can tell she doesn't feel quite right. Now we have the medication on hand just in case. What a week.......Kyle had a really bad ear infection on Monday and then Katy on Tuesday. We are doing fine today.

Katy has a cute new, crinkled nose smile. Oh so cute. I hope that you enjoy it as much as I do.

It's done!!!

2008-02-24T14:43:00.000-08:00

Well Christopher and I finished his pinewood derby car!!! It was an experience. We had a little help with the wood cutting. It looks great, I just hope it runs great. I think the hardest part was the cutting, I didn't have the right tools. If I had the tools it would have been done weeks ago. He races it on the 7th of March. Be sure to tune in to see how he does.

Another Snow Day

2008-02-22T09:55:00.000-08:00

The boys are home yet again!!!! Yesterday when I got home from running errands there was a message on our home phone that the schools were closing early because of an impending ice storm. I am glad that I got home when I did, because the boys got off the bus half an hour later and were home. If I had been gone and not known about them coming home they would have been stuck alone outside. I just feel unsettled about how we were told and that if they jsut reached an answering maching they didn't try to call back. Not sure how they could fix it and I am sure they ran into troubles. So this morning we were told that there would be a 2 hour delay, then they called back and just cancelled school again. So now school was going to get out on a Monday. Not their last day will be a Friday. Who would have thought we would have had 4 days of no school because of the weather. But I am glad that they did. Everything is ICE!!!!

The boys have spent the morning sliding down the driveway on cardboard boxes. Kyle loves it, Christopher not so much. I think he went so fast it scared him. I got Kyle on video yelling and screaming and whooping with joy. At least they got outside time.

The boys are anxious to get back to Idaho. They keep asking when we are going to leave Kentucky. But they make sure to ask when they get to come back for a visit. We have no word on our house yet. We haven't had a showing in a weel and a half. I am frustrated, but I know we are supposed to be in Boise. We have definitely learned lots of lessons from this adventure.

Snow! Snow! Snow!

2008-02-13T07:17:00.000-08:00

We are on our second snow day in a row in Kentucky. We had 3 inches of snow in Monday night. Then yesterday we had freezing rain and then just rain. Everything was melting. But then it rained and snowed some more and it all froze last night. We are having snow flurries this morning. Poor boys, they are bored. We haved made valentines boxes, paper airplanes to go with the valentines, pictures for daddy and their teachers. We had another showing yesterday and had to spend the afternoon cleaning and then at McDonalds where they got to let out some steam. They were a great help in getting the house clean and ready. It is weeks like this I miss the indoor playgrounds in Iceland. Katy is getting cuter every day. She has found her voice and loves to make noises. She will talk your ear off. She also has started growling and it is very cute. I wish i could record it. I might have to try this week. We are surviving and know that Heavenly Father knows what is best for us. I just wish that we knew what is.

2008-02-09T10:20:00.000-08:00

Wow, am i tired!!!! We have had 3 showings this week. I am not complaining at all. I am glad that the house is getting seen. But keeping it clean with 4 kids is not easy. The reviews of the house are mixed. We had a family call for a last minute showing on Thursday and they loved the house. They are now looking at pricing and budget. It really is more than they need with only 1 kid. The boys have been good this week. This situation leaves them a little unsure of them selves and it seems to make them fight a lot. It could be just that they are getting older and have more to fight about. But I feel the change and stress has helped aggravate the problem. Our branch however has helped me so much this week. 2 nights we had dinner brought to us, and then someone left food on my doorstep. And another lady gave us some clothes for the boys that her boys had grown out of. My kids love getting new clothes, even though they don't need any. Katy is growing up fast and seems to need more solid food. No teeth yet, but she did get her toe in her mouth this week. I hope that she can remember how much her brothers adore her. And she loves watching them. And when she catches their eye she gets the biggest grin on her face. I don't see her smile like that to anyone else. She sure thinks that they are special. I hope that sticks.
Christopher and I are starting an adventure together. Mom and he are doing a pinewood derby car this year for scouts. I don't ever remember making one before, even when my brothers did scouts. I sure hope that when Christopher remembers when his mom helped him with his car, he has good memories. Any helpful hints would be greatly appreciated.
Now that our showings are over I can relax and enjoy my clean house.

2008-02-06T15:24:00.000-08:00

Today has been a nice slow day. I have been very frustrated with being here by myself and not much activity on selling a house. Our home has been on the market now for a month. I keep reminding myself that I knew this would take a while. I guess i am trying to have faith that Heavenly father wants us in Boise and that He will make it happen in his time, not mine. I did get some uplifting news that we have another showing on Friday. It has been so hard to stay motivated to keep this house clean when no one wants to come and see it. i do not do the single parenting thing very well. hats off to all of you that have done it or are doing it. I have a lot of respect for those who triumph with that. So tonight I am off to get a house ready to knock someone's socks off.
On a funny note, Christopher has made a comment that the reason he has not lost any of his baby teeth is because he brushes them every day. Where else but in Kentucky would he get that idea?

Anderson Adventures begin

2008-02-05T06:59:00.000-08:00

So many of my friends and family have recommended a blog to me in place of my weekly newsletters. So here begins the blog in hopes to stay in touch with those same family and friends. I also hope that this can be a way to journal our daily lives so we can remember all the good times and trials we go through that make us who we are today. I am not exactly sure what I am doing with a blog, But i am sure to figure it out soon.