The week in Review....

When we adopted Alex he came from the orphanage with very few personal belongings. Besides the clothes we sent him back with (and he was missing quite a few of those) and a few of the books, toys and pictures we sent while we were completing his paper work, Alex came home with one pair of plastic flip flop type sandals and FOUR swimming caps. (Yes....FOUR!!) That was pretty much it!
So when Kambree wanted to go swim laps with me and was in need of a cap, I had her ask Alex if she could borrow one of his. He was more than willing to share. This is Austin modeling one of the caps from Ukraine. It cracks me up that they're in English!

The kids were out of school on the 14th (half day)-18th. I had a big RS board meeting at our house the night of the 14th but told Rylee she could have friends over up in her room. They played barbies for sometime and than did make-overs. Here's the results:

Monday (on the fourth and 1/2 day home and going stir crazy!) My sister and I took the kids to Jump On It. They had a blast.

I am posting this oh so attractive picture of me as proof to my dear husband that I did indeed jump!

So, Alex needs to do a science project. He's brought home a few different ideas, then decided to partner with a friend then I got a call from his teacher that there were no partners left so I guess he'll just have to partner with....me!
I selected an experiment that was easy and of interest to Alex. Apples! Our experiment is to wrap apples in different types of wrap and store in the fridge. Although pictures were not required, I figured it might help us so here are our apples after 24 hours in tin foil, wax paper, plastic wrap and a sandwich bag.
(I did not make up this experiment but got if off the website of approved experiments!)

The other night we came home to find Austin asleep in front of the fire with his head in Ella's dog bed. Just had to document it!

And I found this picture on my camera of Kambree and her friends jumping around in a snow storm. I met these two friends so I'm not sure who exactly is taking the picture.

Had a few interesting conversations with Alex. On the way to basketball Alex was telling Brach about his friend Sasha in the orphanage. He told him he was "just a little guy" and "I sure miss him and love him." It's the first Alex has ever said anything about his friends at the orphanage with out me prodding him. On the way home-after we dropped off Brac-I told Alex maybe we could send a care package to Sasha with the Benson's. He's pretty excited about that however, he's come up with some crazy things to send-like perishable food and HUGE items. I told him we'd have to limit it to a Ziploc size if we're going to expect the Benson's to fit it in their luggage. So far he's come up with candy and he thinks we should go the Russian store to get it! I told him he can get that kind of candy in Ukraine, how about something American? But he doesn't know what he'll like.
He's been really good about staying away from video games and spent the afternoon playing Lego's. And Saturday he went out in the garage and crafted a box to hold his X-box games.
Lately, he's constantly talking about his birthday-which is six months away. Probably because we approaching Rylee's birthday this week. After hearing ten different things he wants and fielding 20 different questions-like how many friends can I invite? What day of the week will it be? What will we do? Can I have banana cake? No cookie cake? I told him today he can make a list of what he wants & questions he has and we will plan and talk about it after July 1st as his birthday is not until the END of July!

Memory Monday

Okay, I'm always blogging about funny things Alex says because he's in that "toddler" stage of speaking so here's a walk down memory lane from my others as toddlers. (I actually recorded these but unfortunately by the time Rylee came around I wasn't as faithful at it. I will have to dig deep to come up with Ryleeisms!)

Austin (at almost two)
If you ask Austin to chew his food he pretends to sneeze and say 'Ahh...chew!"

Kambree (Age 4)
K: Mom is it raining outside
Me: No, I think it's the sprinklers.
K: Well, I think its......MONSTER SPIT!

Kambree (Age 4-I am pregnant with Devree at the time)
Kambree's primary teacher told me her class was talking about being sick and throwing up and Kambree announced to her class "My mom doesn't throw up, she throws down!"

Austin (age 2 1/2)
Austin is gets down from finishing breakfast with a very messy face and soggy cereal in each of his ears.
Me: Austin, why is there cereal in your ears?
Austin: Mine earrings!

Kambree (just over 4 years old)
Me: Come on Kambree, we're leaving.
K: I thought you left me!
Me: Kam, have I ever left you?
K: No.
Me: And I will never leave you either.
K: Yes you will when I get married.
Me; No, I won't, you'll leave me. I will still be here but you can always come back and see me like I see Grandma Nan.
Kambree starts to cry.
Me: What's wrong?
K: I hurt my own feelings!

Kambree (around 4)
While eating dinner Kambree asks "Mom, Dad why do you always beat us?" James and I look up at each other in horror. "What?" we ask. "You know, beat us eating your food!"

Austin (around 2 1/2)
Austin is finally potty trained and when ever we comment about it he says "Potty Train.Choo choo!"

Kambree (almost 5) Austin (3)
Apparently I had yelled at Kambree and Austin came in and at quite a distance told me. "You no yell at my Kambwee!" Then Kambree came in and in a most grown up tone asked me.
K: Mom would Jesus do that?
Me: What?
K: Would Jesus say get out of this room?
I proceeded to tell Kambree about Jesus kicking the money changers out of the temple to which she replied:
K: Yeah, they were bad people but I am a good person!

Kambree four-ish
K: Mom when I grow up I am going to marry Austin.
Me: Sweetie, you can't marry Austin, he's your brother.
K: But I will miss him!

Devree Language (about eighteen months)
Any type of a drink is a "mew"
Horses are "Fo-Fo's"
Fish is "Sish"

Kambree (five)
On the way to kindergarten Kambree and her friend Justin had this conversation about what kinds of parents they'll be when they grow up.
Justin: I am going to buy my kids bubble gum and they can stay up until ten o'clock at night!
Kambree: Well, my kids never have to go to bed and I will never wake them up in the morning.
Me: Well, Kambree what if they have to go to school?
Kambree (without missing a beat) Well, I'm putting them in AFTERNOON kindergarten!
(She and Justin were in morning kindergarten!)

Well, that's all for today, I have more I'll post on another memory Monday!

Girls and My Camera....

I could have posted about twenty more of random girl pictures. They just LOVE taking pictures of themselves....Ahh the joy of digital cameras!

Too True Tuesday

The topic from Essie this week is how cheap are you??
My oh my....
We are pretty cheap. (I have to say we-as James is probably more frugal than I.)
First off we don't have cable TV. Don't want the smut and the bonus is a savings of $58 a month. In fact besides the paper (which I have FOUR Sunday papers for the coupons) there is nothing in our budget that is optional. (Well, unless you count piano and voice lessons.) We don't use credit cards, we don't have payments on "toys" and although I have one car payment-I wouldn't if I didn't have to have one presentable enough to put clients in. Our other three vehicles-although not new and cool-are paid for and running!
My husband does all our car repairs and services. ALL of them. He's pulled engines out to change out things, rotates our tires, oil changes the works.
He also does all the repairs and remodels on our house. He's taught himself everything, from electrical to painting. He will pull things apart and figure it out even if it means hours of work.
Hubby and I always (or almost always) use "buy one get one" coupons when we eat out. Even if it's just a quick burger. I carry a bag in my gigantic purse of just coupons and a Happenings Book. Saves us tons of $$.
We also rarely buy drinks and if we do, we buy one and share it.
I make lunches for my kids everyday as the cost of school lunch is upwards of $150 a month. I figure I make lunches for around $20 a week. (And my kids like it better than school lunch and chances are, I pack a healthier lunch then they serve in schools these days!)
I stock up when things are on sale and refuse to buy them when they're not!
I reuse gift bags until they no longer can function for their intended purpose....like the seams split, a handle is missing etc.
I cook meals....every night! This is so much cheaper (and healthier) than eating out.
I'm a brand snob about a few things, peanut butter, shortening, bleach and laundry detergent. Besides that I buy whatever is on sale!
I have a gift closet. I stock up on birthday presents, candles, lotions etc. when I find fabulous deals. This way when we need a birthday, get well, whatever gift...we just go to the gift closet.
I found out this morning that Alex is a school lunch worker and gets free school lunch so despite the fact he's unhappy about it....he's eating school lunch this week!
I don't shop second hand stores (hubby does though-he'd rather buy pants at the DI that have been washed and worn then risk buying pants that shrink after washing.) but I DO find deals equal too or better than DI prices. I buy clothes off season for everyone. Coats in the spring, shorts in the fall. I hit the clearance rack EVERY TIME I go in a store. It's not a deal if its not 80-90% off. (This doesn't always work with teenagers!)
I buy in bulk.
I love hand me downs and in return I give away hand me downs. Lately I've started wearing hand me downs from my daughters. I have one dress I wear and always get compliments on and I proudly explain that this was Kambree's last years Easter dress!
I save all the heels of my whole wheat bread, dry and grind into bread crumbs.
I grind my own wheat flour and make my own pancake mix.
My husband conserves gas when driving. He has all these tricks like not accelerating fast, coasting down hills, letting a larger car break the wind etc. Too complicated for me as I'm always in a hurry and just needing to get somewhere.
I honestly prefer to rent Redbox and watch movies on our big screen with surround sound and pop my own popcorn, wear my pajamas, wrap up in a blanket, and pause for bathroom breaks than to see new releases in a dark theater. No matter how great the sound is, how big the screen is or whatever....Redbox rocks and it's cheap!
James makes his own weed killer concoction. It involves beer and Dawn dish detergent.
There are things I don't do that previous generations before me have done:
I don't wash tin foil and save it for the next use.
I don't wash paper towels out and hang dry to get a second use.
I don't fill up the milk jug with milk made from powdered milk (yuck!)
I don't save used wrapping paper
I don't make one HUGE pot of something and expect my family to eat it all week.
I don't save crap! I don't care if I do find a use for it in ten years. I hate clutter and crap!
So now how cheap are you? If you don't want to post, just comment! I could use some new ideas!

Spring??

SPRING IS NEARLY HERE IN UTAH!

Winter is almost over and we can see the deer wandering around now...

I think January and February are the LONGEST months of the year.
Winter! Grr....
However, I am thankful for heated seats in my car, central heat in my house, hot baths, electric blankets on our beds, gas fireplace in our family room and cozy flannel sheets! (All things I would NOT be grateful for if I lived some where like my cousin....Grenada! Course she's wearing shorts and playing in the surf and I'm wearing layers and trying to come up with dinner ideas out of my food storage so I can avoid going grocery shopping in the cold when I should have gone three + days ago!)
It wouldn't be so bad if we had beautiful snow covering the ugly grass and dead plants but all we have is icy patches of dirty snow, frigged temps, chappy hands and faces and inversion that makes my eyes sting.
However, as bad as our temps are here-not half as bad as my hubby in Wyoming. Yikes!! So when counting my blessings doesn't help, I console myself with the fact that it could be worse!!

Richhart Christmas Party....

Do you know anyone that drags a holiday out more than us??
Our Richhart Christmas Party was canceled last month due to weather so here we are on January 10th!
Here are the teenage cousins, chill'en.....

The girl cousin's.....Wii 'en....

Getting ready for the talent show....

Austin, Devree & Mckay learning new mouth making noise skills. Sorry Diana!

James & Rylee singing "I'm Going to Miss Her"

Alex telling Christmas jokes:
What should you give your parents for Christmas?
...
A list of what you want!
What's black and white and say's ho, ho, ho?
....
A penguin.
(It was suppose to be a penguin in disguise!)
He did this all on his own, I totally forgot to prep my kids for the talent show so we weren't the most prepared. Alex had brought home this corny book of Christmas jokes from school and these were the two he had memorized. I was very proud of him to get up in front of everyone!

McKay did Miley Cyrus "Hoe Down Throw Down" with help from his girl cousins and sister.

Devree played the theme from Mario-the video game. A tune she learned by ear.

Tabitha, Jerusha, Samantha & Deborah did a cute lip sync/dance to "Country Song Backwards".

Kambree did the splits in both directions....

Emily sang, Rhett played the guitar, Sara did a funky chicken thing and the Skousen cousin's did magic tricks and played the piano too.

Here's a cute picture of some of the girl cousin's in their footy pajamas.

I think we are finally done with Christmas!!

My Birthday

The day started out with breakfast in bed made by Devree & Rylee. Belgium waffles. Yum!
Alex made me a cute card. Then that afternoon we went to the boys Junior Jazz Games. (Devree & Jazmine had a bye so only two hours on hard bleachers instead of three!)

Alex made two baskets which was pretty impressive considering he's very new to this sport. He traveled a lot, didn't even try to dribble and would tentatively try to tap the ball out of the other players hands like he wasn't too sure if he could touch the ball with his hands. He's got some things to work on but he's so athletically inclined I think if he can figure out the rules (which he's already complained about, "Soccer easy!") I think he'll really do well. James tried to go over a few basics with him after the game. He wasn't too receptive at first-he takes offense when you try to teach him anything. He's a little prideful no make that a lot prideful. In fact, later that night we had a break down learning English. (I know, English on Saturday? But he had missed Thursday and Friday and I knew we wouldn't get to it on Sunday with the Richhart Christmas Party.) I took him aside, asked him what was wrong? Shrug. I asked him what he was acting like? He told me, "loser?" I asked if he wanted to know what I thought he was acting like? He nodded. I told him he is acting like a baby and with that he buried his face in his hands and sobbed. Yep, a baby. Babies can't use their words to say what's wrong, they give up and won't try when things are hard and they cry when they don't understand. After explaining this he agreed he was acting like a baby. He sobbed some more and I held him. I told him how big guys tell people when they don't understand and try over and over until they get it and use their words to ask questions. Today? So much better! And lots of hugs and snuggles.

Austin has David Archleta's brother (from American Idol) on his team. David showed up to the game to support his brother. It took Rylee about thirty minutes to get up the nerve to ask him for a photo. She said "I don't mean to be a pest but could I take your picture?" He invited her to be in the picture with him. Rylee's heart was beating so quickly when she returned to our part of the bleachers.
Isn't he a cute guy?? So nice too.

Kambree bought me a beautiful Cameo necklace (you can see it in the picture below) which I wore to church today and my parents gave me money! Always a good gift!
James and I bought a new TV for our bedroom as our birthday gifts to each other. (His birthday is next month.) Why? You may ask when we don't have television service? Because I really miss watching the news AND flipping on the TV while I fold laundry-which is a never ending chore! Our TV in our room was so old it needed a converter box to make the rabbit ears work. So now both boys have a TV for the Xbox 360 and the Xbox so they can play side by side down in the "bachelor pad" and I have basic channels (and a lot of Hispanic channels) to watch while I fold for hours!
I got lot's of text and Facebook wishes for my birthday. Thanks everyone!
James and I had gone to dinner the night before with our friends the Burton's. We've known them since Kambree was a baby. Karen's birthday is the day after mine and we always go out to celebrate together. So ON my birthday James made dinner and bought me a lovely Schmidt's cake and then we went to a movie with my parents and sister and brother in law.
It was a nice day. WAY better than last year when I had that surprise party to celebrate/morn turning forty. Low key is the way I like birthdays!

And because Snezhana shares a birthday with me, this message is for her:
Сніжана З Днем Народження! Надії у вас більше одного!

Ukraine Christmas

January 7th we celebrated Ukraine Christmas.We served 12 dishes (not exactly authentic but close). We had
Borscht (of course)
Perogies
Sour Kraut
Chicken Kiev
Brown Bread
Salad (Assorted)
Mash Potato's
Bratwurst
Poppy Seed Sour Cream Lemon Cake
Ice Cream
Fruit (another of course!)
Russian Cookies
Everyone pitched in and brought a couple of things each and we ate and talked and the kids ran around and played hide and go seek and sardines and laughed and played. You couldn't tell which children were imported and which were domestic.

Memory Monday-Austin & His Civil War Paper

This is one of my favorite stories.....
When Austin was in 7th grade he detested studying. (That is not to say that he loves it now by any means!)
He had a paper due on the civil war. I had pulled up a website with the needed information and a word document and told him "You can do this!" and headed to the gym. About five minutes into my workout he called groaning, "Mom, I need help!"Now when Austin asks for help, he sounds as if he's dying. He always has a stuffed up nose-allergies-and he really pours it on in hopes that I or anyone for that matter will just feel sorry for him and do it for him. Although this would be in all actuality easier for all involved-we never do! I told him, "Austin, go find your Dad, he's there somewhere, let him help you!" Austin-rather than get off the office chair and look for his Dad (who was out in the back yard)-proceeded to call James on his cell phone except he miss dialed by one number.
Austin(in a very exaggerated, sad voice): I need help.
Nice Stranger Man: What?
Austin: I need help!
Nice Stranger: Who is this?
Austin: Austin!
Upon hearing the nice stranger ask his name Austin realized he had the wrong number and promptly hung up. He then walked outside to find his father and the two of them were sitting at the computer working on his paper when the doorbell rang.
The Murray City police were at our door.
Officer: We've had a call and need to confirm if there is a boy named Austin living here?
James: Yes.
Officer: Could we see him please?
James-who was pretty sure of the situation by this time as Austin had told him about the miss dialed call-yells to Austin "Austin, look who's here to help you with your civil war paper!"
Apparently the nice stranger thought Austin REALLY needed help and since he called from our home phone, nice stranger called 911 and told them there was a boy named Austin at this number in dire need of help!
Yes, we laughed and laughed. I think even the police officer laughed and we did call the nice stranger to let him know the true situation.
Austin was very hesitant to come talk to the police officer as he had recently been caught by yours truly egging the neighbors house.
This story is a memory in it's self. I caught Austin and his older friend Justin putting eggs in their pockets and sneaking out the back door. I asked what they were doing? Justin quickly told me they were making eggs at his house and had ran out of eggs. Being the Nancy Drew-ing mother that I am, I smelt something fishy or in this case eggy and I made them return the eggs to me and begin questioning them. The truth came out, apparently, according to Justin, some scary teenagers in masks driving in a car stopped and forced them to throw eggs at the neighbors house. All the while Austin is just nodding and contributing nothing but a look of complete agreement to the lies spewing from Justin's mouth. The boys had to clean off the house-which was actually vacant-the girls that lived there that they felt deserved the egging had moved out the weekend before. Austin and Justin were grounded from playing together for a week as well.
So, when the police officer showed up, Austin was pretty sure he was there to take him for his eggs-tracurricular activities!