Poor Kitties!

A year ago, a friend of Camryn's came to us with some Siamese kittens that were maybe 5 weeks old and had been abandoned. They needed a home and I had the "sucker" sign flashing all over my forehead! So we ended up keeping a brother and sister, who Camryn's friend had already named Kirby and Kamikaze. The girls adore them, and yes, even Rod and I like them more than we'll admit - but they are the biggest pains! Just like another set of kids! They are so naughty! They can't stand to be locked up or closed out so they claw at my carpet all throughout my house! Not that I don't want new carpet, but I do have to do it according to my budget, not my cats! So, they got declawed yesterday. It is so sad. Carsyn was hysterical about Rod taking them to the vet, and now that the poor things are home, they can't walk or hardly even move, and are in so much pain! How pathetic is it when you have to get up in the night to check on your cats and give them more "kitty tylenol!" I guess we really are suckers around here!

Poor Carsyn - she really was heartbroken!

Kamikaze post surgery

Kirby post surgery

R.A.D Kids!

R.A.D. Kids has got to be the greatest program invented for kids! For those of you who have never heard of it, it is a personal empowerment safety education program for kids . In other words, it is an amazing program that is offered through our school that teaches our kids how to be safe and informed in "various types of assaults, abuse, and attempted abductions." If any of you ever get the opportunity to put your kids through this program, don't ever turn it down! Camryn has been able to go through the program twice now, and Carsyn got to for the first time this year. I am so appreciative of the instructors who sacrifice their personal time to make a difference in our childrens' lives! I guarantee my kids will have a completely different mindset in a dangerous situation because of the dedication of the people involved in R.A.D. Kids!

The coolest part of the whole program is the R.A.D. Kids graduation. On this day, all of the skills and things the kids are taught are pulled together and actually challenged by a police officer who acts as an abductor. These policemen are awesome! They put on a huge red suit to protect themselves and encourage the kids to hit, kick and scream just like they would in a real situation. It gets my adrenaline and emotions going just watching them! As a parent, you want your kids to fight and fight hard! It is really neat to watch the kids in the program think about and use the skills they've been taught. I am so grateful that this is part of our lives!

I am including the R.A.D. kids website because I'm sure everyone will benefit from the information! http://www.radkids.org/ If you get a chance, please look at it!

Camryn - fighting off her "abductor"

Camryn -running to get help and get away

Carsyn - practicing some of her physical skills

on "Dummy Dan"

Carsyn - fighting off her "abductor"

The R.A.D. Kids class!

Best Friends

This is Tyleigh and her best friend, Ember. These two are more or less inseparable! I had to write about it only because they are so dang cute together! They have been friends pretty much since birth, and now they are preschool buddies too! They really watch out for each other, and miss each other so much any time they aren't together! I hope their friendship lasts for a long time to come!

They were so cute when they were getting ready for school the other day. I asked them what they liked most at school and they both said "playing with each other, songs and snacks." When I asked Tyleigh what her favorite snack was, she told me it's "smarshmallows and pretzels." Sometimes I wish they'd never learn how to say it right!

A Princesses Daddy!

I know Rod will love these pictures being a public spectacle, but I had to put them on there to show everyone what an awesome dad he is! Instead of wishing he had a son to be out playing football or baseball with, he makes the most of what our girls enjoy doing just so that he can be involved with them! I love watching the girls play beauty salon on their daddy! They adore him in so many ways, and who wouldn't?! He is an amazing guy! Rod does everything he can to take care of all of us girls, and make sure that we feel loved and beautiful every day. He makes each of us feel like a princess! We are so blessed to be able to call him daddy! And I feel so blessed to have him as my husband and best friend. Thank you for all that you are in each of our lives Rod!
You are the best daddy ever!

Teaching 'Em Young!

Every once in a while when we're on the backroads, we'll let the girls ride in the car with no seatbelts. However, every time we drive by a policeman, we yell at the girls to hide, or sit still like they actually have a seatbelt on . . . so, we're driving home from my mom and dad's the other night, and find out that our influence has actually driven home with our girls . . . (and by the way, they did have seatbelts on this time!)

On our quiet ride home, all of a sudden we hear our innocent little four year old's voice yell out "Policeman! Quick! Duck!" That's our girl!

FINALLY!!!

"The Nanny McPhee "Before" Photo"

The Long Awaited Window "After" Photo

Carsyn FINALLY lost her third tooth! She has been waiting forever for it to fall out! She waited for Rod and I to come home from our trip to pull it out, and by the time we got home, she looked like Nanny McPhee! It didn't take much to get it out, and now we have a happy, toothless, $2.oo richer seven year old girl! Love you Cars!

A Much Needed Vacation!

Rod and I got the opportunity of a lifetime to travel to Portugal for ten days this last month! It was a much needed vacation together, and thanks to my sister, mom, and dad (who fixed everything broken in our whole house!), we were able to go and not worry too much about the girls - they saved all the major drama for when we got home! We got to visit Lisbon, which is the capital of Portugal, and also the island of Madeira. It was so incredible to learn about the country while we were there. Who knew that so much history was being made before the United States even really existed!? We got to take a lot of guided tours, which was nice because we not only learned and experienced more, but we made some friends that hopefully we'll stay in touch with for a long time to come! My only gripe - of course - was the food. Very interesting to say the least! I'm not a big fish eater (or a fish eater at all!) - and most of our meals were fish, so needless to say, I lived on a lot of bread for ten days! The best part of the trip was remembering that I really do love being a stay at home mom, and the mundane routine isn't so bad after all. We really missed our girls! Their hugs made being away for a little while all worth it! All in all though, I do have to say that I really do love America!

One of our tours was to a coach museum where they displayed several of the royal carriages. I was fascinated by all of it. Can you imagine seeing this thing going down the street? This is one of the few pictures that worked because we weren't allowed to use the flash inside of the museum. The whole backside of this carriage is made out of solid gold! Everything in Portugal is very symbolic - beatiful!

This is the most amazing thing either of us have ever seen. This is a castle in a beautiful area called Sintra. We couldn't take pictures of the inside, but it was just gorgeous! Definitely one of the highlights of our trip! The President of China was even there while we were!


Front tower of the city center in Lisbon. Tons of shopping!



This is the most Western part of Europe you can go to.


Overlooking the city of Funchal in the island of Madeira.
This is in the city of Cascais. Look at the sidewalks! This city is the richest in Portugal. It is so pretty. It borders the Atlantic Ocean. There is casino there called Casino Estoril, which is where an original James Bond movie was filmed.

This is the first thing we got to experience after landing in Madeira. They call it a tobaggon, but it was actually more like a wicker sled! The two guys in the hats guided it down the whole mountain. They had steel and rubber soles on their shoes so they could brake when needed. It was a blast!
Madeira was exactly like something you'd see on a postcard. A beautiful tropical island with little villages everywhere, fish markets, fruit stands, and even cobblestone streets. Apparrently it's quite the vacation spot for the British people - kind of like our Hawaii. We met some hillarious English people one night, and couldn't get a word in edge-wise!

A special thanks again to my sister and my mom and dad who made this trip possible for Rod and I! Love you all!