Beaver Tales

Sabbatical

2009-09-23T19:24:00.000-07:00

Yeah so most people take a sabbatical from things with a time of return in mind. Ummm I guess this is my time of returning. Blogs are a little like pushing a car that is out of gas, once you get it going the momentum helps encourage you along but if you stop then it is like starting from a stand still. Here is my stand still and leading off again. Its not like I ran out of things to say. Heaven help us the earth would stand still! I sometimes feel like I have to much to say and I should be doing alot more listening. So here is to listening and speaking and learning to balance that with consistincy. Hey Inger, if you are still paying attention, I am back!

Kidder Creek part III

2009-06-28T15:00:00.000-07:00

So the weekend continues with some sweet devotional time. We discussed worry and remaining in the Lord. It was very mellow. Part of being at Ranch camp is taking care of your horse 100%. Ashley loved that they were given responsibility and Black Beauty was really well cared for.

I love that she just takes the job on very matter of fact. If the horse was being lazy and leaning so she couldn't pick its foot, she took both hands and shoved the horse over. She is not intimidated at all. She cleaned all four hooves very thoroughly, as well as carrying her tack to and from the barn. I was in a lot of trouble if I even looked like I might be helping.

Another posing moment with her glorious horse. She loves her horse.

Here she is with Kendra and her horse Shep. We were getting ready to go off on another amazing trail ride through the woods.

Our hats in the corner of the cabin and here I'll pause til the last entry.

Kidder Creek part II

2009-06-27T14:30:00.000-07:00

So the fun continues.. We wake up, grab a cup of coffee or coca and go to the pasture to wrangle in your horse. All by 7:oo a.m. There is something wonderful about rising in crisp air, pulling on jeans and boots and throwing on a sweatshirt to go bring in your horse for the day. It was so simplistic. I do admit I loved that breakfast would be waiting for us when we were done. I think I will be a ranch hand, no responsibilities, just working with horses.

Here Ashley has tacked her horse and is leading down to the arena for some fun equestrian challenges.

Black Beauty was definitely a fan of walking or the fast trot. Loping was not her thing. Ashley worked her tail of to get here to move. Plus she is a pack horse and does not like to do things on her own.

Here we are having a mid-morning tea break. Probably something ranch hands don't realistically do after just a few hours of riding. Pioneer Woman could probably confirm my suspicions on that. Actually I did raise horses for about ten years and nope we did not ever break for tea. They made homemade scones and fruit flavored tea for us, it was excellent. Kendra and Ashley enjoyed it immensely!

Apparently Ashley and I matched on every day there. Though we did not mean to it was funny. A mom thought we did it on purpose. Yeah, no that would take a lot of planning on my part.. Planning is something I am working on. Yeah as in I plan to get to that. So our beautiful Saturday is off to a great start.............. to be continued.

Kidder Creek part I

2009-06-22T23:39:00.000-07:00

So as summer has quite deliciously arrived, my life is filled with everything I love....time for fun with my kids. My parents are part of a group of RVrs who go up to a wonderful place called Kidder Creek. While they were up there, they heard about a fun weekend for mothers and daughters to ride horses and spend time together. My mother was amazing in gifting this weekend to my daughter and I. Ashley could hardly wait! A whole weekend spent together. Here we are heading out of town, just the two of us!

Ashley took this picture of Mt. Shasta on our way up to Kidder Creek. Kidder Creek is located about a 3o min. drive west of Yreka. She held the camara out of the car to take pictures as I am driving I-5 at 70 miles an hour. After my heart slowed downed I suggested that she maybe take the pictures from inside the car. I did have to delete about 40 pics as most of them were repeats.

Here we are in front of our cabin on friday night. There was about 14 people total and we shared our cabin with another mother/ daughter duo from Rogue River. The girl was Ashley's age and they hit it off. Funny thing, I was hoping to just get away and spend time with people who didn't know me and as soon as we pulled in, right next to us pulled in another mother daughter set from my church who I knew pretty well. It was good to get to know each other in a different setting.

Right after our meet and greet and horse intro, we were up and away riding horses. This is Ashley's horse, Black Beauty. She loved her horse! They have great wranglers who help with whatever you need. Ashley was pretty sure she did not need anything. The evening ended with a wonderful campfire, songs and some simple devotions. The weekend was lead by this cute, never said a cuss word, christian mother daughter duo. They were too cute and spent the weekend bashfully singing each others praises.

to be continued..........................

Ryan's saga continues

2009-05-11T09:24:00.000-07:00

Wow! This is going to make me sound like MOTY ( code for mother of the year). So crazy Saturday starts with my husband and I dividing and conquering regarding baseball. The day goes relatively smooth, with every child at their appointed place on time. Good. I go to church, say the announcements, meet and greet, and head over to the last ball game. My husband is there with all the boys and our neighbor's son Mason. I show up with the in-laws, my friend Ronda, her daughter and mine. Game is fun. Alex plays well. Yada yada yada. Now it is late. 9pm late. Dinner at home will take us well into 10pm to prep, so off we go to The Birded Nest ( otherwise known as Red Robin). Ok now I am looking bad for the late dinner too, which I did supplement with jerky, cheese sticks, sunflower seeds, and Powerade. We eat and have a merry old time with 6 kids and 3 adults. Man it's getting late, so we head on home, saying our goodbyes to Ronda and family. I was the first one home, which is important to the kids. I do my best. As we unload the chaos of the day, my husband says
" Ryan, get your ball bag out of my truck."
I say "He was in your truck, why didn't he just pull in out then?"
To which my husband replies " No, he rode with you."
I now doubt myself and ask Kaleb, " Did Ryan ride with us?" He shakes his head no. Ummm...........what? Darin and I look at each other and I say
" Hurry back, he might not have noticed yet!" If you know Ryan, this is indeed possible. He could lose time in the game room. So Darin speeds on his way, I thank God we only live 5 minutes from the restaurant. As I walk in, the phone rings. It is Andy, our server ( who I have known since high school) He informs me he has a very sad little boy. I talk to Ryan and reassure him daddy should be there any second. He tells me that he went to the bathroom and when he came out we were all gone. My heartbreaks, knowing what he must have been feeling. He returns home looking like a sad little puppy, I hug him and reassure him we are sorry and let him know next time to let us know when he decides to use the facilities. Off we go to bed, with all the Beavers tucked merrily in. So ends my day! The next day is Mother's Day, thank goodness I was one day short on my errant ways.

So my son was late to school

2009-05-08T09:05:00.000-07:00

Yes my son Ryan was late to school. Usually that is not worthy of a blog post but today it is. Mornings at the Beaver's are a little crazy. Kaleb, my 12yr old, is usually the first one up, with my husband gone by then. K gets up between 5:30 and 6. Momma not so much. I am like a star, I shine at night and am out by morning. I usually pop up around 7ish. Well this morning in the hurry and flurry, kids getting bagels, grabbing backpacks, me doing chores etc, it went a little awry. Kaleb popped his head into the room I was in and said "Bye mom, we are leaving now, I love you!" to which I replied "All right, I love you too, have a great day!" and off the kids left for school. They walk the 3 minutes it takes and K likes being early...probably why they like walking.. Mom is not early and definitely not in the morning. Alex goes later, around 8:10 and he is driven to his school. Well my mom popped in and asked if she could take A and I said sure. As they were leaving I see Ryan's backpack and groaned " Agghh. Ryan left his backpack can you drop it off at the school ".. Ryan tends to forget.... a lot. So off they go. The house is quiet, I am doodling around, when I hear footsteps. Now let me tell you footsteps in your house when you are all alone is not okay! With alarm I turned, frozen. Not run, Jen , run! No stay and see who it is, classic bad movie no no! And down the hall trod.........Ryan! Apparently I did not notice he was not up in the flurry of the morning. If you have seen my kids you would know how one can be confused from another... especially in my pre-coffee haze. After my mild heart attack, I called the school and told them the story and explained that if they called his room for him to come get his backpack, he would not be there. So we hustled Ryan together and dropped him off late. Sandy, in the office, said " That is the first time I have heard that one!" Me too! Anyways now to start my day, I will do headcounts. Hopefully I will come up with four!

70's Disco fun!

2009-04-28T20:55:00.000-07:00

So I know I have been gone a long time and I am sorry. I do have fun post for you though....a flash back to the 70's! This year the mother/son and father/daughter dance was disco 70's style and we had fun!

Here we are on our way. These white bells can be found at Ross. Dead serious! They are in the regular pants section for anyone hankering for a flashback moment! Crazy!

This actually was a very comfortable outfit maybe I should start a retro flashback!

Here is Ryan loving the costume. Check out his chest hair!

He is staying alive, staying alive!

And here is the girl and her dad, I am proud of my husbands compliance with the dress code. Then again if you know my daughter it really wasn't much of an option.

So we had a great time and yes my husband is hot in any era!

wii rocks

2009-04-15T22:06:00.000-07:00

I am typing this on my tv with my wii remote. CRAZY! I type more later. Darin is bored. CYA!

Hair we are!

2009-02-28T12:30:00.000-08:00

So here is what I have been working on lately. The boutique I sell to asked me to start making these. I wish it was just start making them but I had to find the this and the that to making them. Online purchasing was included for what Redding does not hold.

They are very fun to make and turned out quite well for self figuring out.

My sweet daughter won't be wearing one anytime soon as she is quite independent and decisive about her fashion. I think being eight does that for you.

I do have some friends with wee little ones who might benefit. They fit from newborn on up. That is what is cool with the head band base.

Ha ha I repeated this one because blogging image uploads are a pain to figure out.

A little renuculose rose for fun!

These are hair clip holders. You post them on the wall and clip hair clips to them. They also have sections for headbands. Ashley will be getting one of these but I am sure she will pick the design from begging to end. I love her!
Black and Pink

Brown and Pink

And of course Blue and Brown.

So as you see the house is now calling me to clean it, because I have been a little busy.

Ta Ta for now..............Jennifer

Kings game with Kaleb

2009-02-28T10:55:00.000-08:00

So Kaleb and I went to Sacramento to a Kings game with his basketball team on Friday. It was awesome! Having one on one time with him was a blast. He is a very fun kid. His coach got some fun tickets that allowed them to do some really cool things.

Here is Kaleb with teammates James and Marquees. We toodled down with them and had a great car ride. We got down early to meet the Jabba Walkies. A dance team that danced at half time.

Here is Kaleb with the dance team in the background.

Here are some players I unfortunately do not know the names of because the Kings have a brand new team. A lot of players were traded or sold and they are starting fresh.

This player was very cool and came over and signed whatever the kids had.

Kaleb and his coach Mr. Kong. A super great guy, a very good coach.

The boys got to be on the court when the Kings came out and high fived all the players. It was really cool.

Here they are on the court watching them warm up.

Kaleb and I after the game. These are the seats we had at the game.

The two of us mugging for the camera.

Kaleb got to go on the court after the game and shoot a free throw and he made it!

All in all we had a great time together and Iwould go again in a heart beat. I love this boy!

He loved every aspect of the day and he was so fun. See ya.............Jen

Sweet Baby Jane

2009-02-27T08:54:00.000-08:00

For those of you who don't know it I sell boutique girls items to Sweet Baby Jane in the Mt. Shasta Mall. She wanted to carry my pendant necklaces so I set about finding a way to display and sell them. This is what I came up with. The name of my company.

The jar in which the necklaces are. I put the necklaces in cute wedding tins I found at Target for 75% off..

The candy jar came to me as the necklaces are just a little sweet treat.

Of course it might bode well if I posted a couple pics of the necklaces but I am as organized as I am, which is not saying much.

You can see one of them through the glass. O.k. I will have to take pics and post. All right bye for now.....Jen

This is how we do it!

2009-02-27T08:44:00.000-08:00

Yes folks this is how we do homework in the Beaver house. I was busy with laundry etc. when I noticed I had not heard from 1, and 4. Yes names take to long to write. So I toodle on down the hall and see this. Reading homework done right.

Then on my trip back I saw this! Even better when two are relaxing. I snapped these without causing a disturbance.

Well in case you were wondering this is how it is done.

Have fun doing your work the old fashioned way. Hmmm I think I can fold laundry and soak my tootsies. Gotta go!

Sweet frames

2009-02-26T17:58:00.000-08:00

So I know you are supposed to do the step by step for how to's but this is just a finished project and my photography of the second set is truly lacking. I found these cheap frames at Target in their dollar section. They were either $1 or $2 for all three.. anyway. The middle boys I left black and put some cool paper that was antiquey in it. Then I found some neat script words about boys that were clear label stickers. They were fifteen for $2.99. I did a set of frames for all the kids but I only posted one for the boys and one for Ashley.

Ashley's I took apart and spray painted pink. We found some cool silver words in the $1 section of Michael's and put them on top of some cool paper we picked out. Yes she does participate greatly. My boys just think I am awesome and cool for coming up with such creative things. My daughter realizes I am very basic and she could do it herself.

Alex's frames ( not pictured because I am lazy) I spray painted chocolate brown. Ashley differentiates between brown and chocolate brown. So proud! Anyways we put sky blue paper in with cool same stickers. That's all. I will see ya later!

How to clipboards

2009-02-26T14:59:00.001-08:00

So this is my first how to craft project that I have posted. In order to find some order (LOL) I made for my children magnetized, personalized clipboards. So they could keep track of their to do work and their upcoming projects, permission slips etc. I picked up these simple clipboards at Wal-Mart for .97 and some craft paper at Michaels. I tried to figure out what each child would like the best. This one is for my eldest.

Here is the modge podge I use. I know very exciting. I traced the paper around the clip board and cut it out.

I had to use some of the extra to fill in at the top because the dimensions aren't an exact match. After I cut the paper and modge podged the paper on to the clip board, I smoothed out the air bubbles. When it is wet there will still be some bubbles but as it dries they disappear.

Here is another clipboard with the finished project. Ryan likes pirates so I thought it was cool.

And here they all are on the fridge. Ashley's was actually in the dollar section of Target but it was my inspiration for the others. I used 5 button magnets on the back glued with tacky glue. Probably over kill because I hate magnets falling on the ground and dropping the papers they hold.

Anyways thanks for the rough demo. With time I hope to do a better job. Kudos out to all those who do this regularly. I find it is hard to remember to take the photos as I go. I love a finished project and rarely slow it down for that. Love ya ......Jen

six minus three plus two

2009-02-21T10:08:00.000-08:00

So this weekend the hormone scale swung the other direction. The boys all went to the snow. Alex and Kaleb went to winter camp at...... Lassen Pines! Yes a shout out to my Inger girl. Ryan went with two buddies for an overnighter and a day at the snow. So my husband thinks out loud, " Maybe Ashley would like to go to a friends house?" No she wouldn't . She quickly invited two of her good friends here. LOL totally not what he had planned. Being as I would be gone in the evening I am sure he was so excited. I walked in at around 10 and he was reclining on the couch, zoning. The girls had just put a batch of brownies in and from the sound of the high pitch giggling they weren't going down any time soon. I laughed and crashed out on the couch next to him. Well surprising things happen. At around 11 those girls were out cold. I guess that is what happens when you run an engine full out as fast as you can. It comes to a screeching halt.
I hope the boys are having a great time at camp. Kaleb was a little sad. O.k. he was completely a mess when they left but God is good. His counseler was none other than the amazing Gary Warner. One of the alltime best guys I have ever met. He and Darin are good friends and he is very loving. I just hope Kaleb realizes what a gem of a guy he has. Alex is fine. Alex is the same kid who went to Hawaii for a month with my parents. It was tough but I knew he would be fine .. Kaleb is his daddy's boy. If my mother-in-law reads this I am sure she is having flash backs to Darin on a bus to camp and her in the bushes. LOL That makes me laugh! Not being mean I just know once they get there they will be having fun. Oh and mom frustrating moment when I realize that yes all my boys will be warm and have plenty of clothes, I left their Bibles and notebooks at home. I panicked when I realized this and called Darin who convinced me I wasn't the worst parent ever and the kids would survive.. Well thats enough for now.

Life is fun.

2009-01-25T16:53:00.000-08:00

Life is fun.. not just funny but fun. When you take time to look at life and people around you, you tend to laugh. My husband and I were peeping toms on our neighbors the Parker's. They were just talking out in the street but it was fun watching their gestures and facial reactions. I love where I live. My neighborhood is like a free flowing circus. Kids engaged in different activities, right now I see two boys playing basketball, several boys heely-ing and skateboarding, dad of cute girl throwing a softball with said girl, neighbors intermixing. It is amazing! Most of the time if I am dressed for public, my neighbors comment on how nice I look and I laugh to myself because they usually see me dressed in home clothes and slippers. My hair is usually in a lame pony and no make up. I don't care, they love me anyways. We have a casual standing dinner night, Taco Tuesday. Anyone is invited and we all divvy up the mixing. It is usually at our house because we are pretty casual. We usually pop over to Parker's for a tivoed show like AI or Lost. The Bettes' have movies on call. I mean we just ebb and flow so lovely. 9 or 10 at night the phone will ring with a late night offer of something fun. The kids in the summer spend the night in rotating shifts. We do head counts as we go to bed to know who we have. Moonlight walks at midnights in summer with kids in tow. We still have the occasional child meltdown and mediation is required but what would you expect with kids who spend so much time together they are more like family. Not really bragging just taking time to appreciate the blessings God has given us. That is what I am appreciating today in the here and now. May you look around and realize the fun in your life and how you are blessed.

My boy loves his daddy!

2009-01-06T15:56:00.000-08:00

So this cute scene is what I saw while I was hard at work cleaning and cooking for my sweet family. ( insert reading/stalking my new favorite blogger, http://thepioneerwoman.com/confessions/.) My youngest and quite energetic son Ryan had climbed into his daddy's truck to do his reading. Mind you it is a lot quieter in there than in the house where mom is rocking out to 90's music. He is also probably noticing that his daddy has been really hard at work and focused on his new love ( creating counter tops of magnificent presentation) . So what better place to find solace and peace of heart and mind than in your daddy's truck.

Yep that profile looks vaguely familiar. I too have locked myself in my van when the darlings of my life were a little to loud and busy. I was still on premises to mind hazards but could answer the phone without saying " I can't read your mouth, whispering while I'm on the phone just frustrates both of us. Stop it and wait til I'm off. No, you can wait. Ugghh never mind, nice patient person on the line I'll have to call you back ." Any way back to the sweet sentiment in my line of vision.

Good to see him slow down and enjoy a good book like his mommy would love to do about now. Loves to my Ryan.

Post of no intent

2009-01-06T11:39:00.000-08:00

Well I thought surely I could post without picture. It just feels boring . Most likely because I get to hear myself 24/7 in my brain. Well it is a beautiful, sunny day in California and my sweetheart is working hard away on custom, concrete countertops. They are beautiful! ( pictures to be posted later) Alas the the production part is noisy. I on the other hand am sweating it out over on the computer. I know, one would think that man could bring me something to dab my brow and dampen my thirst! Training is still in progress on that one. Really when he gets on a project it is like his mistress. ( so if he has a mistress is out there that means you are loud, dirty and causing my husband to mutter! ) :) He spends little time with me and really barely holds me accountable. Really am o.k. My sweet little ones are back in school, that means schedule and practice and the dreaded homework. I don't get it. I did homework well when I was in school, but heaven help me I hate doing homework time now. I either am bored out of my skull or haven't a clue what they are asking for. Project time is when I really shine. A few years back I had effectively shoved my son out of the way so his "CA Mission" project would just be the best, when from over my shoulder he asked " Mom, why do they assign us projects for our parents to do them?" The all knowing husband quickly left the room chuckling. I relented and allowed him to hand me pieces. Actually he had some very good ideas we implemented and we ended up working together. I got an, I mean he got an 'A'. I think that is why I take over. I like being praised. I know, not my time to be on a glory train, but truth is..... that is the beast I am. Well time to go cleaning.. yes just the thing to fill up a womans desire to be appreciated, cleaning bathrooms and washing windows! Don't know how I'll break away to blog again. This sounds quite appealing.

Ashley's 8th Birthday

2008-12-29T23:44:00.000-08:00

My sweet daughter, Ashley, turned 8 years old and decided she wanted a spa party with her friends. We had such a blast. About ten girls showed up in pajamas. They had sparkling cider in plastic stemware with strawberries and glass charms. We had bubbling foot baths to relax in.

What is better than drinking some bubbly and soothing your tootsies. Ryan, Ashley's ten year old brother dressed up and served the girls drinks, bon bons, and chocolate covered cherries. They also munched on fruit kabobs.

Ashley, Gillian, and Aubrey relaxing and posing.

Next was facial treatment time for Ashley, Aislin, and Gillian. After scrubbing with facial cleansers, they put on simple face masks and cucumbers. We completed the treatment with mani/ pedies.

This is after a hard night of relaxing! Oh and the none slumber, slumber party! It was definitely a hit of an evening.

Anniversary Weekend

2008-12-11T09:01:00.000-08:00

Darin and I celebrated our 13th anniversary. We crack up because we have really known each other for 20 years but married for 13. I can honestly say that man has made me so very happy and I praise God for our marriage and friendship. For our anniversary we stayed home and our children went away. It is a fun way to spend a weekend. Home where you have everything you need and in a town where you know where everything is. We sleep in, get coffee and spend Black Friday watching people and listening to crazy stories. We just enjoy each other. He is truly my best friend. I could spend hours and hours with him. Some of the things we have seen together are hilarious. Darin and I at Penny's . We ran into Jessica at the mall and Darin is cracking up that she took our picture.. later that night we went to Walmart and played Walmart bingo. Look it up! Its hilarious. We also played Spy. Where you seperate and one tries to sneak up on the other. Darin totally had me till I ditched him. We text the entire time saying if we can see one another while staying out of sight. I know random, but it is fun! We are both twelve years old at heart.

And of course the night out to dinner. Jennifer Bettes was decorating so we stopped by and she shot a picture for us. We love our extended family.

Thanksgiving

2008-12-11T08:30:00.000-08:00

So I know that I am way behind on my blogging but that is my style. Nothing and then swamp you with blogs. We split Thanksgiving this year. My in-laws usually are back in VA this time of year but they came back early. It was so nice seeing everyone. Here is my niece Kylie and Ashley playing. The other cousin pictures were blurring due to the action content. After an early lunch we headed to our house were we met up with my family. Actually they all showed while the kids and I were down at the school playing with our neighbors. My husband was smoking the turkey so I was free to play. Our other fambors ( neighbors we love like family) the Parkers had her family up so we played wall ball. We were supposed to play football but the boys couldn't hang. ;)

Sean and his brother-in law bullying the kids in the wall ball line. Nathan figured since he was in the military he should lay down the rules. See the littlest kids, Ashley and Aislin taking them on.

Ryan was clarifying the rules to Jess because her father neglected that area of her child raising. Such a shame! Sean in the background being very mature and manly. Cause he's a manly man!

Alex and Nolan going for it! Sean and Nathan still talking smack. Good thing they are all grown up.

Finally the men having a ball. Sean and Nathan are intense! Their father-in-law was in the court to help make the correct calls. Apparently he still wanted to play football based on the ball in his hands. The rest of the day was very nice and mellow. My family came over and ate. We hung out and then it was our anniversary weekend. Starting with my parents taking the kids for the weekend that night(so sweet !). That will be next on the blog list.

Boys night at the Beavers

2008-11-24T11:29:00.000-08:00

So, a couple of weeks ago, my son Alex was telling me, that after his fun 13th birthday, some friends at school wanted to come over and hang out. I thought it was a great idea. I mean I really like his friends, they are great! So we printed out a couple dozen fliers and I sent him on his way. Well this friday the 21st was the day. We ended up with 17 boys. That in addition to the two neighbor boys and our four kids we had 23 . I was so excited. I mean who doesn't like a fun party. Everyone came over right after school. I had apples, apple dip, a veggie tray, and rice crispies. I would of posted pictures but ....... they didn't last very long. After they ate the snack they headed off to the school down the street from us. We live in an amazing cul-de-sac that is a block from the school. I knew when those boys got back would be hungry so I made a huge pot of chili, green salad and 15 lbs of baked potatoes. I put out all of the bake potatoe toppings I could think of and in 3hours it was on!! Boys playing football in our backyard after dinner.

Seth checking his injury status.. Thank goodness he didn't end up on the injury reserve list.

Setting their plan and tossing the looks!

Kaleb cracking me up!

Ohh I think it was a completed pass ! Who is at the bottom in the red sweatshirt! I don't see a head.

Inside for brownies, popcorn, ice cream, rice crispies, chocolate chip cookies and some Wii playing. Of course it was Madden Wii.... I mean we can't just stop playing football.. They only came in because it was after 10 p.m. and we would like to keep the neighbors happy.

Most of the boys spent the night too. They played nerf gun wars throughout the house and wall ball and four square in the garage. I put a movie in at 12:00 so they might get sleepy. Hey a girl could dream! Some of the kids stayed up all night. They even set an alarm to get up at 5:00 a.m. to go play football at the school but it was too dark. They let me sleep til 8:00. ( I was up til 4a.m.) I made them chocolat chip pancakes and sent them off to play football.

They slept on hard wood floors!

Here is what was left from my pot off chili. Everyone headed home by 11 a.m. Ahhhh ! what a fun night. And no you don't get to see pictures of my house post party. Leave it to your imagination! Yes it was bad but worth it. Those boys were great and I would do again in a heart beat! I probably will in a couple of months . I mean we have to get through my anniversary, Thanksgiving, Ashley's birthday, Christmas, and New Years. Hmmm January sounds like a great month to do this again!

Pilgram Day

2008-11-24T10:56:00.000-08:00

Friday the 21st was pilgram day in my daughter's class. All of the parent volunteers were asked to dress as pilgrams for the different centers. Of course I had to go see Ryan and Kaleb while I was there. I didn't have my camera for Kaleb.

Riley and Ashley and another friend enjoying their hardwork. Pilgram soup.

This station children cut up all of the vegtables for the soup. With plastic knives of course!

Mrs. Hicks and Ashley's teacher, Mrs Harvey. Caught you eating!!

This was my station, candlemaking. Yes that is hot paraffin the children are dipping wicks in. If I had a dollar for every " OWww! That's hot! ".........

Ahh yes Squanto, played by Steve Campbell. He showed the children how to plant corn using soil corn and fish. Real stinking fish. It was awesome! The kids also carved soap.

And the very happy laundry lady. She saw me laughing at her pilgram costume on my way to school. She thought I was making fun of her.. No it was the fact I was on my way home to dress like a pilgram like her!

Riley and my sweet Ashley! She is at Riley's as I write this. I love my kids friends.

It was such a great day! I love these days at school. My next post will tell you how that night made the day even better!

The coast with our fambors (Neighbors we love like family) the Bettes.

2008-11-12T10:15:00.000-08:00

I love going to the coast! My daughter Ashley and I had a blast jumping waves. The ocean in the pacific northwest is cold! Darin and Shane loving me capturing the moment.

Jennifer's squared! She is an awesome friend who I can be goofy and serious all together in ten minutes. She is my twin her love of the ocean and its creator.

Go boys go!

The love of my life Darin. He is such an amazing husband and father.

Ryan at the beach is truly Ryan happy. One day he will be a beach bum and be happy as can be!And he loves me. I am so blessed.

I love my teenagers face in the background!

And the boys look fine building their fortress but then ........

Nature strikes! I love it! Erika ( my niece ) and Ashley are oblivious.

Going online!

2008-11-11T12:17:00.000-08:00

Finally I am putting my business online! My husband ( along with many eager friends) have been bugging me to do this for quite a while. So a couple of weeks ago I took a web class and learned just a smidgen of what to do. Its enough to get me started. I started designing jewelry about four years ago and have dabbled here and there with getting it out there. Sweet Baby Jane, a speciality boutique in the Mount Shasta Mall, carries my mommy and me sets as well as in their online shop. So I jumped and put a few items on Etsy. Etsy is a selling site for all things handmade. I thought I would put things on there while I am working on my website, Jennifer'sFinerThings.com., which is not published yet. So in my free time this is what I will be up to ! Cinderella's Dream for little girls

Crystal Snowflake.

Simple Classic.

Late Halloween post

2008-11-11T11:59:00.000-08:00

Yes we had a fun yet simple Halloween. Kaleb ( the skeleton) wanted to be a skeleton because , in his words, it would be cool to have his endoskeleton be his exoskeleton. Can't argue with that logic. Ryan ( the Ninja) just likes to be anything with props. They both went to a friends house for a party....weird they are growing up! Alex was just Alex with facepaint . He hung out and handed out candy. He was so sweet to them.

Ashley was a pirate. Funny I have three boys and my daughter wants to be a pirate!

She's fierce but funny! Diane and her girls came over and my sister came over with Kam, Max and Erika. We trick or treated from our house to Little Country Church to the Harvest Party. Then we trick or treated back home. Pretty simple yet so much fun!

First Place!

2008-11-11T11:50:00.000-08:00

Yeah! We won at the Whiskeytown school run! We put together a team for K-2 and they ran 1.35 miles and all of them medaled. Ashley came in first in her division. Then our team scores combined to win the team event. $200 dollars was donated to Boulder Creek. It was really fun. Alex came out and ran to run and to be with his sister. It was a fun day!

ummm i dont have a title

2008-10-06T14:48:00.000-07:00

So my husband and I went on a date last night. Even my kids recognized it had been a while. No complaining , just encouraging us to have a good time. Well my daughter thought she should come. That is how she processes things. Yep totally rational that the three boys stay home and dad, mom, and Ashley go out. Well we left her behind. We grabbed a quick bite to eat and went to see the movie fireproof. I liked it. Some christian moral movies can be quite cheesy. This one had minimal cheese. My husband said that some of the arguments scenes made him uncomfortable. Very realistic. So it was good discussion time as we went to bed. I think it would be cool to do a movie about reworking your marriage post children. It would be interesting to see how they suggest doing their idea amongst the chaos of ever changing life. Just an idea. Last Friday I went geo-caching with friends for my friend Karen's birthday. Didn't know what to expect but had a blast. It was fun especially because it was at night. Anything is fun in the dark. I took some funny pics so enjoy!

Hi

2008-10-03T10:09:00.000-07:00

Well four weeks is a long time. I just make my posts shorter and sooner. Boulder Creek had its home meet yesterday for cross country. As coach I was in charge and you would be surprised at how mad people can get about minor things. Thank goodness that wasn't the case at my meet. It was a huge success. At one point I just looked around at the hundreds of people milling around, the rain keeping the temp perfect, listening to Mr. Porter start off the races and thought this is amazing! I love coaching. I love being active with my kids. It is to funny how being in a role like that makes other kids just want to be around you. I have a lot of instant little friends. They all come show me their ribbons and tell me how they raced. It is amazing. The volunteers I had were awesome. Mr. Porter, the principal makes me want all of my friends kids to go to Boulder because he is so amazing! Ok enough. I have work to do! I have an upcoming jewelry show and my website to prep for. More about that later. Ill post some photos of our meet at Alta Mesa. I was to busy to take pictures at our own meet.

I did fall off the face of the earth! Just kidding!

2008-09-03T11:58:00.001-07:00

Well I think my problem with blogging is that I always have some much to say and no time to say it. Just ask my husband . I need to follow the examples of other great bloggers and keep it simple sometimes and expound when I need to. The kids are back in school much to my sadness. I really enjoy summer with them, they are so fun. We are back at full speed and I think that is what I dread and in some parts enjoy. I do not like homework! I am not a teacher and do not like to teach! I would have followed that avenue if it was my calling. Alas I find myself teaching during homework time. I would be much better at just doing the homework myself than helping someone do it their way. Very frustrating for me. I am good at homework.....if I do it. Not what the teachers want apparently. I also am coaching k-6 cross country. That my friends is fun! If I could coach this and that year round I would. To bad I am not all knowledged in sports. Running is pretty easy. Run far..... all the way to the end. Good job! See you can call me to train your kids. ( I really do more than that but that was funny!)
To close I will leave you a picture of my kids on day 1 of their 2008/2009 school sentence! Wherever the picture decides to land!

Who am I called to be?

2008-07-01T10:05:00.000-07:00

Nathan did an amazing job on Sunday with the message. Ephesians 4:1 was his verse point.
"As a prisioner for the Lord, then I urge you to live a life worthy of the calling you have received."
My calling is what? Who am I called to be?
I have grown up attending church, been involved in youth group, Sunday school, Woman's ministries, bible studies, leadership, etc. Is that who I am?
I am the second born in my family, lover of sports, reading, camping, games and any fun activity imaginable. Is that who I am?
I am Darin's wife, Mrs. Beaver, mom to four, cook, cleaner, driver, activities organizier, and family rallier. Is that who I am?
I am a procrastinator, a yeller, a cryer, a laugher at all things corny, and lover of life.
Is that who I am?
The problem is that at this my point in life shouldn't I know who I am and what I am called to do? Well newsflash I don't know who I am or my purpose.
So I will put this before the Lord and wait patiently for his answer. Mmmm probably not so patiently as I am who I am.

p.s. funny sidenote ...I know who I am not. (I am not perfect, polished and politically correct)That at least is a starting point.

Holy Cow!

2008-05-02T08:46:00.000-07:00

I can't believe it has been 21 days since I last posted on here. It seems like it was only last week. Ok. This Monday it was my 33rd birthday. I love my birthday. I love getting older. Yes it will be fine to leave belated birthday wishes as my husband claims my birthday is actually a birthweek. Jealous! Anyway I have let the house rest this week and it looks like it needs help. I guess since no one has knocked on my door to clean for me it shall be my own adventure.
My kids are awesome! I have such cool kids. I really enjoy every year more. They all have such fun personalities. My junior higher Alex is becoming more and more mature. He tolerates my goofiness with such great aplomb. He has learned to balance sports and school this year. His grades did a roller coaster in mid year but he kept plugging away . Now he is on honor roll and on two baseball teams. Unfortunately the girls are also realizing what a great guy he is. For now he seems to be dodging the crazy girl bullet. Besides as he tells me he doesn't have time for them and he says you only date to find your wife. Good job! Alas I know personally how persistent girls can be...... so does my husband. Five years of stalking my prey and now thirteen years of marriage later my husband claims payback will be stalking this mama! Not with my boys! " Look! Over there! A bunny!" It worked when they were three!
My Kaleb or as he is called by his sibs KK, is so smart and sweet and talented. When I pick him up at the bus top he is ALWAYS happy! His fifth grade teacher loves him. Yeah.. because he is awesome! He is the star player on his baseball team and such a leader. He always rallies up people around him. A very positive friend to have. He will be joining Alex in junior high in June. Crazy!
Ryan. What words do I have to describe Ryan. Highly intelligent. Scored 100% in math on state testing and in the 97 -98 for reading. He is a third grader in a fifth graders body. He is so tall. I tell everyone HGH. We thought we would try it on one of our kids. joking! He would give away all of his possessions if anyone asked. Loves everyone and always makes friends where ever he goes. His soccer abilities have really shown how he is gaining control over his ever lengthening body. His high energy is amazing, sometimes overwhelming. If you are up for playing regardless of your age or gender, Ryan will show you how to have fun.
Child number four... Ashley. My creative artist, awesome ball player, my rival for daddy's attention, my fashion fun girl. What that girl can't do I have yet to see! She loves a challenge and she loves to win. Daddy's girl all the way! If she is this driven at 7 good grief! Her teacher said she will own her own business or be CEO someday because of how driven she is. Lucky girl has a kickback loony lady for a mom! As luck would have it they all think I am great....for the moment. I am neither naive or blind. I am however hopeful. Hopefully that by following God and praying hard for and with my children they will grow up to be close to God. If they are successful at that, I will be sooo glad! No job, profession, status or salary will make me as happy as their relationship with God.. I am forever feeling like I am failing them spiritually.
I know this is satan begging me to give up. If he is trying so hard to make me feel a failure then God has something awesome planned for them. I know he has given me the greatest gift of raising these wonderful creatures. Every day I will plug onward. Keep the Beaver family in your prayers, with this many of us we need it!

P.S. Yes, I pointed out and praised the positive in my children. 1. Because rarely in this world do moms rejoice publicly about their children, most complain. 2. I am human and I will rant in the future about further mishaps. Lets start on a positive foot.

Now I am accountable

2008-04-07T12:00:00.000-07:00

When I started to blog I thought ' Nobody knows. I can be as random as free money in the mail.' Then I told my bff ( I told her I would call her that) Diane and now she wants something to look forward to. Well I think I am pretty boring but this diamond of a friend seems to like me. She is one of those rare people you can be on the surface of conversation talking about the crazies in our world and then dive straight to the depths of 'What do you really think God has for me to do?" I really love her. Many a time we have caught up in the little spaces not really carved out for anything. She is my bouncer. I bounce all of the things I probably wouldn't tell another soul to. She feels around my ideas for all of the rough edges and bounces back to me my ideas in many different scenarios. I feel I do that for her also. She and I always push the boundaries of our imagination on planning what would be a great trip, spring break, summer activity i.e just about anytime you can plan. We always seem to see our plans through rose colored glasses no matter how many times our plans end up a fiasco. We press on for the next better time. I think if we clued our kids in on how our plans were imagined and how we viewed their roles as idyllic angels who request nothing but air to breathe maybe we could pull off a fantasy excursion. Knowing our kids I doubt it. They have we too many ideas of their own. Darn those intelligent freethinking individuals. Where are the robots we signed up to raise! Inevitable a sleep over is always planned. And not for Diane or I! Its starts as the conspiratorial whisper and furtive glances in our direction. We are constantly obvious to it until it is too late. We are usually grateful for a moment of chatter. Then they dive bomb us with such intricately laid out plans the pentagon might want to interview this mere mortals on their planning tactics. Rare has been the occasion that we have been able to outmaneuver their rebuttals but the victory is usually short for we have appeased their cries of 'unfair' with promises of a later date. They do not let you forget. I wish I could program their unrelenting memories to reminding me of important dates like ... bill due dates.. tax appointment dates... trash day. They are selective in remembering what is important in their realm of fun.. Sounds like someone else I know who should be doing the never ending chore of laundry, sweeping, cleaning something at this moment. Oh don't get me wrong my children are individual gems of amazing personality. But that is for many more blogs on other dates. I will sign off and go tend to the offending tasks of my house. Bother! I just remembered it is minimum day and need to dash to walk two of my beloveds home. For my friend Diane I will end this in a way to make her laugh! PEACE OUT!

2008-04-05T00:04:00.000-07:00

Well I am new at this blogging thing so hold tight..... or something like that. Isn't it mandatory that you preface your first blog with words something to that effect. Oh another thing as I am usually a good speller typing makes me see all words that are normally spelled as funky! Oh well I am up way past when I told myself I would be in bed but oh well. Everyone is asleep and I am rocking out to my new favorite xm station, the Message. It's funny because I have had this xm Delphi for going on four years and I still am finding new great stations. The fact I have a Delphi is a funny situation anyway. My husband has a funny way of finding new, cool things he is sure I would want when in reality I have never heard of the "cool " item. The Delphi was one of them. Valentines Day 2004 this radio type thing shows up as my gift. "What the heck am I supposed to do with this!" I just wanted a mp3 player not some stupid broadcasting satellite thing a majiggy! Well four years later and I am still finding cool things I like about it. Kudos to the man who knows what I'll want four years later. He is a good man. He just took our sweet seven year old daughter Ashley to their first father/ daughter dance at boulder creek. They closed the place down! He sure does things for her he would roll his eyes at me for. When we were dating he would tell me to find someone to dance with, he would just sit and wait. That is how much he did not like dancing. Well tonight they stayed late and learned the waltz together. She loved every minute of it. This is a man who truly values every minute with his daughter. I was at home with four boys enjoying a gorgeous night just hanging. Alex had a baseball buddy spend the night so we ate hot dogs ( crap), chips (crap) and soda ( even more crap). Not a nutritious evening. We closed down the evening with a s'more roast when dad and Ashley got home. The fire I started was a rager but it settled down eventually. I need to knock it off because we have insane day tomorrow. Little League opening day ( lasts forever), soccer game, softball practice, baseball game, another baseball game at the same time and the mother/ son dance. Fun days being the beaver six :)