Photography by Jocelyn

At some point, Jocelyn got a hold of my cell phone and figured out how to take pictures and how to edit them...

More pics from Claire's party

An August Birthday...

Claire getting ready to blow out the candles...


Yummy!

Getting ready to open presents after ice cream sundays in the park...(more of those pics later...)

Claire opening a musical toy while Matthew checks out her new baby Ariel.


More pics later!

First Day of Second Grade!

Today was Jocelyn's first day of second grade in a new school. She was very excited this morning, and didn't have any problem getting ready in time to get Brianne to school. Then IT happened. We had pulled into a parking space at J's new school, eager to walk through the halls and locate the library, office, cafeteria, all the drinking fountains and bathrooms, and generally get a feel for the atmosphere of the school. As Jocelyn was closing her door, I reminded her to make sure it was locked (stock '93 Nissan trucks do not have automatic locks). J tried to stop the door just as it was closing and slammed her thumb in the door. (OUCH!!!) So much for her sunny outlook on the day! We made our way to the nurse's office for a band-aid and an ice pack. With a thumb wrapped in a disposable ice pack and brown paper towel, we wandered the halls. We located The Sunflower Classroom and went in to meet J's new teacher. J found a table of girls to sit with and got all settled in. She was a little down when I left, but all smiles by the time the school day was over. She was very happy to inform me that although she does not have any homework this first week, I do. I have to complete all the paperwork that comes with the beginning of a new school year. :\

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When I arrived at work this afternoon, I found this in my e-mail. It made me laugh, so I thought I would share it with everyone...(thanks again Rob!)
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Although today is Tuesday, it is my work Friday. I have one day off then it's back to the radio for two days of OT before starting my regular week again. I knew it was coming, I traded Jeri two days a week and a half ago, for these two days. I needed to work on getting the flooring down in the new house, and she is busy moving her Mom this week. When you are prepared to work the OT, it's not a problem, until someone calls in sick for your only day off. I REALLY do not want to work 11 days in a row, so I left this note on the schedule...Do you think she will believe me? If I have to come in tomorrow, I will need a 72 hour detention for mental evaluation by the end of the 11 days. Hhmmmm, a guaranteed 3 days off....

A Quote from Jocelyn

Mommy, you know how everything feels the same, unless it is something different?

Child's play

While the adults are cleaning and repairing, the children are playing and getting dirty and sweaty. To remedy their condition, we have put the utility sink to good use.


Claire sits in the sink while Jocelyn likes to sit on the washer and put her feet in.

Offer accepted!!!

I sit here in shock, trying hard to focus on something, anything. I can't believe we have made it to this point. Let me go back a ways...

Back in May, I found a foreclosure listing for houses in Paradise. On that list, I located a home that sounded absolutely perfect for my family; 6 bedrooms, 2 bonus rooms and .67 acres, plenty of room to live and grow. After contacting our real estate agent, Carol, we went to see the house.

Cam and I were both immediately drawn to this house. Although there is currently no garage on the property, there is definately room for one. We will have enough room for each of the girls to have their own rooms; Brianne wants black walls with white splatter and a black light, Jocelyn wants a 'Hannah Montana' room, and Claire will be happy to be able to play in her own space. Cam can have his 'man room'; somewhere between
and .
I will be able to have my 'craft' room, and someday I will have an outdoor kitchen for my canning (the summers are WAY to hot for canning, but the product is much prettier if the fruit is not frozen.)

Anyway, I am rambling on.... When we decided to seriously look into buying this house, I prayed for guidance. I prayed the Lord would lead me in the direction that would be best for our family. (I also asked for assistance in keeping my eyes open to the path.)We made an offer on the house last Wednesday. On Sunday, while driving to Monterey for a week of vacation, I received a call from my sister Julie. Carol was looking for us with information about the house. I called Carol back just as we were entering Marysville. The Bank (seller) had come back with a counter offer, $10,000 less than their reduced asking price, but still $16,000 more than we had offered. After stopping in the parking lot of Carl's Jr. to talk it over with Cam and my Mom, I called Carol and told her we would take the house. (I was SOOOO nervous I thought I was going to by physically ill!) Being a Sunday, we were unable to reach our lender with the infomation, soooo, first thing Monday morning, I was on the phone againg with Carol, and Ari (our mortage broker). After much discussion, and the shock of the new monthly payment, we decided to make a counter offer on the Bank's counter offer. On Wednesday, we offered $5,000 more than our original offer, $11,000 less than the banks offer. Well, today we recieved a call from Carol...... The Bank accepted our offer!!!!!! It will be a mad dash weekend to get proof of funds statements for Carol so she can be ready to move on the offer first thing Monday morning!!!!! I still cannot believe we have finally made it to this point! Pray for us! More later!

Shop till they drop!

Have you ever spent so much time in one store that you begin to call the employees by first name? {It would have been worse had the employees called us by first name. I guess 4.5 hours is not enough time to move to a first name basis with customers.} Cam, my Mom and I have been working hard to get our current home into selling condition. In order to do that, we needed supplies. Lots of supplies! So, 4.5 hours in Home Depot and $1300 later, we should have all the supplies we need to finish the house.


Claire fell asleep while sitting atop a five gallon bucket of paint, thanks to Jocelyn who was rubbing Claire's back

Since the Home Depot trip, we have put down new vinyl flooring, tiled above the shower and painted the whole spa room; put down new vinyl flooring in the kitchen, moved the old refrigerator out and the new one in (and repaired to tear in the NEW vinyl floor!), installed a new dishwasher, and hauled numerous boxes and furniture items to storage. We are getting the job done, and getting tired. We still have the vinyl flooring to put down in the hall bathroom, tile above the bathtub, paint all the rooms except the spa room (after getting the pink flowered wall paper, that came with the house, off the wall in the girls bedroom), put down the tile or vinyl in the entryway, shampoo all the carpets and clean the brick above the fireplace. When all of that is done, the inside of the house will be done and ready to stage. Outside, I still have projects also. Before the fires started in Butte County, I was working on putting up a retaining wall along the front of the property. Now, with all the smoke in the air, the 400 gray retaining wall blocks sit patiently in the front yard. Beside the grey blocks are 75 red blocks I will be using to put the front walkway back together. (I got ahead of myself and took apart the old walkway before the supplies arrived and before the second round of fires hit. Since the destruction of the front walk, you have to walk through the fine, red Paradise dirt to get to and from the front deck. Hence the red dust on my black work shoes.) When the smoke finally clears, and the air quality is no longer over 250 (hazardous to all age groups), I will again work on the walk way, then the retaining wall. Until then.....

Long time no type...

I have been reprimanded by Beth to update the blog...so here goes:

Back in April, Jocelyn had an appointment with a pediatric dentist to have 6 baby teeth pulled, 3 per visit, to allow enough room for her permanent teeth to move down into place. Even with the 'sleepy water' (novocaine) and 'happy air' (strawberry scented nitrous oxide), Jocelyn was not able to relax when the dentist began to push on her teeth to loosen them up. So, we had to make an appointment with the oral surgeon to have all 6 pulled at one visit, under sedation. She was a trooper getting the IV in, with just a little panic episode. She calmed right down as soon as the medication entered her system. Once she was under, I was sent to the waiting room while her 6 baby teeth were pulled. You can see her new gap-toothed grin in the previous entry. We have an appointment with the orthodontist on Thursday, to see when he would like to start her braces.

Brianne is now in her second round of braces (the first round when started when she was in 3rd grade, to make room for her permanent teeth.) It would have been nice if the girls could have received their fathers' genes when it comes to their teeth, but NOOOOOO, they had to get mine!

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Cam and the girls went to the Butte County Fair last weekend while I was slaving away under my headset. This is what happens when you wear flip flops to the fair...
So much for Briann's Prom pedicure!

Her right foot has already been wiped with baby wipes, to show you just how dirty her left foot is. Cam took some pictures of Jocelyn and Claire riding the ponies, so as soon as I get those, I will add them here.

First Place!

Unbeknownst to her father and I, some weeks ago, Jocelyn entered a coloring contest with the rest of her 1st grade class. Yesterday Cam received a call from the Paradise Pines Property Owners Association to inform him that Jocelyn had won First Prize and would be receiving a certificate at the 2nd Annual Pancake Breakfast and Car Show. So....while I sat at work, answering calls for medical emergencies and calls from citizens who are unable to make their own decisions, Cam, Jocelyn, Claire, Mom and Aunt Sandy all went for pancakes, and the awards ceremony. Congratulations Jocelyn! I am so proud of you!

Notice the phonetic spelling on the last name?

Claire, who adores her older sisters and is Jocelyn's shadow, wanted her picture taken too. She would like you to imagine she is pointing to her own creative masterpiece.

Hidden dangers of karaoke!

Beware the hidden danger! While spending the night at her Aunt Shelley's with her cousins, Jocelyn elected to participate in a round of karaoke. In her enthusiasm for the song, she became wrapped up in the cord to the microphone. Well, when you have a cord wrapped around your feet, you should not try to walk. Jocelyn fell and hit the corner of her eye on the karaoke machine, and gave herself a nice shiner!

I've been told by her father and her Auntie that the swelling went down considerably between the time of occurance and the time of the photo. I wish I had better lighting. The photo does not really show you the extent of the purpling from her eye to her temple!

Daddy's Little Helper

For the past 17 months, Cam has been lucky enough to be able to spend the days with the girls while I am at work. They have all grown very close, and I love to watch them interact. While Brianne and Jocelyn are in school, Claire likes to have Daddy's undivided attention. (The dishes can wait, Daddy!) Picture a 37 year old man on the floor with the dolls, cars, coloring books and crayons...oh, and don't forget the bristle blocks! When Jocelyn comes home from school, she gains a shadow, even on the rainiest of days. Claire has become J's shadow, wanting to be everywhere J is, and do everything J is doing. From coloring to make-up, Claire is in. She loves to let J give her makeovers and release the girly-girl in each of them.

Brianne has never really been a girly-girl. As a sophmore in high school, getting ready to go to Prom, she is just recently starting to enjoy dressing up and getting her hair and makeup done. I'll have to post some pictures after Prom next weekend.

From our trip to San Francisco last year. The headphones are for a walking tour through Alcatraz.