Ratliff Realm

Our new hobby

2011-03-08T20:16:00.000-08:00

We have found a new past time. It is called geocacheing. Here is the site so you can learn more. It is a fun thing to do as a family. Lets us get out and enjoy nature and the weather. We have been out twice and the kids can't wait to go again.

P.S.
I know a couple of my brother-in-laws who we can't wait to share some geocaching fun with. :D

Pine Wood Derby

2011-03-08T19:27:00.000-08:00

This was Rees' first pinewood derby. He had a good time. He got to help Trent paint it which I think was his favorite part. He ran 10 heats and he won 5 of those. Not to bad.

Feb. 2011

2011-03-01T17:21:00.000-08:00

Well I have a few things to post here so I hope you are ready to look at a lot of pictures. ;)

First I am going to post about our trip to Burro Schmidt tunnel. It is really an interesting place. You can learn more about it here Over Presidents week we went with my brother and his family, my sister and her kids, My grandparents and my mom to the tunnel. Although the day was a bit chilly and the wind picked up in the afternoon we still had a great time. Didn't realize that it would be so busy at the tunnel but being a long weekend there was a lot of people there. Mostly people on motorcycles. There were BLM guys stationed there to keep permits and the like even.

Right outside before we venture in.

This is the view out the other side. It really was beautiful my camera didn't do it justice.

This is the exit of the tunnel.

After walking back through the tunnel we found a spot to have lunch. The kids ran around to keep themselves warm because by then the wind was cold.

BIRTHDAYS!!

This last weekend was Tricia birthday party. Rees opened presents and had cake also because most of the family was there. He is having his party with his friends this Friday.

Most of the kids had fun playing games.

He has been wanting this since Christmas. lol

She really liked the blue bird I made her. :)

Stephanie made these for him and they are SO cute!!

Stephanie made this for her. Tricia has been wanting one since Paige got one for her birthday in October. Tricia wore it to school on Monday. Her teacher told her it was very pretty and asked who made it. She at first said "my uncle garrett". lol

They both had alot of fun! I will post some pictures from Rees' party later.

Nice weather we're having

2011-01-22T23:46:00.001-08:00

The weather has been beautiful this last week and we hadn't had a chance to go out and enjoy it. So after school on Friday we took the kids and went to Robber's Roost. It is a fun little excursion.
Tricia saw this and said "Hey it looks like Mickey Mouse" lol

Trent sticking his arm through the rock. :O

Trent don't look now but I think you are being followed.

Each one of the kids wanted their picture taken in this hole. :)

This was cute. Caden was "helping" Logan down this little spot. Caden would tell him put your foot here and now step there. Give me your hand. Ok walk to me. It was fun to watch.

And last, here is our desert waterfall. lol

Giving this a try.... again.

2011-01-15T19:36:00.001-08:00

So with some urging from a few family memebers I have decided to blog again. It will just be a once a month thing, to update everyone (who is interested) in what we have been up to. So here is what we have been up to this last month. :)

With the first of the year came snow to our little desert town. It was alot of fun for all of us. It also gave us one more day off of school. What a way to end vacation.

All ready to play

Belle wasn't sure what to think of all the white wet stuff.

We went sledding with my brother and his family

Garrett and Trent got quite a work out pulling the kids down the small slope we found.

Later we found a better spot. Had a few crashes but for the most part everyone had a good time.

So here it is for now I will post again in a few weeks with more from us. Hope everyone is well and that your new year is starting off great!

Wild Horses

2009-04-26T20:53:00.000-07:00

Last Thursday Caden got to go on a field trip to the BLM wild burro corrals. They watched a video on how the burros and mustange are caught and cared for. Then they got to go out and see some of the animals. The night before a foal was born and the kids were able to see him that morning. It was pretty exciting.

They also showed the kids were and how they give the horses vaccinations.

And how the horses hoof are cleaned and shoed.

Afterward they went to the park to have lunch and play for a bit. It was a fun day and Caden learned alot that he had a great time telling us when he got home. :)

And I thought I loved you then

2009-04-22T17:39:00.000-07:00

April 22, 1997

April 22, 2009

Twelve years and counting

P.S.
The new song on my playlist we heard for the first time today. Trent and I agreed it sounded just right for our 12 years together. :)

The ABC's about me!

2009-04-19T21:29:00.000-07:00

You've been tagged! You are supposed to write a note with the ABC's of YOU. At the end, choose 26 people to be tagged. You have to tag me so really you just need 25 more people. If I tagged you, it's because I want to know more about you - but not in a creepy stalker kind of way. ( I am not going to tag 25 people - seems a bit excessive!)

I was tagged on facebook with this but wanted to put it here as well so others could see it and so I could also tag a few other people. I want to tag Vicki, Torri and Sam. :)

A - Age: 33

B - Bed size: Queen

C - Chore you hate: Putting dishes away. I don't mind doing the dishes but I REALLY hate putting them away.

D - Dog(s) name: Belle

E - Essential start your day item:Anxeity medicine

F - Favorite color: deep red

G - Gold or Silver: Silver

H - Height: 5'7

I - Instrument: None

J - Job title: Mommy

K - Kid(s): Rees, Caden, Paige and Tricia

L - Living arrangements: with my husband and our kids. My mother lives with us as well

M - Mom's name: Patty

N - Nicknames: Brina, Bree, Princess

O - Overnight hospital stay other than birth of child: Other then my four kids, I had my gall bladder removed when Rees was about 4 months old

P - Pet Peeve: Having to repeat myself over and over again.

Q - Quotes you like: "Though lovers be lost, love shall not. Death shall have no dominion."

R - Right or left handed: Right

S - Siblings: 1 brother and 1 sister

T - Time you wake up: 7:00 a.m.

U- Underwear: Um...Yes.( I don't really get it.)

V - Vegetable you dislike: Peas

W - Ways you run late: Getting kids ready and out the door.

X - X-rays you've had:I have had chest x-rays a few times for pneumonia, I sprained my ankle so bad once the doctor was afraid I broke it. So an x-ray then. And before they knew that my gall bladder was what was paining me I had xrays to make sure I didn't have a blood clod moving to my lungs.

Y - Yummy food you make: My mom tells me that my chicken and rice is yummy and one of her favorite things. A few few of my brother-in-laws have told me that my dutch apple pie is really yummy.

Z - Zoo favorite: For me it would have to be the penguins. Unfortenuly not all zoos have them. But really I greatly enjoy seeing most of the animals. Especailly with my kids

Just maybe....

2009-04-15T20:44:00.000-07:00

...I am not dieing after all. Since Sunday I have had a terrible sore throat and have been running a fever off and on. Tevan came over last night to help Trent give me a blessing. Today I have actually felt like I might live. I really hope no one else gets this bug. I don't think it was strep but pretty close.

Stay health. Love you all

Here comes the Easter bunny!

2009-04-11T23:48:00.000-07:00

Last night we let the kids decorate some hard boiled eggs. They only got 3 each as a dozen hard boiled eggs is more then enough but they enjoyed it all the same.

Getting started. Tricia is only in a diaper because we didn't want her clothes to be dyed also. :)

The kids had great fun with the wax crayon. Trent drew the bunny on this egg for Tricia.

Here is all our colorful eggs.

Then this morning the Easter bunny visited us, sense he knows we don't want to hunt eggs on Sunday. Wasn't that nice of him. ;). The kids had a blast looking for their eggs.

Here was our fun! Hope everyone else had or has a great time also. :)

Depression

2009-04-11T23:40:00.000-07:00

Hmm, here I am again. Funny, I think I can get away from it but it always finds me in the end. Now that I am looking at it, I have been fighting it for a few months. I know some of you don't understand or care. I am not looking for sympathy or anything. Mostly I have found when I put these things into words I can fight it better or at least try.

Anyway, hope everyone is doing well. Love you all.

So exciting

2009-04-05T20:04:00.001-07:00

Tricia said her first family pray all by herself tonight. And her first blessing on dinner by herself yesterday. She is getting so big. :)

5 Things

2009-04-03T22:01:00.000-07:00

Tagged:
5 things I was doing 5 years ago:
1. Enjoying my two boys
2. Anticipating Caden's first Easter.
3. Fighting off mice. (We had a mouse problem for a bit)
4. Celebrating 7 years of marrige.
5. Trying to find a way out of a VERY deep depression I was in.

5 things on my to-do list for today:
1. Go to post office.
2. Go to library
3. Get boys from school
4. Do a few chores
5. Pay the storage

5 things I would do with a million dollars:
1. Buy a house
2. Put money away for my kids futures (mission's, college, weddings, etc.)
3. Put money away for a rainy day
4. Take my kids to DisneyWorld
5. Take some trips

5 places I have lived:
1. Riverside, Ca.
2. Cane Break, Ca.
3. Trona, Ca.
4. Ridgecrest, CA
5. Colorado Springs, Co.

5 jobs I've held:
1. Child care provider at a Day Care
2. SAHM
3.
4.
5.

5 things I want to be doing in 5 years:
1. Have a house
2. Be amazed that Rees turned 12
3. Be amazed that Tricia will be almost old enough for baptism, which means all my kids will be. Which is a GREAT thing just sad that they will be so old.
4. Be more financially secure
5. Be happy!

5 people I tag:
1. Verity
2. I think everyone else was tagged. :)
3.
4.
5.

Spring Break.

2009-03-30T08:18:00.000-07:00

Last week was spring break for the boys. We had hoped to go to my Aunt's for a few days but she had something going on, so we had to change our plans. We took a few day trips instead. On Sat. the 21st we went up to Lone Pine and poked around. We went back to Alabama Hills and climbed around but after we realized we almost had a close incounter with a mountain lion we left. (We didn't see him, just evidence that we were a little to close for comfort) We went down the road to a creek that had some bridges crossing it. Then down to the local park for abit to eat and play some more.

Trent had to work all week so the kids and I were on our own. :)

On Tues we spent the whole day at Torri's. The kids had great fun running around with cousins.

On Thrus. we went to Lake Isabella with my sister and her kids. I forgot the camera for which I am still upset at myself about. The kids all had fun throwing rocks in the lake. We found a few spots to climb on some rocks. (mountain lion free :)) We also saw some pelicans on the lake. It was very strange. I have been to that lake a million times, even lived up there for awhile but never have I seen pelicans there before.

Then the following Sat. we went and looked at wildflowers with Vicki, Torri and her kids. The kids had a nice time hiking and we saw some really pretty flowers.

We had a fun week (with the acception of Fri)

If only......

2009-03-23T14:40:00.000-07:00

If only they could get along this well all the time. ;)

Jr. Olympics

2009-03-20T10:42:00.000-07:00

Today Rees took part in his first Jr. Olympics. It is really strange to watch your kids doing things you remember doing. Jr. Olympics was always a fun time for my sister and I. We just really loved take part in all the events. Rees ran the 100 and 200 meter. He was suppose to do the running long jump but there was some confusion and he missed it. He was ok with that though. After he ran the 200, Trent went down to talk to him. Trent asked if he had fun. Rees said "No." Trent asked why Rees said "Because running makes me tired." He really is the sit and read or draw kinda kid. I was proud of him for giving it a shot though.

Here are a few pictures of his races.

This is him running the 100 meter.

This is him running the 200 meter.

My niece and nephew were also there doing their events. So all in all it was a fun morning watching the kids give it their best.

I heart faces~ Kids

2009-03-17T11:07:00.000-07:00

This week's theme is green. Happy St. Patricks Day!! Why not come over to I *heart* faces and see more green pictures.

Birthday Fun!

2009-03-04T22:23:00.000-08:00

Last week we had two birthdays. On the 26th Tricia turned 2, and on the 28th Rees turned 7. We had a party on the morning of the 28th for Tricia. We did a Mickey Mouse clubhouse theme as she is a BIG fan of Mickey.

Tricia had a Mickey Mouse cake that I made and Rees had a Sonic the Hedgehog cake that Vicki made.

Torri ran around as Toodles for us, while the kids went from place to place looking for the party decorations that had been taken.
At last the presents and goodies were found and Rees and Tricia opened there presents.

Then that afternoon, we took Rees with a few friends from school and his older cousins, to the bouncehouse to play for an hour. It was a wild and crazy time but I think everyone had lots of fun. (At least I hope so)

Happy Birthday my babies! I love you very much!!

I heart faces ~ kids

2009-02-23T19:45:00.000-08:00

Come share more of the fun at I *heart* faces

How many have you read?

2009-02-21T20:50:00.000-08:00

Apparently the BBC reckons most people will have only read 6 of the 100 books here.

Instructions:
1) Look at the list and put an 'x' after those you have read.
2) Add a '+' to the ones you LOVE.
3) Star (*) those you plan on reading. (Let's just say everything I haven't read is *ed) :)
4) Tally your total.Then, post your total read at the bottom.

1. [ ] Pride and Prejudice Jane Austen
2. [] The Lord of the Rings JRR Tolkien (Trent read)
3. [x] Jane Eyre Charlotte Bronte
4. [X+ ] Harry Potter series JK Rowling (Trent read)
5. [x] To Kill a Mockingbird Harper Lee
6. [X] The Bible (Trent read)
7. [*] Wuthering Heights Emily Bronte
8. [ ] Nineteen Eighty Four George Orwell
9. [ ] His Dark Materials Philip Pullman
10. [ ] Great Expectations Charles Dickens
11. [] Little Women Louisa M Alcott (Trent read)
12. [ ] Tess of the D'Urbervilles Thomas Hardy
13. [ ] Catch 22 Joseph Heller
14. [ ] Complete Works of Shakespeare (Trent said he has read quite a few but not all)
15. [ ] Rebecca Daphne Du Maurier
16. [X] The Hobbit JRR Tolken (Trent read)
17. [ ] Birdsong Sebastian Faulks
18. [] Catcher in the Rye JD Salinger
19. [ ] The Time Traveller's Wife Audrey Niffenegger
20. [ ] Middlemarch George Eliot
21. [ ] Gone With The Wind Margaret Mitchell
22. [ ] The Great Gatsby F Scott Fitzgerald
23. [ ] Bleak House Charles Dickens
24. [ ] War and Peace Leo Tolstoy
25. [*] The Hitch Hiker.s Guide to the Galaxy Douglas Adams
26. [ ] Brideshead Revisited Evelyn Waugh
27. [] Crime and Punishment Fyodor Dostoyevsky
28. [ ] Grapes of Wrath John Steinbeck
29. [] Alice in Wonderland Lewis Carroll (Trent read)
30. [x] The Wind in the Willows Kenneth Grahame (Trent read)
31. [x] Anna Karenina Leo Tolstoy
32. [] David Copperfield Charles Dickens
33. [X] Chronicles of Narnia CS Lewis(SOME OF THE BOOKS BUT NOT ALL) (Trent read all)
34. [] Emma Jane Austen
35. [] Persuasion Jane Austen
36. [X] The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe CS Lewis (Trent read)
37. [ ] The Kite Runner Khaled Hosseini
38. [ ] Captain Corelli's Mandolin Louis De Bernieres
39. [] Memoirs of a Geisha Arthur Golden
40. [X] Winnie the Pooh AA Milne (Trent read)
41. [x] Animal Farm George Orwell (Trent read)
42. [X] The Da Vinci Code Dan Brown (Trent read)
43. [ ] One Hundred Years of Solitude Gabriel Garcia Marquez
44. [ ] A Prayer for Owen Meaney John Irving
45. [ ] The Woman in White Wilkie Collins
46. [] Anne of Green Gables LM Montgomery
47. [] Far From The Madding Crowd Thomas Hardy
48. [ ] The Handmaid's Tale Margaret Atwood
49. [X] Lord of the Flies William Golding
50. [ ] Atonement Ian McEwan
51. [ ] Life of Pi Yann Martel
52. [ ] Dune Frank Herbert (Trent read)
53. [ ] Cold Comfort Farm Stella Gibbons
54. [] Sense and Sensibility Jane Austen (Trent read)
55. [ ] A Suitable Boy Vikram Seth
56. [ ] The Shadow of the Wind Carlos Ruiz Zafon
57. [] A Tale Of Two Cities Charles Dickens
58. [x] Brave New World Aldous Huxley
59. [ ] The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time Mark Haddon
60. [ ] Love In The Time Of Cholera Gabriel Garcia Marquez
61. [] Of Mice and Men John Steinbeck
62. [ ] Lolita Vladimir Nabokov
63. [ ] The Secret History Donna Tartt
64. [] The Lovely Bones Alice Sebold
65. [x+] Count of Monte Cristo Alexandre Dumas (Trent read)
66. [ ] On The Road Jack Kerouac
67. [ ] Jude the Obscure Thomas Hardy
68. [ ] Bridget Jones's Diary Helen Fielding
69. [ ] Midnight's Children Salman Rushdie
70. [ ] Moby Dick Herman Melville (Trent read)
71. [ ] Oliver Twist Charles Dickens (Trent read)
72. [X] Dracula Bram Stoker
73. [X] The Secret Garden Frances Hodgson Burnett (Trent read)
74. [ ] Notes From A Small Island Bill Bryson
75. [ ] Ulysses James Joyce
76. [ ] The Bell Jar Sylvia Plath
77. [ ] Swallows and Amazons Arthur Ransome
78. [ ] Germinal Emile Zola
79. [] Vanity Fair William Makepeace Thackeray
80. [ ] Possession AS Byatt
81. [] A Christmas Carol Charles Dickens (Trent read)
82. [ ] Cloud Atlas David Mitchell
83. [ ] The Color Purple Alice Walker
84. [ ] The Remains of the Day Kazuo Ishiguro
85. [ ] Madame Bovary Gustave Flaubert
86. [ ] A Fine Balance Rohinton Mistry
87. [X] Charlotte's Web EB White (Trent read)
88. [ ] The Five People You Meet In Heaven Mitch Alborn
89. [] Adventures of Sherlock Holmes Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
90. [ ] The Faraway Tree Collection Enid Blyton
91. [ ] Heart of Darkness Joseph Conrad
92. [x] The Little Prince Antoine De Saint-Exupery
93. [ ] The Wasp Factory Iain Banks
94. [ ] Watership Down Richard Adams
95. [ ] A Confederacy of Dunces John Kennedy Toole
96. [ ] A Town Like Alice Nevil Shute
97. [] The Three Musketeers Alexandre Dumas
98. [ ] Hamlet William Shakespeare(Trent read)
99. [] Charlie and the Chocolate Factory(Trent read)
100. [] Les Miserables Victor Hugo

I have read 18. I was interested in how many Trent has read so I put it after. He has read 23.

Happy Valentines Day!!

2009-02-14T07:42:00.001-08:00

Happy Valentines Day everyone! I love you all!!

Valentine Goodies!

2009-02-11T22:08:00.001-08:00

I saw these cookies on a magazine cover, thought they were really cute and then prompty forgot what magazine I saw them on. So after some searching I found a recipe for them. I think they are so fun looking. And not as hard to make as they look. It did take all day to make them. But I ended up with enough for all my family that is here in town. I hope everyone who had one enjoyed it. :)

Trent thought they were good. He is trying to snitch one while I am taking a picture of them.

Here is the recipe for anyone who might like it. I left out the almond because I don't care for it. I also used strawberry jam because I am not a fan of rasberry. The dough is not very sweet and was really easy to handle. I am thinking I will use the dough to make other sugar cookie type treats. Also the cookie cutter I had was bigger then the ones they asked for in the recipe so I had to double the recipe to get a dozen of the big cookies.

Raspberry Sandwich Hearts
Ingredients:
Dough:
2 cups all-purpose flour, plus additional for work surface
½ teaspoon salt
1 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
¾ cup confectioners (powdered) sugar, plus additional for dusting
1½ teaspoons pure vanilla extract
½ teaspoon pure almond extract

Filling:
½ cup seedless raspberry jam

Directions:
Dough:
In a medium bowl, sift flour and salt together. Set aside.

In a large bowl, combine butter and confectioner sugar; beat together until mixture is smooth. Add vanilla extract and almond extract; stir until blended. Add flour mixture; stir to mix.

Press dough into a ball, cover and refrigerate until well chilled, at least 2 hours.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Baking sheets may be ungreased, or lined with parchment paper.

On a lightly floured surface, and using a lightly floured rolling pin, roll the dough to a 1/4 inch thickness. Cut dough into hearts or other desired shapes using a 2½ inch cookie cutter that has been dipped in flour (to help prevent dough from sticking to the cutter.)

Using a 1 inch heart shaped cookie cutter that has been dipped in flour, cut out the center of half of the 2½ inch cookies. Re-roll the scraps, or bake the 1 inch heart shapes separately.

Bake:
Place cutout dough 2 inches apart on baking sheets. Bake 10 to 12 minutes or until cookies are set and the edges are very lightly browned. Remove cookies from baking sheets and cool on wire racks.

Filling and Assembly:
Leaving a ¼ inch border uncovered, spread about 1 teaspoon of the raspberry jam over each cookie without the middle cutout.

Using a fine-mesh sieve, dust the tops of the cookies that have the middle cutout with confectioners sugar. Place the cutout cookies on top of the jam-covered cookies.

Makes about 2 dozen cookie sandwiches

My Family

2009-02-10T08:42:00.001-08:00

Get your own Family Sticker Maker & MySpace Layouts.

I heart faces~ Kids

2009-02-08T20:22:00.001-08:00

She loves the sand and look at that face. lol

Come on over to I *heart* faces for some more silly faces

I heart faces ~ Adult

2009-02-08T20:11:00.001-08:00

This is my husband being silly on some of the playground equipment

Come on over to I *heart* faces to see some more silly faces.

Husband Tag

2009-02-07T20:38:00.000-08:00

what's your husbands name? Trent

how long have you been married? 12 years in April

how long did you date? 3 and 1/2 years to the day.

how old is he? Just turned 33

who eats more sweets? Me

who is a better singer? He is by far and away. He doesn't sing much but he has a beautiful deep voice.

who is smarter? He is. He is always amazing me with bits of info on things I didn't know he know anything about.

who does the laundry? I do but he is always willing to help if I need it. And there are times he will surprise me by doing a load or two.

who pays the bills? I pay the bill after he we gets his check from work. :)

who sleeps on the right side of the bed? I do

who mows the lawn? No one. We don't have one. But he would if we did.

who cooks dinner? Normally we work on it together.

who drives? I do most of the driving. I like to drive.

who is the first to say they are wrong? He is. Even when it wasn't his fault.

who kissed who first? I kissed him first

who asked who out first? I asked him to the homecoming dance. (our first date)

who wears the pants? We both wears pants. ;) But I am the bossy one. :D

I heart faces ~ Pets

2009-02-01T18:11:00.000-08:00

Have a look at I *heart* faces for more pet pictures.

I heart faces! ~kids

2009-02-01T18:02:00.000-08:00

To this mom, this picture couldn't be cuter.

Go have a look at I *heart* faces to see more great pictures!

100 Days of School

2009-01-30T17:54:00.000-08:00

Today Caden's kindergarten class celebrated being in school for 100 days. They did lots of activities where they counts out 100 items like gummy bears, gold fish, stickers or preztels. They made necklace with 100 fruit loops on them. Also each student was to bring in a collections of 100 things. They had many suggestions for the kids to pick from such as stickers, buttons, marshmallows, toothpicks. But creativity was encouraged. Caden decided he wanted to take dinosuars and for anyone who knows my son this isn't a big surprise. lol The tricky part was the teacher wanted the collection displayed on a board of some kind. Here is his dinosaur collection:

The kids were also encouraged to dress up like a 100 year old person. This was a little bit tricky also but I think it worked out ok. Here is our "old" man:

A bowtie was added after this picutre of taken. Trent had to take him to grandma's house so she could tie the bowtie, we weren't sure how. :)

All in all I think he had a fun day. All the kids in his class really like his dino collection and lots of people complaimented him on his old business man look.

How many of you are there?

2009-01-29T13:31:00.000-08:00

HowManyOfMe.com

There are
11
people with my name in the U.S.A.

How many have your name?

I saw this on my sister-in-laws site. Thought it was fun. Give it a try. It is pretty interesting. Here are some statics on my name:

Sabrina:

*There are 87,126 people in the U.S. with the first name Sabrina.

*Statistically the 574th most popular first name.

*More than 99.9 percent of people with the first name Sabrina are female.

*Names similar to Sabrina:
Rena
Serena

*There are 11 people in the U.S. named Sabrina Ratliff.

I heart faces ~ Joy

2009-01-26T20:59:00.000-08:00

This kid was SO excited to have his own pumpkin. And getting the draw the face on it, man life didn't get any better.

Pay it Forward!

2009-01-23T17:55:00.000-08:00

The Rules

1. Be one of the first THREE bloggers to leave a comment on this post, which then entitles you to a handmade item from me.

2. Winners, you must post this challenge on your blog, meaning that you will Pay It Forward, creating a handmade gift for the first THREE bloggers who leave a comment on YOUR post about this giveaway!

3. The gift that you send to your Three Friends can be from any price range and you have 365 days to make/ship your item. This means you should be willing to maintain your blog at least until you receive your gift and have shipped your gifts. And, remember: It’s the Spirit and the Thought That Count!

4. When you receive your gift, please feel free to blog about it, sharing appropriate Linky Love!

If you are not one of the Top Three Commenters on this post, you can still play along. Please take the button and post it on your blog; start your own Pay It Forward chain, and encourage your blogging friends to do the same!

Another Tag!

2009-01-23T13:50:00.000-08:00

TAG - YOU'RE IT! If you opened it, you have to do it (it only takes a couple of minutes!) Then, send it back to the person who sent it to you and to the rest of your friends!

Five names you go by -
1. Sabrina
2. Brina
3. Mama
4. Princess
5. Sister Ratliff

Three things you are wearing right now -
1. Shirt
2. Sweats
3. scuncii

Two things you want very badly at the moment -
1. My husband
2. A house of our own

Three people who will probably fill this out:
1. Aimee
2. Stacey (my sister-in-law)
3. Verity

Two things you did last night -
1. Played a vidoe game with Trent
2. Slept

Two things you ate today -
1. cheesepuffs
2. chocolate

Two people you last talked to on the phone - (Lots of calls today at work)
1. Vicki (my mother-in-law)
2. Trent

Two things you are going to do tomorrow -
1. Go to newphew b-day party
2. Fix fence so dog can't get out

Two longest car rides -
1. Ridgecrest to Provo
2. Ridgecrest to Scramento

Two of your favorite beverages -
1. Pepsi
2. Milk

I tag Aimee, Stacey, Torri, Vicki and Verity. Sorry gals I just really like doing these. *hug* to you all.

I heart faces

2009-01-20T21:42:00.000-08:00

This in my (then) 2 year old daughter smelling some flowers. I was lucky enough to catch it just right. I enjoy photography but I am still learning and trying things.

Edict from my 5 year old!

2009-01-20T12:51:00.000-08:00

Two nights ago we had baked chicken, masked potatos, and green beans for dinner. My kids (like so many) are not happy when dinner consists of green things. The chicken and potatos were eaten without complaint. Now it was time for the boys to haggle on what portion of "these things" they had to eat. After the haggling was done and they were in the eating process Caden decided to law down the law and the following converstion is had:

Caden "Mama?"

Me "Yeeesss?" (I am asuming that more haggle is about to start)

Caden "Never bring green beans in the house again. They much us YUCK!"

Me "Oh you think so" The whole time I am laughing to my self.

So when I went shopping last week I bought a can of green beans ever though we still have some, just to show Caden that we will still be eating them. Kids are so funny sometimes.

Watching History.

2009-01-20T09:13:00.000-08:00

I was thinking how amazing it is to watch history being made. To know that one day this will be taught to our children and we can say we were there. I don't know what the next 4 years will bring. I am praying for the best in all things, which is all you can do. I do know that I am happy to live in a country and time when these borders can come down. I wish President Obama and his family the best. And to all of us that we can look back on this time with joy.

So let's sit down and buckle in for the ride. :D

New Favorite!

2009-01-17T09:11:00.000-08:00

I was looking through blogs last night and while on one I heard a song that I just love. So I went looking for the artist. It is a band called Nashville Tribute Band. I can tell that they are going to be one of my favorite to listen to. I listened to as many as I could find on Youtube and on their website. A few had me in tears.

This song really "spoke" to me. It helped me put some of the feelings I have had for Trent over the last 15 years into words. Sappy I know!

I hope you enjoy listening (if you do) to some of these as much as I did. Thank you Sis. Hall for unknowingly turning me on to them. ;)

Can you see what my kids see?

2009-01-09T15:18:00.001-08:00

In the picture just below from Trent's birthday, my kids keep telling me "Look Grandma!" Never mind that Daddy is right there is front. lol.

New background.

2009-01-09T10:05:00.000-08:00

My sister-in-law found this and so kindly sent me the link. Yay! It is super cute. :D Thanks Aimee!

Happy Birthday Trent!

2009-01-01T11:18:00.000-08:00

Happy Birthday sweetheart!!

For Trent's birthday we had all of his family come over to Vicki's house for a potluck dinner and a game of Bunco. I think it was alot of fun. I am glad that everyone got to be there.

Trent opening his present from his mom with a little help from Tricia

Just some other fun pictures from the night

I ended the night with playing a game with all my sister-in-laws and a to be sister-in-law. It was a really fun time. I hope we can find another time to play again.

2008-12-30T11:43:00.000-08:00

Welcome to the new 2009 edition of getting to know your family and friends.

1.What is your occupation right now?
Stay at home mom

2.What color are your socks right now? deep red

3.What are you listening to right now?
Looney Tunes, kids playing and puppy drinking water

4.What was the last thing that you ate?
Nilla wafer

5.Can you drive a stick shift?
Yep

6.Last person you spoke to on the phone?
Vicki

7.Do you like the person who sent this to you?
YES!!

8.How old are you today?
32 years, 5 months and 14 days lol

9.What is your favorite sport to watch on TV?
NASCAR

10.What is your favorite drink?
Pepsi

11.Have you ever dyed your hair?
Nope

12.Favorite food?
Really mexican food is good. Not sure I have a favorite. It changes from time to time.

13.What is the last movie you watched?
With the kids,Wall-E. A normal movie, Twilight

14.Favorite day of the year?
Any holiday with lots of family around.

15.How do you vent anger?
Normally I vent to Trent.

16.What was your favorite toy as a child?
A teddy bear and cabbage patch kid I got one christmas

17.What is your favorite season?
Winter

18.Cherries or Blueberries?
Blueberries

19.Do you want your friends to e-mail you back?(or in this case post on their blogs)
Yes I do

20.Who is the most likely to respond?
Stacey and Aimee

21.Who is least likely to respond?
Torri. (She probably will at some point. But she is busy with house stuff and not sure when she will get a chance.)

22.Living arrangements?
With my husband, 4 kids and my mom.

23.When was the last time you cried?
Last week when I had my two teeth pulled

24.What is on the floor of your closet?
I can't even begin to guess. lol

25.Who is the friend you have had the longest that you are sending to?
Verity

26.What did you do last night?
Played a game with Trent, Torri, Vicki, Tevan, Taron, Sam, Stacey and Tyson. :D

27.What are you most afraid of?
losing Trent

28.Plain, cheese, or spicy hamburgers?
Cheese

29.Favorite dog breed?
German Sherpeds

30.Favorite day of the week?
Flex fridays, means Trent gets to stay home with us for three days in a row.

31.How many states have you lived in?
1

32.Diamonds or pearls?
Diamonds

33.What is your favorite flower?
Rose

I tag Aimee, Stacey, Torri, Vicki, and Verity. :)

Suprise!

2008-12-22T21:24:00.000-08:00

Well I had a toothache, so I went to the dentist thinking he would give me an antibodic to get rid of the infection. Instead he pulled two teeth. Not the kind of suprise I like. So now my mouth is sore and I can't eat anything at my brother's house tomorrow morning for our family christmas get together. *sigh* Oh well as soon as it heals I will feel better so that is good. And also as always Heavenly Father was watching out for me. I never would have gone if I had known that this is what would happen. I am terrified of the dentist. (stupid anxeity) But this way I had no choose which for me is better. It is a happy feeling knowing how much He watches out and helps me. I also want to thank Vicki for being there for me. I needed someone and you were just the right person. I love you!

Anyway, ramble done. Merry Christmas everyone!

Jingle Belle

2008-12-18T17:24:00.000-08:00

We got our puppy yesterday. She is a 6 week old pure blood german shepard. And she is pretty. They kids wanted to call her Jingle (being christmas and all) Mom and I wanted to call her Belle. So you can see how her name came to be. :D Her are some pictures of our new baby girl.

Here is a somewhat full veiw of her. It is hard to get any shots of her while she is chasing the kids up and down the hall. lol

Here is her pretty face.

How sweet is this?

So cute!

2008-12-17T21:39:00.000-08:00

My mom posted this. I thought it was SO cute. Go have a look.

Tricia and Daddy

Hooray!!

2008-12-17T10:38:00.001-08:00

Paige is offically potty trained!! Just had to share our excitement. :D

Let it Snow....LOT!!!

2008-12-15T19:46:00.000-08:00

Ok so it was only alot for us desert rats. But it was really coming down in Walkers Pass when we went up after the kids got out of school.

There was snow on the mountains when we got up this morning, so right after school Trent, the kids and I along with Torri her kids and Tevan headed up to Walker Pass to play for a bit. It started snowing alittle right after we got there. After about 45 mins it was really coming down, so we waited for a snow plow and headed home. It was a short trip but I think everyone had fun.

Tevan helping the kids climb up to slide down some.

Tricia getting a look at this white stuff

This is Rees. Just giving you an idea of how much it was snow there at the end.

The kids had a great time

Now we hope that some of that snow makes it down here to our valley!!

Boy Christmas Program

2008-12-13T15:44:00.000-08:00

This last Friday was the Christmas program at Faller. The boys did great and had lots of fun. Caden's class sang Ring, Ring the Bells and Jingle Bells. Rees' class sang Santa Claus is coming to town. It was hard to get a good picture of them but we got a video. So that will be fun to watch.

Caden

Rees

Rees caught sight of us!

Gather around the christmas tree!

2008-12-08T21:03:00.000-08:00

We decorated our tree yesterday. It was fun! Here are some pictures.

Here is us getting started

The kids were "helping". With four of them it was hard to tell if it was helpful or not.

Next comes the ornaments

And last but not least Grandma put on the star

Pretty if I do say so myself

Christmasy Tag!

2008-12-08T19:48:00.000-08:00

Welcome to the Christmas edition of getting to know your friends. Okay,
here's what you're supposed to do, and try not to be a SCROOGE!!! Change all the answers so that they apply to you. Then send this to a
whole bunch of people you know, INCLUDING the person that sent it to
you......Tis the Season to be NICE!

1. Wrapping paper or gift bags? paper, as long as Trent is doing the wrapping.

2. Real tree or Artificial? REAL!!

3. When do you put up the tree? Sometime in Decemeber. We don't really have a tradition for this yet.

4. When do you take the tree down? The day after New Year's or so.

5. Do you like eggnog? I like eggnog. But I am good with it just once a year.

6. Favorite gift received as a child? My first car. I never got to drive it but I liked it all the same.

7. Hardest person to buy for? My sister

8. Easiest person to buy for? Trent, my mom and Torri. I can come up with millions of ideas for them.

9. Do you have a nativity scene? Yes, two actually

10. Mail or email Christmas cards? Mail if I actaully send any.

11. Worst Christmas gift you ever received? Not really sure that I have gotten a really bad present.

12. Favorite Christmas Movie? It's a Wonderful Life!

13. When do you start shopping for Christmas? August.

14. Have you ever recycled a Christmas present? Can't remember doing that.

15. Favorite thing to eat at Christmas? fudge

16. Lights on the tree? yes. I decided I like the white ones.

17. Favorite Christmas song? Away in a Manger.

18.. Travel at Christmas or stay home? Stay home

19. Can you name all of Santa's reindeers? yes, wanna see?

20. Angel on the tree top or a star? star

21. Open the presents Christmas Eve or morning? morning

22. Most annoying thing about this time of the year? That is goes by so quickly. The last few years I haven't felt like I really got to enjoy it.

23. Favorite ornament theme or color? My tree is got alot of penguins on it. lol

24. Favorite for Christmas dinner? We have our big dinner on Christmas Eve. So Christmas Day is normally leftovers.

25. What do you want for Christmas this year? Neopet toys. lol

I tag both my Moms, Torri, Aimee, Stacey, Verity and anyone else who wants to do this.

Happy Thanksgiving!

2008-11-27T10:02:00.000-08:00

I just want to tell everyone I hope they have a great Thanksgiving with lots of good food and great friends. I am thankful to my Heavenly Father for each of you and the blessing you are to me. I am forever grateful that I am not one of those people who hates it when their in-laws are around. I wouldn't have been able to make it this far in my life without Vicki and Torri. I love you both so much! I am grateful for all my sister-in-laws and their friendship. I am glad we can be friends. For all my friends who read this I love you and am so glad I know you. I know my kids won't read this but I want them to know they are the greatest blessing I could ever have been giving. Each one of you are a light in my world. Trent you are my reason. Thank you for being you and loving me.

*hugs* to all! Have a beautiful day!!

My Conclusion

2008-11-23T20:14:00.000-08:00

So I am on a medicine that is really helping. I am feeling so much better then I have felt in quite some time. And yet I can't make myself do somethings. Most importantly go to church. I have been really upset with myself about this and pondering and praying about it for sometime. Well here is my conclusion. I am scared. I am scared of doing to much and back sliding. I don't think most of you know how bad I was at the being of the year. April was a REALLY bad month. Mostly due to a medication I was tryin that I reacted badly to. But just think about the worst thing you can about mental illness and that is where I was. So I think I have been hiding some to keep from over doing it and back sliding anywhere near there again. I am SO happy that I finally feel able to do so many things that I haven't been able to do in years. I am not 100%. I guess I will never be without my anxeity and I can deal with that. Heavenly Father has given us all trails and this is one of mine. I just don't want to be unable to do anything like before. Church is hard for me for many reasons. I have a hard time with a crowd of people. I worry alot about what people think of me. This may be silly but I can't help it. I let all of it get to me. Getting the kids ready, keeping them calm durning Sacrament meeting, getting them to class. I know I need to get to church not only for me but for my kids. I want to get to church. So here is the reason I am putting this here. I think saying this outloud (so to speak) will help me start to deal with it. Also it will be nice for some encouragement (if anyone feels so inclined). I am going to try my hardest to work past this fear of backsliding. I want to get to church. I will make it. Thank you for listening. :)

Moments!

2008-11-20T13:38:00.000-08:00

So my cousin sent this one to me and I thought about it for awhile before I put it here. But I do like the tags and I am always interested in learning more about all the ladies in my life. So I guess that means I need to start this one. So here goes.

What was the happiest moment of your life?

I don't think I can narrow this down to one moment. The best I can do it five.

Kneeling across the altar from Trent.
Hearing each one of my babies cry for the first time.

What was the saddiest moment of your life?

Letting go of Trent and closing the door, knowing I wasn't going to see him again for two years.

What was the scariest moment of your life?

I think that would have to have been when they gave me a medicine to help with the nausions feeling I had after having Paige. I hate throwing up so I took the medicine. But it did something bad to my anxeity. I have never felt more gross in my whole life. It was a really scary thing to know my anxeity was so bad but not be able to explain why.

What was the most embrassing moment in you life?

NO WAY am I sharing this. lol I am fairly cetain that the only person who is aware of this moment has forgotten all about it. And I am not sure if I ever told Trent. Yes it was that bad. And the worst part is it wasn't my fault. This goes with me to my grave.

What was the most exciting moment of your life?

Not sure what the most exciting moment was. I think it was waiting for Trent to get off the plane after his mission. But I was VERY excited about spending two months in Hawaii with my aunt.

I tag Vicki, Torri, Aimee, Stacey, Verity and my mom. :)

Crazy Eights!

2008-11-19T21:13:00.000-08:00

8 Things I am passionate about:
1. Trent
2. My kids
3. Family
4. Church
5. Love conquering all stories
6. Being nice to others
7. Helping others
8. Being a good friend

8 words or phrases I use often:
1. I love you!
2. Baby
3. Calm down!
4. Kiss me.
5. Rees Albritton
6. Caden David
7. Victoria Paige
8. Tricia Diane

8 things I want to do before I die/on my wish list:
1. See my mom baptized. (Yes I think this is a real possiblity)
2. Understand my sister better
3. See my children baptized and married in the temple
4. Spend more time with my husband
5. Keep my anxeity under control
6. Own a home!
7. Know that I have made some kind of diffrence in my kids lives.
8. Feel better about myself

8 things I've learned in the past:
1. We never know as much as we think we do about a situation
2. Forgiveness is possible
3. Having children is the greatest blessing one can have. (I kept this one from my friend's she put it so well!)
4. Don't assume things. The old saying it true.
5. No one else really cares if your house is spotless
6. Trent really does love me. I may never know why, but it is true
7. Just because you forgive someone doesn't mean you have to put yourself back in a bad place.
8. The past is the past. Move on!

8 things I currently want or need:
1. A HOUSE!
2. A HOUSE!
3. A HOUSE!
4. A HOUSE!
5. A HOUSE!
6. A HOUSE!
7. A HOUSE!
8. A HOUSE!

8 Places I want to see/visit
1. Hawaii with Trent
2. Carlsbad Caverns
3. Yellowstone
4. Hawaii Temple with Trent
5. Alaska
6. Disney World with my kids
7. More temples
8. My aunt more often

8 favorite restaurants:
We don't eat out very much. So this is a very short list.
1. La Fiesta
2. China Gardens
3. Texas Cattle Company
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.

8 TV shows I can't live without:
We don't have cable so again a short list
1. FRIENDS
2. Firefly
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.

8 things that happened yesterday:
1. Took mom to two doctors appts in Lancaster.
2. Drove to Lancaster
3. Went to Toys-R-Us
4. Picked mom up from one place and took her to the other dr.
5. Went to Target.
6. Drove home
7. Stopped in Red Rock Caynon so the kids could get some energy out
8. Took to many of my anxeity pills(this was an accident) and went to sleep

8 things I look forward to:
1. Twilight!
2. Christmas!!!
3. Thanksgiving
4. Tax return
5. Visiting with my aunt again
6. Advent Calendar (Neopets thing)
7. Torri and Scott getting there house. (I have many reasons for this one)
8. Finding a new book I love.

8 things I love about the fall:
1. Cooler temps
2. Halloween
3. Paige's birthday
4. The colors
5. Warm clothes
6. Comfy socks
7. blankets
8. Pumpkin Bread

8 things I need to work on!
1. Saving money
2. Cleaning house
3. Making it to church
4. What I think about myself
5. My weight
6. Doing more fun things with the kids
7. Being a better friend
8. Eating habits

Update

2008-11-14T18:47:00.000-08:00

So the man was driving under the influence. We had to make an offical report with the police today. The little girl he put in the car wasn't in a carseat and she was about 3. The police officer told us thank you for calling and taking him off the streets. So the bad sitution turned into something better. And we are happy for that. :)

Some days are better then others

2008-11-13T20:25:00.000-08:00

After a very annoying appt across town, my mom, the kids and I were driving down China Lake toward Ward. Some guy pulled into the idiot lane behind me. So I said something about this guy is an idiot or something. I slowed down so he could go around me cause I wanted to get over to turn. He gets right beside me and starts flipping me off and pointing to the back of my car. Well we have a yes on 8 sticker still on our car. So I was like whatever. I mean it was a bit upsetting but people are stupid so whatever, right? So he turns onto Ward and I wait my turn and turn onto Ward. He is barely crawling in the right lane. So I get in the left lane and start to speed up cause I was afraid he was going to get in front of us or something
Well he is flipping us off the whole time and as I get close to him he swerves over in my lane and then turns in to a driveway right there. So mom tells me to turn around. So I go back and it is a parking lot for a day care. Mom calls the cops and tells them what just happened. Mom said she thought he was drunk. So they tell us to wait there and a cop is on the way and if the guy should leave watch which direction he goes. So we wait. The guy comes out with a little girl and goes and we wait Finally mom calls the police dept. again to see what it up and they tell her that the cops are with him right now. and he is drunk! They said they were sorry we sat there for so long but that was why a cop hasn't come yet. So we leave and a bit up the road we see flashing lights. So we drive up there and sure enough 3 cop cars and a women there to get the little girl. The dispatcher told mom thank you for getting a drunk driver off the road and he will be charged DUI, child endangerment, and attempting to hit us.

Hope everyone else had a better day!

Something to think about

2008-11-12T22:03:00.000-08:00

Go have a look at my mom's blog All 8 of Us

I am very proud of the effort, thought and caring that she put into this. I happen to agree with her as well. :) Thanks Mom. I love you!

Mommy's babies

2008-11-06T22:39:00.000-08:00

Ok so they aren't really babies anymore but every mom will agree that our kids will always be our babies right? Took these pictures at Paige's party. I am feeling very sad tonight at how big they are getting. I needed to do something to make myself feel better and these came out so cute. :) The one of Rees makes me really happy because I ask if he would take a picture with me and he reached up and kissed me while Trent took the picture.

What twilight character are you?

2008-11-04T10:09:00.001-08:00

Take the Quiz and Share Your Results!

7 Facts Tag!

2008-11-02T19:46:00.001-08:00

Ok Stacey tagged me with this and I forgot about it until now. So here goes.

Here we go 7 random/weird things about me.

1. I am deathly afraid of cockraoches. Like sit on the ground and cry and scream afraid. No idea why but I can't seem to get over it.

2. When I was in high school, I dreamed of being on a Pro womens soccer team.

3. My dream job would be to be a stunt driver. Driving really pretty cars, really fast. Oh yeah!!

4. I get on one food and it is all I want to eat, all the time. For awhile we ate ALOT of chicken and rice. Now it is cheesey garlic bread.

5.I HATE to bother people. I would rather sit all by myself then be where I might be in the way or not wanted. And I can imagine I am a bother without anyone telling me I am. So alot of people think I am standoffish

6. Trent and I payed a total of $50 for all three of our wedding rings

7. I have sprained my left ankle a total of 20 times with lots of twisting it in between.

Not sure if those are interesting or not but that was all I could think of. lol

Paige's 3rd birthday!!

2008-11-02T14:40:00.000-08:00

We had Paige's birthday party on Satruday but due to rain we had to move it from the park to Grandma's house. We didn't have any activities plan because we thought they could play at the park. But they had fun running around the house chasing each other.

Her cake

Opening her presents

Happy Birthday to Paige

I can't believe she is 3!

Halloween Fun!

2008-11-02T14:30:00.001-08:00

We had a good time. We went to the church for the trunk or treat. After that Vicki, Us and our 4 kids, Torri and her 3 and Thane and Cori and their 2 all went trick-or-treating over by Vicki's house. It was alot of fun with all those kids. They had a great time being together and so did we. :)

Here are pictures of my little characters. ;)

Here is Optimus Rees. :D

Creepy, crawly, Caden

The birthday girl as Snow White

Our little Trici Mouse

Hope everyone had a great a safe Halloween!

Happy Halloween!

2008-10-31T08:29:00.001-07:00

Hope everyone has a great Halloween. Can't wait to see the pictures of all the kids. Be safe, have fun. We love you all!

P.S.
Our little girl is 3 today! *sigh*

Our first date.

2008-10-22T21:13:00.000-07:00

15 years ago tonight Trent and I started offically dating. You can tell two things from this picture. A- I wasn't a member of the church yet, as you can tell by my dress and B- I was very nervous, as you can tell by the fact that he is still holding the corsage. Both facts that still embrass me today. lol Hard to believe it has been so long. We look so young. When we left that night my mom called my aunt and then my grandma to tell them that she had just meet her future son-in-law. Something that she loves reminding us about still. I guess it must have been written on us somewhere. My mom wasn't the only one in my family to see it. Anyway, here is us so many years ago not knowing what was in store for us, not knowing what we were starting, not knowing that an eternity of happiness was waiting. I think that is the strangest part. Remembering standing there, and not realizing that my future was standing right next to me. I was just trying not to look as nervous as I felt. lol Ok enough mushy stuff. :D

Happy Birthday Mommy!

2008-10-20T12:42:00.000-07:00

Satruday also happened to be my mom's birthday. My aunt made her a really pretty cake.

The kids had fun helping grandma open her present.

And mom got to have fun at the zoo also.

She said she had a nice birthday. I sure hope so.

Boo at the Zoo!

2008-10-20T11:59:00.000-07:00

This weekend we took the kids to the Chaffee Zoo in Fresno for Paige's 3rd birthday trip. The zoo does this thing called Zoo Boo. The kids can go trick-or-treating all around the zoo while seeing the animals. We left on Friday and went to my Aunt Carol's house to stay the weekend. Then Satruday evening we headed to the zoo. Vicki and my mom both went with. It was great fun to have both grandmas, Aunt Carol and my cousin Johnny go with us.

Here they are trick-or-treating.

Paige and this little goat in the petting zoo sure took a liking to each other

Most of the kids at the zoo were dressed in their costumes. All of us just wore Halloween shirts. Here are my boys in theirs.

Pretty waterfall. :)

There was a mantaray pool that we could touch the manta rays, sting rays, horseshoe crabs and a few little tiger sharks as they swam by. Caden wouldn't even put his hand in the water but he did like looking at the sharks. Tricia just wanted to splash the water, who cares what is in there. Rees and Paige tried to touch the manta rays but when Rees saw a shark coming he would grab me hand. "Mom get it out of there"

One of the zoo workers was "riding" this octrich around the zoo. It was really cute.

We really did have a great time. It was alot of fun for the kids to see all the animals. They liked seeing all the costumes and the trick-or-treating was a big hit.

P.S.
I will add some more pictures to my photobucket.

Second Place!

2008-10-16T23:19:00.001-07:00

I enter this picture in our city fair and found out today that I won second place in its division. Not to bad. I am pretty happy.

Kids say the smartest things!

2008-10-16T23:13:00.000-07:00

Trent took Paige with him to drop the boys off at school this morning. While drive to ran and errand after dropping them off Paige was in the back chattering. "Look there is two lights" "I see a truck" Normal kid stuff. Then while stopped at a light, Paige said. "Daddy?" Trent said yes. "There are alot of people in California" she informed him. He was quite shocked that our almost 3 year old could make such imformed statement. We didn't realize she even had the concept of what California was. Anyway, just wanted to share this cute comment and my clever daughter. :)

High school tag

2008-10-16T22:54:00.000-07:00

1. Did you date someone from your school? Yes and 15 years later he is still stuck with me. :)

2. What kind of car did you drive? Didn't drive until after high school

3. Were you a party animal? No

4. Were you considered a flirt? I don't think I was.

5. Were you in band, orchestra, or choir? No

6. What was your most embarrassing moment of high school? You want us to share this. lol Ok here goes. I have always been rather big chested, which means alot of cleveage whether I want it or not. Anyway, one day at luch a guy friend of mine started tossing ice at some of us and he managed to toss a piece right in my shirt. So I had a piece of ice in my...um.... cleveage and not a real easy way to get it out. So yeah you can imagine how fun that was. lol

7. Were you a nerd? No. I was somewhere in between nerd and popular.

8. Were you on any varsity teams? Yes, soccer team.

9. Did you get suspended/expelled? Oh my No.

10. Can you still sing the fight song? If I thought about it for a minute I am sure it would come back to me. Yep, I can sing it. lol

11. Who were your favorite teachers? Mr. Bell (Math) and Mrs. Shaffer (Art, actaully that was my favorite class all the way around but that is another story)

12. What was your school's full name? Sherman E. Burroughs High School

13. School mascot? Burro

14. Did you go to homecoming, and with who? I went my Jr. year with Trent Ratliff. :D

15. If you could go back and do it again, would you? Not really. I had the best and worst times of my life in high school quite literally. And I don't really have any need to relive any of it. The best parts are still with my today and the worst I have worked hard to put behind me.

16. What do you remember most about graduation? Missing it. It is the one thing I regret most in my life. Not getting a real senior year. (This is a result of the worst part)

17. Where did you go senior skip day? Didn't get a senior skip day.

18. Were you in a club? No

19. Have you gained some weight since then? Oh my goodness yes. I laugh at myself quite often when I see picture from then. I so thought I was fat in high school. If I had only known. lol

20. Who was your prom date? I only went my Jr year and Trent was my date.

21. Are you planning on going to your 10 year reunion? I wanted to go but it was about a week after I had Paige and with having a c-section I just couldn't.

22. Looking back, what advice would you give yourself? I think I would have tried to stick it out. I am not sure in the sitution I was in that I could have made it through my senior year but I do regret missing all the things that go with it. All in all I think I did the best that I could. And my sophmore and jurior years were good.

I tag my mom. :)

Caden's first field trip

2008-10-09T16:43:00.000-07:00

Caden's class went to Murray Family Farms to visit a pumpkin patch amoung other things. Although it was a long trip, it was really a fun place. There was a huge maze that they called the spider maze. When you got to the end there was a big activity area with a hay pyraimd to climb, a small ball pen, and a big spider that you could move the legs. The kids got to go to a petting zoo. We had a hay ride to the pumpkin patch where each child got to pick a pumpkin to keep. After that the kids had lunch in a big shady picnic area. Not to bad for $5.

Caden in the spider maze.

Big spider in one of the dead ends

Caden and Trent at the top of the hay pyramid

When we asked Caden what his favorite part was he said petting the goat.

Your hay ride to the pumpkin patch

Here we are with your pumpkins

Finally a choose

2008-10-07T10:58:00.000-07:00

Like so many of you, I was very upset to find that PG&E had given money for the No on Prop8. As we have PG&E as our natural gas provider, I wanted them to no this was wrong and I was upset that I had no choose but to use them. Well maybe we do have a choose. I just got this link in an email. No to PG&E. I am still looking into it but I thought I would share that there maybe other options out there and what better way to get a message across to PG&E then to drop there service. I hope that this will really work. *crosses fingers*

I was Tagged!

2008-10-06T18:47:00.000-07:00

Six Questions:

1) Six places that I go to over and over: Faller, IBAR, Vicki's house, Wal-mart, Albertsons, Drive-thru dairy.

2) Six people who e-mail me regularly: Garrett, Uncle Mel, Ginny, Aunt Mary, Aimee, My mom

3) Six of my favorite places to eat: At home, Aunt Carol's, My Grandma's, La Fiesta, Little Ceasars, China Gardens

4) Six places I would rather be right now: In Trent's arms, At my Aunt Carols, Temple, any place having fun with my kids,

5) Six people I tag: Just my mom

6) Six TV shows I watch: Dora, Blues Clues, Scooby-Doo, Mickey Mouse Club House, Backyardagins, Transformers.

Do you have Lady shoes?

2008-10-02T19:45:00.000-07:00

Well Paige does. She found an old pair of her Sunday shoes and put them on yesterday. Caden told her that she looked like a Lady. So now she is calling dress shoes, Lady shoes. She put them on again this morning. They were three sizes to small, so you can imagine what her foot looked like stuck in those shoes. So with the promise of new Lady shoes we got her to take off the too small ones and headed to the red store (Wal-mart) right after getting the boys. Grandma bought her some new Lady shoes. She is really cute.

Here is my little lady with her new shoes.

I asked her for one more and this is what I got. I guess she is only so much a lady. LOL

Close up of her Lady shoes

24 handbags in 24 hours Free!

2008-10-02T11:20:00.000-07:00

Just visit Handbag Planet for your chance to win a free handbag. It is very simple. They are celebrating their October 15, 2008 launch. Go by and check it out.

A couple of them are really cute. :)

Just a quick change!

2008-10-01T14:03:00.000-07:00

I am so getting into the Halloween spirit already. Wanted to get a new background up here to help with that. Hope everyone is doing well.

Guess what Trent got to do?

2008-09-26T16:35:00.000-07:00

He got to drive the Humvee simulater the other day. He said it was pretty cool. He is very excited about it. You will have to get him to tell you the details if you are interested. Just thought I would share the fun.

P.S.
I am way jealous by the way! *lol* but I'm glad you had fun baby. ;)

Adding Pictures

2008-09-21T18:04:00.000-07:00

Everyone else added some great pictures of their husbands. I was being lazy that day and didn't. I wanted to add some to the blog now. Hopefully no one minds looking through them.

Ride em' daddy!

Skipping rocks withthe boys

Trent looking Tricia over

Helping Paige feed the ducks

Being silly

Just a few pictures of the man I love.

What car are you?

2008-09-18T23:28:00.000-07:00

Ok so I saw this on Sister Halls blog and as I love fast, shiny cars I took the test.
And now I am sad cause I didn't get to be a cool car at all. And jealous because Sister Hall was a mustange. I wanted to be a mustange. *is very sad* (and silly, I know lol)

I'm an Audi TT!

You're not the fastest, nor the most nimble, but you're cute and you have style. You're not intensely competitive, but when you pass by, everyone turns to look.

Take the Which Sports Car Are You? quiz.

Hubby Tag!

2008-09-18T15:17:00.000-07:00

Stacey tagged me and being as Trent is one of my five favorite topics I thought this would be fun. :)

1) Where did you meet? (the first time)
We were both in the same art class my Jr. year of high school. He was a Sr. and was siiting across the room from me. I noticed the cute boy with really pretty eyes. That was it for me I was in love. :)

2) How long did you date before you were married?
We were together for 3 and 1/2 years exactly the day we got married. It was only that long because he was on his mission for 2 of those years.

3) How long have you been married?
11 and 1/2 years next month.

4) What does he do that surprises you?
He loves me each and everyday. No matter what mood I am in, or what I put him through. And it is amazing to me.

5) What is your favorite feature about him?
His eyes. That was the first thing I noticed about him and I still can just stare into them and get lost.

6) What is your favorite quality about him?
His patience. My sister says that he has more patiance then one human being should be allowed. I think that it is very true.

7) Does he have a nickname for you?
He is the one who started calling me Brina. Growing up my nickname was Bree. But that is all. He doesn't use little pet names. :)

8) What is his favorite color?
Purple, if he had to choose.

9) What is his favorite food?
Bread and lots of it. lol

10) What is his favorite sport?
I think it would be chasing the kids around. Ok so maybe that isn't his favorite sport but it is the one he plays the most. lol (Trent isn't a sports kinda guy)

11) Who said "I love you" first?
I did. About 4 months before he told me. The first time he told me he loved me was the night before I was leaving for Hawaii for 2 months. Talk about timing.

12) When and where was your first kiss?
It was in November of '93 on the sidewalk in front of K-mart. We had been dating for about a month. My mom worked at K-mart at the time and I would walk up to the store everyday after school. Trent started walking with me after we started dating. So this day I decided to kiss him. So instead of hugging him which was what I normally did, I reached up and kissed him quickly and hurried off to the store. I didn't look back at him I was to embarrsed.

13) What is your favorite thing to do together?
Anything. As long as we are together anything is good.

14) How old is he?
33 in Dec.

15) Do you have any kids?
4 beautiful blessings

16) What is a hidden talent he has?
I think I would rather not share his hidden talent. ;)

17) What is his favorite type of music?
Not sure he has a favorite. He listens to lots of things.

18) What do you admire most about him?
Everything. He is the kindest, smartest, most wonderful person I know.

19) Do you think he is going to read this?
He checks the blog every once in awhile so he will see it sooner or later.

Baby I love you more than there are words to tell you!

Just had to share!

2008-09-17T16:56:00.000-07:00

Caden came home from school saying that his mouth hurt. Trent and I tried to see in his mouth to see what was wrong. We asked him where and he said "Way on the back of my tongue" After watching him for awhile we decided he must have a sore throat. Rees asked him what happened to his mouth to make it hurt. Caden said it was the crabs. Trent and I just looked at each other. "A crab hurt your mouth?" I asked. "Yes" he replied. "When was this?" Trent asked. He said "In my sleep story last night." Now for all of you who have not seen any of the Land Before Time movies, he means in a dream. "The crab hurt you in your dream last night?" Trent asked. "Yes, crabs bit my mouth in my sleep story and I don't like them anymore." Can't say as I blame him. lol

Picture Tag!

2008-09-12T09:39:00.000-07:00

I got this one sent to me on my cell phone yesterday and thought it would be fun to try here. So Torri, Aimee, Stacey, Verity and anyone else who would like here is what you do. I know many of us have LOTS of picture folders on your computers. Go to the 4th one you have and take the 4th picture out. Post it here and tell us a little about it. Never know what you might find in those folders. Have fun!

Here is my picture:

This is Paige in her Easter dress. This is the first dress I ever made for her and at all. I thought it came out very pretty if I do say so myself. ;) And you gotta love the face she is making. lol

I remember

2008-09-11T18:30:00.001-07:00

I just wanted to take a moment and reflect on the that sad day 7 years ago. I rememeber the horror of watching what was happening on the East Coast. Like so many Americans that day I sat in fron to the TV hardly believing that this was really happening. But I also remember how united I felt with the whole country for so long afterward. I thought the amount of flags being flown and prayers being said was just amazing. I was in awe of all the firemen, policemen and everyday people who risked their lives for others. So as I have many times in the past 7 years I will say a prayer for all those who gave their lives and all those still effected but what happen on that most tragic of days. I hope we never forget.

Took the words right out of my mouth

2008-09-09T20:45:00.000-07:00

So we had one of those days when you are pretty sure that the sun is stuck in the sky, you know the never ending day. And tomorrow promises to be longer. So tonight it is finally bedtime. Caden always starts his prayer the same way. "Dear Heavenly Father, Thank Thee we could go to bed...." and all I could think was my sentaments exactly. :).

Hope everyone is having a good night. Love you all!!

Tagged!

2008-09-05T19:15:00.000-07:00

Ok so here are my pictures for this these items. For those of you who don't know what this is just go to Google images and type in the word for the object your looking for and choose the one you like! :) It is pretty fun!

Your age:

Grandmas name: Patricia Geranium

Favorite object:

Where you live:

Doing right now:

Past love:

Favorite animal:

Favorite place:

Want to go:

Bad habit:

College:

Favorite color:

Where were you born:

Nickname:

First job:

Favorite food:

Name:

While I am on this topic......

2008-09-05T12:03:00.000-07:00

....I thought I would post this picture of me when I was about 2 and 1/2. That is my aunt holding me. It is one of my favorite pictures. I have been told that you can see my girls, especailly Paige, in this picture. Also shows how much I look like my aunt but everyone in my family already knows that. :)

Who knew?

2008-09-04T20:17:00.000-07:00

It was brought to my attention (thank you Aimee) that my blog looks awful in Firefox. I post it in IE and it always looks fine. So I went and checked it out in FF and yikes! it is bad. So just incase anyone else has problems with my blog you might want to check it out in IE. Sorry about that.

Who's Who?

2008-09-04T17:06:00.000-07:00

I have people tell me all the time how much each of my kids does or doesn't look like the others. For instance most people think that Rees and Tricia look alot alike and Caden and Paige look alot alike. But that my girls don't look much like each other. Well I am going to post some pictures of my kids at diffrent stages. See if you can tell which one is which. :) Good luck!

1.

I know that newborn ones can be hard to tell. Just thought it was a good place to start.

2.

Which one is Paige and which is Tricia?

3.

Can you make a guess?

I will be interested to see if people can tell me who is who. I know but I am there mom. lol Trent gets most of them right but a few he gets confused. Mostly with the girls. My mom only missed one of the pictures. Thought it was Rees when it was Paige. Have fun!

First Day of School!

2008-08-19T12:27:00.000-07:00

Well here are my school boys. Caden started his school career yesterday. First day of Kindergarten. *sigh* Rees is a first grader. Both boys did great and had a wonderful day. No one cried but mom. (I waited until after both boys were in class so I didn't ruin the day for them) Rees put his backpack down in his class and ran off to play with barely a backward glance at us. I was alittle sad. I wanted a hug. Caden told Trent at one point "Daddy you have to go now." It makes it easier that they are so confident and happy to be there. I wasn't alone in being sad that the boys were gone. Paige wasn't happy. "My boys are at school" she would tell someone and wrinkle her nose while saying it.

Rees heaed to the playground.

Caden and Victoria line up for class. Caden has two cousins in his class.(Victoria and LynRae) I hope that the teacher can handle this. lol

Caden headed into his class.

Which Firefly character are you most like?

2008-08-10T11:36:00.000-07:00

Ok, I saw this and couldn't resist. I don't really think I am Wash but I love Firefly and had to give it a try. (The date still says its Sunday. I keep checking)

Your results:
You are Wash (Ship Pilot)

Wash (Ship Pilot)		65%
Derrial Book (Shepherd)		55%
Zoe Washburne (Second-in-command)		50%
Kaylee Frye (Ship Mechanic)		45%
Dr. Simon Tam (Ship Medic)		45%
Alliance		45%
A Reaver (Cannibal)		30%
Malcolm Reynolds (Captain)		20%
Jayne Cobb (Mercenary)		20%
Inara Serra (Companion)		15%
River (Stowaway)		5%

You are a pilot with a good
if not silly sense of humor.
You take pride in your collection of toys.
You love your significant other.

Click here to take the "Which Serenity character are you?" quiz...

I'm SO confused!!

2008-08-10T10:54:00.000-07:00

So I woke up this morning thinking it was Monday and spent all yesterday thinking it was Sunday. I wanted to get a few things done both Trent had to go to work. So I am hurrying around doing those things and then I told him we needed to stop and let him get ready for work. He looked at me funny and said "It's Monday??" "Uh yeah." I told him. Thinking that he isn't paying enough attention. Little did I know that I am the one who is lost. So I go put something away and Trent is sitting at his computer when I came back on the living room. "The computer says it is Sunday" He tells me. I am thinking your computer must be a day behind. So he starts going through the last few days for me AND lo and behold it is Sunday. I still can't get this straight in my head. I still feel like it is Monday and am going to be confused all week.

So here is my real reason for posting this. So that when I do I can see the date across the top telling me that is really is Sunday. lol. *sigh* Guess I need to quit living in my own little world. Hope everyone is having a great Sunday/Monday. :D

Camping Adventure!

2008-08-09T15:59:00.000-07:00

On Thursday we left to go camping with Trevor, Aimee and their boys. We went to Tehachapi Mountain Park. It was a really nice camp ground only about an hour away from here. Nice to have a place to go that was so close. All the kids helped Trent and I put up our tent. We managed to get the tent up without to much trouble even with all the help. lol. After that we wonder around for a bit before dinner.

Trent found a tree stump that looked like a throne. Not a comfortable throne though. lol.

Rees and Ian decided to be pals. Ian was walking around with Rees and Rees was calling Ian little buddy. It was very cute.

We roasted hot dogs for dinner. Rees wanted to try and cook his, so Trent helped him.
And of course smores for dessert. The kids were excited about that part. :)

Sleeping that night wasn't easy. We had a visit from a racoon amoung other things. The next morning we saw his foot prints around the table. But the next morning we went on a hike and that was fun. There was a nice nature trail right near our camp site.

At one point Caden decided to rest and sat on a tree stump. He got tree sap all over his bottom.

There is this really great park in Tehachapi. So after getting all packed up we went down there to have lunch and play for a bit.

The kids found a lady bug and were all insecpting it.

Aimee showed the boys how to make a train down the slide.
That keep them goin for the rest of the park trip. They would take turns being in front.

It was a nice end to a fun trip.

P.S. Be sure to check out our photobucket page for more fun pictures from this trip.

About me; what about you?

2008-07-31T15:24:00.000-07:00

1. WERE YOU NAMED AFTER ANYONE?
no
2. WHEN WAS THE LAST TIME YOU CRIED?
can't remember
3. DO YOU LIKE YOUR HANDWRITING?
sometimes
4. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE LUNCH MEAT?
turkey
5. DO YOU HAVE KIDS?
4, 2 boys and 2 girls
6. IF YOU WERE ANOTHER PERSON WOULD YOU BE FRIENDS WITH YOU?
I would like to think so
7. DO YOU USE SARCASM A LOT?
off and on
8. DO YOU STILL HAVE YOUR TONSILS?
yep
9. WOULD YOU BUNGEE JUMP?
No way, no how!!
10.WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE CEREAL?
changes from time to time, mostly cheerios or grapenuts
11.DO YOU UNTIE YOUR SHOES WHEN YOU TAKE THEM OFF?
when I wear shoes that tie, no
12.DO YOU THINK YOU ARE STRONG?
use to be, not so much anymore
13.WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE ICE CREAM?
world class chocolate
14.WHAT IS THE FIRST THING YOU NOTICE ABOUT PEOPLE?
not really sure
15.RED OR PINK?
red
16.WHAT IS THE LEAST FAVORITE THING ABOUT YOURSELF?
my anxiety
17.WHO DO YOU MISS THE MOST?
my great grandma
18.DO YOU WANT EVERYONE TO SEND THIS BACK TO YOU?
sure
19.WHAT COLOR PANTS AND SHOES ARE YOU WEARING?
blue shorts & bare foot
20.WHAT WAS THE LAST THING YOU ATE?
english muffin
21.WHAT ARE YOU LISTENING TO RIGHT NOW?
Rees chattering in my ear. :)
22.IF YOU WERE A CRAYON, WHAT COLOR WOULD YOU BE?
green
23.FAVORITE SMELLS?
clean babies and the desert when it rains
24.WHO WAS THE LAST PERSON YOU TALKED TO ON THE PHONE?
Vicki
25.DO YOU LIKE THE PERSON WHO SENT THIS TO YOU?
yep
26.FAVORITE SPORTS TO WATCH?
nascar
27.HAIR COLOR?
auburnish
28.EYE COLOR?
blue
29.DO YOU WEAR CONTACTS?
nope
30.FAVORITE FOOD?
nectrines, homemade mexican food
31.SCARY MOVIES OR HAPPY ENDINGS?
happy endings
32.LAST MOVIE YOU WATCHED?
in the theater Hancock, at home Man of the House
33.WHAT COLOR SHIRT ARE YOU WEARING?
red and white striped
34.SUMMER OR WINTER?
winter
35.HUGS OR KISSES?
both
36.FAVORITE DESSERT?
anything chocolate or strawberry shortcake
39.WHAT BOOK ARE YOU READING NOW?
I am reading New Moon to try and not bounce around until Breaking Dawn gets here
40.WHAT IS ON YOUR MOUSE PAD?
Diamond Head and dolphins
41.WHAT DID YOU WATCH ON T.V. LAST NIGHT?
nothing
42.FAVORITE SOUND? My kids laughing, Trent's voice
43.ROLLING STONES OR BEATLES?
neither
44.FAVORITE BEVERAGE?
Pepsi
45.DO YOU HAVE A SPECIAL TALENT?
Nope
46.WHERE WERE YOU BORN?
Riverside, CA
47.WHOSE ANSWERS ARE YOU LOOKING FORWARD TO GETTING BACK?
anyone
48.Your Birthday?
July 16th, 1976

Weekend away!

2008-07-28T19:45:00.000-07:00

We went to my Aunt Carol's this weekend. It was nice to see her and my uncle and cousin. It was also nice to get away for a few days. Other then the flat we got on Saturday (which required a 2 hour wait at Pep Boys to get two new front tires) we had a great time. :)

My aunt has a pool, so we swam alot and after a month of swim lessons the kids had alot of confedense in the pool. Rees even jumped off the diving board a few times.

Tricia liked the food.
On the left: My uncle BBQ some REALLY good ribs and Tricia helped herself to the one off my plate. lol On the right: We stopped at a fruit stand on the way home and bought some peaches and nectarines. She enjoyed the peach.

The tooth faerie cometh

2008-07-22T20:10:00.000-07:00

So this last Sunday my "baby" lost his first tooth. Rees now has a gappy grin as he calls it. :)

So of course that meant we had our first visit from the tooth faerie. I made him a bag to put his tooth in and the tooth faerie to leave him something in.

She left him $2 since it was his first lost tooth. He was VERY excited when he woke in the morning. I am not sure how I feel about my baby being so big. This will take some getting use to. *sigh*

Better late then never

2008-07-18T16:43:00.000-07:00

I know Caden's birthday was a month ago but it turned out so cute that I wanted to share it here for those who weren't there.

On June 19th Caden turned 5. Still have a hard time thinking he is that old. On the 21st we had his birthday party. It was a dig for dino bones.

Trent and I fashioned dino bones out of paper roll tubes and filled them with goodies.

Next came the not so easy part of digging the holes to bury the bones in. The kids thought this part was great.

It took us two days to get four holes dug. We have found nails and other junk in our ground around here so we filled the holes with sand from a some what near by sand dune. That was the hardest part. Buckets of sand are really heavy!!

But the end result was really fun!!

We split the kids into four groups of four and gave each group a color. The kids wore bandanas so they would know which group they were in.

Then the digging began.

It went well. All the kids ended up with two dinosuar bones each. I think everyone had fun.(If not, please not burst my bubble lol) Of course next year he will be lucky to get cake. :D

It's my birthday and I will post if I want to!

2008-07-17T11:20:00.000-07:00

So yesterday I turned 32 and regardless of what some say (glares at Scott) I am not feeling old. lol. I had a good day. Lots of little kids telling me Happy Birthday which is very cool. :) I had a Twilight birthday. I got books 2 and 3 on cd and Vicki pre-ordered the 4th of for me. Trent also got me a MP3 player that should be big enough to hold all 4 of the audio books on it. (You would think I liked it or something, all thanks to Aimee) Anyway Twilight aside, Trent took me to see Hancock. It was pretty good, gotta love Will Smith. Torri painted me the cutest penguins

and I got two cakes. How can you bet that? Trent asked Vicki to make me one and then my sister brought me one also. lol

Thank you everyone for the birthday wishes and the presents. I had a great day! Love you all!

2008-07-16T22:49:00.000-07:00

I saw this on Aimee's blog and I wanted to do it also. I love Disney Princess'.
You Are Cinderella!

Dignified and hard working. With a gentle and soft-spoken manner you have something many people don't. Patience. Even through the moments of heartbreak you're still able to hold onto all of your hopes and dreams. Bide your time; your dream will come true.

Which Disney Princess Are You?

Swim Lessons

2008-07-14T12:05:00.001-07:00

Paige is learning to swim

Caden jumping in

Rees on the kick board

The kids are starting their second session of swim lessons. My sister-in-law, Aimee, is teaching them. I think they are doing great. I have been proud of the progress they are making. I hope that by the time they are done they have more confidence in the water.

PS
I am going to try and put picture with this post. Let's see if I can figure it out. lol

Kids are amazing!

2008-07-13T19:34:00.000-07:00

Last night the boys and I were standing outside watching the lightning and feeling the rain. Rees asked me if we could make it rain faster. I told him we couldn't do anything to the rain. Only Heavenly Father controls stuff like that. He asked if we could ask Heavenly Father to make it rain faster. I told him if he wanted he could. So he looked up and said out loud "Heavenly Father can you make it rain faster please?" Of course it didn't get any faster right away. Rees said "He didn't listen to me" I told him that Heavenly Father always listens but sometimes he can't answer us right away. So we stayed outside for about 30 minutes more when it did start raining harder. I said "Rees look" He ran out in the middle of the yard and started laughing. He looked up again and said "Thank you Heavenly Father". Besides being in awe of my son for his simple faith, it really made me think about what I should be thanking Heavenly Father for.

Getting Started

2008-07-13T18:49:00.000-07:00

Now that we have a cable modem and with the incouragment of some friends/family, I have decided to give blogging a try. So please forgive me for any mistakes I make as I learn to do this. I will try to keep it updated with the goings on in our lives. Love you all!

Ratliff Realm

Our new hobby

Pine Wood Derby

Feb. 2011

Nice weather we're having

Giving this a try.... again.

Wild Horses

And I thought I loved you then

The ABC's about me!

Just maybe....

Here comes the Easter bunny!

Depression

So exciting

5 Things

Spring Break.

If only......

Jr. Olympics

I *heart* faces~ Kids

Birthday Fun!

I *heart* faces ~ kids

How many have you read?

Happy Valentines Day!!

Valentine Goodies!

My Family

I *heart* faces~ Kids

I *heart* faces ~ Adult

Husband Tag

I *heart* faces ~ Pets

I *heart* faces! ~kids

100 Days of School

How many of you are there?

I *heart* faces ~ Joy

Pay it Forward!

Another Tag!

I *heart* faces

Edict from my 5 year old!

Watching History.

New Favorite!

Can you see what my kids see?

New background.

Happy Birthday Trent!

Suprise!

Jingle Belle

So cute!

Hooray!!

Let it Snow....LOT!!!

Boy Christmas Program

Gather around the christmas tree!

Christmasy Tag!

Happy Thanksgiving!

My Conclusion

Moments!

Crazy Eights!

*Update*

Some days are better then others

Something to think about

Mommy's babies

What twilight character are you?

7 Facts Tag!

Paige's 3rd birthday!!

Halloween Fun!

Happy Halloween!

Our first date.

Happy Birthday Mommy!

Boo at the Zoo!

Second Place!

Kids say the smartest things!

High school tag

Caden's first field trip

Finally a choose

I was Tagged!

Do you have Lady shoes?

24 handbags in 24 hours Free!

Just a quick change!

Guess what Trent got to do?

Adding Pictures

What car are you?

I'm an Audi TT!

Hubby Tag!

Just had to share!

I heart faces~ Kids

I heart faces ~ kids

I heart faces~ Kids

I heart faces ~ Adult

I heart faces ~ Pets

I heart faces! ~kids

I heart faces ~ Joy

I heart faces

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