Walkin' in a winter wonderland.

For all of you who wonder why I look the way I do I think I have the answer. I wore a pedometer yesterday and it said I walked about 14,000 steps, about 6 1/2 miles. Did I mention we have stairs and that I forgot to put it on until about 11:00 am. All of this "exercise" was done in the comfort of my own home and you can do it to. Just get 4 kids, add cold weather so they have to stay inside, dishes, laundry, new Christmas toys, general cleaning, and feeding animals, children, and a husband. This "exercise" will most likely cause weight loss but you might also experience fatigue, bouts of frustration, a messy then clean then messy then clean house, but the most common side effect is uncontrollable love.

As close as you get to a Christmas card!

Happy New Year! I decided that since I was late with the Christmas card I would write this for New Years. Since its a run down of the last year it is fitting I think. So here goes.

This first part is by Sean-
Kim asked me to recap the last year so here it goes. As you all know Kim is amazing. How she is able to stay sane through all the challenges that this last year has brought boggles my mind. As you can tell she LOVES to blog. Which I am thankful for. When she lost the camera and wasn't able to post pictures for awhile I was afraid. Yes, I mean scared. A camera for her was the perfect gift for me. All kidding aside, she deserves all my respect and anything I can do to help her take advantage of any opportunity to have a life and identity outside a mother of four and a wife of a demanding husband I am devoted to doing.

With that said, I think we've grown a lot this year with John and Kaylin. It's been hard not knowing if they were staying or going. We still aren't sure but we are better able to cope with the mystery of it right now. When I say cope, I mean that at times as merely surviving the day and praying for patience and understanding for the next. Getting John into head start and him having that outlet for a lot of his energy has been really good for him. He loves school. He's had a hard time coping with Christmas break. Kaylin is a beautiful little girl with huge drive to be heard. If she's not happy about something you don't have to guess what. Which we recognize as her way of standing out and being noticed.

This last year has allowed me to spend more time with the family. Jayda has really started to become more of a daddy's girl which has melted my heart. One of my most treasured gifts this year is the relationship that we have developed. I can't get enough of her. She is so funny. I love her laugh. It makes Kim so mad at night when they are supposed to be in bed and we're playing and I'm making her laugh. I can't think of better way to end the day than hearing that laugh. She has grown up a lot this year. I love my Jayda-lynne.

Jaselynne is the most influential person in my life. The day she was born changed my life. Being a father has been the biggest challenge and the biggest reward. I'm so glad she is doing so well in school (again thanks to Kim). I was afraid she would get my school genes. Luckily she gets her smarts from her mother. She is such a good girl. Always wants to keep the rules.

So in closing this year has brought a lot of challenges. But it has brought a lot of joys. I wouldn't change a thing. This is our story and I wouldn't want anyone else writing it. I am thankful for my family and the opportunities this next year will bring. My new years resolution for this year for Kim is to start into photography. She has wanted to for along time, it's about time.

This part is by Kim

Sean-Oh the love of my life!! I have gotten my fair share of Sean this year. When he worked at AmeriSpec and then Colbasia I didn't see him as much as I would like. When we decided to go into buying Colbasia Cabinets we were excited about it but soon after realized that it wasn't going to work. The owner was being wishy washy and since we hadn't signed a contract yet we figured it was going to end bad. So we were out of work for a few months. With Worksource and our savings we made it through. Sean got a management position at Lowe's. We are waiting to see where it goes.:) Unfortunately, he hasn't got to go golfing as much as he would like but in my opinion has made up for it with watching football on tv. Sean is also starting to brush up on his Korean. He is having a fun time watching bad Korean soaps on you tube. It is quite a change from this time last year with the kids. We have both had to learn patience and understanding for the unknown and change how we look at things. My New Years Resolution for Sean is (thats how we do it in this fam) for him to be content with where he is and strive to do better but not focus on it. To play a little bit more golf and watch a little less tv.

Jaselynne-my smartie! Jase is 5 and started Kindergarten in the fall. She is busy studying her letters and numbers and is starting to read and add! She LOVES school!! She is currently in level 1 gymnastics and is very good when she pays attention!! She loves running in the sprinklers, playing with her stuffed animals, jumping on the trampoline, homework, coloring, wrestling, and generally being outside. She has only had one UTI this year and has only had one ear infection since she got tubes put in her ears. She is a fun loving, mostly obedient, slightly moody child but definitely worth the trouble! We love her!

John-the boy! John is 4 and started head start in the fall. He loves his teachers and going to school although I can't tell how much he has learned. I am not concerned because he has another year of preschool before he starts kindergarten. He has mastered his numbers to 9 (most of the time) and knows his colors and a couple shapes. He is the first to ask if we can read books before bed. John is in tot gymnastics and is not real coordinated but listens very well and tries really hard. He is still working on potty training at night and has gotten better with his lying and sneaking. We had to install a bell on his ceiling so we knew when he got out of his room at night but its working. He has been going to counseling but it is to early to tell what will come of it. He loves cars, dinosaurs, playing outside and riding the bus to school. He is our parent pleaser and is starting to show more personality everyday.

Jayda-our sweetheart! Jayda, 3, is a little bit lazy but is very sensitive and cares about everything and everybody. She is everyones cheerleader and can constantly be heard saying "Good Job" and "Wow" and "Cool" at everyone when they do anything. Its a crack up. She definitely makes her opinion know when it comes to her siblings but hates being away from any of us. She is in the same gymnastics tot class as John and is fun to watch. She just follows everyone around, half the time doing her own thing, and likes gymnastics but is not a dedicated athlete.:) She can say her ABC's with a little help at Q, knows her numbers to 11, some shapes and every color out there. She will be starting preschool/dance this next fall and is very excited. She asks all the time when she gets to start school. She loves, loves, loves all our animals (especially Sofina) and volunteers to feed and water them regularly. She also loves her big sister, polly pockets, pediasure, and is always in trouble for being half clothed. She is the lover of the family.

Kaylin-our tornado! Kaylin is a kid all her own. She is very passionate and knows exactly what she wants whether she needs it or not. She is a go getter and I have no doubt she will be a leader in something. She plays with anything, everything, and everybody. She is becoming pretty attached to our family and I am less concerned about her attachment issues. Wahoo. She is in the parent/tot class at gymnastics and is a little obsessed with her teacher. She loves going and asks right after its over if it is her day to go again. She loves baby dolls, the swings, shoes, jewelry, purses and anything else girly. She has yet to learn her colors (we're trying) but can count to 11. She is definitely the excitement of the family.

So that is our little family and the happenings of the last year. We are blessed with what we have and we know it. We love our family and friends and wish everyone a Happy New Year.
Best Wishes, The Redfords

Christmas-the pictures

Our dining room was converted into our Christmas room. Notice the black bag, that was one of Dane's presents. It is full of balloons.Christmas Eve Pj's My brother Russ and his wife Kerensa who spent the night.I might look mad but I'm not. I have no idea what I was doing though.Christmas morning at our house.Opening stockings. Don't know what happened with the camera. At my moms house.Me and my brothers. Do you see the resemblance.I love that Daney boy!! This what we found when we walked in at Sean's Mom and Dads. The Wii's must of had it this year. Santa brought Kim and Trent, Russ and Kerensa, Brad and Anne, John and Debbie and my Mom and Dad all Wii's this year. Can you guess what everyone did.
John with Grandma Redford. Cute picture huh.
My poor Jaydee was tuckered out. She was only awake about a half an hour at the Redfords. This was under the table.
I lost my digital camera last week somewhere between Maycees Christmas program and home. I was upset because I am saving for a really nice one and don't have enough yet. I didn't want to use any of my money to buy a cheap one just to turn around and buy a nice one. So my many thanks to Sean for taking care of me and buying me one. I love you babe!!

Christmas-the words

Christmas was a little more stressful than usual this year but we made it through and me and Sean didn't get in a single argument. I am pretty thankful for the family we have and like to make it well known at Christmas time. Christmas Eve we spent with Seans family and doing the Nativity (a tradition) and then we went home and let the kids open their Christmas Eve PJ's. Russ and his family stayed at our house so they opened their traditional Christmas Eve game. I'm not sure if they will spend the night again I think they liked the idea but didn't sleep very well. O well Jase can say Conley spent the night at our house now. Anyway, I went upstairs and found Sean sleeping. I woke him up and told him to come down and help me wrap but no such luck. It took me 4 hours to wrap everything for everybody. I should adopt my moms no wrapping just bags philosophy. Maybe if I don't get any help next year. :) Anyway, didn't get to bed until about 4. 4 the night before might I add. But as soon as Jayda came in Christmas morning at 8:45 we got up, went down and started the fun. We did our own little family thing then went to my parents house. As usual their was a lot, a lot, a lot of stuff. We left ours there so we could come back with the Yukon to take it home. Russ and his family were there, Brent and his family, us, and my Grandma and Grandpa Lobe. In the evening we headed to Seans parents house. Kim, Trent and kids and Jeff, Stacey, and Evalie were the only ones there so it was a little quieter than normal but still a nice time. Me and Sean had it out at Connect Four and the kids ran around with Evalie. The kids kept asking where Justin was and that was kinda funny, they have such a love/freaked out relationship with him. Merry Christmas!! I hope everyone had as much fun as we did!

The big "04"

So my Johnny Boy is 4 today. We have survived to another birthday together! Here is a little walk down memory lane.

This was their first night home with us. We had cupcakes to celebrate their arrival to our family.

This was when I couldn't do ANYTHING without all four being there. They all wanted so much attention in the beginning. This lasted about 3 months. John and Kaylin wouldn't let me out of their sight because they were freaked out and Jase and Jayda wouldn't because they were jealous. Just so you know Jayda is the only one without pants on. I did make an effort to cover her parts to.

First time in the sprinkler after we got grass put in our yard. I had no swimming suit for him yet hence the diaper.His first birthday with us. Doesn't he look little.

The first Christmas. This was in the aftermath. I didn't get any face shots of John during the actual ripping of paper and flying of toys around the room.

What a goof. Nothing important about this pic except the kids.

Easter morning and hunting for eggs. Thanks to Ellen Wiseman for these lovely pj's that she thought were to girly to put on her boys. I'll take what I can get. :)

This one cracks me up because he had had enough of taking pictures and was trying to please me.

Another summer of running in the sprinklers. I love this picture because Kaylin was scared to put her foot in so John took her and held her hand. So sweet!

Soon after starting gymnastics. Can you tell?
He looks like a big 4 year old doesn't he. Happy Birthday Duder!

Shout out!

This is a shout out to my sis in-law Anne. Thanks so much for the letter Anne. It's funny when you need a little pick me up something shows and I'm glad it was from you! I am so so glad we are in the in law club together! Thanks again and love ya too!

Biggest Loser was so not a loser!

Michelle won and I am glad. Keep the american spirit alive people! I did kinda feel a little bit for Vicky in the end but that all disappeared when they were announcing the winner! Wahoo!

#4 is the easiest

So after our first potty training mishap with Kaylinee she went to wearing pull-ups and has not had an accident during the day since. Well last night she didn't pee in her diaper either. She must have a bladder of steel. John and Jayda still have to wear pull-ups at night. Heres a picture with her clean diaper. She is pretty proud and asked for a potty candy first thing! :)

I joined the club.

I followed in Stacey and Annes footsteps and created a lifeline. I have been working on this for a couple days and it has not been easy. I still can't remember the years for a few things like going to Disneyland and Disneyworld and some other things. Here is my thirty (yes, I said thirty) years.

1978-Born Dec. 15, 10 days before Christmas, 7 lbs 8 oz. Aunt Linda made my blankie for me.
1979-Had casts put on my legs because I was so pigeon toed. Learned to walk at 10 months.
1980-Mt. St. Helens blew May 18. Have pics of me in a diaper eating ash. Moved to the JoAnn house.
1981-Moved upstairs in the JoAnn house. Realized things were outside because I could see out the window. Brent was born Jan. 29. I remember being on our brown couch when they brought him home.
1982-Fell down the cement front steps and bent my bottom baby teeth in. I have a scar on my adult tooth from it.
1983-Started Preschool. Remember playing with the sand wheel. Learned to read at 5.
1984-Started Kindergarten. Caught my first fish at the Ephrata pond. Got my first sting from a bee at the babysitters. My first poop in a bucket working on houses with my parents. My Grandpa McGann died from Lung cancer.
1985-Started 1st. Had Ms. Simmons for PE and loved her. Burned down the field in the back of our house with matches and the firefighters found out it was me. Trrroouubble!
1986-Started 2nd. Had Mrs Perez, her hair was to her feet. Lied to her about my home life because I didn't do my homework and CPS was called. Shaved my legs for the first time. Became friends with Erica Schmid. Kneeboarding mishap and almost drown at Long Lake.
1987-Started 3rd. I was traumatized during a game of math around the world and have hated math since. Glad I didn't have the teacher who picked his nose and wiped it on the underside of his tie.
1988-Started 4th at Knolls Vista with Mrs. Dendy. She wasn't very nice. Lost my retainer in the school garbage and Maribel helped me find it. We had Chicken legs for lunch that day.
1989-Started 5th with Mr. Retallic at North. He was my favorite teacher. Got Mono and missed a lot of school. We moved to Dick Rd. Met Amber and Lindsay. Had horses in the pasture which meant manure fights. Swam in the pool when Mom and Dad weren't home. :) A lot of memories this year.
1990-Started 6th with Mr. Hewitt. He gave out King size snickers for Halloween. My best friend Katie Moore died in a car accident. Put a hole in the family room door with a broom. First boyfriend Jarod. A boy with a crush carved my name in his leg with a knife. Got braces for the first time. Had to drive to Quincy for the appt's. Thanks Grandma. Fell through the ice on the lake and almost drown (I think it was this year).
1991-Started 7th. Russ left for the Army when I was still in 6th this year. Got stitches the first time. Broke my finger. Pulled a ligament off of my bone in my ankle. Not a healthy year maybe because I met Diane :) and we caused a lot of trouble. :) First year doing track. Met Ms. Caviness who was my teacher or coach for something until I graduated. Had to take summer school for English (Ms. Caviness) and G-ma Langshaw drove me.
1992-Started 8th. Got my braces off. Met Jamie. Hated school, to much drama. Diagnosed with Asthma.
1993-Started 9th. First kiss was the summer before with Jesse Scott Joseph Paul. Took driving lessons during the summer and had to ride my bike 14 miles everyday to the highschool where the lessons were. Put a big hole in the wall at parents house with my hip.
1994-Started 10th. Dated a few boys. Got braces again. Got my first car for my b-day from G-ma and G-pa Langshaw. Started Cross Country. Watched a girl die at the Aquatic Center.
1995-Started 11th. Got my license in Jan after taking the test a few times. :) Went to districts for Track. Started playing indoor soccer.
1996-Started 12th. Barry Loukaitis shot up the school, I was in 11th at the time. Went as alternate for State Cross Country also in 11th. Had some good times.
1997-Graduated Highschool. Diane moved in with us during the school year. Maycee was born Nov. 13th.
1998-Took a crazy trip to Canada. Had a stalker. Got side swiped by a semi on I-90 and hit a pole. Totalled my car but I was Ok.
1999-Went to Big Bend and met a lot of cool people. Got baptized. Got Sadie from the pound.
2000-Graduated (kinda, went through the ceremony anyway) from BBCC. I'm still a credit short from my AA.
2001-Had my first date with Sean April 23. A little league game where he was the coach. Didn't get serious until a few months later.
2002-Married Sean April 23. It was a tuesday. My Grandpa Langshaw died while I was pregnant with Jase. Got Tubs (our dog). Moved 5 times.
2003-Jase was born March 20. Sean started with AmeriSpec. We moved 2 times, both on Rainier.
2004-Moved to Crestview. Emily (our cat) found us.
2005-Jayda was born August 20. Bought our first house, our first flip. Decided to get outta debt.
2006-Moved to Mattson. Inherited an RV. Have a lot of good memories at that house even though 4 of Jaselynnes animals died there.
2007-Moved to the Moon house. Got John and Kaylinee in July. Sold the Mattson house. Moved to Mississippi St. Jase started preschool and dance.
2008-Sean started at Colbasia, then went to Lowes. Hard times for us but a lot was learned. Jase started Kindergarten. All the kids did gymnastics. Happy 30th Birthday to me.

'Tis the season

Jaselynne's Christmas program!! Kindergarten singing is pretty cute.

She kept pulling her headband down so I just left it.

Here she is with her friends Janessa and Liahda. None of the singing pictures turned out, it was to dark. I would post a video but you wouldn't be able to understand it anyway.

To be Jolly.

Pictures of what the fam has been doing lately. These are of the Christmas program Jase and John were in at church. My cute little Angels.

I had to tuck in the daddy shirts they were wearing because John kept tripping on it.

Meeting Santa!! Jayda actually talked to him. She wasn't all smiles but she did good.

John asked Santa for gumballs for Christmas.Jase of course did the best. She talked to him for a good minute or so.I have no pictures of Kaylinee screaming and her latching on to Seans arm because the camera went dead and they were just black pictures. She was good after Santa and his helpers gave her candy and a prize though. Of course the funnest pictures didn't turn out!! This was all at our church last thursday. They had fun!

Sophina

Here she is our new kitty. She adopted us about a month ago. She showed up in our garage and never left. She is the weirdest cat I've ever met. She so wants to be loved but is unsure of people so she will run up to you hissing and spitting but then will rub up against your leg. She doesn't mind the dogs or Emily but people freak her out. She has definitely came a long way since showing up but will still bite and scratch the kids. They don't care though they love their "So". I just make them wash the owies when they come in.
She is a pretty cat. She has cute tufts that come out of her ears and a short tail.She looks like she is fairly big but she isn't she is about half the size of Emily and I would guess only a few months old. Welcome to the family Sophina.

Not so fond of the white stuff!

Well it's here. The first snow. It looks like it's gonna be alot and we'll see if it hangs around. It is actually pretty slick because the frost froze underneath. My anti lock brakes kicked in once while I was taking Jase to school today. I wish I had the camera when Kaylin was trying to make it to the car. She fell on her butt like 5 times. She never got hurt so I'm not being mean but it was pretty funny. I let the kids go out and try to catch a few snow flakes even though we are sick.
Tubs was not a big fan either. As soon as she was done going potty she just went inside and watched. Funny dog.

Not so fast.

So I bet you didn't think I was going to post about The Biggest Loser. Well I am. I am pretty dang happy that Michelle made it to the finale. Not so happy about Vicky but I really don't think she is going to win so whatever. I was actually nervous, butterflies in my belly when they were weighing them last night. I have never done that for a TV show and if someone had blogged about it I would have thought "what a dork" well I guess I once again was shown "thou shalt not judge." I am pretty tickled with the outcome.

One more thing-before any of you start sending any sympathy money to us the poor, you don't have to. Totally wasn't expecting anything but read it later and was afraid some of you might feel sorry for us. Anyway, Sean got things squared away with the insurance and called down to the dental office and asked about refunding and she said she would look into it and call me back. So she called me back and said she called the insurance and they should cover all of it and then she went and found our check (from the day before) in their bank deposit bag and asked if I wanted to come get it. Oh my gosh, I went down and picked it up and started crying when she handed it to me and told her she didn't know how much this meant to do that for us. If it had been deposited we would have had to wait to be refunded through insurance and it probably wouldn't be before Christmas. I thanked her and went blubbering through the building and was pretty glad we had paid our tithing on Sunday. :) :)

Easier the second time around

So this is day #3 for Kaylinee and her not having any accidents. I decided I would try potty training again but this time use pull-ups. With all 3 other kids I didn't use them because they knew they could pee in them just like a diaper. Well it worked. She is doing very well and actually gets upset if she pees during naptime. I keep telling her I'm OK with that and she should be OK with that. Anyway, we are pretty excited. Buuuttt...the most excited thing that has happened was when Sean was home for lunch today he told Kaylin to go sit on the step for teasing Jayda and she just went. SHE JUST WENT!! No flopping herself on the floor, no spitting, no yelling, no hitting herself, no screaming "no mom", no throwing whatever was in her hands, you know the regular stuff! Me and Sean about died right there. This is a huge step for her!!!! When we got her she would have fits for hours and hours everyday, multiple times a day and today she got in trouble and nothing! Wahoo! I know it is hard for some of you to believe because you see Kaylin as this happy go lucky kid but in our home (and even quite a bit at my moms) she is a totally different kid. Not that she is unhappy in our home she just tests us and wants to make sure we are gonna be there, she pushes us away when she thinks she (or we) is getting to close, and she doesn't put on any shows like she does everywhere else. We see her true colors is all. We are proud, it has taken 17 months to get this far and we still have a long way to go but we can now see a little light at the end of the tunnel!

I'm ticked.

I am a little upset! I took John and Kaylinee to the dentist last week and they turned out great. I took Jase and Jayda today and Jayda was fine but Jase has a cavity. Technically two because it is in the back of her front teeth right in the middle. :( Like right where her cranberry juice stained tongue would lay. Can you believe it, I am terribly sad! The good thing is they are her baby teeth so we are going to wait and watch them to see what happens. Hopefully, they just fall out!!! Wakeup call for flossing! The dentist said I could have only prevented it by flossing her teeth. I have never flossed my kids teeth. They play with it and do it themselves occasionally and I use it when they have stuff stuck but not on a regular basis. Add that to the list of gazillion things you should do when you have 4 kids. Besides that I had to spend our Christmas money to pay for the appt. because they said our insurance didn't cover dental. Not the greatest of days but definately not my worst either!! When looking at this whole blog page John and Kaylinee are everywhere so this should even it out a little!

Just makin sure!

Oh man am I excited. It is still working! My pictures are showing up! These are a taste of Christmas pics to come. :)

Kaylinee is such a crackup! Love it, I laugh every time I look at this picture!

I'mmmm Baaaaack!!!!

Oh My Gosh!!! Sean fixed the computer!!! I can now upload pictures! I was so mad not being able to get any pics that I didn't want to post anything. I tried about 27 times to get these pictures on here. Not even joking-ask Sean!! So here is my hair. I think I like it. I definitely like parts of it anyway. No I did not copy Victoria Beckham. My pose may look like her after a red bull but I actually copied Rihanna (the singer) only a little longer on my "boy" side. Jase thinks its pretty funny when I turn my head to the short side and say "this is my boy side" and turn my head to the long side and say "and this is my girl side."

I do like the highlights! They are fake. Who knew you could get spray on highlights!

So thats it! THE HAIR CUT! Sean, you have my undying gratitude for fixing the computer and telling me you love my hair no matter how crazy it looks when I come home!