SPRING BREAK!!!

I really don't mean to go this long between blogs. If only I had an assistant to take care of all my other responsibilities....I would have more time to do what I WANT to do! :)
No really, just have lots going on like everyone else. Taylor is on spring break but, I don't close my daycare during that time so the poor kid doesn't get to to anything too exciting. She will probably live. She has a huge science project due soon so she is working on that. She got straight A's on her report card again! LOVE that kid. She works hard and it pays off for her. We had to go buy her new jeans for the 3rd time since August though! She is growing like a weed! Only 11 years old and wear's a woman's size 8.5 shoe too! Come on WNBA!!
Kayla is doing great! She is a busy girl! Quite the imagination and you never know what will come out of her mouth! She cracks us up. She is going to have to start a part time preschool in the fall. I can teach her everything during daycare but, I really want her to get out and experience a little bit of direction/discipline/interaction with other adults and new kids! I don't want to keep her home until Kindergarten and then send her off on her own! I cannot believe she'll be 4 in June. Exciting and heart breaking at the same time!
Chris and I are going to celebrate our 6th anniversary in May! Hard to believe that too!! We are getting things all geared up and prepped for all of our summer camping trips. We LOVE camping and if it wasn't for work.....we could go for a whole month and be just fine in the trailer. It's so nice to get away from it all for a few days, even just a weekend! Makes you slow down and spend time together. So important! :)
Well, again....not much else to talk about. No news is good news!!
I hope you all enjoyed you Easter with your families!!
Happy Spring!!

Well, would you look at this!!?? I am blogging! I finally found the login information! Yeah!
It certainly is not FALL anymore! I cannot believe I have not been on here in months. That's just irresponsible! Let's see if we can't do better!
Life around here has been pretty darn good. I certainly cannot complain as there are those who have a lot worse going on. Chris and I are going to celebrate our 6th Anniversary in May. It just does not seem possible. Time really does fly by. Taylor is still playing basketball and is enjoying tournaments from here to Oregon. So far her team is taking 1st place on a regular basis. I love that she is so involved in sports AND getting straight A's too! She saved up enough money to buy her own T.V. and she has been really good about not spending all her time up in her room watching it. I was worried about that happening so I am glad she still spends time with us or else the cable would have to go!!!
Kayla is going to be 4 in June. My gosh is she a busy busy girl. She says some funny stuff and pushes every button Chris and I have. Someday she will be a strong powerful woman but, for now she is a tester!! She is playing soccer for Parks & Rec but her last class is Sunday. She started off WAY shy and then gradually gained more confidence so I think we will keep her at it.
Chris is busy with work, Union stuff, fixing his quad and doing the honey-do chores around here!! He has been really supportive of me over the past two months. I have had lots of sicknesses hit me and I just cannot kick the cough. Ugh! He had to run the whole fort for 3 days straight and I mean EVERYTHING! I spent days in bed. I am so glad to be feeling better except for the cough that's dragging on. So many people have had this around here! Chris spent a few days going through all the stuff in the garage and made room for our new car. My Dad gave me his 78 Corvette and since we had some sunshine last weekend....we finally brought it home. Took the scenic route of course! It will be fun to have this car, not just because it was something that was my Dad's but, Chris and I can go to car shows and rod runs when we have time. It's also nice just to cruise in the sunshine and forget all your problems for awhile.
We started booking some camping trips and I am so excited! It's awesome to have something to do as a family that gets you away from the daily grind. Our trailer has been lots of fun and camping in the rain is no big deal now!
Well, I suppose that's enough of an earful for now. I will certainly keep up the blogging now that I found everything I needed.

Hope you all are well!! :)

Fall!

Well, it's officially FALL! My favorite time of year!! Chris went and got my straw for my front porch decorations. I just love it! I took pictures of all the daycare kids for their families on top of the straw. They turned out so cute and the parents loved them! We are all doing well and so far have been able to fight off most of this cold everyone is getting. Chris and Taylor seem to be fighting it the hardest. :( We were hoping to avoid it all together but, tis' the season! So speaking of FALL....I fell. I have a huge bruise on my shoulder along with a sore neck and lower back. So, here's how it (I) went down...I was cutting down all of the dead plants/flowers in the front yard. I was pulling the big yard waste bin around with me to make things faster. When I went to move it over to the next flower bed, the bin started to tip over and I lost my balance a bit. I stepped down hard to try to gain my balance and stepped on top of the lid that was almost to the ground (it's attached to the bin) which made the bin fall completely down, forcing me to fall into it. There was nothing I could do!! Ha Ha Oh good times!! I laughed so hard I had tears and my Lord am I bruised up! So the moral of the story, either close the lid before you move it OR just don't do gardening at all for your safety! Anways...hope you are all enjoying this beautiful time of year!! HAPPY "FALL"!! Ha Ha

Potty Training

Well, it is definitely Monday! I am trying to get into the habit of blogging so stick with me here. I don't know how you all are going to take this but, I cannot help it! I have to post it! So, something happened at our house last week. It's gross but so funny, especially if you have kids. Kayla is potty training and after 2 weeks of only going potty in the toilet she decided to try going "number 2". Bless her heart, she has been doing fantastic!! She has even been dry over night for the past 3 nights. AWESOME! We are almost out of diapers completely! The problem?? Well, I have been trying to teach her that after #2, Mom or Dad needs to come in and help her wipe. Ok, so she is getting that down really well too but......last week.....she went #2 upstairs and then came down to tell me. So, I started to help her wipe.... only to discover that maybe she had already tried. Cute. So after getting her all cleaned up....I wandered upstairs to get her some underwear because she thinks she has to completely undress in order to go! As I get up the stairs, I am smelling something is wrong! OH MY GOSH....there are skid marks down a few of the stairs!! She slid down the stairs to come and tell me she needed help!!! How do you get upset about that but at the same time HOW GROSS!! LOL So, I had to scrub each step and as I was cleaning...I was already thinking of all the ways to tell Chris what happened. Like...."Oh, It's been a crappy day" or "Man...Kayla really hauled butt down the stairs today" You know...my little remarks that crack people up!! Anyways, I know this was long but, gosh it was so funny. The things kids do. Well, next time I will try not to have such a crappy blog! LOL

The latest happenings at the Patti house

Well, Taylor is back to school already and is getting settled into 5th grade! We received a letter in the mail today with her WASL scores and the kid almost reached 100%! She is a smart cookie! She is also very active in sports (fastpitch, soccer & basketball) so it depends on the season. She is also in the enrichment class so she gets to do some really cool extra curricular activities and she loves it! She comes home after school and all of the daycare kids swarm her with excitement! She is really good to them and helps me out a lot. Taylor is also SO good with her little sister too! Kayla is 3 and it shows. She is finally OVER the pacifier completely. We had to wrap them up like a present and "mail" them to the hospital for the new babies. Hey...whatever works to get rid of it! She is also talking up a storm, recognizes almost every letter, common shapes and colors. She counts and says her alphabet and sings the days of the week. She is following sissy's footsteps! She is doing awesome with the potty training and we only have to put diapers on her at night now in case of emergency. We are not too far away from letting those go too!! I could not be happier!! She is a little firecracker and if she had been my first, she would have been my last. Ha Ha! No really, she is a good girl who likes to push her limits as much as she can. As far as Chris and I, we are doing great! We celebrated our 5th wedding anniversary in May! Chris is a Lieutenant at McLane/Black Lake Fire and I am running an in-home childcare. Life is good. Well, that is probably enough for my 1st blog. If you are still awake....you are a trooper!! :)

Back in the game.... after some hard work!

OK.. so I have spent the last 30 minutes trying to crack the "Blogger" code to figure out how in the heck to get into the system. Since it has been since the great snow storm of 2008 / 2009 since I (Chris) has last posted, of course I had forgotten how to get into the system. But.. fear no more... I am back on line and one I show Heather how to use this I am sure that she will be adding!!

Our Girls at Christmas

Here is the girls sitting for their Christmas Picture. It was taken by Heathers brother Michael. He is an amazing photographer... Thanks Mike!!