The Richards Family

Update

2009-10-13T13:51:00.000-07:00

Well it has been a long time since I last blogged. We are back in school. Both the girls are enjoying their teachers and classes. All the kids are in Gymnastics and love every minute of it. Hannah and Morgan go 2x a week and Kali and Logan one time a week. Kali loves the trampoline and Logan loves "the pit".
We have about 8 more months in North Carolina and hope to find out where we will be heading for the next 3 years in December. Pray that it is some where in the WEST!!!
October will be a busy month for us. I have a triathlon, Jay leaves for a month to Cincinati, we have a family trip planned to Bucsh Gardens, and Morgan will be starting Pre-team in gymnastics and of course Halloween!!! Hopefully we'll get some pictures posted of everything.

Oh what to do in the Summertime...

2009-07-19T21:26:00.000-07:00

Well my blog and facebook account have really been hurting. I began teaching swimming lessons in June and I haven't had a free moment since. We have had several happenings since I blogged last, a few birthdays, a family reunion, a new dog, and summer break. Here are some pictures and hopefully I will be able to write again soon!

So what's new?

2009-05-01T22:15:00.000-07:00

Kali and Logan- Impossible to get a picture together with them both looking at the camera, but they love to pose by themselves!

This last month has really been busy. Since we moved into this house, we seem to find something new everyday that is broken or not working. I think I have had a repair man at the house everyday for a week and a half. We finally started getting some "summer weather" and that's when we realized the AC didn't work. It's been a week and it's still not working, but the good news is I think I have sweated off 5 pounds! LOL

I am excited because I am starting swim lessons next month. We have a nice pool so I decided to make good use of it an offer lessons. I wasn't expecting to make a whole lot, but since I put up my signs, my phone has not stopped ringing. I am amazed at how many adults are calling me for lessons. Who knew so many people couldn't swim!

The kids are doing really well. Morgan and Hannah are enjoying their new school and both are doing very well. Logan and Kali are best buddies and are giving me a run for my money. Jay has started taking the kids fishing when he gets off work. We have a pond behind the house that I wasn't sure had any fish in it, but they have caught Bass and Bluegill and love to go fishing! Notice what Hannah is holding in the bucket... That kid will touch anything! She is quite the animal lover. We have giant slugs that come out at night and she will pick them up and move them out of the way so nobody steps on them...eeewwww.

Although not with family, we had a fun Easter. We had our friends over for dinner and did an egg hunt with the kids. Jay and Dominic hid the eggs. Most of they had candy in them but there was a surprise in one. They caught a frog and replaced the candy with a frog. Hunter found the egg and was not really happy about the frog inside!

We're In!

2009-04-11T18:09:00.000-07:00

We finally got moved in to the new house and are trying to get settled and out of boxes. The kids love the new house. I love it too, just not all the dirt, bugs, and frogs. I was cleaning out the pool today and reached in to grab the strainer basket and grabbed hold of a frog. YUCK! The frogs don't bother the kids, Logan won't touch them but he likes to watch Hannah and Morgan catch them. Hannah has "loved" three frogs to death so far. Not to worry, we have millions. I have been told that is a good thing. If you have a lot of frogs, you don't have snakes. I'll take the frogs anyday over one snake.

Hannah had a birthday last month. She is now my big Six year old. She had a party at a jump house with a few of her friends.

G.G. came to visit us while we were packing and moving. She helped me with the packing and taking care of the little monsters. The kids loved having her here. Logan still asks "where GG go?"

Life is Getting CrAZy!!!

2009-02-20T08:11:00.000-08:00

This is just a quick update because I haven't posted anything for a while. We finally sold the house, Hooray!!!! We are closing on the 20th of March and will be moving to our rental house on the 15th. We are really excited and sad. The new house will be a lot of fun for us. It has a great yard with a pool, basketball court, and lots of places to explore. It is actually bigger than the house that we are in now, but it is an older house. It will be close to the kids new school, church, and Jay's work and best of all it is less expensive than where we are now. We are really going to miss our house and neighborhood firends, but know that this will be better for us in the long run. Well that's about all for know, hopefully I will have some new pictures and stories to post soon.

Wrestle Mania

2009-01-28T20:20:00.000-08:00

Logan and Kali love to wrestle. Kali usually ends up crying, but I think she got the upper hand in this particular match. Notice her sneak attack...

Frosty the Snowman

2009-01-28T20:05:00.000-08:00

The girls were excited to be able to make a snowman this year. The first day the snow did not pack very well, but after two days of melting they made good use of what was left. The nose is the traditional carrot, but the eyes were made of crumb doughnuts, very resourceful girls...

Guess what we did today?

2009-01-19T20:14:00.000-08:00

We took a drive up to Wake Forrest this afternoon to meet the "mommy" of our new puppy. We have decided to get a dog. And after much research, we will be getting a German Short haired Pointer. We went up and met 3 adult dogs today, 2 females and one male. The two females will be bred this month and the puppy will be ready to come home with us in May or June. These dogs are amazing. The kids loved them, they were really gentle and loving with them. They would play fetch, even with Kali (Kali threw the ball, she was not the item to be fetched LOL) They were just really amazing, and very smart. We are

really excited and can't wait until

summer!

La la land...

2009-01-15T22:44:00.000-08:00

What can I say really? Favorite hat, favorite shoes, favorite firetruck shirt, he was in heaven.

What Boys do Best...

2009-01-15T22:37:00.000-08:00

Jay and Logan watching the game. A TV, a couch, and your blankey, what else does a guy need?

Cape Fear River Trail

2009-01-14T11:28:00.000-08:00

We took a hike-stroller-heeley ride down the Cape Fear trail last week. The weather was beautiful and we had a great time with the kids. The trail was a little longer than we thought so we ended up turning back half way thru. The kids favorite part was playing with the sticks they found. Morgan and Hannah used them as walking sticks and oars to push themselves along on their Heeleys. Logan dragged his on the ground and continually tried to put it in the spokes of the stroller. Kali, well as usual, she just chewed on her stick.

Santa Hit or Miss?

2009-01-14T11:01:00.000-08:00

We had three hits and one miss. Logan, who was not fond of Santa last year, has found a best friend in the jolly old elf. Morgan and Hannah, of course they love him. (even though Morgan thinks she's too big..) But Kali, not so much... she took the cookie from him and tried to run. Daddy put her on his lap for the picture and now a picture of Santa will make her cry.

We are still here!

2009-01-13T20:44:00.001-08:00

I know it has been a very long time, but we are still here and I hope to have some new posts soon!

Hell's Angel in Training

2008-12-09T19:19:00.000-08:00

One of the neighborhood kids brought this 3-wheeler over and Kali had a blast on it. She didn't steer very well, but she could definitely find the gas pedal. She ran into the back of my van and left a little dent. So if anyone is curious, we are all finally over all the Croup, Pneumonia, and Strep... Our house was just a large petri dish there for a few weeks.

PNEUMONIA...

2008-11-25T13:16:00.001-08:00

Well after a long day at the hospital and several tests, we received the great news that Logan has pneumonia. I guess he really was worse than I thought, terrible mother... But we are starting him on an antibiotic and hopefully he will heal quickly. Please keep him in your prayers and a special request that Tina doesn't lose her mind would be appreciated too! :)

Very long day

2008-11-24T19:57:00.000-08:00

Today has been one of those days that you wish you could quit your job. Unfortunately as the Mom, that luxury is not an option. So I decided to document it instead. Logan and Kali are sick. Logan is much worse, or just much more needly, I haven't quite figured that out yet. But it has been a long day full of throwing up, medicine, juice, and diapers. I really hope they wake up tomorrow much better.

Give Thanks for Friends

2008-11-21T21:23:00.000-08:00

The kids have been blessed to have many great friends here in the neighborhood. They are always thinking up new games to play and new ways to get into trouble. We will miss them when the time comes for us to go.

Tub-o-rama

2008-11-14T10:24:00.000-08:00

This is Kali's and Logan's favorite inside activity. They both love the water, and love dumping it on each others head. They are so much fun!

Service is so much FUN

2008-11-13T09:30:00.000-08:00

For those of who who do not know, I am in charge of Activity Days for our ward. (8-11 girls, activities every second Wednesday) So we decided to do a service project for November. We put Thanksgiving dinner baskets together and delivered them to families in need of a little help this holiday season. The girls had a lot of fun putting the baskets together. They all volunteered to bring different items and the church provided the turkeys and the baskets. There are 22 girls and we usually have 16-18 show up consistently. We put together 5 baskets and if you can imagine everything you need for Turkey day dinners times five and 17 girls, it was a little chaotic. Once we were sure we had all the correct ingredients in each basket we wrapped them and then hit the road to deliver them. It took three vans and expert navigation but we made it to our designated families. The girls in character with their ages were a bit "rambunctious" and I was concerned that maybe they wouldn't get the full spiritual experience this could bring. I was wrong. Although my ears rang as we drove to the different locations, and the madness that ensued as we tried to get everyone out of the vehicles and onto the porch, the moment the door opened the mood quickly changed. Yes, the girls still were loud, but the spirit was different. "Happy Thanksgiving" and "We Love You" were shouted. Smiles and thank yous were given, some tears were shed, and for a few seconds the car was quite. In those moments, I know they felt that what they were doing was a good thing. I love the feeling that comes when you are able to serve a child of God.

Who do you Love?

2008-11-11T21:10:00.000-08:00

1.Where did you meet your husband? At the U, we had two classes together

2.How long did you date before you got married? 4 months

3. How long have you been married? 10 years

4. What does he do that surprises you? He still thinks he can sing.

5. What is your favorite feature of his? His laugh, his eyes and lips.

6. What is his best quality? Non judgemental

7. Does he have a nickname for you? Teener

8. What is his favorite food? Toss up between Apricot Chicken and Sweet Meatballs

9. What is his favorite sport? Does Fantasy Football count?

10. When and where did you first kiss? Spring Break at the Huntington Library. We were under this beautiful flowering vine bridge and he asked if he could kiss....my nose. Chicken, he kissed my nose then I kissed him. Even then I had to do everything!

11. What is your favorite thing to do as a couple? Ummm... :) j/k we like anything outdoors, camping, hiking, biking, sports.

12. Do you have any children? 4 PERIOD.

13.Does he have any hidden talents? I think he is a closet movie producer. He makes our family video every year and does an amazing job!

14. How old is he? 33

15. Who said 'I love you' first? Wow, I am not sure. I'll have to research that one.

16. What is his favorite music? I guess it would be 90's rock. He likes most everything except country, and he loves movie soundtracks.

17. What do you admire most about him? There are a lot of things I admire. I guess the thing I admire most is his ability to see all sides of a problem. He is not an emotional thinker, he thinks with his head first and that makes me respect his opinions because it's always thought through.

18. What is his favorite color? Blue

19. Will he read this? Probably not, too busy.

20. TAG YOU ARE IT!!!! Post about your husband and show him you love him!

Falling into Fall

2008-11-09T19:09:00.000-08:00

One of the reasons we bought our property was because it had beautiful trees in the backyard. They provide us with the much needed shade in the summer and a park like backyard. However, when the leaves start to fall, my yard maintainence increases 10 times the norm. I have to blow leaves every other day. The kids helped out this time and raked up a big pile of leaves. I thought they were being so helpful until I realized they were just doing it to jump in them. But hey, at least they are at the end of the yard and I just have to blow them over the fence into the woods!

Puppy Love

2008-11-08T13:57:00.000-08:00

If you read my last post you would know that I was bummed out because we didn't get to foster the lab puppies. Well I got a call yesterday that said one of the FCP had backed out and we could have two Shar pei mixes if we were still interested. So we said YES! Here are some pictures of the cuties. The kids are having so much fun with them, walking, playing, feeding, cleaning up poop, pee and more poop and pee... They thought that I wasn't going to make them clean it up, they were wrong! This is part of having a dog.

So bummed!

2008-11-06T14:08:00.000-08:00

We had this great opportunity to "foster" two puppies for a couple weeks. They were so cute, chocolate lab mix. They would have provided their cages and food, we just had to love 'em. I thought it would be great for the kids to play with them and see what goes into taking care of a dog. We were supposed to get them tomorrow but someone adopted them today. Bummer! Now I want a puppy, but I am trying to reason with myself!

Logan in the leaves

2008-11-06T14:02:00.000-08:00

Another beautiful day. I vacuumed the pool and blew the leaves from the yard. Logan had a blast playing in the piles of leaves. However as soon as I got the camera, he decided he was done. I am not sure what his deal is with taking his picture but he sure is a stinker about it!

Say Cheese

2008-11-04T10:33:00.000-08:00

I'm sure you'll notice that we are missing one child. Said child was not cooperating with picture taker and was sentenced to nap time. I will try again another day.

Please Vote!

2008-11-04T09:49:00.001-08:00

I went and voted today. On the way I was listening to talk radio and the host mentioned how amazing it is that we, in a orderly manner, change our leaders every four years. No matter who you are voting for, it is awesome to stand in that line with fellow Americans and feel that you are apart of this great country. I don't know if the vote is going to go the way I want it to this year (still hoping) I am glad to be a part of this process.
My kids were involved in their school election yesterday. When they came home and told me about it I was glad that they got the chance to experience democracy. It wasn't such a good feeling to learn that they both voted for Obama. I realized that I probably should have discussed the election and the candidates with them, foolish me. When I asked them why they chose Obama, their answers were identical. He will be the first Black president. I am excited that our country has come so far that it is possible for us to have a Black or Woman president, but the fact that this is the reason for their vote disturbed me. I hope that this is not the criteria that voters will use when choosing a leader of their country. I am excited to see how the election unfolds, I think it will be a long night. I am very excited to see if Prop 8 passes. Thank you to all who have donated your time, money and sanity for this great cause!

Kids will be kids

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

The kids took advantage of an unusually warm day this afternoon. We were out in shorts and no shoes. It was beautiful!

Logan just got up from his nap, nice hair!

What do I do now?

2008-11-01T22:20:00.001-07:00

So I am trying this blogging thing out. We shall see how it goes. It may just be an other computer activity that sucks me in.

So yesterday was halloween and the kids really had a good time. Logan and Kali both loved the lollipops, and I am finding them all over the house today. Hannah was sick all week and coughed the whole night but still kept trick-or-treating with the best of them. Morgan thought she was too old to go with the family this year so reluctantly I let her go with her friends, my baby has grown up so fast!