Hi, my name is Katie and I SUCK at blogging lately!

I admit it, I have been HORRIBLE at posting lately. Give me a little break though, I have went from a family of 2 to 5 this year and I am still learning to adjust. Everyday is a new challenge/life lesson, but I love it! So I will you a little quick update on our life!!!

~Larry Jr~

Work is SO busy for my sexy man these days!!! He feels overwhelmed 100% of the time but does his best to leave work at work. I try to be the best I can in helping him with the stress, but somedays it just gets to the both of us! I honestly fall more in love with this man every day though. I feel like each day we learn to become 1 instead of 2 and we are learning to parent together more and more. It is fun. It is truly what life is all about. Larry has been working hard on spring clean up in our yard. We have 5/8ths of an acre, which is really not much, but with work and life, it keeps Larry very busy! The lawn is starting to green up and I will be able to plant the flower beds soon. Yay for Summertime!!!

~Katie Jo~

I am really working on being happy with myself these days. The hardest person for me to love, is me. I firmly believe that in order for anyone to be completely happy with you, that you have to love yourself first. I have been watching what I eat/dieting/starving for about 3 months now and I am happy to say that I have lost about 30 pounds so far! It is a lot of work, but I love to see the number on the scale go down each week. I am trying REALLY hard not to say mean or bad things about myself as well. It gets easier and easier the longer I try. Life can sure wear on us and I do not think we ever give ourselves enough credit.

~Bronsen Larry~

Bronsen has come a long way in the last few months! He is a good, smart kid, but he has been through a TON in his little life. From watching his little sister battle cancer for almost 3 years to his parents getting divorced and having 2 new families to learn to live in. He is excelling in school this year, which is something he has really struggled with. And he has been a lot more content at home too. He turned 9 on April 1st and we celebrated with friends and family at Pizza Hut the following weekend. Bronsen has such a fun, loud, outgoing personality, I told him he is the perfect child to be an April Fools baby!!! He LOVES Monster High anything and he is always right up to date on the latest trends and fashions. Tomorrow night is the Redmond Pine Wood Derby that Brons will get to participate in. His car this year is turqouise and looks like a shark. Larry's Mom Julie helped him paint it. She is SO talented and it turned out adorable. I will post pictures of the car and derby soon.

~Brylee Ann~

Brylee has been taking dance classes in Gunnison the last 6 months or so and she is sure learning a lot. She has made lots of new friends through dance. Monday afternoon, she had a recital rehearsal at the school in Gunnison and so I got to take her and watch her dances a few times. She is very attentive and knows the next move in the dance without even watching her teacher. For the real recital, Larry gets to go and do a dance with her along with all the other Dad's. He is SO THRILLED (sarcastic) about it. It will be darling I am sure. I am excited to see it. Brylee's hair is getting to be so long. Her favorite ways to have it done are straightened with a bobby pin to keep it out of her eyes and a side pony with a bun. Very rarely do I get to do something new and exciting. It doesn't matter what her hair looks like though, she is always a beautiful girl.

~Dax Chad~

Dax is a full time Kindergartener and is top of his class. He LOVES school and I am SO glad! He can read very well and is even starting to do addition and subtraction. He loves having lunch at school and even goes to have breakfast in the mornings if we are there earlier enough. Dax said that all the kids say, "Noooo" and "Booo" when it is time for math but he smiles and says, "Yipeeee" because he "LOVES" math! I was really worried that school would be a burden to him, so I am glad to know he enjoys it. Dax absolutely adores having a Brother and a Sister to call his own. We are so lucky to have Larry, Brons and Bry in our lives. He asks me everyday on our way home from school and work if they will be with us that night and he gets so bummed if it is their Mom's night. He has the funnest personality and sense of humor! The kid has everyone giggling all the time. Be careful when you laugh though, cause if he is too tired, it hurst his feelings. He is very sensitive like his Momma. He, and I quote, "Is tender hearted and sensitive because he is a red head!" LOL he is a hoot!!!

That about sums up our lives the last few months! Here are a few pictures I have taken as well...

I will be blogging more and soon....

Pinterest LOVE

A few bucks worth of burlap + some ideas from Pinterest =

Did I mention that I love Pinterest?!?

~FaLL~

I love Fall!! But I have to say it takes me a few weeks to get over the fact that yet another Summer is gone and another long Winter is approaching. Once I get that out of the way though, I am excited! I love the smells, the colors, the foods, the Holidays, the together time and the warm, fuzzy feeling :) Yum!

To start our Fall off, I have been bottling! My Grandparents have a huge, BEAUTIFUL garden and it is plentiful in many things - tomatoes, onions, corn, cucumbers, squash, peppers {of many kinds}, beats, beans, rubarb, and not to mention the fruit trees - apple, peach and apricot! My Parents also have a few apple trees that have TONS and TONS of delicious apples. I have picked 5 or 6 five gallon buckets full and so has my family and you cannot even tell it has been touched.

I have been so blessed to have Grandparents and Parents that work hard and provide for us. And my Mom and Grandma have taught me so much about bottling and preserving. Everything is getting too hard for my Grandma and she just cannot do what she used to be able to. And my Mom has had a bad back this last month and she cannot do anything either. So... I decided I would take care of the bottling this year. I enjoy it and am happy I have the knowledge and ability to do it.

My Grandparents and I made 24 jars of these gorgeous peaches!

6 jars of pickles, 3 batches of dried apples, 30 jars of tomato juice and 36 pints of salsa!

And I still have a box of tomato's to make stewed tomato's with. I have a feeling I will be all bottled out soon.

{{BACK TO SCHOOL}}

This year I had very mixed emotions with school starting. The kids truly need a schedule and do much better when they are going to school and getting good bedtimes. It is really hard to get in the swing of things again though, for Momma and the kiddo's! And the part that has caused me lots of stress, anxiety and tears... my BABY started All-Day Kindergarten, All-Day. That is 8 - 3 everyday, school lunch and 3 recesses! The whole Shebang!!! And wouldn't you know, he is doing absolutely great! I may or may not have been the crazy Mother that sits across the street to watch him on the playground. And if I did happen to do that, it was only for a day or 2, because if you know Dax at all he is extremely independent and was JUST FINE. Which makes me so happy and proud of him, yet so sad at the same time because I know that he is growing up. And before I know it he will be in High School and College! So have any of you tried the brick/rock trick? Ya know, put a rock on their head so they stop growing up?!? I do not think it is a bad idea at all ;)

I just have one question!

 When did this red-headed baby of mine...

 that was so little and needed his Mommy all the time....

 become this big boy.....

that goes to Kindergarten All-Day?!?!?

Brylee Ann is a Big First Grader! And I am pretty sure she is the cutest one in the County =)

  Bronsen Larry is in Third Grade and is most definatly one of the smartest, coolest 3rd Graders around!

Dax Chad is in Kindergarten! And I know he is the the most handsome thing to hit Ashman Elementary ever!

Here is to a great school year and a house full of the 3 smartest kids I know!

Family Pics 2012

I love getting family pictures done. I try to do it at least once a year. It is a lot of work, with planning outfits and getting everyone ready. After 2 hours of getting everyone dressed and done up, we headed out to get the pictures and it was windy and rainy! I was having some major anxiety. Luckily, by the time we got to the farm and got going, it died down and was perfect. I think the pics are pretty perfect too =)

Here are a few!

We really have the cutest kids ever! And the pics turned out great (minus the chubby girl with dark hair - GRRRR)!

Love my family!!!

~The Words of Dax~

{In the Bath Tub}

Mom: "Dax hurry and grab that bar of soap out of the water please."
Dax: "Too late, it already resolved."

{Working with Gramps on the Farm}
Dax: "Grandpa, I have a Dad at my home now, so you can be my Uncle. I do not have one of those."
Grandpa: "How about I still be your Grandpa?"
Dax: "Okay"

{Driving to Work/Daycare this Morning} - Trying to figure out full names and middle names.
Dax: "So Mom, are you a Chad too?"
Mom: "No, I am a Jo."
Dax: "What is all of your name?"
Mom: "It is Katie Jo....?"
Dax: "Katie Jo Mom!?"
Mom: "Katie Jo Anderson"
Dax: "Oh yeah, you are a Chad too."

{Driving Home from Work/Daycare One Afternoon}
Dax: "Guess what mom, I know the king of all swearwords."
Mom: "Oh you do huh? What is it?"
Dax get really close and whispers in my ear, "Crap!"
Mom; "Oh yep, we better not say that word anymore." ;)

Such a smart, innocent little thing! Love him!

Me and My Love

Just wanted to share this cute picture of me and my handsome man!

MAN I love him!!!