Plan B

Gregg being the "Grout Doctor" was exciting, and a good opportunity. Unfortunately it didn't pay (all) the bills. Gregg did his very best to help the company succeed, but in the end we just couldn't hold on and wait for the business to take off.  Ultimately we decided it was time for a change. A big change. A move away from flooring completely. So it was on to Plan "B" (or was it "F"?)

 

 Gregg has always enjoyed welding as a hobby. There is a top notch welding school less than two miles from our home, and a Rig Welder makes roughly the same salary as a doctor, so it seemed only natural that the career move should be to welding.

 

Gregg completed the two course program, and is now a certified plate and pipeline welder. He's made his truck into a welding rig, and recently got hired on with an awesome company working out in the oil fields. Right now the hours are long. Gregg works 6, 10 hour days which has been quite an adjustment for all of us. In a few weeks they should go back to the normal 4, 10 hour shift weeks.

 

The kids are having to get use to Daddy being gone more and it's been especially hard for Kyle. He's doing fine with it, but he has made a few heartbreaking comments about missing daddy. For example one of the cuter (but still a bit sad) comments he made was after we had eaten dinner at a place that has some arcade games. I didn't have any quarters, so when the kids asked of I had any money I told them no. When we got in the car Kyle started crying and when I asked what was wrong he said, "Daddy has a new job, and he's working a lot, and gone all the time, and we still don't have any money!" All in all, the kids are doing fine and being very supportive of their dad. Carter loves to tell people that his Daddy is a welder, and they all love to be outside with him while he uses his equipment.

 

Gregg is enjoying it, and he likes the company that he's working for. He has a natural talent for welding and gets kudos from his bosses and other welders often, even though he is very new to the field. So far it definitely seems like a perfect fit.

 

We are so proud of our Hubby/Daddy!

 

Marley and Me

 We recently said goodbye to our dog Biscuit. He was so sweet, and so great with the kids, but he grew to be much bigger than we expected. We have a very small yard, and most of the time he was locked up on the side of the house. It wasn't fair to him. We lucked out and found him a perfect new home. He went to a 35 acre ranch in Tehachapi. I know it sounds like one of those stories that people tell their kids when they have to put an animal down, but it's totally true! 

 

In happier news....

 

 

Meet Marley.

Marley is a (now) 4 month old, female, Bulldog mix that we adopted. She is so unbelievably sweet. She has the same temperament as Deuce.  She is mellow, quiet, and well behaved. And did I mention sweet? We adore her. She has quickly become our second little princess.

We call her "Little Miss Piggy" because she has some swine tendencies. She walks and grunts like a pig, and she Loves to roll in the mud. 

 

We are so happy that she is a part of our family!

Carter's 6th Birthday

 

My baby is...

 This year for Carter's birthday we invited some of his friends from school, to walk home with us for a little play date. We had a snack and then everyone got to decorate cupcakes. It was kind of chaotic, but a lot of fun.

 Meyanna!

 Cute Brody!

 Cammie hard at work.

 CHEEEESE!

 Of course a room full of 2, 4, and 6 year old kids could only be serious for so long.

 Carter had to get hugs from Meyanna.

 After dinner the birthday boy got to open gifts from his family.

Among other things, Grandma Lou and Grandpa Charlie sent him his very own cook book!

 Grandma B, Grandpa Art, Mom, and Dad, got him a Thomas the Train set.

 And then there was cake!

 A few days later we had dinner at Matt and Mandy's. They were unable to hang out on his birthday, so Auntie Mandy surprised Carter with a birthday cake for dessert.

The cake came with another surprise, trick candles. It was so funny to watch all of the kids freak out when the candles re-lit all by themselves. It was a fun little "mini" birthday party. Carter liked Mandy's cake better than the one that I bought for him from the store.

The Happy Birthday Boy!

Carter is our little sweetheart. He's thoughtful, smart, pouty, and creative.

When he grows up he wants to "Marry Meyanna, and be a Chef."

 

Happy Birthday Carter-man!

Weekend Visitors

One of our favorite little families, the Calandri's, came to visit us a couple of weekends ago.  Josh is one of Gregg's oldest friends, and we just adore him and his wife Jayme, not to mention their adorable kids Preston and Kadence. They live in Clovis so we don't get to hang out as much as we'd like, but when we do have a chance to get together it's always a good time!

 

Josh, Jayme, and Kadence

Preston loving on his sister.

After dinner all the kids lined up in front of the TV to watch Scooby Doo.

They were so cute, they did it all on their own.

The adults took advantage of the freedom to sit around the patio table out back, and chat (and laugh, and make fun of each other, and be silly, and, well you get the picture.)

There is only a three week age difference between Cammie and Kadence.

They love each other!



Goodnight girls! (Ya right.)

The next morning we all sat around lazily until we decided that we should probably feed the kids something. :)

We had a fabulous brunch at a near by Mexican restaurant. Then it was back to our house for more relaxing.

The boys played video games.

The girls played dress up.

Aw, two pretty princesses.

Make a silly face!

Cammie's "scary" face.

We got motivated again before they had to head back to Clovis, and took all the kids to the feed store. There's baby chickens, bunnies, and other cool stuff that the kids like to look at there. Jayme rides horses so she was in hog heaven.

The baby chicks were a hit with our little chicks.

The boys found the bunnies.



Josh bought everyone ice cream when we left.

It was the perfect way to finish our "sweet" visit with great friends!

;-)

First Day of School

 

Well, it's happened again. My kids have refused to stop growing up, and now Carter has started First Grade! ;-)

 

He was so excited to go back to school. He loves it. This year he gets to eat lunch at school so we bought him a lunch box, which according to him, is something he's always wanted. (Oh to be a child again.)

 

He loves his teacher and already has many new friends. His favorite part about being a First Grader is playing on the "big kids" playground. His favorite thing to do in class is Math and play with play dough. 

 

This year Carter is looking forward to"learning how to read better than anyone else."

 

My handsome little man!

Last Summer Hurrah

We love to camp. This summer we didn't get to do it nearly as much as we usually like to. We only went once or twice. We did make one final (somewhat last minute) trip to Balch Park, the last weekend before school got started.  Matt and Mandy decided to be adventurous and go with us. It was the triplets first camping trip which was fun.

I didn't get very many pictures, because my camera died almost right away. With the few pictures I did get, you can definitely get the gist of how things went. How did things go? Lets just say that it wasn't all good, clean, fun. ;-)

There is a natural attraction between kids and dirt, that's for sure.

Two of the triplets, Evan and Ethan.

All of the kids basically looked like this most of the time.

Kyle moved so much dirt in his dump truck, he exhausted himself.

These pictures were taken by Mandy the morning that we left.

Carter, Kyle, Macy, Cameron

 The adults were definitely out numbered, as always.

The dirt was the least of our problems. We all got eaten up by mosquito's, and the meat bees were incredibly annoying. We did manage to have a good time in spite of the bugs, as you can see by the (mostly) smiling faces of the kiddos!

Lots of Family, Lots of Fun

My Mom and Step Dad (Grandma Lou and Grandpa Charlie) recently came out to California for a little vacation. They had timed their trip to coincide with the arrival of my new niece Piper. They flew into Fresno and spent a few days with Nolan, Melissa, and the girls before the kids and I drove up to get them. We spent a whole day and night in Fresno so that we could have plenty of play time with the cousins before bringing Grandma and Grandpa back to Bakersfield with us.



Cameron and Carter being silly with Jordan

 Kyle being silly with Grandpa Charlie

 Cammie quickly discovered Jordan's makeup.

It's so much fun having another girl around!

 Baby Piper 10 days old

 Ice cream at the Ryan House

 Once we got Grandma and Grandpa back to our place, it was all fun and games for three whole days.

There was Sprinkler Play

 Card Games

Stories

 Pool Play

 And tons of pictures!

The visit was short, but we got a lot done, and lots of quality time spent.

We love 'em so much.