Christmas Activities - Sorry No Pictures Yet

Christmas has come and gone with a lot of fun activities. Bryant parents came in on Tuesday the 23rd and the party began.

On the 24th - we headed out to the Wolfley's for the Annual Gingerbread house party. Wolfley's. Rockwood's, and Rapiers were there. The Allens got a late start from LA and were not able to make it.

After eating too much at the Wolfley's we went home for a delicious Christmas Eve dinner. Maya fell asleep before dinner and slept all the way until Christmas Morning.

We read Luke 2 and read a story about the Greatest Gift of all that someone had left on our doorstep.

Christmas morning came bright and early at 6am with the usual flurry of activity. Santa was very good to us this year and the kids had a great time playing with their toys.

At 11 am we headed over to the Rapiers and then on to their stake center for a all out Nerf Dart Gun Fight. We decided that we need to be the test group for Nerf and let them know which of their products work and which ones need some work. It was a ton of fun and a grear way to run around. We then went back for a delicious Christmas day dinner with the Rapiers, Allens, and Wolfleys and everyone ate too much as always.

We hope that everyone had a very Merry Christmas and now we are looking forward to the New Year and all that it will bring!

Saturday Night Fun with the Halls

On Saturday Night- Drew, Lydia and Timmy came over while their mom and dad had a hot date. They had fun swimming in the hot tub, eating pizza and watched Horton Hears a Who. We had so much fun. You can see by the pictures that everyone loved being in the nice warm hot tub! Let's do it again.

Decorating the Christmas Tree

We decorated the tree last night. I guess it would be better to say that the kids decorated the tree. They were so excited that they did it all by themselves except for a little help from Bryant. As you can see Pepper also got in the mood. If you come over to our home, you will notice that the ornaments are all in one clump. But it doesn't matter - they love it!

One of the reasons why I am a Mom

Yesterday at Church, we were sitting there in sacrament meeting, when all of the sudden Madison got up and went to the front of the Chapel. It was the first time that she was going to bear her testimony in Church. She did a great job and it made my day. Hearing her made me realize how important of a job it is to be a mom and how hearing her bear her sweet simple testimony made everything worth it.

Thanks Madison for setting the example for your parents and brother and sister!!

New Dishwasher

Yesterday we got a new dishwasher! I am so excited of thinking that after the dishwasher runs the dishes will actually be cleaner than when I put them in. Lately if the dishes go in clean, some how they get grit and other stuff one them before they come out.

Bryant was a great plumber with the installation and only had to go to Home Depot once to get a longer water pipe. But it got interesting when he tried to turn back on the water main valve. It was rusted out and so after calling a plumber in our ward, he came over and did a quick fix and got the water turned on. But, the valve rusted out, shot out and hit Bryant in the leg. To make a long story shorter - water came shooting out of the water main valve and as a emergency fix - Bryant tried an as seen on TV product and it actually worked - Mighty Putty - My kids loves this commerical.

The plumber is coming this morning and hopefully everything will be fixed quickly!

Here is a picture of the new dishwasher. Nice and clean!

Happy Thanksgiving!!

HAPPY THANKSGIVING from our Turkey Max. We hope that you all have a great turkey day and eat lots of pie. We are so grateful for all of the blessings that we have and hope that you take time today to remember all that you have to be thankful for!

Max and Spin Uno

For Max's Birthday he got Uno Spin. It is a game that our family loves to play. As a matter of fact, each morning Max wakes up and says I'm up for a game of Uno Spin - Anyone else? Most the of the time we all play and have a great time! If anyone is looking for a fun game to play with their family, I would highly recommend this one! We play it every Sunday and amazingly we all win at least one hand!

Maya and her answering machine

Maya is 4 but sometimes I think that she is really 16 or 17. For example of her and all of her silliness or sassiness depending on how you look at it - Bryant leaves for work before the kids get up in the morning. So we call him every day for them to talk to him. I was talking on the phone with him and he was on speaker, he asked if he could talk to Maya. She went and hid behind the chair that I was sitting in and said this "Maya can't come to phone right now, please leave a message." I was laughing so hard and I wondered how she could be so funny! She was quite pleased with herself.

This is just one of many examples of how she makes our lives so much funnier!!

The first of many remodels

After living in our home for over 5 years and the house being 20 years old, Bryant and I have decided that it is time to start remodeling the rooms in the house. It will probably take us a long time to get it all done, but that's okay because we are not going anywhere anytime soon.

So this past weekend, Bryant tackled our hall bathroom. It is a half bath with just a sink and a toilet. The pictures are shown above from the beginning to the end. The flooring was replaced, touch up done on the paint job that he did last year, new sink, vanity and light fixture!! We also got a new toilet set and I scrubbed the heck out of the old toilet to make it look new again.

Bryant did a GREAT job and the new bathroom looks great. We have yet to decide which room we (really he) is going to do next.

1.65 for a Gallon for Gas!!

Today - I got gas for 1.65 for a gallon!!!! How you may ask. Well, Safeway has a program that if you buy gift cards you get a double gas bonus - to for every $100 in gift cards you get 20 cents off.

Well - we are redoing our hall bathroom and had to buy a vanity and other items at Home Depot. So we went to Home Depot and got some gift cards to cover the amount of the purchase which gave us a 50 cent discount!!!

Today we bought 30 gallons of gas for less that 50$

I was sooooooo excited.

Last Day of Soccer

Madison and Max both played soccer this fall. Saturday were their last games. Madison did a great job and of course that once I turned off the camera, Madison took the ball and dribbled it down the field and Max playing in the sweeper position, cleared the ball over the heads of the opposing team. But they both had a lot of fun and got better. Max has decided that he might want to try baseball next. I think because it has less running than soccer... but who knows!!

Sunday Dinner and the funny conversation

Today we had meatloaf for sunday dinner. Not my kids favorite at all. I had been watching how good Madison had been eating her meatloaf without complaining. The following is what transpired between me and her.

Kari: Madison, thank you so much for eating your meatloaf without complaining.

Madison: Oh, I'm complaining but I am keeping it inside!!

Bryant and I got a good laugh at it. She is getting to be such an adult at the young age of seven.

A surreal moment and other stuff

Sorry that this blog does not have any pictures. Oh well

Yesterday, we finally went to set up the kids with the savings accounts. Yes, we should have done it a long time ago. But we have put it off until yesterday!

When we got to the bank, I was filling out paper work for each of the kids and I had to list their mother's maiden name - I started to write my mother's maiden name when I realized that they wanted MY maiden name. It was pretty wierd to write down my name.

I guess that means that I am getting older and maybe a little wiser - but don't hold your breath on that.

As today is election day, please go and vote and a plug for prop 102 in AZ - We need this now more than ever!!! This proposition has made me do things that have put me out of my comfort zone, but I would do it again in a heart beat if it helps my kids future be a little easier.

Pumpkim Carving

Last night for FHE we had our annual pumpkin carving!! Each of us picked out a pumpkin and got carving. The kids didn't like how sticky and yucky the seeds and insides were at first but then they got used to it. It was a fun night and we had a great time spending time together. Hopefully each of you get to carve some pumpkins this year!!

HSM 3

Well, those for you who didn't know - today was the opening day for High School Musical 3. Since Bryant had no desire to see it and he is working late tonight. I took the kids right after school. We LOVED IT!!!! Madison said that it was awesome!!! Max liked the Boys are Back part and Maya sang along with the songs!! It ended great and we can't wait to see it on DVD!!!

Maya is 4

On Saturday, Maya turned 4. An event that she had been waiting a long time for. She has told me that once she is 4 is no longer needs to suck on her fingers (she has been doing that since she has been born) and she is a big girl. Well, she turned 4 and got 3 Barbies - A Sharpay one, Sleeping Beauty Princess and one that came with a Dog. She played with the Barbies all the way

home from Idaho.

She went to her Dr appointment and she is in the 75% for both height and weight. Little smaller than Madi and Max - 100% for Height on both and less on weight!

She walks around the house saying, "Mom since I am 4, I don't need a rest time." (which she still does). She also says that she doesn't need help washing her hair and this morning she told me that she was going to start do laundry, since she was 4.

I would love for her to do laundry, but I think that there would be a ton of soap in each batch and not much laundry!

But we love her very very much and are so glad that she is in our family!!

1600 miles in 5 Days

We just got back from driving 1600 miles in 5 days. Why would we drive that long in 5 days? Well, Bryant's grandparents in Idaho were celebrating their 60 Wedding Anniversary and we went up for the celebration!

We left Mesa on Wednesday morning at 1:30am with the temperature about 70ish and arrived in Idaho Falls at 5:30 in the evening with the temperature in the 50's. The kids were excited to be out of the car and were a little cold!!

We spent lots of time playing with cousins and friends. The kids got to stay up late every night and even learned that it is okay to sleep in. Most mornings they didn't wake up until after 7 am. For our family that is huge!!

Thursday - we played outside, played in Grandma Karen's toy room, went to Artic Circle for lunch and the kids were very excited when their Chrysler cousins got in around 3:30pm. Lots of people came over and it was fun to visit with them.

Friday - we played more outside - once it was almost lunch time due to cold weather. Had a hay ride at Grandpa Dale's house and even saw 3 does (deer) on the ride. Grandpa Dale was driving "El Bumpo" - a truck that was a 1972 GMC truck that was very bumpy!! That night we got dressed up in the halloween costumes and had a hotdog roast and spookie hay ride (thanks Greg) back at Grandpa Dale's house. Bryant, Wyatt and Derek were old ladies and Gina and I were men. Max told me that I should never dress up that way again. It kinda of freaked them out.

Saturday - we went to the park with the Claysons, celebrated Maya's 4th birthday and had a big dinner at Troy and Jody's. It was fun celebrating the amazing accomplishment of Sharon and Dale. After the dinner, Joy reenacted 3 memorable times in Sharon and Dale's life. Max played Dale and was a little embarrassed to be put in front of people.

Then we left around 3:30 Sunday am -(temp low 40's) and arrived back in AZ at 5:30 pm (temps in low 90's) and Wyatt brought us breakfast (THANKS WYATT!!!)

We were grateful to be home but also very happy that we went and drive all that way!!

October Break

Last Thursday and Friday the kids had no school. So we went camping with our AZ cousins to Dead Horse Ranch State Park. It's in Cottonwood AZ. We went with hopes of lots of fun and cooler weather. Well, the weather was a little cooler but much more windy. Friday night - the wind blew so hard the it blew in the sides of our tent many times and even rolled it with me and Max and Maya inside. I was up from 1am onward sitting up and hoping that I could keep the tent from falling on us again. As I was sitting there, I was thinking to myself, it is going to be a VERY long time before I go camping again.

Max and Maya were quite the troopers - only once at 1:30am did max ask if we could go home. I told him that we had to wait until there was light outside.

Madi slept in another tent with 2 cousins and they slept thru the whole thing. As soon as it was light outside, I put Maya and Max in the car and started taking down the tent. Once the tent was down the wind did die down some. My sisters and I have planned our next camping trip - in condos!!!

Even with all of the wind, the kids had a great time riding bikes and scooters and playing in the lake! They didn't complain once. It was just the adults who were tired of the wind.

We were excited to be heading home in a car with no wind.

Bryant was home studying while we went camping but he was great and got the oil changed in the car and put in the winter lawn.

Sorry no pictures - it was too windy for anything.

Max is 6 years old!!

Max with his bow and arrow set that he got from Maya. They had to pop balloons while sitting in a kiddie pool. It was much harder than they thought it was going to be!

On Thursday, Max turned 6. He had a party with the boys from his primary class and Matt on Friday. It was a lot of fun. We had 250 water balloons, squirt guns, whip cream pies to throw. It was one crazy, messy fun time.

Max got lots of fun stuff - one that he loved and me not so much was a bucket of 165 pieces of gum. I could only imagine the wrappers and gum left around the house. But as of yet it has not been too bad.

Big Water Slide

2 years ago, I got a smoking deal on one of those huge inflatable water slides. We have used it maybe 10 times total.

But, it is time for me to get rid of it. If you know anyone who wants it, or if you want it, you are more than welcome to have it!

If no one responds within 2 weeks, it's going to DI

Kari

My kids love of Sledgehammer

My kids have recently developed a love of Sledgehammer. No, not the sledgehammer that you use to hit things, but the sledgehammer TV Show from the 1980's.

Bryant found them at blockbuster on line to rent and my kids can't get enough of them. They love to watch it with Bryant.

The best part of it is that there are no swear words and that it is cheesy enough that they think it is really cool and love it when he talks to his gun!

Maybe there will be other shows from the 1980's that they will like!

Picture Day and fall is sort of in the air

Today is picture day at school. I thought that I better get a picture of Madi and Max before they left for school. They both have PE and who knows what they will look like when it's time for their picture.

Maya also wanted to have her picture taken too.

Fall is sort of in the air. This morning, I actually opened up the windows for a little while. It was 6 am when I did it, but at least I can say that it's not too hot for windows to be opened. And it is not supposed to be above 100 for the rest of the week.

Something so un Sherwood

Last night I did something that is so un sherwood like. In AZ, in November there is a Propostion on the ballot to recognize marriage between one man and one woman. Well, we have been asked by our stake to help out with this.

They needed people to make phone calls to people to ask for their support. So, I went and made phone calls last night to random people. I called 40 people and it took about 1 hour. I was only told by 5 people that they would not support the Prop. But I did get a lot of answering machines - which I love.

It wasn't as scary as I thought but it was definately out of my comfort zone. So now that I have become active with campagins = what out! Just kidding!!

A day that I waited for for 7 years

Here is Max and Madison on their first day of school which was on August 11th. Maya has been asking every single day when does she goes to Preschool. Well today that day have finally come.

She is going to go to preschool Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday mornings. There are 3 other kids from her primary class who are going to be there. Her teacher is in our stake and she is dying to go.

So for the first time in 7 years I will have time by myself!!! The thing that I am most excited about is going to the grocery store without any helpers. It is amazing what sometimes makes it into the cart when my helpers are there!

I can exercise, clean, do laundry, or run errands during this time all by myself. It is going to be a little wierd because it also means that she is starting to get bigger and pretty soon they all will be at school.

It will be interesting to see how long I enjoy the time to myself and how quickly I will begin to miss her and her always asking for cheese and crackers (her favorite snack!)

Well,
After many people have asked us if we have a blog, the time has come that the rockin rockwoods now have a blog.

Hopefully we will be able to keep up on it as our life gets busier and busier!