Quote of the day...

"Because I believe that one of the greatest ways for children's development to be enhanced is for kids to teach other kids".

This is what Jaco wrote on an application applying to be a tutor in his school. The question was why do you want to be a tutor. Makes a mom proud!

Family Time! (picture overload!!)

Aunt Miranda and cousin Alivia came to town about a month ago and we had a complete blast! There is nothing better than family and it was great to show her around our little town and this beautiful part of America. On Thursday the 13th of August the kids and I drove up to Portland to pick them up from the airport. Friday morning we hung out and then that afternoon we took a short drive to visit Wildlife Images. I have been there several times but this was the first time I saw the big Grizzlies. They were huge and incredible! We were also privileged to see the wolves out for an afternoon walk.

In order to put all the pictures on that I wanted to, I made these collages. If you click on them, they will enlarge!

Saturday morning we headed south to go visit the Redwood National Forest and the Oregon coast. First stop....the BIG TREES! We hiked, played, and ate a picnic lunch among the giants.


Next stop, the beach! Miranda and I had been planning for a long time to do our family pictures on the beach. Our sister Michelle made the girls beautiful dresses, I bought a new shirt and we color coordinated the family against the boys wishes. I guess the wind didn't hear about our plans because it was unbelievably windy! Poor little Alivia had never been to the beach and she was crying because the sand kept pelting her in the face. We attempted a few pictures but Miranda decided it was the worst picture taking conditions we could of asked for! So we stayed and played for a little bit and then headed home.



After church on Sunday the girls and I took Aunt Miranda and Alivia to visit the neighborhood goats. We picked apples, grapes and a bunch of leaves to feed the critters. There was 2 new baby goats that La-La fell in love with. We also fed some horses apples! On the way back we picked fresh blackberries. YUM!



Sunday evening we drove to the river to make a second attempt at family pictures. This time...SUCCESS! Miranda is so talented and we love all the shots she got! It helps that we live in such a gorgeous area so the backdrop was beautiful! The kids thought it was so funny when Miranda would have Justin and I kiss.

Playing around before and after pictures!



The weather forecast for Monday was HOT HOT HOT so we went swimming at a friend's pool. Even though it was 100 degrees the kids all preferred the hot tub. A little smaller and not so intimidating! La-La worked on perfecting her dive and Jaco showed Aunt Miranda how good he is at swimming. It was a lot of wet cool fun!



All summer long my kids have been asking to sleep outside so I decided it would be even more fun to do it with cousin Alivia. So Monday night, we set up the tent, blew up the mattresses and warmed up the barbecue to roast marsh-mellows! Camping at home! The smores were fun like always and Care Bear taught us how to really do it. She decided to do a double toast by cooking the marsh-mellow first, building the smore and then toasting the whole thing again! When it came to actually sleeping all night in the tent, La-La, Care Bear and I are the only 3 that made it. Jaco was a little too loud and crazy so he had to go inside. After listening to all kinds of neighbor dogs barking and cars driving by, Miranda decided if she wanted any sleep she better go find a real bed and took Alivia with her. It still was fun and I am sure we will do it again sometime.



Tuesday was the the day we did Care Bear's friend birthday party which I already posted. (-: That evening we had a barbecue at the river. We made shish-ka-bobs, corn on the cob, watermelon, and yummy salsa made by Miranda. Jaco spent the whole time skipping rocks, something he is getting quite good at! It was a beautiful evening! After dinner Miranda and I went to a movie together "The Time Traveler's Wife" It was really good but my brain didn't do quite as good a job understanding the whole idea as Miranda's did!



Wednesday, our last day to play, we wasted money at the County Fair. OK, it wasn't a waste because everyone had fun but man are the rides expensive! As I watched Jaco and La-La maneuver the bumper cars for 3 minutes all I could think was it cost almost $10! Yikes! The animals were my favorite part. There were tiny new goats, sheep, horses, cows, pigs, chickens, bunnies, and other farm type animals. Miranda bonded with a loud goose and I would show you the video I got of her new friend but I do want her to come back sometime.



Wednesday evening while Jaco and Justin were at scouts, the girls and I played at the park by the river. Alivia figured out she could walk up the slide with her shoes off and said she must have magnets in her feet. La-La and Care Bear would live at the park if they could. They love to run, slide, and of course swing. I have to limit swing time or I spend the whole time pushing little bums!



Our fabulous week with Miranda and Alivia went by way too fast, Thursday came and it was back up to Portland to take them back to the airport. Only problem was it appeared that everyone within 100 miles of Portland wanted to go to the airport too. Traffic was unbelievable! We literally went 7 miles in two hours. It was so frustrating to be so close to the airport and not be able to do anything about it. Unfortunately we missed Miranda's flight along with at least 13 other passengers that were stuck in the same traffic jam we were in. So instead of saying good bye we all shared a hotel room for the night! (That was after wasting time shopping at IKEA!) The kids loved jumping on the beds and after hours being confined in car seats we didn't have the heart to stop them. Plus it made for fun pictures! The next morning when we went to take take Miranda to the airport for the second time, we discovered that I had a flat tire! A nice grandparent type couple took Miranda and Alivia to the airport for me while I waited for All-State to come fix my tire. Finally after getting a new tire, we made it home and Miranda made it to Idaho. We decided that she missed her flight because of the bad tire. If I had of dropped her off and then headed home immediately like we had planned, who knows what could have happened. I am just very grateful I didn't have a blown tire while going 65 mph.


Thanks Miranda for coming to see us! We love having people come visit. The kids still talk about your trip and the fun things we did. Care Bear comments daily about "Aunth Aranda this and Aunth Aranda that."

Preschool has begun!

Miss Care Bear started preschool today and she could not be happier! We are doing a modified Joy School where we take turns at 6 different homes and each of the Mom's in the group take turns teaching. The lady who put our group together is very on top of things and has done the same thing with her other kids so I know the group will succeed. The best part about it, is it is free this way!

When I picked her up she was so excited and could not quit talking! She did "homework" all afternoon and claims she can now read like La-La and Jaco. Lunch is included for the kiddos. Care Bear has NEVER eaten a PB&J not because she can't but because she won't. I debated whether to tell this to the other mom's but decided not to hoping that maybe she would eat one for someone else. Guess what? That is exactly what happened today! At first she told her teacher she didn't like PB sandwiches but when nothing else was offered she gave in, ate it, and best of all said she liked it! That right there made her first day a complete success in my book!

Happy Birthday Brandon!!

Today is my big bro Brandon's birthday. What can I say about him? Lots! Brandon is a really cool dude but is known to get a little loud. He is the most understanding and patient guy around and does not speak bad of others. He has a ton of drive and determination and keeps going until the job is done. He is also one of the hardest working people I know. Now are you ready for some memories?

Brandon is about 17 months older than me so of course I always had crushes on his friends. In return he thought it was cool to beat me up in front of his friends.

One time when I was 6 or 7, he and I decided to steal a ton of gum from the grocery store. We LOADED our pockets with those little 5 piece Wrigley packs. Mom noticed our buldging pockets after we left the store but she had to go to a different store before she could take us back to tell the manager what we had done. She had us put all the gum in the front of the van and then she left Brandon and I in the van while she went into the other store. But, she left us with the gum! So I sneaked some back into my pocket. Brandon swears that when we went back to the scene of the crime, that I wouldn't say anything so he had to do all the apologizing for both of us.

Brandon was known to take the rap for things he hadn't done. He was not the most obedient of us Finch's so we would convince him that Mom and Dad would believe him the most if he confessed to the wrong doing. I remember one time when a piece of cake went missing and nobody else could have any until the culprit came forward. We talked him into admitting to the crime even though he swore it wasn't him. Then if I remember correctly we sneaked him a piece since his punishment was no cake.

When he was younger he had a few sticky fingers especially at the candy store on 1st street. We didn't dare steal so we would get him to steal for us. I really do feel bad about that now. Sorry Brandon!

We would play war, kick the can, and cops and robbers all over our neighborhood. That was back when it was safe to let kids roam unsupervised. I miss those times.

He loved to blow things up. You could always find bottle rockets, fire crackers, and other explosive devices buried in his dresser drawers. One time he blew up a toilet with a dry ice bomb. That one didn't go over too well with the neighbors.

We would "smoke" dry pine needles wrapped in paper or stuffed in those green hollow reed plants that grew at our family cabin. We thought we were so cool!

Brandon served his mission in Louisville Kentucky. I remember talking to him on the phone and he asked me out on a date. I reminded him that I was his sister and that we couldn't date and his reply was that people in Kentucky didn't mind dating siblings.

I am married to Brandon's wife's brother.

La-La and Care Bear get nervous around Uncle Brandon because he gets a little too loud and hyper for their taste. They talk about how the next time they see him, they will try not to be scared. La-La will tell Care Bear that he is not being mean, he is having fun but is just loud.

Happy Birthday Brandon! You are an amazing person and your wife and kids are so lucky to have you around! Love Ya!!

Wake-Up call @ 6:30 a.m.

Yes, it is that time of year again. I am happy to have the kids back in school but can I tell you how much I hate the 6:30 alarm that goes with the school schedule! We have to leave the house to catch the bus at 7:10. YUCK! I am so not a morning person! I like staying up late at night when the house is quiet and I can do what I want but I regret it almost every morning.




Jaco started 5th grade today. This will be his last year of elementary school. He is now big man on campus even though he is not exactly big. (-: He is excited to play the violin again and to improve his computer skills now that he gets time in the computer lab. He wants to improve his handwriting skills and make more friends.

La-La is now in 1st grade! She is planning to learn to read better but is not liking the idea of daily homework. She likes her new teacher but wishes she would smile more. She said Mrs D is really nice and kind but just doesn't smile. Her favorite part of today was lunch. They had turkey wraps that she said was soooo good! Funny girl.

Happy Birthday ART!

Today is my oldest brother Art's birthday! Art is a Major in the US Army and has been on active duty for the last 8+ years. He is the only psychologist to complete the US Army's Ranger School. He earned a PHD in Psychology from BYU. He is married and has two kids, a girl and a boy and they live too far away on the east coast.

Now for some memories!

Art loved music and played the electric guitar. I remember listening to him practice and watching him use the guitar picks. I loved those little triangles! I remember one night when my parents were out of town and he practiced La Bamba late into the night.

He worked at Mike's Music and bought me a Zildjian T-Shirt that I thought was so cool! It was turquoise with hot pink writing.

He was challenged to earn EVERY Scout merit badge and he did it!

He served his mission in Las Vegas.

Art is not afraid to stand up for what he believes.

He got really mad at me for calling him Artie Fartie.

Happy Birthday Art! I hope you have a fabulous day!!

Party Time! (again...)

Final friend party...FINALLY! It was a little crazy to have all 3 kid's parties in less than 6 weeks but now I won't be doing it again for three years! Plus I read a friend's blog and she had 5 parties for her kids in ONE week!!

La-La had her turn yesterday to have her friend Birthday party! She has spent a big chunk of time this summer collecting bugs so we decided to have a bug themed party. I tried to convince her to invite boys and girls but she wanted girls only. I guess it starts young!

We sent out invites, bought supplies from Oriental Trading, made a pinata and waited for the day to come.

First on the party agenda was to make lady bug apples. I cut red apples in half and the girls put chocolate chips on with frosting for the spots and black licorice for the antenna. I bought mini chips but we should have used regular size. Oh well, the girls had fun and even ate their apples a little. (:

After the apples, we cleaned up and then made a bigger mess decorating bug catcher kits. Oriental Trading suggested buying their glue dots to complete the craft but I didn't and wished I had of when we realized neither white glue or glue sticks worked very well. Once again, oh well, everyone had fun trying!Care Bear, Camdyn, Daisy, Taylor, Justice, Zoe, La-La, Paige

Then we went on a bug hunt. Jaco had hid a bunch of plastic bugs to find and La-La even found a real spider!

Present time next! La-La got lip gloss, two art kits, Baby-in-my Pocket, Littlest Pet Shop, and some bubbles and other little gadgets. She was very happy about everything!

Time to make another mess! Instead of cake we had Dirt Dessert. Yum Yum! We attempted to make flowers out of taffy and Star-bursts but most of the girls just dug into the chocolate mess with as many gummy worms as they could fit in their cups!

Finally we did the Lady Bug Pinata. La-La really wanted one but I didn't want to spend the money to buy it so a large balloon, glue mixed with water and newspaper strips did the trick! We added some paint and a lady bug was born. I tried to make a handle to hang it from but it ripped with the weight of the goodies so the girls just threw him on the ground to get it to break open. It worked and everyone collected their treats.Bug party was a success as everyone went home happy and full of sugar!

Happy Birthday La-La!

My little girl is getting bigger and bigger and is now officially 7 years old but she would like to think she is closer to 17! The other day she said to me that she thinks she is really older than we say she is because she has a "boyfriend", loves jewelry, and other big girl things so she must be older. La-La is such a funny girl! She reminds me of myself because she LOVES jewelry and getting all dolled up but she is also such a Tom-Boy. If there is a tree she will try to climb it, if there is a puddle she has to jump in it, and if it is alive she wants to hold it; from babies to snakes. I was the same way at her age. In fact when I was a scrawny 11 year old, I went on a 3 day hike through the Sawtooth mountains with my dad and two of my brothers. I even carried my own pack for some of the hike. I also loved to go repelling with the boys.

La-La has been so excited for today. It just kills her to have to wait for everyone else to have their birthday's before her. She could hardly go to sleep last night and woke up as happy as could be today. She opened her gifts this morning before Daddy went to work. Her favorite presents were some Baby Alive accessories and a watch from Granny and Papa. After lunch we went to an Ice-Cream social at church for Relief Society. Then she had a friend over for the afternoon. We met Daddy at Applebee's for dinner where she was so excited to have the waitresses sing to her. Then it was time for cake and ice-cream. It was kind of a quiet day but she had fun and is thrilled to be one year older. Happy Birthday Miss La-La! I love you!


Enjoying her free dessert from Applebee's!

The cake she chose! Simple but sweet.

My big girl looking so grown-up!