Saturday, December 27, 2008

Merry Christmas

This christmas was spent in georgia with my family. We have had a blast. First the kids, me and my brother andy drove from Idaho to Georgia. WHEW!!! That was the longest drive of my life. I was sick the whole 2 1/2 days, so it made it seem so much longer. We arrived and enjoyed nice weather of 70 degrees and spending time with my brother Brett who just got off his mission.

Christmas eve we spent 4-wheeling and skeet shooting. I even gave it a try. The weather was actually really cold this day so we had to stay bundled. But we had a blast!

I'll post more pictures later!!!












Sunday, December 14, 2008

Please help Knuckleheads

MY SISTER IS THE OWNER OF KNUCKLEHEADS CLOTHING (knuckleheadsclothing.com) and she posted this to her blog and asked for us all to post this to our blog to help spread the word. PLEASE SUPPORT AND HELP!!!

"As most of you know I own and manufacture a children's clothing business, and as of February 10, myself and thousands of others in the children's industry will be deeply affected financially or will be out of business.

Remember the outcry last holiday season over lead in imported toys? In order to combat such safety issues, the Consumer Product Safety Commission has passed legislation called the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act (CPSIA). The law sets stringent guidelines for children’s products containing lead and phthalates (a chemical used in some vinyl products).
It is supposed to go into effect February 10th, 2009, and after that date any product intended for children ages 12 and under must meet these guidelines, and have a certificate of compliance from a CPSC-accredited laboratory. This includes not just toys, but clothing, jewelry, blankets, sheets, books, bibs, strollers, carriers, and anything else that a child under 12 might come in contact with. Sounds great, right?

In theory, maybe. But in actuality the law is so far reaching that it may succeed in turning the economy upside down. For starters, the CPSIA requires end unit testing on every product intended for use by children under 12. It is the responsibility of the manufacturer to do this testing, regardless of how small the business. That means that manufacturers (like myself ) will have to pay to get every different product they offer tested. These tests have to be done at a CSPC accredited lab, and cost tens of thousands of dollars. For example if you offer 3 different types of dresses. Each dress contains 2 different fabrics, as well as buttons, and thread, so that's potentially $600 to test one dress. But if you have 3 or more styles, that's $1800. And when you get a new bolt of fabric, you need to start all over again.

At present, there are no exemptions for small businesses and "micro" manufacturers and most handcraft artisans. There is no exception for quantities made, where the garments/products are made or anything else. Nor is there an exception for unadorned fabric components, unfinished wood components, materials which, by their nature, are free of lead and phthalates.
Also, the Act takes a "guilty until proven innocent" approach, which would treat a handmade, unfinished wooden toy that doesn't meet the certification deadline of 2/10/09 as a "banned hazardous substance" which would be illegal to distribute in this country. Each infraction carries a $100,000 felony charge. This legislation is also retroactive for any pre-existing inventory as of February 10th, 2009. This means that everything on the shelves in those big (or small) stores will also be "banned, hazardous substances" - contraband.

Larger corporations that can afford testing will incur thousands, maybe millions of dollars in fees, and this expense will be handed down to the consumer, probably making the prices for children's products go through the roof.

This also means that after that date, even selling your kids old things on eBay or Craigslist will be illegal. Charities will not be able to accept donations without a certificate of compliance either. February 10, 2009 is being dubbed “National Bankruptcy Day” by many people in the apparel and toy industry. If this legislation is not amended, it will affect everyone from port workers to parents looking for legal products. Billions of dollars worth of children's products will have to be destroyed because they can’t be legally sold, and this will cause major environmental problems.

While I am all for higher safety standards and keeping our kids safe, this law is so overreaching as to put thousands on manufacturers of children's products out of business -hurting our economy and causing even more loan defaults. Though this legislation was well-intentioned, it cannot be allowed to stand as is.

Please help us defend the American dream and our entrepreneurial spirit! This law affects every stay at home mom trying to help put food on the table and every grandmother knitting blankets for the local craft fair. It makes the thousands of us who have found a niche in the burgeoning handmade market have to make a tough decision - continue to produce items illegally and possible incur a $100,000 fine, or close up shop and maybe not be able to pay the mortgage this month. Please help us!
Contact your Congressperson using this link: http://capwiz.com/americanapparel/issues/alert/?alertid=12274476
It only takes 30 seconds!
If you have an extra minute send a hard copy of the letter as well! To sign the online petition: http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/economicimpactsofCPSIA/index.htmlRead more about it here: http://nationalbankruptcyday.com/
Please copy and paste this on your blogs, we need all the help we can get!

Sunday, December 7, 2008

Mya photo shoot

Andy's girlfriend Alex is a photo major, and she took this awesome photo shoot of Mya!! Mya was quite the little model. She loved posing and making faces.









Saturday, November 22, 2008

new news.....



I've gotten so many comments from people saying "Mya is almost 3...when are you gonna have another one??".... well... BABY NUMBER 3 ARRIVING IN JULY!!

Monday, November 17, 2008

Up..Up...and Away!!

Tyson and his brothers have 2 Powered Parachutes. Tyson's brother Trevor was taking Andy and Alex (his girlfriend) up on rides, and Nash was DYING to go. So...we strapped him in, and up he went. He loved it!! This thing can take you as high as 10,000 feet up in the air, but i made trevor only only 1,000 feet up with Nash. Nash kept telling Trevor to higher.








After Nash got off......he was all smiles. And he can't wait to go again!

Sunday, November 16, 2008

Halloween pics...

okay, so i have FINALLY figured out my computer kinks. Here are my kids on Halloween. Mya was Raggedy Ann, and Nash was a scary skeleton.



Tuesday, October 21, 2008

OH MY GOODNESS!!!!!!!!!!!

SO, Mya and her friend David were playing down in the kitchen and they were being awfully quiet. So when i came downstairs I saw THIS!!!! AHHHHH. Mya was sitting on the floor while David cut her hair. Thankfully, he didn't cut a whole piggy tail off. I'd have to go buy her a wig!
The hairstylist...David
The end result...I know it's really hard to see, but there are 2 spots the size of a quarter with only about 1 inch of hair...and it sticks straight up!!

Carving pumpkins!!!

For FHE last night we carved pumpkins with andy and alex. The kids had a blast.
This was Mya's first time carving so she had to be RIGHT in your face while we carved.
the end results.....(i know they are a bit fuzzy..sorry). On Mya's pumpkin she wanted a smiley face, with her name on the back. Nash wanted a bat with his name on the back. And Andy and Alex did one with 2 scary looking people.


nash's b-day pics

So here are pictures of Nash's birthday party...finally. He had a Transformers theme.
All eating pizza!!


Monday, October 20, 2008

NASH IS 5!!!!

okay... so my computer is totally not working anymore, so i'll just have to write everything with no pictures....SORRY!!!

So, Nash's b-day was on Friday and he had his party on Thursday. Boy was it fun. Nash had a blast. We had it at our clubhouse, so we went swimming! Nash had 15 friends come. Yeah...it was crazy but so much fun. He got a ton of present and loved all of them!

Friday, October 3, 2008

Happy 29th!

For Tyson's b-day we went to Green Canyon hot springs. We had a blast. This top picture has a story.... there were a bunch of collage students there swimming and we having a diving board contest thingie. They were all just trying different jumps and dives. Nash was watching them and wanted to do it also. So this little (almost) 5 year old goes up and stands with all the college students and runs off the diving board and does a "twist" cannon ball. It was so cute! All the college students started clapping and hollaring. It was so funny!






utah pics con't



Utah trip

The kids and I went down to Utah to visit Oma, and nanny and poppy flew in also!! We took a much needed trip to the Dutch store, and we went to a new aquirium in Draper. The kids loved it! Their favorite was the shark tank.


Tuesday, September 16, 2008

Stretching the summer out.....

This past week we have had awesome weather! Today actually got up to 85 degrees!! YAHOO. So we have been taking full advantage and playing outside. Yesterday and today we pulled out the slip-n-slide and a walk-through sprinkler (thanks to my old neighbors who left is for us!) It's been so much fun getting all the neighbor kids and moms together and play. I know it won't last much longer, so I am staying outside as much as possible.


more summer fun....

The kids had a blast on the slip-n-slide
Nash bringing a "car through the car wash"
And of course....Mya with her baby doll in the stroller. She brings this everywhere outside with her. I"m shocked she isn't wearing her tutu(she wears it everyday!!)
Posing for the picture

Friday, September 5, 2008

more....


When we got back to Idaho, we went to Tyson's family reunion. It was a lot of fun. We went canoeing down the Snake River, played with cousins, and went 4-wheeling. Nash learned out to drive it by himself and he loved it! We couldn't get him off of it.
First day of Kindergarden! He started school this week and was sooo excited. He's been counting down the days. He goes full day now, and is excited about all the new kids in his class.

finally....some pictures!!


Nash and Mya got so dark while we were in Georgia. We were in the sun almost every day. Nash tans really easily...just like my brother Brett. But he also loses it really fast. My dad nicknamed them... Diego and Chakita (sp?). If you ask Mya today what her name is she says...very loudly..."go-kita."
Poor nanna!! (you're gonna kill me for posting this aren't ya??) While going to pick Mya up, her back spasmed out and she couldn't move. She could only roll herself onto the floor, right where she was, and lay there for a few hours until she could get up. It was actually kinda funny seeing her just lay there. Mya would occationally lay beside her to keep her company.
Mya's favorite spot in the whole world...next to poppy!

Thursday, August 21, 2008

Back in Idaho

We are back in rexburg now. After a 7 week vacation in georiga, we drove cross country (again) and are now back in Idaho. My computer is broken for the moment, so i can't upload any pictures but will get some on soon!!!

Tuesday, July 29, 2008

awesome!!!


(note: this is NOT my kid)
So, my sister-in-law sent me a link to a cool website called themommiesunited.com . They have some really cool things on it, and one i love is the disposable potty seat. I have seen potty seats that you can buy, but they are not disposable. Definitly worth buying!!!!

Saturday, July 26, 2008

Roller Skating!!!!!

Tyson and I took the kids roller skating with our friends the Clarkes. WOW....i don't think we'll go again for a couple years! it was really hard. Nash couldn't stay up unless he was on the carpet. Mya actually did a little better than Nash. They both loved it, but Nash got more frustrated than Mya. She loved it and kept wanting to go around and around. We had fun, but we don't think we'll go again until the kids are a bit older. Mine and Tyson's backs are sore from holding the kids up. And I'm shocked we left there without anybody breaking their wrists!



Sorry, this one is really dark. But this is Tyson and Nash taking a wipe-out!!