Kaden & Kristians Bedroom

Another room ready for picture taking.  :)    If only these rooms would stay "picture acceptable"  but that just isn't going to happen!  haha   This is the boys room.  We traded in the toddler beds for a bunk bed.  It's a twin over full, which will be nice to have an extra sleeping spot.  Or maybe I should call it a sleeping spot for Mark when he puts the boys to bed.  He occasionally, ok always, falls asleep with them.  :)
The only thing I still need to do is to find comforters for their beds.  Not sure what I want to go with yet.

 They fought over who got the top bunk at first.  Kaden sleeps on the top, Kristian on the bottom.

Need grandma to make us some nice curtains  :)  And maybe Mark can rig up some new golf club rods.

I found the hooks at this neat store in town called Real Deals.

 Love the built ins along the closet.

Happy 5th Birthday Kaden!

Kaden turned 5 on Thursday.  We celebrated with a little party Friday evening.  Kaden wanted a spiderman cake.  He received lots of nice gifts.  He was a typical 5 year old with opening gifts, open it ..see what it is....set it down...and move on to the next!  haha
We had a nice time with family over and visiting.  Missed having my parents here as they've been touring Canada/Alaska.

New Adventure

The boys started preschool this last week.   They are each in their own classroom.  The boys absolutely loved their first week.  They got back packs and lunch bags.  They bring their own lunch every day.  Kaden got a spongebob  lunch bag and Kristian got a spiderman one.  Kristian is so cute when he yells "Spiderrrmaannn!!"  
They go swimming every Tuesday and during the summer, go on a field trip every Friday.  They work on the typical preschool things such as letters, numbers, etc.  Kaden said they did a puppet show, they play outside, have quiet time and snacks.  Both boys are so excited to go in the mornings and especially think it's cool to put on their backpack and carry their lunchboxes.

We're going to rule the school!

The girls started school this last Thursday.  This will be the last year of a familiar routine as both girls are in their last year at their current schools.  Bittersweet!  Kendra started her SENIOR year at BHS!  Wow, hard to believe her senior year is here.  Looking forward (and hoping) for a good and mellow year.   Kendra started golf  a couple weeks ago and played in a tournament.  She did well.  There are about 22 girls on the team and only 10 of them got to play in the tournament, SO GOOD JOB KENDRA!  :)
Mikayla started 6th grade!   This will be a busy year for her as the kids will be introduced to switching classes.  This will help them prepare for middle school.  Organization is going to be key!     She will also have dance on Monday evenings and cheerleading on Thursdays.

Kendra and her best friend, Sam

 Mikayla's 1st day of 6th Grade

The boys start their new daycare on Wednesday...will keep you posted as to how this next week goes.

Here is another picture of a room that is "post worthy".  Our Kitchen!!!     This is my favorite room in our house!

Drunk Driving

Last night a little after 1 am I heard something as our bedroom window was open. I woke Mark up and said someone just hit something. We went outside and there was a girl staggering up the sidewalk....she was DRUNK DRUNK DRUNK! She was crying....saying she hit a CAR. A half a block down from our house....this is the tree she ran in to. (not a car) AND not only did she run into this tree and uproot it ....but her car was upside down laying in the road......SHE FLIPPED HER CAR!!! I just couldn't believe that looking at this tree and completely totaled car...that she was even walking around. Thankfully no one was hurt!!! I will and hoping everyone else too will think twice before getting behind the wheel after having some drinks!

Our Home

Here are a couple more pictures of our house. 

Band Concert

Mikayla had her very 1st band concert tonight.  Back in my day, we started band in 5th grade.  Now days, they start band in 6th grade.  They attend band camp for 2.5 hours a day for two weeks before school starts.  It was nice to see so many kids taking part in band.  Parking was unreal.

Mikayla is playing my flute.  I hope she enjoys band!

Where did the summer go?

Well, looks like I'm averaging about 1-2 posts a year.  I must do better.  This summer has just flown by.  We decided in April it's either now or never ....so we decided to put our house up for sale.  Don't they say in real estate that timing is everything?   Not that I really know real estate....but I do watch HGTV.   Haha!  Anyway, with Bismarck feeling the effects of the oil boom in Williston...the housing market in Bismarck is absolutely nuts.  We listed our house and sold in 1 day! 11 showings and 7 offers!    The market made it tough for actually finding a house.  Well, we eventually found a for sale by owner house (a good friend of my moms neighbor).  We moved in the end of June....well sorta.  We closed on our house the end of June...unloaded the moving truck in 1.5 days....went to our 20 year high school reunion...left for a much needed vacation to the lake cabin for a week....so a week and a half later...spent the first night in our new home.
I am doing a garage sale mid September...so it's been a long process of going through absolutely everything...to decide what stays and what goes.  Maybe once and for all we can rid our storage unit.  As I get rooms organized...I'll post pics.  These pics are of the boys room and our upstairs PINK bathroom.  The home was built in the 50's so obviously it's the original bathroom.  For now the pink is staying.  Bunk beds have been ordered for the boys.............almost 2 months ago.  Grrr     I'll post another pic of the boys room once the bunk beds come in.

                                                                  PINK!!!

The girls start school in a couple weeks.  Mikayla will be in 6th grade.  She started band camp last week.  She is playing my flute.  Kendra will be a senior....need to get senior pics done very soon.
The boys start a new daycare a week from tomorrow.  We are going from a in-home daycare to more of a center/preschool type setting.  They will be in their own room...so that'll be nice to have them split up a little bit.  They will go swimming once a week.  I'll have to pack their meals, except for snacks but I think the boys will get a kick out of bring lunch boxes and backpacks with them every day.  During the summer, they go on field trips every Friday.          
~Rachel

Too Fast

Wow! Almost a year since I've blogged! Time goes way too fast. The weather lately has been absolutely beautiful. We broke a record high last week and are looking at 78 predicted for tomorrow. All the snow is gone (not that we had much anyway) (knock on wood).
I have switched jobs since last post. Last May I was offered a job at Aetna. It's an RN position. When I left Aetna to pursue my nursing degree...I thought I would never go back. I guess just a good lesson to never say never. I have to be honest...it's not my most ideal job. Being there 10 months, I really miss patient care, being in the hospital, basically always being on the go. It is really hard for me to sit at a desk for 8 hours a day. It is the ideal job right now because the schedule is so flexible and I don't have to do nights/weekends/holidays. Which everyone loves! More stability for the kids. When I was rotating shifts and with Mark rotating shifts...half the time we didn't know if we were coming or going...kids included.
Mark is still loving his job with the PD. He loves doing patrol. The only downfall is he is still rotating 12 hr shifts (2 wks days/ 2 wks nights and every other weekend). Being an "only parent" 2 weekends out of the month is getting a little old. I really shouldn't complain...and just be thankful that we both have decent jobs.
Our big adventure is last August we took a family trip to Mt. Rushmore. We met my best friend, Jen McPhail, and her family down there. We stayed in Keystone. It was a lot of fun and the kids enjoyed it. I'll post a few pics from that trip.