i want to be a puma today

My Funny Valentine

2011-02-15T12:53:00.000-08:00

This was my favorite part of valentines day. Jason Bought me some Flowers ( which he gave me on saturday on his way home from Costco) and then yesterday he presented me with this handmade card, some chocolates from Cacao ( my favorite chocolate place) and a phillips blue light. He presented them and said " these are things that make you happy"

The blue light is supposidly the cure for winter blues. but that is yet to be poven. ill let you know about that.

I love it when Jason makes cards for me. I love his drawings. They have a magical childlike quality. I always tell him that he needs to illustrate some art for our house.

Dont you just love the squiggle lines around the heart?

This is so sweet---around the whole part of the card it says this --- 10 years, 3 kids, 6 or 7 houses, 5 jobs, 14 strollers, 1 battle with cancer, 6 cars, 3 cats, 1 hedgehog, 1 trip to greece......

and i love you more than ever.

ahhh!! he is so cute.

he scored some big points for that one.

take n0tes boys.

GET YUR PAINT ON!----paint your own pottery----

2011-02-10T20:50:00.000-08:00

Here are a few things that have brought sunshine and happiness into my life during this dull,

Tired--gray--depressing winter!! I cant believe how happy it makes me every time I go for the salt and pepper, or the butter---or a mug---and I grab one of these.

It just puts a smile on my face. Every sip of that Herbal tea is enjoyed more in an adorable mug.

SO.....---guess which ones I made, and guess which ones I bought.

Hmm-mm?????

three of these are made by hand-------yours truly

And two of them were store bought.

Ahhh! Every time I look at you salt and pepper, you melt my heart!

If you shop at Anthropologie---no fair--cuz you'll know the answer.

or maybe youll know by the shotty workmanship -- ( me) he he

Anyway-these photos are bad---cuz my camera was about to die. But I'm pleased at how my plate turned out. Just got it back. I spend three hours painting that sucker.

I LOVE LOVE LOVE paint your pottery.

Sometimes you want to be creative , but just dont want all the mess, craft store shopping, and all that.

This is such a great way to have your fun and go home. Ruby and I made some stuff last saturday.

She made a ceramic pig---and I made a plate.

How many ceramic animals can we have?? Hmmm---I dont know , I guess we'll find out.

Ruby was BEGGING me to pre-buy this cat for the next time we go there. UGGG. I hate ceramic animals. Guess I need to get her a little shelf in her room to display them cute. Then I wont hate kicking them around the house so much. Ha ha!

catching up on life---the bagley life

2011-02-08T22:35:00.000-08:00

8 am christmas morning. Ezra still has blankie in tow and fingers in mouth.

So i realize that i have not blogged for so long that i have some major catching up to do. not that anyone is really interested in our christmas, new years, and january, but i like to at least have it documented. Its really difficult to blog when your camera is not working---and then our computer decided to go crazy because it was too full with videos and pictures. So even though we already have an external hard-drive, and everything---we still had too much on the computer. so i had to give up blogging for a while---it just wasnt working.

this picture says a lot. Ezra got all the boys toys a boy could ask for today. Legos, star wars figurine set ( on sale ---thanks Target) , cars, and Geo Tracks.

book of mormon figurines. We never get him super hero stuff. so i figured we would start collecting these .

Ruby gave ezra "bug marbles" for christmas. they are like jewelry for boys. Tiny bugs ( real ones) encapsulated in plastic marble.

Ruby got a bunch of dollhouse furniture to put in the cardboard dollhouse we made :)

Lucille gets her very own barbie of snow white.

Ruby got a myriad of American girl Accessories. she got her first ever american girl dolls and baking set. I can see what all the fuss is about with those American Girl Dolls . they are so cute and well made. all the accessories are truly miniatures of fine made accessories.

more legos. i think he likes them

NEW YEARS!!!

So for our New years tradition--Jason started a little thing that is a medals ceremony to celebrate each child and their abilities/personality traits of the year.

I thought it was really cute that he did that. he stayed up late making these medals out of tin foil and cut cardboard. and then labeled each one. each child got three. here are the names of them.

RUBY: halfblood award ( for finishing 1st novel) Dancing boogie girl, taekwondo volcano kicker. EZRA: Puzzle master , Mr Fix it, Taekwondo volcano puncher. LUCILLE: meek as a lamb obedience champ, best napper, hug artist.

Here they are at the award ceremony. very proud of their yearly accomplishments.

do a dance to celebrate!

EZRA'S BIRTHDAY

Little friends at pump it up.

yes, thats my son. head first. it will be amazing if he makes it to college. he is always using his head as his first defense.

it was all woody and buzz themed. apparently costco didnt want to put a rocket on there. so we went with the woody theme.

my kids have played with this Batman batcave for hours. who knew it would be a family favorite. Ezra still dreams about saving up all his allowance so he can buy all the villains that go to it. hes so funny.

SO THERE YOU HAVE IT. i finally got caught up blogging about all the kids and family stuff.

now----stay tuned---im going to be putting up some awesome posts of jewelry, a new valentines line, and my crafty crafty projects as of late. and also---im really trying to get a post about favorite/life changing items of the last six months! send me an email if you have any thoughts about that time.

till next time!!

xoxoxo

bagleys

My three year old has an agenda

2011-01-18T09:28:00.001-08:00

I knew that i was in denial about my baby growing up. But it was for sure proved to me when she said a couple things to me this weekend. and its not necessarily WHAT she says. its HOW she says it.

As i was putting her new sweater on her for church i looked at the sleeves with a waring eye and said " hmm, these are too big for you ---we will have to roll them up".

and as i started rolling up her sleeves, she puts her hand on my arm--and looks at me sharply and says with a nodding head " mom, i can do this by mySELF".

like....DUH!! how dare you roll up my sleeves for me--cant you see that im 18 years old, and dont need someone to do this for me????

THen, this morning , as i was getting ready to go to Rubys school to make copies for the teacher,

i said--"-lucille, we are going to the school today, so we need to get ready."

she says to me---" mom, i cant go to the school today....i got some stuff to play" .

that was her agenda. she had "STUFF, to play" .

so sad that she is 3 going on 18.

The baby turns three!

2010-11-17T18:35:00.000-08:00

Lucille baby turns three

all her dreams came true yesterday when we gave her a stuffed, ride-on giraffe.

she calls it "fred". And treats it as her baby. Its as big as she is , yet she takes it to every room in the house that she goes.

Its the only toy she is interested in. Unless i tell her that she can play with the play dough.

she'll drop anything for a date with playdough.

When we gave her her first present ( the night before) ....she plainly said " thanks mom" with a sweet as honey smile. and gave me a hug and kiss as if she was the happiest in her life.

SO hard not to spoil this one rotten. She always "deserves" presents. What a trial!

a perfect angel.

happy birthday sweetie!!

DISNEYLAND 2010

2010-10-30T13:26:00.000-07:00

we took a trip to disneyland on october 4th.

disneyland in october is so cute!

there are Disney carved pumpkins everywhere, and lights. the haunted mansion is filled with

nightmare before christmas decorations. its truly a sight to behold.

we got a character breakfast on the last day.

i had always wanted to meet snow white!!

the last day was the day we took all the pictures. i would put more pictures on this blog post, but my computer couldnt handle all the pictures!! it was rainy and miserable the first two days. we had to buy disney ponchos and couldnt go on hardly any rides, or get around the park because of how cold and rainy it was. Why were you so shocked at the rain---oregonians?? well,my explanation for that is , i had only packed one warm outfit for each of us. and it was only cloudy when we packed up and left. also---going to newport beach to stay threw us off. because it wasnt right near the park. we were all so miserable and cold the first day that i didnt even want to go back!! but the last day ( friday) was crouded and sunny. all in all it wasnt the most ideal disney experience. but i look forward to making it right next time.

family pictures

2010-10-30T12:03:00.000-07:00

I hate doing family pictures. but its really nice when you have a patient fun

family photographer. Our friend Kitta Bodmer took these. She is a fave of ours. And, did such a great job!!

We did a couples shoot too. With lots of cheesy cute couple pictures. We have never done that since our engagement. It makes me happy to have them.

Can you tell that our kids are kinda crazy?

bathroom vanity remodel

2010-09-24T21:43:00.000-07:00

This is the bathroom located in the center of the house. its also the guest bathroom:)

Note the home depot style tile and cabinets. i believe these were home depot "stock".

BEFORE

AFTER

This is the master bath. we were sick of not having 2 sinks .

BEFORE

AFTER

WITH LIGHTS IN VIEW

I just LOOOOve the zebra wood.

next post ill show you the kitchen backsplash before and afters.

its amazing what new tile can do to your kitchen.

15 minutes of FAME and the EMMYS

2010-08-22T17:42:00.000-07:00

We were enjoying our 15 minutes of fame from the old spice train. Jasons Campaign "old spice" has been getting a lot of attention. he was on CNN---and featured in the oregonian. this all began when he did some old spice spots with will ferrel.

then a few months later, they made some hilarious commercials with husky, manly men---that talked about being a real man

and then the ones with Isaiah Mustafa ( look below, everyone should recognize him by now)

and he has been a complete sensation---from being on Oprah, Ellen, Leno, Etc, etc. ( the only shabby shows he's been on :)

So, the other night , i got a fun opportunity to go out to dinner with Isaiah, and some of jasons co-workers on this account the day after they did these personal internet spots for a week.

i know, im lucky----one of the only people who got their own personal commercial from the old spice man. yes.......i know people. Jason actually wrote that for me. i knew it when i saw it because of all the silly adjectives ---he he .

so, i was cruzing along, enjoying 15 minutes of fame on the jasons coat-tails---and the old spice train---when to my udder delight---jason and his creative team win an EMMY.

what the heck??? how did this happen?? i guess jason has hit the pinnacle of his career.

maybe these are the best years of my life? gosh that is depressing. i have to go...cuz i gotta go enjoy the best years of my life. im hoping there are better years to come but what could be more amazing than an emmy---another emmy? or an oscar? i dont know. i guess i better start planning our future.

the best part of this whole deal is that jason got a picture with MAD MEN star Jon Hamm. AKA Don Draper---AHHHH---i love that show!!

Summer Happenings for June

2010-06-27T23:37:00.000-07:00

To kick off the summer, the girls got bangs. I made them. Thats just how i roll.

Uploaded these wrong, but i need to hurry, so ill just leave it.

AFTER

BEFORE ^

AFTER ^

BEFORE

Ezra and Ruby just finished summer camp this week. this was a dance preformance that Ezra did in "camp rainbow" ( he is the one with the tan long pants) . Clearly , hes into the dancing. i dont know what this means for his future endeavors.

"who let the dogs out" was the song they were dancing to.

He was frozen for the first 30 seconds with stage fright. But later, he loosens up.

This is Ruby with her "queen of hearts" that they made for an alice in wonderland puppet show in "RAZZLE DAZZLE" craft camp .

Razzle Dazzle Ruby!! their teacher was named turquoise --that just tells you about some of the hippe crafts that must have happened there. Ruby's hat is suppose to be a "sombrero" not a tea hat---she is always making hers uniquely different from everyone else.

lets just call this Pizza ---explosion of yumminess pizza. its whole wheat crust ( which was on an ever dissapointing pizza stone---cant figure out who ever gets good crust on these--i dont) but the toppings were vegetarian italian sausage, red peppers, and zuchinni--soo good.

My Absolute favorite salad. fresh salad greens from the garden. Arugula, varigated red/green , and romaine lettuce. and these killer pickled beets from the farmers market. in addition with candied pecans,orange slices, avocado, and goat cheese. top it off with home- made citrus vinagrette dressing.

this is our new addition--"peanut" . He is an African Pygmy Hedgehog-- Hes so cute!

Who can resist this face? he is really cute, its been a really great pet for our family. JUST FYI: HE'S NOT A RODENT!! People keep calling him that---but he's from the porcupine species!!

Just this week, Ruby has learned how to hold him and become very confident with his care and nurturing. Its been great to finally have a wonderful family pet. and with a lifespan of only 3 to 5 years---its perfect-- ha ha. by that time, maybe we'll be ready for a dog :)

amsterdam, dutch countryside/holland

2010-06-27T22:55:00.000-07:00

Here are some Random pictures of our trip. I got to go for my birthday. it was a spur-of-the-moment work trip that i got to tag along on .

it was fun. i think im sort of done with travelling for a while though.

here is a cute sandwich shoppe in the Jordaan ( where we stayed) .

the canal streets are so charming.

just love the dutch architecture

these pictures are of an excursion we took to the dutch countryside and holland.

we visited a cheese/wooden shoe factory, and saw some of the most beautiful real-estate the world has.

we're in Dutch country now!

charming small town streets in some of Holland's countryside.

i loved this building. dont know if you can really get the scale of it, but its just a small building, even though it has height. it was so cute and charming.

street cafe life in the trendy and cool Jordaan ( pronounced YOUR dawn)

countryside canal

party it up on the streets of Amsterdam@!!

TILE CRAZY

2010-06-08T14:09:00.000-07:00

AHHH, i am obsessed with this tile. i want this in my bedroom behind my bed instead of wallpaper. i know--it might look cheezy---but AHHH , the glamor of it!!

If i ever build a cool house, or become a decorator---or just have complete creative freedom with a room without having to worry about resale----or something stupid----these pics are my dream!

i am going tile crazy lately!!! thats what happens when you have to pick out tile. too bad i have to pick something gray and boring because of resale.

just in case you forgot

2010-05-16T21:19:00.001-07:00

My Friend Sean posted this on facebook. A photo that i had long since forgotten.

pretty hilarious. I remember Sean had us stand with him to make him look like a ladies man. which is so funny, because all it looks like is that he is making us take a dorky picture with him.ha ha ha.

But if anyone ever had any doubts of what a cranky teenager i was ( which im sure no one has---it was pretty noticable) . here is a little reminder. just in case anyone forgot.

im glad to say that now---i have totally grown out of this phase.

Jills Jewels

2010-05-03T17:51:00.000-07:00

check out some new stuff that will be coming soon on my etsy page.

we can do customizations of color, beads, shapes of beads ( meaning, bigger or smaller)

custom color pallets.

this is just a preview of the customizable things that will be on etsy soon.

if you want to see everything that is there now go to: Jills Jewels by mermacorn on Etsy

Self Esteem for Stay at home moms

2010-04-12T13:09:00.000-07:00

Working or staying at home---you have just got to give yourself a pat on the back for raising balanced children and creating a loving home. its NOT EASY. And sometimes, i just want to cry when i think about the million and one ways that i might be failing at it.

Its only going to get tougher and tougher. Most likely---will try your character more and more.

if your like me....you need more character---and more self esteem!!! here is an article that i found online --while trying to "get it together"---ARRGH. Stay At Home Moms - Self Esteem

and here is another good article about how to make your life a little more positive.

thought everyone might want to see this one Building Self Esteem .

Enjoy!! and moms----please, lets give ourselves a break :)

Ruby turns 8 and goes to big apple!!

2010-04-04T22:44:00.000-07:00

Ruby Turned 8, had her grandma and grandpa Bagley in town a week before her birthday to watch them while we were in Hawaii, then we got home, had rubys birthday family party, then her Baptism, My parents came to town, stayed a couple of days. We then had a small friend party for Ruby at ceramic-cafe. Then, while we all had the stomach flu, Her and Jason got to take a little quick trip to New York for fun to stay with friends over Jasons Birthday.

Can i just sigh in relief that this month is over??? aye yae yae!!!

YUMMM birthday cake

Here is ruby at the top of the empire state building.

Lucille is Excited for birthday cake

Ruby visited the natural history museum

Happy birthday ruby!!

RUby gets baptized!!

Curly sue, thanks to Grandma Elaine!

Maui 2010

2010-03-30T21:07:00.001-07:00

I finally was able to get some photos onto blogspot!! yay!!! for some reason, i was having technical difficulties with my computer. I Loathe vacationing---but was pleasantly surprised at how much fun we had in Maui. I know , i know, i sound so boring, but it gives me anxiety to travel, get all my stuff ready, and come home to a mound of things to do.

anyway, we had a lot of adventures. we went snorkeling, did lots of whale watching, took a catamaran trilogy tour to Lana'i. we Flew over Moloka'i and Lana'i via helicopter. Even Swam with Turtles in the ocean!!! ( which were actually very freaky---because they didnt care that you were right next to them, or even bumping into them)

Here is jason snorkeling , we were with friends that had an underwater camera. kinda wished we would have got one.

this is one of the views from our hotel room.

we had a couple of days with very bad weather. Surprisingly still got very sunburned this day.

sorry about the glare on some of these helicopter pics. i did the best i could.

we took the famous road to HANA. this is just a measly view of the beautiful luciousness.

these trees were so cool.

and i took a picture of my hand, because we were at a black sand beach. it looked like i had been playing in oreos.

more of the black sand beach

what do ya know, feels just like regular sand

we spent the most amount of time here because jason was obsessed.

this was on the road to hana again.

ahhh, hawaii sunsets.

so many whales!!

on our helicopter ride, we saw a school of 16 or 17 whales. there were so many of them!! i had no idea we were there at the time of whale season. what a treat!

this is Moloka'i

for some reason im extra photogenic. if i could reproduce this pose, id have it made in the photo department. its because i finally engrained in jason that he has to say 1-2-3 before he clicks. In Greece i look like a dork because i would look at him like,--"whats taking so long?" and that is right when he would snap the photo. ARRRGH!!

JASONS COMMERCIAL. its even been on oprah!! yay!

2010-03-30T20:59:00.000-07:00

Wt saying this body wash will make your man smell into a romantic millionaire jet fighter pilot, but we are insinuating it.

my husband is famous!!!

2010-02-06T15:01:00.001-08:00

PICTURES FROM THE PAST ....totally rad dude!!

2010-01-26T22:24:00.000-08:00

GLAMOOOOUR. gotta love those glamour shots!! Too bad i never got one of these. why the serious face Katie?

MUSHROOM haircuts were HoTT!!

So cute. where was i? cant believe this was james. i was such a "too cool for school" teenager.

this cant be james, is it?

look at my cute little bro james.

such a cutie. you would have never known it from this picture, but he was a real spazz.

miss those freckles.

This is the best picture from my childhood ever!! I thought i was so cool.

here is me in the height of my coolness.

My "LEVI" shirt. as they were called in those days. i had a crystal necklace on. they are believed to have secret powers by hippes and natural healers....oh, and Ruby.

I love the 80's!!

speaking of the 80's----i just broke down and bought my first pair of skinny jeans for the first time since they have been in style. i know i know, they are called cigarette leg jeans. but i just feel icky calling them that. they will always be peg legs.

Santa Clause

2009-12-17T08:54:00.000-08:00

RUby asked me the SCAAAARY question---well, it wasnt really a question. but, more of a discussion about weather or not santa is real.

she just dropped the bomb on me while i was taking her to school. I could tell that she figured it out. she is smart enough at 7 1/2 years to know if someone is trying to pull a fast one on her.

and it made me so sad. someones stupid kid told her that santa wasnt real at school.

im really mad at that kid---but i guess it was inevitable.

here is how it all started : " mom, this boy in my class said that santa is just parents that give you toys.----and I didnt know what to say" and then i said---" well, some people have different beliefs---some people believe that Jesus is not the savior, but we believe that Jesus is the savior of the world" ( and i feel so guilty for saying that now---its like----well, you believe in Jesus dont you? SO if jesus is real, so is santa) and now in hindsight ---i think that may have been a bad comparison. so, i just started talking about how magical santa is. and wanted to divert the conversation but-----AHHHHHH, what do you say?

i think she is too young to know about everything. its still so magical for her. but i know stupid kids at school are going to say stuff to her. what do i do???

Jewelry 2009 extravaganza!!!

2009-12-16T23:13:00.000-08:00

I have to make this sound really fun, because actually it was a large pain in the $%&* cuss word.

I wanted to launch a Etsy page. not realizing the astonomical amount of time and effort it takes to manage that. I had a jewelry party for my friends. and it was really fun---and thanks to all my friends for helping me out with that!!

anyway...... i got a lot of stuff produced, and i have an Etsy page now. its : mermacorn.etsy.com

if you end up ordering something, mention my blog, ill give you 20% off!!! Become a puma today!!!

lovely Lucille is 2 now.

2009-12-16T20:23:00.001-08:00

SORRY, i havent posted in a while, been too engrossed in Jewelry making. but we DID have a birthday party for Lucille. and she was sick , yet again. poor baby.

This was my little angelic baby when she was one. She is still angelic, but shes a BIG baby now.

this little sweetie makes having kids seem like a dream. She is loving, pleasant, peachy, and just all around perky all the time. When she is upset about something, she cries in a very

undeniable sweet way. Listen, i know im bias. but shes perfect people!

here she is at about 1 years old----just look at that peachy little grin

this is her on her 2nd birthday ( november 16th )

she LOOOOVes chocolate. mommys girl.

she has a new love for everything elmo.

these are just some perky pics of her. she gets in these really playful moods somtimes.

I cant believe my baby's such a big girl !! i truly dont think there is a sweeter girl than Lucille.

Halloween

2009-11-10T16:01:00.001-08:00

Can someone tell me how its the 10th of november already? im still recovering from all the halloween candy hangovers. now i need to get on a serious diet!! here are some pics from the festivities:

The kids with our neighbor. She is dubbed the "favorite neighbor" because of all her cute animals that my kids get to see when they go over there.

some people thought that because my costume wasnt over the top......that i was a fairie . but no, i was a butterfly. hence the butterfly wings?? we tried to get a picture of all the kids holding still, but this is the best we could do with the kids all hyped up on sugar.

Isnt that the cutest "bumbee" you have ever seen? Lucille couldnt quite say bumblebee.

so all day she said---" i won be my bumbee costume"

i have a "thing" for insect costumes. last year Lucy was a butterfly too.

this was at the trunk-er-treat. costumes pretty much the same.

but my makeup was cooler.

This was at the wieden and kennedy party. they always have a reptile table. and Ruby loves it.

she was in the car after requesting that we get a bearded dragon ( yea right!!)

this alligator was tickling rubys head ---she loves that alligator.

correct me if im wrong, but i think that lizard that ruby is holding is a bearded dragon.

she was really fascinated by lizards after this.

and heres some cards i had fun making with the kids.

when i say kids , i mean Ruby

pumpkin patch!!!!

2009-11-10T15:50:00.000-08:00

Yes,

we did have a fun october. my kids are getting to the age where they notice scary things, and are very curious about them.

i love going to the pumpkin patch. my kids are such a handful at this age, but every fall time---i think this trip is worth the hassle.

im so glad i remembered my rain boots!

Every year we tell Ruby that she can ride the pony if she uses her allowance. and she always chooses to blow the dough on the pony.

such a cute little cow-girl

lucy was loving touching daddy's face.

dont think she cared as much about the shoulder ride, but wanted to touch daddy's face the whole time.

isnt it beautiful in North Plains? look how the sky meets the land. love it out there.!

Lucille loves animals. the goat was so cute to her. she gets much pleasure out of looking at the goat.

who doesnt love a mini pony? its the size of a german shepard dog practically.

starbucks pumpkin loaf

2009-11-05T17:31:00.000-08:00

I must admit i have become quite addicted to this starbucks pumpkin loaf. i know there are better pumpkin breads out there. and i have once or twice made a good recipe. but a good recipe is hard to come by. i found this recipe online and was overjoyed!! think of the money youll save!!

i made this and was pleasantly surprised by how much it tasted like the starbucks kind. it has the same texture too! ( highly reccommend getting pumpkin seeds to sprinkle on top.)

I omitted some of the water it calls for and was a little dissapointed. but it was still really good and fairly moist.

its very pumpkiny... and moist. try it with chocolate chips, pecans or walnuts.

Starbucks pumpkin loaf--- ( makes 2 loaves or 24 muffins)

1 cup butter or margarine

3 cups sugar

4 eggs

3 1/3 cups flour

2 teaspoons baking soda

1 1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1 tsp cinnamon

1 tsp nutmeg

4 tsp ground ginger

1/2 tsp cloves

2/3 cups water

2 cups canned pumpkin

1 c nuts ( optional)

cream together butter, sugar, and eggs

combine all dry ingredients. mix dry to wet, and alternate with water

pour into 2 greased loaf pans.

or you can make 24 muffins. sprinkle pumpkin seed nuts on top.

bake at 350 for 55 -60 minutes

highlight of september

2009-11-01T08:41:00.001-08:00

QUILT -O- RAMA

at the end of september, i meant to get around to updating, but just didnt have it in me.

( those with kids in school know about september, and how ridiculously busy it is)

i went to a quilt fair by myself ( boo hoo) . i was determined to go because i had heard from friends how fun it was. now, i must admit, there were some fun things going on there.

but i would have had more fun with a friend who likes to sew, or with Ruby.

Here are some pics of some amazing , and i mean AMAZING quilts.

Too bad you cant see this one very well. this was my favorite of the whole show i think.

its SOOOO detailed. and ....do you see the blue ribbon at the bottom? it won best artistic quilt.

this was my second favorite---i wanted ruby to see it. it was gigantic, the picture doesnt do any of these justice.

these art quilts were incredible. who knew you could do this with fibers and fabric?

i want this for my bed!!

this was some of the cutest fabric i have ever seen . too bad they werent selling the fabric!!

you could make a pile of scraps with this fabric and it would still be cute.

BACK TO SCHOOL

2009-09-08T10:03:00.001-07:00

School is starting, and its really official because we got the kids portraits on friday.

I guess its really hard to get all my kids to smile together. The pictures were a bit dodgy. but i refused to let it be a complete waste---and purchased them all! that way , i just couldnt justify doing it again :)

YAY!!! the kids are going off to school again. Ruby went today, and Ezra goes to preschool for the first time next week. im excited for the possibility of having a little extra time to myself. perchance- CRAFT-O-RAMA? ooooohhh the possibilities!

Im sad that summer is over. there is a chill in the air in the mornings now. i have been wearing sweaters the last two days! And, now i have to say goodbye to pools, sunny weather, my garden tomatoes and squash, and popsicles. those are all the summery things that are not the same when school starts.

But, there are great possibilities that come with "back to school" . Learning potential.

we went over Rubys goals for the year, and im excited for her to reach her goals. Here are some of them:

--Learn to tie shoes

--Learn to count money well

--Read more chapter books

--Make bed each day

--Make a goal at soccer

Shes growing up. and theres not much i can do about it. she is becoming such an asset to our family with her helping. She helps out with the other kids more than usual now, watches out for them. Its so nice to see how responsible she is becoming. Makes me feel like im not a complete failure!

Mr Mcpooh

2009-08-26T13:21:00.000-07:00

Here are a few funny things Ezra has been saying lately . Luckily he has been funny, or else I might just put him up for adoption :)

1-When asked what he wants to do for fun, in the future of his life he said that "punching a shark"

was top on the list.

2-"i am a race-car driver, and race-car drivers dont eat peanutbutter sandwiches". And then i had to explain to him that even racecar drivers have to stop and eat or else they would be too tired to go anymore. And then he said, " your right, i am too tired to go anymore"

3-Last night while ruby was having cuddle time, and he was trying to go to sleep-- " Ruby , stop talking! Youre noising my peace and quiet!"

4-As we were in the car , waiting to turn left at the top of our street: " mom, my razor scooter is way faster than our car".

Ruby Retorted, "if there was a cheetah running on the road right now, traffic would be going way faster".

3 year olds are funny.

paper and I are not friends

2009-08-26T12:50:00.000-07:00

I have come to the blunt conclusion-- I must have been born in an astrological sign that is anti-paper. maybe its fire, maybe its water, but its definately NOT air or anything that would condone the productivity, organization, and proliferation of paper.

Paper products, junk mail, and small slips of paper ( namely receipts)-just dont like me, and i dont like them. heck, even my "paper anniversary" didnt go off that well--as far as i can remember---wait, which one is the paper anniversary---the first?

its pretty comical. and pretty sad. im the only person i know who has piles and piles of paper junk overflowing my house. I even hired someone a while back that was suppose to help me figure out how to manage it---and while my system is awesome for doing that---you have to USE it to have it work.

What is the secret to not letting this happen? do normal people just spend an hour a day managing paper? i dont want to devote my life to managing paper!

If you know me, be a friend, dont ever give me a peice of paper with your number on it---or any other information on it please! ill just lose it , and have to come to you with my tail between my legs to tell you that its gone, and would you kindly give me the information again.

I HEART forever 21

2009-08-01T17:36:00.000-07:00

I went into the biggest Forever 21 store in history . it was at south towne mall in south jordan utah. they moved into an old abandoned mervyns building----so it was HUGE!! and the best part....open until 10 pm .....just like mervyns.

i got lost in the jewelry section. it was mind blowing. awesome vintage looking necklaces for 12 dollars. this is totally cheesy, but it was "show stopping" that is how cool it was.

whats another word for show stopping? thats the best i could do.....peace out.

Banantastic bread

2009-07-15T20:13:00.001-07:00

The only thing that has gotten me through this day is the thought that i will be able to enjoy a piece of this bread.
Im gonna call this Triple B bread. triple b--meaning: Best, Beloved, Banantastic bread!!

I got this recipe from Stephanie Mckellar. Maybe that is why i love this bread so much. it reminds me of Stephanie when she used to live here. this bread is a lot like Stephanie---perfectly sweet and balanced.

trust me....this is the best banana bread you will ever have. double the recipe. you wont regret it. and youll get rid of that pile of costco bananas that is collecting fruit flies!!

You can do so much with this recipe. you can add pecans, walnuts, or chocolate chips ( thats what i always add)

Stephanies Banana Bread , AKA triple B bread

1 cup sugar

1 1/4 cup flour

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp salt

1/2 cup butter ( softened)

2 eggs

3 over ripe bananas mashed

Grease a regular sized loaf pan. sprinkle sugar on the bottom of the pan.

sift together dry ingredients . mix wet ingredients together.

slowly add dry ingredients to wet

Bake at 350 for 1 hour or until toothpick comes out clean.

POOL PARTY baby

2009-07-12T13:45:00.000-07:00

Ruby loses her top front tooth at bagley reunion

The best thing i ever did this summer was to get a pool membership at the neighborhood pool.

i know, it seems obvious, but you have to be on a waiting list to get a membership, and even if they can get you in, you have to pay an astounding amount of cash. Jason was totally against it, but its made our kids SOOOOO happy. we got our first swim lessons this summer. and the kids are like fish now. its been so nice to be able to cool off in a pool. maybe we will dig one out in our back yard :) just kidding.

Ezra cant swim, but he loves to torture whoever is in the pool by hitting them with stuff. is it too early to have testosterone poisoning?

Reunion Time!

2009-07-12T13:14:00.000-07:00

These are the photos from our Bagley Reunion that we went to in Pine Arizona. we got back around the 2oth of June, So , it was a while ago. I am just getting around to taking a look at all our summer photos. im feeling very pathetic and sorry for my family that they have such a bad photographer. Luckily, someone in the bagley family is able to take pictures. or i wouldnt have any of these. i didnt take any of these. lucky for you.

sisters and sis in laws

Bros and Brother in laws

Ezra became a man at this reunion--- he's really embracing wild boy ways

Lucille my little darling in a swim suit

Anson, Mia, Gracie, Ruby

Ezra, Brik, Sophie

Girls crafty time

Gracie, Ruby, & Sam

We love you BAGLEY family!! it was such a fun reunion. The kids Played and played in the forts, treehouses, trampoline and waterfall outside. The Adults got to visit blissfully inside with minimal child interruption. DID I MENTION THAT WE GOT A CATERER? folks getting a caterer for your family reunions with children is the only way to do it!!!! great food, fun in the swimming holes, spa night, crafts, lazer tag---what more could want? it was an awesome reunion. thanks to all who did hard work planning. Thanks Elaine and Errol for letting us all stay up there!

The Mediterranean

2009-06-09T12:55:00.000-07:00

We Just got back late last night from our trip. So these are the exclusive photos. please ignore my snickery face in most of them. as i am not photogenic. but it was an AMAZING trip. the trip of a lifetime. I celebrated my birthday in Venice. and it was the best birthday ever.

FOr those who dont know, Jason and i took a mediterranean cruise to Italy and greece for my 30th birthday ( and our 10th anniversary celebration). we have never travelled without kids since we had them. it was quite a treat. thanks Errol and Elaine for making this possible!!

this is the Parthenon.

City of Athens in the background of the site of the Acropolis

More Parthenon---- its just too awesome!!

This is the NIKE temple at the Acropolis. the Ladies are so beautiful that hold it up

This is an ancient city on the Isle of Delos. ( birthplace of appolo) this city, and some of its remains date 3,000 years back. this was someones formal living room. look at the beautiful mosaic floor. you cant see the art work in the middle, but it was a god riding a tiger. one of the only peices of "tiger art" in greece.

This is Mykonos---just breathtaking

Jason just stripped down and had to go for a dip. he couldnt help himself the water was just too beautiful and warm :)

Its very humble, but this is where the light the torch for every olympics. this was taken in ancient olympia.

Taking a picture with this statue was not allowed. i got in trouble for it. but it was worth it. this was the ancient archeological museum of olympia. its where they keep all the original carved statues.

This was a beach in Katakolon ( where olympia is) . i must admit. it was a great experience. Jason was frolicking in the ocean , and i forgot my bathing suit---i had to sit around and wait for him to get his ocean time in. ahhhh--some of the ladies were topless!!

We ended our trip in venice. that place is so freakin cool!! i reccommend everyone go to venice before they die. or if you take any trips to italy----be sure to go there. they say its sinking. so ya better hurry!!

eating gelato

view of the grand canal

ALAS, one of my big regrets is not taking a gondola ride.

next time ill bring more money :)

May update #2

2009-05-26T12:25:00.000-07:00

Im finally getting a REAL wedding ring. my original one got stolen from our move 5 years ago. i took it off to help the movers and never saw it again. its my 30th birthday, and our 10th anniversary this year. and when we get back from our trip to greece, and italy, ill get to see it!! this was part of the may update i forgot .... my husband spoils me :)

May Update

2009-05-26T12:08:00.001-07:00

THE MONTH OF MAY............

Finally after 5 years of living here. i bit the bullet and decorated my kids rooms. Lucilles is a pink baby fantasy , and Ruby's /Ezra's room is a rainbow happy land.

Here are some pictures. the other rainbow now has clouds on it. ( but in the picture it doesnt.)

i also have some really cute fabric for curtains. and more clouds/birds to put up. but this is how it is thus far. just need to find a rug that looks like grass ---ha ha

Lucille LOOOOOVES stuff animals. and whenever she sees them, she just hugs and kisses them.

still hugging---perfect picture opportunities.

little miss bossy pants has also decided that now she has to eat all of her food with utensils. she thinks she is so grown up. and she is too proper to get food on her hands now.

Here is a picture of my little happy cooperative boy Ezra. he is always aiming to please. we potty trained him finally this month. and he has been so eager!! which was a surprise.

here he is in his new swimsuit ensemble.

Ruby continues to have bad hair days.
This one was a little worse than normal. but sometimes she will go to school with hair like this. its such a shame that i am a hair dresser and my child will not allow me to style her hair!!
sometimes i remind her that i have a special education on how to style hair, but she doesnt believe me.

Jasons B day, April, and Easter fun

2009-04-21T18:14:00.001-07:00

This is a picture of Jasons humble birthday party. i asked him if i could make him a red velvet cake ( the only cake he currently likes ) , but he loves doughnuts more than anything, and so he just got a bunch. its kinda pathetic. but thats what the man likes--doughnuts and bacon.

this was just a funny happenstance. i found this in rubys back pack one day ( i think it had been there for a couple of days, because i had noticed how heavy her back pack was. she told me that it was her school assignment---and she made grandpa. i wish that i had more pictures of this, it is truly hilarious. she made grandpa with hair plugs.

Lucille and Ezra successfully took a bath together. which is amazing.

Lucille is pretty hard to keep up with these days. she gets into everything under the sun---the house is torn apart constantly by her.

EASTER

Rubys basket was hidden in the coat closet in my coat!! she needed lots of clues.

Ezras basket was hidden on the side of his bunk bed under Lucilles play table. he pulled it out so hard it almost went to pieces.

Lucille got a baby alive. and the first thing she did when she saw her basket was pull out the baby and the bottle and started feeding. she is such a little mommy.

too cute with the bunny ears.

So that is the best i could do for this month of april. for a little update, its a pity that i didnt get more pictures. my mom and dad were visiting, along with Samantha my sister, her husband Adam, Hazel ( only 5 months younger than Lucy) and their doggie---Toast. it was a really fun easter. i was so grateful for the opportunity to have family on Easter.

Sami just left today. it was fun to have two cute little toddlers running around. Lucy and Hazel would randomly play together, share toys, kiss and hug eachother. it was adorable. looking forward to the days of them having sleepovers---running around playing together, and all that fun girly stuff. they are the closest Grandkids in age on my side!! actually on either of our sides.

peace out

NO DOG!!

2009-03-25T18:32:00.000-07:00

Ruby had a playdate with her friend Tabitha today. Tabitha just got a new puppy. and has a really cute chihuahua, and italian greyhound already. instead of praising her mom for letting her play so long, or comment on how much fun she had or how cute Tabitha's dogs are, all i get is--

"WAAAA----i need a dog---tear, sob, we have to get a dog!! im lonely , i cant live my whole life without one---etc, etc.

ENOUGH ALREADY!!

oh the drama........what is up with this newfound 7 year old drama? she is totally acting like a teenager all of the sudden. with ultimatums, guilting, Bratty tactics. i am in disbelief. and i know what your thinking........probably that im too indulgent of a parent, or that i have been spoiling her or else she would not act like this.

i promise----i have tried her entire life to NOT spoil her. to have limits, and discipline.

im sure that im not perfect. but can someone tell me----is this just normal 7 year old behavior?

i have heard a lot of other parents say that it is. but wow!! i need a plan people.

someone tell me how i can emerge from this in a positive way?

Irish Princess turns 7

2009-03-20T08:25:00.000-07:00

HAPPY BIRTHDAY RUBY!

WE THREW AN ALL IRISH, ALL GREEN, ST PATRICKS DAY EXTRAVAGANZA FOR OUR LITTLE RUBY!!

When I first gave birth to ruby, and we were in the hospital, all the nurses and family members said that she would get tired of all the green birthdays ( being born on st patricks day) but we have NEVER had anything green on any of her birthdays. except this one. it was her idea to do an irish birthday party with a leprechaun treasure hunt. she was very proud of herself for thinking of it. ( and boy am i glad she did, or else i would have had to do a "jungle" theme---i was not looking forward to that)

Here she is opening her presents. i asked her what her favorite part of the party was , and she said it was opening presents.

here she is reading a clue from the treasure hunt. sure glad the kids can read!!

bit o "blarney" rocks that we made

we decorated the house with shamrocks everywhere.

found the treasure!!

i made an irish treasure cake for her.---i know, its a little over the top.

had to remember these invitations. they were so cute.

Beloved Taco casserole

2009-02-24T20:32:00.000-08:00

The first time i ever heard of Taco Casserole was from one of the acheivement days girls that i used to teach. she came over for the activity that night and was totally devastated that she had to go home because it was "taco casserole night" at her house. i laughed and wondered HMMMM what IS taco casserole? how i finally found out was that i went to the halloween party at my ward and someone made it for their "chili". Ruby rarely likes anything, but she has just recently gotten on a taco kick. so i thought---i must make this!!

the only reason i am posting this is because i made it tonight yet again and it was SOOO delectable. maybe i am just deprived of really good cooking that is wholesome and healthy --instead of super greasy and oversalted.

but here is my recipe. its simple and easy to put together. i just think its a really easy meal---LIKE TACOS!!! it seems like everyone has stuff to make tacos right?

1 box of taco shells ( you can use tortilla chips if you like)

1 lb of lean ground beef--or turkey

1 tbs and 1 teaspoon taco seasoning ( or a packet) + bay leaf

1/2 an onion diced ( or more if you like)

1 bell pepper ( optional)

1 small can of tomato sauce

pace picante sauce or salsa of choice

1 can of black beans

corn, olives---or anything else you would like to add.

grated colby jack or cheddar cheese

sautee onions and beef together, drain, return to pan.

add seasonings, beans , bell peppers, tomato sauce, &corn.

sautee for about 3 minutes on med-high. stirring.

then pull apart taco shells ( so they are flat) and place them in a

13x9 pan on the bottom. put spoonfulls of salsa on them. put your

beef mixture in a layer on top of the flat taco shells. and continue to layer

in this order: tacoshells, tiny bit of salsa on the taco shells, beef mixture, cheese---and so on.

until you run out of mixture and or everything else.

bake in an oven at 375 for 20 to 25 minutes.

scoop out casserole onto a bed of shredded lettuce and add sliced avo

and sour cream. i like a little spice, so i add El-PATO sauce drizzled over top.

its SOOOOO yummy.

your kids will love it if they like tacos.

CRAFTINESS OF AMERICA!!

2009-02-23T17:59:00.000-08:00

These are the auction pieces for the school auction

I made that little fused glass beauty------made it in the schools Kiln--seemed only fitting that i sell it at the school fundraiser---its so cute and funky!!

This one is really fun-- you cant see , but in the middle the flower sparkles.

wonder how much these pieces will get at the auction? me too!

these are the cute crafts/fused glass things i made while katie was at my house watching my kids.---thanks katie!! wish i could do this ALL the time.

ill post more crafts soon---because i love to make them!!

hey......thats my husband!

2009-02-11T08:35:00.000-08:00

i was surfing my sister -in- laws blog, and i saw this awesome picture that i would like to share with the public.

no---it was not halloween. it was new years. and the theme was "the distant future".

so prepare yourselves men-----my husband is quite the trend setter. this is going to be the new tuxedo.

watch out red carpet people. i hope you all look good in fuchsia.

WORST FREAKING WINTER EVER!!!

2009-02-10T10:00:00.000-08:00

Poor baby Lucy.............I love my kids, and i love having three, but the more kids you have , the more opportunities for sickness your family gets!! we have all been sick for .....hmmm lets see.....ever since katie left....

three weeks?!!! first strep, then the random colds, then allergies to amoxicillin, then double ear infections, in both children, and now ----some random infection with fever......

can i just say...im sick of going to the pediatrician and having NO real solutions. how many anti-biotics am i going to have to give these kids? im done.

i dont really think that western medicine is the answer anymore. --Dont get me wrong, i am grateful for the anti-biotics , when truly neccesary---but come on....... they just want you to come into the doctors office, get an anti-biotic, ( which wipes out the other effective parts of your immune system) then, because you are at an office with a bunch of sickies, you get something else, and your body cant fight it because it has no more immunity!!!
At least Ezra doesnt look like a Leper anymore. he had a really really really bad rash, with hives and it covered his whole body. we finally gave him Zyrtec ( instead of benadryl) and this is how he looks now. less freaky, but still a sickie.

Finally PiCTURES!!! of Katies visit, and the month of January

2009-02-07T01:27:00.000-08:00

I will post crafts soon.............but for now...............check out January:

these are some pictures of Ezras 3rd birthday party. down below, in the following post, are more pictures. i am kinda going out of order. but there were alot, and they werent taken with my camera.

I took this picture because i just thought my kids were being peaceful and cute. its a very rare sight around here. and they were cuddling in the blanket together. Lucy is SOOO cuddly.

she loves to cuddle ruby

Katie and i decided to be adventurous and take the kids to Shari's because we were in the mood for breakfast food. i dont think it was worth it. it was right around nap time with five kids in a restaurant!! AHHH!!! at least we got this cute picture.

my little peanut again :)

more pics of january

2009-02-07T01:16:00.000-08:00

"muno! the one eyed monster"

we had a Yo-Gabba Gabba party for Ezra. it was a dance party. thanks to Nickjr.com it was "totally awesome!!"

but the cake was all me and my skillz. for some reason, im overly obessed with decorating cakes. i dont know whats gotten into me.

Ezra truly thinks he is a rock star. i will have to do a video post with him dancing. its utterly hilarious. he makes a curled lip and everything. its self taught

cutest cousin picture ever

why are my arms so fat??? i need a spray tan.

i know i am a lame blogger

2009-02-01T23:54:00.000-08:00

I KNOW....... I AM LAME -- i dont update as frequently as i should. but i feel that most of the time the only thing worth writing about is my kids, and the silly things they do. and then i forget to take pictures, and well, no one wants a blog with out pictures.

but i will just do some quick updates, and then soon ( when my sister katie remembers to send the only cool pictures i have of ezras birthday and of her visit) i will put some pictures on here.

cool/eventful things that have happened in january:

*coming home from the holidays in arizona,we realized that flying with three kids is just not worth it. dont know when we will be adventurous enough to try it again. and ps--we also realized that our kids have the "adverse" reaction to benadryl--NOT the ideal reaction we were hoping for ( aka--tantrums and screaming the whole flight)

*Katie came to visit, helped me with my kids, and helped me do an awesome Yo Gabba Gabba birthday party for Ezra. and then she so graciously watched my kids while i went to an awesome fused glass class ( so sorry we couldnt find a babysitter so you could come :(

*Lucille started walking talking and got one upper tooth this month!! wowee! she is officially a toddler

*i chopped off the top of my thumb with a knife and went to the ER.

*all my kids came down with strep throat and me as well with in one week. we spent 100 bucks going to the doctor and 70 bucks on prescriptions and lost money for classes we signed up for.

* My cat had to go on prozac :) ---now, this is a great one....wink wink. he sort of went more crazy on it, and we soon had to stop giving it.

* Jason made some awesome superbowl commercials that were very appropriate for the economic climate---and was written about in the mormon times.

*I learned how to make a fabric bead necklace, fused glass pendants and made my first sock monkey thanks to Fletcher Millers Eagle scout project ( thanks fletcher!!)

IN SUMMARY: i think we had a pretty successful month. we are so excited for this coming year.

jason is planning a family reunion that is catered for his family ( it will be held up in pine arizona in july) .

we are taking some kind of European Cruise ( grecian, or italian) for my 30th birthday.

did i mention im turning 30 ? :( and we are going to celebrate our 10th wedding anniversary this year!!!woo hoo for us.

and i hope ( i really hope) we can find the money, or the time, or something to do a disneyland trip for our kids this year. we'll have to pinch, but i think we can do it if we plan right. :)

so i really think this is going to be a great year. so far im not planning on having any babies or anything----i think i might lower my body fat ( hee hee )

its 2009 and we're doin fine. this is going to be a great year.

we hope everyone is healthy and happy and doin great!!!

will post pics soon.

12 days of christmas

2009-01-11T22:35:00.000-08:00

UMMMMM....there is too much freaking snow!!!!

after about a week of missing school from all the snow days and freezing rain,

i had had enough of the snow. but i started to panic and feel bad for the kids , so i got them

some snow clothes ( which i have never had to buy in portland before) and let them at it.

they had a blast even though there was about 2 inches of ice on top of the snow.

Jason read the christmas carol each night before bed. even Lucille liked it. what is funner than cuddling up to daddy?

This is the part where Santa says " now, what would you like for christmas little ruby?" and ruby replies..." well, i want a fake horse with a fake carrot" and then santa says---"OHHH, well, you ARE on my good list this year----so , that is a good sign that youll get what you want" and

then afterwards i tell her...." well, santa only chooses the things on your list that he thinks you will LOVE........i dont think that a fake pony is one of those.

Ezra asks for a race track. but really i think he was to shy to say anything to the bearded stranger in red.

CHRISTMAS.........AND BEYOND!!

2009-01-11T22:16:00.000-08:00

ITs all Santas fault.

I can blame this all on santa, because , when you do that, its like you didnt blatantly

spoil your kids....it was just magic. and there was nothing i can do about it....

Our house is just "too magical" and my kids were just at the top of santas "good list"

( or at least that is what the santa at the mall told ruby when she asked for that fake pony with a rubber carrot)

i just really got tired of the kids watching tv......i wanted some toys to spark their imaginations.

i dont really buy toys during the year----not even on their birthday's oddly enough, and

that is because i just cant stand getting new stuff and having too much junk.

so please dont judge,

but i was really pleased----even though i have no room for all the new stuff!

Ezra got a Yo-Gabba Gabba Guitar that he is "ga-ga" for . there goes our little rock star. there will be a future posting of him doing a hilarious rock star dance. he must have watched the jonas brothers too many times or something.

The kids are discovering their toys on christmas morning. the spiral race track and mushroom tent were a big hit

Even Lucille loved the foam swords and wanted a duel.

AHHH, the many doors and windows of the mushroom tent.

Here is the spread that santa brought. including the tv....which was pretty much all jason got.

but the speakers and surround sound had not been installed yet.

AWESOME PAINTINGS!!!----or should i say RAD?

2008-12-02T10:52:00.000-08:00

When we were in Utah for Thanksgiving, we picked up our paintings.

Unbelievable right?

we have not hung them yet, but this is where i want to hang them.

we just have to wait for our speakers and stuff to be installed before hanging anything.

My good friend Sean Hennefer is a mighty fine artist and had cancer.

he was holding fundraisers and art shows, and we were thrilled that he did these for us

as part of his jump starting his career!!

Im hoping that more people see these and love them like I do and contact him to commision

a painting.

we were kind of a pain to work with though :)

sorry Sean---

we love you and are glad you are cancer free!!

Elaine---arent you glad Lucille is wearing your work of art for an outfit?

so cute.

Happy Birthday Lucille

2008-11-16T23:06:00.000-08:00

Happy 1st Birthday Lucy!!!

Dont know why, but i always go a little overboard with the cake decorating. but i can say that Ruby totally helped with this....she did the bow all by herself. and she was loving being a cake decorater. The green platter in this picture is actually my grandma Lucile's its one of my treasures. dont you just love the name Lucille written in cursive?

Today was a miserable day. every one of my kids was sick with fevers, or throwing up. Poor baby, sick on her first birthday. All of the kids stayed home from church today. We just couldnt get her to smile in any pictures.

this is the most smiling she did in any of them. but who could blame her with a fever?

She did manage to eat a few bites of her delicious homemade carrot cake. and she loved her baby piano, and beanie kitty we got her. after an entire day at babies r us of showing her fun toys---she was most excited about the kitty---immediately cuddling and talking to the stuffed pink tiger. she is obessed with cats. if she is crying and suddenly the cat walks in the room, she greets it with a kiss sound and "OOOOHHHH". some people are just born with obsessions.

2008-11-12T18:54:00.000-08:00

5 years cancer free!!!

the cake says " Ruby's cured----5 years healthy"

It was yet again another bone marrow birthday for ruby. This one was the biggest cause for celebration. after 5 years of being cancer free, they are considered cured!!! They would never tell us that she was cured, but after 5 years they do. It means that she has the same chance as a normal child to develop childhood cancer again

Here is Sami with her new hair cut. doesnt she look smokin hot? So nice to have a sister in town. we did tons of crafts, hair, made cards, gourmet food----it was an awesome time.

love having someone around that is more of a homebody than me!!! was so relaxing. cant wait to have you come again-----what'd ya say...........fly back in january?

Dont laugh at the pathetic cake. Ruby requested a pumpkin cake ( she has a thing for pumpkin lately) and she wanted a tinkerbell cake too. this was the best pumpkin cake, and i just went to the disney store to get a tinkerbell doll. ( the cake topper tinkerbell was ugly) but at least ruby got a doll out of it. we also went to pump it up and jumped around with the kids--and it just so happened that they had a reptile show there. my kids were in heaven.

Visit from Sam on Halloween

2008-11-08T20:27:00.000-08:00

Here is Sam with Hazel seeing the reptiles at the W&K annual halloween party---i posted most of these photos on my facebook page and forgot to blog about them. silly me. we had a lot of fun with sam here , she just left this morning. she is wearing my nun costume and i wore the devil horns. we drove in the van together around town as we were going to the halloween party, and a bum stopped in mid intersection to point and give us a shocked reaction. then he laughed hysterically. we realized it was because of the irony of our costumes. and i was embarrassed.

my kids love the reptiles. ruby and ezra are quite fearless.

i am totally freaked out by this lizard. it just reminds me of jurassic park. when the lizard gets mad, it has this frill around its head with little poky horns. i thought it was going to get mad. but i was trying to be brave for my kids. :)

jedi transformation into yoda

the kids right before trick or treating

free pony rides at the party---weeeeeee!!

obi wan has met his nemesis.....and not too happy about it.

this is ruby at her school parade. it was a fun little party. im glad her school celebrates halloween, the school we had her in before didnt. it was lame.

happy happy Autumn!

2008-11-01T13:34:00.000-07:00

cutie patooties!

2008-10-07T13:42:00.001-07:00

today was picture day at school for ruby. Darn it, the pictures would have been so cute if ruby wouldnt have told them to do a cheesy ugly green background. who looks good with a green background? leprechans?

Ruby adores having a little sister

I had to take a picture of this because she is so tiny to be pulling herself up onto things. but unfortunately , it doesnt translate in the picture. she looks like a normal baby. but at the time, she was so tiny compared to the dishwasher stuff. i thought it looked cute.

Ezra loves being out in the garage doin stuff with dad. it just so happens that dad is cleaning out cat poop. and ezra is smiling because he doesnt have to do it.

"what is this table with a mirror on top, and what am i wearing for heavens sake?"

i sure look cute in my butterfly halloween costume. good thing mommy got it.

heirloom tomatoes

2008-10-07T13:32:00.000-07:00

These are the lovely Heiloom tomatoes from my garden

the ones on the left are "purple" tomatoes, the ones on the far right are orange, and then yellow

and the big big ones are called "rose" tomatoes. and they are so delicious. if fast food, and other food places only used these types of tomatoes, instead of the yucky beef steak ones, more people would adore tomatoes.
Some people dont know what Heirloom tomatoes are. Heirloom tomato - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

try this link on wikipedia. it basically means that they are non-hybridized seeds. the real deal.

and they have more flavor than the hybridized ones. kind of meaty too.

the thing i love most about the rose tomatoes, is that they dont have hardly any of the "slime" that normal tomatoes have. they are just all meat---really solid.

the country mouse and the city mouse

2008-10-07T12:44:00.000-07:00

Ezra asked me to read to him today. I have been feeling guilty because instead of reading with Ezra and Ruby, i have been giving all the reading time for Ruby because of school. Im sure it was just coincedental that his mom needed some important life lessons from these stories.

this is the book he chose.

The story of the country mouse and the city mouse is about two mice who meet for a luncheon held by the country mouse and all her friends. the city mouse gets invited and wont take one nibble of the meal the country mouse proudly serves because it is much to simple for her tastes. she turns her nose up at it and says, "in the city, i dine on spice cake and wine" she wont dance with the other mice at the party because she is used to dancing on velvet carpet.

so she convinces the country mouse to come to the city with her and experience the finer things in life.

they get chased by dogs and at dinner, a cat. the poor country mouse almost faints with fear. but the city mouse says " oh, he chases me all the time".

The city was pretty, the food plentiful...-----but was it worth it for the country mouse?

the last part of the story goes:

"that night she told her gentle friends, "i would rather lead a simple life than dine on riches, and live in fear."

things became so clear to me after reading this book. how often do we make our lives complicated for things that we think will be luxurious or be more convienient? its never really worth it is it? I think of my I-pod. i really dont think that all the trouble of downloading and finding music is really worth the little amount of time i actually use it.

can you think of anything else that is like this?

Sick of Politics!!!

2008-09-15T09:12:00.000-07:00

Ok, this might be a little over the top for most of you...and im warning you, if you dont want a bad opinion of me.....you might not want to continue reading . but i just cant help it. im so sick of the hypocracy, and the Jabs---from all directions , left wing----right wing.

you need two wings to fly a plane people!!! but anyway, please know that i have not decided who im going to vote for. i was leaning toward Obama---but now i am leaning the other way because ...well, just read my response.

and this is an email that i recieved from a friend and neighbor ( just one of the lovely aspects of living in portland-----people seem more politically charged here than most places i have been)

read the email that i recieved and then, read my response to it.

here is a link to the email i recieved

Eve Ensler: Drill, Drill, Drill

my response:

From some peoples perspcetive, if you dont believe the things as they do, you are perceived as evil. Just because Palin has strong beliefs, does not make her evil.

The left wing believes that its acceptable to be homosexual, its acceptable to have abortions, its acceptable to tax the higher incomes and give to the lower incomes, and they have every right to those beliefs.

But, if someone believes in something contrary to what they believe, "they" are evil.

Why is it that the right wing people cannot have similar convictions of what they believe is right? why is it that when someone has reliegious convictions, they are spat upon by the Left wing who claims to be "so accepting" of ones choices and personla experiences? i just dont understand this mentality. I was open to the idea of equality, and government control, and the idea of opening the floodgates of programs for the poor, and underpriveledged. But, i just cant stand the double standard of crap from the left wing.

and as for Sarah Palin......

Liberals are getting quite out of hand. if there was this kind of racist, or sexist mockery to Obama---there would be a civil war proclaimed on the right wing. Its not as if she is going to be running things. How often has a vice president really had the power to change policies that they are passionate about? if that were true, wouldnt Al Gore have made incandescent bulbs, and grocery store bags illegal? Palin is simply impressive because she doesnt let anyone push her around. i think it is admirable for a woman to stand up and say ----this is what i think, deal with it. Barack Obama cannot even say that!!! he is always stepping on Eggshells to say the "right" thing. Besides that, He voted that if a baby is accidentally not aborted, and still born, that it could be killed. Who is this guy? does anyone really know? I think he is the ULTIMATE pleaser. and that is NOT an admirable quality. he comes off as a doormat.

OH GRRRGHH! She is still in love with Devin!!

2008-09-08T15:55:00.001-07:00

I was playing some songs from the 80's on my computer when Ruby got home from school today.

one of the songs that came on was "dont you want me baby" by the Human Leauge . ( many of you would be familiar with it) . and i was dancing, being goofy---then all my kids began to dance.

and Ruby had been telling me since the minute that she got home from school ( its only the second week of school mind you) that she had FINALLY got Devin to play with her. ( there is a back story to this which you can access by going to earlier posts---the one called "rubys first love") long story short......Devin did NOT move to Minnesota. im not very happy about that.

Needless to say----she is still madly obsessed with him, and thinks he belongs to her.

But in regards to the 80's song, she commented that "it would be so hilarious for me to play this song to Devin" . which i thought was SOOO funny. but the more disturbing thing that she told me just previous to that was something about her and Devin having "alone" time today. and how they told the other kids to go away and said " cant you see that we are having alone time right now?"

Ruby's first day of First grade

2008-09-07T20:53:00.000-07:00

My Baby is all grown up!!! what will mom do with all her free time while Ruby is in school?

Ruby Picking her first Desk ever.

Ruby and her bus tag

Eating breakfast before school

HEY, where ya goin'?????GET BACK HERE!!!!

2008-09-07T20:44:00.000-07:00

Here is the little peanut, "Lucy Belle."

i am so enamored with this little one. i set her down on the floor after a bath just to grab a diaper, and get her changing table ready to dress her, and she took off.

she is a fast little one. Trying to quickly get to the cat. SHE LOVES CATS.

She doesnt dare touch him, but she will squeal, and squeak at him while waving her arms in the air with excitement.

so cute.

Post Summer Update

2008-09-01T19:51:00.000-07:00

I know that my lack of posts and pictures this summer are pathetic. but i really dont care.

there is not much i care about at this time. im just glad i survived this summer.

this may end up being a very Eyore-ish post, but im pretty bummed about portland summers.

you try to cram every freaking thing into them , because you know that as soon as it starts raining, your life is over. and you feel this panic all summer long. you cram in swimming, and camps, walks, trips to the park, zoo, etc.

so here are the main things that went on this summer,

*Jason worked crazy hours and was out of town most of the summer , we saw very little of him.

*Lucille became a pro at crawling, and is all over the place , and is obsessed with food.

*We got some raised beds and planted our first garden. we are still enjoying the fruits of that.

*Ruby went to three different theater camps this summer.

*Andrew and Reachel came to visit.

*We Broke down and bought a Trampoline, in order to stay sane.

*My parents , Sam , and James came to visit. we all went to seaside,

had a blast.

*New car + Road trip to idaho+Lava hot springs+Salt Lake city for two

weeks= tons of fun for us and the kids.

*We saw lots of family at lava hot springs at the reunion, but still felt like

there was not enough time!!!

So, you see , it was an eventful summer. I really am feeling guilty now, i realize

that i didnt take many pictures. im horrible at documenting.

maybe i will find some in the camcorder---

i will continue at a later date!!!

happy first day of school tomorrow.

Slap me some INDEPENDENCE DAY!!

2008-07-06T20:15:00.000-07:00

Beautiful Reachel

There was no way we could get the kids to pose for the camera

the fireworks were just too exciting for them, even the baby loved them!

Andrew , using his fancy camera to make the fireworks look awesome.

Hold the sparkler AWAY from your body Ezra!

We had a wonderful Fourth of July.

We packed up the kids and headed off to Lake Oswego. Drove around to find the best spot for fireworks, we did fireworks on our own private beach near the lake at george rogers park.

it was AWESOME. totally private. i dont think you could have gotten a better spot if you owned your own house on the lake!!

Rose Gardens

2008-07-06T20:06:00.001-07:00

In Four years of living here, i pathetically admit i have never been to the Famous Portland Rose Gardens. I dont know why, it was just never on my list of priorities. its free, and its amazing. the Roses go on for what seems like Eternity. you cant really fathom how many roses there are there. We just went there on Thursday with Andrew and Reachel.

Get to the rose gardens while you can!

summer is here!!!

2008-07-06T19:52:00.000-07:00

Ezra with the falls behind.

Oh, how i Love that Pearl!!!

What a smoosh-cake!

Here is a sampling of our visit with Andrew and Reachel this week:

Here are Reachel and Andrew in Beautiful and Pristine Lake Oswego on the Fourth

The Kids with Andrew at Washington Park

( this is the park right next to the famous Portland Rose Gardens)

Reachel with Ezra at Multnomah Falls

( Ezra doesnt quite get the picture thing yet)

Ruby's first love

2008-06-14T10:43:00.001-07:00

Yesterday was Ruby's last day of Kindergarten

She Had been talking about this boy for days and days. i thought it was a harmless crush.

he had many admirers in the class. His name was Devin. pretty much every girl fought to have him play with them. Ruby had gotten out of the competition long ago. she is not the aggresive type. But, all of the sudden, the last two weeks of school, Devin had taken special interest in her. she came home from school last week in disbelief that he would read a book with her.

The next day "he actually played with me mom!!" I would ask her several times why she liked him so much, and she would tell me the funny games he would play. and i must admit, when she would just tell me about him, i found him quite charming. This Little boy is moving to minnesota. I would tell Ruby everyday after school when she would start talking about him--"honey, you need to stop hanging out with him , he is moving far away, and you probably wont see him again". and she would reply " mom, I just know he will see my aunt Katie, in Minnesota, and then he will think of me every time he see's her!"

SO, when i picked her up off of the bus for the last time of this school year. the first thing she said to me was " mom, Devin is moving to Minnesota." she immediately started to get choked up. i told her it was ok to cry and hugged her ...and she fell apart. i have never seen her like this before. she tells me about 10 times a day that she is thinking of him. she told me that last night she prayed that he would get left here and have to live with us.

it was a really sweet little crush. but i am terrified for her teenage years. how do you stop your child from falling in love? just think if she was a teenager, and the boy was not moving?

Dual purpose toy

2008-06-14T10:39:00.000-07:00

Ezra found a toy that serves two purposes.

he occasionally wears them, but most of the time, they serve as his car ramps.

pretty clever. He's going to have to find many uses for all the girl toys that will be around the house now that he has TWO sisters.

A little something to make you happy!!!

2008-06-05T12:08:00.000-07:00

check out this video from youtube.

its a song by the SHINS on my favorite show --YO-GABBA GABBA

I feel like this everyday. and there is something to be learned from this song.

URRRGHHHHH, alas, i have been tagged.

2008-05-27T14:04:00.000-07:00

What is his name? Jason
How long have you been married ? 9 years in AUg ( gosh im getting old)
How old is he? 36 now that im telling you this, i will have to kill you
Who eats more? Him, he is such a pig
Who said I love you first? I dont remember. i think we just knew it was meant to be and didnt really ever question it.
Who is taller? He is.
Who sings better? i Do.
Who is smarter? Jason---his brain age is higher----but im cooler
Who does the laundry? i do all the colors and he sometimes does the whites
Who does the dishes? both
Who sleeps on the right side of the bed? i always sleep to the right of him ( whatever that means)
Who cooks dinner? I do, mostly-----or we go out
Who drives when you are together? Jason
Who is more stubborn? He is. but he is working on it.
Who is the first to admit when they are wrong? We both do in different situations.
Whose parents do you see the most? Mine, because we live closer to them.
Who has more friends? Jason has more friends his age that live in all sorts of places. i have more friends in oregon.
Who has the most siblings? Jason
Who wears the pants in the family? i would have to say Jason, But, im trying to make him realize that i really am the boss.

7 Things About You Tag:Share seven facts about yourself on your blog, some random, some weird, whatever you are brave enough to share.~Tag people at the end of your post by leaving their names as well as links to their blogs.~Let them know they are tagged by leaving a comment on their blog. Here it goes:

1. I love TV and dont enjoy reading books. They take too long to get to the point. i guess i dont like suspense. my favorite shows are "desperate housewives, Medium, the Bachelor, Lost, the office, ( i hate to say it, but i love these ) supernanny and wife swap.
2. I would rather be doing some kind of art or craft at all hours of the day. there is nothing i enjoy more.
3. I WISH i could have 10 kids, but because im pretty neurotic, i will probably only have four or five
4. i have a serious obsession with makeup, and Diamonds and CHOCOLATE
5. Not crazy about surprises. Good surprise yes, but you never know if you have a good one, so i would rather never have them.
6. Im a terrible Decorator. i hate things that match. and so i hesitate decorating for so long that things just look terrible.
7. I cry almost every day.

chocahaulics anonymous

2008-05-25T13:34:00.000-07:00

I have been a chocolate fan for my whole life. and i have come to the realization that im totally addicted. a day is just not a day until i have kicked back with a square of dark chocolate. here are some of the chocolates that i have tried over a couple of months and i have finally realized which ones i love and which ones arent worth a dime. i hate to say it , but the Lindt dark chocolate is hideously disgusting!!! if you get it let me know if you like it, maybe i just got a bad batch-----but i warn you. its really sour and gross!!
The Moonstruck chocolate is a local company. their truffles are nothing to write home about , but their dark chocolate is pretty good. ( moonstruck is the red wrapper in the picture) Dagoba chocolate is just really gross. it is also very sour and has a gross bitter after taste. honestly, i dont know why this brand is popular. i also have tried the "green and blacks" brand. its good, but it has a bitter after taste. my two favorites are the Godiva Cocoiste (any kind), and the Sees premium dark. no bitter or sour after tastes. and the flavor is very superior. the chocolates with the after tastes are what gives dark chocolate a bad wrap. most people dont like dark. that is because they have never had decent chocolate. the Lindt was a complete disappointment. they are a swiss company, they make excellent milk chocolate, but its really full of fat, and cream. not good for people who want the taste of chocolate with out breaking their figures completely.BUt, if you have never tried the GOdiva chocoiste and you love chocolate, you NEED To try it. its amazing. it seems like a really pretentious brand , but its really premium.I have tried many many bars of chocolate. and this is what i think!! tell me what YOU think. i would love to try something new.

my kids love bugs!!!

2008-05-25T13:24:00.001-07:00

Here is a picture of a baby bug ( box elder bug). they are actually kind of cute when they are babies.
my kids have spring fever, and i guess are going through a phase where they are totally obssesed with bugs!!

the prince and the pea

2008-05-25T13:01:00.000-07:00

This picture is a souvenier for Ezra. ( i needed proof, but wanted to throw this gross thing away too!)

My Kids and i were innocently planting seeds in peat moss on tuesday.
there were peas, tomatoes, and Zucchini poured out the package of pea seeds and a couple of the peas fell on the floor.
i couldn't find them, but proceeded to plant all of them. forgetting about the previous days events i went on with my day on Wednesday. i had a hair appointment at noon, so i was carefully arranging and trying to get my responsibilities accomplished. I was kind of annoyed when Ezra would not stop whining about something. he kept coming up to me in a whiny voice saying , My nose mommy------like he could not articulate what he wanted to tell me. after the second time of complaining, he sounded a little more panicked. so i looked at his nose with concern. i could clearly see that there was something stuck up there. i didn't know what it was. i suspected it was a pea seed. because of how round it was. i asked him if it was food and he said yes "its food mommy, its food!!" so i tried getting it out with tweezers. it was too round. i tried medical clamp scissors too. it was pretty stuck. the tricky thing was is, that because it was a seed, it was getting larger, and absorbing liquid from his nose. so i tried a saline wash to try and wash it out. but it was stuck. he had enough air to breath just fine, so i felt good about that. One time, ruby had a Polly pocket shoe up her nose when she was this age, and she didn't have any room to breath. we were pretty panicked and wanted to take her to the ER. so anyway, to make a long story short---the happy ending is, that the pediatrician nurse told us to plug the nostril that was clear, and blow on his mouth ( like mouth to mouth) and it should push it out. "if it doesn't work, then you'll have to bring him in"......they said. so i tried it and after three blows it worked!!!! the pea came out. i was so excited and delighted. why doesn't someone make a handbook for weird incidences like this? it would save many trips to the doctor.

Happy Birthday Katie!!!

2008-05-20T08:15:00.000-07:00

Today is Katies birthday--- ( the 20th of May)
( im holding a wine glass filled with youth serum in a toast to you!)
heres a toast to you .
a toast to cutting calories,
fat free cream cheese and daisy fat free sour cream. ( you need to start incorporating this.)
a toast to getting older and fatter.
may you get older and fatter , to catch up with the rest of
us you skinny poo bah!

Lets hope that you will be the lucky one in the family that
never has to watch the scales,
the one who magically looks good with the smallest amount of
effort!!!
here is to the fountain of youth!!!
also---please start saving up for my 30th birthday cruise.
we're going to greece baby
( lets visit the isle of LESBOS---hee hee)

HAPPY MOTHERS DAY!!!

2008-05-11T14:22:00.000-07:00

To all of the mothers in my life. MY mom ( Caralee) My Grandmothers ( Joann & Lucile) and my mother in law ( Elaine)
I love you, and thank heavenly father for your influence, and love.

HAPPY MOTHERS DAY!!!

I got four wonderful gifts from my children and husband today.
Jason gave me a beautiful necklace with an initial from each of my children ( and then a ruby and pearl on the chain too)
Ruby gave me a cute little card with us holding hands. and she sang "you are my sunshine"--while i played guitar.
Ezra helped me make my bed yesterday ( it was a small gift, but very sweet, he is an obedient little boy and quite a pleaser!)
Lucille smiles and coos to communicate how much she loves me and is happy to see me.

what more could a mom want?

i love you little bagley family!!!

ANGEL intervention

2008-04-28T10:38:00.000-07:00

I have to post this because i DO beleive that miracles happen every day , and this was just a little one that i witnessed.
i was driving home from the gym. and I was messing around with my phone right before i left the parking garage.
so i put my phone in my lap, hoping the person i just texted would call me.
as i was driving and thinking about what i wanted to happen that day----awaiting the events of the day to unfold----i had a
loud voice that was panicked tell me to call my friend Kim. Ruby and her daughter had a playdate scheduled for the day.
I dont know why i felt so compelled to call, but it felt almost as if someone was shaking my shoulders demanding that i call her.
so I thought----yes, i may as well call her while i drive.
as i picked up my phone, i was trying to be careful, and presently driving--- i used the voice activation on my phone---so i didnt have to dial. but i still had to hold the phone in one hand and drive with the other. which made me drive kinda slow.
as i hung up the phone because my friend was not answering, i looked ahead, and there was a driver that ran a red light at the intersection i was about to go through.
then, the next driver behind the red light runner plunged into the intersection without looking if the light was really green. I was the one who had the green light. i could see that that driver was very suprised that he was running a red light, he was swearing and had his hands on his face----if i had been in the intersection two seconds earlier, i would have gotten hit by at least if not one, but two cars.
thanks to whatever voice was in my head, my life, and my car were spared.
so as i sat on my couch that afternoon eating lunch and relaxing, i thought---i could be in the hospital right now-or worse, the O.R. if i had been hit. who would be taking care of my kids? im SOOOO glad that i was spared!! it was one of the "tender mercies of the lord" that i was able to call a friend on my cell phone and slow down for a minute. I think it was an angel or something.
thank you ANGEL!!!
( this post does not condone cell phone use while driving!!!)

Lucy Update

2008-04-21T14:25:00.001-07:00

Pictures dont really translate this well. but if you look really closely, and maybe the angle is off----you can see
that her right eye ( our left ) is a little lower.
For all you that are wondering, im sorry that it has taken so long.
But its basically a "wait and see" approach with her eye.
if her eye ball does not go back to the place where it is suppose to, then we
will explore surgery with a plastic surgeon.

in my opinion, as her neurotic mother, i think its not exactly the way it was----but, then
again, its only been two weeks, and they said it can take up to six weeks before
these kind of hematomas resolve themselves.
so, who knows.
thank you so much for your thoughts, and prayers and fasting.
i think the lords hand has been involved in her healing.
she seems perfectly normal----and the opthamologist
examined her eyes when ruby had surgery. she said that Lucilles
eye function and ability was perfectly normal. We just have to keep waiting ,
and praying that her eyeball will go back up the way that it was , and that the
swelling will go down .
thank you
much love.
--Jill

Freaky Stick bug!!!

2008-04-21T14:18:00.000-07:00

At the science museum there was a bunch of bugs and freaky stuff.
ruby and Ezra got to hold them. they were proud of themselves that they conquered their
fears.
these bugs looked like leaves. they were so weird. i was freaked out by them.
i was suprised that Ezra even wanted to hold them. he volunteered himself.

Childrens Science Museum

2008-04-21T13:59:00.001-07:00

We went to the Science Museum this weekend
there was a really cool T-Rex that was life like and robotic.
and WOWA! look at that long neck.
my kids are totally obsessed with dinosaurs now. Ezra requests Dinosaur movies now. and we dont have any!!! o well.

Ruby got Eye Surgery

2008-04-20T20:22:00.001-07:00

This is Ruby Before her eye surgery.
She got eye surgery ( we had been waiting for this for a long time). she was a superstar and very brave.
she actually wanted eye surgery because she was sick of wearing and eye patch.
hopefully the result of this surgery will be that she does not have to wear it any more.

She went in for Eye surgery because they were correcting her Lazy eye that is a result from
her Chemo therapy. she got an infection in her eye when she was immune comprimised. it attacked her retina and
resulted in retina damage. it made her have a lazy eye because she had vision loss.
we had been waiting for this day for a long time. she has had to be very dilligent in wearing her eye patch.
its been really hard, but hopefully she will be done with the eye patch if her eyes can start tracking together now that the
muscle is moved.

pretty ironic that Lucille has some eye issues right around the time that ruby is getting her surgery.
at least our eye doctor appointments can be conjoined.

update on Lucilles Face

2008-04-12T00:19:00.000-07:00

So,
we got the Ct Scan results back.
She has a fracture underneath her skull. in the orb of her eye.
apparently the skull has layers. and for babies, the underneath
layers are softer than the top.

the hematoma that formed because of the fracture is what
caused her eye to droop. we are praying that it resolves itself.
today is the first day that she is showing signs that it might be
getting better. i attribute that to much prayer and concern of
all of our families.
her eye is still bruised , and still not in its orb.
but we have found ( who we think) are really competent doctors
and surgeons.
we are hoping and praying that the bone thing will not really be an
issue. her eye brow bone is a little smashed in. she could grow,
and that might not be an issue. if it is, we are going to have to get her
plastic surgery. if there is nothing but the eye issue, we will just have
our pediatric opthamologist operate, they just go through the eyelid
and dont have to cut.
i know, its a bit morbid explaining all this ---sorry.
thanks for all your kind thoughts and prayers.
we know she will get better. she is such a sweet little baby.
she has had minimal complaining and fussiness.

POOR LUCILLE

2008-04-09T21:23:00.001-07:00

( these are Lucille the day before the accident. i had to post these because they are just too cute of her looking at her little dolls and being proud of them)
im not going to post any pictures of this because its just too depressing.
and its a really long story , but i will give you the short and sweet .
all week i have been to doctors. and will continue, everyday this week, until the week is
over.
Poor Lucille got pummeled ( or what is the right word for got her face smashed with her brothers bowling ball
of a head) by her big brother.
Ezra was having issues on monday, and decided to jump off the bean bag backwards and fall onto Lucilles
face. it was totally an accident, but it could have been fatal.
it was seriously like a big bowling ball was just dropped on my precious newborns head!!

so--to make a long story short---we need everyones prayers that Lucilles face will come back to normal.
it is quite smashed . aside from that , her eye is quite sagging. it appears that she is not using her eye
like normal and that is quite alarming because that means she doesnt have vision.
so we are taking her to a trauma specialist, and she is getting a CT scan tomorrow to see if we can operate.
i dont really want any operations, but i dont want my baby to be blind either!!
please pray for our baby!

Hazel Jean Wilkey

2008-04-03T11:49:00.000-07:00

Here is some adorable pictures of my Sister Sami's new baby
She was born on march 25th .
isnt she a doll??? i am dying that i cant hold her!!!
she looks so much like sam to me. i remember playing with sami as a baby
and loving her to pieces.
she pretty much looked like this, but with redder hair.

Well, here is Lucille's favorite cousin buddy. they are only 4 months apart!!

Happy Birthday Jason--BUt you are an old Geezer

2008-03-31T21:45:00.000-07:00

I love you babe,
but you are getting kind of old.
and its getting me down.
because im still in my 20's and you are pushing 40

Here is some Cool pics of his coconut birthday cake
he made the candles say his age ( if you cant tell what they are,
its 36)

do you like his mustache? I love it, i think it gives him Sex appeal.
some would say Peppy-Le-Peeeew.

Easter Bunny Visits the Bagleys

2008-03-31T21:39:00.000-07:00

Here is some late pictures
(im so NOT on the ball)
of easter baskets and all on easter.
the kids had a blast.
i thought we pretty much over did it with the baskets.
but it was fun.

Lucille , My love!!!

2008-03-21T16:11:00.000-07:00

This baby is sweet, and precious.
and as most mothers, i am in love with her.

she is just a mild little angel
I call her Lucille, but everyone else calls her Lucy.
im not that big of a fan of the name Lucy-----but i love
LUCILLE.
i think when she gets in school i will tell her teachers that
her name is either Lucille, or Pearl.
(i call her both names sometimes)

look at what a doll , straight out of the bath tub yesterday!

RUBY TURNS SIX!

2008-03-21T14:20:00.000-07:00

Ruby had a birthday party while we were in Arizona visiting family.
i thought it would be a nice little party to have for her with her beloved cousins.
she had the time of her life.
She insisted that her birthday was a hawaii party. she wanted all things hawaii.
( i dont know what made her think of that, maybe the fact that her dad is obsessed)
so becky and i made a cake, and i decorated it. ( im not a professional cake decorater, it was the best i could
do --there is a beach, and maddie made a hula girl for it.)

she got a few presents and had a pinata ( which we forgot to do at the party--so we did it the next day with all beckys kids.)

Recent photos

2008-02-19T15:50:00.001-08:00

The Longest Drive Ever!!!

2008-02-01T09:58:00.000-08:00

we got back from our trip from Utah on Monday morning at 430 Am.
we left Sunday morning at 10 am.
under normal circumstances, we should have gotten home by 10 pm on sunday night.
we got caught in a blizzard and had to
use chains for half of the trip. it took six hours longer than normal.
an ear infection, a car full of sick children who were sick of being in the car all day,
and a migraine later---
we were home.
i have never been so grateful to be in my house, with all my stuff and
my problems.
it was joyful to drive down our street.
our cat was overjoyed to see us too.

Late Christmas Card

2008-02-01T09:49:00.001-08:00

so,
here is our late christmas card picture.
i am trying to get a valentines card out, but cant decide what picture is best.
i will post three pictures and everyone who sees, tell me which one is the
best likeness of all of us.

my second question to everyone is,
should i include a picture of the baby on this card?
i know you cant see her in any of these pictures.
but i dont know if its really that big of a deal.

yo gabba gabba rules!!!

2008-01-14T15:36:00.001-08:00

I stumbled upon this kids show a while ago.
and we love it.
its so bizarre and creative that it makes me want to go in my craft room and
start making weird stuff.
i love that it gets kids into dancing too. watch this video ---its awesome.
if you ever get a chance to watch the episode called "fun"---its our favorite.
there is a song called "party in my tummy"
its how i get ruby to eat her vegetables.

NO WAY Ezra!!!

2008-01-10T16:05:00.000-08:00

Ezra has gotten into this little habit, or , i dont know what you call it, but he says NO WAY instead of a whole sentence.
i took this picture of him crying because it was right after i asked him " Ezra, do you need to sit on the naughty chair because you cant stop crying?" and he said "No way, naughty."
he wont say the whole sentence---he'll just say "no way" instead of " i dont want to" or " stop, or dont do that" or just instead of the word no.
he thinks that "no way" is the way you say no.
the other morning i was feeding him breakfast and he was having his typical freak out when the food was not coming fast enough. i said "Ezra, Chill out" and He said "NO way chill out"

the year of the GOLDEN pig

2008-01-09T16:41:00.001-08:00

2007 was the year of the pig, according to the chinese zodiac.
and it just so happens that last year was the year of the "golden pig".
im not quite sure why its golden, or what makes it golden---but i do know that this only happens
every 600 years apparently , if you have a child born in the year
of the golden pig---you are set for life because that pig is going to bring you wealth and prosperity.
so, im so glad that Lucille was born on the year of the pig. cause we're gonna be rich!!!

if you google "year of the golden pig" youll find all kinds of funny articles about how chinese people didnt
need to manufacture birh control for this year and so forth.
everyone in china wanted a baby in 2007

Id like to know more on this subject if anyone knows anything.
i would like to know why the year is a golden pig, and all about where this theory came from in
chinese folklore.

Conan the Lover Cat

2008-01-01T16:25:00.000-08:00

Conan was feeling left out of the love .
so he decided to get back into things and make his way back on my lap, no matter how intrusive.

CHRISTMAS 2007

2007-12-30T21:06:00.000-08:00

So, its taken me a while to get christmas posted-SORRY!!! Here is a cute video of Ruby after getting her gifts on Christmas. It was only fitting that she should write Santa a letter of thanks. she felt it was her Duty.

poor sick little baby

2007-12-27T11:34:00.000-08:00

So apparently--when you have a newborn ( under 2 months of age) and they get a fever, you are suppose to rush them into the emergency room.
Lucille got a fever yesterday when we came home from the store. I pulled her out of her carseat and she was hot. so i called the pediatrician, and he told me that its quite serious when newborns get fevers. i told him that Ezra had just recently got a fever followed by a cold. But he still said that i have to take her in to the ER if her temp was more than 100.4. her temp was not quite that, so i watched it all night, finally at six am , after no sleep all night, an irritable baby, i decided to take her temp again, and it was 101.
so i got up , got dressed and took her in. the hospital staff told me i did the right thing.
but i was not very happy that i rushed her in when it took them four tries to get an IV placed------and then they said she had to have a spinal tap!!! i was not happy about that at all. i know they were just trying to rule out menengitis, but i told them that if at all possible, i did not want that test.
its funny because when you tell the people in the hospital that your daughter previously had leukemia, they are much more sympathetic about not putting you as a parent through any more needless or traumatizing tests.
and its not like i wouldnt have let them do a spinal tap if there were enough legitimate reasons to. but i find it ridiculous to do needless tests.
Lucille was so traumatized by the needles that had four times been unsuccessful. it was really stressful for her and for me.
but her fever went down and the ER reluctantly let us go home. ( we are still waiting for the blood test results.---but over all she is still feisty and eating well---so they are not that worried. )
the moral of the story is, dont let your newborn get a fever.
i feel like its my fault. i have let kids hold her, and my kids have been around her kissing her on her face and such.
im going to be a little more protective from now on.

i love Ezra too

2007-12-21T11:30:00.000-08:00

look at this curious little soul

2007-12-15T08:46:00.000-08:00

welcome to the world!!!

2007-12-02T11:47:00.000-08:00

On November 16th at 2:22 pm our little girl Lucille Pearl was born.
She weighed in at 7 lbs 8 oz. 21 inches long.
she has loads of dark black hair. looks a lot like Ruby did when she was a baby. but has more of Ezra's nose.
it will be interesting to see what she looks like.

She is such a sweet tempered baby. she barely cries when she needs something. if she is crying loudly, and demanding.
when you pick her up, she immediately stops and looks at you with her big curious eyes as if to say---I am ok, i just wanted to see you again.

Ruby is a proud big sister. she hovers and tries to help in any way that she can. she is my #1 diaper and wet wipe getter.
Ezra isnt really sure there is a baby around. when she starts crying, he walks around in a panic saying " baby hoogry, baby hoogry" that is how he says "the baby is hungry" . every once in a while he will notice the baby and if you ask him what her name is , he will say Lo Lu----or Loosee.

Ezra as Cinderella

2007-11-09T12:23:00.001-08:00

On Rubys Bone marrow birthday Ezra decided he wanted a piece of the attention.
so he excitedly convinced jason that he needed to wear rubys dress up cinderella dress.

he would pat himself on the chest and say allela, allella!
that is how he says cinderella.

it was funny.
he knew he was being funny too. i hope this doesnt carry this on.
but you cant help but feel sorry
for the guy. he is going to have two sisters, and he is going to have
to play along with this for a while.

bone marrow birthday

2007-11-02T16:33:00.000-07:00

Happy bone marrow birthday RUBY!!!!

november 7th is the day that ruby got a second chance on life.
its kinda still weird for us to celebrate two birthdays for her,
but it reminds us to be grateful, and that miracles DO happen. Ruby is celebrating
her 4th year of new bone marrow. her 4th year of being cancer free!

That day was the day we thought would never come.
it was very strange. she had about 2 weeks of chemo.
the kind of chemicals that the human body can barely tolerate
with out dying. and that is what would have happened if she had
not recieved the bone marrow
most people think that bone marrow transplant is a surgery.
it is not. it is a bag of what looks to be blood---the process is similar to a blood
transfusion. they pump the patient full of chemicals trying to destroy most all of the old
bone marrow. keeping the person right on the brink of death. and then when they look
at the blood counts seeing that the body is where it should be, they give it the healthy
bone marrow. and gradually the bone marrow grafts in the new host---and reproduces.

we are so grateful to that wonderful family/mother/baby---whoever you are, that decided to
donate their cord blood to save a life. we are also grateful to our heavenly father for letting ruby
live on this earth with us.