And now there are FIVE!

The Woodburys Four have turned into the Wildberry Five! Nanny Zoe has come to the rescue for the summer and we are so lucky to have her helping hands around!!

I'll be honest. When I was growing up I used to chuckle to myself about SAHMs who hired nannies for the summer, thinking "why do they need a nanny if they don't work?"---- I take all of that back and now realize how important and wonderful an extra pair of hands is. Sanity is hard to keep when Kyle is working 6 days a week at 12-16 hour days.

Zoe was our babysitter in Provo back in the student days and we asked her to come live with us for the summer to keep me sane. What a treat!!! She is so helpful and great with the Cade and Savannah. She hit the ground running upon her arrival and has made friends with the gals here in the ward. She got to go to Youth Conference to Nauvoo last weekend and boy was I jealous.

All in all, though things are busy and stressful, I am still getting more accomplished than I would if I was on my own. Running errands without the children is amazing beyond description and getting to spend one-on-one time with Cade and Savannah throughout the week is awesome. A trip to the temple is much easier now and what a blessing that is. Let's hear it for nannies!

Photo update of our happenings while in Utah...

Rebecca, Melody, Cade, Me and Savvy in Melody's new home for a little BBQ fun.
He's a great sleeper--- in the car.... he has since decided to remove naps from his life, although as his mother i KNOW he is not ready to. arrrgggh.
Playing at the mall with Buddy. Cade had a BLAST!
Riding grandpa's wheelchair with Cousin Ty.
I love this look on Savvy's face. Hilarious!

Breathtaking...

This was the picturesque view while driving from Utah to Idaho for my grandfather's funeral just before memorial day. He would have loved it.

Where to start?!

I've been avoiding Bloggerland for so long because I have been (in my opinion) too busy and because there is just too much to catch up on. Isn't that kind of what you do when you forget to call a friend on her birthday--- you just keep putting off the phone call and more and more time passes and you just can't force yourself to do it because
1. you feel guilty for not staying on top of the birthday schedule
2. there's so much to catch up on you wouldn't know where to begin!

In the end, you wish you had called the day you remembered, late or not, and then it would have saved a lot of grief, catching up, and bad feelings.

So I am finally welcoming myself back into blog world. Welcome, me!

Right now we are currently amidst the pest control season and Kyle is working hard and I am staying busy with the kids, while also enjoying the benefits of our live-in nanny, Zoe. I signed Cade up for a preschool tumbling class and a Kid Rock class (singing, make believe class that is really fun!), each once a week. Parents were invited to the first Kid Rock class and I have to say, he is pretty darn cute! He's no teacher's pet, but he's not the class rebel either. He fits nicely in the middle of the pack as one who participates, listens, and then sometimes has his own agenda. He also says the dardest things!

***

Miss Jamie: Do see a mailbox on the wall

Kids: Yeeees

Miss Jaime: (to the class) Do you sometimes get mail in the mailbox?

Cade: Yes, i get black mail.

******

Miss Jaime: (to the class) What is an island?

Cade: Who is Jesus Christ?

Miss Jaime: Who is Jesus Christ? You are going to have to talk to your mom about that one.


It was pretty comical. Kyle and I are really racking our brains trying to think of how in the heck Cade formed the compound word, blackmail. I swear he has not been watching any of the Godfather movies.

here is my cutie son posing next to the Blueberry Strata--- i have finally gotten into baking again!!!

Summer "bug-boys" and even "bug-girls"

Now that the summer has passed the quarter post I wanted to mention the highlights of the summer up til now:

• first night we had the cops called on our reps for bouncing soccer balls off the walls and knocking pictures off the adjoining apartments.
• one of our techs wrecked two of our trucks in the first 30 minutes of being employed.
• we have only had one of our reps get threatened to be killed so far.
• one of our reps caught and currently has a squirrel living in his bathroom. (his roomates aren't as thrilled about it as he is...he "allegedly" is having someone train it for him)
• Gerber Baby Rich Taylor has made an appearance here in Chicago.

i was tagged

Months ago I was tagged by my friend Alicia and am finally getting around to it. This surprises me, because who DOESN'T like to talk about themselves? In any case, I shall proceed to share with you 7 things you might not know about me (or you do, but I am just willing to admit to them at last!)

1. I am a messy perfectionist. This means while I am deep cleaning and organizing one area of my home, I am using my supernatural powers to create a mess in another. I don't mean to, and this causes a great deal of frustration in my life. I daydream of the moment that every single room in my home is completely clean and clutter-free. I prefer cleaning to cooking and could clean and organize all day long. I always tell myself once my home is in perfect order, then I'll learn how to be a fantastic cook.

2. I am not artistic. I don't share this to beg pity upon myself. It's just one of those things I accept. I don't sing (to entertain others--just myself:-), play an instrument, sew, scrapbook, sculpt, or do any such creating with my hands. I really admire other people that can touch something and make it beautiful.

3. I am a night owl. This serves me well in the evening when the kiddies are asleep. I am geared up to finally begin my day at about 8pm. About 75% of my to-do list gets done between the hours of 9pm and midnight. Waking up? Not a talent of mine. My current place of employment (the home!) forces me to rise about 4 hours earlier than my internal clock would like to, but that's okay, because I've been dealing with this problem my entire life.

4. I would pay $10,000 for 2 more hours in the day, every day. Probably no need to elaborate on this one. I think most people feel like their days are way too short.

5 I love watching Cade drive his Jeep. This is a new hobby of mine. I am finally coming around to seeing some benefits of having so much land to take care of--- Cade can drive in our back yard forever!!! Watching him zoom through the woods and over the dirt is like living a childhood dream. I always wanted one of those things when I was younger. It's so fun to see him enjoy something I always wanted to do.

6. I love being alone. Maybe this is odd to some people, but I really do like being alone. It rarely happens anymore, so when I do get to have moments to myself, I couldn't be happier. And then the kids wake up. :-)

7. I have lived in 8 different states in the last 4.5 years. (NC, SC, VA, MD, CA, UT, GA, and now IL!) Where we live now has been the longest "home" by several months. I love it!!! Though moving around isn't the worst thing in the world, either. It keeps us from acquiring too much junk and we get to see great parts of the country and make new friends!