Work in progress

My entire house is a work in progress right now. I have about 75 million projects to do before it will be up to my standard. I keep walking people through my house explaining the things I intend to do, what will be painted,dyed, and hung up. I have avoided crafting lately at all costs because I am an all or nothing person, If I can't see something to completion I usually don't start it and I'm realizing it's my biggest problem. Fortunately little deadlines like TC's baptism on Saturday has made me at least finish my projects for his partay. I won't reveal them yet since the party is on Saturday but I will be sure to take plenty of pics!I am really really excited to be creating again however it reminds me why I have been avoiding it, namely my kitchen table is a mess and my children look like hobos seriously!I also am really excited about my orange chair that I recently stripped the color from and is currently a golden yellow. I used RIT color remover and saved my self $175 to recover it yeah me!!! Anyway I will be sure to take before and after pics of my decorating. I'm going for a french country/eclectic look we'll see how I do!

How to not cook all week

If you are like me cooking in the summer is not your very favorite thing however eating fast food everyday or spending $50 bucks a night on dinner is also not appealing so I've compiled a list of places kids eat free here in AZ for anyone who is interested. If you follow this schedule you can avoid cooking nearly all week!
Mon: Rumbi Grill on Val Vista and Baseline, offers free kids meals one per adult entree. 2 Adult entrees is about $15 if you drink water and order one of their delicious burgers or chicken sandwiches! And the best part is no tipping!!!*
Tue: Black Bear Diner on Southern West of Gilbert does free kids meals per adult entree. We haven't tried it yet but our kids have been there with Papa and Grandma and they say it's good. Tuesdays are also KEF at Rumbi Grill!*
Wed: NYPD pizza has KEF with adult purchase. They have locations all around the valley find the closest one near you. If you are looking for a cheaper faster option Sonic does 1.79 wacky packs even for adults.*
Thurs: *Waldo's BBQ on Main and Greenfield offers free kids meals Mon-Thurs per adult entree. We usually spend $35 with tip and end up with like 2 boxes of left overs. I usually buy buns and sauce and voila, that makes one more meal!
Fri/Sat: IHOP does KIF except you have to pay for their drinks. We haven't done this one much but the times we have it's always a novelty to have breakfast for dinner.
Also mention worthy is Costa Vida gives free kids cheese quesadillas everyday of the week.
Since we don't eat out on Sunday, I can't help you out there. Well there you go enjoy!
P.S I do actually cook and we have never officially done the whole week thing but I now that I've complied this list I just might!

Little Lady Lettie

I know that I already gushed like yesterday about how much I love my little letty but she has been officially walking for a little while now and it just makes her cuter especially since she has been doing this.......

carrying a purse around!

"where's that lipstick"

how does she know what to do with it? Tiny genius I think.

She is not even one yet and is already so funny I heart babies who think they need a purse. 

Root root root for the Dodgers if they don't win... oh wait they did!!!

Violet and Golden, after Tristan stole his hat and wouldn't let him wear it.

Tonight we, meaning Grandma and Papa Johnson, Jordan & Lauren, Austin(J and A are my step brothers) and all of us Eyestones attended the Diamondback Dodger game in honor of Tristan's 8th Birthday, it was his one wish. All the kiddos donned Diamondback apparel and Daddy wore only his Dodger hat and not his jersey out of respect for TC. T lately has been all for the Dbacks and openly dissed the Dodgers which has of course broken his fathers heart, so it was awesome that the Dodgers kicked butt tonight. Anyway all the kids did super well and were nice including little Vy she was tired but never fussed once she was having too much fun people watching, her favorite sport. She also had her first sucker that she stole out of my mouth and  wouldn't let me take it away.The kids got to play in the play area and Tristan hit 3out of 4 balls pitched to him in the kids batting cage. He hit the ball so well even the pitcher was impressed. We ended the night with incredibly overpriced souvenirs, but hey we didn't have to pay for the seats (Thanks DAD!).Tristan bought himself a foam finger and we bought him wrist bands, Mo got a squishy ball and Daph got a pink necklace and bracelet with a Dbacks emblem on them. Overall it was a really fun time and we are realizing that the older our kids get the easier it is to take them all places. We will definitely be visiting the ballpark again if Golden and Tristan have any say... Even Morgan who is no sports fan really had a good time and wants to go again!

Tristan regretting his smack talk earlier

Morgan actually liking baseball!

Gramma, Papa, and Fi-fi

Mom and Vy post sucker highjacking

who could take candy from a baby? not me!

Drive home, note stylish new jewelry.

Letty Lou

 In case you haven't noticed I Love this girl. The best way to describe my feelings for her is I have a major crush, when I see her my heart goes pitter patter, I can't wait to hold her in the morning, when she smiles I swoon, and I can't ever get enough. She is the best baby ever she plays like a big kid, sleeps like a rock, and rarely cries. She is not extra cuddly but she is always happy. Every time I have a baby I think I'll never love anyone like I love this little thing and every new time I prove myself wrong. Why is it that babies have such a hold of us? I was reminded by a friend recently that I used to say that I liked toddlers better, and I did. But the older my kids get(TC turned 8 last week!!!) the more I miss them being babies, not newborns but maybe like 6 month old's. I wonder if I can ever get enough of chubby cheeks, buns, and soft little hair. Since we are most likely done having babies, I will have to saver every last moment of this baby and then hopefully some family and good friends of mine will provide my baby fix for the future.I know this is a million pictures but one is just never enough.

crackers yum!

cheeeeeese!

No more photos please

She likes to head butt as a sign of affection you can kinda see it here.

head butt love

Vy has blue, gray, and sometimes green eyes my uncle Kev described them the best so far, he says they look like a marble.

TC was behind me making her laugh which he can always do.

Love Lovie Love this tiny thing.

When it rains......

Uggggghhhhh! that pretty much sums up my weekend. Why does it seem like when it rains it pours? This weekend was filled with refrigerators, the one in our rental broke after one week of us owning it. I contacted the seller and lets just say he obliterated what was left of my faith in humanity. I offered to take a partial refund since the thing worked for like 3 days and he refused. So we had to just suck it up and buy a new one.On top of that we have had a leaky condenser, homework,a giant phone bill, and Poor Tristan's B-day fell in with all the drama.  Yesterday Golden spent all day moving 3 refrigerators (Thanks to Warren and Jake for helping him!!!!!). We ended up buying a new one off CL and putting it in our house and putting ours in the rental. Then an hour after getting the new one home it wasn't cooling. Needless to say I was stressing thinking why isn't this working out. And of course the added stress was causing friction between Golden and I. I was feeling a bit picked on and started feeling like, really? Heavenly Father, you thought I could handle this? I was questioning things like why wasn't I inspired not to buy the bum fridge in the first place? I knew I needed to pray but I wasn't feeling much in the mood. Finally I just made myself cause I knew I'd feel better. So Gold and I knelt down and asked Heavenly Father to allow the fridge to cool and for us to be able to have peace in our home again. It never ceases to amaze me that when you least want to, you most need to seek the Lord in prayer and ask for his peace. It may not solve your problems but it always makes it easier to have faith and move forward. By the end of the evening the fridge was ice cold , Golden and I liked each other again, and I felt much better. I hope hope hope this is the last drama for a while but even if it isn't I know it will be okay cause I can always share my burdens with my husband and the Lord.

Reason's I shouldn't be writing this post

•  I should be writing a paper for school which is already late!
•  I have a headache.
•  My house is a disaster, forever and always and I should clean whilst the little people are not rapidly messing everything in their wake.
•  My bed is calling me I hear it now, "shaaun shaaun why don't you join me and Daphne so she can kick you in the back all night again."

But for some reason I don't wanna do any of it. Did you ever think as a kid man when I grow up I'm gonna do anything I want and no one's gonna boss me around? I did and yet now I have a whole new set of "bosses" four small people, a house that demands cleaning and maintenance, school work which requires completion if  don't wanna fail, and so on and so forth. I wish sometimes I could quit but I know I never will I just like imagining it's an option but I know that I'm too dang responsible to ever be truly reckless.Blogging right now is about as rebellious as I get. So what I'm really gonna do is write that paper then I will heed the call of Daphne's tossing and turning, sleep for not long enough then awake to the squeals of my sweet Violet and arise out of bed with a sore back next to a darling little monster who I can't resist no matter how I try ( Daphne not Golden), then feed four little twerps breakfast and just maybe if I'm lucky I can con them into taking a quiet time while I clean our pig pen and catch up on the mounds of laundry forming a mountain in my hall (Thanks T for changing 5x a day it is truly considerate) . So farewell for now my friends wish me luck! I'll just have to put in my two weeks notice another time.

Summertime and the livin's busy

We Eyestone's have been incredibly busy lately! Almost everything we've had going on has been just plain ol' fun I just feel like a taxi and my car looks like a garbage truck to prove it. Last week was especially fun filled to the brim.
Mon: watched my nieces McKenna and Addy had a tea party and played lots and lots
Tue: went to the library for a super fun balloon show with Sarah and Merrick then started swim lessons later tried to work out with Randi and instead spent 2 hrs putting rowdy kids to sleep. Good thing she loves us.
Wed: got the townhouse prepped for renters purchased and moved a fridge for said rental.
Thur: Last day of summer school for Mo he brought doughnuts in for his birthday, errands and finally handed over the keys to the Bradley's our super nice renters. Then raced to Aaron's wedding dinner which was awesome. They had a luau with fire dancers and we got to see aunties and uncles and cousins who we love. Before bed snuck out to wally world with T to pick out the perfect B-day present for little bro.
Fri: was Mo's 6th birthday man I am old! We went to the splash pad in the morning with my friend Sarah and her boy Merrick. Sarah was kind enough to take her daughter in law to be (violet) so I could watch cars 2 in peace with the other three kiddos, my mom and little sis Shelby. Then I raced to the temple only to miss the big moment :( I was pretty bummed about that. Next I grabbed a cake for Mo from Sam's, I did feel guilty about not making Morgan the frog cake he asked for, but it was green and I didn't have to heat up my house! Then we raced home to change and get ready and headed off to Peter Piper Pizza for an impromptu birthday party. We surprisingly had a good turn out for 5 hrs notice. Grandma and Grandpa Johnson, Sarah, Jeremy and Merrick, and Randi sans Harold were all in attendance. Morgan got wonderful gifts and loved playing and watching my six foot + father ride the mini carousel. My Dad and Linda were kind enough to take the older kids and Randi took the babe so Golden and I could attend the reception that night in peace.It was definitely awesome to see what a perfectly matched couple Aaron and Breylynn are and to get to celebrate and remember why I love my extended family!
Sat: Kid free(almost I still had Vy) I cleaned my house from top to bottom, did laundry, and homework till 3:30 when Goldy got home and somehow managed to get the night off. We met my Dad and Linda at Macaroni grill for a yummy dinner and relieved them of our little monsters.Before we got home we stopped by blockbuster for 6 free movies and then goodwill for a $9 Sony DVD player!(we needed a second one for all the flicks). Then we had a fun movie night, I almost didn't mind vacuuming up mounds of spilled popcorn later oh wait....
Sun: We attempted to go to church but ended up at home after sacrament with three kids in time out for poor behavior. The evening ended with an unintentional party when Mallory, my dad and Linda, and Randi and Warren all came over for chips and salsa and phase 10. It was so fun even though the claws came out!
Mon: Since Randi and Warren had spent the night at The Eyestone hotel we had breakfast together at IHOP and then went swimming. Next we had lunch at Grandma Sheila's and played in the kiddy pool. We ended our fun packed week at Grandpa and grandma Johnson's for dinner, inflatable water slide time, root beer ice cream and a fireworks show compliments of grandpa's fireworks stash.
We had a fabulous fourth and enjoyed all the time spent with family and friends. I just hope things can slow down a little for the sake of my sanity!!!!