The Dog Days of Summer Come to an End

Today is the first day of school! I can't believe it, where did the summer go? I must say this year I was not ready for the kids to go back. We have been having fun. I can not tell a lie though...I am dying for a routine!!! They were both super excited and were awake early this morning glowing with anticipation. Tyce is way excited about 3rd grade with Mrs. Marusich. His good buddy JT is in his class again! Jagen is so excited about her teacher Mrs. Baber. She reminds us of Miss Kruser from CA. (Who we all know Jagen adored!!) So she is super jazzed. She is lucky to be with her good friend Karly again this year. I think we are off to a great start!! It might be a long day though...Asey misses her playmates!

I think Jagen looks so grown up!

Don't look at Tyce's old dirty shoes. His new ones should be here tomorrow!

Cute!

Just Asey, Reese and me again. I am sure we will stay busy.

Two Girlies

I have been meaning to post these pictures for a long time, and I decided I am going to get caught up. So here are two of my cuties!!


Jagen's Softball Season

Jagen finish up her first season of softball back in May. I volunteered J.D. to be the coach. They both had a lot of fun. Her favorite positions were pitcher, short and 1st base, of course. She wants to play again next year. Here are some pictures.

The Athlete

Hey batter, batter, batter...

Lookin' for a steal.

Nice and slow, right in the pocket.

Waiting in the outfield.

Doesn't J.D. look good in salmon?

Asey's Fun Dress up Day

Asey got invited to her friends house for a fun dress up day. My friend Misty did the girls hair and makeup, then they walked the runway. Is this not the cutest?!! I think they are all 4 going on 24! Thanks for the fun Katie and Lexi!!

The CHOP

Okay, so Asey had some really long hair. It was driving me and her nuts, so while we were in Utah we had Aunt Kandiss chop it off. I couldn't believe it as she cut of the ponytail, I almost cried. But it is so cute and so much easier. She loves it, I love it, and even dad loves it!








It ended up being 10 inches so we mailed it off to locks of love.

Tyce's Baptism

Tyce was baptized in Utah on July 10. It worked out so well. We were surrounded by family and friends. Just as it should be. Both grandparents were there and most of my family was in town for a family reunion, and most of J.D.'s family lives there. It was such a wonderful day.

Tyce's cousin Kris spoke at the baptism. Tyce's cousin Brad wrote him a nice letter and his cousin Tyler (who is on a mission in Brazil) also sent him a wonderful letter. There was a full circle of distinguished men that stood with J.D. to confirm Tyce. I am humbled by the wonderful men that are examples to my only boy. We are so proud of him for his decision to be baptized.

I love this picture.

Tyce with the Millers.

Tyce with the Booths.

Grandma and Papa Baker

Grandma Joan and Papa Doc

The group

Playing catch up - The Birthday

So Tyce's birthday was a month ago, but here I am posting it. Here are some pictures of the day.

Lunch with cousins!

WallE

Cereal for dinner. Tyce's choice of course!

Jagen and Josey decorated for dinner.

The gifts!
Jagen and Josey made the cake!
The Birthday Boy!


What to do for the birthday party? After much discussion and deliberation Tyce decided he wanted to go to this fun place here called Makutu's Island for his birthday. It is a big indoor play place. He invited it two best buddies from school and his cousins. The sisters came to, even though he thought they shouldn't. They had so much fun. They played for a couple hours, hide 'n seek, sardines, etc. I got to sit and talk with my sister, which is fun for me. Then we went for Dippin' Dots. It was great!

It is Great to be 8!!

I love blogging kids birthdays, and another one has come around. I started thinking a couple of days ago about doing Tyce's. Today our big - little man is 8! This is such an important birthday! He is so excited about being baptized. We have been talking about the big day and making plans. He is excited that it is going to be in Utah with so many family and friends.

Today we have plans for fun like the movies with cousins and going out to dinner (that is a present for me.) His party is on Monday, so the fun will last a couple of days.

Here are "The 8 Great Things I Love About Tyce"



1. He will still give his mom hugs and kisses (even in front of his friends.)

2. He loves his sisters (but teases the heck out of them)

3. I love the mole under his left eye.

4. He has a great sense of humor.

5. He is so active (the kid can't sit still)

6. He is persistant

7. He is easy to please (for example: he always will give me a break on making dinner - he would love to live on cereal.)

71/2. He looks so much like J.D. and he so darn cute!

8. He is my one and only BOY and I love him so much!!!

Happy Birthday Bubba!!!

Photo and video editing at www.OneTrueMedia.com

The Blogger Hole

I fell into a deep, dark blogger hole!!! So as I have explained I tried to change my template and lost my stuff, but what I didn't mention is that I got a Blogger error code after doing this. The Blogger code lead me into the Blogger Hole. I couldn't get any other templates to post on my blog, and I was freaking out! (Just ask J.D. I do love blogging!!! and I started to go through withdrawals) I worked on it last night for an hour or so and again this morning for a couple of hours. I found myself on wacked out blogger message boards pleading for help. I was looking on crazy peoples blog with tips on how to solve the blogger codes (BX codes for short) and leaving them comments begging for some guidance. I was sending S.O.S. comments to Blogger Help. So this afternoon I sat down to check back on those crazy message boards and comment pages, and decided to give it one more shot...and look it worked. I don't really know what happen, if something I did fixed it or blogger fixed it or what, but I got this LeeLou template "to take" so I am not even going to mess with it again for awhile. (I will match Misty's blog for awhile, but those of you that check her blog might not even know because you quite checking it, as she has fallen off the blog wagon.) So I am so happy to say that I have struggled and scraped my way out, bloody knuckles and all, from the Blogger Hole. I hope that no one has to experience that. It is hell. Ha ha!!!

Construction Zone Ahead

So I was sick of my blog so I thought I would do a quickie change. Well I THOUGHT I knew what I was doing. Obviously not as I have lost all my stuff. Yes, I know I need to save it before I change it. Well, I thought I had, but NO. So now I have an ugly blog that I don't have time to fix. And I can't find a new template that I like, so if you have any suggestions on where to look. Let me know. (I have already checked Cutest Blog on the Block and LeeLou blogs)

Big Girl Turns Four!

Our little Asey is 4! Where do I start? She is such a unique piece of the Dockstader puzzle. She can have you laughing and frustrated all at the same time. We had a wonderful day yesterday. We had a family party. Aunt Terry's family came down and Grandma and Grandpa Baker are here. Her cousin Casey's birthday is on the 9th so we celebrated them together. She kept referring to herself as the birthday girl. She came back from the park and said "The birthday girl is back, so lets have cake." We love her so much and are so grateful she is part of our family! (Asey's whole life is digital so it was very easy to get pictures of her, so this is a long montage. Enjoy!)

Happy Birthday Bug!

Make an on-line slideshow at www.OneTrueMedia.com

13 Years and so much more

* 13 Years
* 4745 Days
* 4 Wonderful Kids
* 3 Houses
* 6 Jobs
* 7 Cars
* 1 Dog
* 5 Moves
* 3 States
* Countless Memories
* Infinite Love

J.D. and Kendra
Est. June 2, 1995

Make an on-line slide show at www.OneTrueMedia.com

I love you Babe!!!

Boredom Buster

Jagen and her friend Jessi came up with another boredom buster today. Pretty darn fun, and itchy says Asey.

You know it's summer when...

...your kids are so bored they have to come up with something creative and fun to do. So they make sock puppets and do a play with them all by themselves. Check it out. Pay close attention...the plot is very deep.

Photo and video editing at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Time for a new look and a tag

Everyone has been changing their blog look so I thought I would try it too. After all tomorrow is the first day of summer for us! Yeah!!! I always can't wait for summer, and by the end of summer I can't wait for school to start. That is the nature of the beast.

So my cousin Kari tagged me awhile ago, (I bet you are thinking I wasn't going to do it huh?) Well, it has been busy, last week of school and all, but I am finally getting around to it.

Three Joys
1. My family
2. Summer fun (like trips, swimming, outings, etc.)
3. David Cook winning American Idol

Three Fears
1. Losing someone I love
2. Having health problems
3. Paying the bills (Sigh...this economy and gas, it stinks!!)

Three Obsessions
1. The dust in my house, on everything and everywhere
2. Blog surfing
3. Getting through my "to do" list

Three Random Facts
1. I have a hot cocoa addiction
2. I can't stand our dog. (Most of you know this, but it is therapy for me to write it.)
3. I am trying to grow out my nails.

How many people does it take to wash a car?

On Friday J.D. and I decided we had had enough of our disgusting van. It has been months, maybe even since we lived in Cali, since it had gotten a GOOD wash and vacuum. There have been far too many road trips with 4 kids and a dog in it. So we decided to get'er done. The kids wanted to "help". So here are some pictures of them "helping".


We found out that a roll of toilet paper is good for hours of fun for Reese.

Nothing like sitting in a bucket of suds.


So to answer the question...it took 2 people, J.D. and me, to wash the van with lots of interruptions and little help from the kids! Now when we get in the van, the first thing I say is, "Remember don't touch the windows!" (I don't want any little fingerprints, at least for a few days.)