King Family

Our..er..My Aquarium Project!

2011-12-02T13:14:00.000-08:00

So I have been working on our aquarium for just under a year now and I have learned a lot! As most of you may know, I work selling aquarium products for American Aquarium Products, so this aquarium has been a training tool as well as a fun project!

We have a 55 gallon freshwater tank with fish and plants. I found the tank on Craigslist for only 35 dollars! We have 5 large fish; A Pleco, (Sucker Fish) leporinus, Black fin Shark, (catfish) and 2 Chiclids. One Chiclid is a Jack Dempsey, and one is a Convict. All of these fish are aggressive, but they all get along just fine thankfully! This has been a very slow project as funds and tools are not always available when we want or need them. We started with some Walmart fish against all my nay saying, as my children are too impatient to wait for the aquarium to cycle. Needless to say, the fish all died, as ALL Walmart fish do. This was very hard for my kids to handle, but a valuable lesson either way. Mom is always right. (Don't tell my kids this is only mostly true!) So we had to cure the tank of Ich while it was continuing to cycle so our next fish didn't die as well. We added a hang on back filter as they are easy to maintain and run, and also a sponge filter for aerobic filtration and redundancy. These are great simple filters, except the Pleco likes to eat the sponges. I cannot keep him off of them! (They make a bit of a mess when your fish is spitting chunks of sponge in your tank)

For lighting I went with the newer technology of T2 Lights. They are compact and are 6400K Daylight bulbs which make the tank really bright and my plants LOVE them! Eventually I will build a hood for these. (Currently these are just sitting on the tank sides.)

We put a large rock in the bottom and also a cool chunk of specialized driftwood. (It won't kill your fish or bring in any disease) It looks great! The only problem with driftwood is that it adds tannins to your water. In other words, it makes your water a yellow brown color. So back to learn more tricks and filter media to counter this ugly look. Carbon! I brought some extra carbon home and added it to the HOB filter. Lightened the tank a bit, but not much. Ok, maybe Purigen. I added purigen to the HOB filter and within 24 hours the tank was clear as day! It was very nice to see my work look good!

My next task was to add a CO2 system for my plants. I wasn't sure how to do this so I went to our webiste of all knowledge. Sure enough, Carl had how to make a DIY, CO2 cartridge. I grabbed all the needed supplies and headed home with my mind excited to try a new thing on my tank. I set it all up within minutes and my plants are green and growing like crazy! My tank is really coming along, and I cannot wait to find more fun things to do! (Maybe Santa will bring me a new tank some day for saltwater....)

Conferences make me nervous.

2011-10-23T09:15:00.000-07:00

Conferences are not my favorite thing to do. I always love to hear how well my kids are doing but I do not like to hear any bad news.

I wasn't nervous for Titus' conference as I knew he would be doing well. He is in the kindergarten grade but in a first grade class. He was put in the first grade class after his evaluation proved he was above average in his schooling. (I knew the pre school would pay off!) As I expected, Titus was doing very well and was in fact doing first grade work! We did learn that Titus needs to work on his dexterity. He uses both hands to write and color and cut, so he hasn't mastered either. He will actually switch hands in the middle of writing a word. It is pretty funny to see. Currently we are working on learning short words, which Titus is very good at! It is really fun to see the look of excitement as he learns a new word and spelling!

Arthur's conferences have always been dreadful. Not because he is a bad kid or not smart, just because this is when we find out about everything he is missing and how he is not finishing his class work. This is the first year Nick and I have sole custody of Arthur so we have made sure all homework is finished and turned in. Arthur has been arguing with his teacher in class and has been getting in a bit of trouble lately, so I was not looking forward to this conference either. Arthur's teacher was very sweet and told us how Arthur's school work was not being finished although she knew he could do it. She showed us his test scores and they showed Arthur at a 6th grade level in most subjects! He is above average! He is just having a hard time concentrating on his class work enough to finish it. She had great reviews for Arthur and said he is a really smart kid, he just needs to focus. This was the best conference we have EVER had for Arthur!! We are working on the concentration at home as well and I am sure the next conference will be even better! The 5th grade year will be the best yet!

We have not had a conference for Taylor yet as it is pretty early in the year, and the city schools are waiting a bit. I will keep you posted on the outcome! I am not worried about his conference, he always gets a rave review!

School is so Tiring!

2011-10-21T11:01:00.000-07:00

This is Titus' first year of real school, and it is especially bad considering he was smart enough to go to the first grade class and not the Kindergarten class. (This basically means not as much play) By the end of the day he is exhausted! The other day as I picked him up from school, he said, "Mom, I am the most tired kid in the whole school. I can only stay awake for another 2 seconds."

Looking at where the van was parked I realized 2 seconds was not enough time to make it to the van. I told him my sad news.

"Titus, 2 seconds is not enough time to make it to the van."

"Well then, I can maybe make it 3 seconds, but I really am going to fall asleep!"

We got to the van and I opened his door. "OK, we're here! Hop on in, and buckle up!"

I get into my seat and look back. Titus has laid down half in and half out of the van. "Titus! Hop in quick! I don't want you to fall out when I drive off!" I joke.

He gets into his seat and buckles up, I look back and he is out! Not to wake up again until the next morning.

Titus has been handling the change well, and he ends up with a really long sleep once a week. It is really fun to see him work and learn so much, but I do miss him on his sleep days!

Serve Grants Pass

2011-10-07T11:27:00.000-07:00

    I am going to start this by saying God is good! Better than good, he is AWESOME! Nick and I pitched a local military family to our home group for our Serve Grants Pass project.
   Let me tell you about the family, dad is gone on his 7th deployment leaving his wife and their 4 kids at home. I simply cannot imagine how hard this is. So in all the years I have known them, I have never seen their backyard. When I asked about it, the wife/mom filled me in.
   They had a rotting deck and a rotten picnic bench. They had a trampoline that had a bent up frame, and no net, the legs would fall off as the kids jumped on it! They had a mixed media walkway that consisted of concrete, rock, brick, and more concrete poured over concrete and painted.
    Nick went over and took a look at it and this is what he saw; A mixed media walk way that was angled the wrong way so every time it rained all the water ran right into their garage. There was a rotting deck and picnic table. There was a death trap trampoline in the back yard that she insisted on keeping due to it being the only thing her kids had to do in the yard.
   When the home group agreed that this would be a good project that would help tremendously we registered it with the church.
   I was really excited to help them as they are the sweetest family and they deserve to enjoy their back yard! So the deck, picnic bench and walk way were torn out during the 2 week prep prior to the Serve Grants Pass project day. I also convinced them to get rid of the trampoline. I could not promise a new one but i told them we had some fun ideas for the back yard. We laid some weed barrier and Nick built a nice frame to keep some rock in for the walk way and for under the deck. We were there every day after work for about 2 weeks doing prep work. Nick even used some vacation days to get more done. We shoveled and wheel barreled tons of rock that was given to us at a fraction of the price. We had a new trampoline donated as well as a new barbeque! Things were looking good! We did not tell the family about what it was going to look like or what we were doing. They just knew we were there, and their yard would look great! For 2 weeks we labored for our friends and ate TONS of pizza and taco bell. When project day rolled around, all we had left was the deck to build, a small fence to build and to put together a trampoline and barbeque! We had a great turnout and several people came to help with the proiect. The kids were literally screaming and jumping, as they saw us carry the trampoline by! It was beyond worth all the hard work and effort that was put in and I am so proud of our kids and everyone else who pitched in! GO TEAM!!

Nicks journey to Memory Care.....

2011-07-15T15:27:00.000-07:00

Nick recently visited grandma in memory care. This was a hard experience for him as grandma isn't making a lot of sense latley. The funny thing is, when he went to visit, it wasn't grandma who who told the crazy storys.

   The thing is, people in memory care usually remember snips of truth and somehow mix it with a movie, or a story they once heard, or maybe even a story they made up somewhere along the line.
   This time a cute little old lady backed Nick against a wall with her walker. She looked at him seriously and would not back down. Finally she said, "My daddy is a Sheriff in Klamath Falls, and he is on his way to pick you up. Don't go anywhere!" Nick stood there confused. Then she continued, "I know who you are. I know you murdered all those people. You just wait right here! He is on his way and I'm keeping an eye on you!" Nick still stood confused and said, "I think you have me mixed up! I'm a good guy!" She stood her ground, walker in hand and replied, "they always are, they always are." It took about 10 minutes to get an aide to come rescue my poor traumatized honey. Thankfully we all can laugh it off and lucky for me I have been warned! His secret is out!
   This reminds me of the days when I worked at Oak Lane Retirement Center. We had all kinds of sweeties and some not so sweeties, we were in contact with every day.
   George for instance had to have all his silverware from the same place. If his fork was from China and his spoon was from Indonesia he could not eat. They all had to be from China, or all from Indonesia etc. He was a very sweet man.
   Fred was not so nice. He had his nice moments if you listened to him. His quirk was that he wanted us to know what he liked and what he didn't like and if anything he didn't like happened, well, all hell would break loose in the dining room. For instance, Fred did not drink coffee, so if there was a coffee mug in his place setting, he would throw it at you. "You should know by now 'tiger tails' that I don't drink coffee!" he would yell as the cup came hurling toward you. The same went for his soup spoon. If we were serving soup with dinner you had better be sure Fred had a soup spoon or it too would be thrown at you.
   These are just a few examples of the fine folk I remember of my days at Oak Lane. The stories I heard from the residents and their quirks will always be with me, and I will be sure to have my kids, at least visit, a retirement home so they too can enjoy the gifts these folk rarely get to share.

Camping adventures!!

2011-06-19T20:59:00.000-07:00

Titus is 5 years old officially! To celebrate his birthday we went camping and took the Walkers with us! This includes Titus' best friend Kenny.

We left on Friday and after 3 hours of hearing, "how much longer?" and "are we there yet?" we finally arrived! The weather was perfect! Warm, sunny and beautiful! This rarely happens on the Oregon coast, it seems.

We played for most of the day at Sunset Bay. The water was not too cold and it is not very deep so I don't have to worry about the kids so much. I can also see them for the entire length of the beach. They cannot go anywhere I can't see them. MUAHWAHWAHWAH!

Anyway, I did learn something new, seals molt. I had no idea until there was a molting seal on our beach! The kids all got quite a kick out of seeing him up there just layin' around!

After our long beach day we headed back to camp where we cooked hot dogs over the fire and made some s'mores. I must say I have become quite the expert at roasting marshmallows without burning them or over cooking them! They are perfect and gooey all the way through, yummy! The kids were so exhausted they fell asleep without a peep and we did not hear from them again until morning! This was huge as it was also the first year Titus has not slept in our tent! He slept with the older brothers and loved every second!

Saturday morning the kids slept in amazingly enough! We started the day at the beach where the Walkers, Sarissa, Taylor, Kaden, Kenny and Kelson, met us! They all ran straight for the water as soon as they arrived and had a blast! We headed back to camp for lunch, and helped Sarissa get camp together. We then went on a hike to Shore Acre Gardens. The kids did great and had a blast! The way back was a bit harder for the kids so we rewarded them with more beach time! Can you go wrong with the beach? The next day we 3 adults were really coffee deprived and Sarissa went on a coffee run. She stopped at "The Mill Espresso and Bakery" where they have AMAZING coffee and customer service! We had to stop again on the way out later in the day for another coffee for the way home. WOW, I will be stopping there every time I come through! If you are ever in the area be sure to stop by this hidden gem! It was a great trip and we will definitely be having the Walkers along again!

Spreading CHEER!!

2011-06-09T16:26:00.000-07:00

Today was the last day of school for Madrona students, and Madrona has such wonderful teachers and office aids I chose to give the gift that keeps on giving in the form of plants!

I found several Azaleas in pink and orange. I took them to the school for the teachers, principal and office aids involved in my son's care and learning during this last school year! The ladies were so thrilled with their plants and all of them seemed to know exactly where they were going to plant them when they got home!

I just LOVE making people smile! I wish I could afford more for everybody but I simply can't.

Just know I appreciate all teachers, aids, principals and office personell and know you all work so very hard at teaching even the toughest kids! (I know Arthur likes to stand and blurt out things in class) You take care of their scrapes and bruises, and sometimes just a hug will get them through the hard days, thanks again!

Hope your summer is great! See you next year!

A look around.........

2011-05-28T20:22:00.000-07:00

I was out in my yard earlier and as I started to really look around I saw several funny things.
I can only imagine what kind of stories were going on when all of the plastic yard tools ended up in the flowering bush near "the boys club" as it is called around here.See picture below.......

I also saw some digging going on! We LOVE diggerz at the King house! Clearly some construction needed done here. Well done!! See below....

OH NO!!!! It looks like one of the dump trucks crashed!! What happened!? I hope the driver is ok! A GIANT puppy perhaps!???

Well, I am not sure what you think, but I am wondering if Puppy did it! Innocent or Guilty? You decide!!

It appears there was a lot of dirty fun having outside today! It also looks like Puppy had some fun as well! So now you have it, a few things you will likely find around my yard on any given day! Always something fun going on here! Until next time...........

Keep your eye on the road!

2011-05-20T16:26:00.000-07:00

Titus and I had some errands to run today so we were in the van for a short time. As I am driving along I hear from the back seat of the van, "mom, can you see me"?

"Yes, I can see you," I say after looking in the rear view mirror.

"OK, can you see me now"?

Looking again I say, "Yes, I can."

"Mom, can you still see me"?

Again, "Yes, I can STILL see you"!

"Well then you need to keep your eye on the road and quit looking at me"!

I started laughing so hard! Titus had set me up! He isn't even 5, and he had me hook, line, and sinker! Dang! I was laughing so hard I was crying and that is generally not a good way to drive either! Our children are catching on wayyyy to fast! DON'T FALL FOR THIS TRICK!!

The Ginger Bread Cookies are Loose!!

2011-04-20T20:00:00.000-07:00

It had been a very long week already, and Titus had been making it even longer with a bunch of "i'm not getting my way" fits. So I was surprised when he cam rushing into the shop in a hurry.

"Mom, did you see them?! Did they come by here!?"

Before I could even ask what he was talking about he was gone in a rush again. I continued working and Steven, my co worker, started cracking up. "You aren't worried?"

"No, he has something going on! I am curious though!"

Five minutes later Titus came rushing back in.

"Were they here?! I thought they came this way! Did you see them come by here at all?" He says while out of breath.

"See what?! What came by here?!"

"My ginger bread men! They are loose again!"

Steven and I about lost it, with laughter! The look on his face and the annoyed tone in his voice said so much!!! I wish I could take a small peak into what is going on in there!

The Beautiful Princess......

2011-04-20T19:27:00.000-07:00

I hear Titus from the back seat of the van,

"Mom, I'm gonna sing you a beautiful song about a princess. The princess is you...."

He continues with a story, sang in some tune... "Once upon a time there was a beautiful princess, and she loved walking in the wooooooods. One day as she was walking in the woods looking at the beautiful trees and she triiiiiiiipped and hit her heeeeeeeead and fell in the muuuuuuuud. Then she was all dirtyyyyyyyy. Then, when she woke up she was in the castlllllllle. Then she started to cryyyyyy, because she realized it was the bad guys castlllllllle. The end! Wans't that beautiful mom???" I couldn't believe it! Things never ended this way when I was a kid!

Taylor's "Friend who is a girl"

2011-04-16T07:18:00.000-07:00

Taylor is such a handsome boy! He has girls swooning around him already! He ignores it and is in fact embarrassed about the whole thing. He was invited to "Katie's" Birthday Party. Nick and I were intrigued. "Is she a girlfriend?" Nick asked. "NO!" (Taylor turns red and hides his face in the couch pillows) "Do you hang out at recess?" I ask. The pillows move up and down in a "yes" motion. Nick continues, "Do you hold hands?" Taylors head pops out of the pillows, "No! That is the number 1 thing on her rule list, no holding hands!"

Nick and I dropped it at this point, clearly this is a girl who has good rules!

The day school got out for Christmas break he got a hand written card from her. It read;

"Dear Taylor,

I'll miss you during Christmas vacation, and I hope you have a good one. See you next year! Signed, Katie

P.S. Don't show anyone this letter because of what I'm going to write: I think I like you. (Don't scream)"

Taylor said "I nearly screamed!" It was a great moment that I had to document! Some day he will appreciate me keeping this information!

Sewing scissors are just that........

2011-03-25T11:21:00.000-07:00

Years ago as I was sewing some pillows for my friends girls, I learned never to use a steak knife as a seam ripper. Why? Because that is not what knives are designed for and I now have a scar on my hand from my learning experience.

I had sewn too far and had to seam rip a small area. I did not have a seam ripper so I chose to improvise with a steak knife. Poor decision on my part. When the thread finally gave up the fight, the knife went straight into my hand, and in fact touched the bone. So much for my white fur pillow. I survived the whole ordeal with new knowledge. Only use things for what they were designed for. Now fast forward a few years.

Nick is attempting to open a zip lock bag of frozen beef. It was pretty frozen so he decides to dig out a kitchen utensil for help. Does he get the scissors? No, he digs out a bread knife. You know the one, it looks like a giant saw disguised as a kitchen knife. Well, it didn't work out real well for Nick. He chopped a good deep cut into his finger and damaged so many nerves he can barely use it at times. So lesson learned, you would think. A couple weeks ago I went to use my nice sewing scissors. I could not find them anywhere! Finally I ask Nick if he has seen them. "Well, yes, I was using them to cut some wire and the handle broke. I'm so sorry." I was not very happy, however, I really tried to be as understanding as possible. "OK," I said. "Put it on our shopping list." "They almost pinched my hand in them! Just so you know. I am OK though." I really had to try and not say anything sarcastic at that one.

So, if you have not had your own incident with using things inappropriately, let this be enough for you. Learn from our mistakes, because if you don't you may end up with a nasty cut and scar! Also, remember sewing scissors are just that, sewing scissors!

Science Fair Fun!

2011-03-20T14:37:00.000-07:00

I remember doing the elementary school science fair and I can't say I have positive memories of it. In fact someone ruined my project before I could even present it! Anyway, enough about the ol' days.

Arthur recently completed a science fair experiment for his elementary school with a group from his class. The experiment was "What will keep water warm the longest?" His group had 2 paper cups and around one they put two layers of bubble wrap. Around the other cup they had a layer of black paper, and a layer of bubble wrap. They did several days of testing and typing up their presentation. They found that the 2 layers of bubble wrap holds heat the longest. They received 3rd place in the school science fair and got to continue on to district! I was ecstatic! The day of Arthur's district presentation, Nick, Titus and I all got to go see him present the group project to the judges. We would not know how he ranked for several days. Friday evening we could go see all the ribbons and find out how the group did. We got to the experiment and Arthur says, "UGH! A brown ribbon?! Why did they have to make the participant ribbons brown?!" I looked over at him and said, "Well, first off the participant ribbons aren't brown, they are blue. See??" I said holding up another experiments participant ribbon. "Second off, your ribbon isn't brown, it's Bronze!" I was so excited, you would think I won the ribbon! "What does Bronze even mean?" Arthur asked. So I explained to him that Bronze is like 3rd place! We all had Dairy Queen as a celebration dessert! GREAT JOB ARTHUR! We are sooo proud of you!!

Bowling Chaos!

2011-03-16T16:38:00.000-07:00

Friday night was Nicks "Guy night" at our house, so I had to find something for me and the kids to do! This was my opportunity to have a mom and kids fun night! My sister, Jenz, said she needed something to do as well, so I suggested we go bowling! Tina, a friend, said she wanted to come too. It all started to look like a fun time! Little did I know, there was chaos looming, just waiting to strike!

When we arrived at Showtime Family Lanes, we figured out how many people were joining. Eight children and four adults, Jenz and her 3 kids, Tina and her 2 kids, me with my 3 kids and my dad. After paying a small fortune for one game each and shoes, we were on our way to lanes 28, and 29. Lane 28 was grown ups and lane 29 was for the kids. We set up our screens for a great time and corralled all the children who were running amok. Jenz, had to keep track of Joshua, who is 2. He thought running toward the pins was great fun, even though he kept slipping and falling.

I attempted to roll my first turn however, as I approached the lane Jaden and Ciara, started screaming at me and jumping around "OH MY GOSH, AUNTIE! YOU CAN DO IT! AHHHHhhhh!!!" Either way I ended with a spare. The kids seemed to be having fun with their game when suddenly Jenz noticed Haiden pushing buttons on the control panel. Unfortunately, she was too late and the kid screen went blank, they were several frames in. After 5 minutes I went to the front to see about a reset. The lady at the counter could not fix it and had to call to the back to see if they could figure it out. (they could not) She bumped the kids to lane 31.

Throughout this entire time we had been chasing Joshua, telling all the kids to stay away from other players and many had been nearly maimed with bowling balls several times. I was at my wits end at this point. My kids were being great and staying seated, although we had SEVERAL trips to the restroom, some lasting a good 10 -15 minutes. I was slowly losing my mind between making kids sit down, keeping track of Joshua, and attempting to bowl at the same time. The seventh frame rolled around and my screen said "pre paid limit over!" "What!? I paid for a game!" Back to the front I went, pretty angry that another thing had gone wrong. The lady at the counter kindly let me know that only 3 of our 4 adults had paid for their games and yet there were still 4 players.... Hmmmmm...... Back to lane 28, where I confronted Tina with this new knowledge. "Oh, oops, I was hoping I wouldn't have to pay. I can't really afford it." It was at this point I REALLY had to hold my tongue. So this incident held us up another 20 minutes! My kids started crying at this point. Arthur said, "This is all just so much crazyness! I can't handle it!" Then Taylor, "Can't we just be done?!" We all agreed to finish the adult game and then leave. Even with all the crazyness I still ended up winning. It was truly Miraculous after all that was going on around me!

When we all got loaded in to the car the kids asked sweetly, "next time can we go secret bowling, and not tell anyone?" At the end of this crazy Friday night? Of course, I will never try this again!

Kids say the funniest things!

2011-03-03T14:11:00.000-08:00

#1~ I had explained to Titus that "coffee makes it so you don't grow as tall." "Oh! So you drink coffee every day so you don't grow bigger than the city?!?"

#2~ I pull out my records and Arthur's eyes pop out of his head as he says "WOW! Those are the biggest CD's I have ever seen!"

#3~ I made the mistake of wearing pink in the house. Arthur says, " EEwwww! Pink is NOT allowed in our house!"

Me, "Why?"

Arthur, "because pink is a girl color!"

Me, "Oh, well I am a girl."

Arthur, "Your only kind of a girl"

Me, "Oh? Why am I only 'kind of a girl?'"

Arthur, "Because you play in the mud and catch bugs and stuff, so your mostly a boy!"

#4~ Titus' knowledge of babies, "OK, so when God wants you to have a baby he puts it in your belly and when it is ready to come out it scratches all the way out! That is why you have scratch marks on your belly!"

#5~ Titus says very excitedly, "Mom! What day is today!?"

I reply, Today is Monday."

Titus' eyes open really wide, and his jaw hits the floor and he yells even more excited "Monday no pants day?!?!"

#6~ Nephew Joshuah gets sprayed with a squirt gun and he was NOT happy! He responded with " dot pway me! I'm no pire! Translation "Don't spray me! I'm no fire!"

#7~ Titus comes to me with an apple in hand. The apple has a bite taken out of it and he says, "Mom, Arthur won't give my apple back!"

My reply, "who's apple is this?' Pointing to the one in his hand.

"This is Arthur's apple!"

Me, "Well they are both the same"

Titus, Well this one is Arthur's, Mine doesn't have a bite out of it!"

Me, "Did Arthur bite it?"

Titus, "No, I did, but I was being nice! I was making sure it wasn't poisonous!"

#8~ 3 days after the transfer of a surro baby, Titus pats my belly and says, "I think the baby is in there..... You're already looking fat!"

#9~ Titus says "When I grow up, I want to be an Elephant!"

Me "Oh? Why?"

Titus "Because, Elephants eat with their nose, so they can smell their food while they eat!"

#10~ I asked Titus what we should get aunt Amy and uncle Dennis for Christmas.
Titus replied, "Just give them a box of cats!"
(They already have 9)

Lunch with the kings

2011-02-27T16:16:00.000-08:00

Nick calls me around 12:00pm and asks if I would like to join him and the boys for a fabulous lunch at Taco Bell. I agree since I could use a break from shipping.

I meet them at the South Taco Bell and I actually beat them there! Once inside I realize there is only 1 available table, so I snag it! Five minutes later the King clan arrive. Nick looks very defeated as he enters.

The kids look like they are on the verge of tears, except Titus who seems very happy to see me! He greets me only momentarily as he goes to order lunch with Nick. I look at the boys and stupidly ask them whats going on. Thats when it starts, the back and forth bickering that so many parents dread. "Well, Taylor had stuff on the bedroom floor and........" "NO! You did ARTHUR!" I stop them, and explain that there are better ways to handle these types of situations.

Poor Nick. (It apparently took these bickering boys 3 hours to clean a small pile of toys from their bedroom floor. If not for the bickering it would have taken a half hour at most! Either way it did get done.... eventually) Nick arrives with the cups for our soda, and all the boys run off happily to fill them with colored syrup and bubbly water. Taylor comes back to the table first and starts pushing his soda back and forth. In a split second his soda spills all over him, the bench, the table and the floor. CLEAN UP CREW? THE KINGS HAVE ARRIVED! As we are cleaning the mess, they call our number. Figures. Nick goes to pick up the food, while Taylor keeps trying to walk through the sticky mess to apparently sit on the sticky bench! I ask him several times to sit at the other end of the table, you know, the non sticky, dry side. Finally we all sit down to eat and thats when Titus realizes Taylor has chips and cheese and he doesn't! Titus begs Taylor for some chips and Taylor refuses.

I can see it coming in slow motion, the melt down. I ask Taylor for 2 chips for his little brother. He obliges and then tears well in his eyes. Oh my, POOR NICK! I feel so bad for his day. The melt downs have started. Titus quickly uses all the cheese given to him and insists on more, as Taylor is mixing hot sauce in the remainder. I try to get Titus to eat his cheese roll, "There is LOTS of cheese in here!" I say as I try to divert his attention. Well he is four and has caught on to this trick! DANG! Taylor then gets a bunch of cheesy, hot sauce mix on the table. I can see the frustration with the day on Nicks face. I offer to take them to work with me but he says no, not today. Just a small snippet into a meal with the Kings! The day had gotten better by the time I made it home today so YAY for Nick!

Things you will NEVER hear a girl say..........

2011-02-24T06:44:00.000-08:00

#1~ All 3 boys watching a Bionicle movie; The villan is taunting the heroes. Suddenly Titus screams out " Just chop his eye out already!"

#2~ We are at Taylor's Christmas pageant; As I am filming you hear Titus, "Mom. MOM. I just wiped a giant booger on your back!"

#3~ Boys playing super heroes; Titus, "And I just shot acid all over you!", Arthur, "NO! You missed me! I just chopped off your arm!"

#4~ Titus walks up to his Lego set and says "Welllll, Heloooooooo sexy!"

#5~ Taylor farts and Titus says "Eeewww! That sounded like an old mans fart!"

#6~ Happy birthday to you, you stepped in some poo! Don't waste it, just taste it, happy birthday to you!

#7~ Titus picks his nose in the back seat and I hear "Just touch it Arthur! Do it! Just touch my booger!" as Titus is shoving his finger in Arthur's face.

#8~ From the back seat I hear "could you drive faster?! I need to poop so bad!"

#9~ Titus has a new phrase, "I'm gonna die to death!"

#10~ We are browsing an antique store where we see an old child's potty seat. When Taylor comes across this same chair we hear, "EEEWWWWW GROSS! THIS IS AN OLD CHAIR THAT PEOPLE USED TO TAKE A DUMP IN!" as it echoed through the whole store....

Oregon Garden Getaway!

2011-02-21T16:14:00.000-08:00

Nick and I just had the most amazing weekend away at the Oregon Garden Resort! We left Grants Pass at around 5:30am and grabbed some Dutch Brothers coffee for a nice leisurely drive to Silverton Oregon. Once we arrived we had plenty of time to tour this nice small town. Silverton has less than 10,000 residents, so it was small indeed. We found a charming downtown area with some fun shops to browse. We were really just killing time before our 12:00 appointment at the Gordon House.

The Gordon House is one of Frank Lloyd Wrights designed homes. It was really fun to see the inside of this home and how he makes everything line up perfectly! Another fun fact, the Gordon House was moved in 2001 from another location where the owners were going to tear it down! So after much adoo, the house was moved 40 miles to it's current location, just outside the Oregon Gardens. They had to cut the house into several pieces mark and map them and pack them away for their journey to the new location. They traveled at a painstaking 4 miles per hour for 3 days before arriving. The house was then rebuilt to exact measurements and put together like a giant puzzle.

After the Gordon House we went to the Resort for our first ever massages. It was fabulous!

The Resort treats you like you are a VIP. Beautiful rooms, nice restaurant, lounge and relaxing spa. The hot tub was nice too!

The Oregon Garden was fun even though it is winter and a bunch of plants died this year. We have several pictures of cool plants we would like to add to our yard some day, such as a Monkey Puzzle Tree. The problem with them is they cost a fortune! They have a ridiculously slow growth rate so unless we buy a ten year old tree, it would get stomped! Saturday at 3:00PM we went to the Fireside Lounge, (inside the resort) with our books, and we enjoyed a quiet afternoon reading and having some happy hour specials. We did not move from our seats until about 8pm! It was the most relaxed I have ever been! Anyway, if anyone is looking for a nice getaway with affordable prices, check out the Oregon Garden Resort. I would highly recommend it!

Monkey Puzzle Tree

Cool Twisty Shrub

The Gordon House

Nicks sweet Valentines Day letter to me

2011-02-15T13:56:00.000-08:00

"My dearest Misti Dawn,

I really do consider myself the luckiest man alive. I really do. You are an amazing wife and mother, and I still smirk just a little when I write your name next to mine. Call it self satisfaction in knowing I duped someone as awesome as you into being all mine for the rest of our lives. I love you more and more by the minute. I'm sooooo glad you still love me after I turn down the heat! Whew, had to get that off my chest. I can't explain to you how exciting the future is to me. There is really no one else who I'd love to watch the kids grow up with, patiently waiting for each horrific stage of childhood to wear off, keeping each other sane and child-abuse free. With all the crazy crap that seems to endlessly swirl around I've never flinched in my admiration, desire, and love for you. You are so specal to me. Thank you for the awesome family and home.

Love forever, Nick"

Tears welled as I read this super sweet letter. I couldn't have asked for better husband!

Camping Weekend.........

2011-02-13T14:32:00.000-08:00

You think camping would be relaxing? I will tell you otherwise! Nick and I alone would be relaxing, with 3 boys, not so much! We had our fun of course, but not without the bickering, and arguing that brothers so often do.

I would have to say the highlight was the Harris beach. Nick and I told them several times that, due to the freezing conditions and wind and a lack of towels and so forth, they could not play in the water. Taylor and Arthur went on ahead and started walking in the water anyway. (I really don't know why I bother saying anything!) So naturally, Titus followed suit and was water bound in no time. Not five minutes into the water play, did a big wave come and scare Titus. He ran and fell into the inches of water along the shore line. Screaming and crying followed and the best part was, I got it all on video. I will be sharing that one with his future girlfriends!

It will be second in the race with the "Booger incident" coming in first. Oh I cannot wait! You can view the video of the beach incident here;

Kitchen addition

2011-01-15T13:50:00.000-08:00

Nick has drawn up an addition to the kitchen! It won't change much, it will just extend the kitchen floor past the counter that currently ends the kitchen and make it more of an island instead. It looks fabulous and I can't wait to get started and see the end results!

Nick is so very good at what he does around here, I have started to look forward to having the house torn up for a while! (I may have lost my mind!) It is always worth the wait! He built a short wall and bench in the downstairs family room, and added some tile to make a nice mudroom area. He also took the hideous mustard yellow/orange main bathroom and made it spa like with slate and nice trim! I will try to add some pictures, i'm not sure how to yet, but I will try!

Pet Day

2011-01-14T12:19:00.000-08:00

Titus has "Pet Day" on Wednesday. I'm not really sure Wrink, the dog, is ready for this kind of stimulation. He is such a puppy still all he ever does is run wild around the house! He has been to training classes, however, will only listen with no distraction and of course treats! It will be a new adventure for sure! Ok, forget the dog, am I ready? The closer we get to Wednesday, the more frightened I become! I'm not sure I can handle the impending DOOM called "Pet Day."

This may be the last year they allow this so called "Pet Day".............

WOW! Fast forward 4 Years!

2011-01-08T18:50:00.000-08:00

Hello friends and family! Sorry about the NOT posting for the last 4 years! Life got away from me!

This last year has been an unforeseen adventure! We started the year off with a bathroom remodel in our new house that took 6 months, but was well worth the wait. We stripped it down to the frame and started fresh. (Except, we left the tub) We now have a very spa like feel to the main bathroom and it is Beautiful! Nick has such vision and skill. We also painted Titus’ room, built a tree house and built a car port. The boys are in heaven with their tree house and spent several weekends this summer sleeping in their tent in the tree house.

Nick and I have been married for 5 years! He is such an amazing, Godly man! I couldn’t ask for anything more! We have some small home improvements planned for this next year, we’ll see if they stay small. (Nick gets a vision, and can’t help himself!) I am working at American Aquarium Products and am learning a lot about aquarium and pond maintenance, as well as fish diseases and how to cure them. We also added an addition to our family late last year! He is a medium sized dog named Wrink. He is a Pugalier, (half Pug half King Charles Cavalier) and he is such a delight! Still doing some annoying puppy things, but that soon will pass!

Taylor is 10 years old! Heavens, how time flies! He is 10 this year, and has a “friend who is a girl” but not a girl friend. They have a secret club and they draw each other pictures! Too sweet! He is loving school, and is part of an after school Lego robotics club, and was also one of 12 kids chosen for Brain Bowl (Battle of smarts). He has also been recognized by the state of Oregon as “Intellectually Gifted”. He is still playing the violin and he really enjoys it! Such talent!

Arthur is now 9 years old and really enjoys reading, enough to earn recognition with an Advanced Reader Award at his school and has been able to focus on building Bionicles and Lego space stations! He still wants to be a Paleontologist and is currently studying Volcano’s and how they work. Last year he did an impressive report on Dinosaurs. He included a lot of information, I even learned some things! He will be great I'm sure of it!

Titus is 4 and it is showing! The 2’s are terrific compared to the 4’s, but we are enjoying the challenge! He is in a Pre K class this year and can now write his name and is recognizing several letters and numbers! He is enjoying school, and his favorite day is Tuesday. Tuesday is “bag day” and they bring something in a bag that starts with the letter of the week. They then give clues about what it is and see who can guess! Titus is very outgoing and loves making new friends. When we pull up to his school all the kids come running, screaming “Titus is here! Hi, Titus!” It is fun to see him growing into such a fun person!

I think thats it for catching up here! I will post more frequently!

Monday, October 16, 2006

2006-10-16T13:53:00.000-07:00

Well the boys are both doing really good in school! Taylor is doing so well he is BORED!!!! We asked the school if he could be skipped and we were quickly told "We don't do that anymore!" Ok, so we are supposed to let our son be bored and unchallenged just to make the school happy? I think NOT!!So it has been decided Taylor will be home schooled. Arthur is in the top of his class!! Most the kids dont even know how to spell their name, let alone write it! Arthur is reading, writing and making lots of friends. Arthur is a social bee so he needs school for that. Taylor is social in different ways. He will do sports for his friends. Titus has mastered rolling! He is everywhere! We will be installing gates real soon! I just love watching the boys as they grow and learn to do new things!!

King Family

2006-09-28T15:30:00.000-07:00

Hi, my name is Misti King and I am 23 years old. I am married to Nick, and we have 3 boys, ages 6yrs, 5yrs, and 4 mos. I am a stay at home mom, however I am rarely home! I am active in church, and the boys’ school. I also work for one of my best friends, Carl Strohmeyer, at American Aquarium Products. On top of it all, I am starting my own business doing Mary Kay. I love spending time with my family, I can’t get enough of them! I couldn’t ask for a better husband, I don’t think there are many more good men out there, lucky for me I snagged one of the last ones up!! (Sorry girls!) Nick is a really fun person to be around he is funny, caring, supportive, loving and a goober! On top of it all, he brings out the best in me, can’t get much better than that!! Our oldest son, Taylor, is a pretty mild kid; he likes to spend time entertaining himself with hot wheels and legos. Arthur the middle child, is a bit more complex, when he entertains himself it is full of drama! Characters are dieing and in need of help, the others are super heroes! Our youngest son, Titus, is just starting to be fun! He’s a very happy, smiley, baby boy. I can’t wait until Christmas, he will be a blast!!