Boyles Family Blog

Family update

2011-01-11T08:32:00.001-08:00

I really suck at blogging! I don't do it nearly often enough. It's been 7 months or so since I last wrote. We moved back to Utah in March 2010. We have been living with our business partners, Tony and Barbara Krashowetz. Barbara left us and returned to her Heavenly Father in December. We really miss her. It's not the same here without her.

The kids had fun playing machine pitch (Katie) and t-ball (the boys) last summer. Kaitlyn said it's not for her so she won't be playing again, but she finished out the season. The boys definitely want to play again. They loved it!

Kymbrie is potty trained, as of November, and we are loving a diaper-free life. We are trying very much to change that, though. I asked the kids if they want a brother or a sister, and they all said "Both!" so we are hoping we can have twins.

Kaitlyn has been living in Boise this school year with her biological father and his family. It's been hard letting her go. She comes back to visit and she's moving home at the end of the school year.

I started knitting and crocheting again. I have made 14 hats and I am working on one right now. I will take some pictures. There are pics of my nieces wearing their hats on facebook! I have traveled quite a bit in 2010. I have had so much fun watching my kids grow and learn. I almost started homeschooling them, but Barbara got sick and I had 4 of their kids for a while, and it was not a good time to take that on.

Clint has been traveling a lot and he went to Japan in December! He felt really tall. :) It was a fun experience for him. We want to take the kids eventually. Business is going really well! If you want to learn how to slow aging in a legitimate, scientifically proven, peer-reviewed and published way, go to www.lifevantage.com/100060 and watch the 9-minute ABC Primetime Special that starts automatically. It will change your life! I know it has changed mine!

Kymbrie

2010-06-08T13:26:00.000-07:00

Kymbrie is such a funny girl. She wants to be like her big brothers and sister so much! She told me Sunday that she needs to be baptized. She has started potty training herself, and she tells us, "I'm gonna be a big girl so mom can have a baby." She's decided if she's not a baby anymore, there will be room for a new one. She is very tall. She looks, talks, and acts more like a 3-year-old than a 2-year-old. She's still very much a daddy's girl. When he's home, I don't exist. It's okay, though, because they need to make up for the time he's gone.

2010-06-08T13:21:00.000-07:00

Kaitlyn played her first softball game last night. It was machine pitch, and she got ahold of a few of them! She played catcher and first base. She didn't get a hit, but she got a few fouls, and I know she'll get better as she practices.

Kaitlyn's baptism

2010-06-08T13:07:00.000-07:00

Kaitlyn was baptized on June 5th, 2010 by her step-dad, Clint. It was a really special day, that started out really awful. Let me explain:

The night before, Kaitlyn's dad and aunt called to say her aunt's family was sick and couldn't make it. Her uncle was going to confirm her, and her aunt was giving the closing prayer, so we had to rearrange that. The next morning I realized the person I had down as giving the opening prayer wasn't coming so I found a replacement for that.

Then about 1 1/2 hours before it was supposed to start I got another phone call from Kaitlyn's dad. His other sister, who was supposed to give a talk, couldn't come. Their brother had driven off with her car keys in his pocket, and she had no way to get to Brigham City. Our good friend, Barbara, stepped up and put together a talk in an hour, while getting herself and her 8 kids ready.

To top it all off, there was a standstill on the freeway, and at least half of the guests were late. We got started half an hour late, but it went really well after that. Katie was so sweet. She told me she was nervous, so I told her to say a little prayer and it would be all right. She got baptized and came back into the locker room she told me, "I was really nervous before, but now I just feel good."

We had lunch after with a lot of family and friends. It was really nice, and we had fun.

Braedyn's Christmas present

2009-04-23T06:34:00.000-07:00

This last Christmas, we opened presents, had "Christmas dinner" for lunch, and took the kids to the movies to see Madagascar 2. We had our 4 and my mom's 3. My parents, my sister and her husband went to a grown up movie. Since their movie went later, we took 2 cars, and we were gonna take the kids home in my mom's van.

On the way out, Clint said he would go get the van and I waited with the kids. Braedyn went with his daddy. Clint pulled up looking freaked out, jumped out and said Braedyn was bleeding and he fell. I took Braedyn inside to clean him up and Clint loaded the kids in the van. Braedyn's bottom lip was split because his teeth cut through his lip, it was huge, bruised and swollen, and as I cleaned off the blood I saw that two of his teeth were knocked loose and hanging at a funny angle.

I knew we needed to get him to a doctor, so I went out of the bathroom and called my sister's phone and told her to send my mom out. Clint had come inside to see what was going on. My mom saw Braedyn and said "Let's go."

She dropped us off at the ER, which was right next door (Yeah!), and she kept the other 6 kids. They gave Braedyn Tylenol with Codeine, and he fell asleep because we were waiting FOREVER. My sister and her husband stayed with us to take us home, and my parents took the kids home in the van.

He had to have 2 stitches in his lip, and he did it without numbing it, cause the doc said giving the injection in the site hurts worse. He barely even cried, and he sang the ABC's with me to take his mind off of it. It was so cute, we were all tearing up. They left his teeth and said to take him to a dentist in the morning.

We went to the dentist the next day, and they did x-rays. His teeth had been knocked out of the socket and pushed to the side, so they had to come out. The only thing holding them in was the gums. They gave him 3 shots in his gums to numb them. He hated the shots! His mouth still wasn't numb, but he didn't want any more shots. I asked him if he wanted to let the dentist try to pull them out anyway and get it over with, or if he wanted more shots to make his mouth numb. He said go ahead and do it, and she pulled his teeth out without his mouth being numb! All he did was whimper a little!

He was on a soft foods diet for a few days, but he didn't like that and started asking if he could eat dinner with us, so I let him. His mouth has healed up just fine, but he has a big hole where two teeth should be. The dentist said that the trauma could delay when his adult teeth will come down, so he could have this gap for a few years!

Hair cuts!

2009-04-23T06:29:00.000-07:00

Braedyn cut off his sister's ponytail last week when we were in Utah. We had to have Rileigh cut her hair short all over after that, so now it looks like a layered 'bob.' I was so sad! She's still beautiful, but hopefully it doesn't take too long to grow back! :)

So, the next Saturday, Xander got ahold of his dad's beard trimmers and shaved huge patches out of his hair, so we had to buzz him bald.

It's been a bad week for hair at our house!

New update

2009-04-23T06:27:00.000-07:00

Clint is part of a new business. We are totally psyched, because this will literally make us rich!

I will have my Bachelor's Degree at the end of October! Yeah!

My kids are being kids. Katie will be 7 this Saturday. She has a crush on half the boys she meets, and she KNOWS she's a princess. She has been teaching herself multiplication. She LIKES to learn!

Braedyn is still spunky as heck, and we are 99% sure he has ADHD like his dad, but they won't even diagnose it until he is 7. He's the kid we always have to keep an eye on or he'll do something like cut his sister's ponytail off.

Xander has outgrown his shyness for the most part. He has really come out of his shell and now he is a rowdy, fiesty 3-year-old boy. He is really bonding with Clint completely, which is so great, because he needs a stable father figure in his life.

Kymbrie is almost 16 months. She walks and she says new words every day. She is so cute, and has her dad totally wrapped around her finger. She is completely enamored with him as well. She has curly hair, which I love. I never thought I would have a curly-haired kid, cause my hair is SO straight.

It's about time ~

2008-08-11T20:11:00.000-07:00

Hey everyone! It's been a while now. Here's the update~

Kymbrie cut her first tooth this week! She is over 17 pounds now. She rolls all over the floor and loves to stand up holding on to our hands. She still won't crawl, but we're being patient. She is such a HUGE daddy's girl! She lights up whenever he's in the room. When I'm trying to breastfeed her, if she hears his voice, she stops eating and looks for him. He is the most important thing in her life, and it is so cute! She looks so much like Kaitlyn's baby pictures, but she still looks like herself, too. She is a total doll!

Xander starts school tomorrow for the first time! He's still 2, but he turns 3 before the cutoff date, so he will be in preschool with his big brother. The teachers think the boys will do okay being in school together. He is so smart. He doesn't need to be in school to learn, but he needs to learn to socialize and be away from mom. He's a momma's boy, and very shy. I hope he learns to outgrow it before Kindergarten.

Braedyn's starting his second year of preschool. He is so at home there. He really loves it, and I think he'll be good at helping his brother get in the swing of things. His special ed teacher told me at the end of last year that he doesn't need any academic goals for this year, because he is very smart, so the only thing they will focus on this year is his speech. He works with the special ed teachers for 1/2 an hour a day, at least twice a week.

Kaitlyn is going into first grade. She is so grown up! It will be weird to have her gone until 3:00 every day! We changed her schools this year, because we didn't feel her old school was doing enough for her. She's extremely intelligent, but she is a perfectionist, and she has a COW if she makes a mistake. She thinks she has to know everything and do it right the first time. She takes after her mom, I guess :)

My mom's book

2008-05-22T21:35:00.000-07:00

My mom made up phonics cards to teach her kids how to read way back when. They worked so well, she has made copies for all her sisters, daughters, and friends. She came up with a book idea and has been working on it for 2 or 3 years. She finally got it pulished! It's called "A pretty girl was Alpha Bette."

It costs $8.70 from the publishing house. You can get there through this link:

http://www.authorhouse.com/bookstore/ItemDetail.aspx?bookid=51016

The phonics cards are included in the back of the book. They really do work. I have used them with all my kids so far. Kaitlyn just took a reading abilities test at school and she got 100% on all the parts! They work for older kids, too. My mom's neighbor in Utah had a 7-year-old 2nd grader who struggled with reading. My mom tutored him for a few weeks with her cards and he has improved so much! You should really check it out if you have kids or know anyone who has kids. For under $9.00 it makes a great gift!

New additions!

2008-05-22T21:31:00.000-07:00

We got 2 puppies today! They are 6 weeks old. They are a mix of miniature schnauser, border collie, and black lab. The girl is light brown and we named her Ginger. The boy is white with black spots (his coloring is a lot like our dog, Nina, who was stolen) and we named him Hercules. They are already paper trained, so they won't pee all over the house. They are so cute and the kids love them already! We got them for free from a neighbor. Hopefully I can post pictures soon, but our camera is acting up right now.

Zoo trip

2008-05-22T21:28:00.000-07:00

Kaitlyn's school went on a field trip to the zoo today. She had a blast! They got rained on for a bit, but she said it was fun getting rained on. Her 2 most memorable moments were when a gorilla tried to rush them, and it smacked into the glass window, and 2 parrots were kissing.

Graduation!

2008-05-22T21:25:00.000-07:00

Braedyn graduated from preschool today! He got a "diploma" that says he completed his first year of preschool. They sang "Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What do you see?" Then each kid got to walk up on this little platform and get their diploma. They wore little cardboard graduation hats, and there was a cake after that said "Graduation - Class of 2008." It was so cute!

Happy Anniversary!

2008-05-22T21:18:00.000-07:00

Clint and I celebrated our 2nd wedding anniversary Monday! Our friend watched the kids and we went out to dinner. It was so nice to get to hang out together without the kids, but it was kinda weird not having them there. We've known each other 5 years now, and we still have a lot of fun together. Clint told me the next morning that he really likes spending time with me. :)

Party hardy!

2008-05-10T22:32:00.000-07:00

The kids birthday party was a blast!

We had a sign on the door that said "Secret Agent's Training Center."

When the other kids showed up, we made them spy id badges with their names and fingerprints on them.

We wrote "invisible" messages with lemon juice, and later we held them over a candle to make them show back up.

I had them find all the "bombs" (black balloons) hidden in my basement and detonate them by popping the balloons.

We had a scavenger hunt that had them running up and down the stairs inbetween clues. When they figured out the last clue, they found the goodie bags. They had spy gear in them - a magnifying glass, squirt gun, notepad and pen, a balloon and some candy.

We opened presents and had cake and ice cream.

The kids all had fun, but I knew I had done well because my 10-year-old neighbor who thinks he's a little gangster kept saying, "This is tight!" :)

Birthday Party

2008-04-27T21:47:00.001-07:00

I am so excited for the kid's birthday party on Saturday! It's going to be a "Spy" party. We are going to write invisible messages with lemon juice, deactivate "bombs" (black balloons), have a scavenger hunt, make spy I.D. badges I bought on birthdayinabox.com, and some other stuff. It'll be so fun!

What next?

2008-04-24T08:43:00.000-07:00

These last two weeks have been crazy!

First, Clint got in a wreck. Then Braedyn got pink-eye and a nasty cold. The next day Kaitlyn had pink-eye as well. We got eye drops from the doctor, and their eyes cleared up, but Braedyn's still totally congested and Kaitlyn's throat hurts.

Kymbrie is really stuffed up now, too, and she has the most horrible sounding cough! Just when I thought it couldn't get any worse, Clint came home last night from work with a sore throat and his ears hurt. Then this morning he woke up and his eyes were bright red. We took him to the doctor and he has pink-eye now too.

The craziest thing is that Xander has not gotten sick at all, and he's usually the first on to catch any sickness.

I'm washing all the sheets, I've wiped all the doorknobs and light switches with disinfecting wipes, and sprayed my whole house with Lysol. Hopefully this will be the end of it!

Xander

2008-04-21T16:54:00.000-07:00

Xander talks so much now! He says the cutest things, too. His fingers are his "ningers." He wants so much to be one of the "big kids." He's always trying to keep up with Kaitlyn and Braedyn, and if he could go to school right now, he would be in heaven. The preschools won't let him in until he is 3, though.

Potty training

2008-04-21T16:53:00.000-07:00

We finally have Braedyn potty trained!

It's a miracle. He pulled it off right before his 4th birthday. He just wouldn't do it until he wanted to. I hope Xander doesn't decide to wait that long.

Birthdays

2008-04-21T16:51:00.000-07:00

Kaitlyn and Braedyn both have birthdays this month. Katie will be 6 on Friday, and Braedyn just turned 4. They are getting so big! And I feel so old!

I am so excited, though. We are having a birthday party for both of them on May 3 (so Clint will be here for it) and it's going to have a spy theme. I made the cutest invitations (54 of them!) and I found a ton of fun games to play with the kids. I can't wait!

Kymbrie

2008-04-21T16:50:00.000-07:00

Kymbrie is almost 4 months old! She smiles all the time now, and she "talks" to us. It is so cute!

Sunburn!

2008-04-21T16:46:00.000-07:00

The kids and I went to a lake on Saturday. It's only a few miles from our house, and there is a plaground right next to the beach! You can also camp there, but we haven't done that yet because Clint was at work.

We had a BBQ with our neighbors and a bunch of their family. It was a lot of fun, but Kaitlyn and I got sunburnt. Luckily I kept Kymbrie out of the sun. Braedyn never seems to burn, and Xander was at his dad's.

I'm so excited it's getting warm again. I love to be outside. I am looking forward to spending a lot more time outside, but hopefully no more sunburns!

Clint's wreck

2008-04-17T21:28:00.001-07:00

On Monday Clint was in a motorcycle wreck! He was driving and a car pulled out of their driveway like a bat out of hell and cut him off. He slammed on the brakes to avoid hitting the car, and his bike slid out from under him. It flew over 150 feet. Clint hit the ground head first, rolled, and slid almost as far as his bike did. He landed in the middle of the cross street and almost got hit by a car. He was wearing his helmet, thank goodness! It literally saved his life! We went to the E.R. and he didn't have any broken bones or serious damage. He has nasty road rash on his lower back, knee and ankle. He is in serious pain. It really sucks to see him this way.
The best part is that the asshole in the car drove off without even seeing if Clint was okay!