Keeping up with the Mounts'

1 Year!

2010-05-16T23:27:00.001-07:00

Looks like I have some blogging to do....it has been over 1 year since I have done some writing on this blog. I will start back up....don't hold your breath or anything, but I will try to get back on the "blogging train". xo, Demeri

Baseball season has started!

2009-04-05T08:55:00.001-07:00

My life right now consists of baseball, baseball and a little more baseball!!! I can't complain though, because now I know what my Mom did for me all those years....."thanks Mom". Also, I am NOT complaining because I love every minute of it...I can't explain to you how much fun it is to watch the kids play sports!!! Here are a few pics from our first little "practice" tournament....couldn't have asked for a nicer day!

Gavin taking some batting practice before the game.

Gavin playing some first base (just like Mom!)

Luke with a mouth full of gum...

Dreaming of being a "big boy"

Best part about baseball....The concession stand!!! At least that's what Luke thinks.

Double Trouble

SInging and Dancing

2009-03-26T23:41:00.000-07:00

Luke had his Music Program tonight at school, it was so cute, they sang, danced and did "silly" little things! It kept us all entertained for quite sometime!

I was surprised we even made it there (Luke was not happy about going) but by the pictures you can tell he had a great time!!! He had to pick the outfit though...note the shorts in the FREEZING weather!!! p.s. gotta love him♥

I love you Luke♥

The joys of boys

2009-03-21T17:04:00.000-07:00

What a nice day it was today! We finally got outside to play some catch and of course Luke brought out his pocket knife...I use to worry about him cutting himself, but then I figured that he would only do that once...so I stopped worrying. To this day he still has 10 little fingers and no gashes in his skin. When I told him to please be careful, he responded with this, "I've worked more pocket knives than you Mom", another reason I don't worry anymore. I will let you all know when we make our first trip to the ER with a finger on ice...that should be fun explaining that one...crossing my fingers it never happens.

Luke is always hard at work...

Lt. Luke
you gotta love it when they start learning how to write...

Love him♥

2009-03-18T20:12:00.000-07:00

Too cute for words...Kade Marcus Contreras

Music Program

2009-02-22T11:49:00.000-08:00

We all remember playing the recorder in elementary school right? Well Gavin is doing the same, we had his program the other night and it was very cute might I add. I love going to the school programs, it reminds me so much of my elementary days, the only difference is I was a little girl and loved performing in them, Gavin doesn't dislike them, he treats them like it's homework. The crazy thing is Gavin and Luke's music teacher is my old music teacher from elementary school!

Luke enjoying the music program from a "relaxing" position.

"Picture Perfect"

2009-02-16T19:45:00.000-08:00

I am starting to learn and enjoy this new camera and Adobe Photoshop Elements 7 program of mine...Enjoy!Thanks for stopping by!

"Paper Boy"

2009-02-13T22:00:00.000-08:00

I couldn't resist not taking pictures of this! He actually had no idea I was doing it either. Luke is still young enough that I can convince him that it would be "fun" to go out and get the newspaper for mom...now Gavin on the other hand, nope he is on to me, he knows I am just being straight up LAZY!!! Note the Tumwater T-Bird newspaper box...yep, still got team spirit!!

check out the boots...wrong feet silly!

Looks like the newspaper was getting to be quite the load...he had to throw it over the shoulder.

"best for last"

2009-01-28T23:27:00.000-08:00

I am always "behind" the camera, never in front...so I had Joel step in as "me" behind the camera. I tried to take a simple picture with Luke...but as you can see, it wasn't as simple as it should have been...

take 1...

take 2...nice face Lukey.

take 3...not so bad.

take 4...he must have been saving the "best for last".

enjoying the sun

2009-01-21T08:39:00.000-08:00

I absolutely love when it's so cold outside but the sun is shining down on us...what a "fresh" feeling it is! Here are a few pics of our first time out on the trampoline since the snow!

♥enjoy the sun friends!

Life + Kids = Busy!

2009-01-19T20:37:00.000-08:00

So sorry it has taken me so long to post...what can I say life has been pretty busy (as all of you know) lately.

It has been so gorgeous outside these last few days. I finally got to take my first pictures outside, oh and I got to use my new adobe photoshop program!!!

I will be better about posting (I pinkie swear)!

Christmas gift

2008-12-27T22:42:00.000-08:00

Merry Christmas to you all....I know, a little late. Christmas around here was wonderful as always! I just love spending time with my family, the laughs we all have together are forever stored in my memory bank...

I received the camera I have been asking for (thanks to all you Nikon user's) from my 3 favorite "men" in this world, I bet they are happy they got that for me (it's glued to my eye)!! Here are a few pics, not the greatest yet, still trying to figure this thing out (WOW!), oh the make and model of the camera is the Nikon D90 and I love it so much...thanks boys!

No cropping or editing was done (only because I can't figure that out yet either).

My new boots....pretty fancy!

Birthday Boys

2008-12-19T00:17:00.000-08:00

Gavin and Luke's birthday's are this week (convenient) so we decided to throw a little "family" get together for the boys...and yes for 6 years now they have been celebrating their birthday's together (they seriously don't mind), Gavin's Birthday is December 17th and Luke's birthday is December 20th (awesome planning on our part ). The boys had the best cake ever, it was a maple bar cake from Top Foods, thanks Grandma!!!!

I love you boys, you are my world. xo~Mom

Zane

2008-12-13T19:38:00.000-08:00

Meet, Zane Anthony Enzo Gunter, he arrived on December 13th @ 1:30 AM weighing in at 6lbs. 10oz. and 18in. long (just a little peanut). Born to my Brother Cody and his beautiful wife Crystal.

I love him so much.

He has the most gorgeous eyelashes (first thing I noticed).

Finally it came out!!!

2008-12-10T19:47:00.000-08:00

Gavin has been working on losing this tooth for about a week now, we seem to go through the same drama every time he has a loose tooth...he won't let us help, he whines about it hurting, he wants the tooth out now, but he freaks if we say we're going to pull it out ourselves, so I finally pretend like I don't care anymore about the tooth and Joel tells him "I bet you will cry when it comes out", this really gets him going. So after all was "performed" and said on our part...Gavin comes down the stairs and says (as he is holding his tooth in his hand) "who said I would cry when my tooth came out" (he says this all tough like)!! So the tooth is out and like every other tooth of his, it was no big deal.

Our "special" tree

2008-12-10T18:46:00.000-08:00

This year we approached finding a Christmas tree a little different...OK, so "I" approached it a little different. I thought it would nice to choose the Christmas tree that would never have a home...we call it the "special" or the "orphan Annie" tree. I must have had a soft heart that day... I am completely in love with our tree though. The pictures actually make her look better than she really is, she truly is the "special" tree.

Here is our "perfect" x-mas tree...

The top is seriously 2 feet tall...and she has quite a bend to her...
While out looking for the "perfect" Christmas tree (which actually took a long time), I had told the boys who ever found the best "abnormal" tree out there they would get a surprise....Guess who got the surprise!

ME!!!!!

Merry Christmas

Blueberry foam

2008-11-19T20:34:00.000-08:00

A must have for all kids who are still taking baths (this is the reason why mine still takes baths).

P.S. It DOES NOT stain anything either!! Oh, you get it at Bath and Body Works!

The Devil...

2008-11-06T19:41:00.001-08:00

Meet the Devil, enough said...

Pumpkin Patchin' it up!

2008-11-06T19:27:00.000-08:00

We go to Hunter's pumpkin patch every year (the boys love it), this year we went with Ang, Rob and the girls!Lukey (looking a little scared...hmmm), Gavin, Kenzie and B (Bailey)

Family pic (this one will not be on the x-mas card...)

The final pick...OUR PUMPKINS!

Tumwater T-Birds

2008-11-06T19:18:00.000-08:00

Football is over! We have been so busy with it, 5 days a week is exhausting, but I have enjoyed every minute of it. Gavin's team won the championship (2nd year in a row), in the two years Gavin has been playing he hasn't lost a game yet....gotta love being a T-Bird!!! It is so much fun to watch your little one play sports. Even better to be playing in the T-Bird stadium (call me crazy, but hey if you grew up a T-Bird you would understand...right?).

PICTURE DAY...

2008-10-13T21:40:00.000-07:00

Today the boys came home with their school pictures...I was so excited to see them! The problem was this is not how I sent them to school. How did this happen? Wouldn't you have thought that the photographer would have noticed the "cute" polo shirt that Luke was wearing didn't require a SLEEVELESS sweatshirt to go over it and none the less all zipped up? Oh and who buttoned Gavin's shirt all the way up to his neck? NOT ME!!! One more question...who gives these children a comb and why on picture day? Gavin told me that he comb's his hair every year right before he gets his school picture taken...hmmmm I guess this year it was just a little more noticeable.

So I ask myself, "can I let this go and just chuckle every time I walk by these pictures hanging on my wall?" Nahhhhh....retakes are at the end of this month.

Gavin Keith

2008-10-03T23:21:00.000-07:00

He is growing up so fast right before my eyes. A handsome young man he is now...not just a cute little boy anymore.

but to me he will always be my "cute little boy"

"must haves"

2008-09-24T14:47:00.000-07:00

It's always kind of fun to see what people's "must haves" are. So I rounded up my 10 favorite everyday "must haves" and gave a little explanation on why I can't live without them.

The sonicare toothbrush...it is worth every penny! When I brush my teeth with this, I am not sure why, but I have 2 minutes of calmness, thinking time, and peace while I sit on the edge of the bathtub and let the sonicare clean my teeth. I cannot explain why I have these feelings, but hey, if a toothbrush can give me 2 minutes of peace...hey, I will take it!

The Sedu flat iron...I did a lot of research on which flat iron was the best. This is the one I came up with. I ordered it off of folica.com. As most of you know I have very curly hair and let's not forget very coarse hair too. This flat iron gets my hair so straight and leaves it so shiny. It is so smooth when you pull it through your hair (doesn't pull out hair at all). It also is worth the money.

Cover girl super thick lash mascara in very black. No need for expensive mascara...this is the best one out there.

Nothing beats Bonnie Bell chap stick...enough said.

Pink Sugar by Aquolina, this perfume smells like candy, everyone wants to eat you! It isn't overpowering at all and everyone seems to love it.

The smell is why these are my favorite. It is an orange cream smell, not an orange peel smell (yuck). They also do disinfect the counter tops and table too.The hand held DYSON, a huge must have in our house...a quick and easy way to vacuum up all the crumbs. I don't do a lot of organic things, but this is one I love! The smell is great and I love everything about it! I also use the hand soap in the same scent, LAVENDER!

Mmmmmm!! Creamy Caramel wallflowers (plug ins) from Bath and Body Works (it's seasonal). It makes your house smell like you have been cooking yummies all day long.

This is my Isabella Fiore handbag, the greatest handbag ever! I have the matching wallet too, this is one item that I will never be able to replace. LOVE IT!!

I would love to see and hear about your everyday "must haves". Go ahead, round up your 10 favorite items, maybe one of them will become my next "must have"!

Luke's BIG day

2008-09-08T22:23:00.000-07:00

Luke's first day of Kindergarten!

The whole day he said went great! He rode the bus with his brother (Gavin was nice enough to let him sit with him on the bus), after school they rode the bus home....but it took awhile because they wanted to put Luke on the wrong bus!!!! Lucky for Luke, Gavin came to his rescue and told them he rode the "blue" bus not the "pink" bus (our address is a little confusing to everyone). This whole ordeal did come with a few tears (from both Mounts boys, Gavin was so worried they were going to make his little brother ride the wrong bus), but they both made it home safe and sound!!!! That's what big brothers are for right?

and the school year begins....

2008-09-03T09:51:00.000-07:00

Gavin on the first day of 4th grade.

If you were wondering why there is no picture of Luke, Kindergarten doesn't start until Monday....pics to follow!

"LEGO" weekend....Natapoc cont.

2008-08-26T21:35:00.000-07:00

Here are a few more pics...."A FEW" I meant "A LOT" more pics from our trip. Some are random shots, but there is one picture that kind of "named" our weekend....as you all know with having kids you sorta have to bring something to keep them busy when the adults want some relax time...so I thought why not bring LEGO'S! Who would've ever thought it would be the "thing" to do? All the boys (big and little) would wake up in the morning and start building cars, motorcycles, ships, you name it and they made it, not just a "quick" little car...oh no my brother and step brother put hours, even days into their work. I don't have the pictures back yet of the final projects, don't worry I will post them soon (they really were pretty good). Here are the "boys" with the LEGO'S and a few more from our trip...

My little nephew Jackson.......
Us and my step bro Jeff and sis-in-law Heather.

The 3 little boys having dessert "vacation style".

Family Vacation

2008-08-24T23:37:00.000-07:00

Well, we once again took a family vacation to Wenatchee "we" as I say was, my Mom and Steve, my bro and his wife and my step-bro and his wife and son. We stay in this amazing log house on the Wenatchee River called Natapoc Lodging. What a wonderful vacation with all my favorite people...laughing, swimming, relaxing and most of all so much LOVE. I haven't gotten all the picture back from everyone yet so I will leave you with a few of my favorite off my camera...more to follow for sure!

UPDATE!

2008-07-31T18:49:00.000-07:00

Well here they are, the pics from day 2!! He says it doesn't hurt, unless he bends over and that's when all the blood rushes to his eye, he says it feels like his eye is going to EXPLODE, go figure! He did attend his last day of T-bird football camp though, the coaches were anxiously awaiting his arrival to see how bad the eye was...to their surprise I think it was a lot worse then they expected!!! They weren't sure at first if they would let him practice, but they checked him out and set him free with the other little T-birds. So the "eye" hasn't slowed him down at all...boys will be boys!

ANOTHER ONE!

2008-07-30T16:46:00.000-07:00

I picked Gavin up from football practice today....and this is how he came back to me, (this is not what he looked like when I dropped him off). It seems to be getting worse every minute, but I am pretty sure he will be just fine! I can't wait to see what it looks like tomorrow!
I know I don't sound very sympathetic...but I will let you know that I got the, "he's OK" from my Mom, so that made me not worry so much about the rapidly swelling eye!

DUNES

2008-07-21T23:51:00.000-07:00

This was our "family" dune trip, meaning just us 4 went, kind of a "teaching" trip for the boys. For me this is the trip of anxiety...I love that my boys can ride pretty good, but there is always that fear of them getting hurt. So for me this trip isn't relaxing might I add. We just moved Gavin up to a new bike (this was his first trip with a clutch), it went good, he was a little frustrated at the beginning, but by the second ride he had it figured out. Luke moved up to the 90, which was no problem for him (he needed to move up) and had a blast! Both boys have been riding for some years now, Gavin got his first quad at age 4 and Luke started at age 3, every year I seem to get a little more relaxed.....not really.

Safety is a big thing for me when they are riding, by the pictures you can tell I have them geared up!!! Just to let you all know, no injuries on this trip and believe it or not, all bikes stayed on all four wheels (which is amazing, I think this is the first trip that that has happened).

Gavin on his new bike.

Luke acting cool on mom's bike (gotta be just like his brother).

Bro's

My "men"

10 year anniversary

2008-07-14T21:07:00.001-07:00

Joel and I celebrated our 10 year anniversary on July 11th. It seems just like yesterday I was walking down that isle to say my "I dos". Where does the time go?

The 4th

2008-07-09T00:49:00.000-07:00

I am a little late on posting this....but life sometimes gets a little busy (as you all know). We did our "annual" 4th of July thing, Tumwater parade, then back to my mom and Steve's for a BBQ and fireworks. We started with a game of horseshoes, which my bother and I decided we weren't very good at...so we switched to something we knew we were good at...a game of "street" baseball! It was good to be able to act like a "kid" again! Here are some photo's of our Fourth of July this year...

like Father, like Son!

like Mother, like Son!

Kade and Aubri

I just love this kid!

The Contreras Family

This is how Kade watched the fireworks...tired little boy.

The little faces I love

2008-06-26T21:30:00.000-07:00

I can't get enough of these 3 little boys...here are a few "famous" little looks I seem to get all the time!

This is Kade's look when you tell him to "say cheese"...

I don't think eyes get any bigger than this!

Here is me at the end of the day...

Missing you on Father's Day

2008-06-15T16:41:00.000-07:00

Happy Father's Day Garry!! There isn't a day that goes by that we do not think of you, our little boys resemble you so much and I can only hope that they will become 1/2 the man you were. Missing you every minute of every day....XOXO forever, us.

The day Gavin was born.....a proud Papa and Dad!
Best Buddies (Papa & Gavin)
Always together....Always laughing!
He holds a very special place in my heart.

Luke was only 2 months old when Papa passed away, but with all the stories we tell, I am sure he feels like he knew him for years!

Graduation Day!

2008-06-11T15:29:00.000-07:00

Today, Luke graduated from preschool! It was such a nice little celebration, they (there was only 3 of them) got diploma's, sang us songs, showed us some school stuff and then gave the parents cookies and milk. Luke was so proud of himself and of course so were we!

Two families...One house!

2008-05-14T10:21:00.001-07:00

Our best friends moved in with us about 3 weeks ago...they have a little 19 month old boy, which my boys adore having him around. He has adjusted quite well to the wrestling, getting dirty outside and the craziness of our everyday lives. Kyle, Aubri and Kade have lived in Bellingham for the past 4 years and just bought a business down here and haven't sold their house yet, so what would be more perfect then to have them live with us! We have the room and we would do anything for them.

Aubri and I are a little out numbered living with 5 boys....but we manage to share the duties of dinner, cleaning and more cleaning, I think my dishwasher is running non stop, oh and same with the washer and dryer! All our lives are very busy, so we seem to not really see much of each other....Aubri and Joel both leave the house at the same time and Kyle and I are up a the same time getting the 3 boys ready for the day (just one big happy family). Then we all have dinner together (minus Kyle, he is still at work) and then we put all 3 boys to bed and finally we all meet on the couch to watch a little TV....ahhhh relax time.

Aubri and Kade on Mother's Day.

Kade "cheesing" it up for the camera.

3 boys = more trouble...

"SHINER"

2008-04-30T19:13:00.000-07:00

Our first black eye....Gavin took a baseball right in the eye, there was a bloody nose, swelling immediately, only a few tears and he was back playing catch (tough guy). I was sorta jealous because in all the years I played ball I never got a black eye. I can't stop telling him how tough he looks....don't you think? This isn't the "first" of the accidents and I am positive it won't be the last.

He can do it!

2008-04-23T20:26:00.000-07:00

I just have to tell you that my boys are not that excited about the whole "bike riding" thing....Gavin knows how to ride a bike, but doesn't really care to do it. Now Luke on the other hand has never wanted to even try to ride a bike...he says "bikes are for babies", well today Luke got on a bike and now I can't get him off of it! We are so thrilled because we thought that Luke would never learn even how to ride a bike with training wheels (he seriously couldn't even do that). It took him maybe a few tries and now he is a "pro", this whole bike riding thing was very easy for him to pick up (not like his brother, which was not so easy).

Downtown Olympia

2008-04-15T20:57:00.000-07:00

As a family we all decided to go downtown and do a little shopping (the boys each had $16 of their own to spend on whatever), so I got the boys all "pumped up" to go to Wind Up Here (a great toy store)! So that was of course our first stop...they looked around...and kept looking around...and found nothing! It wasn't the typical "Toys R Us toys", Gavin couldn't find Bionicle's and Luke couldn't find...oh who ever knows with him, but apparently nothing in this "wonderful" toy store (so I thought) was catching their eye. So we left (not a penny spent) and we were off to Archibald Sisters. This store caught Luke's eye with all the skull and cross bone stuff! Gavin looked around but nothing was too great to spend his own $$ on. Luke picked out a great switch blade knife (comb)! Gavin decided to go to Toys R Us at a later date and save his $$. Then we took a walk on the "board walk" and sat down for a nice lunch at the Oyster House. Can't wait for the warm weather to come and visit again!

The famous switch blade comb...

Enjoying the best shrimp artichoke dip ever!

Finally...SUN!

2008-04-09T20:01:00.001-07:00

We took advantage of the sun (it only comes out every so often these days) and the boys drug me out onto the trampoline...not that I don't LOVE it, but let's just say my bladder doesn't care too much for it anymore since delivering 2 kids! What a great form of exercise though and always a place for laughter. Mostly, the trampoline is a huge wrestling mat as you can see from the pictures below! Good thing I can hang with all the "boy" stuff! I still shock myself at all the "tricks" I can still do on it...the boys think I am pretty cool (finally)! Our spring break is half way through now and I think the boys are having a great time, rain and all!

boys will be boys...

Gavin always loves a good thrill!

Luke a little on the cautious side...

Mom, always making the family pose for a group shot!

busy, busy, busy...

2008-04-03T19:29:00.000-07:00

Well I am back...gosh we have been so busy! In the middle of snow, rain, hail, and then sun we have been doing baseball, play dates and helping friends move...I think I might be going crazy! So nothing new with us, but the normal routine that we live day by day (no joke, we are such a "routine" family), I love it when the weekend comes and we can finally be spontaneous! I will leave you with a few of my favorite pics of us!! I will for sure try to be better about blogging...XO to you.

The family last summer at the Lineman Rodeo

The boys and I doing the "fish face"

Gavin and me (so sweet)

Joel and I @ the park...enjoying the sun!

"Pick your battles"

2008-03-26T19:38:00.000-07:00

Ohh Lukey...he is such a "sweet" child, when everything is going smoothly...meaning Luke is wearing dark jeans, long socks, cut off shirt (tank tops work too), camo shoes (certain ones), a zip up hoodie (which never gets worn), wrist bands and most of all tattoo's (all over)...then the day starts off great! I use to argue with him every single morning about his outfit...I mean what kind of mom sends their child to preschool in a sleeveless shirt in the middle of winter? Well that would be me and the kid never complains of being cold, EVER and remember he doesn't wear the jacket I send him with. So finally I remembered something...my mom always told me, "Demeri, you have to pick your battles, if it's not worth it, then just let it go". So I have decided to let it go...who's it harming? Obviously not Luke!!

Luke not happy....note the shirt, but probably didn't get the right shoes.

I must have gotten it right today!

Yes, it is a sharpie...and yes, this happens quite often!

The sounds of Easter

2008-03-23T16:51:00.000-07:00

The sounds of their little bare feet going "pitter-patter" along the wood floor while they look for the eggs and their baskets...the bunny does a scavenger hunt every year with about 6 different clues that finally leads them to their Easter baskets!! I love that Gavin can now read and as I lay in bed I hear him say to his brother, "Ok Luke let's open the next clue and see where to go"...as he lets his little brother scurry up the stairs first to the next clue (trust me it's not always like that...sometimes it's pushing and pulling the other to see who gets up the stairs first) but not on Easter! I stayed in bed and listened to the whole thing, sometimes it's even sweeter to just hear it and not see it! I hope your Easter was filled with pitter-patter's and giggles too!

Finally....

2008-03-18T14:34:00.000-07:00

Well I did it...now lets see how good I am at it! I have enjoyed reading some of your blogs and just decided this is something I would love to do....I will start off by introducing you to my "little men" Gavin (9) and Luke (5), they are the "cream in my coffee" and much, much more. today is not usually my day off, but Gavin woke up sick (yes that's right puking) and so I took today off and have been catching up on what else...LAUNDRY! I will write again soon...and thanks to Libby, Kristen and Jeff and his wife for getting me started!