The Duncan Family

My sweet lil Kasen

2011-04-30T19:05:00.000-07:00

Kasen (my 4 year old) brings me flowers EVERY day!! Some of them are flowers and some are weeds (that look like flowers)! I just LOVE it! It is so thoughtful and makes me feel like he wants to me to feel special everyday!(I do feel very special when he does that so it is working). This is our conversation from today

me: Im going to be so sad when you are older

Kasen: yeah 'cause Im gonna be with Emma!(Emma is his girlfriend in case you didnt know)

Me: haha...Yup! will you still bring me flowers?

Kasen: yeah 'cause Im gonna be living right next door so I will bring them every day!!

Me: promise?
Kasen: yes!!!

I know he most likely wont grow up and want to live right next door to him mommy but it makes me so happy that he wants to right now!

And hey a mom can hope right?!?!

Kasens comments

2011-03-22T10:45:00.001-07:00

My little man Kasen is growing up so fast! His vocabulary cracks me up some of the things he say are not normal things for a 4 year old to say! So I think I am going to start posting Kasens comments on here when he makes me laugh which sometimes is daily! Last week I walked into the room and caught him and his friend playing in Karas room(which they are not allowed to do with out permission). I opened the door and said "What are you doing?" Kasen turned around and said "mom you startled me!" He is 4 years old what 4 year old says "startled"? that is my Kasen for you!! I love him SOOO much!

The BESTEST friend ever!

2011-03-22T10:35:00.000-07:00

Thank you!!

I have the BESTEST friend in the world!! Yesterday was my birthday and she did a whole post on her blog about me for my bithday!! I think she is an amazing person! I would be lost in this world without her. I talk to her everyday!! When I feel like I am going crazy and the thoughts in my head dont make sense I can call her and she makes sense of them for me! Sometimes I think she knows me better than I know me!! I can relate to her in everyway possible!! Growing up I would have never imagined your best friend could live hundreds of miles from you and your relationship could be SOOOO strong!! We went and saw her last summer and it was like we hadnt been apart at all!! I hope someday we can live close again but I am very grateful for the friendship we have! I LOVE YOU Tina McWinder!!! You are the GREATEST friend a person could ask for I am so blessed to have you in my life!!!

Busy

2010-09-07T12:53:00.000-07:00

We have been so busy! I started babysitting some kids! I watch 2 boys and a little girl! If I have all the kids pluss mine I have 7 kids! I am exhausted by the end of the day! I have lots to share! Jacob lost his firts tooth the friday before Fathers Day! Then I have fathers day pictures! Jacob started kindergarten and Kasen started preschool!! Joseph is now in 2nd grade! I have pictures of almost all of that! I just need to get them downloaded on my computer! When I have time I will get them downloaded! Oh my cousin came out that I havent seen since 5th grade and she has 2 boys Josephs and Kasens age! They had a lot of fun! Im not sure I have pictures of that! Well that is all from me for now!!

Can we say spoiled?

2010-06-18T10:16:00.000-07:00

The other day I was in the kitchen trying to cook dinner and Kara wanted to be held. Well...., when Kara wants to be held while I am in the kitchen, she gets inbetween me and the counter and pushes me! So THAT is what she was doing. This makes me so frustrated somethimes. So I Said. "NO, Kara. Im not going to hold you!!" Well, let me tell you, she knows she is a princess and therefore acts like a princes!! She went to the dining room, (where there is carpet) and strarted to get on her kness and trow a fit. In the middle of her crying and getting down there she saw Joseph watching TV in his room.(there is a dircet line of sight from the dining room to the boys room.) So she stopped crying, got up and walked into Joseph's room. Once she got in Joseph's room she proceeded to start crying again and reaching for Joseph!! Of course Joseph picked her up! She knows he will do almost anything for her! Her other brothers do a lot for her too, but Joseph treats her like a princess. He doesnt realize he is creating a monster. He thinks he is just loving his sister. Brian was the same way only now he sees what we have created. Because although I like to blame it all on the boys, I know I have a part in spoiling her also. (I just will never admit that to Brian and no one reading this will tell him, Right?)

Wish me luck!

2010-06-15T19:38:00.000-07:00

So for a long time now I have been saying I want to lose weight!! I blame it on the fact that I have had 4 kids in 6 years, but that is not why. Lots of people have 4 kids in 6 years, some have them in even less time!!! I always want to lose weight but I am too lazy to do anything about it. I dont want to exercize or give up my sweets!!! Well I finally got to the point where I am willing to do whatever it takes. I called up a friend and asked her if she wants to walk with me everyday! Now I have a commiment where I cant just wake up and say "I dont feel like it today."

So Sunday at church I asked this guy in our ward what the best thing to eat before exercizing was. Well I ended up getting an hour lesson in nutrition(which I actually enjoyed greatly). So I was trying to make out a meal plan like he suggested and it was not as easy as I thought it was going to be. So Brian and I decided to set up an appointment to go and meet with him. He gives personal training/nutrition lessons out of his garage. They are pretty cheap, but as you know Brian and I do not have ANY extra money. So I called him up and asked him if he would be willing to help us put together a meal plan for a week and a work out plan. He did it for us and it was very informative. It was suppose to be an hour but ended up being 2 and half hours. He charges $35 and hour if you buy your sessions one at a time. If you buy a bunch together it is cheaper and if you have a partner and you sign up to go at the same time together it is even cheaper. So he told us he would do it for $35. Even though we went over by an hour and a half he still only charged us for an hour!! What a great guy he is!!

So now Brain and I have a meal plan and an exercize plan! Wish us luck and if I can ask, Please every time you see us ask us about it to help hold us accountable!!!

The mind of a 3 year old!

2010-06-01T17:06:00.000-07:00

Ok, So I have been terrible at blogging! I would like to promise that I will do better, but I cant promise that! Life with 4 kids is pretty busy!

A couple of months ago we were teaching our kids the 2nd Article Of Faith. "We believe that men will be punished for thier own sins and not Adams transgression" Well, Kasen our 3 year old said "No, I dont believe that" Me "What? Why not?" Kasen " I dont believe we should be punished for anything at all!!" I have now decided to join the church of Kasen. I love him so much. I dont know where some of the things he says come from!

August- September

2010-01-13T19:24:00.000-08:00

Wow I am far behind. So Jacob started preschool at the end of August. School here starts at the begining of August. Jacob is in the preschool at the highschool though so the hs kids need time to prepare for the preschool. It is hard to get into it. You have to call on the day they start taking kids. Once you are in you are pretty much set though. It is nice. It is an actual preschool and not a daycare/preschool. Jacob goes Tues, Wed, and Friday from 8:15 to 11:30. The best part is that it is only $10.00 a week. He is doing real well in it. I think it has helped prepare him for school more than I ever could. He is so different from Joseph and Kasen. They both are outgoing and verbal and learn well from me. Jacob is not outgoing or verbal so I can not ever tell if he was learning anything I was teaching him. Now I hear him counting and singing and adding to himself. I know he is learning. I think he will be just fine in Kindergarten next year.

Joseph started first grade. He is such a big boy! He claims he doesnt like school, however, he has gotten 2 report cards and got stright A's on both of them. I cant believe how big my baby is getting. I remember the day he was born like yeasterday. Time goes by so fast I try to cherish every minute with them but it doesnt slow down time.

Jacob on his first day of preschool

Sitting on the rug.

Before school

Open house before school started.

Kasen, Kara, and I were all here this day. It helps the kids get use to the surrounding while still having the comfort of family. He didnt seem to care though. He could care less when I left on his real fist day.

Ok for September.....

We had Labor Day at my Mom's. We went swimming and had a BBQ and all that fun stuff. Then Soccer season started in september. Both Joseph and Jacob played this year. WOW was that fun for Mom. I had practice on Tues and Thursday from 4 to 6 and a game either on mon or wed and games on sat. However it is worth is to see the kids joy as they are there. Kasen cant wait to play sports. He loves watching his brothers. Joseph is SOOOOOO good at soccer and he LOVES it. He was one of the best on his team again this year only he was a yonger kid this year. Then we had Brian's Birthday! He turned 26!! We had a little party at our house.

The most exciting/scary whatever you want to call it(Most eventful thing) that happened all year was probably Kasen. Yes we experienced our first real injury. I was at my friends house watching her 4 kids, waiting for her to get home from work to teach me how to make bread, while our husbands were on a campout with the boyscouts. The kids were jumping on the trampoline and all of the sudden kasen started crying and wouldnt move. He didnt fall off no one landed on him I was confused. I got him off it and he woulnt walk he just sat on my lap. He stoped crying but still wouldnt get up, there was not swelling or anything. I took the kids inside and set Kasen down and picked up a little until my friend got home and we decided that I should take him to urgent care just to make sure he was ok. So she watched my kids. I got there and they did all there stuff and it was broken. I did cry. He is my first kid to really get hurt. Not only did he break it, he broke it on the growth plate. Well in Havasu we are not equiped for that sort of thing so off to Vegas we went in an ambulance. It took us forever to find brian cause he was just out in the middle of the desert camping. Once we got to Vegas the doctors just sent us home. so shortly after we got there my mother and brian arrived and we were released. They didnt want to cast it incase it swelled up some so they wanted to wait a couple of days and leave it in the splint. It is off now and he is just fine.

That sums up our september.

Green cast
bathing with a cast
his splint.

Im here still!!

2009-12-30T09:22:00.000-08:00

I know I was going to finish summer but with soccer season I had not time. I am going to try to do a lot of catching up. Here is the second half of summer!!

Ok here are some pictres from the monsoon we had. The kids love playing in the rain, espceially when it is hot!!

They were all bunnies.
riding bikes in the rain is great!!

Tricycles r fun too!

Scooters R the Best in the rain according to Joseph!

Drinking the rain. My favorite picture!!

After her bath with the younger brothers!

Bathing with the bros.

I need time by myself too!

Joseph just loves her so much! He is SOOO helpful with her!

We had a wonderful day on the river. I think Brian only had 2 days off when we got to go on the lake over the summer.

Jacob and I are adorable!!

Joseph and I are pretty cute too!

Kasen is Driving look out!!!

Joseph smiling for the camera, hopefully we dont crash!!

Look Papa and Jacob are not looking whre we are going!!! HELP ME!!!

My mom taking a picture of me taking a picture of her!

Me being cute!

Brian, Kasen and Kara playing while the older boys fish. Fishing is not fun at this age!

Joseph fishing!

Jacob Fishing!!!

Daddy loves his baby girl!! She is a total Daddy's Girl!!

Papa fishing!

Brian loves my mom!!

Kara is playing hard. She couldnt crawl yet!

Building is important work ya know!!!

Kasen loves to dress up. Brian hates it. Kasen got some clip on earing from my aunt and he loves them!

They were not matches but he didnt care!!

We went to the park one day to play and the sprinklers came on so we thought they would come on at the same time everyday. So we went back the next day prepared with swimming clothes.

Bike riding is a must at the park.
As you can tell by how hot Joseph is, the sprinklers dont come on at the same time every day!
My babies. I like to take pictures of my kids all the time. These are just Random pictures.

Kasen thinks he is a model. He gets that from Joseph. Joseph thinks he is a model too!
Kara is too cool.

Now that is a model picture!! Look how cute she is!

This picture is from when she first started crawling at the begining of August!

summer fun #1

2009-09-03T09:12:00.000-07:00

So I have been so busy lately. Im not sure with what, but it seems like I go non stop. My last day at work is Friday(tomorrow) So my life should slow down. I have lots to post so I wont get it all in this blog, but I will get it all done in time.

Lets start with the 4th of July. For the 4th we went to my moms and had a bbq. They were out on the lake so we had the house and pool to ourselves. It was a lot of fun. Brian doesnt usually like to swim and he got in a played with the kids and I. Then we did our usual fire works(they r not legal but in the heights no one really cares). It was Karas first 4th. The fireworks seemed to amuse her.

jacob in the pool

Brian and Kasen in the pool

Joseph in the pool

The kids in their 4th of July out fits.

Karas first time seeing fireworks.

Brian.

Watching daddy do the fireworks.

All my boys after swimming.

Ok I think we will do Loras wedding next. Brians sister Lora got married in July. All of the boys were in the wedding. They did such a good job. We had a lot of fun. We got to see Brians aunt and cousin that we NEVER get to see. We just love Aunt Monica to pieces. I think it was a wonderful trip. The boys walked down the aise with these girls that Lora Watches and now they say they are going to mary those girls when they get older. They r so funny.

Lora and the boys

Lora and Kasen

Lora and Joseph

My favorite picture. Lora and Jacob

The boys during the wedding

Lora and Kara

The boys, the groom and the grandpa.

The boys and their 2 uncles.

The boys and their future wives.

Our happy family.

Cousins

Brian and his sister

All the sisters.

Summer fun!

2009-07-04T15:46:00.000-07:00

We have had a very busy and fun last 2 weeks! Well actually it was 2 weeks ago. Last week we didnt do much. We went out on the boat with one of Brian's best friends since preschool(Evan), his daughter(Kylie) and his friend from Cali(Nicole). It was a lot of fun. Joseph and Daddy and I did something pretty fun! We jumped off a cliff. I am a pretty big baby so I didnt really jump cause I started to chicken out, but dont worry Evan pushed me so I did it anyways! I got a good picture of Joseph and Daddy, but I couldnt take a picture of myself so you cant see me!

We also took Kasen bowling for his first time. All the schools and daycares out here got cards for one free game of bowling every single day this whole summer. Jacob and Kasen are not in daycare but they gave them one at the bowling alley anyways. We went with some good friends of ours(the Haydens). It was a lot of fun, but I sucked even with the bumpers. Joseph is amazing at bowling!

I was trying to take some pictures I am planning for a future blog(It is a long process). Well Joseph decided to be a model and had me take pictues of him posing in different poses. He is such a ham. He just loves the camera!!

Last but not least my mother and I took Jacob and Kasen for their first dentist appointments. We took Joseph too, but it was not his first. When we got there we found out everybody was going to have a first that day though. Joseph had his first cavity. They filled it right then and there. He was not too happy. Kasen and Jacob did real good though. Kasen amazed the dentist and hygenist at how well he was. He just sat there and did everything the asked. Jacob did real well also. Jacob and Kasen were cavity free and their teeth looked good. The dentist showed me Jacobs x-rays and they were amazing!! You could see his adult teeth just starting to come in at the jaw line. The dentist said they would probably come in around 6 years old. He said Josephs teeth were at the age of a 7 year olds teeth and that made Joseph happy!! So we have had a fun time.

Joseph riding in the boat!

Jacob and Kasen riding in the boat!

Daddy and Joseph getting prepared mentally!!

They did it! Good job Joseph!!

Brian riding in the boat!

The only picture we have of Kara and you cant even see her! I promise she was there with us!

Me! Evan being a butt behind me not letting me just look cute!

Jacob and Nicole!

Evan and his daughter Kylie! So cute!

Evan was so good with the kids! He was just hanging out with them!

Joseph modeling!

Trying to be serious!

Trying even harder to be serious

Trying to look cute!

Me bowling!!

Joseph bowling! He did amazing!! I dont think his ball hit the bumpers once!!

Jacob bowling!!

Kasen bowling for the first time!

Our score board! the order if you can tell was Kasen, Jacob, Joseph, then me!! Yes Joseph kicke our butts!!

Joseph getting his laughing gas!

Kasen in his chair getting ready for his first check up!

Kasen with the dentist!

Jacob witht the dentist!

Jacob before his check up getting ready!

Update on our week!!

2009-06-17T17:33:00.000-07:00

Our Life!!

Since Brian and I have been working all the time we no longer have time to spend as a family, but Sundays. We are usually to tired to do anything so we just rest. We(I) decided that it is not fair to the kids so this past Sunday we had a family night. Our friends gave us a architecture balloon kit. It is like making balloon animals only you make balloon architect. So we had the missionaries over for dinner. My mom was suppose to be here but was unable to make it. Then when they left my mom finally showed up and we had our baloon time. It was intresting to do. Of course the kids watched and I made them balloon sabres and the adults made the space needle, but the kids loved it. It was mostly Brian who made it, but I like to take credit and give my mom credit. It was fun.
Kara is getting to the point where she just wants to go and play with her brothers. She tries so hard to go, but she is not very successful. She is almost sitting up. She sits as long as she is looking stright forward. As soon as her head turns she falls. She only sits for about 2 seconds, but she is learning. She can not get to sitting with out being put there though. She is growing so fast it is sad. Kasen likes to put on make up and nail polish now. It is great fun. There is not much new witht he 2 older boys. Joseph is amazingly helpful and Jacob just over loves his sister.
Yeasterday I was going to have my friend bleach my hair for me. I bought the dye and my mom said "I can do it for you" That was a lie. She totally messed it up It was blonde, orange, and some places she didnt even get bleaching stuff stayed brown. So needless to say it is brown again. It is however a lighter brown.

Kara trying to get going like her brothers. She buries her head in the ground as much as she can.

You can kind of see her belly and boobies off the ground here as she is trying to go.

Then she lifts her head up to watch what they are doing. See how strong she is getting.

Here she is sitting the best she can. She is hunched over leaning on her hands, but it is a start. She did that for the first time today when I was trying to change her clothes. It was exciting. I couldnt get her to sit down. she was trying to stand as I was trying to get her to a sitting position. I let go of her for a second(just cause I like to do that every now and then to see what she does) and she just sat there. She usually falls back and she didnt. I was shocked then excited then sad that she is growing so fast.

Here I am ready for work. I jsut thought you should see me in my work outfit. You cant see my black pants though.

Me and my boys during our family time on sunday.

my mom and all the kids joseph is in the black even though you cant tell it is him.

Joseph, my mom and Kara.

Brian and his precious work of art(the space needle)

The kids and the space needle

As soon as we(and by we I mean Brian) finised the space needle.

Here is my hair with most of the mess up hidden. You can still see a little brown throught he blonde and you can see some of the orange.

Here you can see all 3 colors very nicely. I totally recomend that you have my mom do your hair........ for halloween!!

This is a terrible picture of my, but it shows my new color. It is a light brown. Much better than multi color.

Enrichment Night!!

2009-06-10T13:25:00.000-07:00

In May we had a fiesta night at church and there were a bunch of babies there. All the babies except 1 are in our ward. We decided to take pictures of them. We were missing one of the babies in our ward. It was neat though cause they are all born in a different month. It went december, January, February, March, and April. We were missing our November baby and the April baby was a visitor.

All the babies!!

The babies lined up by birth month December starting on left and April on the right. Kara was the only girl and birth month right in the middle.

summer break in a nut shell

2009-06-09T18:04:00.001-07:00

I have been so bad at blogging since I started working. I know it is no excuse I only work 4 hours a day. Here is a brief overview of our life lately.

We did a lot of swimming at the begging of summer vacation. It just doesnt seem hot enough lately. We have been at the park a lot lately.

Kasen has been causing a lot of trouble. I need to start taking pictures so you guys can see his trouble. First he climed up to the top of the entertainment center and got Jacobs paint down. He then painted the playroom carpet. Then yeasterday I was trying to do some laundry and he decided to cause lots of problems. I was in my room folding my clothes and he came in and said I decorated the floor mommy. I thought great. When I walked into the kitchen he had painted it with strawberry syrup. Then Joseph came into the bedroom and said you need to come see the bathroom when I walked in kasen had flooded the bathroom with the sink. Last he decided to dump out Josephs moon sand all over the playroom so joseph no longer has any moon sand. What a day we had yeasterday.

Joseph finished T-ball season on saturday and monday we got our soccer sign ups. He is so excited.

Over the weekend we did go the the lake for the first time and had a lot of fun. That has been our summer vacation in a nutshell.

Joseph getting his trophy. It is not a good picture, but it is all i could get. There was no party. The coach just gave the kids cupcakes and trophies after the game. He didnt even tell us he was doing it so I was glad I had my camera. How ghetto!!

Joseph and his coach after the last game.

Barbara, one of my moms best friends and Darrens mom. She bought that pool for my kids to play in. See how much use they got out of it!! LOL!! At least someone used it!

Darren, my friend from high school and my baby girl!

The boys and their friends Laci and Lexi and some random boy who was parked next to us. They spent almost the entire time int that boat with no oars. Joseph made a good motor!

Kara and I in the water. She liked sleeping on that raft!

Kara and Jacob trying to rest in the pool in the water.

Karas first boat ride!!

She seemed to like it although in this picture you cant really tell!

My kids just love taking pictures

the kids in the pool with M'lyn (she is a girl from our church that is like family)

Karas first time in the pool!! she wasnt too sure if she liked it or not.

Play group

2009-05-25T12:19:00.000-07:00

So we have play group every thurday and since it is geting hot we are having at houses and just rotating every week. Well 2 weeks ago we went to one of the houses and there were all these dress up clothes so instead of playing with the trucks or boy toys Kasen spent the entire 2 hours playing dress up. He was so cute!!

Here is a picture of what he looked like!

Mothers Day

2009-05-11T20:32:00.000-07:00

My 2nd cousin Russ with Kara!!

My Great Aunt Vonnie with my little princess!

Brian and Kara Chilling in the house away from the heat!

Kasen cooling off in the pool.

Jacob wouldnt get in until I got in so this is where he stayed until i got in.

Joseph loves the pool and has been swimming since he was 1 year old. So he loved mothers day this year!!

My mother and my 2nd cousin Russell.

Kara in her church outfit. Her bow was made by my sister-in-law. It is still a little big, but it makes it even better. I love it!! It makes her look like a present and reminds me how children are presents from our Heavenly Father.

We had a great Mother's Day. It started off with breakfast in bed, flowers and my cards. It was nice. Then we went to church and I got a lot of candy. I got a candy from both of my kids in primary and then then the primary presidency brought candy into the nursery. So I ended up with a chocolate necklace from after the sacrament and 3 candy bars.

Then we went to my moms and had a nice dinner with my great aunt and cousin. It was sooo hot so we did go swimming. I know it was Sunday but we made an exception. It was really nice.

Thanks to all the women in my life who have made an influence on me. My mother is the BEST mom ever. She is always there for me and has taught me how to be loving and a great mom. I dont think I can be as good of mom as she was but I try. She has done so much for me and my family. She is always helping with the kids and taking us in when we need a place to go. She is an amazing grandmother. I think Joseph loves her more than me, but I still love her. She is an amazing woman. Thanks to my mother-in-law. She is such an inspriation. I dont know how she managed to raise 7 kids, especially since she raised half of them completely on her own and all of their teenage years on her own. WOW!!! I have a hard time with just 4 I could never do 7. She is always telling Brian to treat me well and raised him to be a great husband and father. Thanks to my step mother-in-law. She is always there to listen to me when I just need an ear. She is always willing to do whatever she can. She calls just to say hi and I know if I really needed her she would drive out here to be there for me. She is like anther mom to me. I know I can count on her whenever I need her. Then there is Wendy Hayden. She is a women in our ward that has taken our family in. We are really good friends. She is like another mom to me. My kids love her so much. She has helped our family more then she will ever know. I dont know what we would do with out her. Thanks so much to all the mothers in my life I know there are many more I have not mentioned.

T-Ball

2009-05-08T10:56:00.000-07:00

So it is T-ball time again. Joseph played last year and Brian helped coach. It was so funny to watch at the beginning of the season because the kids had no idea what they were doing. By the end of the year they were pretty good. This year Joseph does'nt seem to intrested in it. He says he loves it, but he sits in the outfield and does'nt pay attention. His team this year is so frustrating. The kids just dont come to the games. The coach says they dont even call and let him know. Last saturday there were only 5 kids on his team there and the other team only had 4. We will have to wait and see if he plays again next year.

Joseph getting ready to go to his game.

Joseph hitting the ball and his coach.

In the dugout getting ready to bat!