Trosper News

2010-11-05T11:09:00.000-07:00

This year for halloween Kyle and Josh dressed up as skeletons. Kyle picked out his costume and, of course, when Josh saw it he wanted the same thing. Kayley went as skittles. And Ava snuck into the picture as Eeyore. So cute!
We went up to Silent Valley on Saturday and the kids got loaded up on candy. Later that night we took a hayride through the haunted forest. We had so much fun we are going to make this an annual tradition. Sadly I didn't get any pictures. But here are some from halloween night and of our pumpkin carving fun :)

2010-11-05T10:24:00.000-07:00

Here are some pictures from Chloes 1st Birthday party, we had a lot of fun. Shelly made the cutest cupcakes and there was even a bumblebee pinata!

Josh and Kaitlyn hanging out...

Listen to Family Blog

2010-09-30T10:47:00.001-07:00

2010-09-30T10:04:00.000-07:00

I know it's been so very long since I have posted anything new on my blog. It's been bothering me too but sometimes its hard to find the time, not to mention I'm bad about taking pictures. I know I will really regret this down the road! So I'm going to try super hard to start taking my camera with me everywhere I go and to update this more than every 6 months. I really only have pictures of Josh at the moment because my mom keeps asking to see new pictures of him since he is changing so much everyday. So for now here are some recent pictures of him and I will post some of the whole family in the next couple of weeks.
My active boy spends everyday playing in the yard and always with Ginger. Good thing too otherwise she wouldn't get much attention. In these pictures Josh is combing Ginger with her new brush that Kayley bought. Ginger sheds sooo much hair, there are always gobs of it floating around the patio, so we are going to try to brush her more often.

2010-09-30T09:46:00.000-07:00

Kayley and Josh sharing a moment. Usually Kayley tries to get hugs and kisses from Josh and he sure doesn't hand them out for free...nor does he oblige unless on his own terms. I sure love it when he is sweet and cuddly though!

Mike has started getting the backyard ready to put the waterfall in this back corner. Of course his little sidekick is out helping. There isn't a moment that Josh is not along side daddy if he is doing any kind of project. Anytime he goes into the garage, Josh is there. Anytime he gets in his truck, Josh is there. Anytime he is in the backyard, Josh is there. Josh will just sit next to him and observe what he is doing or join in to help. It's funny the things he is naturally in to, such as tractors and concrete mixers. I never realized how many are out and about on the roads until Josh started pointing out every single one he sees.

2010-03-23T14:23:00.000-07:00

Ok, I know, I know...this is just cruel. But doesn't Josh make the cutest little girl??? Kayley and I had tons of fun putting his hair in pony tails and dressing him in pink. The funny thing was that he actually enjoyed it. He has perfect hair for ponty tails.

2010-03-23T14:18:00.000-07:00

Josh hanging out with his best friend Ava. Ava lives next door and I babysit her once or twice a week so these two get to play pretty often. Josh calls her Vava and I love watching them interact, they are too cute. Thankfully they do get along well and they find all kinds of things to get into :)

2010-03-23T14:10:00.000-07:00

Kayley celebrated her 14th birthday on Valentines Day. All the girls had to wear pink, red or white to the party. It was a lot of fun. Kayley put together a fun packed schedule of games and baking and then they all slept out in the trailer and watched a movie. This was a perk for us because all the noise was contained outside and we got to enjoy a peaceful nights sleep ;-)

Josh's favorite part was all of the balloons.

2010-03-22T13:32:00.000-07:00

Wow, I was really encouraged this morning after watching Life Today featuring Nick Vujicic. I uploaded it to my blog to hopefully encourage others. His testimony is powerful. I believe God is still a God of miracles and I love how Nick talks about being devastatingly discouraged when his prayers to receive arms and legs weren't answered. Years later he came to a realization that God wanted to be his biggest desire, not the arms and legs. He is no longer focused on his circumstances, he knows God is good and chooses to believe Him whether or not he ever receives the arms and legs. I want this kind of faith and pursuit after God!! You have to scroll down to the bottom to watch the video.

2010-02-09T13:28:00.000-08:00

All the hard work on the rental has finally come to completion. Mike and his parents, especially his parents, have put countless hours into renovating this house and it has definitely paid off, it looks beautiful. In fact, I like it so much I want to move in ;-) Seriously, I love it!! Anyways, we are now in the process of trying to fill it with good renters. If you know anyone looking, let us know!

2010-02-09T13:16:00.000-08:00

Mt. View held a dance for all of the students who made honor roll. Kayley of course got to attend...she is smart and beautiful! May she always seek true wisdom and knowledge from our glorious Father and may His word live in her all the days of her life.

Here are a couple pictures of her and our neighbor Dominique.

2010-02-09T13:03:00.000-08:00

We went to an awards assembly for Kyle last week. Kyle received an award for showing much improvement in class and making smart choices. Good job Kyle!! He got a certificate for a root beer float at Ruby's Diner so he got to go enjoy that with Meme.

Kyle also got a role in the play that the first graders are performing this coming Thursday...I will post pictures soon.

Sleep Training Complete!

2010-02-09T12:53:00.000-08:00

I never got a chance to update on the sleep training but God totally answered my prayers. Josh sleeps through the night, every night. It feels so weird to fall asleep at night and not wake up till I hear Josh calling "Andrea, Momma or Dad" around 7am. I sleep so soundly, thank you so much God!! And Josh only cries for like a minute when I lay him down. It was so funny because we were going to give him something to replace the bottle like a blanket or stuffed animal. Well we decided to go with teddy bear he has had since he was born. So every night we would lay Josh down with the teddy bear and leave the room till he was asleep and in the morning I would find the bear chucked out onto the ground. I told Mike I don't think he cares much for the bear, in fact, I think he is insulted by the idea of it replacing his precious bottle. One afternoon I layed him down, with the bear, and Josh immediately grabbed the bear, stood up, chucked it out of his bed, layed back down and went to sleep. I got the point. No more bear!

2010-01-31T15:30:00.000-08:00

We are gearing up for another softball season. Last Saturday we went to the pancake breakfast to find out which team Kayley will be playing on. Sadly all of her friends are on different teams. She will be playing for LSU this year. She didn't know any of the other girls on her team but we are praying for some good friendships to form.

Saturday afternoon we headed out to the field with our neighbors to get some practice. It was so much fun. I discovered that Kyle is actually really good at throwing and catching, he might sign up for baseball. Josh really thinks he is a big boy, he was all about participating in our game of catch. He's pretty good at throwing and catching too ;-) He ran all over that field with Kyle and Morgan.

Kayley and Dominique got whipped into shape with John and Ruby. They were hitting some tough pot flies and grounders. I'm so excited to watch this season. Even thinking about helping out on the team...we'll see.

I didn't get any pics of the kids playing ball but here are a few others...

2010-01-31T14:57:00.000-08:00

Thursday night turned out to be a tough night of sleep with Josh. I decided it was time to say goodbye to the bottle forever. I've known for awhile now that it was holding me back from a full night of sleep but I have wrestled with it in my heart because I know how much Josh loves his bottle. He depends on it to put him back to sleep.
Sooo...Friday night, with a heavy heart and much prayer, I said good night to my little boy, laid him down and walked out. I heard him start crying so I went into my bedroom, closed the door and started washing my face so that I couldn't hear the cries. They made me so sad. I asked God to help me know this was the right thing and to make Josh sleep. By the time I walked back out of my room, which wasn't more than 10 minutes later, he was asleep! I couldn't believe it. I thought it would be a good hour. Then, he only woke up one time during the night and I went in, rubbed his head for a few minutes and he was back to sleep for the rest of the night. Thank you God!!
Saturday afternoon I layed Josh down for his nap and he didn't even cry, he fell right asleep and slept almost 3 hours.
Saturday night Josh cried for about 10 minutes and fell asleep. However, he woke up around 2:30 and was up till about 4:30. Then slept till 8am.
Todays nap he cried for about 20 minutes and has been sleeping for 3 hours. He is still sleeping as I write this. Hoping and praying for a good night tonight. I know it can only get better.

2010-01-22T09:35:00.000-08:00

Woke up to a beautiful snow covered morning today. School was cancelled for our 1" of snow ;-) And my hubby is working from home today. What a great day!!

The kids were all excited so they dressed up warm with their jackets, gloves and beanies and headed out for some snow ball fights and fun in the snow. Of course they came back in like 10 minutes later freezing to death. Here in warm, southern california, we aren't so equipped for long periods of time in the snow...but it sure is fun to look at it through the windows ;-)

2010-01-20T12:39:00.000-08:00

This is one of my favorite songs, any time I listen to it, I get chills and tears well up in my eyes. It's called "The Word is Alive" by Casting Crowns and the truth of it comes on so many levels just like God's Word, which I totally believe is alive!! I'm praying for a passion for His Word. I'm constantly amazed at all that is contained in its contents. God is so much more than I could ever imagine.

Here are the lyrics:

Looking out from His throne, the Father of light and of men
Chose to make Himself known and show us the way back to Him
Speaking wisdom and truth into the hearts of peasants and kings
He began to unveil the Word that would change the course of all things

With eyes wide open, all would see

The Word is alive
And it cuts like a sword through the darkness
With a message of life to the hopeless and afraid
Breathing life into all who believe
The Word is alive

And the world and its glories will fade
But His truth, it will not pass away
It remains yesterday and forever the same
The Word is alive

Simple strokes on a page
Eternity's secrets revealed, carried on from age to age
It speaks Truth to us even still
And as the rain falls from Heaven, feeds the earth before it returns
Lord, let your Word fall on us and bring forth the fruit You deserve
With eyes wide open, let us see
The Word is alive
His Word is alive

In the middle of the song they talk about how the bible was inscribed over a period of 2000 years, in times of war and days of peace, by kings, physicians, tax collectors, farmers, fishermen, singers and shepherds. The marvel is that a library so perfectly cohesive could've been produced by such a diverse crowd over a period of time which staggers the imagination. Jesus is it's grand subject. Our good is designed as the glory of God at its end.

So amazing!!

2010-01-12T12:46:00.000-08:00

Josh got to spend some time with Uncle Scott and Aunt Karla on Suday while Mike and I got to spend some "us" time. We went out to eat and hung out in Redlands for a couple hours. It was so much fun.
Josh of course had a great time too as you can see in these pictures Aunt Karla sent to me. They were playing with this dart gun Josh brought along with him. He would load up all the darts and have uncle Scott shoot them up on the ceiling. Slowly they would fall down after the suction wore off and Josh thought this was hilarious. And the ones that remained stuck Josh got to pull off himself as Uncle Scott hoisted him into the air.
Josh also loves the fact that they have a dog. Josh loves dogs. However the dogs don't seem to love him as much, but that doesn't keep Josh from following them around. The only thing Josh didn't like about Rex was that he wouldn't share his tennis ball. So Josh would get mad and start yelling at him. It's funny...I have to try to get it on video sometime.

2010-01-12T12:23:00.000-08:00

Ok so the next few nights of sleep still did not go well. For whatever reason, Josh was still waking up quite often. The night before last left me feeling so tired all day yesterday. I just started a new bible study called Believing God by Beth Moore. It's all about believing God, taking Him at His Word. I have been asking God to increase my faith because I really want to grow in this area. Well last night I asked God to make Josh sleep through the night and believed He was more than able to make it happen. To my delight, I woke up at 6:30 this morning and had slept straight through the night.
Hebrews 11:6 says "Without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to Him must believe that He exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek Him." I want to please God, I want faith at least as small as a mustart seed, and I want to diligently seek Him. I am so thankful for my answered prayer. To Him be the glory!!

2010-01-09T11:51:00.001-08:00

2010-01-09T11:20:00.000-08:00

Back to sleep training last night. I have a dream that entails a full night of sleep with no interruptions. Can you imagine something so wonderful? I used to be able to, but those days have been gone for almost two years now. I accepted it when it was just once a night but we have moved back into 2-3 times a night and I just can't go on like this!
It's time for some tough love...lets hope it works ;-) Luckily Josh always wakes up smiling in the morning, thank goodness he doesn't remember me letting him cry himself to sleep. It's kind of like groundhog day ;-)

2010-01-08T10:44:00.000-08:00

Christmas eve we had the McGuire gang over to our house to celebrate Christmas. I got to spend some time with my newest little niece, Chloe, who I hadn't seen since she was born. I can't believe how fast she is growing...getting more beautiful each day. Uncle David hanging out with Josh. I know he secretly loves his nieces and nephew even if he is not a big fan of kids ;-)

I love this picure because I actually have all three kids looking at me at the same time.

I had to take this picture of Matthew and David because they were sporting the Christmas colors with their bold tee shirts and the didn't even plan it.

2010-01-08T10:22:00.000-08:00

This year we spent halloween up at Silent Valley. It was so much fun, everyone sits outside their rv's and fifth wheels and hands out candy to all of the kiddies. There were so many people, so many costumes and so much candy!

Joshy didn't quite make it to through the day, actually he fell asleep after hitting up the 10th trailer or so. Poor little guy even fell asleep with a lolly pop in his mouth.

My adorable niece Kaitlyn was dressed up as a lily fairy or something like that. Everyone thought she was so cute...we couldn't walk by a single person without someone mentioning how cute she looked ;-)

Grandma Nancy got to spend the day with two of her favorite people in this world.

Our Vacation in Washington

2009-08-17T11:42:00.000-07:00

For our family vacation we all flew up to Washington to visit my mom and dad. We had such a great time. This was Kayley and Kyle's first time on an airplane and they were hesitant to fly with an uspoken fear of the plane crashing (thanks to a movie they watched a couple of weeks prior to our trip). Thankfully we had a safe trip there and back with some lasting memories. Some vacations leave you more tired than before but this was definitely a relaxing trip for all of us. Every morning Josh decided to wake up around 6 or 7am (usually 8am at home) so I would hand him off to Grandma and Grandpa who were more than willing to spend some time with him, and climb back into bed for some cuddle time with my hubby. We never get to do this, thanks mom and dad! The rest of us would eventually roll out of bed and get ready for the day only to find a nice breakfast waiting for us on the table. I think we all gained about 5 pounds after this trip. My mom made the most amazing meals and there was so much to eat. It was really nice to have a break from cooking.
During our week we visited the local zoo, spent a day in Seattle where we went to Pike's Market and took a tour of the city on these things called Ducks that can go on land and water, collected sand dollars and sea shells near the Tacoma Narrow bridge, Mike and the kids toured a war ship with my dad while my mom and I went to yard sales ;-) And RELAXED!! Sorry dad for pushing your patience to the max while we took forever to go anywhere and do anything but we sure had a blast. Here are some pictures from the week, sorry they are out of order...

Kyle and Josh staring out the window waiting to board our plane -

Grandma teaching Joshua about crabs -

Mike enjoying the sights -

The kids bonding in the back of the van ;-)

My mom bought Kyle this sword from Pikes Market, but after our trek through the city we ended up losing it :-(

Joshua hanging out with Grandpa. We all took turns holding him because we forgot the stroller at home while we were in Seattle.

Our day at the zoo -

Waiting to board our plane at LAX -

2009-07-03T17:27:00.000-07:00

Yesterday we went with our next door neighbors to Newport Beach and had a super fun day! The weather was nice and cool at first, then the sun came through the clouds and warmed us up. This was Josh's first time seeing the ocean and he absolutely loved it. I didn't think he would want to get in the water because it was freezing, but we walked in and out about a hundred times. Then he had a blast playing in the sand and attempting to eat it. Kayley got to hang out with Dominique and Kyle got to play with Morgan. It's neat because they are the same ages and get along pretty good. Once Josh fell asleep I got to sit and relax with Ruby. However I forgot to put sunblock on and I ended up with some crazy burn spots on my body. At least the kids were covered! I think we will make a few more trips to the beach this summer.

2009-07-03T17:24:00.000-07:00

Everyone out playing and working in the yard ;-)

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

Our patio cover is now mostly finished...still a few things left to do but the whole area is shaded now and we are loving it!

2009-05-21T14:03:00.000-07:00

After an exhausting day of getting his hair cut, Josh passed out in the car. Josh's first hair cut went better than I anticipated...I got to sit in the chair and hold him on my lap. The girl cutting his hair was very patient and kept giving him things to hold on to and play with, however Josh is going through this stage where he likes to drop everything you give him only to watch you have to pick it up, he thinks its hilarious. The girl did the best she could with Josh constantly trying to push her hand away and struggling to hold his head still, but he did get a certificate that reads "My first haircut" with the date and a piece of his hair taped to the paper...which will be great if I ever sit myself down to scrapbook.

2009-05-21T14:02:00.000-07:00

Daddy having some fun with Josh...

2009-05-21T13:54:00.000-07:00

The patio cover is sure coming along now. We finally have shade!! Next steps are to roof it then add the open latice patio covers coming off the sides of the main frame.

2009-05-19T15:05:00.000-07:00

Here are a couple pictures of my new haircut, it's so nice to have shorter hair, now Josh won't be able to reach it as easy and pull it out.

2009-05-16T11:41:00.000-07:00

This past Thursday I finally took a day to get my hair cut. I've been wanting to cut it short for awhile now but couldn't find a good time to leave Josh. Mike offered to get off early from work and watch him for me. Kayley ended up helping out a whole bunch too when she got home from school. She brought down a whole race track and a bunch of cars of hers from when she was little. Josh had a ball with them, his favorite toys are the cars, he doesn't go anywhere without one in each hand. Here are a couple pics Kayley took of Josh.
Mike told me that Kayley took such good care of Josh, she cut up some avocado for him to eat and fixed the child safety lock on the cupboard under the sink, what a sweetheart! Josh is lucky to have a sister who loves him so much. I know he just adores both Kayley and Kyle.

2009-04-24T13:52:00.000-07:00

Patio Cover Update

Mike has been working super hard on this patio cover. It may not look like much but there is a lot of detail you cannot see in these pictures. The beams are extremely heavy...Mike and his dad spent all day lifting them up and securing them into place. Mike spent another day making custom brackets to fasten them to the main frame. It amazes me what Mike is capable of engineering, he's a genius and doesn't realize it ;-)
Now he is going to start wiring the electrical in order to have power for lights and fans. He is also going to put in a mister system. I can't wait to see the end result!!

2009-03-29T20:07:00.000-07:00

2009-03-29T20:06:00.000-07:00

2009-03-29T20:00:00.000-07:00

Joshua has finally conquered the feat of crawling! Now the trouble starts. He has already found himself a puff on the kitchen floor that he immediately put into his mouth and while we were out at the Salton Sea this weekend he managed to sneak 3 rocks into his mouth which I had to fish out, which seemed to really upset him. I have learned that he needs to be watched at all seconds of the day ;-)

2009-03-23T17:38:00.000-07:00

After 6 years of waiting and dreaming Mike gets to start his patio cover. This is the first phase and looking good!

2009-03-23T17:37:00.000-07:00

Kyle learned how to ride his bike and now that's all he wants to do!

2009-03-23T17:31:00.000-07:00

Joshua at 9 months old...

2009-03-23T17:27:00.000-07:00

Kyle's 6th Birthday...

2009-03-23T17:23:00.000-07:00

Kayley's 13th Birthday...

2009-03-23T17:16:00.000-07:00

Michael Scott's birthday...

2009-01-23T13:49:00.000-08:00

Everytime I go to take a picture of Joshua he always smiles really big as if he knows that is what he is supposed to do. You can see his bottom two teeth in most of the pictures too...so cute!

2009-01-23T13:40:00.000-08:00

2008-10-28T13:07:00.000-07:00

Joshua sitting in his bumbo chair Getting ready for halloween...

I had to feed Josh in the middle of carving time, he was not a happy camper, so I carved a teardrop on the face of his pumpkin. I will post a picture of all our pumpkins when they are lit up on halloween.

2008-10-20T14:00:00.000-07:00

Ok, Shelly inspired me to put some video clips on the blog. Here are two short little clips that took like 10 minutes each to upload.

2008-10-20T13:56:00.000-07:00

Helping Daddy with some paperwork.

2008-10-20T13:45:00.000-07:00

Some new pics of my little chubber. Take a look at that double chin! Kaley helped me with bath time, which Joshua loves. I am now bathing him in the kitchen sink because he is too big for the baby bath tub.
All cuddled up during one of our cold days here in Southern California ;-)

Hanging out in his car seat lookin all cute!

2008-10-20T13:22:00.000-07:00

2008-09-27T17:10:00.000-07:00

Kyle joined a soccer team this past week. They are called the Cyclones. We got to see his first game today. It was a lot of fun to watch. They don't keep score at this age but it was pretty obvious our team lost. Kyle loves to play and I think he is going to be a really good player if he keeps up with it. Today reminded me of watching my brothers play when I was younger. We were always at games on Saturdays. I am looking forward to watching Kyle play now.

2008-09-27T17:05:00.000-07:00

No matter what there is one thing that makes this boy happy, his froggy. Whenever froggy lights up, Josh's face also light up. He smiles and giggles whenever he sees him.

2008-09-27T17:02:00.000-07:00

Kyle and Kayley wanted to join Josh in his crib.

2008-09-27T16:11:00.000-07:00

Some pictures of Josh. Most of the time he has his hands in his mouth or is sucking his thumb. He has also been having fun using his voice. He makes all kinds of sounds with different pitches, it's fun just to listen and watch his expressions.

2008-09-27T16:06:00.000-07:00

Josh is definitely not a fan of tummy time. He can only stand it for a couple of minutes and then the world seems as though it is coming to an end. But mommy wants that neck to toughen up so she keeps on trying.

2008-09-05T17:54:00.000-07:00

I thought this picture was so funny. Whenever the camera has to flash, Josh's eye's get really big like this and he looks like he is so freaked out.

2008-09-05T17:45:00.000-07:00

Some new pictures of Joshua, who is now 11 weeks old. I have started putting him in the Bumbo chair and he is looking so grown up already. The third picture down is of Josh laying in his crib, he looks like he fits good in it now. Tonight I am going to see how he does sleeping in his own room ;-) And I took a picture of him taking a bath in the sink because I know one day I won't believe he ever fit in it.

Now that we are approaching 3 months, I am going to start with some sleep training, it is time this boy starts sleeping through the night (or at least a good 5 hours I hope!) We'll see how it goes...

2008-09-05T17:39:00.000-07:00

Kyle's first day of Kindergarten!! All of the kids are so cute at this age, they are so excited about learning. Right now they are learning how to sort and classify (seems a bit more challenging than I remember). And every Friday is color day, all of the children dress up in a specific color, this week was yellow. Kyle loves going to school. Everyday we walk over and I wait with him as he eats his lunch at the picnic tables. It's a lot of fun!!

2008-08-19T11:55:00.000-07:00

My little babe is growing so fast. He turned 8 weeks this past Saturday. In a way it feels like it has gone by in the flash of an eye, but then I remember all of my sleepless nights and it really isn't going that fast!! But this little cutie pie is soooo worth it!

2008-08-19T11:50:00.000-07:00

Kayley is starting to turn into quite the teeny-bopper. We barely see her anymore, she is either hanging out with her friends, texting them on her phone or updating her myspace page. It's fun to watch...I remember those days. They were so simple ;-)

2008-08-19T11:45:00.000-07:00

My boys...

2008-08-19T11:43:00.000-07:00

Our beautiful guard dog Ginger. I love how she acts all tough when people and dogs go walking by, but we all know she would lick them to death if they approached her.

2008-08-19T11:35:00.000-07:00

We put Kyle to work this past weekend to help use up some of his non-stop energy. He helped me wash my car and then he helped his dad build a reg station.

Mike started teaching Kyle how to ride his bike. This is attempt #1. I see many more to come!

2008-08-19T11:32:00.000-07:00

Joshua with a mohawk...I think he liked it!

2008-08-15T21:20:00.000-07:00

I finally started doing tummy time with Joshua. He liked it for awhile and then started crying.

2008-08-06T12:30:00.000-07:00

Josh loves to smile now! I decided to capture some pics on the camera to share. I love his little milk tongue in the last picture.

2008-08-04T09:53:00.000-07:00

2008-08-04T09:51:00.000-07:00

2008-08-04T09:50:00.000-07:00

2008-08-04T09:48:00.000-07:00

2008-08-02T18:26:00.000-07:00

Almost here!

2008-06-14T14:31:00.000-07:00

Type here....