Just Because

6/2009 Pics of the Month

2010-10-16T15:04:00.009-06:00

With school ending on June 23rd, 2 birthdays, baptism, triathlon, Father's Day and a trip to Utah, it was a busy month! The school classes sure packed in lots and lots of projects into June, blah! School projects are evil. :)

Hold on, there is going to be lots of pictures.

Kennedi getting some kind of doodad for her teeth 6/2

Carter wanted pumpkin pie for his Birthday. I told him that Pumpkin
Pie isn't really sold in June. He said, "Can't you make one?"
Oh ya, duh, I can make pumpkin pie. 6/5
My first field trip with Carter to the Denver Museum of Nature and Science.
School buses are NOISY! 6/8

Carter's class doing a musical presentation. He got to be one
of the storytellers. Cute. 6/12

My boys looking a little bit scary/dirty/rough after the
ward Father and Son Campout. 6/13

My Birthday candles were crazy. We would light them and the
wick would fall over and go out. No wishes for me! 6/17

Kennedi's Celebration of Learning. She is in a play here as the mother in
"The Worst Thanksgiving Ever" She loved using crutches in it. 6/17

Brayden portraying Steve Young for the 6th grade Decades Project. 6/17

Carter got to portray Benjamin Franklin in his class Biographies. 6/18

Annual Car Show in Highlands Ranch. We went to this to celebrate Father's Day
a few day early. 6/20
Cool little car. Cool little Ellie. 6/20

Father's Day Dinner. Steak. Yum. 6/21

We went to Utah to a little park pond by Grandma's and Grandpa's.
Tiny little fish, but fun for the kids to catch something! 6/29

Kennedi's little fishy.

Carter's little fish too!

Ellie was more interested in playing with all the worms.

Temple Square visit. 6/30

Oquirrh Temple Open House. It was beautiful. I loved the star shaped
chandeliers. I remembered going to the Jordan River Temple as a little girl
and was excited to have to the chance to take our kids to a Temple Open House. 6/30

Catching Up- Cliff Note Version June 2009

2010-10-14T09:05:00.007-06:00

Whoa, I have a lot to catch up on. It all happened because 2 big events happened on the same day back in the summer of 2009. They were too important to just skip but then I never got back to really blogging. So this is my attempt to go back and run through the highlights of life and get back to updated blogging! Dang monkey on my back. I want him off already!
June 6, 2009

Carter's Baptism=more family around! Yippee!
My first (and only so far) Sprint Triathlon

I love that Carter got baptized the day after his birthday. What a great weekend. Things were busy but wonderful. We loved having Grandma Babbitt, Grandma & Grandpa Pugsley, Patrea, Chad and the kiddos, Todd, Kat and their kiddos here to be part of the fun.
The sweetest part of the whole baptism was after Carter was baptized and dressed and sitting back in the chair, he looked up to Taft and with a sweet look and voice said, "Dad, thank you for baptizing me." It just about melted my heart. It still does. He was grateful and it was so sweet to hear it from him.

It was also Abby Lovejoy's baptism day in our ward. I had to get a picture of them together in case they get married someday. She is a cutie.

Earlier that morning was my long awaited HRCA Tune Up Sprint Triathlon. It had been a long 6 months of training. I have never been a "real" swimmer, so I had to basically just jump in and learn how to properly swim. I don't know what I do is really the proper way to swim but I was actually putting my face in the water and breathing to the side. I was happy that I made myself grow and learn something new. I knew how to ride a bike but hadn't spent much time as an adult on a bike so I started going to spinning classes (seeing as it was winter during training) and getting stronger. Running was my thing I felt really comfortable in. I started running 3 miles regularly back in 2006 so I could feel confident in that at least! I pretty much trained by myself but was happy to know that Kat and other ladies from the ward were training too.

So in the early morning of the 6th after not much sleep (too nervous!), it was time to get this done! I was ready to actually get it over with so I could stop thinking about it. Ha! I managed to do it and it was great! I felt so happy to have accomplished it.

Self Portrait before the race

Getting Ready

At the beginning with the swim I didn't know if I was going to be able to finish. I was panicking and breathing so fast that when I put my face in the water I would suck in water. I felt like I was drowning and I had to basically doggie paddle to the side of the pool. I was freaked out. After all that training I was feeling like I might have to just stop. You can't doggie paddle 20 laps with 3 other people in the lane with you. I calmed myself at the side of the pool and strangers on the side were trying to calm me down too. I finally gained some composure and went for it. It took a couple of laps but I got to a point where I thought I could do it. I was never so happy and when I got to my last lap! I had practiced and had gotten my swim down to around 10 minutes and 30 seconds but during the tri I got 14:23. I was disappointed but just dang happy that I actually got to go and finish.

The biking portion was good and spread out. It was nice a nice 12 mile course after jamming us in the pool with lots of people. I was wasn't use to swimming with waves, but with all those bodies, trust me, there were waves. Anyway, the worst part of the biking was when I passed an old man (who wasn't even in the tri). He didn't know I was coming and all of the sudden he put up his finger to one side of his nose and blew out his snot on me. SICK! I was thinking, "ooh ooh, I just got snotted on!) I got over it and finished. The best part was being able to bike past our neighborhood and having Taft, Patrea, Chad, Brayden, Kennedi, Carter, Ellie, Jace, Callie and Rhett yelling and cheering me on. I loved it! My bike time was 52:45 and I was happy with that time since I was on a heavy mountain bike.

Waving at the fans (aka family)

Man oh man, did I ever have heavy legs when I got off the bike to go for the 5k run. But I wanted be strong. After a little tripping/shuffling I got my legs under control. It was fun to see other friends out on the course and encouraging each other and getting that extra energy from them. 27:07 time with 8:45 run pace was awesome.

FINISH!

Kristy, Erika, Dina, Kat, Me, Laurel, Keri

Love that Kat!

Total Time 1:37:25

What a great feeling! I am hoping to do another one next summer. And I hope to get that swim mastered!

Excerpts from Ellie's Prayer Tonight

2009-12-17T21:08:00.002-07:00

"Please helps Mom's face to get better by not scaring people."

"Please help me not to punch Kennedi in the gut"

"Please help Brayden not to be mad at Mom sometime"

She keeps me smiling when I am not busy growling about her.

Friday the 13th really does bring bad luck...

2009-11-13T21:16:00.002-07:00

and I have 45 stitches in my face to prove it!

Hard to explain, but I was trying to get yard work done and I got in a fight with my garbage can. Seriously. I have one of those huge garbage cans on wheels and I was pulling it with the lid open and it started to fall over and it brought me down with it and I banged my forehead and chin on it. So I split open my head and chin (both to the bone, gross). So basically really stupid and it is Friday the 13th's fault. It hurt quite a bit but they gave me some pain killers. It was such a dumb thing! I was bleeding so much that Taft had Brayden call 911 so I got to go on an ambulance to the hospital. Taft was really great about getting some stuff to try to stop the bleeding and taking care of me. I am so glad he was home! We could have driven to the hospital, but by the time it was more under control the paramedics (and the fire truck and two police cars, hello! Why do they send so many people, it is lame) were already there, so what do you do? I am okay. I just hope my face isn’t crazy looking for too long. Kennedi can barely stand to look at me.

Here are the scary pictures... Don't look carefully if you faint easily.

Life

2009-10-08T10:11:00.005-06:00

Do you have times that you wish you could appreciate your life more? That you could marvel at all the little things in your day to day happenings? That you could enjoy the work you have to do to keep your family going? Then do you think about praying to ask for help for more gratitude and appreciation in all the little miracles that you call life? But then do you stop and think about what the Lord could do to make you appreciate life more? That He could choose a life altering act that would CHANGE how you take time to look and to be grateful? I do. I then decide not to pray for gratitude and appreciation. I don't want sickness, death, unemployment, etc. How can I appreciate life more without all the hard trials? Is it even possible? I would like to know the secret.

Breathe

2009-07-07T15:04:00.004-06:00

In 9 short days my oldest will be 12. It makes me literally struggle for breath when I think about it. My eyes well up too.

12

It is all happening too fast.

I am growing up right there with him and have so much growing left to do. He will probably get there before I do.

Goodbye School Year 2008-2009

2009-06-24T18:59:00.012-06:00

School's Out, school's out! I am so glad the school year is over! Phew! So many projects and activities at the end of the year wore me out! Having 3 kids in Elementary School is crazy. The break isn't long enough. Kennedi and Carter will be back to school in 2 weeks for their new year.

First Day of School- July 2008

Last Day of School- June 22, 2009

The kids grew up a lot this year! Wow!

Carter- Beginning of 2nd grade

End of 2nd Grade
Carter had a good 2nd grad year with his teacher Mrs. Huston. He became a champ at getting right down to homework after school and taking charge. I am afraid that he got a little more busy at school this year though. :) He continued playing Flag Football and started Basketball this year.

Favorite Subject- Math
Best Friend- Dylan
Funnest thing you did or learned this year- Living Biographies (He studied and dressed up as Benjamin Franklin)
What you want to be when you grow up- Policeman
Favorite Food- Pizza
Favorite School Lunch- Pizza

Kennedi- Beginning of 3rd Grade

End of 3rd Grade

Kennedi grew up a lot this year with Miss Charlton. She got way more picky about her clothing (man we are in trouble when she is a teenager). She is still doing awesome in piano and now knows cursive. Great year!

Favorite Subject- Writing
Best Friend- Jayne
Funnest thing you did or learned this year- Multiplication Sundaes
What you want to be when you grow up- Newborn baby nurse
Favorite Food- Oriental Chicken
Favorite School Lunch- Orange Chicken

Brayden- Beginning of 6th Grade

End of 6th Grade

Wow, wow and wow. I can't believe this was his last year in Elementary School. Where did the time go? Mrs. McCullar was his favorite teacher ever and she was great to expect lots and make him grow. He finally figured out that his long hair wasn't the best look for him. :) It took a long time to figure that one out. He started tennis and loves it. He has grown up so much and I haven't grown up enough to have him start Middle School.

Favorite Subject- Math (He will be starting 2 grade levels ahead in Middle School)
Best Friend- Corey & Nick
Funnest thing you did or learned this year- Camp Cheley
What you want to be when you grow up- Pilot or professional sports player
Favorite Food- Crispy Chicken
Favorite School Lunch- Chicken filet sandwich

Here's hoping for another great school year!

Being a Mom

2009-05-10T17:51:00.004-06:00

Being a Mom on Mother's Day means you still get to clean up spilled milk. You still have to get ready for church. You still have to give Sharing Time at church. You still have to think about all the little things. But it also means you still get to feel your heart grow a little bit bigger. And you get to take a nap and not feel guilty. And you get to receive handmade bits of love. And you get to eat brownies. And you get to have french toast and sausage for breakfast. And you get to hear your child pray that they can make it a nice Mother's Day for you. Not too shabby.

You get to think about the wonderful Mom that you have. Oh how I love my Mom. Today I told the Primary kids that I want to be like my Mom when I grow up. And I do wish I was like her. I love that she loves me too. :)

You also get to think of your other Mom. And wish you were like her too. I am grateful to her for raising her son that would be my husband. And grateful that she loves me like her own.
Happy Mother's Day!

The Days of April

2009-05-05T22:10:00.007-06:00

Dude! Where did April go? Here are some of the things that made April fly by.

We watched Conference in the comfort of our own home!
The kids watched all the sessions! How sweet.

We planted a garden.

We fed the missionaries and they fed us spiritually.

We met the Helm's and had a fabulous dinner!
(I wish we would have gotten a picture of the whole family!_

The kids played outside.

I went to Women's Conference for the first time.
I loved it.

Took the kids swimming. Nice goggles!

Went to the "dollar" movies.

Kennedi finished gymnastics...for now.

The fam went to Ellie's preschool art show.
It was fabulous!

Took ALL 4 kids to the dentist. No cavities! Yeehaw!

It snowed, and snowed and snowed more. But luckily
it melted just as fast!

Played and painted at Little Monkey Bizness.

Grandma came to visit!

Played with grandma and the cousins.

Dressed up for Easter.

The Hales came and we played and had fun.

Bonded with cousins at the Garden of the Gods in Colorado Springs.

Goodbye April, nice knowing you!

Fools

2009-04-01T19:45:00.004-06:00

We like April Fool's Day. This morning a few little tricks were conceived. Kennedi decided to wrap her hand to look like she had hurt it. She was excited to trick the kids at school. She said everybody fell for it. :) Ellie got little stickers on her ears to look like her ears were pierced.

Brayden came up with the grand idea of recording his piano practicing with his MP3 player and played it back on some speakers. I was upstairs and really did think it was him practicing. :)

We got home after school and I was complaining that it felt cold in the house. Later I went to turn the temperature up and noticed someone had lowered the heat! Brayden!!! He thinks he is so funny.

Then Mother Nature decided to fool us and start hailing, thundering and snowing. Ummm, no, I don't think so!

My favorite part of April Fool's Day is our family dinner. It is a tradition that was started when I was a kid.(Thanks Mom!) Every year everyone in the family gets to pick one thing for dinner. They secretly tell me what their choice is and I do the rest. The kids absolutely love it and it is fun to see what kind of meal we come up with. To make it more exciting, we eat with weird utensils. We eat off cutting boards, lids, or pans. We drink out of jars, measuring cups, etc. We eat with spatulas, ice cream scoopers, tongs and whatever else we can find. Then to top it off we wear funny hats.

This years menu was:
Taft- Chicken and pineapple skewers (too bad we couldn't grill the chicken on the BBQ grill!)
Me- Deviled eggs
Brayden- Chocolate cake
Kennedi- Peach Cobbler
Carter- Bagel Bites
Ellie- veggies and cherry limeade (okay, so I picked for her because she just couldn't wrap her brain around the idea and I thought we needed something healthy on the side)

Happy April Fool's Day!

Apples & Oranges

2009-03-22T20:22:00.003-06:00

Will there be a time in my life that I will stop comparing myself to others? I know in my head that it isn't fair for me to compare myself to the best in everyone else. I tend to only see the really wonderful perfect parts of others around me and then wish I was that best part of every single woman I meet. I am tired of this and don't know how to stop. I am hoping I outgrow it because I am worn out wanting to be something I know isn't even possible. My life is good and I am extremely blessed, I hope to start focusing more on this...

H is for Hair

2009-03-10T14:46:00.003-06:00

WooHoo! I got a brand new son! It is like a little surprise every time I look at him. It is about time!

BEFORE

AFTER!

Brayden's long hair had grown on me some, but I have been waiting a long time for him to get it cut. I love it. I should have sent the camera with Taft to show how much hair was on the floor. TONS! Ahhhh, it looks so nice! Yippee!

A Little Bit Sweeter

2009-03-04T15:05:00.006-07:00

Here are a few little things lately that make my life a little bit sweeter.

Celebrating my loving husbands Birthday

My 3 1/2 year old still napping :)

Beautiful, wonderful, fabulous early spring weather, ahhhhh.

Fresh fruit, yum!

A Big comfy bed. (And a nightstand with lots of books)

Tulips peeking out of the ground.

And many more....

Falling Behind

2009-02-23T20:50:00.003-07:00

I have fallen behind so far on my blog that I don't even want to update. Pathetic. Why is it so hard to start something again after a long break? Do you try to catch up, or do you just start fresh again? I have a hard time not catching up, but then it seems so daunting I usually just give up. That is why my personal journal hasn't been written in for years. Hopefully I can just start fresh again. We shall see...

It Could Have Been Worse & other tidbits

2009-01-07T09:53:00.005-07:00

See that pile of 127 wet towels in front of my dishwasher? (Okay I am exaggerating) That is what happens when water starts pouring out of your dishwasher and you can't get it to stop pouring out. Actually I was very lucky. I was standing at my laptop in my kitchen when I heard water and it didn't sound normal. I look over and to my surprise water is coming out of the dishwasher. That is when I started yelling, "Run, run, hurry, hurry, get some towels, run, ahhhhh!" Luckily Brayden and Kennedi were close and responded to my pleas. Crazy. Even though I was there to wipe up the water as it was running everywhere, I wasn't as fast as I could have been so some of the water leaked into the basement, but lucky for us our basement isn't finished! :) I really had the kids running all over the place to find any spare towel, it really is kind of funny now. It would have been so much worse if I hadn't been standing there! I feel like it was a blessing from above that I caught it. So I am now becoming a professional hand dish washer. Luckily I have had practice when I would visit my grandma's house and she didn't have a dishwasher (or a disposal, uggg! I would choose a disposal over a dishwasher if you wanted to know) and growing up we had to hand wash all the pots and pans that couldn't go in the dishwasher. So now we shall see if we can get it all figured out. To repair or not repair, that is the question.

On to other things.

I was happy to find my oldest reading scriptures in bed when I went to wake up the kids in the morning.

*When I went to go swimming yesterday my friend was there too. I was putting on my goggles and she asked if I had been lifting weights. She thought my biceps looked cut. Well I liked that! Even though I haven't lifted weights in a long time, I will take the compliment. *I just have to write this stuff down so I can remember the good things about life too. :) (If anybody is reading, you can ignore that last little part)

Okay, so I am training for a triathlon. That is why I am swimming. I don't really know how to swim but I am learning and I might even learn to like it. It wears me out like crazy. I can't get enough air in, so I am hoping that will change. This is really pushing me out of my comfort zone. I need to push myself and get over the feelings of not even trying because I might not be the best. I don't want my kids to be like that, so I better be a better example.

And that is that.

KenKen hit the big 9er.

2009-01-05T15:00:00.006-07:00

Our princess had her birthday. Every year we get to celebrate double on New Year's Eve. Our sweetie was born at around 9:45pm, December 31, 1999. The last of the century. It was cool. :)

Taft picked out some jewelry for Kennedi and as you can see she loved it!

Kennedi picked our traditional fondue for dinner. And I might say that I loved, loved, loved the cheese fondue this year. Ooooh yummy, cheese on french bread.

We also had our traditional other family over, Todd, Kat and the 3 lovely little girlies. We have had much fun over this Holiday break with them.

Since we were also having chocolate fondue, Kennedi just picked out one slice of cake at the store so we could have something to put candles in!

Kennedi's birthday will never happen when school is in, so we waited until today when she went back to school to have our lunch date. Her choice was Panda Express. I like it too. I love my Kennedi and she is a sweetheart. I hope she stays that way. She wants to do what is right. I hope that stays that way too. She has a little bit of sass in her. I hope it doesn't grow. :) I really do love this girl of mine.

The 3 girls. Kennedi is a WONDERFUL big sister to Ellie. I hope they stay close forever. I know I love my sisters!

Happy Birthday!

Gifts

2008-12-29T21:27:00.004-07:00

We started a "new to us" tradition last year. On Christmas Eve we write down what Gift to the Savior we are giving for the new year. We then place the paper on our tree. The kids have been really great with what they want to do to improve themselves and be more like the Savior. We decided to give a gift to the kids to keep in their room to remind them about their gift. They loved the pictures of the Savior. Brayden said it was his favorite gift, he just loved it. If we can only keep him thinking this way when he is a teenager. Carter said it made him calm down when he was mad and went and looked at the picture. I thought that was sweet. Ellie said that her gift to the Savior would be "to smile at people." We asked her why she was going to do that and she said "I like Jesus and I follow His ways." Seriously. How many 3 year olds say that? Her Nursery teachers must be awesome!

Each FHE night we are going to quickly talk about how we are doing on our gift. I like that. It will help me be reminded of what I need to work on.

I love traditions.

Freeze Again.

2008-12-26T08:02:00.003-07:00

We have hit the phase again where we wish that time could stand still. The eleven year old who hasn't hit the teenage angst and can actually help watch the kids. The almost 9 year old who is still sweet and fun. The silly 7 year old who is content to work hard in his room with a big Lego set. And the 3 year old who can play with others and still be a cute little funny girl. Why do they have to grow up? The problem is they haven't ever asked my permission to do so.

Picture Tag

2008-11-19T15:10:00.002-07:00

My friend Callie tagged me to post my 4th picture from my 4th folder. Little did she know she could have chosen from like 85 folders, uggg, I need to clean up my picture folders! Anyway, this picture is from our first Mt. Rushmore trip to Reptile Gardens. We thought he was pretty cool, grrrrr.

(Callie if your family hasn't gone to Mt. Rushmore since you moved to Colorado, you should add it to your list! It is so fun and very family friendly!)

Hey friends, you should post your 4th picture from your 4th folder! Let's see them!

YeeHaw! A month later...

2008-11-15T13:17:00.004-07:00

So less than a month after my exciting $2.99 for gas we now have....
$1.97 a gallon! I NEVER EVER EVER thought I would see under 2 bucks again.

Let's hope it stays this way!

Looking Back- Week 1

2008-11-14T20:42:00.008-07:00

Man, I am behind in my blogging. The kids just went back on track this week and so I think I will just highlight the past 3 weeks while they were off track. It might be boring to everyone else, but I want to do it for me.

The boys had their last flag football game of the season on October 18th. We had to divide up the 2 games between Taft and I since they were back to back at different places. I was sad that I missed Brayden's last game. He scored a touchdown! Yippee! Go Brayden. Carter had a little bit of a rough ending, cut still played great. He really grew this year in football. It is crazy to see what 1 year does for skill.

October had the most excellent fall weather that I can remember. So warm and nice crisp mornings and night. I loved, loved, loved it. The kids had fun playing ball in the backyard and I loved our trees in our backyard this fall.

Some of us got to go have fun bowling with friends. I haven't been bowling since I was pregnant with Ellie, and it was so fun! I actually broke 100, a small miracle! It was fun to see Ellie bowl and see her cute little feet in cute little shoes. She was really quite independent and caught on quickly. It was also sweet to watch Brayden help her out (when she let him). Life really has gotten easier the past few months with Ellie growing up. We finally get to enjoy some fun activities again with her!

Our biggest highlight of week one was that the Griffeths came to visit! We all loved having them here and I love seeing how much baby Ty has changed and grown, he is so dang cute and sweet and fun! I love how our kids just play, play, play together. I wish they lived next door. We got in some great shopping at an awesome Children's Place outlet sale, fun climbing at Daniel's Park, lots of chatting, eating and running around the house and back yard. We wish they could have stayed longer.

Windy at Daniel's Park

Beautiful private Golf Course at Daniel's Park (how rich do you have to be to own that! When I say private, I mean you only play there if you are friends with the owner)

Could he be any cuter???

The Big Boys

The Girls

The Little Boys

The awesome parents to the cute kids

The night the Griffeths left we went to our ward OctoRootbeerFest. :) We had a chili cook-off and pumpkin carving contest. The kids ran around and were noisy, got their faces painted and ate candy. Good times. I actually got 3rd place on the chili cook-off! But I don't know, my chili was a new recipe with weird stuff in it like cocoa and unsweetened chocolate. Before we left I caught Carter carving a pumpkin all by himself. I was surprised at what a great job he did! But I guess he doesn't like to clean out the pumpkin first.

We got to finish out the week by celebrating Logan's 7th birthday with her and the 2 families. We all got to go bowling and have our "official" family birthday food, pizza. One funny thing while we were bowling was that Ellie threw the ball so slow that it actually stopped in the middle of the lane. :) Ha!

We had a great 1st week off!

2008-11-04T14:35:00.003-07:00

So I of course voted. But I voted by sending in my ballot over a week ago. It seemed like a great idea since 4 years ago the lines were obnoxiously long, but really, I feel like something is missing. I miss the patriotic feelings of walking in my booth and voting. I miss joining all the other voters on this specific election day. I may have to re-think this in another 4 years. Happy Voting!

We are Dorks

2008-11-02T19:08:00.002-07:00

So we became the people I didn't think we would ever be. We showed up at church, and guess what? No one was there. Why you ask? Because we are dorks and forgot to change our clocks! Doh! Man! We could have slept in longer!

Fragile

2008-10-30T17:11:00.003-06:00

*Warning! Don't look below at the pictures if you are squeamish!*

Last night was a little scary. Brayden was at Scouts and I got a call. His Scout Leader said that there had been an accident and that Brayden had been burned. Bad enough that he probably needed to go to the Hospital. That is scary to me. I do think I stayed calm if I say so myself. I went to the church to get him and I could tell he was in pain. Brayden was all pale and ouchy. There had been an accident with the lightweight camp stoves they were making and the "fuel" started on fire and made the rubbing alcohol in it spray out onto Brayden's pants and they started on fire. Wow. He ran around a little and they finally got him to the ground and onto the grass and the fire went out. It really burned his leg. 2nd degree burns and all. He was a trooper but we definately needed to get him some care. On the way to the doctor Brayden couldn't understand why it had to happen. He said, "We even prayed that we wouldn't get hurt!" I had to explain that Heavenly Father doesn't always take away accidents and that it could have been so much worse. I took him to Urgent Care and they soaked his leg in ice water and cleared away a bunch of the skin, put some cream on it and bandaged it up. Poor guy was in such pain and I felt so bad for him. We got him home and he actually slept pretty well and woke up without pain anymore. (Prayers help!) Like I said, It could have been SO MUCH WORSE. His arm hair, eyelashes, and hair were burnt off, but no burns on his skin. We are grateful that the burns weren't worse and he is feeling great today. It will take awhile for the skin to heal, but it WILL heal and he be good as new. (Maybe just a little scared of fires for awhile though!) I do feel like he was watched over and protected as much as he could. Just another reminder how fast things can change and how fragile life is.

Brave Brayden

Nasty burn!

Gross stuff coming out of the gauze.

Makes My Heart Happy

2008-10-29T08:58:00.003-06:00

This is what I like to find after I wake up in the morning. So sweet. Kennedi is really a wonderful big sister to a little happy, cute, pesky 3 year old. I found them just like this, reading books together.

I am so glad they have each other. I know I love my 3 sisters and life wouldn't be the same without them. Everyone needs a sister.

(Someday I will get caught up on all the other posts I have rattling around in my brain)

YeeHaw!

2008-10-16T13:29:00.002-06:00

I just saw gas under 3 bucks! $2.99 baby! Who knew I would ever be excited at THAT price? But I am!

Nervous

2008-10-10T13:01:00.002-06:00

To tell you the truth, I am a little nervous. Usually the stock market doesn't stress me out, but whoa, it has REALLY dropped. I don't like feeling scared and unprepared. When are things going to get better? What can I do to better prepare myself and my family? Do we pull our kids out of all the extra activities, do we stop eating out, do we quit buying anything "extra"? We are very blessed, but our savings and preparedness could use some extra loving. Do we just keep living the way we are living? I don't know. It all seems just a little bit scary to me.

Enough!

2008-10-08T18:31:00.000-06:00

Okay, I will admit I am not the best person to ask any questions about politics. It just seems like so much work and wasted emotion. So just a quick note about politics.-

Stop! I am done with all the lame commercials and debates. Can't it just be over with so we can move on already?

I am done now.

Ellie at Home

2008-10-03T14:27:00.011-06:00

Ellie does a lot of different things at home besides watching Dora and Little Einsteins. Here are a few things she does while the kids are away and it is just the two of us.

EAT, snack, eat some more and snack again...

Get out the ol' Playdoh and act out some fun with Belle and Beast.

Or just put the Playdoh on her face.

Give her baby a bath.

Go on a walk with Mom (we have great trails here!)

Color a masterpiece.

Swing her little heart out.
(She learned to pump when she was 2, glorious!)

Get her little nails painted.

Play with the lovely Polly Pockets.
And the best of all. NAP!

How Easy One Forgets

2008-10-01T13:01:00.004-06:00

Last Friday night I got to watch baby Aubrey (she is getting so big now!). The weird thing was I didn't know what to do with her. Hello! I have had 4 kids in her same stage before. Why can't I remember? It is so funny that you can do something so many times but when you don't do it anymore you just forget. The kids were cute with Aubrey and the best thing was she slept like a champ! Go Aubrey! It was just fine having her, but it reminded me how much more you have to think about babies and their schedules. And it was a good little reminder of how nice it is that I am done, done, done.

Ellie, our last one!

2008-09-25T18:15:00.002-06:00

I like Thai Food and Chocolate Oreo Blizzards. I got both today.
The End.

Happy Fall Time!

2008-09-22T19:29:00.005-06:00

The signs of Fall are here. Leaves are changing and there is a crispness in the air. Lovely, lovely. I see pumpkins at the grocery stores and we are admist all the Football glory. I didn't know I loved this time of year so much. But I decided that I do!

One sign of fall was in our own backyard today. Over a year ago we planted little raspberry transplants. We didn't know if they would make it and no berries popped out for us last year. The raspberry vines are fall bearing vines. Anyway, today in the van Ellie tells me "red is growing in our backyard." I had no idea what she was talking about but a few hours later we were in the backyard and lo and behold one pretty raspberry ended up in her hand. She went and picked our very first berry! At least I was there to see it and to run and go get my camera. I hope we get at least 20 more! I want to try one, but Ellie got the first. Yum! She wanted more but we will have to be patient.

Pick

Show off the goods

Eat, yum!

Since Brayden is a big 6th grader, he got to go to Outdoor Ed today. All the 6th graders left early this morning to spend 4 days in the mountains. How cool! He was so excited to go. The weather is suppose to be wonderful so I am glad they won't be freezing. I already miss him a little, but I bet he isn't even thinking about me! It was a mad house this morning with all the parents saying good byes to their little/big kids. I hope he has tons of fun. It is a new season in life for him in more than one way today!

Oh ya! Another important sign of Autumn that I almost forgot, is that "our" TV shows are back on! :) Heroes is back on tonight! !!! Yes!

Stuff

2008-09-21T20:36:00.003-06:00

A couple cute things this week.

Ellie got to bring the coveted Duck snack backpack to preschool this week. She just HAD to wear it as much as possible. She loved bringing the snack and being the "line leader" for the week. I wonder if she will have a hard time giving up her "power" this week.

Carter had a great game this Saturday.

He came home from school on Friday and was sporting a mohawk. Hmmm. So he had to do it the next day for his game too. Kind of cute that he could make his hair that way by himself. I did have to draw a line and wouldn't let him have his "fauxhawk" for church. :)

Carter got to be quarterback for a couple of plays. Here he is handing off the ball. I like the look of concentration on his face.

This is Carter looking for a thumbs up from us after he made his TOUCHDOWN! Woohoo! He almost ran the whole field to get his touchdown. He had told his coach he would get 2 bucks from us if he got a touchdown so his coach said "let's give you chance then!" (Yes, I do bribe my children for greatness.)

Don't Come Visit Today :)

2008-09-18T14:59:00.003-06:00

If anybody came and saw my house today I would be embarrassed! It is a mess! Ick! Merry Maids, come to my rescue! I don't feel like cleaning! Ick. (And there is no way I am posting a picture to prove it)

The Internet Rocks

2008-09-15T21:29:00.003-06:00

I seriously love the internet. Today I was contacted by a long lost friend. (Hi Jacque!) She found my blog and now we can talk to each other again. It has been too long. I love how the internet has brought people together and I am a little part of it. But what is even greater is that now I get to be a part of her life and find out about her again and learn. I already have gained a little perspective on the important things in life just from her reaching out to me. Thanks friend, I love ya!

This happened to me a few months ago too. My friend from my growing up ward contacted me too! I just love it. I learned so much from her blog and I have loved the reconnection. (Hi Karen!)

I hope this is a pattern. I really am loving rekindling these "old" connections. And I really love keeping the "current" connections of friends a little bit stronger. Thanks friends. It means a lot.

I hate zits.

2008-09-12T08:56:00.000-06:00

Man! You would think I am a teenager or something!

What we do on the weekend

2008-09-08T20:02:00.007-06:00

Labor Day Weekend- We really did LABOR and the kids weren't thrilled. :)
But the house got clean and homework got done..

Brayden learned to mow the WHOLE lawn! Yeah for us!

NFL Football homework for Kennedi

Science "conifer" homework for Brayden

Carter spending time with the "Friend"

This past weekend Taft & I finally got our anniversary date, we started our Saturday's with Flag Football, hanging out, eating Chipotle at the park and church and meetings for me. And for good measure throw in some grumpy moods for all of us at some point. :)

Oh Melting Pot, how I love you. I should have taken a picture of the dessert fondue.
Seriously to die for...yummmy....

Go Brayden, go! (Look at his hair blowing in the wind.
After the game we went and got a hair cut!
Still not short but not so dang long anymore!)

Our cute little "center"

Here are the kids showing Taft how to play a video game. Really they are!

THE END

Fun Run 2008

2008-09-05T19:57:00.004-06:00

Today was the day. My kids became runners! Go kids go! Our Elementary School started its first Annual Fun Run and it was great! Instead of trying to sell wrapping paper, ribbon and candy (ie, junk), they did a run. The kids can get donations or pledges for money per lap. I love this idea. Now the school can get 100% of the money and it gets the kids active and exercising. Awesome! The kids all did so good, no complaining and just good ol sweating it out running. Brayden and Kennedi's grades ran for 45 minutes straight! Wow! Brayden ended up running 4 miles and Kennedi ran 3 1/3 miles. Carter ran for 30 minutes and ran 2 1/4 miles. He just ran so hard and hardly even walked. It was really fun to cheer them on and be a part of the activities. They felt good about it too. The day ended up being a perfect day for a run. It was just under 60 degrees and overcast. It helped keep them cool for sure. I was actually cold on the sidelines. They had music blasting, balloons floating, and water ready to drink. Perfect.

Great job kids! I loved being the cheerleader for them and I can't wait for it next year.

We have an official preschooler

2008-09-04T14:24:00.003-06:00

Miss Ellie started preschool this week! Hip hip hooray! Tuesday was just a "meet your teacher" day. We went in for 30 minutes, met Miss Bonnie, got use to the classroom, played with toys, and tried to "share" with her new friends. It went great and she was excited to go back in 2 days.

She got to pick up her preschool basket and look like a big girl carrying it around.

Ellie is in the duck class for the "young" 3 year olds. This morning we got her all dressed, a lunch all packed, her hair actually done and ready for a great 4 hours! She went right in, put her duck in the pond, dropped off her basket and was ready to go. I got a hug and a kiss and a little "mommmmmy" because I was leaving and then I think she cried for approximately .12749th of a second. :)

When I left I actually felt a little differently than I thought I would. I wasn't jumping up and down and passing out high fives to everyone around. I felt a little lonely. Duh! I thought of the things I should have told her before, like, "tell Miss Bonnie when you need to use the bathroom," or "be nice to your friends and don't yell." Or lots of other things. But I knew she would have fun.
I headed over to the local book store and wandered around for a few minutes. No little 3 year old touching and moving all the books was to be seen! How nice! I bought 2 books and was off to my Book Club. Had a nice chat and lunch, went to Target and the library and was done! Wow! That 4 hours went fast! (Okay, so don't think I am a book freak, I can't believe my day was centered all around books! Weird! I won't be doing this every preschool day, believe me).

Upon return to preschool I found a happy little Ellie with a great painted duck and a duck chocolate sucker. What could be better? She did great and had "so so so so so much fun." And you know what? I had fun too!

It was a great Thursday for BOTH of us!

2008-09-03T21:02:00.000-06:00

Do you ever have days where you think you weren't made to be the mom to 4 kids? I do.

Little Pioneer Boy

2008-09-03T13:53:00.004-06:00

In 2nd grade my kids get to learn about pioneers. I am sure it isn't the same lessons that are taught in Utah. :) Anyway, today Carter's class all dressed up as pioneers and had to bring a pioneer lunch. We packed in his tin bucket a mason jar full of water, a boiled egg, beef jerky, bread with butter wrapped in wax paper and an apple. He thought his lunch was pretty heavy! A mason jar full of water will do that everytime! :) They get to make candles, applesauce, butter, use quill pens and slates, learn about cross-stitching and learn a little about how school was for pioneers. What a great lesson. What a fun day!

Lucky 13

2008-09-02T13:03:00.009-06:00

Happy Anniversary to Me! And to Taft! :)

Today we hit 13 years! We are now into the teens! It is starting to sound like a long time now! I like it!

We don't get to celebrate today since Taft left early this morning to Seattle. It is now the 3rd week of him traveling and so far it is okay. I like it much much better when he is home but we are surviving.

Anyway, I am so happy that I have Taft. He is such a great husband. I had no idea 13 years ago that life would be like it is today, but it is a great life. Taft was such a smartie and before he left to Seattle and then on his backpacking trip this past weekend he ordered my white roses and he gave them to me yesterday. It is fun to look back when we were celebrating our first anniversary and he gave me a dozen roses, 11 red and one white rose. Every year one more rose would turn to white. I love it. I love traditions. What makes it even sweeter is that when he asked me to marry him he gave me white roses.

13 White Roses

I wish we could spend the day together but such is life. We did go look at wedding rings yesterday for our short 1 hour date. There are so many pretty rings out there to choose from. It has been over a year now since I lost my original ring in the lake and we haven't replaced it. But how do you spend so much money on something that replaces something that meant so much and cost less? I am having a hard time wanting to spend the money on a ring. I really would rather get some things done to the house. :) Or go on a great trip!

I love being Mrs. B and I am looking forward to the rest of my years as the Mrs.

Oh man, we were such babies. And nice bangs!! Ha!

Light Reading

2008-08-30T16:33:00.003-06:00

I think I got a little ambitious at the library this week.

(So far I am not recommending any of these books since I haven't read them. Read them at your own risk.)

Kid Stuff

2008-08-18T09:44:00.006-06:00

Little Einsteins. Can it be any cuter? I just love it. I love that Ellie loves it and she loves the music. She sings the songs all the time. Classical music with words? Yes! Just too cute! My other kids won't probably admit it to anyone else, but they will sneak in to watch it with her too. Gotta love it! So many kids shows are so annoying and kids actually get dumber watching them, but not Little Einsteins! Go Little Einsteins!

On another subject, how lame is it that I pretty much know all the words to all the songs on Radio Disney? Pretty lame. But I don't mind that my kids listen to it!

The kids are back on track today! Phew! I don't think we could handle another day of "family bonding!" And now it finally feels like I can get back on a schedule and a handle on life again. (I hope, oh I really do hope so!) Ellie starts Preschool in 2 weeks! I am giddy! 8 fabulous hours a week all to myself. All by myself. I like the sound to that.

Homestyle Camping

2008-08-16T10:39:00.007-06:00

Images of a campfire, dutch oven cobbler, hiking, games, tents and nature had filled our heads. We were going to finally go camping in the great outdoors! We made the reservations at Golden Gate State Park. We made the (long) list of supplies and food that we needed to go and have a great time. I was actually excited! So were the kids! So was Taft! But what the heck? It started to rain, rain and rain some more. The weather forecast said it would only be in the 40's where we were going. Um, no! We would not camp in that. Can we said mud and ick and "family bonding time" in a 14x14 space. Not so fun. So we decided we needed to stay home. Booo. We thought it would be okay enough at home to roast the hot dogs and make peach cobbler and s'mores in our backyard. That wasn't even going to happen. I think it has been raining for like 36 hours now! Where do we live? This can't be Denver weather. We always get to see the sun. So we did the best next thing. We ate dinner at Olive Garden (doesn't that just say camping to you?) and came home to have a family movie night.

We watched College Road Trip and it was actually pretty cute for all of to watch. For our intermission we made indoor s'mores and they actually looked like the real thing! We just broiled them up. And yum!

We set up the 4 man tent (who are we kidding, how would you fit 4 MEN into that thing?) and we let Brayden, Kennedi and Carter dream happily and pretend they were in the mountains.

And how nice for me, I got to sleep in my comfy king bed and not freeze. But I am still sad we didn't get in a camping trip in this year. We will just have to make it first on our list for next summer. Here is to next year!

Family Family Summer Trip

2008-08-13T09:18:00.008-06:00

Hanging in the shade at Bear Lake, ahhh.

This has taken me long enough! I have been home for 1 1/2 weeks now and need to document our Utah/Idaho trip. It was wonderful, wonderful, wonderful to see ALL our family! I loved that we got to see every single person from both my family and Taft's. We headed out early Friday morning so we could make it to Bear Lake to play for a few hours before heading back to Logan. I love love love Bear Lake. It is just beautiful and shallow so far out, so it is perfect for kids. What could be better than blue water, nice sand and cousins? One thing I could do without is the wind. But it wasn't too bad. My family was all there and had already been there for about 3 1/2 hours already so it was all set up with shade and fun. I was wishing we could stay in a cabin like we had the last 2 years, but it was too crazy this year for everyone.

Pretty in Pink- Ellie, Grandpa and Juliana

Cool Dudes- Brayden, Josh, Jace

We got to stay at Kristen and Phil's newly remodeled house. It is so nice! I got a little kitchen envy ;) but I think I didn't step over the coveting line. Karen and Doug are working hard to get their house built and it is looking so nice! I am excited for them to get done, they have had to work so much, but have done a great job. We celebrated Jace's and Nick's birthdays with a yummy steak BBQ. We got to go to church with the Hales and it was nice that Kristen is the nursery leader so Ellie would go. Later that night is when we went to Josh's Eagle Court of Honor with the whole family.

All 16 of the grandkids! 7 girls, 9 boys

I love my neices and nephews they are so great. They are so great with my kids. The older girls treat Kennedi so good! They will play with her and make her fit right in. They also are so cute with Ellie and keep up with her antics. I don't even have to worry about her.

Ellie made me laugh when she was around Baby Tyson. She wanted to help out so bad and would push Patrea's hands away so she could change his diaper and help him with his clothes. One day when he was fussy she said "He is a little bit creepy." Huh? I finally figured out that I think she meant he was a litte bit cranky.

Monday morning after my quick stop to Hair Product store (Kristen has a license and we can get product cheap, thanks!) and after Taft golfed his best game we headed out to Cascade Idaho. We were lucky enough to meet up with Todd and Kat so we could follow them up. Taft and Todd got to talk on their HAM radio's to each other so that made them happy. We had to go through quite the windy roads to get to the cabin we all rented by Cascade Lake, but it was spectacular scenery.

Grandma handing out her fun gifts to the kids

Crystal did an amazing job finding the cabin for all of us. It was perfect. So close to the lake and so big to fit us all. It was so fun to see all of Taft's family and to play and hang out together. We miss them all! We finally got to meet cutie pie Talmadge and see Mackenzie for the 2nd time only. Such cute kids. The cabin had a theater for fun movie viewing and a ping pong table and air hockey table. There was lots of grass in the back too. Perfect for kids playing all over. And the adults too! I think one of the funnest things we did at the cabin was to play the Newlywed game that Dianna set up for us. It was just wonderful for all of us to get away and spend time together.

We spent a little time at the lake and played around. Drew was the fun uncle and would toss the kids into the water. Kennedi was a fish and was swimming all over the place. She didn't want to get out. Ellie and Paige were cute and matchy matchy. (Gotta love Target!)

I need to steal some pictures from Todd and Kat. They have all the big family photos that turned out pretty good! Good to get a new pic with all the family again.

The time at the cabin went by so fast and we wished we could stay for longer. We will definately have to do something like that again. Taft's family was so nice and planned all the food for us traveling folks. Yum! I felt bad not helping out more though.

Ellie found the dress up earrings!

We went back to Boise and got to stay at Grandma's house. The kids had fun and love her dog, Baxter. The kids just played played played. The adults took shifts and got to see the new Batman movie. It was good, but I guess I am getting more sensitive, the violence almost got the best of me. But it was nice to go out to the movies since I don't think I have been to the theater for over a year!

Larry and Sherri invited us over to their pool and it was fantastico! It was so fun to have everyone in the pool and the kids had a blast. Ellie finally got a little more comfortable and actually would let me hold her and walk around the pool. She loves to swim ONLY if her feet can touch the ground. She HATES to float in the pool so it was nice that she got better about it.

Andra and Kennedi- The great 8's.

We went to Kimberly and Matt's house one night for dinner. They had a little blow up pool and Ellie dove right in, clothes and all. So we just stripped her down to her underwear and she had fun. It was funny to see Mackenzie and Ellie interact. Ellie loved her a little too much! Poor little girl. :) She was strong though.

Dianna and I stayed up until almost 3 one night! I miss our late night talks. And it made me miss family even more. She shared some plant starts for our yard and so far so good! Thanks! We had a wonderful time and loved spending time with all our family. We miss everyone even more now though. The Arnell's and Grandma were sweet enough to let Brayden stay for an extra whole week and Brayden and Austin bonded even more. That was so nice for Brayden. How lame is it that I don't have any pictures of them together? If I did, you would probable see Mario Kart or basketball playing in the back. (I thought I did have some pics of them playing basketball... I can't find them, I hope I didn't delete them!)

Well phew! I think that is about all I will write! It is plenty long! Just one more thing,

Our Whole Family Rocks!

8-8-08 isn't it Great?

2008-08-08T20:11:00.003-06:00

I love this date! I have said before how I like cool numbers and this is one of them. But today is even more special. Hello Summer Olympics! Today is the start to 17 days of feeling patriotic and proud. It is so amazing to watch the athletes compete. I wasn't that excited to have the Olympics in Beijing, but it has been awesome to see what they have done with their buildings for the Olympics. It is always interesting to see a different culture. I really need to start traveling the world. I have been in such a sheltered life it would be amazing to step out into the world and see how others live.

So far the Opening Ceremonies are spectacular! They really know how to spend their money!

How cool is the Bird's Nest Stadium?

And what about the watercube? Wowza!
I would love to swim there.

Good luck USA athletes! I will be cheering you on!

Good Bye Hot Tomale Train

2008-08-08T09:59:00.006-06:00

So I have a guilty pleasure. It is watching "So You Think You Can Dance." Well I guess it WAS a guilty pleasure. The season finale was last night. Booooo. It was the only good thing to watch all summer and now it is gone. SYTYCD made me wish I was a dancer. Or at least have a big stage to jump and leap and twirl all over. Man those guys are in shape! The only problem I have with the show is that I would love to watch it with my kids, but the costumes are so dang provocative that I don't dare to have my kids watch. Dang Hollywood.

So patiently I now wait for "Lost," "The Office," and "Heroes" to come back into my life. I live a sad life. :) (Not really, but those shows are awesome!)

I Love Corn on the Cob

2008-08-06T08:58:00.003-06:00

I do, I admit it, I love corn on the cob. We got the first batch of yummy buttery goodness when we stopped through at my parents house. The corn is still a little early but it was oh so yummy! So now when we got home I tried some fresh corn from the store. It was yummy but not the same as fresh from the garden. I loved Ellie's reaction to it. "Mmmm, delicious!"

A few summers ago we tried to grow corn. It was ummmm, interesting. Our soil is still kind of lame and the corn grew pretty small, but there was cobs on it. We were excited to eat our own grown corn, but one morning I went out to check the garden. The corn stalks were all smashed to the ground. At first I was mad at the kids thinking they had wrecked the garden. But upon further investigation I noticed the cobs had been ripped off the stalks, opened and eaten. What the heck! They weren't even ready. We finally decided that rascally raccoons had gotten into the garden. Dang rodent raccoons! The next year the raccoons didn't get to our corn but we probably only got like 4 cobs to eat on our small stalks, and you know what? They were delicious! I was too lazy this year to plant. But I think I will have to try again next year. Hopefully those varmints are gone for good.

And that is my ode to corn on the cob. The end.

More Scouting Greatness

2008-08-04T10:36:00.005-06:00

Phew! I am back. We have been out of town visiting family and having fun. I will post about that later. But back to stuff that happened before we left.

Brayden made a great scouting step. He finished his Webelos and received his Arrow of Light. I am proud of him and everything he learned in Cub Scouts. He is a Boy Scout now and doing great. Sometimes scouting is a pain, but it really is a great program and can teach the boys so much. So a cheer for scouting, yeehaw!

While we were visiting in Utah, my oldest nephew received his Eagle Scout! Go Josh! It was really great that we were all there to see him at his Court of Honor. He is a great example to Brayden and I think it will help Brayden to want to earn his Eagle too. What is funny is that my Dad and all the bro-in-laws never got their Eagle. Josh's uncles and grandpa on the Hale side didn't get theirs either. So he is the first in hopefully a long line of Eagle Scouts.

We have missed a lot of important events with family members over the years since we have moved away. It always makes me want to live closer to family when we are visiting. All the nieces and nephews are such great kids and I love their examples to my kids. I miss all the family! Love you all!

I'm So Glad When Daddy Comes Home

2008-07-23T19:47:00.007-06:00

So Taft went to his 2nd Annual FJ Summit to Ouray, CO. He took Brayden, Carter and his brother Todd. They had a wonderful time 4wheelin all over the place. There were only about 200 other FJ's there. :) It was nice to have a little girl time here at home and for me to get my icky shower caulking removed and new fresh lovely caulk replaced. In case you want to know, my biggest tip for removing caulk between the plastic flooring piece and the tile is.... a butter knife! No kidding. It is flat and pointy and it gets the job done. But I did get blisters! No fun. That job is not high on my fun list! But I got it done and my shower looks much better without the grimy icky caulk in it. (Shows you how I have been such the fabulous house cleaner, now doesn't it!)

Oh ya, I was talking about Taft being gone. Anyway, he left Wednesday and came back home on Sunday and then a few hours later had to go to the airport to fly off to Chicago until Tuesday. Not cool! He had a meeting for work in Chicago and he had to plan it last minute. So what I am saying is that I missed him! That is too long for him to be gone and for me to be the only parent here. :) But I better get use to it because he will probably be traveling soon every week for about 2 months. I might get into a depression. Or maybe the house will just fall apart. Or maybe we will eat cereal every night he is gone. It will be interesting to see what happens.

Another kind of random tid-bit... Ellie has me sing "I am Like a Star Shining Brightly," and "I'm So Glad When Daddy Comes Home" for every nap and bedtime. It is our little song routine. Here is a little video of her singing the songs. She is pretty much cheesing it up, but she makes me laugh.

Ouch! But Ahhhh...

2008-07-20T19:55:00.004-06:00

So the good old A/C wasn't working properly. And you can't have that in 95 degree weather now can you? Taft and I looked at the pipe outside that went from the A/C to the house and in that 90ish degree weather the pipe looked like it had been snowed on. It was all frozen up. The insulation on the pipe had busted off on part of it so we were hoping it was as simple as new insulation. NOPE! (How could it be that simple?) 800 hundred freaking dollars later and we are as good as new. Well not really good as new since we didn't get anything new except some refrigerant that costs.... $295.00 up to 2 pounds. The inside of our A/C looked like it was wearing a sweater, and no it isn't suppose to look like that. So that goop got all cleaned out and the inside thingy ma bob got cleaned out too. But 800 bucks! Shouldn't I get a brand new shiny new one?

I am so spoiled that I will pay 800 dollars to be cool in my house. Goodbye Disneyland, goodbye new wedding ring to replace the one that was lost last summer, goodbye new furniture, goodbye 800 dollars. I will miss you! (Yes, I know that I can't get any of that stuff for 800 dollars, but it would go a long way towards it! Or at least a medium way.) At least I am not sweating now!

Seriously, Another Birthday!

2008-07-16T21:28:00.000-06:00

Happy Birthday to the 11 year old of the house, BRAYDEN!!!! We had to officially celebrate the big guys birthday a day early since he was heading out in the morning of his birthday to the FJ Summit. Go Ouray, Colorado. (I still need to go there someday). Taft and the boys and Todd left to have a blissful 4 days of 4 wheeling in the FJ with some other 220 FJ's. Fun! But anyway, I signed Brayden out of school for his Birthday Lunch at Pei Wei (Good choice Brayden). He was happy and we got full. I think the part he liked the best was that I let him get soda and he had like 3 cups of it :) Gotta give up some control for birthday celebrations! He took back some Krispy Kreme doughnuts for his class so they could all have a sugar high together. I am sure the teacher loved that! When Brayden got home he remembered that he didn't even give a doughnut to his teacher! Uh oh, not a great impression for the beginning of the school year. :) We will have to make up for that one!

We got to take the Ellie Monster with us too...

Now we get a break from Birthday celebrations until December. We need a break! I can't believe I am old enough to have an 11 year old. How can I have an 11 year old when I am only 25??? Ha! It will be crazy next year when he receives the Priesthood. I don't know where the time goes. But it is going somewhere. Brayden really is a great kid. It is tough to be the oldest kid in our family! He is smart and a great piano player and so much more. Love you Brayden!

My Little Ducklings

2008-07-14T11:19:00.003-06:00

I took Brayden, Kennedi and Carter on a bike ride with me Saturday night. I warned them ahead of time there would be big hills and it was a longer than usual bike ride. Carter doesn't have gears on his bike so it would be hardest for him, but luckily for me, he is a tough guy and really doesn't complain much. Friday morning Sharleen and I had gone jogging a new way and I didn't start my Garmin so I didn't know how far we had ran. So I enlisted the kids to go with me on our bikes to see how far my jog was, cuz it felt REALLY far on Friday. :) The kids did great, the weather was perfect and we remembered water this time! We almost ran over a dog, we went on gravel, dirt, concrete and asphalt, we got wet by the sprinklers and had a great time. They were so tough and worked hard and followed me like 3 cute little ducklings in a row. I need to do this more often. I really want to be a more active person and family and a bike ride is a great way to do that. It will be great when Ellie is big enough to go out on her own! We missed her and Taft.

Oh, we went 4.39 miles.

School Year 2008-2009

2008-07-09T17:17:00.003-06:00

School's in! School's in! Now that was a quick break. Today was the first day of school and the kids were excited. It is always exciting to get new school supplies and a new teacher. Fun, fun! The kids first day was great! They were all happy when I picked them up after school. They all had a great day! We went and got the obligatory ice cream cone/sundae for a wonderful first day.

So what was great about the first day of school?
Brayden - "We barely did any work and Mrs. McCullar was very humorous. And the accordion folder." (He gets to use an accordion file to keep organized, hopefully, and he is all jazzed about it. I hope it works!)

Kennedi - "I don't know, it was just great! I don't know why I was scared of Ms. Charlton!"

Carter - "I got to meet Bethany more and I got to sit next to her, she's nice." (There was a new girl from another track in his class today, I am glad he is somewhat social!)

I hope they have a great year!

The 4th

2008-07-07T17:37:00.005-06:00

We had a great 4th of July. We drove up to good ol' Casper, Wyoming (it was hardly windy! WooHoo!) The kids played, played and played some more. The adults talked, ate, read and hung out, ahhh, it was nice. It is always fun to get together with family, and I love how our kids match up so well with Chad and Patrea's kids. We got to watch the fireworks in a great place that wasn't crowded. We hiked up to a beautiful waterfall. The nice thing about the waterfall was it was so close and we hardly had to hike to get to it. So very kid friendly. Chad, Jace and Brayden braved the cold, cold water and stood under the waterfall, brrrr. It was a great little trip. We got to see Tyson get blessed and he is such a little cutie. He is a sweet little guy and I am glad I got to snuggle with him again.

Cold water!

Up at the falls

Waiting for the fireworks

Ellie Girl has a Birthday!

2008-07-03T12:46:00.008-06:00

Wow! My baby baby is 3! She was so excited for her Birthday. She has been saying for months now, "My birthday is July 2nd." For the past month I have asked her what she wanted for her birthday, her reply was "a candy cane." Wow! What an exciting present! It is hard to find candy canes in July, so her wish didn't come true. But you know what? She didn't even notice. She works really really hard to only get 3 fingers up at a time to show you how old she is. She sang the happy birthday song to herself a lot and we sang to her too. Grandma and Grandpa Pugsley called and tried to sing to her, but she busted out into song and she took over. It was cute. They also sent her 3 dollar bills and she promptly tried to give them to Kennedi and Carter (since they are the ones usually carrying around money), but I made her keep it. So a few minutes later someone left out some scissors and she decided to cut up one of the dollars. So now she is down to 2 dollars. :) I told my parents they should have sent quarters. :)

We enjoyed dinner at loud, fun Red Robin with Kat, Todd and their girls. The kids were so excited to have the workers at Red Robin sing to her and give her ice cream. She was sweet and shared the whole thing with Paige and Logan. We went home after dinner for the rainbow cake and presents. This age is fun. It made me excited for Christmas with a 3 year old.

Looking back from when Ellie was born, it is totally amazing that we even have the joys of this loud, noisy, busy, funny little 3 year old. Her first 9 months were a scary time with hospital stays, chemo, JXG, CMV, broviac lines, NICU's, PICU's, pneumonia, bone marrow biopsies, liver biopsy, transfusions, x-rays, MRI's, CT scans, doctors and nurses. We came so close to losing her. And I am ever grateful that we didn't. She brings a big light to this family. She has been our biggest handful, but we will keep her. :) She is so healthy now and has a huge spirit that explodes out of her round little body every day. Love you Ellie girl!

Ellie singing her birthday song

Before and After

2008-06-30T09:24:00.005-06:00

School year 2007-2008 has ended (a week and a half ago on June 20th). I take pictures of the kids the first day of school and the last. Wow! They have grown up so much! It is amazing. Especially the teeth! :) We had a great year. The kids did great and are learning and growing so much.

July 2007

June 2008

Wow Carter changed tons this year! He got glasses in October, lost multiple teeth, played flag football and soccer for the first time. We loved his teacher Mrs. Stevens.

-Favorite Subject- Math
-Best Friend- Cale
-Funnest thing you did or learned at school- Math Boxes
-What do you want to be when you grow up- Police Officer (Last year he wanted to be a trash man so he could "smell the stink."
-Favorite Food- Spaghetti
-Favorite School Lunch- Big Daddy's Pizza

July 2007

June 2008

How funny! Kennedi is wearing the same shirt. Kennedi changed lots too! She also got glasses, lost multiple teeth and started gymnastics. She is a great little gymnast and loves it. Mrs. Huston was a great teacher for her this past year.

-Favorite Subject- Math Homework
-Best Friend- Jayne and Amanda
-Funnest thing you did or learned at school- Biographies (She got to dress up as Betsy Ross and do a "living biography" on her.)
-What do you want to do when you grow up- "I just want to be a Mom actually"
-Favorite Food- Brownies
-Favorite School Lunch- Orange Chicken

July 2007

June 2008

Brayden thought it was his best yet. I hope he keeps thinking that every year. His teacher, Mrs. Parikh was awesome. She really made him try harder and do his best. He is still enjoying Flag Football and Basketball. And as you can see he grew out his hair a lot! (I am not loving it, but am trying to be patient)

-Favorite Subject- Math (He really loves it and is really good at catching on to new concepts)
-Best Friend- Nick, Danny, Will
-Funnest thing you did or learned at school- Going to Ameritowne (they learned how to have checking accounts, and had a "job" in the town. He was the town accountant- He decided he didn't want to be that when he grows up!)
-What do you want to be when you grow up- A chef or in the NBA
-Favorite Food- Chick-Fil-A chicken sandwich
-Favorite School Lunch- Orange Chicken

Cub Scout Day Camp Extravaganza

2008-06-26T16:28:00.004-06:00

It is done and gone! I survived my two volunteer mornings in the heat and being surrounded by hundreds of boys ages 8-10. It actually went better than I thought it would. I got to be with some great adults from the ward and the boys were pretty darn good. It is a good thing that it is Brayden's last year, because he is pretty bored with most of it. Luckily they get to do archery all 3 days and what boy doesn't like that? And we got a little more bonding time. Not much but a little, which is better than nada. It is dang hard to keep track of 18 boys when EVERY SINGLE BOY is wearing the same dang red shirt. And to top it off, most of them had the same hat on,(Brayden was too cool to wear it, so he wore a baseball hat). So from behind every boy looked the same. ( I should have taken a picture of that!)

Now to get Brayden ready tonight for his overnighter 11 year old scout camp early tomorrow morning! He is going to be exhausted! Luckily I get to stay home from this one! :)

"Camp Fire"

2008-06-24T16:51:00.003-06:00

Yippee for scouting. Last night we got to build a fire so we could get done with Brayden's Arrow of Light requirements. I so never wanted to be a scout mom, but here I am. We needed to build a fire before Friday so we decided, heck, why not build out in our pile of dirt! We didn't know where else to go. We probably broke laws and codes all over the place, but it really turned out fun! We need to go camping. The smoke smelled so good (when it wasn't going straight into our eyes and mouth). The kids were very cautious and had fun roasting marshmallows and burning old corn stalks. We haven't gone camping in forever since it always seemed like we had a kid at a "hard" age for camping, but I think this will be our year! Our summer has already filled up so quick, so it looks like we will go in August. It was fun to see Taft and the kids bond over the fire and marshmallows.

So this fire went well for the theme of the week for Brayden. He said he is going to be a "scout nerd" because he has Cub Scout Day Camp on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday from 9-3 and then on Friday morning he goes to an overnighter for 11 year old scout camp. So a "scout nerd" he will surely be. That is a lot of scouting! His birthday is in a place where he is able to do both of these camps. I like it because it keeps him busy for part of the time that they are on summer break for their 2 whole weeks. :) Go Scout Nerd!

RaNDoM

2008-06-23T08:58:00.003-06:00

The Olympic Trials have started. Good stuff on the TV that is actually okay for the kids to watch! It is fun to have something that is great for the whole family. I remember watching the Olympics as a kid and wanting to be like the athletes. Too bad I am not athletic unless you count badminton, and that was back in the day, and I actually wasn't that great, but I could play decent. I love the date that the Olympics start. 8-8-08. I have a thing for cool numbers. I wish one of my kids had a cool birthdate. I guess I didn't plan that well enough. :)

I found a new laundry soap that makes me happy. It has been great the last two night climbing in my yummy smelling sheets, it actually puts a smile on my face. If yummy smells make you happy too, try Gain Joyful Expressions, Apple Mango Tango. This scent might take over my love of Tide Simple Pleasures, Vanilla and Lavender. Sometimes strong smells give me headaches but these don't, yippee!

Ellie embarrasses me when I take her to the store. She was smiling and talking to another boy that was probably around 5 years old. He was with his Grandma. Ellie proceeds to ask about his "Dad" that he is with. Dang. The grandma has short hair and wasn't overly feminine, but she doesn't want to hear that she looks like a man! And at this same store she saw a black man. She then proceeds to say he is a scary guy. Blah! So not fun! I try to quietly tell her, that he is not, but she won't listen. I hope he didn't hear her, or if he did, I hope he laughed it off. I don't know why she would think that, not cool. Maybe it is because we live in a pretty white part of town and she doesn't get diversity enough. But then again when she sees guys riding their motorcycles with helmets, she points and says, "there's a bad guy!" Crazy almost 3 year old!

Where Should I Start?

2008-06-22T20:03:00.009-06:00

I haven't blogged for such a long time that I don't even know where to start. Things happened, we did some stuff and had some fun. :) Now I am all caught up! Ha! Well here goes..

Fieldtrip-

Let me start with Brayden's fieldtrip. I finally went on a fieldtrip again! Wowzers! I don't think I have been on a fieldtrip with Brayden since Kindergarten. How sad is that? Fieldtrips take so long that I feel guilty asking people to watch the kids. Kat was oh so kind to watch Ellie while I had fun at the Botanic Gardens with Brayden and 4 other classmates of his. The gardens at this time of the year are BEAUTIFUL. I took pictures but they just don't do it justice. I love love love flowers and they have so many there that I wish I could take them all home and plant them in my yard. But I would probably just kill them. Anyway, it was nice to spend time with Brayden and see him with his class and how they all act together. They are getting old. It is scary. I need to remember to go on his fieldtrips when he is in 6th grade. I only have one more year left with him in Elementary School. He acted so excited for me to go. I need to be better.

Riding on the Bus together. (I don't miss the bus part!)

Crazy 5th Graders

Father's Day-
The kids all had cute homemade cards and presents for Taft. They just love to give something on Mother's and Father's Day. They get so excited. I asked Taft what he wanted for dinner and he went with the classic dinner of roast, carrots and potatoes. Dang, the roast was a little chewier than it should have been, but at least it tasted good! It is hard to try to get it all ready before church when church starts at 9! But I survived it. I made the classic chocolate trifle (it is so so so rich, but yummy). Taft got some new BBQ tools and a cool shirt and I got an old picture of him and his Dad printed so he could put it in his office. I am thankful that Taft is the Dad of our family.

My 33rd Birthday-
It was a good one. I took the job of making it good myself. :) I got me a babysitter (well actually I had my favorite twins) and I went and got me a pedicure and a haircut. Man, I need more pedicures! Those are luscious! And I hadn't gotten my hair cut for 6 months, so it was time! I met Sharleen for lunch and I stuffed myself at good ol' Red Robin. Gotta love their fries with ranch and the Teriyaki Chicken Burger! Brooke and Brittany were sweet and wouldn't let me pay them for watching Ellie. Such nice girls! Taft and I had gone out the Saturday before for my birthday dinner. I wanted to try something new, so we went to Ali Baba's Mediterranean and Lebanese Grill. I loved it! Chicken Shwarma is good even with a really weird name. We got some ice cream with the kids and called my Birthday good. I got to go out the next night for dinner with my Primary Presidency and get stuffed again and then out again the night after that for dessert with more friends. How nice is that! I felt a little spoiled.

I borrowed this pic from Gina's Blog :) Thanks Gina!

Wacky Wednesday-
Ellie went to her first day of "preschool"!!! It is actually called Wacky Wednesdays at St. Luke's where she will go to preschool. She will officially start preschool in September. She was really excited to go and had a great time. When I went to pick her up she ran to me and said, "I had so much fun!" It was wonderful to have 2 1/2 hours to myself, even if I was just running errands and going to Carter's end of the school year party. It will be a beautiful thing in just a few short months on Tuesdays and Thursdays for 4 hours each day. Just me, myself, and I! Hooray!

On our way to "preschool"

Happy at Wacky Wednesdays

Well that is plenty long! And probably boring for anyone else but myself. But I have to record this stuff somewhere. More to come later.

Not Much to Say

2008-06-11T12:31:00.002-06:00

I don't feel like I have much to talk about lately. Things are winding down with school. Only 1 1/2 weeks left! But less than a month away until the kids start their new school year. Year round school is weird. I feel like we should be on summer break. I don't know why I feel so strongly about it this year because we have only done year round since Brayden started school.

Next week will be busy, busy, busy. Each kid has a different end of the year party that I should show my face at. And they are all on a different day too. Kennedi has a "Living History Museum" where she is dressing up like Betsy Ross and doing a little presentation. (Betsy had 16 siblings, whoa!) It is my birthday, my dads birthday and Father's Day all rolled up in one week. Ellie gets to go to her first kind of like preschool day next Wednesday. And so on and so on. Hopefully it will all be fun!

Well that's all I have to say about that.

My Baby Boy is Lucky 7!

2008-06-05T22:11:00.007-06:00

Happy Birthday Dear Carter, Happy Birthday to you!

This year I have tried to start a new tradition for the kids. When it is their birthday I go get them out of school and take them to lunch. Today Carter picked to go to Rubio's. I was excited to go there since neither of us have ever been there before. And it was yummy. A much better alternative than his other choices which were McDonalds and Taco Bell. 40 minutes wasn't long enough for us, but it was fun and I think he was happy to have a little one on one time. I know I was!

My kids also get to choose what they have for dinner and without fail Carter asked for pizza. I think the kids think that is their only choice for their birthday dinner! I tell them I could make something yummy or we could do something else, but they always pick pizza. Weird. So we headed to Cici's with our other family and spent a little time eating and chatting. We went home and blew out the candles on the oh so fun donut cake and opened presents. This age is still pretty easy to please. Carter had wanted this giant magnifying glass so he got it. He read his book tonight with it too. Funny. He also got some legos, a hat, a phlat ball and we fixed up Brayden's old bike so it was snazzy and new for Carter. Easy to please! Just what I like. He did want more presents to open though. I should just wrap up candy bars so they have "more" to open.

Carter is such a fun boy. He is growing up so fast. He is our little slow poke and so easy going. I hope he stays easy going, but I wouldn't mind if he would crank it up a notch with the slow poke living though! :) I am so happy he is a part of our family. Happy Birthday Car Car.

Holy Moly's

2008-06-03T21:12:00.003-06:00

Ellie is funny. She is always switching words around and using them in the wrong way. On our walks to school she looks for "holy moly's" or "holy poly's" on the trails and she usually sees lots of them. In the backyard she digs around the grass and dirt and finds more. I don't think she is very nice to them since she tries to open them when they are in a ball. Poor little bugs. Someday she will call them roly poly's or potato bugs like the rest of us, but for now we know what she is talking about and I think it is cute.

The other day she was sitting on my lap. We were both wearing shorts. She said, "your legs are smokey!" Ha! I guess I better shave more! I think she meant to say they were pokey. Especially since she kept trying not to touch her legs onto mine anymore, ouch. Then today she touched them and said they were fuzzy. The other night Taft asked her what was on his legs and he pointed to his hairy legs, she said "Grass!" Man, this age is funny.

Garden of the Gods

2008-06-01T21:33:00.003-06:00

Wowie! We have lived in good ol' Colorado for almost 6 years. The time has zipped by so fast, that I can hardly believe it has been that long! The first year we were here we went to Garden of the Gods. I can't believe we haven't back until tonight. It is great! It is beautiful. The kids loved it! So many big rock formations to climb on and the trails around the formations are awesome. We saw lots of blue jays, and rock climbers. It was great. We packed up some PB&J's and PB&H's, watermelon and gogurts. (A dinner for champions I tell ya!) We went with some of our favorite people, Todd, Kat and their cutie girls. Just another reminder of why we love living so close to them.

Ellie loved being free in the outdoors to run, skip, jump, sing, climb and dance. She even tried to get into a few pictures with another family of strangers. So after that she performed for them with her song and dance. She got to pet many dogs and just enjoyed life. I wish I had her zest of life and energy. Carter loved climbing and he wanted to pose for lots of pictures and I was happy to oblige. Kennedi loved being with her girly cousins and they had fun hiking around and being brave to climb. Brayden liked eating and climbing. That boy must be growing because his appetite sure has! But he is as skinny as ever. The kids weren't ready to leave but they have school tomorrow and it takes an hour to get home. The temperature was wonderful and it was great to enjoy the beauties of nature. I hope to go back soon!

4 miles and that is that

2008-05-30T12:12:00.002-06:00

I ran 4 miles yesterday morning! WooHoo! I haven't ran 4 in a long time. It actually didn't feel like it was killing me either. I was a little nervous to run that far since I was feeling a cold coming on, but I was hoping the run would burn it off.

Nope. I was wrong.

Every hour that passed I felt sicker and sicker. I finally decided to take my temperature last night and it said103! No wonder I felt like crap. Ick. So I am wondering if I have the influenza. I am not feeling much better today.

You know I am really sick when I can't even finish the season finale of LOST! Hold on, wow! I just was so done for the day and couldn't stay awake another second longer. Luckily we have the best invention ever made and we can hopefully finish it tonight.

Watermelon, Rain, & BBQ equals Memorial Day

2008-05-28T20:47:00.004-06:00

Brrrrr. Brrrrr. Brrrrr. So what is a gal to do when 21 people are getting together at my house for a BBQ and it rains? You squish them all into the house, silly! Totally not my plan. Dang. Oh well, it actually turned out okay. We just brought in the patio chairs and the kids ate in the "dining room" (I use that word loosely since normally there in no table or chairs in the dining room, ha!), and all of us adults squished in the kitchen and family room. Everyone was great sports about it and luckily it wasn't pouring so the guys didn't actually drown while grilling the meat. But the temp outside was only in the 50's and my hair was little crazy with the humidity. Luckily it is usually DRY since my hair is fluffy/ugly/kinky if there is moisture in the air. But back to the point. We had plenty of good food (thanks to everyone chipping in) and lots of good conversation. That is all you really need for a Memorial Day. Oh, that and lots of watermelon. :)

Hello, did I go a little crazy on the amount of watermelon we needed????

Ellie was in watermelon heaven

The day wrapped up nicely with full bellies and stronger friendships. The kids were happy and so were the parents. AHHHHH.... Now back to real life again, dang.

Sharing a little MP3/love time together at the end of the day

Family that isn't really family & other random things

2008-05-25T20:58:00.005-06:00

To put it simply, today was a great day. Primary went well. Presidency meeting was good (I love those ladies, they rock at what they do!) We got to go the Craig's house for some homemade ice cream (yum!), Annie painted the girls fingernails, and we got to talk to the adults that we don't get a lot of chances to normally talk too. Then we went to the park to say goodbye to a great family that is moving out of the ward. She has been the perfect visiting teaching partner in history... thanks Rachel! Tons of families showed up to the park to eat goodies and share goodbyes. It just struck me how many great people are in our ward. I already knew that, but being there tonight just made that feeling stronger. It just felt like a family tonight. I loved it. There were so many great people to have conversations with and the kids all had fun playing together or playing kickball. We have been in the ward for almost 4 years now and I think it is now starting to feel really comfortable. We have had the chance to see a lot of changes in the families in the ward, seeing the kids grow up, seeing new babies join families and new families joining the family. I don't know, I just really enjoyed myself. It didn't hurt that it was beautiful cool/warm weather. And when we left the sunset was gorgeous. My picture can't even capture it right, but here it is.

Other random things. We decided to try to pick out some more flowers/ground cover for the backyard and had fun going to the nursery to see all the beautiful plants and flowers. Sometimes I get overwhelmed with it all because I want it all fully grown in now and I want it to be perfect, so then I can't even choose what to get or what to do. But I got over it and hopefully what we planted will be great (even though I have to wait for it all to fill in under the trees.) Carter helped this time with the planting and he was a natural. It is fun to see him digging in the dirt and planting. We got dirty hands and it was great.

Ooh! My had looks old! Ack! :)

Brayden got a "new" bike. Woo hoo! He has totally outgrown his old bike (not too mention one of his brakes is busted) and I was dreading having to pay for a gear bike for him. He hasn't had gears before so it was about time! Luckily when we were driving home yesterday we noticed around the corner from our house they were selling a gear bike that was the perfect size for Brayden. Yippee! We pulled right over and said we would get it. (He did test drive it first!) He had been feeling jipped since Kennedi was given a cute gear bike a few months ago. Now Carter is the jipped one. He will just have to wait. So the kids had tons of fun going on lots of bike rides yesterday all around the neighborhood and trails. It is such much easier on all the hills around for them to be able to change into an easier gear. I love for them to be in the good ol' outdoors and enjoying time with each other. And how nice that I didn't have to pay full price for his "new" bike and not a penny for Kennedi's.

Good weekend so far! Now we get to all be together tomorrow for Memorial Day. BBQ's, here we come!

Flowers Make Me Happy

2008-05-23T19:37:00.005-06:00

If I had all the money in the world I would have gobs of flowers growing around my yard. But seeing as I don't have all the money in the world, and the money I do have is earmarked for 20 different other projects, the small flower bed will have to do. Just a little flower bed makes me happy. Oh, how I love those cute little flowers. Ahhhh, spring and summer are so good to me.

The flower planting crew

Serious Business

Freeze.

2008-05-22T13:23:00.010-06:00

I am thinking that now is about the best time to freeze my life just where it is. Brayden is almost 11 now and so close to the brink of "teenage" attitude that is it almost scary. I can almost feel the precious time ticking away each and every single day. He is so close to no longer listening to my advice and thinking that I might actually have good ideas. I am sad about it. I wonder if I have squandered away these last 10 precious years of his life. Have I taught him enough? Have I given him the tools to make it in this world? Have I helped him build a strong enough foundation that outside influences won't break him down? I don't think I have done enough. But what is enough? I think as a Mother, I will never think enough is enough. There is always more to do and to say. My children are healthy and are still at a fun stage (well 2 going on 3 wouldn't actually be called a fun stage, but it is funny a lot!). I do wish I could freeze time. I need more time. On the flip side I do wish a lot that Brayden was old enough to be the family babysitter. I would love more time to just leave the house with just my husband and not have to plan out all the details of getting a babysitter. But that time will come and it is coming faster and faster...

It has been fun to watch the kids go outside in the perfect Spring weather and play their version of baseball. Or to go in their room and play multiple games of their new favorite game of Monopoly. (That is if they can keep the destroying Ellie out of the room). It is rewarding to see your kids love and have fun together. I think that is why it hurts so much to see them when they are arguing and bugging each other too. I love my kids. They can change my emotions so quickly it is crazy. If they only knew what powers they hold over me. I hope they can be strong and stand up for what they believe. But first, we have got to get them to believe in all the right things...

I love that they love Monopoly, I loved it when I was a kid too!

Camera, camera, camera...

2008-05-21T08:28:00.004-06:00

I need a new camera. My "nice" camera isn't acting so nice right now. I can't get it to focus on what I want it too. It is very LAME! I don't want the fence behind my kids nice and crisp and then habe my kids faces blurry. So what to get???? Do I dare and get a SLR camera? (The price on those suckers hurt!) I would really need to take some classes to learn how the heck to use it, but they take such nice nice nice pics. (The 2 first pictures below of Carter playing soccer are from my friends nice camera, can't you see a major difference in the quality, wow!) I have been using my spare small little camera lately and I have gotten some decent pictures but nothing like I use too. I actually miss my film camera from the good ol', my Canon Rebel. But I love digital. Even though it makes me take 100 pictures instead of just 5.

Anyway, oh the joys of not having anything else more important to worry about. Life must be good.

Sunday Reflections

2008-05-18T12:42:00.004-06:00

Here are some thoughts I had rolling around in my head at church today.

What am I doing with my own testimony to teach my children by my example?
It's not enough to not participate in something we don't agree with, we need to voice our standards and expectations.

I am clearly not making my testimony grow as quickly and deeply that it needs too. I need to work harder and become the kind of example my children need me to be. They are growing up so fast, my time will be gone before I know it. It takes work and I need to remember to work at it and not just hope it happens. I have been so blessed to grow up with the Gospel in my life and it is time to show gratitude for what I have been given by increasing my testimony.

A little video of my sweetie, Ellie.

This is all worth it...

And Done.

2008-05-16T21:53:00.003-06:00

Soccer season is over. Do I hear applause? It was fun to have Carter in soccer for the first time, but it is always nice when it is done. Spring soccer is fickle. One weekend it will be lovely with green grass and birds chirping and the next weekend hits and bam, we have to haul out the winter coats and we freeze, you know what off, while we endure the 50 minutes of cold, windy, chill you to the bones weather. Carter decided he likes soccer better than flag football. I think he understood it better and that makes it better, don't you think? So now that we are done, we are back to our free weekends with nothing to do. (HA!) Great job Carter, it was fun to see you play and to enjoy a new sport! Keep it up buddy!

Trying to keep warm! Brrrrr.

Go Archuletta

2008-05-15T12:04:00.004-06:00

Go David Archuletta! What is not to like about this little guy? He is humble and a great singer. I hope he stays that way. I grew up probably about 5 miles away from where he is from. So that is my claim to fame, ha! He was actually visiting at my parents ward at the very beginning of the try-outs for American Idol so they have been tuning in every week to see what happens too!

I am not saying that I don't like David Cook, but whatever happens I think big things will happen for Cook so I have to go for Archuletta.

It's been a fun season for us mormon fans!

Field Day and Lame Mom Sickness

2008-05-14T15:20:00.003-06:00

I have the lame mom sickness today. Today is Field Day at the kids school. I put Ellie in the jogging stroller (which I still have Kat! I will give it back eventually) and walked over to the school to watch Brayden play all his fun games in the great outdoors. I took some pictures to document that I am actually a cool mom and I go support my kids. It was fun and Ellie was nice and good. We went home for lunch and a break before Carter and Kennedi's field day started. I decided to take the van this time to the school because we weren't staying long since Ellie needs a nap. So I pack us up to go and promptly forget my camera, dang! So no pics of Kennedi and Carter. Sorry guys, but I promise I was there! Ellie was a wild woman this time and she was trying to perform for everyone by going up in front of anyone that would listen and she would sing. She is such a busybody. Then she decides to run out into the field to play (mind you this is just after I told her to NOT go onto the field) and she immediately gets smacked into and pushed onto the ground. So now we have screaming. Dang, not so fun. Oh well, at least we went and showed our faces.

1 Week Old

2008-05-13T11:42:00.007-06:00

I haven't had time until now to write about my new baby nephew! He is so cute and perfect. I was lucky enough to go up to Casper and spend a day with my sister Patrea before she was induced. She was so sweet (and so was Chad) to let me come into the delivery and watch Tyson be born. I have never done that before and was lucky to be there. Patrea had him so quick though that I didn't even get much time to take it all in! I left the room for her to get her epidural and by the time they were done, she was all ready to have the baby. After 2 pushes, he was out! Wow! I told her she should have 20 kids, but she thinks that 4 is enough. :) I got to hold that sweet new baby and got to spend time with their 3 other kids. I loved it. Taft was nice enough to stay home with our kids so I could go help. It was fun to help get the kids ready and take them to school and clean someone else's house. I wish I could keep up my house as good as I could keep up her house. It was great to actually see Patrea 9 months pregnant. We went out for lunch the day before the baby was born and had a little sister time. I just love her. She is one of my best friends and I wish we lived next door to each other. (But she would have to move here because I don't want to live in Wyoming, ha!)

Anyway, it was hard to leave that new sweet little baby and the rest of the family. Luckily we only live about 4 1/2 hours away so we will have to visit soon.

Welcome to the world little Ty!

Mother's Day 2008

2008-05-12T09:49:00.005-06:00

I like Mother's Day.

I love that I am a Mother.

I don't love all the jobs of a mother but I am glad I am one.

I am no where a perfect mother.

I wish I was.

I wish I had more patience.

I love when my kids play sweetly together.

I hate it when they fight.

I love hearing my kids laugh.

It makes me sad when I hear them cry.

My life is wrapped up in the lives of 4 precious kids.

I wish I would remember more often how precious they are.

My wish for the next year is to sit back and enjoy the moments that are happening everyday.The big the small and the in between. Time is slipping away so quickly. I need to enjoy it now.

Mother's Day was great once church was over. :) I had to conduct, do sharing time, have the primary kids make cards for their moms and coordinate the men subbing for the women in primary so they could go to Relief Society. So I was a bit busy! But it was all over at 12 so I had the rest of the day to enjoy.

Brayden made me eggs and toast for breakfast. It was very sweet. They were a bit cold and a bit slimy, but totally wonderful. :) Taft was awesome and got me two sets of a dozen roses. Ahhhh, I love fresh flowers. He planned and prepared a yummy yummy dinner with cheesecake and my favorite chocolate satin pie. Chocolate heaven! He took care of the kids and cleaning and everything! I think his day was busy too! We enjoyed the time after church with Todd, Kat and their girls, and that made it even better. We are lucky to have family close by! I got sweet homemade cards, a booklet and an handmade candle stick holder. Always precious!

I like the ZOO again!

2008-04-30T08:48:00.007-06:00

Most of them look happy :)

Now that I know I can handle all the kids by myself I decided it was time for a trip to the Denver Zoo. It really is a great zoo. We have a membership but haven't used it since August! How lame am I? Last Thursday was a nice cool/warm day to go but I guess tons of the schools around thought it was a good day to go also. There was a ton of kids there! Oh well, we still had a good time and since the zoo is huge, there was plenty of room for us all.

Ellie loved seeing all the animals and in between each exhibit kept asking so see more animals. She has been asking about going to see the animals this past week too. So I guess she liked it! The nice thing about having a membership is that you don't have to see every. single. thing. It is just too big of a zoo to do it all in a day without having the parents/kids melt down.

Brayden wasn't ecstatic to be there but he was a trooper. It is nice having a kid getting older and helpful. He was my official "push the stroller with all the stuff" guy. It was nice not to have to worry about that stuff since Ellie was out and about enjoying life.

We had Kennedi's friend Emma with us. She is such a sweet girl. The girls play so good together and are fun to watch. They thought the giraffe house was stinky but enjoyed everything else. Especially ice cream/cotton candy break. We are sad to have Emma move away to Texas in a few weeks. We will miss her and her family!

Look at that guys fro! Wowsers!
That was one of the best exhibits I saw! Hee hee.

It was a happy day at the zoo. I loved the weather. The kids were great and we loved being outdoors! Yeah for the zoo!

Do Not Disturb

2008-04-23T21:18:00.003-06:00

This is what I found on my boys bedroom door this morning.

HA! I think they forgot that the 2 year old of the house doesn't know how to read! :)

Wow! Another Month Gone By

2008-04-22T20:42:00.007-06:00

I swear that the older you get the faster time goes. It seems like the weeks are whizzing by! So I am going to try to catch up a little with some of the happenings around here. Let us start with today.

The kids are off track and I want to do some fun activities with them. I have been pretty lame with doing fun things in the past because a 2 year old isn't the easiest to take on fun activities. So we decided to go to the pool today. Ellie is so much easier now! She will actually just play in the water and not go far away. Man, that makes my life so much better now. I don't feel like a stress case anymore with her when we aren't at home. Brayden, Kennedi, and Carter loved the big curvy slide and went on it over and over again. You know what the best part was? I didn't have to get completely in the water! But I still have to get in a suit. But in a few years that will just be a memory.

Earlier in the morning when I was getting ready for the day, I heard Ellie scream, one of those scary screams when you know something REALLY is wrong. I ran to her room and the first thing I see is her dresser tipped over. I was searching to see if she was underneath it, but luckily she wasn't, she was actually sitting right next to it. So I guess she had opened a drawer to climb up to the top and it fell over. So scary! It shows you how fast things can happen. Luckily all that happened was she got a bump/scrape by her eye. I am just so thankful it wasn't worse.

Ouch!

Yesterday was a big day for Kennedi. She was so excited. She got her glasses. Her eyesight really isn't that bad but bad enough to need glasses at school so she can see the board better when she sits at the back of the classroom. It was fun to hear her reaction after she wore them for the first time. She could see all the details on the trees and the signs and everything. So nice to see crystal clear!

All clear now!

Okay, so I wanted to catch up more, but that is all I am doing for now! The End.

Eve of Easter

2008-03-22T21:15:00.007-06:00

The morning started out cold on the sideline of Carters first soccer game. He was really good! His team only made one goal and he passed the ball to his teammate and he made the goal. It was good to see him working hard and trying really intently to get the ball. I was proud of him and he really likes it a lot. So yippee! I don't love going to games every Saturday, but it is good for him to be out there working with a team and getting some heart pumping exercise. We only had a one week break between Braydens basketball season and soccer season.

It's bright out here!

Later in the afternoon was the annual Easter egg coloring! We all had fun doing this. I don't think Ellie has ever gotten to color eggs before so she was excited to learn all about it!

Waiting for the show to begin!

We all had fun and I even taught Taft a new easter egg trick that he had never done. You cut out shapes out of tape and stick them onto the egg and color it and after you color it you peel the tape off and it is still white underneath, so wahlah, designer eggs!

Look closely!

It is fun to see how differently every kid and parent likes to do their eggs. I guess it goes to show that no two Easter eggs are alike!

Ellie was a little rough on the eggs... she was having so much fun that she started to crack her eggs. Hmmmm. So the kids got to eat some of the eggs for a snack! Yeah for Ellie being two!

Can you see the cracks? Oops!

We have church at 9 in the morning, so we are going to wait for the big hunt after church. It doesn't help that it snowed a little bit this evening. Doesn't make for a fun early morning Easter egg hunt! Hopefully it will be dried out in the afternoon.

Happy Easter Eve!

A Letter to motivation

2008-03-18T16:57:00.000-06:00

Dear Motivation,

Where oh where have you gone? You have been missing for quite some time now. I wasn't worried at first but now I am downright troubled with your absence. I would look for you under the bed, in the closet or in the laundry pile, but I am too lazy to do that. I would just like you to magically appear back into my life. Is it because you are embarrassed to be with me while I am dressed in my "comfy" pants and a big sweatshirt? Or because I have no makeup on? Could it be that you won't be with me because I have no dinner menu planned or that the laundry is never done and piled in multiple places in the house? Is it because the "office" is only partially painted or that the kitchen always has small piles "of what to do with that stuff", stuff? Don't be ashamed. Just come back! I miss you! I need your help once again. You are needed! (Doesn't it feel good to be needed?)

Love,
the unmotivated woman in the house

Ellieism

2008-03-18T16:18:00.005-06:00

Today was a windy day. When Ellie and I were in the van waiting for the kids after school , Ellie said,

"Mom, the trees are dancing!"

I looked up and sure enough, the trees WERE dancing. I love it when I can see through the eyes of a 2 year old.

My Reflection

2008-03-03T08:52:00.003-07:00

Yesterday, when I was walking past my mirror in my bedroom, I noticed something that I hadn't noticed before. When I looked in the mirror the reflection looking back at me was different. I caught myself and looked a little more. Guess what was looking back at me? A WOMAN. No, not a girl, not a young woman, but a full grown adult woman. When did that happen?

He Loves Me

2008-02-17T13:18:00.005-07:00

My husband really does love me.

See? And all in the account of "because."

He also started the dishwasher this morning and gave Ellie a bath. Thanks hon! You are a gem!

Saturday observations

2008-02-16T21:04:00.004-07:00

Ahhhh, doesn't it feel good to have a clean house? So, I decided I wanted a clean house today. I think half of my Sunday downer feelings have to do with a messy house. It just doesn't feel good to be in your house all day when it isn't clean. And then if I want to clean on Sunday I feel guilty because it is suppose to be a day of rest. So we cleaned lots today and it feels good! I think I even did about 6 loads of laundry! I guess that is what happens when you are sick and you don't do any housework for a few days.

Poor Braydens basketball team lost again. They are 0-6. I feel bad for them. It would be nice to have at least ONE win! I just think it was a mistake for his team to play up a grade. The boys on the other teams are just so much bigger than his team and it makes it so hard. I think it is extra hard on them since last year they made it to the championship game and the year before they won the championship. Here's hoping for next week!

There is something about going to tell your kids goodnight and seeing them kneeling next to their bed praying that makes my heart extra happy.

When we were reading the scriptures tonight as a family we were reading the part that says "my soul delighteth in the things of the Lord", and I told my kids that it would make me happy if this is how they felt. Kennedi then replies, "This might sound weird, but I would rather have a thousand posters of Jesus than of Hannah Montana." Well then, I think that counts for something! (She is really into Hannah Montana right now and loves her music and show. Just like every other girl from age 5-11.)

Ellie has been doing awesome in her big girl bed, yippee! Now in hindsight I can't believe I didn't do it earlier. But maybe she is doing awesome because I timed it just right! Heehee! Now we will see in a few weeks how she does when she is sharing a room with her big sister and all of her bigs sisters stuff!

The Day After

2008-02-15T20:14:00.005-07:00

So guess what I had for breakfast this morning?

Yup, you guessed it! My Valentine Berry Trifle. Yum.
The Breakfast of Champions.

Love BUG

2008-02-14T21:01:00.005-07:00

So today is Valentine's Day. And I am stuck with the Love BUG. It seems that I have caught whatever bug Brayden has been carrying around here at the house. Brayden had to come home early from school on Tuesday because he had a fever. He is still home. And the lame thing is that school just went back on track on Monday! Where is the relief? He has had a fever the whole time until later todaay it finally broke and his crazy lost voice seems to sound better. I haven't been feeling that dandy myself the past few days but today I got the fever, blah.

Taft did make us pink waffles for breakfast and I did cut hearts shapes out of them for the kids and we did hang up our annual heart dangles from the kids doors and they did get a love note and candy from us. (How was that run on sentence for ya!)

Taft also left me two big bars of Ghiradelli chocolates that were mint and raspberry, yum!

I got the kids a heart shaped pizza from good ol' Papa Murphy's and let them drink some sparkling apple cider before Taft got home. I had my sweetie pick us up some yummy Thai Basil and I set the table to have a "romantic" candle lit dinner with the good china and all. What was I thinking? Did I really seriously think we could have a romantic dinner with 4 kids in the house? No way, it isn't going to happen! I wanted the kids to go upstairs and play, but Ellie wasn't excited with that idea. She wanted to sing Happy Birthday to Kat and blow out our candles and watch us eat. So with screaming and crying she was upstairs with Kennedi who didn't want to be up there either. Lame. It isn't so romantic when the parents are angry and the kids are crying. Oh well, the food tasted great though! I did make a berry trifle and it hasn't been touched and it is after 9pm. Bummer. I like dessert.

Here are the kids enjoying their Valentine sweets.

Happy Birthday Lincoln!

2008-02-12T21:18:00.002-07:00

Just a little shout out to the 16th President and his Birthday! We have a little soft spot for Abraham Lincoln since Brayden was in 2nd grade and did a "living biography" on Lincoln. It was very cute. So I had to post a picture of it. Happy Birthday Honest Abe!

Gotta love Ebay for costumes!

What is it about Sunday that...

2008-02-10T14:00:00.000-07:00

makes me feel inadequate.

I don't really know.

And I wish I was a better writer so that I could explain myself. Uggg.

I feel like I have a split personality on Sundays. One Sunday I will feel like a decent person and then the next, bam!, I feel like a loser. Today is a loser Sunday. I feel like a lousy mom, an impatient wife and a lacking woman. I think it is dumb. I don't like it. I don't like feeling inadequate. What EVER made me think I could be a good mom and teach these four beautiful children how to live happily and gratefully through life? I think my brain hasn't even been on! I am having a little pity party and I do know that I will get over it. But hopefully something changes next Sunday, the problem is, I am the only one that can do something about it and that feels like it won't happen either.

Piano Recital Saturday

2008-02-09T21:35:00.000-07:00

Kennedi's first recital went great. Even though she has had her recital piece memorized for weeks, she still wanted that music up in front of her. That is okay, anything to help calm the nerves. She was definately nervous before the recital but I gave her a little pep talk and waited to see how it went. It was awesome. So cute to see her up there being professional. I was glad to see she was number 5 out of 26 so she could get it over with and see that it wasn't as big as deal as she was making it. And she surely learned that lesson. She said after the recital that it wasn't that bad after all! She has done great in her 5 short months of lessons.

This was Braydens 3 or 4th recital, but his first one since his teacher has been Laurel. She has been a great teacher in finding music for him that he can enjoy playing. He really is a natural and I hope I can keep making him play and play. He has great rythmn (always has) and is so good for only playing since 3rd grade. He practiced his recital piece tons and had it memorized and didn't even bring his music. I was glad to see he was confident. He even said he wasn't even nervous! Ha! I wish I was that way! It is a great thing to see your kids do well.

So How Do I Live Up To That?

2008-02-08T11:44:00.001-07:00

Can you read that? It is a letter from Kennedi (still 8 years old). It says:

Who could have better

mom Then my mom. She

Loving: She cooks our food youd

whent her so bad because

she is the Best. and a

littell siaret She's the best cook

I know I am not the Best, and I know I am not the best cook, but it was sweet of her. Maybe I could try a little harder to live up to my letter.

Lost: Tooth Fairy Magic

2008-02-07T21:26:00.000-07:00

Kennedi my eight year old came to me last night to ask a question. She asked, "Mom, are you the one that puts the money under my pillow for my tooth?" I asked, "What do you think?" She thought a second and said, "I think it is you." So since she is 8 and she wanted to really know I told her , "well there you go!"

Well a few minutes passed and I saw her looking very sad. She said in her depressed voice, "I wish I would have never asked! Now it isn't fun anymore!" I am not surprised about her response at all. The magic is gone. No fun! She asked me, "why did you tell me?" And she cried. But that isn't a surprising reaction, she is my dramatic girly. So I tried to make her feel better and told her the next time Carter (who is 6) loses a tooth I would let her help me join the fun. She seemed to like that idea. She also came up with an idea that to make it fun for her, maybe I could surprise her and give her a little gift instead of money in exchange for her tooth. I think I like that idea too.

Now, she better not clue in on Santa! I am not ready to let that one go!

Poor girl, it isn't fun to grow up.

Got this from my sister. Too funny not to post.

2008-02-06T07:58:00.000-07:00

When I was a kid, adults used to bore me to tears with their tediousdiatribes about how hard things were when they were growing up; what with walking twenty-five miles to school every morning .... Uphill BOTH ways …Yadda, yadda, yadda

And I remember promising myself that when I grew up, there was no way in heck I was going to lay a bunch of crap like that on kids about how hard I had it and how easy they've got it.
But now that...I'm over (ahem...waaaaay over) the ripe old age of thirty, I can't help butlook around and notice the youth of today. You've got it so easy. I mean, compared to my childhood, you live in a dang Utopia. And I hate to say it but you kids today you don't know how good you've got it.

1. When I was a kid, we didn't have the Internet. If we wanted to know something, we had to go to the dang library and look it up ourselves... In the card catalog.. (Do you even know what a card catalog is? Didn't think so.)

2. There was no email.. We had to actually write somebody a letter... With a pen. Then you had to walk all the way across the street and put it in the mailbox and it would take like a week to get there.

3. There were no MP3's or Napsters. If you wanted to steal music, you had to hitchhike to the dang record store and shoplift it yourself. Or you had towait around all day to tape it off the radio and the DJ would usually talkover the beginning and mess it all up.

4. We didn't have fancy crap like Call Waiting. If you were on the phone and somebody else called they got a busy signal, that's it.

5. And we didn't have fancy Caller ID Boxes either. When the phone rang, you had no idea who it was. It could be your school, your mom, your boss, your bookie, your drug dealer, a collections agent, you just didn't know... You had to pick it up and take your chances, mister.

6. We didn't have any fancy Sony Playstation video games withhigh-resolution 3-D graphics. If we were lucky, we had Video Pong and later on the Atari 2600. With games like "Space Invaders" and "asteroids" and the graphics were horrible. Your guy was a little square. You actually had to use your imagination. And there were no multiple levels or screens, it wasjust one screen forever. And you could never win. The game just kept gettingharder and harder and faster and faster until you died. Just like LIFE.

7. When you went to the movie theater there no such thing as stadiumseating. All the seats were the same height. If a tall guy or some old broad with a hat sat in front of you and you couldn't see, you were just screwed.

8. Some of us had no cable...only 3 stations (maybe) that you had to gooutside and turn the antennae to be able pick up. Later on, we had cabletelevision, but back then that was only like 15 channels and there was noonscreen menu. You had to use a little book called a TV Guide to find outwhat was on.And there was no Cartoon Network either. You could only get cartoons onSaturday Morning. Do you hear what I'm saying.?. We had to wait ALL WEEK forcartoons.

9. And we didn't have microwaves, if we wanted to heat something up, we had to use the stove or go build a fire ... Imagine that. If we wanted popcorn,we had to use that stupid JiffyPop thing or a pan with HOT oil and realpopcorn kernels and shake it all over the stove forever like an idiot.

10. When we were on the phone with our friends and our parents walked-in, we were stuck to the wall with a cord, a 7 foot cord that ran to the phone - not the phone base, the actual phone. We barely had enough length to sit on the floor and still be able to twirl the phone cord in our fingers. If you suddenly had to go to the bathroom - guess what we had to do..... Hang upand talk to them later.

That's exactly what I'm talking about. You kids today have got it too easy.You're spoiled.. You guys wouldn't have lasted five minutes back in 1960 or 1970 or 1980.

Regards,The over 30 Crowd

Snow Tracks

2008-02-05T09:31:00.000-07:00

I have a lame pet peeve. I don't like driving on freshly fallen snow on my driveway. It needs to be shoveled first. I also don't like it if my sidewalk path up to my front door isn't shoveled and people have to walk through the snow to get to my door. I don't know why it bothers me, but it does :) Taft probably is happy that it bugs me because it gets me outside to do the shoveling. (But don't get me wrong, I don't have to be the one that shovels it, just as long as it gets shoveled.)

You see, when fresh snow is driven on, it compacts it into ice onto my driveway and that is not happy. My house faces North and we all know what that means, it will never ever ever ever melt. (Well it will probably melt in May) Why oh why didn't the house we loved face South? Somedays I look longingly across the street to their dry, clear driveways and get a little pang of envy when I look back and see my wet, slippery driveway.

Too bad this doesn't carry over into other parts of my life. Like, I can't get dressed until all the laundry is done, or I can't take a shower until my shower is clean. Hmmmm, maybe that isn't such a good idea, I would never get dressed or take a shower. I guess I will just stick with the snow on the driveway!

Been there. Done that. Gone.

2008-02-04T13:13:00.000-07:00

The days of diapers are officially complete! YeeHaw! Ellie is now potty trained. Phew. After four children, this feels like quite the accomplishment! I am going into a new phase of parenting. It didn't seem like it would ever happen, but now it seems like it didn't take that long.

Another big step is happening today. Let's just say, BIG GIRL BED. Now this is a good and bad thing. Seriously, I have never let my kids stay in a crib for so dang long, but I just am afraid that a bed means no nap! And I thrive on nap time! I need Ellie to take a nap. She is so busy that it is nice to have a few hours of peace. But it is time since she climbs out of her crib every morning anyway.

Gone are the diapers.

Gone is the crib.

Gone is the baby phase.

All four babies have slept in that crib. I think I have to keep it and use it for my grandkids one day. I am not really sad, but I am nostalgic about it. It is almost weird to know there will be no one else to go through these phases, but we are excited for the next phase in life.

Sleep tight little one. Keep sweet forever. (You will always be my baby)

Be.

2008-02-02T20:25:00.000-07:00

I want to be.

Today was the funeral of a great man. One who made me want to BE a better person. President Hinckley has been the prophet since the year I got married. He has been an influence to our family for the good. He has been the only prophet that my children have had. I am sorry to let him go, but at the dear age of 97, he should be able to go back to our Father and our Brother and to his love of his life, his dear wife. I hope he gets to rest, but I am sure he will be ready to GO serve more.

In the spirit of this great man, my word of the year is: BE. I know what this means to me. Some of it goes along with President Hinckley's Be's. Here they are:
Be Grateful
Be Smart
Be Clean
Be True
Be Prayerful
Be Humble

I want to BE.
I want to be the person I am suppose to BE.

Here is one last wonderful quote from the Prophet:

“Anyone who imagines that bliss is normal is going to waste a lot of time running around shouting that he has been robbed. The fact is that most putts don’t drop, most beef is tough, most children grow up to be just like people, most successful marriages require a high degree of mutual toleration, and most jobs are more often dull than otherwise. Life is just like an old time rail journey … delays, sidetracks, smoke, dust, cinders, and jolts, interspersed only occasionally by beautiful vistas and thrilling bursts of speed. The trick is to thank the Lord for letting you have the ride.”

Okay, I have to share one more quote:

“The time has come for us to stand a little taller, to lift our eyes and stretch our minds to a greater comprehension and understanding of the grand millennial mission of this The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. This is a season to be strong. It is a time to move forward without hesitation, knowing well the meaning, the breadth, and the importance of our mission. It is a time to do what is right regardless of the consequences that might follow. It is a time to be found keeping the commandments. It is a season to reach out with kindness and love to those in distress and to those who are wandering in darkness and pain. It is a time to be considerate and good, decent and courteous toward one another in all of our relationships. In other words, to become more Christlike.”

Again.

2008-02-01T07:54:00.000-07:00

Here I go again.

Attempting to get into the habit of DAILY scripture reading. Again.

Trying to stop yelling at the kids. Again.

Being a President as a church calling. Again.

Working hard to lose those pesky extra 5-10 pounds. Again.

Wishing to "finish" the house in a way we love it. Again.

Wanting to BE a blogger. Again.

Not giving up. Again.

WooHoo It Is Flag Football Time!

2007-08-15T20:53:00.000-06:00

The season has begun. Flag football. Carter started his practices tonight. It is pretty cute to see 6 year olds out there trying to learn the game. Before we went to practice Carter asked, "so how do you play anyway?" Hmmmm, I didn't think about teaching him the game before. I went over a few basic things and I don't think it really made sense, but I just told him that his coach will tell him and that is what practice is for. He said that practice was "great." I was glad to hear it. He even scored a touchdown.

We shall see how it goes on Saturday for the first game. This will be Brayden's second season with the same team, so it should be fun. Crazy fun that is. Going to two games on Saturday should be loads of fun with a 2 year old. I think Taft and I will have to trade off for sure.

So let the fun begin!

(except for the case of having to take 4 children to practices every week, oh well, I will survive.)