School performance and more!

Thursday Amber had her school sing along for the parents. It was quite cute. She is always so excited to perform, especially when she knows I am in the audience. I think she worries at times that I won't be there. But the little waves, silly faces, smiles, and all around cuteness of my daughter are so worth every hassle of getting there and the hassle of fighting with the younger children while I am there. Some kids are so embarrassed to be up there, or too shy to look up. Not Amber. As soon as she walks in she is perusing the audience, trying to find me. Then it is a smile and a little wave. Then it is more smiles and waves as the rest of the children file in! I'm such a proud mom. I love when my children perform.
Amber had two parts in the program. She sang in the after school choir and then sang with the 1st grade. I'm glad she likes to sing right now because earlier in the year she had an experience which turned her away from singing. So when she said she wanted to do after school choir, I was shocked, but encouraged it! She loves it.

Because she performed on Thursday, she thought they didn't have the after school program after school on Thursday. So nobody was there to pick her up from school. She went to the office in a panic. The secretary tried to call me, but I didn't hear the phone, and when I saw the number, I thought it was for John (he's a substitute teacher and the school system calls him all the time!). It wasn't until I really looked at the number that I realized it was Amber's school. So I thought, oh no, there is no after school program and Amber needs to be picked up. Luckily I had John call before he left to get her. It turns out because they couldn't get a hold of me, they called the next person on the list, my dad! John told the secretary that she was supposed to be in the after school program and then he called my dad who was already on his way to get her. Ummmm . . . dad, you don't need to pick Amber up. She's supposed to still be there. She was just confused! I feel bad, but at the same time, I have to laugh.

Yesterday afternoon Amber went to the after school program rewards party. They got to see the Princess and the Frog. She was so excited to see a movie at the theater. That hasn't happened for quite some time. So she talked John's ear off the whole way home. John says that after hearing Amber talk about the movie, he feels as if he's already seen it himself! :)

Nap time adventures

We have been struggling with nap time at our house lately. Timothy still gets so tired and has a total meltdown if he doesn't get a nap. But we've had so many things going on lately that he doesn't want to stop and rest. Kind-of like me, well, except I would love to stop and rest, but don't have much time for that! So yesterday Timothy screamed and screamed when I put him down. I think he maybe slept about 10 minutes for a nap yesterday. Then he was up late last night, just wanted to be with mommy I suppose. Yikes, he is too much of a momma's boy, I think.
So today he kept telling me he was poopy and kept trying to take his pants off. Ummm . . . yeah, checked his diaper and nothing. So I ignored him. Pretty soon all was quiet. I looked at him and his head was on the seat of the chair, feet on the floor. he wasn't moving so I checked. Lo and behold, he was asleep. I picked him up, put him in bed, and 30 seconds later-- fast asleep! Does this work all the time? No. But it is sure nice when it does. I get time to finish things I need to do, and sometimes I even get time to slow down!

It's a Boy!

It's a Boy! Woo hoo! Now, the task of finding names. You see, we have a tradition to hold up here. All of our kids have initials that spell something. We have an ARM, and ELM, and a TIM. But I am having a difficult time with names right now. Most of the ones my husband has come up with are awful. I can't stand the names he likes. Ugh. By April I have hope that this will be narrowed down and that we can finally agree on something to name our child!

Recharged

Every mom magazine/book I have ever read tells a mom to take time for herself. Okay, so I get five minutes here and five minutes there. Maybe once in a while I get ten minutes where I don't have kids demanding attention, the dishes needing to be done, or the laundry calling my name! And I admit, I get frustrated easily when I am tired, worn out, and just plain down in the dumps. This is what led up to the day I told Aunt Deb I was giving up because it was just too plain hard! And I was also feeling extremely guilty that I couldn't keep up with it all. After all, other women seem to have it all together, clean houses, well dressed children, well behaved children, etc. And the list never ends. I try not to compare myself, but I find the times I compare are the lowest!
I didn't intend to tell Aunt Deb how much I was struggling. After all, she had her own worries and did not need to worry about me too! I couldn't add to her burden. But somehow, she has this sixth sense. She always knows when I need help and she jumps in.
So, here comes Aunt Deb to the rescue! We planned a mom's night out, not just a couple of hours, but the entire night and most of the next day! She made reservations at a hotel for just me and her. We sent the kids, my husband, and her husband to her house about an hour away from Salt Lake! We went our own way and stopped for the night at the hotel! Aunt Deb treated me to dinner, a mani/pedi, and just some plain old adult conversation that was not interrupted by kids! What a treat for the soul. I needed that break to get recharged. I feel so much better. Nothing has changed except how I feel. I am so grateful for an Aunt who takes care of me when I need it most!
I would post pictures of our night out, but well, we didn't take time to take pictures. We were so busy having fun that pictures were the last thought on our minds! We got back to her house Saturday evening about dinner time. Then we enjoyed being back with the family, bunked down for the night, and I brought my family home Sunday morning in time to get ready for church.
So, I am recharged and ready to roll with the punches! I'm really back now!

I'm back, but still wacked!

So seriously, my hormones are so wacked right now. Earlier today I got mad at the neighbor kid because he told me I had the wrong garbage can from the middle of the circle! Are you kidding me? It was just a garbage can! And then I went inside and just wanted to cry. But my kids were all watching me. Oh my goodness, what an example I'm showing to them! Getting mad over a garbage can? The garbage can was the last straw in a series of events that led me over the edge. Not that I want to hash that out, but I seem to be trying to find some justification for losing it over a garbage can. Ugh.
On a brighter note, we had our family pictures taken almost two months ago. My sister in law took the pictures and she did an amazing job. But I also have the cutest and best looking family in the whole world! So enjoy the pictures.



We had a lot of fun having pictures taken. And I absolutely love the fall colors. The one time I felt that everything turned out the way we wanted it to! Did I mention that I think I have the most amazing family in the world? Somebody will likely need to remind me at a later date, possibly even tomorrow morning, that I just said that! :)

Taking a break

I feel like I've really been a slacker on my blog. I have found myself at a severe loss of words. Likely as a result of stress overload at this particular point. I need to take a break but don't know how long I need. Be patient, I will be back. I just need time to take care of other things in my life right now.

Musings on having a two year old boy!

I can't keep up.
I'm so tired.
I need a nap.
But he keeps going.
I sit down on the couch.
He climbs onto the table.
I push in all the chairs.
He pulls them out.
I put things out of reach.
He finds a way to get into them.

And the list keeps going. Things like, I say no, he does it anyway! Despite the troubles he causes in my home, there are lots of things I love about him.

I love the way he laughs (even when he knows he's getting in trouble).
I love his hugs and kisses.
I love that he is still so cuddly.
I love storytime with him.
I love watching him sleep.
I love his mischievous look when he's getting ready to cause trouble.
I love how he says mama and dada.
I love how he growls like his daddy.
I love how he gets mad when we take his socks off!

And this list can go on forever. I love my little guy and I can't believe he is two. He just had a birthday a couple of days ago, which we celebrated last night. He has grown up so much in the past six months. Sometimes I am sad that he has grown so fast, but to watch him become more independent, I love watching this stage too. Sad tears for days gone by that cannot be recaptured, but joyful tears for the times ahead that I get to share with him.

It pays to read with your children!

I've always heard that you should read to your children, it will help them even when they are babies. So with each of my children I have always emphasized the importance of books. We have filled our house with books. These books are readily accessible at any time to my children. We also take them to the library and let them experience different books. They have many opportunities to read. My children enjoy reading with me. Even my first grader, who can read on her own, still loves to sit and listen to stories. It has proved to be a wonderful experience for our family. It creates amazing opportunities for discussion and such between us and our children. I love to read to my children.
There are other benefits to reading to your children, or having them read to you! Over the summer there were multiple reading programs where the kids earned rewards for reading. Not that my kids needed any extra encouragement to read, but it was fun for them to mark their time and to eventually report their time at the end of the program. Even my two year old could participate in most of the programs.
First off there was the library program for kids and adults alike. We all spent time reading and received a free book in August. That was fun for the kids to go to the library and get to pick a new book, bring it home, and realize they didn't have to return it to the library in a couple of weeks! Oh the joy.
Then Amber participated in a program sponsored by the Utah State Fair for school age children. She only had to read 10 books by a certain date, I think by July. She had two or three months to read these 10 books. She completed it quickly. She would read a book and ask "Mom, will you write down this book for me?" It was fun to see her enthusiasm. So, just for reading 10 books, she received free admission to the fair, a free drink at the fair, and a free carnival ride at the fair. She also received a ribbon book mark.
The last program my kids all participated in was the Governor's summer reading challenge. I don't remember if they had a specific amount of time they had to read. But they had to read all summer long. Then we had to put their names on a postcard and say that they had completed the challenge. We sent that in to the Governor around the beginning or middle of September. The incentive for this program was to be a free kids meal for each of the children that completed the program. We just received that in the mail today. I was only expecting a kids meal certificate from McDonald's, but to our delight our kids received more than just a McDonald's kids meal. Here's what was in their package.
-- A certificate congratulating each of them on completing the program.
-- A McDonald's kids meal certificate for each of them.
-- A Chuck-A-Rama certificate for each of them.
-- A Sizzler kids meal certificate for each of them.
-- A Red Robin kids meal certificate for each of them.

The greatest part of all of these was that it was absolutely free to us! We did not have to pay to join the programs. We had such a wonderful opportunity to emphasize and encourage reading in our family this summer. We had so much fun and my kids are so excited to use their certificates. Yes, reading is wonderful, but it is even sweeter when the kids can get encouragement from a source outside of the home to read. I do hope they continue to love books and that reading will continue to be fun for them.

As a matter of fact, my two year old just fell down, came to me screaming, and has been comforted by a book. He is quietly sitting next to me looking at a book. The power of books is amazing. I am so grateful for the opportunities we have had because of books!

R.I.P. Trixie

When we brought Trixie home 8 years ago, she was an abused dog left at the shelter. She was so starved for attention. We brought her home, loved her, and played with her. Over the past couple of years we have watched her health decline. We knew there was nothing more we could do. She had become blind and deaf and could barely make it down the one step we had to get outside. In an act of mercy we decided to put her out of her misery and free her from the pain. She left our home on October 10, 2009.

Here are pictures of the kids with Trixie on her last morning with us. We will miss her, but know that she is not in pain anymore. She has been a faithful dog. She has been so patient with the kids. I couldn't have asked for a better dog. Rest in peace Trixie!

 

 

 

"The Superior Wife Syndrome"

I just read a newspaper article about Carin Rubenstein's book, The Superior Wife Syndrome. If you want to read the article, click on the title to this post and it will link you right to the article. While reading the article, I made a discovery. According to Rubenstein, I would fall into the category of, you got it, 'superior wife.' What? Really? I answered yes to 5 out of the 6 questions mentioned that help Rubenstein determine superiority. I multi-task, I keep track of the family schedule, I make a lot of the family decisions, etc, etc. I won't bore you with all the details. So yes, I guess I am a 'superior wife.'

But wait, what about attitude, necessity, and other factors? Each individual circumstance is going to be different. We cannot allow all women in charge of the household and family duties to be lumped into one category. Did Rubenstein really consider all the factors that determine distribution of responsibility within the home and family? I'm not sure. I can't make that call for sure. I haven't actually read the book. I am basing this off of the article in the newspaper.

I do not consider myself a superior wife by any means. When it comes right down to it, I would gladly let John take over the household chores. But, out of necessity I am responsible for the majority of the tasks in the home and family. John is gone between 12-14 hours most weekdays. Yeah, doesn't really facilitate giving him more responsibility at home does it? When he is home, guess who gets to change poopy diapers, clean the bathrooms, give the kids a bath, and more? Certainly not me! Yep, you guessed it. I step back and let John take over (with a little more prodding than he would care for).

What do you think about this superior wife syndrome? Read the article then tell me what you think. How do you relate to this? What are your thoughts? Please feel free to share any thoughts you may have.

Fairies in our Midst

As related by my oldest daughter yesterday:

Me and Natalie were looking for fairies today. Where there is a rainbow, there are fairies! If there is a butterfly, it will be a fairy.

[It has been raining, so lots of opportunities to find rainbows!]

We found a couple of butterflies. We followed them, but we didn't see the fairies.

[Today]
We looked for fairies again, and leprechauns. [I wonder how many she saw today! With all the rain, rainbows should be plenteous today!]

Ahhh . . . the imagination of a child. I love listening to her stories. Her imagination is not lacking in any way. I am glad to hear that she has found something to entertain her. It certainly brings back memories of my own childhood, the things I would come up with. These are the times that make all the bad times worth it! Her face is full of pure joy as she talks about her fairies. Just remember, there are fairies in our midst. Nobody really knows when a fairy will appear, but we will see one, if we are looking and believe! I will not destroy my daughter's belief in fairies, at least not right now! She is learning to have faith, and if she learns faith through believing in fairies, I will not complain. There are far worse things to believe in and to have faith in! I will gently urge her in the way of believing!

And so it begins . . .

Have you heard of the mother's curse? You will have children just like you? But I was never wild and crazy so I should have perfect kids, right? Ha, my whole life-- shattered-- by just a few simple acts. My dad says it is payback. When I try to get mad at my kids, he sits back and laughs until I can't help but laugh. I do see the humor now, I just didn't at the time. So, here's the beginning of the story (this time).
Last week Jaime and I had to attend a preschool orientation. We were told not to bring our children to this orientation. So we left our 4 kids at my house with a babysitter. Now keep in mind that this orientation was only about an hour and a half. We have never had problems leaving our kids together. They play nicely -- so we thought! We got back to my house and I heard banging noises. I didn't think anything of it, John was working on the leaky faucet in the upstairs bathroom. Emma, Brayden, and Timothy were downstairs. I looked down the stairs to let Emma know I was home. The light was on in the living room. I expected Emma to run around the corner. But no, I also saw the light on in the bathroom! --- You may think you know where this is going, but wait, it gets better, I think --- All of a sudden I see Brayden dart out of the bathroom to the alcove next to the bedroom. And then Timothy comes running out laughing, and then . . . (drumroll, please!) here comes Emma, sopping wet! Ugh, what had they been doing? I told her to get upstairs right then and change her clothes, thinking they had been playing in the sink! Then Timothy ran back into the bathroom. I went downstairs to close the door, when *gasp* my eyes beheld a sight I did not want to see! It was horrible. I yelled at Emma, "What did you do down here?" I was so mad I wanted to cry, but it was also so funny I wanted to laugh. I was just in shock that my children were a part of this! (I know, just tell you! I wasn't even in my right mind to take a picture of it all!) I had found the bathtub full of water. You may say, what it so horrible about that? But . . . not only was the bathtub full of water, it was also full of books! Precious books! I love books, what a disgrace that my children were part of this desecration! I think there were about 5 paper/board books and two cloth books in that bathtub. Not only were there books, but there was an open bottle of baby shampoo sunk to the bottom, an open bottle of conditioner sunk to the bottom, and an open bottle of my shampoo sunk to the bottom. Emma must have really had fun in the bath, fully clothed!

But these adventures didn't end with one incident. No, my children had to keep going. A couple of days later, I found Amber and Emma downstairs (of course it is always downstairs) where they were supposedly watching a movie. Supposedly is the key word. I should have learned from the earlier incident with the bathtub. No, this time there was no water, only a couple of small bottles of nail polish. Yikes. I had gone downstairs to do a load of laundry when a strong scent assaulted my senses. Ugh . . . I couldn't place it. That is until I walked into the living room, finding Emma with two open bottles of nail polish on my chair, and Amber with two open bottles of nail polish trying to hide from me! Emma spilled nail polish on the chair, Amber spilled on the air mattress that was folded up down there. Ugh. That's about all I can say. I just can't win.

I guess none of this compares to the Christmas cookies my husband tried to sneak when he was younger or the fireworks my husband lit on the bed. But when it comes to me, I was a perfect angel. I never did anything so egregious! :) I shouldn't be punished for my husband's misdeeds!

We survived!

We have officially survived the first week of school! It has been such an adjustment for Amber to be in school all day. She is so tired at the end of the day. Meltdowns have been the norm this week. All in all we have had a successful week.

So today Amber said that she played with Issac at recess today. She said they played dinosaurs. Hmmm . . . sounds interesting, my little girl was playing dinosaurs? She has a slight fascination with dinosaurs. So John asked her which dinosaur she was. She looked at him with one of those, duh dad looks and said, "the mom!" I couldn't stop laughing. She found a way to play house with the boys. She just called it dinosaurs, but she still got to be the mom! My child is creative.

Other adventures this week: I've been walking Amber to and from school with a couple other moms in the neighborhood. So once the kids go in to school, we let our other kids play out on the playground for a bit before heading home. I think it was Tuesday that Timothy fell off the playground equipment, screamed, and screamed louder when I picked him up. He was mad that I wasn't letting him run around. But I didn't want anyone to think I didn't care about my child, so I had run to see what was wrong. I guess he's too much like me. Let me assess what's wrong before anybody asks me if I'm okay!

I am slowly getting used to Amber being gone. I have a full day where the girls aren't fighting! Woohoo! I am loving the peace in my house, which is quickly shattered as soon as we get back from picking up Amber. The day sure flies by though. I didn't realize how fast time really would go. Ha, and I thought I would have lots of time to get stuff done!

"Into the Mind of Babes" Giveaway

For somebody who lets her children watch T.V. yet feels guilty about it, the book Into the Minds of Babes sounds like a wonderful book. I read a review of this book over on the blog Reading For Sanity. After reading the review of this book I really want to read the entire book. For anybody interested, she is giving away a copy of this book over on her blog. Check out the giveaway here.
I do let my kids watch T.V. Well, actually they watch a lot of Dora, Thomas, Blues Clues because we have the videos. Ever since the switch to digital T.V. we just don't get much of a signal. But, I still have plenty for the kids to watch. I never thought I would be the person to put them in front of the T.V. just so I can get a few moments of peace. It just sort of happened, and it got easier to do after the third child. So I really think this book would be an interesting read. Just let me turn on the T.V. and I can get to reading!

End of Summer Activities

My time- It just so happens this week that I have had the opportunity to have a bit of me time. How rejuvenating! John has been so willing (no complaining) to watch the kids while I go out! He has even allowed himself to be roped into watching six kids at the same time, all by himself. Tuesday afternoon, Wednesday afternoon, Wednesday evening, and Thursday evening! Okay, so he had the kids a lot this past week. My kids love having daddy around so much.

Swimming- The outdoor pools are closing! I am so sad. We have been able to go quite often this year compared to past years. Even Timothy has gotten comfortable in the pool. I love the outdoor pools. No more weekday outdoor pool trips for us. We did take advantage of the pool again this week though. We went on Thursday afternoon. What fun. We enjoyed being there. Timothy no longer clings to me. In fact, he tries to run into the water that is too deep for him! I have to keep a very close eye on that boy lest he tries something crazy and well . . . I just don't want to think of all the bad things that could happen right now!

Day at the Carnival- My kids have been so excited! A couple of months ago when we went to the dentist, they gave us a flier advertising their free carnival in August. Free food, free activities, lots of fun. All just for being a loyal patient! The carnival was from 11-2 at Sugarhouse Park. First off we got in line for food. The line was so long that John took the girls to get their hair colored! By the time they were done, I was almost to the food! Yay! Then we found out there was a separate line for the hotdogs. John went to wait for hotdogs, and I helped the girls get drinks, popcorn, nachos, cotton candy, and snow cones for everybody! 5 items for 5 people, not so bad. Oh, except the snow cones were difficult to carry while pushing a stroller and balancing the other food! But, I'm wonder woman and I did it. Okay, so Amber and Emma helped. I really only had to hold my own snow cone. I sent Amber to give John his while he waited in line for hotdogs! Then I gave Timothy his! Red snow cone drenched him by the time we found somewhere to sit and eat. Probably not the smartest choice, but hey, kids wash, at least I think so!
Then the girls were off to bowling, and the bounce houses! They could spend all day in those bounce play areas! One was a shark slide. Emma took a long time coming down the first time. I had just sent Amber back up to find her and here she comes, out from under the teeth! And she's off. Back for another round of the shark slide! Timothy was content to hang out in the stroller. I think he was just so tired. I hadn't given him a nap yet. So he watched the girls play. What a fun way to spend an afternoon.
The girls were so mad when it was time to go, but everyone was so tired. Timothy fell asleep on the way home after he dumped popcorn all over his lap! Oops, the things I do to keep the kids happy. Popcorn in the car, what a mess! But they were so good at the carnival. Almost no complaining.

Now it is time to buckle down and get in the school mode! School starts on Monday for Amber. She's so ready to start first grade. I'm not ready for summer to be over, but hey, I can still take Emma and Timothy and play for a few weeks while Amber is gone all day! Can I please drag summer out a little while? I'm not ready for it to end.

I didn't plant these!

Earlier this month John had said, "We have pumpkins growing in our front yard!" Ha, I thought. Here I go again, not believing him. After all, I didn't plant pumpkins! How do we now have pumpkins. I told him it was just part of the rhubarb that I cannot get rid of. But he looked up a picture online and compared the leaves. Okay, so I guess we have pumpkin growing in our front yard. And it is a lot of pumpkins! But I was still at a loss. How did I get this many pumpkin plants in my yard?

Then John reminded me. So this is what happened. Last year, we had a pumpkin on our porch for Halloween. It had a painted face, so it was a full pumpkin, not a carved pumpkin! Somehow it got knocked off the porch and I forgot about it. I never cleaned it up. The pumpkin rotted in the garden area just off the side of the porch. I never cleaned it up, it was very gross. All of a sudden it disappeared. I thought John had finally gotten sick of seeing the rotting pumpkin and had cleaned it up. Nope. No such luck. All of those seeds planted themselves right there by my porch. I have at least 20 flowers on these multiple plants! My very own little pumpkin patch.

I didn't intend on planting pumpkins this year. But of the 5 things I intended to plant, and the unintended pumpkins, the pumpkin plants are doing the best! They are thriving and I haven't done anything to help them thrive. I used to say I didn't have a green thumb. Maybe I do. But only when it comes to pumpkins that really want to grow in my yard!

Small but sweet success!

I love those Family Home Evenings when everything seems to fall into place. During dinner John had suggested a library trip as our activity tonight. My response: the kids are crabby and tired. John's wise response: We won't look at any books to check out! So this is how our discussion seemed to go. Our discussion ended with me once again agreeing to what seemed a harebrained idea with the kids in such awful spirits today!

Dinner was over. The girls knew we were going on a little trip! They weren't exactly sure where, but they guessed because they listened closely during dinner for once. :)

This was Family Home Evening. I didn't want to make this all about what we were going to get at the the library. So Amber chose a song to sing, we had a prayer, and then a short lesson. We read Doctrine & Covenants 90:15 and then discussed why it is important to learn from good books. Then we discussed how we can find good books. So naturally, this led us into the activity of going to the library for what else, but books!

The real purpose for going to the library: We really did not intend to check out books. The library has a summer reading program for both kids and adults. They have been doing this for quite a few years now. It is one of the highlights of the summer for us! Especially since it is completely free. Each month we get a small little prize, with the final prize in August being a free book for completing the program! It is actually quite simple. The kids set their own time limit to read each day. I set it for them at 20 minutes per day! Not hard for my kids. They are always reading. Adults had to read I think 6, or maybe 10, books this summer. Reading books to a child counted. Hmmmm . . . not hard for me as my kids love to have books read to them!
So, our purpose for going to the library was to turn in our completed forms and get our free books! How much better can it be for a kid who likes to read? My kids were so excited that they get to keep the book and don't have to return it! They were angels at the library. No fighting. No whining. Oh, Timothy did escape and run down the aisle once. But he's not even 2 yet. He was amazingly good!
But wait, Family Home Evening isn't complete without a treat! On our way home we stopped at Winder Dairy for icecream cones. Jaime had told me they had orange soft serve icecream! Get it in a twist and it tastes just like an orange dreamsicle! Yum yum. My kids were so excited. I hadn't told anybody we were going to stop. I just did it! When Amber saw somebody come out of the Country Store with a big icecream cone, her eyes lit up and she asked "You can get icecream here?" So much for the surprise. A happy dance ensued as soon as she was free of the confines of the car!
The sweet smell of success! It is so refreshing. The secret: I still don't know. But when I have it all figured out, I'll be sure to let you know!

Another Girl's Camp come and gone!

Another year, another camp. I was so grateful I didn't have to plan camp. Diane was my camp director so I just did what she told me to do! Woohoo! I was a little apprehensive before hand, but I always get that way. I worry too much.
The theme this year was the Wizard of Oz, with the ultimate theme being "There's no place like home!" It was an awesome theme. We were able to do so many things with the girls!
I really enjoyed the vast amount of ward time we had. In past years it has been difficult for the girls to really bond with each other when they are always running back and forth to stake activities. It was so good to have that ward time. Our girls were so wonderful. I have the best Young Women in the world! :) Okay, so I am a little biased. I admit it. But I really do have amazing young women.
We had the opportunity to memorize three scriptures and then complete a task associated with the theme. The scriptures dealt with courage, knowledge, and heart. I thought it would be a good idea to memorize the scriptures while we were hiking. Saundra and I worked and worked on memorizing two scriptures on the hike. We passed the scriptures off and were given a task to complete.
Here are the tasks I had to complete:
Courage: I had to meet one leader and one young woman, not in my ward and find out something about them. If anybody knows me this is hard! I am generally not one to make the first move getting to know somebody. I can know somebody's name long before I ever get to know them! It was actually fun. I got to know a girl named Rochelle, and a leader named Simoni (sp?). I am grateful for this task. It helped me get out of my comfort zone. I feel it is easier to be an example to the young women when I am out there actually doing something. I know the young women watch everything the leaders do!
Knowledge: This was the easiest task. I just had to answer a question. But I got the first one wrong. Ack! I can't believe I missed that one! I should have known better. Yikes. Second try. I got the question right! Woohoo! Second chances are great!
Heart: I had to hug one person in camp and tell that person I love them, then I had to hug someone in another camp and tell them that I love them! So my camp was not a problem! That was my ward young women. But the other wards, hmmm . . . who did I really know well enough to tell them that I love them? Then I realized I didn't have to know that person real well to know that I love them. We are all sisters in the gospel. We all have a special bond with each other. Once I realized that, my task was easier.

I was a little sad that my Young Women didn't complete all three of these. Most of them completed courage, but they didn't get farther than that. I think they were a tad overwhelmed with certification and scripture memorization. Certification was more important! But I was glad to see them do at least one scripture.

I was amazed at how much each of my young women did for each other. They were so good to each other. If anybody needed help, another would jump in and do it! There was one time Luisa jumped in and helped another group with food prep when it wasn't her turn. She wanted to help.

The other thing that amazed me is the thanks the young women showed to the cooks! We had a mailbox so the girls could write notes to each other and leave them in the mailbox! It turned out well. I had made mention to the girls that they needed to make sure to thank the cooks for coming to camp and helping us out. The girls took that to heart. By Saturday the cook's each had a slot that was overflowing! It is so nice to see the gratitude flowing from the girls.

My other favorite part of girl's camp is Testimony meeting. That is when I really hear how the girls feel. Even though I have been able to guess what they think and how they feel, I love to hear them express it in their own words. I love hearing them tell of how their testimony has grown or how they struggle or just how much they have loved being at camp. It is a wonderful time for me as a leader.

I really do get to know the girls better at camp. I love being there. I love having the opportunity to rub shoulders with the other leaders. It is so nice to be able to let our hair down and have some fun away from everything else!

Despite the fun and enjoyment we had, we were all so glad to be home. It is nice to be away, but my own bed really felt good Saturday night! We're done with camps until next year! But I look forward to it again!

Journey of the Promise book giveaway!

If anybody needs a book to read to end the summer, check out this book. It is called Journey of the Promise. I haven't read it yet, but it sounds very intriguing. The woman finds the journal of her husband's great great grandfather. She finds new meaning in life. Plus, it just so happens that one copy of this book is being given away here. So, check it out. It sounds interesting so I really want to win. But I encourage you all to see what this book is all about. I'm always up for finding new books.

Pioneer Day Festivities!

This year we joined the madness called the Days of '47 parade! This parade is such a huge deal around here. To get a good spot you have to stake out your spot early, as in the evening before. Jaime had invited us to join her family in their annual tradition of camping out on the side of the road the night before the parade! I agreed, it sounded like fun. And I knew my kids would have fun with Jaime's kids. So we stocked up on snacks, water, and blankets! We met Jaime downtown about 9 p.m. My kids were so excited for this new adventure. I did worry a bit about crazies, but we had enough people in our group that we all watched out for each other! Of course, my kids, the early bed timers, were the last to go to sleep! Timothy didn't give up until about 1:30 a.m. after a very long stroller ride! Ugh. But it was still fine, I was prepared for a bedtime struggle. Leslie joined us at about midnight with her two oldest kids. We had such a blast. The kids played games, the adults played games, and we had good old fashioned conversation. Of course I didn't go to bed. I laid down for about an hour with Timothy when he was too cranky for anything else! Jaime and I walked a few blocks down to visit with some friends that we knew would be there also! What a riot! I love to people watch, so it was fun to walk and see the setup some people had.
In the morning, we moved our chairs and other stuff out to the street. The parade route boundary is painted with a green line. So we moved our stuff to the green line and spread out. After all, we couldn't be crowded! :) The hardest part was keeping Timothy off the parade route as the 10K runners ran past! I didn't want him to get trampled, but hey, at least we didn't have to worry about many cars. The street was closed at that point.
When we got home we all slept. I slept for about 3 hours. Then we headed off to my dad's house for dinner. We had a simple barbeque of hotdogs and hamburgers and some good old fashioned conversation there too! Yay. It is always so wonderful to get together with my family. My siblings are such a riot. I only wish all of us could have been there. But, we take what we can get! Another late night for the kids. Not quite as late as the night before, but they were so ready for bed. They slept easily that night.

Enjoy these few pictures from our adventure at the parade!

Contemplations

As I was sorting through pictures, I made a discovery. My children are very contemplative people. Or maybe just when I take their pictures. They all get this look in their eyes as if the weight of the world is on their shoulders! They do laugh sometimes, promise!

Here is a sampling of my contemplative children!



I wonder sometimes-- what is it that keeps them so somber? What are they daydreaming about? It is probably a simple thought-- mom, stop taking my picture! Or, I am so tired, is it bedtime yet?

Splash Park Adventures

I just learned about a Splash Park not too far from my home that is free! I'm all about free activities with the kids. All they needed was a swimsuit and a towel! Oops, I forgot the towels. Oh well.
So, Jaime and I headed off to the Splash park a couple of days ago. We packed lunches and piled into Jaime's van. We weren't really sure what to expect, but we were up for the adventure anyway. Most of the kids had a lot of fun. Timothy wasn't sure how to react to the water, so he screamed. He wasn't too happy about being out in the sprinklers. I couldn't help but laugh. It was so funny to see him scream so loud over a simple trickle of water.

Enjoy these pictures!



I was shocked we had pulled this off. Especially after Amber's serious wardrobe malfunction. She had come out of the restroom upset. The right strap on her swimsuit had ripped off. Uh oh, problem. Her swimsuit would not stay up on the right side. Ummm . . . not ok in my book to let my daughter romp around covered only halfway! What to do. Oh no! We can't go home right now. All the others will be disappointed! So, I tied it together in a knot! In an attempt to make both sides look semi uniform, I tied a knot in the left side too! She didn't care if it looked silly. All she cared about was being able to play in the water. What a resourceful mom I am! Okay, so I seem to recall the idea to tie it together wasn't mine! But it worked and our outing was a success!

We had such success on our first outing to a splash park that I decided to try again the next day. Oh yeah! I am so addicted. But, we decided to try a different one this time. I was not impressed. The kids didn't have as much fun. Plus, the base was cement. What happens when cement gets wet? Oh yeah, it gets slippery. They need those signs "Slippery when wet!" Ha ha, I crack myself up. Okay, so back to the story. I called Jennifer earlier and asked if she wanted to come along. She readily agreed so we piled the six kids into the car and we were off. We took the very long route, but it was fun nonetheless! By the time we got there, the kids were not happy with having been in the car for so long. However, they were ready to play! Did I mention that it was a cement pad? Uh-oh. How many kids does it take to slip and fall before somebody realizes that a cement pad splash park is dangerous? Obviously too many! It didn't matter how slow my kids were walking, every one of them slipped. And of course, they came crying to mommy. Mommy, I slipped. It hurts. Can we go home yet? So, not as successful, but it was sure nice to have the Elgans join us. I'm thinking I'll avoid this one and drive just a bit further to enjoy the first one!

Youth Conference

A couple of months ago-- John and I were asked to be a Ma and Pa for the Youth Conference Pioneer trek this past weekend. We agreed. [I can do this. Easy, just be in charge of a few youth, yeah, easy!]

BBQ- We had a meet and greet BBQ. The idea was to have everyone in the *family* to meet each other and so we could get to know the youth a little better. Okay, so 6 out of the 10 were there! Good start, but I'm getting worried about some of the youth in my *family*. I haven't heard anything from them and haven't had contact with 2 of them yet. Yikes.

A couple of weeks before trek-- Oh, I don't know if this was a good idea. I'm not sure I'll be ready for this. I have so much to do and need so much. We still need to get permission slips from some of the youth. We still didn't have activities planned for family time! Ummm . . . what are we going to do? John wasn't concerned, but I did not want to fly by the seat of my pants and look disorganized to the youth. That would have been disastrous.

One week before-- I'm still trying to find clothes to wear! I can't find a hat for John. We found one for $1.99 but it looked like a child's hat. I couldn't get it on my head and that was the large size! I'm freaking out. So we bought an expensive hat that worked better! Ah the expense, it is going to kill me I think!

One day before trek-- We need to pack. But we also have a birthday party to go to. We are mostly packed, but also need a few last minute items and the new battery for our camera wasn't working. How are we going to take pictures? I am really freaking out at this point. All of our careful preparations, doesn't seem too promising.

The day of trek-- I wake up exhausted, nervous, and excited. Good thing Jeff and Cori spent the night. I didn't have to fret about my own kids. I knew they were taken care of! So off we went. If we need anything else, I guess it is too late! We go to the church to gather our families. And then we were off. We drove to the meadow, had lunch, and packed the handcart. Then we were off. All were excited and chipper. Couldn't contain the excitement. We went a few miles then stopped to set up camp for the night! Then it was off to dinner and square dancing. We had a lot of fun dancing although we were exhausted from the first day of pulling handcarts. We spent family time playing games and getting to know each other better. That was fun. We played a bunch of games that got us moving and had us getting to know each other better. Anybody up for a game of What If? We had Pa getting run over by a handcart, Blake falling backwards off his bucket, and other funny questions. Too much fun.

Second day of trek-- Breakfast and then off with the handcarts. I wasn't as excited about this day, I knew it as going to be challenging. We had the women's pull in the morning, and it was grueling. We had 5 women on our handcart pulling and pushing up a steep grade. The men were taken for the Mormon Battalion. They hiked to the top of the hill and had to stand by the side of the trail as the women pulled. They weren't allowed to help us. I tell you, by the time we got to where the men were, I was at the end of my limits. I was so ready to give up. But I had to help the women/girls in my family get our handcart to where it needed to be. I kept plodding on. But when I saw the men all standing or sitting on the side, my eyes teared up. They were all cheering for us, telling us, you can do it. That kept me going because I knew I was ready to give up!
During lunch we had the pony express come. Every youth had a letter from their real parents at home. I didn't talk to them much about the letters. It was a personal experience for all of them. I am so glad we pulled this one off. It was difficult obtaining these letters, but it worked.
After lunch we continued along the trail. A little ways in, we had to stop. There was a baby that was sick. [ok, so each family had a baby doll with them] Just so happened that it was my baby. The baby didn't make it. We had to bury it and have a short burial service. Yikes. I had a hard time doing this, but it really affected the youth. We were done and there was a very somber feeling in the company for quite a while. There was not a sound as we all left that baby on the hillside!
Family time that night a lot of us shared our thoughts with each other. We shared our testimonies and our experiences thus far. It was so good to hear them talk about what had happened. All in all it had been a successful day. One more day!

Last day of trek-- We began once again. Not as much energy today. Most of us had sore feet, and stiff legs. But we had to keep going. We didn't have time to nurse our sore bodies. Keep plugging along. This was probably the shortest walking day, but it was probably one of the hardest on everybody. We knew we were almost done, but it really does something to you when you turn a bend just to find another hill, another long stretch with no end in sight. My family was in the lead of our company this day. Our boys kept getting far ahead, but they always slowed down when we asked them to. It was hard to keep everybody at a steady pace.

Yay, we made it. All those who got there before we did were cheering as we came down the last hill. Oh, we made it. And I was worried a couple of weeks ago? Ha, I just need to trust more and not worry so much. It was a very good experience, but oh am I glad to be home!

The other night (yes, very late) I was sitting in the living room chatting with Jeff and Cori. It was about 12:30 a.m. when we heard the screen door open. Then scratching noises. We all looked at each other petrified. I didn't want to open the door not knowing who or what was at our front door. Jeff peeked out the window and there was a white 15 passenger van in my driveway! Yikes, this isn't looking so good. After a few seconds the scratching stopped and the van drove away. There wasn't anybody around anymore, that we could tell. Should I go open the door? What if somebody was hiding? Okay, I opened the door. Nobody there. But there was something taped to my door! Hence the scratching sounds! It was information we needed for Youth Conference. The mom decided since it was so late she would just tape it to the door. I should've opened the door and scared her to death right? Okay, so it is funny to think about what could have happened if I would've opened the door on her, but . . . honestly, I couldn't have. There have been a few people who have had late night visitors who claim to be trying to save them, trying to get them to come to Jesus! I wasn't about to open my door that late at night for an unexpected visitor! We were just grateful it wasn't anything worse! Now that my heart rate has returned to normal I can laugh. The funniest part-- here we were, a group of three adults, scared by scratching at the front door! Hahahaha!

Funny kid stuff

Yesterday I took my kids to the park with Jaime and her kids for free lunch. All the kids had pretty much finished except Emma and Timothy. Lunch was chicken patty sandwiches. There was lettuce, pickles, mustard, mayo, etc. The kids were all decked out with food! Emma ate her chicken patty, but left the bun, lettuce, pickles, and mustard. I didn't think she wanted any of that. All of a sudden she handed me the mustard packet and said "Now I like mustard!" Translation, now she wanted to put the mustard on her bun and eat it. I'm thinking, this is so gross, a mustard sandwich. So I started laughing and told her that she wouldn't like just a mustard sandwich. So she looked at what she had, then she looked at me all serious, with the cup of lettuce and pickles in her hand, "I can put these on it!" So, I told her to go ahead, but she had better eat it. I don't like it when she wastes food. I thought she would take one bite and spit it out! But, she ate about half of it. Good job Emma for the good faith effort in eating what I thought was a very disgusting sandwich.

During that same trip to the park, Timothy started trying to pick something out of Jaime's hand. There was nothing there. So Jaime started asking him if he wanted a pretend cookie! Hahaha. I didn't think he would play along. He never ceases to amaze me. He pretended to pick up a cookie, then we told him to eat it, so he pretended to put the cookie in his mouth and pretended to chew it up! I was laughing so hard. We kept doing it, and he kept pretending along with us. It was so fun. Then I asked him if I could have some cookie so he gave some to me, and then he gave some to Jaime. By this time we were practically rolling in the grass laughing so hard. Well, when I got home, John took Timothy to change his diaper. Timothy kept trying to put something in John's mouth, confusing John until I told him about the pretend cookies. Now it is just fun to ask Timothy about pretend cookies. Usually he will play along!

Okay, so one more funny story. Tonight Emma did not want to sleep in her own bed. She's actually had a problem with it for a bit now. She says it is too dark on her bed. The girls have bunk beds and Emma sleeps on the bottom bunk. We tried to switch the girls a couple of days ago, yeah, didn't go over too well. So tonight Emma made Amber mad by climbing into Amber's bed! I put Emma back into her bed and Emma started complaining, "I want to sleep in your room, it is too dark on my bed!" It was still a little light outside, so I looked at her and told her to close her eyes and go to sleep while it was still light outside. Then she wouldn't even know or realize when it got dark. Seems to have worked so far. She was out light a light withing ten minutes. Yay, whether she stays there all night remains to be seen! We're crossing our fingers.

Amber was just too tired today to say or do anything funny. We let the kids stay up late last night and then today they went to the carnival. Fun for them, but they were so exhausted. Despite the exhaustion, we've had a pretty good day.

I love books so I think this is a great giveaway. I have seen advertisements for this book and have always wanted to read it. So I was excited to see it in this giveaway. Confessions of a Completely (In)Sane Mother will be given away here! Check it out. I believe the contest ends July 1st so check it out, enter, etc., etc.

I'm going to start entering giveaways again! Yay!

I have been crazy busy since I got back from visiting my best friend in Florida. So I realized I haven't entered many giveaways lately. I decided I was going to enter some today. I've got to get the momentum going again. Maybe I'll win another one of these some day. So, in the spirit of giveaways, check this one out! Cool stuff for baby and mommy too! I really hope I win! If there was a way to rig the random picking, hmmmm . . . No, seriously, check it out.

Trip to Florida

Okay, time to buckle down and do something productive. Play time is over. Actually, play time has been over for about a week, but shhh . . . don't tell John that. I might actually have to do something.

Seriously, I did have the most amazing week in Florida with Cynthia. It was a miracle that I even made it out there to begin with. I had been talking to Cynthia about mid May about trying to find a cheap flight out there. My hopes were not too high as I have never found cheap flights from Salt Lake to Jacksonville. But, just to ease my anxious mind, I looked online. I looked for the earliest time I could leave after the girls got out of school. My heart skipped a beat when I found a very cheap flight for June 9th! I talked to Cynthia, and I talked to John. This will work for all of us!

With just about a month before my flight I thought the time would never get here. Then time sped up! It was the day before I was to leave. I didn't think I was ever going to get things packed and loose ends tied up! After all, at that point it seemed that my trip was so hasty! I didn't tell many people I was leaving.

So, June 9th was here. I was packed, I was ready, I went to the airport, checked in and then my flight was en route to Jacksonville. I was so excited, it seemed that my flight was so incredibly long. After a short layover in Atlanta I was on my way again. Yay!

The week was filled with a flurry of activities. One day we went to the Splash Park at the zoo. Another day we got a movie and painted fingernails and toenails. Most days we talked, talked, and talked. We also went camping for three days and went tubing down the river. It was a lot of fun, even though I am not a big water person. I loved being there with Cynthia. The flurry of activity did not keep up from having many heart to heart conversations about life.

Towards the end of the week, we both sat down and really talked about the direction our lives have been taking. Over the course of the week, we realized there are things we need to change, but also things that are wonderful. We made resolutions, shared them with each other, and made a pact. We will hold each other to our resolutions. We are determined to be better!

So I flew home on the 16th. I was so pumped to be different, yet I still need to implement the changes I desire. It is so much harder than I expected. But one day it will happen. I am comforted with the knowledge that I gained during my week with Cynthia.

Okay, so I really do have pictures of my trip to share, but it wasn't until I was on the plane that I realized I had left my digital camera at home. Yikes. How silly of me. So I resorted to the archaic form of picture taking, the disposable camera. Hey, at least I took pictures. I just need to get them developed now! Who really develops pictures anymore? Oops, me! So, once I get my rear in gear I will get the cameras to the store! I actually took them to Albertson's thinking, they develop pictures. I got all the way inside, looked for a film drop off, and noticed a sign over the drop off slots. Albertson's no longer develops 35mm film! Argh. I guess it is Walmart for these pictures. I'm nervous. Do I want to trust my memories to Walmart?

Once I get pictures developed I will post them. I just need an hour or so to drop off the cameras and wait for my pictures to be done! Maybe today before the girls go to swim lessons! Stay tuned for pictures!

Congratulations Amber!

As much as I try, when it comes to my kids, I can't seem to keep my emotions from rolling over! Amber graduated from Kindergarten today and I'm trying real hard to not be weepy. I am such a proud mom! Amber has accomplished so many wonderful things this year! I can hardly believe what a different girl she is now than when she first started Kindergarten. She is growing up.

Somebody had made little graduation caps for the kids and then the kids put on a program of songs demonstrating things they had learned throughout the year! I really enjoy watching Amber as she participates. I could tell she was hesitant to fully participate, but she was there, she was doing it! All she needed to know was that I would clap for her when they were done! Even though she is growing up and is done with Kindergarten, I am glad that she still needs me. I'm not ready for her to grow up anymore. I love how far she has come in the past year, and I love the greater independence she has. But I'm not ready to fully let go. Can't I just freeze time now and stop all of my kids from growing up?

Anyway, Amber's teacher recognized a few of the student's accomplishments in Kindergarten. Amber was one of two students who had not missed any days of school! And Amber read more than 2,300 minutes, that were logged! Of course Amber read a lot more than that, but I didn't log every minute. Most of the time I logged the minimum amount because I didn't want to keep that close an eye on the amount of time. It was more important to me that she read just to enjoy reading, not to rack up the minutes!

Here's a few pictures from the morning!


And, just for fun, here's couple of pictures just to compare the beginning of the school year to the end! The first two pictures are from the today (last day of school) and the next two are from the first day! Kindof fun to see!

Emma's Birthday

So I am just a few weeks late getting pictures up of Emma's birthday! Yikes. It has been crazy at my house! I haven't had much time to sit and go through all of my pictures. I've just decided that I need to just sit down and take a few minutes.

The morning of Emma's birthday: As she was getting ready for her preschool program, Emma told me she wanted her teacher to sing to her. You see, in her class, when the children had a birthday the Birthday Bear would sing to that child. I told Emma I didn't know if that would happen today because it was the program. It wasn't a normal class day. I went to the program with a heavy feeling, not wanting Emma to be disappointed, but afraid she would be! But, I was pleasantly surprised. I hate seeing my kids disappointed so when Emma's teacher said they had a birthday and called Emma up to the front I started to tear up. Her teacher had remembered and had given Emma the one thing she wanted. (You see, I'm practically crying over it now!) Goodness, it was just a happy birthday song! The joy was evident on Emma's face. Amidst all the craziness of putting on a program, her teacher still gave her the opportunity to have the Birthday Bear sing to her. I appreciate the thoughtfulness of Emma's teacher.

The next day: I had another obligation on the eve of Emma's birthday so we planned a family party for the next night! We had my family over for a simple party! I only ever do cake and icecream for the family and whoever wants to can bring a present. But I never require people to bring presents for my kids. Emma had requested a square cake, she didn't want anything fancy. She wanted sprinkles, although all I had were yellow sprinkles. The sprinkles blended into the white frosting. But Emma knew the sprinkles were there. That's all that mattered at that point. I had cut the cake so I could put a layer of frosting in the middle. Emma loved that! She was so excited to watch me create a square cake! If only she knew how easy it really was! Next time she might ask for something more difficult.

Here's a slideshow of Emma's party.

Sacrifice is like a volcano?

Sacrifice-- what does it mean? This is the question Amber came up with, seemingly out of the blue. I'm sure she had been thinking about it for awhile. She was so serious. My explanation-- Sacrifice is when you give up something for something better! As I was trying to give her examples, she says "Like a volcano?" My first reaction was, what does a volcano have to do with sacrifice? Then it hit me. Amber understands! She got it, she knew what we were saying about sacrifice. Lest you think I am crazy, all I need to say is Madagascar 2! Amber loves that movie and has watched it a gazillion times in the past couple of months. Thanks to my dad for letting us borrow the movie! For those of you who have seen the movie, you probably get it now. For those who haven't, there is a part in the movie where the water hole has dried up. The lemur says that they need to sacrifice something to the water god. So the giraffe becomes the sacrifice inside the volcano. This is why Amber relates sacrifice to a volcano. But she understood the basic concept of sacrifice. I am in awe of my daughter. She amazes me with her gift of understanding complex issues.

Sabbath-- not Salad-- day

It was Emma's turn to say family prayer on Sunday. Usually she can pray by herself, but lately she has been asking for help. This creates an interesting phenomenon during family prayer. I whisper something to her, and in her sweet, quiet voice, she will repeat what I whisper. But sometimes she doesn't quite understand what I said so she will make something up. Well, this particular day, I had whispered, "Help us have a good Sabbath Day" which Emma, in her infinite wisdom :) repeated "Help us have a good SALAD day!" Laughter nearly escaped me right then, but I held it in. Emma finished the prayer without further incident. As soon as she said Amen, I heard peals of laughter from John. That got me started and we had a good laugh about the pending Salad Day! It was too funny.
It sort of reminds me of a game I've played. I've heard it called many things, but here's the basics of the game. You have a group of people sit in a line. The first person whispers something to the next person in line. That person repeats it to the next person, on down the line until it gets to the last person in the line. Then the last person in the line tells everyone what the message is. It is funny to hear what comes out of it, and it is usually very different than the original message! Hearing Emma pray about Salad day, instead of Sabbath day, reminded me how easy it is to change a message, especially when you don't quite understand what is being said. My children do such a good job at reminding me how I can do better.

This week has been a flurry of activity. We have all been busy. Here's a short (I'm using that term loosely, mind you!) synopsis of our week!

Sunday- We took a day trip to Nephi to support Chantelle. She has done amazing things despite her disabilities. She has risen above her challenges and we're so proud of her.

Monday- Despite Amber being out of school for the week, we still had to make a special trip to school for Amber's post assessment test. I hate having her tested just for them to tell me she is reading above level. No duh! She's a McAuliffe, do they really expect her to not read well?

Tuesday- I think this was our only non-busy day. I honestly don't really remember what happened this day! Maybe this is the day we planted the little tree saplings Verree gave me about a month ago. Finally, they are planted outside. I hope they survive.

Wednesday- Emma's birthday! Emma had her end of the year preschool program! It was so cute. The birthday bear made her day when he (and everybody else) sang Happy Birthday to her at the beginning of the program! Pure delight filled her face when she got the spotlight for a bit! We like to take our kids out for dinner on their birthday and they usually pick where to go. I sort of guided Emma in her choice this year as funds have been severely limited. So she said she wanted pizza! Easy for me, I could go pick it up, bring it home, and everybody could enjoy the joy of her birthday dinner! Yay for Emma being so easygoing about it all. Then I did a small cake for just us. It was enough for 5 small pieces, one for each of us! Emma had just wanted a simple square cake with sprinkles, so I cut off the end of the rectangle for Wednesday night and put the rest away for the family party on Thursday.

Thursday- Emma's field trip. They went to the West Valley Fitness Center and played for about an hour. Then we went back to the school where the kids had popsicles and said good bye to their friends! Like Amber, Emma loved the bus. She kept saying, "I'm riding the bus!" What fun to watch her.
We had all the family over last night for cake and icecream! What an adventure, always is when my family is involved!

Friday- (Okay, so we're not done yet!) We finally have a day with no definite plans. Yay. But these are the hard days. The kids get so bored, hungry, sleepy, etc., etc. Here's to a good rest of the week!

Homemade bracelets, etc.

Check out this other blog. She is giving away a watchband or bracelet that she made herself. They are so cute. I think it would be fun to win one of these, but hey, go on over and check it out yourself.

Book giveaway!

To be consistent with my entries in giveaways, here is another one. I just happened upon this one this morning, and she has lots of book giveaways. This one is for the audio book of "The Horse Boy." The contest runs until May 26th so go on over and check it out here.

Fresh Rhubarb

My neighbor gave us some fresh cut rhubarb. I'm not sure how to cook it, but it is sitting my kitchen table in a bag. I guess my girls thought it was celery (except they don't like celery!) and they asked if they could have some. So, thinking I would be funny, I sliced off a small piece for each of my three children! HAHAHA! I couldn't stop laughing. I knew they wouldn't like it. Amber took one bite and spit it out! Yuck, ick, ick! She tried to spit it out for a few minutes! HEHE! Then there was Timothy. He took his piece, chewed on it, then took another bite! That's my boy, he'll eat anything that looks like food! I think he ate the entire piece, but maybe I'll find it on the floor in awhile! Then there's Emma. She had been in the other room when Amber spit it out so she didn't know it was gross. But, Amber, trying to be a good big sister, warned her of the yuck factor! "It's yucky!" Amber, be quiet. I wanted Emma to try it and decide for herself if it was yucky! of course, I wouldn't take a piece myself. So I made Emma try it for herself. She would only lick it like a lollipop and decided it was yucky! So I told her it might be ok if she took a bite. She didn't totally believe me, but took a bite anyway. At least she didn't have to spit as much as Amber did!

Call me mean, but I laughed so hard at their reactions. I delighted in their pain! This comes with drawbacks though. Now I can't cook the rhubarb and tell them what it is! They won't eat it. I can't make a strawberry rhubarb pie! But it is worth these drawbacks to have a few laughs in my house today!

Check out these giveaways!

Okay, to risk being annoying, I had to tell you about the awesome giveaways over on Mormon Mommy Blogs! There is a pedi party set, photographs, jewelry, books, music, and more. Wonderful stuff! Check it out. Enter the giveaway. I know, if you enter, it will lower my chances of winning, but hey, I want you all to check it out! Seriously, if you don't check it out, you'll never know. These are being given away! Just enter the drawing, no strings attached. Come on, I know you can do it! Join in on the excitement. See for yourself why I am addicted to giveaways! I love, love, love it.

I didn't poke the worms!

Just this morning, the girls were enjoying some time outside. They had all the buckets and shovels out, digging in the pile of dirt in the middle of the lawn in the front yard. I don't mind that they were digging there, the grass hasn't grown there since oh, I can't remember when there was grass on that patch. But, I looked out just to make sure they were all okay and Emma had my gardening shovel with a sharp point on it! Ack! Then, choosing my battles, I told her she could use it just as long as she was careful and didn't hit anybody with it or poke anybody with it! I thought I had my bases covered. Then she asked the quintessential question, "Why?" I attempted to explain about the sharp point and that it could hurt someone. While I was still watching, she dug up a little dirt, turned around, and said, "See, I was careful, I didn't poke any worms!" I was about ready to die laughing. She was so serious about not poking the worms. So I looked at her and said "Thank you for being careful!" Then I had to turn and go to another room. I could not let her know I was laughing!

Neighborhood Cleanup!

Every year I am the skeptic, but every year I am turned into a believer. My ward sponsors a neighborhood cleanup day each year in May! Why am I such a skeptic? Because I don't ever think there is much enthusiasm for the labor involved in cleaning up the neighborhood. But each year I come away believing in the concept more and more. But what is so great about it? We are spending all day out in the sun, weeding gardens, mowing lawns, dragging tree branches. It isn't light work. But, I always come away a believer because we get to rub shoulders with wonderful people in the neighborhood. We get to see what it means to people to have work done that they are not able to do themselves. We are forging bonds with each other that creates a closer knit community. This year I once again spent time with the young women. Their enthusiasm and willingness to just jump in and do a job I didn't think they would want to do spilled over into me. It is hard not to be enthusiastic about a project when surrounded by enthusiastic people!

Field Trip to the Zoo!

Call me sentimental, but I really try to be there for my kids field trips and special programs at school. I have also had many opportunities to help out in their classes. Amber always asks if I'm coming in to her class. There were a few months there where I was so busy with other activities that I didn't make it into her class, but I did make it into Emma's class. I know Amber was disappointed every time she asked for me to come into class and I couldn't. She has even started asking John to come in when I can't.
But, that wasn't the point of this post. I just got a little sidetracked, sorry. What I meant to write about was Amber's field trip to the zoo yesterday! It was such a blast. She was so excited to ride the bus. I think that was her favorite part. I have to explain a little about the bus thing.
Rewind a couple of years. When I was working full time, I had Amber in the Boys and Girls club for daycare/preschool when she turned three. The daycare had three different classes, one class was for the kindergarten kids. Those kids got to ride the bus to and from school every day. So Amber always told me, "When I go to Kindergarten, I get to ride the bus!" The idea of the bus appealed to her a lot.
Last year she had the opportunity to ride a school bus for her preschool field trip. I wouldn't have had enough jars to bottle up her excitement at that time! But, she was still holding on the hope that she would be riding a bus to school the next year for Kindergarten. Little did she know that I was going to put her in the Neighborhood elementary school which is well withing walking distance! Hmmm . . . way to go me. Shatter her perfect dreams of riding a bus every day!

Fast forward to now! So, this is why she is excited to ride the bus! Even though she has accepted the fact that we either walk or drive to school, she has never given up the allure of the school bus. There is something about a big yellow bus and then no seatbelts! For most of those kids, the bus was the most exciting thing about the whole trip.

Anyway, we went to the zoo. Honestly, I sort of dreaded having to keep track of even five kindergarten kids! I was so relieved to find that each group would only be two kids. Amber's teacher paired her with her favorite friend, Imanol. What was funny about that was, Amber had just finished telling me that she wanted to sit with Imanol on the bus! Imagine Amber's delight when she got to spend the entire field trip hanging out with Imanol.

Side note: I think I have my work cut out for me if Amber already likes boys this much. I am not going to discourage any friendship, but . . . Ahhh, the joys of being six!

I was exhausted by the end of the trip. But we had fun. I love watching Amber, although the joy is bittersweet as I hate to watch her grow up! Time flies too fast. Before I know it, Kindergarten will be over and Amber will be moving on once again.

Yes, I was complaining in my last post. But then I thought I would have a little fun. As you all know, I am a giveaway aficionado. I am so addicted. But it is a lot of fun, so I will keep up.

Do any of you love Avon? I do. I love the Bond girl perfume and the kids soaps. But there is so much more. I am so excited about another giveaway, you can find the details here. It is for an Avon gift basket. Check it out and enter. It didn't look like there were many entries yet, so you will have a good chance at winning!

Mother's Day, Bah humbug!

I really set out to do a Mother's day post, but I just couldn't. I could not write a wonderful flowing piece when I have such a distaste for Mother's day. Everything I started to write made me begin to feel like such a hypocrite. I detest Mother's day, yet wrote a grand tribute to mothers, myself, yada yada yada. So yes, I have a serious dislike for Mother's day and I'll tell you why!

1. On Mother's day my kids and husband are forced to profess their undying love and adoration for me. Shouldn't that be happening more than just one day a year? I do much more than can be appreciated in one measly day!

2. After professing their love and adoration, I still have to get up and do everything. Even if I dream of putting my feet up and having a relaxing day celebrating being a mom, ha! Who am I kidding every year? Oh yeah, that would be me!

3. At the same time, I dislike being put on a pedestal because I am eons away from being the perfect mom and I am aware of all the mistakes I am making!

4. Mother's day is one day that I tend to get jealous. You heard that right. Jealous. I am forced to see others celebrate with their own moms, and I am forced to remember that the only way I can give my mom flowers is to go visit a cold piece of earth and leave flowers next to the stone bearing her name. I struggle to fight the jealousy of all you who can visit your mom and profess your undying love towards her (despite being forced to do it by reason of a holiday called Mother's Day)!

So, those are a few of the reasons I dislike mother's day! I know, I know, get over it, right? Easier said than done but it does get better. This year wasn't quite so bad. But I still do not enjoy the day! I do suck it up and try to enjoy myself. After all, it was warm yesterday and we had a picnic in the backyard. And we all worked together to make my favorite dinner-- Chicken rolls.

Turns out that great minds think alike. Jeff and Cori made chicken rolls for her mom! Ha ha! Too funny. I couldn't stop laughing when Jeff told me that!

So, the best celebration was when Jeff and Cori stopped by. We didn't have to talk about mother's day, so we didn't. We didn't have to talk about anything. So we shared stories of our youth! I think I laughed hard enough to burn all the calories from the last week of meals!

Giveaway winnings!

As most of you know by now, I have been entering lots of giveaways. This has been a lot of fun. I enter not expecting anything as there are usually lots of other entries! But I have been winning! All it takes is a couple of seconds to make a comment on each blog. So here's some of the stuff I've won:

-- Quilting Book
-- Book and CD (if you remember, this was the Anne Bradshaw giveaway I wrote about!)
-- A quiet book baq
-- A CD of kid's music
I think there was something else, but for the life of me I can't recall what it was! But this is a pretty good start!

This has all been in about the last month that I have won all of this stuff. Seriously, I am hooked. I am a true fan of giveaways! I can't win on the radio but I can win on the blogs! The secret? I don't really have a secret. Honestly, I haven't really expected anything from any of these. What a wonderful surprise when I log in and find that I have won!

Another giveaway!

Okay, I admit, I've been trying to get more entries in giveaways on other blogs! It has been so much fun.

So, this one is absolutely amazing. Dolls, gift cards, dress up clothes, books, CD's, and more! There are so many fun items being given away! Check it out here. It's no wonder I really want to win something in this giveaway. It is a remote chance, but I need all the chances I can get. Maybe I don't want anyone else to check it out! No seriously, check out this giveaway and enter yourself! It is fun and you may just get hooked.

Emma, where are you?

I know if I wait to share this story I will forget all the funny details! So, here's my funny story for the day.

Yesterday my girls were playing out in the backyard. Amber had come inside leaving Emma out there by herself. A little bit later I looked out the window to check on Emma, make sure she is doing okay. I couldn't see her from any angle. Okay, so maybe she was over by the pear tree and I can't see that far from my kitchen window. I also couldn't hear her out there which isn't too strange when she is by herself!

I was also on the phone at the time and asked Amber to go find Emma. After a diligent search, Amber came back in, "Mom, I can't find her. She's not back there!" So, Amber checks the front yard. No Emma! Okay, I'm getting worried now. Where did Emma go? Amber was starting to freak out! She kept saying, "I can't find her. I think she went really far!" The panic was evident in her voice. When Amber got to the end of the circle, she really started to panic! "I can't find her, where is she? Mom, we have to find her, I think she went really far!" Amber was all set to start a full blown neighborhood search for Emma. I'm thinking, "How hard is it to find a 3 year old girl in her own backyard?" So, apparently it can be quite difficult! I went out to look. No Emma! Okay, so Amber isn't crazy and really did look in every crook and cranny of the backyard!

What to do. Hmmm . . . Emma is nowhere to be found. As I'm coming inside I have this thought "Check downstairs!" Of all the crazy thoughts! I had been sitting at the kitchen table and hadn't heard or seen her come inside. How could she be downstairs? So, I thought, "I'll just check just to cover all my bases! Wouldn't it be funny if she really was there?" Off to the basement. As I rounded the corner of the living room, there was Emma, laying on the floor watching Madagascar 2!

What a relief. I really had no idea what I was going to do if I really had lost Emma out of my own backyard! At that point I went to find Amber. She was practically in tears because Emma was nowhere to be found! So I called Amber home. I said, "Amber, did you check downstairs?" No surprise that her reaction was, "Why?" So I told her again to check downstairs! It was not an easy task convincing Amber to do such a thing when she was convinced Emma was far away! Nonetheless, Amber finally checked downstairs! The next thing I knew, Amber was bouncing up the stairs, "Mom, she is down there!" Pure joy filled her face as she realized Emma wasn't lost, missing, or just plain far away! She had been here the whole time! The best part about it was this -- Emma was oblivious to the panic stirred by her disappearance. She was so involved in the movie that she had no idea anybody was looking for her!

Vintage Hem Giveaway

I know, I am going so crazy with these! I love it! Giveaways are so awesome! So here's another one!
These are so cute! They are meant to lenghten your hemline. Check it out here and see what all the buzz is about.

Country Bob's Giveaway

Okay, so I admit, I'm a giveaway junkie. Here's another one! One person will win one bottle of Country Bob's sauce! So many things you can do with it. Check out the giveaway here!

Yay, I figured out the link thing now! I'm feeling good!

Anne Bradshaw giveaway

If you like music and books, check out this giveaway. One very lucky person will win this weeks giveaway. The lucky winner will get TWO prizes! C.S. Bezas (author and musician)is donating her relaxing CD - A Time for Ana - and a best-selling book she wrote for teachers. Check out the giveaway here.

So, I'm not entirely sure the link in my post is going to work. So the title of my post will link you to the giveaway too!

Storytime at the Bookstore, etc.

In celebration of turn it off week, Barnes and Noble is having a few activities for the kids each night. Tonight was storytime and crafts.

So the night started out like this:

I had something to give to Jaime so we all piled into the car and drove over to Jaime's on our way out to Barnes and Noble. This was supposed to be a quick trip to drop off some papers and head off. On the way to Jaime's, Amber begs and pleads "Can Natalie come too? Will you ask Jaime, please?" My initial reaction was no, but then I thought better of it. So I asked. Natalie wanted to go!

Jaime quickly made Natalie a sandwich. She hadn't had dinner yet. Oops, I didn't think about that! While making a sandwich, Brayden came home and was standing in my Tahoe waiting to go too. Oh no! This was not going as planned. But we can deal with it, right? So Brayden learns it is just Natalie going. Major meltdown ensues.

Jaime decides to just pack up Brayden and Connor and meet us at Barnes and Noble. Yay, we get the whole troop! But I was really feeling bad now because I had just interrupted Jaime's whole night! Oh why do I keep doing this? I so didn't think about it before I asked. Sorry Jaime.

The first story was "If you give a Pig a Party." Then the kids got to choose the next book. So Emma said she wanted "If you take a Mouse to School." This is one of our favorites! Emma pretty much told the whole story before the lady could read it! Oh no, you couldn't tell at all that we have pretty much the whole collection!

Then the kids made party hats and colored a cupcake. Then the lady pulled out their favorite, stickers! Oh my, she was their favorite after that! I mean, stickers, how much cooler can you get? All in all it was a fun night. The kids were very well behaved even after we got home.

We got home, put the kids in bed, said family prayer, and oh no! I realized I forgot to turn in the redbox movie! Oops. 8:00 p.m. the kids should be in bed. I have to get that movie back. John won't be home for about an hour! What do I do? So, I pile the kids back in the car, drive to the nearest redbox, return the movie. Simple right? Oh, except Emma slipped on the puddle of water that Timothy made when he dumped his cup. I hadn't cleaned it up yet. Off to the bedroom for her to find new pajamas as her behind was all wet! Timothy slips in the same puddle, off to the car with him! No time to change pajamas right now!

Whew, got the movie turned in! We came home, the girls went to bed, Timothy went to bed. All was good. We had a successful bedtime with no major meltdowns! Yay, success! What more can I ask for today?

Thank you, thank you, thank you!

I really have very little to update you all on. Our life has fallen into a routine. School, exercise, play, eat, sleep, etc., etc. The past couple of weeks I have depended on a lot of people to help me get things done. I am grateful for those who have stepped in and helped me. I am also grateful for my family who has been patient with me as I've been learning to juggle new activities. I have also been blessed with the opportunity to help others along the way too. Thank you to all those who let me help you!

Pay it Forward!

Pay It Forward Exchange is based on the concept of the movie "Pay it Forward". I will send a hand made gift to the first three people who leave a comment to this post on my blog requesting to join the PIF exchange. All the gifts will be made and posted out 'sometime within the next year'. How exciting to not know when your surprise package will arrive! What you need to do in return, is pay it forward by making the same promise on your blog. This Exchange is only open to those with active websites or blogs.

I'd love for you to join me! Will you be one of first three?
Other comments are welcome, but only the first three will be my Pay It Forward recipients.

April Fool's!! HEHE

¡ƃuısnɯɐ ʎןqıpǝɹɔuı ǝq pןnoʍ ʇı ʇɥƃnoɥʇ ı sɐ ʇsod ǝןʇʇıן sıɥʇ ʎoɾuǝ os ˙ɹǝʍsuɐ ǝɥʇ ʍouʞ ʎpɐǝɹןɐ ı ʞuıɥʇ ı ¡ʇɐɥʇ ɹǝʍsuɐ ʇ,uop ¿pǝssǝnƃ ǝʌɐɥ pןnoʍ oɥʍ ˙ʎzɐɹɔ ǝןʇʇıן ɐ ɯɐ ı ǝqʎɐɯ os 'ʎɐʞo ¡ʇno sıɥʇ pǝɹnƃıɟ ʇsnɾ ı ʞuıɥʇ ı ¡ɐɥɐɥɐɥ

Don't cross mom!

I have been caught. I say things that my kids don't understand. I don't think about what I am saying, I just say it thinking I understand, they should too, right? So maybe not! Yesterday Emma reminded me how different her perception and understanding are from mine! Let me illustrate with this little story. I hope it makes you laugh because I am still laughing every time I think about it. Be patient with me as I try to describe the events in this story. If I had a video, it would
be much better, however, finding myself struck with a bad case of dumbfoundedness, I wasn't thinking fast enough to video this exchange. At the time, I couldn't think much beyond "did that just happen?" or "did she just do what I thought she did?"

So yesterday morning, I got home from a meeting and had a pounding headache. Of course the girls were intent on being uncooperative and had been from the moment they had opened their eyes! Not being able to think straight, I told the girls, "Mommy has a headache, and is tired, so you better not cross me today!" Can you see where this is going? Of course I didn't think twice about what I just said, and I definitely did not think about how the girls would interpret my statement. I guess that joke was on me. I just happened to glance over at her. At first glance it looked as if she was just waving her hand around in the air as she has been known to do on occasion. A few seconds passed as he continued. I soon realized exactly what she was doing. She had one finger out as if she were writing with her finger. She was moving her finger the in the shape of a T or a cross. She was crossing me! I couldn't believe it! Luckily for her I saw the humor in the situation. I couldn't stop laughing (and am still laughing!), the whole thing was too funny! I quickly forgot about my headache as we were consumed with laughter.
Maybe I should think about things from their perspective more often!

Spring is in the Air!

Warm weather! Ahhh . . . we love the warm weather! We love to be outside in the sunshine. Because I have been outside more, computer activities have been limited the past few days! But, I thought I would list some of the things we love to do in the spring!

We love:

Taking walks after dinner, riding bikes, going to the zoo, writing messages with sidewalk chalk, playing on the swing-set, going to the park, walking to and from school (which we have not started yet, but we will soon!), blowing bubbles, and many more.

We have enjoyed most of these activities since the kids have very limited attention spans. This limitation allows us to participate in many different activities each day! On Saturday I thought it would be fun to take the kids to the zoo. I just didn't think so many other people would be as brilliant as I am! I got to the zoo and drove around for ten to fifteen minutes just looking for a parking spot! Yikes. I couldn't believe how busy it was! But it was so worth it. The kids enjoyed it. Amber walked around with the zoo map telling us where we should go. Interesting that all she really wanted to see was the black bear!

We took a walk after dinner on Sunday. But didn't get too far as we stopped to talk to a neighbor along the way! Oops. John had been gone. Upon arriving home and finding us still missing he came to find us. It was a good thing we took the same route we usually take, despite pleas from Amber to take a different way!

Amber has loved being outside. She has been so cute with Timothy. She is teaching him to go down the slide. She holds on to him as he goes down so he doesn't fall off the side. She has also fetched him from the street multiple times. Timothy has a fascination with the street! It is a good thing I live in a cul-de-sac where the traffic is very limited! He got mad at me today when I wouldn't let him play in the backyard by himself. He was in heaven when the girls decided they wanted to play on the swing-set! Timothy is happiest when he can just wander. He hasn't quite covered the entire backyard, but he is coming close! Maybe tomorrow!

Sorry no pictures again. I need to get back outside and supervise the activities out there. While I am sure they can take care of themselves, I don't want to leave them out there by themselves for too long! They need to know I am watching them still! Toodle doo for now! Another update sure to come soon.