Behind the Scenes

No More Mullet!

2011-11-19T20:16:00.001-07:00

Well, we decided it was time to get rid of Samuel's mullet hairdo. I love his curly hair in the back, but he was starting to look like a redneck. He did NOT like having his haircut at all. Screamed and cried until dad just stood and held him while she finished.

Whew! All done....and my baby looks like a little boy now! :-(

Halloween

2011-11-16T16:24:00.001-07:00

I am slow posting pictures- I know. These are from Halloween. This year Logan was a soldier (again- it's his favorite...), Claire was an 80's girl, and Sam was a cow. Sam cried every time I put his costume on him. He wasn't quite sure what to think about it. He did enjoy digging out the seeds from the pumpkins.

This year I took the kids and a couple of their friends over to Jordan Landing to trick or treat for about an hour. I have lived here seven years and have never taken them over there. It wasn't too bad. The weather couldn't have been any better. Didn't even need to wear a jacket. It was perfect! The day after Halloween was rainy and cold.

While the kids were out trick or treating in the neighborhood, Sam and I stayed home and ate chili and handed out candy to the billions of trick or treaters that we get.

Here are the "kids" pumpkin carvings.... They picked and/or drew the designs and I got to cut them out. Oh what fun on my most favorite holiday.....

Nathan's Priest Ordination

2011-11-16T16:09:00.001-07:00

Nathan was ordained as a Priest last Sunday. I am so proud of him. Spence gave him a wonderful blessing. Didn't get any pictures of the two of them together because Spence got called out to do some transports. We had dinner at our house afterwards with my dad and Spence's mom.

Nater and Sadie Hawkins

2011-10-17T19:58:00.006-06:00

My Nathan is going to be 16 in a week! I can't even believe it. I can't be that old can I?? Last week a girl named Katelyn called me to see if she could come over and decorate his room and ask him to Sadie Hawkins which is on November 12th. I said sure! So I told Nathan he better get his room cleaned and that he has to come to volleyball with me. He smiled and said I was kind of obvious. Sorry- I am new at this stuff! When we returned his room was filled with balloons and streamers and Katelyn had left a Cinderella type poem asking him to the dance. She left two slippers- one with a "yes" on it and one with a "no" on it. He was to return the one with his answer on it.

After about 4 days I found out that it wasn't the Katelyn that I thought that had asked him to the dance. His best friend is Katelyn Gilley so I assumed it was her. I guess he has met another Katelyn at school!

We made a plan as to how we would return the slipper. I (um- I mean he) wrote a poem and we cut the bottom of a pumpkin out and slid the slipper inside of it and replaced bottom of pumpkin. We attached cardboard wheels and the mice from cinderella to make a carriage, then left it on her porch. I think it turned out pretty good....

Here's the poem we attached:

Once upon a time there was a prince named Nathan,

Who met a cute girl at charm school one day.

Together they shared many laughs and had fun-

But as the clock struck midnight the girl hurried away.

The prince wanted to see the mystery girl some more,

But without knowing her name was with dismay.

The clue left behind was the slipper she wore-

So to search the kingdom the prince went on his way.

After trying the slipper on many hopeful girls' feet,

Prince Nathan was filled with much sorrow.

When alas- his heart leapt and skipped a beat-

He saw his mystery princess down the hollow!

Princess Katelyn then did ask him to the Sadie's ball,

And Prince Nathan was not afraid to joke a little.

So in response to her delightful call-

Placed her slipper in the pumpkin middle!

If the Princess wants to know the Prince's reply,

She must open and search through the seeds.

Prince Nathan can sometimes be a little sly-

But likes it when the girl takes the lead!

Here's our carriage.....

I just don't know if I am ready for my son to start dating.....

Nathan is in the West Jordan Take Ten choir this year. It's an all boys choir. He has loved it and loves his teacher Mr. DeHaan. It is his favorite class. They had their first concert last week. Here is Nathan in his tuxedo. I can't believe they have to dress up so nice for choir! Things have sure changed since I was in school.... The concert was great. Can't wait for their Christmas performance.

I love you Nater and am so proud of the fine young man you have become. :-)

First Day of School 2011-12

2011-09-12T20:02:00.000-06:00

NATHAN

Nathan is a SOPHOMORE (!!) this year at West Jordan High. I can't believe I am old enough to have a son in high school. I know I don't look it. :-) He decided to attend this school and not the one that his junior high feeds into. He has already made lots of friends. His FAVORITE class is CHOIR. He is in the "all boys" choir. He really loves his teacher Mr. DeHaan. He is also taking seminary, pre-calculus, AP Psychology, Honors History, drivers ed and language arts.

Nathan has his learners permit drivers license and so far seems to be doing a good job driving. (At least with me.) I have learned to calm down a bit when he is driving the car. I cannot believe he will be 16 next month and will be dating and be blessing the Sacrament. He is such a good kid- although still has his "teenage moments." :-)

LOGAN

Logan started 4th grade at Westland Elementary and was so excited this year to have a male teacher. He has a lot of friends in his class from last year. He is excited to be in the "upper grades" in elementary now- although that means a bit more homework and more required reading time. Logan does NOT like to read. I keep checking out different books at the library to find something that interests him- but so far no luck. Hopefully he will learn to enjoy it and not think of it as a chore.

On the 5th morning of school, Logan was bragging to Claire about how Mr. Sagers lets them do ANYTHING in their class. They don't have to follow all the school rules. (We were talking about dress code at the time because Claire insisted on wearing a tank top to school.) Logan said kids wear them in his class and don't get in trouble. That afternoon when I picked the kids up from school, we were waiting for Logan for 15 minutes. He came out, got in car and slammed door shut and said it was the worse day ever. Mr. Sagers made him and some friends MISS their recess, AND they had to stay AFTER SCHOOL for 15 minutes for talking in class. I laughed and said "I thought you could do anything in your class Logan!" He said everyone just kept talking to him and MAKING him talk. I just chuckled....

CLAIRE

Claire started 2nd grade also at Westland Elementary. She is still one of the tallest in her grade. She likes her teacher, Mrs. Glazier. She kind of had a rough first week because she doesn't like one of the kids that she sits by in her group. He isn't quite "socially" as mature as she is and acts out some in class and has even cried a few times. She was suddenly getting stomach aches and complaining that she hates school. I turned it into a teaching moment and told her that all through life we will be around people that irritate us or that we just don't care for that much, but we have to learn to tolerate them and get along with them. I told her she should just try and take the opportunity to help this other student out if he seems to be getting frustrated or doesn't understand something. I told her she needs to make an effort and change her attitude towards him. She has come home on several occasions and told me of different things she did to help him out. I am so glad she is happier now.

Claire is still very social and has lots of friends. She thinks she is older than just 7 at times. After spending the day shopping with two of her cousins who are 12, she came home and told me that she needs a BRA. She was digging through my drawer to find one that would fit her. (She probably could have found one!) I told her she wasn't quite ready for that yet...Hope I survive this one!

I have enjoyed my days home with SAMUEL. He definitely keeps me busy- but is my little buddy. He LOVES his blankie and bottle and his favorite time of day is naptime when he gets to cuddle with me. He gets so excited when I am fixing his bottle. He runs to go get his blanket. He is so damn cute.....and spoiled. Of course he is still sleeping in my bed. Oh well- he's the last one so I will just try and enjoy it. :-)

Some Day....

2011-08-09T19:21:00.004-06:00

Ah sweet blog....some day I will make a new post. Unfortunately today isn't the day. Husband and baby out on the front porch so think I will go join them and enjoy the perfect evening. :-)

10

2011-04-07T12:56:00.003-06:00

Can you believe Samuel is walking already?? Wow- where did the time go? He just turned 10 months old on April 1st and was walking about a week before that...and he still doesn't have any teeth. Things about Samuel right now:

- still spitting...i just love picking baby food out of my hair and off my face.

- making messes with anything he can. Loves throwing everything out of the drawers and cupboards.

- still sleeping with mom and dad most of the night. (ugh!)

- still getting ear infections. He's had 4 so far this year. Thinking tubes in ears are next...

- tries to make it to the top of the stairs by the time someone gets him.

- throws himself back and arches his back when he wants his way. Also has this fake little cry that is hilarious. Can't believe how quickly they learn those things.

- loves licorice....and diet pepsi....especially for breakfast. :-)

The Power of an M&M

2011-03-10T10:39:00.005-07:00

My kids have been AWFUL lately to one another. The fighting and name calling has seemed never ending. Seems from the moment they get in the car to go to school and the second they get back in the car when I pick them up there is constant bickering. It has had my stomach in knots and creates so much tension in the home. I found I was constantly screaming and hollering at them to knock it off.

I guess it takes me being fed up with something to have a family night. I am not the best about doing regular FHE. (I know- maybe if I had regular FHE then I would be having these problems...) So I found the perfect lesson on kindness to present to the kiddos Monday night. I put each of their pictures on a jar and put some M&M's in a jar with a smiley face to represent the nice words/acts and put buttons in a jar with frowny face to represent all the naughty stuff. We role played some of the words that the kids love to say to one another like "You're an Idiot!", or "You're retarded.", or "I hate you and wish you weren't part of this family." The list could go on and on. I told them if I heard those words then I would put a button in their jar. If I heard kind words or saw acts of kindness then I would put an M&M in their jar. After one week they could get the candy from their jar. I also told them if there was any physical fighting then I would dump out all the candy from their jar and they had to start over. I ended the lesson with this wonderful little article by Jeffrey Holland.

Well let me just tell you- so far it is nothing but kindness in our home! Claire will do anything for that M&M. She counts how many she has and panicks if I even threaten of putting a button in her jar. Tells me she will do chores to rid of the button. If it looks like an argument may be coming I simply say "Button button, who's going to get the button?" :-)

I hope to make this last as long as I can....

Saturday, March 12, 2011.....Well, it was good the few days it lasted. Claire says (as she got entire jar of candy dumped out...) "I'm not playing that STUPID jar game anymore."

WARNING

2011-02-27T09:33:00.002-07:00

DO NOT LEAVE UNATTENDED FOR MORE THAN 30 SECONDS!

Samuel got into the pantry and dumped out the entire bag of pretzel sticks. Guess he made his own version of the game "Pick Up Sticks" for mom.

I forgot to shut the door to the dog food, and this is what I found about an hour later....

Luckily he hasn't started eating the dog food yet. The kids always ask what I do all day long while they are at school. I pretty much chase Samuel around! This day he went through two outfits- as well as me. I made the mistake of carrying him around when he had poopy diaper. Didn't know it had leaked out- so it was all over my shirt. (Gross- I know!) I had also been spit up on during the day too. I feel like all I do is follow Sam around and pick up after him. (No different than any of the other kids!) He loves to pull everything out of the drawers and pantry. Seems his second round of antibiotics are working because he has all of his energy back!

I Didn't Do It Mom!

2011-02-03T10:37:00.002-07:00

I don't think my plant is going to survive Samuel. :-) Sam discovered how fun it is to rip the leaves off of the plant and tear them in little pieces. He also discovered there is dirt in the pot and how fun it is to play in it and throw it all over the floor. He is so funny. I will see him crawling towards the plant and sit and say "No no Samuel." He just stops, turns, and looks at me and smiles and then continues on to the plant. He knows exactly what he's doing. LOL

I can't believe he is already 8 months old! He has been crawling for about 5 weeks now. In the past 3 weeks he has become so mobile. Seems like it happened overnight. He is into everything! He walks around the coffee table, loves it when I have the dishwasher down, and has found the dog food that I had to move out of the kitchen. He crawled up all the stairs a few days ago so now I have to watch him around them. He's my little spoiled buddy. He has the biggest smile and brings so much joy to our family. He especially loves his big brother Nathan. It's so cute to see him want Nathan to hold him.

Samuel has been sick- he has both ears and eyes infected. He HATES taking his medicine. It takes an army to hold him down and make him swallow it. His worse enemy is a Kleenex. I will be glad when he starts feeling better.

October

2010-10-30T09:27:00.004-06:00

Well, it seems my blog has turned into a monthly post thing- so here's a few October pics and events...

Claire's good friend Macy came over and was making Samuel laugh and smile. She is so silly. She put her funny glasses on him and we all laughed. I think he looks like that bookworm coming out of the apple....

Samuel's 4th month: still sleeping with mom and waking up couple times in the night, discovered his voice more and has a high piercing dolphin sound, likes his activity center (mom does too! doctor told me to burn it- but this is one time I will NOT be following doctor's orders!), likes Baby Einstein DVD's, moves around more on his tummy on the blanket and still loves bathtime.

At his 4 month check up he weighed 19 1/2 lbs! He's in 99th percentile for both weight and height.

I don't think his smile could get any bigger! How can you not help but smile when you see that?

On October 24th, Nathan turned 15 years old! I can hardly believe it! Now he can get a drivers learning permit- if I ever let him. :-) Nathan has continued to get straight A's and kept a 4.0 grade point average. I am so proud of him and the good choices he has made. I hope it will continue and always be that way! He is such a good helper at home with Samuel and with cooking dinners when needed. He loves to cook.

He does have his typical moody teenage moments and at times hates being the oldest. Love you Nater!

*sigh*- then there's Halloween- the holiday I loathe. Just don't see the point of it. To me it's just another one of those commercialized holidays to suck more money out of you. And how many times do we have to put our kids in their costumes?? And it's always so stinking cold out for trick-or-treating. I'd much rather just buy a few bags of candy to hand to my kids. Hey- maybe I could just have them trick-or-treat in our house...just go from door to door in it. Think they would go for that? :-)

This year's costumes were pretty easy though...glad for that. Claire wears her new boots every day. She wants a horse so bad. I don't know where this "country" part of her is coming from...

She continues to challenge me at times and I pray I will survive her teenage years.

Logan is still my senstive one in spite of the mean cowboy face he has on. I have to be so careful of what I say to him and to carefully discipline. He hates homework and reading. Claire comes home and gets all of her homework for the week done on the first day. She could sit for hours and write and do homework. With Logan, I'm lucky to get 5 minutes a night! In spite of that, he gets good grades in school and seems to always do well.

I can't believe we are already to the end of October. Where has the year gone? Where did summer go? I guess I was stuck at home with new baby for the summer so didn't get to go and do much. Can't believe the holidays are upon us already. It has been a tough year for us financially- I hope the next year will be an improvement.

Labor Day

2010-09-12T22:00:00.003-06:00

For Labor Day this year we went up to Evanston so the kids could ride in my dad's truck in the parade. They had so much fun throwing candy out to all the parade watchers. Nathan had fun because he got to drive the truck in the parade while Spence, Samuel and I rode inside with him.

This is my cute mom and dad. I love them so much. :-)

Claire suddenly has an obsession with horses and wishes we had some.

After the parade we went and visited my Grandma Davis. She is 92 years old and still living by herself. For some reason she just keeps hanging on. She has slowed down quite a bit due to some falls that created some hip and back problems for her. She loves to crochet and has made countless afghans and dolls.

Samuel got to meet his great-grandma for the first time. I am so glad my kids have the opportunity to get to know their great grandparents. I wish my Grandpa Davis was still alive for them to meet as well. He was so special, and I know grandma misses him dearly. He has been gone for nearly 12 years now.

I can't believe we are already half way through September and the holidays are quickly approaching. Where did the summer go? Where did the year go? I am definitely not ready for snow....

Baptism and Blessing Day

2010-09-04T22:53:00.006-06:00

Logan turned 8 years old on June 4th. Since I had Samuel just a few days before that, we have had to wait a few months to have Logan's baptism. He has been patiently waiting for this day to come and was so excited that it was finally here!

I went out in the garage to get out boxes of old photos in them the night before his baptism.I was trying to find photos of Logan's baby blessing. I felt like Chevy Chase in Christmas Vacation when he's in the attic and gets caught up in old photos and home videos. :-) I ended up sitting in the garage for over an hour looking through old photos. I couldn't believe how quickly time passes. Seems like just yesterday that Logan was running around in a diaper and carrying his toy toolbox around.

It was a fun day for Logan as well as a special day for his dad. It was extra special that Spence got to be the one to perform this sacred ordinance for Logan. I am proud of you Logan and your decision to be baptized! You are such a loving boy, and like your dad said in your blessing- you have a special sweet spirit. We are so glad you are part of our family.

We decided to bless Samuel on the same day since family and friends would already be here. It made the day extra special. We needed to get Sam blessed before he got any bigger! Spence was worried that he'd have to sit him in the chair for his blessing!

Grandma Sue

Grandma and Grandpa Davis

Samuel was a very good baby today and didn't cry in his blessing. We are so blessed to have him in our family also. He is becoming so fun- smiling and even trying to laugh. He has discovered his voice more and likes to suck on his hands. Sure wish he would take a pacifier at times- but he doesn't care too much for it. He has rolled over from his belly to his back a few times and is starting to like the Baby Einstein videos more. (good for mom....) He still likes to sleep in mom's arms at night, but is sleeping for longer periods of time. (yay!)

I can't believe how fast he is growing. I am enjoying my time with him during the day while kids are at school. I find myself just sitting on the couch and cuddling (and napping) with him. Samuel likes bathtime at nights and also likes to sit outside. He likes stroller rides. Claire is good to load him up and walk him down the street. Most times she has Simon sitting in the basket below the stroller as well. :-)

Thank you to all our friends and family who came and shared in our special day! We are so lucky to have such caring people in our lives.

First Day of School 2010-11

2010-09-02T20:55:00.007-06:00

Nathan is a Freshman this year! Man- I can't believe how fast time goes. Nathan has grown a lot this summer. He is almost in a size 12 shoe and is much taller than me. He is taking honors classes, along with ballroom dancing (was shocked when I saw his schedule for that one...), seminary, computer tech...etc. He is loving his biology class and hating his computer tech class. He already knows all the computer stuff- but it is a required class so he can't get out of it. Nathan worked hard last year and got straight A's every report card. I hope he will be able to do the same this year!

Logan started 3rd grade. He likes his teacher so far, but not all of the rules. Seems there's a new rule every day- you can only use the bathroom at recess or lunchtime, only fill up your water bottle at lunch.... (really tough rules like that...) He is enjoying being a big brother to Claire and takes pride in picking her up after school and walking with her.

Claire started 1st grade. She actually just met in small groups with her teacher on the first day- so her first day was really the 2nd day of school. There is a girl in her class that is new to the school. She was with Claire when they met with Mrs. DeHaan in the small group. She instantly clung on to Claire, and happened to have her desk next to Claire's. The next day at school, this girl's mom told me she was going to ask Claire if she'd be her friend. Well, after school, Claire told me how Kennedee (the girl) was a copy cat and wouldn't leave her alone all day. She had to color everything the same as Claire and say the same things. Claire must've complained to Logan about it because the next day he said he told that girl to stop copying Claire. So nice of him to take care of his sister. :-)

I asked Claire what her favorite part of the day is. She said it is lunchtime. I asked her why. "Because I get to see Logan and we have recess together." Aahh....wish they could be loving all the time.

Have a good year kids! The house sure is quiet while you're away....

Silly Girls!

2010-08-22T13:07:00.003-06:00

My niece, Ashley, had to come down to Primary Childrens to get her bandages changed on her hand. They all stopped by to play for awhile first. All of the girls have lots of fun together.

Ashley (almost 9) Claire (6) Maggie (7) Natalie (4)

For those of you who don't know, Ashley was in an accident with her horse at the fair. Her horse was tied to her trailer and she was grooming it. She was trying to untie the knot on the lead rope and something spooked the horse. It pulled back, pulling the rope tight with Ashley's hands stuck in it. On her right hand, a fingertip was gone and her left hand all four fingers. She was brought down to Primary Childrens Hospital and had a 6 hour surgery to reattach fingers and fingertips. She spent a week in the hospital and was such a trooper. Since the surgery, they have had to remove the middle and ring finger on her left hand. She is doing great though and has had lots of love and support from her family and community.

My brother has been overwhelmed by all of the support where he lives. Ashley had a lamb that she raised to put in the fair. One of her friends showed it for her since she was in the hospital. The night of the livestock auction, her lamb was auctioned off and donated back to auction again- 5 times! It made $10,000 to help with medical expenses. The other kids selling livestock donated 3% of their sales also. $22,000 (and a pig) have been donated so far. It's nice to know that there is so much good out there in people despite everything going on around us in the world.

Bubbles!

2010-08-22T12:49:00.005-06:00

A few weeks ago I had 3 of my nieces over for a few days while their sister, Ashley, was in the hospital. It was fun to get to know them better. They live in Big Piney, Wyoming so we don't see them very often.

All the girls piled in the bathtub and turned the jets on for lots of bubble fun! I had a pretty wet bathroom when they got out.

Chelsea (20 mos) wasn't quite sure she wanted to get in with the wild older girls at first.

Natalie (4), Maggie (7) and Claire (6)

Let me tell ya- I don't know how my little brother Spencer does it. Him and his wife, Amy, have four girls! I feel bad that he's the only male in the household. He better brace himself when they all get into high school and start dating. Imagine all the hormones that will be in that house! Just thinking of the expense of school dances, weddings, etc gives me a nervous breakdown. :-) They all seem to be "daddy's girls" though and have him wrapped around his finger.

Single Parenting

2010-08-02T10:32:00.005-06:00

I am going on three weeks now of being a single parent. Spence has been gone to Reno, NV working on a business transaction. He wasn't planning on being gone that long. The first week he was gone Nathan was gone as well. He went to EFY down in Provo at BYU. (He had a terrific time and said it was a real testimony booster.) Once Nate returned it made things a bit easier cuz I had my babysitter back. Let me tell you- I hated dragging three kids into the store to grocery shop. They instantly turn wild or something and climb all over the cart, play tag and run up and down the aisles. And that's on top of how much extra it costs to bring them with me.... The worse part of both Spence and Nate being gone at the same time was that I couldn't just run into the convenience store for my diet pepsi. That really sucked.

Anyway, I think I've done pretty well at holding it all together. There have been a few moments where a few tears have been shed. I just know that when Spence gets home he will let me have a break from the kids and go pamper myself- so I'm trying to hang on to that thought to get me through!

Any of you that know Claire knows that she thinks she is about 15 or so. She has a sassy little attitude (and mouth) on her. She kept bugging me about something yesterday and I kept telling her no. She was talking very loudly to me and I kept interrupting her with the same answer of NO. She waved her finger in my face and told me to let her talk. Then she preceeded to tell me to stop treating her like a kid. I just walked into the kitchen and told her I needed a huge break from her. She goes "Mom, you need a break from ALL the kids." Can't argue with her on that one. :-)

Newborn Pictures

2010-07-07T11:21:00.007-06:00

Here are pictures from when Samuel was one week old. There are so many cute pics to choose from that I just had to post several. Thanks Jen for being such an awesome friend and photographer!

Look at those lips. :-)

Announcing....(finally!)

2010-07-07T10:59:00.005-06:00

Samuel Christian McDonald was born on June 1st after about 8 hours of labor. He weighed in at 9lbs 3 ozs and was 21 inches long.

He has blonde hair on top and darker hair in back. His eyes are BLUE like all the other kids.

Mommy and Daddy were very excited to have him here.

He loves to be swaddled and held tight.

So many people were there to welcome him into the world....

Now for the details: I checked into the hospital around 7:30a.m. After 4 attempts at trying to get an IV in me, pitocin was started. I made it about 3 hours (?) without having an epidural- and getting the epidural brought tears to my eyes and a few screams. (small ones...) Seems I always have trouble getting those. BUT, it is so worth it. Dialating progressed slowly until about the last 30 minutes. I didn't have to push too many times. A few of the times my doctor, Dr. Irion, had me laughing while trying to push so it took a bit longer. There was also a medical student there to assist the doctor.

My parents and Spence's mom were with Spence and me in the delivery room, as well as my friend Jen to take all the fabulous pictures. The other kids were out in the waiting room. They had spent most of the day there at the hospital, trying to be patient until Samuel was born. I would NOT recommend this to anyone. I truly couldn't relax much with my kids coming in and out. I kept worrying that they were being disruptive in the hospital.

I stayed two nights in the hospital. Claire was lucky enough to get to spend the last night with me. She fell asleep on the couch in my room so we just let her stay. She was quite excited when she woke up and discovered where she was. She was so anxious to get to take Samuel home and wanted to get him dressed right away. She was quite a big helper to me to get everything gathered up and packed and ready to go. She even straightened up the room and asked me where a broom was to clean the floor! She has remained a good helper with him at home and has mastered making his bottles and has even changed a few "wet" diapers. She has gotten a dose of true motherhood by being peed on a few times by little Sam. :-)

Older Sister Advice

2010-05-27T08:28:00.001-06:00

I emailed the following letter last week to my siblings, their spouses, and my parents. Spence decided to email it to his siblings as well because he thought it was great advice. So guess I will post it on here as well so I will have it for "future reference."

I know each of you are probably used to getting "advice" letters or emails from mom or dad (mostly dad)...but now you are getting one from me. Since I am the oldest sibling- I figured it's one of my "rights and privileges" that come with it.

As you know, my brother-in-law, Sean passed away last week. It was a tough week- let me tell you. Just five days prior to Sean being found unconscious I had talked to him on the phone. It was a short phone call. He was asking me how to do something on the computer, so I simply walked him through the steps of what to do. Who knew that that would be my last conversation with him? Had I known that- I would've told him I loved him or thanked him for being a wonderful uncle to my kids, etc. Literally being at someone's bedside when they take their last breath is definitely life changing. It's something I hope I never have to experience again. But I know that Sean knew of mine and Spence's love for him.

Spence's dad, John, shared with us what he has taken from this experience. He said it's to not be judgmental of anyone. None of us know what another person has gone through, or is going through. Some people were judgmental of Sean for some of the choices he made, and because of some of his actions and beliefs. But none of us knew the pain and sufferings he experienced- both physically and mentally. The same is true of anyone. We have no right to judge others- just as it says in the scriptures "Judge not, lest ye be judged." We need to love and accept people for who they are.

Which then leads me to my next piece of advice of not holding grudges against someone- especially family members. It just isn't worth it. It doesn't do anybody any good. It takes more energy to carry around negative and spiteful feelings towards someone. I think as being the oldest, I have tried to be a peacemaker. It's in my personality that I don't like confrontation or conflict or for anyone to have ill feelings towards me. I would rather just keep things to myself. The contention that could be caused by saying something just isn't worth it to me. I'd rather just try to move on and put something offensive or upsetting behind me. I'm not saying that things shouldn't be talked about or comnmunicated if necessary, but they need to be done with love and mutual respect and then set aside and put in the past. You never know what life has in store- of when tragedy might occur. Imagine how you'd feel if there were ill feelings involved. It just isn't worth it. Look at all the time that was lost between Mom and Cindy because of grudges being held. Look at how many family relationships were affected. Are you willing to take that chance by holding a grudge/hateful feelings against someone?

I am asking all of you to put behind you any hard feelings you may have for other family members. As yourself "In the grand scheme of things, is it worth it? Does this really matter?" I'll bet the answer is no. Try to have loved and forgiveness in your hearts. Remember things that your family has done for you or times they may have given you love and support. We all make mistakes; none of us are perfect. If I have done anything to offend any of you- please forgive me.

All of us need to mend any relationships that may need mending and move forward. Now more than ever is the time when family is the most important things. It needs to be the strong support system. Don't let Satan hurt that bond by letting stupid things that don't matter, or things from years ago creep in. this is what he wants- he wants to destroy families because he knows the importance and great power of them.

During this last week with Sean's passing, I have witnessed from Spence's family what true family love and support is and how important it is. It has brought them closer together- it has brought Spence and I closer together. Please don't wait for a tragedy to happen to bring us closer. Our family is all we have. We need to spend all the time we can together and share laughs and make fond memories together and above all- enjoy being together.

I hope you will all take this with an open mind and heart. It is coming from my heart. Realize how lucky we are to have one another and strive to look for the good in each of us. I love each of you dearly and it hurts me when there is ever any contention amongst us. I will close with a quote taken from Gordon B. Hinckley's book "Stand a Little Taller."

Cease to be idle; cease to be unclean; cease to find fault one with another;...And above all things, clothe yourselves with the bond of charity, as with a mantle, which is the bond of perfectness and peace. (Doctrine and Covenants 88:124-125)

Imagine how our own families, let alone the world, would change if we vowed to keep faith with one another, stregnthen one another, look for adn accentuate the virtues in one another, and speak graciously concerning one another. Imagine the cumulative effect if we treated each other with respect and acceptance, if we willingly provided support. Such interactions practiced on a small scale would surely have a rippling effect throughout our homes and communities, and eventually, society at large.

Love Always,
Jackie

The Dreaded Question

2010-05-23T16:06:00.004-06:00

Last night I was laying in bed with Logan after tucking him in. He was counting down the days until his new baby brother would be born. Then suddenly he spoke some of the most dreaded words for a parent...

"Mom? How do you get pregnant?"

Instantly, panic began to set in. A lump was forming in my throat; my heart was pounding. What would I say? "Umm....I will talk to you about it tomorrow. Right now you need to get to sleep."

"Ok, but it's something I've been wanting to know."

Whew! Dodged it for then. Surely he would forget by the time morning came around. WRONG! How could he possibly forget when I've got this huge belly staring at him to remind him?? He asked again.... All I could come up with for spur of the moment was this:

"Well Logan...I have eggs inside of me. Not like bird eggs- but a different kind. And when they are fertilized they begin to form into a baby."

His response: "Oh, ok."

Breathe a sigh of relief. That seems to satisfy him for now. So my question to all- when is the right age to talk about the complete birds and the bees? What do you say? Logan will be 8 in a couple of weeks. I will certainly not bring it up again until he asks- but I would like to be better prepared. I guess I must have blocked out that conversation with Nathan or how old he was, because I don't remember anything about it. Maybe I just referred him to Spence.....(which is a scary thought in itself- who knows what the hell Nathan knows about the birds and the bees then. LOL)

Uncle Sean

2010-05-10T09:31:00.004-06:00

As many of you know, Spence's brother Sean is in a diabetic coma. Saturday night his 10 year old son found him unresponsive on the couch. When paramedics arrived Sean didn't have a pulse. They were able to stabilize him at the hospital. They have kept his body temperature down to help with any damage that may have been caused to his heart and brain. Late last night they turned off the cooling machine and are letting his temperature slowly rise to normal on its own. Sean has had uncontrollable twitching that they think is due to brain damage. Once his temperature is normal, doctors will run an EEG. Things don't look good, although we are trying to remain positive.

Yesterday in sacrament meeting Logan and Claire drew Uncle Sean a picture and wrote a note saying how they loved him. Sean is very close to all of his nieces and nephews. Claire and him are especially close. (The above picture is Sean's profile picture on Facebook.) I was able to hang up the pictures in Sean's room yesterday when I saw him. Logan and Claire are quite concerned. We've told them that Sean is sick and is kind of sleeping right now. This morning Logan told me he had a dream that Sean died. How do I respond to that? I just told him we didn't know what would happen, but that Sean's brain might have some damage and if he does die that he will be with Heavenly Father. Logan added "and still be with us." I said yes- we will still have him in our hearts and have our memories of him. I am thankful that they were able to spend last Sunday with him at dinner and that it was an enjoyable time.

I guess we need times like these to help us to rely on the Lord for strength, peace and comfort. I have been quite emotional this morning since the house is quiet and I'm alone for first time since it happened. Spence's family is strong and supportive so I know we will be able to get through whatever may happen. Please continue to keep us in your prayers.

Update: Sean unfortunately has extensive brain damage. The only part that is functioning is the cerebral part. He was without oxygen for at least 20 minutes and the doctors said the 15 minutes it took to revive him could cause damage as well. There is no chance of him ever recovering or having a normal life. He will be kept on breathing machine until his son Jeremy gets here from Iraq (Tuesday) and then be taken off it. We are all very sad about this and will miss Sean. I talked to Logan and Claire tonight about it and many questions were asked and tears shed. Spence gave them each a father's blessing for peace and comfort. Claire was writing down all the things that her and Sean have done together. Logan is my sensitive one so he took it quite hard. He wanted to give Sean a big hug. I wish that were possible. I just reassured them how much Sean loved them and that he would be with Heavenly Father. I hate it when my kids are sad and in pain but I am so grateful for the Gospel and the help and comfort it brings.

Baseball Season

2010-04-24T10:39:00.004-06:00

Logan started machine pitch baseball in the West Jordan Pony League this year, so I am at the ball fields two nights a week. He plays for the Cardinals. So far he has really enjoyed it and has been doing great. Maybe he got some of his dad's baseball genes. Spence is determined to turn him into a pitcher like he was. (only because he can't run very fast...shhh....) Logan has been playing the pitching position this season. Since it's machine pitch he doesn't actually pitch the ball, but he has assisted in some outs to first base and caught a pop fly during his first game.

He has hit the ball almost every time up to bat. There's been a few times that he has struck out. He even hit a couple of home runs.

Don't they all look so cute in their uniforms? Logan was hoping for the #13 to be like his dad, but the numbers didn't go that high. Maybe next year....

Go Cardinals!

33 Weeks

2010-04-20T13:23:00.002-06:00

Well, time is ticking down. I'm now 33 weeks pregnant. It has gone by pretty fast actually. The hardest is yet to come though. I have definitely felt more aches and pains in this pregnancy with it being my 5th pregnancy. My pelvis hurts more since my muscles are all stretched out and my sciatic nerve is awful. Brings me to my knees sometimes. It will all be worth it though, right?

This baby boy is very active and never seems to have any "down time." He gets hiccups a lot and I swear at times he's playing a game of soccer in my stomach. (No- it has nothing to do with the caffeine I drink...)

So far I have gained 16 lbs, but sure that total will have gone up after my doctor appointment tomorrow. :-) I will have one more appointment in 2 weeks and then it's every week. Scary! That means I will have a baby soon! Am I ready? NO!

We are still staying with the name Samuel so far even though Nathan and Logan don't care for it much. Probably have Demar as his middle name- after Spence's grandfather. (also Spence's middle name.) I am starting to get anxious to see our new little guy. :-)

My Daily Chuckle

2010-03-30T12:06:00.003-06:00

Has anyone else seen this sign at the Senior Community on 70th South? I swear I chuckle every time I drive by it. (Which is daily taking kids to school....)Did someone at the prison make it as a joke? I can hear the officer now... "I'm sorry maam, but I clocked you going 15 mph...the speed is 14. I'm gonna have to give you a ticket." What were these people thinking?? The speed isn't 10mph...nor 15 or 20, but 14mph. Give me a break. They HAD to have special ordered this sign....

Politics

2010-03-23T08:32:00.005-06:00

Well, yesterday I found myself stirring up trouble on Facebook after commenting on my cousin's post on the whole healthcare thing that was just pushed through. Evidently some of my cousins are liberals who are in love with Obama. I was blasted back and decided that maybe I should just keep to myself and not reply because you just can't "reason" with some people. I turned to my dad in response to one of the comments that was posted since he is in politics. Before I post his response (which I loved) I will give you some background on some of the comments posted. Most of them are by young people- 20's- whom in my opinion (JUST MY OPINION...) jump on the liberal bandwagon because it's the "in" thing to do at that age. (Although I never remember doing that...) It gets them the attention they need/crave. If you want to read the post that my cousin was so nice to post for me click here.

Here is my dad's response for me. I am using my blog to post instead of Facebook as to not stir up more trouble. :-)

The problem seems to be with the age of the people that are posting comments. The last one talks about Vietnam with no idea of what was going on at the time. They blast Bush and the republican because of the Iraq war but forget that it was a democrat president and congress that took the nation into World War I and II, the Korean conflict and Vietnam. It was the beloved President Kennedy that got us into Vietnam, Johnson (another democrat) that saw the expansion of troops to 500,000 and Nixon (republican) ended the thing. The Vietnam war was lost because of the political correctness that the democrat presidents insisted on. Planes could not bomb certain targets, artillery batteries could not fire on supplies going down the Ho Chi Ming trail even though they could see them in transit because it was across the line. Make no mistake, the US had the military capacity to destroy every thing that lived and breathed in North Vietnam but the military was unable to use this power because of the "rules of engagement". It has been a problem of our country for ages. There was a west and east Berlin and Germany because of political correctness. I went into the service to do my patriotic duty before I was old enough to cast a vote or drink a beer legally.

The problem in the health care bill is not in its intent, it is in the fact that it was owned by special interest. Not just doctors and drug companies but by senators and congressmen. If it was such a good thing in the first place then why did Nebraska need a special provision, why did Louisiana need a 300 million special deal, and for goodness sake why did the student loan program get attached at the last minute? Not because it was such a good thing but because special deals were made to persuade enough democrats to vote for it. Notice that no special provisions were made to republican senators and representatives to get them to make this a bi-partisan bill. I am not as disappointed in the bill even though I don't agree with a lot of what I have heard about it, but the process was so very far beneath the dignity that used to belong to the policital process of this country. Even the anti abortion advocate Bart Stupak caved in with a special deal. Not the executive order that he thinks would support his position of no federal funds for abortions, but by the $700,000 that quite suddenly went to three smaller airports within his district. Some California reps were "persuaded" to vote yes when water that had been withheld from farmers in California for months and months was suddenly turned on. The little fishies that were so important last week suddenly had to take a second seat to healthcare. Well, more truthfully, they took a second seat for a couple of yes votes. Now that it is passed, I wonder if the water will stay turned on? On top of these things it will take several years before we know what other deals were made to get this passed.
The other side of the argument for those that have posted and expressed such great hate against the senior citizens of the country-who built this country for them and defended it in most of the wars that have been mentioned- is that the payment for the benefits does not begin until several years after the benefits begin. The hated "baby boomers" with their high salaries and retirement funds will have died off leaving the bill to those that are working in McDonalds and Arbys. Supposedly, those who are all for it will be the ones paying for it when this happens. They will be the college students who have now graduated and hopefully have a job that allows them enough income to pay taxes on. Since they will have had their college loans forgiven by then, they won't have this for a tax deduction thus their tax bracket will be even higher. However, their college educations will not provide them the job that they were hoping for because businesses and corporations will no longer be in business. Not because of healthcare costs, but because businesses and corporations will no longer be in business. Not because of healthcare costs, but because of other taxes imposed, fees and environmental costs associated with trying to be in business. Face it, America is moving very rapidly from being an industrial nation- it is only our own arrogance that allows us to make the proclamation that we are the most powerful nation in the world today. We have sold ourselves to Japan and China. It is not much different than it was just before WWII. The nation had to gear up to build the war machines necessary then. The good news was that we had factories that could be converted to do this work. Today we don't have enough factories left to do this and if we wanted to build a factory today we would have to import the steel and machinery to do so- but we won't have the money to pay for it.

I just read 2 Nephi chapters 25-28 about the last days. And Section 134 (I think) of the Doctrine and Covenants. In this section pay attention to verses 1 and 2. This statement on governments explains where we are at today. The founding fathers made many wise and true statements about the government. They were very in tune with the history of the world they were living in and knew intimately the history that preceded them. Today we have no understanding of what happened last week (except for on Desperate Housewives or American Idol) so how can we know what today's actions will mean in the long run? But I digress, the prophets were not only wise men but they were allowed to actually "see" what would happen throughout time. These are the words we should become more familiar with and understand. What we are living through today has been lived through before in some manner and what we should be able to see is the fulfillment of prophesies made thousands of years ago. But we can't and if we do see them and talk about them outside of church we are ridiculed for pointing that out. However, the ridiculing of those who speak the truth and speak out against the works of the devil is also the fulfillment of prophecies.
We are in some bad times but we must keep our hopes up and rely on our faith. The early pioneers faced far greater challenges than we do right now. Our problem is that we don't have another country to go to. We are already living in the "land that is choice above all other lands."

Thanks Dad! I love you and your wise words. :-)

It's Official...

2010-03-16T12:31:00.002-06:00

I'm OLD! Last night Nathan shaved for the first time. He had a little mustache growing that was driving him nuts. Oh my goodness....seeing my "baby" put on shaving cream and get out the razor really made me wonder where the time goes..... I remember the day he was born- it seems like yesterday. In a flash he was starting school. Now he's almost ending his 8th grade year and will be a Freshman! Aahh! It seems like not too long ago I was at that age. How does this happen? Within just 5 short years he will be driving, dating, graduating and leaving for a mission. Just 5 years!! That's a mere blink of an eye.

I am so proud of the fine young man that Nathan has become. He is so talented and intelligent. He hardly gives me any grief. (Just minor stuff like not cleaning his room and a few quarrels with siblings. Okay...and some back talking here and there.) It's strange to see him maturing. Maybe having this baby will help me to feel younger. :-)

(I tried to take a few pictures of him shaving to document this "first" in his life, but he shut the door on me and refused. Typical teenager...)

Logan

2010-03-02T17:20:00.002-07:00

The week after Claire received her "Principal's Pride" award....Logan received one also. I kind of chuckled when I read his certificate of why he received it. It read "Logan is a great helper in class. He likes to be on clean team and make our classroom nice and organized." Ever since Logan was a toddler he loved to vacuum and has always been one to help out. He likes to keep busy helping with yardwork and what not. He also loves to fix things with tools and has his own collection of "real tools" thanks to his Grandpa John. Grandpa will call up Logan and tell him to bring over his drill when he needs some help to fix a shelf or help fixing the shower. He definitely takes after his dad...

This week he is the "Star Student" in his classroom. He had to fill out a questionnaire telling about himself. I let him fill it in all by himself. I was very proud when he said his most favorite place is "home." I was able to go in his classroom while students asked questions about him. And of course, in a room full of 2nd graders some of the questions were quite funny. One was "what is your favorite color of underwear?" And I was so lucky to get to pay $3 for school lunch to eat with him. At least it was pizza day. Which I don't understand why I have to pay $3 for a slice of pizza when they get it from "5 Buck Pizza." I could get the entire pizza for 5 bucks but you are charging me $3 for one slice??

I am also very proud of Logan because he no longer needs extra help in reading. He has been a bit below grade level and has worked very hard to improve. His reading level has gone up and is almost above grade level. Yay! Good Job bud!

Girls Night Out

2010-02-23T09:40:00.002-07:00

Friday night I went to the Elton John and Billy Joel concert with my Aunt Karen and some other ladies. Karen's friend Mickey (guess she's my friend too) got us the tickets from her work. At the Fleetwood Mac concert we were in the front row by stage, but this year we were in the 9th row off side of stage. They were awesome seats. It was so much fun.

I am amazed at what talented men these two are. (And I use the term "man" loosely when talking about Elton...) I love the piano and having them both play was awesome. I'm amazed at how they can just sit down and pound out all of those songs from memory.

Billy Joel was definitely my favorite. He entertained more and had the crowd laughing at times. He interacted more with the crowd.

The ended with "Piano Man", but my favorite was "Candle in the Wind." Probably because I used to be able to play it on the piano. Guess I'll have to dig it out and start practicing again.

Thanks for the night out Mickey! It was much appreciated!

Happenings

2010-02-11T12:43:00.005-07:00

Sacrifice

As many of you know...it was a sad day for me a few weeks ago. Spence and I sold our Sequoia. He approached me on a Sunday about selling it since it's an "asset" and we could use the money to help us during this financial difficulty. I got very defensive and upset and said absolutely not. This is my car and I am not selling it. We NEED it. What will we do when the baby is born- strap him on top of your car? I can't take the risk of not having the money by then to be able to purchase another car. I went to bed in tears and with my mind going and going.... I woke up the next day and said "Ok, I will do it." I knew that sometimes we are required to make sacrifices in this life. It's just a vehicle- right? (I think deep down I thought it would be awhile until it sold because of this market...who's going to have money for a car right now?) We contacted a few family members that were in the market for a car. They lived out of state though. Spence's niece said she was interested and would let us know. We sat on it for a day and didn't hear anything. So Wednesday I cleaned out the car and took some pics and put it on KSL Classifieds. I posted the ad at 2pm. At 3:30 I was on the way to meet someone for the first test drive. Two other people called during that time to test drive it. We sold it to the 2nd people that drove it. So by 6pm that night it was sold. And, the lady works over here in Jordan Landing, so I can drive by and see it whenever I want. lol I know that the Lord had a hand in us selling it so quickly to these nice people. They had almost purchased a vehicle the night before but decided to hold out. The lady saw mine on KSL and said she had a good feeling about it. Things have a way of working out.

I have to admit that I bawled while cleaning it out and while driving it the last time, but once we were able to catch up with some bills, that stress relief was worth it. My mom has let us borrow her car for a few weeks to help us out. I hope that we will be able to get on our feet again before baby is born to purchase a new one. (And hopefully the new sequoias won't be recalled anymore because I refuse to purchase a mini-van...)

Pregnancy Update

I will be 24 weeks pregnant this Sunday. I had Claire take some pictures of me last week- so these are when I was 22 1/2 weeks prego. I am doing well so far. Ultrasound last week showed a nice healthy baby boy. I had gained 7 pounds total at time these were taken. (I'm sure it is much more than that now since I have discovered those caramel bites from Del Taco.) I am definitely feeling my age during this pregnancy. Seems I wear out easier and my pelvic bones hurt more. Is it too early to be experiencing braxton hicks- cuz I swear I have them.

I have been very moody the past few months and have been so tempted to talk to my doctor about getting on some prozac. I had to stop taking my normal anti-depressant when I became pregnant. I know I have had some outside stressers that play into my mood swings so I am trying to take that into consideration. I hate to take anything while pregnant- even if it's approved. You just never know....

Claire

Now on to Claire...she just got "Principal's Pride" award earlier this week for being a good student and improving in her reading.

She was given a certificate presented by the principal, along with a certificate for a free kids meal at Red Robin. Why can't they just give them a notebook or something? Now I am required to take her to a restaurant and fork out my own money to eat with her so she can get her reward. I may have to make that suggestion to the school.... I'm sure the certificates are donated so that's why they do it.

Just Don't Get It

2010-02-03T09:04:00.003-07:00

I just don't get this: walked into the bathroom and find this.....

C'mon...are we soooo lazy that we can't remove the cardboard from the holder and replace the new roll? I did it in probably less than 3 seconds.

Now this I REALLY don't get.....two days later I walk into the same bathroom and find this....

You can remove the cardboard but then can't insert the new roll onto the holder? I just shook my head in "wonderment." (is that even a word??)

The Black Man Dance

2010-01-13T13:04:00.004-07:00

I picked up Logan from school yesterday and asked how his day was. He said it was good. He began to tell me about a dance they were learning in PE. (He has been learning dances such as the square dance...) I asked him what dance it was. He said "the black man dance." Instantly I was trying to think of what kind of dance that might be- african? I thought maybe it's some dance to celebrate Martin Luther King day this next week.

I started asking more questions about the dance. Logan explained... it's this movie where aliens come to earth, but they are nice aliens and these guys in sunglasses and black suits dance and get the aliens.

Ah...you mean "Men in Black."

"Yeah, that's it!" Whew...glad I figured that one out.

One more Logan story....this time I was taking him to school in the morning. We were kind of early and it was cold outside so I asked him if he wanted to just sit in the car and wait a few minutes. He said "No, I will just find a warm spot outside to sit." I asked where he would find one. He replied "In the woodchips under the rock wall thing on the playground. There's only room for one person though, so we do rock/paper/scissors for it. I've only won once."

I envisioned a bunch of freezing little ground hogs or something trying to burrow down into the woodchips on the playground....

and my little "groundhog" freezing because he can't win the game of rock/paper/scissors.

Families Are Forever

2010-01-07T08:41:00.005-07:00

December 22, 2009: We celebrated our 8th wedding anniversary by being sealed together as a family in the Oquirrh Mountain Temple in South Jordan, Utah. When we got married in Evanston, Wyoming eight years ago it had to be the coldest day ever. That's all our guests remember about our wedding is how cold it was. Well, 8 years later it was a cold, snowy day. I guess it was fitting.

Our friend Emily came to our house a little early to take a few pictures of our family before we left. She rode with us to the temple. Naturally, we were running a bit late. En route Spence realized he forgot temple clothes so we had to turn around. Once at the temple the kids (and myself) were freezing so we did our best to get some pictures. When we were filling out some paperwork, Spence forgot his Living Ordinances Recommend at home. (I just shook my head at this point...I tried to contain my "unkind" feelings in front of the temple workers.) He promised to bring it in later that night. We took the kids up to the room where they would wait. I was worried about Claire because she had been nervous about not being with us at all times, but she walked right in and made herself comfortable. The ladies there were great.

My mom came with me to get changed. It was so special to have her there with me. It was the first time we had been in the temple together. She worked so hard to return and I am so proud of her. So we were a bit emotional to begin with. Then the temple matron spoke to us about what would happen. She bore her testimony and talked about the ordinances that we do in this life starting with baptism and moving up to initiatory and endowment. She said the sealing ordinance was the highest ordinance. I got so emotional at that point. I couldn't believe that I was sitting there in the House of the Lord about to take part in the highest ordinance. I had finally achieved my goal. It took a bit longer and the road was very bumpy a long the way, but I made it. I am so grateful for the Savior- that he made it possible for me to be there taking this very important step in my life.

Next I moved on to the veil to wait for Spence. And wait I did. I was beginning to think that maybe Spence had changed his mind! He finally showed up and we went to the Celestial room. He told me he had been talking to the temple president and asked him if he would perform our sealing. Brother Christiansen (sp?) agreed, but had a meeting until 4:30p.m. Spence told him our guests could wait- it was his day. (Anyone that knows Spence is used to waiting for him.)

When we went into the sealing room it was such a joy to be surrounded by such good friends and family. I can't thank all of you enough that were there for us on our special day. We are so blessed to have you in our lives. Thank you thank you thank you for taking time out of your holiday craziness and driving in the snow to be there for us. The spirit was strong in the room and I felt so safe kneeling across the alter from Spence. He always has a way of making me feel that way. He is such a comfort to me. Our kids were beautiful and amazing when they came in. I love each of them so very much and am so blessed to have them. I'm glad they could be there to feel of the spirit of the temple and I know they will remember it as long as they live. When most everyone had left, Logan had huge tears in his eyes. He was just crying and crying. I asked him what was wrong. He said "I'm just happy." He is so tender.

Afterwards, our friends Sarah and Hyrum, hosted a get together with yummy soup, sandwiches and desserts for all of us. It was so fun. Thank you Molloys for doing that for us!

Claire has really been asking a lot of questions to try and understand the concept of being together forever. She came in on Sunday after church and this was our conversation:

"Mom, if I die will you die too...and the rest of our family?"

"Um, no...why?"

"Because we will always be together."

I tried to explain..."If you die before me, then your spirit will go to heaven and live with family members that have already died- like Grandpa Dee. Then when I die we will be together in heaven."

"Well, when I'm dead will my body just lay there?"

"Yes, because your spirit will be in heaven and it's what makes your body alive."

"Well, will I have clothes on?"

"Um...yes."

Logan and Claire are always quick to remind Spence and I when we may be arguing about something that we can't do that because we went to the temple together. I was quick to remember that when they were fighting and I told them they also went to the temple so shouldn't fight either. :-)

The kids still talk about the temple and want to go back. I pray that they will stay on the right path to return to the temple. I hope that I can be a good example and a good parent to help them in that journey and that it won't take as long as mine did.

Thank you my dear Spence for having such a strong testimony of the Gospel and for taking the necessary steps to have your Priesthood restored and for taking me and our children to the temple. I love you dearly. :-)

(Thank you for the pictures Emily and for documenting our special day!)

Our Newest Source of Contention

2009-12-28T17:53:00.002-07:00

Well, my mother bought us a new Yorkie for Christmas. (Don't freak- she called us first to make sure it was okay.) I guess we were caught in a moment of weakness because we said yes- we would take the puppy. He wasn't delivered until 2 days after Christmas. We told the kids about him on Christmas day and showed them a picture. They all screamed in excitement!

On the way to pick him up on Sunday, there was much discussion (aka...fighting) on what to name the new dog. Here are some of the names suggested...
1. Ace
2. Pepsi (don't know who suggested that one...)
3. Koda
4. Obi Won Konobi
5. Bubba
6. Captain Rex
7. Yoda
and I can't remember the rest...

And the winner was: Simon. I guess it seemed appropriate since the kids were playing Simon Says on the way there.

On the ride home there was much fighting on who got to hold the puppy. Naturally, Princess Claire won because she could scream, kick and cry the loudest. Simon has become her new obsession. She carries him around all day. He slept in her room in his crate. She awoke me at 7am to let me know Simon was awake. Let me tell you how fun it was standing outside in the cold in my jammies trying to get the dog to go potty. It is so cold out there that he just freezes up and stands there. So, the potty training is not going so well. Simon is not allowed to walk on my carpet. I don't think he even knows how to walk anyway since he doesn't get much of a chance. I don't need to have a new baby- just a puppy!

Wacky Prego Dreams

2009-12-09T13:18:00.002-07:00

Well, I have had a few strange dreams during this pregnancy so far. Here is the latest:
I dreamed that I gave birth to a beautiful little girl. She came out of the womb with a cute, dark haired "bob" haircut, a full set of teeth and could already say "Mama." I went to nurse her and saw the full set of teeth and said "No Way! I will have no part of nursing..." For some reason, we called her Lulu.

There were only two good parts of that wacky dream- it was a girl and she had dark hair.

(I swear- I have not been reading Breaking Dawn recently.)

Peanut Chicken

2009-12-03T08:36:00.002-07:00

Here's what I made for dinner the other night that went over pretty well and was very simple to make. I found it in Rachel Ray magazine.

2/3 c chunky peanut butter (I used creamy)
1 c shredded carrots
1 lb cubed chicken breast
1 bunch chopped scallions
brown rice

In small bowl, whisk together 3/4 cup water with the peanut butter. In skillet, heat 1/4 cup EVO-oil over med high heat. Add chicken and cook til not pink- 3 to 4 minutes. Transfer to a plate. In same skillet, cook the carrots and 1/2 cup chopped scallion whites over med high heat 30 seconds. Stir in peanut mixture. Return chicken and its juices to pan and cook, stirring until heated through. Season with salt and pepper. Top with 1/4 cup scallion greens and serve over brown rice. Easy Peasy. :-)

Turkey Tales

2009-11-18T18:35:00.004-07:00

Claire has been making a few Thanksgiving crafts in her kindergarten class. Once a week I volunteer and help with some of the "centers" that they rotate to- so I see the different kids and how they do in class. Well, last week I was emptying Claire's backpack and pulled out the turkey that they had colored. Each part of the turkey was labeled with a color and that's the color they were supposed to color it. Claire had her name written on the bottom of the paper and it was beautiful! The coloring was so good! I hung it on the fridge and was proud of her because I had seen how some of the other kids colored their turkeys. I was going to scan it in to show- but having computer/scanner problems. (Hate my computer.)

She came in a few hours later and saw it on the fridge and just got a little mischevious grin on her face. I asked her what the grin was for and she walked over and took the turkey picture off of the fridge. She quietly said "Well, I didn't really color it." I said "What do you mean? Your name is on it?" She replied "Well, a mom colored this one. I put my name on this one and left mine in the tote tray." So she took the one that was the "example" and left hers in it's place. I just laughed and shook my head.

Today: she brought home a turkey that was made out of construction paper. They glued the different colored feathers on it. Then on each feather they wrote different things they were thankful for. She was telling me what she wrote on them....

1: McDonald's (I asked her what she meant by this thinking maybe it was our family. Oh no- she said Yeah, cuz I love the food at McDonald's.Top of the list- just dandy.)

2: brothers

3: sister (she may know something we don't I guess.)

4: grandma

5: grandpa

6: aunt

Notice there is no mention of mom and dad on there....

The Priesthood Is Restored!

2009-10-13T09:08:00.003-06:00

Spence's priesthood was restored Sunday evening! Our Stake President met with him and he had permission from the First Presidency to restore his blessings. It was so spiritual and special. I felt soooo privileged to have been able to be included. The Stake President said that he's not even allowed to invite his counselors in for it. The spirit was so strong- of course, we all needed tissues! We (I) have been waiting so long for this to happen. Spence will get his temple recommend this week and we are planning on attending the temple together on Saturday! Yay!

During the meeting, the Stk President reminded Spence how much Heavenly Father loves him and remembers his sins no more. He read Doctrine and Covenants 58:42 "Behold, he who has repented of his sins, the same is forgiven, and I, the Lord, remember them no more." Now that his blessings have been restored, his dates of being baptized, receiving priesthood and temple endowment are his original dates that they happened. How cool is that?

Last night for Family Home Evening, we talked about the priesthood and blessings we can receive from it. Spence then had his first opportunity to give each of his children a father's blessing- and me one also. The spirit could be felt in our home. The kids were all so touched. It meant a lot to them. Logan said he even started crying during my blessing. It was such a great experience- one that I will cherish forever.

We are going to try and hold out until December to be sealed as a family so that some of Spence's siblings can be here. I was telling Claire that we can go to the temple and be sealed so we can be together forever as a family. She says "So we go everywhere together?" I said "What do you mean?" She said "Like when you go cater and stuff, we all go?" Ha ha ha- No. That is definitely not what that means. :-)

The Stork Will Be Coming!

2009-10-04T17:33:00.004-06:00

Well, as many of you already know from my Facebook post, I am PREGNANT! What the h*** am I doing? Claire just starts school and I have to start over? I was washing dishes last week while kids were at school thinking "Man, this peace and quiet is so nice." Nine months from now I will be reminiscing on that moment of peace and quiet.

Spence and I "mentioned" to each other that maybe we should have one more. My eggs perked right up. (Along with other things....Ha! Couldn't resist, sorry.) I have been blessed with fertility. I had only been off of the pill for about 6 weeks. So this was a bit of a surprise.

To tell Spence the "news," I bought a couple of little onesies and put in a gift bag, along with the positive pregnancy test. (One of the 6 I took.) This happened to be a day where Spence was out and about with meetings. I kept trying to track him down without trying to raise any concern. I finally told him that Claire really wanted to see him and she had something for him. He asked "Is it that important?" So, in the Subway parking lot clear in Draper, I handed him the gift bag. Claire kept asking me why I would give dad such a crazy present. (I hadn't told her the news.) Spence took out the onesies and had a confused look on his face. I told him to look in the bottom of the bag. He was surprised, but happy. Then he said "Claire! Mom is having a baby!" I think Claire went into shock. She went into Subway and just sat at the table and got really quiet. Then the excitement set in. She is so happy. She is already touching my stomach. I keep telling her it's my normal stomach. On the way home from Subway, Claire says "We're gonna have to buy wipes, diapers, stroller, clothes, carrier, crib..." THANKS CLAIRE! Thanks for reminding me how much money this is gonna cost.....

Nathan has it all figured out. He said while this new baby is in the annoying, teasing years- he will be on his mission. Then when he gets home he will be in college. How scary that I will have a son in college and one just starting in school! What is wrong with that picture??

Spence blames all of this on Jen and Emily and their constant harrassment of when we are going to have another one. He just doesn't want to take any responsibility in this. He needs to face that fact that it is entirely all his fault. :-)

Okay- so I'm sure all of this sounds negative, but I am a bit excited. Not excited to get big and fat and not excited for the actual delivery and all the pain that follows. But, excited to bring another cute child into our family. (At least I hope it's cute....)

First Day of School (Better Late than Never...)

2009-09-18T11:49:00.003-06:00

Claire started Kindergarten this year! She is in the morning class and seems to love it so far. It has been nice on our relationship to have the few hour break each day. We have been getting along so well lately. Claire has been very attached to me and doesn't want to play with friends- just wants to hang out with mom. I guess I better enjoy it while it lasts.... I think she is the tallest in her class. There was one or two boys that might be her same height.

Logan started 2nd grade this year! Wow- they grow so fast. So far he is doing great and getting homework done and is actually not fighting me when it comes to reading. Hopefully he will catch up with his reading level this year. He loves his teachers- Mrs. Finch and Mrs. Nickerson. They team teach the class- one in the morning and one in the afternoon.

And, Nathan started 8th grade this year. Of course, I don't have first day pictures of him. Totally forgot! He probably wouldn't have let me take them anyway. He is doing well in school so far. He decided to stay playing percussion in band. Almost changed his schedule, but his band teacher talked him out of it. Said he was one of her hardest workers and hated to lose him. I think it was the added boost of confidence that he needed to continue with it.

I am glad for school to be back in session. Course I seem to be filling the car with gas more often....but I love having a few hours of quiet time during the day.

In Praise of Stay-at-Home Moms

2009-09-01T14:23:00.003-06:00

I finished reading this book and just wanted to make a short post about it. I loved it! It was so refreshing to read something that is so positive about being a stay-at-home mom and it made me feel so good about being one. So many of the things Dr. Laura talked about validated some of the feelings I often have with staying at home. (I'm just a maid, I don't contribute income, I'm around kids all day...etc.)

I know there are many viewpoints and opinions on working vs. staying at home and I say to do what's best for each situation. Myself- I am so grateful to stay at home with my children. Even though it is so difficult sometimes, I wouldn't give it up for anything. I have been busy the past few weeks with the catering company I work for. I worked 3 days last week and am working 4 days this week. I love getting out and being around "adults" but let me tell ya- it's been hard! I don't know how working moms do it. It is so difficult to take care of kids, house and work at same time.

Anyway, just wanted to share and recommend the book. If anyone wants to borrow it- just let me know. :-)

Oquirrh Mountain Temple Dedication

2009-08-26T10:08:00.004-06:00

Spence, Nathan and I had the opportunity to attend one of the Oquirrh Mountain Temple dedications at the temple last Friday. (President Monson's birthday.) It was such an amazing event and I feel so blessed to have been able to attend. We were seated in one of the endowment rooms. The speakers were amazing and had great words of wisdom. Of course, made me feel guilty for not going to the temple more often. So I am determined to make it a higher priority in my life. The music was so beautiful and the Spirit was very strong. Spence filled up his white hankerchief with tears before the Hosanna shout even started. :-)

When it was over, the usher stood by our exit to hold us off for a minute from leaving. Our room was right by the elevator. The usher told us the Prophet was coming. We were in the back row of the room so right when Spence peaked his head out to look, President Monson peaked in to say hello to everyone. He shook Spence's hand. Spence was elated. The elevator was taking forever so we got to spend a few minutes only feet from a Prophet of God, along with an Apostle and President Uchtdorf. What amazing men they are. It was an experience I will never forget and will treasure forever.

As I was sitting in the endowment room waiting for the dedication to begin I couldn't help but feel so blessed to live where I do and to have these opportunities that so few people have. I have had the chance to see two new temples built and attend open houses, volunteer in one of the open houses, take part in the Youth Temple Celebration at the Conference Center and attend a temple dedication in the temple. What a great year it has been! And I have a feeling that it will end with my family being sealed in the temple. :-)

Queen Claire

2009-08-18T11:25:00.003-06:00

All of my posts seem to be about Claire lately- this one is no different.

Claire has been living like a Queen lately in the mornings. She is so spoiled. Every morning between 6 and 7am I hear this loud "Mom!!" She refuses to come to my room to let me know what she wants. So I have to drag myself out of bed to meet her needs. It's either a drink, something to eat (yes- breakfast snack in bed), or my favorite: "Mom, will you pull my covers up on me?" I just shake my head and think of how ridiculous it is.

Well, a few nights ago I decided that I was going to end this habit. So as we laid in bed I rehearsed with her what to do if she needed a drink- simply reach over to the nightstand and get the cup of water herself. Then I pulled her covers downs and taught her how to pull them up herself. "Now Claire, when you wake up in the middle of the night and your covers are down- what do you do? Do you call for mom or do it yourself?" She showed me how she could do it on her own. Yay!

That next morning at 7am I hear "Mom!" ARGH! So I stumble into her room- her covers are pulled up and she has a grin on her face."

"What do you need Claire?"

"Look! I pulled the covers up all by myself." All I could do was laugh and think I GIVE UP! :-)

Toilet Talk

2009-08-06T15:34:00.007-06:00

I was laying in bed with Claire the other night when we had this conversation:

"Mom, are you done growing?"

"Yes Claire, I am."

"Is Dad done growing?"

"Yes, he is. (pause) Well, I guess I could grow fatter....or skinnier."

Claire began to pat my arm lovingly and said "I will still love you no matter what."

"Ah, thanks Claire."

Then after a few moments she says "But if you were fatter it would be easier to sit on the toilet because you wouldn't fall in."

So glad she can find something positive about getting fatter. :-)

Father Sons Campout

2009-08-02T16:25:00.001-06:00

Little slow with getting things posted.... Our ward had their annual Father Sons Campout in June. Spence hates to camp so it's always a struggle to get him to go. I bought an air mattress for him and they just took out the back seats of the Sequoia and slept in there. All of the boys took their airsoft guns and the "big boys" took their guns. I wasn't too pleased about that, but everyone survived. Nathan even survived almost falling right into the fire while running from the Bishop in the dark playing "Capture the Flag." Here are some pics from the campout thanks to Bro. John Castleberry.

This is the modern day "Circling the Wagons."

I think we need to have an annual Mother Daughters campout. We could start out with manicures and pedicures. Take a trip to the spa- then out for a little tea at the Grand America downtown. Top it off with a suite there.....guess that's probably not in the ward budget. :-)

The Cheetos Girls and Other Summer Fun

2009-07-27T12:14:00.005-06:00

We have spent a lot of time at the swimming pools this summer. Some of my cousins came and spent a few days with us and the kids had a blast playing with them.

Here's my cousin Belle, Claire, and friend Malia at the pool enjoying some Cheetos.

This is my cousin Nick and Logan. The new thing to pass time at my house is to set up the cars, helicopters and army men in the front flower bed. Guess it makes an awesome jungle. :-)

This is at the Murray swimming pool. Claire and my great-nephew Lucas.

Nathan enjoying the diving board.

Logan and Claire at the Murray Pool. They love the waterslide there.

I can't believe there's only another month of summer left for us! I'm sure I will be ready for school to start though. :-)

Finally A Post!

2009-07-22T18:25:00.005-06:00

After like forever- I am finally taking the time to catch up on some posts. First is Girls Night Out. The boys had their Father/Sons Campout at the end of June. Claire and I, along with my friend Coby and her daughter and niece, went to the Arts Festival downtown. Claire had fun painting and making little crafts.

After about 30 minutes being there it started to cloud up and get really dark. Then there were a few little raindrops....then all of sudden it was a HUGE downpour. Oh my goodness did we get soaked! We were running for the car. I've never seen raindrops that big. Claire was having a cow and was so worried about the boys being out camping. (They didn't get rained on at all BTW.) Claire just kept saying she needed to just go home and that she needed a nice warm shower. Our car was only parked about 2 blocks from the festival and this is what we looked like:

Right when we got home we took that nice warm shower, got in our cozy jammies and played some card games in bed. It ended up being a nice quiet evening together.

FLOWERS!

A few weeks ago, Claire and I spent the afternoon together planting some flowers. Claire picked them out and had fun helping put them in the pots. She had on quite the "gardening" outfit. :-)

I love my Claire!

Claire's Photography

2009-06-09T16:00:00.006-06:00

I finally took the time to download pictures from my digital camera and found that half of them were pictures Claire had taken of her baby dolls. Different dolls, different poses. There were about 50 different picturess, but I won't post all of them. :-) So for all of my photography friends out there- watch out! You might have some competition on your hands! LOL

Then there were some old ones on there that she and Macy took. (Paige is the one in the elephant mask.)

(Notice how Paige is holding the cat- tightly around the neck- the way a cat should be held. j/k)

Disciplinary Action Taken

2009-05-13T13:13:00.003-06:00

Mother's Day started out great. Spence ironed all of the church clothes and got up and got ready for church first so that he could get kids ready. I was able to stay in bed longer. Nathan brought me breakfast in bed- scrambled eggs, pancake, toast and diet pepsi. After church I was surprised by Spence with a picture with Christ and children in it for my front room that I have been coveting at Deseret Book. (Is it okay to covet a picture of Christ?) I had no idea that he had bought it for me. I was excited to finally have something to hang on the bare wall.

By the time we left for Sunday dinner at my in-laws, I was a frazzled nervous wreck. Nathan and Logan were just at each other all afternoon. Constantly fighting and screaming with one another. So I told them they were grounded to each other the next day and that I would be tying them together with a rope and they would learn to get along. If they undid the rope, they'd get another day. All afternoon and evening they were stuck with each other. It was AWESOME! They had to learn to compromise when one of them wanted to do something. They had to sit by each other to do homework, eat dinner, etc. Poor Nathan got the bad end of the deal I think though. He got stuck waiting outside the bathroom door while Logan did his "number." Logan takes a LONG time on the toilet. Plus to make it even better- he "tooted" on the way into the bathroom so Nate got stuck standing there in the smell. LOL

Monday ended up being a very peaceful day with hardly any screaming and fighting with the boys. Now I have something to threaten them with. :-)

(Yes, that is a Clone Trooper Halloween costume on Logan. He is obsessed with Star Wars. He's always wearing that thing. He wishes he had "the force" so bad. I was in his classroom last week when it was Show-N-Tell. He said his was a "talking" one. He got up and announced that he knew ALL of the clone troopers names. All of the first graders were quite impressed....)

Proud Mom

2009-04-29T12:04:00.002-06:00

Nathan had to write a "passion poem" for his honors english class. He brought it home to show me. His teacher gave him 15 points out of 10 possible. Her comments written on the poem were this: "Can I have a copy? Powerful imagery and message! Great job! Wonderful!"

So as a mom- of course I have to share his poem.

Never stopping;
Moving;
Flowing forever in an eternal cycle.
Water, ice, rain;
The beginning of life.
Bringing joy and pain.
Sleet, hail, snow.
Falling;
Rising to bring life to the world.
Oceans, lakes, streams;
Glaciers, frost;
Water.

~By Nathan McDonald

"Dirty" Little Secrets

2009-04-21T18:51:00.004-06:00

So- I am airing out my "dirty" little secrets- all of the clutter in my house! I have been making a "spring cleaning" list in the back of my mind. It seems to be getting longer and more overwhelming the more I look around my house.

How does THIS happen??

This is the top drawer of our TV stand in the front room. It is crammed so full of books that I swear one of these times it's going to break when opened because it is so heavy. And I know I've cleaned it out a million times...

Below is my kitchen closet/pantry. The mess and disorganization of it is all consuming.
"Just shut the door and walk away..."

Here is below my bathroom sink. Open doors and throw it in. I'm sure there's some body sprays and half used lotions and soaps buried in there from Y2K.

Aahh...the neverending ironing pile. Some day I will get all those clothes ironed. Problem is- then I have to find room to hang them in my closet.

Speaking of closets....this is Logan's closet. I swear a Tazmanian Devil attacked it. I bought nice containers to sort out the different types of toys. At one time (about a year ago) it was nice and neat. Now there are legos, army guys, Happy Meal toys, crap, crap and more crap thrown everywhere. Once again...shut the door and walk away.

Now could anyone tell me how it is possible to find anything in this drawer? It's Claire's sock/tights/swimsuit drawer. Ugh- totally disgusting.

This is the cupboard I hate the most in my kitchen. If I need anything out of it- it's a 10 minute process because EVERYTHING falls out.

Now that I've gotten some of my clutter out in the open I'm sure that some of you are shaking your heads in disgust. (And I didn't even share a photo of our "junk drawer.") I wouldn't blame you- I shake my own head in disgust- and then I take a valium and turn on the TV. :-)

Question: Do any of you "spring clean" every year- if so, what do you do? Any time consuming tips and tips on how not to get overwhelmed? And if you don't- then please tell me so I don't feel so alone.

Go Figure...

2009-04-15T09:51:00.002-06:00

It's been about 3 weeks I think since I started back on my anti-depressant. I am feeling so much better. I think they are really helping. And go figure this- one of the reasons I was depressed was because of my weight. But naturally wasn't going to do anything about it- that would take too much energy. Since I've been on my "happy pills" I have lost 7 pounds! (Which is only noticeable on the scale...) And I still haven't exercised (except for volleyball twice a week) and I still eat chocolate cake and cookies. I should've started on those pills a long time ago....

Important Life Questions

2009-04-09T18:12:00.002-06:00

Driving home from school yesterday with Logan and Claire in the car...

Claire: "Mom, when will we see Grandpa Dee again?"
Me: "When Jesus comes again, but nobody knows when that will be. We will all be resurrected though."
Claire: "Then we will live forever?"
Me: "Yep, that's right.
Logan: "I wonder if there will be Star Wars videos and games? I sure hope so."
Me: "Hmm.. I don't know about that."
Logan: "Does Santa Claus die?"
Me: "Umm...probably."
Logan: "Well, then who would be Santa?"
Me: "I guess he just finds someone else to do it."
Logan: "No, I think he just lives forever because he wouldn't be able to find another magic man."

So my conclusion from this is that Santa Claus must be one of the 3 Nephites. :-)

Modern Day Seamstress

2009-04-01T14:01:00.004-06:00

Tera Brown- just go ahead and skip reading this post....

Meet my new sewing machine....

Did you know that the Iron paired up with this:

can do AMAZING things! Need a patch put on a scout uniform? Need pants shortened? Need drapes brought up a bit? Viola! You can do it without a needle and thread! If I can do it- anyone can do it. The possibilities are endless. It has become my new best friend. :-)

Up Close and Personal

2009-03-25T15:34:00.007-06:00

Today I started taking my anti-depressant again. I have been off of them for 6 months. It was very emotional for me to swallow that stupid little pill again. It's a symbol that something is wrong with me. I am a failure. I can't keep my emotions in tact and don't have high enough self esteem to feel better without the help of medication. It's admitting that I can't pretend to be normal on my own anymore- it's getting too difficult to mask. I can't put on the fake smile and seem to be happy. It's admitting that it's hard for me to be around people right now and to function in my every day responsibilities. It's admitting that I don't have the energy to take care of myself without help. It's admitting that my depression has been hurting my marriage because I close myself off to my husband and to others around me. It means that I need help to try and pick myself up and get the energy and will to work on myself as well as my communication and relationship with my husband. Taking that pill makes me feel weak. I want to be strong and happy again.

There. Got it off my chest. Feel scared, but better. Relieved.

Next Day Note: Now that I've read this and been thinking about it I just want to clarify that I don't have severe depression like some do. I can get out of bed every day and do what I need to do. I go through "bouts" of minor depression I suppose and periods where I can't control my swing of emotions. Sometimes I get anxiety and I seem to be tired a lot. I start to feel bad about myself- thus making it so I don't want to be around others. I just didn't want anyone to think that I'm "severe."

Confessions

2009-03-19T07:01:00.003-06:00

Okay- so I was sick over the weekend and I admit it: I AM A WIMP! I was a total baby. My sinus headaches were bringing tears to my eyes. My back and sides were aching from all of the coughing. I could go from shivering to sweating within seconds it seemed. My stomach was nauseous and queezy. I laid in bed or on the couch the entire time taking boatloads of medicines. I was completely miserable. As I was soaking in the tub for about the 5th time I was thinking to myself "How did I ever make it through childbirth?? And more than once??" I was acting like a big baby.

I have always told my kids that moms just don't get sick days. Well, this mom took about 3 sick days. My sweet Spence was so awesome to come home early from work so I could crawl into my bed. He took care of kids and let me stay in bed for as long as I wanted to. He didn't complain at all. And my kids were so sweet to come in and be concerned for me. They would give me a kiss or rub my back or just simply take my hand and say "I love you mom." Those were the bright moments.

I still have coughing spells and can't breathe half the time and the other half I'm blowing my nose. Where does all that snot come from? For the most part I am feeling better and just pray that I won't get sick again for a long long time. I'd much rather take care of sick kids.

Thanks for letting my whine and complain and be a wuss!

Tired of Technology

2009-03-07T19:43:00.005-07:00

I am sitting here on the laptop and just getting a knot in my stomach. The tv is blasting in the front room. Claire listens to the tv sooo loud. I think she may need her hearing checked or something. Her and Nathan were just fighting on the couch. She seems to think that she needs the ENTIRE couch to herself. So Nathan goes downstairs....few minutes later I hear Logan screaming. Nathan and him are fighting over the Playstation. Naturally they can't play together. Star Wars is also blaring on the tv in the family room. THERE IS SO MUCH NOISE IN THIS HOUSE! I just feel like unplugging all the televisions, game systems, and computers and throwing them out the door. It seems like it has just gotten out of control. What has happened to simple family time that is quiet and productive? Does anyone else experience this? How do some of you monitor these things in your home? I find it so difficult, because if I put time limits on things- then I am responsible for providing the entertainment. Do I have energy for that? Have I gotten to be a lazy mom? I admit, sometimes it is nice to just let Spongebob babysit my kids.

It got me thinking to what I did as a child to entertain myself. I remember rollerskating in the street for hours (pretending to be an instructor with a bunch of "students" behind me), playing Barbies and paper dolls. My friends and I used to use record jackets to make our Barbie houses. We would open them up or stand them up next to each other to make different rooms in the house. We would always fight over the Michael Jackson Thriller one. LOL (This is really dating me...kids probably don't even know what records are now.) I also remember a home video where we made our own cooking show- on the menu was macaroni and cheese. We filmed ourselves making it. I don't remember sitting in front of the tv or video game for hours like my kids do. (OK, I admit playing Duck Hunt....) And Saturday was a special day- the only day when cartoons were on! Imagine that. I'd get up early to watch Smurfs and Pac Man. Now there's an entire cartoon channel.

I guess I just want to know if you put time limits on things for your kids and how you monitor it. Any advice out there? I'm sure things will calm down once it's nice outside and the kids aren't cooped up inside. Right???

Asian Cooking Class

2009-02-26T10:06:00.004-07:00

My catering boss, Mark Petrey, decided to put on an Asian cooking class last night at Orson Gygi in their demo kitchen. (So jealous of that kitchen.) I decided to take Nathan with me because he loves to cook so I thought this would be fun for him. He was excited to learn some new stuff and was impressed by Mark and how good he was with a chef's knife. :-) There were about 50 people there.

Nathan volunteered to go help out. (The pictures are from cell phone and I was in the back row- so they're not too clear!)

We learned how to make Apricot Chicken filled pot stickers (so good!), lo mein, chinese chicken salad, Mark's secret teriyaki sauce and sweet and sour pork roast. Everything was delicious and it was a lot of fun. I think Nathan wants to go to a culinary school. I said his future wife would LOVE that!

Still Eating Cookies

2009-02-24T12:57:00.004-07:00

Well, I am still enjoying my cookies and diet pepsi. Haven't made it back to the gym yet. (See post below...) Partly because I've been battling a cold. (EXCUSE-I know.) I tried a new cookie recipe yesterday that I found on another blog. TO DIE FOR! They were chocolate cookies. There are variations on the recipe. You can add white choc chips, choc chips with mint chips- or the one I did. You wrap the dough around a Rolo and bake. YUM YUM! Nothing like a caramel center in a chocolate cookie- and so easy. If anyone wants the recipe then let me know and I'll post it and try and find the blog where I found it to give them credit.

So as for now I am adding calories instead of subtracting them. (I was always better at addition than subtraction anyway.)

Queen of the Catwalk

2009-02-20T10:44:00.005-07:00

First of all, let me just say that I have never been surrounded by so many fake boobies in my life as I was in the gym on Tuesday. I think all the women must reward themselves with a new "set" once they get their bodies in shape. On the treadmill next to me was a lady with her nice set of "twins" (as Curtis Brown calls them) and her little sportsbra/tank shirt. Her incline on the treadmill was at a 10! I didn't even know the incline went that high. It was like she was hiking up a mountain. And she went for a full hour! I guess it was intimidating and I was determined to stay on there as long as she did so I walked/jogged 4.25 miles on the treadmill. It took me 60 minutes. I was proud of myself for enduring that long on there. Wednesday I returned to the gym with a burst of energy. I did the 4 miles- ten minutes faster than before- and thought "I'm going to go for five miles." I sped up the pace and was jogging and actually running. I had my Ipod going and felt great. I did the five miles and I just wanted to throw my arms up in the air and do a little cheer. Yahoo! I did it! I contained myself- didn't want to draw any undo attention to myself- AND I KEPT ON GOING! I guess I was on a "high." I did 6 miles total. I proved that I could do it. My Aunt Karen has been exercising and losing weight (60 lbs in like 4 months) and she started calling her treadmill "The Catwalk" because she felt so great on it. At that 6 mile moment I truly felt like the "Queen of the Catwalk." I don't know where I got the energy from. Maybe it was because I finally went and saw Twilight the night before. Edward Cullen was giving me some extra energy or something. :-)

The rest of the day was pretty much a waste because I was so exhausted. I felt a little better after a short nap and a hot shower. Thursday, I was back at the gym. My body was feeling it so I could only do 3 miles. The entire week I have watched what I eat and only had ONE diet Pepsi a day. That is huge for me! Then I get on the scale this morning and have gained a pound and a half! What the H***!!!! I just don't get it. I have been exercising about 3 times a week (sometimes more) for at least 6 weeks now and not one stinking pound is gone and my thighs still rub together when I walk. So, I popped open the can of diet pepsi and made some cookies. Cookies and caffeine makes it all better....there's always next week. I wish you could see results instantaneously when exercising. Walk a mile, lose a pound, walk a mile, lose a pound...... UGH.

Happy Belated Valentine's Day!

2009-02-16T16:46:00.005-07:00

The Monday before Valentine's Day, we had a family home evening lesson on love. I read a little story titled "The Love Drawer" from a past issue of the Friend and then we each made these cute door hangers out of paper plates. I challenged each family member to leave at least one note in each person's door hanger telling them something they liked about that person or a compliment, etc. They could also leave candy with it. The kids had fun decorating their valentine holder.

Valentine's morning I got up early and decorated the kids' bedroom door. I also hung up hearts and garland in the kitchen. We ate pink heart shaped cookies for breakfast and then made sugar cookies to take to a few neighbors.

That night Spence and I went out to dinner at Macaroni Grill with our good friends, Vicki and Dale. We were smart and made a reservation a couple weeks ago. Otherwise the weight was almost 2 hours! The place was packed. Then we went to the late movie and saw "He's Just Not That Into You." It was pretty good. Was a good show to see on Valentine's Day. Hope you all had a great day also!

Here's the conversation taking place in the background at the moment:

Claire- "Quinn, did you fart?"

Quinn- "No."

Claire- "Cuz boys fart a lot."

Quinn- "Well maybe it was Logan."

Short Conversations with Kids

2009-02-02T09:44:00.005-07:00

Here are a few conversations I've had with some of my kids lately....

I was with Logan and walked by someone smoking and we both hated the smell of it. Logan commented on it so I took the opportunity to tell him all the bad stuff about smoking...

Me: "Smoking is really stinky and bad for your body. It makes your insides black and gross. It damages your lungs and makes it hard to breathe and can give you cancer which is a disease that makes you sick and can kill you. "(No harm in scaring them to death is there?)

Logan: "Well why do people smoke then? Do they WANT to get sick?" Good question bud.

All Claire has been watching on TV lately is TLC. (Learning Channel) She loves the baby shows- Baby Story, Bringing Home Baby. She also is addicted to Jon and Kate plus 8. This was her question of the day-

Claire: "Mom, what do you do at baby showers?"

Me: "You bring gifts for the new baby and sometimes eat and play games."

Claire: "Well, does the baby take a little bath or something?"

Me: (laughing) "No, the baby usually isn't born yet. You bring the gifts for the mom so she can be ready for when the baby comes."

Claire: "So the baby doesn't even get to watch?"

Geez- what a bummer party for the baby!

I was reading the other day and not really paying attention to Claire. She came up and started telling me this:

Claire: "Mom, Macy's little cousin had to go to the hospital the other day because he swallowed a polly pocket toy."

Me: (not really paying attention...) "Oh, really?"

Claire: "Yeah, they had to get it out of him."

Me: "Hmmmm."

Claire: "They had to cut off his foot to get it out."

Me: "Hmmm." Then it registered what she had said... "What? I don't think so Claire. They don't cut your foot off to get something out of you that is stuck."

The thing with Claire is she is really good at making stuff up and telling stories so I never know what is true and what isn't. Em- did your nephew really swallow a polly pocket and get his foot cut off to get it out? :-)

Oh- another funny moment was when I had picked up kids from school. We dropped off one of Nate's friends and Logan wanted to walk the rest of the way home. So he got out of the car and started running home. I was following in the car and started to roll down my window. At the same exact moment Nate did the same thing and we both shouted out the window "Run Forrest Run!" We busted out laughing that we would have the same thought at the same time. It was funny- guess you had to be there. :-)

100!

2009-01-14T09:31:00.024-07:00

Wow. This is my 100th post. I've been thinking of something special to do for it. So I decided to do a "Jackie's Favorite Things." (You know- like Oprah....)
1- I LOVE my Toyota Sequoia. My favorite vehicle I've ever had. So go on- everyone go out to your driveway. I've given all of you a Sequoia!!!! Ha ha...I wish I could do an Oprah thing like that. My Toyota has 123,500 miles on it and we haven't had any major problems. Changed the battery once, tires, maintenance stuff like that. My favorite feature on it is the back window rolls down. I can roll it up and down sitting in the driver's seat. Love that feature- along with all the cup holders.... Sure, I'd like a brand spanking new one, but I'm happy with what I have and love it even more that it's paid for. :-)

2- I recently bought a new griddle from Costco. Best $25 ever. I love it. It's so convenient to just put it on top of the stove and turn on the burners instead of having one that sits on the countertop that you plug in. Seems my kids always got burnt with my old one. I can store this one underneath the oven with the rest of pans so it doesn't take up a lot of space like others. The flip side of is has grill edges to cook meat, etc. Get one!

3- My favorite hand cream is "Wish" by Lollia. (website) Love this line of products. Smells so yummy. I do have a box of this that I will give away to some lucky reader. Just leave a comment and I'll choose random from hat.

4- As most of you know I LOVE cookies. Could eat them non stop. (My thighs are witness of that.) I love the classic chocolate chip. Some that I love (also from Costco) are the Otis Spunkmeyer frozen cookie dough. So convenient to pop them in the oven and they are delicious. Also convenient when I'm craving cookie dough.

5- This favorite thing should really be number one. Diet Pepsi! My name is Jackie and I'm a Diet Pepsi addict. Face it Spence- I'll never give it up so quit bugging me about it. Only makes me drink more. An intervention wouldn't even help.

6- Another one of my favorite things is Trollbeads. My mom started selling them in her store. Lucky me! I love my Trollbeads bracelet. I can wear it with anything. Change up the beads, etc. They are kind of like charms- you can pick out your beads and make your own bracelet. All the beads have a meaning and are handmade. Price on the beads vary, but it is so worth it because you can wear it with anything.

7 - My favorite store is.... Costco! Big surprise. I love to buy books there along with clothes, food and seasonal items.

8 - My favorite thing to do to pamper myself is to get a FACIAL. Love them more than a full body massage. That way I can relax and not have to worry about what my body must feel like to someone rubbing my muscles (or lack of muscles). If you've never had a facial- treat yourself to one. Worth the money.

9- One of my favorite movies is "You've Got Mail." I love Meg Ryan and Tom Hanks. Maybe I love it because of my memory seeing it in the theater. It was in December 1998 and I was in Oklahoma City. I was staying with Mike and Gayle, waiting to deliver Ethan. We were walking around the mall and they were having a sneak preview of the movie. I wanted to see it so much but they said it was full. We bought a ticket to a different movie but Gayle's sister, Paula, took me by the hand and said "You are seeing that movie. You are a very pregnant woman who wants to see it and you will!" So we went into the theater and she found me an empty seat in the very front of the theater. I thought it was such a cute show. Still love it.

10- I guess for my last favorite thing I'll say I love scented candles. I especially love the Banana Bread scent from McCalls candles. It smells so yummy and is a very "homey" scent. (Is that even a word?)

So there you have it- my Top 10 Favorite Things.

At My Whit's End

2009-01-08T13:54:00.006-07:00

Help! I am really struggling with Claire these past few weeks- okay, months. She has been the best form of birth control EVER! I just don't know what to do with the little "brat" lately. (Did I just publicly say that??) I am so sick of her telling me to shut up and that she hates me. She gets violent with me- slaps, hits, kicks, throws things, etc. I spank back and it doesn't even phase her. No tears, nothin. Just a mean look on her face and she tells me how much she hates me. I just don't get how sometimes she can be so sweet and then- the devil takes over. I need some advice on how to nip this in the butt now before she gets to be a teenager. I put her in her room in time out and she will destroy her room, kick the door, etc. I have tried putting her in time outs in other places- like the corner, but it doesn't work. She has a mind of her own and will NOT stay. I have thought about taking away all of her toys- I think that's a Dr. Phil thing- but where in the heck would I put them all? Ugh- I just need some advice or ideas before I end up in the loony bin in a padded room....

7th Anniversary

2009-01-02T12:45:00.012-07:00

Spence and I had our 7 year anniversary on December 22nd. Every year we shake our heads and wonder what in the **** we were thinking to get married three days before Christmas. I guess we just planned it around our families of when they would all be in town. Everyone remembers our wedding because it was the coldest day ever in Evanston. We all froze our behinds off. I joke with Spence and tell him "I always told you it would be a cold day in hell before I married you." LOL

We stayed the night at Inn on the Creek in Midway Utah. That is where we stayed for our wedding night. Spence surprised me and had candles in the room with a bottle of chilled sparkling cider along with rose petals on the bed and in the tub- just like our wedding night. It was very romantic. Dinner was excellent and very cozy.

Dear Spence,

I just wanted to tell you how much I love you and am grateful to have you in my life. I love that you are able to provide for our family so that I am able to stay home with our children. I think that it is so important to be at home with them. I love our children so much and hope that I can be a good mom to them.

One thing I love about you is your ability to give. You are one of the most giving poeple I know. I love that you always want to do what you can to help others out. It is such a good quality to have. I think it is such a good example to our children.

Another thing I love about you is your hands. You have strong, sexy hands that are so gentle. They are also hands that can fix or do anything. You amaze me in your knowledge on how to do things- from around the house to cars. You are so talented that way which makes me so lucky to have you.

I hope you know how much I love you. Thank you for knowing the importance of me needing time away from the kids and home, and also for believing in date nights. Thank you for watching the kids for me. Thank you for being romantic and for thinking of me. Thank you for your patience and for loving me.

Love Always, Jackie

Longest Post in History

2008-12-23T15:49:00.015-07:00

Wow- I have been so busy that I haven't had the time to download pictures and post anything. So this will probably be the longest post ever. I want to include everything since I use this as journaling- sorry!...

Hmmm....what should I start with- Thanksgiving? My mom and dad came down to our house. Usually my mom cooks for my entire family, but this year she got a break. I'm so glad she came to my house because I have never cooked a turkey or stuffing so she came to the rescue. We had a great dinner and lots of food. It was kind of nice to be at home this year.

Logan as a cowboy, army guy, AND an Indian.

Dad carving the turkey

Nathan and me

My mom and dad

Temple Lights

The Monday after Thanksgiving we went to see the lights at Temple Square for family night. We took Trax downtown. The kids were excited to ride. I'm glad we went early to see the lights before the freezing cold weather arrived. The kids had fun. It ended up being a longer night than planned because we got on the wrong Trax train so had to ride to then end and then back track to the right one. Kind of scary being on Trax at 10:30 at night! But, we survived...

Waiting for our train

Enjoying hot chocolate

Claire's 5th Birthday

On Claire's birthday (Dec. 15th) we went out to the airport with Spence's family to welcome Jeremy home from Iraq! (Jeremy is Spence's nephew.) He finished a 15 month deployment. (The second one...) He got to come home in January for the birth of his daughter, Lily, but then had to leave again. So this was the first time with Lily since she was born! It was so awesome and emotional to see them together. Makes you realize the sacrifice our soldiers are making to be away from their families for so long. Thank you for your service Jeremy and to all the other soldiers!

Proud to wave our American Flag

Jeremy and his daughter, Lily

After the airport we went to the Spaghetti Factory to celebrate Claire turning 5. Spence's mom and sister's family came with us. It was lots of fun and lots of good food!

Nathan and cousin Gavin

Logan and cousin Berkan being silly

Claire and her cousin Brynn

Claire got a new bike for her birthday. It's so hard to have a winter birthday! The snow hasn't stopped her from riding though!

Build-A-Bear Workshop Party

Claire had her birthday party at the Build-A-Bear in the mall. We all piled in the car ready for the slow, snowy drive to the mall. We put a movie on- Spongebob. Once it started playing, a few of the girls said they weren't allowed to watch Spongebob, so we had to switch out movies. (Am I a terrible parent for allowing Spongebob?) In went Polar Express and we were on our way!

Patiently awaiting directions...

Putting in the stuffing...

Claire's new best friend

Shakin their booties...

Heather and Malia giving their animals a "fluff bath"

Claire and Naomi shopping for animal clothing.

Macy's new best friend- Hello Kitty

When walking through the mall with all 8 girls, a man stopped Spence and asked them if they were all his. Uh Hello! Spence laughed and replied "Don't wish that on me!"

Outside walking to the car I was holding hands with Malia and Maddie. Malia looked up and said "I wish we were all your daughters!" I laughed and said "Not me! I would probably pull my hair out with this many kids!" I asked her why. She said "Cuz then there wouldn't be any screaming and hollering cuz I don't like that." I said "Well, there is screaming and hollering in my house too. And why do you scream if you don't like it?" Malia: "Well, I only do to my mom and dad cuz that's fun." I looked at her- then she smiled and said "Just kidding!" LOL

Back in the car I asked what everyone wanted for Christmas. Here are a few answers: Ipod, real cell phone, Barbie, I forgot after I wrote it to Santa... Man, and these girls are only 5-8! What will kids ask for when older??

Thanks Claire's friends for coming to her party and for the gifts and for being so good! And thanks to Build-A-Bear for the easiest birthday party EVER!

Congratulations if you are still reading this post. You have finally reached the end! :-)

*Disclaimer: Not held responsible for dirty dishes in sink, unfolded laundry, dusty tables, dirty floors, dirty toilets and kids running wild due to time it took to read this post. Author of post did in no way force you to read to the end. Author's house just as dirty due to the time it took to write this lengthy post.

Pay It Forward

2008-12-15T23:33:00.002-07:00

Wow! I actually won something. I was the recipient of Allyson's Pay it Forward post as well as Andee's. Thanks so much for the bread Andee and thanks for the candy and comfy socks Allyson! Now it's my turn to give. Everyone who wants in, just leave me a comment by Friday, December 19th and I'll let my kids randomly choose 3 lucky winners from a hat. If you're chosen you can't break the cycle of "Paying it Forward." Good luck!

Wish Bone

2008-11-30T17:07:00.004-07:00

Logan kept asking all Turkey Day for the wishbone out of the turkey. Well, naturally Spence wasn't aware of that and threw the bones in the trash. Logan was laying in bed and upset that night. I asked him what was wrong. He said they wrote down their wishes at school so he wanted the wish bone for them. I asked what his wishes were. He didn't want to tell me because he thought I'd think they were silly. I convinced him to tell me. Here they are:

1- I wish for 50 billion trillion dollars.

2- I wish for my drivers license.

3-I wish for the best family.

Okay- I can work with wish #3. I told him that it was one that we can work on. We can try to not scream and fight and show more love to one another. It made me feel kind of sad that he is aware of the fighting in our house and getting tired of it.

Then when I told him some wishes we could work towards to make happen. He goes "You mean I won't just look behind my dresser and there will be money there?"

"Um, nope."

"Well, that sucks."

"Yep, sure does!"

Anyway, the next day him and Claire were playing so good together. He would notice and say "Mom, we are having the best family. We aren't fighting." I'm so glad he is aware of it and making an effort. Hopefully we all can so that we can have the BEST FAMILY EVER! :-)

Marathon Shmarathon

2008-11-21T08:55:00.006-07:00

I took Logan and Claire to a Family Beach Night at Logan's school last night. They had a DJ and the kids were having a blast dancing around. I was sitting in between two ladies off to the side. One of them was holding a little baby girl- around 2 or 3 months old. The lady was so skinny. I just shook my head and wondered how it would be to be that thin after having a new baby. (Or ever actually!) She sees the lady next to me and starts talking to her about how the San Fransisco Marathon was. (The lady was wearing a jacket with that printed on it.) So they proceeded to talk about how many marathons they've ran, details about them, etc. OK- so I would love to be able to say I've ran a marathon. I see the people on Oprah, etc who just got in shape, trained and did it. Lost weight, etc. They are so inspiring and I tear up just thinking about what it would be like to cross the finish line at a marathon. Wow, what a feeling it must be. But I don't care if you put 101 motivational speakers in front of me- I still couldn't start running. Just not in me to do it. Anyhow...so I had to sit and listen to "marathon talk" and it just made me feel like crap. Like I've never accomplished anything like that in my life.... Anyhow, the kids enjoyed the night...Here's my first attempt at posting a video. Taken with cell phone so they're not the best quality. :-(

Claire is doing the Twist. (White shirt.)

Logan is rocking- attempting a little back spin- to Barbie World! LOL

Pictures...and More Pictures

2008-11-18T09:53:00.011-07:00

Here are some pictures from our weekend at my grandparents' home in Glenwood, Utah for my grandpa's 80th birthday party. The kids love it down there because they can run around and have so much fun in all the open space! There's so much to do in the country. :-)

Patiently waiting for their turn on the horses....Savannah, Claire, Carter, Hailey, Logan

I finally got Claire on a horse. She is never brave enough. She loved it though!

Logan loves to ride.

I loved this one.

Attacking Grandpa (my dad) in the hotel swimming pool.

At my grandpa's party: Grandpa and Grandma in front with 5 of their 7 children.

Julia (my mom), Bill, Karen, Farrell, Annette

Me with my Uncle Farrell

Me with my grandpa and Uncle Bill

My brother Jared and me with my grandparents

My brother Spencer with two of his girls. (He has 4 girls!) and my Uncle Bill

My Aunt Karen and me. She is more like a sister. We are best buds!

Grandpa's cake- all edible. Turned out sooo cute! If anyone needs an awesome cake- call me and I'll give you Brenda's number. She makes the best cakes ever!

The "spread." I was so nervous to set it up and have it look okay without the help of my catering boss. I think it turned out alright though!

Thanks for letting me post so many pictures! (And Jen- do those count for pictures of me posted on my blog? hee hee)

Any Ideas?

2008-11-13T17:55:00.002-07:00

Spence and I really want to have a Christ centered Christmas this year. We are not going to buy as many gifts for the kids. We have so many stinkin toys cluttering up the closets. I hate it. They get played with for a few weeks and then just sit around. All the kids do with them is throw them all over the room for me to clean up. Anyhow...this weekend I will be cleaning out closets while getting ready for new carpet and getting rid of TOYS!

So here is the question I need help with. Do any of you have any ideas of a service that my family could participate in this holiday season? I really want my kids to learn the joy of service and to see how blessed they are. It doesn't have to be a monetary service- better if it weren't. I just don't know about any programs, shelters, soup kitchens etc in the area that might have volunteer programs or whatever. I wish I had the money to take my family to Africa or some other poor country to help with kids in need but I just can't. I'd rather do something for local kids anyway. Ideas?

Carpet Update

2008-11-13T09:49:00.000-07:00

So I totally made Spence call the carpet man and meet us somewhere before he took the samples back to the store so that I could look at it. GOOD thing I insisted because I made him order something else. Didn't like it the one Spence picked out as well. Don't get me wrong- it wasn't awful, but it wasn't my first pick. Whew. Being a B**** paid off....

Question

2008-11-12T12:26:00.002-07:00

Here's the question of the day:

Would any of you be upset at the fact that your husband ordered carpet for the upstairs of your house before you even saw the sample of it??? Or would you just be happy that you were getting carpet.

Just wanted to know what you all think- because I am very upset and have a KNOT in my stomach. I am the woman of the house- I should be the one to decide these things shouldn't I?

My Red-Headed Temper

2008-11-10T10:19:00.005-07:00

Over the weekend our family went to Glenwood, UT for my Grandpa Oldroyd's 80th birthday party. The entire family was there and it was so much fun to see everyone again. My mom and I were basically in charge of the food and setup of tables, etc. I borrowed a catering set up from my boss at Cosmopolitan Catering. He was so nice to let me use it. Saturday morning, mom and I were running around Walmart getting last minute food items. We were running behind and worried about getting everything set up and done in time. We loaded all of the sacks into my car- which was parked about 2 cars down from hers. She just left the shopping cart in the parking lot. (Calm down Valerie if you are reading this- I know it is a pet peeve of yours when people do that! 99% of the time she puts them away in the cart rack but we were in a huge hurry.LOL) Well, this guy (customer in parking lot) takes it upon himself to yell at my mother and tell her what a "lazy a**" she is for not taking her cart back. He was saying all sorts of things to her. I noticed this as I was getting into my car and my adrenaline and anger kicked in. I was so appalled that a man would speak to my mother that way. I did what my first instinct was and got out of my car, walked up to the man as he was getting in his car, flipped him around and PUNCHED him! I told him he would NOT speak to my mother that way. He started yelling a bunch of crap to me about how she sure has taught me well, blah blah blah. Yeah, she sure did- better than his mom taught him than to speak to a woman the way he was. I went over to the car and grabbed on to it. He thought I was going to take it to the cart return so said "Thanks for returning that cart." Well, he doesn't know me very well. I took that cart and stuck it right behind his car so that he had to get out and move it before he could leave. (And no, he didn't return it either.) The adrenaline was really kicking in me now so I got right in his face with my finger a pointing and said "If you EVER speak to my mother that way again I will HUNT you down and hurt you." GO GIRL!

So for those of you (Jen) who thought I was this shy, quiet little person- I do have a mean streak that is not to be messed with. Especially when it comes to my family. :-) So if you see me on the 10 o'clock evening news from the Walmart surveillance cameras being wanted for assault and battery- please don't turn me in. LOL

Pictures of our family fun to come in next post......

Halloween Pics- Late

2008-11-07T08:10:00.004-07:00

Thought I'd post a few pictures of the kids from Halloween. We went to Spence's mom's house with a few other cousins for cornbread, chili and games. Then back home to our crazy, madhouse neighborhood. And I won't get started on that..... I'm glad the holiday is over and Thanksgiving and Christmas are on their way. Thanksgiving is my favorite because I love being with my family and I LOVE my mom's cooking. (I just love to eat.)

Logan trying to eat a donut off a string and grandma's house.
Claire had a "crying tantrum moment" because she didn't want to play the donut game. She just wanted her donut without the string!

Berkan just sat down and took his time eating his donut.

The kids with three of their cousins- Gavin, Brynn and Berkan (who makes the best Yoda!)

Thanks Grandma Sue for a fun Halloween! We love you!

Sleeping Beauty

2008-11-03T14:23:00.004-07:00

Logan and Claire decided to bring the "outdoor" fold up chairs into Logan's room to watch a video a few nights ago. It was complete with popcorn and blankets. I walked up into the room to see how it was going and this is what I found:

I imagine that would give you quite a kink in your neck!

Ethan's Visit

2008-10-28T13:59:00.017-06:00

It has taken me awhile to post about Ethan's visit. I was so lucky to have him in my home for an entire week. His mom, Gayle, was here for a nursing conference at the Salt Palace so brought him with her. I feel so blessed that Gayle would give me the chance to spend time with him and that the rest of my kids can get to know him. I couldn't have ever asked for better adoptive parents for him. He is so loved and happy. They have always been so honest and open with him from the beginning. They want him to know the family where he came from and that he has so many people that love him.

Gayle and I went to a session at the Salt Lake Temple. It was the first time at that temple for both of us. It was such a spiritual experience. We were in tears just sitting in the chapel before the session even started! Then to be in the celestial room together was so awesome. It just brought it all together. I knew that without her and Mike, I wouldn't have even been sitting in the temple. Who knows where I'd be. I am so thankful for the tender mercies of the Lord. I have been so blessed because of my sacrifice. I know that that's why Spence was brought into my life so soon after Ethan was born. Anyhow, then we had dinner in Park City one night with some of her friends here for the conference.

At the end of the week my mom came to visit and stayed a night with us. We had lunch along with my brother Jared and his wife Jeni.

Me, Ethan and my Mom

I think Ethan had a fun time here. Lots of video games were played. We went bowling one day. Nathan got his butt kicked. His score was 18! And half of that was mine when he let me bowl for him once! By the end of the week Ethan was really missing his dad and starting to get annoyed at Logan and Claire fighting over him. He said he wasn't used to that much attention. He always had to sit in the middle of the two of them. Whatever he wanted then the kids would want- same treats, slurpee flavors, etc.

I am reminded of the song by Michael McLean- "From God's Arms to My Arms to Yours"

Tear jerker!

Aren't they all so beautiful? Man I make good lookin kids. LOL :-)

Sometimes I feel guilty or wonder if I am normal because I am able to spend time with Ethan and not be overly emotional or upset by it all. It is not difficult for me at all. My mom kind of had a hard time seeing him and just shook her head and said to me "I don't know how you're doing it." I don't know either. I guess maybe because I am at peace with my decision and don't have any regrets. Of course I wish I could've kept Ethan and raised him myself, but it wasn't in the best interest for him. I could see how difficult it was with Nathan. I just think the Lord has helped me to be so strong through all of this. Don't get me wrong- I still have times of tears. Mostly it is when I think about my last day with Ethan as a baby. I remember Mike and Gayle giving me time with him in the bedroom and how I just laid on the bed next to my newborn son. I just cradled him in my arms and told him how much I loved him. We fell asleep for a bit. The hardest thing was holding him when it was time to go and handing him over to his new parents. I knew it was the last time I would hold him. The next months were very hard but I had family and friends that helped me through it. This experience in my life has made me really want to help others who may be going through the same thing. I would want girls to know of that option of adoption and be able to help them through it. Maybe some day....

Craft Bucket

2008-10-28T13:55:00.006-06:00

Reason #1 of "Why it's good to have a bucket full of craft odds and ends at home":

When your son reminds you that it is Crazy Socks Day at school- five minutes before it's time to go!

It's amazing what some googly eyes, yarn, pom poms and hot glue can make!

Nathan's Pictures

2008-10-28T13:50:00.007-06:00

Hooray! My sweet husband fixed the scanner for me so now I can post some pics of Nathan. Enjoy Nathan!

Kindergarten School Picture (I think!)

Having fun at Bear Lake

Nathan has always loved computers!

Taking a photo of ourselves!

Happy Birthday Teenager!

2008-10-27T14:31:00.023-06:00

I wanted to do this posting on Friday- Nathan's birthday, but have been experiencing "technical difficulties" with the computer and scanner and digital camera. Sometimes I wonder if technology is worth it. I can't get the scanner to connect to the computer now and I just don't have the patience to play around with it. I had some pictures from when Nathan was younger to scan in so maybe I'll add them later when I get the stupid thing fixed. Anyhoo.....

Happy 13th Birthday Nathan! I can't believe Nate is a teenager already. Course, by the way his voice is changing I knew it was coming. :-) He had 5 of his friends over for a sleepover to celebrate. We combined with his friend, Garrett, since they are only one day apart. Works out nicely.

The boys played a few games that I found on the Internet. First was trying to put spaghetti noodles into a bottle wearing a glove. The boys were not playing fair though and just started shoving bunches of noodles into the bottles- and ended up getting into a noodle fight. Nothing like a few sticky noodles in the grass.

Christian and Nathan (Notice Christian doing one by one- and Nathan's blob!)

Blake and Josh

Next game I hard boiled some eggs and put them in a bowl. I added one egg that wasn't hard boiled. The boys each had to take an egg- first one that they touched- and smash it against their head. Parker just knew he would be the one to get the raw egg- and guess what! He was! He was a good sport.

Go Parker!

Final game the boys bobbed for apples. Once they got one they had to immediately bob for marshmallows in a bowl of flour. It was fun to watch their reactions- especially Christian. He was getting so grossed out by the spit in the apple water. He would rather die then dunk his face in there. Then after he found his marshmallow he actually started puking. LOL (Sorry Alyson! Never meant to make your son throw up!)

Garrett loved doing this so much that he went twice!

Nathan

Josh was very hyper during this game. He was so funny!

Blake

Nathan was trying to force Christian's head in the water.

Yeah Christian! You did it!

Sorry it made you throw up Christian! :-)

The boys ate pizza and had yummy oreo cake that Meagan (Garrett's mom) made. Then they were off to play night games. Having 6 teenage boys over night wasn't bad at all. Nathan has wonderful friends. Thanks for being such awesome friends to Nathan guys!

Birthday boys- Nathan and Garrett

Now I guess I'll say some things to Nathan....

Dear Nathan,

I can't belive you are 13 years old! Where has the time gone? I remember when you were first born. Your conehead freaked me out! I didn't know that your head would eventually return to normal size since I was new to the whole baby stuff. LOL You brought such joy to my life- and still do. You were my comfort in my times of loneliness. You have helped me to become the strong person that I am today. I named you "Nathan" because it meant "Gift from God" and sounded like a strong name. It truly fits you.

You have helped me to overcome one of the greatest trials of my life- giving up Ethan for adoption. I was so blessed to have you to comfort me and to bring happiness in such a time of sorrow for me. Thank you for always understanding my decision and for not holding any ill feelings towards me for it. You are an awesome big brother to Ethan, Logan and Claire. They look up to you and your example. Always remember that being the oldest comes with a lot of responsibility but it is worth it. You will be the one to look out for and protect your younger siblings. They will turn to you in their times of need. Try to have patience with Logan and Claire and know that they love you so much.

Since you are 13 now I thought I would list 13 words that describe you:

talkative, intelligent, mature, leader, athletic, funny, tender, comfort, cook, adventurous, friend, responsible, smile

Always know how much I love you and feel blessed to have you in my life. I hope you will always feel you can communicate openly with me about anything. I enjoy our friendship and look forward to your teenage years! Aahh! I am getting old...

Love, Mom

Mother Warriors

2008-10-17T09:28:00.005-06:00

Last Wednesday I had a VERY lazy day at home. I was tired and actually laid on the couch watching TV the entire day I think. I got caught up with everything recorded in the DVR. Basically it was me and Oprah at home. :-) (I didn't have any Bon Bon's though.) One of the shows was titled "Mother Warriors." Did anyone see it? It had Jenny McCarthy on there talking about the improvements in her son with his autism. She talked about how as moms we do everything we can for our kids if they need help. If something doesn't work- we try something else. I am thankful that my children are healthy and don't have any "special needs." I don't know if I am the type of person that could have the patience needed for that. Anyway, she had a mom on there that is still bringing tears to my eyes. She went to deliver her second baby by C-section. She delivered a healthy beautiful baby girl. Soon after the delivery, the mother began to get a rare infection. To make it short- they ended up removing her ovaries, uterus, gall bladder, part of her colon and both arms and legs! She spent months in the hospital. When they told her they would have to amputate her limbs her reply was "Just do what you need to do to get me home to my family." Wow! She has learned to function and had such a positive attitude. When Jenny was interviewing her this was a comment she made that has stuck with me:

"What good are you to your children if you're miserable? What are you teaching them- that you give up? I want them to know that their mother is a fighter. Don't ever give up on anything- ever."

I know I find myself getting so frustrated with being a mother and my lack of patience and how it wears me out. It really put things in perspective seeing this mom on there. She has plenty to be upset and complain about. But she doesn't. When in the hospital all she wanted to do was get home and take care of her new baby. She doubled up on her physical therapy and worked so hard. It made me feel so blessed. What business do I have complaining? I have my health- and all my limbs. I GET to comb my kids hair, wrap my arms around them, fix them dinner, paint their nails (just Claire's lol), drive them places, etc. Since watching that Oprah, I have tried to be more positive with my kids and be happier. If I feel myself start to feel down I remember her comment "What good are you to your children if you're miserable?"

Here's the link if you'd like to read about this episode: Mother Warriors

Family Fun??

2008-10-09T09:22:00.009-06:00

For family night on Monday we did some Halloween crafts/decorations that I saw in the Family Fun magazine and website. By the end of the night we were all screaming and hollering at one another and fighting. Ugh! Sometimes I wonder what is wrong with us. Why can't we even have peace and harmony for a few hours?

At bedtime my kids are always hungry and I'm always worn out and tired. Logan started fixing himself a peanut butter and honey sandwich to eat before bed. So naturally, honey was all over the counter. Then he decided he wanted jam on it too. Of course, he drops the jar of jam on the floor and it breaks. I didn't swear or scream but I had that "look" on my face. Logan just went and sat out on the front porch to eat his sandwich. When I went out to talk to him and ask what was wrong he told me he needed some time away from me. How nice. Guess I need to work on some things. :-) Anyhow, here are some pics of our getting ready for Halloween family night.

These ghosts are now Logan and Claire's new friends. They love to sit in the middle and play. Claire takes all of her toys out there. Logan plays "Duck duck goose" with them. LOL I looked out the other day and all of the ghosts had blankets draped over them. So they are getting pretty hammered and I don't know if they will even last until the end of the month!

This is how I felt by the end of the night. :-) Ugh, I hate Halloween.

Fall

2008-10-07T10:16:00.007-06:00

Well, fall must officially be here because yesterday morning Spence actually turned on the heat in the house! Don't you just love that smell when the heat is turned on for the very first time? It means you get to wear sweaters and pants to cover up your body. Yahoo! Course, then by afternoon I'm stripping down and have the air conditioner turned on. Gotta love it! Whenever fall comes I am always reminded of the movie "You've Got Mail." (One of my all time favs.) I love that line at the beginning where Meg Ryan is talking about the smell of pencils with the change of the season.... Anyhow, I love when the weather gets colder. It means I get to drink hot chocolate before bed and get to turn on my electric blanket! My favorite! I love to climb into a nice warm bed. :-)

Anyhow, finally got some pictures downloaded onto the computer again. Since it crashed we lost all of our files and hundreds of pictures. *Note to Self- be sure to back up this time!* This is my kids latest craze......

They love to take a bunch of blankets, pillows, toys, whatever they can get their hands on and make a little fort on the back deck. It makes such a mess but it keeps them entertained. Course, I'm always the one that gets stuck cleaning it up. They take out snacks and sit under the table and munch away. I noticed their shoes.....

I asked why they filled them with leaves. Logan's reply: "So in case it rains they will stay dry and warm and comfy." Okay...whatever. They had raked the neighbors leaves across the street, piled them in a bucket, then came and dumped them in their "fort." Lovely.

Now to change the subject....I am excited for next week. My son that I adopted out- Ethan- is coming for a visit! Gayle (his mom) is going to be here for a nursing conference so decided to have Ethan come for a few days. I love that we have such an open relationship. Gayle is always so sweet to check with me to see if I'm okay with it. She always worries about my feelings. And I always worry about Ethan's feelings. I don't want him to feel out of place. I am excited to see him again and spend a few days with him. Logan absolutely loves Ethan. Logan and Claire just think he is a cousin, but I think their spirits are connected. Logan has only met him the one time last year but talks about him all the time. A few days ago Logan was drawing a house. He drew some people in the house. He showed me and it had 6 people. I asked why six when we only have five in our family. He said one of them was Ethan. I asked why he drew Ethan in there. He said "Cuz I like him."

But, I get a little nervous at what Ethan will think of me. I know that whenever we would go visit Spence's biological mom that we would always be so thankful when we got home that he was adopted because of the way he could've turned out if she raised him. I hope Ethan won't ever think that with me! LOL I pray that he will always feel my love for him and know and understand the reasons why I gave him to a new family. It was best for him. When I think back on that time in my life I realize how "lost" I was and how Satan had such a strong hold on me. It scares me to think of what could have happened if I hadn't been blessed with the spirit. I was so down at that time. I had actually considered abortion because I didn't know what to do. Satan was rationalizing everything- all my thoughts. I was even looking up places that would do it for me. I am so glad that I came to my senses. I look at the beautiful boy that Ethan is and how blessed he is. Did anyone read the Ensign article this month on abortion? The statistics were shocking to me- 40 million abortions performed per year! That is so unreal to me. I loved the article and the points it made about a woman's choice and how once you are pregnant, you are left with the consequence of that and how it's not only your choice now- you have a baby- a human being in you and you take away it's choice when you choose to abort. I wish more politicians thought that way. Click here to read it.

Okay, enough said. I know it was rambled, unorganized thoughts. Sorry!

Tagged

2008-10-03T09:10:00.004-06:00

Thanks Jen for the "I Love Your Blog" tag. It gives me something to post about. I've been lacking in that area lately.... One word answers? Are you kidding me? I will do my best...

1. Where is your cell phone? counter
2. Where is your significant other? bed (Yes, you can see the time of the post...)
3. Your hair color? awful
4. Your mother? giving
5. Your father? reserved
6. Your favorite thing? cookies
7. Your dream last night? nothing
8. Your dream/goal? patience
9. The room you're in? basement
10. Your hobby? baking
11. Your fear? non-acceptance
12. Where do you want to be in 6 years? happy
13. Where were you last night? Home
14. What you're not? in-shape
15. One of your wish-list items? boob-job (shallow, I know)
16. Where you grew up? evanston
17. The last thing you ate? diet pepsi
18. What are you wearing? sweatbottoms (that I had when I was pregnant with Nate. PATHETIC!)

19. Your TV? outdated
20. Your pet? sold
21. Your computer? crashed!
22. Your mood? down
23. Missing someone? karen
24. Your car? gashog
25. Something you're not wearing? bra
26. Favorite store? Costco
27. Your summer? quiet
28. Love someone? yes
29. Your favorite color? green
30. When is the last time you laughed? jenspoopypost
31. Last time you cried? thursday

I am supposed to award 7 people with the "I love your blog award" and in so doing tag them to complete the above questions with one word answers. But I don't even know if I have 7 people that read my blog- so if you're reading this, then guess what! You're tagged and I'm sure I love your Blog!

Dude!

2008-09-23T15:19:00.004-06:00

Today I took Claire to get some new shoes. I had her try on these really cute converse type shoes. They were brown with pink stitching and pink plaid material on the inside. She was walking around and I told her they looked so cute on. I asked her if she liked them. After thinking for a brief moment, her reply was: "No. People might call me dude in them." LOL So, she picked out some other pink and brown ones. Guess she doesn't care for the converse look or to be called "dude".

Middle School Talk

2008-09-18T10:13:00.003-06:00

On the way to school this morning, Nathan and his friends were quite talkative. Here's some of the conversation. (I'm not sure I got all the names right of who said what.)
Nate: "How come we all got haircuts?"
"And how come we all wear our hair the same way?"
Josh: "Well, I've been wearing my hair this same way forever."
Nate: "Since you were a little egg?"
Christian: "Or in heaven?"
Josh: "I don't think you had to comb your hair in heaven. I think it just automatically goes the way you want it."
Nate: "I don't think you'd ever have a bad hair day in heaven."

Later.....

Josh: "Do you know why nerds are all smart?"
Boys: "No, why?"
Josh: "Because most of them have allergies so have to stay inside so they just play video games and study and stuff."
Christian: "So you're a nerd?"
Josh: "No, I spend a lot of time outside."
Nathan: "And we all play video games."

Then Josh was being annoying so he said he would only talk when someone else talked. Then the silence game began. After a few minutes of total silence Josh hurried and rolled down the window and said "Ugh! I need some fresh air!" and stuck his head out. I guess the silence was suffocating him. LOL

When they all get out of the car and get their percussion sets out of the trunk I call them "band geeks." They're all so cute. :-)

Economics 101

2008-09-11T09:12:00.003-06:00

Just been wondering lately how the economy is affecting everyone around me. It sure has affected me and my family- especially with Spence's line of work- being in the mortgage industry. Times are tough and things are tight. This has been a trial for me. I have had to penny pinch before from being a single parent so it's not an entire new ballgame for me, but it doesn't make it any easier. With gas and food prices high it doesn't help. It seems like every time you turn around someone needs money for something. I have been catering more so that has definitely been a blessing to help pay for the little things. Has anyone else been affected by the economy? What are you doing to survive?

In my patriarchal blessing it tells me that my material/temporal needs will be met. So that leads me to think that maybe this is a trial I have to go through so that when I do have lots of money that it will make me appreciate it more so that I don't go and blow all of it on needless things. :-) Or maybe it's a way of telling me that I need to lower my temporal needs. LOL

Another Death

2008-09-08T19:13:00.003-06:00

Well, we just received word that Uncle Bert (see last post) died today on the golf course of a massive heart attack. Ugh! He looked perfectly fine two weeks ago! He golfed almost every day. At least he died doing something that he loved. I'm going to make Spence get his heart checked. That's 3 people from his biological family that haved died of heart attacks. Scary!

Spence's Birth Mom

2008-09-08T09:51:00.011-06:00

I know most of you know that Spence's birthmom, Debbie, passed away 2 weeks ago- August 25th. She found him when he was about 21 years old. They have kept in touch since and had multiple visits. She has been in our lives since we married and she loved her grandkids. Spence was her only child. I tried to include her as much as I could in our lives by sending photos and home videos. It was mostly a friendship relationship. She definitely spoiled me and my kids! I will miss going to the mailbox and finding boxes from QVC in there. (Her ultimate favorite place to shop.) And I'm sure my kids will miss her a lot this Christmas. :-)

Spence and I went out to San Fransisco for the funeral. We hung out with Spence's "other" family. Debbie had a twin sister and one brother. It was fun to get to know them and their families better. The family is Jewish so the funeral was a new experience for me. So different from the Mormon funerals! It was just held at the cemetery- only about 30 people there. The Rabbi said a few things from Psalms and some Jewish prayers. Then at the gravesite everyone says a Jewish Kaddish prayer. They put the casket in the ground and everyone takes a shovel of dirt and throws it on the casket. So strange- it made me feel like we were disgracing her or something.

It is Jewish tradition to light a candle and keep it lit for 7 days to remember the person who passed away. We lit this with the kids and put the Kaddish prayer translation next to it in honor of Debbie. And guess what- my house is still standing after the entire week of having it lit! Then on the anniversaries of a death you light a candle of rememberance also.

Whenever we return home from seeing Debbie or her family Spence always gives his mom a big hug and thanks her for adopting him. He would have turned out soooo different if Debbie would have made the decision not to give him up for adoption. I am also so thankful for her decision so that I would have the opportunity to have him in my life. I am grateful for the Lord's tender mercies and how things work out and are meant to be.

Spence and his cousin, Nina, who lives in Idaho

Spence and his great Uncle Bert. He was the first one that Spence met from the family.

Some of the family- Debbie's twin is far left, and brother is far right

This is a photo I found in Debbie's wallet. I think it was when Spence and her first met- so about 25 years ago.

Long Time No Post!

2008-09-04T21:37:00.007-06:00

I haven't spent much time in the blogging world lately. Been trying to get back into the school schedule and try to get my kids in a bedtime routine. So frustrating! I kick myself every night for not doing it when they were little.

Nathan seems to be liking 7th grade so far. He has a lot of classes with his neighborhood friends. I am in a morning car pool with other moms in the neighborhood. The first week of school I drove the boys there. I watched all four of them walking into the school with their backpacks hanging off of them and their long plaid shorts and T-shirts. I smiled to myself and thought that they all looked so cute and grown up. I was so proud of them and what good kids they all are. Then I turned my head and saw some of the girls walking in. Ay ay ay! I'm sure they were 9th graders. Dressed to kill- bright blonde hair- make up- the works. I just panicked and thought "Oh no! Stay away from our boys!" I am definitely not ready to deal with the aggressive girls now days....

First day of school as a 7th Grader!

Logan has been the one I was most worried about starting 1st grade. He is a night owl and sleeps in late. Of course I procrastinated until two days before school started getting him used to going to bed early and getting up early. He also doesn't like to eat breakfast so I try to shove food in him on the drive to school. He seems to be doing good though and likes his teacher. We received a note home that he is receiving extra help with his reading because he's a little below his grade level. This has been a challenge for me. First of all I feel guilty because I haven't spent any time with him. His attention span is not great and he doesn't find learning too exciting. He is going to be the child that I have to work with and spend more time with doing homework. I've never had to work with Nathan so this is a new challenge for me. I have a feeling it's going to be a trying one!

Excited First Grader!

Claire started her second year of preschool. I didn't take pictures of her on her first day. Forgot! She seems to like her teacher and was excited to have Macy in her class. Haven't been many problems with them fighting yet except for the occasional fight over which car seat they get to sit in when I pick them up. I hope they don't do that in class. :-)

I am glad to be back in a routine but find there aren't enough hours in the day. I find myself enjoying the few hours I have to myself and don't want to spend them cleaning. Then once the kids get home the chaos begins. By the time they are in bed all I want to do is hit the sack too!

Memory Tag- You're All It

2008-08-22T13:25:00.000-06:00

MEMORY GAME

1. As a comment on this post, leave one memory that you and I had together. It doesn't matter if you know me a little or a lot, anything you remember!

2. Next, re-post these instructions on your blog and see how many people leave a memory about you. It's actually pretty funny to see the responses. If you leave a memory about me, I'll assume you're playing the game and I'll come to your blog and leave one about you.

We love the Rain!

2008-08-18T11:41:00.005-06:00

My mom got these cute new raincoats and accessories for kids in her store. Of course, she had to spoil Logan and Claire with an entire ensemble each. They come with raincoats, umbrellas, rainboots and a cute little backpack. Claire picked out the Ladybug rain gear and Logan picked out the Pirate one. They have been putting them on every day to play in and just sweating in them because it's been so hot. They were so excited when it finally rained and they could put them on to play in the rain!

I think I already have their Halloween costumes! :-)

Davis Family Reunion

2008-08-18T11:28:00.011-06:00

While in Evanston we had a Davis family reunion. It was fun to see all of my cousins and their kids. I don't know a lot of them. My grandma has 52 great grandchildren. I don't know how many grandchildren. All of that from just 4 kids! Here are a few pics......

My youngest brother, Spencer and one of his daughters, Maggie.

Logan and Claire having helicopter fun.

The whole family- minus a few families...

My family- minus my parents, my husband and my brother's family

Claire in a water relay

My nieces Ashley and Savannah having fun walking on cans.

Model Train Show

2008-08-18T11:10:00.014-06:00

It's been awhile since I've had time to post something new. A few weeks ago I took the kids to my mom's house and we stayed the week. They took a few classes in a Music Arts and Technology Camp. Nathan took about 5 classes- piano, comedy, theater, composition, etc. Claire took a Music and Movement Class and Logan took a cooking class. They all had fun. At the end of the week Evanston had an annual train show. It is held at Evanston's train roundhouse. Collectors bring their model trains and set them up. Some of the displays are very detailed. Lots of time and money. The kids enjoyed it though.

Logan and Claire started the day out with their own "train" ride.

Logan and Claire being pulled by the 4-wheeler.

Logan receiving a "tutorial."

Claire loved this train because it had fish on the inside. (Not real ones...)

One of the detailed models.

Another display- lots of work!

Kids Say the Darnest Things...

2008-08-06T17:10:00.003-06:00

I had a few laughs courtesy of some neighborhood kids today so thought I'd share....

Macy was over this morning and Spence was fixing her some chocolate milk. I was making beds at the time and this is what I overheard...
Spence: "Macy, does your mom ever fix you chocolate milk at home?"
Macy: "Nope."
Spence: "Does she give you fruit roll ups?"
Macy: "Nope. My mom is mean. I'm going to have to send her to her room."

I died laughing. (We all know you are not mean Emily and how much Macy really loves you.)

Then later in the afternoon all of the kids were out playing on the deck. They had about every spare blanket in my house out there making a "fort." Quinn came knocking on the door. I let him in and said "Quinn! Did your mom decide to unground you?" (He has been grounded all week for fighting with his sister.) He had a huge smile on his face and said: "No. My dad did. It's our little secret." Once again, I busted out laughing! Let me guess- dad was home babysitting and couldn't take it anymore?.... Well, I'm glad he couldn't because Logan has been waiting all week to play with him. :-)

Claire's Phone Conversation

2008-08-01T18:07:00.002-06:00

So I'm sitting here listening to Claire talk on the phone. She has her little notepad and pen and is writing stuff down. She is talking about siding. I didn't even know she knew what siding is. She is telling someone that it would be a good idea. Maybe she has listened in on one of Hyrum Molloy's conversations when he's been at our house. LOL

Then she goes "Ugh. My children are being so impossible." Pause. "I can't believe they would just hit someone in the face." LOL

Well, I'm glad her children always act up while she's on the phone. It's nice to know they're no different than mine! :-)

2008 Pioneer Trek

2008-07-30T18:52:00.011-06:00

I finally got a few minutes to post about our Stake Pioneer Trek. We only had two young women, and four young men along with 5 leaders from our ward. We were the smallest group- but I loved it. We only had one handcart to pull and it made us seem more like a family. We left on Thursday, July 24th. That day we walked 12 miles to our camp. It was a long, hot day. There were many youth from other wards that suffered from exhaustion and dehydration. We had a few young men get sick the first day and night. One ended up going home in the middle of the night. We felt bad he couldn't continue with us.

We were trying to do a serious pioneer look. :-)

We walked about 8 miles and then stopped for lunch. After our break we filled our water jugs and started our journey again. We were stopped by "military men" with orders that the Mormon men were to leave to help fight in the Mexican war. This was a re-enactment of the Mormon Battalion. So all of the men left. Our stake leaders talked about how the women must have felt at this time and how they were left to continue the trek into Utah. They were left with children and elderly people. We then had to pull our handcart up a HUGE hill. All of this was done in silence so we could feel the Spirit and think of how it must have been for those women. Since we were small in numbers it was extremely difficult to get that handcart up the hill. It probably weighed about 275 pounds. I broke down in tears halfway up the hill- along with all the other girls. Partly because of the physical difficulty of it, and because I couldn't imagine having the faith to do this back then. Then I tried imagining if my kids were with me and how they would struggle and be hot and tired. The pioneers didn't have good shoes, multiple fresh water and bathroom stops and lots of food, etc. They truly suffered and sacrificed. Once we were almost up the hill, the men returned, removed their hats out of respect, and walked in silence beside us. They were not allowed to help us yet. This was emotionally trying on them. It is in their nature to help- especially when girls are crying and are in desperation. I was relieved when they took our load from us. It was a powerful and moving experience. I will never forget it and am so thankful for it. It made me extremely grateful for all that I have.

Yes- I did actually help pull the handcart every once in awhile!

Our "studly" pioneer men. Trevor and Austin (plaid shirts) were so awesome! They pulled that cart the entire time without a complaint. You guys ROCK!

Jasper and Jen ("Ma" and "Pa") and Chelesa taking a break under the cart. Jen was always showing off her bloomers. I asked her if she was trying out for Pioneer Playboy. :-)

My friend Coby and one of the young men- Trevor, taking a break.

On Friday we walked for 8 miles. My muscles ached a little bit from the day before. We didn't get much sleep the night before either because we had some noisy girls camped by us and because one of our young men got sick in the night. That night we had a big dance. They had line dancing, square dancing, bunny hop and of course the hokey pokey! Good old fashioned fun!

Coby, Me and Casey (Aren't those bonnets just stylin?)

Chelesa trying to get a handle on the blisters. (Which I got NONE! Yippee!)

Saturday we only had four miles to walk. It was an easy day except for my killer headache. Three days without a Diet Pepsi was VERY challenging for me. I was anxious to get home and see my family too. I missed them while I was gone. They all started laughing when they picked me up and saw how dirty I was. I don't think Logan and Claire knew what to think. And that cold Diet Pepsi my hubby brought me was truly heaven on earth. :-) I was brought back to earth though when I stepped on the scale at home and had actually gained a pound! How can someone walk 20 miles, drink all water and no soda, barely snack and gain weight! It is truly hopeless for me. It just proved that exercise will do be no good, so why start????

Idols on Stage

2008-07-16T17:40:00.007-06:00

Monday night I went to the American Idols concert! I have never been to one before so didn't quite know what to expect. My mother-in-law took me, along with a niece and nephew to the concert. The top ten contestants performed. They each sang three songs except for David Archuleta who performed four songs, and David Cook performed five songs. Let me just tell you how loud it was in there when David Archuleta was on stage! It was hard to even hear him sing with all of the screaming fans. I didn't lose control like some of the fans since my neck has been tweeked out. He did so good and he was so cute. He is so humble and very appreciative of his hometown fans. He had tears in his eyes at the end. He definitely has an amazing voice and at only 17 has a huge career in singing ahead of him. (Just my opinion...) David Cook did well too and I felt bad that he had to perform after Archuleta. :-) Here are some pics from the concert....

Kristy

Tattoo Girl

Jason

David Archuleta

David Cook

Almost all of the Idols commented on how loud the Utah fans were. Makes me wonder if they say that to everyone or if it is true. Anyhow, I had a good time. It was kind of nice listening to several people instead of just the same person at a concert. Thanks for taking me Sue!

This and That

2008-07-12T08:29:00.009-06:00

My New Nephew

My sister had her baby early Thursday morning. He was 3 weeks early and weighed in at 6lbs 15 ozs and only 16 1/2 inches long. He was small! His name is Jackson. Logan, Claire and I went to Ogden to see him at the hospital. Claire was in heaven! She loves babies so much so she held him the entire time we were there.

Strawberry Jam and Salsa

Friday I made strawberry jam. I bought strawberries from Tera (thanks!) and didn't know how many to get. Well, I only ended up using 5 little plastic containers of them to fill the containers that I had used last year. So now I have lots of strawberries left! I guess I'll have to go buy more containers to make more jam or just freeze the strawberries. If anyone has any good strawberry recipes- send them my way!

Here's what is left!

Then for lunch I made some fresh salsa and treated myself to my favorite lunch- nachos. Loaded with salsa, sour cream and guacamole. Mmmm... It's no wonder my thighs are as big as they are eating like this!

It just doesn't get any better than this.....

Picnic Time!

Friday's picnic for the kids I surprised them. I used muffin tins and had an assortment of food for them. Their lunch consisted of pineapple/strawberries, cheese, ham and turkey cubes, goldfish crackers, animal cookies, and yogurt covered raisins. They loved it. Thanks for the tip Tip Junkie!

I bought the muffin tins from the dollar store. What a great price!

Tea Party!

Friday night Claire and I went to Macy's tea party. It was father and sons campout in our ward, so the girls got together for dinner and lemonade "tea." The little girls played outside and had fun while the big girls (moms) had fun with the big girl talk. I had so much fun socializing with my neighbor friends. We had some great laughs. Thank you so much Emily for hosting this! (I took my camera but of course didn't take any pictures...)

Fourth of July Fun

2008-07-08T19:44:00.017-06:00

This year for America's Birthday we went to Glenwood, Utah to stay at my grandparents' home. They were out of town, but my aunt Karen and her family lives there also. (Glenwood is about 10 miles from Richfield, Utah.) My grandparents live in the home that my great great grandpa built. It was built in 1904. My grandpa grew up in that house and has worked for many years to restore it. It is a beautiful old home.

We started out Friday by going to the big Richfield parade. It cracks us up because people from the town line up their chairs the night before and tie ropes through them. My aunt and I have always wanted to take a bobcat in the middle of the night and scoop them all up in a big pile- or rearrange everyone's chairs. We die laughing because it's not the big Maceys parade! But, I guess in small towns, that's the most excitement you get. :-)

Anxiously awaiting for the candy!

Logan's favorite parade entry.

My Aunt Karen and me.

Daddy's little princess!

After the parade we headed over to the park for the annual "Fish Catch." There is a fish hatchery in Glenwood and every July 4th they bring over a bunch of trout for the kids to try and catch. Let me just tell you- TOTAL CHAOS! Picture hundreds of kids running around and screaming in a little man-made swimming pool loaded with fish swimming around. Spence said most of the fish probably died of a heart attack or shock! Logan actually caught one. He was so excited. His first fish- and caught with his bare hands.

Can you find Logan? It's like a "Where's Waldo" picture. :-)

Logan with the Catch of the Day and with his cousin, Nick.
Nathan, Logan and Austin (cousin) with their fish.

The first day when we arrived, Karen asked the smaller kids if they wanted to go into the chicken coop and see if there were any eggs. Logan said "What's that?" Guess he didn't know what fresh eggs were. Then Claire came running up so we asked if she wanted to go help find some eggs. She said "Well, I don't have a basket!" My kids are definitely city kids! They had a blast gathering the eggs each morning and feeding the chickens.

Claire and Belle (cousin)

Logan and Claire- just a "one" egg morning!
Logan making sure the horses don't go hungry.

Logan barebacking it on Hemi.

Sunday dinner consisted of barbequed chicken wings. Mmmm - looks good Nick and Belle!

We came home on Monday. The kids had such a good time. They want us to move down there. I told them no way. I would miss my shopping, movies and going out to dinner too much!

Who needs Wheeler Farm when you have grandma and grandpa's house?!