So much fun on a beautiful night

Troy and Annie have been on spring break for the last two weeks. Unfortunately, we have spent the last two weeks sick. Everyone has now had this bug except me and I'm hoping to keep it that way. Needless to say, we didn't get to do any of the fun things we normally do.

Anyway, Friday night, Troy was out camping with the scouts and so the rest of the fam decided that we were going to have a hot dog roast. We started a fire in the fire pit and roasted our hot dogs and then we made s'mores. YUM!!! We had a lot of fun just sitting around the fire and talking and eating.

As it got dark we laid out on the trampoline and looked at the stars. It was fun showing the kids Orion and the dippers. I wish I knew where more constellations were so that I could show them those as well. I love living out here where we can do things like this. In the city we never could see the stars that well. It's so beautiful at night.

Well anyway, as we were playing around on the trampoline I started showing the kids some sparks caused by the static electricity. I would roll around and then rub the area I had just been and we'd watch the sparks (and our hair) fly. They thought that was so much fun. Then I rubbed the trampoline and started to reach for the area I had rubbed and the sparks jumped...making it appear that I had "lightning" coming from my fingers like the emporer in Star Wars. They were quite impressed.

When I mentioned how cool it was to have a Jedi for a mom Taylor politely informed me that only the Sith have the ability to do the finger/lightning thing and so there was no way I could be a Jedi. So now I'm known as Darth Mommy. Now if I could only figure out a way to use the dark side of the force to get my children to clean their rooms and do the rest of their chores without complaint I will have succeeded in becoming the true emporer! :)

VERY blessed...

Happy Easter everyone!!! It's been an interesting holiday for us. Today, Tyson and Troy are sick and didn't even make it to church and didn't really want to go through their Easter stuff either. They mostly laid around doing nothing except watch TV and sip soda. What a life! We also couldnt' find any eggs to color. Everyone was out, so for the first year ever we didn't get to color any eggs. Oh well....at least I didn't have to clean up that mess. :)

I've been watching Julie's blog for her blessings and I'm a little inspired to do a few of my own. I'm not going to do the one a week that she does, but I'm feeling very blessed today and I thought I'd share why.

Earlier in the week I was looking at our checkbook balance (which isn't good) and our savings account balance (which isn't much better) and worrying (which is my normal job). Annie was very sick last weekend and required a trip to Urgent Care with an upper respiratory infection. She then passed it on to Kevin who then required his own little trip. With that Troy and Taylor have been fighting colds and Tyson is teething (thank goodness I'm not sick...what a mess that would be!). So, between doctor visits, medicine and lost time at work, we've been feeling the pinch a little harder than usual.

It hasn't been easy with Kevin losing his time differential and then having his hours cut and then having everything under the sun go up in price on top of that. Needless to say, It's been a little painful and we've been pinching every penny possible and it's been very frustrating trying to figure out where grocery and gas money will come from and what more I can do to help our family.

Anyway...hope I'm not sounding whiney (which I probably am) but now you know what my state of mind was this week.

I was praying for a little help and guidance so that I can keep our family finances afloat without going outside of the home to work and I keep telling Heavenly Father that if he'd just bless us with enough money to pay off the house or Kevin's student loans, I could serve him and my ward better because I wouldn't have to work so hard to help out. (keep in mind I have no idea where this money would have come from...I must have been tired)

I even whined about this to Kevin, who was kind enough to just listen and not remind me that I shouldn't really be telling Heavenly Father how to bless us.

So, on Wednesday, we were working outside and Taylor and Troy were digging a hole for a bush we had to plant to replace one that had met it's demise. Troy was stabbing at the dirt with a pointed shovel and for whatever reason, Taylor reached into the hole with his hand right as Troy pushed the shovel in. It hit Taylor's hand straight on and he SHOULD have lost a finger. It was a small miracle that the shovel only cut one finger and then took the skin off of the inside of the other finger.

Then yesterday, Taylor was at my parent's home and was riding the kid quad for the first time. He went over a hill and then opened the throttle full force and was going as fast as the machine could go. He didn't steer or anything...just headed to the back of the property. Now, this quad isn't very big, but probably weighs 125 pounds or so. Taylor weighs 47. Anyway, he hit a small dirt hill at the back of my parent's property and the quad went up and tipped back. Taylor landed on his back and the quad came down squarely on top of him. I don't know why we aren't in the hospital with him right now. He escaped any injury except a scrape on his chest (right over the ribs above his heart) and a couple of scrapes on his tummy. Even now as I think of it I start to cry because it could and probably should have been so much worse.

Also yesterday, Kevin accidentally left our garage door open and it was open from the time he left the house until we got back last night...about 8 hours. We were amazed that our home was not robbed. We even had everything still in the garage including Kevin's tools and several bikes.

So, I was thinking about this today and I've realized that we may not have any money and we may not ever be free enough financially to do the things we want to do, but Heavenly Father is protecting our little family and watching over us. Any of the things that happened this week could have devastated us emotionally and financially. We are ok because we are blessed.

Count your many blessings and it's amazing how little your problems look.

The BEST kids in the entire universe

So, today was my birthday. I'm 29 for the 5th time (for those of you who are like me and too tired to do the math it is 34).

It was a rare day without any daycare kids, so Troy, Annie and Taylor insisted I sleep in. They woke me up at 8 with a tray of breakfast. They actually made me muffins, juice, oranges, sausage and toast. They sang to me and gave me some cute birthday cards and a coupon for 45 minutes of alone time. No interruptions, no issues, nothin'. They also gave me a bracelet that Troy and Taylor made and a necklace that Annie made. I'm so lucky because the beads on these pieces of jewelry match everything in my closet! Talk about multi-function! While we were eating breakfast, they put on one of my favorite CD's to listen to....there is nothing like having a breakfast you didn't have to cook while listening to Blake Shelton. :)

We spent the morning playing and we went to lunch. After we got home, they insisted that I take a nap. It didn't take much arm twisting before Tyson and I headed upstairs for a wonderful 2 hour nap.

While I was sleeping, they made me a chocolate cake with vanilla frosting and butterflies made out of sprinkels. It was so cute and soooooooooooo delicious.

I feel so completely blessed to have such wonderful children. I know how much they love me and watching them feel the joy of serving others makes me feel like Kevin and I are doing a pretty good job.

Tubes

Well, Tyson finally got tubes put into his ears. He had his surgery on Wednesday. We had to be at the surgical center at 6:30 in the morning, so we had to leave the house at 5:30. Luckily he slept most of the way in.

Once we got there, he was so interested in everything around him that he actually enjoyed playing around. There were several other babies there for the same surgery so they had fun playing together and pushing the IV carts around and flirting with the nurses.

Dr. Gonzalez and Dr. Isaachof came in and talked to me about the anesthesia and the procedure and then the nurse took Tyson away. I was fine until then but when he started screaming and reaching for me I just lost it.

They sent me to a room with a bunch of other emotional mothers and we waited for our babies to be brought out. The actual procedure isn't very long so in about 15 minutes they brought him out to me.

The sad thing is that he wasn't quite awake. He was awake enough to be screaming, but not awake enough to know it was me that was holding him and he just cried and cried. I could still see the marks of the gas mask on his face and the drainage from his ears and he was just so pitiful.

Dr. Gonzalez said that his ears were so infected and so full of fluid that as soon as he made the incision in the ear drum the infection came gushing out. I'm glad it's out now...he started hearing us when we talk to him and should start picking up some words. The best part is that he shouldn't get any more ear infections. YAY!

Tyson slept all the way home and when we got home he could finally eat and drink. After breakfast, he laid on my shoulder for a while or let Kevin hold him and then by lunch he was playing like that morning had never happened. I wish I could bounce back like that.

So, he's improving each day and each day the drainage gets less and less which is nice because it's kinda gross. :(

I took him in to Dr. Mike today for his well check and an ear check -- he got a clean bill of health and 3 shots. He was really scared of Dr. Mike which is unusual for him...but with the experience of Wednesday I can see it.

I'm just glad it's over with and I'm really glad that I don't have to put any more of my kids through that again.

Sleepover

Friday night we got to have Ewan over for a sleepover. We had so much fun with him. He loved playing outside with the kids and running all over the place. Annie, Taylor and Ewan decided it would be fun to tackle Troy and hold him down.
Kevin and I went on our usual date later that night and when we got home, this is what we found...Troy was playing on the computer and Taylor, Annie and Ewan had fallen asleep on the couch watching a movie. It was only 9:00 so they must have really been tired from playing outside. :) On a side note...Taylor was on the couch when we got home, but by the time we got a minute to take this picture, he had fallen off the couch. He didn't even wake up.
Annie and Ewan became special friends that day. She guarded him from Tyson (Ewan isn't used to aggresive babies), hugged him when he cried and helped him play. Aren't they cute all cuddled up together?
We really enjoyed having Ewan with us and hopefully Brian and Julie will buy a house somewhere out in this area, and we'll get to see him more often. Yay!

Garden Time!

We decided to try our hand at gardening again. Kevin's mom could make anything grow anywhere...we, on the other hand, tend to murder plants (unintentionally). Anyway, with the focus on preparedness, we decided to try again and we planted our Salsa Garden!!! (the exclamation points make it sound exciting...don't you think?) We have a cute little corner planter that Kevin expanded to make a little bit bigger. He had a lot of help from Tyson getting it ready, and Tyson loved getting dirty. (please excuse the plumber's crack...I would have edited it out, but I decided not to..what can I say?)
Tyson is actually bummed that he can't dig there anymore. Anytime during the day when I'd let him outside, he went straight for the dirt. We'll have to get sand back into the Sand Turtle. He loved getting filthy and working with daddy.
Here is view one...you can see the different varieties of pepper plants...New Mexico Big Jim, Jalapeno, Red Bell, Etc. We also planted peas along the fence and some leaf lettuce to the right of the peppers
View two. .. we have 3 tomato plants...two Best Boy and one Grape Tomato. We planted Cilantro between the peppers and the tomatoes and did a flower border for extra beauty. We also added the fence...hopefully it will keep Tyson and toys out of our garden.

If this works, we are going to make and can our own salsa which is really exciting since we eat a lot of it. We'll keep this updated...and if the plants die...well, we tried. :)

Cowabunga!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Our stairs are a straight shot into the kitchen and we have been waiting for the day that one of our crazy kids was going to try to "sled" down the stairs (think "Home Alone"). We have even wondered to each other what they would use and what it would cost to visit the ER when they ever tried it.

Well, it took them 3 1/2 years, but they finally gave it a go! We are actually surprised that they haven't tried it sooner and maybe it's a good thing because their sled of choice was.........my ironing board (upside down, I might add).

I had asked them to bring the ironing board downstairs for me and I caught them trying to ride it. It's a good thing it was upside down too, otherwise the only thing I would have caught on camera were their injuries. As I look at this picture I also notice that there is no guilt whatsover on those little faces...they were actually upset that I put a stop to their "adventure"!

Now that they have figured this out, they'll probably try it again...and they'll probably teach Tyson how to do it......and one of them will probably end up in the emergency room...and then we'll probably ground them for the remainder of their natural lives...which will probably be cut short if I ever catch them at this again...so it's probably a good idea to discourage any further "adventures" of this nature...don't you think? :)

She's 8!!!!!!!!

Our little princess is now 8. It's so hard to believe how she is growing. It makes me so happy to see the young lady she is turning into, and so sad that she keeps getting older.

For her birthday I took Annie, my niece, and 3 of Annie's giggly girl friends from school to Golfland for a game of Miniature golf. I had my sister Karalee along as well to help me keep at least SOME of my sanity. (I didn't take the camera however...good thing too...I was in the water too much)

We got there, and Karalee picked the "Princess Path" for us to play on since it was so fitting. What we didn't know was that it was the hardest path! We fished more golf balls out of the stream, and chased more of them through the grass than I think anyone in the history of goofy golf. Each of the girls counted their strokes and gave the number to Karalee. She dutifully recorded it and at the end of the game and while we were on our way to lunch, KoraLee, my niece did the math. Here are the scores:

Karalee, 72 strokes
Cailin, 81 strokes
Jolene, 84 strokes
Lacey, 101 strokes
KoraLee, 108 strokes
Rhiannon, 126 strokes
Annie, 146 strokes

Annie took one look at that and was so excited...she won!!!!! (ha ha ha) We didn't have the heart to tell her it was the least amount of strokes that won.

After Golfland, we went to a place called "Cici's Pizza Buffet". I figured the girls would be hungry, but holy cow!!!! I don't think I've seen anything like the amount of pizza consumed. A high school football team couldn't have rivaled us that day! I also let them have unlimited trips to the soda fountain and the dessert bar (sorry parents...it was a party...what can I say?) . The sugar rush hit them on the way home...the van was rocking side to side, they were giggling and laughing and squealing. I almost pulled over, gave them the keys and let them drive while I walked, but we made it.

On Saturday the 16th was Annie's baptism. What a special day. She looked so beautiful in her new dress and the jewelry that Aunt Stephi made her was gorgeous.

Here is a picture of Annie with daddy (Kevin) in their baptismal clothes. She was a little nervous because he threatened to hold her down until the bubbles stopped coming up, but Bishop Olson calmed her down by letting her know that her daddy was just teasing and would never do a thing like that (ha ha ha...we all know Kevin right? Isn't this just like him?)



Her cake...we went to Walmart and in the bakery they can take a picture and transfer it to rice paper using edible ink. You just put it on the cake and do a border and it's pretty cool!
Taylor, Annie, Eden, Cassidy, and KoraLee all smiling for the camera and waiting for Annie to blow out the candles so they could eat it. Yum!
We had a lot of fun with family and friends and want to thank everyone that came. We love you all!

I've Been Tagged!!!

A. The rules of this game are posted at the beginning.
B. Each player answers the question about themselves.
C. At the end of the post, the player then tags 5 people and posts their names, and then leaves a comment on their blog letting them know they have been tagged and asking them to read your blog to get the directions.

10 yrs ago: We lived in Kanab, Utah and were freezing!!! It was our first winter there and we lived in a small, drafty apartment. I think we wore sweaters all the time! But, we had a lot of fun playing in the snow and watching movies.

5 Things on my list of things to do today: Clean my kitchen, go grocery shopping, fold the laundry, take a nice, long, hot shower and spend some private time with the hubby (hubba hubba!!!) (and as of 9:30pm, I have only accomplished the first 2..sigh)

Things I would do if I suddenly was a Billionaire: 1) Pay off student loans. 2) Pay off the house. 3) Put money in the bank for each of the kids 4) give a little to each immediate family member for some fun 5) take the kids on the best vacation ever 6) have my eyes fixed so I can get rid of my glasses! 7)buy Kevin a new truck and me a new mini van with all the options (yes..it's my dream car)

3 of my bad habits: 1) I yell at the kids too often 2) I can swear like a sailor...especially when Troy is playing football and the ref makes a stupid call 3) I blame Kevin or the kids for any un-ladylike sounds that come from any part of my body :)

Places I have lived: Show Low, AZ, Mesa, AZ, Kanab, UT, Boise, ID, Eagar, AZ, Queen Creek, AZ.

Things most people don't know about me: I love to dance goofily (is that a word?) through the house to any music. It amuses the kids.

That's all for me...I don't have anyone to tag yet because my family is behind the times and have no blogs...but this was fun! ;)

Ride em' Tyson!!!

So, we are doing a major chore each weekend in preparation for Annie's baptism and family dinner here. Last weekend, we cleaned the downstairs carpets. Tyson, who usually hates anything noisy, decide that this was "fun" and wanted to help. Unfortunately, his idea of helping was to push the carpet cleaner as I pulled it toward me, which caused some major traffic issues when I needed to go forward again.

I finally got desperate enough to finish that I plopped him onto the cleaner and off we went. It was a little harder to push, but he had a ball. Now, any time I open the closet he's in there trying to get the cleaner out to go for a spin. What a strange kid!!!

January Blahs

I have a SERIOUS case of the January blahs. I keep thinking of all the things I could or should be doing...like our taxes, or working on Annie's baptism dress, or trying to finish one of the many projects I have going for Relief Society, or doing laundry, or cleaning my house, or doing dishes, or one of a hundred other things. Instead, I'm surfing the web and doing basically nothing! I need to get myself motivated and quickly, otherwise, it's all going to hit me at one time and then I'll probably cry. ;)

On a brighter note..I have a new niece!!! Macey Lynn was born to Loran and Erin on Monday. That makes 9 grandkids for my folks and gives me a total of 4 nieces and 1 nephew on my side of the family. So exciting!!!!!

Happy Birthday Tyson!

He's 1!!! I can't believe how fast the year has flown and now my baby is one. We had a lot of fun Saturday at his party. Grandma and Grandpa joined us for a Mac n' Cheese dinner (Tyson's favorite) and the Uncle Steve and Aunt Stephi and Uncle Dustin and Aunt Liz came out for cake and ice cream.

Here is his cake...

And Daddy getting ready to help him blow out his candle...

And the effects of letting your child eat his own cake...what a mess! (and as you can see, I STILL haven't figured out how to turn the picture, ha ha)

Thanks to everyone who came. We enjoyed having you there and thanks also for the gifts. He looked so cute yesterday in his new church clothes!

Timeline of a Prank

Well folks, I've been wanting to prank Kevin for some time now. You see, before Christmas, we were out shopping and I was driving. I was making a left hand turn (with plenty of space I might add) when out of the blue, Kevin screams. Of course, I thought we were going to get hit, so I screamed. He starts laughing! I'm shaking and crying and he's laughing!!!!!

I decided right then and there that it was time to bring the man down. So, after much thought we (the kids were helping me think naughty) came up with a plan, which we executed last night. So, here is the timeline of the prank....

7:30pm: Kevin leaves for the church to do some clerk work. He says it will be quick since all he has to do is meet Bro. Fuller there and transmit the quarterly attendance numbers...we decide
this is the night.

7:35pm: The kids and I pile into the van and head to the church to pull our prank.

7:37pm: We get to the church and park. We can see Kevin in the lobby waiting for Bro. Fuller. We wait patiently with him.

7:40pm: Kevin comes out of the church with his cell phone in hand. Troy and I duck down in the front seats but he's looking straight at us!!! We think we are done for. Instead, Kevin dials and I turn to Troy and say..."I hope he isn't calling home". Right then, my cell phone rings (thank heavens for call forwarding!) Sure enough it's Kevin. Bro. Fuller is not there and he needs his phone number. I tell him I am "indisposed" which to him means in the bathroom and he says he'll try information. We watch as he dials some more...he is still looking at the van. How he didn't see us, I don't know.

7:45pm: Kevin calls home again. Again my cell phone rings...all the kids shush and I continue to tell him I'm busy. He asks that when I'm done, can I please call him back with Bro. Fuller's number? Ok I say...no problem.

7:46pm: the kids and I pull out of the church parking lot with our lights off...heading for home. When we get home, Troy runs in, grabs the ward list and the home phone and comes back out. I call Kevin and give him the info...then we hightail it back to the church.

7:52pm: We are pulling into the turn lane to turn to the church, when Troy shouts, "Dad's coming!!!" We look over and Kevin is leaving the church. There is no way that he is going to miss us this time so we resign ourselves to getting caught. Just then, he seesBro. Fuller, who turned in just before we did and turns around in the parking lot and parks again. Quickly I shut off the van lights and we park again.

7:58pm: We sneak over to the truck. Our plan is to move it to a new spot, hide me in the extended cab portion and then let him search for the truck. When he gets in, I scare him. I move the truck to a different part of the parking lot. Troy runs back to be with the kids and I hide (not a small feat for a woman of my stature...there isn't much room back there!)

8:05pm: I have plenty of time to think...plus my legs have gone to sleep and I need to move them. I decide to move the truck back. What if he goes looking for it and sees the van? He'll go over to it and then my hiding will have been for nothing. So we move the truck back to the original parking spot.

8:10pm: I have moved the truck and am now hiding in the back.

8:15pm: no sign of Kevin, but suddenly Troy is knocking on the window...the kids have to go to the bathroom! We can't risk them going into the church, so they find a nice large bush and do their thing.

8:22pm: The kids are back in the van and watching the front door of the church closely. By this time, my butt is asleep, my legs are asleep and something is poking me in the back. What does he have back there?

8:28pm: I call Troy...maybe we should just go home...Tyson is crying, Annie and Taylor are bored and I can't feel my toes. Suddenly Troy shouts..."Here he comes!" Sure enough, I peek out from my hiding spot and there he is. He's standing outside the church talking to someone. Finally he heads my way.

8:32pm: I hear the locks click...I hear the door open...Kevin is talking to himself (when did he start doing that?)...I feel the seat go down on my leg when he gets in. He shuts the door and I pull the blanket off my head and say..."Hello". Can you gues what happened? NOTHING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! No scream, no yelp, nothing. All he does is lift his hands into the air and say Oh!. What a crock! All our planning and scheming. All the time I've sat in the back waiting for him...waiting to get revenge and all I get is "Oh!"

8:35pm: We head for home after he helps me get out of the back...not easy by the way. I am sorely disappointed in his reaction, especially after all I've gone through, but I do get a little satisfaction out of startling him. However, he has informed me that it's "game on". Oh well.

The newest members of the fam...

Introducing Gilligan and Mary Ann, our new love birds. Gilligan is the gray one and Mary Ann the green. Gilligan is very sweet and will let us hold him and play, but Mary Ann is a biter. She has already bit Tyson twice (you think he would learn to quit putting his fingers in the cage!). Aren't they photogenic?

We got them from a friend who didn't want them anymore. We were kind of thinking they would be good for the kids who eventually want a dog.

Tana had them named Romeo and Juliet, but I have always wanted a pet named Gilligan, so we changed their names. Can you tell which of us grew up with the classics and which spent their days watching "Gilligan's Island"? (ha ha ha ha) This is Gilligan perched on my finger. He's so cute!

The kids are really enjoying them, but still nervous about the beaks. We all wear gloves for now until Mary Ann can be tamed, but here are Taylor and Annie holding Gilligan. Taylor loves it, but they still make Annie nervous. Yesterday, she was holding Tyson up to see Gilligan on my finger and they spooked him and he flew. Annie screamed, dropped Tyson and ran across the room. If I hadn't been so concerned about Tyson after being dropped, I would have found it extremely funny!

So, if you are in the mood to hear them chirp (which is loud and often...Kevin keeps threatening to roast them) or hold them, come on by. We love to show them off!

Happy New Year!!!!!!!!!

Happy New Year friends and family! We had an awsome time at my sister's house. We ate way too much, played some pretty interesting games and counted down to midnight.

One of the games we played was called "Fart". It is similar to Uno. You can lay down cards that match either the color or the name of a fart. As you are playing, the music that goes with it is in the background and everytime it stops, there is a specific fart sound. You look up that sound in the instructions and it tells you what to do, like draw two, trade your card with someone, or reverse directions. When you get to the last card in your hand, instead of yelling "Uno", you yell, "last fart!" It was totally ridiculous and crazy and hilarious at the same time.

The kids had a lot of fun as well. Troy and his friend Brenton got to "hang" together and Annie and Taylor played with their cousins J.T. and Koralee. Tyson didn't go to bed as planned (it was too loud with us yelling during the Fart game) so he just made himself at home and emptied Karalee's cupboards.

All in all, we had a wonderful and fun time and can't wait to do it again. Enjoy the pics of the kids partying and we hope that 2008 is good to each of you!

Troy and Annie blowing their horns
I'm cute and I know it!
What a great picture!
Tyson having fun with the blowie thing...
Tyson after we took the blowie thing away 'cause he was eating it.