My favorite Easter Picts from this year

Happy Easter 2008!

So I snapped picture just before the kids attacked. I do this for every Christmas and Easter. It drives my kids nuts cuz they have to sit on the stairs and wait for my picture before they are allowed to enter the room. My mom did this I do this get over it. Besides it makes it more exciting. I sit in there and say "Oh wow wait until you see this" You know helping with the anticipation thing. It is fun to look back at these photos from each year too.

The kids waiting on the stairs for me to get my stupid pictures so that they can get their stupid candy. LOL They look so tired and they all woke up at 7:30 Notice the new addition to the family? Yes a 5th child, a furry one. Another long story from a long week. The short is this: Jesse said "When we get the house built I am getting a dog" I didn't know he meant like the same week. Oh well he is cute anyway.

The after Church, we are all dressed now Family Picture. Nope I don't have on any make-up and I had only 2 hrs of sleep. I know you are all ashamed aren't you? LOL LOL Should mention that I didn't do my hair either but thanks to Nikki and her genius scissors that wasn't the problem for today just the make up I guess. LOL Ok I will stop with the sarcasm now, really. Also again notice the fur baby. Also Nikki's fault but no scissors involved.

p.s. Am not taking the time to edit these photos. The little kids get to hunt 1st in the front yard. Here is Will loving the egg hunt. He really got it this year and was like egg crazed...... until......

Yes until he found a loaded water gun on the lawn and decided that his Easter Egg Hunt is going to be hunting the other kids and squirting them. He is cute and as a side note he isn't sick this week. WOO HOO!!! (knock on wood) Hoping he stays healthy enough for a few days so we can run his blood this week, again.So then the big kids line up for their egg hunt in the back yard.

Samantha, I just had to put this in because it is such a cute picture of her. She loves the Hannah Montana shirt the Easter Bunny brought her. Go Bunny!

My almost 16 yr old niece Sierra actually hunting. How does Helen get a teenager to hunt for eggs...............Just stuff them with money of course. Yes she is a genius too!Isn't Sierra a doll. I don't think I have seen here this excited about the hunt since she was like 4. LOL See the $$ signs in her eyes. Oh wait that is money. hehehe
And here is the Dad of that teenager acting like a kid himself riding on the worlds tiniest motorcycle. Now that my friends was funny. All the dads had to take a turn. And yes one of them did crash and was at the Dr. today with knee problems. LOL Men!

Does it kind of make you want to sing the "ne na ne nanene" song from the Wizard of OZ? You know where the Witch is on her tiny little broom. Well, It made us sing it. I didn't get a very good picture so just trust me it was funny and they look like some kind of cartoon image these big guys on the little bike that is made for like an 8 yr old.

Easter and totally Blitchen here!

Ok so I have been crazy busy and I have so many things that I need to post but I am going to just have to take a second to Blitch. (Blitch is blog bitching a term made up by crazy mama of 6 whom I have never met but who's blog I totally stock everyday and love love love her) Anyway I love her term and that totally fits how I am feeling at the moment., so I am stealing it. Also we did have a good Easter.

Ok 1st the blitch session. Do you ever feel like "why the hell do I even bother going to church?" Easter totally snuck up on me this year. Why did it have to be so dang early and in the middle of my move anyway? HUH? So I was having bad dreams about the Easter Bunny forgetting to come to the house and etc. Long story short it was a crazy week (that will come later) and I ended up at Walmat at 3 am. Yeah I am fabulous and organized I know, shut up. Can I just mention that I saw like 12 other Easter bunnies there too. And have to note that I was not the only Easter Bunny shopping in PJ's. So, between my nieces pageant Saturday night, working until 2 am, Easter Stuff, and getting my Sharing time lesson ready I only got less than 2 hrs of sleep. So, Yeah I am sure I looked just fabulous my fat tired self up there in front of the whole primary......

So at some point one of the ladies in my ward, another teacher that was sitting in the back by my husband totally leans over to him and says "What can't your wife find her make up? Did it get lost in the move?" Yeah WTH?? He said he was shocked that she would even say something like that but especially right to him. Really?? I mean are you serious? And Ok so yes my make up bag did just happen to get lost in the move and I can't find it yet. (I didn't even pack it I put it right in the front seat, its probably still in the car somewhere hiding. And even though it is true she is still a Giant B for saying that to my hubby. UGH!!!! Not to mention that I only got 2 hrs of sleep between Easter bunny shopping at 3 am and preparing my dang Sharing Time, which I had to make a hug ordeal out of because I tend to get way to carried away with and spend way to much time on. And really who is she to judge me weather I look like crap or not?? grrrr Maybe she was "just kidding"

Between that and the guy that talks to my baby every week and says stuff like "oh Will, I see you are not in nursery again." and "Hi Will are you ever going to start going to nursery?" Never talks to me just talks to my 2 yr old as if he really understands him and just totally does it just to put a dig in. But that is this whole other issue completely. Will does go to nursery but he can open the door so he doesn't stay and the poor girls in there are both pregnant and have their hands full enough with all the other kids the last thing they need is my kid out in the parking lot or lost or something. So whatever dude! Just let me deal with my own kid and his non-nursery problems ok!? Anyway sometimes when you get so judged just for doing the best you can it makes you really wonder "Why the Hell do I even bother?" Oh wait I remember why its so you can get spiritually uplifted and learn to be less judgemental right? LOL Just kidding but you know some days are just irritating! Anyway whatever I feel better now. Just needed to blitch it out! LOL LOL Julie I love your word!!

Other than the rude comments the day was great! The sharing time worked out great and it was a truly fabulous and actually spiritually uplifting Easter Sunday. We took the kids on a field trip to visit the Garden of Gethsemane. Had one of the male teachers dress up as an angel (my mom made the costume) and he led them out of the church around the back and out onto the grass on a small hill out there. Then one of our Bishopric members was out there and spoke to them about the garden and about how important Christs sacrifice was for all of us. The kids were actually pretty quiet and attentive. It was a nice experience. After that the Angel lead them back inside where my class put on a presentation about "Gaining a testimony of Easter" Mostly from the friend March 1986 adapted by me, and with a matching game thrown in. My mom is song leader so we had the songs intermittently with the program. Again adapted to fit for us. It went great. My mom also made them treats and we made them bookmarks to take home so it was great.

Then we got home the kids had more candy from the mornings baskets, I threw together a potato salad, the kids had more candy, and then we went to my Mom's (Across the street) for Easter Dinner, more candy, and the Annual Cousin Egg hunt, oh and more candy too. LOL It was a blast and since the house is here now the kids were both at grandmas and at our house so we got to share the mess. They were riding 4 wheelers back and forth and playing games and that was fun, until I kicked them all out so that I could get on to work at 8. Poor kids! ;) I should say poor dads. They were riding the 4 wheelers and mini bikes in front of my office window. So they got kicked off. LOL I have to see if i got a picture of them on the mini bike that was funny! Dad like the kids toys better than the kids. Anyway the kids finally conked out about 10 and they slept great in their sugar induced comas. LOL I hope you all had a Happy Easter too! I will post my favorite photos from Easter this year.

St. Patricks Day

It wouldn't be a holiday if we didn't at least do something, so we had grandma over and ate leftovers. We pooled her leftovers and my leftovers and added some traditional "Corn beef and Cabbage" to make is festive. It was fun the kids loved it and I left early because I don't have a phone line yet in the new house so I have to come to the old house to work. Grrrrr hating the phone company today. Oh well it beats driving into the office anyway. It has been a long and very insane week! I will post more about that later. But wanted to at least say that is is great living in the new house and I feel very very lucky to be so blessed. Blessed beyond anything that I deserve. I love St. Patty's cuz every year it makes me think about what makes me lucky. Its like a 2nd Thanksgiving for me only with less food. LOL

Poor kids didn't even get all dolled up in green some had to make do with clothes that had smidgens of green in them or whatever we could find that has been unpacked. As you can see from the picture they look like ragga-muffins and the house is still in the move in phase for sure. I am also feeling lucky that it seems most of us are getting better and past the sicknesses this week. YUCKY! Nothing like moving into a brand new house and having barfing, diarrhea kids the 1st night. It was bound to happen sometime might as well just start there. LOL

Officially Moving and the Tornado has struck again!

There has been a lot of chaos at our house the past few days. What is new right? LOL

Sunday the Activity Days girls sang in sacrament meeting the song we practiced and learned 2 weeks ago. They did a great job! This week for Activity Days we made friendship bracelets. Cute huh!? We did them by punching out fun foam circles using a hole punch and then running a needle with elastic through them. Each girl made 2. One to keep and one to give to a Friend. The cool thing is that my friend Nikki brought me all the stuff and the idea to use. Isn't that cool? So friendship brought together our lesson on friendship. And now I sent them on to Leslie for her girls and she will send it to another ward and so on. AWESOME! Anyway while the girls put together the bracelets we talked about friendship and how to be a friend.

Apparently it isn't helping my poor Samantha though. Not only did she leave her bracelets on the table at IHOP and the bus boy threw them away but this had been some of worst few weeks for her in the friend world at school. Man I am so glad that I only have 1 girl. This whole girls cat fights thing it just too much for me!!! Tonight after getting back from packing a taking things to the new house. Samantha came in my office and sat here and cried to me for over an hour about how "everyone is being mean" and "no one wants to be my friend" "not even one person will play with me now" etc.

Ya know those times when you just want to make it all better but you know you can't? Well that was us. I really didn't know what to tell her other than to just hang in there and try to be nice to everyone. It seems that her 2 favorite friends in the world have decided to be BFF's and that leaves no room for her. And even though she just keeps saying "I just don't know what I did." and "Why why are they doing this?" "Why does she have to tell everyone else not to play with me now?' and "I am not being rude to her I am only being nice" I know that there are things she is probably doing and saying that aren't very nice. She insists that she is sitting on the bench at recess friendless. (not sure about that one)

So when I try to explain that even though she may not think that these things hurt their feelings they might. Then she just cries harder and tells me that now I don't like her either and that I just want to get mad at her for trying to make friends. Poor kiddo how do I just listen and not lecture? It is so hard for me. So I decided that all she needed was a shoulder to cry on. So we cried together and tried to think of ways to make friends. The hard part is that the one friend that is mad at her is the "Queen Bee" and has told all the other girls not to play with her. And her other friend isn't being mean but won't play with her because queen bee says that she can't. So she is stuck between a rock and a hard spot and well....UGH GIRLS GIRLS GIRLS!!!

It's just so hard as a mom to see them with their broken little hearts thinking that their world is coming apart. So glad I only have one Drama Queen. I feel bad for my sister who has 5 girls to deal with. YIKES!!

And in other news....

We are OFFICIALLY MOVING!!! We passed the final inspection and have been moving stuff into the garage and tomorrow we sign on the final papers and get the keys! WOO HOO!!! MINE MINE MINE!! (well after 30 yrs of paying the bank but hey still MINE!!) LOL Tonight is the last night that I will sleep in the rental and tomorrow we are FINALLY after years going to be sleeping in our own home that we have waited for, planned, waited for, fought for, and pushed for, for such a long time. I know that my grandma would be so happy to see us finally living here. We dreamed of this for years and the day has finally come. It still doesn't seem real to me that I am going to be living on this ground that has been in our family for 150 yrs. and that I have dreamed of since I was a little girl. I just can't believe that it is finally here... And that is has really been worth all the red tape and bull crap but that we finally made it through. I can't wait for tomorrow. And how and I going to celebrate it??? I have no idea, probably by yelling at my kids to not touch anything in the new house and by ordering in food because I will be to busy moving to cook. LOL

Not very creative I know. But I am still very very excited!!

p.s. of course Will is sick when we are moving. Garyn was sick on Saturday and spend the night laying across the street on Grandmas Couch while we hauled boxes and Then last night I got off work and came into bed at around 3am and poor little Will woke up in his disoriented middle of the night FREAK OUT that he does. He sits in the bed and cries "bugs bugs bugs" or "spiders" and he is totally convinced that there are some and we have to turn on the lights and show him that there isn't any and then after a while he finally calms down and goes back to sleep. Who ever heard of a little BOY being so scared of bugs?? UGH!!! It started with him getting stung by a hornet last summer and was escalated by the big kids using it as a scare tactic to keep him out of places they don't want him to be. Saying things to him like "No Will don't go in my room there are spiders" and etc. OOOH I could just beat them!!! I get so mad at them for giving him this stupid fear. He is going to hate summer when the flies start to come out again. And living on a farm with cattle you can just imagine that yes we have flies.

Anyway he finally go back to sleep and I get about 20 min of sleep when I hear a not so lovely sound and look up and there is Will standing on the side of my bed puking on me. GREAT!!! So we spent a very sleepless night and a not so productive moving day taking care of pukey Will. Thank goodness for family!! My dad called and came over and took him around 1 and kept him so that I could pack. (funny thing is that by then he felt better and Grandpa said he didn't throw up even once) And my sister came to help me pack the kids (totally disgusting messy) rooms. This was very very nice of her. She is a Drama teacher and this is THE worst week of the year for her as she is in the middle of her musical production of "Joseph and the Technicolor Dream Coat" with a cast of over 150 kids in 7th, 8th, and 9th grade. And she took her only night that she doesn't have rehearsals or the play and came to help me move. And then my mom came over once she got off work and packed all my kitchen cupboards into boxes and took that over to the house. Yeah the ROCK!!! I was happy to have so much help and this is just the beginning. I have had so much help from family in the process of building this house. ENORMOUS blessings from Jesse's family and mine clear out to our cousins. I can't even believe how many people have helped in one way or another. In huge ways from helping us get a better interest rate, to out of the blue bringing us the fill dirt we needed, to even one of his cousins just happened to work at the electric company and helped us save thousands on the installation, and my uncle works at the phone and helping us paint, and well this list could go on all night. It has been absolutely jaw dropping. And the numerous offer to help us move be friends family and neighbors. Sorry this has been such a long entry but I feel very very blessed and I felt that I needed to have this written down. See ya in a few days when I am feeling more settled and am back to work. I took the rest of the week off. :)

Friday Funny!

This sums up the existence of Will.

Notice the missing clothes?

Notice that he has replaced his clothing with self imposed pen tattooing?

Notice that he is also donning a pair of Garyn's boots that Garyn is not very happy about?

Notice the boxes all stacked up in the background?

Notice the bruised forehead from climbing up the drawers?

Notice the mess all over his face and his hands?

No wait there is no mess on his hands... Oh he must have put that mess onto the couch!

Notice that he is extremely happy with his current sate of being?

Notice that if you could see mom she would probably be half laughing and half crying because this kid drives her nuts but also is so adorable that you just can't help but love him!

Notice that it is just all plain funny?

Awwwww Our Silly, Willy, Pilly, we love you!

p.s.

OK so I took this picture last week and was saving for my Wordless Wednesday and never got a chance to put it up so now it is my Friday Funny. LOL But, he is funny, and you know it! hehehe

Credits: Page Elements fron www.DigitalExpressClub.com

Mantle is Finally In!

I have been waiting what seems like forever to get the mantle in. I picked it but then they said it wasn't going to have legs because there wasn't enough room and I said "No way! There is room and I want it with legs!" So I whined and cried and got my way. Then the tile underneath was installed wrong and we had to wait for that to get fixed and today it finally got put in! About and hour before the final inspection so it was really like the last thing to go in. LOL Anyway the house is pretty much done at this point. We have a few little things to get fixed so they can re-inspect it Thursday. So it looks like we will be moving next week. WOO HOO!!! and YIKES!! all at once. I am not really ready to move but I guess you can't really pack up everything until it is time. KWIM?

Here are a few pictures taken today after the clean up crew left. It will never be this clean again. I am cleaning challenged. But, I am getting very excited now.

Would someone just give me the go ahead on the move already? I am going nuts here! LOL PLEASE!!!

The Wisdom of a Child

Sometimes my kids say the cutest things. And most the time I forget to write it down but I have to write this one it is just too cute to miss.

On Sunday when I was trying to sleep in (after working until 3 am) the kids decided to invade my bed and use me for a trampoline. After a while (when he knew I was too awake to go back to sleep) Jesse came in and told them to get out. Garyn of course wanted to know why.

So Dad being his full smart ass self says "because mom said so, and she is important"

Garyn "really?"

Me "Yes I am the boss and I am the most important person"

Mr. Garyn in his very serious tone:

"Oh no you aren't. You ARE NOT as important as Jesus"

Well Garyn, I will have to give you that one. Little smarty pants. And he was so happy with himself for out smarting us. Good thing we have out kids to keep us on track. Oh the fun of a 5 year old. He is such a cute little happy bear. :) And oh so snugly!

What a women ~ Happy Birthday Grandma

Cute Grandma with some of the Grandkids

Today we went out to dinner with the family to celebrate Grandmas Birthday. The kids love these family dinners. Not that we don't eat out enough. LOL



I wanted to take a second to brag about what a great Mother In Law I have. Since I am trying to document more of my feelings about my loved ones and my blessings I figure a birthday is a great time to do so.



Obviously she raised the bestest kid ever, and then sent him out to rescue me from my self, and to raise my kids and all that other fun stuff. But seriously she is so amazing! She hasn't had an easy life. She has seen much tragedy and still just keeps her head up and keeps on, keeping on. She lost her mother at the age of like 12 or 9 yrs old. (yikes I forget exactly) Her 1st marriage was not an easy one to say the least and her second husband passed away after a long and hard battle with cancer (my Samantha is named after him) and her oldest son died within 6 months of you loosing her husband. Can you even imagine loosing your husband and child within 6months. I have no idea how she did it. It was hard to say the least. She worked grave yard shifts at the hospital for years so that she could be their for my husband and raised him on her own. And like I said she did a fabulous job!! Jesse's sister too is an amazing loving and giving person. Ultra organized, mondo spiritual and has the same ability to let he kids be kids and they are turning out great. I think she learned a lot of this from her mom too. I look at Jen and she is the kind of person that you just drop your jaw and think "Hey, can I have some of that too, please?" Grandma Pat just plain raised great kids that is all there is to it!



My mother in law is the kind of person that really keeps her nose out. She lets you live your life and do your own thing yet she is there for every single event we ever have and she is always there to help us and to give advise when it is asked for. I really really lack this ability with my own children. I am always telling them exactly what to do, how to do it, and when to do it. I really need to back off and let them make choices and learn to live with those choices. I am slowly learning this. I can see by her example and by my moms that letting your kids live and learn is the way to go but boy it is so hard for me. I am a ultra control freak especially when it comes to my kids.



She re-married when my husband was on his mission and so they have only been married about 2 years longer than Jesse and I. They are so completely cute together! Super wonderful grandparents, my kids are so blessed to have them living so close to us. (my kids have 3 sets of grandparent's within 10 miles of us) I was blessed with the opportunity to be there when She and her hubby were sealed together for time and all eternity. That is something that was so special and so sacred to me. I can't even think of that day with out getting a little teary. It was so amazing to see the change that came over them as they started to attend church, and how much closer our family became as they found that family bond and strength that comes from the church.

I am so grateful for this amazing women and for her love for me and my family. She opened her arms and her heart to me from the very beginning and I love feeling a part of her family. I was only 18 when I met Jesse and I am absolutely sure that I was an obnoxious know it all young and naive girl. But she loved me anyway. This would be a great time to mention that she totally fixed us up on our 1st date. Yes, I met my husband on a blind date arranged by our mothers at work. But that is another story. Thanks for letting me brag about her. I love this blogging thing. I know that I am not one to show emotion in public, she said tonight at dinner that she wanted to give me hug but didn't know if I would want her to. (note to self,, quit being so rigid about touching people.LOL) I did hug her and I did tell you it was ok. I think she understands that I am just not the touchy feely type. Hugs aside, I do love her and I hope she had a very very happy birthday!

Leaping for Leap Year!

Enjoying our EXTRA day this year by hanging out together!

Once every 4 years we get a special gift. We get and extra day to enjoy our loved ones. So today we celebrated by spending time with the family Leaping and Jumping at the local bounce place. Again isn't Helen the greatest mom on the planet??? She comes up with the funnest ways to make events like Leap Year special. And she will not belive me that we all think she is cool!

Tell me this does it look like these kids are having fun!?

They were having a blast even it Samantha is trying to look like a pill!

She was mad I made her stop jumping long enough for a picture. LOL

And you can totally see she was trying not to smile. (rolling eyes)

Jaden in the Wax Museum as Gordon B. Hinckley

This week at school all the 5th graders did their Wax Museum Presentations. Each kid picks a famous person from American History and they prepare a 5 sentence dialog and then they get to dress as that character. They sit or stand and hold still like a wax figure and when you push their button (aka sticker) they repeat their little spill. Jaden chose to be Gordan B. Hinckley. He did a great job and I was so proud of him. Of all the famous Americans from sports, to music, to historical, that he could have picked to be Hinckley is who he chose. He is a really neat kid.

It has been so amazing to watch as this 11 year old boy has grieved the passing of the only prophet the has ever known in his lifetime so far. He will also have such a special connection to President Hinckley and I hope he will always remember how he felt about him and his teachings. Jaden has always been the one in our family to get mad at the other kids during conference and tell them "sssshhhhh that is the prophet speaking and I need to listen" He had a really hard time when he found out about the passing or the prophet, and I felt that this was a great opportunity for him to pay tribute in his own way to such a great man that not only did so much for the members of the LDS faith but for people all over the country and all over the world. I am so glad that he would pick such a great man at his hero! I don't think that he could find anyone more Christlike to follow than the leaders of our church. I am so Thankful for their testimonies of Jesus Christ and that my children have the opportunity to listen to them and learn from them.

I didn't even know that he was doing this and he did all his own research and preparation. He even called around and found a cane to use. It was a really fun night for us. I had several people come up to me after the night was over to tell me that he really, is such an amazing boy and that his presentation really made them think about President Hinckley and that he carried such a reverence to himself as he did it. I am grateful to have such a great person in my life. Jaden I learn more from you everyday than what you will ever learn from me. You are one of my greatest heroes buddy! I am one lucky mom!!!!

Wordless Wednesday (late)

Piles like this one are all over the house.

Fish Heads, Fish Heads, Rolly Polly Fish Heads! ~ My Tuesday Tell All

Isn't that like a Dr. Demento song? Well that describes my life these days. I promise if you read this you will understand why. Though it is a little gross. That is your warning.

OK so since we are in the middle of building a new house and still living in a way too small for my family (especially since mom is a pack rat) old farm house we are in a mess. When I say a mess that is putting it lightly. I swear people, we have redefined the word filth! I feel like I have to houses to keep up on and I am not any good at keeping up on one. As soon as the kids get home from school we run over to the new house and also feed the cows while there, then we usually leave in just enough time to grab some food, (don't know when I cooked last) and head home just in time for me to eat before gong into the den of solitude to "work" for the night) It is getting crazy!

I have been trying to pack during the day but with the Trollz at home with me that isn't going to swell. And as for the outside.... lets just say this: I admit it I still have Christmas lights and my Christmas wreaths on the fence. Well some of them, some have blown off and are lying on the grass. Yes we are WAY STINKING BEHIND!!!!

So with all of this more than our usual chaos dear hubby decides that he doesn't care about the fish tank any more. The freaking huge fish tank, that use to be his pride and joy, and that is consequently placed front and center when anyone comes to visit. (please try to remember that the placement of hear said tank is because it is USUALLY Beautiful!) He says "It will be too hard to move with all the water so I am going to let some evaporate before the move and then I will get it all fixed up again" hum...

It has been gradually getting uglier and uglier as time goes on. Yup sure enough the water started to evaporate and the remaining water well lets just say "pond scum" would be a great description. And then the fish start dying. These are some big fish too that have been in there for years. And once you loose one large size fish it toxins the water and then they all die in a matter of about 24 hrs. OH yummy! I need to add here that it is fully against my moral beliefs, or rather my gag reflex, to touch the dead fish even with a net, (as if a little fish net were going to do the job) So in the a.m. I hear splashing water and look over at the tank that is at this point only about 1/3 full and see them all dying. YUCKY!!! So I just decide that we aren't going into the front room until daddy can come home and bravely scoop the fish up. By the time we got home that night they already stunk. So he ever so bravely get his cup and scoops up all the stupid bodies and where does he put them?

Oh yes right on the front lawn. Thank goodness we live in the country!!! And thank goodness we have 4 cats of our own and about 4 farm cats that stock us daily for free food. I am sure they thought it was a Sea Food Buffet. So the next day, the kids go out the door to school, and what do they see?? Fish Heads, Fish Heads, Rolly Polly Fish Heads! all lined up on the porch! Gotta love how cats want to show you how wonderful they are for what they have uhm "caught" for lack of a better word.

And here is me thinking (edited here for the swearing that was really going on in my head) "You stupid lazy a$5 cats! You sit out here all day waiting for your free dang food and then you finally go hunting, and you can only come up with are already dead fish off the lawn and then you actually bring us the rotten disgusting fish heads? Great job hunting guys!" Worthless d@*n cats!!! I kicked the heads our by the field and next day they brought them back AGAIN! Stupid cats! I had Jaden put them in the trash this time. Samantha thinks she is going to die!

Seriously I don't know who is worse the Cats for their lame-O hunting skills? OR the Hubby for his lame-O fish disposal skills!? Or the wife who is still lame-O complaining when he is building her a new house? LOL

And then there is the other matter of the frozen dead bunny!? And dear hubby of mine if you don't get that one taken care of I might just take pictures and blog it too!? What is this pet cemetery? UGH UGH UGH I want a normal life back!

Sorry kids, I am SO giving up pets for a while!!

Have you ever had something get this far out of control?

Man Vs. Wild, Adventures in House Land

The house is almost done, which means that I will soon be done blogging about it all the time. I am thankful to all my Friends that understand that this is what we are doing right now and that it has consequently become what I tend to blog about most. But I am trying to keep a record of the events and excitement for our family. This weekend we painted Jaden's and Samantha's rooms and today we got carpet. WOO HOO! Isn't that a sign that the end is near?

But mostly I have to tell about Jaden's experience as Man Vs. Wild

Today Jaden had quite the scary moment. We took the kids over to look at the new carpet. And I swear I told them a million times to say in the house because it is SOOOO MUDDY over there right now. We have had so much snow in Utah this winter and it is now melting. Our contractor dug a trench with a backhoe from the Well to the house to hook up our water. This is about a 3 foot deep trench I am talking about here. The melting snow and mud it all running toward the trench and it is completely full. We have been joking with our contractor that he is going to need scuba gear to put in the water line. This is a lot of water. Jesse just told Jaden when they were feeding the cows "DO NOT COME OUT HERE, there is a deep trench of water"

So like 20 min. later Jaden decides we wants a drink from the well and he puts on the mud boots to walk out to get a drink. Samantha and Garyn were following him too. From the surface it just looks like the entire yard is muddy and puddles. So he walks straight into the trench and falls in. YIKES! The kids start screaming and poor Jaden doesn't realize that he can just stand up. He said "All I could thing about was the episode of Man Vs. Wild where he was showing how to get out of a frozen lake." Bless his heart he had no idea how deep it was and he thought he had fallen into the well. (even though you can not fall into our well. It is only 9 inches wide pipe and it is sealed off) But he didn't know that. So he finally climbs out the side of the trench and then if freaking out because he thought he lost grandpas mud boots. So he retrieved the boot and comes to the house to tell us what happened. We are so mean and we couldn't stop laughing because he was so muddy. And yes of course I took a picture. He as very upset but we calmed him down and warmed him up. Poor Kid. I bet he won't be wandering around the yard for a while. And I bet I won't be letting them outside the house until that trench is drained and covered back up. I am lucky he didn't lead Garyn into it that would have been really deep for a 5 yr old.

The carpet came today, it is called "Whole Wheat" I love it of course.

My Camera batteries were dying to the pictures aren't very good.

Over the weekend we painted in the kids rooms. We had the painters do most the house and painted the bedrooms white and then we just went in and did accent paint. This is Jadens room we did Navy Blue bottom half with chair rail. Jesse did a great job especially for his first time putting up chair rail or molding. I love how it looks with the carpet.
Samantha's room is awesome!

Nikki came over and spent all day Saturday with me glazing the walls pink. Then Sunday we had my brothers Kenton and Thad come over and add another layer of pink and they helped finish the blue room. I was glad they were there to play power tools with Jesse. Aunt Heather (Thad's wife) and Samantha also got to help add more of the glazing. It is just enough pink and Little Miss Samantha Montana it THRILLED!!

She can't wait to add all her Hannah Montana Decor to it.

Just had to throw this picture in here. I thought is was so cute. I keep finding little notes written in the dust all over the house. In cupboards on the counter tops and this one on the stove top. Samantha is so excited about getting the house done. When the contractor comes across these little notes he tells me where they are so that I can get pictures. It is really cute of her. Yesterday while we were painting her Uncle Kenton told her that she should write a note and put it under the carpet so that whenever we pull the carpet up to change it she will have a note from her 9yr old self. Kinda like a time capsule. So she did it. It was so cute it says some of her favorite things like her favorite foods, color (pink duh), sports, shows, and etc. But the funny part was this:

"I am Samantha my room is the pink one, I am 9 because I was born in 1998 it is now 2008 February the 24th and it is 8:15 pm, so I better hurry and get this done because the carpet is coming tomorrow." She is a doll!! She colored a picture and put it all into a zip lock baggy and we went over and put it under the carpet pad in her closet. The carpet guys probably thought we were nuts, but my contractor was nice and said it was a cute idea. Thanks Uncle Kenton for the great idea. She was very excited about it! I wish I would have had time for them all to make one.
Man, this was a long one, but it has been a very long weekend. Not to mention a very Sh*#y one! Will, will not leave his diapers on and he has diarrhea and keeps leaving surprises on the floor. UGH! He did it at Grandmas last night while we were finishing the painting!!! UGH UGH UGH! SO Missy may be Pi$sed off but my Sh*#Y weekend beats her! LOL KIDS! I finally got to the point that I taped across the diaper straps but he still got if off so now he is wearing PJ's with the top of the zipper safety pinned shut. OK I am finally done thanks for reading about my Crazy life it is no wonder I feel like a tornado all the time!!

Tagged by Sunny!

I've been tagged by my good friend Sunny

You must post the rules before you give your answers. You must list one fact about yourself for each letter of your middle name. Each fact must begin with that letter. If you don't have a middle name, just use your maiden name. After you've been tagged, you need to up-date your blog with your middle name and answers. At the end of your post, you need to tag one person for each letter of your middle name. (Be sure to leave them a comment telling them they've been tagged and need to read your blog for details).

My middle name is Jo! HAHA easy I am Natalie Jo. Hence the Nat Nat Jo :)

J- Just can not ever put the camera down
O- Only have one girl. & Only have one sister

OK there you have it! So I tag hum... who? ok I guess Missy, and Amy.

Wordless Wednesday (Daddy Daughter Date)

Credits: Page kit from www.faithsisters.com/shop

Water, Water, I Have Water!!!

I am so excited/relevied that the Well Drillers have finally hit a good supply of water. Ok so it is at 407 feet but we finally have water! When you live out of town this is one of the things that you have to have. You have to have your own water supply and your own septic system and did I ever mention that what is cost me to have my power brought in?

Yeah I still haven't healed from that one. YIKES! They had to bring in about 7 poles to reach our house. But in the end I will have lots of space and I will enjoy sitting on my big ol porch watching the birds. LOL Here are some of the pictures of what is going on at the house these days. Now that we have water we can quit holding our breath and actually start packing to move. Here are the pictures:

Will is a Pill again! & Some Random Thoughts From my tornado mind

I have said it once I will say it again this kid is such a pill. Here he is getting into food coloring! And the worst part is he totally knows how to smile and look so inocent which (again) he is not. Just thought I would post his anctics from last week.

Some Random thoughts from my tornado mind:

Once when I was getting mad and scolding Jaden about something, (he was probably 3 or 4 at the time) he stops me mid sentance and says "hey I can see myself in your eyes" I couldn't stay mand and had to laugh at him for being so perceptive and also was at the same time so mad at him for focusing on his reflection in my eyes instead of listening to what I was saying. Yet another reminder that getting mad and resorting to my yelling de-humanizes me to my kids and I become just "angry robot" mom.

Will pluralizes everything when he talks. He doesn't say very many words and when he does it is all pluralized. I find this very cute. I know he will grow out of this so fast and I want to enoy it while it lasts. He used words like: Colors, dinners, kisses, cups, and etc. it is so cute and it is so fun to listen to him at 2 yrs old learning to talk. Its also sad realizing this will be my last kid to go through this learning to talk stage. :(

Samantha is trying way to hard to grow up. I was listening to her go through her valentines on our way home from school thursday. She kept making little comments about every valentine and then I hear her say "Oh I can't belive some people are still giving Barbie Valentine's" Like this is just oh so dumb. She is only in 3rd garde! UGH! I totally remember taking Cabbage Patch Dolls to school to play with my friends until 5th grade. So I tell her that and her response is "Well you must have been a baby." UGH! How did she become so cool? and judgemental? What happened to my little girl? And where did this Pre-teen attitude come from.

I had to keep Samantha home from school on Friday to make her rest and eat. She hasn't been felling well and thanks to Alyssa for tattling on her I know she hasn't been eating lunch at school. I noticed too that she only picked at a few meals at home. She gets so upset over things. We had the Daddy Daughter Dinner on Wed. and I think she got so nervouse that she made herself sick. Then once she felt sick she didn't want to eat because she was affraid she would throw up. On top of her having a cold she just needed a day off. Once I got her to sleep and to eat some good foods she was feeling much better and acting a lot happier. Poor kid is such a worry wort. I have to remember that she needs a gentle touch and to watch her closely. I really hope that this is the only reason she was not eating. I hear eating disorders start early these days.

Why won't my blog let me spell check anymore? I am the worlds worst speller and it isn't spell checking me! It makes me mad!

So close I can taste it!

I am so close to moving in that I can taste it! I am getting excited!!!!

Painting is done, yes I love it! The colors turned out great. the downstairs and upper hall is 2 tone, lulled beige with Ricks White trimming. I can't believe how great it turned out and for those wondering no it didn't end up looking like a that cave I thought it would. LOL Boy, does it smell great. I love the smell for new paint. The appliances arrived today. They aren't in yet but they are at the house now. Woo Hoo! And the countertops are done. LOVE LOVE LOVE them! I can't belives how much I love them. I picked up this little 2 inch sample and carried it around for months. Totally know thats what I wanted it as soon as I say it. It was love at 1st site, and now they are in I see that I was totally right! My mom wants the sample so that when she gets sick of hers she can copy. Cute huh?

Heres a picture of the paint, the countertops, and Dad with the boys, checking out the new appliances:

The well drillers are back and have been working away, drilling with a different, older style rig. Today they are at 400 ft. (yikes $44 a foot!) and have hit into water with gravel. Much better than the water with sand that we have been getting up the last 30 ft. So they think we are pretty much there and will be good to go. Please send your prayers this way. It really need this to be done and we really really need water for our house. I am kinda starting to stress out over this!!!

Yea, so here we are about a week from totally done and my view out the bay window is still that of the well rig! UGH!!!!!!!!! House with no water, just great!



Now, for the final look of the house. They finished up the outside today as well. Check out my totally cute shutters. I am also loving these. I am very excited to see that the stuff that I picked is really coming together for me and that I do like the finish look. :) Here is what you will see when you come to bring me cookies. ;) Minus the yellow dumpster I hope.

Little note: It keeps snowing and snowing and snowing which make pouring concrete impossible so we are also hoping praying that all will work out with this part as well. We wouldn't be building if we didn't have a few snags right?

Wordless Wednesday (Such a Sweet Big Brother)

Poor Little William and Garyn Sick AGAIN!

Here is he is getting his 1st home breathing treatment.

I got some darling video too of how brave he is. This poor kid is sick again! Garyn and Will have both got Croup pretty bad. Poor Garyn knew it was comming on Thurdsay he kept saying "I am breathing like Krook again, you better take me to the hospital" He had a really hard night and was paniking about not being able to breath. He responded well to going out in the cold for that night. Then we got him to the doctor Friday and got him some medicine and decided that it was time to buy a breathing machine. Good thing too because of course Will got it the next day too. Poor kids both sound aweful. Garyn seems to be doing good and doesn't even need the breathing treatments. I am so glad the doctor gave us the medication for it though because Will has had several of them now. He is such a trooper and just sits still and breaths. I am so surprised for a 2 yr old he is doing really good at it. It is so hard when they are sick all the worry. Its almost harder on us as moms than on the kids because they don't have the worry all they know is that they don't feel good.

Best of Both Worlds - Another Great Night for the Kids

Totally cool, waiting to get into the 3D Movie

Either Samantha is totally spoiled beyond all repair, or Disney is a corporation of evil geniuses, or I am a total sucker mom, or ..... OK fine all 3! Not only did this Little Miss Montana Wanna-be get to go to the concert but then I also shelled out $15 a seat to take her to the concert-movie. She totally is getting the best of, The Best of Both Worlds Tour. LOL Have to admit I would totally do it again. YES I am a sucker mom. Ya know, they are only going to be little once, And this time we got to take Jaden too. But, he was embarrassed because, he and his friend were like the only boys in the theater other than the poor dads. LOL

This was so much fun. We took Jaden, and his friend, Samantha and her cousins. (Since someone else bailed on us. Not mentioning any names NIKKI) They had such a ball! This was not like any other movie experience we have had. (good thing too at that price lol) the kids were actually all up dancing around the theater and having the time of their lives. For Samantha it was like reliving the concert only better because you could actually see it. LOL Yes we sat on the roof at the actuall concert. ;) At one point I walked down to see the dancing frenzy going on in the front of the theater. I counted at least 50 people up there dancing. Girls, Teens, moms and oh yes 2 of the cutest 11 year old boys you will ever see. ;) What a night. I wish my kids could always find this kind of family fun night to be so exciting.

Again totally cool we were the 1st ones in line,

so we got great seats and I got to take pictures before the theater filled up!

It almost killed me not being able to get a picture of all the people dancing in front of the screen. So after the show was over I had to snap one of the few stragglers left there chatting.

After movie excitment: It was totally snowy and I hated the drive home anyway, but with the kids being all excited and loud it was nuts! I took them on a school night and my kids did not have an easy time winding down afterward. I am sure it didn't help that we stopped by the house so see the new paint. LOL at 10:00 pm yeah we are crazy like that sometimes.

Glenn Beck talking about Gordon B. Hinckley

I use to watch Glenn Beck, but don't really get the chance to now because of working nights. (I so need Tivo) But I was sent this video of his tribute to President Hinckley and I found if very moving. I thought I would post it here since so many of my family and friends wanted to see it.

One of the neat things about Glenn Beck is the way he has changed into a better person and has really moved away from his past mistakes but how he realizes that #1 those are part of what has shaped him into who he is and that #2 he is still a work in progress. I like his down to earth way of speaking. Though if I watch his show or listen to his radio show too much it can get me scared. LOL

I love Marshmellow Kids in the Winter, but not that Groundhog

I don't know what it is about a little kid all bundled up in a winter coat, standing in the snow, but it just melts my heart. I love how they look like squishy marshmellow kids in the winter.

But does this mean I am finding a soft spot for the groundhog that has doomed me to more of this crappy weather? NO WAY!!! He is still at the top of my "Animals to Kill" list. But hey, don't my little boys look cute? :)

Super Bowl Party

Gotta love Jada's Super Bowl Tree! Go Jada, way to utilize your resources!

Just wanted to add a few pictures from our fun party last night. Kara hosted the party at her house this year. (poor Kara) We ate lots and lots of food and left her a huge mess to clean up. The kids had a blast making Kara play games for them all on the computer. The men had fun watching the game and the rest of us had a great time watching the comercials. LOL

Kara getting bombarded with computer kids.

Samantha and Jada. Oh yeah they are totally here for the comercials. LOL!

I HATED the ride home in the snow/thunder storm. What is up with this stupid weather??

Groundhog Party! & That Groundhog Better RUN!

Eeewww! That damn groundhog better RUN! I am not happy with him, and if I run into him in a dark alley he may be in trouble! I am so sick of Winter this year! And of course since I am building a house and trying to get my dang well drilled, we are having one of the worst winters in who knows how long. My stupid luck! (The well guys were trying to un-thaw a hose and caught the whole rig on fire friday so they had to pull off and will be back with a different one monday. They are already 380ft deep and no good water yet! UGH!!! They keep saying it's too cold for the equitment. Thats a whole other story) And so then this STUPID!!!! groundhog has to go and see his stupid shadow! OK so I don't really belive that a rodent can predict the weather and I usually just have fun with this holiday. But since I am so sick of winter I am going to blame this poor defenseless creature because that is just the way I Roll.

RUN PHIL RUN!

Mmmmmmmwwwwwwwaaaaaaaahhhhhhh!!!!

On a not so sinister note: I am so lucky to have the mother that I have. She does the funnest and ok the funniest things. Every year for who knows how long my mother has celebrated Groundhogs Day. She celebrates everything. And I think it is so much fun. This year she wanted me to plan the brown festivities but since the painters have too much stuff in the new house I decided to plan it for her house. (poor mom! she got stuck with all the mess because I had to get home to work)


So this year we had everyone come in winter clothes so we could have more fun tubing behind the 4 wheelers. We ate sandwiches, chilie, and groundhogs on a stick (also known as corn dogs) with baby ground hogs (also known as tator tots). After much eating and playing grandma sat down at the table and helped the kids make a groundhog candy bar treat. This is a picture of them making the treat. She does it with a small candy bar then they add ears made out of almonds and eyes of cloves and a tiny sweet heart for the nose. They are really cute. I didn't get a close up of them. BAD ME!

Lets Play I Spy.....

Yes on occasion I do, try to do the laundry.

I have been (as usual) way behind. As you can plainly see from my enormous pile that I tried to take from the laundry room and fold on the couch. Can you spy the totally exhausted 2 yr old child that finally wore him self out after playing like a mad man in the piles of clean clothes?

Here is a close up of him totally zonked out in the laundry pile. Have I mentioned that this child does not EVER nap? This still baffles me how I can try for months to get him to nap and then one day he will just kill over totally exhausted in the middle of our chaos.

Also note the ever present gloves on the hands.

This is his strange fetish that still eludes my wee tiny brain.

So? The kid loves gloves so what?

Confession: I am a pig. PIG I tell ya! My mother would call me a "Regular Hog" I never seem to be able to clean anything. I mean not even keep it picked up. I totally frustrate myself in this area. (my poor hubby too for that matter) But I have to confess that my poor child probably likes the gloves as a precaution not to pick up any scary germs in our house. LOL