I am sharing my Birthday!

I am sharing my Birthday! We got a healthy calf today. I am so happy this made the kids day what a nice change than to have all the dead animals we had been having. I am so excited to have this one here healthy and nursing from the momma. WOO HOO and on my birthday so now we have to think up a great name for this new cow born on my birthday. A name keeping in mind that if it is a boy it will be eaten in a year or two, the last ones were named breakfast, lunch , dinner, and snack. I know it sounds insensitive but when you live with farm animals you have to keep it real because you just can't afford to have your kids getting attached to these animals. We encourage them to get attached to the ones that will be around for a while. Anyway isn't is a cute calf? They are so cute when they are little.

What a great day, my kids baked me a birthday cake and my hubby brought me home a cricut machine (scrapbook die cut thingy for those that don't know), last night my mom and dad took us to dinner and gave me tons of cute stuff to decorate my new house with, and now we are leaving to go have dinner with my MIL. :) Very nice birthday indeed. And for any that want to know I am 9 yrs old today. I turn nine every year its a deal that I have had with my dad since the 1st year I turned 9. Oh I didn't mention that he took me to drop off my car for repairs this morning and then took me out for breakfast to McDonald's. I just love a good sausage breakfast with cheese. Oh yeah and I found this great tribute in my email just now from my only sister. (sniff, sniff) so I have to share because I want this to be remembered forever. WOW Thanks Kara!

Happy happy birthday NATALIE dear!

Happy days will come to YOU all year...

If I had one wish then it would be......

You'd win a million dollars and give some to ME!!!

GIRLS... this day, 32 years ago was absolutely one of the BEST days of my life!!!I had prayed sooooooo long for a sister!!! I can still picture the weather, the day,and especially the FEELINGS. I was soooooo stinkin' excited for that baby girl.We have a pic of me holding that little Nat-Nat and you can just see the joy on that 9 year old face!She's been one of my most important people ever since! Isn't she a marvelous lady?What a great mom. What an incredible faithful servant of her Savior. What a fabulous family builder and family historian.What a positive influence she is on everyone who knows her!!And now that I'm tearing up in front of my class, I'd better STOP!!HAPPY BIRTHDAY Baby Nat!!! You will rarely hear it... but I LOVE YOU!!:)

That was the nicest birthday tribute I have ever had. WOWSERS!

April Conference 2008 even better than I expected

Well one thing it for sure, this weekend was even better than I had expected. It was AMAZING and such a great testimony builder. This was a special conference and I have been very excited to be able to listen to President Monson. But what I got was so much more it was unexpected and great.

I turned the TV on and gathered the family for the 10 am session Saturday and I was crying before the 1st prayer was even over it was just amazing. I just felt the warm comforting feeling that you feel when you know you are witnessing something amazing. The solemn assembly was so incredibly powerful. I couldn't have ever been prepared for the strong and wonderful spirit that I felt in my home as my children stood so excited to raise their hands and we stood there together as a family and were able to sustain and support the Prophet. We talked a little about how wonderful it is that God doesn't leave us to go it alone but that he sends us great leaders to help us. And even when we loose one as great as President Hinckley our Heavenly Father has already groomed and prepared someone to take his place. I hope they could feel the spirit as well. I am so grateful that we got to have this experience. It was also nice being that I live in UT and we got to watch a special presentation about the life of President Monson and the kids got to see a little of what I meant by Heavenly Father preparing him for this great work his whole life. It was great. And then his remarks at the very end on Sunday when you could tell he was just speaking from the cuff. Oh how endearing. He has such a great humor and such a fun way about him and hearing him talk about his wife being worried about the 4th quarter taxes. He is so real just a real person so much like the rest of us so humble and yet so amazingly powerful. I am sad that I missed the ear wiggling at the priesthood session on Sat. It sounded great.

The talks were all great. I know that several times I felt as though they were talking right to me and that the talk was given just for my ears to hear it. I always feel this way during conference I am sure that is why I love it so much. Also my favorite talk was the "mom" talk by Elder M. Russel Ballard. I laughed when I told my hubby that it made me feel guilty for always feeling guilty about not being a good enough mom. Can't wait to re-watch it tomorrow. I recorded it all.

And despite my feeling guilt for feeling guilt, I was so happy to hear him say that we need to remember that parenting is about the "moments" (and WOW Crystal that is your word for the year totally thought of you. Are you on the right wave length or what?) It helped me to know that it is ok to not worry so much about the next 'thing' then next task or even or checking something off my mental to do list but to enjoy the kids while they are young. I had to have Will and his constant sicknesses and neediness to teach me this, and I have been working on it, even if by being forced by Will to take the time for the moments, but I am glad because this is so important. I need to really remember that the important thing as a mom is that I need to take the time to enjoy them, to love them, to pray with them, and to teach them, because these are the things that will really matter in the end. Not if I had enough fun planned, attended enough events, did enough homework, gave them enough educational toys, make enough posters, did I do enough time outs, do I do too many time outs, was at the school enough, did all the teacher gifts, made all the handouts cute, etc. you know, all the stuff we beat ourselves up with as moms. I need to do my best and just do my best.

Even though now I kind of feel guilty that I got a job because I was sick of feeling like a failure as a mom and couldn't stand it and have to have a pay check so that I feel worth anything. It was a great talk if even for me to realize that a mothers worth is priceless. Though admittedly I am still not ditching the job because #1 now I have the new house to pay for and its not as job optional as it was. #2 because I work at home in the middle of the night when they are all sleeping so I am not missing much #3 because I love having "me" time and I get to do other stuff while working like uhm blog, relax, chat on IM with my friends, do a little family history work, and my new joy extractions, and make scrapbook pages when I actually take the time to. And #4 because even if a mothers worth is priceless I now know that having a price attached to me makes me sane and less homicidal/suicidal. Sad I know, but that's just how it is. I do need to work on the guilt thing though. And if having a job helps me deal with my postpartum depression bad mom issues than so be it.

Anyway it was just a great weekend. The kids had fun having the grandparents over for dinner and of course loved going to the park after conference for a family picnic. Complete with freezing cold wind and a little rain of course. And we even got to take my niece Savannah from Jesse's side of the family with us too so it was double great. Yeah I needed that outing. Hope everyone had a fabulous weekend too.

I just need to post a picture it is driving me crazy

I have 2 entry's with no picture and it is making me nuts! So here is a picture for you:

BUBBLE BOYS!

Cute huh! Yeah the kids are loving my new jetted tub. It beats the heck out of the old pink never could get it clean tub that we just left. This was going to be my Wordless Wednesday but we were busy birthing a calf. Wish turned out the be dead. It was a totally bummer!!!! UGH! This was birth and death week at our house. The momma cat (yeah Mrs fish-heads her self remember too lazy to hunt) had her kittens 5 of them and the were all dead. I told the kids that it was probably because we stressed her out moving her over to the new house. She probably went into premature labor. And my Dad's dog that thinks it lives at our house 1/2 the time, had 5 puppies. THANK GOODNESS they are all still alive and oh soooo cute. I will get pictures of those soon. And as for the calf. YUCK! And the kids were really sad because when the last calf was born our house wasn't done yet so they didn't get to see him much and he is like 8 month old now and just not that cute any more. The other cow looks prego still so we are hoping for a healthy calf from her. We may just go buy one of our own and bottle feed it. That would be fun right? LOL Well ok not fun but at least an experience anyway. We haven't bottle fed a calf for a few years. I don't think Garyn has ever been able to do that and he would love it. Now aren't you glad that my picture for the week was of some cute bubble boys and not of all the depressing dead animals.? What is it with us and the dead animals this year!? Sheesh!

Totally Looking Forward to Conference

It is that time again when we get to participate in LDS General Conference and I am so excited. I have really been looking forward to this session. I can't wait to hear from the new President of the LDS church Thomas S. Monson. For those that aren't LDS and want to know a little about what we believe you should tune in. The sessions are at 10 am and 2 pm Mountain Time and You can watch on Dish Network or on Direct TV or listen by visiting the LDS website here. I can't explain it but I am just excited. The past few weeks feel more like the past few years and it will just be really nice to relax and watch from home and get to feel the spirit. Sometimes being to busy with the kids and our callings at church you start to feel like you are missing the point. It will be a great chance to refocus on the teachings of the gospel of Jesus Christ. And to not have to fight the kids. We don't make our kids sit an listen they can so things but they don't get to have the TV's or Radios on except for conference. That way if they are playing with toys or coloring or putting together a puzzle or etc. they are still listening. And amazingly they do get something out of it.

We also have some really fun traditions for conference weekends. That, may be part of my excitement. I have needed a family together outing day for a while. We haven't done anything fun for a while. Just building, packing, moving, going crazy, and etc. For fall conference we usually drive up to see the changing of the leaves on Saturday in between the 2 sessions and have lunch and then take a drive and listen to the second session on the radio. For spring we take a drive and look for the signs of spring. Usually out to the lake to see the icebergs but this year I don't think there are any. Well at least I can't see them from my upstairs window but we are probably going to drive down and look anyway. It will still be fun and nice to spend time just being a family.

And then on Sunday we have dinner with my MIL in between the 2 sessions. This year we are having her at our house since this past week has been totally exhausting for her and since we are LOVE LOVE LOVING having a house that we can actually have guests in. My Mom and Dad are coming over too. It will be nice to hang out and eat. And then after the 2nd session on Sunday. we are going to a family picnic to celebrate my birthday and my nieces birthday and my BIL's b-day. That should be fun too except that I know I will be making my family leave earlier than they will want to be leaving so that I can get home to work. It is killing them that I have to be home and logged in before the sun actually goes down. They want me to move to a later shift. The only bad thing is that if I start later I also finish later and I already don't get off until 2 am so that may be really hard. I also want to change but think I better wait until May because then Jaden can watch the little kids for me in the mornings and I can sleep in. That is the only way it could work. Unfortunately I have to sleep sometimes. DARN IT! That is the one thing that is appealing about the Twilight vampires no sleeping. That would be so nice. Hope you all have a great weekend.

Questions:
What kind of Conference traditions do you have?
Do you make your kids sit right at the TV and Listen?
Do you make them take notes or etc?
Wouldn't it be nice to not have to sleep when the rest of the world is sleeping?

FOOD: It is such a waste of time after all. Eating too. I feel like we spend so much time working to pay for food, shopping to buy the food, making the food, eating the food (ok that part is good), cleaning up the food, and then the whole mess of pooping of the food. Really how much time do you think you waste on food related items? TONS!! WOW did I get off subject here? LOL I know I am nutz for sure

Got the Crazies again and is this almost over yet??? Oh and I feel like CRAP!

I feel like I have always got the Crazies!! This has been such a crazy last few months, weeks, and days, ugh! Can someone please tell me if this moving thing is almost over yet???

THANK GOODNESS for friends and family for HELPING ME!! WOW I don't know what I would have done with out them. We have had so much help along the way. And here is a useful note for anyone that ever builds a new house. Once the construction is over and you pass the last inspection and you sign the last paper and get the "go ahead" to move in remember this: the construction is not over yet! I can't believe how many days I have spent sitting at home waiting for the people to come do this or that or hook up this or that or etc. I have felt like so torn the past few weeks. We moved the basics over to live in the new house as soon as we possible could but we still had soooooooooooooo much work to do at the old house. Only we didn't want to go move stuff from the old house we just wanted to live in the new house with out all the junk that we have accumulated over the past 13 1/2 yrs of marriage. So that was the 1st thing that made it hard the next was that we kept having to stay home for people to work on things here. And the last problem was Jesse works days and I work nights so by the time we gets home we only have enough time to haul about 1 load before we have to do dinner and I have to work. Yeah like I said I feel like I have the Crazies!!!!!!! I can't even find time to breath that is why my face is blue.

So Saturday we did the last big moving and cleaning day. My SIL Cheryl babysat my little boys and Jesse and I took Jaden and Samantha and Cheryl's daughter Anya over to the old house to clean and haul. We had to clean out the dreaded shed. UGH!!! After a while my Sister came by and helped me clean. Can I just say that she saved my life by doing this? She is amazing. No one wanted to come and help me clean because the old house has a mold problem that I have been fighting ever since we moved there. Also note if you are going to build a house and you find a rental for "6 months" and they tell you that you won't have to pay a cleaning deposit if you will do the move in cleaning since the guy that lived there was old and had let mold get into the window seals and along the heaters: RUN!!! RUN AS FAST AS YOU CAN!!! Don't be naive like me and think oh ok duh I can just do that. Because the truth is that the house probably has a massive mold growing stupid problem in the winters and that you will probably be stuck there with 4 kids for more like 2 1/2 years not 6 months. OK But like I was saying my sister came and helped me clean the mold adobe and we even wore masks while doing the cleaning. See why I am hoping that Will's health gets better now that we have moved?

So we packed hauled and cleaned all day UGH! and Grrrrr. We didn't get it all done and we had planned on coming back to do the rest of it Sunday after church. Yes I am evil that way. It was a tiring day And then I worked until 1 am. They let me off an hour early because it was dead and I was dying coughing (yes still after a month) So I was up late anyway getting my Sunday stuff ready. This week was my week to teach our class (10-12 yr old girls) and My mom was out of town (having fun it the St. George sunshine) so I had to do her music for Primary. That was a treat. NOT!!!! But I did wear makeup in case you are wondering. Yeah I know you were. But I made it easy and we did name that tune and I put lots of songs with actions into the bowl because then I didn't actually have to "lead" the music. I don't really know how to lead but I can stand there and sing and do actions no problem. LOL Oh yeah and the singing was not fabulous. It never is and especially since I am coughing my head off. Also since I had a busy church day and Jesse had a busy church day with teaching his class too we thought we would give the nursery another try. Not to cool! We have great nursery leaders but they are both pregnant and having babies right now and wrestling Will is hard for them. But yesterday we had a sub and she is absolutely fabulous!!!!!!! GO AMY!!! She was doing so great with him getting him to play and to actually be friendly. But of course he knows that we are across the hall in the primary room, so he constantly tries to escape. She just keeps catching him and putting him back in. But can you even believe that the only time I went out into the hall (since I was having a coughing fit and had to get a drink) it would have to be right during one of the times that he was escaping and he saw me. UGH! It was all over then. So he got to spend the rest of the time in the big kid classes with me and daddy. Oh the joy! Yeah I know I have great timing on the being in the hall thing. DANG IT!!!

Did I mention that is was totally snowing when we woke up Sunday? WTH is up with that? Jesse made it happen. He said as we were packing the garage to the fullest of fullness Saturday "well at least the weather is finally good and we will have some time to sort and de-junk before we really need the cars back into the garage" HAHAHAHA Boy was he wrong. He shouldn't have said that. And today he broke the ice scraper trying to leave for work. HAHAHA yeah not funny but really it was funny. Another day that I am so glad to be working from home. But we didn't get any moving done Sunday and today was the last day of the month so when Jesse got home we ran over and got the last of it. Well most of it. We still have the throw away pile to take care of and 3 give away or throw away items in the house too. Anyone want an entertainment center with a TV? or a Computer Desk? or a Table? Hope they don't mind that we still have that last stuff to move. oops. Yes I totally procrastinate and push it all until the due date and this time even past it. grrrrr again. :(

And as for the rest of the day not any funner. I took Will and Myself to the Dr. oh the joy!! I have had this cough for FOREVER, they did give me antibiotics, major ones too, like 4 a day. WOW and he said I have an ear infection starting. Didn't even know that part. My ears don't even hurt just the rest of me does. So sick of being so sick can, I just say. And Will had his blood drawn AGAIN so that we can soon get to the bottom of his problems. Again hoping he feels better soon. Poor kid. If I think I am sick of being sick, I can only imagine how he feels. He doesn't even know what it feels like to not be sick because he has been like this since he was about 6 months old.

Oh yeah and then we went grocery shopping and picked up prescriptions that was a blast for sure. Will kept climbing out of the cart and trying to run away in the store and he chewed though the wrappers of 2 cheese sticks and the best part was in the check out lane I took him out of the cart because the checker lady was worried that he was going to fall because he wouldn't sit down and then when I put him out of the cart he marched straight to the candy and opened up the Rollo's and started eating them. So I had to buy those too. (didn't let him have them though because I didn't want to reward him so I HAD to eat them. hahaha yeah had to eat the yummy Rollo's. poor me)

If anyone reads this long post I will be amazed. But I don't really care because I needed to get it all out of my stupid head. If it is dead tonight at work I am totally going to make a few scrapbook pages because I need that since I am feeling so blue and I will post them too. If I make them that is. Wish me luck! I am working extra hrs tonight because of TV adds, so yeah, I get to be up until 5 am. I know you are totally jealous. LOL Hope I have something funner to write about next time, when I don't feel like crap and venting and blitching about life. I will feel so relieved when the whole move is over.

Wordless Wednesday (with some words as usual)

Wordless Wednesday (with words as usual)

and not so Wednesday but it was when I took the pictures so deal with it.

The joys of working from home. This is pictures is taken from the window of the back door. I had to get onto a training call for work yesterday and even though Will was on my lap most of the time and that I sneakily walked away about 5 times to check on him look what happened! The 2 little boys grabbed about anything they could find and threw it out the back door. You can see the horse and bunnies but there were also things like the remote controls, sippy cups, toys, a shirt, the boxes with the TV cords in them, and some other stuff too. UGH!

And WHY do they do this? Because Mom wasn't looking.

And this is why you shouldn't play pot-tag.

You know running around with pots and pans chasing each other. Come on I know you do it everyday too, just admit it. It's all fun and games until Will gets his head gashed open. It was actually pretty nasty and I should have taken him for stitches but I didn't because Jesse wasn't home yet and I didn't have a car. So he will just have to heal Ah-Natural.

Why does Will seem to be the star in my wordless Wednesdays? Maybe because there just are no words???? LOL

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.