Wordless Wednesday - Camping

Over the weekend Jesse took the scouts camping. Jesse and the other leader with 4 11 yr old boys..... for that there is no words. LOL

No, they actually had fun here are some pictures:

Just thought Jesse got a great picture of where they were

The boys hiking (close up)
This one shows how far up the ravine they were. They had a blast.

Jaden can't wait to go again!

We are going to play a game

Here are the directions:
1. As a comment on my blog, leave one memory that you and I had together. It doesn't matter if you knew me a little or a lot, anything you remember!

2. Next, re-post these instructions on your blog and see how many people leave a memory about you.It's actually pretty cool (and funny) to see the responses. If you leave a memory about me, I'll assume you're playing the game and I'll come to your blog and leave one about you. :) If you don't want to play on your blog, or if you don't have a blog, I'll leave my memory of you in my comments.

Wordless Wednesday - Baby it's hot out here!

Hot Hot Baby!

Just spending some time cooling off in the summer sun.

Doesn't this just make you feel like a kid again?

WOW up and off my butt and Photo Story Friday - Monday

Today was a pretty great day and I was actually up and off my butt which was a good thing. Some days I feel like I am such a zombie. I work until 4:30, 5 or like last night almost 6am then I sleep in and then fight with the kids about cleaning the pig-stye, and by then I want to either nap or veg or sit in my rocker on the porch and watch the kids play outside and I don't have much energy until later in the evening. I am quickly becoming a charity case which I hate and love all at the same time but that is another post entirely. For today let's just say thanks to my hubby for dragging my sorry as$ up and making me get out and go somewhere. We had a fabulous day!!!

Jesse was able to be working from home around lunch time so we loaded the kids up and headed to Taco Time for some crisp bean burritos, that we took to the park. The kids had a blast playing and the big kids roller bladed around. Garyn makes friends so easily, and within minutes of getting there he has a crowd of kids following him around the park playing with him. And little Will just tagging along pretending he IS as big as he THINKS he is. LOL It was really nice, and I am really glad I got off my butt and went. Then when we got home Jesse went back to work and the kids went out and played in the little pool that I bought them Saturday. I don't know why I do this to myself every year. I think they need a pool to get wet in. (especially this year because of having no yard yet) Then I get irritated with all the wet clothes all over the patio, the house, and the in and out all day long. Anyway they did have fun "swimming" if that is what you call it in 2 ft of water. hahahaha

And then tonight for FHE we did a last minute trip up the canyon and had tinfoil dinners. This was really fun for the kids and it was such nice weather up there. Even got a little chili as the sun was setting.

Here are the kid sitting by the fire waiting for the brickets to get hot enough to cook on.

Will was still asleep in the van at this point.

(Samantha playing the chair guitar. LOL)

Garyn just being cute


Samantha was the 1st one down to the water

Tend Setter! hahaha Does she not know that Will will follow her?

Will and Jaden on the bridge (still dry)


And here is a little Photo Story for you since I always miss Cecily's Photo Story Friday (I am off Fridays) I am cheating just a little here by being late. Who? Me? Never!

Hosted by Cecily and MamaGeek

This is Will.
He is on the river bank just playing in the dirt. Look at happy Will.
Mom says "Will, stay up here and don't get wet. It's too cold"

"K, I play dirt" Will says "No water"






This is Will way, way, down at the bottom of the river bank. Too far, for one tired, and old, fat momma, to go. He stands right on the edge of the water, NOT in the water, and he throws rocks. Good boy Will. What a good dry boy.

Do you think Will can stay on the edge?










OH NO! Look at Will go.

This is Jaden trying to catch Will as he runs giggling and screaming down the river. Look at Will go! Look at Will get very wet and very cold!

Look at Jaden fall on his butt. Look at Jaden get very wet and very cold. Poor Jaden. Poor poor helpful brother. Poor wet and cold Jaden.

What is this? This is Will.

He stands on the side of the fire and cries because he is wet and cold.

Look at Will. Sad, sad, messy, Will.

It's not fun to disobey mommy!

Poor Will, he hates when Mommy told him so.

LDOY Party Celebration of the Sun

It has been a tradition for about as long as I can remember for our family to celebrate the LDOY (as it has become to be known) Longest Day of the Year. This is another Helen-ism. She hates winter and complains all winter long about missing the sun so in June when the sun shines the longest we celebrate it in Helen style with Food and playing till the sun goes down. Some years like this one we go to a perk and some years we have done other things like go to the drive in or an outdoor pageant. (too bad the drive-in's by us are all closed) So here are some pictures of the fun!

Celebrating Sun and Summer!
LDOY 2008
Hey any excuse to get together and eat and play is a good one right?

This family comes in 3's here are the 3 11yr olds with the 3 babies that will as of Oct. all be 2 yr olds. Only a few of the sets of 3's we have.

3 of the little cousins trying to "catch a baby duck" I told them if they would hold still they might get one. Truth is I just wanted a picture. HAHAHA Tricky huh?

Will swinging with no hands and when I said "Hey, look at Will, with no hands" he pulled his little hands up to his face then pushed them out to me so I could see them and said "I have hands" LOL Now isn't that sweet? He says the cutest things some days. Should I feel bad I made him think his hands had gone missing?

One of my favorite pics of the day. My SIL and her cutie boy!

And since we are talking about the Sun this is Samantha still trying to recover from her sun burn from the cabin last weekend. She was a stinker and ran off to the pool with the cousins and forgot (more like didn't bother to take the time) to put on sunscreen. A mistake I don't think she will be making again soon. This is the worst sunburn my kids have ever had. She had blisters on her face and a huge huge blister on her shoulder. Freaked her out. Freaked me out too. I hope she doesn't have any bad permanent damage from this. OUCH! poor little fair skinned girl. And then you have my Garyn that has never had a sun burn even though he is out side all the time. People look at them and wonder if they are biological brother and sister. They are, they all are but they don't look it.

And just before leaving the park to come home I snapped a picture of Jesse's new commuter car. He is loving it. Well actually he says he like the way the van drives better but he is loving saving money at the pump and I am loving having my van back. Oh and just so you know why he needed a commuter car. It had 11 miles on it when we drove it off the lot Tuesday night. It now has 430 miles on it as of Saturday night. Yea, really! Do you think he drives too far for work? Me too.

Wordless Wednesday - Like father like son

My brother and his baby, both being silly. The perfect black mail photos. LOL

Like Father......

Like son.

Belated Happy Fathers Day

We were out of town for Fathers Day but I still wanted to take a minute to post about my man, so here is my belated post. (warning: sappy and braggy)

Dad and the kids with his 1st fathers day presant.

I haven't take a picture of his new car yet. Yes I said new car finally!

Top 10 of the many things that I love about the Father of my Children:



1. He is my Prince Charming. I met him in May, and he swept me off my feet. I knew within 3 dates he was "the one" and we were engaged in June and married by that November. And all these year later he is still my prince charming. And though I am still a frog I hope one day to rise above the ashes and become his Cinderella. ;)



2. He spoils us rotten. He cleans, he cooks, he does homework, he repairs, he mows, he cleans up the kids messes when they are sick, (since I usually puke too) he does it all and doesn't complain. I don't think I have cleaned the bathrooms more than once in this new house. He gets up every Saturday morning and does every bathroom in the house while he lets me sleep in. He goes out of his was to help me in so many ways and to make sure I am sleeping even though the house falls apart and I feel guilty. He let me stay home for 10 yrs when I wanted to, and also let me go and get a job when I wanted to, too. He supports me in whatever I do. He just plain spoils me.



3. He has great values. He works hard and even when he has a bad week at work he leaves it at work. He doesn't come home and kick the dog or sit and sulk. He is honest in all that he does. He is a family man and puts the family first no matter what. He is a fantastic little computer nerd and has put his love for gadgets and talent for fixin' things to great use. He is a provider and would walk to then ends of the earth and work his fingers to the bone to provide for his family. He upholds his priesthood and he is the reason that I have a forever family.



4. He is the teacher and the calm parent. When I am at my whits end and yelling, which is always, he is the one that is the voice of reason. He is always the calm parent that gets down to business. If there is a kid in need of punishment then he gets to it. When he says "time out" you better get going. I just tend to scream and yell and threaten. Good thing we have him around to take care of business and keep us all on the path. He always takes time to find the little things in a situation to use it to teach the kids something. He makes it a point to spend time teaching them values that will be important for them as they grow. He is a great example and the kind of dad Heavenly Father would want him to be.



5. He leads his family by example. He doesn't just tell the kids how to be, he shows them. I would hope and dream that they will be more like him than like me. He just doesn't have that stubborn rebellious streak that I had and still have. They can watch their daddy to learn, how to treat people, how to work hard, how to do things, how to speak, how to pray, how to live, and how to love. He upholds his church callings and does them so well. I would go crazy with a bunch of rowdy 10 and 11 yr old boys every Sunday at church and every Wednesday at scouts, but they love him and learn so much from him. He does his callings 2x a week and of course never complains. And how great is has been for Jaden to have him there leading and teaching him in this way too.


6. He is cute. He was cute when I met him and gets cuter every day. He hates when I say this but I love seeing him change. I love every new wrinkle and every gray hair. (yes there are a few) I love every sign that we are growing old together and I do look forward to the days when we will be gray haired together sitting in our rockers watching the world. (or maybe hover chairs by then, since we have to have the latest gadgets LOL) Not that I want to get old to fast, but I am glad I have him to share it with.

7. He forgives our many flaws. He loves us each and everyone of us even with our many flaws. This kids I mean , for I have none. LOL LOL LOL Sure really. OK but, he really is so understanding of each child and and how they each do things differently and he doesn't compare them to each other or hold them to a certain standard based on the other etc. He loves them each as individuals and shows them what he loves about them.

8. He loves to spend time with us and takes us on little trips. He loves all of our little trips as much as I do. He loves to take a little time off and run off for the weekend to play and spend time as a family. We are always on the go and I love that. It would be so hard it one of us liked to travel and one didn't and I LOVE that he wants to spend this time together. Our kids are only little once and we really want to enjoy it as much as we can. Taking a few days to leave it all behind and just focus on family its our way. He doesn't even mind that we keep it cheap. (oh yeah I love his cheap miser ways too.) I know he doesn't really love my need to have parties and so many family events but he still puts up with that and tries to make the most of it. And even helps in the process of getting things ready and cleaned up too.



9. He still makes my heart all a flutter. 14 years later and I love him more all the time and when I hear him coming in the door from work I still get that little flip flop of the heart and butterflies in my stomach. I just love being together even when its just as simple as eating dinner with the family every night at the table or vegging out on the couch watching a good movie. I love that he makes me feel just as much and important part of his life as he did our wedding day.



10. He is super dad! He is so great to the kids, so patient, so loving, so sweet. He plays with them talks with them and makes time for them. They all get hugs and he tells them everyday he loves them. They are the luckiest kids in the world!

2 Randoms and my new blog look

Random 1:
Will came up to me the other day and said "yucky yucky"
So I looked in his hand he had a dead spider. I hate spiders of all kinds even dead ones. HATE THEM!!
I wouldn't even take it from him I waked him over to the garbage and told him to toss it in. Really all he wanted was for me to open the garbage.
Thank goodness it wasn't a poisonous one or that it wasn't alive! eeeeewwww getting the creeps now just thinking about it. Yucky Yucky is right. GAG!

Kids have no fear, it's funny really they just come with no fear nothing scares them they will try anything. It isn't until we teach them what to be afraid of that they start to be afraid and then sometimes they choose to be afraid of the strangest things. Jaden use to be afraid of windows.

Random 2:

I am the kind of person that has good intentions. I always have these great ideas or nice things that I really want to do and that I really plan to do. But somehow so many of these things slip through the cracks. I have decided that if the road to hell is really paved with "good intentions" then I am "speed racer" and should arrive at the gates very soon.

My New Blog Look:

I have been wanting to make my own blog look and get it all cute-sied up. I just am once again well intended. I just need to find the info on how to do it and haven't even looked. And so I have been trying out the free ones, I want red and black but can't find one I like. So, please bare with me if you see this look change often the next little while until I figure out what the crap it is that I do want. LOL

Wordless Wednesday - Catch of the Day

Catch of the Day

The looks on their faces say it all. For once the picture is worth a million words. LOL

Tuesday Tell All - Random tellings from my warped mind and a Zap of a Flashback

Just a few randoms thoughts that I wanted to jot down:

I love dip. I am a total dip, and love to dip my foods. I could probably eat old shoes if I had the right kind of dip for them. My favorites are ranch, onion, honey mustard, spinach bacon, and since I am a born and bred Utah girl, of course I love the fry sauce, and one step further, Happy Valley so, oh baby bring my the white sauce for my fries. Ooooooohhhhh yeah that's what I'm talking about. hahahahaha Oh and for breakfast foods when not so many dips are around I will totally dip everything into my syrup. No, to be honest I bath everything in it. Especially the eggs. YU-UM-ME!

I am loving having the kids home for summer we are being totally lazy this year. No big adventures yet. Thursday I think we will go to the park. Tomorrow it Activity Days at my house that will be fun. But having the kids home is killing me in food. I stocked up on snacks and they are gone already. I need new summer snack ideas. They love the fruits and veggies but only when I have them all cut up and ready to go and of course, if I have the right kinds of dips on hand. But when they get hungry, instead of eating food they go for snacks.

My kids do not know the difference between a snack and a meal. If they are hungry the will eat and entire box of fruit snacks or crackers. Yes the whole box. UGH!! And their favorite snack of choice..... cold cereal what else? I swear I am going to buy stock in Malt O Meal. How many bags of cereal can 4 kids eat in one day?

Went shopping today to stock up on healthier snacks and lunches, $180 bucks later we still haven't got much for dinners. LOL Anyone else feel like the kitchen becomes a black hole when the kids are home for the summer? What is up with them turning into munch mouths? How do they ever survive at school on only one meal a day all winter long? sheesh.

We are looking for a new car. Hopefully one that is dual fuel and will save us some gas money. My husband commutes and gas is killing us. OUCH! This also means that I will get my van back and not be stranded at home everyday and that we can do a little more summer fun stuff. Hoping we find a good deal on a car. (fingers crossed)

I never do my hair anymore, seems that with the kids and the chaos and the fact that I work in the middle of the night and sleep in the middle of the day I just never really do my hair. I wash it and brush it and etc. but never really DO it, not even sure I know how anymore. Not even sure how I feel about that. But it's just a fact.

I think I am too hard on my kids and at the same time not hard enough. I can't seem to find the balance between setting expectations, teaching them to be responsible and yet also not hurting their self esteem, or pushing them to far. Sad thing is I don't even expect much but I want to see them become healthy, balanced, self assured, and confident, reliable adults. Is that too much?

I hate trying to find balance. I need to re-read "Confessions of an Unbalanced Women" it's a good book. I can already see self esteem issues with some of them and it hurts. I am sure they aren't blind to my own issues with confidence. How do you teach them to be more than you are?

Today while shopping Jesse looked a bug zappers. Looking at the box I could almost hear the sounds of my own childhood. sitting out back on the patio when our house was new and listening to the poor mosquito's snap, zap, pop before they could come and bite us. I was 5 when my mom and dad built their house. I can still remember how excited we were when the house was done and we got to move in. How happy I was knowing my grandma was just down the street. I can also remember how scared we were the 1st few nights with all 7 kids being upstairs and my mom and dad seemed so far away being downstairs. We all slept in one bedroom together until we finally decided this new house wasn't going to be so bad. Years later we would all be fighting to be the one that got a single room by themselves. I remember laying on the trampoline looking up at the stars and making silly little wishes as the bug zapper zapped away in the background.

I am going to buy a bug zapper so that some day my kids will stand in the store and be flooded with memories too. I hope they remember the excitement they had for their new house that is just across the street from where their grandparents live and only 3 - 7 miles from the other grandparents. I hope that one day they will be grateful for what they learned by having to share rooms with brothers and sister even if now they do have a single room by themselves. And I hope they will have lots of great memories looking up at the stars and making silly little wishes too. Because even the thought of the sound of a bug zapper can make you realize that childhood is but a flash, snap, pop, zap. . . and all you take are the memories.


By the way the mosquito's are out of control already and I really am buying a zapper, and because Samantha is allergic. I know a zapper is like pouring a thimble on a barn fire but it at least makes you feel like you are doing something to fight in the battle. LOL

Charity, Blissful Sleep, and Just hanging out

This past weekend seems to have gone by in a blur, again. LOL

On Friday we went swimming for a fundraiser that was for my cousins son that has cancer.

It was so good to be able to go and donate and show our love and support for them.

But I also have to admit that we had soooooo much fun swimming.

It was a pool that we haven't been to before and it was a blast. I took a few pictures but on my dad's camera.

The swimming was from 9-11 pm. The kids were exhausted by the time we got home because it was midnight.

Put them to bed and then Jesse and I stayed up for a couple hrs watching dvd's of Battle Star Galactica. I am not a real sci-fi person but I am married to a geek. Since all the guys (computer nerds) he works with have been watching it he wanted to watch it too, so, I said ok go rent them. Have to admit they are better than I expected and I really have been enjoying them. And besides he watched ever last Alias episode with me during my Alias fetish. OK so he watched them 2x with me since I had to repeat them once it went off air and I was having with drawls. LOL

Anyway we were all so tired that when we woke up on Saturday morning it was 11:30 am. NOT even kidding you. I felt like such a lazy sloth but then thought: ya know what, I stay up and work late all the time and Jesse is stuck getting up all night with whatever kid or dog needs him, so, it is high time we all got a day to sleep in! Right?

Does anyone else feel guilty for sleeping? I totally do. Beat myself up for it all the time even when I have worked until 5 am I still feel bad for sleeping in. But, I have guilt and depression issues so it's no huge shock for me to beat myself up over these thing. Anyway any one else have sleep issues?

BUT oh my, the sheer bliss of a nice long sleep! The joy the joy! I remember the day... LOL Maybe I should attend charity functions more often. LOL I can not believe my kids slept that long.

Then we got up and cleaned like there was no tomorrow. So nice to get the house picked up. With the kids home from school this place it quickly becoming more than a zombie like me can handle. Plus it's a lot more to clean than the old house.

Then Jesse's sister invited us up for dinner. So sweet of her! The kids love her to death and haven't seen her for a while and they love going to her house. Got a few pictures here are my faves. She has a beautiful yard and my kids were happy to be on some grass for a change. (I know out time will come I know) Look how funny will was when I told him to smile.

Then worked Sat. night, got my primary lesson ready, and then at church Sunday I only had one kid to teach. Hum yeah so glad I put in so much effort. LOL No actually is was nice and she is a great listener. And it's not about the number of kids and she got extra treats too.

Then after church we went to my moms and ate. YUMMY YUMMY we made our own version of this chicken stuff that we get at a local restaurant. It was Grilled Chicken Breasts topped with sauteed onion rings, and bacon and cheese and BBQ sauce then melted in the oven on broil for about 5-10 min. I was soooo de-lish and ultra fabuloso! Have to make that again.

Then back to work again last night

Then this morning when I got up I felt like a sloth. Some days, on no sleep, I do ok, and some days like today, I do not do ok. I was irritable, grumpy and didn't want to do a thing. So I didn't, I didn't get not even one single thing done all day long. I suck rocks! Big ones! And to top is off I was the meanest mom in the world. Grumpy all day about everything. Poor kids.

And now I am back at work and hope that tomorrow will be a new day and that I will be much nicer a mom and perhaps even have an ounce of energy to move a little. LOL

Pictures from the Last Night of School Party

So, the Last Day of School Luau Party was a blast! And I am finally getting the pictures posted.

School got out at noon and the 1st Samantha wanted to do when she got home was to decorate. She has been so excited about the decorations she found at the party store. Bless her heart, she is such a girl. But I told her she was going to have to help clean 1st. Not her most favorite answer but she helped and so did Jaden until he got called for a last minute party at a friends. I was sad about loosing my party slave but also so happy that he was going out for a fun night after all. He was happy to be getting away from spending the night helping me entertain a bunch of 9 yr. old girls. LOL Picture of the front of the house all decked out in Samantha's version or Hawaiian decor.

And a close up of the front door. I helped he with the Porch Banner and lights. Once again thank goodness for the Cricut Machine I love that thing!

As each girl arrived we have candy leis. My friend from work Simalu came down and showed me how to make these. She and Yvette IM'ed me all week with great ideas for the party. Thank goodness to because I wasn't sure what I wanted to do. This picture totally sucks but these were really fun and the girls loved them. They looked kinda like this one click here, only mine were made with cling wrap and curling ribbon around the candy. Cheap and Easy. Then as each girl would get done I sent them up to the upstairs family room/playroom to do Karaoke and a Hula Hoop contest, while I was making the garlic bread and Jesse was put picking up the pizza. Since I didn't have my party slave and there was no officiator for the planned games up there they decided it was boring and almost committed a mutiny. Thank goodness Jesse returned just in time with the Pizza so we could feed the mutinous bunch.

I had one mom that volunteered to do my drinks so we had her lemon aid and Pizza and Garlic Bread. I know, you just can't believe how I went all out on the cooking. LOL Hey cheap and easy was the theme here, remember?

So then we made Hydro Bracelets. FABULOUS! These were so much fun and you can get the instructions on Family Fun. I did. These were so fun and totally cute. Here is a picture of some of the girls making them and of the glitter mess. (And I learned that my central vac totally does a great job sucking up glitter. Jesse is going to get a sparkly surprise when he dumbs the tank next time. LOL) Notice the home-made paper funnels? I couldn't find my funnel besides 1 funnel was not going to handle the glitter of 12 little girls so I improvised and it worked out great.

And then when we were sufficiently glittered and bedazzled from head to toe, we took every one's picture. Samantha had decorated a little backdrop in the upstairs but it was up to high for the pictures to get much more than just a flew flowers. LOL So here is Samantha in front of the backdrop that you can't see and one of her friends in front of the door. Later towards the end after the pictures were printed they each got a little key chain and they put their pictured in them and took them home with an aloha bracelet. Very Cute!

And while I was taking the pictures and Jesse was getting a fire ready they resorted to frog catching in the field. Only the seasoned and professional frog catcher Samantha was able to catch one that of course had to go home with one of the girls in a jar. Should have heard it croaking in there. I echoed and was kinda creepy that a little 1 1/2 inch frog could be so loud. They girls are so funny and to be honest I think the frog catching was the highlight of the night. So much for planning things to do. LOL

And then we pulled out the fire pit and did s'mores. One of the other moms sent all the s'more making supplies. Nice eh? Yup my 2 helper moms rock! You can see it was chillie and windy out there. Why in the heck is the weather so nasty these days? Jesse had a killer head ache but being the total awesome dad he is he did the s'mores and the pictures and go the pizza and all anyway cuz he ROCKS even more than helper moms. I am so lucky to have him. Poor man has to participate in all my parties and live in my ADHD messy totally fly by the pants compulsive lifestyle and he loves me anyway. And little Miss Mantha too. Awwww aren't we special? Can you see Samantha doing a Sasquatch impression in the background? You can't? Well then here is a close up:

LOL Oh yes the party throwing girly princess that she is. LOL She forgot to shave before the party. Oops! Hahahaha isn't she so scary here? I wouldn't let them tell scary stories because I didn't want calls from the moms about me sending the kids home scared out of their wits. But when they were upstairs waiting for the mom's to come pick them up they did anyway. Little Muffins!

And because Samantha says that i have to post the little lanterns that were on the ceiling on the upstairs. Like I said she loved the decorating. It was pretty fun. What a great way to kick off summer.

I love having parties for the kids.

Do you do kid parties?

Do you do themes?

Do you plan lots of activities or just let them run and play?

Am I totally crazy?

Is this why I feel like a walking tornado?

OH and this other little funny. Jaden came home just at the end of the s'mores and for the next few days s'mores what the snack of choice for all the kids. I showed them how to use the microwave so that they would stop asking me to light a fire. They ate ever last gram cracker they could find in the house. The next morning when I dragged my butt out of bed I came down to find Jaden having a bowl or melted marshmallows for breakfast. And he even stuck in a few chocolate chips just for fun. He didn't think I was too cool when I told him that wasn't a marvelous breakfast choice. Admit that I took a bite though. LOL Wouldn't you?

Monday Madness!

Today was Monday Madness. No really the wild weekend turned into Monday madness. It seems like Thursday was like a million years ago. But the party turned out great. And yes for those that want me to I will be posting detailed party pictures. It was awesome fun! Then Friday I helped my sister move. Only to the house next door to her but still it was moving and that is never any fun. And then Saturday I did my visiting teaching. Yes on the last day of the month are you kidding me? I always do. I procrastinate that is who I am if I do anything ahead of time the world will stop and fall apart. So I just have to do my part to keep things the way they are supposed to be which includes me planning way more than I can handle and then procrastinating every bit of it. Anyway, back on track, they put me with a new partner and we were gone 3 hrs. YIKES! Jesse was ready to kill me by the time I got home. I had already worked until 4:30 am and so slept until 10:30 am and then was gone until 3 pm. Yea, not his favorite day. Then we worked in the yard. I was supposed to be putting in a flower bed and planting my flowers but it turned into Jesse on the tractor moving dirt and me and the kids trying to get some of the big rocks out of the way to make the ground plant-able. There will be many more days of rock moving before we ever get grass or anything else planted. Then Sunday we did church, and ate at my moms then high tailed it to my sisters for more moving "service" Then I came home and worked that night.

So for Monday: Worked until almost 5 am went to sleep until 7:30 am. I had to get up early because Samantha was running in the qualifying track meet. She was so nervous and wouldn't eat anything so then she was weak. Silly girl gets so worked up. Bless her heart she didn't fight us this time about running. The great success from her last track meet she has more confidence this go around. YEAH! She did great and as you can see from the picture above the got 3rd place. She was happy with that and I think she was mostly happy that she doesn't qualify to move into the next round. they only took the top 2 runners.

And since we only have 1 car right now and Jesse need it to get to work and I work at home anyway so I am home with the kids with no car and my poor dad had to take us to town for the meet. And since my sister is moving she has his suburban and that meant we got to ride in his little old red Toyota truck. And since it barely fit him, her, and me, we had to leave the other 3 home. Thank goodness Jaden is old enough to baby sit. Well kind of. He called me a million times for the dumbest things. And as soon as I walk out the door Garyn starts to act up and he pushes every one of Jadens buttons until Jaden about goes insane. Funny thing is Jaden use to do that to me when he was that age so I kind of find it a funny warped pay back. LOL

Then since I was the tag along after the track meet we walked over to my mom's office about a block from the high school were the meet was held and she gave us pop and oranges and candy (yes by then Samantha had calmed her nerves and was now starving) so we took our goodies and walked around the block and camped out on the lawn for about 1/2 hr waiting for my Dad to get out of physical therapy. Bless his heart it kills him but he does it in hopes that is will help his back one day. So when he got out he wanted to take grandma to lunch so we went and ate at some new place in town that has really good philly cheese steak sandwiches. Manta didn't eat hers cuz she said it was gross. So yup, I ate it. YUMMY! Then when we were going back to grandmas work to switch cars she pulls the puppy dog eyes on grandpa and gets him to take her to sonic before leaving town. Which was great because then I could get green apple slushies to take home to the poor boys who have now spend the entire morning at home alone.

And man oh man oh man you should have seen my house when I got home! UGH!!! And in the middle of the mess I find Garyn still in PJ's with bed head (nothing new here) and these lovely band-aids on his eye brows. He is so FUNNY! That kids. The story I was told is that "Will hurt me." hahahaha He also had them on the back of his neck. He thought is was very funny until he tired to peel them off. hahahahaha Cute huh?

So now I really wanted to sleep being that I was on 2 1/2 hrs of sleep still. But Jaden had a dentist appointment at 2:00 I only had 1/2 hr to get things back to normal and then to get him ready and out the door. Lucky grandpa got the honer of taking him to the dentist since I am not smart enough to know how to start the old red truck and Samantha isn't old enough to babysit. Yeah for grandpa! So I popped in a video for the kids (had rented Teen Wolf for them remember it? not as family wholesome as I remember as a kid) Garyn wouldn't hold still or let me shut my eyes. So much for TV napping! Grrrrr!!!! Then they got all restless so I sent them out to play.

I am not usually a cryer. Really I usually don't cry at much but when I am sleep deprived which is always these days I cry at everything. So today I melted down because when they were out side they got all muddy and wet. Which they do every single day but today it made me so mad because I was too tired to deal with cleaning it all up. UGH!!! Partly I was tired and partly I still felt sick. Last night at work I was totally sick and puking and they wouldn't let me off early so I had to stay and then ended up on a call until almost 5 anyway so I was just plain tired, sick, and angry all day. I called and told Jesse today in the middle of my sleep deprivation melt down bawling that I wanted the whole world to explode. So now I have gone from, suicidal to, homicidal to, globicidal. LOL Oh the joy!

Then finally I had had enough and I locked my self in my room at 4:30 and Jaden watched the kids until Jesse got home and he let me sleep until almost 7. WOO HOO 2 1/2 more hrs. THANK GOODNESS! Then we had to head back up to my sisters because the last item that they needed moved was her bed set and since her hubby decided to get her a new one I took her old one so we went and got it moved to our house and I grabbed some KFC on the way home and we ate cleaned up and now I am back in my office on the phones for another long night. Only the great think is tomarrow is a stay at home day so I don't plan on getting up very early. WOO HOO for that.

Izzy the Transvest Dog

(page credits made with Memory Mixer and template from TopLine Creations)

The words here say:
Uncle Thad kept calling about us getting a new dog. I kept saying NO. He finally decided to bring the dog over. Smart! The kids loved it and the begging began. Part of the begging process was Samantha deciding it would be hers and that she would take care of it. She was very excited about her new "girl" puppy. Off we ran to Wal-Mart to get pink puppy bling bling. Well Mantha had a blast dressing up Isabella in her pink harness and pink diamond studded collar.

Until a few days later Grandpa came over and took a look at the dog. Turns out that Isabella is a HE! She had a cow and for a while decided that she didn't want him if he was not a she. After a lot of tears she finally has embraces his transvest-dogness and has decided to call him Izadore or Izzy for short. He is a mix between a Mini-Pincher and a Chihuahua so he is supposed to stay small. He is actually really cute and extremely playful. The kids love him. Mom and Dad are still not so sure about the joys or potty training an 8 week old puppy in our new house. Oh the crazy lives we lead. Welcome to the family Izzy!

The part I left out of the scrapbook page is that we told her it is just fine for a boy dog to wear pink (especially since I spend a small fortune on doggy apparel) and then when she decided that was true she got him all dressed up in transvest-dog style and we took him to the Family Memorial day BBQ. My stupid brothers made so much fun of the dog. They are MEAN!!! They told her that her dog is gay and told her that he hates pink and that he is crying because she made him wear it. I am still mad at them!! They made her cry and wouldn't just stop. She finally took the dog walked home and took off all it's clothes and almost threw it out the window. But Jada my niece went with her and was great to comfort her and tell her to just ignore them. Big Meanies picking on a 9 yr old girl and her cross dressing dog. Jesse yelled at them and they said "we didn't pick on her we made fun of the dog" whatever like that makes it ok. grrrrrrrrrrrr..... stupid brothers never grow out of picking on the girls! I don't pick on their kids and try to make them cry. But maybe I should. They are butts they use to call Jaden gay too when he was the only grandson with like 9 girl cousins and would play in the dress ups with them. See they are mean huh?

Today is my kids last day of school and tonight Samantha is having a huge Luau to celebrate. It is going to be a crazy day getting it all ready but she is so excited and I know it is going to be so much fun. She has invited like 25 girls and I know some already have plans so I am not sure hoe many we have coming but it should be a houseful. Next year Jaden gets to have the party but this year he gets to be the party slave. Wish me luck. A huge party on no sleep. It should be great. How many times will I loose it today? HAHAHA Yesterday on my 3 hrs of sleep I totally cried because Will got gum on the couch. Yeah when I am tired I cry at anything and everything. It is fabulous!


p.s. totally stole the word Transvestdog from Missy. Thanks Missy!

Wordless Wednesday (Can you say no to that?)

Can you say no to this? Well I couldn't. After having the puppy from my dads die on us my brother called me several times to ask me if I wanted this puppy. I said NO then again NO and then on another call NO. So, as final resort he showed up at the house with this cute little feller...... more on it being a feller later........ and once he showed it to the kids there was no going back. Lets just all pray that is stays healthy and cute and alive we do not need anymore animals deaths around here. He actually is a cute dog and is short hair another plus and is "supposedly" going to stay small. But for what its worth we have grown by 4 feet. Again. Thanks Uncle Thad. grrrr

I hate preschool graduation!! and Anyone know a good Vampire for Hire?

Oh come on you know you hate preschool graduation too, admit it. Yea they are so cute up there singing their little songs and being so proud of themselves for all that have learned. And yes they are so excited at the prospect of going to kindergarten and yet, THAT is just the problem. That "wonderful" little graduation certificate is nothing more than a handwritten tombstone of their baby years. It is like putting it into stone that your baby is not longer a baby and will never again be your baby. I HATE IT!!!!! OK so yes he has been growing every day since he was born and I know he gets bigger all the time, but you don't think about it everyday about how much they are growing and about how little time you really have with them to be little. But that dang graduation is like this big "look at me I'm big" event, now off I go to the next thing.




But I go and, I suck it up and, I smile and, I tell him how proud of him I am and, about how cute he is. But inside it is killing me knowing that this is his last day ever of preschool and that you just can't stop time. And then today while trying to shower I lost it. Oh yeah major bawling! I guess, at least I could get it all out there, and not in front of the kids and the tears can just run with the water down the drain just like time does. And I have a few more months to relish my little boy before that big yellow monster with the 4 wheels comes to swallow up my baby next Aug and take him off to big kid land. Because no matter how I want to pretend it isn't so, the truth is once they go to "big kid school" they do become "big kids."

Damn that yellow bus! Yes damn that yellow monster that gives them passage to kid land. Picture me standing in the rode yelling at the bus "STOP! Please bring back my baby!!!! It's not fair!" Because every mother every where knows that the kid they are, the beginning of kindergarten, is a whole new person by the end. What is it about this year that makes it such a difference and it doesn't matter even if they don't go to kindergarten there is a major difference between a 5 yr old than a 6 1/2 yr old. That is the year they really go from snuggle bunny baby to I can do it myself big kid. And they are not the same little kid anymore. My sister told me once that the kids you have now you will only have for a short time because once they grow past that stage that kid is gone and is replaced by a different big kid and so on and so forth...




Case in point.....

I miss these little kids!!

2001

Because this ........... has been replaced by this




And this....... by this
(current photos taken by my SIL at http://newlinephotography.net/ she is fantastic!)

You know they are still so cute and adorable and I love them for who they are today, right now. But those little kids that use to play in my garden and go to preschool are not here anymore and it is sad to me. I miss them!! I miss those little kids, and I am not ready to miss the 2 little kids that I have playing in my garden and going to preschool right now.

So if anyone has the phone number for the Cullen Family please send it my way. I need to have one of them bite them so that I can keep them little forever. LOL But, actually reading the Twilight (love it!) Series I have put some thought to it. Isn't Gods plan great? Aren't there just so many reasons that God did not put a fountain of youth here? or really give us Vampires that can stay young forever? Or magic potions? Because if I knew where to find that fountain of youth I may in one rash and very selfish moment just grab my kids and throw them in it. But then I would regret it because no matter how much you love them and adore their Innocent little selves you really would never take the rest away from them. Really, would I really want to have him miss his 8th birthday and baptism? OR getting to be twelve and getting the priesthood? or his 1st crush and 1st kiss? Would I really want him to miss the joy of learning all the new things you learn as you grow? His mission? and most of all would I ever ever ever want him to miss out of becoming a dad and finding out just how much you can love a little one of your own. Because that my friends, is Divine. There is nothing I could ever want more than to watch my kiddo's grow and grow and grow and to live healthy and happy lives....... though if I had the opportunity I may just actually slow it down.... If I could..... I think I might slow it down, but I would never ever really stop it from coming. Even if I will miss the kids they have been and are right now.

And that is why even though I know I should take my "economic stimulus" check and run to the bank with it and stash it away for a rainy day, but NOPE I am doing to Disneyland because Memories last forever but time with my little kids is only a moment and I intent to dwell and bask in it while I can. Because yes I am going to let them grow up but I can still kick and scream all the while........ can't I?