Well it's about time!

I know I know. I just can't seem to find the time to blog but I want this for memories so I am going to try to start again. Today was stake conference and it was good. I always feel like I've been in a wrestling match when all is said and done. I really feel as though I need to wear a comfy outfit to church it would be much easier. I left today with bits and pieces of each talk and I'm hoping the things that I remember are the things that I needed to hear the most. As mom's isn't that what every Sunday is like. I always hope I walk away with one thing to improve on. I think that is one reason why I love adult religion class so much (aka Institute). I love getting into the scriptures and really applying them to my life. I am hoping that I learn how to do that on my own. You would think at my age that wouldn't be an issue but it is. The missionaries came over today and for me it is always a bit awkward trying to talk with them. I don't know why but I run out of things to ask. Anyways, they had sat down and talked for a little while, I realized I didn't ask if they needed a drink or anything. So I say, "Do you guys need something?". I'm thinking water, food, etc. But I could tell by the shifting of positions and his stammering that he thought something totally different. I might as well have said, Why on earth are you here and make it snappy so you can get out of here. I had to quickly try to save it. I felt so retarded. Meanwhile the whole time they are here Austin is throwing a paper airplane, the kids are making noises and there is just a general ruckus going on. Then Maryn takes a nerf gun and shoots Aden in the eye. And then as they are leaving Austin has this balloon that he has blown up way to big and it just pops. It was so loud. I was 2 feet away and my ears were ringing. Austin was holding the balloon so it popped right by his ear. He starts to cry and says my ear is ringing. The look on his face suggested that he thought he did some permanent damage to his ear. And being the loving mother that I am I start cracking up. Then I explain to him that it will go away. It had to be the weirdest day. But good news is a friend of mine has scheduled an appointment to talk to the missionaries and they want to know if they can do it here. I am so excited. We have some good missionaries.
So I have started doing crossing guard. It has been good so far. I work my corner pretty good. Just kidding. It's pretty scary though. Ironically the people who are irritated with us are usually other parents dropping their kids off or picking up.

Canning Extravaganza! oh and more!

I have canned and canned and canned. It has been great. I made pear butter and it said to use 6 cps of sugar. Well I just couldn't do that. That is just to much sugar so I put in 1 1/2 cps sugar. You would think that it would not be enough well let me tell you I should have put in maybe 1/4. It is so sweet, but it is also soooooo goood too. I am going to do it again but this time little or no sugar that is for sure. Then I dehydrated pears. Oh man, I don't need chocolate when those are around. I love em. I canned homemade salsa. I have to can some more we are going through it way to fast. I also canned tomato soup. My mother-in-law makes the most delicious homemade tomato soup and every year for my birthday that is was I ask for. But this year I wanted to try it so that I would not have to ask for it when I run out 6 mos. before my birthday. Mind you she doesn't care, and I know this, but I just wanted to try it. Mine is not like hers but still I did it. I made peach, boysenberry jam. MMMM. Is all I have to say. I tried to make fruit leather but I can't get it off the stupid wrap stuff I used. It just chaps my hide like nothing else. I love this type of stuff and now I just need my own orchard, and garden. Someday, until then I will just pretend.

Aden's foot is still bothering him. What to do? His expander is working because now he has quite a gap between his teeth. So now his big teeth can come in with ease. He tried out for both choir and instruments and made it into both. He is really excited and has to go to early morning practice on wed.'s. He is also class representative but is disappointed that he can not run for an office now. He is quite motivated and likes to be involved. I can tell he will keep us really busy but that is good. He is getting better at basketball. I am still screaming my head off at the games though.

Morgan is loving school. Her teacher is really great and she enjoys going. She loves to sing but can't try out for choir until she is in 4th grade. She has more homework than Aden and Austin combined. But she does it and does it fairly quickly so that is good.

Austin is preparing for surgery. He is trying to not be nervous. Heavens I am trying to not be nervous. The healing process it what worries me most. He will have to miss about 7 days of school. I think he is going to go nuts and I know he will drive me nuts in the process. He is constantly asking why. He doesn't mind obeying rules if he knows why it's important. That's good and it's hard. Sometimes I want to yell because I said so that's why.

Maryn is bored most of the day and wants to have a friend over all of the time. I feel bad but what do you do.

Ash just likes to do his own thing and will wander and play. He is talking a lot now and his favorite word is NO!

I have to run to choir so that is all for now.

what! No pictures!

I just can't seem to download pictures. It's just one more step so it's either blog or pictures I chose blog.

Aden is doing basketball. He loves it and works really hard. He has a great coach who teaches them and rides them hard but the encourages right after. He is great. His last game was intense, they were behind and kept making simple mistakes. But they were able to catch up and then they tied. In this league there is no overtime which we are grateful for I don't think I could have lasted another minute. I had a lady move away from me because I was yelling so much. On the way home Austin asked Aden if he could hear us, and why didn't he listen to us. Austin continued, "Mom was yelling a lot and Dad was yelling in his angry voice." Adam wasn't but it is hard to decipher his loud voice is sometimes his angry voice.

Morgan noticed at the end of sacrament meeting that she had on 2 different shoes. One was dark brown and the other black. I was cracking up which made her cry because she doesn't like anyone laughing at her. I tried to tell her I wasn't laughing at her just about the situation but she didn't get it. She wanted me to go home and get her the same shoes. I couldn't so she had to deal with it.

Maryn's birthday is today. She had a princess party a couple of Friday's ago. In the first 10 minutes one of the girls said this is the best party ever. Yeah that's right. We had fancy punch (sherbet and soda), pink popcorn, pink playdoh (that I made from scratch) and they added fine glitter to it. Then they decorated wands and crowns. After which they jumped, played, had cake, presents, then whoosh quick the party was over and they were all gone. We rushed out the door to the park to meet some friends and then when we got home, my head hit the pillow and I was in a mild coma for the rest of the night. Now she is four and hopefully she will learn to say her g's, c's, d's, s's, etc. Everything is a t so when she says I saw a kitty cat it comes out I taw a titty tat. It's great!

I made a great acorn squash. prepare a squash as normal, peel, core and dice up an apple into fairly small pieces. Add butter, brown sugar, cinnamon, cloves, and allspice. Let it cook for 45 minutes. Then yummo, it tastes a lot like apple pie. My kids loved it too. Now I need to try to sweeten it with agave nectar or honey not sure which.

Well taw taw for now!

funny tid bits

Maryn calls a praying mantis a pretty mantis not because she thinks it's pretty she just thinks that is what it is called.

Austin was saying prayers and is trying to expand what he is praying for. So at dinner he blessed Grandma and Papa Moore's food and that it would make them healthy and strong. On another occasion he blessed Grandma and Papa marchant to sleep in their beds all night long. Papa marchant does need that help so hopefully it worked for them.

Aden got on braces and an expander (I'll post pictures when I am not to lazy to download them). His mouth hurts and he does an amazing sid the sloth (from ice age) impression. But now that he sounds funny, you can't get him to stop talking. I think like all kids he loves the attention.

Morgan's teacher has them pick words ie, honest, trustworthy, positive, etc. and they have to read the definition, discuss it and try to be that all week. Well as Morgan was arguing with me she said, "Mom, you are making it so hard for me to be a peacemaker!" Yep that was her word and it was the hardest word for her ever.

The Hiney Shot

So on our way home from church we pass a wal greens where they are advertising a shot. Aden says, "Mom, I don't get it. Why for the hiney shot do they do H1N1?" I couldn't help but crack up. "Because it is the H 1 N 1 shot not the Hini (hiney) shot." Ha Ha ha ha ha.

A quick update: (and by quick I mean really long so enjoy)

*Summer in a nutshell: =craziness! My sister with her six kids was here for a month so of course it was a party every night and day for a month. We, my sister and I, snuck in a camping trip. Two adults and 11 children. It was awesome, and we felt like the coolest mom's ever. It was so great. Then for the month of July we all headed to Cali to help get the yard ready for a wonderful wedding reception for my brother Logan and his wife Amanda. (It was a great wedding and the yard was awesome.) I was in heaven working outside everyday. It was such a bummer to come back to a place where the most yard work is trimming the front bush, yep I said bush singular. 15 minutes after arriving at a pool, rush to 5 different Urgent Cares to get his chin stiched up from a fight with the pavement (the pavement won). Just to learn that he can't swim at all with the stitches in. (Don't worry it was harder on Mom than it was on Austy). August we went to Williams AZ for a rain soaked, wake up to flash flood warnings, trees falling over nearly missing a vehicle because it was so soaked from the rain, quickly throw everything into a vehicle including kids (which isn't easy because camping you have so much stuff anyway), get the van stuck in the mud, get pulled out and cross the flooding river amongst cheers from all the cousins and families, cut the weekend short by a day, camping trip. It was insane! Good times, good memories, Great family, awesome kids.

*After a successful day and a half of homeschooling I realized I didn't like the program and wasn't prepared to teach 3 kids from my home. I couldn't eat, sleep, and breath it like I would need to.

* Signed the kids up for public school (got them some good teachers so they could get a good edumication)

*Started public school on Thursday of the first week of school.

*A totally new respect for Homeschooling ladies

*Because of this, though, we have instituted some great things
1. Scripture study, complete with there own binders that I am very proud of. This is the only part of homeschooling I really enjoyed because I owned it and did what I wanted to do with it. The binders are way neat and studying has made a huge difference in our house. (We're not perfect yet so no translation to Heaven but hopefully we will be better than we were the day before)
2. Super Saturday Activities: I found we waste a lot of time on saturday's. There is no yard work here and so we do our inside chores then waste time. So I have instituted a super saturday activity where we can do science, art, history, cooking, etc. We can do as many as we want. It's not every saturday mind you but this helps me feel as though I am activily teaching my kids something. I am trying to do things they can't do in a classroom because of cost or preparation etc. They will also have a folder where they will do recording, writing, etc. of our activities.
3. I have realized that I am too easy on my kids. I read this book where it showed a paragraph that was written for 14 year olds to read. I could hardly understand it. I was amazed and thought, wow, yeah our kids are smart and they can handle and do more.
4. We also have a morning routine.
5. I am getting organized (I seriously have issues with organizational skills. I would say it is one of my weakest areas, that and consistancy)
6. We are reading more. We are reading as individuals, a family and to kids separately. We did it before but it wasn't consistant. The kids love it, even Aden who could have read a book in one day but waited patiently every night for Adam to read it aloud to him. Why is reading aloud good for kids? Read a book called the Read aloud hand book.
7. We have very little time for T.V. and electronics in general. In fact the rule now is that they don't come on during Monday through Thursday. I want my time to be spent doing better things, important things. Don't get me wrong this is how Adam relaxes and so it does suck me in but it's a bit less now.
8. I am finding the time, desire, energy to actually do the things I have talked about like setting, making, and keeping traditions. Like Fun, Friend Friday. Making things important, spotlighting a child when they accomplish good things.

I hope this lasts. I hope I can be better.

* Found a nice place to go camping 30 minutes away. Yeah! When will we squeeze it in? No idea. But knowing me I will figure out something. Nature is my friend and my peace.

*Went to Cedar City (where I learned that my blog is not updated often enough for someone who says he has no life, I think he lives vicariously through me so all summer he hasn't known what he's done) and helped clean out Cedar Builders. Wow what a huge building but I love working hard. We inventoried, stacked, counted, moved boxes, broke down boxes, broke down huge shelves, swept, ate popcorn. . . and at the end of the day Uncle Kirk decided to have an asthma attack. His first one. Grandma watched the kids, I was in Heaven again. I could work hard for a whole day and the only butt I had to wipe was my own. Yipppeee! Brought home blueberries, and boysenberries.

*Made peach boysenberry jam, lots of smoothies. And one of my favorite snacks, vanilla yogurt, cottage cheese, roasted almonds and frozen blueberries. MMMMMMMMMMMMMMMGood! I am waiting to get completely over a cold and I am making peach boysenberry cobbler. I can't wait.

* Took Austin and Ash to the ENT (Ear, Nose and Throat). Ash is fine of course, why he gets so sick when he has a cold is beyond me. Austy however, has enlarged adenoids that cause dark circles around his eyes because there is not enough airflow to clear it up or something like that. It also causes him to not be able to breath through his nose making him a mouth breather or something of that sort. He has enlarged tonsils, and possibly something in his throat. (they are going to check it out when they put him under). Does he snore the ENT asks? I don't know I don't sleep with him and I have never really noticed. So I say no not really. Then Austin pipes up, "Morgan and Aden say I snore." Oh, I guess I should have consulted with the kids that actually sleep by him.

*Aden is getting some orthodontic work done to correct his bite, spread his mouth open so that all the teeth trying to come in will fit in his mouth. It's expensive but it is so worth it. The smile is everything for a face. I would spend a whole lot more if it meant straight teeth.

*Afternoon activities have started and I feel crazy just thinking about what on earth am I supposed to get the kids to this week. Yeah, I can't remember!

This is us, and i bet it sounds an awful lot like most of you and your crazy lives. We are livin' it up, and living each moment.

The best way to get money out of a cassette player

Yes I said cassette player. Our car being a 2001 still has that feature. I know you all wish you could have one too. Well Ashdon likes to play in the car and yes put money (change) into the cassette player. I wouldn't really care seeing that we don't own any cassettes anymore, yes I said anymore I am that old. However, it messes up the cd player, the time and the radio. So being the crafty person I am I had to get the money out. I tried tweezers, they aren't long enough and it is hard to pinch them. So I had to get creative. I tried tape, not tacky enough. So I resorted to kabob sticks, and a piece of marshmallow. It works awesome. So there is your tip of the day. Marshmallows get money out of cassette players.

Just Us!

So we have discovered a fun new game. I actually played this with my uncle Larry but there was no fancy packaging and no written up directions just dice. But it was always so much fun. The game is called Farkle. It's easy enough for the kids to play and for the older one it works a bit on their math skills. Austin is the best at it. I've always thought he would be the rich kid in our family and here is why. First of all he could be a friend with a rock and that rock would love him back. That is just how he is. He loves everyone and anyone. He is just personable and will always have a lot of friends who are willing to do things for him. Second of all he has a ton of luck. Really he should be dead I think his luck is what keeps him alive (actually I know it's not luck and I don' t need a lecture on what it really is). Thirdly, he takes risks because he doesn't think of the consequences or the consequences aren't enough to deter him from what he wants. That is why he will be rich. Anyways, those attributes work well in this game Farkle. He will roll winning combinations that gain him a lot of points. I think out of the three times we played he's won twice and he cried the one time he lost. I don't think he actually thought he could lose it's just not how he thinks.

So Ashdon loves milk of course only in his sippy from Christmas though. He will drink it and play with his hair. It's a comfort thing. But he always wants milk. I've never had a kid like that and I love it because now he mostly sleeps through the night which is great for me. Now if I could only get Maryn to do that too. . . Now that would be something. Ash loves to jump on the trampoline and for 15 months he does a great job. And he hasn't fallen off which is good. His first word was candy at least it sounded an awful lot like candy and he was pointing at it too. Then of course he says Da and Ma. He can also mimic a lot especially pointing his finger. He found out that he has a hole in his nose that his finger fits into just so nicely. He goes in pretty deep too, it looks painful.

Maryn loves to have friends over. In fact her best friend is a boy named colston (spelling may be off). They are the cutest together and get a long so well. I love it. She is constantly asking for friends over. And when she's home all day everyday half of each day with just ash she gets a bit board. I'm going to have to go to play groups again. Yesterday she asked, "Mom, can I have some lmoads?" I said, "What is that!" And then she whispers, " Um, some candy." I think it's funny she's trying to spell things.

Morgan is doing great in school. She went to a birthday party at Build a Bear and boy was she excited. She has a bunny now I can't remember it's name. But who'd a thought that a silly bunny would become the world. It has and that's fine. Today she pretended to be pregnant with this huge balloon. I hate to tell her that if she takes after me she will probably look just like that.

Aden is a reading machine. I think in 3 weeks he has read 12 books and not just little books, books that are for 5th and up and have at least 400 pages. We were reading the Charlie Bone series and he would try to beat me to finish it. I think it would tick him off when he would ask me what page I was on and I would say oh I'm done. So instead of us fighting over one copy (we were both reading them at the same time) he checked them out at the school library. I think we need to get Aden another hobby. He doesn't think he needs another hobby and I'm not opposed to this one it's just good to be well rounded. Side kid (or note): Austin was at the library with a friend and Austin started reading his book. His friend was so amazed that Austin being the same age as he was could just start reading right then and read the whole book. That's right Austin can read. He does a really good job and we are proud of him. Back to Aden. He is a stinker literally he stinks just kidding he's sitting here reading this while I'm typing so I just had to put something weird in here. I like Aden's age it's fun to actually talk and laugh and things make sense.

Anyways, that's us in a nut shell for this last week.

November

Our first rain and its rare so we always play in it and take pictures. It was cold hence the coats.


At the first of November Adam and Aden went hunting so I got to go to Blythe to pick up my mom and visit Grandma. I love it out there. The open spaces, the memories, and Grandma of course.

If you ever wonder why on earth someone would live in Blythe take a look below.

It was so fun. We played games, chatted and the kids roamed outside unattended and are still alive. So apparently I don't like Thanksgiving. I didn't take a single picture of the event or even our trip to Cedar City. We spent Thanksgiving day with some wonderful friends. There was way to much food but it was soooo good. Then my friend and I dared the black friday. It was interesting. As we left walmart two men were being arrested. Yeah life in Vegas. Also a funny thing there was a line incredibly long for some very cheap Blue ray players. Well I get to Cedar and go to walmart on Saturday and there is a pallet full of these players at the same low price. Note to self next time just go to Cedar and don't get up at 4 in the morning.

Sleeping under the Vegas lights

Well we had a cool night so we had to take advantage. Daddyeo was a great sport and stayed out there with them. I used ashdon as a great excuse and slept in my own bed. The kids loved it though and that's whats important.

July 24th Up to Cedar

I don't know why but I love shooting and I love guns. It is one of my favorite things and I want to own my own. Someday!! I want to become a really good shot that's my goal. My father-in-laws hand gun is heavy and I stink at shooting it. I couldn't hit anything. I was a little afraid of it too. It just seemed so dangerous. When Austin had it in his hands I was so scared. Of all my kids he'd be the one to shoot someone or his own toe. But Adam was right behind him helping him hold it up. All the boys had a great time and were decent shots themselves. Oh and hand guns are extremely loud. I could not here a thing when I was done. Thanks to Grandma for keeping Ashdon so I could go.





Wow what do they call this neat green stuff?






We went to the green show but the kids didn't want to watch it so we did a lot of tricks in this beautiful green grass. Something we don't see very often living in the desert.
Again we tried to squeeze as much in as we possibly could. Oh so why did we go to Cedar. Well for the 24th of july of course. They have a parade and a breakfast that we just couldn't pass up. Crazy the things we do. We also love to spend time with family and 3 hours is a lot easier to do than 10 hours (to my family).

Flax Seed Oatmeal anyone

So I had no idea this happened or how long ago it happened but I found it to be quite funny.
We have in our cupboard some ground flaxseed in one container and in the same type of container oat bran. They look nothing alike mind you just the containers they are in are identical. I don't have them labeled because it's obvious which one is which. Well not to daddy-o. Morgan came down for breakfast and wanted oat bran. So adam made her a bowl. She started eating it and said dad this doesn't taste very good. Well instead of believing her because she waste food all of the time and whines about it he said well let's put some more sugar in it. Now I don't think truck loads of sugar could have made flax seed oatmeal taste any good. So she still complains that it doesn't taste right. So Adam, not wanting to waste food, makes her eat 3 more bites. Which she does complaining the whole time. Well when Adam gets it from her and starts cleaning the bowl he realizes that he'd poured her flax seed rather than oat bran. I don't know but I bet she had some great bowel movements that day!!!!!

Random Goings On

We were sitting around watching a show and this guy had tattoos all over him. So I was trying to help the kids know that we don't like tattoos by saying, "wow, that is so ugly." And what does Austin say, "No it's not, I love it" AAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHH! I am so scared. Although to his credit he did think they could come off like the ones he's been able to try.

We have had the throw ups at our house recently and when you have so many kids it just seems to stick around forever. So if you don't like throw up stories just skip this paragraph. This particular throw up would come on so suddenly that the kids didn't know what was happening. Well austin had breakfast and of course he wants pancakes (pancakes are not the easiest to clean up the 2nd time around) with food coloring - red no less. Yep you guessed it about an hour later he was sick. He comes to me, "Mom, I threw up and I didn't make it to the toilet." That's okay no big deal. If he didn't look like he was knocking on deaths door I think I'd have made him clean it up. He spewed on the carpet (I'd just barely cleaned and returned the carpet cleaner 3 days before) a trail to the bathroom, on the wall, etc. And then it was as though he'd tilted his head up toward the ceiling (the lid was closed also) and shot it forward. It was everywhere, on the wall, the toilet lid, down the toilet. I had to clean the toilet 3 times and the rest of the bathroom as well. It was nasty. I wanted to throw up after it was all said and done. Even Aden missed my toilet and threw up all over the place. Cheeze - its ! Need I say more. And then he didn't even say anything like Hey mom I just heaved all over your bathroom so don't sit on the toilet. Nothing. Morgan threw up once and then she wanted to go to church. Seriously it's like it didn't even bother her at all. All of the other kids were green and pasty looking and would throw up every 20 minutes for about 6 hours. Austin in particular looked awful. He had it coming out of both ends so had to change clothes a lot. I would find him laying in the hallway naked trying to find more underwear or jammies. He looked liked a Holocaust victim all skin and bones. It was gruesome. So that's enough of that moving on.

Yesterday I was doing laundry and of course the piles both clean and dirty were piled high. I tend to on a regular basis throw the clean clothes in front of the linen closet to folled the clothes at my earliest convenience. Well I throw so more clean clothes on the ever growing pile and about 10 minutes later when I'm transfering the clothes from washer to dryer the pile starts moving. What in the world is going on. Well Austin pops out, he'd slept on the first shelf of the linen closet and I woke him up when I threw more clothes in front of him.

Ashdon is getting teeth every time I look in his mouth it seems there's a new one there. He's all over the place and getting into everything. Last night he stood up and then just stood there longer than he ever has. I think he'll be walking soon.

The other day I was watching some kids and I came down to find that one of the girls was giving Maryn a hair cut. I could believe it. I was sooo mad. The pile of hair on the ground was all I could focus on, she had beautiful hair and a big pile of it lay on the ground. I'm thinking to myself It's just hair it will grow back, it's not worth going to jail over, don't hurt anybody. Just kidding. I did tell the girl to go be with her big sister for a while because I needed to calm down a bit. I called my sister got expert advice on what to do and now she has some layers in her hair. You can't even tell that someone chopped it. So shew.

Morgan found some tampons laying around and asked what they were for. Well I don't want her to think that those topics make me uncomfortable but where do you draw the line? How much info is too much. I told her what it was for and then asked was that too much information and she said no and then hasn't said a thing about it since.

Explorer of the Month

Each teacher gets to pick one kid for Explorer of the month. Morgan got chosen. She was so excited. Congratulations Morgan! We are so proud.

Aden kept saying, "I don't get it, I do everything right, I pay attention, do my work and I never get chosen for Explorer of the Month. I just don't get it." He didn't even tell her congratulations I don't think. Then she left her medal (they get a really neat medal too not just a peace of paper) in the classroom and asked Ms. Wiatt if she could go get it. Well Aden was so put out that Morgan made him wait in the hot sun. He came home, "I'm so mad at Morgan, she made me wait in the hot, hot sun for 10 minutes just to go back and get her thing. She could have gotten it tomorrow but instead she wanted to make me wait in the hot sun." He's

A picture post

So here is an update with pictures.

My Brother and his family came to visit. I don't know why but I don't have a single picture of his wife and I feel awful. We had a really good time. It was fun to have them here and to just play around. We had a fun time with the game called PIT. Don't have to have much brain just a loud mouth and we are all really good at that. Here is my bro riding the skateboard. I was way impressed that he could do it. He biffed it twice but other than that did an awesome job.


Here are the girls in the backyard playing with the rocks. We couldn't get them all to look at the same time. It was one or the other.

Austin was in Basketball with the community center. He loved it and he improved immensely. Here he is with Coach Cookie (I thought it was a weird nick name considering I have an uncle that has the same nick name and actually uses it on a regular basis too.)


He was great at stealing the ball from his opponents. He wasn't the best at dribbling down the court but by the end of the classes he was doing much better.

I just put this one on because it reminded me of the swimsuit editions in magazines. Here's our model in training. Just kidding.


Ashdon's first time swimming and shocker he loved it. What a cutey. Who is getting around quite well. Still not completely crawling but will army crawl everywhere, eat everything on the ground, and is now pulling himself up to things and standing. He loves to stand it is his favorite thing. He is so completely happy. I think he wants to run around and be just one of the big kids. His skin is awful he feels like an alligator or something with really rough skin. Maryn's skin however has cleared up completely when I changed detergents.


Memorial weekend I was getting the bug to just get out of dodge and do something. So Saturday we rushed over to Boulder City (which I love because it has big trees and grass. You feel like your in a regular small town) to the BEST DAM (as in Hoover dam) BBQ. The kids did a 3 legged race and one a cookie, they also did a seed spitting contest, and tug of war. Smart n Final had a booth and was giving away free candy bars and things. Ithink that was the kids favorite part. Then we rushed home to go swimming with some friends, then rushed home again to go out to dinner for ad's birthday. It was a busy fun day. Well on Monday I didn't just want to sit around and do nothing so again I hauled my family to Mount Charleston. BEAUTIFUL!!!!!! We had a picnic lunch and then went on a hike. I thought I picked a fairly easy hike but it was a steady incline all the way. The kids did great and as you can see it wore ashdon right out all that walking. This was at the top of the hike.
The hike led to a creek and then a small canyon we think. We saw the creek and decided that was far enough for the kids. They took their shoes off and played in the water. Aden kept asking if the water was okay to drink and it probably was but I didn't want to risk it.


We stopped a lot to remove rocks from our shoes. I guess that's what we get when we wear crocs to go hiking.

What a handsome guy. Adam was great and indulged me. We sure were tired and wished we had Tuesday to rest.


What a cute bunch of kids.

Funny things!

So just a quick (yeah right) update on us:

We've been doing a lot and I am drawing a blank so here are the highlights of the kids

Aden: Aden is getting older and now I realize I need to read his books before he reads them. Mind you he will stay up for hours reading. We have to tell him to stop reading and to be honest he is so quiet we forget about him. So He checked a book out of the school library called Ice Fire. No biggy seems alright. Well after he is all finished he tells me about a part in the book where this guy is kissing another guys girlfriend and I'm praying that that is all they are doing. And then I'm wondering how much is it describing because I know some of the books I read and how descriptive they were. I wanted to ask how much did it describe and please tell me it didn't say anything about hands moving around anywhere. I tell ya I don't have time to read my own books let alone his books too. So we talked about it and how kissing is not good until you are older. He said, "Yeah this guy was in college. But why would someone writing a book for kids put kissing in it!" I'm thinking the same thing. Aden seems so older than his age it is hard. We have him practicing babysitting and let me tell you he is really stepping it up. He does a great job and wants a list of things he has to do. It's great to watch his whole demeanor change when he knows he's in charge. The hard thing though is a friend of ours pays her daughter. I don't know what to do I never got paid it was just expected. I can understand her reasoning but at the same time I don't know what to do. We are thinking of just giving him some more privileges. Ah we'll see. He also did his hair one day this week. It is a step up from him not caring that he looks like a cockatoo.

Morgan: Morgan has lost 4 teeth. One in December that still has not come in. Aden's have come in pretty straight. i'm afraid that morgans are going to come in all messed up. So far not too bad. She was part of a spotlight in school. Adam and I had to write her a letter telling her why we appreciate her. That was really fun. You hope your kids know that you love them but it's good for them to hear specifics as to why. One big thing that both Adam and I wrote was about how big a help she is with Ashdon and Maryn. It's hard separating Morgan and Aden. We require so much from her and from Aden that they sometimes seem the same age but alas they are not and I don't know how to fix that. She loves to make funny faces when we take her picture.

Austin: So funny story. I was nursing Ashdon and Austin asked, "Why does milk come out of your boobies." I replied, "To feed the baby and that is how God made it. It's healthy for them and that's just how it is." Austin stares at me for a while then says, "I wish I could suck on your boobies, but I can't." I tell you what I was rollin laughing so hard tears were coming out. Eventually he said, "Mom stop laughing." To which I replied, "I can't that was so funny but don't say it again." I was having a very stressful day one day and he had been around me when I was destressing by telling Adam everything. When we get home he goes to play with the neighbors. Shortly I get a phone call, "So Austin tell's me your having a very crappy day." So I have to be careful what I say around him. I often think he's in his own world but he definately absorbs a lot.

Maryn: She loves to dance and shake her hips. I'm sure she got her moves from her dad. Heaven knows my hips don't move that way. She also has a fun boobie story. She came to me one day and asked why I had boobies so I answer and I tell her that someday when she is older she will have boobies too. With a look of awww. "I will have boobies too when I grow up." Yep "I'm going to go tell Austy that I will have boobies when I grow up" I'm sure the Austy will experience a little boobie envy.

Ashdon: He gets around and eats a lot. It costs about 15 dollars a week jus to feed that kid. I can't believe it. But he sure is happier when he's full. He'll be on his stomach and he does the army crawl really well, he'll stiffen his legs and toes to raise his body off of the floor in an effort to cover more space. He also tries to pull himself up to things already. I can't believe it time flies. Just an update Adam didn't fax the paper over for the voting for cutest baby until 5:10 and the cut off was 5:00 so he missed it. We still know that he is the cutest baby.

So in a nutshell that's us.

Cha Ching Easter Came!!

Well this is going to go backwards because that's just how it is.

wanted some pictures of Easter so I took some of our kids. Here are my lovely boys. Wow is all I have to say!!!


And beeeaauuutifulllll!!! Oh except for morgans snaggle tooth which is loose and is stuck in a funky position. And I'm probably the only that notices.

Okay so this above picture has some explaining to do. On Saturday we went to an Easter Egg Hunt here in our neighborhood. We got a free breakfast from Sonic. It was pretty good and they were very generous. Then the hunts were scheduled at different times by age group and wouldn't you know I had one in each age group. They had it all spread out so that I would have to be there from 10:30 to 12:30. Crazy. And then to top it off the kids in the front of the pack get 9 eggs and then those who are a little slower get like 1 or 2. So needless to say Austin was crying. Maryn didn't care she just wanted to open the eggs she had and eat the candy. So we did two age groups and then went to another Easter Egg Hunt sponsored by a church. There's are the best because they do it all at once and have it sectioned off for each age group if that makes any sense. And then they have a raffle afterwards (we didn't have to purchase raffle tickets they just gave you one per kid). Now this is where it's good to have a gazzillion kids. We first one the raffle for the girls ages 2-4 for Maryn so she got that lovely piano that's in the picture. I was thinking cool we never win anything. And then Aden's ticket won the grand prize which was a Nintendo DS. I can not tell you how long he has wanted one of those. I was screaming kind of. Cuz I don't like to bring to much attention to myself but you can't look ungrateful and just say oh look it's me I won again. So I gave the ladies hugs and I'm sure they wanted to convert me to there church which did sound appealing it being casual dress and all and only an hour. But I think I'll stick with the The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints it being the true church and all. I felt a little guilty but not too much. Morgan was all upset because she didn't win anything and that wasn't fair. I said hey the DS is for all of us and then of course Aden starts getting all possesive. Hey it was my ticket. I tell you what I'm gonna go give that DS back and let somebody else have it. Anyways, And then after that I had to go to Albertsons because strawberries were on sale for 99 cents a lb. You can't beat that and I needed to make more strawberry jam. So while I was in there I keep hearing this thing about an easter egg hunt so I call adam tell him to bring the kids into the store. They hide eggs in 3 or 4 isles and let the kids go at it for about 2 minutes. Then they hand out these fabulous prizes. Again Austin is crying because he couldn't find any eggs. But I helped Aden because I saw a lady hiding some after they'd started. So he generously gave Austin an egg. So in a nutshell the kids made bank on easter stuff. Maryn - Barbie, water gun, goggles, piano, and candy which was her favorite part Austin - Soccer ball, pen, paper pad Morgan - Hannah Montana doll wooo whooo Aden - Shirt, pen, and a nerf gun
I tell ya I felt like I had a million bucks. I was so tempted to go play a slot machine cuz I bet I'd a won the jack pot. To bad I don't believe in gambling. I'm glad the night before when we were coloring Easter Eggs we talked about the importance of easter and the true meaning of it. Adam gave an object lesson that the kids could really understand. I hope that sticks out in there memories better then all they stuff they got for free. The Easter bunny was generous and brought DS games.
On Easter the Easter bunny did an Easter Egg Treasure Hunt sending the kids up and down the stairs hunting for their clues. It was great and the kids absolutely loved it. All of the said that this was the best Easter Ever. Well Thank you Easter Bunny.




So we were able to go to Blythe for my Grandpa's Birthday. It was so wonderful seeing them and some of my other relatives. Well my grandparents have some citrus trees which there is nothing better than eating fruit fresh from the tree. So in this picture is the contrast from a store bought lemon and a good lemon from the tree. The first fruit is a grapefruit, then a lemon from grandpa's tree, then a store bought lemon. We are paying to get ripped off is all I have to say. While we were picking fruit Austin wanted to eat a lemon. I told him it was sour but he didn't care he wanted it. So I peeled it for him took a sliver off like an orange and he put the whole piece in his mouth. Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha. His eye's were watering he could hardly stand it. It was the funniest thing ever because it's just like Austin. He hands me the rest of the lemon and says, I don't want anymore. Ya think ha ha ha ha ha.

We got to go Ice Skating for a friends party. They had a skate for Maryn. She could hardly stand up well with daddy but with me helping her she did better. But she only lasted about 5 min The kids had a great time though and really enjoyed themselves.



These are my very cute grandparents. I love them so much.!

Let's see now, Ashdon is trying to sit up, he has 2 bottom teeth and he loves to stick his tongue out and blow making the tongue vibrate against his lips.

Maryn is a poser and loves to pose for pictures often sticking her but out I don't know where she gets that from.

And now I have to go so I will post more later

Austin. . .is anyone home .

Sometimes I wonder if Austin is running on all cylinders. He reminds me of my brother whom we always said was in Lolo's land. And he'll admit that he was often wandering in his thoughts. I cannot tell you how many times I've thought "What in the Hell's the matter with you!", or a wonderful phrase learned from my father. .. Use your head. It takes all of my strength to not strangle him. So today he's eating almonds. I like that he enjoys nuts because they are healthy for you. He's throwing them in the air and trying to catch them in his mouth. I'm trying to get ready for company so I'm not really paying much attention. I come down to the kitchen a little bit later to throw something away and in the trash are about 20 to 30 nuts. I just bought the bag of nuts yesterday and they are not cheap. So I'm livid. Why are these nuts in the trash???? Austin says, well they fell on the ground so I had to throw them away (He's so much like his father no 10 second rule or nothing). I didn't know what to say except here is what I said. What is wrong with you? I just mopped the floor so they are not even dirty, and that's a waste of money, I can't believe you would do that. You can't have anymore nuts and you are going to eat those out of the trash can. Blah blah blah blah. So being the good son that he is he comes to the trash and timidly grabs an almond and just as he's about to put it into his mouth.....I come to my senses and say don't eat it. Whew that was close! Anyways, needless to say he's forgotten about it completely. He's in Austy land it must be nice there, he's there a lot.

On another note, Aden tried a new cereal today. Instead of pouring a small bowl just to taste it he pours his normal size which is a lot. He then decides he doesn't like it. I again get irritated because it's such a waste so I tell him your going to eat it. He gags down a couple more bites and then decides he's done. I say fine but your owe me 5 dollars. He comes down with 5 dollars in change, "Morgan wastes food all of the time and she doesn't have to pay money for it. Why do I have to do it." I can't believe he actually got money. He must of really not liked that cereal.

So I think I'm borderline pshycotic maybe one of these days I'll have something that doesn't make me seem so crazy.

Expensive Popsicles

So this is just an add on to the post below because believe it or not both of these things happened today. So I was going to play battleship with austin when I heard Maryn in the bathroom kind of choking on something. Well she decided to drink some baby oil. So I call poison control I should have just called my sister cuz she's amazing and always knows what to do. But I usually do and I was trying to be independent and grown up and all. So Poison control says you better take her in because if it gets into her lungs it will coat the lining of the lungs and could cause pnuemonia or other breathing issues and where she has breathing issues to begin with. He says we are going to call the hospital and let them know that you are coming and give them some recomendations of what to do. The emergency room doctor was like what are you doing here. I don't think there is anything wrong but we'll keep her for observation. So Austin and Maryn got a popsicle. And maryn was totally fine. AAAAHHHHH $$$$$$$$$ is all I could think as the clock was ticking. We were only there for about 1 1/2 hours so not to bad but man what a day.

A Warning!!

Life is full of surprises and full of adventure. So I've started walking with a friend of mine let's just say to be healthy. So we decided to walk to the park because it is park day and then we could play afterwards. So Austin first falls off of his bike and biffs it. Then he stops at the play ground and I think I should just yell at him and let him know that we are going around one more time. Well I didn't heed that little prompting It's austin he's a survivor He knows cuz I told him I was walking around the park. Well I can't see him and then I see him riding his bike on the other side closest to the major road. So we cut across trying to catch him and then I don't see him. I overhear a lady saying something about a little boy on a bike so I say have you seen my little boy. She says yeah he's way down there so I start taking off running. She yells you need a car he is way down there. I yell I don't have a car. Do you think the security guy in the car comes to help noooooo stupid idiot. So I'm running mind you I'm not a runner and I'm way out of shape so I see this police man and I flag him over so he get's all of the information and takes off down the street. I'm thinking Austin must have gone home swear words are running through my head and coming out of my mouth. I'm asking people that I see if they've seen a little boy. NO, NO, NO what where is he did somebody grab him swear swear swear and swear some more. The cop finds me again gets my address calls other cops etc. I'm totally freaking out meanwhile trying to run home as fast as I can. I get home and I think he's got to be here he has to be sure enough he's not home aaaaaahhhhh. I jump in the car go to the neighbors where he has a friend he's not there either. I start going back towards the park and the cop finds me and yells He's at the park! OH hallelujah!. So I'm trying to drive the speed limit mind you it's 35 then the officer yells something at me on his mega phone I think it something like slow down the speed limit is 35. I don't know but I get there and he's with my friend rachel, she has her daughter and my other 2. So Austin had just continued riding around the park yelling and crying for me like he was supposed to. My neighbor jumped in her car, my other neighbor jumped on her bike and went up the paseo checking places where cars couldn't go. How awesome are the people I know. Needless to say I've learned several lessons today. 1 - Keep all kids in eye sight and tell them to stay close if walking around the park. 2 - if you get separated find the security guy and stay with them 3 - Don't believe the lady who tells you he's way down the street. 4 - drive the speed limit even if your kid is lost 5 - It's good to involve the whole neighbor because then you feel more embarrassed 6 - It's good to have a lot of friends who will drop everything and help you out 7 - Stay in shape because if you have to run to save your kids you don't want to let them down because you couldn't keep running a mile home. Hope your day is not as eventful as mine.

People Suck

This post is for me to vent and for my family and friends who want to see my deep dark side. I am so angry and hurt. I bent over backwards for a lady and she screwed me and played like she had no idea. What the heck is a matter with people and why do I have to be so nice. Why, why, why!!! I'm grateful to Heavenly Father for amazing control. Control over emotions, feelings, temper and the desire to spout so many bad words and hurl them at this lady and not doing it. I would hate myself after and could get me into a lot of trouble but then I stew over it for days wishing I would have said what was on my mind. But all in all I know that it would make no difference. People justify in there own minds that they are right. I hope she enjoys hell. Apart of me does and then oddly enough the other part of me hopes and wishes that she finds peace, love, and happiness and that the money she took from me will help her out. I hate that I have compassion for her but I love that I have compassion for her. How can I feel two ways and it depends on the time of day as to which feeling is stronger. I'm grateful to Heavenly Father who loves me enough to give me the gift of control, love, and compassion. But the natural man in me wants to fight it and hate her. Over all I know that if I saw her I would still smile and I would still say hello because I am just that way. And dadgummit I'm glad I'm that way for the most part. Just so some of you know we got sued. And the judge could have cared less about anything we said and awarded her. And she knew, because it was explained to her several times but of course she claims she didn't know and the contract was crappy so that's our bad and boy are we paying for it and it didn't even matter that we had a witness nothing mattered. All I know is that Adam and I have worked our butts off for everything we have. We are honest to a fault, honest in our dealings, we pay our debts and obligations and everything we have we have worked for. Nothing has been handed to us. We can attend the temple worthily and partake of the blessings there. We have a wonderful, beautiful family, great healthy kids. And despite everything I am happy and I'm still smiling, and I'm still so greatful to the lord for the many blessings he's given to me because I have so much more than most. I love the Lord, My Heavenly Father, the gospel, my husband, my kids, my family, my friends and sometimes when it's all said and done my trials (not right now but I know that I'll look back on this some day and say wow we made it through that can you believe it).