My latest project!

Everyone has a "catch all" space in their house right!? Well I'm not exception! However, my catch all space happens to have been the butler's pantry where amongst the 50 year old rotting floor and wood paneling you could find an old floor freezer, complete bathroom sink (that never made it's way upstairs), car parts, tools, recyclables, paper, extra chairs, AND JUNK!

Well one of my waves of inspiration HITS ME and I find myself tearing everything out of this disgusting, old, completely useless room when I decided that I could turn this into my OFFICE! WOOT WOOT

I am so super excited I had done almost everything by myself, including, putting in the new floor and tiles! Jeff helped rewire the room and had Shanendowa's help painting! As of today everything is complete and I'm showing off my new office!


Looking in from the Kitchen. It's a small room but I'm glad to be putting it to some good use :)


The computer desk takes up much of the room but unfortunately it is a necessity in an office!


Isn't it funny the stuff you can find in your house that you forgot you even had! Like all of these shelves; Oh and the mirror! Which completely opens the room!


The floor I am quite proud of. I did this all by myself including fixing the worn out spots in the sub-floor before putting down all those sticky tiles :)


KID ART completes my new office! These are some pieces Annabel had done in 1st grade XD TOO CUTE!

My little swimmers

It's been a working progress. Year after year we go to Scriba Town Park and swim in their pool and every year my kids are getting better and better! We are in the 8 ft section of the pool and this is us smiling up at Jeff :)



This video is PROOF that Annabel can swim! She's gotten so grown up! She could do this last year but she had a confidence issue! She's worked out the bugs I think ;) Check out my big girl!



Nathan lacks the confidence but not the ability as you can see. In this video he is swimming to me as I am swimming away, lol, he starts to whine however he continues forward and makes it safely to the ladder.




My kids have grown up sooo much! Next year Annabel won't need me at all in the pool and Nathan will be sooo close :)

Harborfest Fireworks (or the lack there-of)

WHAT A RAINY YEAR FOR HARBORFEST!

The only part of Harborfest we do is the fireworks. So we went down to my parents and the WHOLE crew was going! Well we wanted to wait until the rain let up and we parked at my parents and WALKED to the fort to see them!

HAHAHAHAHA, well we left and it was sprinkling...we get down the street and it's down pouring! We walked all the way their and had a 45 minute wait with (about) SEVEN KIDS who were soaking wet and shivering. We would not have lasted!

With the possibility of the fireworks being canceled we decided to walk home :(


Not a dry spot on us, anywhere ;)

With soaked EVERYTHING we walked! Got almost back and don't you know it STOPPED! LOL just our luck! So we ended up watching them on television at my parents with all of us SQUEEZED into our family's clothes! HAHAHAHAHA we were a sight for sore eyes, DEFINITELY!

Even on t.v the firework ended up being a bust since it was so humid and foggy the smoke couldn't clear fast enough and MOST of the fireworks looked like lightning behind clouds, honestly!

I am extremely grateful that we didn't wait around with 7 soggy cold children and 8 miserable parent for fireworks that we couldn't even see!

Enchanted Forest

Family photo of BEFORE the trip! Just in case the rest of the pictures were a disaster! At least we started out with the right spirit ;)

LOL, so Jeff printed out the direction from MapQuest instead of taking the directions from the brochure! He wanted to save mileage...and if you know Jeff that's something HE ALWAYS SAYS!!! It's his obsession or something XD

Well we're driving and following the directions and GUESS WHAT!?!?!?! We turned onto a road and (hahahahahaha) the bridge was out! Did I happen to say that I was the one driving!? No, well I was and from that point on we got sooooo incredibly lost that we had no idea what road we were even on because of the lack of signs! UGH, so I'm TRYING to remain calm, knowing this wasn't HIS fault but not having a map or GPS I was quickly feeling my blood boil! We twisted and turned on roads with NO idea if that road wouldn't lead us down horrid back roads with NO cell signal (which happened frequently)! Finally we saw LIFE, well a person, and asked here in the heck we were...we had made it to some small town outside of ROME! YAY, so finally we knew where we were and made it to the McDonald's in Rome where some wonderful people pointed us in the right direction! We ended up postponing our arrival and HOUR AND A HALF but it was well worth the experience we had :)

This is the first picture we took :)

Thank heavens we did all the dry rides first because after the water it was pretty much over from there.

Annabel is such a little poser. In every picture I took she positioned in the funniest of ways...but...the Water Safari had this whole nursery rhyme theme! It was cute, we saw Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty, Humpty Dumpty, Peter Cottontail, you name any child's nursery rhyme and we saw it!

This one is from Hansel and Gretal! The kids got the biggest kick out of the giant cupcakes and ice ream sundaes !!


They also had this huge farm with all these animals...you walking into this cage (HUGE CAGE) and the animals were roaming free.


Here are the kids in Peter Cottontails egg :) So CUTE <3


Annabel and Nathans FIRST ferries wheel ride!


They were extremely well behaved. We even saw a circus show that was amazing and the ONLY time we had ANY problems was in the gift shop! I think it's pretty self explanatory as to why ;)


The train ride!! Nathan was THRILLED there was a train. It goes from one end of the park to the other.


The AMAZON

This ride was awesome we all could go...so we have this HUGE tube and have to ROLL it up this HUGE hill. I was petrified because I didn't know if we all could be in the same tube with Jeff and I both being bigger...but we made it :) Nathan almost cried all the way down, he was petrified!

CRAZIEST thing EVER!!

This ride scared the living daylights out of me! A single cable...suspended over the entire park, moves so slowly that you could feel every shake...all I could think was that I was going to fall and die! Oh man...! Jeff snapped this (not very good) picture of Annabel and I as I was freakin' out!

Last but not least :)

Our last thing we did before we left was have another family photo taken with Paul Bunyan...lol...we couldn't have asked for a better trip!

I am happy to report that we didn't get lost coming home and NEXT time I'll know EXACTLY how to get there!

Out of the mouth of BABES

So I've decided to start this new project (it's still a secret I will share soon) and therefore have been preoccupied with that. Jeff is on vacation this week and has a to-do list a mile and a half long...I think the kids were a bit restless and that as you can imagine equals disaster.

After a long dragged out temper tantrum by the lovely Annabel I sent her to her room for some quiet time. Much to my surprise there wasn't much resistance as there usually is. I took that as a sigh of relief and resumed work on my project.

Well before I know it she comes down stairs life resumes to it's regularly scheduled program and before I know it bedtime has arrived. Jeff and I walk the kids upstairs and Annabel is shoving this drawing in my face...I brushed it off quickly but she refused thus READING ME her letter she wrote while she was in her room for quiet time!

"and Jeau's told me to weepent today mom. Annabel weepented and I said praer today."

Isn't that the CUTEST THING EVER! I'm posting pictures because this is too cute to miss <3


So this is a self-portrait <3


The figure to the left is Jesus XD
I personally LOVE his hair!


Annabel's REPENTING heart!

How super cute...I guess she does listen...my MOST favorite part is the "weepent" spelling! After she read this to me I picked her up and held her in my arms and told her how much I love her <3

Summer lovin'

I'm totally loving summer time...well...mostly! I could do with the kids going back to school but I love that I don't have any set schedules (with the exception of church) and so far the weather's been fairly consistent.

With summertime comes barbecues, pools/beach/swimming, family vacations, relaxation, play dates, girls night, the drive inn, fire works, fairs, sundresses, picnics, water parks, and BONFIRES <3

There is one thing, call it the downside of summer, that puts a damper on all those wonderful summer activities. Can you guess what it is? Come on...take a guess! Waiting...waiting...did you guess a dirty house!?!?!?! If you did you're right! I for the LIFE of me cannot keep my house clean! It always seems like we're running in to grab stuff and running back out! Which would leave one to believe that because we're never home in the summer that the house would stay clean! HAHAHA, NOT! Instead I find that when we get home the clothes, dishes, random items get dumped in the first available 'bare' spot and I'm too tired or busy to deal with it! Then it builds up...until, I SWEAR, it will take me a few days of hustle to make it presentable again. However, lol, usually I clean my house when I feel inspiration hit but lately it's been whose coming over and WHEN!!!

To all the parents out there I'm sure you can relate...but summer also brings constant complaints of I'm bored, It's hot, Can I go...(you pick the destination), Mom, Nathans being mean to me...Mom, Annabel's breathing my air...MOM!!! Can any of you empathize with me?

However, despite the few (chuckles to myself) complaints of summer it totally makes it worth all of the time one gets to spend with family and friends! I just have to invent a solution to the dirty house syndrome and summer would be close to perfect!

Partially blond!

The last few weeks I had the privilege to work at Rice Creek Field Station with a program called Exploring Nature! It's 100% Science all day every day! It's awesome! After a my two weeks of hard work I rewarded myself by getting my hair done!

I got it highlighted and when I first looked in the mirror I was in complete and total shock! I didn't have words enough...it grew on me and now I LOVE it! It even has this way of making me look more tanned!
Everyone seems to love it EXCEPT...you guessed it...my husband! The one person whose suppose to love it no matter what, right!?!?! HAHAHAHA, I guess he doesn't think blonds have more fun...

Here are some pics, excuse the bathing suit :)


Nice view of the back, what's really great though is about a year a go I had red highlights put in and NOW with the blond you can finally see them!! HAHAHAHA


me :)


I love this one even though the my hair is wind blown!

Spring 2010

Mother's Day Tea with Nate <3



Fallbrooke <3
Shen, Annabel, and Nate





Nate's Graduation (I swear he looks EXACTLY like his father)

Oh Man How Time FLIES!!!

LOL, I was looking at my FB profile for the um-tenth time this evening BORED out of my ever loving mind and realized ah...duh...I have a blog and I haven't even looked at it in MONTHS!!

I'm NOT writing EVERYTHING that's happened the last however many months but I'll quickly recap and try (being the operative word)to be more diligent in my writing.

Wow, School's out for summer! I'm...egh...about 25 percent excited about this! Summer means fun, sun, swimming, lazy mornings, camp, vacations and everything else summer brings. But at my house, and I'm pretty sure most other places SUMMER brings whiny children, long HOT afternoons (with no AC), No money, and I also LOSE a large part of my mind in the process!

Ya know it's funny people always ask me: "how are you doing" and I ALWAYS respond (those people who know me can attest to this) "CRAZY!!!"

Shanendowa just finished her orientation for college! YAY! Graduated 6th in her class and is genuinely the best teenager I know!

Annabel just finished up the 1st grade! With much appreciation to her amazing teacher...she passed :)

Nathan has made the MOST changes in this short period of time! Pre-k graduation (sniffle) and he's riding a two-wheeler bicycle now! My baby is no longer a baby and I'm having moments where it saddens me BUT I remind myself he will always love me no matter how big he gets!

Jeff and I are still working hard, maintaining our careers (mines still revolves around raising my family, mostly, but it's hard work!) raising the kids and trying to find our way takes constant effort.

I have put applications in everywhere! Unfortunately, in this day and age teaching positions are few and far between...I often feel like it doesn't matter how GOOD you are it's about the people you know; and being a girl with virtually no connections I fear I'll be looking for a job for the rest of my life...but I KNOW without a SHADOW OF A DOUBT I'm suppose to teach!! Hopefully somebody will realize how incredible I am in the classroom! I can even prove it...given the opportunity!!! So please keep your fingers crossed for me!

Oh...last but not least...my high school ten year reunion is this Saturday! I honestly have no stinkin' idea how and where the time went! Hopefully it'll be fun!

I've got a few pics...

Peeved about Playdough!

So earlier in the week I was talking to a bunch of moms at Bug's school and we were talking about playdough. Most of the mom's use it and it's monitored and whatever. So me feeling like the bad mom for not letting playdough in my house was doing some DEEP cleaning and came across a old "new" package of playdough (dust and everything)! Well I decided maybe playdough isn't that bad and let my kids play with it...AND THIS IS WHAT I GET!!





You know I tried to monitor...I said it only could be played with at the table...playdough time is over. Next thing I know I'm cooking dinner and playdough smushed up all over my house, in the carpet, on a tablecloth, on my couch! Yeah well guess what?!?!? EVERY ounce I could scrap out of my carpet is NOW IN THE GARBAGE! I will NEVER allow playdough in here again!

Bowling Bananza :)

So Nathan had a field trip to the bowling ally today! I love watching little kids bowl, it's a combination of humor, caution, and patience!!


Kids are sooo funny, and more than once did a ball get stuck in the lane because they bowl soooo slowly, LOL!! Yay for BUMPERS!!

Nate's Action Shots!




The FINAL SCORES! Nate won!


LOL, Check out the MPH at the bottom of the screen! Painfully slow sometimes :)

My Newest Nephew <3

So Friday night I got to have over night the newest addition to my family, my little 7 week old nephew! He is sooo cute and looks exactly like my sister! Thanks to Holly I have a picture of him, well several in fact!



His name is Levi but anyone who know's me know's I'm into the nicknames...I call him Frankie cause he looks like a lil' turtle!



Frankie with Aunt Daisy <3



I think I'm lucky it's only drool!

What!?

So it isn't even 10 in the morning and this day has been incredibly bizzare!

First, I got up this morning and started a load of laundry! I know CRAZY! Then I was talking to Holly on FaceBook and got disconnected! I realized I needed to get bug to school and couldn't FIND my keys ANYWHERE!! UGH!!!

Took me forever then I get in the van and the the dang van was stuck on the ice wouldn't move forward or backwards!!! I had to get out and throw some snow under HOPING I could move a little. At this point Nate's late and I figured a prayer couldn't hurt! So thank you Heavenly Father my van got out!

Got Nate to school, got home and realized the text I sent to Holly never sent and because of that I didn't recieve her SIX texts! I've never had problems with my texts not sending.

So, now if that wasn't wierd enough my phone rings! It's my mom :) so I answer it and much to my surprise SHE DIDN'T call me! She has a land line so it's not like her pocket called. The phone was laying on the table and she saw it blinking red and picked it up and I was there!

Creepy huh!?!?!

I hope the rest of the day isn't as wierd as this morning has been!

Thought of the day:

"The promise is made to everyone. There is no discrimination, no favored few, but the Lord has not promised to crash the door. He stands and knocks. If we do not listen, he will not sup with us nor give answer to our prayers. We must learn how to listen, grasp, interpret, understand. The Lord stands knocking. He never retreats. But he will never force himself upon us. If our distance from him increases, it is we who have moved not the Lord." (Pres. Spencer W. Kimball)

I'm keeping up with my 40 day challenge and I read this and LOVED it! It spoke volumes when I read it and it reminds me that I need some down time to ponder and to listen. I hope it touches you as it has me!

Let It Snow!!

So all that complaining of no snow in December finally caught up with us! January comes and whoa...SNOW...and lots of it!!! :)

Thankfully we didn't have to many places to be this weekend and Church was canceled soo I took full advantage and stayed in my pj's all day! OoOoOoOo...the kids played in the snow with Jeff and I took to the couch!

*BIG HAPPY SIGH*

I was almost worried that the kids would have a snow day AFTER having 10 days off but much to my relief school was still on!! I was going stir crazy this vacation and the kids NEEDED to go back to school! YAY!! Pics are coming soon of all this crazy snow!

Happy New Year!

I hope the new year brings new beginnings and happy memories!

New Years Eve, not too much to report besides Nathan being sick, but all of you know that's nothing new, we hit a couple parties and I was in bed by 11! Exciting I know!

As with every new year people set resolutions or goals and I use to but then realized most of these resolutions are unattainable and mostly revolve around losing weight. I'm over obsessing about my weight, it makes me miserable and depressed to dwell on the fact that I'm not a size 2 (or whatever). I've decided healthy is the way to go...as of this moment the ONLY thing wrong with me is that I'm anemic! So I want to focus more this year on my spiritual health.

Increasing my spirituality I think will boost my self-esteem and leave me more satisfied with life and I also believe being more spiritually in tuned will clear up any clouded thoughts and open my eyes to new possibilities!

So my "resolutions" this year is to read the Book of Mormon all the way through...a little secret...I've never actually read it all the way through so I'm going to! I also was to magnify my calling. I ALWAYS do my calling but I want to take it to a new level I want to experience joy from it...I want to be prepared to teach before Saturday night. I want to soak in all the experiences and have my life be blessed because of it. I want to prepare myself to go to the temple by October and become more steadfast in my scriptures and in my prayers...none of these things are hard to do but I think once a routine is established the more fervent I will become in the endurance part...

Wow, now that I'm made this post all about me I hope the kids will to benefit from my boost in spirituality and my efforts will stand as an example to them and provide evidence that religion is an important part of my life and in turn theirs as well!

Christmas Day :)

So...I intended to keep up on the blogging but we all know the road is paved with good intentions...LOL



So after all that preparing Christmas Day finally arrived!! And I told the kids before bed that they weren't "aloud" out of their rooms before 7 am and wouldn't you know it I had a hard time sleeping! I was up at 5 am all excited for Christmas. I layed there for two hours hoping the kids would get up already and wouldn't you know 7am on the DOT kids were up and RUNNING down the stairs!! I layed there pretending to sleep as they all came flying back up the stairs <3

I've learned from previous years that when kids are opening presents the cooler they are the further back they have to go! Once they open the "fun stuff" then nothing else matters. So...LOL...they continued to open clothes and once we finally were done with them and onto the toys...(this is the cutest thing ever) Nate said with lots of enthusiasm "Now, THAT'S what I'm talking about"!!!! I laughed so hard I almost cried.

We had four children this year to buy for and money was tight so each child got two toys...and the rest were things they needed like clothes, boots, things like that and I learned something...they don't need lots of toys and now that Christmas has passed I'm grateful I'm not picking up lots of toys and I think they appreciate what they do have a lot more! Yeah there two toys were cool but I've never seen them appreciate them so much :)


Christmas was fantastic! And my food was delicious! I made the bestest food of my life on Christmas...my turkey LITERALLY fell off the bone! I went to pick up the turkey out of the roasting pan and the breast lifted right off the bone...CRAZY!!!! OoOoOoOoOo, and YUMMY!