Knock and Run

We did the Secret Santa this year.  We made cookies put them on a plate, placed them on a door step and ran to hide.

With small children, "Jacob" who didn't understand the meaning of "hide and be real quiet".

At one house we hid behind a truck and little did we know.  When the owner of the house was looking out she could see all of our legs and feet crouched behind the truck.  Oh well, she invited us in and we were able to see her 3 day old baby.

At another house we hid behind their raised yard.  And Jacob was standing.  His little head poking out.  Emma kept squatting and then standing to see if they came out yet.  She was spotted.  This time the owner of the house yelled, "Thank you!"  We were laughing so hard, I am sure she heard us.

This year we were also the receivers of a Secret Santa.  They gave us the 12 days of Christmas in a giant stocking, presents wrapped for each day to open.  The kids had so much fun taking turns opening the presents.  There were stories, games, songs, cookie mix, hot chocolate, candy canes.  Each telling us what their family traditions are on the day before Christmas.  Thank you to who ever did this.  It is so nice to feel loved.

Christmas Letter 2009

Every year I say, "Next year I am going to send out birthday cards to everyone.  Next year I am going to pay attention to when my friends have birthday and make sure that I wish them a happy birthday, next year I am going to send really nice Christmas cards with a really great letter.  I will send them to all of those wonderful people in my life that have blessed my life so much."

Then the next year comes and well, it just doesn't get done.  Usually what happens is I get so excited about it.  Then I get hung up about what kind of photo we are going to take of the family.  What will we wear, where will we go?  Then I struggle with getting the cards, how much will they cost.  Well, if I buy cards then I wont have much money for the rest, photo's and stamps.  Then time runs out and I think well if I don't get them out by July of the following year then it is just too late!  Then we start all over again.

Two years ago, we went to Olan Mills Photography, the one in K mart.  We all had new black t-shirts on.  We looked really good.  We had fun it was great.  We got the photo's and Emma was in outer darkness.  I couldn't send that out.  So we went back, to have them redone.  They over booked their appointments.  It was a nightmare!  Kids looked good but they were not happy.  (because we had to wait so long!)  We waited for the prints.  They never came...  The lady that took our photos decided that she was not happy that we "made" her work overtime the night before Thanksgiving so she deleted our photo's.  We decided to NEVER have our photos taken at a place like that again.

So, last year Pa took our pictures, we had a great time, the photo's turned out great!  We got them printed.  I had cards to put them in.  I never got the letter written.  So, I now have a stack of last years photo's sitting in a drawer, wondering what I will do with them.  The plan was to send them out this year along with a new photo.

Every year I blame the "I didn't get a letter sent out" on having a new born or being pregnant.  Good excuses I think...

This year... the new photo never happened.  I have last years cards, I don't have any stamps.  And I am currently writing the really "great" letter!

What do you think so far?

Ya, not that great yet.

I would like to say this before I forget.  I really do love the cards and letters that I get in the mail.  I am so thankful that even though I don't get a card out to everyone.  I am thankful that you all still think of me and send one.  Thank You!!

It is my goal this next year to get the Christmas cards sent out.  My goal is to get them out by the end of November.  How great would that be?

This year has been a great year.  We have been happy and healthy.

Pa has had a steady job working for ASU.  He does photography work and online graphics.  He really enjoys what he does.  He also has found a love for learning about survival.  And working on getting our family prepared for emergencies.  He has taken classes on what to do in emergency situations.  He can if he chooses to be a first response person.  I think that is cool.  We also took a class together on CPR training.  It was the first time either of us had ever taken this class.  So nice to have that knowledge.

I have been so busy being a Mom.  For a while there I was trying to study to be a Health Insurance sales person.  But, I have decided that this is my season to be a MOM and I am so grateful that I can be a stay at home mom.  Yes it would be soooo nice to get out of debt and to have some "extra" money.  But it is my time to be with my kids.  I was having such a hard time getting the Health insurance information to stick in my brain, but I noticed that the more I tried to get it to stick the more the information was being booted out and replaced with kid and home stuff.  I mean who else will remember where that missing toy or shoe is.  I notice it as I am walking by, that info needs to be stored somewhere in my brain right?  So for now, I will be a MOM and take the Health Insurance information that did stick and use it for my family.  Some of that stuff is really interesting.  Some of it.

Emma is in 2nd grade now.  7 1/2.  The years fly by so fast.  When she was in 1st grade she was getting head aches almost every day from the stress.  We put her in a new school and she loves it.  She is one of the top readers in her class.  She is one of 14 students in her class.  She loves school now.  This year for Christmas she is asking for a guitar.  And she wants to learn how to sew.  She is such a good helper with her brothers and sister.  She also loves to take care of the chickens, she feeds the babies and collects the eggs from the big ones.  There are also times when she is  out cleaning the chickens run without being asked.  She also loves her alone time.  I am contemplating putting her in her own room.  She really seems to need her space.  But, on the other had if I give that to her I don't know what I will do with the other kids.  We only have a 3 bedroom house and it is very small!!  For now she is learning what it is like to share and how wonderful it is to have a little quiet time.

David is in kindergarden and is 6 now.  I don't know how he got to be 6, he was just  a cute chunky boy the other day, wasn't he?  I was so worried about sending him to all day kindergarden.  But he is in a great school.  The school that they go to is out of the principals home.  I think there are only 80 students in the whole school, K-8.  David has really enjoyed school.  He still loves to build and invent.  I love to see the wheels turn in his head.  He has such a tender spirit.  He is quick to help without being asked.  He is just a well rounded kid, that I feel so blessed to have in the family.

Abigail is 4.  She talks of going to school next year.  I don't know if I will send her.  She is smart enough, she knows most of her letters and can count pretty high, and she just soaks in all information.  And she keeps it there.  When I was pregnant with her, I was told that if I eat walnuts that it really helps the brain development and she will be smart.  I ate a lot of walnuts and boy is she smart.  Sometimes too smart!  She loves to talk and will sometimes ask us 10 or more questions at once then stop and wait for us to answer.  We can't keep up!  She wants desperately to be just like her big sister.  When we ask her what she wants to eat, she will say, "I want whatever Emma gets."  It is cute but drives us and Emma nuts.  She is also very loving.  She brightens the faces of pure strangers.  Is loved by everyone that comes in contact with her.

Jacob is 2.  I would like to say, "nuff said."  He is 2, he is busy, he is cute, he is adventurous, he is curious.  He LOVES airplanes and bikes and scooters and cars.  He loves to investigate how things work.  He's got to be in the middle of EVERYTHING.  He loves to work, especially outside with his Pa.  He loves to tease Abby.  He also loves to give her hugs.  He has a fun sense of humor, and is quick to laugh.  He is FUN!

I was thinking, this is the first year since Matt and I have been married that I have not been pregnant, had a baby or nursed.  I am me right now, I don't have those extra hormones running through my body.  I am really enjoying my kids because of this.  I am reminded that 2 year old kids really are my favorite age group.  I am also loving to be able to see and hang out with my older children, without having to meet the needs of a new born.  Now don't get me wrong, I love the new babies.  This year has just been a lot of fun.

Our pets... We have 6 adult chickens and 10 babies.  We will have lots of eggs this next year.  So excited!!

We hope you have a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

Love, The Hardy's

Mom's Schedule

Scarves and Beanies

I have the honor of visiting an amazing lady (because of my visiting teaching calling).

She is always so kind.  Not only with words.

For Halloween this year she handed me a $20.00 bill and said, "Can you do something for me?"

I said, "Of course, anything."

She said, "Will you take this a get something for your kids?  I don't like all the scary parts of Halloween but I think all children need to have some kind of treat.  So, instead of me just picking out something for them, I told them they can get 4 things each from the $1 bins at Target.

The kids were so excited.  They looked and contemplated.  And looked some more then they looked at what the other siblings picked out.

They thought they were ready to go, when... they saw Scarves and Beanies!  Oh they could barely contain themselves they were so excited!!

But then they really had to think about what they "really" wanted.

They all carefully thought about it.  Looked at their items, put two back then came back to the winter apparel to pick out their favorite colors.

They were so excited when they got home.

They went out for a fun swing.

And might I add, they were happy to be around each other too.

Kids

David woke up last night at 12:00, he had to wake me up to find out if he could go potty.  Of course I said yes all was well, he went back to bed.

David then woke up at 2:00 am.  He was crying uncontrollably, I went in asking what was wrong.  He said that he can't stop crying.  I asked if he had a bad dream.  He said that he did have a dream but it wasn't bad. He was crying so much that we had to wipe his nose.  He then calmed down and said very bluntly, "Mom, you can go now."  He laid back down and went right to sleep.

Abby woke up this morning because she wet the bed.  Luckily this happened while I was in the shower.  No lost sleep.

Jacob was sick all day yesterday.  All he wanted to do was snuggle and he had a fever.  We gave him this "Miracle Mineral Solution" (MMS), and a blessing.  He woke up this morning happy and ready to EAT!  (He hardly drank or ate anything yesterday.)

Molting

Have you ever seen a molting chicken?

It is quite funny!

And a little sad.

Poor Hunter was so embarrassed by this stage in her life.

She tried to hold her head high.

But the other chickens would peck at those feathers.

So she would keep her head lower than usual just to hide the balding neck.

Poor, poor Hunter.

Reflecting

I've been reflecting a lot lately about the many blessing I have in my life.

As a teenager I thought my life would have turned out tons different.  I thought I would be married by 20, I was going to be done with child bearing by the age of 30.  I always thought I would be in a small town.

For the most part however it is the way I expected.  I always wanted to be a stay at home mom.  In fact I think that was the most important to me.

So, I have been thinking.  Thinking about all of the many blessing I have in my life.

I am so blessed with good health.

I hurt my arm two years ago.  I was laying on the couch with Jacob when he was just a wee little babe.  Abby was on me too, then she wanted to get down, so I was helping her down with one arm.  She didn't get down as quickly as I thought she would, instead she swung on my arm like a little monkey and pulled a muscle or something.  One day I even had Emma stay home from school so she could help me, she even helped me get dressed, she learned how a bra goes on.  She brushed my hair, helped change diapers, she was such a good help.  Well I got it all taken care of and all seemed to be well.

This past month it started hurting for a couple days I could barely pick my arm up above my head.  It made me realize how blessed I am that I am able to care for my kids, clean my house, work in the yard (my favorite), chase chickens, and ride my bike.  Isn't it wonderful to have good health.

Since I have realized what a great blessing it is to have good health I have played with my kids more, kept the house cleaner.  I have had so much joy in being a mother.

I have been so blessed to have a wonderful husband who loves me and I love him.

He is so humble.  When I am frustrated with any of his little faults he is quick to say he is sorry and try to be better.  Isn't that all we can ask for?  One who tries their best?  One who is able to change their ways for the better for the one they love?

I am blessed with kids that are just great!  They are kids that is for sure, but they can be taught and they love to help.  And they love being part of this family.

I am so blessed to be raised by good parents who wanted the best for me.  Parents that taught me to be who I am today.

I have been blessed to be taught the teaching of Jesus Christ.

I have especially been blessed with a loving Heavenly Father who loves me and lets me know that he does.

I have been blessed with good friends throughout my life.  I never had a lot of friends at one time but I always had a good friend to get me though every part of my life.

Every time I wanted to make a "bad" choice in life, I had a friend that would stop me.  Even friends that that had lower standards than myself would keep me "good".

I love the quote I heard on my mission:

"You are a piece of a puzzle from someone else's life.

You may not know where you fit.

But others will fill there lives with pieces of you."

I don't know if that is quoted exactly right.  I will have to find it sometime.

A few years after my mission I went to do some work in the temple.

The lady that gave me the name of the woman I was going to do the work for said,

"She has been waiting for you."

I smiled.

The lady said,

"I am not making this up.  She has been waiting."

I smiled again, looked at the name, tears came to my eyes and I said, "I know."

The last name was Booker.  I had recently learned of a member from my mission, Ruth Booker.  She had recently passed away.  I loved Ruth, she is one of those people that has become a few puzzle pieces in my life.  She taught me SO much.  She would always say,

"You can always tell when I am having a hard time in life, because that is when I have the biggest smile on my face."

She also taught me that you should never be afraid to share the gospel with everyone.  She always had referrals for us.  She talked with people in the grocery store, at the doctors office, anywhere she would go she would open her mouth.

I have been very blessed to have a place I can call home.  I love the house I am in, yeah it is too small.  But I can call it home, I can paint the walls any color I want, I can plant any plant I want outside, I can have chickens without asking permission.

My husband has been blessed with a steady job.  We haven't felt the recession that bad.

I am thankful that I feel my Heavenly Fathers hand in my life every day.  I am so grateful for the direction he has given me.

Life really is great.

Chicken Update

It has been a while since I have spoken of our beloved pets.

Our chickens.

I would like you to meet our oldest chicken.

The last of our 4 original.

Her name is Hunter.  If we ever have work to do in the yard and we come across lots of bugs (crickets mostly).  We get her and know that she will stay by our side till every bug is gone!

She is also at the top of the "pecking order".  I think she has earned it.

Hunter is the one on the right.

This is the run we built, oh it must have been a year ago now.

I have written in past posts about the problems we have with the doves.

They love that we have chickens, they LOVE their food.

The doves in our area are very FAT!

I do not like the doves.

We were buying a $15.00 bag of food probably every month to feed, the DOVES.

We came up with a plan to put a top on the run.

Pa put hooks on the tree and on the posts of the run, then rope, then the net.  It is just plastic birds net from Home Depot, fairly inexpensive.

The big FAT doves cannot get in.  The baby doves get in under the gate.

We now go through probably one bag of food in 2 1/2 to 3 months.

Since this has happened I have noticed that doves love to sit on our "problem" neighbors roof top.

They have purchased a fake owl that the doves adore.

We have purchased 10 more baby chicks of all different breeds.

It was a struggle to teach Jacob to love them and not squish them.

It took him about a week to learn what "Too tight" means.

I love this photo because these two chicks are about a week difference in age.  The one on the right was about a week old and the one on the left is about 2 weeks.

With our six chickens that are currently laying eggs we get about 4 to 6 eggs a day.

Minus what ever the kids drop on their way in.

Poya

I have some really cute photo's to go with this, however... I don't think they are internet worthy.

Jacob really wants to start going poya (potty) on his own, but he doesn't want anyone around while he is experimenting with his potty powers.

So I stood around the corner of the bathroom and held the camera to take some really cute photo's of him.

After a while he realized I was there and he came out to push me away and say, "you go, mommy!"

I had to laugh, but it didn't stop him, thank goodness!  He still likes to try!

Shoes

I have a really nice sister in law who accidentally bought one too many shoe cubbies.

She offered it to me and another one of my really nice sisters in law (is that how you write it or is it sister in laws?)

We both declined.

Then the day came when I was looking at the room were we keep the shoes, it was worse than this photo.

I thought, oh how nice it would be to have a shoe cubby of my very own, maybe we could have some really nice shoe organization.

So, I quickly send out the e-mail, asking if the offer still stood.

"Can I please have the shoe cubby?"

She was excited to get it out of the house, and I was sooo excited to receive it!!

The very next day I sat on our laundry room floor and started to put that shoe cubby together.

It took 2 hours to put that thing together, and my fingers were sore by the end.

However, I love it and so do the kids.  They use it.... mostly.  They are still learning that we can have,

a house of order.

Thank you so much Katie, we are loving it!

It's the Simple Things,

That bring pure joy

Sometimes the best times at home are having a sleeping toddler.

Good night my little pudding face, car loving boy!

I know there will be a day that I will miss this.

Glasses

Last night we went to Target and got a pair of glasses for FREE for Emma. They are doing a special...

A FREE pair of GLASSES for children ages 12 and younger. All you need is a current prescription.

So check out your local Target and see if they are doing it also.

This offer ends Saturday Nov. 21st.

The glasses Emma picked out are worth over $200.00!

Thankful

Emma brought her "Monday Folder" home yesterday and I was looking through the past week's school work.

She had one paper that had two feathers on it, on each feather was something she was thankful for. It also had things written all over the paper like, she is thankful for Her sister Abby, her friend Marin, for big David and for little David (uncle and brother).

Then on one feather she said, "Emma is thankful for our house."

On the other feather she wrote, "Emma is thankful for China for making everything."

She hears us grumble about China and how they make everything and blah blah blah... but she found the good in it. We got a good laugh out of it!

Shopping

I have never really been one that really likes shopping. My Mom might say otherwise, in my younger years I remember trying to force myself to be like other girls and like shopping but I just have never really gotten into it.

Today after dropping the kids off at school, I was turning a corner. The corner across from me is Home Depot. I think my heart jumped a beat. I felt as if Home Depot was calling out to me. It was saying, "come, explore my isles full of projects just waiting to be done!"

I didn't go.

But I really wanted to.

I really like the satisfaction I get when I am able to build or fix something around the house. Or plant something in the yard. I love to look at the beauty of something that has been completed and I did it!! Of course I usually have the help of my husband, and many times I get to just watch him do it while I keep the kids out of trouble.

Last week I was able to help a friend build a chicken coop. That was fun. It took us all day and it was a very simple one, but the satisfaction was wonderful. We didn't need our husband's help. We just worked very hard and got it done!!

What a wonderful feeling.

Halloween 2009

This was a really FUN Halloween for me. Maybe because I was excited about it early on? I don't know. Emma really wanted to be a pumpkin. So I saw on a Martha Stewart thing that you could make a pumpkin costume out of a pillow case. So that is what I did. The hat, well, I made that up. I died the pillow case because it seems that no one wants orange pillows (Martha was very wrong at how easy it would be to find orange). I measured just the way Martha said but it was wrong, I didn't want to die another pillow case so I sewed what I had already cut back together. It was a pain to do but... I didn't have to go out and buy another thing of die.

So, here is beautiful Emma... What is halloween without face paint?

David, oh David. He wanted to be a bat so bad last year and the same passion rolled into this year. So, I made this bat costume. He drew a picture of how he wanted the shape of the eyes and also the shape of the ears. So, this is really his design. Gotta love it!!

Abby wanted to be whatever Emma wanted to be. But, Emma talked her into being a mermaid.

This costume was borrowed from my sister in law Andrea. Thank you!

Abby loved being a mermaid mostly because of the make up. Pa did a video of her when he was taking pictures and Abby was telling him all about the make up that she gets to have on. She kept smacking her lips it was SOOO cute!

I never realized how long her eyelashes were until I tried to put on mascara, they run right into her eye brows.

We went to the store after the trunk or treat party and there was a man that was blind in one eye. One of those things that makes it really hard not to focus on the person, but focusing more on the eye. Well, he asked Abby what she was. Abby just couldn't stop talking and she held his hand and just showed Christ like behaviors, I was very proud of her. He was very impressed with how much she was talking to him.

Jacob, we wanted to dress him up, but he didn't want to. I think we have had this lion costume for about 3 years now. Every year I want someone to wear it, but none of my kids will. So sad.

So, Jacob went as Jacob.

Well, at least this year my niece Amelia was able to wear it to a party the week before halloween. She was excited! Hooray!!

And here we are as a family. Pa is our cowboy!!

So, after posting the picture of Amelia, I guess I better post some pictures of my kids from the other party. David was still a bat. Emma and Abby were hula girls.

It is hard to see Emma but you can see the coconut shells that she was SOOO excited to wear!

Achy Head

So, Sunday October 10th I got sick with the flu, it lasted till about Thursday the 15th. After that I got a kink in my neck, that finally went away on the 25th. The kink mad me have a headache. So, I can't believe this but I have had a headache since the 15th. yesterday, Sunday the 25th I slept. I slept so hard I left a puddle of drool on Pa's pillow. The headache went away, it was fabulous.

I woke up this morning, I was fine, then I sat down to the computer and my head a is again in pain!!

It is just my left side.

Could I have a pinched nerve, could it be my eyes? I've been reading blogs and I cover up one eye and that seems to help. Must be my eyes... Tylenol doesn't seem to want to work. As much as I don't like going to the doctor it just might be time...

I Love Roundabouts...

MAYBE!

Everyday I drive my kids to school.

Everyday I drive through two roundabouts.

Everyday I have to drive on the defense.

Today, I was almost squished by a trailer. The driver switched lanes, so I went beside him. He didn't notice me, so he cut corners and nearly squished me. That was on the first roundabout.

When I came up to the second round about I decided to stay back a little for he might do it again...

People on the second roundabout assume way too much!! There are many times that I come very close to being hit, but I think today was the closest encounter.

I need to go straight, but for some reason everyone assumes that I will be turning to get on the freeway.

So, I am going straight, and a car nearly hits the passenger side of my van. I break because if they are going to hit me, they are going to hit me in a good spot where they wont hurt any of my kids.

I think they were 2 inches from hitting me.

I mumble under my breath then as we drive a little further David said, "Mom, it sure was a good thing that we didn't catch on fire."

I asked him if he saw the car almost hit us, he said, "Ya, it's a good thing it didn't."

Yes, David it IS a good thing it didn't.

Today, I was reminded that I need to keep all of my kids on the drivers' side of the van.

Today, I am thankful that we are all safe.

Abby and Jacob's Birthdays!

Abby and Jacob had a birthday.... and it has been a few months now. So, now Abby is 4 and Jacob is 2!

Abby is such a fun little girl. She can make anyone smile. We will be walking at the store, down the street, at church, etc. And Abby will have the biggest smile on her face. She is quick to wave and smile at everyone. Everyone!! Children, Parents, Elderly, Scruffy Men, and even the Ritzy!! And Everyone! Smiles back and comments on how CUTE she is. She has such a special spirit to her, that just makes ya feel good.

She is still very afraid though. She will not go to class at church and if we make her go she ends up screaming one of those screams that says she is really truly afraid. I just can't figure out why she is so afraid and why did it start when she was just a baby.

She gets picked on a lot from her big brother and sister. But she can also dish it out very well.

She is always hungry, always! Yet she wont eat what she is given, we have a lot to work on with that one. Sometimes she wont eat what she asks for.

Jacob is 2, I can't believe that my youngest is 2. He is such a little ham. Always getting into trouble. He loves to climb. He loves balls and cars. When he has a hard time getting into his car seat we give him a car and he is happy as can be. He loves to work, whenever Pa or I are working in the yard we are sure that Jacob will be out there with a shovel in hand, or asking for cloves so he can be just like us. He loves to wear shoes. The minute he wakes up in the morning he is asking for shoes sometimes before he is even out of bed. He still climbs into bed with us at night. He thinks it is soo funny to let the chickens out of their run. He also likes to go in and terrorize the chickens that are trying to lay eggs. He walks into the coop and just screams as loud as he can. The chickens usually protest and cluck back at him. He loves to terrorize everyone else too. You can catch him chasing his sister around the house, just so he can hear them scream. He loves his brother David, if David is doing something you can be sure that Jacob is watching, learning, and laughing!

These two were born on the same day 2 years apart.

Grandma and Grandpa Hardy came over before the party.

dolls name is Robin

We made a doll cake for Abby, Emma put on the candles. She did real well keeping the flame away from the dolls hair.

Jacob loves cars so he got a "road cake" with a car and a bike.

David is not too fond of cake, he had about 4 or 5 servings of ice cream.

He was very happy!

David really needs a dog. He was rough housing with anyone he could.

Thanks to everyone who came and thank you for the gifts and helping eat all of those cakes!!

She's cute

When I picked David up from school today he jabbered about what he is doing in school. Making a haunted house, putting glitter on pumpkins and such, he looked up and saw a girl from his class.

David said, "Hey Mom, that's the girl that showed me poky man (I don't think I spelt that right) cards."

I said, "oh that's cool."

He said, "Ya, she's the girl that has spots all over her face too."

I said, "Oh, freckles, thats cute."

He said, "Ya, she's really cute."

I just smiled, then said, "what is her name?"

He said, "I don't remember, but from everything I know about her I really love her."

I laughed inside.

She really is a cute girl, red hair, freckles, cute smile...

He is in kindergarden... all I ask is that we are able to keep good communication together.

I like that he can talk to me.

August 6, 2009

I've been horrible with keeping up with the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th child when it comes to their "firsts". David lost his first tooth back in August. Yeah!! The tooth fairy brought him a tooth fairy bill, still need to get a photo of that, (for blogging purposes) she also brought him a small toy figurine. He loved it! He also asked if I was the tooth fairy. He is a very smart kid. -Ma

Cowgirl

September 8, 2009

Now if this isn't cute, I just don't know what is...

Slobbery Kisses

I was sitting on the couch about to fall asleep when Jacob comes in with his big spiderman car. He stopped by the couch. Climbed up to me and gave me a slobbery kiss on the cheek. Just what I needed.

He was so happy that I was very thankful that he kept coming back to give kisses.

Such a cute boy.

- Ma

Oh, Emma is now sick... coughing up a storm. I am glad that I have a little more energy to help her with her needs. Isn't that how it works, we don't get it all at once, it has to drag out!!

I'm Sick

Somehow I got the flu! I feel horrible.

My eyes just want to close. Pa stayed home yesterday to help out. It was very nice of him.

I thought I was a little better today, but I'm not.

I am so glad my kids are older and can kind of take care of themselves.

Cartoons work wonders. And a cool day is wonderful too.

I've almost lost my voice. So when they are into something,

I have to clap to get there attention and then,

I am amazed at how well they listen to my hushed voice.

It is time to turn on Hulu and snuggle up with a blanket on the couch.

- Ma

"I was just playing."

Yesterday I needed to pick Emma and David up from school about an hour early. David was a bit perplexed. Like he had no idea that I could take him out early!! I was really cute.

Emma is used to change and was ready to go very quickly.

On my way to the office I had to pass the play ground. I noticed three boys rolling around in the middle of the grass. My first thought was, WOW, I can't believe they aren't doing anything about those boys. Looks like someone is going to get hurt.

I looked a little closer and noticed that David was right in the middle of it all. The boys were all smiling and having a great time.

Then I was amazed that it was my little boy that was playing so roughly. I wasn't in shock, we keep saying that he needs a dog so he could rough house with it.

That night we were eating dinner and I was telling Pa what I had seen. I described the boys as Wrestling boys. David puts his head down and said, "I wasn't wrestling, I was just playing."

So for the record, he was just playing. But he was sure having a GREAT time!! -Ma

Honesty

Saturday we went to Target to buy baby powder and baby bath wash. We went to the baby isle first and decided what we wanted and put it in the cart. We ended up buying A LOT more than planned!!

We checked out, went home. Then I think it was Thursday before I realized we didn't have the powder or the baby wash.

Frustrated that we would forget it and the cashier wouldn't say anything. I went to the store without the receipt, too lazy to look for it.

When I got to the store they let me go back and get the products, however they did look in the books, they said that there was no record of the products being purchased, but I could still take the products.

I started to doubt if we purchased the items. I had such a headache because, if I didn't purchase the items then I basically walked into the store and stole them... I couldn't handle the thought of me stealing something. So I found the receipt and the powder and baby wash didn't make it on.

A little embarrassed and a lot shy about going back and paying for them, I couldn't get rid of my headache so, I went back to Target to pay for the items.

As I told the cashier what had happened and that I was going to buy the items and she was to have them re-shelved. The cashier looked at me like I was insane!

But it wasn't worth $5.00 savings to me, I am an honest person and I want to stay that way. So despite the cashiers reaction, I did what I did. I just don't want to go through that again!! -Ma

Kids Quotes

1st half of the 2009...

January 2009

"You know what kind of leaf this is? This is a flying bird leaf."-David

"I am an alien from earth."  -David  He had a box on his head.

February 2009

"Mom, I'm stronger than mean guys!"  -Abby

"Doing cars, that's a boys job mom." Says David. "What do you mean?" asks Ma. David sighs and says, "girls can't have cars." "Sure they can." Ma replies. "Nope, just boys." - David

March 2009 

I put some new/used shoes on Abby that are a size bigger.  I asked, "How do they feel?  Do they feel too big or just right?"

Abby said, "I want you to choose."

I respond, "Oh, but I can't feel them they are not on my feet."

Abby walks over and puts her feet/shoes on top of mine.

I couldn't stop laughing.  She thought it was funny that when her feet would go on mine I would laugh.

April 2009

Emma was putting her hand in the sunlight and out of the sunlight.  Then she said, "Mom, sunlight doesn't feel like anything.  That is because it is made of cheese."  

A friend at school told her that the sun is made of cheese. Emma believes her friend more than me... I can't believe it!! ;)

Abby put Ma's bra on and walked around saying, "I'm gonna feed babies."

What to do???

A while ago I put all of my children into one 10 x 10 room to sleep.  As you can imagine it was very crowded!!  But it doesn't seem too bad.  

The one thing that had to go was the door.

But, when a door goes missing who wants to see this...

when you walk down the hall?  Not I.

So, I nailed up some sheets with pretty flowers from my wedding almost 9 years ago!  As you can imagine the sheets stayed up for, um, a few hours.  LOL

So, to Home Depot we went.  We cut some wood, slid the top of the sheet over the pole, and viola we have closet and bed privacy.

Now, doesn't that look sooo much better??

Sorry for the dark photo's, one day I will figure out that camera!!  LOL!!  -Ma

Spider Man

Every time I try to get rid of spider man David lets me know that he is not ready to get rid of the dancing and singing guy.

So now that he has a good rip I thought I would be able to send him packing, after all he is broken.

David assured me that we can fix him.

So I did...

I guess spider man needs to stay a little longer.  :(  -Ma

Twister

July 27, 2009

For Family Home Evening we played a game of Twister!!

We couldn't figure out how to explain the rules to their understanding.

But they had fun anyways!!