hail, hamahama, & handcarts

We slept safely last night. Which is a huge blessing. One I sometimes forget to be grateful for. Every morning that we wake up and have another day to live, and make choices and to be better people is a real blessing and shouldn't be taken for granted. Last night's storm did spawn some tornadoes, none of them were close to our home. The stake center had bigger hail, and was much closer to actual tornadoes. There were 60 cars in the parking lot that had hail damage. The girls had a lot of fun. This morning they had to be at the church at 7am ready for a 5 mile trek pulling handcarts. It was cold and windy today and I think they were in for an eye opening trek.

Today we had a primary activity for the littles. They enjoyed it and came home full of stories of how it went and what they did.

E had a soccer game. Papa and DH took him. They won and he scored. He came home happy about that.

After the activity the kids had their friends over to play for a couple hours. It was fun to watch them and see what they chose to do. Brother and his friend C, got out blankets and made a landscape. Then they jumped around pretending. They talked a lot to each other about what they were doing. "and then we...." . The girls went outside for awhile and then after lunch locked themselves in H's room and quietly played. The boys were anything but quiet. Both sets had a fun time.

Afterwards we cleaned up and Papa and Grandma came over. We all went to Joe's Crab Shack together and I had the yummiest shrimp with mango salsa. When dinner was done Papa and DH took the kids home and Mom and I went to a Pampered Chef party, that turned out to be canceled, which was fine.

Yesterday H started hula lessons. She and several of the little girls in the ward are doing the hula for our ward talent show at the end of the month. She is excited. I stayed to watch them and it was pretty funny. Their hamahamas were hysterical. I think they'll do a good job. Hopefully the whole activity will go well.

I "found" this cute pic on Wendy's site and wanted to use it too since I secretly wish I was her next door neighbor and we could go to mommy surf club together:)

Friday the 13th????

I dropped the girls off at the stake center and headed back towards home while the weather got worse and worse. We ended up driving threw sirens, hail and black skies. Unfortunately it's not the end of it for us yet.
Hopefully everyone will be safe.

water awearness

As a kid I never learned to be a good swimmer. I love to be out at the ocean, or by my pool. I am not a great swimmer however. When I had kids I, like most people I guess, had a list of things that were very important for me to make sure my kids could do. Swimming was way at the top of the list. I took everyone to lessons and no matter how much they cried or complained or were worried about it they learned to swim. Not Lucy but this is her year. They love the water and are little fish. And I am glad.

Today I randomly happened upon this blog and it made me pause and think. So go take a look, and then teach your kids to swim. And if they can't and you come to my pool expect me to be a swim-nazi and not let them in the gate without floaties.

grocery day

When Dani got a job downtown working at a fancy schmancy restaurant she had to memorize the menu, and what was in each dish, and how it was prepared, etc. I know this because I quizzed her.

I think Wal-mart should adopt a similar policy for their checkers. The checkers should take a produce test before being allowed to scan items. Produce because it doesn't have a bar code. Finding the bar code on boxes of soap, or pkgs of socks could be a separate quiz; but I digress.

I can not even count the number of times I have been asked "what is this?", only to have to answer zucchini or ginger root or artichoke. Thankfully I have never had to answer banana because I don't think I could stand it. I know not everyone eats vegetables and so could be stumped by some exotic specimen but I think if it's in your store maybe you should be familiar with it.

That said yesterday the kids were eating a before bed meal snack and I was reading from Highlights to them and we read about the pangolin. An animal I had never heard of. So, who am I to talk?

lists: not complete, off the top of my head, in no order

Some random things I love, dislike, look forward to. In no particular order.

Things I like:

• artichokes, with mayo. The yummiest lunch ever.
• my suburban. Even though it gets awful gas mileage it has room for everyone and the kids love the TV. And I love the heated seats, surprise, who knew I would?
• reading. H and I are reading "the Wizard of Oz" together and it's very fun.
• the food channel. We just "discovered it" and it is so cool. I love Iron Chef, and Throw Down. Very fun.
• Amazing Race and Survivor
• warm weather
• doing art projects with the kiddos

• that S is an awesome cookie baker
• soft grass
• the smell of rain
• my "imaginary friends"
• my real friends
• freshly laundered clothes
• cooking on the grill
• eating at Joe's
• going to the zoo
• babies fresh from the tub and all jammied up
• coco cabana
• digital photos
• general conference
• chocolate
• teaching brother's preschool
• listening to my kids dreams and hopes
• cheerful yellow walls
• walking on wet sand

Things I don't like

• those little plastic beads that you melt into designs...and that I get to pick out of the carpet a lot lately
• over flowing laundry baskets
• the smell that gets on your hands when you pump gas
• nakie missy taking off her diapers every hour
• lima beans
• being stuck at the train tracks
• library fines
• planning ward parties
• a DVR that records part of a show ~argh

Things I am looking forward to

• dream Disney vacation (woo hoo!)
• seeing Dani and Greg next weekend. It'll be so fun to visit with them, to get my hair cut, to see MSV and to sleep in on Sunday (if they have church in the afternoon...I think they do, I hope they do.)
• brother's soccer game
• the girls going to youth conference this weekend~ I think they'll have a great time
• swim season
• going to the downtown arts festival

woman to woman

Lei and Morning Glory do this woman to woman thing that I always enjoy reading but haven't participated in yet. This week's topic I found very interesting. I think anyone who has more than one child probably has one that is more difficult than the others. Maybe even anyone who has any children at all :)

"Parenting or grandparenting children that have difficult personalities... be they temperamental children or children with legitimate issues like ADD, sensory dysfunction, or developmental delays. Share your hardships, share your successes. You mothers can vent away, and you grandmothers can encourage us to hang in there by sharing your past parenting/grandparenting challenges and strategies."

I have one daughter that is more difficult than the others. She is sweet and bright but STUBBORN and really gives us a run for our money.

While her older sisters were generally obedient, especially during those young years she challenges us and doesn't want to obey even if it's something that is good for her.

She gets hooked on TV or whatever she is doing and has a hard time switching gears.

She also is loud (talks loud, eats loudly, walks loudly, laughs loudly) and doesn't seem to have a good sense of personal space. She will walk into you, step on your toe, smash you with a shopping cart or talk in your face without seeming to realize that she is being intrusive.

So, how do we deal with it? With an extra measure of love, a huge internal sigh (sometimes), a gritting of our teeth (occasionally), and laughter ( more of that is needed).

She seems to need a lot of attention and a lot of physical activity to stay sane. We make an extra effort to plan one on one activities with her, or special activities for her to do with friends.

She doesn't like to sleep but if we can get her to bed early-ish she seems to do better.

Also as she grows she is getting easier.

She likes charts.

She has a special bond with Nana and Abba and sometimes when she is really worked up a phone call with them helps a lot.

We try and remember that if we can channel her energy and strengths to something positive she will grow up to be an awesome young woman. Like everyone she needs to feel accepted and loved. We try to see her talents and compliment her.

Our "difficult" one is like the other kids really, only more intense. She demands more of us.

I hope that she will find something that she is passionate about~ a hobby or activity or something and that finding that thing will give her some focus and help her mature.

We'll see. DH and I feel lucky and blessed to have a sweet family and the children we have. Including, and maybe in the end most especially, for the "difficult one".

Rangers Game

The crack of a bat, the smell of hot dogs in the air, fireworks lighting up the evening sky for every home run. These things were all new to us. We took our kids to their first pro baseball game last night. DH got free tickets for a Rangers game from a friend at work. (yeah for free!) We had a surprisingly fun time.

We were excited to go. We had planned to go with Papa and Grandma therefore planned on Tues night so they could go. Several of our friends went last night and today Grandma called and told us they couldn't go so we were a little bummed that we had missed going with our friends the night before. Despite that little disappointment we were psyched to go. I didn't know how the kids would do and we planned on leaving early. J did get to bring Emma, and she was happy about that.

First thing we did when we got our seats was to hop up and go buy $2 tee shirts. Then we got back to our seats and were there in time to hear the Star Spangled Banner sung.
The first guy up for the Rangers got a home run. There was fireworks and cheering.

The whole game was very fun and exciting. The Rangers won 12 to 9. The kids had so much fun watching the dot race, seeing the fireworks, cheering, dancing, hoping to see DH and I kiss on the screen. It was very entertaining.






Lucy was a little wiggly but we traded off keeping her busy and she actually did pretty well.
I brought snacks, and crayons and paper to draw on, drinks, the works. We used it all.

I got to visit the bathroom about 6 times with different kids.

On the last inning the Rangers were ahead 12 to 6 and so we headed out. When we got down to the bottom we decided to look at the field one more time closer up. Then we saw that the Devil Rays had scored while we were walking down, twice. We then watched them score again.. it was such a surprise. Fortunately it ended well :)

We walked out to the car and the minute we were inside and closed the doors it started to rain. Perfect timing!

I was surprised we stayed the whole time and that we had so much fun.

The End

the fun continues

Grandma's neighborhood had an Easter egg hunt today. She invited us to go with her. They had a bouncy house, tons of eggs and snacks. It was very fun. We were the first ones there so the kids got to jump for awhile by themselves. That was nice because Lucy didn't get knocked over. Soon there were lots of kiddos there. Our kids are very friendly and make friends where ever they go. Soon they were running around and playing with the other kids.

They got more candy and even though we had to wear jackets it was still festive and fun.

Happy Easter!

Easter morning started early. The littles came into our room with treats from the Easter Bunny, which they then ate on our heads. They were excited to get chocolate and little treats. The big girls chose to sleep in and look at their treats later. They were also happy to get chocolate, but it is fast Sunday so they had to wait to indulge. They both got Disney tees for our DDV coming up and were excited!






We spent the morning hanging out. I worked on my lesson. H and J and I watched a fun show on the food network about Easter candy. We got some stuff ready for dinner.

Then it was time to go to church. It was very nice to have fast Sunday on Easter. I felt like the feeling at church was very reverent and it was nice to be with our friends and to worship together.




After church I took some pictures of the kids in the Easter best. They were hungry and goofy but tried to cooperate.




Are we crazy dog people or what?

J played her violin for Papa.

After dinner our friends came over and we had dessert together. It was fun to visit with them. The kidlets played games on the wood, we ate and ate and talked and talked.

Happy Easter!!!

hunting for eggs

We had invited several families over today for an egg hunt and dinner. It turned out to be a busy day for several and then a lot of people have been sick so we had some last minute sickies as well.
Heather and Zach came and Rachel and Robin and Haylee. They also brought their neighbor's twins.
We had a fun time. We visited while dinner was cooking.
The kids had a great time hunting. It was cold outside and we bounced around trying to keep warm. The babies didn't seem to mind and once they figured out that they were looking for plastic eggs filled with c.a.n.d.y.! they got into it.

Here are Zach and brother checking the back of the truck for treats. E loves to play with big boys and had a great time with Z. They played x-box, which was a real treat since we've had it unplugged and under the bed for the last two months.








Lou raced around and got lots of eggs. At first she had to run back and show me each one but soon she just went for it :)


Fun picture with DH's reflection in one of the metallic eggs.



Grandma made kulich and paska. I remember Baba Katya making that every Easter when I was a child. We always went to San Fransisco for holidays and for summers when I was small. We stayed with Baba Olya and Deda. I think mom really liked to spend time with her family and of course it was fun for us kids too. Alec and I had our beds in Baba Olya's room and she would talk to us when we were going to sleep. When Michael got older he joined us in her room too. Baba Katya lived with them and my uncle and his family lived close by, as well as lots of extended family. It was fun to have holidays with them, to spend time in Golden Gate park, and to play in the back yard and when we were older to play on the roof.
It was fun for mom to make it for us this year. The kids all liked the paska a lot. I am glad they get to spend time with their grandparents and to get to know them well.

egg coloring

Today was egg dyeing day. I missed my good friend Sheila today. She often dyed eggs with us because her hubby was allergic to eggs so we did the dirty work at my house. And because it was a lot of fun.

it's snowing!...

the day before Easter. Admittedly it's just a flurry but it's darn cold.

My computer has been out of commission for two days. Since Thursday night. It's been torture :) Last night was the first chance I had to be back on line. I was too tired to post though.

Thursday night DH and I went on a date. We had wanted to see "Amazing Grace". It wasn't playing in our town but it was about 30 minutes away and it was leaving on Friday. I think it's still in Dallas. It was well worth the effort. We got lost going to the theater (of course) but found it on time to see the show (miraculously). We sat through all the previews and then they started "Dead Silence" , which was the show that was supposed to play at the next time slot. There was an uproar in the theater. People who are going to see Amazing Grace are not the same crowd who want to see DS. Probably 6-8 people jumped up to go complain and they quickly switched it. Luckily for us they gave everyone free passes to come back another time.
We both loved the movie. I didn't even know the name Wm Wilberforce before, however now he's a hero. He was a tireless abolitionist who worked for years to end slavery in England. I won't give away the plot but what really impressed me is this group of people who had nothing personal to gain, spent all this time and effort on a cause that was just. They were good Christian men and had a burning desire to do what was right. We left feeling uplifted and grateful.

The plaza where the movie theater was is so nice. It's open with a fountain in the middle, and lots of upscale shops and restaurants. We walked around a little just to see what was there. Found a place to stop for a very yummy burger. Went to the bookstore (natch) and the came home. It was late.

And I had to get up early to go exercise (groan). I think we're getting stronger (yeah!) but not thinner (darn).

Yesterday S and H had dental appointments. S's went well. H's was a disaster. She needs two crowns and a root canal. This will be her second of each. I don't know why she has such trouble with her teeth. She has the same oral care the rest of us do. I guess it's no candy, and brushing 3x a day for her now. We do sometimes miss a brushing because she is stubborn or late but I am still so shocked. Her two front teeth are getting banged up. They both have little nicks in them. The dentist feels it's because of her overbite. They are right out there as big targets. We had D do braces young and then she had to do it again (which is twice the expense and the pain). At that time we decided to wait for subsequent kids, so J and S waited and they both had braces that were much quicker and only once. I am thinking we may have to revisit that policy for H, or she may not have anything left to straighten.

We then spent the day doing errands and cleaning, and going to mom's in the evening to get stuff out of her house. DH spent the whole day in the yard, digging a trench, moving dirt around. When we finally got home and got the kids tucked into bed at almost 10pm, we were ready to collapse into bed ourselves.

This morning we have a soccer game and tonight we have some friends coming over to Easter Egg hunt and have dinner. It'll be a small group. And cold. But hopefully we'll have a nice time.

Spring Party

Today was H's spring party. E and Lucy and I went. It was a lot of fun. They had an Easter Egg hunt on the lawn. The eggs were numbered 1-12 and they had to find them in order.
Then they had grilled cheese sandwiches and treats in the classroom.

H enjoyed showing her brother and sister to her friends, they enjoyed sitting at her desk and eating goodies.



H and her friends Lindsey and Alexa.


Showing off her finds!

shopping fun

I needed to go out to Cabela's today. Dad came with me. If you have never been there it's like a museum/dream store for big boys. E loves it there. We had a fun time looking at the giant catfish, the stuffed animals, the cool guns and the fishing poles. We walked in the tents, sat in the chairs, sampled the candy and climbed on the boats. Very fun. They have a restaurant inside and Papa treated us to buffalo burgers. I was very excited to try it and it was good but gamey. I think I prefer cow.

Brother loves all things manly. The shotguns were way too big for him though. I asked him if I could take a shot, he said yes and I hit the target...which helped his score and thrilled him. Then he wanted me to take the rest of his shots as well. I did three more (and hit all three times) but then I had him finish. It's not about the score...right ;)

One year ago today....

Happy Blogiversary!

It's been one year today since I started my blog. It's been very fun. I started because my sister Anna did and I thought it would be a great way to journal. It's turned out not to be so much a journal because it's more public than I expected but it is a fun travel log through our days. I have a horrible memory, which is a bad quality in a mom...but I guess a good one in a wife :) so its been really fun to look back and see what I recorded. I have been surprised to make "online friends" ~an unexpected bonus to the blog-experience. And it's a great way to keep in touch with family.

say what?

Tonight was H's last night at gymnastics. She enjoyed her class a lot. She is good at bouncing around!

G had her evaluation today too. She failed, or passed depending on how you look at it. We had two evaluators, Maricarol the speech therapist and Erin the cognitive therapist. G was cooperative and enjoyed "playing with" them. She has a 5 month delay in speech. On one scale you need a 6 month delay so I thought she wouldn't qualify. They did a second test where you only need a 4 month delay and she still had the 5 month so she's in. Which is good, I guess. She scored about 36 months on most of the cognitive stuff but only 21 months on verbal communication. Which is a 15 month difference. No wonder she is frustrated. We start therapy next week in our home. I think it will be fun. Hopefully it'll also make a difference and she'll quickly increase her vocabulary. They said she was amazingly communicative for someone who only says 10 words. She is, we understand her well. She just has trouble with people who don't know her.

Meanwhile brother is learning to read and write. He is very interested and wants to write words all the time. It's fun. I hope he will be an independent reader soon. I think he'll enjoy it a lot.

conference Sunday

Conference was today. It was, as always, really good. I like watching it at home. We always have a pot luck lunch between sessions at the church. Today I found it distracting to get stuff ready for it. Once we were there is was fun though. There was lots of food and a lot of it was really yummy. Donna's wild rice was delish! it was probably my favorite dish of the day.

The kids always enjoy running around with their friends.

The talks were great. I'll be excited for next month's Ensign so I can read it and make some notes. Pres. Hinckley suggested we use those talks for FHE for the upcoming months. I am excited to do that.


After lunch we came home and watched the last session. Then DH wanted to go to the Botanical Gardens and enjoy the lovely weather and look at the flowers.

The big girls didn't want to go but the littles did. We had a fun time. The weather was perfect. The flowers were blooming and the air was heavy with the colors of the sky, trees, grass and blooms and with the sounds of laughing children, talking adults and buzzing bugs.



We stopped by a little pond and the kids played for a long time. They enjoyed jumping on the rocks and playing with the other kids there. One little girl found a tiny turtle. E and H played with it and with her for a long time.


Collecting nuts, hopping on rocks, smelling flowers, and enjoying the sunshine were the order of the day.

We got home late, fixed dinner then gathered in the living room and visited about the conference before bed.

It was a good day.

Conference weekend

It rained and rained and rained. It poured. We were out last night and the streets were flooding and the lighting was flashing. We've been in a drought so we needed the water.

Today dawned bright and sunny. We had family cleaning hour. DH worked on the lawn mower, then on the lawn.
We got to watch conference at home. Which is great.

Every conference my friend Nikko has a "soup thing". It's very fun. She makes soup, we bring sides and we go after the 2nd session and eat together. The men then carpool to priesthood and the women and kids stay and talk and play. This time I think we had about 7 families there.
Today I made a yummy jell-o salad and J and H and Emma made these cute chicky cupcakes to take with us.





Everything is so green and fresh looking today. It's kind of humid but nice. We were walking over to Nikko's after conference and it turned out to be one of those nice moments. I was pulling the wagon with the food in it. I ended up at the end of the pack because when we all went outside immediately H got on her bike and rode ahead. Then DH and G started walking. Brother called for me to wait for him while he got his bike off the porch, which I did. (S was gone at a birthday party and J and Em were coming in a few minutes). Then he rode ahead so I had a good view of everyone. The greens in the trees and on the grass were so vivid. The birds and bugs were chirping away. Lucy looked like a little Easter egg dressed in pink and yellow and be-bopping along next to her dad. He was all dressed up for the meeting later and looked so handsome. I don't know if it was because of the rain in the days past, or the good conference weekend we are enjoying or what but it was a happy, content moment.

Poor H got a fat lip at the soup thing. She bled and cried but I think she will be fine.

When it got dark mom and I and the littles walked home and J came running out with a fat lip. It was a fake, she was getting ready for April Fools. She did trick us for a moment.

Em is spending the night. The girls are enjoying looking at the stars. She's a good friend to J and it's always nice to have her over.

J's new blog

My Sweet 14 year old started a blog. She's very creative and fun so I am sure it will be wonderful! Go say hi :)

Easter MeMe

Suzanne came up with a fun MeMe for Easter.

1.What are your Easter traditions? We dye eggs and have a hunt. The Easter Bunny comes. We go to church.

2. What is your favorite Easter dish? Ham I guess.

3. When did you learn the truth about the Easter Bunny? I don't remember really believing.

4. How do you decorate your home for Easter? I have several decorations but we don't put them all up every year. This year we have our egg wreath, three glass bunnies on the mantel, a fun table cloth and a glass basket and ceramic bunny that looks like chocolate sitting on the table.

5. How many Easter egg hunts does your family usually participate in? Usually one. We like to have friends over on the Saturday before to hunt eggs.

6. What is your favorite flavor of jellybean? Jelly Belly sparkly pear.

7. How do you decorate Easter eggs? We don't get fancy we just use the regular dye kits.

8. Do you make/buy special Sunday outfits for your kids on Easter? Usually yes. Some years I have made something, some years bought. Some years Nana buys or makes something. It varies but everyone ends up with something new every year.

9. What are your favorite church Easter hymns and/or choir arrangements? I Believe in Christ

10. Do you spend Easter at home, on vacation, or with family? Home, we only get a three day weekend and couldn't travel even if we wanted to.

11. Do you make deviled eggs out of leftover Easter eggs? Yep, love them.

12. Are you tired of eggs by the end of the Easter Season? Yes!

13. Are Peeps good or gross? Gross but I buy them every year because they are so cute.

14. What company makes the best chocolate for Easter Time? Godiva

15. Do you find plastic Easter grass hidden in places for months after Easter is over? No but once when I was growing up we had family pictures taken in the summer and when we moved the couch there was an egg!

Everyone is tagged! Let me know if you participate so I can come and read yours! :)

Warning: this post is about money, a controversial and "hot" topic at best

I have been thinking about money the last couple of days. Well, truthfully I guess it's something I think about all the time. I think everyone does, right?
DH works hard and he provides a nice life for us. A blessing I am very grateful for. We have a budget and live in it (mostly). We try to live in it always. We save, tithe, pay our bills and have some left over for wants. I feel we are very fortunate. We are not expert at living within our means and sometimes buy on credit but we both are united in a goal of getting rid of that bad habit and paying off our debts etc.
It's always a balancing act. Everyone has to prioritize and decide what to spend their resources on. Whether the resource is money, or time, or energy.
So, why the extra attention to the topic now?
Two reasons. First we had an issue, whose root is money, in our family this week.
Second, next week I will have been blogging for one year and I am going to slurp my blog into a book to save for posterity. I thought some useful information would be good to include. I don't know how much useful stuff there is but here is my 2 cents.

A couple days ago we booked our trip for next summer. Both my brothers are coming with us and one sister. Three sisters could not. We actually didn't even invite the two youngest. They are in college and working and young still (18 and 21 years old) and even though we love to spend time with them they are really kids still and not on their own financially or otherwise. My other sister has had some set backs and whatnot over the years and isn't in a position to go right now. She was not excluded, in fact we told her we'd love to have her come and we all would. Still she is upset that we didn't keep her in the loop in planning as much as she wanted and that we didn't plan around her. I didn't talk to her that much about it because I was trying to be sensitive to her feelings. And we didn't plan around her because right now a luxury vacation is not feasible for them. We did talk about changing our plans to what she wanted and decided that if we did she still couldn't go and then we'd be going some where that wasn't our first choice. In a nut shell.

Yesterday she and I had a conversation that I found upsetting. I love her and her family very much and it saddens me that they are struggling. I also gave a lot of thought to the things she said.

This is turning into random babbling, as usual, but anyway.
When I was growing up we were not rich. I am the oldest of a lot of kids and dad is a teacher. He taught at the high school and night classes at the college. Mom stayed home with the kids sometimes doing daycare or teaching piano lessons but she was mostly home when I was a kid. We vacationed seeing our grandparents or camping at the beach. I baby-sat for spending money from the time I was young. My brothers had paper routes, raised dogs, did odd jobs. We all got jobs when we were older teens. It was a normal, happy life.
When I was in later high school mom went to work teaching too and then we had a bit more money. My sisters took more dance classes and had more expensive prom dresses but still we weren't rich. I think I got a good work ethic from my parents, and a good appreciation of the value of money and spending it wisely.
When I was ready to go to college my parents told me I needed to get a scholarship because it was too expensive. I didn't. I went to community college, which I paid for. After one semester I got married and stopped going. Shortly after Dani was born I wanted to go back and so I did daycare in my home in order that I could stay home with her and pay tuition to go to school at night. A few years later I had been going part time semester after semester, baby after baby, when my MIL came to me and said she wanted to help. She thought our marriage was in a lot of trouble and her son wasn't a good husband/father. She offered to pay for my junior and senior year of school. She said it was not only for my future but for her granddaughters. Education is the key to security. This was the greatest gift she could have given me. I was so grateful and I accepted that help with a keen sense of obligation and responsibility. I was a good student and had already shown that going to college was important to me but I continued with a further resolve to not waste that chance. I became a teacher.
Before I finished school I did end up getting divorced. Then my parents offered help and shelter from the storm for the girls and I. We lived with them while getting on our feet. Again I was so grateful. Again I didn't want to waste their help and kindness, I wanted to use that time to make sure I could stand on my own. Fortunately I was almost done with school and was able to become gainfully employed and after a little over a year was able to move out on my own and take care of my children. I feel so blessed to have had that help when I needed it. I am so glad that I recognized the need to get an education and even though it took a long time that I could stick with it and have the security we needed. I hope I am paying forward by teaching my kids the same thing.
You have to get trained to do something skilled. It doesn't necessarily have to be 4-8 years at a university, it could be becoming a great plumber, or x-ray technician or whatever but it has to be something. You have to pay the price at some time. I was talking with my brother about this and he told me that he went to night school for 6 years while working full time as an enlisted guy in the Air Force before he got accepted into the PA program and went to school full time for two years. Then he was an officer and now he works in private practice and is doing well. He said it was hard but he wanted better for his family.
So, posterity, take note. You have to take advantage of getting as much education as you can. You have to have a plan and pay the price. Being a good person isn't enough. Look at Nephi, he starts out I Nephi, having been born of goodly parents and having been taught....
We are commanded to seek wisdom out of the best books. To learn and to know all we can.

I know I am very blessed and very fortunate. I am aware of that and try to make good choices with my resources. We are lucky as well because DH's family spoils us and we enjoy fun things that we wouldn't have otherwise been able to. Fun shopping trips with Nana, a dream Disney vacation! (Can't wait), cool toys. BUT, we live a comfortable life because DH spent 6years in college studying hard, and studying math (who wants to do that??). And the values we want to pass on to our children are those of getting a good education, working hard, saving money. DH's family does that~ has those goals, helps with that and supports that in every way. My family does that~ has those goals, helps and supports. That is the real gift. A cruise is a perk, but an education is forever and the glory of God.

As for my dear sister. I hope she will be less mad. I hope she understands where I am coming from. I hope she knows that I think she is awesome and her family is precious and dear to me. We stand behind her, have confidence in her, and support her. By her I mean her and her husband and family, and by we I mean not only DH and myself but all the kids and our parents, ( I am 100% confident in saying ~though not authorized to speak for them this is just my own personal babble )
She is a hard worker and bright and wonderful. This hard time will pass. In the meantime. I love you.

pirate finger

J and her friends are silly.

Part of the fun of having teens is the silliness and the sophistication of the silliness.

dentist day

dun dun dum

Buon giorno!

When we got married DH and I took a wonderful honeymoon to Kauai. It was so relaxing and so fun! We said then that we wanted to take the next big trip when we hit our 10th anniversary. Through the years we've talked about it on and off. Discussing where we might want to go.
I said Africa, he said No.
He said cruise, I said not so much.
And so on.
There are lots of places we would love to go, but when it comes down to choosing one and doing it it got a little harder.
About a year ago we got more serious about deciding and everything under the sun was discussed from the TX Gaylord to Nauvoo to Alaska or Tahiti or back to Hawaii and everything in between. Then we talked with Nana and Abba who said they'd watch the little angels and that was the green light we'd waited for. We were off...somewhere.
Many months ago we looked at cruises again. I didn't want to do the Caribbean or the typical cruise but it turns out you can go anywhere. Who knew it was such a versatile vacation option? We decided we would probably cruise and were looking at Alaska. We had looked at the Mediterranean seriously as well but didn't see anything that took about a week, which was what we wanted.
Next we talked with my brother and sister and asked if they were interested. They were.
Then it turned out that Alaska was not their first choice so we looked some more.
Then we found a one week Med cruise and we were in business....almost.
Specifics and commitments and "are you sures?" flew around. We wanted to go, it's a little expensive. They wanted to go. It's a little expensive.
Ana&Ama started saving, so did we.

Then last night we did it. We booked our cruise. Leaving out of Barcelona Spain on June 14, 08. 10,000,099 phone calls later I think we're set. A&A booked. A&K booked and Michael is going too. I can't believe it. I am excited, and shocked. We'll make payments and have it paid off before we leave and then we'll be strolling the streets of Rome! Crazy!

playing in the puddles.

I have a dental appointment on Th. That is my least favorite body maintenance thing to do. I love to brush my teeth, I feel nauseous just thinking about going to the dentist.

Because of that Nikko and I switched days this week and we had K over to play after preschool.

Yesterday it rained. End of explanation.

Tonight was the school spelling bee. H has wanted to participate since kindergarten but I didn't let her cause come on what do kindergartners spell? But now she is a good speller. She really has a knack.

So we let her go. It was very exciting to get ready and practice and go over. Then on the first round she got nervous and misspelled a word she knows: credit. Then she cried. And our hearts broke.

We got ice cream on the way home (comfort food) and she called Abba to get sympathy, which he gave very skillfully.