Disneyworld

We just got back from Disneyworld. That place is huge! We had to take a bus, ferry or monorail just to move to different parks. But OH WHAT FUN! I got to ride Tower Of Terror 3 times. I would have done more, but we ran out of time!

It was cold! We had to wear our coats every day but the last day. I even had to buy some gloves because I couldn't keep warm. But who's compaining? We were at DISNEYWORLD!

We also got to go to Universal Studios. Not as fun, but I did get to go to Suess Landing. I have always loved Dr. Suess. I also got a picture with a Who!

Wind

I got all of my christmas lights and stuff up while it was so warm a while back. Well, I woke up this morning, and they are blown to *$@#! I am so sick of wind. I can't decorate for anything unless I wire, solder, nail, bolt, or set it in concrete! I'm moving!

We are done

David is on his last week of Knoxville time. Now he will only travel periodically through the year. I can't believe we made it through! I think that we are all the better for it. It was a sacrifice on both our parts, but we made it work, and we got some great benefits from it. I sure don't want to do it again though! Especially through the summer.
I am thankful for my family. I couldn't have done it without my Mom and Dad. They watched the kids more times than I ever thought I would have to ask for. They were always willing to help no matter what. Even when my Dad was having some really bad days with his disease. My parents have always been there for me, and I am so glad they live close by so that I can spend my time with them.

Life lessons...

We went to conference this weekend. Sunday morning session. We were not as early as I would have liked, and when we got there, it was chaotic. I was instantly MAD. (you all know how bad my temper is) Anyway, when we finally got through the door, every seat in our section was taken. So they sent us to the next section. Unfortunately, there were about 1,000 others in the same predicament. This went on for 15 minutes. They held us up and said we needed to wait until they could find a spot for us. Meanwhile, people were just slipping past the usher and getting seats. I got madder and MADDER!!! So much for the spirit residing in me for the great spiritual event to happen. Finally, I stalked off, dragging Chase with me, David following, and went up (very angrily, I might add) to a lady usher actually daring to look in my direction. I said "all they are doing is sending us somewhere where we have no chance of even finding a seat. Where are we supposed to go?" She said, "I have 3 seats right here," and pointed to them. Get this, they were on the very back row in the handicapped section, where we had extra leg room, and were able to get out easily. Plus, it was right in the middle of the conference center, so we had a straight on view of the speakers. Can you say HUMBLED? Here I was, fuming mad, giving dirty looks, not even trying to be nice, and the Lord blesses me anyway! As we sat down, David pulled out his ticket, and it said if we weren't in our seats by 9:00, they could be given away to someone else. Well, we didn't even get in until ten after. And here I was being a jerk! I learned a great lesson that day, and I won't forget that my Heavenly Father loves me no matter what. (or maybe he just loves Chase, and I benefited from that) ;)

October!

It is finally here! The month I look forward to all year. I love Halloween, I love fall, I love everything about this time of year. As soon as we get back from Conference, I am putting up all the decorations. Look for some new ones this year! Happy fall, y'all!

Back to school

Ryan started preschool! He is going to Natalie's, the same as Hannah and Chase did. I LOVE her! She is so great.

But I am sad. I knew this time would come. All three in school? Even if Ryan is only gone for two hours, he's still IN SCHOOL! Yes, I have some time to myself, but I just can't stand the thought that my kids are old enough to be in school! Now I'm getting officially old.

Staying

Staying! Need I say more?!

Still here...

Still here, still in limbo. I had my husband home for 1 day. We went to the company picnic. The kids had a blast. I just liked to sit and talk with David. I really want to go camping. Can you just tell I feel all blah...

To be or not to be...

I know many of you have heard that we might be moving. David has been in Knoxville, Tennesse overseeing the new shipping facility being built there, and he has been away a LOT! The longest he has been home since this all started was 4 days. For the next two trips, he will only be home a day and a half. This is taking it's toll on us. I feel like we are stuck in limbo. I just want us to be together. I do not know how other families do this when their loved one has to travel ALL the time.
So where we are right now is waiting to hear if they would like to make him permanent out there, or if they want to keep him here and oversee things out there.
Do you know how hard it is to make a decision like this? All of my family is here. I LOVE my ward, and my neighborhood. The kids have the best friends living right next to us. As a mom, I couldn't ask for better friends to help my kids be good. I have friends. That might not be a big deal to someone else, but to someone who has a hard time making friends, it means everything. But I have an awesome husband, and I kinda like to be with him. I think maybe the kids do too. So if it comes down to it, I will go wherever he is. And if that means moving, I will suck it up and do the best I can.

Our baby birds

We have been watching a killdeer in our driveway, waiting for her eggs to hatch. Our next door neighbors have kids that are, shall we say, not the best behaved. They have thrown rocks at her, taken one of the eggs, (David chased him down and put it back) and generally disturbed her. I was starting to get really ticked off. What possesses some kids to just be so dang mean? I mean honestly, the birds nest was on my property and these kids think they can just come on over and have at it? But I digress...

Yesterday evening the kids came in all excited because they saw the babies! We went out and saw that two of the eggs had hatched. The shells were still in their tiny little fuzz. One egg remained, the one that was taken, and we were worried it wouldn't hatch. But it hatched this morning. We were so excited! They were running all over the yard. So cute!

Here comes summer vacation

(My flower bed, all planted!)

(What the kids are doing first day of vacation; playing the Wii and talking on the phone!)

No more classes, no more books, no more teacher's dirty looks! Now they'll just come from me!

The first week of summer vacation is here. What are all of you going to do with your children this summer? We are going to be missing our daddy and husband. He will be in Tennessee for most of the summer working on the new shipping facility there. Hopefully we might get to go in July sometime, but mostly it will be just me and the kids hanging together here.

First we'll get swimming lessons out of the way, then comes Girl's Camp, then the Fourth of July, and then summer is halfway over! And I don't think the sun has even came out yet!

I did get my flowers planted, though. And my garden is starting to sprout! So bring it on, I'm ready!

Another win!

Well we took Lagoon by storm. We got first place for each of our dances, and a Grand Champion! This has been so fun for me.
I also got to ride Wicked for the first time. David wouldn't ride it, so my friend Tiffany loaned me her husband and we went together. I thought for sure I wouldn't like it, but I LOVED IT! I can't believe all the fun I missed out on when I was younger because I was such a pansy. We got Hannah to go on the Bat, but she hated it, and almost lost her glasses. Chase really liked the dinosaur drop. You know, the one like the Rocket, but over in Kiddie Land. He went on it about 10 times! Ryan wasn't scared of anything. He is much braver than Hannah and Chase ever were. It was a great trip, and I love clogging!

Idaho History

Fourth grade means Idaho History. (it was sixth for me) As you all know, my family is way into Idaho history and the Native Americans that were here. So of course Hannah did her project on them. She put a lot of work into a diorama (with Papa's help) and ended up winning a ribbon for best village. I am very proud of her!

Happy Mother's Day

I love being a mom! It is the most frustrating, fun and dangerous thing in the world to be. I am constantly terrified by the fact that what I do will make my children what they are. If I force good behavior down their throat, then will they rebel? If I make them do things they don't want to do, will they hate me forever? If they find out all the things I used to do, will they think that they can do them too?
But wait, if I just love them and accept them for who they are, I can't go wrong, RIGHT?

I am falling apart...

This year has been hard on me. You would think clogging and the gym would keep me in good shape, but I have some serious problems going on. I have tendonitis in my Achilles, and now I have a rotator cuff injury that wakes me up all night because I like to lay on my side! I am very thankful for Ibuprofen!

Happy Birthday Hannah and Ryan

Ryan turned 4 on Sunday, Hannah turns 10 today! I know-I didn't plan that very well. But when you are 100 weeks pregnant and the doc offers to get the baby out the next day, you don't hesitate. So instead of being a week apart, they ended up being a day apart.

I want a stick-shift!

Yesterday I took my mom and dad to the car dealership to pick out their new car. We were looking at Honda Civics because they were having this 0-0-0 deal. They had a red one with a manual transmission. I fell instantly in love! Oh how I miss my old cars with stick-shifts. I tried to talk them into getting that one so I could at least borrow it once in a while, but they wouldn't go for it. So I tried to talk my husband into letting me get it for myself, but he pointed out that it wouldn't pull our camper. (Details!) So I guess I'll just have to wait until the kids are gone, and then I can have a little car with a stick! Unless someone has one I could just take for a dig once in while?

Gone...

I miss my husband so much. He has been gone for a week and a half. (I'm counting) He is so far away. How do wives whose husbands travel all the time do it? I overheard the kids saying they miss him too. I wish I could just pack us all in his suitcase and go with him. Dang the whole money and school thing anyway!

Winners!

We took first place in our dances last night!

Pancakes

I was exhausted last night from competition, so I slept in. When I got up and came out I could smell pancakes! Hannah had read the box, mixed it up, and cooked some all by herself. I could not believe it. Excited she took some initiative, excited she can do things on her own, TERRIFIED she is starting to do both!

Clogging Competition...

Tonight is dress rehearsal for our Pocatello competition on Friday. Our theme this year is the 80's. So I had to fashion myself an outfit from various places. (Thank you, D.I.) But we are also doing a James Bond too, and that's the one I'm looking forward to. It's harder, and will show what we're made of. I'm excited to see everyone's costumes tonight!

Coloring eggs

As an only child, I got the whole dozen to myself. So when I divided the dozen between my three, they only got four each, and there were 9 colors! So more eggs on the stove! Fun!

April Fools....

For my annual April Fool's Day dinner, we had "Chicken Pot Pie." Pie crust on top, white chocolate pudding, green and orange tootsie rolls, yellow starbursts, and white chocolate pieces. (for peas, carrots, corn and chicken) It's funny how much the kids look forward to it. I think they'll make me keep doing it until they're gone!

Honesty...

I left my little mp3 player at the gym, and when I went back to get it, it was already gone. It was just a little dinky one I had for a long time. It still measured in mb's instead of gig's. But still, someone just had to have it. What is wrong with people?

New member

Chase got baptized today. I gave a talk. Hannah sang. David did the baptizing. What an awesome day!

Hello March

We are definitely on the downside of winter now! My driveway is so slushy and mucky that David just about gets stuck coming home. I have so much gunk on my garage floor from melting snow off of the cars that it's like a mud pit. I can see toys that have been buried under the snow since December. I can walk out to the mailbox without a coat and not freeze. When I park my car and the sun is shining, it is actually warm inside when I get back. I'm so happy, and yet I HATE spring. It is so messy! Talk about a contradiction. But I don't care as long as it starts getting warm!

My Scout

Today is Chase's first day of Scouts. He is SO EXCITED! Isn't he handsome in his uniform? I sewed for TWO HOURS on the patches. We've already signed off a bunch of stuff. It is so great!

Something's wrong...

I was down 25 pounds last fall. I felt great.
Then after Thanksgiving I started feeling a little down. I got tired a lot. I started gaining weight again. So I joined the gym. I went 5 days a week for two months straight. I sweated big time.
Didn't lose a pound. I bought some fun things for the Wii. Sweated big time. Didn't lose a pound.
Now it's February, I'm still going to the gym, still doing the Wii, and have gained all but five pounds back. I feel like total crap. What is wrong with me? Is it because I don't have my reproductive parts anymore and am starting menopause? Is it because I am miserable? Is it my Thyroid again? Is it because I'm just a whiny baby? GRRRR!

He's eight...

Happy Birthday Chase.

Birthday!

Monday is Chase's eighth birthday! I can't see how this happened so fast. He was just born, and now he's getting baptized! Is there a stop getting older button I can push somewhere? He is my little sweetheart. He always says he loves me and gives me hugs all the time! I know that won't last much longer, so I'm enjoying every minute. He is definitely different than Hannah and Ryan. Their personalities are a lot alike. Chase has always been different; a little more mellow, more loving, less dramatic. He and I get along a lot better than the other two, whereas David gets along better with Hannah. I love my family, and I'm so glad I have them. Wish I could have more.

I have city kids...

When I grew up, in the winter I rode snowmobiles. ALL THE TIME. I went sledding ALL THE TIME. I loved a good blizzard, because it meant more places to ride and sled.

Reality Check: I married a city boy, and haven't been on a snowmobile since. The biggest hill I've gone sledding on is the Ucon pit. My kids have not rode a snowmobile since my dad got rid of his when they were babies. (Ryan never has) I am sad. They won't get to experience the fun I had.
They are CITY KIDS.

New year, new hair

I recently had my hair colored to a nice chocolate brown. It makes my eyes stand out more, and it doesn't feel as dried out. I loved it when I had it done, but I am really having a hard time adjusting. For one thing, I didn't think of the fact that the whole rest of my family has blond hair, and now I look like a stepmom or something. (my husband pointed this out to me, but he still likes it) For another, it doesn't seem like my makeup or my clothes look right anymore. My friend Carie said she felt like that too when she had hers done. So now I have to decide, will I keep it, or will I go back.... We'll see in a couple of months!

Blah

Did I mention I hate January? Nothing but blah......
The only new thing I get to look forward to is new clogging dances. Sorry to be a bummer. Come on February!

Cleanup...

Just got all the christmas decorations put away. But while I did that, I also put up Valentines, which kills two birds with one stone. Did I mention I love holiday decorations?

I don't like New Years. In fact, I hate January. I love winter. Is that contradictory? For me, the new year starts in the fall. That's when I feel most renewed and want to clean and redo everything. But, in the spirit of tradition, I did make some resolutions. I decided I need to quit spending money on little stupid things. I need to quit being so grumpy all the time. And, of course I need to get fit! My friend Lesli has this amazing blog called Get Off Your Butt And Get Fit. I love it. She is awesome. Check it out.

Here's to a new year.