Toni Jean

One of my best friends growing up stopped by for a quick visit last week. If I'd known she was coming I would have done my hair or put make-up on, but instead this is what she got. It was SO good to see her. It's been way too long. She has 5 boys! It's funny that between the two of us we have 9 kids and we were at my house with no kids around. How did that happen? I'm so grateful that I had such wonderful friends growing up. Even though we live in different states, don't get to talk too often, but yet when we get together it's as if no time has passed at all. I love this girl!

Family Photo

A family photo, and we actually don't have any crying kids!

It was great to spend time with everyone.

It hardly ever happens that we are all together,

and I'm so glad we had the opportunity to be together before Kyle leaves.

I love these guys and am so grateful they are part of my family!!

Classified

The other day we were driving in the car and I heard the girls talking to their friend about wearing glasses. First they talked about sunglasses, and then they started talking about regular glasses. M's friend Morgan wears glasses, and J said, "Yeah, that's because she's Classified!" I started laughing and asked her what she meant. She was talking about being far-sighted. It was so cute!

Celestial Companions

We went over to our friends house for dinner and games. This is one of the games we played. It was SO fun. It's kind of like the Newly Wed Game. DH and I totally rocked! We like it so much that we went and got ourselves one. Fun times:)

My 3rd Son

I have been watching this little cutie for the past 14 months. I never I thought I could get SO attached to a child that wasn't my own (or a neice or nephew). He's with us for about 10 hours a day, 5 days a week. I love him to pieces. He's a good baby, which is so nice. He loves my kids. The other day I was talking to my neighbor while I was holding Corbin, and she looked at him and said, "Where's your mommy?" He immediately looked up at me and pointed at my face. I've never seen him do that before. I thought it was soooo cute! But, at the same time, I felt a little bad. His hours that he's awake during the day, he is with me more than his own mom, so I guess it makes sense. Plus he hears my kids call me mom all day. DH has been Dad to him for a long time. His mom is a single mom, and dad isn't in the picture much, so DH is Dad. We love him!

We're In The Army Now

My BIL and SIL are here visiting from Colorado. Kyle is in the Army and is getting ready to be deployed next month, so they are here visiting for a little bit before he has to go. He brought along some things for us to try out.

DH and I tried on his vest (if that's what you even call it), and his helmet. HOLY CRAP! That sucker is heavy. And, that wasn't even the actual weight of it all. There weren't any of his guns, and the magazines were empty. His water canteen was empty too. So once you add all that stuff, it's even heavier. I got down on my knees and then needed help getting up. I can't imagine all the running around and going up and down that they have to do. They are strong, that is for certain. They've got to be tuff. I never realized how heavy their uniform actually was. And, the helmet was heavy too. You would definitely get strong neck muscles from holding your head up with that helmet on.

He also broufght some MRE's for us to try. We got one with ribs, chicken and salsa, and one with ravioli. There were brownies, beef jerkey, cookies, fruit cocktail, crackers, wheat bread, cheese spread, and much more. They sure put a lot of stuff in each of those MRE'. I guess you get one a day when you're out, and they have 3000 calories each. Some of the stuff wasn't too bad, others I could do without.

The boys thought it was SO cool that we got to try all that food. They kept asking everyone if we wanted to try "army cookies", or "army gum", or "army meat". It was pretty cute! They really look up to Kyle. I'm glad that they have a good example that they can look up to. He is a great guy, and I'm sad to see him go again. This will be his 3rd tour of duty. Keep him and his family in your thoughts and prayers.

St. George Outlets

We went to the outlet stores in St. George because I wanted to find some clothes for M. While we were looking I found this cute dress. It was only $6.99! So, of course I had to buy it. I don't really own dresses because I can never find a cute one. But, I loved this one!

Brigham Young Winter Home

When we were in St. George, DH wanted to drive around to see if we could find Brigham Young's winter home. Well, we found it, and much to our surprise it was open for tours. The kids loved it! We were going to go bowling, but it wasn't open, so we decided to find this. As we were taking the tour, S turned to us and said, "This is WAY better than bowling, because this is like real stuff, church stuff." It was so cute. T thought it was cool that we were actually walking on the same path that Brigham Young once did. It was interesting to see how much they enjoyed themselves. And, to make things even better, they acted like angels! That was a miracle, since we've been having behavior issues lately.

DH loves history, especially church history. He served his mission in Independence, MO and really wants to go back, so we can see all of the church sites. I'd love to go to, especially since he has been there before and knows so much about all the sites that he could be our guide.



This is a tree in the backyard that was split in two when it was struck by lightning. Brigham Young and some other men performed "surgery" on it, so that it would not die. It was pretty cool! The tree was huge.



I thought this was a cool stove. It's huge. I can't even imagine having to build a fire inside, just so I could cook. Those women were amazing.



This is the pantry. They went out there to churn their butter, store their food, and much more.



This is Brigham Young's bedroom. It was the biggest in the house. I love the way things were decorated so elegant, although I don't think I could have my own house look that nice.

It was very interesting to go through this house and to hear stories of how he lived. We had a great time, and I'm glad we were able to take the time to go on the tour and to learn more about one of our great church leaders.

Happy Birthday Sister!!

Today is my sisters' birthday! She is a wonderful person and the best sister anyone could ask her. Go wish her a happy day!


Sisters share a closeness no one else can understand. . .
A sister's always there to give a hug or lend a hand.
Sisters are the best friends in the whole wide world, it's true. . . And that friendship is a blessing that lasts a lifetime through.

~Author Unknown

Bean Museum and McDonalds

This week we are on spring break! It's been nice to not be on a schedule and to relax and hang out with the kids. Monday, DH had the day off, so when we got back from St. George, we cleaned up, fixed bikes,and hung out with the kids. It was a nice relaxing day.

Yesterday, we met up with some friends and went to the Bean Museum at BYU. The kids like to go there and see all the animals, and check out the different exhibits. It's fun and it's free.

J standing in front of a "Liger". It's a lion/tiger breed. There are not very many of them in the world. This one was donated by the Hogle Zoo after it died.

As we were walking around looking at some of the exhibits, I heard "Hey, look at that bird, it has boobs!" Yep, that would be my son who made that lovely comment.

This hippo was trying to eat my head.

Afterwards, we went to McDonalds for lunch. Well, the kids did. We went and grabbed some Bajio and brought it with us, while the kids ate and played on the play set. It was a fun day!

Later that night we went over to some friends' house for dinner and games. We played "A to Z", which I love! We also played "Celestial Companions", which DH and I won! I'm so grateful to have such wonderful friends. We had a great night!

Warm Weather

We had so much fun in St. George. It was a nice little get away for our family. M has a little friend on the dance team with her, so we came down together and stayed in the same hotel. The weather was beautiful. We love swimming, which means we love the warm temperatures. Every spare second we had, the kids wanted to be swimming. They are my little fish. We spent a lot of our time in the pool. It was great. We got to wear our capris, flip flops, and short sleeves. Sometimes I wish we lived somewhere like St. George where the weather is warmer more than it isn't. I love the sun!



It's crazy that we went from upper 80 degree weather, got in the car and drove home to 50 degree weather. I'm so ready for the cold to go away for good. It's supposed to spring for goodness sake. It's not supposed to be snowing like it was today. What is that all about?


Ever since we got home, all the kids can ask about is when they can go swimming. They are ready to bust out the sunscreen, swimming suits, and towels for good. Unfortunately we are going to have to wait a bit longer before our warm weather is here to stay and we can enjoy soaking up the rays. But, as soon as it is, I know we'll be swimming, swimming, swimming! It's a good thing we have our 7 Peaks passes waiting to be used!

St. George Competition

We drove to St. George last Friday for M's competition. It was at Dixie College. There were a ton of teams competing. M is becoming quite the little dancer. She LOVES every minute of it, and it is so fun to see her improve. They placed 3rd in both their dances. The first one there were 5 teams competing and the second one there were only 3, but the teams that they were competing against were 11 and 12 year olds, and should definitly not have been put in the beginners category. Oh well. She had a blast, and didn't really know the difference. Grandpa D. and Teresa met us there. It was so nice of them to come and support M. She was so excited to have someone else come and watch her dance. It was a busy and short weekend, but we were glad to be able to see them for a little bit.

"Crazy Little Thing Called Love"

"Hard Knock Life"

Punctum Plug

Maybe about two months ago or so, I started getting some really tiny bumps on my bottom eyelid. At first I thought it was a sty, but it went away quickly. Then, I kept getting more. They weren't always in the same spot. I could kind of run my finger on my eyelid and it would pop the bump. I know, gross. So, since I was due for an eye check up anyway, I made an appt. to go to the eye doctor. He told me it was most likely from wearing old contacts, and or using old mascara. So, I changed both of those things in hopes that the bumps would go away. Of course, they didn't. About a month later, I went back to the doctor, and he said that my eyes were really dry, and that I may possibly have an infection. He prescribed some medicine and told me to come back in a week for a follow up appointment. The bumps didn't go away, even with the medicine, and they were starting to get slightly annoying.

The doctor told me that sometimes people just suffer from dry eyes and that there isn't a whole lot they can do. But, I did have one more thing to try. He told me about these plugs that you can put in your tear duct. Apparently when you blink, the tears "drain" into the tear duct. My tear ducts are bigger than most peoples (of course, because I have freakish things happen to me quite often) so the tears drain quicker, leaving my eyes with less tears than most. And, I'm a contact wearer, I stay up late, blah, blah. Which means I have lots of factors contributing to my dry eye problem, even though I never really thought I had dry eyes. They never bothered me before. He suggested we put in some temporary plugs that last 7-10 days to see if they would help. This sounded a little scary to me, because who wants something put into their eye? But, I agreed. First, he put some numbing drops in my eyes, which was so weird. My eyes felt totally crazy. Then, he opened my eye and put in the plugs. It didn't hurt, just felt strange. It's been 2 days, and I think I can feel a difference. I haven't gotten any of those bumps. So, that's a good thing. If I decide that I like them, then we can put permanent plugs in. Crazy. I've never heard of putting something in your tear duct. I've only heard of some babies needing to have their tear duct opened up. But, I'm lucky I get to have something shoved in there. Yeah me :}

Spring Soccer

Our city decided to try soccer during the spring. I signed S up, but not T because baseball will be starting soon and the two will overlap. Anyways, today he had a game. It was freezing. It started raining. We were all wrapped in blankets trying to keep warm. The boys still enjoyed themselves, which is good and what really matters. We came home and the kids jumped in hot showers and baths. Hopefully the rest of the season we'll have better weather.

Rooster

When we moved into this house, I decorated my kitchen/dining area with roosters. The other day, I went to a home decor store looking for sconces, to put on both sides of my mirror in my living room. I was not looking for a rooster. I told the kids they had to be so so good in the store, not touch anything, no running, blah, blah. The owner came up to me and asked if he could help. I told him what I was looking for and he walked me over to one corner of the store to show me what they had. As I was talking to him, I heard a big crash, little footsteps, and the sad little voice of S saying "I'm sorry mom, it was an accident. I didn't mean to." I was not happy, and the store owner was not happy either. I gave the keys to T and told him he better go get his brother in the car. This rooster had lost it's head and some of the paint had chipped. So, I got to buy it. Instead of paying $30, the owner only made me pay $20. He glued the head back on and did a quick little paint job. It hardly looked like it had been touched. Luckily it wasn't ugly and it matched my house so it was something that didn't totally go to waste. I would've preferred to buy something else, but oh well. S got a big talking to, and I think, I hope he learned his lesson.

IHOP Date

For each of the kids' birthdays, they get to go on a one on one date with Grandma D. This is something that the kids look forward to each year. They went to IHOP, and had a blast. Since they went on April Fools day, T wanted to play a "trick" on the waitress. I guess he told her that his grandma forgot her credit card so they were going to have to use his. My MIL told me how cute it was, and how excited he was to do it. I can totally picture it. Afterwards they went to the dollar store, and T picked out some of those crazy glasses, with they crazy eyes, nose, and moustache. When he got home he knocked on the door wearing them and was pretending like he was a little old man. He had a blast! I'm so glad that he was able to go and spend time with his grandma.

One Word: BUSY

I feel like I haven't even had a second to breathe. Last week was crazy busy.

~Friday (March 21) DH and I actually went on a date! It was fabulous. We didn't do anything huge, just went to the mall so I could find some decent shirts to wear. It was a successful trip for both of us.

~Saturday, the kids and I went to some friends house for a BBQ, to color eggs, and for a hunt. There were 9 kids hunting, and something like 170ish eggs to find.

~Easter Sunday was at my house this year, with all of DH's family. My sister and her friend also came. We enjoyed a yummy dinner and had a big easter egg hunt outside. We also celebrated the March birthdays. I believe there were 5, so we had lots of presents to open. It was a fun, busy day with lots of gifts, candy, and fun.

~For FHE, we went to the park and flew kites and ate donuts.

~We had all the usual: homework, dance lessons, 4H, cleaning, laundry etc.

~Wednesday was pack night. T earned his Sportsman pin, and 3 belt loops. His new scout leaders are great! We are thrilled to have some that actually help the boys earn badges and so forth. We got scouting expo tickets that we need to start selling.

~Thursday was HFPE. I believe Enrichment Leader is my eternal calling. I've had the calling for a few years in this ward, and in two other wards as well. I actually don't mind it, but it is a lot of work and I'm running out of ideas. This particular one was especially hard. I have a very small committee (the counselor, myself, and 1 other sister). The one sister is extremely hard to work with. I feel bad even saying it, but it's so true. She wants everything a HUGE production, and wants it to be all about her. I think she has a sad life, so I'm trying not to be mean, but she is SO SO difficult to work with. She wanted to have dinner, a lesson, a song, a craft, and a game. I told her we probably needed to simplify things and choose only one thing besides dinner. I don't think she was too pleased with me. With all that said, by the end of the night I think everything turned out well and I hope everyone enjoyed themselves. We ate Hawaiian Haystacks and played R.S. memory, where they won a candy bar if they made a match.

Example:
A prayer reaches through the "Milky Way" and straight to God's ear.
The worth of a soul is greater than "100 Grand"

~Friday we had some friends over for a BBQ. It was supposed to be warm, but it wasn't, so DH got to go outside in the cold and BBQ then he brought it inside and we ate there in the warmth. After dinner we played games and had dessert. The kids ran around and played and then settled down to a movie. 5 out of 8 kids fell asleep during the movie, and then 2 more followed shortly after. I feel so blessed to have so many wonderful friends.

~Saturday we went to Logan for another dance competition for M. They did really well. This one was much bigger than the first. We didn't stay for the awards, so I'm very curious to see how they placed. I would be surprised if they didn't get at least 2nd in one of the dances and possibly 1st. Next time we go to there, we might get a hotel. It was a long day and everyone was exhausted.

~Sunday DH, T, and I all woke up feeling not so great. I wasn't too bad so I took the 3 littles to church and DH and T stayed home. Church went well. My poor friend was having a really bad day. Her husband is in Iraq, actually just was transferred to Germany for medical reasons. He is having a hard time hearing and seeing, and can't speak well. His mind is still there and is fine, but those things aren't functioning. She is really struggling and I feel so bad for her. I hope and pray for their family that all will be well.

~So now, it's a new week and I hope it will be much less crazy and I can actually breathe!