Kimi avoiding the dishes and Nate's new face...

So it's Kimi's turn to do the dishes tonight. In the last couple of weeks she has been asked to do the dishes about 3 times besides tonight. I think all 3 times she left for work (at 10:30am or later so it's not like it's early!!!) without doing them causing her mother undo grief and anger! ;) Tonight it's her turn and since dad asked her, there's no getting out of it (except she just asked to check the mail because she is waiting on her new bank card) and it WILL be done. But so far... THIS is what she is doing.... notice it is by the dishes, around the sink but not actually anything to do WITH doing the dishes... good grief! I did the dishes they left this morning and I timed myself... it took 4 1/2 minutes. REALLY! Sheesh!!!

And Nate.... well he is just a ham. He has started making this face that makes everyone laugh. He scrunches up his face and then snorts! And he KNOWS it makes everyone laugh so he makes it often. Here he is making the face while getting a bath in the kitchen sink... by his sister Kailee... who was also supposed to be doing dishes but offered to bath him instead! These kids seem to have a serious aversion to dishes for some reason!!!

Happy Birthday Garrett!!!

My baby boy... all grown up! Happy Birthday to the one that started it all! I used to dream of having babies. I had dozens of dolls because I really, really wanted to be a mom. Now I watch people like Dr. Phil asking a woman if she is addicted to being pregnant! Okay, first of all, seriously, only a man would ask a woman if she is addicted to being pregnant. Yes... oh yes, I love that I get to throw up for months on end, get incredibly fat and uncomfortable and not be able to breathe, let alone sleep for months and oh, the stretch marks... gotta love those. Lose yourself to another human being for, well... for the rest of your life. Yep, gotta say I am addicted to being pregnant! It's just so fun!!!

For me, it isn't so much of an addiction, it's just been a driving force in everything I do. For my entire life. It's like I felt the call to be a mother before I understood what it even meant, and thankfully I married the most amazing man who had the same dream of family and we were able to create that family together. I remember when we found out about Garrett. Thayne was so excited. I remember the hours we would lay on the couch watching our very tiny TV and dreaming about who this person would be that was growing within me. I remember how he would put his hand on my stomach like he was protecting the tiny life growing inside! They didn't do routine ultrasounds with him so we didn't know if he was a boy or a girl. It didn't really matter... but oh the look on Thayne's face when they put this very large baby boy in his arms. His chest puffed up to where I thought his buttons were going to pop off his shirt. He was smitten. That was his boy! Look at what he had created! His son! I was so in love with both of them at that moment that I could barely contain it. I had given him a son and felt like life was wonderful. I loved being a mom. I loved everything about it. I had practiced my whole life to be a mom. So bringing him home was nothing new, nothing scary or overwhelming, it was just absolute, pure joy. I loved feeding him, bathing him, dressing him, taking him out and showing him off. I didn't mind that he was so big that he spread my ribs to make more room, or that THREE days before he was born I got stretch marks! Sometimes when I am in bed I feel my ribs and laugh at how deformed they feel now... but it was worth it! Garrett and I would go for a walk everyday as soon as the weather was warm enough. He had a little baseball cap and sunglasses and even at 3 months he knew how to work his charm. I loved being his mom! He has blessed, and tried my life in the way only a child can. He was the first born. He was, as my friend always says, "my starter child" since I learned how to parent through him. Sometimes I failed, sometimes I succeeded but through it all, I have loved him without condition. We have moved beyond the years where I need to 'mother' him. We have moved into a place where we can be friends. I love seeing him with his wife and knowing him on an adult level. But no matter how old he is or that he towers over me, he will always be my baby boy. I will always be his mother. There will always be times when I have something to share that may help him, just hopefully not in a way that is overbearing to him. But, I will always remember the way it felt when they put him in my arms and I knew that I had lived my entire life for that moment. Those times go far too quickly. They grow up before we blink. But I know that I did cherish every second of those precious moments... I know that it's not worth wishing away the madness of babyhood, or toddlerhood, or the preschool years... because far too soon they are adults with hopes and dreams of their own.

Happy birthday son... may you find the joy in your life that you have brought to mine. It's not possible to know how a parent loves, until you are a parent yourself... but my wish for you is that you always know love. That you always feel loved and that more than anything, you are always willing to give love, because that is where true joy lies!

What I was doing 22 years ago!

I was just thinking today about the fact that my oldest child turns 22 tomorrow. 22 years old!!! I was thinking how quickly life goes. When I was 22 I had already gone through so much and was a mom to 4 children. But these past 22 years have gone so fast. I have learned so much, grown so much and have had so much love in my life!

22 years ago this morning I woke up miserable as usual. I was days away from my due date and so bloated I could barely walk. I had toxemia and had gained about 65lbs of mostly water weight! We had been at Thayne's brothers house the night before to eat and I had contracted the whole time we were there. Contracted all night but hadn't dilated at all so was sick of even thinking about it. I had been contracting for 2 months already. The contractions started the day I learned my uncle Willie had died. That was a devastating day... and the contractions hadn't stopped. They told me I had an irritable uterus. Yeah, little did I know how many times I would irritate my uterus after that!!!! ;) But that morning something was different. I got up with Thayne and kissed him good bye. He had to run around to the banks in town before he went over to his office, in a little town about 20 minutes away! He came by the house one more time to check on me. I had just showered and was putting on make up when the first TRUE pain hit. So I hurried up the process of putting on make up! Was doing my hair when Thayne walked in. About the time another pain hit. It must have been apparent that I was in pain because he quickly called and told them he was taking me to the doctor and not coming in to work. We got to Payson about noon.... because you know... there was no way I was leaving before I had my hair done and some things done around the house. Contracting the whole time. We got to the doctor and though I was barely contracting, they found that my water hadn't broke, but was leaking slowly (and likely had been for days). So off to the hospital in Provo.... where we waited, and waited, and waited. I wanted to do things naturally and did great for around 19 or 20 hours. But then they decided that I would likely need a c-section because my child appeared to be pretty big! Okay.... so pushing 10 lbs IS pretty big. But they were worried I wouldn't be able to have him naturally. So they pushed an epidural and hey, when they are pushing relief in the middle of a killer contraction, what did I know but to do what the doctor said! My parents came to the hospital and my mom freaked out watching me in pain. I was dealing with it okay, but she wasn't! She was demanding drugs and I was just wishing I could have some of the mashed potatoes from KFC that my dad and Thayne were eating! That could have been considered cruel and unusual punishment to eat food in a room with a laboring woman! ;)

I didn't give birth until the 26th of February. And I did give birth naturally... 13 days after I turned 19 I became a mom. The fulfillment of a life long dream. The only thing I ever wanted to be was a wife and a mom. He was the only one that we didn't have an ultrasound so we had to wait for birth to know what he was. But for as long as I live, I will always remember what I was doing on the 25th of February, 1987! It was a day I can never forget!

Productive Days....

After having several non-productive days (well... non-productive as far as keeping up with the house... sick kids, migraines, getting ready and then having an Enrichment meeting and a million other things), it's only obvious that at our house it becomes necessary to have a productive day or two. That is a nice way to say that after running all week last week, and actually believing that the kids had cleaned the laundry room instead of actually going down myself and looking that I was so furious at the mess that I either had to clean, or leave!!! Leaving doesn't ever seem to be a good option since I really love my husband and kids! :) The other option was sitting down in the middle of the mess and bawling my eyes out. But that only gives me a headache and since I had finally gotten rid of the migraine I had for several days last week, I really didn't want to go there again!

Friday afternoon I finally went down to the laundry room (again... the very room I had been assured was being cleaned) and what I found made me want to... well... it made me so mad I stomped back upstairs and told Thayne, "I AM REALLY MAD!!! YOU SHOULD SEE THE LAUNDRY ROOM!" To which he responded, "I did see the laundry room!" I then felt the need to say, "You do realize we spent over $120 at the laundromat this past week RIGHT?" His answer??? "Yeah, I know!" Okay, gee thanks for the support!!! We were leaving for the temple early Saturday morning. So I told Kinzee it was her only job to do the laundry. I told her she didn't even have to fold it, just wash it and put it on the couch and I would fold it. Great plan right? Well, except that some child who shall remain nameless ((cough, cough, JACE!!!)) decided that HE was going to do laundry that day! For some reason he thought his desire to do his own laundry somehow superseded my explicit instructions to do NOTHING except laundry that day! I know, stupid me, I AM just the mother and he had a day off and wanted to do his laundry!!! (Let's just say he heard explicit instructions on how HE can haul his stuff to the laundromat next time HE wants it done when there is a mountain of laundry in MY house!!!) :) (And hey, he did bring home a jug of laundry soap after my rant!!! As if....) We got home and NOTHING had been done. Now... there are moments I think that my kids are not normal, that they are far and above the norm... they usually are so ultra responsible that I worry I have ruined them... and then there are days like Saturday that prove me wrong!!!! ;) lol I was so mad Sunday that Thayne was going to make them do the laundry even though we don't usually do that on Sunday. Only I couldn't... because there was no laundry soap!

So Monday comes... and I decide that it's time to take back the house! Or somebody will pay dearly!!! I should have known the only person that would pay was ME! I have done nothing for 2 days except laundry, cleaning, laundry, cleaning! I ran and got the video store stuff going and took kids to school, ran to the store to get groceries for what I hope will cover dinner for the week and home by 9am and down to the laundry room. I did not leave the laundry room until 3:30pm... not even to use the bathroom! This is what I saw when I walked into the room... in case the picture isn't clear enough... my darling children did not put the clothes hampers back together when we brought the mountain of laundry home from the laundromat (like at least one of them said was done!) and so, because there were no baskets, it only seems reasonable for a child to think that it would be good to just chuck the laundry from the door into the laundry room. Makes sense to me, makes sense to you, right??? Oh, and notice all of the soap bottles on top of the dryer? Yeah... THEY WERE ALL EMPTY!!!

I washed, I folded, I cleaned, I washed more, the washer and dryer didn't even have a chance to beep to tell me they were done before I had changed them out and started a new load. I matched hundreds of pairs of socks... though, could somebody please explain to me why there is a can of tuna in my laundry room??? Please?!

I got drawers organized and cleaned in the bedrooms and now I just need to wait for Thayne to get down and finish my laundry room... he's going to paint the floor with cement paint or something... I don't know what it is, but now that I can see the floor it disgusted me and I will be pushing him to finish it finally!!! And for all of the trouble I went to... I am popping Motrin today to ease the ache in my hips and back!!! But today, for just a few moments... every piece of dirty clothing in my house was clean!!! And the kids now have their mesh bags to put their socks in (I bought them several weeks ago but didn't have all of the socks matched so we didn't start using them then... and then a friend shared that it has worked for them so I am hoping we get the same results because in one of my rantings I made an oath to my children that I will NEVER again match socks for them!!! I am such a liar... but I really hope the mesh bags work!) and a schedule (again) of when they will be able to have their clothes washed! And I am going to sleep tonight knowing that the monster in the basement is gone!!!! I should have done a 'before' of the 4 baskets of unmatched socks... these are just some of the matched socks... all 3 drawers and those baskets plus 2 full drawers full upstairs and some of Nate's socks! I am down to one basket full and as soon as the last load is dried and I get the rest of the socks, they will be matched and the rest will be thrown away! Thus ending my madness with socks!!!

Nothing at all to blog about...

I am bored! How you ask? Just that I am? I can't even wash clothes because I am out of laundry soap so I just have to sit here... bored! The older kids are in town at a fireside. I could have gone, but I am thinking I might be getting the sick stomach gunk that some of the others have. Kami is really sick. Fever, throwing up, head ache. Bummy has had a head ache. Willie and Kinzee both stayed home from church sick. I am mostly just sick of sickness. Everyone around here has it!

So I am bored! Of course you could find it mildly entertaining to listen to Thayne and the kids. Something about lint and the fact that Bummy just got some out of his dad's belly button! :) Or the laughter of Nate checking out Thayne's belly button. But it's only entertaining if you have a sick sense of humor, which of course most of my family has! When you have a sick sense of humor, lint and belly buttons are mildly entertaining.

Kalli is playing Wii Fit, which does nothing for MY bored-ness... only hers. Though if I could talk Thayne into getting back on it... THAT would be entertaining. The first night we got Wii Fit Thayne got on and made him a Wii-Thayne and had us all laughing... Thayne... and yoga! Yeah, that is funny! At one point the Wii paused to tell him that he does not appear to be very limber, and does he fall down a lot when he walks!!! All of the kids were lounging around watching and laughing until we would have fallen down, except that we were already sitting! He told us it would be much easier if we weren't watching... AND LAUGHING! But what's a dad for if not to entertain.

I could go to bed, because I am very tired. But if I go to bed now then I would definately be up in the middle of the night with still nothing to blog about.

Thayne and I went to the temple yesterday with friends, Mike and Melissa. It was so nice to go. I wish we lived closer... though it is a good excuse to get out of town and eat at Applebees! We made a goal to go at the very least once a month. It's February... we've done well so far...we'll see how the rest of the year goes. It helped that Garrett got married... that was a good incentive to go in January. And the newlyweds are doing great. Happy, in love, having fun, making plans for the future. Just like it's supposed to be!

Now Hayden is bored... must be something going around in our house. I guess the problem is that we just aren't a family that hangs out watching tv. Everyone is too used to the constant running that seems to be our life. We should be better at just sitting with nothing to do. I bought a couple of books at Seagull's yesterday... but one I will have to think about in order to read, the other will make me want to get over any guilt I feel in my life... I knew I should have bought the other two books I was looking at! If I weren't so fat already I would go bake something... but if I bake it, I will eat it and that won't be good for my self esteem!

Maybe I will put on a good movie and have my little people climb in bed with us and watch it... that might keep everybody 'unbored' for an hour! If we plan it right it could be bedtime when the movie gets over!

Thanks for your help Naters!

Nate loves to help me put groceries away. Of course I can't get much done when he is helping me! But I love that he loves to help me, and dances happily while he is doing it! What a great friend he is to me!

My kids make me smile....

Last night we were getting ready to run to town so I could meet Thayne for dinner with my parents. We were going out to celebrate birthdays. My dad's birthday is on the 16th and mine was on the 13th and we didn't get to go out then to celebrate since dad was working. But anyway... Kassi is always snapping pictures on her phone with her friends. Kami was showing us how she can twirl her tongue and we were laughing at them and then Kassi started snapping pictures! They just make me smile when I hear them laughing and interacting and enjoying each other. The big kids, the little kids and everyone in between just seem to enjoy each other. So, the pictures are bad, cell phone quality while laughing... but they still just make me smile!

Poor Nate....

Nate REALLY hates getting his Synagis shots. He's a really smart kid... so much for the belief that oxygen deprivation can affect his brain function... he's got things figured out. For instance as soon as music starts, he starts leading the music and dancing. As soon as he sees his coat he starts waving and saying bye. As soon as he sees the controller for the TV he grabs it and holds it towards the TV to change the channel, and laughs at me! As soon as he sees the Wii Fit board out, he is on it and trying to exercise! See... he's not dumby! So it only stands to reason that as soon as we walk into the clinic and he sees a scale, he assumes they are going to weigh him, which means he will be getting a shot! Now... we had him fooled over the last month when he went to the doctor and we weighed him and he DIDN'T get a shot, but that was at the other clinic and he started to feel safe. But today, just driving into the parking lot of the clinic he goes to in order to get his Synagis shot, he was mad. I tried to talk to him like it was just a normal visit but he was having nothing to do with it. The head nurse at the clinic is the one to call us back and you could see the wheels in his mind working... he was thinking, "If I suddenly go limp and flop myself back, maybe I can get out of mom's arms and run like crazy the other way... I'm sure Tallin is out there in the Excursion and he will help me escape... I'm sure of it!" Too bad he is kid #15... mom had him figured out!!! So in we go, with him screaming the whole time. Strip him down, more screaming... but we changed the scale here.... he pauses... "What? No baby scale? Why? Maybe I am going to dodge that bullet... or needle... this time!" Until mom set him down on the new and improved scale they have right on the ground! "HUH??? Okay, I get it, the nurse is still trying to see how much I weigh so if I move around and scream and hold my arms up for mom to pick me up she won't be able to figure it out and then she won't be able to give me the shot!" We managed to get his weight... we are happy to announce that he is an even 20 pounds with his diaper on and 2 full bottles of baby food and a jar of juice in his just fed belly! That is pretty impressive! It's impossible to explain how hard we worked to get him to that weight! Off to measure the amount of shot he needed... both nurses came in and he watched with leary eyes as they put on their green gloves and then when mom had to hold him down he knew what was coming and he was screaming before the needles ever went in. They do both legs at a time to get it over with quick... but here's proof positive that the boy knows what is going on before it ever even happens!

And finally... just get me OUT of here!!!

I've decided...

I've decided that I am tired, and because I am tired I decided that I am not going to be a nice mom anymore!!!! I have insomnia. I have always had insomnia, that's nothing new. But when I am actually asleep, especially after days of having a migraine, and children start piling into my bed... well, I am just going to have to get tough! Usually Kami sneaks in on Thayne's side, or Bummy gets in and it's no big deal IF it is on Thayne's side. You see, Thayne can sleep through army's marching through our bedroom with drums beating and artillery going off around him! The problem is, he insisted on buying a king size bed, and then he has to have his foot touching mine so he is usually in the middle and there is usually plenty of room for them to climb in on his side! But not last night!!! Oh no, I FINALLY get to sleep after FINALLY getting rid of the migraine that I had for several days... and children started climbing in. And they don't just climb in and go peacefully to sleep. No... why WOULD they do that??? They climb in and then move around until I have what feels like 75 legs and arms poking me in the ribs torturing my blissful dreams! I wake up sore, and even more tired and feeling very much like a pretzel because I am twisted, turned and bent completely out of shape. And now my attitude wants to be completely bent out of shape. Especially since Wyatt is in rare form, screeching and screaming and tormenting his siblings and nobody wants to get dressed and I have an insanely busy day today. Because it is HFPE tonight (Home, Family and Personal Enrichment) and I am in charge of one half of the meeting! We are working on 72 hour kits and also having humanitarian projects... I am in charge of the humanitarian part of the meeting. Buffy and I are also in charge of the lesson, she will speak on the physical preparedness while I speak on the spiritual preparedness... I pretty much know what I am going to say, I just have to put it together in my mind now! But I have to get to town and get Nate's Synagis shot, get home and make sure dinner is on since Thayne will be late because awwwwwww... once again, it's that time that MSHA shows up for their quarterly inspection... so his life is misery and mayhem for the foreseeable future!!! Since I have to be at the church at 6pm and Thayne likely won't be home by then I will need to have all my ducks in a row! I also have to pick up the printer ink and folders I need to print off the file folders games we are making for our humanitarian project. They will be going to orphanages.

So, I have decided that I am going to be a mean mom the next time one of them tries to climb in my bed. I may jump out screaming and something to really make my point!!!! :) Or not... but it's fun to think about!! Oh... GREAT... the migraine is back!

Wii-mania

Wii-mania has hit everyone... young and old. We finally got Wii Fit and Thayne got on and had us all in stitches while he was doing yoga! He said he could do it better if we weren't all watching (and laughing hysterically!). Poor guy! But aren't dad's supposed to be there for the entertainment of his children???!!! :)

But the funniest is Nate. He is obsessed with the Wii Fit. He is constantly trying to get on and play. He loves to dance and loves the DDR when his sisters have it out. Today we caught him finally getting his chance to play. The kids had all left and he jumped at the chance to see how fit he really is!!

How I Met The Love of My Life....

Fitting title, don't you think, for Valentine's Day? This is actually the title of the contest that a local jewelry store put on and I debated whether to write our 'how we met' love story. The 1st place prize was a diamond necklace, dinner and a dozen roses.... hey! Some girls have gotta take Valentine's Day gifts into her own hands I guess! ;) I decided this morning, "What the heck!" And proceded to write a quick summary of "how we met" and then had Kailee run it to town and drop it off. She made it 10 minutes before the deadline! While she was doing this, Thayne and I, with 5 of the little kids were at the laundromat yet again catching up the laundry (and YES! It is finally caught up for the moment.... literally... just the moment! Cuz you know kids are going to get undressed in a matter of minutes!). Just as we were finishing, Chip (okay, seriously the guys real and true name is Chip Stone... is there any other profession he could be in except the owner of a Jewelry Store???) called my cell phone and asked if we were out and about. I told him we were. He told me to get over to the store... quickly! He didn't tell me anything else, just to please come over! When we got there, he asked where the other 10 kids were! They then asked if it would be okay if they went on the air (the local radio station was there also!) and he announced that one of the winners was here to claim her prizes. And then he told me that I was the FIRST place winner... winner of Dinner, A dozen roses AND, not the $500 diamond necklace but a $1000 diamond necklace!!! What a great way to celebrate being married to my best friend! The kids were thrilled too!

So... the winning entry is as follows:

How I met the Love of My Life

I had just turned 18 and graduated from high school 6 months early while living in Canada where my dad had been working for the past year and a half. I couldn't work there and decided to move back to our home town in Utah. I was engaged when I left home but was having second thoughts about the situation.

I got to Utah and was living with my grandma. We decided to go to the grocery store to buy birthday cards and for me to get an application to work there. They told me that the manager was in the office by the cards and that they would have him meet me there to get the application. He walked out of the office and I looked up and met his eyes and in tha tmoment I knew that I had met the love of my life. I quickly turned over my ring and asked him if they were hiring. He smiled and said that he definately thought they should hire me. We stood talking like we had known each other forever. It flustered my grandma so badly that we ended up walking out with a handful of cards that we had to go back in and pay for! I told her, "Grandma, I'm going to marry him!" She tried to tell me that I didn't even know him but I laughed and said I would know him and I would marry him! He didn't know my name, but it's a small town and he knew my grandma so he called her house and asked if I could come in for an interview that night since the other manager had come in. We talked like we had known each other forever. The other manager kept asking if we were sure we didn't know each other. He hired me that night. For the next two weeks I worked he made sure that I always had breaks the same time he did. One night as I was counting out he finally told me he was mad that I was engaged. I told him, "Let's just say that he wants the ring on my finger but he isn't sure about the actual commitment!" He then asked if that meant I would go out with him. As I left the office I said, "Yep, I sure would!" He asked if he could pick me up after work the next night. We drove around and talked for hours and finally he told me that he didn't want to scare me off but that he had fallen in love with me. I laughed and tolde him that was good because I had fallen in love with him too! He asked me if I would marry him and I told him YES! 2 months later we were married. I thought I loved him then, but now, after going through the ups and downs of life, after almost 23 years of marriage and 15 children, I know that I am just learning what love is... I fall more in love every day... And I am grateful that I get to spend forever with the love of my life!

Ear infections....

I HATE them.... I hate them when my kids get them (and we have a history of getting them A LOT, hence so many of my kids having had ear tubes). And almost as bad as the kids getting them is when I get them! My head feels like I am under water. I can't hear out of my right ear and there is so much pressure I keep imagining an ice pick and my ear drum meeting to relieve some of the pressure! We have treated 4 kids so far with ear infections and it finally hit me. The doctor said there is so much fluid and pus that she couldn't even get my ear drum to move! She said it must hurt!?! Ya think??? So I am miserable. And here I was all set to fold the mountain of laundry I just washed at the laundromat... oh well... it won't hurt sitting on my couch for a few more hours! I am going to bed!!!!

Where's TLC when you need them???

It doesn't matter what method I try, I can have a routine down pat, but the second I get side tracked with laundry it grows to such huge proportions that there is nothing to do but haul it in to the laundromat!!! Which is what I did tonight! I hate it when life gets out of control. Well... there's no getting around life getting out of control but when we get sick kids, extra stuff on top of an already crazy life unless we are willing to cut out church, family and friends, there is no way to prevent madness! Kailee has a horrible sinus infection so I had to take her to the doctor and started loading laundry up to go wash! I have to say that I did not even get half of it, which just makes me mad beyond belief.... but we used 2 washers that fit 4 normal loads and 5 triple load washers to the tune of... well, never mind, I am not even going to put a dollar amount on it because then I would feel like I needed to forget my date night this week and since it is my birthday and then Valentines day... that AIN'T gonna happen! I still have a mountain of laundry downstairs, but since we live in some seriously hard ground (think clay!), our septic tank can't handle the overload of water that comes in catching up the laundry not to mention my sanity! I get to where I want to bury my head in the sand!

But as I was filling up one washing machine after another I thought... "Dang... where's TLC when you need them???!!!!" Maybe they would build me a nice new house and put 4 big washers and dryers in it for me... Really, come on Home Depot.... we keep throwing plenty of business your way.... don't you need a tax write off? You could donate a new laundry room to me! Except that as soon as I think that... I know how badly I dislike the way some people use their family to profit! It leaves a bad taste in my mouth like nothing else. We may be living a reality show... but I sure wouldn't put my family in the public eye to make money. It just seems like a bad idea all the way around and pretty soon you start believing your own press and that is never a good thing! So, I guess I will make myself content to make a monthly trek to the laundromat and dream of the day in the not so distant future that I can get my second set of washer/dryers again and maybe, just maybe I will find a way to never let life get out of control and stay constantly caught up on my laundry!!!!

In case you are wondering what that sound is... it's me laughing hysterically at the thought of staying constantly caught up on my laundry...... bwahahahahahahahahahhahahahahah

You know you are in trouble when....

You get stuck at the bottom of your driveway in the 4 wheel drive! I never get stuck... I am the one that can always get up our driveway, when not even the MEN in the family can't!!! :) Yesterday it was warm, and raining, then sleet and then snow came. And then it all froze. So all of the wet snow turned to ice and even though there was 8+ inches of new fallen snow in my driveway... the Excursion was having no part of getting me to the top!!! I made it 'almost' there. Almost! But I left it where it was so Thayne could pull it to the top when he got home from work!

So today, after 13 inches, they even called school off out here. Which really was a cop out. Although there were places that weren't able to get out so it was legitimate I guess! And the kids were thrilled. They started hearing it on the news at around 5am that school was closed and by 7am they were out sledding! They only waited that long because I refused to let them go out at 6am!!! By 7am they just stopped asking and went outside anyway! I'm not sure we got this much snow at all this past winter and the rumor is that it is going to happen again tonight! Yeah... it's fun when it is like this! The kids love sledding and we desperately need the water! The kids are just wishing that it will snow so much tonight that they can't get out tomorrow for school either! Dream on babies... dream on!!! :)

This is the view outside my front door this morning after I made them all come in and warm up since it was about 9 degrees when they went out!!!

Willie's special day....

Willie was ordained a deacon in the Aaronic Priesthood yesterday! It was a really special day! It seems so strange when I looked at him and realized that in so many ways he is such a boy still, so young and yet, one of the greatest privileges of his life took place yesterday! To see so many worthy men standing in the circle as his dad ordained him was such an amazing experience. It was especially neat to have my dad there. He was the one that ordained Thayne to the Priesthood almost 23 years ago and to have my brothers there and my sons... Garrett, Jace, Tanner and Tallin were able to stand in the circle and I am always in awe when I see them use this most sacred gift! My greatest desire is to raise honorable men who will love and honor their Priesthood and use it to bless the lives of others and to see them becoming those great men makes my heart full to overflowing. My little Will-dawg is growing up, well on his way to becoming a great man! I am so blessed to be the mother of so many amazing men!!!

Kailee's first date!!!

Kailee has been waiting for this night for a long time! Her first date! The kids don't get to date until they are 16 so it seems like forever before the big day finally gets here! They are going to a fancy restaurant and looking forward to a fun time at the dance!

Kids....

Random pictures of the kids... just because!

Nate... just hanging out... and needs his hair trimmed badly!

Kinzee... sucked into the Twilight books and now she can't stop....

Kalli, Kami and Cereta playing dress up!

Jarom and Romo

Nate is constantly in the dishwasher and thinks he is pretty cute too! Maybe if everyone would quite laughing at everything he does he wouldn't be so willing to be naughty! lol

We always laugh at how much Nate is like Jace... we have SO MANY pictures of Jace standing like this when he was a little boy!

Even Romo is tolerant of Nate...but in return Nate loves Romo a lot!

Kalli and Caitlyn....

Kailee..... ???? Taking her own picture! :)

Kami and Nate...

Kami Dene.... Grumpy Jace got woke up and wasn't happy about it!!! :)Hayden... just because he's so sweet!