Lifting Burdens

Check out this great new video from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. It is so great.
Lifting Burdens

I am also starting a new blog about the wonderful Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints that I belong to.

I was reading in the October Ensign and they were giving some great tips on starting a LDS blog. I am doing it to relight my own testimony and to maybe create a place were people will feel comfortable talking about and learning about the church. Please feel free to visit it, leave comments and post your own testimonies. Click here to see it.

The Swine Flu and YOU!

Please tell me what is up with the swine flu. The president declaring it a national epidemic?? Is it safe to go anywhere. Will we all die???

I am a pretty laid back mom and I generally only take my kids to the Dr if they are really sick or if I know they have an infection that wont clear on it's own.

I do not give my kids flu shots and refuse to give them a swine flu vaccination. I am just wondering if all of you know more than I do (which, believe me, is EASY to do). Fill me in. If your family has had it or if you know someone who has...let me know. Just curious. Thanks.

Pumpkin Patchin' It

My goof-balls pickin' pumpkins. I just had to add the photo of Malia standing on the pumpkin. All she saw were big orange stepping stools.

Malia Singing a Song

Malia has an amazing talent at picking up songs really fast. If she hears someone singing a song she can repeat it word for word really quick. Here she is singing a Hannah Montana song that her and Kylee love.

The older and wiser I get...

...the more I realize I don't know anything. I will be 30 in 2 months. I have always been excited to turn 30 and I actually appreciate and welcome each birthday. I wouldn't go back to being 20 for a million bucks (okay, maybe a million). But, I have come to terms that I just don't know squat. So...here is what I do know:

-There will never be a morning that I like.
-I will come in contact daily with poop or pee or vomit.
-I will always have snot or slobber on my shirt.
-I will always do, at least once day, something I tell my kids not to do because it isn't polite, constructive or appropriate.
-I will always walk over piles of laundry to go out to the garage.
-I will always pretend I had no idea how many calories are in a bowl of ice cream.
-I know how to do 3 girls hair everyday.
-I know how to make dinner, do homework, keep a toddler entertained and keep the living room picked up all at the same time.
-I know how to read Hop on Pop, and all the other Dr. Sues books in funny voices.
-I know that I never do enough for my friends.
-I know that I will always go to sleep with a list of things I didn't do and must do tomorrow.

Most importantly I do know that I will always be called "Mother" and "Wife" and "Friend". With all of these great responsibilities comes a whole to do each day, but I wouldn't choose to do anything different. Just look at the above list. I wouldn't know anything if It wasn't for my family and people that I care about!

Argggg

The sight I adore on a basketball floor, is a volleyball net from door to door!

Arrggg. Just let me whine for a minute. I am on a city volleyball league and I LIVE for these games. Every Wednesday it is all I can think about. I am like a kid at Christmas each time. I get literal butterflies in my stomach from the anticipation. (come on, say it. Dork.) I love everything there is about volleyball and it is the one place in my life that I get really aggressive, sometimes mean (no way) and very, very competitive. You just don't mess with my volleyball.

Well tonight I drove all the way to Layton (really only 30 minutes away) at 9:30 at night (way past my bed time) and get warmed up with my team (I am the oldest one there...to them I am an old lady with a million kids) JUST to find out that the other team had to forfeit. I was so mad. "Why?" You might ask, "were you mad...it's just a game." Well. I just am. I just want to hit something round and white really hard and I didn't get to tonight. Wahhh.

Okay...pity party over.

"How Much Trouble?" You Ask,

How much trouble can one little 2 year old (almost) get into with a few minutes of not being supervised? Plenty.

I was in the bathroom with Baily, and we were washing her hands to get all the paint off. Baily had just painted a 4 year old masterpiece. While my sweet little innocent 2 year old was sitting quietly (quietly should have been my first clue) in her booster chair using her water colors.

Malia then comes to the bathroom to show us her new makeover using Baily's left over paint brushes. She was so proud of herself. I think it actually looks quite professional. She may have a make-up artist career ahead of her.

She went straight for the eyes, because amazingly she only had a little bit of paint (craft paint, not washable paint...will I ever learn???) on her sleeve.

The Ogden Nature Center

One of the fun things that we have been doing through the summer until now is going to volunteer at the Ogden Nature Center. We get to feed, and take care of some of the animals that are there. It is something that the kids love and makes them feel pretty cool. We use to go every week, but now that school started we just go every other Wednesday.

All of the animals there are in cages and have been injured somehow. The kids get to feed snakes, tarantula, owls, lizards, toads, a pelican and tortoises. Tyler's favorites are the snakes and the tarantula's. He loves to dangle a dead mouse in front of the snake until the snake strikes and bites it. He did not get that from me! I am in the corner of the room breaking out in cold sweats just watching him feed the snakes. Yuck!

He also loves the tarantulas. Here he is holding it today. They are actually very gentle creatures. Don't you love his face. (SIDE NOTE-The other set of hands you see is a trained professional. I promise I don't go around encouraging my kids to hold tarantulas!!!).
I have learned a lot about these animals and have faced some fears (snakes) doing it, so it has been good all around. Kylee's favorite thing is feeding the birds. She puts dead mice on their perch and also changes their newspaper and gives them fresh water.



Here's Malia peaking at the tortoise.

Just Because...They're Cute!

Here are some new pictures of my lovely little monkeys.

Tyler is teaching Malia how to play Mario Kart Wii. (ignore the green underlines on the word teaching...don't know what I did...don't know how to change it.)

Baily Ruth (4 1/2) It has been so fun to hang out with Baily more now that the kids are at school all day. We have a lot of fun.

We gave away one of our kittens, and as we expected Kylee had a very hard time. Her and Baily cried for hours. This picture is of Kylee right before we had to part with the cat. It took all of her will to smile. This cat, Cocoa was all of our favorites. He was a sweetheart. Kylee asked me tonight if her heart will ever heal! She is an animal lover to the core and gets very attached to our pets. You may think I am just a big sucker having all these animals (which I am) But she really does love animals and they add such a special dimension to her life.

I decided to get my hair chopped. I am just not a long haired kinda girl. I told the girl to cut it short enough that I could no longer put it into a ponytail. I love it and I feel like myself again.


Malia is a gum thief. She got into my purse the other day and ate a whole piece. Here she is getting caught. Does she look guilty or innocent?

I had a bad head ache on Sunday and so Kylee and Baily spoiled me. They massaged my feet and legs, and my sweet Kylee even cut two slices of cucumbers to put on my eyes. It was so cute, and I loved it. What sweet kids I have. The cucumbers were really refreshing...you should try it.

Tyler playing a game after church.

Malia Ann. She will be 2 next month!!! What???!

My girls. Kylee is always throwing peace signs. My little gangster=)