Well I don't write all time because most days it's the same old thing. Ground hog day over and over, not that I mind that, that's what I love. We have been slowly getting ready for Christmas. Last week was spent in the kids' classrooms helping the teachers and attending parties, thankfully it's all over. Some fun things that happened to us over the weekend is Taylor and Ashlynn had their first piano receital. They were both so nervous. I think Taylor handled her nerves better than Ashlynn. They both played great. I unfortunately forgot the camera at the "real" receital so I made them play it agagin for me at home. Ashlynn goofed once at the receital and Taylor had a little mistake but I don't think anyone noticed but me since I heard it non-stop all week. I love to play the piano, but when I had my receitals I could never get over my nerves and my fingers stilled fumbled. On Friday Cade had his last basketball practice for the season and they played the kids against the dads, it was fun to watch and Cade and Rusty said they had a fun time playing. Cade had his last game on Saturday and he did well. He had 2 baskets, and a few steals. The coach asked Rusty to help coach next season. It's a pretty good team, they won 4 games and lost 2. Cade gets better and better every game. At the first of the month we had a Family Home Evening and watched the first presidency message. After that wonderful thing we managed to ruin it by drawing names and Cade and Taylor complained about who they had to buy for and who was buying them a gift. I was shocked, little turds. So as their punishment and before they could participate in this they had to write a page paper on the "REAL" meaning of Christmas. It was fun to read their papers and they knew what the real meaning was. I was just surprised that they were acting that way, ahh kids. Thankfully they have been better and Cade without telling him too, went and bought all the girls a Christmas gift. He did great he even got them on sale. Anyway, that is all for know, I'm sure I'll have Christmas stories to tell soon.

Crazy Kids

So after reading this you will know why I gave it the title: Crazy Kids. Yesterday (Sunday) as I lay in bed, I can hear Ashlynn running around the house screaming. Not a death scream, but a funny ha, ha, Cade is teasing me scream. I get up about 5 minutes later and remind her that while people are sleeping she needs to not be screaming. She then tells me, "Mom it was because Cade was chasing me around with a sharp knife." A look of shock comes across my face and I dart my glare to Cade's direction. He then defends himself and says, "I did it because Ashlynn had one too." I can't even think of anything logical to say, except, "Get up in your rooms, NOW!" They go off to their rooms and are there for awhile when I include Rusty in on what's going down. I tell him he needs to go talk to them, because I'm at a loss of as to why they even did it. Shortly later, Cade comes down the stairs and Ashlynn is still in her room. Pretty soon you hear, "But Cade had a knife too!" Rusty then confronts Cade about lying and Cade says, "I didn't have one." I then have to help Rusty see the truth, I tell him, "Rusty why would Ashlynn be running around the house screaming if she's the only one with a knife". (She's a little crazy in the head, but not that bad) Rusty asks cade one last time, and Cade's response is this, "I didn't have a knife... at first." So off Cade goes to his room for a very long time for lying. What on earth were they thinking when the did this! I can see if your unloading the dishwasher and all of sudden you start to do something dumb with the sharp knifes, but to go into the kitchen and just grab a knife is beyond me. And it's always these two, they are always teasing each other, getting into trouble, and fighting. (Sigh) Anyway, I'm sure this will make my mom smile as she remembers her own frustrations with things we did.

Rusty and I have to speak in sacrament meeting on Sunday, and in preparing my talk I came across this story. My talk is on gratitude.

One day a father of a very wealthy family took his son on a trip to the country with the firm purpose of showing his son how poor people live. They spent a couple of days and nights on the farm of what would be considered a very poor family.
On their return from their trip, the father asked his son, "How was the trip?"

"It was great, Dad."
"Did you see how poor people live?" the father asked.
"Oh yeah," said the son.
"So, tell me, what did you learn from the trip?" asked the father.
The son answered: "I saw that we have one dog and they had four.
We have a pool that reaches to the middle of our garden and they have a creek that has no end.

We have imported lanterns in our garden and they have the stars at night.
Our patio reaches to the front yard and they have the whole horizon.
We have a small piece of land to live on and they have fields that go beyond our sight.

We have servants who serve us, but they serve others.
We buy our food, but they grow theirs.
We have walls around our property to protect us, they have friends to protect them."
The boy's father was speechless.
Then his son added, "Thanks, Dad, for showing me how poor we are."

Isn't perspective a wonderful thing? Makes you wonder what would happen if we all gave thanks for everything we have, instead of worrying about what we don't have. I have a quote that says, "The secret to having it all, is knowing that you already do."

Happy Thanksgiving

I'm on a roll with this blogging stuff. Well yesterday was Thanksgiving and we had a wonderful day. It was the first time in over 11 years that we were able to spend it with my family. My brothers, mom, sister and their families were able to drive to our house and eat here with us. (Still missing my little brother and older sister, and one sister couldn't eat with us because she was sick) We had a great time. We had all the adults eat at a table and then the kids were all together in the kitchen. I was worried the kids might spill drinks or something and all the mishaps from the day happened because of me. I spilled my drink all over Rusty as I was getting up to yell at my kids, and I broke a dish trying to get something out of the cupboard. Oh well. The turkey turned out GREAT! I've never gotten it so moist, so I was very happy about that. There was more than enough food and everyone walked away from the table groaning because they were too full. The kids did crafts, paper dolls and Aunt Ryan had a great idea to make chains as a count-down to Christmas, they all liked that idea. Tessa almost made one as a count-down to Baby P, but decided not to. Kids seemed to get along well and that's always good. The cowboys almost won the game. I didn't stress about the house and that is always nice to just be able to sit and enjoy company. It was a wonderful day and am very grateful for the family I have, the family I came from, and the people who have married into this cray family. Have a sign in my living room that says "Remember as far as anyone knows, we're a nice normal family" That's us to a T.

So this past weekend we were able to go to see our nephew Brady's baby blessing. It is so nice to be close to family and be able to go to things like this. Our nephew Nick was getting baptized this weekend in Utah and we would of loved to have been to that too. Anyway, we left after Cade's basketball game on Saturday. (Not a good game, the ref was awful) We drove up and ate dinner as a family at my brother Ryan's house. The kids got to play and be crazy with their cousins and had a great time. After that we went to my other brother's house and stayed the night with them. The kids were able to have a sleep over with their cousins which is always fun. Cade got his poor cousin Connor up so early in the morning that he fell asleep during church. The blessing was wonderful and Brady looked so handsome. It almost makes me want to have another boy, but we rolled those dice and got girls so we are done. My grandparents were able to fly out with my dad and step mom and so they were able to be there too. Sunday night we drove home and my dad and step mom followed us and stayed the night with us. We played apples-apples and the kinect. Monday was fun too, we went to this old Indian place. I know I won't explain it very well, but the Indians made their houses into this side of a mountain and they are still there today, and you can walk through it. It was really neat. Came home and played some more and then they left for the airport. Now it's time to get ready for thanksgiving. We will be having dinner here with my family and so there will be 18 of us. Never cooked for that many and I don't think I've ever had that many in my house at one time. Here's hoping it goes well. Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

October 2010 - My brother Josh took some pictures of us, out of 70 we got a few keepers. I keep thinking one day I will have that family picture I want, where everyone is happy, smiling, looking at the camera, and I didn't have to bribe them to take the pictures. Wishful thinking I'm sure.

Okay so some things I am great at, some I'm good at and keeping up a blog I am horrible at. Here's to doing better. We have been very busy moving, unpacking, and getting into a routine. I'm not going to go back and discuss things only "now" things. Cade is playing basketball and really enjoying it. I wish I could figure out how he is able to play basketball and be nervous, but can't play baseball or football, when he's nervous. I'm glad at least there is one sport. He had a 3 pointer his first game and 2 blocks. Saturday he got a basket, a steal, and a block. He even went in and forced a jump ball. He is able to go to Rusty's work and practice a few times a week and this has helped. Taylor is also playing basketball. I know, I know SHOCKER! This girl is not my athletic one, but when she heard about it she wanted me to sign her up so bad. I've always told them I'll let them try anything once. Who knows she may surprise me. Her being short can definitely come in handy when stealing away the ball. I just hope it's a good experience and she tries her best. She is playing the piano and enjoys it very much. She can pick up on the sound of a note better than she can read them. Ashlynn also plays the piano and she is the complete opposite. She can read the notes, no problem, but can't get the sound they should make. Ashlynn was upset I didn't put her in basketball, but it was a school team and you have to be in third grade. She is the one who has adjusted the best to this move, I'm sure it's her age. Brinkley will be starting dance in January and she is pretty excited. She loves to wear her dance clothes. She goes to preschool 4 days a week because of her speech delay. It's nice and sad at the same time. I'm glad she is able to go, but it sometimes makes it too quiet at home and then when they are all home, I want the quiet back.

Today I had to go to the dentist for a cavity. I have not had a cavity in over 7 years and here is why. The last time I went to the dentist I could feel the drill. I told them and they would numb me again, finally 4 shots later the dentist told me he couldn't give me anymore, so they just quickly finished up. Needless to say I was nervous about this day coming. Every time I thought about it I could make myself worked up and sick in my stomach. The sound of the drill alone makes my skin crawl. I got there and they gave me some gas and I started breathing it in like I was a crazy person, he gave me 2 shots in my gum to make sure I couldn't feel it and he started to go to work. It was an answer to my prayers I didn't feel a thing. I think I had a little too much gas, there was one point where they said something to me and I just started laughing and couldn't stop, all I remember is them saying, "Yup she's good." Then they turned the gas down after that. My faith is restored in dentist's; well at least this one. My house is a mess and I have 3 1/2 hours to get it all done before swimming and the kids come home.

Well it's been awhile again, life gets away from me. Life is good. I enjoy the same thing day after day. The girls have started swim lessons again to get them ready for the summer since we swim everyday. Cade doesn't have to take them, he's been asked to join the swim team twice so I think he knows what he's doing. (He won't join the swim team though) Taylor is doing an art class here and had her first week last week and seemed to really enjoy it. Ashlynn is back playing soccer again. Brinkley is enjoying school and learning how to be get along. She gets frustrated easily because she can't always express what she wants or doesn't want. Funny story a few weeks ago the kids were playing a game called Guesstures and it's kind of like charades, you pick a card and act it out. Well Taylor was acting a word out and I was listening to Cade and Ashlynn guess, they said "Worm, Caterpillar, Snake" so I peek to see what she was doing. Well the timer finally goes off and Cade asked, "What was it?" Taylor said, "Belly dancing, I don't know how to do that". I just laughed and laughed. The warm weather is starting to come here and the kids are playing outside and enjoying it. Cade would play outside all day long every day. Ashlynn is counting down to her birthday already. Ahh to be a kid again.

Oh my goodness. I have been working on updating my blog for an hour now. I uploaded pictures and then tried to change the background for some reason I could NOT get it to work, I tried different backgrounds from different people and that only led to having all these weird tabs on the side, so finally after giving up I thought I'll just start a new one, so make sure you don't go to the old one. Well today is a snow day here and so the kids are out of school and I'm ready to pull out my hair. All day long Ashlynn comes to me about cade doing something to her, or someone won't share, or I'm hungry, or he's being mean. AHHH! They are finally filling their mouths with food. Last time I updated our blog was in November, how sad. I then as a I got on today I realized it's because it's a pain. Anyway, the holidays were good around here. The kids got all the wanted for Christmas and I think it was the first Christmas that I didn't hear any complaints. We even got a blizzard on Christmas Eve and it was wonderful. I realized I don't miss the snow all that much. We did have fun on Christmas Day playing in it. We had a snowball fight and just enjoyed being in it. Funny how there is always a down side to something fun, well laundry would be it with the snow. I was able to go to New York and the beginning of December with my mom, sisters,and best friend. We had a good time. We all squeezed into a hotel room, and that was an adventure. We saw the Statue of Liberty and the Christmas tree. I enjoyed myself. We could have been anywhere in a little town and I still would of had fun. The kids are all doing well. Cade is playing basketball and I believe that is his sport. He comes alive when he plays and is even a little aggressive. One game he hit a basket and the buzzer and we all went crazy. He definitely gets his moves from his dad. He's good at all sports but he won't play them. He doesn't like baseball because it's kid pitch fastball, and those kids cannot control the pitches so he got hit a few times when he was playing the fall, tennis he said is boring, and he would play golf everyday, it's just too expensive. Taylor is good, she is my little book worm, always reading. Ashlynn, wow I'm not even sure what to say, she is a fireball. She is either hot or cold, happy or moody. She loves to pick out what she is going to wear the next day to school puts in her bed and then after I kiss her goodnight she puts it on and sleeps in it. She definitely likes fashion, as she calls it. Brinkley is good, she has started speech therapy and preschool. She is slowly starting to say more words, but she is a girly girl. Always wants to be in the fanciest dress. She hates to have her hair done and is a my pickiest eater by far. Life is good.