Just a small confession

So ever since we moved into our house, Lucy has been sleeping with us. Or I guess I should say that ever since she was born she has been sleeping with us. Her bed has been set up in her room but she refuses to sleep in it. She always tells us it is too scary for her to sleep in her own bed even though she shares a room with Maggee. We have even told her that she could sleep in Maggee's bed with her but she would not agree to that. Most of our kids have slept with us and Tyler and I do not mind this. Non of them have had a problem moving into their own beds. I was a little worried about them sleeping in their own rooms when we moved in here because of the fact that they have all always slept together in one bed. The problem with Lucy is she is all over the place or has to be right up next to you all night long making it so that you can't move. So we started bribing her with EVERYTHING! Nothing was working until one morning she saw a My Little Pony castle commercial. Well she begged and begged for this. We told her that if she slept in her own bed we would buy it for her, and guess what? She did it!!! Yeah for Lucy!!

Ok, so now for the small confession, and it really is small...............Her bed is in our room. But...She sleeps in it. We had to try and positin the bed so that she could still watch her barbie movies in our room and be able to see it.

I will admit that she doesn't sleep in her bed every single night, and after we bought her the pony castle she had a set back. Grandma Karol was asking her if she slept in her bed by herself and Lucy would tell her no because her bed isn't comfortable. So Karol gave her an egg foam matress that we folded over to make her bed extra comfy and now she really does sleep in her bed EVERY NIGHT!!!

small side note.........Now Lucy tells everyone that Maggee has her own room and Lucy's room is upstairs. Even though all of Lucy's clothes and things are in Maggee's room. This child is one of a kind, but we love her!

The Grinch

Lucy is absolutely obssessed with The Grinch right now. Mainly the cartoon version. She started having nightmares about the grinch when she watched the movie. Her favorite character is Cindy Lou Hoo. Whenever she reads the story (which is about a hundred times a day) she has to pretend that she is Cindy Lou Hoo speaking.

Sunday dinner was GREAT!

Teach The Children

I have always loved this story. It is a story we will always read with our kids every year during the holiday seasons. Enjoy!

The Meaning of Christmas

Just a week before Christmas I had a visitor. This is how it happened. I just finished the household chores for the night and was preparing to go to bed when I heard a noise in the front of the house. I opened the door to the front room, and to my surprise, Santa himself stepped out from behind the Christmas tree. He placed his finger over his mouth so I would not cry out. "What are you doing?" I started to ask him.
The words choked in my throat, as I saw he had tears in his eyes. His usual jolly manner was gone. Gone was the eager boisterous soul we all know. He then answered me with a simple statement, TEACH THE CHILDREN!
I was puzzled: What did he mean? He anticipated my question, and with one quick movement brought forth a miniature toy bag from behind the tree.
As I stood there bewildered, Santa said, Teach the Children! Teach them the old meaning of Christmas. The meaning that a now-a-day Christmas has forgotten!
Santa then reached in his bag and pulled out a FIR TREE and placed it on the mantle. Teach the Children that the pure green color of the stately fir tree remains green all year round, depicting the everlasting hope of mankind. All the needles point heavenward, making it a symbol of man's thoughts turning toward heaven.
He again reached into his bag and pulled out a brilliant STAR. Teach the Children that the star was the heavenly sign of promises long ago. God promised a Savior for the world, and the star was the sign of fulfillment of that promise.
He then reached into the bag and pulled out a CANDLE. Teach the Children that the candle symbolizes that Christ is the light of the world, and when we see this great light we are reminded of He who displaces the darkness.
Once again he reached into his bag and then removed a WREATH and placed it on the tree.
Teach the Children that the wreath symbolizes the eternal nature of love. Real love never ceases. Love is one continuous round of affection.
He then pulled out from his bag an ornament of HIMSELF. Teach the Children that Santa Claus symbolizes the generosity and good will we feel during the month of December.
He reached in again and pulled out a HOLLY LEAF. Teach the Children the holly plant represents immortality. It represents the crown of thorns worn by our Savior. The red holly berries represent blood shed by Him.
Next he pulled out a GIFT from the bag and said, "Teach the Children that God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son. Thanks be to God for His unspeakable gift. Teach the Children that the wise men bowed before the holy babe and presented Him with gold, frankincense, and myrrh. We should give gifts in the same spirit as the wise men."
Santa then reached in his bag and pulled out a CANDY CANE and hung it on the tree. Teach the Children that the candy cane represents the shepherd's crook. The crook on the shepherd's staff helps bring back strayed sheep from the flock. The candy cane is the symbol that we are our brother's keeper.
He reached in again and pulled out an ANGEL. Teach the Children that it was the angels that heralded in the glorious news of the Savior's birth. The angels sang 'Glory to God in the highest, on earth, peace and good will.'
Suddenly I heard a soft twinkling sound, and from his bag he pulledout a BELL. Teach the Children that as the lost sheep are found by the sound of a bell, it should bring people to the fold. The bell symbolizes guidance and return.
Santa looked at the tree and was pleased. He looked back at me and I saw the twinkle was back in his eyes. He said, "Remember, teach the Children the true meaning of Christmas, and not to put me in the center, for I am but a humble servant of the One who is, and I bow down and worship Him, our Lord, our God."

Hope for my kids!

I guess maybe Tyler and I (actually more Tyler) are doing something right when I hear conversations like this between my kids...........................

Ellie: Lucy, I love You!

Lucy: I love you too!

A long pause and then.................

Lucy: Ellie, I love you more!

Ellie: No Lucy, I love you more!

Who says you can't jump on a broken leg?

Poor Lucy sits inside at Grandma Karol's house staring out the sliding glass door watching all the kids jumping on the trampoline. She asks to go out and we tell her no because of her broken leg. On sunday I looked out the kitchen window and saw this.........

Nothing stops this little girl once her mind is made up!

It is nice that she is finally walking. The dr. told us not to push her. She would do it on her own. We were beginning to think it was hopeless to get her to walk and then on Thanksgiving she just took off. I think she even surprised herself.

The Real Christmas Tree Dilema Continues

I had the most relaxing day on monday. Had to take Ellie to the doctor because of a rash that spread all over her body. Found out it is a food allergy (green beans we think. lucky for her since she HATES them) and had to be put on a steroid. Debit card wouldn't work because it expired so called to activate new card and my cell wouldn't work. Went to Tyler's grandma's house to activate my card and it only took a few long minutes to realize that my card was under tyler's social and not mine. Finaly make it back to the store to find out her perscription was only $2. What!?! I had that much change on me. Dropped Ellie and Lucy off at Karols to go home and find this..............................................





I really am trying to have a good attitude about real trees. I do know that this could have happened with a fake tree also. But...with it being real, water was spilt everywhere including down into my plug in the floor. This picture does not do true justice. I have big lights that were shattered and half of my little lights no longer work. The star on top was broken along with other ornaments. I just couldn't deal with it after the kind of morning I had already been having so I went to Salt Lake and decided to leave it for Tyler to deal with it.

I left the girls with Karol because the doctor had said that the steroid could make Ellie a little sick to her stomach so I thought I would save tyler the trouble of having a throwing up child left with him at work. I swear I told him the kids would be left with Karol but aparently I didn't. A few hours later I got a phone call from a not so happy husband who had been waiting for an hour in the parking lot at work for me to drop the kids off to him. Boy did I get an earful and all I could think of was "oh, no! He is in a bad mood and now he is going to go home and find the Christmas tree the way I left it." Needless to say I was not too excited to get home. Ellie was supposed to take her second steroid pill around 4 because it can keep them awake. Well I look in my purse and low and behold there the pills are. Crap! I forgot to take them out of my purse before I left for Salt Lake. I got home around 7:30 and despite the Dr.'s warnings I gave her the second pill cause I didn't want her to miss it. I really didn't think it would be that bad. I thought she would be awake till around 9 maybe 10. Nope. 4am I finally heard her deep breathing and knew she was asleep!! So sorry ellie, I really wasn't trying to torture you.

Don't worry Tyler and I are on speaking terms and all worked out. The tree was standing when I got home, but a lot of the lights don't work and I am going to do absolutely nothing about it!

The Real Magic of Santa!

So yesterday Tyler and I decided it was time to tell Philip the truth about Santa. We debated on whether or not to tell him this year since he is going to be 11 in February and I guess in a way I just don't want him to grow up. The experience actually turned out to be great and we were able to have a very good talk with Philip on a whole new level.

I know people feel very differently about Santa Clause and how to really relate who he is to their kids. As for me and Tyler, We love to see the excitement in their eyes during the holiday seasons and we love what kind of magic being a kid brings to Christmas. We love the excitement it fills our home with on Christmas Eve and during other activities. We always allow the kids to write a letter to Santa and leave it in the mailbox. The kids watch that mailbox like a hawk but surprisingly the elves are always able to sneak those letters away to Santa without them knowing. Santa always writes back answering each and everyone of their questions and leaves a small little gift for the whole family that has some sort of meaning to it. I guess I feel that how can something that brings so much happiness can be bad for a person. Even talks given in the church from general authorities talk about the magic of Santa. We don't make our Christmases all about Santa either. But I do feel that it is not bad for Children to believe in a person who is giving to people.

So after Tyler and I talked about how we really feel about Santa Clause and our children, we basicly told Philip that Santa is real. The magic of Santa is very real! He is real in many different ways. When we are kids we believe in a man who slides down our chimney to leave children toys. Which we did tell him that that santa is mom and dad. We are giving to our children but doing it secretly to make them happy. When we grow up, there are also santa's all around us. Anyone who does service for someone in need, or buys gifts for sub for santa are all santas. We told him about years when we lived in the Hamlet and we were struggling and someone left us Christmas on our door step. Tyler and I will never forget the feeling when the door bell rang at 6 am in the morning and we opened our door to see our front step filled with gifts, food and money. Whoever left that was a secret Santa to us. Another example of a secret Santa was when someone did the twelve days of Christmas to us when we were also living in the Hamlet. Everynight the kids knew something would be left for us and they looked forward to the sound of the door bell every night. They were just as excited to see what would be left for them that night, as they were on Christmas Eve for Santa to come.

So, Yes I do believe the magic of Santa is very real. Jesus has taught us to love each other and do service and I believe that is what Christmas is all about. Christmas is about remembering the the birth of our Saviour. When I think of Jesus, I think of giving to the poor and doing service and loving one another. As we talked to Philip you could see the excitement in his eyes as he began to realize the different things he can start to do for other people, including being santa to his little sisters. No disappointment came from him. We did ask him if he was disappointed, and he said no. He loved that we made Santa so much fun for him. He also said he would never tell any other kid that Santa is not real.

I am sad that Phililp is growing up, but then after talking to him, I don't think I realized how much he has already grown up. He is a very good kid. Tyler and I will continue the other version of Santa with our girls until it is time to tell them. Heck, I miss being a kid and waking up in the middle of the night and looking out the window and swearing that I could see his sleigh in the sky! I miss feeling the butterflies in my stomach on Christmas Eve. I miss trying to sneak out of my bedroom at 2 am to look at the tree and see what Santa left. Sometimes he had already been there and sometimes he hadn't. Then all of a sudden the presents were there. When did that happen? To me, believeing in Santa, Tooth Fairy, Easter Bunny, The Great Pumpkin, Fairies, and all other mystical being is the fun of being a child. Why make our kids grow up too fast! At least I know I want them to stay young and have a magical immagination for as long as they can.

This is the year!

Thanksgiving is over and so officially starts the christmas season. Even though Tyler and I have been married for almost 12 years now, we really haven't started too many of our own family traditions. The kids are growing up so fast and it seems that we have been floating through christmases past on extended family traditions. There are a few things that I have been wanting to start, but every year it flies by and we don't get around to it. The past four Christmases have been difficult ones for me, where I haven't been able to participate in alot of the family fun because of spinal taps and other health issues. So............This is the year!!

The first thing I want to do is make my family our Christmas stockings. We had some that Tyler's mom made for us when we were first married but thanks to a lovely flood in our crawl space at the Hamlet, they were ruined. Since then I have been using some that my mom had bought and just had on hand. Now I know that most people who know me know that I know NOTHING about sewing or anything to do with sewing. But I have been looking on ebay and found a knitting book and thought "Why don't I just knit my own? How hard can it be, right?" Realisticly I know this is not something that I will have completed for this christmas so we will use the borrowed ones one last time this year. I am sure it will take me allllllll year to make the ones I want.

Tyler and I have an arguement every year about whether or not to have a real Christmas tree. After getting a bug infested tree one year I swore I would never do it again. My mom bought me a fake tree that I absolutely loved. Sadly I was only able to use it one year before we moved out and moved in with Karol. Now that we live here, the arguement continues. My fake tree was left at my parents house and when I went to get it last year Tyler was very very excited when it was no where to be found. A few days ago we were talking about the tree issue again and Tyler reminded me that we couldn't find my tree. Right then the phone rang and it was my sister saying she found my tree!!!!! Well, I thought I won until Tyler brain washed the kids into real Christmas trees. So...... we compromised. Downstairs we will have a real christmas tree and my fake one will be set up upstairs in the loft. That way both trees will be seen. The first family home evening in December we will sit and make homemade ornaments and just fun stuff to put on my fake one in the loft. Now I just need to get Tyler to bring it in from outside. It is sitting there very sad and lonely outside our french doors.

Since I have been very generous and allow the real trees into my house after being infested by bugs, Tyler started something with me last year that does make me very happy. Last year while buying our tree, Tyler bought me the biggest real poinsetta plants I have ever seen. I loved them. This year I got a big real wreath. The guy selling the trees says he will look into selling real garland. So as long as I agree to the real tree, Tyler throws in something special that he knows I will love.

My friend Rachel has a tradition that I actually want to steal from her. They always spend one night during the holidays with the kids by the Christmas tree. I know my kids would love this and enjoy that family time together.

Elf on the Shelf will also be started this year. My dear friend Lesa told me about this when she started this fun story with her kids a few years ago. I wanted to start this last year but it was another one of those things that I didn't get around to doing.

Of course we will carry on a lot of other traditions like pj's on Christmas Eve, going to the cemetary and singing Christmas carols on Grandpa Phil's (Tyler's dad's) grave, driving around drinking hot chocolate while looking at Christmas lights, and coockies for Santa. I know that there are traditions that I must be missing out on. How about you? What are your favorite family traditions?

November, BIG birthday month!

This last week has been such a whirlwind with so much happening. All fun and exciting stuff I must say. It all actually started at the beginning of last week on friday when my girlfriends from high school got together for a big birthday dinner. 8 of us were able to show up and we ate the night away at Tucanos. We then had play group at my house with all of our little ones. There were a total of 10 kids running around and we even had a few that weren't able to show up. It is fun to get together with people that you have been friends with for so long and then get to see our kids together.

The next day it was my friend, Rachel Labrums bday. We, of course, went shopping and to lunch but made the whole day of it. It was fun to have a stress free day with nowhere to be. It is always fun shopping when you have friends and family coupon for 30% off. The factory outlets were CRAZY! I am happy to say that I did get her her favorite barbeque sauce, that should hold her over for a little while. I know she loved the cd I made of all of my favorite songs so she can always remember me where ever she may be. We even had fun grocery shopping towards the end of the day. Thank you Rachel, for such a fun saturday afternoon.

My next exciting adventure was the Carrie Underwood concert. It was a blast. My friend, Jayne, and my sister danni and I got tickets to go. We decided to make a whole day of it. We went to Cheesecake Factory for lunch. Tried to go bowling, but my sweet sister picked a bowling alley that was out of business. We were trying to be creative and do something that we don't usually do. When that plan failed................we went shopping!! We later met my other sister, Darci at Chili's for appetizer and desert. Next, we were off to the dollar show to see The Dark Knight. Then came..............................................................

Her concert was sooo much fun. I got to see a whole new wild side of Jayne. I think I like going to events like this more to watch people. Jayne was probably the most fun to watch, especially after the concert and her yelling back at people in their cars.

The next night was a very big night. Jayne, Danni, and I had all been really wanting to go the midnight showing of twilight but we were procastinators and the tickets all sold out. So we thought we would just make plans and go on friday in the mornig and do lunch afterwords. While we were at chilis with our appetizers and desert, we got a phonecall with some news.................

yes we scored midnight tickets. I kept thinking I was crazy for doing this with my head issues and it had already been such a big week. Needless to say, I gave into the peer pressure around me and I went. I am glad I did, cause it was definitely a memory making night. Before the show I went on the polar express with my family (post later about that). Right when we got home, Jayne and Danni were already in the driveway waiting for me so I jumped from one car to the other and we were off. When we got there, there were already mega loads of people everywhere!!! They let us sit down in the theater two hours prior to the show. The people were CRAZY!! Even grandmas with t-shirts saying "Edwards Team." I forgot my camera so I didn't get any fun pictures. Confession.........I did fall asleep off and on during the first half of the movie but made it through the end with flying colors. So I do need to see it again.

The next night the girls (Ellie, and Maggee) were in a Sleeping Beauty play. They did a great job and I will also do another post with pictures of that. I need to learn to not try and squeeze so many different outings into one post. Thanks to everyone who made these last few weeks such great ones!! Friends and family are what keep me going!

A quick Lucy update

Lucy got her new cast today and it is PINK! She slept through the whole dr. apt. which was a blessing. She slept through the x-rays as well as putting the cast on. She was very shocked to wake up to a hard pink leg. The dr. told me that was the first for him to have a child completly sleep though it. I wish I had had my camera with me. My sister had her cell phone, so we took a picture and sent it out to various people. Karol thought , from the picture we had taken, we had to put her out to have the cast put on, which wouldn't be a surprising thing with Lucy. I have been very vocal about my frustrations with Lucy the past week. I know she has been hurting and I feel bad for her, but there were definitely momments I thought I was going to go out of my mind. This cast will be on for about 4 weeks and then we will go from there. Hopefuly no cast for Christmas!

Hey, a thought just occured to me. I should go and attempt my bubble bath again because guess who can't climb the stairs very well to get to me?............. Yes, I think I will.

Boys Weekend Out

So I thought that I would take a weekend (last weekend) and maybe not be so selfish and let Philip, and Tyler have a weekend to themselves and do what they want. Yes, I know you are all thinking what a great mom and wife I am to give up my "free" time. ok, ok, so this weekend wasn't my idea, but I am very glad that tyler and philip got to enjoy such a fun weekend.

They started the night off by going to a Jazz game. This was actually a last minute thing. Philip's friend Mitch called and wanted him to go. We were struggling with whether to let him go or not because Philip was actually supposed to be grounded. A few minutes later the phone range again, and low and behold an extra ticket became available for Tyler. So no more discussion was needed, 15 min. later they were off to the game.



This is Mitch and Philip. These two are such goofballs, but they have fun together!

They got home from the game arouond midnight and then they were off fishing and hunting at 4:30 am for the day with a great friend of ours, Robert. This trip has been discussed for quite some time but has never happend until now. I have to admit that I was surprised that Tyler actually made time to go. He NEVER does fun activities like this. I will admit that I take more time for myself then tyler does for him so I am sooo glad that he went. He deserved this more than anyone I know.

This is Philip and his great catch.

Man Tyler sure is a handsome rugged man.


The man who made it all happen. Robert. Thanks a ton!!!! Philip still talks nonstop about this weekend.

They were quite tired when they got home, but not too tired to finish their saturday out with some football watching. That was when I escaped and went and watched the Oklahoma play with my sister-in-law, Olivia. All in all, it was a fun weekend. I got time with my girls, which Karol and I took them to see Madagascar 2, and Tyler got to spend time with his friend and his favorite son.

Just our luck!!

She may look happy here, but this was not the picture until about a half hour ago. Crying all day long!!!

Yes, it is true, Lucy broke her leg! It happened aroun 9am this morning. I was in checking my e-mail and in the background I could hear the tip tap of those fun dress up shoes on my brick floor. The noise kept getting closer to me until all of a sudden the dreadful scream occured. So being the great mom that I am, I kept saying, "ok, come on Lucy. It is ok. Now walk!" She would not walk all morning long. I kept debaiting, should I take her in , or should I not take her in? I kept bribing Lucy with EVERYTHING. We all know Lucy can be quite the drama queen sometimes. Nothing would convince her to walk! Tyler came home from work and we took her in. For the momment she is in a splinter that was formed to her leg. She will be in this splinter until next monday and then a different cast will be put on. Now I know you are all thinking how happy she looks in this picture. It is amazing how giving her leg some support , nice pain medicine, and a big bowl of candy (tyler's doing) can make her smile.

Now this smile didn't last too long. It was all great unitl Ellie came up to her and told her she had a fake cast on. We assured her that her cast is real, well kind of. At this very momment I can hear her in the living room singing twinkle twinkle little star and is in the exact same position as in the picture above. It is a good thing that Lucy is very good at entertaining herself. I am sure going to get my exersize carrying her everywhere!!

Mia got a heart!!

Little Mia went into surgeory at 6am this morning to receive her new heart!! Congrats Mia. We are all praying for you.

Sorry, another very long post!!

I have been thinking about my kids ALOT lately and what kind of parents Tyler, and I are. The world today absolultely scares me, and the challenges that our kids are going to have to face. I can't believe that next year Philip will be in middle school and one more year after that Ellie is right behind him. I talk to my neices about their social lives and the struggles they are having during this phase in their lives and I can't help but wonder if my kids will be strong enough to handle the challenges that they will be facing.

Philip always has to be a leader in our home not only because he is the oldest but he is the only boy. Tyler is always telling him that the girls watch everything he does, so he needs to think about his actions. Wow, what pressure it is to be the oldest! I love to sit back and watch him with his sisters and see how protective he is. Lucy is usually glued to his hip. If I can't find her I know she is either over at Karols, or she is down in Philips room hanging out. Whenever a problem arrises and Tyler and I need to discuss things with Philip, we will notice him giving "the look" to Ellie telling her she better not say anything and let him do the talking. A lot of times, Tyler and I have to talk to the girls privately to find out what Philip is keeping from us, and it is usually stuff that Philip doesn't want us to worry about. He thinks he is old enough to handle his own problems. One the other hand, Philip is also very very sensitive. I feel bad just because of the fact that Philip is the oldest, he is the child that everything gets tested out on, but he handles it well. I have heard from my kids's friends, or other parents that are at the school in the mornings, that Philip hugs both Ellie and Maggee before they head off to their different classes. Maybe I am just worried that Philip isn't going to be in the same school as them next year to protect them.

Lucy.......um......Lucy is just stubborn and strong willed. We will find out if that is good or bad in the near future. She is definitely our "different" child, but every family has to have one and we love her for that. She has to find out things on her own. For example, the whole time I have been typing this Lucy has been playing. All of a sudden she starts screaming hysterically. I ask her what is wrong and she says, "I stuck the key in the plug and now I hurt!!!" I ask her if I have told her numerous times not to stick her fingers in the plugs and she says yes. So I ask her why she did it and she says,"Because I just wanted to!" oh yeah for the teenage years with this one.

I can't tell you how many pictures I have of this same pose with Ellie and Maggee, just in different settings. But of course, like any normal siblings, they can be at each other's throats for the tinniest things. Ellie is the shy one of the fam. Last year we had a major breakthrough with her shyness , but this year we seem to have taken a step backwards. Ellie is very frightened to talk to her teacher at school. We keep telling her that that is what her teacher is there for. She gets soo upset she winds up in tears. Many days she will come home and say she didn't play at lunch because she sat in the sky room making lists of things she needs to get done for the day or week or whatever. Tyler gets mad at me because I tell Ellie that she needs to play. Tyler says to let her do what she wants, but of course being a mom, I don't want her to be left out. Ellie will tell me that she plays when she wants, and she sits and makes lists wen she wants. I think that is the hardest part about being a mom is having to sit back and let your kids be kids. It is just Ellies nature to be quiet. She is also very very organized. She better be with all the lists she makes.

Maggee is my "not so shy" one. I was worried that her teacher would be able to handle her energy this year. Come to find out, her teacher has had ADD her whole life, so her classroom is filled with fun and excitement and they don't sit at their desks for more than ten min. at a time. Wow! we sure lucked out with the perfect teacher for our Maggee. Maggee collects EVERYTHING!! Weekly I fill up a garbage bag full of stuff from her room that gets thrown away. Everything is a "special treasure." Every rock she owns is a "special" rock. She has already gotten in trouble for kissing boys on the bus. She literally cannot sit still for more than five minutes. She is what fills our family with energy!!

In the end my family is just that, MY Family!! I am so greatful for each and everyone of them and the different personality each one adds to us. I am greatful for what I believe the family unit is and hope that my kids will always stay strong and true to the gospel. Now I guess I better go and see if the smell has gone away from Lucy's hand from being shocked by the light plug. Life is definitely never boring around here.

Help Baby Mia !!

For several months now I have been checking on this blog daily (mimi and john on my sidebare under blogging buddies). This story absolutely breaks my heart. I knew Mimi back in high school and I am also very good friends with her older sister, Susan. Little Mia was born with needing a new heart. She has been on the donor list for almost four months now. She is quite the little fighter. They have been thinking about listing her on other donor lists but it would require $450,000 dollars upfront. This family has been through so many challenges. Anyone who is reading this please click on her blog or on the blinki I have added and read her story. Any money that is donated is appreciated but most of all prayers!! I have a very strong testimony of prayer and the power it has. Prayer has worked many miracles in my life, especially with my oldest son, Philip. He was born with seviere seizures and we weren't sure what his future held. I know it was the prayers and fasting of our loved ones and ward family members that pulled us through that time. I pray daily for Mimi and her family that little Mia will receive a new heart and begin her healing process. I am amazed at what a strong woman Mimi is with the trials she is facing with not only Mia but her other two children at home and making sure that her family is taken care of. Please, please read her blog and pray for Mia and her new heart!!

Rough Day!

Today has been a very long day. Mondays are always a big cleaning day for me. After the weekend with everyone being home from work and school, there is alot of catching up to do on housework and laundry. My head hasn't been doing too well lately either. I have been spending a lot of days in my bedroom trying to sleep through headaches along with missing the last two sundays of church. I also slack on the house cleaning when I have these episodes with my head. I started the morning off by getting the kids ready for school, and Lucy whinning, and then started into my cleaning routine. I didn't reaize how much I was behind on laundry. Hard to catch up when you are doing laundry for six people. I mopped, dusted, vaccuumed, and every other usual tasks around the house. All the while, Lucy is whinning. I ran to provo to run errands and made it back intime for "early out" day at school. Took girls to piano, philip went to piano, did homework with all three kids, made dinner, and got things ready for family home evening. Mean while, Lucy is running all around the house whinning about EVERYTHING! I have already done the dishes twice since the kids got home from school. Then Tyler thought he would be a fun dad and make milkshakes for the kids for the family home evening treat (which means more dishes to do). And did I mention, Lucy is STILL whining about EVERYTHING! I got a bright idea that maybe I could go up to my bathroom, light my candle chandelier, put my favorite music on, pour in some bubbles, and RELAX!!! I will tell anyone that my bathroom is my favorite room in my house. I am a big time bath person. So I thought I was being pretty sneaky by doing this while the milk shakes were being made and the kids's attention ( I guess I really mean Lucy's attention) is on Tyler, and ice cream. But guess what????????????????????

NO, my bright idea did not work. But hey, life would be boring without kids RIGHT?? And of course, it had to be Lucy to brighten up my relaxing momment. I did get a few minutes of relaxing. I guess I will leave Lucy to her bubble bath and candles and head down stairs to clean up the milkshake mess so I don't have to wake up to dirty dishes.

I tried to catch my relaxing feel in the bathroom, but our camera is horrible, so here is one with the lights on.

A lesson learned that I should already know is, lock my bathroom door!!

Our last halloween memories.

Just had to do one last post about halloween and show the costumes and and final results of candy!
Maggee was Supergirl, Philip was a warewolf, Ellies was a vampire, and Lucy was spiderman...tapshoes and all.
Look at all of our candy. I do mean "our" candy. I am lucky to have such sweet kids that share. Even though this is tooooooooo much candy. My sister Danni took my kids trick or treating halloween night. As you can see, they went everywhere!! Thanks Danni for taking them, and letting Tyler and I enjoy a halloween night ALONE!
We LOOOOOVVVVEEE our candy!!!! Yes, I am stuck with this candy in my house all day long with just me and Lucy. I have got to get rid of this before I eat it all myself.

Pumpkin Carving Fun

We had a big crew over to carve pumpkins. The kids had soo much fun. Danni came over with her girls and also brought Shelby (who had a friend with her).This picture was after all the pumpkin carving was done. Tyler and Philip didn't want to be in the picture. They didn't want to be mixed in with all the girls.

This picture, in my opinion, speaks for itself. Yes, Lucy was spiderman for Halloween and wore the costume for about three days before halloween and slept in it every night.Philip does love carving pumpkins. He usually does a scary face every year. He said he wanted something different this year.
Magge was her usual happy self the whole night long. She was also very proud of her pumpkin.

Ellie wanted her pumpkin to have spaces between its teeth just like her!

Danni was very proud of her pumpkin. Can't you see it in her face?

OHHH sisterly love. I must really love Danni to pose for a camera with her. I hate my picture taken.

Shelby is all smiles.


Whether Tyler will admit it or not, I know he thoroughly enjoyed the night.

Lauren was sooo excited to carve pumpkins. Her drawing was a little too technical to cut out all the lines, but it still turned out GREAT!

I don't have a pictue of Kyla's "finished product." She wanted her pumpkin to look perfect. So she had to take hers home to finish. 8:30, which is bedtime at our house, came around very quickly.

October fun

Just to warn everyone, this is a very long post. I just have lots of things that I need to record for this month, so feel free to skip because of length, or Enjoy!

So much has been happening this month. My life is usually pretty boring with not much action other than usual every day "mom" stuff. This month has been quite different. I think that this is the first week that I don't have ANYTHING planned. I was laying in bed this morning thinking about all that has gone on this month and couldn't help but feel greatful and happy for my life. I have been able to do a lot of fun outings with just grownups, but also my kids. I absolutely love Halloween. I love everything about it. I love dressing my kids up. I love all scary shows, even the ones for kids on the disney channel. I love staying up late with tyler once the kids have gone to bed to watch "our shows." Who doesnt love Candy? Tyler and I love to take our kids trick-or- treating to all the family members, but we have to return home early cause we also love to hand out candy. Which I do love trunk-or-treats, but it does take away the good "old" fun out of trick-or-treating.

Earlier this month my sisters and I, along with our husbands, went to a haunted house. I haven't been to one of those since high school. It was soooo much fun!! I do have to say that I think I laughed more at my sister Darci and her laughing followed by snorting more than any of the scary stuff we walked through. I fell twice going through the mazes. Who wouldn't fall when it is pitch black and stairs come out of no where? It was nice to have a nice strong husband that would guard me and I could push him into anybody that came up to or near me. This haunted house had a zip line, live bands, ghost stories for kids, and fortune tellers. The music was pretty fun. People were dancing and I almost felt like tyler and I were in back in high school on a date. It is always nice to feel young again. It was way fun. IT's called the Dreaded Grove in American Fork if anyone one of you dare to go. (sorry no pics. I took the camera, I just never got it out.)

My friends from high school usually have a girls trip every year. This year we decided to stay around here because of all the babies that have been born. I , unfortunately, was unable to go but I have gone to previous trips in the past and I am soo greatful for the friends I have and that we are just as close now as we were in high school. Maybe even more. OH and I can't forget the evening I was able to sneak away to Lesa's house and watch The Strangers with her after the kids were put to bed. Thanks Steve for letting me steal your wife in your own house for a few hours. Yes, Lesa walked me to my car and made sure all was safe before I got in to drive home. I mean, what are friends for. Right!

Tyler and I had some friends over for a dinner and games. I don't think I have laughed so hard in all my life. My stomach was seriously hurting. Tyler was the man of the hour with all the great food him and his mom came up with to serve. OK , I know you are all thinking, why didn't I cook. Right? Well, I cleaned the house, made all the phone calls, and gave assignments to other couples as to what to bring. I think it was definitely a 50/50 effort. AND I did this with a major head ache. I really am not trying to take the lime light away from Tyler. He did do the work that made the night a hit. Thanks hon. You are the best. OH and for those of you who were there, I took the mirror down. Just couldn't go into my girls's bathroom and have a certain vision in my mind. Thanks Danny for that one! I really did like that mirror. Rachel, you will be getting chocolate for Christmas, and every other holiday after that! Mark, all I can say is, You Are Funny! We really do all love you. Josh and Tiffany, I didn't know you had so many hidden secrets. to Kam, all I can say is "Oh Mannn!!" Jenny, I am soo sorry. I don't know how you handle that husband of yours. I know I am looking forward to our next get-together.

My favorite thing that was accomplished this month was the planting of all our 20 trees. Yes, I said 20!!! So we have trees now. We may be doing our yard backwards in the planting area but we have had these trees for two winters now and just had to get them into the ground. We originally had 22 trees, but two died. I was upset about that until we started planting and I was sooo greatful for the two dead ones. I loved seeing all my kids working together so hard, and so anxious to work! I have to admit. I am pretty good with a shovel. I think I even surprised Tyler.

Last saturday, Karol had a halloween party for all the grandkids. They loved it! They got to go trick-or-treating to grandma's house, have food, and lots and lots of candy. They also played games. She also gave them fun prizes. Whistles!! um, not so fun for the parents. Especially me.

Last but certainly not least, Tyler surprised the kids last night and came home at 2:30 to take them to a matine to see High School Musical 3. Cause you know it is like half the price if you go before 5pm. The girls were so excited. On the way to Provo every five minutes Maggee would ask, "Are we there yet?" When we got into the theater and the movie started, Lucy (I will remind you she is 3) turned to Tyler and said, "Dad, Troy likes, me and I like him." She was soo good through the whole movie. So I will admit, Tyler and I also enjoyed it.

I could go on and on about other stuff that has also happened this month but this post is long enough, and probably boring to most of you. I do have pictures of a few things but haven't downloaded them yet. I will add them later. Wow ,we still haven't hit Halloween yet, so I still have pumpkin carving, and trunck-or-treating left to make more memories.

It's growing!!!

You all remember Lucy's famous haircut that she gave herself. I thought I would post a quick progress report on the length of her hair..............

This is before the hair cut

THE hair cut!!!

Starting to fill in. I thought I had a more recent picture than this one, but this is only a month old and with how slow her hair grows it still looks pretty much the same. Although her bangs are more even across the front now. Thankfuly.
A nice back view.

Not such a great closeup picture but good enough to see the length.
Everyday I ask Lucy if she is ever going to cut her hair again and she says "No, just grandma cuts my hair!" Good job Lucy, you better never forget that.

I do have to look at a more positive side of this experience. Before this dramatic scissor episode, Lucy's hair was quite stringy and thin. It is coming in a lot thicker and much more course. It actually looks really nice when I blowdry it with a round brush and it has body to it. Unfortunately, I don't take too much time on her hair right now, so she only gets the cute round brush hairdue on sundays.