I like Flowers

Nielie has managed to pick lots of flowers around the yard lately. When I tell her not to, she says "I like flowers" and continues to pick them. The brown stuff by her mouth is some mulch she thought she might like. She is having so much fun outside these day. They are all so filthy at the end of the day. It stays light till about 8 so we have to remember to go inside at night. Evie is great at finding geckos. We see them daily. One she recognizes as the one whose tail she pulled off. She loves finding rolly pollies and geckos. Kite day at school was canceled so we came home and flew them in the front yard. It was great! I don't have a picture of it but Nielie was so cute running with her kite in the front yard. By the time I thought to go get the camera she was done. But she kept it up for quite awhile with some help from Allie. Chase and Jake really enjoyed it too. I loved the fact that we didn't have to go somewhere to fly a kite.
Last night I was watering the flowers and Nielie was helping me. As I was watering I would pull out a weed I would see every now and then. She was really watching me because right after I would pull a weed out she would bend down and pick up some mulch. I think she thought I was just picking up mulch. She did it about 5 times.
I had forgotten till we moved out here how much I like being outside and how good it is for me. I had also forgotten this lesson I had thought about weeds when I spent so many summer hours hoeing or spraying weeds. I was reminded of it again last night. This is the analogy- Weeds are so much like sin, they are bad,take over the good stuff, can make things really look ugly and they make me unhappy. But just like sin, even the small ones need to be taken care correctly or they get out of control, their seeds spread, and more keep poppy up. Last week I spent way too many hours outside working on our yard, getting weeds out, planting, fertilizing, all the stuff it needed. Well the weeds that I didn't take care of properly- get the whole root out are already back this week, even all the mulch I put on top them didn't cover them up for long. They are back and to make sure they stay gone I need to get the whole root out. But the wonderful thing is that they can be taken care of, we can get the whole root out even if it takes a hoe or a pick we can get the weed out of our gardens. I added to it this time also that it takes constant effort to keep them out because new ones pop up and it is much easier to take care of them when they are tiny and are easily pulled out. I love being outside and seeing things grow and get green.
( Just so you know the kite picture was taken about 3 weeks ago- the front yard looks much green now after lots of fertilizer and water.)

Dana Kay Barber/ Abydos Writing Project

This is Jake getting his award and sitting with his teacher Mrs. R. Jake and Allie both have her for Gate 10 and just love her. She reminds lots of Allie Kinder teacher Mrs. Smith so full of life and excitement.



One day back in Feburary I got a call from Jake's teacher and I was afraid of what she was going to tell me. But it was a good call, he got 2nd place in the Dana Kay Barber contest, the Abydos or New Jersery writing contest. There were entries throughout the state of Texas. He placed 2nd in the 2-3 grade prose category. His title was MUD. When I read it the first time I laughed so hard because it helped me understand how his mind works a little bit better. I shared with my family because it was just funny and we all could relate about the mud. He was very excited to go get the award. Luckily the conference was in Dallas this year so we didn't have to travel far.
Here is is entry just as he wrote it. Only students whose teachers are certified in Abydos can enter this competition. The teachers can make no corrections. He typed it also.


I walk out to my grandpa's field. My feet sink into the schematized mud. My cousins and I look farther down the stretch of mud. We plant our feet stiffly into the mud, then take off. The dark sky stilly zooms by us. It feels sticky against my face.I take one last step then jump. I flick my head back just in time to catch my cousins sink into the soft, cool and warm mud before my face hits the mud. I feel it begin to consume my entire body. I swing my head upward until I surface. My cousins are already standing and laughing they look so funny I can't help it I bulge out laughing. Then we lay down into the mud. I sink no lower than my nose. I rest a split second then we decide to get as muddy as we can. We thrash like freaks and make weird comments like we would pop out of the mud and say 'honey I'm home' or stand up and rub mud into our shirts and say 'don't come in I'm in the shower'. Then we find thick mud and cover a stick in it. Then we got big globs of sticky mud and spread it over our heads then I took the stick and told everybody we should scare drivers so we do that but it gets boring because nobody comes so we start to head home. I look up and see my aunt charging us with a metal bat saying,'you come here this instant'. We knew we had done it now. I look at my mom by the house with a hose pouring water in her hand. She signals us to come to her so we do. The water was so cold it felt like ice. I haven't touched mud since but that was a year ago and I am nine so I still have a lot of years to go so. But I can't take the consequences of freezing water.

I have to disagree a though, he has touched mud since many times. Jenni this picture and story are for you because you have lots of mud days ahead of you. Just know that it feels that so good on Cooper and Casons skin and that is why they do it. I think this picture is taken after Cooper saw what his older cousins did the day before.

Hello Duck Goodbye Duck

This is a picture of one of the famous ducks back in the creek. I wanted you all to see how big and beautiful it is. I also want my kids to never forget the lesson learned by the Duck!

Another Bathroom update

Again we were having problems with kids toilet. I got out the snake and got a wetwipe out. The next day the tub wouldn't drain either. Again Adam wanted to fix it. This is what he found.





He thought it was a t-shirt at first, actually just a bunch of wet wipes. Nielie was just practicing flushing the toilet I guess. I am glad she is the baby and we can all laugh. Yesterday I caught her "dipping" a book in the toilet. Tonight Allie caught her putting her little stuffed dog in the toilet. I think I am going to have to put one of those toilet lid locks on the toilet. I have never had a kid a do this. She has done more damage with marker than most of our kids put together. She is really funny though when you tell her not to do something she says in a monotone voice "Okay Mom" and goes on like nothing happened.

How can I get mad at a little girl that is always into stuff and just so cute. If you can tell in this picture she is in my heels with a screwdriver trying to change the batteries in her leapster.

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LIP GLOSS !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Nielie has become obsessed with lip gloss lately and a few other things. She carries around lip gloss all day and I think she is eating it or sucking it out of its tube. The other day she had it all over her hair and face. I would look at her and she would smile and say"I petty". I could not get it out of her hands. Today she got my super stay lipstick/lip gloss. That stuff is like paint and will not come off. She painted Evie up too needless to say they had red lips even when they got into bed tonight. She has even tried putting deodorant on her lips thinking it was lip gloss. She is very much into lotion, makeup, hairstuff- anything that can make a mess. The other day I went into her bedroom and it was very fragrant- I did not remember putting a new plug in the room - then I noticed the empty deodorant on the floor. She had rubbed deodorant all over her table- it was a white chalky mess. Tonight while we were having FHE she was off in the bathroom- another new fascination. When I was putting her to bed I noticed about a pound of palmade in her hair-gross!

Today Nielie comes to me naked and says " I poopy" So we run to the bathroom and sure enought she goes to the bathroom. I have never had a kid do this. Maybe she sees her brothers on the pot so much she is getting the idea. Her little bum is red because all she wants to do is sit on it and flush tiolet paper down the toilet. I had to get out the snake again tonight because she happened to send a few wet wipes down there. She does not want to wear a diaper so today we went and got some DORA and Princess panties. She is really funny but we have another problem. She is learning how to talk in super loud mode and repeat everything until you acknowledge here. I feel like I am a failure because all our kids are so loud. I wonder where they get it from. This weekend my sister in law said" your kids are so energentic and full of life- they must really inspire you". I remember telling Cindy when Kellen and Ty were little I wanted to have kids just like them. She kept telling me no you don't. As long as they turn out like her boys I will be happy but they are full of life.

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Here are some pictures of Spring Break last week. Jake said it was so fun because they got to play with friends everyday. I tried to get some work in them though. I think they only had to hear the story of what I had to do every spring break about 15 times. Chase told me it was spring break not work break after such a comment I would break out in my famous " when I was growing up I spent every spring break on the back of the onion planter. I had to ride on that little piece of wood seat up and down the rows with the dust flying in my face, then if I was lucky mom would take me to town on Saturday and buy me a dress." They all needed that reminder last week as well as myself to remind that it is okay for them to work and they don't have to be entertained all the time.

This is in the creek in the back yard. Looks very dirty - we got lots of rain last week so it had a little bit more water in it. They were swinging on the rope and had so much fun.

We did get to go to Oklahoma and stay with Brandon and Nicole on Friday and Sat. It was fun to see them.

Wednesday, March 11, 2009

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MOM!!!!!!!!!

Mom and Dad the morning they left our house to go to Baltimore after taking care of me, MRSA, and moving! They could have had a nice long road trip from the MTC to Baltimore but came and took care of us while I was in the Hospital and we were trying to move. Shawn and Kristy were great to drive their car out for them so they could come help us.



We want to wish Mom a Happy Birthday! We sure love you! The kids think you are just the best. Adam thinks your a great-mother in law too! We are sure happy you are on a mission, we miss you and can't wait for you to get back. This may embarrass you mom, but I want to remember these things too!
A few things about Mom is that she can always find the bright side to anything. She never gets too upset and is real forgiving. What I appreciate the most is that she taught me the best job is being a wife and mother and to give it your all.Mom instilled a desire and belief that the most rewarding thing I could ever do is be righteous wife and mother. She dedicated her life to Dad and to us kids and she still does. The best thing is she never complained about it. I never remember her having lunch dates, only drive thru lunches when we were picking up parts for Dad. I don't remember her going on any girls-nights out, only Homemaking. She made us kids feel like we were 2nd only to Dad. My mom is very selfless. I think that is why she is so happy.I have great memories of my childhood and so many of then were in the car. I remember running parts with mom all the time. I remember sitting on the counter in Valley Auto wanting a piece a bubble gum from the machine. I liked going to Pioneer the John Deer store in Hermiston because they had tractors to play with while we waited. Then there was Les Swab where we might wait a long time to get tires changed. We didn't have any DVDs to watch in the car, we listened to KONA and Anne Murray.
Another thing I am really glad she taught me about was Food Storage. I don't think she meant to, it was just what we did. She always had food storage. I am sure lots of it had to do with the fact we lived too far from town to just go run and get something so she always had to have stuff on hand. I am so glad she taught me that it is okay to buy cases of food even the cash registers look at you weird and ask what you are doing. I know the ladies at Food Depot eventually got used to mom and her cases.
I remember lots of times when we would run out of water. We would have to take the laundry over to Hermiston to get it done. It was not the favorite thing to do but mom never lets laundry get out of control. One summer we lost water and power so many times it was crazy. I remember thinking I would go without electricity rather than water. We would use the big yellow water jugs till we got more water. I am thinking about myself and if I was in that situation I would have went crazy with all the dirt and dirty clothes coming in the house and no way to clean it up. I don't remember mom ever getting upset and I really don't think my kids could say the same thing about me in that situation.
One thing I am trying harder to be like my mom is that she really worked on Saturday to get ready for Sunday. I remember her making a dessert, and jello salad for Sunday Dinner. We always had pancakes or waffles for dinner on Saturday night. I also remember her washing the cars on Saturday afternoon and usually having us mow the yard. Then on Sunday morning she was always up early getting the meat in the oven so when we came home from church the food was ready for us to eat.
My mom always supported my dad is whatever he did. She always made sure he had a meal before he had to go meetings, so she needed to be home by 5. If she was going to be gone for lunch she always had lunch ready for him when he came in for lunch. She washed his filthy muddy pickup so many times for him too so he would have something clean to go to town in. She would get the garden going and take care of it for him. She would go to Ballgames with him, she has even went hunting with him.
She helped him so much with the farm and still does. I think it is just great that now they are missionary companions!
There are lots of times I think what would I do if I didn't have my mom to talk to and then I remember that she lost her mom when she was younger than me. I do feel bad thinking that she has had to go through trials without being able to talk to her mom. I love my mom and if I could be half of what she is I would be happy. She has been my solid example of how to be Christlike and how to be a wife and mother.


Happy Birthday Uncle Brent! I think the only time you twins have been apart from each other is when Uncle Brent was on his mission and now when mom and dad are on theirs.


Mom and Dad with President Stapleton after being set apart.

Monday, March 2, 2009

Swing Shift

After I got the kids to bed I was reading this article from Sister Beck in the church news. I LOVE IT and it makes me realize I have to do better.

"The most valuable time of the day for a family is the afternoon/evening shift. Be at the top of your game on swing shift. People are hungry, people are teachable. You feed them; that's when you serve them most. PLAN FOR SWING SHIFT, AND THEN WORK THE REST OF YOUR DAY AROUND THAT."

Hopefully if I do this my life may seem more orderly. Now I just have to figure out how to be at the top of my game!