The Burgess Family

Fight Like A Girl

2012-01-22T11:36:00.000-08:00

I know I suck on updating my blog, I'm a little overwhelmed by all the posts I need to make up on but really quick I wanted to share a benefit for 4 cute little girls in our area fighting cancer. www.fightlikeagirl2.com It is an amazing cause for 4 amazing families. Buy a t-shirt, wear it to the benefit on February 13 and get in free. Let me know if you'd like one. They are $12 a piece and you can stop by my house if you know where I live or I can find a way to get it to you.

The Fish Tank that is No More.

2011-11-30T16:23:00.000-08:00

Jim has had a fish tank since he was probably 16 years old. We have moved and set up a new tank in our houses 4 times. Through that I have learned a few things...

1- Salt Water fish are soothing to watch and have beautiful, vibrant colors
2- Its an expensive hobby
3- One fish can come to your house sick and kill everything you currently have, then die itself
4- Its an expensive hobby
5-Don't build a tank into the structure of your home unless you REALLY want it to remain there
6- Its an expensive hobby
7- Its not as fun when your husband comes home one day and decides he's tired of it and sells 75% of what makes it pretty...namely all the bright coral so all you're left with is ugly rock...in the structure of your home.

Jim has mostly had reef tanks (as opposed to the bigger, carnivorous fish). I liked the coral. It was bright, beautiful to look at, kids liked it, blah blah blah. Well...they require stronger lights, they're really sensative to water levels and such. So Jim decided one day that he wanted to sell it. He'd been growing it for 15 some odd years so he made some money, but unfortunately I was unaware of such decisions and was left with a 250 gallon tank in my wall that was filled with boring, ugly rock. So I decided to buy some bigger, brighter fish to offset what was left and hopefully make it prettier to look at again. It worked, it was pretty...until one of the fish that came in the expensive group got sick and not only killed my recent investment but killed everything else that we had before they rudely moved in. Done..over it. NEXT!

But, as previously stated...what do you do with it when its BUILT into your wall? Well...you turn it into a Terrarium!

The only left survivors...

When I tell you that apparenly draining a salt water tank makes your house stink....believe you me, it does

This is Jim's friend Mike...obviously not the most flattering angle of these boys. Mike was Jim's tank ally. He actually built one into his wall when they built their house as well...he dodged a bullet when the tank cracked while setting it up and they removed it before they were stuck with it...

SO much prettier to look at!!! We had the lights and set up to have tropical plants and they are SOOOO much funner than ugly dead rock!!

Our first new occupant...Pascel the veiled chameleon. A little grumpy but so cool. He can change colors so fast and its SOOO neat to see him snatch a cricket with his tongue a foot away!

It took me a while to be able to find him....

Our second occupant was the red eyed tree frog...

He didn't last very long, apparenly they can escape through small spaces by climbing the glass and so he is somewhere in my house. Awesome.

Then came the turtles...they are my favorite.

THEY PLANK!!! Its so FUNNY! They climb up on eachother most times and plank!!!

Usually on top of each other...."MOVE! NO YOU MOVE!!!"

So there you have it....no more dumb fish

2011-11-30T16:15:00.001-08:00

Family Pictures Updated! PHEW!

2011-11-29T09:08:00.000-08:00

Last time we had our pictures done Lilly was Sam's age. So I figured it was about time. And of course my pick was Abbey at AK Studio and Design and as always, she did not disappoint. If you haven't checked her out, I would highly recommend doing so. Not just for family pictures, she does an excellent job at weddings/ bridals, individuals, baby (I love how Sam's turned out), and just about anything else you could possibly think of and in my opinion is more than fairly prices AND she didn't even pay me to say that! She does such a good job with the colors and making sure to capture the essence of my kids' personalities at this particular stage. I love it.

Oh my little drama queen....she bonked her head when we asked her to scoot back and was not happy...

But don't you fret....Abbey came prepared with smarties and it fixed it in a second, what a little actress.

I debated on her puffs....I thought they were adorable, but I wasn't sure if it was going to end up as the fashion trend that she'll despise when she's older and mock me for it. Oh well, I guess there has to be one, this may as well be it and I love how it turned out.

I LOVE this picture of Sammy. So funny! Its like he's saying, "Please....no pictures. Yes, I am aware of how awesome I am, but please...no pictures."

Seriously....I just want to squeeze him!! This is his typical face....

Oh I love my boys...

If you know Jim, you know how much I had to beg, bribe, and threaten him to be on his best behavior. He did a good job, but was pretty uptight. So Abbey pulled Connor aside and told him to lick his cheek on her mark.

I was trying so hard not to laugh...I knew how hard it was for Jim to have a serious face for the candid shots.

And right when I was about to kiss him he of course says something inappropriate...

I told Abbey that I wanted a picture of us holding hands, I don't know who started it...but we've held hands like this since we dated. Sometimes we try and hold hands normally and it feels weird...

I wanted something different. I saw an engagement couple on Abbey's blog that did a shoot with paint. I thought that it would be fun, I didn't even tell Jim till he got there....figured he'd be stuck and wouldn't have a chance to back out. It turned out so cute and bright.

Abbey is so clever....she sends a pre email asking what I am hoping to get out of the shoot so that I end up with the best possible outcome, one of my requests was to capture my girls. They are getting to be so close and it makes me so thankful my Heavenly Father was in charge of how far apart they'd be instead of me. I think that Lilly just couldn't wait another second to be back together with her sister.

This wasn't even coached...

Apparently I didn't have enough paint on me so Abbey gave the girls permission to have a free shot. My hair is so dark that it took a LOT of paint to finally show up....and a LOT of washing to get out. I saw blue on my shower floor for days....totally worth it

We wanted a before and after shot...the after turned out to be a little harder than we thought because the whole paint fight wound them right up. Thankfully Abbey has a whole lot of patience

Bar none....my FAVORITE PICTURE. This is the essence of Lauren in a single shot

How does that paint taste, Sam?

OH THAT CUTE TONGUE!!!!

What a good sport....

Thank you Abbey.....they are perfect

New York Trip

2011-10-07T02:40:00.000-07:00

Jim had some meetings in New York so we decided to turn it into a "Together Time" trip for just the two of us. He asked back when Sam was first born, September seemed so far away so I committed. The closer it got, the more nervous I was about leaving the kids. Little did I know they weren't going to miss me NEAR as much as I thought they were going to. Sam...you traitor

This was the view from our hotel room, we were on 42nd street just a block from Time Square. Loved it.

One of the things we both wanted to do was go to the Ground Zero and see the World Trade Center along with the new twin towers. We got there on the 13th, Sunday the 11th marked the 10th anniversary and I was glad that I missed the crowd. They had just opened up the memorial pools. If you didn't have tickets you couldn't go and tickets to see it were booked through November, so we visited the Museum which was incredible. There were so many things on display that you wouldn't have seen through the media. I loved it.

Jim and I suck at documenting our trips. We aren't the most photogenic couple ever and we always forget. He is always way too embarressed to ask someone to take our picture, he even gets embarressed when I ask and I hate having pictures of just scenery and no people. So this is my attempt on documenting the two of us on the subway :)

This is of the new towers being built. Amazing. On one angle they resemble the original ones, on another angle you see that they are both unique, on one side one even resembles the Washington Memorial. Incredible.

So we're walking to the museum and New York didn't disappoint in the crazy people area, this guy comes up to me and asks me if I was "Computer Savy." I of course the sucker and wanting to help stop and listen to the guy while he shows me lyrics scribbled on a piece of paper that he wants to become the "new New National Anthem." Jim is of course shaking his head as I am now trying to get out of this conversation about me investing in it. I'm not sure what any of that had to do with computers, apparenly he wasn't the dumb one.

I am an observer. There's really nothing I like better than looking at everything, except maybe people watching. So I am looking at everything while Jim is trying to figure out on his Google Maps where we were and where we were going. I go to turn and see where he was and this lady (Again, thank you NY) comes right up to me nose to nose, chest is touching mine and just stares at me. Didn't say a word. Just stands there in my bubble. It startled the heck out of me and I jump back. She never says a word as I hurry back to Jim who missed the whole thing. I'm pretty sure I'll have nightmares about her for a while.

Of course we had to get this pic for Jim. He's so cute. It was so funny to watch how much he doesn't like the tourist crowds and taking pictures, you know he REALLY wanted this one when he's willing to wait while all of these asian tourists are jumping in and out, absolutely no order or system. I finally told Jim after he was trying to wait his turn that it was never going to happen because they were going to be more pushy about getting up to the bull than he was. He finally bit the bullet and jumped in. So funny. At least he was smart enough not to pick the poor animal's nose.

We went to this steak house that was so super Yummy and sorry Jim and Jeff, I don't remember the name. They're going to be so disapointed in me. But this is my "Please take the picture already because I feel dumb and don't know whether to smile or make a face" face

Isn't the city so pretty

I so love him

WICKED!!!!! Jim asked when we were making the plans to go what I wanted to see. He made fun of me for wanting to see Wicked for the 3rd time but it was SOOOO worth it. Best cast yet and we had awesome seats. We also went to How to Succeed in Business, Harry Potter was in it and we were close enough to see the buckets of sweat pouring off the poor wizard's face. It was awesome and of course we have no documentation of it. Man we suck

There was a Ripley's right next door and we were SOOOO excited to text this pic to Mo (my sis in law watching my 4 yahoos) to show Connor who is currently obsessed with Transformers. I was SOOOOO excited to talk to him and tell him we saw Bumblebee. In a very matter of fact tone he asks, "What about Prime?" Meaning, Optimus Prime. He said it in such a way that was like, "If you don't have a picture of the head guy don't bother me with such trivial information."

The day that Jim had his all day meeting I was a little nervous to be in NY by myself. I didn't have my sister to help me not get lost (Heather served her mission in NY) and I won't lie, I was a little scared. I got over that REAL fast when I found the block of stores that a lot of the clothing stores buy their stuff from and all the shopping that was to be had. NY and I really could've been so happy together.

So I found these dresses and they are two of my favorite purchases. They were from one of the random WholeSale places. You walk in and theres just wall to wall, ceiling to floor clothes everywhere and if they allow individual sales you just tell em what you want in what color and size. Well...these dresses were super cute, but the room smelled like the bowels of Satan. It looked like the Godfather's family owned it and the smell was a mixture of mildue, cigar smoke, and BO. I figured I'd double bag em and wash it when I got home. Didn't dare wash with anything else of mine, man am I glad I didn't. I filled up the sink when I got home and as soon as the dress met the water it did this....

Yup....so grose. But, a little detergent and fabric freshner later and it is SOOOO cute. This particular one was my present to Mo for doing such a good job watching my kids, I kept the other maroon one. Can I just say how amazing my brother and Sister in law are? We came home to TONS of cute drawings on our bedroom door that they had made for us and for a newlywed couple that have no kids of their own, they were PROS and I need to tell them thank you from the bottom of my heart for doing such a good job which allowed me to enjoy my vacation with my best friend. I love you two. And you can thank me later for the added birth control this trip gave you :)

Lauren's Artistic Eye

2011-10-04T12:05:00.000-07:00

Lauren's preschool is awesome at creating, painting, and have done such a good job at keeping her interested in the world around her. Right now we're growing a carrot, she calls it a "he." She usually wakes up in the morning, "How's he doing? Did you know that water is his steak? We better feed him." She brings home whatever she painted for the day, I just hang them on the fridge and go about the rest of my day.

Today I saw a sticky note on the back...

I just cried. Anyone who knows Lauren knows that she has a wonderful sense of humor and an awesome imagination, the combination is quite entertaining to say the least. I love what she sees and how she interprets the world around her, for some reason this just absolutely moved me. Sounds so stupid, but I love this little girl's heart. I love how she thanks me every day for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. I love that she tells me that I'm the best mom ever, I love that she constantly wants to give me hugs and kisses. I don't know whether this statement was yet another of her random comments, or if she really was trying to paint me dancing on the grass in a storm, but I just love this girl.

2011-09-29T10:21:00.000-07:00

I really have no excuses at this point EXCEPT that I have tried to do this post a number of times, but stinkin Picasa won't let me upload pictures and I knew that I had so many of them and kept hoping they'd get their act together. So I kept waiting....and procrastinating....and waiting.....and quite a bit more procrastinating...and FINALLY I have given up and am going to upload the pictures the old fashioned way, one by painful one.

Lilly, Lilly Lou. You are about as cute as a button as much as you are a stinker. You have been the child that has restored the saying, "terrible 3's." Its funny, if you're in a good mood you are the sweetest, most patient child. If you're not....well lets say dad and I may have to sell you to the Indians. You were SOOO excited to spend your birthday at the lake this year, I really think you decided that everyone showed up to the lake JUST for you! You are into puppies, really any living creature, and princess characters (heaven help us), riding your bike, loving on your "baby bru-der" Sam, and seeing just how far you can push the envelope. Your theme this year was, "I do this?" Everytime Dad or I would ask you to not do something, you'd ask "I do this?" as you go through all the other things that you can do seeing how close you can come to what you were asked not to do. Dad and I laugh at your accent...I wish I could write out an example...... you sound like you were born to be a southern belle and it makes me smile everytime I hear it. I think my favorite word you say is Whay-uh (where) and when you tell me to quit calling you Lou Lou, that your name is Lilly MeyJohn (Lilly Marijeanne). You are SOOOO excited to go to preschool this year. Your teacher has been impressed with how smart you are and I just smile and think, oh if you only knew how smart you really are. Although you can totally be an independant, headstrong stinker, you are so good at being the one to give something that you have that one of your siblings wants just to see them smile and I love watching you beam when you see how excited they get. You love making others happy and you are so cute. Your sweet little face and lips make me smile inside just thinking about it. You LOVE to sing. I absolutely love it. I wish I could find the video I have when you were about 4 or 5 months old, you were laying in the bouncer and I was singing while I did the dishes. All the sudden I noticed that you were trying to mimic me and trying to sing. You had your cute lips puckered up and making the cutest sound. I grabbed my camera and took a video of it. Your favorite song to sing is "Part of your World" and at 3 you know every word. You sing at the top of your lungs, usually songs that you make up but I'm so impressed at how good of an ear you have already and how fast you can learn the words. I hope you know how much Dad and I love you and how proud we are that you will always be our Lilly Lou.

Lilly let me know way ahead of time that she was expecting a "puppy party"

Since it was at the lake, I just had to bring everything needed for the cake. Anyone who knows me well, knows how INCREDIBLY hard it was to run out of the decorative frosting and having to finish with the other that didn't match at the bottom. I was fighting my panic attack the rest of the day.

Birthdays around here are exciting because its like a birthday for all!!! Everyone gets so excited and is more than happy to help!

Just chillin....his typical pose this trip...and basically always

I love this picture of Jadyn. SO cute. She was hiding her bday present for Lilly in her swim trunks :)

I love how the rest of the day, and for days to follow she lets me know ALL the things she can all the sudden do, now that she's "free" (3) Oh how I love my Lilly Lou :)

Lots of Firsts around here:

2011-09-17T14:39:00.000-07:00

Theres been a whole lot of "Firsts" around here. So many happened one right after the other that I have sooooo much blogging to catch up on, so yep.....thats right, I'm cheating and taking a shortcut and categorizing them in all the "Firsts"

School:
Lilly has been so excited about starting preschool. I really didn't want to start her this early, since I'm holding her and Lauren back because of their August birthdays. But she wasn't having any of that. Imagine how tickled I was when Kim Yardley opened up a new preschool right behind me, walking distance for Lilly. Connor and Luarne fight over who gets to "pick her up" after school. I love when Lauren picks her up, she pretends to be so big...."Lilly, stay right by me. Hold my hand." They are about the exact same size and its so cute.

Lauren was tickled that Kaitlyn was in her class too.

Which brings me to my next first. FINALLY doing Lauren's hair and loving it!!!

First demolition Derby with all four kids. So fun. Kids loved it and Sammy was a fantastic boy

Sammy had his first grocery store trip with me and that came with his first sucker which he equally enjoyed

Lauren and Lilly had their first horse ride on their own....well almost :)

First time getting this close to our dear prophet. Joe and Bev treated all of us kids to seeing a matinee of the Music Man and who should sit just a few rows ahead of me, President Monson. It was so awesome to watch all of the young men and young women stand in line wanting to meet him, wanting to be near him. You could just feel of his love and it was such an amazing experience to simply be in the same room with him, watch him wiggle his ears for the little kids....it was incredible.

It was funny, the theatre doesn't allow pictures taken, Jim told me to put mine away...I said, "Look they'll get over it...in a week they'll forget, and I'll have a picture of the prophet. What do you think I'm gonna choose?"

Sammy's first time hanging with dad after work...

...Sammy's first family bike ride

And of course, Connor's first day of Kindergarten and MY first kindergartner.

I love that they're together. I love that they'll have built in friends. Makes or breaks your school experience. I told Jaxon and Connor to watch out for Jadyn and for eachother, I was thrilled (sorry this is going to sound awful) when Connor came home, said that there was a boy that tackled him at recess and hurt him. He said, "Ya...but don't worry, Jaxon beat him for it." Ahhhh....my own little bull dog. Love that Jaxon and his FIERCE protective heart. Love it.

Poor Kyson wasn't understanding why he couldn't go...

WAY thrilled with Connor's cute teacher, Mrs. Smith (Kenzie) She is so perfect and does such a great job.

I was dying to hear all about his day and how it went, when I asked him what his favorite part of school was....the bus.

Pearls from a 3 yr old...priceless

2011-09-02T07:40:00.000-07:00

This morning I was reading the scriptures while the kids ate breakfast and we were reading about Adam and Eve. We got to the part about Cain not wanting to follow the commandments, just wanting to follow Satan.

Lilly: "Satan?! Thats my teach-a's name! MY teach-a is Satan! (Lilly is so excited about school, she likes to say EVERYONE EVERYWHERE is her teacher, or has something to do with her class)"

(I giggled a little before answering) Me: "No honey, Satan is Jesus' brother, he's our brother too...before we came to earth there was a war in heaven because......(trying my best to explain that to a 3,4, and 5 year old is super awesome)"

So we got to the point where Cain kills Abel, and I prefaced that with explaining that..."Remember Connor, they were brothers...just like you and Sam."

Their eyes got big when it became a little more personal. So before school we were having family prayer and when it came to Lilly's turn, she says, "....and bless us not to hurt Sam..Amen"

If Only She Knew Just How Much...

2011-08-27T13:05:00.000-07:00

Every woman goes through a phase of what I call the "not recognizing yourself" phase. Its when over night, you wake up and don't recognize the person you see in the mirror due to little 10-fingered blessings that enter your life. Its not that you ever wake up and regret your decision to sacrifice some things, one of them being your body, to bring them into your life...but it is hard none the less. Men don't typically understand because they gradually change for the most part over the course of years, where we dramatically change over the course of weeks. I don't care who you are, or whether your body changes more or less than others, its hard all the same. I don't feel like that means that you're shallow, self centered, or prideful for feeling that way. I just think that it takes some getting use to is all.

(This isn't me....would never have the guts :)

I am thankful for my weirdo metabolism, however....my stomache looks like a train wreck. I think that some are more prone to stretch marks and I'm pretty sure I'm one of the worst. I remember seeing my beautiful mom when I was little with the exact same stretch marks and never understood at the time why her tummy looked so different than mine. Today I came full circle:

Lauren: "Mom....what's wrong with your tummy?"
Me: "What do you mean?"
Lauren: "Why do you have cracks on your tummy" (As she is inspecting her own)
Me: "Well Lauren.... sometimes thats what happens when you have babies"
Lauren: "Mom...your tummy is so beautiful"

Beautiful... my definition from when I was younger, before I had kids was so different from the definition of it now. It used to be that I gaged it strictly off of the physically symetrical attributes that the media taught me. I don't see it that way anymore. I see it through the eyes of my sweet 4 year old who had no idea how much that word would mean to me this morning. Now I see those images that used to measure my perspective on what "beautiful" is and I would guess that some of those models and actresses cannot possibly feel as beautiful as I do when my husband kisses me on the neck while I'm making dinner to let me know how beautiful I am, with or without a shower that day. Or when I'm getting ready in the morning and my two sweet little girls want nothing more than to use my makeup the same way I do and tell me "good job mom, your lips are so beautiful" or when I haven't done anything with my hair all week except for fixing the ponytail I rocked the day before and Sam looks at me like I am the most important person in his life. Did I feel this beautiful before I aquired these "cracks" on my no longer flat tummy? Absolutely not.

She is not the picture on the magazine
She's the woman just behind you in the check out stand
She may appear to be common but she mystifies
In all the ways the wisest men, and children understand
That she has eyes that sparkle with her love
And she has a smile, thats a gentle as a dove
And no woman in the movies or an Ad
Could ever hope to be
As beautiful as She

She is not a highly honored diplomat
Held responsible to lead the world to peace
What she does is every bit as serious
A midst the turmoil every where that will never cease
Cause she has hands that wipe the tears away
And she has a voice, that makes everything OK
And no woman in the papers or TV
Could ever hope to be
As indespensible as She

And it breaks my heart every time I see her wonder
If she means anything in this world that pulls her under
And she doesn't always see with that Heaven smiles above her
Thats the reason I try to always tell her, that I love her

Cause she may not be known for giving millions
To the charities and auctions on the news
I believe She's given more than anyone
On all the times she's ever had to choose
To give up sleep...to rock her children every night
And give her heart, to always hold their dreams so tight
And the best that you or I could ever hope to be as wonderful as She
And the best that you or I could ever hope to be is as wonderful as She

Happy 4th Birthday Lauren Magoo!

2011-08-23T18:38:00.000-07:00

Oh my Lauren... sweet, sweet Lauren. You continue to be the sunshine in my life. You are always posative, happy, sweet, and seriously the funniest little girl I have ever met. Your short hair is even starting to grow on me, dad says it fits your personality perfectly. Next time, consult me before taking hair cutting into your own hands :)

You have the funniest personality I have ever seen in any child. Sometimes I wish I could know what was going on in that cute little head of yours....

...the funniest thing is you typically don't know I'm there with a camera, so its not for show or anything, you haven't gotten to the show off stage yet. You just always seem to be in your own little Lauren world and it reminds me of myself when I was your age. You can play make believe with yourself for hours, creating the best stories and scenerios.

Another thing I have quickly learned about you, is that you LOVE to sleep and once you fall asleep, there is absolutely NO waking you up. You can fall asleep anywhere, anytime, usually mid sentence. Sometimes we'll be talking in the car and I'll look back wondering why you didn't finish your story and you are dead asleep

Grandma took you to the greenshow, you fell asleep...

...It started to rain and she thought FOR SURE you'd wake up...

...nope

I even got a call from dance class one day because you had fallen asleep in the middle of the floor, they had tried EVERYTHING to wake you up....realized they could've hung you from your toes and you STILL were not waking up and continued to have dance class around you.

I have also learned the things you absolutely love....your siblings (especially your little sis Lilly) and animals, namely cats but you love anything that has fur, doing your hair and really anything that involves being girly like putting MOMMY'S MAKEUP ON IN YOUR BED AT MIDNIGHT, and you absolutely LOVE being naked...I sincerely hope you grow out of that one my dear.

Dad affectionately named you both "Thing 1" and "Thing 2" not long after your hair stunt

We typically have a family party, most of your friends consist of your cousins anyway....but you were absolutely determined that your newest buddy Kaityn France came. She is your favorite friend to play with at the moment.

Thanks to Grandma Karen, your generic "kitty party" turned into a "Hello Kitty Party." I don't think you had ever HEARD of Hello Kitty until Grandma Karen asked if you were having one, so....thats what we did.

Connor couldn't stand it....I unfortunately made the mistake of letting me see me wrap your presents and he told you what each was BEFORE you even had em opened.

You were SOOOO excited about Aunt Mina, Jake, Jaxon, and Huntie's present...your very own Ariel

So your big present from mom and dad was a brand new purple bike....Connor just couldn't stand it! Before we even made it to the door, he yells, "Lauren its a new bike!!!"

You thought mom's trick candles were especially awesome, pretty soon everyone was doing their darndest to get em blown out!

And of course, Sammy steals your thunder. Grandma Karen was perfectly content to help your mom out by being the designated Sammy occupier

Grandma Deanie brought you these cool frames to color...so thats what we did. For long enough that I couldn't feel my legs

Your Aunt Kati brought your own princess makeup and nail polish, good thing you have a good daddy that wouldn't think twice if his baby girls asked for their nails painted....even if he was late for work.

I love you Lauren, I love you more than I could ever tell you. I'm so proud of all the things you are learning and for your sweet heart. I love seeing you laugh, when you smile your eyes twinkle and makes me love you that much more. Please don't ever grow out of me. Never stop wanting to be where ever I am. Please don't get tired of putting make up on with me and combing my hair. Please remember that mom and dad love you and are so thankful you are ours.

Love,

Mom

June Powell Trip

2011-07-26T17:54:00.000-07:00

I think that one of the aspects of the lake that is getting more and more fun to watch, is the second generation Powell kids starting to "get it" Connor and Lauren love watching lake powell movies and count down "how many more sleeps" there are left till they get to go on "Papa Joes Boat" They end up having such a good time.

We parked the boat right by this rock that the kids swam back and forth from.

Love this kids facial expressions. He still doesn't talk a lot, but he has the funniest expressions.

Apparently, he taught Cassie the same ones!

Poor Kyson was getting a few teeth I'm guessing and was not his happy self. He wasn't a bit pleased with life this trip.

Nice Jace, nice.

Sam was his same, good natured, fine with whatever self.

The 4 and 5 year olds LOVED skiing this year, most of them did it last year too, but this year they really got the hang of it

Lauren can fall asleep anywhere, anytime, and within a matter of seconds. She will literally be talking to you one minute, asleep the next. She fell asleep, I heard her stirring around downstairs and asked her if she wanted some dinner. She said she did, then apparently fell back asleep when she made it to the top step. So, I carried her back down and she slept a few more hours.

Bev and Mina in their usual spots.

Hunter found the "wash your feet off before you get on the boat" bucket

Lilly was especially excited this trip to fish for a "whopper" She especially enjoyed dumping the fish down the slide after we were done watching it swim in a bucket, it was the only incentive that worked to get Lauren detached from the ugly thing :)

Between our 10 under 5 and Becki and Ryan's 2 (Jim's cousin) we had a crew of kids.

Sam's usual perch

Kids LOVED tubing. Lilly took a bit of a spill on the tube and I"m not exactly sure she'll be going again anytime soon. All in all, great time though!

First food....

2011-07-11T07:01:00.000-07:00

Every new parent knows the feeling of getting your brand new bib, camera, video camera, neighbors and friends gathered to witness your new babies first taste of baby food. You think its going to be magical, life changing, and beautiful....its not. No one tells you that babies don't know how to eat and push every bit out. They only know how to suck and swallow, their tongue isn't used to this baby food stuff. So it gets everywhere and you wonder what was the point as you turn off your memory making gadgetsl, defeated. You don't realize that really the point of the "first foods" isn't to give them a yummy treat, its to teach them to eat so that in a few months they can actually eat.

So I didn't get any memory making devices out for Sam's first food (carrots). Little did I know he was once again going to defy my expectations and eat the ENTIRE tub on the first sitting. Aw my little over achieving little Sammy Joe.

Tuckered us right out....(look how big he's gotten!

My 4 month Sammy Joe

2011-07-08T15:01:00.000-07:00

I LOVE this sweet little man and the ever bewildered look he seems to always have. He is such a mellow child it makes me laugh. He currently sleeps 13 hours every night, I have to WAKE him up at 9:30 am cause it freaks me out and I'm so ready to start biting his cheeks! I even mentioned it to his pediatrician at his well check....his response "...and the problem is?" I told him I was definately grateful, but come on...this can't be normal!

Ahhhh...the ever cute bumbo chair pose...He's actually 3 months in this picture. May as well be accurate I guess!

Connor at 3 months...

Lauren at 3 months...

Lilly at 3 months...

I know I posted a link to these pictures, but they are too cute not to post on my blog. And I need to make sure they are in the book when I eventually get around to printing this blog...

I LOVE this sheepish grin...like he knows he's naked under the tie or something!

Ohhh....so sad and still so cute!!

Looks like I have my first thumb sucker...its all fine until he finds it, loses it, then gets mad.

Talking Sammy

2011-07-08T14:00:00.001-07:00

There has to be nothing cuter on this planet than a coo-ing baby. I absolutely love this stage. They have the cutest noises and expressions. Sammy loves to talk, but he really only talks when he's talked to first. He hasn't gotten to the stage of babbling all the time, I think its so cute that he is so quiet until you talk to him and then he talks and talks. SO CUTE!

Photo and video editing at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Jim's Ironman 7.3 Race

2011-07-08T07:23:00.000-07:00

I get a kick out of Jim's ever changing hobbies. He can't stand not diligently working on something, whether that be a time consuming project at work or otherwise. Jeff has been doing races and training for races for a while now and Jim named it his newest project. I have to say I'm pretty proud of him. He started training with Jeff and eating better.

I think the neatest part about the process for me was seeing how much he's enjoyed the time with his brother Jeff. This family never ceases to amaze me. They are all so different and unique, but they all support and love each other so much. Jeff and Jim are especially close and I have always loved the friendship that they have. They are only 14 months apart and they grew up with the same friends in high school. I love that our boys share the same relationship. Connor's world revolves around Jaxon and Jadyn. I'm so thankful for that.

Jim asked why I didn't wear a shirt like the red one....Its pretty funny, but I'm relatively sure I wouldn't have the guts...

Part of the preparation process was doing races and triathalons prior to this one, they weren't nearly as long as this one, but gave him a better idea of the details of the race. How to make the transitions faster and how to pace yourself. You have to keep in mind that before doing this, Jim had never done a single race in his life, his first one was the Cedar City Half Marathon and he only did it on a bet. But when he decided to make the Half Ironman his goal, I think he did 2 triatholons before. The first one was pretty uneventful. I don't think it was very long and the swim was in a pool. The second one however threw him for a loop because it was the first he had done in open water. They had you swim out and tread for like 15 min and he wasn't prepared for everyone crawling all over you, kicking you, splashing everywhere. He said he really thought he was going to drown. I have never seen Jim afraid or panic, so when he says he panicked it must've been bad. Most triathletes will tell you that they've experienced similar things in their races, Jim said if there was anyone that was near him in the Kayacks he would have quit. Thats another thing I have never heard him say, if you know him you know how stubborn he is and for him to say that he almost gave up, well it must've been bad. So you know he wasn't looking forward to the swim in Idaho.

I love this picture because they didn't know I was taking it and they're all analyzing the FREEZING 50 degree water that they are about to swim. Jim's face says it all....oh crap.

..Oh there's Mar with the camera....we're good! We can totally do this.

The workmans came up for the race as well, this is Jason waiting for his heat.

Ahhh the supportive Platt fam. Jim put the fear of the swim in Jared. Poor guy. He did incredibly good. Those Platts are tough suckers. Man can they run.

Jeff was a few minutes ahead of Jim in the swim going to transition to the bike phase.

I knew that Jason was in the heat well after Jeff and Jim, so I was super surprised when I saw him getting his bike out...I thought, geeze he's fast!

This was my favorite part of the entire experience. Jeff is a competitive guy. He was a few minutes ahead of Jim and still waited for him so that they could start the bike together. I don't know if it was the intensity of watching Jim do this, but I seriously almost cried when I saw this.

Yay Jared survived!

Jeff in transition to the run

Jim...

So Bobbi, Cassie, Rachel Ence were watching this guy take his JOLLEY time. He ate a bar...stretched, talked to a few passer bys, stretched some more....I thought what is he doing!! Most of the athletes are taking their shoes off before their bike has even come to a stop to save time. They're putting on shoes with no socks!! Come to find out, he lit up a cigarrette right as he got to transition and got disqualified! It was so funny! I'm guessing he knew he couldn't physically go on and wasn't going to "quit" so figured he'd get thrown out.

So then I saw Jason, wearing a different outfit than he did when he started, I thought how in the WORLD did he go from black and red to yellow and grey?? Ya, it wasn't him!! Face to face I thought the other guy was Jason, come on you have to admit that they have a similar face. So funny.

First pic is Jason, second is who knows...come one, you have to see the similarity...right? I'm so embarressed.

Halfway through the run.

Jeff finishing....I asked him how in WORLD he possibly survived a FULL ironman, this half looked downright impossible. He said laughed and said he had no idea. He said if someone told him at that point that he had to do it all over again he would've punched him in the face. Pretty incredible.

Jared finishing...he's a fast runner. Incredible.

Jim finishing. I stood by this wall waiting for him to come for what felt like forever. I knew he'd finish, but I wasn't going to relax until I saw him and knew he was ok. I have never been so proud of him and what he set out to accomplish. I for sure have a WHOLE new respect for Jeff and him finishing the whole Ironman in St George a little while back. I honestly have no idea how he survived. And I have a whole new respect for Melina who hauled her 3 kids to every single race. This was the first one she couldn't make, she was at a family thing with the Squires. She was texting the whole time making sure he was doing good.

Good Job Jim.

Sam's Photoshoot...

2011-06-24T07:27:00.000-07:00

I've been so excited to have Abbey at AK Studio and Design take Sam's pictures. He looked SOOOO cute! I was a little nervous when we walked in. He immediately started crying as soon as we layed him down for his first shot, like REALLY crying. And for anyone that has been around this sweet baby, you'd know that was unlike him. Thankfully after we got him calmed down he was a champ. So go to this site and leave a comment so I can win a free print of his cuteness:)

The Little Mermaid Experience

2011-06-23T15:05:00.001-07:00

I remember few memories that were as blissful for me as the time my mom took me to the theatre and we saw The Little Mermaid when I was 7. I was obsessed. I must've taken 5 baths a day so I could play with my new Ariel barbie she got me for my birthday. Not long after that I remember having the Sunday School lesson on faith, about how if you have enough faith nothing is impossible. So, of course not long after I saw "Splash" I said goodbye to all my friends and school, I tried to soak in my last moments of being human on the bus ride home and marched right upstairs, filled the tub with cold water (hello thats what mermaid swim in...obviously), dumped an entire canister of salt in the tub, got in and stared at my legs waiting for them to change into fins. 4 hours later.... I climbed out of the tub and felt pretty defeated. I was that obsessed.

So you can imagine how excited I was to see it come full circle with my girls. They have been so excited to see the Little Mermaid down at Tuachan. It was amazing. Lilly's favorite part was when Ariel sings, "What's that word again? Oh....feet" I could watch Lilly sing that part all day. I'm sure the lady next to her was just as excited as I was to hear her sing too. I'm sure it wasn't at all distracting.

PS....for some reason after they meet Eric and Ariel it repeats again, I myself can watch it over and over again, but if you'd like to save yourself....when you hear the "Part of your world" again, you're about to watch the exact same clip :)

Josh and Mo's wedding open house in Cedar

2011-06-04T16:21:00.000-07:00

Yes Mo...You're married, you'll have to actually pay attention to what he says from now on. Is too late.

Thrilled as always to be at the wedding reception festivities

Had to get a side view of her awesome hair that I did, I know I kind of rock I won't lie

Mo.....99.9% of my pictures of you are posing...you goof. Good thing you're cute or I'd beat you

I had to force her for this one. Man I miss those two (they're working in Jackson Hole for the summer)

Fun...glad its done. Lots festivities

Sam's Blessing/ 3 months old

2011-06-04T16:08:00.000-07:00

This sweet child of mine. I have had very good babies so far, but none of them have been like our Sammy Sam. He really hardly ever cries, has a hard time eating because he's smiling so much and wants to talk to you. The only one who may adore him as much as I do are his siblings. They wait in line to hold and feed him. He has truly been so fun. I have loved every second of him. I don't want him to get any older. I don't want him to outgrow wanting to cuddle and lay on my shoulder.

Josh and Mo after Sam's Blessing...I'm really starting to think these two are not capable of just smiling. Goofs!

Apparently watching me make dinner and such wore him right out.

Even though this child is the sweetest and easiest thing ever, sometimes with 4 kids you have to multi task. Don't judge me :)

"No more pictures, please"

I love this woman. I love looking at her and seeing my mom and myself in her smile. I try and take as many pictures as I can with her and my kids so that they can remember the grandma that has been such a huge part of my life. I love her hardworking ethic, I love her smile, her eyes, I love her laugh, and I love her honesty. I hope she knows what an amazing woman she is and how thankful I am for her.

Seriously? Seriously...how do you not want to just squeeze and love on him?!?!

Lauren and Lilly's Dance Recital

2011-05-20T08:54:00.000-07:00

I have been so excited for Lauren and Lilly's dance recital. I was more interested in what they were going to do and how they would react. I wasn't sure how much Lauren had retained in class and rehearsal considering she spent a majority of the time in class blowing spit bubbles and licking the floor. She actually did pretty good. Somehow remembered the choreography, as much as a 3 year old can remember I guess. Lilly did pretty good, until half way through decided to do a spontaneous dance solo for the remainder of the song. So cute. If you have a hard time picking them out, they're the only ones with headbands. I got an email from the director instructing how everyone is to do their hair, I deleted it....

I get as much of a kick out of watching the instructors give cues.

This is cute little Mya, Lauren's favorite reason for going to dance class.

And....Lilly found me with a camera. Dance....what dance?

Now I know who to REALLY blame!

2011-05-18T07:51:00.000-07:00

Lilly is still proud as peaches that she gave herself her stylish new haircut. Lauren...feels really bad. I started noticing pretty soon after that when ever the subject came up she'd put her head down. Wants me to try and curl it (ya right) and gets really excited when we find something to put in her hair. So I tried to forewarn everyone that hadn't heard to not mention it because I knew it made her feel bad. The novelty wore off and we had all moved on. Last night Kenzie (used to live across the street and is STILL who Lauren claims is her best friend, she's 18 ) came to visit.

Kenzie: Lauren, did you cut your hair?
Lauren: Yep. I wanted to look like a boy
Kenzie: Why?
Lauren: Because I dis want to go camping, and only boys get to go on Father and Son's.

SAD!! I wanted to cry! I knew that she felt bad about not going, I had no idea how much. From now on we're going to plan a HUGE mother-daughter-date on Father and Son's for anyone who would like to join.

Josh and Mo's wedding trip

2011-05-17T08:33:00.000-07:00

Not too long ago, Josh brought over a darling girl named Melissa (Mo). Something was different about this one, I've seen a lot of girls come and go with Josh but never one that he looked at the way he looked at Mo. And the two of them....two peas in a pod. One day we all went swimming, after we went back to my house and I was telling Lauren to ask them something, I said, " Lauren ask uncle Josh and Aun...uh Mo..." and they both looked at me and laughed. Thats when Josh told me that they were actually about to get engaged.

Josh got the ring, Mo was completely unaware, and wanted me to ask my Mother in law if he could use their beautiful gazebo. I told him one of the things I regret is having no documentation of my engagement, it was just Jim and I so there was no way to video it or get pictures. So he borrowed my camera and had his friends hide, they walked to the gazebo, and on their cue flipped on the lights and videoed Josh asking Mo to marry him.

After that day I have gotten to know Mo well enough to love her and so thankful that Josh found her. Josh isn't a typical guy. He never went through that punk rebelious-don't want to be around my family- phase. He has always known who he was and what was right and has always had such a kind heart. Not very many were good enough for my baby brother, she had to have an equally amazing heart for me to be ok with this, and I am more than ok with Mo. They treat each other with such love and respect. I have appreciated their honesty with each other and hope they never lose that.

After the wedding and during the tradition of family pictures on the temple grounds, in the chaos of everything, Lauren went missing. Karen, Sara, Jim, and I searched everywhere. She was no where to be found. Finally Karen found her, a lady had seen them in the parking garage (she was looking for Jim) and took them into the basement of the temple. Thankfully her cousin Allie (who is 8) took her duty of babysitting her very seriously and stayed with her. She was pretty shook up when we finally found them. She asked her mom at what point she as lost too. I was very grateful she was smart enough to stay with her, Lauren wouldn't have had the sense that Allie did.

It was so weird to see Josh become a married man. It was even more strange for the officiator to refer to Mo as Sister Prisbrey. It was so fun to be there. Heather even unhooked herself

from her permanent IV bedridden state to be there. ...That wasn't to say she didn't throw up in the temple, poor thing. I felt so bad

for her.

Looking good Josh

Mo had a bowl of gold fish at every table along with a three tiered fountain that had em as well. Quite the hit with the little kids, Connor was soaked from head to toe by the end of the night. I tried and tried to get Scott to swallow one, I even offered money....no dice. I tried for a solid 30 min, still no dice. Hanna said, "I will!" And without any hesitation, grabbed one and swallowed it whole...

I told her to hurry and drink water...give the fish a fighting chance! And mostly I wanted to see if she could feel it wiggle in her belly!

Josh....and everyone else for that matter....was quite surprised that HANNA did it.

Scott you panty waist.

I was super excited to wear my new Mother's Day shoes Bev got me...

..However I quickly found out why they were on sale...ouch

...No, Lauren didn't catch it but the girl who did could not resist Lauren's puppy eyes when she asked if she could have them.

Oh Lauren the things you'll get away with soon.

Sam was a champ the entire trip. He was perfectly content. He wasn't sure how he felt about being passed from stranger to stranger, and his cute face showed it. I love his grown up expressions!

..But he and Misty discussed his feelings on the matter and became quick buddies.

We made the NEWly weds a reservation at the same hotel we were all at. I wondered at the time if we should have specified to put them on the furthest floor in the most opposite end of the hotel than us. The morning after the wedding, I get a knock on the door and there standing at the door was Josh and Mo...looking completely unamused. Josh says, "Really....REALLY?!" I told him I had no idea what he was talking about, he told me that even though I thought it was funny, they didn't get the humor in placing them in the ROOM RIGHT NEXT DOOR TO US! I laughed and laughed, told him that I was sorry but I wouldn't have inflicted that on myself, let alone the two of them. They said they showed up the night before, thought they could hear Lauren and Lilly's voices and after listening to our adjoining walls realized to their horror that we occupied the room next to them. I told him (as I'm laughing to the point of peeing my pants) that although I was sorry they were aware of that fact, I was ETERNALLY grateful that they kept that fact to themselves. Ew.

Jim and I took advantage of the weekend trip to SLC and spend saturday at Lagoon with the kids, Michael Johnson and his girls came along. It was so fun.

This was where Sam spent the majority of the day. Man I have a strong back after 4 kids.

...The first two casualties of the day

I get asked more and more whether they are twins or not. Lilly is gradually catching up in size. The kids were so good. For the most part the weather was great. Such a fun trip. Now if someone can invent a way to bipass the car ride to and from SLC we'd be set.

Apparently the girls were thoughtful when they cut their own hair....

2011-05-04T18:47:00.000-07:00

...at least they waited till the day AFTER their dance pictures.

What I have learned Part1

2011-05-04T09:17:00.000-07:00

I posted the last post of "What I have learned after 4 kids" on facebook. I don't really know why and what made it come up, I was just doing laundry and it was the day after Easter and the kids were begging me to help them hunt for eggs. At first I told them that I would when I was finished, then I saw the look on Lauren's face as she walked away and knew that I didn't want to teach her that folding dumb laundry (which I hate anyway) was more important than her right then. If I kept doing that, she would eventually quit asking and grow up finding other people to give her the attention she needed. Not what I want. So....laundry waited that day, and as I watched the three of them hunt and find eggs over and over again I realized all the other things that I have learned to "get over" and all the things I have seen differently lately.

So I posted it. I think 5 years ago I wouldn't have. I wouldn't have wanted anyone to know that I wasn't the perfect mom that I thought everyone else was. But lately, I have learned to accept what I'm not and recognize the things that I am. I may not be able to do a lot of things that other moms that I look up to can, but I have been given talents of my own that I am grateful for. After I posted it, I got a lot of comments from mothers that I look up to that identified with what I had written and had even added tid bits of their own experiences. I thought....man, what we could all learn if we allowed each other to learn from our experiences, both good and bad. AND how much better would we feel knowing that we are not alone and possibly not the terrible moms I think we all feel we are at times. AND how much could we grow from that knowledge? SO...from now on, I am going to post more of my thoughts. Not necessarily for others, but mostly for me and for my eventual goal of printing this blog so that my kids know who I was and can learn from my mistakes and triumphs. Because of that, I need to apologize and forewarn right now that I may turn my brain filter off and it may get personal and long. Consider yourselves warned.

Today's "What I have learned" is probably what I feel is the most important lesson I have ever learned. A lesson that I feel if EVERYONE in this world learned, we would be in a much different society than we find ourselves in. I call it, focusing on the INtent and not the CONTENT.

When we were growing up my dad was a firefighter for the city of Las Vegas. He was a real life hero. Spent his days saving the lives that he could, and unfortunately taking personally the ones that he couldn't. He was always worried about us, terrified that we would end up like the calls he dreaded when a child had been hit by a car, drowned, and all the other horrific things that his job unfortunately required him to see. We all knew that we were allowed to ride our bikes, but never ever in the street. Only on the sidewalk.  My brother Adam, at the time just a toddler, prided himself on his record breaking speed he could zoom down the street on his big wheel with. He literally wore out more than one wheel and he loved it. But he kept testing his skills in the street. My dad told him time and time again to please stay on the sidewalk and Adam kept testing his boundaries out in the street. My dad had finally had it. I don't remember my dad ever spanking us, but that day he paddled my brother's behind. I'm sure that fear more than anger had taken over my dad and a bum spanking was better than the bumper of a car. Adam sobbed. And in between sobs he said, "Dad...I can't know. I can't know what the sidewalk is."

I am a self proclaimed "Right Warrior." I don't like to be wrong, I even more hate when I am right and still wrong. And unfortunately I have been blessed and more so cursed with an elephant brain. I never forget. I can hear the tone of the voice when something is said and it helps me recall the conversation word for word. I can't account for how I or others communicate the conversation, but I can remember what is said. I call it a curse because I can remember all the hurtful things I hear. My sister in law Melina is the nicest, kindest most Christlike person out there, I told her its a lot in part attributed to her opposite memory. She can't remember conversations from last week. Don't worry, I remind her what was said :) I think that I have become a "Right Warrior" because if I am in an argument or discussion with someone who doesn't recall what was said and done, I will fight tooth and nail to prove what was really said. Not a good trait.

My sister and I have a special bond. No one makes me laugh more than her. She has a brilliant mind and with that comes awesome wit that makes me gut laugh till I have tummy ache. She has a very logic brain, she is a math wizard. She used to take upper division math classes in College just to improve her GPA. Me...not so much. I learn completely different. I couldn't read a book to save my life. I would literally read a chapter that was assigned over and over 10 times over without being able to tell you a single character or plot. I can however tell you all the million other things that passed my brain while I read. Communication comes from the result of how our brain functions, so you can imagine how different Heather and I communicate. Which isn't a problem when we're talking about most anything. Its probably why she's my favorite person to laugh with, she sees a different perspective to the joke than I do. Her wit is incredible. However, its what makes us fight like you wouldn't believe. She communicates on a very logical level, I communicate with more girly emotion. And when I am mad or hurt, my brain runs twice as fast as when I read because I am thinking about all the million things I am trying to say. So instead of just plainly telling her exactly why I am hurt or upset, I use metaphors or stories and I may as well be speaking spanish to her. So we fight. And we usually don't resolve it well because we can't find a way to say something in the way that we want it communicated. See....right now I am trying to think of how to explain it and all I can think of is a story to help illustrate.

My brother Scott was graduating from Boise state with his Masters. Heather and I together have a gaggle of kids and our husbands couldn't go up with us to Boise as early as we wanted to so we decided to attempt it together. That would be 5 kids under 6, (I was about 7 months pregnant with Sam). I LOVE spending car rides with Heather so it was a great plan. We get in the car and the worry wart dad that we have, bless his heart, forced us to stop at Cost Co to check my tires so that we wouldn't turn into stranded Damsels in Distress on the side of the road with 5 little kids. It worked out well, Heather needed to stop and get some pictures anyway and we could grab pizza and hotdogs for the kids. So I waited in the car with the kids while she ran in. The kids were getting antsy. They were hungry and impatient. They were simultaneously shouting orders of juice, food, and what to watch on the DVD and I was helpless to stop it. So I started texting Heather wondering her ETA. She came out and we started dibbying out food and juice to the masses. Connor starts crying and hollering that he wanted Pizza, not a hot dog and I reached my limit and turned around and bit. "Connor...I'm doing the best I can. I can only go so fast. RELAX!" Heather, recognizing the pregnant impatience in my voice, calmly said with a smile, "Are you ok?" and I immediately came back out of my incredible Hulk state and apologized to Connor and sat there quietly feeling awful.

Her husband Michael spent the weekend with us last weekend for Sam's blessing and we got on the subject of that weekend that Heather and I ended fighting over. I couldn't understand what in the world I had done wrong and hadn't talked to her because I was over fighting with her. I was right and thats all that mattered. Michael told me her end that I at the time had failed to understand. I am a pretty punctual person, I don't have a lot of patience for people who aren't. Heather takes a WHOLE lot of heat for occasionally being late and for reasons that are usually out of her control. She was also unknown to me pregnant, which are not typical pregnancies. She is currently finishing out her 23 week of pregnancy permanently stuck in her bed with an IV. And for you women out there, you know the hormones that are through the roof when you're pregnant. (I'm trying to paint the picture of the perfect storm of events about to take place). She was running around that morning doing her best to accomodate me, I had no idea she was so worried about being on time. I guess the "Right Warrior" in me has punished her a little too severely in the past for not being faster. I was fine, I actually thought we were making great progress. I had no idea she was so worried.  When she had gone in for the pictures, the line was extra long and she was getting an anxiety attack I'm sure stressing over the fact that she was getting more behind and I was going to be mad. When she got back in the car, she assumed that I was mad at her instead of frustrated with the "over it" kids in the back.

There were more events that weekend, but it started with a ball of miscommunication. The specifics don't matter because in the end it boils down to one thing. CONtent over INtent. At the end of the day, it is all that mattered. We spend so much time being "Right Warriors" crusading over the content, not ever looking at the INtent. Although like my dad was, we are probably justified in our actions, we punish others for what they "can't know." Heather loves me. I know that she does. I know that she would never allow anyone to hurt me let alone hurt me herself, and in the end that is ALL that matters. In the end it doesn't matter where to place the blame and who caused it, all that matters is what they had intended to do. Did Heather ever intend to hurt me or make me mad, no she was just doing her best with what she had. I didn't stop to understand the other perspective I was too busy being right.

The other part of that is the act of "trying to clear the air." If done improperly, you may pollute more than you're clearing.  My sister in law Jayme calls it a "You suck and this is why" session. If we looked at eachother for the good, clinging to what we deep down know about their intent the specifics of the situation or conversation no longer matters. What matters is giving others the benefit of the doubt, always.  Especially when YOU think they're wrong. Punishing someone because they learn and communicate differently than you is harmful and cruel. In the end it is so important to love them until you find a way to learn their language. There tends to be a whole lot less of collateral damage in the mean time.

If any of this "word vomit" made sense to you, bravo. If you can keep up with my train of thought I don't know if you should be proud or worried, either way, thanks for the ear.

I

Time to look for Miss Iron County Contestants

2011-04-28T13:23:00.000-07:00

If you know of anyone that would like more information to run for Miss Iron County this year, please click on the link below! Thanks everyone!

Miss Iron County Blog

What I've learned after 4 kids...

2011-04-26T17:21:00.000-07:00

1. How to function on little to no sleep

2. How to look a blind eye when one of your children paints the wall and ceiling with Spagetti sauce

3. How to get over the fact that you have poo on your shirt and throw up on your shoulder...just ignore it, its not worth the extra laundry you'll add by changing your clothes

4. How to rock a pony tail

5. How to sing along with Diego and Dora

6. How to get 4 kids in car seats with minimal tears...my tears not theirs

...and most importantly

7. How to ask for help for my children's sake, not my pride

8. How to slow down and play hide n seek or egg hunting instead of doing the ever piling laundry

9. How to spend 20 min of making immature and embarressing noises just to see Sam smile for 2 seconds and enjoy how it makes my heart soar

10. How to look at Jim and know that I'm more in love with him as the father of my kids than I ever was as just his wife

11. And how to just enjoy life for what it is, not for what it isn't. To remember that Lauren won't always tell me she's sorry for the lamp she broke 6 months ago, that Lilly won't always put a "T" after every "R" (Brother-T, Connor-T, Dinner-T, etc) and Connor won't always want to show me how he can count to 100 over and over again. Its been a hard lesson to learn, I'm definately not perfect at it, but I try and remind myself if I only had today.

Bridal Shower for Mo

2011-04-19T16:05:00.000-07:00

Invitations are out, but mom was afraid that family in Vegas and elsewhere will need a little more notice....so here's the notice.

Bridal Shower for Mo Hunsaker (Josh's Fiance')

Date: 4/30/11

Time: 1 pm

Place: Annie Gibson's Residence

2152 N Cliffrose Cir

Cedar City Utah

435-640-0870

RSVP: Marijeanne Carter 435-590-0796

In Mourning...

2011-04-15T11:36:00.000-07:00

Well....I bagged up all their "pretties" that I couldn't use anymore, I couldn't look at em without getting depressed. I tried to be optimistic, bought some headbands....nothing worked. I have been so worried someone will think they were boys and break my heart all over again. I want to make matching signs that say, "my mom didn't do this"

So forget it....I pierced their ears. (Bruise on her forehead was due to trampoline accident, I didn't beat her for cutting her hair...wanted to but didn't I promise.)

Lauren went first, I actually wasn't going to do Lilly's...didn't think she'd appreciate the shock of the piercing gun. But she wanted to come, has to do what Lauren does. I figured Lauren would cry and make her change her mind, I explained it as best I could for Lauren...it was going to pinch. Right when they did it, her eyes went wide and she went white....then saw the mirror and was delighted. Never cried. SO...that didn't work to derail Lilly. She was WAY too excited. But let me tell you, she cried. I felt so bad. Lauren stopped everyone that she saw to show them her new earings that are just like Kristina (babysitter) and mom's.

I feel better. I may survive this tragedy.

Oh...seriously?

2011-04-12T15:34:00.000-07:00

There have been real highlights in my life. Getting engaged and married to Jim, that was definately one of them. When they placed each of my kids in my arms when they were born, that was definately another....and ironically right up there with those major highlights is when my girls' hair grew long enough for me to play with. I can spend HOURS getting them ready in the morning. I love seeing how cute they look, curling their hair, putting bows in it....love it! So fun.

Its also fun to watch them mimic me in that area. Both of the girls LOVE to put make up on with me, they absolutely love playing with the cold curling irons...

...and apparently they were paying WAY too close attention to me when I cut their bangs.

I was feeding Sam when Lilly came up to me holding scissors telling me that "We don't play with scissors mom." Why couldn't she have reminded herself of that fact BEFORE they did this...

We walk into the salon, Lauren pipes up..."My mom's a little sad cause we cut our hair." I did cry all the way there.

The poor ladies at Great Clips stood there trying to find a solution other than butching their hair...

Lilly found it all too amusing.

In the end, it was inevitable.

Look mom...its easy to pretend to smile when you're CRYING inside....see like this

Lauren shares her mothers love for people playing with her hair. It put her right to sleep!

..So for the rest of the haircut, I had to hold her head up

Well....at least thats one less thing I have to do to get ready in the mornin. Argh

Its been about a month..

2011-03-23T15:05:00.000-07:00

We're adjusting. Its actually quite easy to adjust to a baby like Sam. He rarely cries. He has been awake quite a bit more, but sometimes I'll be running from room to room doing my daily routine and I'll realize he's wide awake. You wouldn't know because he doesn't feel the need to let anyone know that he is awake. He's so mellow. He'll just lay there, looking around.

He's just kinda squeazed himself just nicely into my daily schedule. Even my daily Laundry. Its almost like 'Where's Waldo' in this picture.

The kids have been enjoying the occasional movie night we've had lately.

It has tuckered a few members out here and there. Lauren fell asleep AT dance class last week, and if anyone has ever gotten the chance to see Lauren's African Sleeping Sickness, you know that you can hang her from her toenails and she will not wake up. They said that they tried and tried to wake her up and finally just let her lay on the dance floor. She woke up at home very unhappy that I let her sleep through it. She was even more unhappy that I refused to call all her fellow dance classmates to meet up for a post nap dance make up class. She cried for quite a while. What a mean mom I am.

I can tell you that I am enjoying this sweet baby more than any of my others. Don't get me wrong, I love them all equally...but Connor being my first scared me so much that I couldn't relax long enough to enjoy him and the girls came too fast to enjoy either of them nearly as much as I've enjoyed just sitting and holding him. I'm so thankful for a sweet husband that will man the other three at bedtime so that I can just sit, feed and rock my sweet baby boy and enjoy every second of him. I am loving it more than I can describe. Just smelling his head, listening to his cute newborn grunts....I just love it.

This is Jim and Connor...

...Dejavu!

I just love him...both of them.

Thanks Emily

2011-03-19T09:17:00.000-07:00

I think every mother needs a hobby....has to have an outlet, whether its a job or just a hobby....you have to have something outside of diapers and Dora the Explorer. I've directed Miss Iron County for about 5 years now and most days I love it. Its a creative outlet for me and I love having a full time project to work on that in most cases doesn't take me out of my home away from my kids. I love most of all the amazing women to work with throughout the year, watching them grow and serve the community. Aimee is no exception. She is incredibly talented and such a hard worker....BUT if any of you know Aimee, you know how incredibly hard it is for her to act natural in front of a camera, just not her thing. So (and again thanks Emily for capturing this....in ALL of my 4 days before I delivered Sam glory!) I'm trying to coax her into showing some personality and how to manipulate those long gorgeous legs....it was so awkward with my HUGE manitee body, but I love this shot with Aimee

...AND she did exactly what I was hoping for in the next shot. She's so easy to work with. It was a pretty fun day

Thanks again Emily for doing the shoots for Miss Iron County...you always do such an awesome job.

9 lives?? More like 20

2011-03-10T18:30:00.000-08:00

I woke up after my last post and Ebby was still gone. It snowed all night and I figured if the other cat froze to death right outside my door, my panty waist Ebony had no shot to say the least. I kept hoping I'd see her at the door, but I knew realistically she froze to death as well. Jim had asked if I called the pound, I told him it was pointless...besides the fact that she had no tags on it wouldn't have mattered since no one could catch her. Around 11 am I get a call from the Animal Hospital asking if I had lost my cat. I said that as a matter of fact I had and how did she know. She said that a lady found her in the middle of mainstreet by Smiths

(no clue how she managed to get that far) and that she had called every vet asking if anyone knew what kind of breed she was and if any of them knew someone who had one. It flagged me. I'm guessing theres not a lot of people who've heard of her breed, let alone would have one and it became Ebby's saving grace. Apparently, that night she was up at Smiths and saw Ebby in the middle of mainstreet dodging cars (also in the middle of a snowstorm keep in mind). The lady saw a semi truck zoom right over her and thought that Ebby was dead. She was completely still in middle of the road. She pulled over, and went over to her and much to her disbelief and mine...Ebby was unharmed. She managed to stay right in the middle and wasn't hit. She was so cold, covered in snow and petrified with fear that she let the lady pick her up. I am pretty impressed that she was clever enough to call the vet instead of the pound, I never would've looked there and I am thankful Ebby stayed out of the clink. I'm so thankful there are good people who go out of their way for other people and for animals. She could've kept driving instead of getting out of her car in the blizzard to save Dumb A Ebby for being there in the first place and for doing everything she could to find her home. But unfortunately Ebby....you are out of lives my dear. I'd stay close to home if I were you!

Ebby??

2011-03-08T08:45:00.000-08:00

Somehow Ebby got out yesterday, I wasn't aware of it till I was crawling into bed around 10 pm and realized I hadn't seen her. Jim mentioned Lauren saying she saw her outside and didn't take her seriously. So we searched and searched, no luck. I walked out on the porch and called for her, glanced down and there was ANOTHER dead cat at my feet. Froze to death. What is it about my house? Is it like the watering hole where they come to die?? So....once again if you've lost your cat, my deepest condolences. If you've seen mine, please let me know. Of course it had to snow again last night.

a little over a week...

2011-03-07T11:38:00.000-08:00

This baby is one sleepy boy. He is a dream baby if ever there was one. I've always been pretty blessed with mellow good babies, he takes the cake by a long shot. Which ironically has its disadvantages since he has to eat every 2 hours its quite a trick getting him to stay awake long enough to eat. Lauren has decided she likes to help and was so excited to feed baby Sam

He has the funniest expressions when he sleeps. I've always wondered what they dream about, his little face is so funny to watch.

All in all, everyone is adjusting quite nicely. I feel so much better not pregnant I could do a jig. I love how much better I feel, I get all excited when I don't waddle and I can bend over easily. So nice!

Oh, Lilly...

2011-03-04T17:57:00.000-08:00

This morning I was feeding Sam. Since he refuses to wake up but has to eat on a very strict every 2 hours (Because of my gestational diabetes he struggled to keep his blood sugar up so he HAS to eat every 2 hours come rain snow or shine) I have to pump and feed him a bottle most meals since he is too tired to suck on his own. I had just fed him most of the bottle, there was only 1 ounce if that left, and Lilly asked what it was.

Lilly: Mom...is that Baby Sam's milk?
Me: Yep
Lilly: Milk from mommy?
Me: Yes from mommy
Lilly: Is it yucky? (at this point she's eyeing it)
Me: I don't know, you can try it if you want (judge all you want but a 2 yr old doesn't quit until it is 1st person verified....and took a drink)
Lilly: (After making a very disgusted face) Ew! Thats cucky! (then in an instant her face changes to delight)....Waurren! Try this milk its DE-WICIOUS!
Lauren: (after falling for that trick and tasting it, matching Lilly's disgusted initial reaction) Ew grose!
Lilly: I know! Its DISGUSSING!

Far too young to know how to trick her OLDER sister, don't you think. But yes, I laughed.

Sam Joseph Burgess

2011-02-28T04:50:00.000-08:00

I've decided I have a new appreciation for women who just GO into labor. Being induced or having your water break takes all the guess work out of whether you're in active labor and should go in. Wednesday night I got woken up with pretty intense contractions but I was determined not to be fooled. So I layed there counting and breathing through them till around 1 am. I just kept saying, "OK...if the NEXT one hurts that much I'll go in, OK....the NEXT one for sure." I woke Jim up, told him I was going in and to stay put until I called him. There was no point in waking Melina up at 1 am for a false alarm, which was exactly what it ended up being. My contractions were consistant and 3-5 min apart but were doing nothing. They did move him down and softened me some, but other than that....nothing. I was so irritated with my body.

The next day (thursday) the contractions kept on coming and were getting pretty regular and way close together. I had done a friend of mine's hair later that day and I had a hard time standing up, but there was no way I was going to be fooled again so I just kept doing my daily stuff. Feeling pretty over it.

That night Jim and I went to dinner and half way through I knew I was going somewhere but I STILL didn't want to get fooled again, so I told Jim to box everything up and I called Annie and told her I was heading to her house to confirm before I went to Labor and Delivery again. We made it to main street and I told him to go to the hospital instead.

Jim's parents were headed out of town and he started to call them as I was changing. I told him to hang up the phone (as I'm crying and trying to breath through them) until we knew FOR SURE I was having this baby. He ignored me. The nurse came in and said that it was the day and we geared up. I walked in the hospital at 6:30 pm, Sam was born at 10. It was awesome. I got the epidural in more than enough time, at about 9:30 I was checked and said that I was a 5. Around 10 I started feeling my contractions through my epidural, not horrible but could definately feel them. She checked me and said, "Oh....we're done" I knew she was serious when she looked at my mom and said, "Now...if the doctor doesn't make it we'll be ok, we'll go ahead and deliver him."

Fast, painless, and I'm so loving having him here.

Poor thing came too fast like Lauren and bruised his face. Took the midnight shoot a little too quick!

My kids were fighting over holding this child. I have become a little more nervous about Sam surviving his siblings. Lauren's tried to feed him an orange twice, Lilly is determined to pick him up, and Con....well everyone is just a bit excited.

Josh's fiance Melissa's family came to town, poor people will probably not be returning. Their timing was not great, instead of enjoying the trip here to visit their daughter, they went with my mom, along with my female family members and CLEANED MY HOUSE! I could've killed them! How amazing are they?

Lilly LOVED coming to the hospital to hang out with mom and baby Sam. She was super excited to lay in bed with me.

So glad he's here, safe and healthy. Such a blessing and I'm so grateful for my 4 sweet babies.

Welcome baby Sam

2011-02-24T23:03:00.000-08:00

6 lbs 10 oz, 18 inches and best delivery ever

Update...

2011-02-23T07:01:00.000-08:00

I've always had preterm contractions with all my other babies, but nothing like this... I'm at a 2+ and need to be to a 4. I know I could walk around the block and be in labor, but I would really like to make it to friday when I'm 37 weeks, especially since we're having a boy and they're not as resiliant as girls tend to be in the lung area. But they are getting pretty painful. I've never actually gone into labor, I've only been induced with all but Lauren. My water broke with Lauren and the contractions didn't really start until we were at the hospital a while, but I've never actually had to determine whether I'm in enough pain to go in which is so frustrating. You don't want to sit there for 2 hours while you're being monitored just to be sent home. Its exhausting and embarrassing. I can't go off of the "5 in an hour" thing because I have 5 in an hour all the time. So at this point I'm waiting to see how painful they really get then we'll talk about going in. Its such an exciting and yet such a frustrating time. The anticipation of whether its now or not is both fun and not so fun. I hate guessing games. I can tell you how nice it is that I have a OB nurse for a sister so that I don't have to actually go in. Come on baby....decide on whether you wanna come or not!

The Venetian

2011-02-21T10:03:00.000-08:00

Right before Jim and I started dating, I was working at the Venetian. It was such a fun job that I stumbled into and I always wished I had a single video of it. About a month ago, I got this message on facebook from a lady that had come and rode on my boat in the first year that I worked there. She was there with her husband and brother and sister in law. Anyway, she found me on facebook (one of the advantages of having an odd name is that random people can find you) and asked if I was the same girl that had worked at the venetian 10 or so years ago. We exchanged messages back and forth, she mentioned that she had come across the video from that trip. So I checked the mail today and she sent me the video! She recorded the entire boat ride. It was so funny to watch it and see how different and completely obnoxious I was, not that I'm not obnoxious now but that video shows it on a whole other level. Holy Cow what a girl will do for tips. Anyway...how random is that?? Its also so awesome to hear myself sing opera, I can't sing like that anymore after having Connor, Maureen will never know how priceless this video is to me now. I doubt I'll ever let anyone actually see it but it was so fun to see it myself. Oh that fake accent is so embarrassing! The owner wanted the experience to be completely authentic so all of us had to make up a story of how we immigrated here and we had hours of Italian classes to help learn to speak english with an italian accent and enough italian to hopefully fool the tourist. If any of us were caught speaking normally OR tell who we really are and where we're from we'd get fired on the spot. (Sorry Maureen, I'm hoping you know all this and not thinking I'm such a fraud!) I was one of the only ones that could keep my actual name because it was European, everyone else had a fake name which is all the more amazing she found me. If it were anyone else she wouldn't have. Most of my immigration story was actually true, it was just my mom's dad's story...tweaked a little. This picture was out of US News, they were doing a story on how Vegas was attempting to be family friendly, I had no idea the guy taking the pictures on my boat was doing a story until it showed up in the magazine a month later. In it I circled the ding in the bridge where I had crashed, one of my many mishaps in the first few days I was on the water. Those boats were hard!

The only pictures I have are in my scrapbook, why couldn't someone invent the whole digital stuff earlier?? SO you can't really see any of these, but its all that I have. It was such a fun job.

So I thought I'd share my random story. Thank you Maureen for finding me and taking the time to send this video 10 plus years later. Some people are so awesome.

What is it about children and the need to stick things up their noses?

2011-02-21T07:31:00.000-08:00

Is there something I'm missing out on? I've never felt the need to stick anything up my nose. Is it like a squirrel storing their nuts for safe keeping? Last night we had my brother Adam's fiance's parents over for dinner. We finished dinner and were sitting in the living room talking and Lilly came and sat on my lap. She started rolling around and I got a glimpse up her nose. I could barely see something white and I thought.....thats not a booger. So, while Jim and my mom held her down, I got my long tweezers out and finally after intense retraction we were able to see the object that she felt needed to be in her nose...

As soon as we got it out, Lauren yells, "MY BRUSH!" Apparently she's been searching for it. So now I'm worried about WHAT ELSE has or will get stuck inside this 2 yr olds nose. I sat down with her and we talked about reasons we don't do that, she said, "Ya....ouch" I said, "Lilly....is there anything else up your nose?" She says, "Yep...toys!" I so hope she's kidding.

All my bags are packed, I'm ready to go...

2011-02-15T08:38:00.000-08:00

On one hand it is mighty nice having my kids early, I have heard the last 2-3 weeks of pregnancy suck, but not knowing when to get ready and pack is a little annoying. Since I had Connor at 35 weeks I figured I better be safe than sorry. I remember with Connor, I had gone in for high blood pressure not thinking that they would enduce me so I went alone, I called Jim telling him all the things to put in a bag...you know, toothbrush, toothpaste, brush, lotion, pj's, etc. I think he got some of it right, boys don't believe in lists. So I packed my bag and went down to the store room to get my carseat. Remember that cat that met his demise in my house?? Well, consequently I found his hiding place. The carseat. It was full of hair, nasty who knows what, and blood (No I have no idea where that came from), it was disgusting. So, of course I dumped disinfectant all over it and washed the cover 3 times. SO grose.

There are so many aspects about pregnancy I am going to miss. I LOVE feeling him kick, roll, and shimmy around. It is the part that I miss immediately after delivery. It is the one aspect I wish I could help Jim understand, but on the same hand I love that it is just mine. I love the anticipation of wondering what he'll look like, how much hair he'll have, how the kids will react, and I can't wait to snuggle him on my chest. I am so excited to smell his neck and (don't think I'm weird) his newborn poop. I love it. Its nastaulgic. Its so newborn and it reminds me of my other kids. I'm excited to see Connor's baby clothes on another baby from 5 years ago, I'm excited to get to know him and watch him grow and learn. I CANNOT WAIT to be able to see my feet again, be able to bend over painLESSly to pick up toys, be able to clean my house without feeling like I just ran a marathon, get rid of my swollen hands and big cheeks, not feeling like I'm suffocating, NOT PEEING EVERY 5 MINUTES, Heartburn, having to constantly eat, struggling to get out of bed and off the couch, to hopefully be done with the gestational diabetes, and all the other lovely lovely joys that come with this experience.

All in all, it hasn't been horrible. The 2 and half year break made a big difference on how I've physically reacted to this pregnancy. I can't believe its almost here. I'm so ready!

Jim

2011-02-14T04:48:00.000-08:00

Today I am profoundly thankful for Jim. The night we got engaged, we were driving home from Lake Powell and he promised me that there would never be a day that he failed to tell me that he loves me and that I'm beautiful. 9 Years later, I can tell you that he has held to that promise and so much more. Had I known what an amazing man and husband he was going to be I would have been a whole lot more nervous about him not meeting me at the alter. I've always said that with all the pregnancy hardships, I would still choose my position over his any day of the week. It would be hard to sit back and watch someone endure pregnancy and labor feeling completely helpless, not to mention how annoying it would get listening to the boobing and crying. Jim is so amazing. He does the dishes most nights so I can sit after dinner, physically forces me to go to bed while he puts the kids to bed so I can rest, gets up with them in the mornings so I can sleep in after peeing every 10 minutes through the night, picks up the house now that it has become physically impossible to bend over, and does all of this after a long days work. He never complains or makes me feel like the worthless wife I know I am right now.

One of my favorite parts of my patriarchal blessing is that it promises that our kids would learn the true meaning of love because they'll witness it between my husband and I. I love the example my husband is for our kids. I love how unconditionally patient he is with them and me. I love how hard of a worker he is, I love his big blue eyes and cute dimples. I love his morning hair and his alien toes. I just love him.

I love you Jim...Happy Valentines Day

My sweet girls

2011-02-13T10:04:00.000-08:00

Oh my girls....they are the best of friends one minute, and walloping eachother the next. They have caught up in size to the point that I've been asked a time or two if they're twins. They're so cute and I'm so thankful they have eachother. I always wished that Heather and I were closer in age and I'm so thankful these two have the chance to be eachother's buddies through out school....hopefully unless they decide to hate eachother. Some days it seems like they have just as equal of a chance. I love watching them play make believe and listen to what their imaginations come up with. Man I love my girls.

Candi and Baby Sawyer's Shower

2011-02-13T09:59:00.000-08:00

My friend Candi is 7 weeks behind me and its so fun to see her continually do well. She has definately had her share of issues with this pregnancy but it looks like her baby Sawyer and our soon to have baby boy will share a few play dates together and I can't be more excited for her. Saturday was her shower and it was so fun to see all the new baby clothes and all the things that she'll get to use and enjoy with this sweet miracle baby. I was sitting there waiting for the party to start and in walks in someone pregnant, one right after the other.
It was a great shower. Candi's sister and two friends Ashley and Kate organized it, they did a great job. So happy for you Candi!! PS....this is going to be my 35 week pic, sorry.

WHY GOD MADE MOMS

2011-01-27T16:21:00.000-08:00

Answers given by 2nd grade school children to the following questions:

Why did God make mothers?
1. She's the only one who knows where the scotch tape is.
2. Mostly to clean the house.
3. To help us out of there when we were getting born.

How did God make mothers?
1. He used dirt, just like for the rest of us.
2. Magic plus super powers and a lot of stirring.
3. God made my mom just the same like he made me. He just used bigger parts.

What ingredients are mothers made of?
1. God makes mothers out of clouds and angel hair and everything nice in the world and one dab of mean.
2. They had to get their start from men's bones. Then they mostly use string, I think.

Why did God give you your mother and not some other mom?
1. We're related.
2. God knew she likes me a lot more than other people's mom like me.

What kind of a little girl was your mom?
1. My mom has always been my mom and none of that other stuff.
2. I don't know because I wasn't there, but my guess would be pretty bossy.
3. They say she used to be nice.

What did mom need to know about dad before
she married him?
1. His last name.
2. She had to know his background. Like is he a crook? Does he get drunk on beer?
3. Does he make at least $800 a year? Did he say NO to drugs and YES to chores?

Why did your mom marry your dad?
1. My dad makes the best spaghetti in the world. And my mom eats a lot
2. She got too old to do anything else with him.
3. My grandma says that mom didn't have her thinking cap on.

Who's the boss at your house?
1. Mom doesn't want to be boss, but she has to because dad's such a goof ball.
2. Mom. You can tell by room inspection. She sees the stuff under the bed.
3. I guess mom is, but only because she has a lot more to do than dad.

What's the difference between moms and dads?
1. Moms work at work and work at home and dads just go to work at work.
2. Moms know how to talk to teachers without scaring them.
3. Dads are taller and stronger, but moms have all the real power 'cause that's who you got to ask if you want to sleep over at your friends.
4. Moms have magic, they make you feel better without medicine.

What does your mom do in her spare time?
1. Mothers don't do spare time.
2. To hear her tell it, she pays bills all day long.

What would it take to make your mom perfect?
1. On the inside she's already perfect. Outside, I think some kind of plastic surgery.
2. Diet. You know, her hair. I'd diet, maybe blue.

If you could change one thing about your mom,
what would it be?
1. She has this weird thing about me keeping my room clean. I'd get rid of that.
2. I'd make my mom smarter. Then she would know it was my sister who did it not me.
3. I would like for her to get rid of those invisible eyes on the back of her head.

Arghhh!!!!

2011-01-21T09:37:00.000-08:00

The only thing WORSE than having to do your floors over again, is ripping it out and THEN finding out that the tile you ordered....the tile that matches the tile that it is up against NO LONGER EXISTS!!! And their response "....Woops, do you have a plan B?" Plan B?!?! What plan B?!?!? The majority of my main floor is tiled with this tile, it will look so awful to tile this hallway with a different color! I'm so mad right now I really can't even tell you. And I'm even more mad that the pregnant hormones I have on board at the moment is making me ball while I write this! SO I am stuck with cement floor and they are saying, well....sucks for you. And husbands don't understand....they don't get that this is my home, this is what I spend my time day in and day out taking care of. I don't want to hate it!

Maternity Shoot

2011-01-15T17:57:00.000-08:00

If any of you have not had the opportunity to check out Emily Clarke (winkfotos) you are missing out. Not only is she such a ray of sunshine to be around, she is incredibly talented and clearly loves what she does. She asked when I was barely pregnant if I would want to do a maternity shoot. I was pretty hesitant, I've never really wanted to....but then when I am no longer pregnant I wish I had more documentation and agreed. She stopped by on her way home from California after the pretty big snow dump and suggested we take advantage of the fresh snow. I am pretty down with anything to try.

30 Weeks

2011-01-11T10:21:00.000-08:00

I had some cute maternity pictures taken two weeks ago, but I think it'll be a while before I get them back and figured I better stay on track since I don't have very many of these belly blogs.

For the record I feel and am pretty sure I look a WHOLE lot bigger than this picture portrays, but who's complaining right? Feeling ok...wondering how much longer, Connor came 5 weeks from now, Lilly the week after, Lauren the week after that. Its kind of frustrating not knowing what to count on. Do I gear up for going the whole way, or do I get ready now? I'm so excited to see him. See what he looks like and how the other kids will react. They seem pretty excited too, but each baby throws their world off axis. Lauren got narly diarrea for a week when Lilly was born, Connor had a really really hard time with Jim holding either of the girls...he's a bit protective of his daddy. Either way, it outta be exciting!

New Christmas Floor

2011-01-11T10:16:00.000-08:00

The only thing better than NEW floors for Christmas is....

Having to rip it up and do it all over again 3 weeks later. Sucks.

Christmas 2010 and New Years Eve

2011-01-07T10:26:00.000-08:00

Christmas eve is always spent with the Burgess' and I love it every year. Kids always participate in a program together and of course, theres ALWAYS yummy food!

Seriously the cutest bumflaps ever.

Jace's Christmas Hat. Nicely done Pants.

I was most excited about Lauren's dollhouse. She LOVES going to Melina's and playing with her little people ranch house that has horses and little tiny pieces that she can arrange. She'd play with it for hours so I figured she'd love this. I was right.

Connor makes Jim wear this Walmart special Ironman shirt that was made for a twelve year old, so "Connor" gave him new ironman jammie pants and this not as retarded looking shirt. He makes him wear it under his workshirt almost every day, and if he somehow "forgot" to wear it, Connor has his ironman attire waiting for him at night. So funny.

The girls got dress ups. Lilly especially is the girly one of the group. She loves wearing my shoes all over the house and dressing up. She wore this snow white dress all morning and most of the day.

For News Years we celebrated in style! The Burgess' rented the aquatic center and we invited our friends and family. The kids thought it was awesome, it really was so much fun. The slide is SUPER fast. Even the adults were coming out crashing. It was so fun.

We get home, I figured the kids would be trashed so I brought their jammies to change into. They somehow made it home awake, I asked Lauren to get her toothbrush and when she didn't return I went to investigate. Almost made it to the sink poor thing.

Definately fun holidays, hope everyones was just as awesome!

Lauren and Lilly's 1st Dance Class

2011-01-05T16:06:00.000-08:00

There are some things I have been so excited about having girls for. One, definately doing their hair. When Lauren's hair was long enough to put pretties in was one of the highlights of my life. As dumb as that sounds, I was so excited when I was pregnant and saw Lauren's ultrasound to be able to do her hair and be girly with her. The second.... putting them in dance class. My best friend Erika has been asking when Lauren was going to join her class, we decided we'd try it out. I went and got her dance shoes and clothes, Lilly didn't quite understand that she couldn't go too. Erika suggested we try her out....and see if she could maintain attention.

Lauren did great! She paid attention well and did such a good job. Lilly....did ok. Half way through she kept running out to give me updates on what she was doing and about her "star" that she was supposed to be standing on, (keep in mind that I am able to watch the entire class on a monitor).

Erika said she has had worse so we'll keep trying a little longer.

This is the girls practicing. It doesn't look like much but a REAL dancer's eye would notice a lot of complicated floor routines. Of course there is a room full of little girls and their mothers watching. Oh my girls.

Belly Post for Kate, apparently she's never seen a manitee

2010-12-21T11:27:00.000-08:00

27 weeks. I'm actually feeling not too bad. I'm tired a lot and night time is crash time for me, but compared to Lilly's pregnancy...much much better. He's an out of control man, thats for sure. He's an active little sucker. I think I'm most excited to smell his sweet neck. I love how newborns nuzzle up on your chest and they're so soft and warm. My kids are so excited. Lilly insists on saying hello and checking to see if he's asleep or not. So cute. But I'm definately huge, no question. I don't remember being this big with the others, maybe my mind blocked it out for my own good. Who knows. Anyway, here it is in all its glory.

And on that note...why does my baby fat discriminate against certain areas of my body?? My bum could really use some, my face doesn't need anymore and neither do my "mammogram" glands. My legs could use some so that I don't look so much like a penguin. What does my fat have against my bum?? What did it ever do to it? Just sayin.

Happy Birthday Connor

2010-12-19T18:11:00.000-08:00

Yesterday, 5 years ago, I became a mother. 5 years ago I had a little person to take care of and my world has been blessed ever since.. It feels strange how fast the past 5 years have flown by. You are such a sweet boy, great brother, and were a fantastic introduction into parenthood for Dad and I. You love playing with your cousins, you love ironman, transformers, and anything that requires time with dad putting together. You are sensitive to other peoples feelings and try to include everyone so that no one feels left out. You are so smart! I'm so proud at how well you are doing in school and how much you already know. You love reading books and learning as much as you can. I love how when we are driving somewhere you have to know what town we are in, even if we're still in Cedar City you constantly ask what "city" this is. You are a great swimmer and love the water. Theres few things that excite you more than going to stay at a hotel and swimming.

I love you Connor. I'm so thankful for you and know that I lucked out with being able to be your mom. Thank you for having patience with me and what you constantly teach me.

Love,
Mom

This year we were in Boise for Con's birthday. He was excited to be able to see the Prisbrey kids and made sure EVERYONE knew that they were invited to his IRONMAN birthday party. BUT, he made sure he always clarified that it was a "CIRCLE ironman" party, NOT a "triangle" one. He's never seen the ironman moves, how he knows the difference is beyond me. He has seen the cartoons and let me tell you listening to the cartoon adventures theme song day in and day out is a rare treat.

Here and there...

2010-12-09T15:18:00.000-08:00

I've been asked a few times whether I thought Lilly would have jealousy issues with the new baby coming. I think I can confidently say that jealousy will not be our issue....mauling the baby to death or smothering her with love, maybe. This child is obsessed with mothering and talking about "new baby" in mom's tummy. We'll be in the middle of the super market and she'll be trying to lift my shirt to check and see if the baby is "sweeping" or not. I walked in and saw sweet Lilly mothering her little monkey. Singing it to sleep while rocking and holding it. So cute.

Bev and Joe spent some time in Korea and brought the girls home these darling outfits then took them to the show that was put on a few months back. They seriously looked so cute. I didn't want to take them off them at the end of the night. Too cute.

Thanksgiving

2010-12-04T14:57:00.000-08:00

Its always a treat to put together my mother in law's annual picture of ALL the grandkids. Lots of bribing, lots of tears, more bribing, and in the end we have pictures I'm sure will look awesome on a christmas card. At least they're realistic, right? She made them all matching sweatshirts. I thought they looked so cute. They can't really do the whole hold still and smile but the silly faces is always a hit!

Oh so close!! We just needed stink eye in the middle there...

I love this one, I'd use it myself.

This kid is LAUREN'S age?!?

2010-11-23T11:16:00.001-08:00

The Iron Man Phase...

2010-11-19T10:06:00.000-08:00

Move over McQueen...you have been replaced.

Connor has been on an Iron Man phase for a few months now. I ordered him an Iron Man costume for halloween and they sent me two. It sat on my counter for weeks, I have been meaning to sending it back for almost 3 months now. He wears his costume every single day and has for months and it is starting to wear out. So I gave up on trying to send it back and opened it. Connor graciously gave his old one to Lauren, who mimics everything he does and pretends to be just as excited as he is about the Iron Man song we all have to suffer through on a daily basis. So he is Iron Man and of course she is Iron Girl and they fight crime downstairs and in the backyard. So cute.

Hawii Trip

2010-11-16T15:42:00.000-08:00

I LOVE Hawaii. It is the one place on this planet that I have been to that I am not ready to come home at the end of the trip. Most trips, although super fun, I'm always wanting to be in my own bed in my own house and am always ready to come home. Jim and I went to Hawaii November of 2004 and I remember not wanting to come home so I was pretty excited when we decided to go this year. I was a little nervous and not so excited about the plane ride with the three kids but they were surprisingly good (Heaven bless the man that invented ipads and video ipods)

Can I tell you how nice it was to walk off the plane and greeted with warmth? So nice. We get to the hotel and they put leis on everyone (just like in the movies, I was pretty excited). Lauren thought that was especially awesome.

The room was gorgeous with a beautiful balcony overlooking the gorgeous trees and flowers. It didn't take long for the kids to wanna go swim so we headed to the pool. Let me tell you this pool was awesome. It was gorgeous for one, but it had at least 10 pools that were connected with slides from one to the other, then when you got to the bottom you could take the water elevator back up to the top, it was this room that had a huge round tube and you sat on it while the room filled with water and lifted you to the top. Awesome. The bottom was one huge pool that had a lazy river and a rope swing and caves and just a lot of awesomeness. And of course, that brings me to a huge highlight of Connor, Jaxon, and Jake...the rope swing. These boys went off it till I thought their arms would surely fall off. So cute.

How awesome is this picture of Jake??

Lilly stood by the side congratulating each one with a "Good Job!"

Lauren and Lilly would have been perfectly content with staying at this lagoon part of the pool. The beach was right next to the pools but Lilly decided she'd rather not go near it, but LOVED this lagoon in the pool. It was really shallow so most of the kids could stand and it was sandy so they could build sandcastles and what not. Lilly LOVED it. Thats where she wanted to stay.

The first night we went to dinner in Laheina, most of the kids were so trashed.

We ate at Bubba Gumps and our seats were right on the ocean. It was gorgeous. They had these girls walking around selling Leis and Jim leaned over and said, "Is it bad that I'm really tempted to say no thankyou I got "lei-ed" this morning?" I was way thankful he didn't say it too loud, I probably shouldn't even be telling that part but I did laugh.

In Lahiena they had this amazing tree that was planted in the 1800's, it spanned a block. It was the most amazing thing I had ever seen. Branches were sprouting out and they built this shopping area around it. It was incredible. I want one. Jim said he'd find some seeds and in 200 years I'd be in business.

We took the kids on an underwater look at the fish submarine ride. It was really cool, would've been cooler had it been 30 minutes shorter. By the end, 90% of the people were above sick, I was one of them.

They had these divers that were showing various things in the ocean, this guy is holding up a poisonous sea urchin.

Connor LOVED boogie boarding. Lauren was ok with it, Lilly not too much, but Con loved it

Then Jim took Con snorkeling.

He had heard that the best snorkeling on the island was at the beach we were staying. So Jim and I decided to go. Jim decided to walk on the lava rocks out on this point so we'd be right in the best of it without having to swim too far. Not the best of ideas my sweetheart has ever had. In his defense he figured it dropped right off so if we could just get to the point without getting mangled in the rocks with every wave we'd be good. So in between every wave we'd try and walk out further then stabalize ourselves for the next set. It was a lot slippery than we had anticipated so it got a little scary but we didn't have too far to get to the point so we had no choice but to keep heading out. Once we got to the point we were deep enough that the waves were getting harder to remain standing and we realized the point didn't drop off. I looked down, the water was about thigh level and there were tons of poisonous sea urchins everywhere. Those who know me know that I have a slight fear of the ocean. I can't think of whats below me or I panic. Well I was a little nervous when the rocks were slippery and the waves were trying to get the best of us, but when I realized there sea urchins everywhere and it still wasn't deep enough to swim over them I panicked. We're talking hyperventilating, crying like girl, and all that stuff that makes me a little embarressed to admit now. Jim remained totally calm and said to try and swim shallow so that I didn't touch the urchins. Have you seen me lately? Baby in the belly does not allow me to lie flat. So I panicked more. Jim lifted me up and carried me till it got deeper. And then said, "Ouch...dangit" Turns out he stepped on a sharp coral that cut his heal about 3 inches long and 1/2 an inch deep. Then if that was't fun enough he then stepped on an urchin that stung him INSIDE his cut and all over the rest of his foot. I felt so bad for him, then I was really panicking because I was sure that a shark was going to sense the blood coming out of his foot and eat us both! So the snorkeling was amazing, from what I saw as I high tailed it back to the shore. Poor Jim had a sore foot for the rest of the trip!

Fantastic trip, not so much fun coming back to cold :(

Its good to know there are STILL good, honest people out there!

2010-11-03T10:10:00.000-07:00

About a year ago, Lilly was in the stage of mimicking everything I did. Motions, sounds, all of it. I was trying to pack up something I had bought from Amazon.com and was busy putting the pieces where they fit and all that. She of course was doing the same, as she "talked" on my brand new phone I had gotten a week earlier. I'd turn around and take out the shoes, socks, toilet paper, and everything else she could contribute to the package. I hurried and taped it up, sent it on its way.

Later in the day I realized I couldn't find my phone. I looked everywhere. Then I stopped, got a vivid image of my sweet little 1 yr old talking on it as she was putting random stuff in and I knew exactly where it was....I had sent it to Amazon.com. I called them, and in a very embarressed voice tried to explain my situation. The guy laughed and said, "OK...and what exactly do you want me to do?" I'm sure he's laughing knowing how many packages are going in and out, basically letting me know that someone was going to get a "golden ticket."

I was pretty bummed. I had just bought a brand new memory card for it, and if any of you know me...my schedule and life is on my phone. I am never without it...aside from church which is the reason dear President Yardley why I am rarely at Relief Society functions...cause I don't have my phone with me to remind me of when such events are. I literally have to not only put my schedule in my phone, but I even have to put reminders in it to "go home" when I know I'm going to be running errands and lose track of timed, leaving the babysitter late for school. SO needless to say, I was devastated.

But of course, time goes on as it always does and I've had a few new phones since then. Well...a few days ago I get a call from Ohio.

"Hello? Mam? Did you lose a phone?"

Apparently when you send something back, I'm sure depending on the product, they are sometimes shipped directly to a liquidation warehouse which is where my package AND phone sat for the last year until this fine gentlemen bought it and found my phone....and SENT IT TO ME! I begged him to let me pay for shipping, he said that the story was entertainment enough and that he was happy to return it.

It makes me feel good that there is hope for this poor wicked world. That a stranger, in Ohio, would go through the trouble to track down a scatter-brained mother and return a brand new phone.

Halloween 2010

2010-11-01T08:27:00.000-07:00

Connor was so excited to carve pumpkins this year. He insisted that his dad carve an Iron Man AND Living Lazer. I think Living Lazor is a bad guy?? I can't stand the cartoon to investigate but it is definately Connor's newest "thing." I'm sure glad Connor saw the Iron Man and Living Lazer in the pumpkin, it was quite a stretch

OBVIOUSLY, the one on the top right is living lazer, the one on the bottom left is Iron Man

The poor girls had to do much more prep than Con, who has been wearing his Iron Man costume every single day for the past month and a half.

Grandma Karen and Papa Prisbrey came to trick or treat with us....it was so cold!

Lilly was exceptionally impressed with Halloween.

...Until it was time to be done.

Aside from the cold this was my favorite year, it was the first time that all of my kids grasped the beauty of trick or treating. Happy Halloween Everyone!

Huh....How 'Bout that!

2010-10-22T10:08:00.000-07:00

A few months ago yet another cat (why they are flocking to my house is beyond me), found her way to my house. She was so sweet, way cute and the kids fed her outside and played with her for about a week. My nephews next door, Jaxon and Jake are pretty allergic to most furry creatures but just couldn't resist holding, kissing, and hugging this kitten. Poor Melina was running out of Benodryl. So...I decided that she was going to be a barn kitty. The Burgess' have been building this barn out at Horse Alley to put chickens, bunnies, and whatever else so I thought "baby bear" would be a perfect barn kitty. So we took one of Ebby's beds and some food and showed her the barn that would be her new home. Jayme and her kids stop by from time to time and she's been doing great.

Bev, the kids, Jayme, and I went to the Barn to pick beets to bottle. On the way I stopped, a few lots over was this poor dog that had our kitty's food bucket stuck on his head. He no doubt made his way over there and ate it, getting his head stuck. We laughed and then decided to help the poor thing. So I got out, and pulled, it was REALLY stuck on there and the dog jerked away. I got him to come back, I gripped the rim and pulled, pulled, twisted, and pulled some more. It was really on there good. It finally popped off, the dog growled and attacked my leg. He bit me and then IMMEDIATELY went back over and put the bucket BACK on his head....? Like how DARE you take that off! So I laughed, and thought, "keep the dumb thing on! See if I care!"

We got to the barn and started picking beets. Little Bear walked over to us and I about passed out. The poor thing was skinned to her spine, completely scalped from her stomache to her tail. It was the most disgusting and revolting thing I had ever seen, I'm guessing the jerk of a dog did it when he took her food bucket. So Jayme and I took it straight to the vet and put her down. So sad. I've never seen that. I have never wanted to. I'm a complete animal lover and can't kill anything to save my life, but I couldn't see her suffer like that. I washed my hands and just sobbed. I felt dumb so I went outside while Jayme paid.

On the way home we stopped at the pet control to report the dog. Why would anyone get a pet to just leave with no food? I guarantee the poor thing was just hungry. I don't agree with people who get animals and then don't take care of them. I understand that some dogs are there to protect their livestock from other predators, but you can give them the necessary ammenities. He was clearly starving.

Anyway, that was our night. I'm sure the kids will be talking about it for a while. And I'm not going to lie, if Bev, Jayme, and the kids weren't there and I wasn't still laughing about the dog putting the bucket back on...I would've cried. It hurt something fierce!

If I only had today...

2010-10-14T18:18:00.000-07:00

Make photo slide shows at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Whenever I drive alone, I let my mind wander. I usually listen to music and just think. Yesterday I was driving home from St George and a song came on and immediately I'm in tears. Partially happy tears out of gratitude for all that I have been given and all the things in this life that make me so happy. But also partially because, especially lately, I wonder if I'm doing my part.

Will my kids remember me as the mom that loves them, adores them, would do anything in this world for them? Or will they remember the stressed, anxiety ridden, never doing enough mom like I usually feel like I am most days? There is such a hard balance I find myself fighting against every day that leave me feeling like I don't measure up. Like I'm barely a good enough mom for 3 so what business do I have of having 4? I know that a lot of moms feel this way, I know that I'm not the only one and this is not a "fishing" for reassurance post, I am not looking for compliments that will make me feel better. I just want my kids to be able to read this book that I intend on making and know that I did my best, even on the days that I fail miserably and lose my patience. Am I being as kind as Melina, or as good of a wife as Jayme? Do I think of others constantly like Grandma Karen, am I as smart as Heather or as good of a cook? Am I an awesome gardener like Bev, do I faithfully and without question do things for others like my mom? Do I spend the time cleaning my house and doing the things that a "good wife" does, or do I instead build Connor's train track? And do I look ragged or spend the time getting ready for Jim. There isn't possibly enough time in the day to do it all, so I just go to bed most nights feeling beaten down and miserably defeated. How can you possibly balance it all?

Then I think of the song I was listening to...If I only had today. What are the things that matter most if I just had today? So instead of losing my patience today, after Lauren or Lilly walloped the other, I looked at them through different eyes. Not the impatient, "why can't you be nice eyes" but the eyes of only being able to see them...today. The impatience and anger went away, love returned. There are many times in the day that I catch myself saying, "Oh when are these kids going to grow up and be able to do more on their own?" But then I remind myself that one day, when they're far more independant than I'd like them to be, I'll wish they were this size again. Innocent and pure, trusting and childlike. I'll miss Lauren's sweet little voice telling me thank you for dinner, or Connor screaming with delight when Jim comes home. I'll long for the days when Lilly will refuse wear little girl panties when Connor's are so much more comfy and cool. I will miss all of them wanting to be read to, wanting to be played with, wanting more juice and ketchup on everything. I'll miss Lauren's excitement and optimism, Connor's sweet innocent curiousity, and I'll miss Lilly wanting to "hold you." All of the things that tend to occupy my time are good things, but are they more important than them?

And of course my sweet, caring Jim. I am beyond blessed that he decided to go ahead and marry me with all my crazy. He is kind, patient, and so much better of a dad than I'll ever be a mom. He never tires of playing with the kids, no matter how long or hard of a day he's had. He never complains, never thinks twice to let me go to bed and puts the kids to sleep when I'm sick or just worn out. He lets me know daily that he loves me and doesn't point out all the times I come up short. He works hard so we could have all the things we do and never complains. He honors his priesthood and puts his family first. Do I return the favor? Do I make sure he has all the things he needs? Do I stop what I'm doing to listen to my family? Do I disregard everything else so that they know they are most important? If not, I need to do better. I want my family to know how much I love them and am so thankful to be their mom and wife. Undeserving most days, but ever so grateful.

IT'S A.....

2010-10-11T11:05:00.000-07:00

Connor was so excited, he said, "DAD! Thats a weener! That means he's a brother! Just like Jaxon!"

Hiding his face, very shy

Cute little feets!

Cute little legs and feet!

Now for a name....arghhh. Any suggestions?

Its a ......

2010-10-11T06:45:00.001-07:00

Ultrasound today!