Merry Christmas to you!

It has been a very busy couple of weeks. Work has kept me busy, but I am learning to find balance...finally! I think things will also get better this next time around. I am changing baby sitters...It needs to happen and it is for the best. The kids and I have been on break and we have one week left, what to do, what to do? It has been so nice to be home with them and to relax and play.

Dave has been busy with work, but it is his off season-what a blessing to have him home at night. I cherish the winter months that keep him close to home, it makes up for 'field season' when he lives the life of a fisherman. He loves his job and that makes me so very happy. I often look back on the times when he would be gone for months at a time and I am so happy for the time we have together now. Did I mention I love my husband!

Rebecca is doing well- tomorrow night she has her Christmas piano recital. She is quite a gal! She is a huge helper to me and a fun big sister...she still makes time for arguing and fighting with her siblings-make no mistake about that.... :) She is doing well in school and her grades make us smile. Recently for work, I had to interview a few kids in our mentor program, a small handful are in Becca's grade and/or class. One young lady talked about the kids in her class and how mean they are, how they talk bad about other kids or how they use foul language, etc. She eventually put it together that Becca was my daughter and she told me how great Becca is and how nice and friendly she is. She was not the only student to make a comment like this, I was so proud of my daughter, so pleased with how loving and friendly she is to those around her. I am so lucky to have been blessed with her in my life.

Timothy is my little gentleman. He is very obedient and kind to everyone, so very compassionate and caring. His teacher at school told us that there have been many times when Tim has helped someone else or talked to her about how someone might need help. She said that he is always putting others first. I was glowing! She did also say that we should think about separating the twins next year...that they compete...but still, Tim is my gentleman. Still a huge Star Wars fan, he was given a Darth Vader mask today for Christmas, it made his day. He has been wearing it off and on all day long. :)

Aleyna, so vivid. She is still our strong willed child, but I must give her kudos for her manipulation tactics...though I don't appreciate them, they are brilliant! She is a very bright girl, very good with math and picking up on so much reading! She is creative and clever, sometimes sitting in her own quiet spot playing alone, other times making up games and pretending with her siblings. She is quite a gal, and I love her sweet smile. That smile of hers has two loose teeth, and a new 'grown up' tooth coming in. She is 6 and going on 15...Right now she is sitting on her own, in her own world of make believe, and she is beautiful!

Kaitlyn...she is a hoot. Timothy said to her "I love you Kaitlyn, you crack me up!" It is true, she makes all of us laugh. We learn so much from her logic-
During a conversation about animals that are awake at night:
Tim: Mom, what animals are up at night time?
Me: Lots of animals are nocturnal, owls, mice, rabbits, bats.
Tim: What are they?
Me: Nocturnal.
Kaitlyn: Mom! Animals that stay up at night are not turtles, turtles sleep!

During a trip to the grocery store:
Kaitlyn: Mom can I help you put stuff in the cart?
Me: I would your help! Here. (Hand her some orange juice-she puts it in the cart)
Kaitlyn: Mom, I am stronger than orange juice!

Out of nowhere in the car:
Mom, monkeys don't wear chap stick!

She is a bright little thing that teaches us something new every day. In turn she is learning things too...like the words 'stupid', 'dumby', 'idiot' and 'poop face'. We are working on that. It breaks my heart that I have to send her to the sitters three days a week, I am missing all that time with her. My heart breaks!

We have had a wonderful Christmas and are so thankful for our families, and for their love. We are blessed to live in this country with the opportunity to worship and attend the Church of Jesus Christ of latter day Saints. What a blessing to know and understand the Gospel. To understand the Atonement and to feel the love of our Father in Heaven and His son Jesus Christ, especially this time of year. Our family recently watched 17 Miracles, and it touched our hearts. I am so thankful for all that we have in this modern time, so happy for the small things..warm water, blankets, food. What an amazing story to learn from.

We love and miss all of our family and friends and wish we could be closer to all of you. Merry Christmas.






In other news.....typing this from the couch surrounded by blankets and snotty tissues-I have almost made it through the entire box. That's right, I am sick!

Thursday

I cannot believe that the time is going by so quickly. There seems to be so much to do and so little time to do it. Today is December 8th, the last time I posted was the 18th of November-whew what a bad blogger I am.

We have been keeping very busy and it doesn't seem to be changing much. Work keeps me busy Monday - Wednesday. I come home to a messy house that some days I just don't want to deal with. The laundry is piled up, the kitchen is a mess and I feel like a twister went through the house. Now it is Thursday...so I have no excuse but to get it all in order again. Then I get the twins off to school and Kaitlyn and I go slop the pigs. Later I have to go decorate the Church for the Christmas party (maybe that can wait til tomorrow?) I am tired. I am trying to ge life on schedule- I want time to do things that I want to do, read, scrapbook, sew, breath... And I want time to do things with my kids, crafts, cooking, reading books. So I think I am going to try a calendar of events...you know to show what day and or time we are going to do something. For example, on Thursday after I get to clean the house,and get the twins to school, and feed the pigs, and pick the kids up from school, and get Becca to Piano, and then get dinner ready, then clean dinner up, then get the kids ready for bed, then...maybe I will just go to bed too. Where did the time go?

I just need to find balance, a happy place where life is not chaotic....







In other news.....I did get things decorated, and I am not finished! Dave put lights on the house! Our very first year with lights on the house!! -He is very proud! And, my youngest brother is getting married :)

New plan

I feel that it is very important to give each holiday a fair amount of time in the lime light. That is to say, I think that we shouldn't jump into one before another has even happened. For example...Thanksgiving and Christmas. I love my fall decorations to stay up through Thanksgiving and then the weekend after, I can begin to think about Christmas. However...this year is a little different. We are heading out for eat turkey day and when we return I have to go back to work. So it would seem that my plan of waiting and giving each holiday its own time has morphed into a new plan this year. I have time to do all the decorating now instead of later. Not sure I can handle it...I get VERY excited about Christmas! The warmth, the baking, the togetherness, the parties, the goodies, family, the goodies, baking, the music, snow, baking goodies. I suppose my crazy psychotic side will just have to come out a little early. Hope I con hold it all together...











In other news.......Dave is building me a wood box. I would say 'finally' but.....

All sides of the story

Where did I go wrong?

I struggle at times with being a mother, sad but true.

Tonight while my dear husband was on the phone with my mom-in-law...(Hi Cathy xoxox) I hear a blood curdling scream from upstairs...from the OLDEST. So obviously something very traumatic has occurred. Rebecca is flailing down the stairs grasping her arm, tears flowing! So I go upstairs to find Aleyna holding a belt and Timothy and Kaitlyn looking at me frantic. Ah motherhood.....
So here is our version of Crime and punishment...

After the squealing subsides, the victim, Rebecca Banks has the opportunity to tell her side of the story to the Judge (aka mom).

Rebecca: "Well I was trying to pick things up and Aleyna was hitting the top of my head, and I asked her to stop and then she hit me with the belt on the arm and it hurt really bad!!!"

Aleyna: "Yeah well, Becca pushed me!"

(Let it be known that the Judge was not yet ready for this interruption)

Rebecca: "I did not. She was messing with my hair!"

Judge:"Hold on just a second. Shhhh!" (Directed at both of the older girls)

Timothy: "Can I just say something mom...Aleyna was just bugging us when we were trying to pick up."

Kaitlyn: "I am wearing a nightgown."

Judge: "Rebecca, did you push your sister?"

Rebecca: "Yes, but she was messing with my hair and doing this (makes odd noise and rubs own head) and I didn't like it and I asked her to stop and she didn't."

Aleyna: "Well I didn't hear her ask me to stop."

Timothy: "Well she never helps clean up!"

Aleyna: "Yeah but Kaitlyn asked me to chase her, so I was chasing her."

Judge; "Have you ever heard that two wrongs don't make a right? Rebecca there was no reason to push your sister, what you did was wrong! Aleyna, you should not have smacked your sister with a belt, what you did was wrong, two wrongs are NOT right!"

(3 older victim begin to cry out of guilt and it is obvious they are tired)

Kaitlyn:"I have this baby bottle for my baby mom." (Judge tries to hold composure)

Judge: *I will not bore you with the lecture at this time, but let it be known that I was very mad and angry, due to the constant reoccurrence of situations that are very similar to this one. I frequently give the same lecture...you need to be nice to each other-I don't like getting angry with you-you need to show each other you love each other-we are a family and we need to get a long and work together- etc. etc. etc.

At this time in the proceedings all four children are crying (Kaitlyn is faking...) and hugging me. I make one final statement indicating that I need them to show me that they can get along, then I leave the room. At this time...12 minutes later, there is laughter and giggling...no yelling or screaming or crying...

However, the question on every ones mind is-for how long?








In other news........sorry folks that is the front page report tonight!

More Disney pictures...

Good gravy it took a long time to download all these pictures!!! But so totally worth it! What a blast! I hope you all enjoy them and my yelling through punctuation!!!!!!

Disneyland baby!!!

It was the best of weeks...it was the best of weeks... Can that happen? I say yes it can! We left our quaint little Lakeview on Saturday night and drove to Reno, we were lucky enough to stay at Dave's Aunt and Uncle's home for the night. Then next day we went to church, stopped to visit the amazing Talbot family and then we left for Los Angeles. The drive wasn't bad, we took 395 all the way down to I-5. Beautiful scenery.







We arrived at our Hotel a little after midnight...long day! The next morning we had plans to hit the park asap but we had a little problem with our van, so instead we had to get it to the Honda dealer to have it checked out. They found a couple things wrong and got them fixed rather quickly. We finally got into the park around noon. We had so much fun all week, rides, family, delish food, fireworks, swimming, rides, rides, laughing, running, photo ops with characters, rides, pictures, rides, family....so much FUN!!!! Needless to say I am pooped! The kids had a blast and even tried some of the scarier rides.



Becca went on everything! She is a daredevil! She loves it and her favorite rides are the scarier ones...what a gal! She was a big help with the little ones too, but I think she would have rather gone on ride after ride after ride after ride after ride....you get the picture.

Timothy really liked the rides too, he was brave enough to try a roller coaster but wasn't sure he liked it. We rode the astro rockets (not sure if that name is correct) and he told me "Don't worry mom, I will keep you safe!" I love my little man!! He also had the chance to become a true Jedi Knight and he battles Darth Vader. It was so cool! His wish to be in a Star Wars movie came true.








Aleyna rode on a roller coaster and after she got off she proclaimed "That was AWESOME!" She also went on splash mountain. Her grip was very tight on my arm, and her smile was plastered on!

Kaitlyn loved Dumbo and went on a bunch of the traditional rides too...Small world, Tea cups, Alice, Mr. Toads wild ride...She loved them all. She also had a blast getting to see the characters. So many princesses and Minnie and Mickey, really it was happiness overload! What a week!



Dave had a blast, I had a blast, we got to spend time with the ever epic Paul and Amy and that too was a blast! The dynamite Dennis and Cathy were there too! It was a great week...the only downer...having to drive all that way home! It was a LOOOOOOONG drive! We got home very late Sunday night, around 2 a.m. but all in all it was worth it!


Well, now on to cleaning the house, washing the clothes and getting the kids washed and ready for the rest of the week...I guess the vacation is over!

More pictures to come....





In other news.....the piggies are getting fatter.

A Friday in October

Please don't be jealous of my title...I am just extremely talented and am able to come up with witty things at the drop of a hat. I like to be obvious.


Two days till Disneyland!!!!!