Happy 8th Zane!

On the 13th we celebrated Zane's 8th birthday.  It was a big day for him.  He took cupcakes to school.  For dinner we had hotdogs and mac and cheese (his choice).  Then we went to my parents house and had cake and ice cream.  He wanted a chocolate cake with chocolate frosting.

On top of all the normal birthday celebrations he also got to go interview with the bishop for his baptism.  He is very excited to be able to get baptized.  He also got to join cub scouts.  Adding to that excitement is the fact that it is just in time for the pine wood derby!  He already has his car made and ready to go.

 Michael also decided that he was old enough to have his very own BB gun.  We went out shooting that afternoon.

By the time he went to bed that night he was on cloud nine thinking he was pretty neat stuff!  We are so blessed to have Zane in our family.  He is very sweet and a good helper.  It's been fun watching him grow and change this last year.

One on One in the Kitchen

 As a mother of six children, one of the greatest challenges I have is to find ways to have one on one time with each of the kids.  Now that Michael's work schedule is more demanding, it is even harder.  One of the things I have started is one on one in the kitchen.  Each week one child gets to pick a treat they want to make.  On Sunday afternoons, that child and I go into the kitchen and make it.  No one else is allowed in to help.  No one else gets to lick the spoons, bowl or beaters.  When it is all done, that child gets to share what we have made with the rest of the family.  It seems to be a fun way to sneak in some together time and in the end, everyone gets something yummy out of it.  This week Dillon got to be the one in the kitchen.  He made Double Chocolate Oatmeal Cookies, some with pecans and some without.  He seemed to enjoy himself and I loved being able to spend time with just him.  The other kids enjoyed the finished product and we even took some over to share with Grandma, Grandpa and Uncle Spencer.

Car Troubles

     This weekend, my brother's family was supposed to come and visit.  We were all excited.  My kids couldn't wait to see his kids and I was going to get to remeet (I know, not a word) two of my nephews and meet for the first time one of my nieces.  Then Wednesday or Thursday their van broke down.  They had just gotten it out of the shop.  It supposedly got fixed. Last night I went over to my mom's house.  When I got there she was just getting off the phone with my brother.  I asked how he was.  She said frustrated.  I guess they had gotten their van back only to have it break down on his wife Friday morning, leaving her stranded on the side of the highway.  As with most young families it seems, money is tight and these unforeseen things really add an unwanted burden to life.  It made me think about our car troubles a few years ago.
     It was February and we were on our way to church.  At that time, church was 45 miles away.  It was cold, as it always was in South Dakota that time of year.  We got about 10 miles from home and our van died.  We couldn't get it started long enough to get home.  We sat there in our not so warm church clothes trying to call someone to come get us.  We finally got a hold of someone and made it home.  We had to get a new engine.  Money we DID NOT have.  We finally found a good used one and got it all put in.  In the meantime we had borrowed a friends Excursion to get around in.  After a few weeks and a lot of money, we got our van back.  A few weeks later, I had left early (6 am) to go to the store.  It was freezing cold outside - still.  The store was 30 miles from home.  On my way home, about a mile onto the interstate, my van made a horrible knocking noise and then died.  I was stranded on the interstate in 45 below windchill.  I called Michael and then waited.  I was so frustrated!  I was freezing, mad, upset, very glad I didn't have my little kids with me, and very emotional.  Why, why, why was all I could ask.  We were trying to be good.  We were trying to live right.  Why was all this happening?  I waited there for almost an hour.  I loaded all the groceries into Michael's work truck (when he got there) and we left the van and headed home.  Dillon had been sick and he ended up throwing up in Michael's work truck (can we say new four door dodge?) which only added to the frustrations of the morning.  Later that day they hauled the van back to the shop.  It needed a new engine - AGAIN!  I couldn't believe it.  Luckily the place we got the last engine from let us get a different used one, no charge, since it had been less than 30 days.  We did, however, have to pay labor which ended up being alot more than we had hoped.  Our savings was cleaned out, our checking was cleaned out, we even had to borrow from Michael's dad because we had absolutely nothing to our name.  I had almost a feeling of devastation.  We had moved back to South Dakota because we felt that was where we were supposed to be.  It was going to help us get out of debt and relieve us of that financial burden, yet everything seemed to be against us.  I kept asking and wondering why.  Trying to figure out what I was doing wrong and why it was so hard.  The answers to those questions never came.  I still don't know why it all happened.  I don't know the answers to alot of our "car troubles" that we've had in life.
     Why, after being led to Astoria did we have to leave?  Why didn't things work out in Sioux Falls causing us to have to leave again?  Why are things still hard here?  Why can't I be back in Hendricks with the friends I love so dearly?  Why do we have to pay $1500 a month in rent so that financially we still struggle and can't seem to make ends meet?  Why did our house fall through so we had to rent?  Why does Michael have to work a job that requires him to be gone for so long?  Why can't chocolate be an effective weight loss food?  Just kidding.  Seriously though, I have these questions and I have them a lot.  The answers?  I don't have any. I don't know why all these things happen.  I don't know why money is our life's challenge.  I don't know why my friends have to be so far away.  I don't know why we have to live in a place where we have to live in town and lose the freedom that we loved so much - along with the horses, cows, haystacks and other country experiences.  All I know is that we survive.  Some how we make it through.  There's help when we need it, strength we didn't know we had.  Some decisions have been very hard.  Some we wish we never had to make.  But we did and we survived.  Do my days get long and lonely?  Yes.  Do I miss my friends and my husband?  Yes.  Do I miss the long, hot days at the barn with the 4-H kids?  Surprisingly yes.  Do I still feel that this is where we are supposed to be doing what we are supposed to be doing?  Yes.  Does it make it any easier?  Not always.
     I guess, after all this I have begun to learn that even if I am doing my best to live a good life, I will still have hard times and challenges.  I will still have car troubles, but I will survive.  When I was first in Ireland as a missionary it was hard.  We walked all day everyday trying to find some one to teach the gospel of Jesus Christ to.  At night I would come home and my feet would hurt so bad.  They would be so swollen that my toes couldn't touch the floor.  In the mornings when I would first stand on them I would have horrible sharp pains shoot through my feet and up my legs.  I remember praying.  I would remind Heavenly Father that I was here doing His work and that I would appreciate it if He would take away this pain.  Then one morning, after repeating this prayer and reminding Him yet again of my pain, He finally answered me.  He showed me that while I still had the pain, He had given me the strength to get through each day.  Even though it hurt, each morning I had the strength to get out of bed.  I was able to go out for 12 hours a day and walk on those sore feet.  He had not taken away my pain, but given me strength to endure it.  Eventually my feet toughened and the pain went away.  I have been able to draw on that many times since then.  All of these other challenges that I have faced and that I face now will turn out okay.  It doesn't ease the pain of the experiences, but it gives me the knowledge that I will survive and have the strength I need.   We are always going to have car troubles.  There are going to be times when we feel stranded and alone on the side of the interstate in 45 below weather.  There will be times when each step causes pain that we don't think we deserve to feel.  We may never know the reasons why.  But we will always survive.  We will always come out stronger.

Sometimes It's Important

Sometimes things that don't normally seem like an important thing to do become very important.  We get so busy and so socially acceptable that we forget little things that can be important and uplifting.  We think, "that won't look proper" or "what would someone say if they knew" or "that would be too self centered".  Maybe, maybe not.  I think there are somethings that are okay to do every now and then.  It won't make us less of a person.  It won't ruin our social status and it won't turn us into a selfish, self centered snob.  In fact, it could make us more of a person.  Here's my list of 20 things that, while are not an every day occurrence, bring me joy and have great importance in my life.

Sometimes it's important to:
1.  Wear high heels with your jeans when you drop your kids off at dance or baseball.
2.  Eat chocolate straight out of the bag.
3.  Look at yourself in the mirror and know that you look good.
4.  Curl up on the couch and read a book when your laundry is stacked to the ceiling and all the dishes in the kitchen are dirty.
5.  Cry during a Disney movie.
6.  Snuggle in bed with your little angels until 10 am.
7.  Eat cereal in bed.
8.  Dress up to go to the grocery store.
9.  Go to the park and swing like you did when you were a kid.
10. Eat cookie dough dipped in chocolate and LOVE it!
11. Have a Toy Story marathon and sleep in the living room.
12. Go shopping by yourself and for your self.
13. Paint your toenails bright green.
14. Have ice cream for breakfast.
15. Talk on the phone with your best friend like you did in high school.
16. Tell secrets and pinky swear to keep them.
17. Have a chore-free day for the whole family.
18. Jump on the bed.
19. Let a three year old put lip gloss on you and her and then go to town together :)
20. Wear your pajamas all day long.

Now be honest, don't you think SOMETIMES these things are important?

The Makings of a Princess and Zeke

The other morning Olivia insisted on having her hair curled so she could be a princess.  She also wanted pictures taken of every step of the process and of every angle of her head.  Here's how our morning went...

This is obviously with the hot curlers in.  We only had one incident when Zeke decided to touch the little metal piece that heats the curlers.  A few tears, some cold water and we were all better.  The Princess ate breakfast while her curlers cooled.

This is just after taking the curlers out.  She thought it was cool that her hair looked like it had snakes in it.  Notice in the front view she had put "lips" on just for the picture!

Admiring herself in the mirror

 more lips for the front pose

the back (as you can see the curlers really didn't do that much)

Cheese!  I'm a pretty princess!

Zeke felt left out during all the pictures and hair fixing so he decided to get in on the fun.  He had his hair spiked and then posed for the camera.  He also wanted to make sure I got a close up of the cut on his head.

 Not sure what these two faces are all about but that's all he would give me!

 Side view (he wanted all angles too)

Pretty serious ouchies huh?

Off to Jackson Hole

The day has finally come!  Maddi has been waiting for months for it to arrive.  This morning at 6:15 I loaded her up in Grandpa's car and away she went to meet the bus.  The GATE (Gifted and Talented) group is going to Jackson Hole for 4 days.  Grades 4 - 7 are going (I think).  They will stay in lodges and sleep in their sleeping bags.  We had a tough time trying to fit everything into one little suitcase.  They had to have all sorts of layering clothes and snow clothes.  We finally put all the bulky stuff (snow pants, rain gear) in to her backpack and told her to use that as a pillow!  It sounds like they will have a lot of fun.  It is supposed to be cold and snowy the whole time but I don't think that will bother Maddi.  They will be outdoors a lot of the time.  They may even get to go snow shoeing and stuff like that.  She is sooo excited!  I am excited for her, but a little nervous.  I have never sent one of mine away like this before.  If they have gone overnight anywhere it is to a friend's or grandparents' house.  I won't be able to talk to her at all over the next four days.  She will be fine.  My biggest concern is that she will lose her lunch money for the trip home Saturday and her gift shop money from my parents!  Here's a picture of Maddi all packed and ready to go this morning.

Bird Nests

Last weekend when we went home to Idaho, Michael's mom gave me this cute idea that she had found in a magazine somewhere.  Using peeps, jelly beans, pretzels and almond bark you make a birds nest with a bird and some eggs.  We were going to do it this last weekend with cousins but ran out of time so we did it tonight for family night.  The kids really got into it and used every last pretzel and peep.  We ended up making 50 of them!  Letting them dry took a lot of self control but I finally got them distracted until they were ready to eat.  Here are a few pictures of all the fun!

Maddi Made it to the Majors!

Being the insane mom that I am, I signed up four of my kids to play baseball this spring.  Zeke and Dillon will be on the same league and hopefully the same team.  They will play two games a week on one field.  Zane is in a different league on a different field.  He will also play two games a week.  Maddi is in yet another league on another field also playing two games a week.  Games are played Monday through Thursday.  Michael is gone two out of three weeks.  I have a feeling, there will be times when I will be a little frazzled trying to get four different kids to three different fields on the same night!  The kids are excited for it though so I guess I will have to make it work.  The most excited of the kids is Maddi.  In her league, once you hit 10 years old, you have to try out.  There are two leagues, majors and minors.  The coaches come to try outs and score you according to your performance and then they do a draft.  Those good enough to go to the  majors are drafted onto a team.  Those not, stay in the minors.  Maddi has never played baseball.  She played softball two years ago.  It's basically the same, but there are some differences.  The kids here all play minors when they are 9.  Baseball starts at age 5.  I wasn't sure how Maddi would do.  She is a great little athlete, but she hasn't had the exposure like some of these kids.  My brother Jon went with us to try outs.  Maddi did awesome.  He was really impressed with her ability.  I told him she was lucky because she didn't inherit my athletic disability!  She ran the fastest in her group, caught the best, swung the best and threw the farthest and straightest.  You would have never known she hadn't played in two years.  Yesterday her new coach called and said that Maddi had made the draft to the majors!  Her coach was very excited to  have Maddi on her team.  She said she grew up playing baseball and softball so she loves to see girls out there doing it.  Maddi was so excited!  She is one of two girls (according to the coach) that made the draft.  The majors is a more competitive league and the age range is 10 -12.  I am really proud of her, so is the rest of the family.  Practices start next week and games start in May.  If anyone is interested in an autographed picture, we will be distributing those soon :)

Naptime With Daddy

One of Zeke and Olivia's favorite things to do when Michael is home from work is to snuggle up with him and eventually fall asleep.  They miss him so much when he is gone.  When he is home they just want to be close to him.  Friday, Michael surprised us and got off early.  They were in between jobs so his work day was shortened by several hours.  At one point we all (me, Michael, Zeke and Olivia) ended up in our bed snuggling and watching TV.  Eventually I had to get up and Olivia followed me.  Zeke stayed with Michael.  When I came in later, I found this:

Isn't it so cute?  Later Michael managed to wiggle out of Zeke's arms and get up.  Apparently though, he didn't stay up for long.  I went to go find him to ask him something and I found him like this:

I'm not sure how this happened and how well Michael slept, but Zeke looks rather comfortable!   Zeke claims he was never really asleep, just resting his eyes.  He said he was trying to sleep but couldn't.  I'm not sure I believe his story.  I have many pictures of the kids sleeping with Michael.  From the time they were babies it seemed to be a favorite past time for them all, Michael included.  I love these little passing moments.  Nothing can replace naptime with Daddy.

My Version of Spring Cleaning

I guess you could call what I am doing spring cleaning.  It's not washing the house form top to bottom and making the windows shine, but it is spring and I am cleaning :)  I have organized clothes for six children, getting rid of 3 garbage bags of clothes in the process.  I have organized the books in the toy room and put all the toys in the proper bins.  I even vacuumed the toy room.  That is something that isn't done as often as it should be because in order to vacuum the floors in the room would have to be clean.  Yeah right!  I rearranged furniture.  I hung up all the coats in the coat closet.  Short people (as in my children) can't seem to quite reach high enough to get the coat hangers on the rod so they end up in the closet floor.  I put all the hats and mittens in the hat and mitten bucket.  From the looks of things my kids will never be basketball players because none of them get their things in the bucket when they run by and toss.  I emptied three more boxes and hid the rest behind the wet bar :)  Unfortunately our garage door is stuck shut so I can't get the empty boxes out of the house.  I also started hanging up pictures on the wall.  That has been slightly frustrating because my landlord only wants me to use a certain kind of nail and hook so the hooks show and the pictures don't lay completely flat.  At least we have pictures up though!  It is a work in progress and I am sure I will get sidetracked some where along the way, but for now it's working and what I have finished looks kind of good!  I think I will celebrate my successes with some chocolate and a diet Dr. Pepper!