Sun Kissed Florida SIX! (not as catchy as 5, but we are what we are!)

My New Blog and GOING PRIVATE

2010-06-08T02:44:00.000-04:00

You can link up to my new blog "Only Pennies in my Pocket" if you want to keep track of all my thriftiness in every way. If you want to keep track of my family and our comings and goings, please comment and leave your request as our personal family blog will be going private. I get strange comments in CHINESE every day from who knows who. So it is time....for those who want to read my public blog of swoony finds and trash to treasure....please click on
http://www.onlypenniesinmypocket.blogspot.com/

Hope to keep in touch with everyone. Don't forget to comment your request for our private family blog.

Does anyone have a stick?

2010-06-01T13:18:00.000-04:00

We are going to need one...between the bouquets of flowers from boys at school for Andrea, the 2 marriage proposals (and fight between the two suitors) at Kiya's birthday party, the 3 ft long snake in the house and 5 1/2 ft long alligator under our car all in ONE WEEK....we are going to need a stick to fend them all off....or 2....or 4.....

Missing...

2010-05-18T20:45:00.000-04:00

Somewhere in the depths of Andrea's room is our new pet frog, Bernie I think I will call him. This was not a planned pet, rather one who desired to become our pet. According to Andrea he just "followed her inside into her room and into her bed" after dance class today. Kiya saw her giving him a bath in the sink and finally told me about the new pet. But now Bernie is exploring his new found territory to see what it has to offer. Until we can find an aquarium for cheap, this territory has a front door and a big fat boot to offer if Bernie finds his way to me.

A video for you...

2010-05-17T14:01:00.001-04:00

My friend shared this with me. I LOVE this lady. She is a hilarious comedian who is a mom and she takes popular songs and remakes them to tell the many stories of motherhood. If you haven't seen her Mom Song on youtube you have to check that one out too. One of my faves....

but today in honor of mommyhood and how sometimes we all feel trapped and need a date night with our sweetiepies...for your enjoyment....Love Story by Anita Renfroe...and if you are feeling a little emotional it might even make you cry a little. Ok so maybe not a little but A LOT emotional...that was me today....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vLjWDKu0jfM

{confession} I talk to myself...

2010-05-15T23:28:00.000-04:00

Ok. So it is true. I talk to myself. It is like therapy...or maybe I just need therapy...either way it is how I work through all of the million trillion bazillion thoughts that run rampant through this ever busy brain of mine. Between the little people and the lack of big people, I find myself talking to myself more and more these days. And not just thinking out loud. Sometimes just reviewing what I have to do and then it turns into like a Dr. Phil episode or a conversation that I am planning to have. I think I am losing my mind. The worst part? I think it is getting worse....

Business time

2010-05-11T15:08:00.000-04:00

i know that my blog is pretty family friendly for the most part so I chose to not actually put this video on my blog but rather.....just a link to it. I really enjoy reading blogs when i have a chance. And this new blog speaks to my inner not so conservative mormon mama soul. Her post for today is titled "Business Time" and you can just guess where this is headed. It has some great thoughts on marriage and one of its key ingredients: marital relations {sex}. You all should take a peek. It is quite humorous and I also rather enjoyed the youtube video she had with it. If you and your spouse need a good laugh for the day to put you in the mood....click on.
http://miscellaneousandetc.blogspot.com/2010/05/business-time.html

Andrea's 5th Birthday and My first fondant CAKE!

2010-05-10T14:50:00.002-04:00

Watch out world! My lil firecracker has turned 5! She is growing up so fast and thinks she is an adult now! Here are a few snapshots of her "water party" as she called it. I went with an oceany theme mostly green and blue in various shades with a few pops of orange and purple. Here are the highlights:
Food: Goldfish and Fishnets (pretzels) for the party. Beforehand I served octopus hotdogs to my own kids for lunch with "eels" (sliced cucumbers) and fruit roll-up seaweed! The food was served out of beach pails with shovels. Ocean juice (Blue tinted apple juice) with swimming sea life inside!(fish, sea turtle, sharks, jelly fish, etc fruit snacks frozen inside ice cubes)
The Cake: a two tiered chocolate and white cake with a buttercream frosting filling. Topped with an ocean themed fondant.
The activities: sprinkler under the trampoline, slip n'slide, 2 pools and of course our other backyard play toys. We also made "ocean bottles"--clear shiny colored "rocks", blue water, blue and green metallic confetti and glitter, shells and oil all in a water bottle. You can shake it and the oil mixes with the water and creates a bubbly effect. The kids loved making them. Be sure to glue the lid on so they won't spill it!
The decorations: "seaweed" streamers and fish everywhere!

The favor bags: the ocean bottles, sparkly bubbles (normal cheap "wedding bubbles" found at the $ store--9 for a $1! Andrea and I covered the outside with glue and glitter! They were so cute!), fish fruit snacks, and water balloons all inside a turquoise bag.

Parties are always a lot of work. But worth it. The kids will always remember the party they planned with Mom. I don't ever want them to confuse their own birthday parties with a Chuck E. Cheese party of their friends. Not that Chuck E. Cheese isn't fun, but this way they can do what they want AND they can invite as many kids as they want (I think we had around 15 kids or so including my own!) all for under$75. I came in under budget this year. We didn't have time to get the balloons blown up with helium, so no balloons--saved me $10. A few other things came in under budget so I had some wiggle room and I think I spent a total of $60 even including all new icing food coloring which will last YEARS. Didn't I mention that I was a party girl? Toldja. And I couldn't have done it without my sweetheart who manned the water stations, ran last minute errands and even helped clean the house in preparation. What a guy.

I made these fish from $ store microfiber dish towels!The best present that brought back nostalgic memories....an Easy Bake Oven! Thank you Emma!

And now we get to do it all over again in 2 weeks for Kiya. Party hardy!

I’m a Party Girl

2010-05-10T01:26:00.002-04:00

In every sense of the word…s. Now in my religion, we're not the drinkin' type party girls. We're the streamers and the balloons type…and every now and again we're a "night on the town" type. But in case you are confused, we're still virgin. When it comes to alcohol that is. Just ask our waiter……Let me explain….

At our first annual "Mother's Night Out in Her Lil' Black Dress" party, we went to Yamato's—a nice Japanese Steakhouse where they seat you in a U-shaped table/counter around a grill where they cook your food in front of you. Our waiter came to ask about drinks first. Everyone ordered a Strawberry Daiquiri except me because of Callie's allergy. I called to the waiter at the last second and decided on a Pina Colada even though JOSEPH is allergic to coconut. (They only had those 2—so I decided to choose my child over my husband. I figured kissing after coconut wouldn't kill him. I have eaten the stuff before…). My "virgin, please" must have not been audible because my friend next to me spoke up and said,"Yes. We are all virgins."—REALLY LOUD as shewaved her hand motioning up and down our row of ladies. Loud enough so that the table across from us could hear and they were staring. We all busted up laughing…clearly we don't get out enough. The waiter just looked at her like she was crazy and we clarified to him that she meant our drinks. He smiled politely and walked away. Poor man.

Anyhow, needless to say, I am sure we made many people laugh---or just stare in amazement at our utter silliness last night. We were laughing at ourselves and it was clear that these mamas don't get out much. We invited a couple girls who are unmarried to join us. I am sure they had no idea what kind of party they were in for!

We went shopping at our favorite store, TARGET…and ended up at The Melting Pot for dessert. My friends are going to kill for the pictures, I am sure. I think some were showing a bit more leg than they intended to for this photo op.

P.S. As orangey-tan as I look, I promise it is not tan-less lotion or a spray tan...just my very white native Floridian friends. Kind of funny....but I do look orange. First I thought it was my makeup but it is my WHOLE BODY.

It's 10:57PM Happy Mother's Day to me.....

2010-05-09T23:49:00.002-04:00

I really do love being a mom. In every way. I know that Mother's Day is for whatever reason not a favorite for many moms. Whether it be the guilt, the disappointment, the high expectations, whatever. I look at it as another day and don't expect much.....ok maybe some, just not TOO much. And almost always I am pleasantly surprised with a glorious day.
I am reminded of how truly blessed I am to be a mother to four amazing spirits that were created by an AWESOME God who gave me the opportunity to create their bodies that would house their amazing spirits during this life here on Earth. They teach me more than I will ever teach them.
I was recently told that I was crazy. First when she found out that I had four kids and again when she found out that I stay home with them. I was sad for her when she made the comment that she loved when her kids started school to get them out of the house. I cried the day (ok the first month...) that Kiya started school. She was my little girl going out into the BIG MEAN WORLD and I was afraid she would be swallowed up. I couldn't help feeling a loss inside. A loss of time I could be spending with her and keeping her safe.

I am a Mother.

I was chosen to be the caretaker of these precious little girls.
God has given me the privilege to be a part of this miracle called Motherhood.
I am a "stay-at-home mom" by choice. My choice. And I wouldn't change it for the world. I do believe that most daughters follow the path of their own mothers in many ways...even in the choice of being a working or stay at home mama. My mother definitely influenced my choice, but it was still my choice. I made that choice for the sake of my children. I knew even before I was pregnant that I would be a stay at home mom. This choice was not hard for me. I am grateful for this choice on a daily basis. I am grateful for a husband who is a firm believer of the importance of this. Even when money is tight and there are bills to pay, my husband knows that I am where I am meant to be. And God has blessed us abundantly for doing what we felt we were prompted to do. We have never went without. And we never will.

Life is too short and childhood is already fleeing from my oldest. She is growing up too fast. And I am thankful that I haven't missed a second of it. I am far from winning the "Mother of the Year" award. My husband jokes with me about that all the time whenever I do something silly. And I am sure he is thinking it when I am not being silly but rather that wicked witch of the west rears her ugly green head. But I do try. Andrea thanked me today for sharing my Mother's Day with her and letting her have her birthday...today she turned 5. 5 years ago I was due on Mother's Day.

It is not every day that I am in the frame of mind to see my children through the eyes of God--but today was one of those days. They are so sweet and innocent and full of unconditional love.

Two quotes that have never failed to inspire me are

“No other success in life can compensate for failure in the home” --David O. McKay

and

“The greatest work you will ever do will be within the walls of your own home”-- Harold B. Lee

I am grateful for a mom who was always there for me. Not just emotionally "there"--but truly physically THERE for me. She was always home when we came home from school or during the day if we got sick. She was always at all of our games, our special events--EVERYTHING. I always felt that security knowing that Mom was at home, waiting for me. And better yet, she is still there. I can call her anytime. With my mothering questions or experiences to share. Thank you, Mom. All that I am I owe to you...ok some to Dad too, but after all it is Mother's Day. My parents have always been firm in their faith in God and taught me to be strong. I hope to pass that legacy on to my own children.

And thank you to my mother-in-law for raising a young man to respect women and honor motherhood as the sacred role it was meant to be. He is my "stripling warrior"--my lil Lamanite who is strong because he had a good mama. Thank you.

I am a Mother. I may be a bit crazy, that part was true. But every time I hear "Wow, lady. You have your hands full." Without skipping a beat I can honestly say, "Better full than empty."

need a lil' inspiration?

2010-05-06T16:00:00.000-04:00

www.youtube.com/watch?v=KHDvxPjsm8E

Check out this video. It is about Stephanie Nielson (http://www.nieniedialogues.com)--my/ favorite blogger ever that I have been following for years now. She will inspire you to truly LIVE. Guaranteed.

Random pictures

2010-05-06T14:03:00.000-04:00

These are totally out of any kind of order, but for whatever reason when I uploaded them they got all out of order and I am just too busy to fix them. So here goes at attempting to label some of them....My birthday flowers These aren't this year's Easter dresses but rather an Easter ReRUN of past favorite Easter dresses one random SundayA girl after my own heart....Kiya earning the prestigous "Golden Hornet award" this past quarterCallie and her new allergy--we think to strawberries. She isn't eating them. Just me. And then she breaks out like a banchee. I have no idea how to spell banchee.Andrea's Beach Scene cupcakes for her preschool--seaweed, sand and all. Even a shark or two for good measure. Kiya on the day of her first successful Primary talk. She got up. READ her talk without dying of stage fright and even bore her testimony completely impromtu. A very proud day for this mama.Playing at the lacrosse field, watching Daddy work, eating McDonalds and picking clover flowers. Andrea was in the perfect heaven possible.Valentines Day Tulips. My husband not only loves me, but he listens. I am always sad in the spring when I do not get to see my favorite spring flower. They are non-existent in these here parts. so my sweetie found some at the store for me. I kissed his thoughtful lil head don't you worry.DISNEY WORLD! Now just cause you live in Florida doesn't mean you get to go to Disney all the time. This was our first Disney World Trip as a family EVER!Thank you for taking us on a magical trip Daddy!I can't remember what these were for or why I took a picture of them. But I wish I had made those today because I really could use one of those babies right about now.I couldn't get the full effect from the front. This was the aftermath of a church hairdo. It was cute until the band and bow came out. Then it looked like a cow had come and licked her upside the head.Kiya and her $$$ from the tooth fairy. Happy day!Callie in her crocheted hat from mama.A few snap shots of my growing girl who loves to drool.Valentine outfits from Lita!Riding the tea cups!Taking a break for a train ride...Meeting the Princesses! Definitely the highlight of the dayMy almost 30th birthday (as my husband so kindly keeps reminding me...BTW I am only 29 thank you very much.I love thoughtful gifts. I really do. I really appreciate when someone hears you say, "I would love to have that!" And they remember 3 months later and buy you that coveted gift. In my case it was this set of decorating tips. Have you ever seen anything more beautfiul?Except for these shiny honey buns. These are the new laundry bins I bought with my birthday money. I know you may not think that laundry basket binnies are on the top of your birthday list, but this gift was one of those things that changed my life. Thank you, self for being so thoughtful. Now each and every day my children put away their laundry out of a bin instead of falling down mountain that usually gets trampled and thrown in the hamper. Thank you, self. You are the best.

welcome to the week from....

2010-05-03T02:20:00.002-04:00

stinky pants land.Wish me luck. We shall see if I survive. This week in addition to our normal hectic lives we have:
Family Home Evening with another family. i am helping make decorations for a Mother's Day Tea Party. My best friend is a 1st grade teacher.
Teacher Appreciation Week--the girls gifts are wrapped but the tags still need to be finished. But guess who is making homemade bread for all of the teachers at Joseph's school? yes, that would be me. Didn't I tell you I had a bakery in my backyard?
Mini Dance Rehearsal (3 hours long....arrghhh...and every week for the next month and a half until the recital.....)
Cupcakes for snack at Andrea's preschool for her birthday (and not just normal cupckakes....she wants ocean themed ones because that is the theme at preschool this week and the theme of her party is water/ocean/beachy you get the idea....)
Dance Costume Pictures(still need to make their hair bows) then
Mother/Daughter Wacky Wednesday (think Freaky Friday...and yes, these two events are BACK TO BACK that night. oh and did I mention that I am putting on this Mother Daughter event? It should be fun just a lot of work.....)
ANDREA's Preschool Mother's Day Tea Party
ANDREA'S 5Th BIRTHDAY PARTY is on Saturday. I was thinking this party would be easy since we aren't really doing too many games and activities...just lots of WATER. I will post pictures....but it seems it is already getting stressful....
Mom's NIGHT OUT/Lil' Black Dress Night this will be my reward at the end of the week. a night out with the girls--not my little girls. big girls. mommies. going out. alone. no kids. in nice clothes that won't get smeared by ketchup fingers. while the husbands get to clean the ketchup fingers. and the mommies get a well-deserved break.ahhhhhh....I believe I hear Olive Garden and the Melting Pot calling my name in the distance. First I have to tromp my way through stinky pants land to get there.

MYSTERY HOSTESS!

2010-04-07T12:03:00.000-04:00

I am throwing a MYSTERY HOSTESS PARTY!

How it works:

Go to my website www.annah.scentsy.us and place an order for any amount under the party name "Mystery Hostess." If you live outside the Ocala area, please be sure to check the box to have your order shipped directly to you (shipping is 10% of your order--very cheap!). Orders must be placed by April 15th.

After all orders have been placed, I will randomly draw a name---and the winner of the drawing will receive ALL the hostess benefits from the party! That means 10-15% of the orders in FREE SCENTSY PRODUCTS PLUS 1/2 price items!

If you haven't checked out the ABCs TEACHER warmer of the month, be sure to check out my website. This is the first "mid-size" warmer of the month which means it is the PERFECT size for a teacher's desk at the perfect price--only$22.50! It is a darling warmer that all teachers and administrators will love. I have already added my order for 4 warmers to the mystery hostess party so whoever wins the drawing already has almost $10 in free credit just from my order alone!

So hurry and place your order before you miss out on winning the honor of being the MYSTERY HOSTESS!

Good luck!

Gratitude

2010-02-26T22:51:00.000-05:00

To all of my faithful readers---(I am sure just my children are reading this...and most likely it is like 10 years from now in a printed journal form...I hope...we'll see how ambitious I am...) so sorry for the lack of posting recently. I have been ever so busy. This week we spent all day Monday from open to close at none other than world famous Disney World. It was magical and amazing and ever-so exhausting...I am still recovering. But this post is not about me....but my darling lil dumplings that I find absolutely irresistible and delicous. I know it sounds like I am talking about food, but I am referring to my children. It is a good thing I can still recall what it was like to have them in my belly or else I would just eat them up. They did amazing on Monday for being such a long day. And they have had a pretty decent subsequent week factoring in the damage done at the beginning. Especially since they didn't get a lot of sleep and had to go to school the next day!
Ok, so the real reason for this post. As I was tucking my lil dumplings into bed tonight and rubbing their backs and stroking their hair, I remembered the multiple bald cancer-ridden mamas I saw on Monday. At least 4 that I can distinctly recall and remember. You expect to see some sick kids there. A dying wish to spend their last days with Mickey Mouse and flying dumbo rides. But I was surprised at how many sick mamas I saw. They had their life in perspective. Their dying wish was to take advantage of every minute and to see their children having the time of their lives. I was so grateful in that moment that I am alive and healthy and so are my children. I am grateful for each day I have to be with them. Now to be honest and real, not all days are dumplings and roses, but still, every day is worth it and wonderful. And every day I thank my Heavenly Father for blessing me and ALLOWING me to be the mother of these precious girls.

The cute words to remember...

2010-02-18T21:29:00.000-05:00

Here are some original versions of common words and phrases by my small fries...

"clo"--this would be the singular version of "clothes" i.e. "Pick up that clo."--Kiya

"ah-choo"--a.k.a a sneeze by most i.e. "You just ah-chooed all over my arm, Mom."--Andrea(acutal sentence by Andrea to me tonight.)

"loget"--what Kiya has called yogurt since she was 2...and still calls it such to this day 4 years later...

"wa-me-ma!!!"--the phrase that is usually repeated 3 times in a row to get my attention to observe an original choreographed dance, head butting a ballon act, etc. translation? "Watch ME, MOM!"--Haylee

"noo-noo"--the ever passed down word from Kiya on down the line to Haylee which means "noodles."

"my titty shi(r)t"-- please pardon my child's French. Andrea had a rough time with k's and r's for a while there. k's were t's and with r's she just left them out of words like "shirt." She still does it, but it doesn't sound so bad anymore. She used to have this purple shirt with a kitty on it. She would tell people all of the time. "My favorite shi(r)t is my titty shi(r)t."

I think for now I will end there. Because really, who can top that????!!! :) I love my kids. And quite frankly, who doesn't?! They are as sweet as cherry pie.

Dreams...

2010-02-03T22:47:00.000-05:00

My next baby...

2010-02-02T21:36:00.000-05:00

For my next baby I am going to adopt. I think I really am. And HE will be a boy. Not to worry, there will someday be a little Joseph running around...I dare say I do hope.....and then I think we will adopt a girl....and then I think I will have some more. Maybe i will adopt the girl at the end. Yes I do think so. I know you all are beginning to think I am crazy....but for many reasons I think this will be the plan. My dream of adopting is sounding so much more nice as I have been recalling my sick pregnant days and look around my house and realize that it doesn't seem like I have caught up after being pregnant. And I am out of the habit of my routines. Not dirty...but comparable to my old tennis shoes. Certainly not so dirty that they stink, but definitely not clean enough to serve you dinner on either. So today, I do declare that I will skip the pre-baby pukey stage and opt out for a darling lil puke-free baby. I hope that he keeps that up and remains puke free. We can all use a little less puke in our lives.

Family Art

2010-01-28T13:28:00.001-05:00

I hope my sister doesn't mind....I am sharing her blog header which is an original family stick portrait of her family and ALL of their pets (bird, hamsters, geckos, dog, cats....). I am so going to copy her idea. She is too creative...

Save the hearts!

2010-01-26T15:48:00.001-05:00

Next week Kiya will be participating in a special Jump Rope for Hearts event put on by the American Heart Association. This event is specifically by kids for kids. It is to raise money to go towards research heart defects and their cures.
This is a especially close to OUR hearts as my nephew, Kiya's four year old cousin is going to be having heart surgery next month. Kiya has set up a webpage so that our friends from around the world can donate to her efforts. Every little donation helps to save lives like Jason's.
Please visit her webpage if you can make a contribution. The link is http://amha.convio.net/site/TR/JumpforHeart/JRFH-GSA?px=1806461&pg=personal&fr_id=1282
Our entire family thanks you! Please keep little Jason and my brother's family in your prayers.

Sorry, Wally. It is over...

2010-01-16T23:56:00.000-05:00

My love affair with Wal-Mart is over. Ok, so my true love is Target, but when Wally's World is closer and cheaper, he wins. And he will probably continue to win even though there is so much about Wal-Mart I don't agree with and don't want to support, I am a sucker for saving a buck. Tonight it wasn't so much Wal-Mart's fault....it is just that it is the worst place to be on a Saturday night with all four of my kids. Picture this...Two "buggies" (Southern to Normal English translation: shopping carts) tied together like a train. Baby Girl #4 in the normal child location of buggy #2. Girls #2 and 3 in the basket of that same said buggy. Girl #4 in caboose training--walking behind Baby Girl #4 to keep her happy while Super Mom is pulling like the powerhouse engine that she is from the front of buggy #1 where all the lovely groceries and other wal-mart purchases can be found. In between all of the "Can we get(s)", the "I have to go potty(s)" and few temper tantrums thrown by the 4 yr and 6 month olds, we finally were able to manage to get to front of the store to check out. Which was a living nightmare. Things were ringing up for the wrong price, the managers were busy, the lines were already too long to begin with, the potty training child had to go and before it was all said and done we were missing many items that weren't stocked on the shelves, diarrhea running down the 2yr olds legs, everyone is starving and wants to eat their treat before dinner...LIKE NOW, Mom. And then we got to the exit door and it was pouring rain. After finally getting to the van after Andrea has managed to stomp in every mudpuddle...a nice man helped me load my groceries into the back of my van while I got the dripping kiddos into their seats. Normally I tell any strangers that I am fine and don't need help. I don't usually even let the Publix bag boy out to help me for both safety and my own prideful indepence. But today the parking lot security vehicle was parked right next to me so Mr. Nice Guy--you are more than welcome to help this crazy Mama who is just about to lose it. I said a prayer of thanksgiving as I drove home despite feeling like a crazed lunatic. After being in line at Wally's for almost an hour with kids antsy to leave and one smelling like an outhouse...., one tends to lose all sanity. Daddy is on Wal-Mart duty for a month after this. Or at least on babywatch duty. I need a break.

Dance dance dance!

2010-01-16T03:15:00.001-05:00

Is it just me, or does this lil girl look like a REAL ELF?

The girls didn't have a formal Christmas recital, just a dance they had been working on that the parents could come and watch. They got to wear Christmas outfits if they wanted to. They are really loving their dance classes...I just hope we will continue to be able to keep them up. I want to start piano next year and I am not sure we can afford to do both.....

My favorite things....

2010-01-16T02:29:00.001-05:00

Well, since I haven't even uploaded my pictures from Christmas, I figured it was time to do so....and a few other things on my camera. So here are just a few of my (*recent*)favorite things...of course this list is constantly evolving...so just to share a few...

Christmas Tea Towel Gifts I gave away...I need to make some of my own now....

"Bubblicious"

"CandyLand", "Partridge in a Pear Tree", "Apple Blossom" and "Happy Hollydays"

Andrea-the InnKeeper's Wife (who is often found on stage picking her nose and singing louder than anyone else...all of the right words and in perfect tune regardless of where her finger is)

Sisters--there is NOTHING like sisters.

Haylee and her dancing...anytime, anywhere, she doesn't even need music. She dances to the beat of her own drum...that I think she must hear in that cute little head of her's....she can often be found singing "Do-do DORA!" while wearing a backpack and frequently will not answer to any name other than "Dora" or "Ali"-the princess of Crystal Kingdom

homemade cinnamon rolls....

with extra sweet cream cheese icing of course...

And my even SWEETER family

I just love this picture of Haylee...just so typical of her just checking life out around her

do you think these two cheesers are related??

donkey for a Dad

our new plate and mug for Santa

More homemade rolls...the best kind

Andrea's New Haircut...I am not a professional, but I think it turned out pretty cute

REally good hiding spots when you are in trouble

Modern Art

And a few things from my ever so clean bathroom....my antique wash tub full of yummy towel rolls...I think I really like rolls......

my shell collection that the girls have collected from the beaches of FL

and my perfectly organized drawers...I won't bore you with the before and after shots I took of the drawers and cupboards. They really weren't too extreme...I just really do love organized drawers. Definitely a favorite thing. And I can't believe I am sharing them for the whole world to view....at least you know I floss. Or at least I like to keep lots of floss. Maybe I should work on actually flossing more often. But hey, I am sure we could all floss more.

Ok just a couple more I forgot....

Hayrides

Hairdos by 4 year olds

and this cute brooch/hair thingie/purse clip/necklace embellishment flower thingie I made Melissa for Christmas. I needed a bigger center button, but this one came from our Grandma's button collection so I thought it was a little more special than just a bigger button....

Day 2

2010-01-16T00:56:00.000-05:00

Master Bathroom-FINISHED! Yea! It looks even better than the day we moved in. The only thing left actually on my to do list in there is to recaulk around the toilet. Not a huge deal, just would make it look so nice in there. I haven't done that since we moved in I think, and it could use it. So here is my checklist:

MASTER BATHROOM

• Clean out all cupboards , wipe down

• Clean out drawers, wipe down

• Restock tp, toiletries, etc. Throw out old, expired, or unused

• Clean off countertops and dust/wash decorative items

• Dust door frame

• Dust frames, etc.

• Wipe down light fixture

• Wash shower curtain and liner

• Wash bath mat

• Spray and wipe mirror

• Wipe down walls, switchplates, etc

• Scrub Shower stall

• Scrub toilet inside and out, recaulk

• Clean countertops, sink

• Wipe down baseboards/mouldings

• Sweep and hand mop floor

• Wash out and bleach garbage can and replace liners

A friend mentioned to me as a "comment" that she just throws her liner away. I have heard this from many people. I am not always a money-saving frugalista like I should be, but certainly most of the time. When you live on teacher's salary in a one income lifestyle with a big family, you tend to have a few tricks up your sleeve to pinch a penny or two. So a few tips that save you--buy a "hotel quality" mildew resistant shower liner. They are more expensive than the cheap thin ones, but they LAST. You can wash them (wash with towels to keep them from ripping--especially if you don't have a front loader. I have a luxurious washing machine but I still wash with my white towels and throw some bleach in... They hang nicely, wash nicely and outlast any cheap liner by YEARS. Well worth it to spend the few extra bucks and to not have to replace your liners. I have had the one in our guest bathroom for at least 5 years...maybe longer.

My other tip of the day: try to use mild cleansers as much as possible. But sometimes in the bathroom especially, there is a need for BLEACH. Just be careful not to ever mix bleach with ammonia-based cleaners.

So now my bathroom is fit for a king....King Joseph I am sure will appreciate his pristine porcelain throne.

My new obsession....

2010-01-15T03:24:00.000-05:00

So I still can't sleep...so I am thinking about color combinations instead of cleaning. I have always LOVED turquoise...every shade. I was getting sick of the sage green color I had as a base in almost every room or our last place so I changed our room to a muted turquoisey blue and brown this time around. I was wanting to go with blue and orange....my husband would LOVE if I went with BRIGHT BLUE AND ORANGE and hung a big Florida gators poster above our bed. Won't ever happen....I had wanted to do blue and rusty orange when we first bought our house 2 years ago. My sister and I had this discussion the other day....I had this color combination idea a couple of years ago and couldn't find anything that went together. I bought an orange throw pillow for the bed, but it didn't quite go with the style of the blue shams I had chosen. I found a brown and blue pillow and so brown and blue were born....along with every other room across America. And NOW I can find all kinds of orange and turquoise together. And once again we will match ALL of America I am sure. So for our NEXT house I want blue and orange. I don't want the room to be all matchy smatchy and too much of those two colors..I definitely like the look to appear "collected" over time and not puchased as a "room in a bag." So probably with hints of gray and green and white. Perfect Gator colors, dear. Just no actual Gator posters. I will take a four poster bed though if you want.

I may change my mind between now and then about the colors...I should have looked online for fabric last time. I am sure I could have found something. They just didn't have them in the mainstream stores yet. So here is what I found that I LOVE. I was debating if I wanted to do this color scheme in my next kitchen because I already have a beautiful set of turquoise bowls I want to display in our next kitchen. But I think I am going to go with a muted turquoise and a cherry red. I love that combination, too.

I DID IT!

2010-01-15T01:00:00.007-05:00

Ok, not all the way yet,...but the shower itself is clean. It is 12:39am technically Friday morning, and the shower is clean. The liner along with a load of white towels is bleaching in the washing machine as we speak. I try to bleach the liner at least every couple of months. Sometimes it is hard to tell when it is getting grimey because our shower is a cave. Literally....the builder made these weird angled entries in the kitchen, hall and bathrooms for "architectural detail" and it was considered an upgrade on this model of home that was built. They do look nice I guess, but it makes the shower stall and the tub in the other bathroom like caves because there isn't a can light or anything in the stall itself so the light from the bathroom is blocked by this overhang coming down from the ceiling. Great if you are not a morning person and want to wake up gradually in the dark shower and even better if you don't like to see your legs that you are trying to shave with a RAZOR....but the ultimate worst is not being able to tell if the shower is dirty. I have to admit, I rather enjoy cleaning bathrooms and usually our bathrooms stay pretty clean. But I don't clean the shower every time I clean the bathroom because I am a cheater....I clean the shower while I am taking a shower. I keep a "green scratcher" (you will know what this is if you are a member of my family because this is the "technical term" used by mother) in the shower and scub down the walls while I am in there at least a couple times a week. I admit, I only use CLEANER every 2 weeks on my shower and I don't always check my shower liner for scum. I just spray bleach cleaner on it every couple of weeks and then launder it every couple months. Gross I know, but that is my life. I am just thrilled that it is actually being WASHED right now. You have to wash shower curtains at night. After they have dried off from the morning showers so they won't drip yucky water the whole way to the laundry room and then they can hang to dry until morning. So I have to stay up so I can get the regular curtain and bath mat in the wash and dryer before I go to bed. It is a good thing Joseph is gone and I can't sleep.....even though I should be tired. Because I looked like this while cleaning the bathroom....

But I feel like this

now that it is done! Who doesn't LOVE a clean shower? You feel 179 times cleaner when you shower in a CLEAN SHOWER!

Yea for Day1.

Tomorrow I will accomplish so much more. I think I should be able to possibly COMPLETE all of my list in the master bathroom....we shall see. Even though I have recently gone through the cupboards, I haven't emptied and wiped them down or the inside of the drawers for a few months at least so it may take longer than expected with the kids. But I do *believe* that there is nothing too insignificant to pray about. So tomorrow I will petition the Lord to help me to work with God's Speed so that I can accomplish many great and marvelous things tomorrow...even if it is just a pristinely clean water closet.

Spring Cleaning Day 1

2010-01-14T18:53:00.001-05:00

BRING OUT THE BIG GUNS

I guess I am going to just start at the top of my list which is the Master Bathroom and go room by room. Since today is mostly over I am only going to get a few things accomplished...my goal is to get the shower done--the curtains washed and rehung, and the stall completely cleaned out. I will report tonight or tomorrow what all I can get done. I figure with no husband for a few days I can get a lot done. But maybe not since there will be no other adult to occupy the children...unless I do it all when they are in bed and stay up late....we will see how it goes....wish me luck. I am going to need it.

Spring Cleaning my way to a cleaner and clutter-free home...

2010-01-14T18:41:00.002-05:00

The Grand Spring Cleaning Spree

Checklist of things to do that have to be done even if I don’t necessarily want to do some of them…

Ok, so we will see how long this will actually take....but today we headed back up to the 70s which means it is SPRING here in FLorida again! So long to our one week of winter...it was cold. Like 40s during the day which is pretty cold for FL. And now it is over and now I am ready for my "spring cleaning spree." I am a detailed cleaner (which is sometimes the death of me....I get one room picture perfect while the rest of the house falls apart....but at least someone could eat off the floor under my oven....) so I am constantly "spring cleaning." So some of the things on my list I have recently done, but I am going to do them again. I am not planning to get it all done in a week or anything. I am going to dedicate a couple of days to each room in my house. Some rooms may take longer..like the office...but I will post my progress every day of what I have accomplished so that I actually accomplish more since I am somehow obligated to someone or something even if it just my blog that mostly just I read.....but if there is anyone out there interested in getting a copy of my list that I have made, I have a pdf file checklist of most of my house. I haven't done the office, the laundry room (because I just cleaned it), the garage, the shed or outside yet, but I can send you what I have if you are interested. Unless there is a way to post a link to a pdf file or to download a file onto my blog...anyone know how to do that? Not sure...not that anyone wants this, but maybe someone out there wants to take advantage of the 2 hours I just took to sit down and type this up. Because typing up 3 pages of anything takes hours with interruptions of 4 kids, an out of state husband phone call,, and everything else in between. I will keep my record of what I do every day on my blog along with my usual everyday happenings. Maybe I will inspire someone else, but if nothing else, I just hope to inspire myself so I have what it takes to finish.

Orlando Titans

2010-01-14T18:21:00.001-05:00

So my dear sweetie got season tickets to the Orlando Titans Box Lacrosse team for his birthday. It is more exciting than football, as violent as hockey (they can have fist fights like hockey....we endured at least 2 or 3 nasty brawls the other night...) and as fun to watch any other sport out there. Joseph and I had a great time at our first date without kids---any kids--for a long time. Thank you to Joseph's parents for watching the girls! We had a fun time cheering on this new team at their first game at the Amway Arena where the Orlando Magic play. We even got to sit just a few seats away from Chris whatever his last name is from N'Sync who sang the National Anthem. I have never seen anyone be able to text so fast and watch a sporting event at the same time. I forgot my camera so I didn't get any pictures, but the other people around me had me take pictures of them with him. I know Joseph will probably not want to take me to every game, but I am looking forward to going again soon. Some of the rules are different in pro lax and even moreso in box, but it was a lot of fun to spend time with my sweetie watching his favorite sport and I am sure the future for my daughters....not pro box, just lacrosse---non contact girls lacrosse where they get to run around in cute skirts and where an oh-so-attactive face mask--at least it is safer than what we watched last Friday.....

I love this man...

2010-01-12T23:33:00.000-05:00

Can I just say....I love this man. More than he will ever know. Sorry it has been a rough week....ok maybe a rough year....maybe longer....but thanks for being so nice to me even when life just stinks sometimes.

It SNOWED in FLORIDA!

2010-01-11T13:57:00.000-05:00

and I missed it...Joseph got up Saturday morning and left for work early and there was SNOW on our car!!! Yes..real live snow. FROM THE SKY. And we didn't even have to go to Disney World where they have the snow machine to see it. Unfortunately, the kids and I missed it and by the time I looked outside, it was gone. I had heard in the news there was a chance of "snow flurries" but we missed them. They flurried and melted. But still an amazing day in history for Florida...

and thanks to all of you who support me on the cell phone issue. Joseph took away 4 phones during Sunday School yesterday. You would think that the parents would apologize when they came to pick up their phones from him. That same mama was not happy with JOSEPH for taking the phone. I have been trying to figure out why this generation has no respect. Unfortunately most of them are being taught to DISRESPECT adults. Sad. This cell phone addiction--and it is an addiction---is a sad one. I heard yesterday by our area general authority at Stake Standards Night that they are thinking of extending the MTC training period by 3 weeks to teach COMMUNICATION skills so that these kids can learn to carry on a conversation with other people. Their thumbs are in excellent condition, their commuication skills are suffering. Sad sad day. My poor children will hate me, but they will never have a cell phone. Until they are out of the house and paying for it themselves. I survived and I am confident they will too.

just need to vent...

2010-01-08T11:00:00.000-05:00

So I just have to say---there are people everywhere all over the nation that get paid anywhere between 25-40k to do what I do for FREE. They are called "youth pastors" in most other churches. I love my calling and I will do it for FREE for the rest of my life if I were asked to. Just like any other calling in our Church--to those of you well-meaning people out there who wish to criticize how things are done, just remember, my job can and will be up for grabs at anytime and you might just find yourself in my shoes. So please, before you write an email to complain about my no cell phone rule or whatever your complaint me be in your ward, remember that there is a PERSON on the other end of that email trying to reach out with love, to teach respect to the youth of the world and just trying their best to do a job we were was asked to do for FREE. So be careful what you say about people and how they are doing their calling. No one in our church is paid, no one has had any formal professional training...we are just doing our best. And really, if you are going to complain to me about something, can it please NOT be about how your child is going to be allowed to text during my class? Thanks.

I'm FAMOUS!

2010-01-01T15:50:00.000-05:00

Ok, myabe not famous, but I am in a movie!!! I think I have mentioned before on this blog on a list of experiences of my life that I was in a movie...granted I was an extra on a Church movie, but hey! Now I can say I was an actress for a day. Back in 2005 or 2006 when the 2 oldest were little and we lived in Utah, somehow I got involved with the church film makers---I can't even remember how now. Anyhow, I had to submit head shots of the members of my family and then they would send out email requests for you to be in the films they were producing. Joseph and I were both asked to be in one of the Old Testament films. They actually wanted him to be one of the main extras (one step up from just being a regular old extra like me...) because of his dark hair and skin. He couldn't do it because they were shooting on a school day he couldn't miss and they would need him for multiple days. So instead just I got to be in the film and famous for a day.....I got a baby-sitter and had to be at this parking lot at like 4:30am or something crazy like that. If it hadn't been for a Church production, I would have never agreed to meet someone in a van in a dark parking lot at 4:30 am....so I quickly palled up with another BYU student who was a cute girl just doing it for the experience as well. They had shuttle buses meeting at the lot all day picking up people for different shoots. People from ALL OVER were coming to this thing. When we arrived at the shoot, there were all kinds of crazies...you know the people "who think they are actors." They had their portfolios of head shots (I had submitted cropped out heads of our latest family photo....) and movies they had been extras in. That girl and I laughed all day at them!!! For us it was just a fun and spiritual experience to be a part of it all. They took us through costumes, accessories, make-up, the whole real deal. We even had tents with food and chairs for resting. It was hilarious! But hey, when the Church does something, they do it right! At the end of the day we weren't even sure if we actually going to be IN the movie, but it was still fun. The sets were incredible, just like a scene out of the old testament....and NOW....finally...the movie is coming out! The Church really does things in advance!!! Crazy! I am still not sure if it is a seminary video or if it is for Sunday school, but it is available from LDS Distribution (AND I get a free one!) for $6.25. I will be happy to autograph your copy for a nominal fee. I just checked the website and it is on the front page of ldscatalog.com--"Old Testament Visual Resource DVDs"
They are shipping my copy to me this week! So if you are watching it in Gospel Doctrine this year, check out the Idol Worship segment....when you see one of the main extra dudes rip his idol from his necklace and it falls to the ground.....I am the dirty looking chic(they literally covered all of my skin with makeup to make me darker) off to his left. Enjoy studying the Old Testament this year if you attend Gospel Doctrine!

I need someone smart

2009-12-17T01:26:00.000-05:00

Ok there has got to be someone out there besides me that needs this....only problem is I am not smart enough to invent such a doohickie. I NEED a GPS tracker for just about everything. You know like on the movies when they hook up a tiny little bug on people and can follow them everywhere? Ok, I need a "bug" that hooks up to one device that locates commonly misplaced objects like my keys (I will take part of the blame, but usually my kids are playing with them somewhere), my camera (once again, Andrea is known for finding the camera and is the family photographer of such great objects like kitchen magnets, flash cards and herself), Andrea's shoes (there is a common theme going on here....), my children (ok so not commonly lost, but someday I would like to "bug" them),....I am sure I can think of more, but for now, those are top on my list for tonight.,...in search of my camera at the moment....

Feeling Sad....

2009-12-13T02:51:00.000-05:00

It has been a rough couple of days for me...I am just emotionally drained and it has affected my ability to be able function and do all of the things Christmas and motherhood require of me. I have such a hard time separating myself from the other people's stress. Especially my close friends and family. So when something catastophic happens, I too feel like I was hit by an {emotional} semi. On the radio today I was listening to Christmas music on "The JOY FM." It is a fabulous station. They always give little tips on how to bring more joy into your life. Ironically today's tip was "separate yourself from the stress of others. Instead of focusing on their hardships, better yourself each day so that you can help them with their trials." This is going to take some work. So keep me in your prayers....and for those of you who know my brother, pray for him too. He needs your prayers more than I do.

Blue Christmas

2009-12-12T14:04:00.002-05:00

Kiya has to be the sweetest child...We have been listening to Christmas carols and I didn't even think that any of them would grasp the concept of the song "Blue Christmas." But today Kiya showed me a letter she wrote to Jesus for Christmas...some of the words she didn't spell right so I will translate...
"I will have a blue Christmas without you Jesus. I will really very blue Christmas without you Jesus. I wish you were here by the side of me Jesus Christ. I miss you Jesus. Love Kiya Heintzelman
From Kiya to Jesus Christ
I love you Jesus!
I love you more than anyone Jesus Christ!"

Funniest post-post event ever...

2009-12-11T14:53:00.000-05:00

I rather enjoy reading the comments left on my blog...but this one was the best! Some lady who works for a promotions company read my post about the Ronzoni pasta and then offered me a sample for a company she promotes for--Dreamfields Pasta. I did a little research to make sure she was a legit person before I gave her my address...and then low and behold today FedEx dropped off a PACKAGE of a full size box of pasta! I just had to laugh. Thanks to my Andrea, I have more pasta to add to my stash!!!!!

My internal clock is off...or broken...

2009-12-09T01:18:00.001-05:00

I think that my heart knows that I am meant to be on the West Coast and not the East because I am still having a hard time adjusting to this time zone. Part of it is that I am a night owl anyhow. But my family and I have been living in 2 different time zones. It is not just that I like to stay up late.....I have a hard time going to bed then I have a hard time waking up and then my whole life is off. And when I am in WA or UT I do just fine getting up early. So I think it is this place. Even though I have consistently gotten up early here at 4:30am, I am still always tired and never get used to it. I haven't been getting up quite so early since I have been sick the last couple of weeks. And after I send the girls off to school this last week I let Haylee watch Dora while I slept on the couch. My body hasn't gotten used to it in over two years of living here....so here I am once again at almost 1am. Only this time it is with a cup of hot lemon water instead of chocolate pudding. I was having such a hard time going to bed last night thinking about how I want to utilize my time better...so that led to getting out of bed writing down a list of things that needed to be done, the menu for Christmas Eve and Day, the family picture poses and outfits,wondered how a person with a color coded closet could have such a messy rest of her house, gave myself a french manicure, had a cup of hot lemon tea, and slapped myself silly for staying up so late which led to this morning---coughing up a storm, couldn't get out of bed and struggled to even get myelf going. But i did end up accomplishing a few things on my list that needed to get done today. I made a Christmas present (cute homemade tag and all...I wish it were my gift even though it didn't turn out as cute as I had designed in my head, I still want it....hope you enjoy it Melissa....). I think I should go take a shower now since I didn't get one in today. That is a confession that no one should know, but hey, it is late and somehow I just start rambling things about my imperfect life to the internet oblivion for all to discover. So yes, I went to my daughter's preschool Christmas program with day old hair and some of yesterday's mascara. I added some more to the grossness....I know I cannot be the only mom out there who has had to do this.....and I am even admitting this for all to read...including my mother-in-law. Sorry your son is going to have to sleep with old mascara tonight...well, maybe I will go take that shower.... at least I haven't resorted to spraying myself with Febreeze. My friend had to do that the other day. We have one of those relationships where we can tell eachother those kinds of things and we just laugh because we understand...no judgemental thoughts just sheer happiness knowing that there is someone else out there as desperate as I am sometimes.

Chocolate Pudding Confessions...

2009-12-08T00:46:00.000-05:00

I am sitting here at midnight eating chocolate pudding. Oh how I love chocolate pudding. Not the thing you should be eating when you have bronchitis. Or doing at such a late hour....but I can't sleep because I have a million things to do and my brain won't shut down. I am starting to feel like there is something really wrong with me...besides the bronchitis and the chocolate pudding. I just can't seem to get anything done. I feel like I am crazy most days. Part of my problem is that I want to do EVERYTHING. Everything there is to do, I want to do it. I always feel unsatisfied because I want to do it all and I want to do it perfectly. I have a hard time letting go of my perfectionism....so hard that I let everything else around me fall apart because I do not know where to begin to make it perfect. I love the quote my sister has on her wall---it says," Being happy doesn't mean everything is perfect, It means you decide to see beyond the imperfections." I want to be happy. Perfectly imperfectly happy. Then maybe I could let go that I haven't made every Christmas craft there is and that I haven't taken quilts to orphans in Ghana and my dishes didn't get done for a few days while I've been sick. Instead of feeling sorry for myself that my life isn't everything I want it to be, I am going to make it be everything it can be and utilize every minute possible.
Well, now that my pudding is gone and I have confessed my imperfections, I am going to go to bed HAPPY.

The Laterst Happenings....

2009-12-07T14:34:00.000-05:00

I told the girls to go get dressed so we could go get the Christmas tree....this is what they came out in. Have i mentioned that I am deathly afraid of the teenage years?????

Andrea taking "mushy face pictures"

This has got to be the grossest picture ever...first when I looked at it I thought Haylee hadn't brushed her teeth in a year...although I knew that couldn't be since I do the brushing....she had Cheez-its from lunch in her teeth.....disgusting....

Baby Diva. Andrea put these on her....

My Sleeping Beauty. How does her hair look Hollywood perfect when she sleeps but like an orphan from Yugoslavia when she is awake?!!?!?

Kiya home from school and done wearing her boots for the day.....

The Nativity I made at the beach...it was the only time Joseph was around at night to watch the kids and then I painted into the night.....

Kiya flying the kite from Guatemala her Lita brought back.

Andrea doing what she does best....running around between the sand and water her two favorite things in the world.

Callie's idea of what to do at the beach....RELAX and sleep.

Daddy flying the kite. He thinks it must be winter or something in his sweatshirt. It was slightly chilly for Florida but felt like a summer day in Oregon to me.

Kiya's ornament for Grandma she put on the tree. A picture of Grandma Lee that says I love you and I miss you. She is so sweet.Kiya getting the Golden Hornet award again. She is such a great student. If I weren't her mother I would probably call her the Teachers Pet. She is the top reader in her class and is just an amazing chick all the way around! Here she is on the day of their "Thanksgiving Feast" dressed as a Pilgrim. Everyone thought I made her cute little dress. Let's just all let them believe I am the world's greatest mom....when really it is a childhood dress of mine. Thanks for keeping it around Mom. It is Kiya's new favorite dress.

Haylee being so good at Kiya's award ceremony. As long as she has her "Dora Saves the Snow Princess" book...we are golden!

The Young Women Retreat we had!

the Christmas Parade in Ocala! Waving at Santa on the Fire Engine! Kiya was so COLD that night! She has forgotten that she was not born in FL. When we got in th van and read the temp I couldn't believe it was 52! I even thought it was colder than that!

Whole Grain is Highly Overrated...

2009-12-06T00:19:00.000-05:00

at least according to Andrea. Awhile ago I switched to whole wheat pasta. I have been using the brand Ronzoni Healthy Harvest since it is usually the brand on sale plus readily available coupons. But tonight my children got a white flour splurge--regular spaghetti AND this delicious ready-made french bread type baguette that I made just like Grandma Hodge used to make...not quite as much butter, but we were going for a splurge. The first thing Andrea said was, "KIYA! Remember THESE noodles? We had them before, remember? They are SOOO good. And no more of those yucky kind!" I told her...."Just for tonight." I found a great deal and bought a ton of the regular kind. I have built up quite the storage of "regular" kind---a year's supply actually-- Andrea just doesn't know it. She will when we have nothing else to eat.....But I did try to look online for a better whole wheat brand. I found a taste test that was done with 5 different whole wheat pasta brands. Unfortunately the kind I have been using ranked LAST. They said in the appearance section, "Too dark and thick. Looks like PVC piping." And yes, I have fed this to my family. PVC piping.....well....at least it ranked better in taste (not according to them, but according to me based on their description) than one other. They said this brand tasted bleak, like paper. A different brand said tasted like cardboard. I think I would rather eat paper over cardboard.....less chewy....

Yea!!! It's Christmas TIME!

2009-11-30T17:59:00.000-05:00

My lights are up, the decorations are coming out....not done yet....the air is chilly (ok, so it is in the 60s, but that is chilly for here. And in a few hours it just might drop down to the 50s!!!!). Oh how I love this time of year. I LOVE LOVE LOVE CHRISTMAS!
p.s. I will post some pictures from our Thanksgiving on the BEACH later.....

My Top 26

2009-11-25T01:56:00.000-05:00

So this year I wanted to write down each day in my blog my top 26 (one for each day) things I am thankful for. Well, I kind of forgot until today. So I am writing them all today since we are leaving for the beach tomorrow away from all technology--no computers, no satellite, no phone....just me, my babes and the beach. So here goes....my top 26.....

1. I am thankful for my Savior, Jesus Christ. Because of Him I am all that I am and all that I ever will be. I am thankful for a loving Father in Heaven who gave His only Begotten Son to come to this Earth and die for me. All that I have I owe to Him. I am thankful for the Church—and most importantly that it is a worldwide Church…no matter where you are, it is always the same. Washington, Idaho, Minnesota, Ecuador, Utah, Florida…in every place I have lived, it has been the one thing that has remained the same.

2. I am thankful for my sweetheart, my eternal companion, my Joseph. He is the jelly in my PBJ, the frosting on my cake, and the scum between my toes. You make it all worth it. Thank you for putting up with me. Thank you for giving me the dream life of being a wife and mother. You are my everything. I am thankful for the temple—the place that made it possible for me to be with you FOREVER.

3. I am thankful for my parents. To my mother who taught me all of the things I have taken for granted over the years...liking knowing how to cook, take care of a big family, be committed to a Church calling, etc. Thank you for being a stay at home mommy even though it wasn't easy. Thank you Dad for making that possible...even though it wasn't easy. Thank you both for not only teaching me the Gospel, but for living it. You are the greatest examples in my life. I love you both so dearly.

4. I am thankful for my four beautiful daughters. I am thankful that they are each unique and bring such a greater dimension to our family. I am thankful that the Lord has blessed me with such sweet spirits. They are so talented, beautiful, and amazing. They bring me the greatest joy to my life.

5. I am thankful for sisters. There is nothing like a sister. No, nothing. ‘nuf said.

6. I am thankful for my brothers. You are pretty marvelous as well. I hope someday my girls will have brothers as fantastic as mine.

7. I am thankful for my hometown of Connell--the perfect place to raise a family. The people, the culture, and yes, even the scenery, helped to shape me into who I am. It is where I discovered the meaning of life and where life discovered me. I had the dream childhood in that perfect place that I still claim as "home." Even though my parents have left, I still long for that place I left behind to start this new life. Thank you to all who are part of that place. Every experience that taught me so many lessons about life I am proud they are connected to such a wonderful place. And even though it was home to my firstborn for only a few months, I am glad it is the birthplace and first home to my Kiya.

8. I am thankful for good friends. Through the years I have had dear friends who have been like family…that have touched my life in a way that only sisters do. Then there are the friends who may have not been as close but have still been an example, a mentor, a visiting teacher, a presidency member, a childhood friend, a teacher, even just an acquaintance…but many have touched my life and have been there for me when I needed them. Thank you for being there for me.

9. I am thankful for my home. My physical house I open and close the door to every day. There is nothing like coming home.

10. I am thankful for the beach. It really is my most favorite place in the world. The place where each of my senses is in heaven. It is a place of memories from my own childhood and I hope that my own children will make memories there.

11. I am thankful for good grub. YES, FOOD makes the cut. Not quite the top 10, but the next closest thing. Oh how I do love FOOD.

12. I am thankful for my van. It is one of my top loves right now.

13. I am thankful for my calling. Even though I spend a lot of time away from home and at home working on my Young Womens “stuff”, I really really really do love it. Not so sure my husband loves it as much, but I am thankful for a husband who supports me in my calling and is willing to give me up so that I can be a part in building God’s kingdom.

14. I am thankful for rain. The smell, the effects, the sound….I just love the stuff. It is raining right now. Ahhhhh……

15. I am thankful for free long distance. I would be in severe debt without it.

16. I am thankful for the internet. It really is such a miracle. I still don’t quite understand how the darn thing works, I am just glad it does. How did we ever live without it????

17. I am thankful for holidays. I love to have excuses to eat junk, sleep in, have a day off school/work, decorate, stay up late, party, invite friends over, and just plain forget the responsibilities of everyday life. I think we should have more of them.

18. I am thankful for books. All kinds of books….but especially the kind I can read to my kids every night while lying in their bed. I know this time will end someday and they won’t want me to read them a princess story every night snuggled up to me….or maybe they will. It is just precious to have this time with them while they are little.

19. I am thankful for my desire to learn new things. Not sure who I got it from, but it seems that pretty much everyone in my family has this so it must be a strong gene on both sides. I love to create. I love to learn how to do new things. I love to finish something—anything. That is where I struggle. The finishing part. But when I do, I just love the feeling of accomplishing something new.

20. I am thankful for nature. I love to be outdoors. I love seeing new places and exploring the surroundings.

21. I am thankful for airplanes. The wondrous thing that makes my family only hours away instead of days.

22. I am thankful for coupons. I know…this may come as a surprise as an item on my top 26, but really, I am grateful for anything that saves my family a buck. Gimme a break!  My husband is in education! Whatever keeps me a stay at home mommy I am thankful for!

23. I am thankful for my education. Formal and informal. For all of the experiences that have educated me in one way or another.

24. I am thankful for music. Yet another thing I just couldn’t live without.

25. I am thankful for my health and the health of my family. The Lord has blessed us. We have experienced miracles and I am grateful for this body that is a miracle in itself.

26. And last AND actually truly the least, my trials. As much as I don’t want to be thankful for them, I am. They strengthen me and help me to learn and grow. I know they are for a reason and I am grateful they are a part of me.

So there you have it….my top 26. There are of course many more fantabulous things in my life I am thankful for, and even tomorrow this list may not be the same. But for now, this is it. My top 26 blessings in my life….I am so blessed.

Tastes like chicken...

2009-11-19T13:15:00.000-05:00

Well, as the old adage says about many animals, I can now attest that even Alligator Tail TASTES LIKE CHICKEN.

And if you are looking for a good place to try it, look up

GATOR DOCKSIDE the next time you are in town visiting me. They fry it up like like popcorn chicken and it is quite delightful. And I am not much of a meat eater as most of you know. But from what I hear, this is the best place around for good eats when it comes to gator. Joseph and I both agree it was pretty tasty....

As much as I do not like the idea of hurting animals for their skins, I secretly pine for alligator skin boots....I suppose as long as the poor guy is dying anyway then slap the skin on a sweet pair of kickers and call it my Christmas gift. So if Joseph contacts any of you for ideas....let him in on my secret wish.... these particular boots for go for a whopping $14,000.

Blessed be the South

2009-11-15T20:53:00.001-05:00

So I got pulled over yesterday. Yes, by a cop. Yes, for speeding. And yes, I was doing 10 over. But really. That street really should be a 40mph road. Nonetheless, I was speeding. I deserved a ticket. But by the grace of God, I was saved. From a $204 ticket. The officer looked into my van and asked,"Is that your Bible on the seat next to you?"...Me: "Yes, Sir." Officer Sir:"If you can tell me what your favorite verse is and recite it ma'm, we'll call this a warning." Me:"Well, at the moment it would have to be Proverbs 3:5 and 6. 'Trust in the Lord with all thine heart and lean not unto thine own understanding.In all thy ways acknowledge Him and He shall direct thy paths" Quite fitting in this situation I felt.

So thank you to my sweetheart for leaving the Bible on the seat.

Thank you to my parents for teaching me to memorize scriptures.

Thank you to Bro Flake and Bro Jorgensen for all of the scripture mastery stuck in my brain.

And last but not least, Thank you Heavenly Father for sending the nice Christian cop my way the day I was caught speeding. And what were those cop's final words?

"Have a blessed day, ma'm."

Either I am starting to really look old because I am a ma'm, or I live in the blessed South where the Bible will truly save your hiney. Let's go for the the latter and pretend I don't have any wrinkles...

my craziness....

2009-11-10T14:04:00.003-05:00

So what do you do when your house is total disaster, you have a million things on your "to do" list and it is time to start thinking about dinner but you don't have plans??? Make applesauce. I cleared the counters from the piles of other things I need to get to, cleaned them down and made applesauce. Was I prepared for this mess? No, not really. I didn't have any canning lids, so I made the sauce and put it in my freezer containers. I made applesauce and apple pie filling. I think probably around 13 or 14 quarts of stuff. The kitchen was an even bigger mess by the end, but at least that huge box of apples I had purchased for cheap were no longer on my kitchen floor. I had to make room in the freezer so we had frozen fish fillets, french fries and applesauce for dinner. Sometimes I am a wee bit on the crazy side......but every once in a while you just need to do something you enjoy on a whim and forget doing the dishes, making phone calls, planning New Beginnings, cleaning the house and planning your weekly menu....for a moment in time I was just happy to be covered in apple mess and teaching my baby girls how to make applesauce and have fun making a mess.

And here is just a cute picture I took of Callie's most recent two favorite things.....

ode to carmel

2009-11-04T14:23:00.004-05:00

Here are the younger three girls at Andrea's Preschool Fall Festival. We decided to have them all go as Minnie Mouse since they haven't been able to use these costumes yet! They had a blast. Callie just enjoyed eating her costume....

I never knew I liked carmel so much. That is until I made it myself. I don't recall ever really liking it growing up. Like caramel syrup and stuff is kinda yucky to me unless it is really good. I don't like those square carmel candies....but homemade is delicious. And after making 75 carmel apples for Young Women in Excellence I thought for sure I would never want to see or taste carmel again....but oh was I wrong. This recipe is to die for! And who knew???? I LOVE CARMEL apples. Especially the ones with pecans and chocolate....I like to call them Turtle Apples. I made all kinds....chocolate, pecan, turtles and plain. They were delicious and adored by all. I think I will make this my new Fall tradition. And of course, the apples were from Washington....oh how I miss thee my homestate of delicious crisp apples and cool Fall days.......

Wizard of Oz Preview!

2009-10-28T13:56:00.005-04:00

At the Pumpkin Patch

Here is Haylee prior to costume....with not much of a real nap she was more like a zombie the whole night instead of Tin Girl!

I thought it would be fun to take a picture with what my girls affectionately call "The Funny Tree." This tree is on a major road here in Ocala with ALOT of traffic---we were quite the show.... but since the apple trees come to life in the forest on Wizard of Oz it was perfect. We were going to take a picture with him when I was pregnant, but never got around to it. This was better! One of my friends even stopped as we were walking through the trees because she thought our van broke down!!! Joseph got home late from work so he ended up not being able to dress up in time--he is going to be a Munchkin the girls decided. It was much funnier than the Wizard!

TRUNK OR TREAT!

We had our Trunk or Treat at church last night on mutual/activity night so that families can do their own thing on Halloween on Saturday. There are tons of free carnivals and things here on Halloween so it makes for a crazy night to do both. As crazy as it is to dress up 4 times in one week, I am at least glad they are getting good use of their costumes! They got to wear them to dance class, church, fall festival at school and on Halloween! They are loving it!

ROAR!!! She looks like a ferocious beast, doesn't she?!

I know it doesn't look quite right to have only a green face, but I wasn't up for a full body paint job and it was 90 degrees out so NO to the full long sleeve witch costume....

My new side job....

And of course Dorothy....thanks to Joseph's mom for helping me out and making this costume! I had all of the others to make and she found a great pattern! Thank you so much! I had purchased the basket a few years ago at Wal-Mart. And I bought the shoes, socks and Toto at once again, Wal-Mart. Thank you Mr. Sam for inventing such a place.

There's No Place Like Wal-Mart

2009-10-23T13:44:00.004-04:00

Yea!!! I finally found the Dorothy shoes! These style of shoes have been in stores for years....until I need them for this Halloween. ANNOYING! I have looked everywhere...Target, Wal-Mart, Payless....ok everywhere I can afford. But the only place I could find some were on Ebay and they were way too expensive. Cheapest I could find that were sort of her size were $10 plus shipping. Finally this week they came into Wal-Mart for $10. YEA!!!! Halloween? Christmas? Who knows,....all I care is that Wal-Mart is the best! At least for today. Normally Target is my fave, but today, Wally's World wins the cup! Here is Andrea modeling Kiya's new shoes. I am so excited for Halloween......Anyone else!?!??! I LOVE HALLOWEEN! Especially since my kids let me dress them up still in whatever I want! I make them think it is their idea! When really it is a sneaky themed-out OCD mom who loves her kids to match! Last year was Lil' Red Riding Hood and the gang...this year is Wizard of Oz. I cannot wait! Yippy!!

Here is a picture of lil Miss Callie around 2 months.....

And here she is about one month later...chubby as ever. But of course still deliciously darling!

WARNING! The next picture is not so darling.....or for the faint of heart.

And here is Mr. Dead Froggy. He is 2 years dead. How do I know this? Because his death anniversary is somewhere in the near future. We found him squished to the door around Halloween 2 years ago. I didn't want to have to be the one to clean him off. And then I thought it was a funny gross addition to my Halloweenish spiderweb covered door, so I left him.....and never took him down. That is right. 2 years later he is still a conversation piece for the door to door salesmen and such. My friends don't even notice anymore. Amazing how the door jam has kept him so preserved. Disgusting isn't he?

Here is my babe with her belly full. Can't be happier than that. Full belly, fresh tush still in the nude enjoying the ceiling fan breeze....

Here is Miss. Ducky. She is not dead. Although she might wish she were with that buzz cut Andrea gave her. This was the best present EVER. I am glad that it is Miss Ducky and NOT Andrea with the buzz cut. My friend's twins gave this as part of Andrea's birthday present. Perfect since Andrea loves plants, scissors and cutting hair. She had 2 grass pigtails she has been working on the last few weeks until I found this the other day. Once again, glad it was this I found and not a pile of hair like I have in the past.....

And here is our new van! I forgot to post these pictures from when we first got it. Here is me demonstrating the "Toyota Jump" to my girls (if you blow up this picture you can see Kiya's "amazed" face!!!---and my crazy one....) since they had no idea what I was talking about....and only if you are a child of the 80s or earlier do YOU know what I am talking about! I can still sing the jingle and it still rings true......

"I love what you do for me....TOYOTA!!!!!" (And yes, all FOUR of my girls are wearing matching dresses....didn't I mention I am an OCD matcher when it comes to my kids?!?!?!?)

Amazing!

2009-09-30T10:34:00.002-04:00

So I experienced a feeling I haven't felt in a long time.......COLD. We had a fluke--as it can only be such since it is never this cold this early in the year! I woke up this morning and had to put on a long sleeved shirt for my jog! AMAZING! It was down to 66 degrees! It is already warm again but it is definitely NOT the high 90s it usually is at 10am. It was so nice to really enjoy the weather in the early morning. The only time lately I enjoy the weather is when I am swimming!

Old Guys Rule

2009-09-25T21:45:00.004-04:00

So apparently the only thing better than Gator Football, is Gator Football Cake. I had so much fun making this cake! I even made it black and white striped in honor of my referee sweetie for his 30th birthday. I can't believe that. Are we really that old? Well, he is. I'm not. I will never be as old as he is. I at least have that one on my side! In honor of his birthday, we went out to Longhorn Steakhouse with his parents and Grandmother. Then we came home for cake and ice cream with the whole family including our "friends like family" the Halls. Here is a picture of Joseph's buddy Brandon and their gift to him---Old Guys Rule T-shirt and red suspenders. I told Joseph he had to wear it to work on Monday.

loving life today...(and yummy recipe to follow....)

2009-09-18T23:37:00.005-04:00

so that was completely sarcastic as i have had the day from haites. i don't even know if that is how you spell the darn place. to start my morning off on a lovely foot, i got a $168 ticket for parking in a handicapped spot at andrea's preschool--which by the way i was told BY THE DIRECTOR OF THE SCHOOL to PLEASE park there so that I wasn't dragging my poor crying babies up the hill from the lower level parking area every day. She said it was perfectly fine. Well, apparently some of the grandmas felt otherwise because the director thinks one of them called the cops on me because they had been complaining that the handicapped spots were always full by those who weren't handicapped. of course once the other parents saw me do it, they followed. there are like 5 handicapped spots on the upper lot and 1 normal spot which is always full during pickup/drop off, etc. ooohhh i was so mad. i am just as handicapped as those grannies with my crying kids during nap time. normally, i will walk my sorry tushie up the hill, but i was asked to PLEASE park there so they wouldn't have to watch me from the window every day. now i am a mad mama. the day went on from there.... got to the gas station next door to walmart (after waiting in a long car line...) to realize that Haylee must have been playing in my diaper bag in the cart because my wallet was missing and the only place it could be was in the wal-mart shopping cart. i raced over there on fumes since i was completely on empty....thank heavens for honest people. i nice man in the parking lot helped me search carts in the area i was parked in and he found my wallet. so i guess my day could have been worse. i was really stressed out since i had a million things to do today and all of these extra little mishaps kept coming my way. at least the day ended on a good note. i helped host a baby shower tonight. we did a yellow and orange shower. my friend doesn't like pink although she is having a girl. so everything was lemon and orange. i made a beautiful centerpiece which i forgot to take a picture of with beautiful lemons, oranges and magnolia leaves. We made a sweet citrus water punch with floating lemons and oranges. We had delicious finger foods--cute lil sandwiches, fruit, etc. but the best part was the 75 lemon poppyseed cupcakes with butter cream frosting and candied lemon peel. de-lish! here is the recipe if you are interested....

Ingredients:
Yield: 24 cupcakes
For the Lemon Strips: 3 lemons, scrubbed and dried

1 large egg white, lightly beaten

1/2-cup superfine sugar (we used regular granulated, but the superfine is wonderful)
For the Cake: 1 box Lemon Cake Mix

1 (3-1/2-ounce) box lemon pudding mix

1/4-cup vegetable oil

3 large eggs, lightly beaten

1/4-cup water

1/4-cup freshly squeezed lemon juice

2 Tbs. lemon zest

3 Tbs. poppy seeds (I like even more poppy seeds)
For the Frosting: 1/2-cup unsalted butter, at room temperature

3 cups powdered sugar, sifted

1/4-cup heavy cream

1 tsp. natural vanilla extract
Directions:
Up to two days and at least one day before the shower, make the lemon strips:
Using a pairing knife, carefully cut wide slices of rind from the lemon. Trim the white pith from the underside of the slices
Cut the lemon rinds into 24 thin strips. Curl each strip around your finger, brush with egg white, and dust liberally with sugar.
Set the sugared strips on a clean baking sheet and place in a warm, dry spot overnight. Or place the sheet in a preheated 200 degree F oven for 3-4 hours, until dry.
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line two standard muffin tins with paper liners, gently spray the liners with nonstick spray and set aside.
To make the cake:
Combine the cake and pudding mixes in a large bowl, stirring to blend.
Add the oil, eggs, water and lemon juice, stirring after each addition.
Fold in the lemon zest and poppy seeds until just blended.
Spoon the batter evenly into the prepared cupcake tins, about 3/4 full.
Bake on the middle oven rack until the tops of the cupcakes spring back to the touch and are not too golden; about 15 minutes.
Cool in the pan for 15 minutes, and then allow to cool completely on a wire rack before frosting or decorating.
While the cakes are cooling or the morning of the shower, make the frosting.
Using a wooden spoon, cream the butter in a large bowl,
Add the remaining ingredients, and continue creaming until the frosting is well blended and fluffy.
Frost the cupcakes with a small spatula and decorate with the candied lemon strips.

So the shower was fun and turned out beautiful. It turned out to be an ok day by the time it was all over. It is now midnight and I am so ready for bed. A good night with a bunch of wonderful ladies really can turn things around. I really do love living here. Even though I came home and had to kill a dog size cockroach in my garage and I almost died of heat stroke today....my friends here make it worth it. So I guess I am no longer being sarcastic. I do love my life today.

our crazy girly lives

2009-09-15T16:09:00.007-04:00

so here are a few pictures of my life lately along with the lives of my girls which of course are completely dependent upon one another....i love my girls!

GO GATORS! Boo everyone else according to Callie.

Andrea in the new "all-around everyone's article of clothing" around our house. Kiya wears it as a shirt. Andrea wears it with leggings and Haylee wears it as a dress. I love pillowcases. That is one dress I am now not afraid of making! Thank you to Lita for helping me to not be so afraid of the sewing machine.

Kiya loves loves loves to have her hair be done all pretty with bows and flowers that we make together. Now if only I can get where I can get everyone's hair done on Sunday morning in a pretty 'do and not just thrown together (although I think my girls are cute even when they have bedhead). For now it is usually 1 out of 4, sometimes 2. Either I have to get faster or I have to have less meetings at church on Sunday. I have a feeling my little fingers are going to be worked to the bone instead of less meetings...at least as long as my calling lasts!!!

Today we were finally able to go to the dermatologist to have the little wart thing removed from Kiya's lip that appeared last May or June. It was quite the traumatic experience. Oh the things we will do for beauty. And this is only the beginning with 4 girls in my life.....

Bad Eve. Bad bad.

2009-09-10T18:47:00.003-04:00

Haylee's new word that she loves to say is BAD. She points to whomever she thinks is doing wrong and says "Bad"....or when she thinks you are really naughty it is "Bad bad."
So tonight at dinner we were discussing Adam, Eve and Satan, the "Bad,Bad" Serpent. And Kiya says,"Sometimes at school I want to run and I know it is Satan telling me to do it. But in my head I say 'I am not going to run! I am not going to follow you! I am going to follow Jesus!" I am so proud of my little girls. While she was telling us about her temptations with the Devil himself, she even raised her fork up over her head and with a smile said, "I am going to follow JESUS!" I hope she is as good about drugs and mini skirts i nthe future as she is about running in the halls....

FALLin' in love

2009-09-10T07:18:00.010-04:00

LOVE AT FIRST SIGHT

Meeting Great Grandmother for the first time...although I have feeling she remembered her from a time before in a much grander place...it only took a moment for Callie to recall...

And now for MY most recent love affairs....

I love Fall. I love the smells, the colors, the weather, the football games...I LOVE FALL. Now if only it would show its face here in Florida sometime before January....the only Fall you will find in all of Florida is in my house. We have it all....the smells (thanks to Grove and Clove from Scentsy, my all time favorite scent), the colors and even the weather (thanks to my husband who keeps the a/c down so low it is borderline winter inside the house). And of course we have the football games. We are gearing up for another great Gator season around here!

But mostly I am in love with my 13 pound chunk. Don't you just wanna kiss those babe-alicious cheeks?!?!?

Lookin' jealous

2009-09-04T13:34:00.004-04:00

We are going to Joseph's parents (aka Lito and Lita...short for Abuelito and Abuelita) this weekend. Here is a conversation I just had with Andrea...

Andrea: Mom, I don't want to go to Lito and Lita's church.
Me: Why?
Andrea: Because I'm shy.
Me: You'll be fine.
Andrea: The other kids might stare at me.
Me: Why would they stare at you?
Andrea: Because they think I look jealous.

She is really in to using words she has heard that she has no idea what the meaning is. Although when I asked her if she knew what jealous meant she had quite the grasp. Her definition? "Jealous means you want something you don't have."

Jewelry for Sale

2009-08-26T16:14:00.003-04:00

Not sure if Andrea had plans for ebay or CraigsList, but I found these pictures of my jewlery on the camera today. They were taken on my bathroom counter....I haven't even worn these recently, so apparently she took them out of the jewelry box, did her photo shoot and put them back without my noticing....she is getting better at covering her tracks when she gets into things, except she obviously forgot that the camera saved perfect evidence of her crime. I have to say, she did a lovely job at photographing the pieces....even with artistic angles and centering the subjects....she is my budding artist.

Back to SCHOOL!

2009-08-26T15:52:00.005-04:00

Miss Callie has put on 4 and half lbs....all in the cheeks....

I have a confession....I LOVE school uniforms. Kiya doesn't have to wear one, but I bought her a uniform skirt at Target just because I thought it was so dang cute.

Dance classes and school have begun! With all of the driving around between half day preschool, 1st grade, classes and church, we are never home long enough to even get a nap in! Poor Haylee passed out on the floor yesterday! We are all tired around here....I am back to my early morning routine getting up at 4:30a.m. and the kids up at 6. This is what I found when I came home from jogging this morning...even Joseph was sleeping in! He usually gets up at 5 while I am gone, but he was still snoozing with Callie when I got back!

Jungle Fun in the Sun

2009-08-14T11:27:00.009-04:00

We celebrated Haylee's 2 year birthday with lots of family and friends! We had our FIRST birthday celebration with both sets of grandparents present! Amazing! We invited a couple of little friends to share our day with as well. We had a game on the porch, "EleFUN", a "lake" for our wild animals to cool off, and tons of bubble fun which is a must for any 2 year old party. I wanted to make my first fondant animal cake for the event, but my mother told me I needed to learn to simplify--and if nothing else, my excuse of having a 2 week old newborn was enough. I was so excited to make the cake I had designed in my head....but it was a wee bit crazy of a day with a new baby, so I guess my animal cake will have to wait until I have a boy! For now, Haylee got cute little monkey cupcakes and ice cream instead. I don't think she even knows she got jipped. The little wild animals all enjoyed animal cookies--both chocolate and vanilla--along with cheese, crackers, and bananas for the lil monkeys. Each lil one went home with an animal print ball, animal print suglasses and animal print favor box filled with animal stickers and animal mini bubbles! It was a fun-filled WILD day!

This picture was taken before all of the food and decorations came out. The cheese was literally melting on the platter in the heat! I had another bucket of crackers, platters of cheese and bananas and balloons galore in green, orange, blue and yellow.

Coupon Queen

2009-08-14T11:14:00.002-04:00

Well, I have to admit, I am NOT the coupon queen, my friend Megan is. She hooked me up with a bunch of great deals this week at CVS and Walgreens. So we all know that they are overpriced to begin with, but even Wal-Mart couldn't beat these deals! I got $165 worth of (retail) products and I spent less than $25! It was a steal! I got candy for Joseph's candy dish in his office at school, candy for my Young Women personal progress (bribe) basket, backpacks for the girls, diapers for me plus some for a shower gift, FREE wipes, oral hygiene products up the ying yang, plenty of lotion for my tired tootsies, and other fun stuff like band-aids for the boo-boos. What a glorious shopping week.....

Lucky #7

2009-08-13T15:14:00.002-04:00

Well, I have heard if you make it seven years in your marriage, you can make forever.....so here is to FOREVER my love, my sweet husband, Joseph. These have been the best 7 years of my life and they just keep getting better. I love you more than life itself. Thank you for loving me. I know it is difficult, but you are a trooper! 7 years and 4 girls later, you are going to have more hormones than you bargained for I am sure. Good thing you always had a way with the women....these girls sure do love you!

It is official

2009-07-22T09:37:00.002-04:00

My parents are making their final drive in the moving truck with the last of their stuff to St George, Utah today. They are no longer Washingtonians....they are now Utahrds (I can say that for I was once one too.....).
I cried for you, Melissa last night as I laid in bed. Joseph was running his fingers through my hair and wiping away my tears...who knew that the tears were partly for me too. It will be sad not to visit WA now as often as before since Mom and Dad won't be there. That will mean that I will miss spending time with my idol, my sister.
I know what it is like to live away from my parents. I am sorry Melissa. I really am. Maybe someday we can convince Ryan, Joseph and Caleb to all move to the same city. I really miss Mom and Dad, but to have my sisters close I think I would make it. My girls need their aunties and their cousins. I miss you Melissa and Rebecca....please move to Florida soon.....

My Vow

2009-07-21T21:25:00.002-04:00

I am not sure what has brought about this change of heart...I think it is a culmination of so many things....
bringing a new life into this world, something I read, and alot of time reflecting on my life and my current circumstances...
so today I am making a vow to be better...not just a better person in general, but to be a better mommy and a spectacular wifey to the man I love and adore. He is amazing and has been by my side through a lot---even when I have been a hormonal crazy pregnant and/or nursing woman, he has been there for me. He is the co-creator of my beautiful darlings that I would give my life for. He has given me my dream life of being a mommy. Thank you Joseph for being you. I love you more than life itself. I promise to be everything you thought I was when you asked me to be your wife....and more. And I'll even try harder to never yell again. Even if the lil angels are destroying the house, cutting their own hair or finger painting with mustard on the walls.....I will really try.....

and to those of you wondering why you are reading such a personal journal entry, I had to write this publicly so I will have to keep my vow. thank you for keeping me to it.

FIRSTS

2009-07-15T16:07:00.005-04:00

First picture with the sisters

First Bath

First Place you laid eyes on

First Room--the Delivery Room!

First REALLY GOOD NAP in Mama's lap

First Outting to the Pediatrician-less than 2 days old

First Thumb Sucking OUT OF THE WOMB--only a few minutes old

2009-07-15T15:37:00.003-04:00

Just a few minutes old...

Less than four hours later we were on our way homethe 3 midwives who helped me to deliver baby Callie into this world

Welcome to the world, baby#4!

2009-07-15T15:27:00.002-04:00

IN LABOR and READY TO GO!!!!

And here she is just a few short hours later! She is about 3 hours old in this picture. This picture was taken at the Birth Center in my delivery room.

Callie Jane Heintzelman

born July 10, 2009

11:29 PM

7 lbs 6.8 oz

20 1/2 inches long

and as cute as can be

Can you keep up????

2009-07-09T17:22:00.020-04:00

I certainly can't with this crazy bunch! Especially fully prego!! Here is a peek into our crazy life over the last couple weeks or so....

July 4th with lots of friends from our ward! Ice cream and fireworks! It was hot and lots of fun!

I was having contractions the whole time I was making this strawberry freezer jam. But all I could think was I HAVE TO FINISH THIS BEFORE I HAVE THIS BABY or these strawberries will go to waste!!! :)

At our condo in Park City! We stayed there for a few nights with my brother Chris, his wife Andrea and their kids. I wish I had more pictures from there. It was beautiful in Park City and lots of fun! We went shopping, played games and had a great time!

Auntie's Kira's Salon

Andrea getting her hair done (she decided to "fix it yesterday and cut a big chunk of bangs off. Sorry, Kira...you did a great job, she just wanted a little more off the top apparently....)

Haylee's FIRST HAIR CUT!

A day at the "water park" in West Jordan, UT with cousins

Watching movies at Chris and Andrea's clubhouse theater room.

Nathan, Becca, Matthew

Eliza (one week older than Haylee), Grandma and Haylee

Kiya, Melanie, Andrea

Millions of peaches, peaches for me....millions of peaches.....I wish they were free.....

The girls and I had a great time picking peaches! We picked somewhere around 20 lbs or so...I can't remember. It was pouring rain but we had a blast!

Year Supply

2009-06-30T16:12:00.003-04:00

So I am definitely nesting. Instead of scrubbing floors and cleaning bathrooms, I am organizing and doing an inventory of everything. My closet is beautiful. My food storage is now amazing. For those of you who want a great link for a food storage calculator that is based off of the LDS church suggestions, I found one at this website--just click on the title to this blog post. I am by no means bragging, just amazed at how far we have come! I gave away some food storage when we moved from UT, but we brought a lot with us. We have used a lot, but we are still on track! I am amazed since we have such a small space to store. So if you are needing a little nudge to get started or motivation, if we can do it in a small space on a teacher's salary, SO CAN YOU! We have a 6 months supply plus of many of the basics including pasta, dry milk, sugar, baking soda, yeast, rice, flour, honey, oats, beans, corn syrup, etc. WOW! Now I just need to make sure to get in the fruits and veggies. We have some, but certainly not enough.
Ok, so now Joseph is home, the house is a mess, but the closets look fantastic. I don't think he is going to be too happy with me.....

swine flu, false labor and other fun stuff

2009-06-29T15:18:00.003-04:00

well, the last day we were in UT Andrea got the flu. of course since UT is the #1 state for confirmed swine flu cases, we were a little worried. so a very expensive instacare visit, swine flue meds and a day later, we were back on our way to FL. she seems to be fine and no one else seems to have had it like Andrea, so everyone is fine. On Saturday I thought I was going into labor. I was having hard contractions that quit. Started back up that night. Quit...and now I am madly trying to get ready to bring home a new baby. We set up the cradle in our room, packed the birth bag, pulled the newborn diapers out and went shopping for a coming home outfit. nothing so far. i can't find anything i love. maybe she will come home in a blanket and booties. it is pretty hot......
haylee is almost completely potty trained. she has a couple days left to keep my running streak of never having 2 in diapers. she had 2 accidents yesterday but I am not giving up even though i can hardly bend over to clean the carpets! She wanted to put on the newborn diapers yesterday. i told her they were for babies. So we put one on her doll and she seemed satisfied. Now if only she would connect that with ALL diapers...
I am due in 2 1/2 weeks but I definitely think this may be the week. We just don't want a July 4th baby. As much fun as it would be to have fireworks for your birthday, I want her to have her OWN day. Hopefully I can get things ready around here in the next day or two so I can have her before Saturday and feel like things are under control. Although I think it is wishful thinking to ever have things under control with my lil crazy hoodlems.
AND today we are finally going shopping for a minivan!!! Unfortunately our 5 passenger Camry isn't going to cut it anymore. We better hurry if we want to ever be able to go anywhere together as a family! We have my inlaws van right now we are borrowing just in case the baby comes...but it isn't very reliable so hopefully we will find something in our price range SHORTLY!! I never wanted to be a minivan mom. I always wanted an SUV, but hopefully we will find a van that gets good gas mileage and has fun little features like those fold down seat thingies. Yes, the little things excite me. Even though I am sure we will never be able to fold down the seats for any reason since they are full of kids, it is just fun to play with the buttons!

8 months and counting

2009-06-18T21:34:00.006-04:00

so here i am at week 36! whew! only a few more to go! and i am crazy enough to be flying all over the country. we are in UT right now visiting family. here are the crazy girls modeling our "new" jewelry---inherited from my grandmother. for those of you who don't know the order is my older sister melissa, me (the BIG pregnant one), my youngest sister Becca (the hardly showing at all no fair pregnant one) and my brother Chris' wife, Andrea. I will post another prego shot soon for journaling purposes as I am growing by the day. i will be so happy when it is over. hopefully not anytime this week unless it is ON THE GROUND here in Utah and not on a plane-- I would be ok with that! I am enjoying the beautiful UT weather and I am dreading going back to the FL heat with this belly warmer i am carrying around. It is way too hot in FL to be pregnant!

Life's necessary lessons....

2009-06-02T21:32:00.009-04:00

Kindergarten (Please review poem "All I Ever Need to Know I Learned in Kindergarten). This is my baby at her Kindergarten graduation. Can she really be this old already?

Swimming Lessons ( a cute suit and a funny pair of goggles will take you places in life)

Even when the big sisters get to have all the fun in the pool, Haylee has a lesson on good ol'fashioned fun--there's nothin' like playing with the mama!

Potty Lessons--'nuf said. We all have to learn sometime. Haylee just wanted to try the BIG potty today.

Green comes with a price.

You want green grass and palm trees year round? Move to Florida. But you don't want your vegetable garden RUINED from so much rain? MOVE OUT of Florida. ohhhh. My tomato plants will never be the same after that dreadful weeklong rain storm. They drowned.

No lions, no tigers, but WE HAVE A BEAR, oh my!

2009-06-01T22:18:00.002-04:00

I was sitting next to our sliding glass door this evening planning my family home evening lesson when all of a sudden, a big black bear comes waltzing out of the trees, into my grass and RIGHT UP TO MY PORCH screen and stares right at me. Good thing my video camera is sitting out right next to me! I call Joseph and the girls to come as I am scrambling for the camera to turn it on. NO TAPE!!! Dangit! So as he/she is walking around our yard I grabbed my still shot camera as it was making its way to the front yard. Joseph about killed me when I opened the front door to get a picture! "Your children are watching through the window and they are going to see their mother die while getting attacked by a bear!"

Of course, this is me. My life is worth getting a once in a lifetime picture of bear in my front yard.....although since this is the bear's second appearance in front of me it probably won't be it's last. But this time, I can prove that there really IS A BEAR living in my backyard and I wasn't crazy the first time I saw it. People told me that maybe it s was a big dog. Does this look like a big dog to you?

It started walking up the street after it left my yard. I called my neighbor down the street to warn her to make sure they were inside. They were out having a BBQ. The bear did make it down their way. I think it wanted to share dinner with them.

Superman and Barbie

2009-05-20T15:18:00.002-04:00

Well, today Haylee picked up a stuffed Superman (we had a boy over to play...) and said "Dad!!" Then she picked up a Barbie Kiya got for her birthday and said "Mama!" So I am sure that she just said it because every woman is a mom to her and every man is a dad, but I was glad she chose those toys and not a stuffed witch or the stuffed goat that we have as "Mama."

Big puffy poof ball thingies

2009-05-19T11:34:00.002-04:00

For those of you who have asked---the things hanging from the ceiling in the porch are made from tissue paper and wire. I was experimenting and they all came out a little different!

My mother

2009-05-18T11:47:00.003-04:00

So Kiya gave me a little book she made at school for Mother's Day. I didn't see this page until today when I was looking at it again. It was a pre-printed page with fill-in the blank sentences. Here are her answers....apparently I look really old to her from all of my cleaning.....

My mother has _blue__ eyes and __brown__ hair.
My mother is __50__ years old.
My mother weighs __30_ lbs and is __40__feet tall.
My mother likes to __clean the house__.
My mother is prettiest when __she's done cleaning__,
My mother is funniest when __we are good__.
I like for her to cook __green beans__.
I don't like for her to cook __fish__.
She likes for me to help her __clean__.
My mother and I like __to go for walks__.
When I am nice, she __let's me play on the swings__.
When I am naughty, she ___makes me go to timeout__.
I love my mother because __she takes care of me__.

Fancy Nancy Pants

2009-05-16T23:00:00.008-04:00

This is Kiya's favorite book! It is about a girl who likes to make everything fancy--her room, her clothes, her words, her life....sounds like a girl I know....

So today we had a Fancy Nancy "Soiree"--that's fancy for party. The girls decorated tiaras and the boys made bow ties. Everyone was supposed to come "fancy." Some did, some didn't. But we all had a blast. We decorated everything fancy from the plastic cups to the porch ceiling! Once again my camera had problems, so I have "After shots" of the party. My friend took still shots on her video camera so I will have to post those later. Fancy Nancy always wears little tiaras and has butterflies in her hair on the cover of the book....so I made Kiya some butterfly clips and did her hair fancy for the occasion. This is after running around all morning and afternoon so this updo has seen a few hours.... Nancy's favorite dessert is parfaits---so the guests got to make their own ice cream parfaits! It was quite hilarious actually! They loved piling on the cherries and the spray whipped cream! And I think Andrea won the "most sprinkles" award on her parfait! We also had mini chocolate cupcakes with pink frosting. The kids loved it! I love decorating cakes, but piping on frilly frosting was easy and I have to admit it was nice to be done so quickly! We could have made it super girly, but Kiya's very best friends are boys...this could mean trouble in the future, but for now, they just got to come to a very girly party. We had 12 kids total. It was so fun. We did a treasure hunt with hidden clues which lead them to a bucket of fun! Boas for the girls and sunglasses for the boys! They all put on their tiaras, glasses and strutted their stuff for a fashion show at the end for the parents to some disco tech music! They had a blast! It was too cute! They also got candy jewelry and tiara pens to take home. It seemed to be a huge success when a few kids did not want to go home and I did hear a "This was the best party ever!"---I think girls really do love to be fancy. And the boys seemed to have a good time too.

A Strawberry Shortcake Day

2009-05-11T21:45:00.010-04:00

The birthday girl (wearing an old dress of mine that she insists on wearing every other day...)

So this may be the Strawberry Shortcake we all adore and remember,....but here is the new and updated version that my daughter Andrea knows and loves. And then there is the long haired version...Andrea loves both. So for her 4th birthday we had a party in "Strawberry Land" with all of her "berry best friends." Cheesy I know, but the invitations turned out really cute and Andrea loved that I used silly words. She LOVES Strawberry's hat, so I had to make her one. And that was the kind of cake she wanted too. We had 17 children at my house for this party! Granted 3 were mine and there were 2 infants, but the rest were Andrea's friends. We also had plenty of parents come to the party so we had a full house! My camera died part way through the party. I remembered to charge the video camera but didn't think the other one needed charging. So here are a few shots of the party. Mostly what I have were before party shots and not during all of the fun and chaos! We read one of my ORIGINAL Strawberry Shortcake books from my childhood, colored pictures of Strawberry Shortcake and Huckleberry Pie (for the boys), decorated bags for "berry picking"---Joseph put those strawberry wrapped hard candies all over the grass in our back yard--you know the kind that old ladies always have? I know your Grandma has some....

Then we played "Pin the Stem on the Strawberry," opened up presents and had cake and strawberry ice cream. Andrea and I made strawberry ice to go in the Kiwi Strawberry juice too! We had so much fun shopping and getting ready for this party! We also blew up helium red balloons and decorated them like strawberries with green stems and black seeds! They covered the ceiling of our screened porch where most of the party was held. Each child went home with a balloon, a strawberry shortcake puzzle (mickey mouse puzzles for the boys!), strawberry fruit snacks and a strawberry shortcake--the individual Lil' Debbie ones---in the bag they decorated. We had a lot of fun but it was HOT and wild! I think I am going to move Kiya's party INDOORS next week instead of on the porch like I had planned. We shall see.... This picture is of Andrea right before the party in her hat...she is trying not to cry because I turned off her movie!!!!

Some of the kids at her party from church--Emma (the one with the matching dress!), the twins Allie and Brooke (you can't see one's face, only her hair) and Brock--Andrea's boyfriend. Well, some Sundays he is Emma's boyfriend. They have to share!!!

Ultimate Worst Pregnant Comment

2009-05-02T23:19:00.003-04:00

So as I was walking up the boardwalk back to the condo off the beach (we have been in New Smyrna for the last few days at the beach) a guy says to me,"Did you know your legs look torched?" Me:"Yep. That is from yesterday....even with sunscreen, that part of my legs haven't been to the beach in a while.." Man: "I was just telling you because I wasn't sure if you could see them."
Ok so I am pregnant and big, but NOT THAT BIG. Why are men such idiots???? At least my husband has never said anything that dumb.

Fat

2009-04-28T10:01:00.003-04:00

Despite Andrea and her craziness, she is also the sweetest child ever. I was just sitting at the kitchen table looking down at my ever increasing belly and said,"I think I am getting fat." And Andrea says, "No you're not." Me:"Are you sure? I think I am getting fat." Andrea: "I don't see any fat." That just made my day. Since everyone around me says I look huge already, I am glad Andrea doesn't even notice my big belly. Granted there is a baby in there, but I don't think the baby is causing the additional rolls!!!! :)

Worms and more worms....

2009-04-27T13:12:00.002-04:00

So today I came in contact with worms that I was thrilled to find and worms that I almost puked when I found....
The first batch came in the mail! Yea! My red worms for my vermicompost bin! I finally got it finished this morning right before they arrived in the mail. Perfect timing. I even had some fresh watermelon rind to feed my newly found friends. Watermelon apparently is one of their favorites.
The 2nd batch of worms I found in Andrea's Purse Bin. Yes, a cute little metal bin that belongs under her bed with all of her purses in it. It was pulled out and I looked in. There was a mango on top. Not sure how long it had been there, I picked it up to throw it out. Apparently she had cut into it and was storing it for safe keeping. I wasn't too grossed out until I picked up the juicy purse it was sitting on and found little tiny worms! I almost died. Disgusting! There were only a couple, but enough to make me irate and disgusted all at the same time. She said she did it yesterday. Which wouldn't surprise me since I had to be at Ward Council at 7am and when I left at 6:45 Joseph was half dead and the girls were awake. They may have had to fend for themselves for breakfast and that was what Andrea found in the fridge I am sure.
We have tried every fridge lock on the market and our own homemade ones. She has broken them or figured them out.....so nothing works at this point. I am not sure what to do with her and the fridge/food situation. The pantry has a lock on it she can't get into. But the fridge, the fruit basket and the cereal cupboard are always being scavenged through by my "starving" child. Any ideas????? There is no way to block the kitchen entrance with a gate. Tried that too. The gates are all too small for our oversized entry. Someone please help!!

poison control scare....almost....

2009-04-23T22:53:00.004-04:00

So Andrea decided today that the liquid in the Pine Sol bottle looked like apple juice. She poured herself a nice tall glass.....and to my knowledge she never drank any but it scared me pretty badly since I had no idea if she served some to Haylee as well. I have no idea when she did it....I just found the glass on the counter today, picked it up, took a whiff and realized what it was. Scared me to death! I had no idea when it had gotten there, how long it had been there and who had drank out of it! Today was quite crazy....we were in and out of the house and it could have happened at just about any time. Andrea is one of those children that requires a leash---for the safety of others as well as her own which was again confirmed today. I did go outside by myself during Haylee's nap to water the garden and the flowers while Andrea was having quiet time and was "watching a movie." During this movie she was able to sneak into Easter candy, undress herself down to ONLY a shirt, spear the watermelon on the counter with a fork (guess what we had to have for dinner tonight????), pour herself some Pine Sol perhaps....and I am sure plenty of other things I don't know about. This was in between me checking up on her every 2 minutes while I was outside and poking my head inside. I really need to get a leash. I never thought I would ever be saying this about my child, but it is true. Poor thing is just too curious, inventive and independent---all of which will benefit her in her later life....that is if she makes it there and doesn't die a sudden Pine Sol death.

Earth Day--Going GREEN

2009-04-21T00:05:00.003-04:00

Well, it is late, but I cannot sleep since my mind is still racing with my plans for Earth Day....well Earth MONTH I guess since I won't be quite ready on the 22nd in 2 days to complete one of my projects. You may or may not know that I am a (drug-free) hippy. Yes, I admit. I am a tree-hugger who is a bit extreme in certain ways. I am a naturalist. And a bit of a cheapskate which helps in being eco-friendly and environmentally conscious. I grow my garden as organic as possible. I reduce, reuse and recycle (my husband calls this being a pack rat. I call this being environmentally kind. It is not always kind to my HOME environment since I don't throw things away enough....but I am trying to reduce waste!! :) ) I reuse and donate what i can't. I wish I still lived in UT for many reasons, but for one---Deseret Industries (which is our Church's "Goodwill" type store) uses EVERYTHING that is donated. If they can't sell it, they use it as feul and burn it! Nothing is wasted. So I never felt bad donating stained clothing knowing it would be used one way or the other instead of going to a landfill.

I darn holey socks. I use cloth diapers (easy on the environment AND on the pocketbook). I use washable baby wipes and chemical free baby bum cleaner (homemade). I avoid disposable products as much as possible. I even wash and reuse my Ziploc bags. My brother really thinks I am crazy. He couldn't figure out why I had bags covering my faucet and sprayer on the kitchen sink....they were drying!!!! I use natural cleaning products as much as possible (I still HAVE to use bleach for some things, but I try to avoid it....) I use energy efficient appliances and light bulbs where possible. I buy remanufactured or refurbished wherever possible instead of new (like electronic equipment, printer cartridges, etc)I use mineral makeup. I go to a midwife instead of a doctor---this isn't necessarily more eco-friendly, just more of my "naturalist" coming out.... I use herbs instead of medication when possible. Yes, I am a freak I know. I drive my husband crazy, but my crazy ways usually save us money so we both like that. Some of my tendencies are financially driven I have to admit, but hey, if I am doing me AND Mother Earth a favor, WHY NOT???!!!

So back to my projects...last summer I was mapping out my yard and plans and never got around to starting my compost pile. I am starting a compost pile tomorrow which I am sure will not be done in one day but will be completed on Earth Day (the following day). This will help to reuse yard waste that will help to fertilize my gardens for years to come. Well, as long as we live in this house I guess.

Project #2 (this may gross some of you out....especially Kelli, I know she will be gagging any minute...) I am going to start a worm casting compost bin---aka a "worm poop palace". You use your natural vegetarian kitchen waste (fruits, vegetables, peels, egg shells, etc NO meats, oils, preservatives, etc), shredded newsprint, cardboard and potting soil to create edible bedding for special RED worms that eat your trash and create a fertilizer for your garden. I used a sample of worm castings from a plant and garden event I went to and the tomato plants I used them on are bigger and healthier than the others! Castings are kind of expensive so I figured the way to go would be to do my own. Not only will this be a good investment but a great science project for my kids. I am not ready to homeschool...yet....but I love to do projects at home with my kids to continue their educational experience beyond what the public schools do. We have a growing bug collection, endless art projects, cooking lessons to learn math and science, and plenty of science projects happening around the house (like in the fridge for example!!! ;) )

So I am going to order my lil wormies tomorrow and work this week on creating their home before they arrive in a few days. This should be interesting for us all. I am sure the girls will love to watch the worms and their activities. I didn't know worms made cocoons but we will be able to see those too! Pretty cool!

Project #3 may not happen this month but I want Joseph to make me a clothesline. It rains alot here in the spring and summer, but year round I could line dry almost everything in between rain showers!

Mind you I still have far to go. I am not totally "green" as I can't give up my air conditioning. Not here. No way. But someday I want to invest in solar power panels for our house. I still use paper towels--try not to, but they seem to be essential with children! There are plenty of things I know I use or do that are not eco-friendly, but at least I am trying. So here's to Mother Earth and our Great God who created such a wonderful place for us to live and enjoy life. With as much garbage in the world as we encounter, we also enjoy many miracles on this Earth. It really is a beautiful place. Especially when you get to enjoy the sunshine, beaches and gardens year round here in Florida!

easter belly...i mean bunny

2009-04-19T23:08:00.008-04:00

Ok so this was not on easter, it was today. why i choose to take my monthly shots on a sunday night after a long day of church and meetings when i look horrible i am not sure...but it seems to be the only day joseph is home and i remember to have him take the dang thing. so here i am at 6 MONTHS! i know i know, i look like the easter bunny--fully stuffed and still 3 more months to go....but at least i have an excuse to wear really comfy big and poofy dresses to church. joseph said i looked like i was wearing a sheet today, but i don't care. i love that dress. it is so comfy and light and in florida you gotta have LIGHT! it is already hot here!!!

here is my sweet kiya--she is so proud for achieving the highest award at school 3 terms in a row--the "Golden Hornet" award for outstanding academic and behavioral performance. she is such a doll!!

and here is Andrea and her two new loves---the four wheeler and Granddaddy McCullough from church. They adore each other. Everyone just loves Andrea. She is so affectionate and easy to love when she is not at home destroying everything in sight! Today it was milk in all of her kitchen toys out on my freshly spring-cleaned screened porch that I literally spent all day yesterday cleaning from top to bottom, screens and all--hosed out and ready for our annual bug spraying event. And now it has to be sprayed down again since she spilled milk all over the place. I am sure it was a marvelous soup in her pretend world, but it was a horrific mess for mommy.....
Anyhow....all 3 girls LOVE the McCullough's four wheeler. They went for rides on the four wheeler with Bro McCullough (Granddaddy McCullough's son whose house we are at for Easter) and then all of the kids piled in the trailer for a ride all together. I had pictures but somehow they got erased....it was quite the sight! It was too cute!

Here are Easter dress pictures....I am not a fan of sleeveless but couldn't find anything with sleeves...Kiya had a pink shrug that wouldn't stay on and the white ones I had for Andrea and Haylee looked horrible with their dress so we opted for nakedness....I guess they are only 1and 3 but still... I wasn't a huge fan of their dresses all the way around this year. Last year they were SOOOO cute and this year I didn't have time to shop around so this is what they got. At least they weren't expensive! But they were cute nonetheless...

Here are our friends we spent Easter with!

And Haylee was as cute as ever as always...growing up and changing too fast....

And of course, Easter morning shots when everyone looks drugged....they hadn't even had any candy yet!

this is Andrea's typical morning 'do! She takes after her father.....

I love their tutu Easter baskets....but they are white so NO HUNTING with these in tow! They got plastic buckets for that event!

giveaway you can enter

2009-04-09T21:02:00.003-04:00

just click on "make it and love it" link in my "friends, family and other stuff" or whatever it is called and you can enter to win 3 different cute handmade items--baby gifts for boy and girl or a cute apron for you! (if you are a girl....it might not look quite right if you are a manly kinda man...)

chicken fever

2009-04-04T11:45:00.003-04:00

I had to write this down before I forgot this lil funny....

I just overheard Kiya and Andrea in the kitchen getting something out of a drawer. I heard Andrea ask, "What is that?" to which Kiya replied, "It's to check if the chicken has a fever."

I assume she was talking about the meat thermometer!

It would be like Andrea to pick the item in the drawer that looks the most dangerous....

Temples and Ticks

2009-04-03T19:40:00.006-04:00

Ok so neither one should be plural, it just sounded better. Today I had the wonderful opportunity to be my friend's escort as she went through the temple for the first time. It was a flashback for me of when I went through for the first time almost 7 years ago. The Orlando temple is so beautiful--of course inside and out. The flowers and grounds are amazing year round and the inside is absolutely exquisite. But hey, what do you expect? It IS the Lord's House. It was a very special day. But it was the first time I had left my children with baby-sitters for that long other than an adult friend or relative. I was definitely a little nervous, but not too bad as I left. They were all alive when I got home but Kiya had a tick in her leg. EWWW... this is our 2nd tick experience here in FL. Once again another not-so-surprise when your back yard backs up to a forest. It was quite the wrestling act to get her to stay still long enough to get the darn thing out....but I did. so yucky. I would've let Joseph do it, but he is in Tallahassee tonight doing an FSU Lacrosse game. He won't be back until probably 2 or 3 am.

I was hoping to take the girls to the beach this week since it was spring break, but I guess that will have to wait. Our friends invited us to stay in St Augustine from Thurs-Sat but I had already planned to go to the temple. I thought about going after the temple, but didn't get home until almost 7PM and tomorrow is conference so there wouldn't be much beach time. So this weekend the temple and conference won...which is how it should be but I do miss my beach. Maybe in a couple of weeks when Joseph isn't working so much. Lacrosse season is almost over and I CANNOT WAIT! I might have a husband again for awhile!!! Yea!

Oh and I of course have to add in this picture....Kiya was pretending to be pregnant while they were playing house the other day. I thought she looked pretty real (proportionately that is)except for the blue boobs! The picture from the straight on shot didn't show her "girls" too much but you couldn't get the full effect of the stuffed belly! :)

5 months and counting...

2009-03-29T17:15:00.004-04:00

So here is my very pregnant belly and a few shots of our gardens. Our yard wasn't bad to begin with, but we have done a lot of changes. We added a vegetable garden last year. The soil was awful last year--mostly clay and some sand--no REAL dirt/soil at all! So this year we added about 4 inches or so of planting soil that I had delivered in a big dump truck onto my driveway and then I wheelbarrowed every last bit of it to the garden. That was quite the feat for me and my pregnant belly in the heat of Florida. I love gardening so it was worth every drop of sweat! I have also added alot of plants to our yard and we are putting in a patio in the back. I meant to take more "before" pictures of before I started adding plants, but here are some "mid-project" pics. The swingsets and sandbox and everything are just in a heap in the yard as we are working. I acquired a run down swing set from our neighbors when they foreclosed and then the bank told me I could have the swing set! It needs a lot of work, but it is wood and WILL BE nicer than the metal one we have. Unfortuanately that project will have to wait until after baby since I probably shouldn't be staining and sealing and smelling fumes!!!

Kiya has lost 2 teeth recently! She is in love with the tooth fairy these days since she is learning the value of money!!!

I have also included a few other pictures of our crazy life...my flapper girl (it is hard to see but Kiya has a big feather in her hair that she pulled out of my duster)...and then there is my gypsy child (in every sense of the word).....and then there is my sanctuary (my bathroom)--i added a few more things to it to liven it up--not because I spend all day in there (I was for awhile there during the endless sick days of pregnancy) but because that room is the ONE room in my house my kids are NOT allowed so it actually stays clean unless someone sneaks in to play in my makeup. It is the one room I can be alone in. Even if when I lock the door the kids pound, I am still alone for a minute to meditate.....

oh and a couple from when my cousin Suzanne and her family came to visit!

and any others I throw in are for fun... like Haylee hiding under the bed when I was trying to put her pajamas on for bedtime. She is turning a bit mischievious....I don't know if I can take 2 in a row like that!!!

Baby #4---

2009-03-26T23:03:00.002-04:00

well......for all of you who have been waiting to see if some more testosterone would be entering this family in the near future.....you are just going to have to wait a few more years! that is right! Baby #4 is Baby GIRL #4! MORE PINK headed our way! everyone has asked me if cried when i found out, but strangely enough it somehow didn't shock me hearing "it's a girl!" (it is kind of becoming 2nd nature, a familiar phrase from the past....). I think I would have been more shocked had it been a boy! The girls of course were sad because they had their hopes up. the Chinese calendar was wrong folks. my faith has died. not completely. but somewhat. there is just something wrong with my husband i guess!!!! :) (don't tell him that, he thinks it is me.....) my placenta is anterior so i hardly ever feel the baby move but during the ultrasound she was everywhere.....moving all over the place, sucking her thumb, waving, kicking and i never felt a thing!!! it was crazy! this is when it is FUN to feel the baby move. when they get huge you just wish they would STOP! well, it is time for bed for this mama... i will post ultrasound pics tomorrow....

sad day...

2009-02-27T19:48:00.002-05:00

So we got ourselves all dolled up and ready to go---girls off to school and baby-sitter while Joseph and I made our trip up to Gainesville to get the ultrasound! So exciting! We went to a doctor's office that works with my midwives' office for the ultrasound--Not a huge fan of that office. After working in doctor offices, you get pretty picky.....anyhow, our little baby was so darling! It moved around a lot in the beginning of the ultrasound and then we were able to get some really cool 3D shots--a nice bum shot I have to say. This one definitely was blessed with a "Lee Bum." Everything looked healthy and normal and my due date was right on schedule. Unfortunately we were unable to get a good shot of his/her face and BETWEEN THE DARN LEGS! I guess we must stress modesty too much in this house. I am constantly saying to my girls--KEEP YOUR LEGS TOGETHER. Well, this baby seems to be the only one listening....
So if he was a boy, he was definitely keeping his boys parts to himself. It is one stubborn little stinker. Imagine that? A stubborn child in this family!??! No!! Never. I don't think it is genetically possible for Joseph and I to create a child that is not so I shouldn't be surprised. It was just disappointing. Especially after waiting 2 hours in the waiting room and then being rushed because there was another appointment after us that was waiting too, it was sad. She didn't even really try and get the baby to move positions. After she took all of the measurements and everything that baby just sat face down, knees up and would not move. Oh well. We will have another one, it was just such a pain to go all the way there, Joseph take work off, get a baby-sitter and everything for it not to be complete. I am the most impatient person I know! Why me?!?! I should just be happy the baby is healthy and that there is only one in there! But i didn't even get to bring home pictures because the tech didn't have her printer hooked up! It was ridiculous! Anyhow, I am glad I don't go to that office regularly. I just have to go back for an ultrasound in a couple of weeks when they have another available time. I was so looking forward to either filling my drawers with baby girl clothes or going shopping tomorrow for a blue SOMETHING!!! We don't have much of that color around here. Anyhow, at least everything is good. The heart rate was fast though--152. So it definitely could be a girl. We shall see......

BOY or GIRL???

2009-02-21T16:13:00.003-05:00

Poor lil Haylee is FINALLY starting to heal from her pox. She just kept itching and still does every once in a while because of the new skin. I just hope she won't scar. We'll see....

Well, next week I find out if we are having a boy or girl. I have felt the little one move a few times but not much. I am almost positive I know what the gender is.....but it is your turn to guess!!!
For the grand winning prize you will win a self paid trip to Florida in beautiful horse country--the city of Ocala. You will enjoy a week long stay at the Heintzelman Hotel where we camp in style---Japanese style that is--on the floor of our living room. So hurry and enter in your prize winning guess!! Our floor mats are waiting! Or if you prefer you can camp outside in our 3 bedroom tent--camping is a year round option here in Ocala. Your campsite fee is included in your prize! :)

Christmas, Chicken Pox and Such

2009-01-22T14:47:00.006-05:00

Well, just in case you wondering.....not only can you get chicken pox from being vaccinated for it, but the vaccinated child can also SPREAD chicken pox without actually contracting the virus and showing signs themselves. Poor Haylee has been battling the chicken pox after she spent a few hours with her little boyfriend who had been vaccinated the day before. We of course were shocked since she hadn't been around anyone WITH chicken pox. We had all been too busy being sick with everything from sinus and upper respiratory infections to ear infections....so after finding out he had been vaccinated recently, that is our only clue. My friend who is a nurse said that is highly likely to have been the culprit---so watch out! Especially if your older child is getting vaccinated and you have an infant--chicken pox can be very dangerous for infants and pregnant mamas who haven't had the chicken pox before. So here is our poor Haylee and all of our chicken pox. These are the pictures I took with me to my midwife to see what she thought they were and if I was in danger. She said they looked like chicken pox and I should be fine since I have had them. I have had 2 other nurses diagnose it as chicken pox and one dumb PA at the Urgent Care who called them bug bites. My poor daughter would have had to have been infested with fleas to look like this if it were bug bites. Yuck. And I had to add one that isn't so sad....she really enjoys her food like a true Heintzelman.

And here are a few shots from Christmas. I think the girls would have stopped believing in Santa had they not gotten their doll that swims. They were so excited. Kiya and her cousin Micah went swimming later that day, but Andrea apparently didn't get enough sleep and fell asleep at the kitchen table. Poor Haylee spent Christmas Eve at the doctor's with yet another strange rash....she is just having issues. So in case you are wondering why her poor face is splotchy, she had an allergic reaction to something....still an unknown something.....

And when we got back to our place we opened up a special gift from Grandma Lee--an Oriental tea set that was my Grandmother's. The girls LOVED it. We had to have a tea party with our dolls and stuffed animals RIGHT THEN. It was quite fun I have to admit. Next time maybe we will have something REAL in it to drink.

2009-01-06T14:04:00.003-05:00

so today i am feeling pretty darn yucky and lazy, so i just decided to check out a couple of blogs i hadn't read in a while. i saw this on one and decided to waste some of my time and see how i rate on this questionairre....

have you ever . . .
(I've highlighted what I've done in blue)
1. Started your own blog
2. Slept under the stars
3. Played in a band
4. Visited Hawaii
5. Watched a meteor shower
6. Given more than you can afford to charity (silly, that's not something to publicize)
7. Been to Disneyland (what about Disney World? isn't that bigger and better???)
8. Climbed a mountain
9. Held a praying mantis
10. Sung a solo (when i was like 4 i did for my parents all the time. does that count?)
11. Bungee jumped (sky-dived, haven't ventured the bungee route yet....)
12. Visited Paris --(France yes, Paris, no.)
13. Watched a lightning storm at sea
14. Taught yourself an art from scratch
15. Adopted a child
16. Had food poisoning
17. Walked to the top of the Statue of Liberty
18. Grown your own vegetables
19. Seen the Mona Lisa in France
20. Slept on an overnight train
21. Had a pillow fight
22. Hitch hiked
23. Taken a sick day when you’re not ill --i thought i was. i was really just pregnant.
24. Built a snow fort
25. Held a lamb
26. Gone skinny dipping
27. Run a Marathon
28. Ridden in a gondola in Venice
29. Seen a total eclipse
30. Watched a sunrise or sunset
31. Hit a home run
32. Been on a cruise
33. Seen Niagara Falls in person
34. Visited the birthplace of your ancestors
35. Seen an Amish community
36. Taught yourself a new language
37. Had enough money to be truly satisfied--working on that--not more money, the satisfied part....
38. Seen the Leaning Tower of Pisa in person
39. Gone rock climbing
40. Seen Michelangelo’s David
41. Sung karaoke
42. Seen Old Faithful geyser erupt
43. Bought a stranger a meal at a restaurant
44. Visited Africa
45. Walked on a beach by moonlight
46. Been transported in an ambulance
47. Had your portrait painted
48. Gone deep sea fishing
49. Seen the Sistine Chapel in person

50. Been to the top of the Eiffel Tower in Paris
50. Ridden on a ferris wheel
51. Gone scuba diving or snorkeling
52. Kissed in the rain
53. Played in the mud
54. Gone to a drive-in theater
55. Been in a movie (check out the seminary videos for the old testament....you might catch a glimpse of me. i was an extra!!!)
56. Visited the Great Wall of China
57. Started a business
58. Taken a martial arts class
59. Visited Russia
60. Served at a soup kitchen
61. Sold Girl Scout Cookies ---eaten them....probably too many of them
62. Gone whale watching
63. Got flowers for no reason
64. Donated blood, platelets or plasma
65. Gone sky diving (guess i should have waited longer on the list....)
66. Visited a Nazi Concentration Camp
67. Bounced a check
68. Flown in a helicopter
69. Saved a favorite childhood toy
70. Visited the Lincoln Memorial
71. Eaten Caviar
72. Pieced a quilt
73. Stood in Times Square
74. Toured the Everglades
75. Been fired from a job
76. Seen the Changing of the Guards in London
77. Broken a bone
78. Been on a speeding motorcycle
79. Seen the Grand Canyon in person
80. Published a book
81. Visited the Vatican
82. Bought a brand new car
83. Walked in Jerusalem
84. Had your picture in the newspaper
85. Read the entire Bible
86. Visited the White House
87. Killed and prepared an animal for eating
88. Had chickenpox
89. Saved someone’s life
90. Sat on a jury
91. Met someone famous
92. Joined a book club
93. Lost a loved one
94. Had a baby
95. Seen the Alamo in person
96. Swam in the Great Salt Lake
97. Been involved in a law suit
98. Owned a cell phone
99. Been stung by a bee
100. Seen Mount Rushmore in person
101. Learned to play an instrument
102. Been south of the equator
103. Had your car totalled
104. Lived in a basement for more than a year
105. Had famous neighbors (how close do you consider neighbors??? John Travolta only lives a few miles away....)
106. Had stitches --i think???
107. Flown an airplane
108. Traveled to the Eastern Hemisphere
109. Broken up with someone
110. Been dumped by someone
111. Lived in an unfurnished apartment for more than 3 months
112. Lived in more than 2 regions of the U.S.
113. Rung the Salvation Army bell at Christmas time
114. Been to a local movie premiere!
115. Looked death in the face and survived. --does childbirth count?? then yes.
116. Sung at General Conference!
117. Performed somewhere famous or for someone famous.
118. Flown alone with a baby---too many times to count...
119. Driven across the continental U.S.
120. Been to 30 or more LDS temples.
121. Had your life saved by someone.
122. Been bit by a dog.
123. Held a sleeping child.
124. Been homeless.
125. Slept in a bed infested with bedbugs. --i am sure the ones' in ecuador had a bug or two...
126. Had your dinner interrupted by a live pig running through the room.
127. Used roosters as an alarm clock.
128. Slept under a mosquito net in the mountaintops of a rainforest--slept in the amazon jungle with nets i think....i cannot remember....

kind of a random number to end on.... but hey. i am now done. enjoy. i can't believe i have done like 90% of these....amazing. i guess i have had a pretty exciting life. hopefully it lasts a lot longer so i can finish some of the other things on this list. some of them i don't care to do.....

our latest news....

2008-12-16T20:41:00.003-05:00

well the word is out and so is my belly....no one believes me (those who haven't seen me pregnant that is) when i say that i start showing when i am only 6 weeks along....but sure enough, i am only 8 weeks along and people are ASKING me if I am pregnant. am i really THAT FAT? if you are family and haven't heard the news yet, don't be offended. we were going to wait until Christmas to tell everyone, but apparently that didn't last when i started LOOKING pregnant and throwing up in the church bathroom. i am sure you all are enjoying the grand details...so here IT comes, baby #4! according to the chinese baby calendar it is a boy. we will keep on hoping for that one. i am as sick as they come and already wishing it were over....not a good starting attitude when there are 7 more months to go. if my calculations are correct i am due july 28th....another july baby. so now you all know. by now baby news from me is old hat i know, but we are very excited. i am just not thrilled about the pregnancy part. i am kind of a whiner i guess---but i am really sick of being sick. and the "everything smells especially my husband and children" part i really wish would go away. i am very lucky to be able to bear children and to bring more precious spirits into our family, but especially after days like today, i just wish it were easier. i think we may have to start alternating adoption with this pregnancy thing.....

Thanksgiving with the stars...

2008-12-01T16:58:00.004-05:00

So let's just say I don't think I have ever laughed so hard in my life on Thanksgiving...we had the pleasure of having Thanksgiving with friends of Joseph's parents from their ward and friends of friends...comedians and actors Michael Birkeland and Mitch English...both are in all of those ridiculously cheesy Mormon movies that you all know so well...

Michael Birkeland
Actor Credits
Church Ball (2006)
Referee/ Umpire
The Home Teachers (2004)
Greg
The R.M. (2003)
Dewey
The Singles Ward (2002)
Hyrum

Mike is the guy on the left of the movie cover. He has since lost 100 lbs since this movie and I hardly recognized him. I had seen him in person many times as we were in the same stake in Provo, UT. He still lives there but was visiting his friend Mitch who is also an LDS movie actor but is better known for his role as the Daily Buzz weatherman. It wasn't so bad sitting at the kid's table since we had great entertainment. Mitch's wife and children also sat with us and of course, our little ones. We had a great time. Hope you all enjoyed your Thanksigiving. We have so much to be grateful for. We had a great trip to Orlando and are now happy to be back home. I have decorated the house and put up the house lights outside today. What a fun day!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QhRy3QMbaDA

Ft Lauderdale

2008-11-21T17:39:00.005-05:00

Haylee kept sticking her face in the sand and rubbing it back and forth! it was so funny! She is starting to exfoliate at such a young age! :)

Ft Lauderdale

2008-11-21T17:25:00.004-05:00

So 2 weekends ago we went to visit my sister's sister-in-law (basically family) Kathryn Kelly Johnston (who also was my roommate at Ricks many moons ago....) in Ft Lauderdale. How random that we both ended up in FLORIDA! It has taken me a whole year to go and visit her. Her husband is going to medical school there. I have seen her more in WA than I have in the state we live in! Our kids think they are cousins. It is quite cute. We had a great time at the beach and I also did a Scentsy party for all of her friends. It was such a fun luncheon. Most everyone there was from UT so it was funny that all of us "westerners" ended up in FL! Kathryn's baby Cambrie is one week younger than Haylee. Luke is a year older than kiya--almost 2 i think actually. and Madi is a year younger. Her kids are too cute!!!! Thanks, Kate for a fun weekend!!! :)

2008-11-18T17:14:00.002-05:00

so this isn't about me, but rather my brother david....just a cool fact about him and his company---they were chosen to do all of the finish woodwork on the inside of the Laie Hawaii temple for its renovation. They are completely gutting the inside and David gets to do it! AMAZING! they are waiting to hear back on the bid they put in to do the San Salvador Temple that was just announced! a dream come true for him! i am jealous of all the traveling he will be doing and to be a part of temples coming forth! how awesome!!!

Tony's wedding

2008-11-05T23:13:00.003-05:00

here are a few pictures from the wedding. my camera broke so i didn't have one at the wedding. here are a few from melissa's. Rachel was a beautiful bride. Tony is pretty darn good looking himself I have to admit. He definitely takes after his older sister. This picture is of the Rexburg temple where they were married. It was a beautiful day!

our sad pumpkins

2008-11-03T10:55:00.004-05:00

so in FL we went from hot to cold back to hot and the pumpkins don't fare very well with weather like that! i should get the before picture from Joseph's mom' camera. This year we made a special trip to Orlando to carve pumpkins and make our jack-o-lanterns. Joseph's parents had NEVER carved a pumpkin! Joseph's mom being from Guatemala had never picked up the American tradition, so we showed them the ropes! Joseph helped the girls clean them out. Andrea and Kiya made their own faces--drew them on--and then I carved them out. Joseph carved "Happy Halloween" out on the back of Haylee's. It was really cute. But I forgot to take a picture. I made Haylee's jack-o-lantern baby with the curl if you can't tell what that is! I thought both of the girls did a fabulous job! They are both little budding artists! Kiya's even has eyebrows and ears! Too cute! From left to right it is Haylee, Kiya then Andrea. You can hardly see her's. They are molding and looking so sad! They were so cute!

Happy Halloween Fairy Tale Style!

2008-10-31T22:44:00.012-04:00

So here are our trick-or treaters! Kiya had "career day" at school today. They couldn't wear Halloween costumes--but they could come in a costume of what they want to be when they grow up. So Kiya went as a dancer. It is a little cold here in FL this week--I am sure our weather would put the majority of you in shorts, but it is cold for us Floridians! Yes, I am a true Florida girl now--completely acclimated to the weather. I MISS THE COLD so I enjoy visiting--which I loved to visiting COLD REXBURG this month for my brother's wedding! But it was COLD! It has been cold in the morning--down to the 30s but back up to the 70s during the day. It is beautiful during the day, but frigid in the mornings. So Kiya couldn't wear her nylons as planned. She had to wear her dance pants with her flowy tutu. Her "sparkly pinks" which are her ballet style shoes she LOVES, have really seen their last day. We should have them bronzed to bring back memories. She has loved those shoes day in, day out, any outfit, any hour. For Halloween we again went "themed"---Andrea was "Little Red Riding Hood" Kiya was the "Grandma", Haylee was the "Big Bad Wolf" (the big SAD wolf in a couple of these pictures. it only lasted for a second. I had swatted her hand away from something and she got her feelings hurt. I took the picture because her face was too cute!), Joseph was the "Woodsman" and I was Lil Red's Mom who baked the goodies! Kiya said I should go as the basket--Joseph said,"That's perfect. You would make the perfect basketcase." Thanks, dear. Anyhow, we went to an outdoor dinner party and went trick-or-treating with our friends. We all had great fun. Especially Haylee once she realized what CANDY was! She had her first sucker and from then on she started holding out her hand to every person at the door and loved dropping it in her bucket! We had a blast!! I LOVE HALLOWEEN!!! Thanks to my mother-in-law I got these costumes done last weekend. I was starting to worry! I think they turned out so cute. It was fun but I am still far from being a seamstress. i think I need a few more lessons!

silly face

2008-10-31T21:44:00.002-04:00

andrea wanted to make sure to put this one in. i meant to on the last post....