blog worthy...

So I'm not sure these are really all that blog worthy, but I decided I'd share them anyway. Here's a cute little purple pansy I found growing in our window well. It gave me a little bit of hope. If it can grow in this unforgiving circumstance, then I can grow and progress with whatever trials happen to come my way, right?

It reminds me of a part in Alice and Wonderland (the old one). I really dislike that movie.
I am happy to say, that we have officially discontinued the use of both the bottle, and the binkie. Now if we could just get Gavin to go to sleep without having to watch a movie!

And this is a completely random picture, but one day I was thinking about how I'd miss using this closet for baby things. Some day it will have a different purpose, and I really wanted to remember how it looked filled with little clothes, blankets, and diapers.

I know, I'm a little crazy at times. Jared would be rolling his eyes for sure.

And yes, there are at least three different kinds of diapers there, because after two years, I still can't find a brand that I really like.

call me a junkie then...

So this article infuriated me while reading the first half, then I surrendered through the second half. Science wants to tell us that we're "addicted" to our children. I should hope so, it takes a lot of emotion, time, and personal investment to raise a child. Who can blame me for enjoying the sweet, tender moments of love and affection that they give back? Go ahead and call me addicted, I call it unconditional love, because no matter how hard it is to raise these children, I still want one more. Actually two more, but Jared has only agreed to one.

(and by no means is this a pregnancy announcement :)

Really, who could resist more of these cute little Wheelers?

And after reading the article again, it aggravates me that people try to blame divorces on the children in the family. Divorce has nothing to do with how many kids you have, but rather the selfishness of the two individuals involved. I think if people would put their partners needs above their own, and vice versa, a majority of the divorces in this world would be unnecessary. Some divorces might happen for other reasons, but I think blaming it on the fact that a couple has children is ridiculous.

halloween...

Gavin enjoyed trick or treating until he received the biggest lollipop he's ever seen. After that, he was content to just sit in the stroller and enjoy his goodies. Kate made sure to get an extra treat for him at each house. She was a little miffed that he wouldn't get out and knock on the each door with her.
Jared told Colin that if you want to have a good Jack O'Lantern, you have to tap your pumpkin 3 times. Gullible Colin believed him, and as you can see faithfully tapped each pumpkin.

Kate couldn't keep her hat on, it was too light and kept blowing away. Her cousin Zach told her that her hat was a little bent, and she replied, "that's cause it's made in China."

Maddie wanted to be a vampire kittty. That was an easy costume choice, I obliged!

And getting a good picture of all of them was impossible, so I had to post the one with Jared's rear end in it. He'll never know, he doesn't read my blog!

My parents were here for all our Halloween festivities, which made it all the more enjoyable for us. My favorite moment was when Kate sat down wrong in her chair, and yelled, "Ow!" My dad asked if she hurt her keester, and she replied, "no, Grampa, I hurt my bum!"

I'm back!!!

Wow, my little blog vacation turned into a loooong break! Summer's gone, the leaves are falling off the tree in the back yard, and I'm starting to plan which books I want to read this winter. First on my list is the final Harry Potter book, I need to finish it in time to see the movie!

The kids and I had a nice trip to Montana for Spud Harvest, and while there I made a 8 week meal plan, so that I would make all our meals (other than Friday's pizza/movie nights) for the entire 8 weeks. The plan is to repeat it again and again, because you're only eating a certain meal once in two months, and you won't get tired of it, and I don't have to keep creating meal plans. We'll see how it goes. We've made it almost 3 weeks so far, and have been very good. Except for one night where we made a trip to Wendy's for Kate and Maddie, Subway for Colin (free sandwich), and quiznos for Jared and I. Kind of random, but we all wanted something different. In reality, I could have made a homecooked meal in the time it took us to travel to all three places!

Oh well,It's a step in the right direction for us, and it is saving us a lot of money.

So I think for the next little while it will probably consume my blog.

With the weather changing, it was the perfect time to make this Cheesy Chicken Chowder. It was delicious, and it went great with homemade buttermilk biscuits. I tried to make it fun for the kids by making pumpkin shaped biscuits. I thought it would make eating a new kind of soup easier for them. It turns out everyone devoured the chowder, and hardly noticed the biscuits.

Very tasty!

And since the kids were out of school last Friday, and the weather was still cooperating, we took them to the park.

Kate loved Colin's crazy ride on the swings.

And Gavin would not look up and smile for me, so this is the best I could get. I'm already gearing up for putting on snow clothes, because I don't think any bad weather can keep him inside for too long.


And since I didn't include a picture of Maddie, I'll include one of her funny comments. We were watching Biggest Loser the other night, and Jillian was really getting into someone's face and yelling at them, and Maddie says so matter of factly, "That's looks like mom when Colin's done something bad." Huh? Really? I'm that bad?

I've tried to yell from a distance now, so as not to be too much like Jillian Michaels.

twelve years...

So yesterday we had our wedding anniversary. Twelve years have gone by super fast, but they have been so fun, wonderful, crazy, and so on. We were married in the Idaho Falls Temple on 8/8/98 (in case you couldn't do the math :)
Outside the temple, with all our family and friends staring at us.
The photographer told us to kiss, awkward...

And here the photographer told us to be serious. What? Serious? Can you tell I'm really trying hard not to smile? Silly man, Jared and I don't do serious.
And I really shouldn't have done my own hair.
I liked it that day, I guess that's all that matters, right?

To many more fun, exciting, adventurous years together.
Happy Anniversary Jared!

the boat house...

So, I'm sure you've all seen this house before, on the way to Hibbard. Well, after passing it a million times (it's on the way to grandma's house), Kate has finally discovered it. The other day we were driving out to Jared's mom's house yet again, and Kate yells from the back seat. "Wow, that is so coooooool! Did you see that mom? There was a boat back there, and there's nooooooo water! That is so cooooool!" She was so impressed.

I'm not sure why the camera is half color half b/w. The kids must have been playing with it.

I'm just glad little things in life still amuse them.

it's growing...

So, this might be boring to some of you, but it made me quite giddy! Enough to pull me out of my Sunday afternoon slump (a slump due to dealing with Gavin's whininess, crying, etc. for three hours in church, if anyone knows how to get a screamer to go to nursery, I'm all ears). I decided to take a look at my garden after dinner, and was very excited to see some progress.

I finally have some green bell peppers.

Spinach grows amazingly well in Rexburg.

The broccoli is getting really tall, but I'm not sure where the broccoli actually grows from.

And since my peas are just forming little pods, Jared's mom sent me home with a big grocery sack full. It took me and the four kids 3 hours to get all the peas out. Gavin and Kate were super cute with their little chubby fingers. I love the concentration on their faces.

Maybe by the end of the summer I'll have more than spinach to harvest. Here's to hoping.

randomness...

Gavin got his first real haircut, which involved a lot of weeping, wailing, and knashing of teeth. Here he is pre-cut: A little long really.

Here he is post cut. We tried the faux hawk, but I kind of prefer a clean missionary style look.

And when the wind is blowing, and the kids have nothing else to do, they explore the storage room. Here is a little gem Maddie found, and Gavin kind of figured this is what you do with it.

Gavin has discovered how to open the dryer door, and that he fits quite nicely inside.

And finally, the kids just finished a week of swim lessons at Hibbard Fishies, and loved it. Kate surprised me the most. She went in not liking to put her face or her ears in the water, and came away much more comfortable with the water. I'm going to continue the lessons this fall, so the kids can build on their current skills. Someday they'll have a place to swim, and I really want them to enjoy the water.

still here...

I'm still here, just trying to enjoy the summer, and help my kids enjoy it. We finally got rid of t.v., but we hooked up our laptop to our flat screen, and I don't know what's worse! My kids can find anything on Netflix or hulu. It is definately cheaper, but I'm still going to have to regulate.

We enjoyed a trip to Park City, and Stadium of Fire with Carrie Underwood. The best was Kate looking through her 3D glasses the entire time with a little grin on her face, and Maddie singing along and dancing was super cute. Colin was a grump because he didn't win one of the four kid size motorcycles they gave away. He enjoyed the fireworks though. It was a fun mini reunion with Jared's family.

And here's a little advice from billionaire Warren Buffet on giving our children unconditional love. We learn that all the time through the gospel, but it's kindof nice hearing it from a man who could buy anything he wanted in this world, but instead is encouraging other wealthy individuals to give it to charity. It was an interesting interview.

Now to just learning how to give unconditional love when we're all hot, grumpy, and tired. That's the true test of one's ability to love.

summertime...

So summer has arrived, and my brain has escaped! My brain has decided to take a leave of absence resulting in Colin missing half of his scouting events, me missing Primary meetings, dental appointments, etc. It's driving me insane. I am forgeting things left and right. I have a calendar, and I'll even wake up remembering to remember something that's going to happen later in the day, but by the time "later in the day" arrives, I've forgotten what I was supposed to do. If anyone knows a solution to this hot weather brain freeze, please let me know.

I'm going insane!Zach and Colin at one of the Red Sox/Rockies games they went to. Jared and Colin took a trip with all the boys to Colorado, and this is the only picture they brought home. They had a great time though, and the little kids and I survived, so I guess the trip was a success.

I can't really blame Jared for not taking pictures though, because my kids have taken more pictures than I have this summer. Here's a nice shot of Kate measuring Gavin with her little stuffed bird. I'm not sure what size that makes him, but I have to give a shout out to the faithful onesies that are no longer fitting Gavin. They have been troupers, keeping his diapers on and his hands out of his poop, but alas they only come in so many sizes, and Gavin is now outgrowing them. It is a sad day in our house when the onesies have to go in storage, or the garbage, depending on how many accidents we've had in them.I guess Gavin didn't like being measured, because he's now trying to escape. Actually I think he's closing the door, it's become a new habit of his. So if you come to our house and hear doors slamming, it would be Gavin. And here's a lovely frowny self portrait from Kate.And a happy face, you know how it goes, "If you chance to meet a frown..."
I sing that quite a bit in this house, no actually I don't, but I should the next time they're grouchy with me. Maybe that would work for us.

And now since the mornings half gone, I think I'll go shower and get ready for the day. Actually no, I'll first call my mom back, because I forgot to call her last night. Maybe I'm missing a vitamin or something that causes forgetfulness.
I'd say I'm pregnant, but that is definately not the case (no worries Jared).

the latest...

So, it's been a while since I last posted. Thankfully I have finally planted the garden. It took me about 7 hours, on and off, running to Cal Ranch for a few more things, etc. But it is in, and Jared has only caught me staring at it a few times. He thinks I'm a little crazy, and I probably am. So far I'm happy with how it has turned out.

And now I'm on to reading "The Five Love Languages" by Gary Chapman. It's this month's book for our neighborhood book club. It was a little embarrassing asking the librarian for help in finding this one. I am only a few pages in, but I think it will help me not only in marriage but also in parenting. I'm excited to see. He says that in every child is an "emotional tank" waiting to be filled with love. Most misbehavior is motivated by the cravings of an empty "love tank". I'm hoping that if I focus more on showing them love, their behavior will be better, and I won't have the energy or time to focus on what I think they're doing wrong. I talked to a friend a few weeks ago, and she said she liked the scripture that says we should cease to find fault with one another, and that she liked to apply it with her children. The less fault finding she does, the better their relationships. I definitely am trying to focus on this! The same scripture says to cease to sleep longer than is needful, something I have not been working on this summer, line upon line, right?

And finally, here are a few pics that are making me baby hungry. Not anytime soon, Jared needs to feel baby hungry first. Do men ever get baby hungry?

baby Colin

a sweet baby Maddie

a carrot faced Kate

and of course, a handsome little Gavin

As hard as parenting may be, I would do it all again in a heartbeat.

a little reading...

So, I've been planning out my garden, and while waiting for the sprinkler man to come and cap off some sprinkler heads, I've been doing a little reading. Here's a link to an organic gardening site. It's about companion planting, grouping certain plants together, because they help each other ward off certain pests, etc. I thought it was kind of interesting, and I'm going to try and plan my garden accordingly. And...I'm really trying to have more patience, because I'd really like to get my hands in the dirt!

I'm a tad excited...

So I am just a tad excited to get my garden started. We haven't even cut the sod up yet, but I'm really looking forward to getting my hands dirty. We've never had a true garden before, I planted a few things in my flower bed last year, but this year I have convinced Jared to help me create a little masterpiece in the backyard. So, it might be more of a weed patch, but I can hope, right? Actually, I've only convinced Jared to help me rent a sod cutter, and break ground. He says the only green thumb he'll have this year is going to be from golfing. Ha! I think I'm a little more persuasive than that. We'll see. So, I'm planning on planting tomatoes, peas, beans, cucumbers, carrots, onions, red potatoes, green bell pepper, and pumpkins. I also found chinese lanterns (Martha made a really cool fall wreath with these), and sunflowers for the kids to tend to. They'll go in the extra space I have in the flower beds. And my strawberry starts that I got from Janalee survived the winter!

I'm super excited, and hopefully the weather will cooperate with me!

thanks!

So thanks for all the comments about dog books, I think we might just try them all! Leslie's comment about the Little Golden Book "Pokey Little Puppy" brought back a fun memory. One year my Grandma and Grandpa Lybbert read those books and recorded them on tape for us. I can still remember my Grandma's voice, and the little chime they used so we knew when to flip the page. It's a good memory. I really want to be a good parent, and then an awesome grandparent someday. I've got lots of good examples to follow.

Our first dog, Cooper. He was super cute, crazy, and eventually HUGE!

Maddie is an animal lover, and we often found her in Coopers kennel laughing, and covered in slobber.

I got to experience dog obedience school, trips to the vet (for such a large animal, Cooper was a wimp), combing masses of black hair out, always hoping to be relieved from vacuuming each day. He shed constantly!

Sadly, Cooper lost his eyesight, and after growling/entering attack mode at Maddie one day because he couldn't see her or smell her (he was part Great Dane and had a bad sense of smell), we decided he needed to be put to sleep. I have since told the kids everyone needs to be out of diapers before I'll even consider another pet. Cooper was fun, but my kids are enough fun for me right now!

Instead we'll just learn about dogs, read their stories, and enjoy them from a distance.

I'm so old...

So last night I pulled out my scrapbook (that my mom so lovingly created) of my high school years. It is huge, and filled with all my cross country, volleyball, track pictures, and newspaper clips of the scores, times, etc. She is amazing, and I'm sad to admit I have only started a book for Colin, and it only contains his first few days. I am way behind. So why did I pull it out? I wanted to find my personal best time from cross country. Our meets were 3 miles long, and since I started running again this spring, I wanted to create a goal. I want to be able to run like I did back then. So I have worked up to running at least 3 miles each day, but I know it's taking me longer than it did back then. Now that I know the time to work up to, I have a new focus for my runs. I'm excited to go tomorrow and time myself. Volleyball was my favorite sport, but cross country and track are a close second. We had lots of fun back in the day.

Me and my cross-country teammates, in our short shorts. Yikes, those were scary.

And another gem I found in the scrapbook. I was nominated for Homecoming Queen, didn't get it, but I was prom queen if it's any consolation. I know, my dress isn't so modest. I'm going to teach Maddie all about modesty and repentance before I show her my scrapbook. :) And that cute little girl Cori just finished her sophomore year at BYU-I. That makes me feel old!

And off the subject, don't look at food blogs when you've just had a cavity filled, and you're still numb. I found this really yummy recipe that I'd love to try, but since I can't feel my cheeks and half my lips I better not start baking. Here's the recipe if you'd like to try it.

summer ideas...

So, I read Leslie's blog, and I've been thinking a bit about how I'd like our summer to go this year. I always try to make a plan, and my kids seem to resist anything planned. So my goal this year is to have a plan, but not divulge the plan, and pretend to be spontaneous. We'll see how it goes. I did find a cool website while looking for art project ideas for Colin's class tomorrow. This website has tons of art ideas, that will be perfect when we need to spend an afternoon inside.

I'm excited to see what my kids think.

Part of my plan is to read Beezus and Ramona with the kids, and then go to see the movie for Colin's birthday. Then for August, I'd like to read them a book about dogs, and take them to the museum exhibit Wolf to Woof in Idaho Falls.

I haven't decided on a dog book yet, any ideas?

a few lost gems...

So after finding the lost memory card, I decided I should see what would have been missed had it stayed lost forever. Turns out, not much. Well some of them were cute, but most were self portraits of my kids, and someone had a hay day following Gavin throughout the house. I think there are about 50 pictures of him pointing, probably trying to get them to put down the camera, and find him some apple juice. Turns out the videos of his first year were already saved to the computer.

Here are a few samples:

Kate enjoying a little ride in Arizona during Christmas break.

Maddie telling me the ride was a tad lame.

The kids experimenting with Gavin's long locks in the tub.

And a typical self portrait of Colin.

So, I've been alternating between three parenting books this last week, and have received some good advice. The tidbit I found most helpful, was to look for the good things your kids are doing and give them positive reinforcement. I tend to be a little pessimistic, and only catch them doing something they're not supposed to. I tried yesterday to seek out the positive things, and praise them, and you should have seen their faces light up. They loved getting the postiive attention. One author said that sometimes just using positive reinforcement will completely change a child's behavior. It definately made our home happier yesterday.

so happy....

So can I tell you how happy I am just now? Do you see that little red and black thing stuck in my computer? It happens to be a memory card that I have been searching for and missing for at least 4 months. I have been really upset about all the photos and video I had lost. Like 2 hours of video, mainly Gavin's first year!

I woke up from an awful dream last night, where Gavin rolled down a hill in his stroller, flew out of it, and broke his nose. I could actually see the bones sticking out of it. And then some random man running up to me saying, "oh, it looks like he broke the bridge of his nose." Uh, ya think? It was the worst feeling, and I vowed I would always set the brake on the stroller and buckle him in it every time. So, since I couldn't calm down after that I started in with the whole anxiety thing, about all the old videos I need to burn to dvd, and of course about the missing memory card. So, after an hour of tossing, turning, and worrying, I decided I needed to pray. I first asked that I would be able to go back to sleep, and then I prayed that if I spent some extra time cleaning up the computer room today that I would be prompted as to where the memory card might be.

So, I dusted the computer room, looked in a few spots that I thought of last night, and then I just randomly thought to look in the cd/dvd slots, because Gavin likes to push those buttons, and watch the tray go out and in, and that's when I spotted it! He had shoved the card into the wrong slot. I ran for the tweezers, and it was finally free! And now I am finally free of the worry! I am so thankful for those simple random promptings, that I know were from the Holy Ghost. I have searched all over the house, and I know that the random thought was not mine.

I think it's amazing that our Father in Heaven loves each of us enough to give us a way to communicate with Him. "Ask and ye shall receive". I'm also grateful for a mom who taught me at an early age to do just that.

it's here!

Yay! My conference issue is finally here. Having gone to Montana over conference weekend, I missed the Sunday sessions of conference while driving home. Most of the 6 hour drive is through mountains, and the radio doesn't come in too well. I'm not sure any of the stations there would even broadcast conference. Anyhow, I have been anticipating seeing it in the mail, and to my surprise, it's in color! Maybe I missed the memo somewhere, but it was fun to open it up and see the difference. And since it's a gloomy sort of day, I'm excited to put the kiddos to bed and crawl under the covers to read it.

Also, thanks for all the parenting book advice. I picked up "Have a New Kid by Friday, How to Change Your Child's Attitude, Behavior, and Character in 5 days" by Dr. Kevin Leman from the library. The only problem is, it'll take me two weeks to read it, so I guess for me it'll be a new kid by next Friday!

I also grabbed "How to Behave so your Children Will Too"" by Sal Severe, Ph.D. I know this is a big part of our problem. I need to change a few of my habits and behaviors, and our house would definately run more smoothly.

Hopefully these will give me some advice while waiting for Love and Logic to arrive. I also liked Kim's advice about the scriptures and prayer. That's another goal of mine before the kid's get out of school. I want to finish reading the Book of Mormon so I'll have a little spiritual guidance when the heat, exhaustion, and grouchiness arrives.

With all of your suggestions, I've got a new reading list for the summer.

I better get busy I guess.

Mother's day, bah humbug!

So Mother's day has never been a very great day for me. I think it's because I set myself and my family up for disaster before the day even starts.

Actually, the first hour of church went surprisingly well. Gavin decided that zipping and unzipping Maddie's scripture bag was all he needed to do, and he was a happy, quiet little boy all during sacrament meeting. The last two hours were a different story. Gavin was not interested in nursery at all, and I was getting more and more grouchy by the minute. I was ready to go home by the time church was done. The kids brought home some tootsie roll pops and these cute little flower messages that Becky made. She's awesome, although I never did see how many licks it takes to get to the center of a tootsie roll pop. The kids had them gone before we even got home. Colin felt bad, and made me this cute little sign with leftover Easter and Halloween candy. It brought me to tears, I had been in such an awful mood, I'm so thankful for a sweet little boy who brought me out of it.

If you can't read it, it goes like this: I'm glad I hatched (with a chocolate egg) in this family. You're so fun like a (Fun Dip). These (smarties) make you the smartest mom ever.

Love Colin, Maddie, Kate, and Gavin. Isn't he so sweet? I asked him to hurry and make the grandmas each one. And Maddie made me a nice card, and Kate picked me lots of flowers/weeds from the back yard.

I like Colin's: "I love you because... your going to give me this candy." Such a jokester.
And Maddie's: "I love you because... she tacks care of me." Someone must have to her she misspelled takes because she then underlined it.

And Kate's: "I love you because... you are nice." Well, I'm nice everyday but Mother's Day.

And what did Jared get me for Mother's Day? Well, his hard work allowed me to buy some new exercise capris, and the Love and Logic parenting book. Thanks Jared! We're not really good gift givers. He did make lunch/dinner, and helped clean up the house. Oh, and on Saturday he did help me take down the Christmas lights, finally! Those things are not going up on this house again. After getting up on the ladder myself to put them up, and then again to take them down, I have discovered I'm a little afraid of heights, and so is he.

So, in preparation for the summer, I'm looking for good parenting books. I'd like to have a few tricks of the trade to pull out when the summer gets rough. So, if you have a favorite, let me know. There are over 10,000 choices on Amazon, and I'm going a little buggy trying to search through them all.