thank you

Dearest Husband,

Thank you. Thank you for having patience. Thank you for 12 years of loyalty. I love you more today than on our wedding day. Thank you for going hiking with me. Thank you for playing games with me. Thank you for changing all of the "tar" diapers. Thank you for your humor and even your teasing. I would miss it, if it stopped. Thank you for supporting me when I stupidly commit to do too much. Thank you for giving me 4 wonderfully amazing children that teach me so much about life and living. Thank you for letting me fix the covers every night. Thank you for loving me, even though I am only a "30". Thank you for doing dishes and laundry and helping with homework. Thank you for trusting me. Thank you for letting us get 2 kittens. Thank you for sharing your testimony of the gospel. Thank you for wanting to do good. Thank you for your example (I mean GOOD example :0)....I know how your mind works.) Thank you for spoiling me. Thank you for going to work. I know it's hard. Thank you for my kitchen. Thank you for loving my family. Thank you for going on bike rides and walks with me. Thank you for taking me horseback riding. Thank you for not expecting the house to be spotless or even a little bit clean when you get home. Thank you for thinking of me. Thank you for letting me take time out for myself. Thank you for putting up with all of my crazy issues. Thank you for getting help. Thank you for sticking around even through my hungry "Dr. Jekyll" phases. Thank you for thinking of "Puckettville". Thank you for wanting to have people over. Thank you for pushing me to grow. Thank you for adoring me. Thank you for helping me to "toughen my skin" so I'm less sensitive. Thank you for cooking me food. Thank you for getting us started on family scripture and prayer every day. Thank you for taking me out to dinner. Thank you for having the strenght/courage/discipline to have rules when we were dating. Thank you for calling me Dollface. Thank you for being my best friend. Thank you for being you. Despite what you believe, you are my Knight in Shining Armor.

I LOVE YOU!

halloween and motorboat faces

I resigned myself to the fact that even though I think Halloween is a lot of work for not that much fun, my kids really like it. I couldn't convince anybody this year that it would be more fun to stay home and watch movies instead of dressing up and going to the church Halloween carnival. (sigh) So, the girls all went as Monster High characters and Simeon was Luigi. After I got everything to make his costume, he informed me that he wanted to be Koopa Troopa. Ummm....sorry Charlie!! Luigi it was!!

For some reason, Simeon was extra cranky and didn't want me to take his picture. So this is all I got.

Brooklyn was Draculaura. Go here for what the character looks like.

Genesis was Frankie Stein. Here for what the character looks like.

And poor Glory was a sick person for Halloween. She does it so well, don't you think?!

And now....MOTORBOAT FACES!! My sister-in-law, Erin put pictures of them doing motorboat and they were pretty funny! So we decided to see what kind of funny faces we would have. I have to say some of ours are pretty hilarious!! Give it a try! The kids loved it.....well some of them.

Man!! I am GORGEOUS!

DRUMROLL, PLEASE!! The winner is.......

The sexy man I married! :0)

puckettville

Matt got the brilliant idea the other day, to make a town with roads for Simeon. He decided to get everyone involved. It became a family project. He wanted Genesis to draw the roads, but soon she was frustrated and we figured out that by having a girl do the design meant having lots of buildings and meadows for animals and flowers, and a river. Which isn't really conducive for a "car driving" board. There was no more room for the roads. What is most important to boys are the roads. Having a big enough road in proportion to the cars so you could fit two lanes, having a parking lot with enough room to "back out", etc, etc. So we ended up compromising. We made the parking lot and roads a little bit bigger and then filled in with the grasses and houses and river. I think everybody was happy with the end result. It's kinda big and a pain to store and drag out every 5 minutes, but worth it. The kids really like it. I even find Glory in there by herself, playing.

The kids are being monsters attacking Puckettville in this picture. Too bad we couldn't fit their faces AND the board in the same picture, but I was already in the closet trying to take it.

glasses and therapy

We finally got Brooklyn in to see somebody about her school struggles. We discovered that her eye muscles are not strong enough to do all the things she needs them to do for school work. So she has glasses to help and she has vision therapy where she does exercises to help strengthen her eyes muscles. So her "daydreaming" and her "ADD" tendencies are probably a result of her overworked eye muscles. The doctor said if there are any other learning disabilities, they should come to light during the therapy. It will be a long road for us, but at least there is a path now. And she looks pretty cute in her glasses, too!

jesus knows bowser

Tonight's conversation with Simeon went like this:

S: Jesus Christ is Aw-aw-aw-awesome!

Me: Yes He is.

S: Yeah, He died for us.

(Wow, his nursery leaders have done a good job!)

Me: Yes He did! You're right. Do you know why He died for us?

Glory: Because He loves us so much.

Me: You're right. He loves us so much that He knew we would want to live with Heavenly Father again. He died for us so we could live with Heavenly Father again.

S: Yeah and now He's with Bowser (a character from Mario Brothers Video Game). Bowser has a castle.

Aaaannnnd.....we're done with the spiritual stuff.

happy b-day/lost and found

Happy Birthday to Brooklyn! She is 10! How did that happen?? She had a friend over to spend the night a few weekends ago and then on Saturday(the 25th) Matt and the kids went to the Puyallup Fair. I was horribly sick for several days, so I wasn't able to go. Matt bravely took all four munchkins to the fair......by himself! What a brave man!! They got up early to beat the rush and they made a lunch, packed the stroller and water and they were off!! I was peacefully enjoying my rest when I got a phone call several hours later.

Matt: "We lost Glory."

Deb: "What??!!"

M: "Simeon had to go potty, so I took him and when we came out, the girls told me they couldn't find Glory. She just walked off!"

D: "Ok."

M: "What should I do???? I don't even know what she's wearing!"

I was surprisingly calm and so was Matt!! He freaked out a little bit and when he was reporting to the police, got all kinds of info wrong, but she was safely found. Actually, after reporting to the police and feeling like an awful dad, Matt went back to the spot they last saw her and they were going to search. All of a sudden, Glory walks calmly toward them, like she's just enjoying a day at the fair. Of course when the girls ran up to her and started giving her hugs, she lost it. She had said a prayer when she realized she was lost. They immediately left with Glory holding onto the stroller with Matt's hand on top and Simeon buckled in the stroller, Brooklyn holding onto the other side of the stroller and Genesis holding Brooklyn's hand. Luckily they had already done all they had planned to do. Matt told me he's never going to the fair again by himself with all four kids. I don't see why. :0) What a crazy experience! It gladdened my heart that she had the peace of mind and the knowledge to say a prayer! How blessed we are! That evening at dinner, during "Best and Worst", everyone said their worst part of the day was when Glory got lost at the fair (even Simeon).

pictures

We took family pictures yesterday and Genesis wanted me to post some of the goofier ones. They are the most fun, after all!

Genesis was very rowdy in this pose!

This was one of the test shots, but Matt thinks this is how I normally look....like I want to punch somebody. Well, if people weren't stupid all the time, they wouldn't need punching!

a geek and a monologue

Genesis' class had a skit at school and she was a "geek". She was the only one that took the extra effort to get a "costume" and she was so proud of herself. I was proud of her too. First, for having the guts to act the geek part at the risk of "not being cool" and second, for going the extra mile and putting thought into her part. She was excited and wanted to take a picture. I think she did good!

The kids were assigned chores while I ran an errand and Brooklyn apparently got ahold of the camera and decided to video her thoughts on the subject. It is rather humorous, if you can understand what she says. Maybe it's just humorous to me, but I thought I'd share.

Ok, Matt informed me that it's not funny. So apparently I'm the only one that thinks so. The highlights of the "monologue" are when Brooklyn says "....now on to my mom's (laundry). I don't know why I have to do it, I mean, she can do her own laundry, can't she?" Also, when she says, "I'm almost done (with chores) so I'm not crying". And at the end, she says, "Bye, fans!" She is a character!

Did you know that Simeon hates toothpaste? He can't even stand the smell. We were reading books and Glory sat down with a toothbrush in her mouth and he told her to go away because he didn't like the smell.

Did you know that Matt has worked hard and lost almost 50 pounds?!? Yay Matt! We are proud of you and you look GOOD!

Did you know I'm having a really hard time keeping up with housework? I'm too busy!

Did you know Brooklyn did a really good job on writing a paper for school?

Did you know Genesis is not even 12 and already looks like a teenager? (with the attitude to match!)

new addition to our family

NO, it's not what you think!! Genesis has been begging me to post these pictures. So I finally have some time to do it. It's challenging to keep up with this stuff when you have coupons to clip and organize, a house to clean and organize, clothes to wash and fold, kids to entertain and take care of, school parent group to (sort of) run, plants to water, an acre of grass to mow, a rental to clean, school shopping to do, dentist/doctor appointments to go to, canning.......I'm positive there is more, but you get the general idea! Anyway, this is our newest addition to our family. We decided it was time for Gen to have some more responsibility and get a pet. She has been begging us for a pet for awhile, but when we found her petting a rat from a nest in our dump pile.....we decided it was time. :0) Genesis is definitely a pet lover and we thought it would be better to have a cat, than to have wild rats being secretly taken care of. Her name is Ziggy and she is about 4 or 5 months old. In these pictures she is about 2 or 3. She is an indoor cat and everybody loves her! (Even Matt! sshh! don't tell!)

Well, that's all the time I have right now.....gotta run!

WE ARE BACK IN!!!!

We moved into the house on Monday! Yippee!! Now it is just a mess untill we organize everything again. I love my floors and my kitchen. Matt did good! I actually want to have dinner parties now. :0) We moved in while the girls were at school and when they got home, they were sooooo excited. Genesis didn't stop smiling for about 10 minutes. She kept saying, "It's so pretty!" It's funny what you take for granted when you have it all the time. This house seems so huge now. Before it seemed a little on the smallish side.

The other day Simeon got mad at me and he yelled, "I hate you!" I told him that wasn't nice and we don't say stuff like that. About an hour later, he was snuggling with me and he said, "I don't hate you. Hating is.......not better."

It is interesting to me that an hour later, he was thinking about what he said and wanted to apologize for it. What a sweet little man. He is also polite. He asked for a cookie at my mom's house and she said he could have it, but they weren't very good. He took a tiny bite and then quietly handed the cookie back to me. I later noticed that he was acting like he had something in his mouth. It was the cookie......he didn't want to swallow it, but he never said anything about it. He eventually spit it out when my mom asked him if he needed to.

Who needs a swimming pool or a lake when you have this?

Did you know we have a new kid in the neighborhood?? The kids are sooo excited! Well, Brooklyn and Glory are. He's too young for Genesis to play with.

Did you know there was a bee that continued to try to get in the rental through the closed window?? Every day, I'd hear a thunk....thunk.....thunk.

Did you know I'm really nervous about the upcoming school year??? What was I thinking when I said yes to the PTTE co-presidency nomination???!!! I'm not a leader! (sigh) If only we had moved instead of fixing up the flood damage. :0)

Did you know Genesis won the President's Silver Award for Academics?? Yay Genesis!!

protection and relaxation

Simeon asked me today if I "betect" (protect) myself. I told him daddy does. Then he says to me, "I betect you too." How sweet is that??!! He also told me today that I was a good mom. I was nice, not mean. YES!! I tell you, that boy knows how to make a girls day! Should I be worried??

Brooklyn told me today that she had a great idea. "When we move back into the house, we should have a day of relaxation and watching TV." I think everybody is ready for some space and to NOT work all day long. I am ready for a MONTH of relaxation!! Do you think that will EVER happen??? A few more weeks.....that's all.......I can stand a few more weeks!!!

Brooklyn had a bit of a rough day today. She ran in to a few challenges. As we were talking she told me that it feels like she is in a maze and can't get out. Life is like that sometimes. We just gotta keep on going to find our way to the other side. I thought her analogy was a pretty good one, especially for a nine year old to come up with!

weekday love and house update

Here are some more pictures of the progress we have made on the house.

kitchen gutted


laundry room gutted


laundry room with new back door

new back door and siding

sheetrock in laundry room

repairing sheetrock in kitchen

the mess after we scraped off the popcorn ceiling

front room, newly textured and painted walls, starting to lay floor

kitchen (notice the brand new lights....Yeah!!)

new floor being laid in dining room

new floor in kitchen, new cabinets and appliances being configured

This is a conversation Sim and I had at the dinner table the other day.

S: On Thursday, I like Daddy.

Me: Really? What about Wednesday?

S: I like you and Daddy.

Me: What about Tuesday?

S: I like Rob and Colleen and Matt (friends of ours) and Genesis, Brooklyn, and Glory

Me: What about Monday?

S: I like Matt first.

So apparently, everyone has an assigned day for Simeon's love. Except Matt Smith gets two days........lucky!

Did you know that boys have an extra challenge when they are learning to pull up their underwear on their own? (this is what I hear almost every time Simeon goes potty by himself....."Mom! My penis!" He gets his underwear twisted and it falls out the leg hole. I laugh every time!)

Did you know that Simeon almost got his head chopped off twice, when we were configuring cabinet formations? ( OK, not really, but he was playing in a cabinet that was laying on its side and the door fell on his head. Then he was playing in the dishwasher and it tipped and landed on his head. Poor baby!!)

Did you know that Genesis overextended her knee and it has been bothering her for a week? ( It doesn't help the healing process, when she plays hard outside on the trampoline!

Did you know that I don't think I've gotten a full nights rest since we started fixing up the house?

OK, either I am really retarded or this posting program is messed up. It's not doing what I want it to do!!! ARGH!!!

success!!

So Simeon has been wearing (clean/dry) underwear for 3 days now. Only one accident when he didn't pull his pants down far enough and they got wet while going in the toilet. Yay!!! So great to have no more diapers! This, by far, has been the best potty training experience in my life! I think I finally learned how to potty train......you'd think it would take less time than 9 years to learn. But alas, I (apparently) am a slow learner. We went from a little boy who couldn't care less about going in the toilet and blatantly refused to go, to a little man who hops around when I am taking too long to help him, saying, "MOM! I'm gonna pee in my pants!" literally overnight. He even stayed dry throuout the night twice in the 3 nights he was in underwear. So, how did I do it, you ask? I waited until I was positive he could do it (he is 3 after all. I mean he's practically an old man now!), and I started telling him several weeks ago (maybe a month or two) every time I changed a diaper, that when we used up the diapers he had to start wearing underwear and going in the toilet. He hated this and always told me no. He even told me a few times that he wanted to be a baby. (I tried the "you-don't-want-to-be-a-baby-and-only-babies-wear-diapers" thing....didn't work for my stubborn child). So, when we used the last of the diapers (I have an unopened package of pull-ups.....anyone want them?) he went to underwear. The first day.....not so great! He went in his underwear every time. I think we went through every pair he has. I threatened time out and made him "pracitce" going in the toilet. Nothing worked. I began to despair and wonder why I even attempted to do this when we have so many other things going on! It brought back a horrible memory of small, sweet Genesis hiding under the table at my in-laws house because she was pooping her pants and me turning into the devil and screaming at her for doing it. Then being totally humiliated that everyone in the house heard my "mother-of-the-year" moment. Potty-training does not bring out the best in me. The second day, we got new treats and that worked like a charm. He got to pick them out and immediately wanted to go in the toilet when we got home and ever since. Thank you Winco for having gummy army men and jet fighters!!

My little man is growing up.....he's a big boy now! (sigh) Hallelujah!!!

Did you know the kids helped remove the old cabinets and flooring? (Genesis is a praying mantis, in case you couldn't tell.)

Did you know I wasn't watching my kids at the store and Simeon fell off some chairs he was playing on and smacked his head on a shopping cart? (Yep....mother of the year...right here!)

Did you know I read NieNie and cry almost every time?

Did you know Brooklyn likes to give massages?

tool in the Master's hand

It is a humbling experience when you find out you have been a tool in the Master's hand. That is the experience I had today. I couldn't do my grocery shopping this afternoon, because I was waiting around for a plumber. So I went after the kids were in bed. I planned on making several stops, one of them being Winco. The Winco kept getting pushed back for one reason or another. I finally made it, started my shopping and realized I needed to use the restroom. So I trucked all the way to the bathrooms and then started my shopping again. As I picked out apples, I noticed someone across the produce section that I knew. What are the chances this person would do her late night shopping on the same night and in the same section of the store as me??!! So I delicately called across the produce (ok, it wasn't really delicate.....more like "HEY! YOU!"). After a few yells, she finally looked over and made her way over to me. We started talking and I mentioned she looked tired, and then realized it was more like upset. So I asked her if she was ok. She said no, then proceeded to tell me about her struggles. In the midst of her story, she told me she didn't know who to talk to or if she should even talk to anyone. So as she walked into Winco, she prayed and asked Heavenly Father to send someone to talk to if she was indeed supposed to talk. Lo and behold.......I came a-yellin'! It was interesting for me to look back and see His hand in my evening so I would be there for her. Quite humbling and it made me realize that He is in control....which probably is best. I am glad I was there for her, and I hope her talking about it helped some. I cried on the way home for her and her family and in gratitude for God trusting me enough to help her out.

conundrum

Why is it that good for you stuff is more expensive than the bad for you stuff?? It makes no sense to me. If you have less processing and more natural ingredients, then it should be cheaper, right?! I don't get it!! It's a conspiracy.....a conspiracy, I say! I want to eat healthier, but it gets so expensive! Especially for a family of 6! I really wish we had the time and money for a garden this year. Unfortunately all of our resources are going to home-fixin' and by the time we are back in our house, the growing season will be already started. (sigh) I guess there is always next year. You can only do what you can do, right? I am ready for "real life" to start again. I'm tired of this "limbo life" we are living. I always thought the limbo was supposed to be fun! We are slowly progressing on our house(and I mean s-l-o-w-l-y). But here are some pics of the house shortly after the flood. :0) I will post progressing pictures and then an "after" picture. I know you want to see!



Did you know:
-that my 11 yr old is catching the eyes of some of the young men from our ward???? (How can that be?? She's just a baby!)
-that Brooklyn likes to wash her face "like an Indian" (cupping water with her hands and bringing it up to her face.....I'm not sure how/why she thinks this is how the Indians wash their faces.)
-that my sweet faced Glory has a potty mouth and likes to talk about bodily functions??
-that Simeon tried to throw a big rock today and it landed on his head? (Hmmm....sounds like his mom when she was younger.)
-that I am officially the Co-President for the Orting Partnership School PTTE?(I just thought I was busy before!)

ears

We have been dealing with ear problems for YEARS now. Genesis had her first ear infection when she was 2 and it has been an up hill battle ever since, with ear drum ruptures galore and hearing problems. She has had tubes in her ears several times and the last time her eardrum was so bad, they had to put a special tube in that was shaped funny. She has had every antibiotic known to man. She had her tonsils and adenoids (whatever those are) removed. She's had allergy testing and takes 2 kinds of allergy meds now.

Doctor's appointment yesterday......

The nurse giving the tympanogram(?) test had to redo it several times. I thought, "Oh great! Here we go again!" Then they took Genesis in one last time to do it again. Ugghh!! Then the doctor came in and looked at the results and looked in Genesis's ears and asked a few questions and then the most wonderful words ever heard in a doctor's office were spoken.......

"I don't need to see you again, unless there is a problem."

I heard heavenly choirs singing and "hallelujah's" at this moment!! Oh joy of joys!
Now if I can just remember to keep up with her allergy meds, so we don't have problems.....


Did you know that we have a sleepwalker? Her name begins with "G".
Did you know that I won free pies from Shari's for a year? I have 8 months left.
Did you know that we found a frog and the girls were excited, but Simeon was wary?

armadillos and pokemon

We were working on the house and Simeon walks over and says, "Mom! Look! Armadillos!" Armadillos??? I've never seen any armadillos in Washington.....or so I thought! I looked over and he had an old ball in his hand and on top of the ball were 2 roly-poly bugs (a.k.a. potato bugs). I guess they do sort of look like armadillos with their armor-like bodies. It made me laugh! HE IS SO DANG CUTE!!

And now you are treated to a music video

Did you know that my kids cleaned up the house, bathed and put themselves to bed while Matt and I worked late on the house?

Did you know that there is a bird that sings outside our window at 1am?

Did you know I messed up my ankles/heels playing bball?

spa night

........more like salon night, but we started calling it "spa night" and it has stuck. We (the girls and I) take a night and put makeup on each other and do our hair and nails. They love it!! We do before and after pictures. I let the girls put makeup on me and do my hair. They are getting good at the makeup thing. I figured I should start teaching them early so they don't end up looking like a clown when they become "of age". They will know how to enhance their natural beauty. Have you ever seen someone without their makeup on and not recognized them because they looked so different? I don't want that, so we are training early. Plus it's fun for them and therapeutic for me, since I have an abhorrence of being a "typical girl".

I tried to get Glory to smile for real, instead of a fake "picture smile". This was the result.

Genesis did Brooklyn's hair and makeup. They were so excited to use a curling iron.

Genesis's stylist was Brooklyn.

They all got to pick their colors. Sometimes I think they have an idea of what is "pretty" and look past the colors that go well with their complexion and coloring. But that's why we are doing these little spa nights. Well.....one of the reasons. That and they think I'm the best mom EVER!