happy birthday

Another birthday has come and gone for our household. Glory is now 8 and I'm not sure how that happened. Her birthday was a few weeks ago and it too was her party year. She had a few friends over. They played and made flower headbands. Glory chose to have doughnuts instead of cake this year (which was less work for me). She was so excited to get her very own scriptures and asked me several times if she could read them. I thought that was cute.....as if I would say no to reading scriptures. :0) She is very excited for her baptism on Saturday and we are so proud of her for making that choice. She has grown into a young lady and I find myself impressed with her sense of responsibility and thoughfulness. She is tender hearted and still loves to mother. Her favorite color is pink and she likes penguins. She has grown a fondness for reading and her skills have improved quite a bit. She helps me to remember to be patient and kind. I love her so much and am so blessed to be a part of her life! Happy Birthday my sweet Glory!!

matt.....

This is how I feel (except for the "beer" part). It applies to my kids too.

I love you guys!!

things I hear almost daily

This is what I hear at random times throughout the day from my little man.....

I will never stop loving you.

I know you will never stop loving me.

You will never stop being pretty.

You're the best mom.

I love you.

I have a secret. (he gives me a kiss or whispers in my ear I love you.)

The other day, I got mad at him for doing something. (I can't remember what anymore) He was upset, crying and apologizing. As I angrily stomped out of his room like a 2 year old, I heard this in a sobbing kind of voice, "You're the best mom!" Who can stay mad after that??!!

I'm not sure, but I think he may have already learned the fine art of manipulating women. And DANG IT! It works. I wonder how he already has this skill??? He definitely didn't learn it from his dad. :0)

happy birthday

Yesterday was Genesis' birthday. She is now 12! Yes, I know. Weird! This was her party year and I think it's safe to say, she had fun. She invited her 3 best friends over. They had tons of sugary treats and played Just Dance (Wii game). My friend Gwen came over and taught the girls how to do their hair and makeup. (This is the age Genesis gets to start wearing makeup. One item is added each year from now on. She chose eyeshadow this year.) She is growing up too fast and I'm not nearly old enough to have a 12 year old!! I think she is excited to be 12 and to start a new stage in life. Me......not so much. I get a bit of an anxiety attack when I think about her growing up in this world of too much sex, drugs, and rock 'n' roll. :0) But seriously, I do kinda freak out a little in my head when I think of her liking boys and going to the mall by herself and being alone out in the world unprotected. There are too many things out there to harm my baby. Being in the Young Women's program at church has given me a perspective on things that I didn't have before. The youth today have way too much to deal with! But, I digress. I'm not posting this to rant and rave about the horrible state of the world. My baby had a birthday and I wanted to wish her a Happy Birthday! She has grown into a beautiful and responsible young lady. She loves her siblings and her parents (even tho we drive her crazy sometimes). She likes to have fun and tease, and she still has a strong desire to do right. Her love of reading has not diminished and for that I am grateful. She constantly has an open book by her side and we like to share good books we have read. I can't imagine my life without her and am grateful and so very blessed to be her mother! Happy Birthday, Genesis!!

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.