Girl's trip

A few (ten) of us try to get together at least once a year and have a great time. We call it scrapbooking, but we usually don't get too much of that done. This year we kept it close. It worked out well in that a few people's circumstances changed and they wouldn't have been able to come at all had we needed to travel far. One gal was not able to come because she is expecting her first boy but child number three in a few weeks and her doctor said she can not fly to get here. Another gal flew in from Arizona, it was great to see her too. I always get so caught up in my life I forget other people are living their lives too. We missed one friend but another came for dinner it was a nice addition.

A little about us is that we have had no fewer than three babies on each trip. This year there was five (including the "newbie") and there was one preggo mama with us this trip.

Anyways, we had a great time. I got to stay Wednesday through Friday. Acquiring a whopping 6 hours of interrupted sleep. I brought Lauren so she woke up twice in that three hours each night. I am not sure how much I can share but it was lots of fun, and a nice break. I look forward to a trip next year.

She makes me proud.

This isn't my story to tell but I will share it anyways since it is about my daughter. Jeremy had this week off and spent a couple hours alone on a father child date. This is about Jeremy and Miranda's date. They went to McDonald's for lunch (that in itself is amazing since he doesn't like it at all, the sacrifice for kids). As they were standing in line there was a young mom and daughter behind them speaking in Spanish. Jeremy speaks Spanish so he could understand what they were saying. The little girl wanted a happy meal so she could get the toy. The mom basically said we are only getting the food. It was a My Scene toy. So Jeremy asked Miranda to think about something. He said the little girl would really like the toy so if Miranda wanted to she could give it to her. I think more was said but I don't want to embellish the generosity of my little girl. As they were leaving Jeremy asked Miranda if she thought about what he had said, she said yes and she wanted to give the toy to the little girl. She walked up to her by herself and handed over her new toy. She walked out holding Jeremy's hand. She said it felt good to make that little girl happy.

When Jeremy told me about it I asked if Miranda was sad after she gave up her toy. He said no, she was too happy that she made this other little girl happy. I am proud of her for being so generous. I can learn alot from my children and this is one of those times. Not only that but it shows that we are doing a good job raising our kids, we all need a little reminder every once in a while.

Halloween 2007

We have this phenomenal group of friends that we hang out with once a month for "dinner group". One couple will host and provide the entree and the rest of the couples will bring the rest potluck style. We rotate the job of host every month. Jeremy wanted to do Halloween so we threw a Halloween party. It was a ton of fun. We ate Chicken Cordon Blue Mummies, Mummy toes, Graveyard Dirt, spider web cookies and other equally yummy dishes. Following that we had a pumpkin carving contest. In while our guests were armed with carving knives in walks a police officer...well she's actually my sister-in-law. It turns out I have some shady friends that she was following...just kidding. She had to work so she wasn't able to come but wanted to stop by and say hi. We have some super talented and creative friends. A tarantula pumpkin won first place, followed by a pumpkin with the A's emblem (there were lots of fans there), and third prize was a more traditional pumpkin face. Although all the pumpkins were great. After that we did a mummy wrap. The first person to wrap a whole roll of toilet paper around their "mummy" wins. One guest fell to the floor! Lastly we gave out ribbons for costumes. It was a lot of fun. Here is a slide show of the evening.

As always I want to brag for a moment. We have a harder time finding sitters on the weekends, and especially one when we are home. So we decided to keep the kids here and have them stay in their room under the supervision of Miranda (age 6.5). We did bribe them with a small gift if they were good. With all the commotion and fun they stayed in their room, and played so well together. Miranda read them stories, and they played a card game or two. I still feel a little guilty "locking" the kids up while we had a party. They were awesome, I have the BEST kids ever!

NEWS Worthy!

Channel 2 News was doing a story about local teachers who are voicing the fact that they are doing their job with out getting the deserved benefits. Having married into a family of teachers I feel for them. Their job is an important and often thankless one. I am grateful for the teachers who have taught Miranda so far. She has been blessed to have such a great foundation to her many years of required education.

Onto the point...I am sure the news crew scoured the district classrooms looking for the best teacher, the cutest class, and smartest group! The search was over when they came across the Scholar Class. Here is the news clip. I hope you enjoy.

I told Miranda that she would now have to wear dark sunglasses and a baseball cap whenever she went anywhere. People would constantly stop her for her autograph, since she was on the news she will be famous. I wasn't sure if she took me seriously until the next day when she said in a surprised manner "Oh I forgot to wear my shades and hat and NOBODY asked for autograph!" Maybe for the adorable little cuties that got closeups it may be another story!

Thanks to a Technological Savy brother in law who could record and edit this for me!

30 Flirty & Thriving.

I am not quite the big 3-0 yet but real soon. Friday night some super amazing ladies threw an awesome suprise dinner party for me and two other good friends who are slightly older than me! ha-ha! We ate a great dinner and did a birthday girl roast! Each guest brought a gift for the birthday girls. Thirty of something, then they got to make us blush by showering us with deserved ...or undeserved compliments. We then played a few party games. Pin the lips on Timmy (Tim McGraw to all you who don't know Teri). Then the real fun began as we attempted to smash a pinata with the GOOD candy. First off watching April P. try to re-hang the wet pinata back up was comical, luckily no-one was hurt. A few of us gave a reat effort, but the fun continued as I was swinging and the sprinklers went on, holy moly they were impressed that I could move that fast! Then when April P. swung the pinata was scared to make contact but just threw candy at her. Little did we know that sweet Liz packs a wicked hit! She made contact with her first swing but NAILED it with the back swing. It was obliterated. I think the candy landed about 15-20 feet away. After laughing so hard we had a cookie cake and some ice cream. They had a picture of us on a TIME magazine cover framed. All the attendees signed the frame with more wonderful comments. You girls are the best. Thanks for making this a great night.

Once I get the pictures I will post them. I am sure the pictures will not do the evening justice. It was a blast!

Wanted: Potty Trainer

Potty training is the hardest thing as a parent of young kids. I loathe it! I am not good at it. Please remind me that most kids do not enter school in pull-ups. I wish there there was a magic remedy to it. Then if it's not hard enough potty training one try doing two. Two that are different. This is getting complicated. I keep telling myself once I get passed this it is smooth sailing. OK enough whining the truth is I am not trying too hard or being too consistent (which is my nature...lack of consistency). I just wish you could sit down a two and a half year old and say: "Don't let anything come out below the waist unless you are sitting on a toilet" they would respond in a robotic a-firm and that would be that. Well here is to parenting in la-la land!

Remember My Name

It is a requirement that you post these rules before you give the facts.

1. You must list one fact that is somehow relevant to your life for each letter of your middle name.
2. If you don't have a middle name, use the middle name you would have liked to have had.
3 At the end of your post, you need to choose one person for each letter of your middle name to tag.

D-Dynamite...I wish this implied my looks but it is for my temper, once the fuse is lit WATCH OUT!
I-Inquisitive, I like to know lots of stuff about people so I as lots of questions.
O-Outgoing, this is a new thing for me, so if you've known me a while you may be surprised
N-never uses the phone, well I do sometimes but I use e-mail most frequently and as often as possible avoiding the phone.
N-Nice, well I try to be.
E-exuberant, well I am not sure it fits but I think it is a cool word.

I Tag:
April P.
Hayley
Teri
Brittany
Tammy
Alice (Hello Zurich!)

Haylie and Hannah or is it Hannah and Haylie?

It is so fun having twins. I still have to remind myself that is what I have a set of imaginative, adventurous, messy, intelligent, twin girls. It is so fun to stare at them and compare. Anyways one of the fun little games we like to play is: "Are you Haylie? or Are you Hannah?" Hannah quickly caught on and would get it correct. Haylie, whom I think is the brains behind the operation!!!, started like this:
Me: What's your name?
Haylie: ME!
Me: What's her name?
Haylie: Hannah
Me: Her name is Hannah is your name Haylie?
Haylie: ?
Me: What's your name?
Haylie: ME!
She just didn't get it.

Then went to this:
Me: What's your name?
Haylie: Hannah
Me: You are Hannah?
Haylie: Yah! hee-hee I Hannah!

Now it is this:

Lauren's rockin' and a rollin'

Lauren is so funny. She is starting to roll over. She still has problems with her arm getting stuck. If you remember the baby dolls that you laid down and their eyes closed and you lift them up and they open...well Lauren is similar. If she is on her back she is happy flip her over on her tummy and she cries. It is like her tummy has a little button on it. This little button is highly inconvenient for me. My baby used to sleep through the night since she was less than a month old (I would say like two weeks but you know the first month is a blur anyways). Now she rolls over on her side which she will sleep very peaceful that way. The force of gravity then helps her roll the rest of the way and wakes her up. Well it is either that or she could be teething. As my friends and I have all figured out teething is the cause of all unhappiness in babies!

In true ME fashion here is a little clip of my baby going from happy to ...uh-hmm, upset with a push of the aforementioned tummy button.

Logan's Owie

A story about every mother's nightmare...I guess after the spider in my purse what could possibly worse right? As always I am completely and utterly over dramatic! So as usual I am at the computer and the middle of the Jacobs' Sandwich (Miranda and Lauren are the bread, Haylie, Hannah and Logan are everything else) is outside playing. I hear Logan crying and mosey to the door to see what's going on. Hannah says something like "Gokie, hurt" interpretation "Logan is hurt, Mommy come quick and make it all better." So then Logan comes trailing behind with both hands over his nose covering part of his eyes. First thought "Please don't take you hand down I am not sure I can handle blood in large quantities!" But having several years of maternal experience, I quickly decided to give my self a pep talk "suck it up" I told myself, "it's just thick red liquid." So I finally get the courage to look at it and "'tis but a flesh wound...but my goodness was there a lot of gooey snot coming out of his nose!" I couldn't help but try not to laugh at my son while he is in pain. Truly I was relieved because what I pictured was much worse. It turns out my son was running and slipped on some rocks and skinned his nose up pretty good and a little bit on his forehead.

He is still completely handsome. Now he just looks tough too! Just to let you know his injury did not stop him from continuing to be 100% BOY!

Looking for a dinner Menu...

A lot of people ask about meal planning. So I though I would post my dinner menu for the period. We do our shopping bi-weekly coinciding with paydays. So I make a list of dinners starting Friday of week one thru Thursdays of week 2. I get bored of cooking the same things so I try new things often.

Jacobs Menu
Friday, September 28 Ravioli (Costco)/Texas Garlic Toast/Veggies
Saturday - Chicken Gumbo/Veggies
Sunday - Mom Jacobs Cooks Dinner (we alternate weeks)
Monday - Pancakes, Sausage and Eggs (with yummy Boysenberry Syrup)
Tuesday - Mexican Lasagna*/Green Salad
Wednesday -Heather's Mom's Chicken/Red Potato Casserole/Veggies
Thursday - BBQ Pork Tenderloin**/Grilled Potatoes/Grilled Zucchini
Friday - Pesto Cheesy Chicken Roll-ups/Rice/Veggies
Saturday - Chicken 'n' Biscuits/Applesauce
Sunday - Orange Chicken(Frozen Aisle in Costco)/Rice/Veggies
Monday - Pigs in a Blanket/Tater Tots/Peaches
Tuesday - Chicken Poppy Casserole/Veggies/Applesauce
Wednesday - Chinese Casserole/Veggies/Fruit
Thursday - Meatloaf/Baked Potatoes/Veggies

*I am going to cook it with corn tortillas and use Mexican style kidney beans instead of refried beans.
**When I went to purchase the tenderloins at Costco they didn't have them so I got Pork Country Ribs instead. I am just going to marinate them with my favorite sauce and throw it on the grill. No dishes wah-la!

So this is my plan in a nutshell. Just a few things I keep in mind when planning a menu. Mondays are crazy so I try to keep the meal planned to a 15 minute prep, nothing too hard or that cooks too long. If Jer is not going to be home or we are going on a date I cook an easy meal, such as mac n cheese or fish sticks. Although this is a very chicken filled menu I usually try to do 2-3 chicken meals and 2-3 beef meals per week and then maybe a ham or pork meal, and a breakfast meal. Sometimes things come up so I get to carry over meals to the net meal period.

I love my husband!

I didn't ask permission to post this at first but I did later. Jeremy is an amazing hubby. I think people don't realize how goofy he really is. I hope you enjoy it!

Things that make you go HMMM!?

Yesterday the kids and I went to get frozen yogurt with my sister-in-law and her family. We were at the park in downtown playing and were surrounded by lots of not so pleasant activities. Particularly two men yelling back and forth at eachother across the park then doing push-ups. There were a few other things happening but I don't want you to think we live in the ghetto! It is a pretty great place.

As we were leaving Logan says "Mommy why are there lots of bad people in the world?" I tried to explain that some people just make bad choices and others are born...(I had a hard time saying this part so hopefully it came out OK)...and their minds don't work right so they seem bad but it it not their fault. Logan in turn says, "me too sometimes." I was not sure what he meant and then he said sometimes his mind is bad like when he treats Haylie and Hannah bad. I had no idea how much my little ones do notice their surroundings. It is sad that they come in contact with things that I would rather they didn't but at the same time I am so grateful I can experience it with them and we can talk about it so it makes sense...as much as it can anyways.

A quick funny!

We were walking home from dropping Miranda off at school and this person was pusing some computer monitors to the school. They happened to be Mac monitors. Logan says "Mom look at those coolputers." I though it was soo funny since they are pretty cool looking. Then as the conversation progressed I realized he calls all computers "puters" so he was saying "cool puter."

Yesterday logan was playing out in his favorite "back to nature" location...our backyard. He came in crying saying a bug bit him. We have seen black "weedows" as he calls them so my first question was "is it a spider?" (that would be my luck see preious post on spiders!) He said no and tried, through MAJOR tears and drool, to explain what kind of bug it was that bit him. After he calmed down he said "it was a scorpi! A scorpi bit me." To those of you who are not familiar with Little Einsteins, there is a video The Legend of the Golden Pyraimid that has a scorpion in it Logan keeps hearing scorpi. He pointed out the bug later and it was a pincher bug.

FOUR months ALREADY!

Ms. Lauren is four months today!

We went to her doctor's appointment and I have a long skinny kid. She weighs 13lbs 8oz and is 26" long. The doctor seemed a little concerned but she says Lauren must be doing OK. They will definitely be interested in her weight the next time. She is in the 99th percentile for height but is in the 49th percentile for her weight compared to babies in her age range. For her length though, she is in about the 5th percentile. She also got three shots and an oral vaccination. Other than that she is completely healthy!

In honor of her turning four months I will now commence with the bragging session. Lauren is a dream baby. She sleeps through the night. She talks and squeals with glee. She just started rolling over from back to tummy. She scootches all over the place. This little girl is so sweet I love her very much. She is the perfect calm after the storm I call the twinados! Lucky for the cuties that came before her are so darn cute with equally wonderful personalities...well...keep in mind their ages!

WHY ME!!!!

This real life story is dedicated to Hayley and Brittany, my spider killing friends, where were you when I needed you!!!

So I started the day similar to that of the last few weeks. I got up showered, read...I got Lauren up and she spit up a very pathetic little bit so I went to get the wipes to wipe her up. As I reached for them my arm went through a spider web. Ewww. So I turned on the hood light above the stove so I could see better. There was a spider web from my hood fan down to my purse. As I looked inside there was a huge web, like there was no chance I was reaching in there. By the looks of it you would think that I hadn't moved my purse in a long time, but I just put it there around 8:30 last night and this was about 7:00 this morning. So I got our cob web catcher and cleaned up as best I could without touching my purse. I am so glad the Lord gave me at least one boy.

So bravely I asked Logan to look in my purse and pull everything out slowly. He did it with no problems. Finally I hear him say "There is a big Spider in here" I was not about to place my face over a spider that could spin a major web so quickly. (On a side thought, now I understand how Charlotte could do those fancy webs over night. Spiders are talented! I should have checked for a message.) So I reached over and took a picture to make sure Logan wasn't teasing me (I know he is 4 how would he know how to tease me at my weakest moment). It looks fake but let me tell you it is REAL. So I picked up my purse and threw it outside. The contents spilled out but no spider. So I picked it up and through it again. (This, ladies, is why you should never spend too much money on a purse!) Finally it came out. Here is the kicker...are you ready...it was already dead. I didn't want to chance it so I grabbed Hannah's Flip Flip (or sip-slop as she says) and smooshed it again. So my guess is that I killed a dead mommy spider who just hatched millions of baby spiders. Thank you Charlotte's Web for educating me on this matter.

And to add to this lovely post this is what was happening on the wall right in front of me:

This picture is for Logan who gets a nickle for saving my life!

Some of the pictures are hard to see, if you double click on them it will show you a big preview!

Take 5

I was tagged by Rebecca. Thanks, I've never been tagged before!

5 Things I Was Doing 10 Years Ago
1. Working at IHOP.
2. Waiting for my boyfriend to get home from boot camp.
3. Taking classes at DVC.
4. Writing letters to mt future hubby while on his mission.
5. Driving my first new car, a Saturn Sports Coupe, the year before the three door.

5 Things on my to-do list today
1. Find sitter for Sat.
2. Pull more weeds.
3. Finish Saturdays Laundry.
4. Go to friends house for dinner (...Thanks!)
5. Go to movies and see Becoming Jane...finally!

5 Snacks I enjoy
1. Ice Cream
2. Sour Cream and Cheddar Chips
3. Popcorn
4. Cheese and Crackers
5. Soft and Chewy Oatmeal Raisin Cookies

5 Songs I know the lyrics to
1. Greatest Love of All-Whitney Houston
2. The Right Stuff-New Kids on the Block (or NKOTB for you youngin's ha-ha)
3. Just Another Day in Paradise-Phil Vassar (My Theme Song!)
4. Viktor Vito & Freddie Vasco - Laurie Berkner
5. I could Not Ask for More - Sara Evans

5 Things I would do if I were a millionaire
1. Go to Hawaii.
2. Build my Dream Home.
3. Invest in BYU to make sure my kids get accepted!!!!
4. Buy a vacation home in the mountains.
5. Buy my hubby the action figures he is missing.

5 Bad Habits
1. Staying too long...on the computer, at someone's house...
2. Yelling.
3. Procrastinating.
4. Baking when I want to loose weight.
5. Over planning.

5 Things I'd never wear again
1. Hammer Pants.
2. 80's Bangs.
3. My wedding Dress...besides it would never fit again!
4. A bikini, O.K. I only wore one twice!
5. Keds. (I looked for a picture and they actually have cute ones now!)

5 Favorite toys
1. Computer
2. My Stampin' Stuff
3. My Scrapbook Stuff
4. Camera
5. My new favorite is the weed puller!

Now for Tagging:
1. Hayley
2. Brittany
3. Teri
4. Hunter's Mom (or Dad)
5. April P.
Just copy and paste into a new post.

Dentist anyone?

While Hannah was sleeping we were playing dentist. At school today Miranda lost her second tooth this week! Her third was barely hanging on. Here is a video of her 3rd tooth being pulled. WARNING: This clip contains blood, preview before showing the youngsters!

Hannah is too...tired!

We got home from a fun day at the park. I didn't think they played too hard but apperantly Hannah was exhausted!

The SUITE life of Lauren

OK I am sure the McKissick family was a little dissappointed to waste a Luxury sweet I mean Suite ticket on me and Lauren, but once in a lifetime, it was great! The McKissick Family gets a Luxury Suite once or twice a year and had two extra tickets. So my friend Brittany and her hubby were offered two tickets to the A's game on Saturday. She thought I needed a break from my kiddos and invited me to go with her. Lauren tagged along. I am not the biggest baseball fan by anymeans but I do enjoy going to the games, and this is totally the way to go. Lauren is definitely finding out what the finer things in life really are and the A's just didn't cut it this game, but the company was great. We didn't bring the A's any luck they lost 6-1 to the Detroit Tigers. Lauren enjoyed her chum Sophie but missed her other good chum Alexandra. Here are a few pictures. Stay til the end to watch Jeff dance...or not!

Logan Swimming at Contra Loma

This is Logan showing us how he swims. If you ask him he will tell you he was swimming like a frog. It was way cute, I hope the video does it justice!

It's a kid kill bug world!

Yesterday I decided it was HIGH time to pull some weeds. I decided since some were taller than our fence we must do something about it. Unless you can recommend a weed fairy?! I took a few pictures, but the fun part was watching all the ticked off bugs. Since I ruined their home they were out in droves. The first bug they came across was a grasshopper, this was pre-camera. I am sorry to say it will never see its family again. I am not exactly sure how it got contorted in such-a way. There were lots of spiders, to many of you this may come as a surprise, I didn't scream. Only once did I jump and tell the spider "you I can't handle" and kicked him back into the dirt. (He may have been another casualty of gardening!) It was fun watching the kids enjoy the bugs. I got a few pictures of Logan and Hannah holding them. They found this green caterpillar. They finally let it go back to its family that is what the three are looking at.As I was pulling weeds and sweating I mean glistening, I realized the benefits of gardening. It is therapeutic cause you get to beat the tar out of something, it is exercise, because of all the bending, pulling and standing up, my legs are feeling it today, and I can see why so many gospel messages are tied to gardening. As annoying and unsightly as weeds are, they teach alot of gospel principals! It definitely made me realize the longer you don't weed the worse things get. We all have weaknesses but we have to work on them when they are small or they will get huge and it takes more work and sweat to get rid of them!

Faster than the speed of Blogging

Life is cruisin' so fast my blog can't keep up. I have lots of pictures, slide shows I want to create but I don't have time and quotes I want to share. I just have other non-computer things to take care of. Anyways the real post is about Miranda. We are loosing her one piece at a time. Actually just one tooth at a time. Yesterday while family was here we pulled her front tooth out. The second will come any day. Here is a picture of her awkward smile and a photo of the most recent tooth being pulled out!

I'm BAAACK!

Well now that school is back in I am a little more...or less focused and can blog about the funnier things in life. Summer is fun but it is busy and draining!

This funny is about Logan. We were talking and I was admiring his BYU hat. I asked what it was and he answered. Jeremy and I have decided to plant the seed early that all our kids WILL go to BYU (did you feel the Jedi Force behind that?). So I asked him if he was going to go to BYU his response was "I think I might run out of gas!" The way these kids' minds work is fascinating.

Miranda is so PROPER!

Miranda has survived her first week of 1st grade. Her teacher is a dream come true, she is a perfect mix of strict but fun. We are two for two as far as great teachers are concerned. Miranda has already had a memorable moment. At school for behavior they get cards. Everyone starts on green, if they get a warning it goes to yellow, blue they get a "time-out" or benched as she put it, then red which means they are getting a note home, I think there is another color...well Miranda came home on Monday very excited that "half the class got flipped to yellow" and she was still green. Then Wednesday rolled around. The schedule is a little different and I packed her a regular lunch. Turns out my slow eater ran out of time. She was not in line when lunch was over so her card got flipped to yellow. When she told me, she seemed OK with it, I was surprised. She later told me there is no crying when your card gets flipped, but she stopped it in her throat, all you girls know what that feels like. I asked what we could do about it, was she talking too much or is there a bell, etc. So Thursday was open house. The freakishly concerned parent with my serious "behavior" problem asked the teacher about the schedule difference to make sure it doesn't happen again. Miranda explained that she was still eating. So her kind (and I REALLY like her so I mean it) teacher said well you will have to shove your food in your mouth. Miranda responded dignified "I don't shove food in my mouth." So Ms. Teacher said well place it quickly in your mouth. When we asked her about it later that night she admitted how she responded. It was a fun moment. This is one of those times you are grateful to be a parent and have a great story to tell.

New Slogan?

I found this website through a blog of a blog of a blog...you get the picture, I'll do anything on the computer to avoid doing something like the dishes. This shirt was made with me in mind I think!

I had to make it small but it says "Procrastinators of the world unite" with a picture of the world and then below its says "...tomorrow." As always I am looking for recruits to make me feel better!

Parenting books

I am at the stage where I am willing to admit I don't know what I am doing and I am not feeling confident that winging it will produce, confident, independent children. When I went to education week last year I went to a class by Randall A. Wright. It was great. I didn't buy his book 25 Mistakes LDS Parents make and How to Avoid Them but J bought it for "us" for Christmas last year. I read it loved it...and HATED it. It brought me to the realization I will have to be a parent to a teenager with teenage problems. I am so not ready for Teenage hood. I highly recommend this book to anyone who is worried about these years and how to make it easier for them to stand up for what they have been taught that is right.

The second book J got for my was by a wonderful down to earth speaker Merrilee Boyack. She is fantastic. I actually listened to her talk about being a better wife. I know it sounds offensive but it was great, it definitely helped me to respect the differences between husbands and wives. Anyways The Parenting BreakThrough is a great book about raising independent hard working children. I am only on Chapter 3 but it is fantastic. It is like sitting down and talking with her. I would recommend to anyone if you get a chance to see her go for it. Just a plug if you are looking for a great date in the Sacramento, CA areaTOF Couples will be here and she is speaking. She has another book called Strangling Your Husband is Not An Option

So this is what I am reading and learning about. Parenting is lots of hard work but it is OK to make your children work and do chores. One thing I loved from this book is she points out it is not our job to make them happy, that is their choice. Our job as parents is to shape them into great adults who can function well in society!

Contra Loma

Here are the pictures from our day. We went with the Mildenstein Family, Doll Family, Cook Family (plus a Moore ;-)) Rossi Family, and Porter Family, plus us. It was alot of fun and safe and most importantly clean. All my kids had a blast and I think my nieces and nephew had a good time too.

To top off the day we watched High School Musical 2. It was great. One article it is labeled as the movie that rocked the nation.

Boys! Boys! Boys!

In our household it is not too often we get to see how boys behave. We went to Contra Loma to swim and have a fun day in the sun. I will post pictures of our day. This post is how Logan and his friends for at least an hour got out ran and jumped back in, I couldn't believe how long this kept them busy. Here are a couple of pictures of Logan and his chums! Please note: It looks as thought the boys are on a collision course. No children were harmed during this photograph.

Grandma Visits

Here is a picture of Grandma with 6 of her seven soon to be eight grandchildren. They had a great visit. It was fun to have a few relaxing days where we could wing it. This is the better picture of the two but one of my "sticky fingers" mucked up the lens. Although you can't see her too well Alani is the top left cutie. We are sad that she and Katie are now living in Ohio but it was meant to be. We wish them luck. Mom, it was a great visit, I am glad you came. Love you!

My little Baby Doll!

Lauren has survived her first three months in the Jacobs' Zoo, the place we call home. She loves to sit and watch the world move very quickly around her. I don't know how much I can brag about what a great baby she is. She has been such a wonderful addition to our family. She has the dark hair like me so people say she looks like me...finally one who looks like me from birth.(Miranda only looked like me after Logan looked so much like Jeremy.) Then I look at baby pictures and she looks like Logan but with lots of dark hair. She is super precious and I love her so much!

Daddy Daughter Date

Jeremy's work had some extra tickets to an A's game on Friday night so Jeremy took Miranda. It was an awesome game. They had a great time. Here are some photos.

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Western CUNA Management School honors new grads
RANCHO CUCAMONGA, Calif. (8/9/07)--Eight students graduated with high honors and were inducted into the Academic Hall of Fame, while an additional six students graduated with honors during the 46th session of the Western CUNA Management School (WCMS), held July 15-27 at Pomona College in Claremont, Calif.

John C. Dill, president/CEO of the Credit Union Associations of Colorado and Wyoming, delivered this year's Western CUNA Management School commencement address at Pomona College on July 26. (Photo provided by the California Credit Union League)
Out of the 411 students attending this year, 172 were first-year students, 142 were second-year students, and 97 were third-year students.

Over a three-year period, students have five opportunities to earn academic honors. Honors and high honors are awarded to the highest achievers on the examinations taken by all students at the end of the school year. Students also can earn honors and high honors for the analysis of each of their two projects. To be inducted into the Academic Hall of Fame, students must have received honors in all five opportunities.

Students earning high honors included:

• Jeremy Calva, Wescorp, San Dimas, Calif.;
  
• Jeremy Jacobs, CD FCU, Concord, Calif.;
  
• Shannon Jennings, Seattle Metropolitan CU;
  
• Lesley Makekau, Hawaiian Credit Union League;
  
• Charlotte McKernan, American First CU, La Habra, Calif.;
  
• Hemlata Patel, Pacific Service CU, Walnut Creek, Calif.;
  
• Sharon Lynne Phillips, San Diego County CU, San Diego; and
  
• Shonna Shearson, Kern Schools FCU, Bakersfield, Calif.
  

Students earning honors included:
Tricey Kruger, TwinStar CU, Olympia, Wash.;
Justin Martin, Verity CU, Seattle;
Helen Mickel, Tongass FCU, Ketchikan, Alaska;
James Newstrom, Seattle Metropolitan CU;
Alan Shank, Great American Community CU, Grand Junction, Colo.; and
Jacqueline So, Inland Empire CU, Pomona, Calif.
Edward Vollenweider from Greater New Orleans FCU in Metairie, La., received the Charles M.

Clark Memorial Award. Vollenweider was nominated based on high moral character, leadership, credit union dedication and academic achievement.

Ava Milosevich, former CEO of SELCO CU in Eugene, Ore., and a WCMS graduate, was named as the 17th recipient of the James D. Likens Alumni Recognition Award, founded by the Alumni Association of WCMS.

WCMS' curriculum includes classes on management, economics, legal and ethical standards, money and financial institutions, communications and leadership. Students take classes six hours a day, five days a week, with three two-week terms over consecutive summers. Students also have organized activities outside of the classroom.

If you are curious about CUNA school click here. I am still beaming because my hubby is the bomb!

Catching up!

It hasn't been that long but there has been a lot going on the biggest and best news is that Jeremy graduated CUNA school with HIGH HONORS!
We drove down to LA last Sunday (July 22nd) and stayed with Jeremy's sister, Jami. It was fabulous. I think I will call it Hotel Murphy! Taylor, my much too grown up niece, loved playing with the twins. I think Hannah found a new best friend. These kids are growing up too fast. We went to Disneyland on Tuesday with out Jeremy. We were a group of 11, of which 6 were 6 or under. It was wonderful, I am so proud of the kids, most people wouldn't venture to Disneyland being so outnumbered by kids but they did a great job and made it a wonderful time. Then Thursday we went to the mall next to her house, I would move there just for the mall! We got home and got ready for Jeremy's graduation. It was great to be there when he found out he graduated with high honors. For the entire program he had three tests and 2 projects which took about 8 months to complete. For each you get a grade of passing, honors, high honors or highest honors. He got honors on one test and one project and high honors on the other three. He worked very hard and I am still beaming with pride. So in honor of his great accomplishment we went to Disneyland again on Friday and Saturday. We got to ride the Nemo ride which is super cool. Jer's mom and sister waited in line while we went and took the rest of the kids, minus Miranda who wanted to wait in the 2 hour line, on a few rides. It was an all around great time. As always there were some funny stories.

Logan didn't want to go on Space Mountain, so with his fascination with money, I offered him a quarter. His response was a firm negative. Jeremy then upped it to a dollar, still NEGATIVE! Then I offered him THREE quarters, because three is more than one! Sure enough he smiled really big and said he would ride it for three quarters.

Logan got to ride Soaring over California for the first time. It was cool I tried to explain the ride and what would happen, I told him it was magic. So the ride starts and he really thinks we left Disneyland. We got off the ride and he said it was super cool. He agreed that it was magic. I wish I had a video of his response. It is what taking a child to Disneyland is all about.

They have this Jedi Training Academy. Miranda was chosen to participate along with about 20 other kids. She was trained by a Jedi and his three padiwans. Then Darth Vader, Darth Maul and two storm Troopers came and attacked. Miranda got in line to fight Darth Vader. As soon as she walked up to him are camera memory ran out, we missed the whole thing! We do have a few pictures though. She activated her light saber and threw it across the stage. The Jedi used the force and said "you did not just see that" as he waved his hand. So she fought him then the Storm Troopers. She used one hand at a time and pushed the troopers using the force than two at a time. After she was done, we think she was supposed to sit down, but she got in the other line to fight Darth Maul too. She was amazing to get up there at all much less fight Darth Maul he was very scary looking. She was the star of the show. Anyways the Jedi's in training scared The Darths and Troopers away. They all received a certificate of graduation. Afterwards she was training her siblings and cousins in the Jedi ways.

This is all I can think of at the moment. I will put together a slide show which I will call the summer of cousins. We got to see the Murphy family a ton and also our cousins who live in Arizona, Ethan and Caleb, who are returning home today.

TWINS FOR SALE!

Another episode of While Jeremy's Away!

People always talk about how their kids get into stuff, and I always think how lucky I am I haven't had these problems. I always say how Logan has so much energy and gives me a run for my money. He is now my favorite compared to Haylie and Hannah. So here is the add:

Adorable, sweet twins for sale, innovative, clever, mischievous, love to dance, will smile for food. They know how to dress themselves and open the refrigerator, they will get cereal on the table before you wake up. Earlier risers. Very fashionable. Willing to trade for housekeeping and cooking (except when I need to cook away my frustrations).

Here is the story that is prompting this add. Note it is my fault, well actually it is the fault of this dang computer, I wish I could just chuck it but alas it is my lifeline, and ultimately my fault. UGH! A few of my friends are in the process of moving and selling their homes. I am getting a little stir crazy so I was highly distracted looking at homes we could never afford in locations we could never live. I have this lovely baby monitor so I can hear what is going on in the back of the house. I hear the girls chatting and playing and think nothing of it, I am tired of fighting with them to take a nap. All of the sudden Miranda comes around the corner and says Haylie has black stuff on her face, but didn't get it from Miranda's room. I think great they got into my scrapbooking stuff again. I WISH! Here are pictures of Haylie and Hannah.

Of course Hannah is at fault when asking both of them but when you ask her alone "Haylie did it!" Miranda never got into my make-up, and Logan hasn't either. I guess the moral of this is that two minds are more mischievous than one. The twins are here to teach me I have been too hard on Logan, he is a saint!

Logan I am sorry for all the grief I have given you. Thank you for being a good kid and using quiet time wisely. You score BIG as my favorite child of the day!

I am a wimp.

Monday night I stayed up kind of late. It is usually not easy to go to sleep without your significant other close by. So I went to sleep around midnight. At about 1:30am I heard noise coming form Logan and the twin's room like someone playing with toys. I got up and turned on the bathroom light. and then heard little feet pattering. When I opened the door I saw Hannah climbing back into bed. I thought to myself "She is not feeling well, hopefully Lauren doesn't wake up, now I have to lay down with her for a while..." lots of thoughts for a quick period of time. So I lay down next to her and feel her for head, no fever. Then I ask her if she is feeling OK. No response. I took a good look and she was so OUT! I am not sure if she was sleep walking but it was a little disturbing. So I went back to bed and fell asleep. Then at 2:30am I woke up to another sound of metal being hit, kind of a tin-y sound. I got up again and everyone was sleeping peacefully, except Miranda who is falling into her Daddy's footprints and snores with the best of them! I got back into bed and and was really disturbed. Lauren started making noise so I though I would nurse her while I was awake. I heard another noise. I was starting to panic thinking about how was I going to get rid of whatever was making this noise. Then I saw the light...Logan has this metal tin on his bead filled with his prize possessions. He must have rolled over and hit it, making the tin-y sound. As you can tell I am a wimp and shouldn't be left home alone in charge of 5 little ones who have to protect me!

Toothless

Wouldn't you know crisis would ensue as soon as Jeremy left. Miranda has had 2 loose teeth for a while. The ones to the right and left of her bottom middle teeth, which have already fallen out and have grown back. Anyways we have discovered her top two middle teeth are loose too...back to my story. so Jeremy left on Sunday and I will we gone until tomorrow (I can't wait to see you honey!). On Monday Miranda came to me and showed me her tooth was supper loose, like hanging on by a thin root. She was able to bend it to a 90 degree angle and it was bleeding a little bit. For some reason I freak when my children are bleeding from something other than a skinned knee and fat lip. Jeremy has been the one to tie dental floss around the tooth and pull it out. So I told Miranda in a calm and rational voice "go work on it some more." Then I called Jeremy and left a panicked message he said it started something like this "Hi Jer we have a crisis..." I would like to think I didn't use the word crisis over something so lame, but I wasn't really in my right mind. He started to worry then heard it wasn't really a crisis. He told me I shouldn't use a word like that while he is not here to verify. So my calm cool collected Miranda comes back about 10 minutes later laughing with her bottom jaw poking forward trying to say "Mommy I lost my tooth." It was very cute. So I was saved again. The tooth fairy left her a whole dollar. She was thrilled and I had to let her know that the tooth fairy must think teeth are more valuable now then when I was a kid we only got quarters for our tooth.

She is TWO months!

Lauren was two months old on Tuesday. I took her for her check up and she is doing great. She got two shots and this oral vaccination for Roto Virus (I think that is what is was called). She didn't like the medicine and she really didn't like the shots. She did well and is growing wonderfully. She weighs 12 pounds 11.2 ounces, and is 24 1/4" long. So she gained 2lbs and 6.2 ounces from birth and has grown 2 1/2" in two months. I keep telling people she was supposed to be triplets with Haylie and Hannah but Heavenly Father knew that would do me in, so Lauren is just trying to catch up with them as quickly as possible. She is cute as pie "tootie pie" as Haylie always calls her. It isn't the best picture but the bed head cracks me up. Bed head or not she's a doll!

Barbershop

We played barbershop yesterday. Jeremy needed to get his haircut before his two week "business" trip. He is gone to CUNA school for the last summer, WA-HOO! Logan in the meantime needed a haircut really badly, we don't like long hair Logan, he is too adventurous for me. So we try to keep his hair short before his personality changes. Miranda has been begging to get her hair cut SHORT for some. We have finally relented. Here is a before and after shot of her. I tried to get her to not smile and be depressed for the before shot but this was the best she could do.

Snores

Last night we wnated to do a camp out and smores. I chickened out on the camp out but we decided to make s'mores. Logan was very excited and kept askeing when we were going to make "SNORES." Everytime Logan said it Jeremy would pretend to snore. Logan didn't get it at first then we explained it was S'mores not sNores. He laughed but continued to call it snores and Jeremy continued to snore on que. It was lots of fun. We also took the lazy way out and instead of a fire out side we used our gas sotve which is very simple. Thanks Jami for the idea! Here are a few pictures. Haylie and Hannah were already asleep plus it didn't seem like a good idea to let them put something in a flame!

I got some good pictures of Lauren so I had to add them. She is such a content little baby at only 8 weeks new.

Summer Fun!

It is hard to find things to do during the summer that don't break the bank. Last Thursday I decided to have the kids help me wash the car. They did an excellent job. Considering it had been close to a year since it's last bath I would say they did a perfect job. Here is a picture of us washing the car.

They did such a good it took a little elbow grease but they had the muscle to handle it.

The real reason I wanted to wash the car was to add another stick girl to our family. Our rear window is now complete with the seven Jacobs!

Finally Bragging Rights!

This is a post I am most proud to write! Jeremy is the king of spooking people and very hard to get back, ask his female co-workers. I finally got him. It was fabulous. Anyways Jeremy came home from lunch the windows were all opened and the fresh air blowing in but there was no car in the driveway. He called me on the cell phone which I answered happily. This is how the conversation went:
Jer: "Where are you?"
Me: "Home."
Jer: "Where's the car?"
Me: "Here."
Jer: "I am here, The car isn't here."
Me: "The car IS here."
Jer: "I am standing in the driveway there is no car."
He then comes barreling in the door ready to call the police for our stolen car. I start laughing. He continues to point at the driveway and says "the car is NOT here, April this isn't funny."

Insistently I say "Yes it IS, it is in the garage, come look."

He was so mad at me. It took him a good 15 minutes to calm down before he could eat lunch. I know it was cruel to carry on but He pretended to throw a spider on me and enjoys making me jump. His co-workers ask me if I know how to get him and unfortunately I have no idea. This seemed to work and it wasn't intentional.

So here is the back story: Before we had Lauren we decided we needed to clean out the garage so I could park in it. It was 95% cleaned up. A few weeks ago we finally got a new garage door opener. On Wednesday I had a bit of pent up emotions to deal with so I decided to do what was left in the garage, basically just push aside what was left in the middle. I put the car in the garage. It has thrown off a few people, but I am excited to be able to park in a contained area. Now I don't have to worry when I open the door if this is the one time one of the kids will run in the street.

Thank you Jeremy for cleaning the garage and taking care of one of my million demands. I love you.

My sweet Lauren

It is hard to come up with things to say about the kids to keep you interested or familiar with each of their personalities. Well Lauren's personality is the least influenced by me since she is still so new. 7 weeks and 5 days new to be exact. She is a sweet little girl. I was having an emotionally rough day (any cure for hormones?) I was having a hard time finding a reason to smile bless Jeremy's hear for trying. I looked down at Lauren and she gives me the biggest grin and starts cooing at me. She is the best example of unconditional love...or is it because I feed her...no it's definitely unconditional!Another thing is she sucks her thumb. I have never had a thumb sucker before. It makes me nervous. I enjoy the pacifier because I can throw it away, and I am not really in to child mutilation. So the pacifier is the better choice. Anyways it is so funny watching her move her hand across her face as she attempts to land her thumb in her mouth. Amazingly enough, when she wants to she succeeds. One praise to the thumb I can never forget to pack it. I can tell she is going to be a smart one. She will also always have a back up. I tell you I love this girl, and that is not because she looks just like me!

My Handsome Beggar

I think I have mentioned this habit before from our trip to Utah when Logan was "begging" Grandpa Alan for money. Well he got scolded for it and no longer begs for money. It has turned into a potentially far worse habit. He has metal detectors for eyes.

I was beginning to think we had a wonderfully behaved son when ever we went some where. He would hold on to the stroller as he has been scared into obedience to do. What I didn't realize is he was absent-mindedly holding on as he scours the ground for anything that may resemble lost change! He will be peacefully walking then stop and spread out his arms as if protecting everyone from eminent danger and yell "Money." That in and of itself is embarrassing enough as he leaves the side of the stroller where his other FOUR siblings are. Usually the money happens to be next to an occupied cash register where unsuspecting patrons are purchasing their goods. He will climb or reach between their feet to grab a penny. In fact I think he has gotten a few people to move out of his way. Jeremy and I are seriously thinking about taking him to the beach and renting him out for those of you who are interested in buried treasure. This boy can find it.

We think if we send him out for an hour a day we may be able to pay cash for our next home in no time! What are the child labor laws for that???

Busy, busy, busy

This past week has been a little busy, but not very productive. I have to say I have been exhausted. I usually revel in quiet time and brag to my friends how all the kids are asleep for about 2 hours of the day. Well with new baby comes new routines. As posted before the little girls (I need to stop saying "the twins...any suggestions?) are now in a big bed. They will not go to sleep unless I lay with them. You might say great the three of you can lay down together. Oh no! Lauren knows as soon as I fall asleep because she will wake up. In the meantime Haylie and Hannah need me to lay ON them so they can not move in order for them to fall asleep. As soon as they hear Lauren cry they are very concerned on the outside. On the inside they are thrilled because Mommy will have to leave to tend the baby. So I think well I will sit in here and nurse Lauren and watch the girls until they sleep. They have also learned while I am nursing I can't do much else as far a keeping them still or enforcing rules. So I might as well say good bye to quiet time as I knew it. I do have to say that Miranda will sit in her room for two hours reading, Logan will sit quietly on his bed and fall asleep after about an hour. The girls will at least stay in their bed, for the most part, when I am not in the room. The only problem is they wrestle with each other and talk non-stop. That brings me to a separate topic, I have 5 chatter boxes. Lauren just coos and it is cute but I look into my crystal ball and see very noisy car trips or none at all!

Back on subject, I have been exhausted, a little overwhelmed. frustrated that they won't all sleep on my schedule...starting to feel numb about what I am not accomplishing. So tonight I was sitting looking at the new Stampin' up Catalog (my therapy) and watching The Legend of Johnny Lingo with the family (I can still muti-task when I benefit from it ;-P). As soon as it was over and the music and credits started playing all four kids jumped up to dance and laugh. Jeremy even started dancing with the kids. I couldn't help it tears came to my eyes and the thought of how lucky I am to have this atmosphere in my home. It was like a scene from a movie where life is momentarily perfect without a care in the world. It was FABULOUS! I am so grateful to have a home where so much laughter and togetherness is abundant. I am thankful for my children who can frustrate me to no end, but still love me and give me hugs and kisses every night or run to me when they get hurt. For a husband who spoils me, even though the bathrooms are rarely cleaned, I never do laundry and he is lucky when dinner is cooked when he gets home. I think the subject of my blog was a little off but goes with my theme Busy...or Not?

I love the Farmer's Market

Since the summer is here I am trying to think of various ways to keep the kids busy and the house clean. I am succeeding at the first half rather well. One thing I decided to do was to take the kids to story time at the library and then to the Framer's Market where they play music. It was my first experience. I met my Grandma, my sister Katie, and her daughter Alani. It was fun to walk through the booths and sample fresh fruit. I found that the twins will eat about anything and so will Logan. Miranda on the other hand just likes to sample it then tell me she doesn't like it. We got to try white nectarines, peaches, apricots, blueberries, strawberries, and Bing cherries (I think that is what they are called). I had never tried a nectarine before and it was delicious. For $2 I got 2 nectarines, 2 peaches and 3 apricots. I also got some Mexican zucchini to make zucchini bread. The kids also got some flavored honey straws. My recommendation would be try the sour watermelon flavor and steer clear of the lime flavored ones YUCK! To top it all off Katie bought us some tamales and my Grandma treated us to some Kettle corn. It is so much better than the kind you pop in your microwave. Sorry Mr. Orville. As we were packing it in the cherry lady had three bags of cherries left selling them for $1/pound originally going for $3.25/pound. The only catch was you had to either buy 3 or 5 pounds. So I told my grandma they were $5 for 5 pounds of cherries, she told me I should get them, but I wanted to save my money to get $1 scoops at Baskin Robbins. So she said Here's $5 go get them, as I walk away she says here's another $5. So we ended up with 10 pounds of cherries. She took half to my uncle and Katie took about a third of the other bag and I got the rest. I felt like I got the best deal ever.

So know here's the treat for all you who are still reading. I made Cherry Pie filling. I didn't have a cherry pitter so someone suggested using a straw to push the pits out. It worked fabulous. I am not sure who to credit with this recipe I got at www.allrecipes.com. I then changed it a tad.

Cherry Pie Filling

4 c. Cherries, pitted

1 c. sugar (1 1/4 c. if using sour cherries)

1/4 c. brown sugar (I thought this sounded good so I added it, but it wasn't in the recipe I found)

1/4 c. flour

1/2 t. cinnamon

With some of the pie filling I made Cream Cheese Filled Coffeecake With Fruit Preserves and Crumble Topping. Of course substituting the preserves with my homemade pie filling. I also used the Bisquick coffee cake recipe for the cake part adding a little less milk and a little sour cream along with some cinnamon and again a tablespoon of brown sugar.

Then I made my very first fruit pie. I used Greta Cousins Recipe for the crust. I am not a crust fan but it turned out pretty good.

Pie Crust from Greta Cousins

2 c. flour

1 t. salt

2/3 c shortening

5 T. cold water

Cut together the first three ingredients, sprinkle water on top. Mix together wih fork until it forms a ball. Cut in half. Roll into ball and flatten on floured pastry sheet. Roll out into a circle to fit pie plate.

Having never made a pie before it was very easy and it turned out good enough to take a picture and post it here.

I look forward to getting some new fruit next week and trying something new. It is a wonder I have a hard time loosing weight. I wished exercising was as much fun and tasted just as good. Oh and thank you Grandma for the cherries, sorry I didn't bake the pie before you left. At least I know I can make crust so I will bake one when you come in the fall but with APPLES!

Blessing

It was a special weekend. My mom came to visit from Ohio. While she was here, along with my grandma, we decided to give Lauren her name and blessing. Jeremy gave a wonderful blessing. I always wonder if Jeremy will change the name on the church records so it will be different from that on her birth certificate. So far he has kept it the same. Ha-ha! The people in the circle were her uncle Chris, Chris Rossi, Tim Doll (who also gave a great talk that day), Matt Cook, and Max Cassie. Lauren was our first baby to cry during her blessing but it wasn't too loud that it could not be heard which was nice for me. Also aunt Katie was there to share this special time for Lauren. When we came home we took a few pictures so here they are.

Here is a picture of four generations.

Change is in the wind

It has been a little hard getting the kids switched around and settled down into their new bedrooms. Last week we set up the new bunk beds where Logan, Haylie and Hannah will sleep. We haven't got Miranda's bed frame yet so she is a floater right now. Today we finally put the twins' mattress in their bed frame. So tonight was the first night they slept in their new bed. It was a little rough getting them to sleep but no more difficult than when they were in cribs, in fact I was quite pleased. I went in to check on them an hour or so later and found the girls all crazy like in their bed. Hannah is laying sideways on Miranda. It is Miranda's leg coming out at the bottom. Haylie meanwhile is talking up half the bed with all measly 24+ pounds of her. AMAZING!



And just so you know Logan was not bothered one bi by sleeping in his own bed. He was the first one asleep, and seemed to be content with the new sleeping arrangements. While the girls were crazy n the bottom bunk he looked very peaceful on the top bunk.

WIld Thang...

My grandma went for a ride with her son, my uncle, on his motorcycle. They came by and we took a few pictures. It was fun pretending we were all hot stuff. All bark and no bite! Oh well it was fun to be a little rebellious. Some show it off a little better than others, Nana and Katie...what is with the tongue thing. Just kidding. Thanks Robert for letting us all sit on your bike.

When I was a little younger than Miranda is now (or a little older than Logan) I have a picture of me sitting on the back of my uncle's bike. It was cool to have the same picture with my daughter minus the wonderful colors of the early 80's. I guess it could have been the lovely oranges and greens of the 70's. Anyways here is a slide show of some of my crazy family.

Watching...

This is just a little vent because this is my online journal so feel free to skip it. It has been a rough week, I am glad to say it hasn't been my rough week per se. It is a time I hope will pass quickly but want to remember to be humble and know it can't be done alone. A very close person whom I love is going through a hard time. Just when you think it can't get worse it goes one step farther. I guess that is usually how a trial goes, you begin to feel like you must be made of rubber because you have to bend further than you thought was humanly possible. The term refiners fire come to mind. You need to be stripped down to barely hanging on than you get rebuilt in a way you didn't see coming before it all began. I guess that is how they purify gold or a similar precious metal. Burn away all the impurities then bend it, pull it and reshape it into something perfect, valuable and treasured. This person is struggling in so many aspects of her life but she is so strong. Sometimes these trials are to remind you how strong you are and let me tell you this young lady comes from strong, independent stock, that is for sure. The hard part for me is watching helplessly as she has to endure this for the most part alone. No one else can shoulder the pain except the Savior. As an imperfect being I can do nothing but show love.

It wasn't that long ago I watched someone else go through similar feelings of loss, who questioned their worthiness, usefulness, or even the decision that started the mess. Even though in both cases the decisions were honorable and filled with integrity. Things could have been a lot different had that initial choice been different but neither would come out better for having gone through it. I can say both have a testimony and that is what will get her through this time. Well, that and the love and support of those who truly love her and will be there to support her and catch her when times are rough. I hope they can make her laugh too, that is what gets me through my little rough patches.

Always have a spare...

I love my kids I really do...tonight Jeremy and a few friends are going to an A's game. I decided that we will have a kid friendly low dish meal. What can be easier than barbecue burgers and tater tots. So things are going great Lauren is still sleeping in her car seat and the rest of the kids are happily playing inside. As I am putting the cheese on the burgers the kids come out and play and like good mannered little children shut the door behind them. Can you see where this is going? As the cheese melts I go to get a plate and realize that all the doors are locked. That is right, tater tots are in the oven completely cooked and the burgers are on the grill with nothing to put them on. Miranda starts crying and says "See I told you daddy should have stayed home!" Sadly we have not, as of this post, given anyone a key to our house. I figure, well it is not a problem my mother in law lives about a two minute walk from our house, it will be cold cereal tonight and worst case scenario we hang out at her house until Jeremy gets home. Then I remember I have a sweet little one month old baby inside the house. Luckily we have great next door neighbors who happened to be home, I was able to call Jeremy and tell him to turn around. I can only imagine what the conversation went like when Jeremy had to tell a car full of guys that they had to turn around because April and the kids are locked out with the baby inside. They seemed to be good sports about it when he showed up. Our neighbors gave us a paper plate so the burgers were saved. The guys got here really fast so the tater tots, although well done, were not burnt and crispy on the outside and perfect on the inside. Oh and by the way Lauren was still sleeping peacefully when we opened the door. So my advice after this experience...make sure you have an accessible spare key!