Monday, November 6, 2017

Yesterday McCabe and I had a piano lesson.  He was assigned to work on the same songs.  He had some room to improve.  I am guessing he was upset because a few minutes later when we were in the kitchen and I was talking to him, he said, “Mom, don’t talk to me?”  I was totally confused to his request.  “Why,” I asked?  “You know what you did.”  I really did not know what I did.  “McCabe, I don’t know what I did.  Can you tell me?”  “No, because you can’t fix it.”  “Well maybe I can fix it if you just tell me.”  I was really trying to resolve this issue.  His response was, “if you don’t know what you did, then you don’t deserve to know.”  Ok, game over.  He has made up his mind.  There is no way I can win this conversation or even help McCabe.  Needless to say, he was back to normal within two hours.

                October was a crazy busy month.  I now get to play catch up with my journaling.  So here we go.  My dad is having some serious health issues.  He has 3 benign tumors in his head which are affecting his hearing and balance.  He had a fall and is now in re-hab.  It is hard on me to watch him suffer.  Even worse, I don’t know what to do to help him.

                My birthday was at the beginning of October.  Tim surprised me at work with a walking treadmill.  I use it every day walking 2 to 3 miles.  I love it.  I also got to eat lunch with Kerianne Bangerter and Leslie Harkness.  These are my childhood friends.  I have known Kerianne since I was 4 and Leslie since I was 16.  It is always so good to reconnect and catch up. 

                Xadia had her 8^th birthday on the 10^th of October.  We celebrated and had her party at Mrs. Cavanaugh’s chocolate factory.  It was so fun.  The kids made caramel apples and played bingo.  They then got a tour of the factory, had ice cream with some mint cake, and some chocolates.  It was a super fun party.  I loved that I did not have to clean up after anyone. It was a very low stress party.  Then two weeks later I got to join her for birthday tables.  We had school lunch and some custard from Nielsen’s frozen custard.  It was so yummy.

The elementary school had crazy hair day.  We decided to make Xadia's hair CRAZY.  We were able to make it stand up with a glow stick and little clips.  She got a lot of compliments.

                Halloween was so interesting this year.  We made the costumes.  Jacinda was a colorful sans from undertale.  McCabe was Waldo.  Xadia was Nasta Blue, a ghost from undertale.  Teagan was a roblox computer.  At least this is what the kids started out being.  When it came time to trick-or-treat, Xadia went as Kai from Ninjago and Teagan was an army sniper.  These outfits were more conducive to running door to door.  Halloween day, I rushed home from work.  Made chicken and biscuits for dinner.  By the time dinner was ready (around 6:00 pm) the kids were gone.  Jacinda went with Raeya.  The McPheters took Xadia and Teagan.  McCabe went with a bunch of friends.  Tim and I were left alone.  I almost did not know what to do with my time.  Tim was napping on the couch.  I put a sign on the candy bowl telling the trick-or-treater to take 3 candies.  I then went to work on the camping trailer floor.  I was able to finish laying the vinyl on the floor.  (Yeah)

             
             We also carved pumpkins for Halloween.  I did not like carving pumpkins because it was so much work until Tim got the jigsaw.  Now I love carving pumpkins.  It goes much faster and my hand does not hurt. 

              I got to go with McCabe to Provo on a field trip for student council.  We listened to 5 different speakers and their take on leadership.  The speakers were great.  The 20 kids behaved well.  We did not have any problems.

                This past weekend, 11/4/2017, Xadia got baptized.  It was so beautiful.  Tim did a great job with the baptism and confirmation.  I lost it during the confirmation prayer when Tim said, “your life has been spared by the Holy Ghost.”  It took me back to the time when she drowned, July of 2012 and Tim heard the Holy Ghost asking him to find Xadia.  She is so special.  I am so glad she is still with us and I am so pleased with her decision of baptism.  I know she did not understand everything that was happening but the majority of the ordinance she got.  The happy expression in her face told me everything she was experiencing.  It was a great day.

               Found these pictures of McCabe having a good time at scouts.  Just had to post the pictures.

Sunday, August 27, 2017

                School is here.  We got ready by going school shopping and getting our back to school blessings.  

The kids were excited for school to start.  I took a picture of the first day.  Just before snapping the picture, Tim told the kids that the internet was turned off.  McCabe did not like the news as you can see.

                Jacinda is enjoying 7^th grade.  She was a little scared at first but she is starting to own it.  We went Aug. 22, to walk around the school to find her classrooms and open her locker.  She has got it.  McCabe is in 5^th grade and has Mrs. Thompson.  This is the same teacher Jacinda had so I know he is in good hands.  Xadia is in 2^nd grade and has Mrs. Shaub (previously known as Mrs. Trease).  Izzy McPheters and Hallie Sealy are in her class so she is one happy girl.  Teagan is starting kindergarten.  We went to an orientation and there he saw Cade McPheters and Brock Muir in his class.  He was super excited.  I also noticed that Teagan is one of the tallest in his class.  My baby is getting so big.

                McCabe is becoming quite the little chef.  He is big into making everything.  Today he helped Tim BBQ pork chops and squash.  Last week he made a yellow cake with chocolate frosting.  It is great having another chef, however, he is also learning that part of cooking means cleaning up your mess.  Also, he is learning that if you make a dessert, it is for everyone not just him.

         The camping trailer is coming together.  Tim and I spent the majority of Saturday painting, cleaning, assembling a door handle, putting a window in the door, applying window trim, and anything else we saw that needed to be done.  The last major piece of work to complete is the floor.  We got it chosen, now we just need to install it.  I love watching it come together.  Hopefully we can use it in the next few weeks.

Tuesday August 1, 2017

Well we made it through the week with all the family in town.  It started with Grandma and Grandpa’s car breaking down in Parawon so they rented a car.  Then Doug went to the hospital to have his kidney stone removed.  Even among all these small little events, Tim had 6 of his 8 siblings together.  Tracy and Jenny were the only two missing.  We had so much fun.  We went swimming.  Visited temple square.  Listened to the Mormon Tabernacle choir practice.  Played games like Mancala and cover your assets.  We celebrated papa John’s 70^th birthday and Kari’s birthday.  We also got to witness Lowen’s baptism.  It was such an incredible experience with all the cousins.  We also read from Henry Ballard’s journal and got a small glimpse of his life.  It was very busy at our house.  There were so many bodies and we always stayed up late.  Now that everyone is gone I am a little sad.  There is definitely not as much hype and excitement.  It is a lot slower paced at the house.  I am trying to transition back to normal life.

Friday, July 21, 2017

It is a super time to be alive.  Tonight the family and part of the Stubbs get to be in a parade.  We will throw candy to all the people.  I made 6 costumes that resemble people from the scriptures.  I am very excited.  I love parades and being with my kiddos.  It is such a bonus that the cousins are with us.  I love having Amy and Ethan visit.  We make lots of yummy dishes.  Last night, Amy made an Oreo ice cream pie and the night before, I made mint brownies.  I think tonight I will make peanut butter chip cookies.  Last night I made some sweet and sour chicken for Soli because it is her favorite food.  Silly me forgot to turn off the oven and overcooked it by an hour.  Yes the chicken and egg rolls were very crispy.

I have been working for a month now and really enjoy it.  I like all the new things I am learning.  I also like my small office and the people who work with me.  I noticed that all the conversations with Tim regarding Excel and managing fiber operations has paid off.  I have taken that info to help me.  Yesterday my boss and I talked about RFPs.  He was about to explain them when I beat him to the punch because Tim already taught me about them.

Summer is half over.  I am trying to get the kids excited about school but they really like playing their night games and staying up until 10 pm.  I know they will miss that.  I am going to have to make a conscious effort to get them in a routine a week before school starts.

Yesterday, Jacinda, Lance, Soli, Ethan, and Tim went to the SLC temple and did baptisms for the dead.  I am so grateful Tim takes Jacinda each week to the temple and the cousins got to go with them.  I feel very blessed to live where I do and with such good people.

Sunday, July 16, 2017

     I love my children but I don’t always love their actions.  Tonight, we had a lesson about hurtful words and actions.  Our house today was filled with destructive words that tear down one another.  One child would tell the others to, “shut up” and another child would tell the other to “fart in their pants.”  This got the other kids started on a downhill spiral of trashing one another.  I called the kids together and we had a lesson on “cutting remarks” and actions.  I talked about how words hurt just as much as a slap, a kick, or even a knife cut on our bodies.  I showed the picture below and talked about how we need to be kind to each other.  I hope this made an impact on the kids.  I really want them to grow up to be good people.

Sunday, May 28, 2017

The school had crazy hair day.  Xadia got into the spirit.  This is what she looked like after school.  We braided her hair around a glow stick and then used clips to keep the glow stick standing tall.  It was fun to see her hair looking wacky.  She reminded me of a character from Dr. Seuss.

                The slip and slide is going in the trash.  Teagan thought it would be fun to jump on the end part and as a result it popped.  He was really sad so he got the tape and tried to fix it.  Needless to say, it was a lost cause.  I do give him credit for his efforts.

                Friday was the country fair for the 6^th graders.  Jacinda has been researching the Philippines all year.  Friday she got to display items from the Philippines.  She had some money, a backpack, balut, flavored candies, small bananas, a wallet, and a key chain.  She did a great job.  She has worked so hard all year on her report.  I was so glad I got to see her display her items. 

                Yesterday we went to Ephraim for Scandinavian days.  Roxanne invited our family.  It was so fun.  We watched a parade where Richard and Kate were participants.  Richard is the Mayor of Ephraim and Kate was playing the flute in the Jr. High band. 

      After the parade, we went to the festival.  There was storytelling, a car show, and lots of vendors.  We stopped at one booth to buy some drinks and there was a prize wheel.  Xadia won a bumper sticker that said, “save a car, drive a tractor.”  Teagan won a hat.  After the festival, we went fishing.  The kids had a great time fishing in Manti and everyone caught a fish.  Teagan also caught Brinton.  Fortunately, Tim was able to remove the hook with minimal damage.  On the way home, the kids fell asleep in the car.  When we arrived home, the kids had woken and were hungry.  We had egg salad sandwiches.  Teagan did not want an egg salad sandwich so I offered him my pasta from the afternoon.  I gave it to him and he did not want the tomato sauce on it.  I rinsed off the tomato sauce and gave him the pasta.  Once in front of him, he said it was too wet.  He wanted the pasta dried with a towel.  I was frustrated and realized he was tired.   So I dried the pasta with a towel and he ate it along with two hard boiled eggs.  Then it was off to bed.  We have so much fun as a family.

Sunday, May 14, 2017

                Mother’s Day is such a great day.  I love honoring mothers everywhere.  A mother is more than a DNA attachment.  It’s someone who is very loving and kind.  Compassionate and caring who extends a helping hand.   I got a lot of adoration from my children today.  I have to admit, among all the gifts they give, I love homemade cards the best because they put their special touch and own thoughts into it.  And from Tim, I love it when he makes the meal.  He made breakfast burritos with cheese and Canadian bacon.

                We had a lovely dinner tonight with nana Hefner, Leslie Hefner (Jim’s first wife), and Larry Haugen (a friend of Deb).  We had pork roast, mashed potatoes, Jell-o pretzel salad, homemade rolls, green salad, and cooked carrots and onions.  Then for dessert; peach cobbler with vanilla ice cream.   It was fun to visit and watch funny videos.  We then gave the moms chocolate dipped strawberries, which the kids made and chocolate dipped mint Oreos.

                Last Sunday the kids walked home from church while Tim and I stayed for choir practice.  When we arrived home, Jacinda was cooking.  McCabe was eating and Xadia was making an outfit for Teagan out of recyclable items.  I had to take a picture to capture the moment.  This is my life.  The kids give me purpose and keep me busy.

                Teagan loves to dress like a pirate since he got this new pirate vest from pre-school.  He also loves to ride his bike and wear his helmet.

                The month of May gets very busy.  McCabe had a recorder performance.   He received a certificate for getting his black belt in recorder playing.  I love recording his performance because he tries to play it cool as I film him.  I can’t help but get so excited for him.  I love watching my kids.