Sunday, August 25, 2013

           A lot has happened during the past two weeks.  The boys got some haircuts.  I also chopped 10 inches of hair and donated it to Locks of Love (they have a soft spot in my heart).  I love dealing with short hair.  It is so easy.  Now I need to remember to use less shampoo.

          The other evening McCabe and I went on a jog.  He does a great job keeping up with me (or maybe I am slow).  Anyways, the sun was hiding behind the clouds and some rays were spilling on Antelope Island near the Great Salt Lake.  McCabe took one look and said, “it is so beautiful.  This is what it was like when Christ was born.”  It was really cute.  Then he kept repeating it.  He had mentioned Christ two or three times as the sun was setting and then he would ask me, “don’t you just love it?”  “Isn’t so beautiful?”  He is adorable and I am so glad he recognizes God’s hand in earthly creations.
          Last Monday for family night Tim gave everyone a father’s blessing.  It was a major ordeal to get the kids calmed down.  There was so much noise and running around.  If one kid got off the couch to get a stuffed animal or play chase then the rest would follow.  Finally the kids sat on the couch long enough so that each one received a blessing….even Teagan sat still for his sweet father’s blessing.  I will tell you by the time the blessings were over, Tim and I were exhausted from corralling and quieting the kids.  Tim took a picture and I laughed when I saw it because we all look so happy but I have to admit that there was a moment where Tim was ready to say, “ok forget about it, you are being too disruptive.”

          Tomorrow is the first day of school.  Jacinda is very excited and McCabe is nervous.  I said a prayer with McCabe that he would not be nervous and feel comforted and be a friend to all those around him.  He seemed much better.  In fact as I was talking to him before he went to sleep he wanted to discuss either going to the Philippines or Hawaii to catch geckos.  He was asking how much it costs to fly there and stay at a hotel and then how much was in his bank account.  It is great how much McCabe loves lizards and geckos.  In fact, two weeks ago we told him that the two lizards he caught during the summer need to be let go so they can find a home for the winter.  He started getting teary-eyed.  He tried so hard to hold back the tears but ended up crying.  So I guess he will be keeping the lizards through winter.

Sunday, August 11, 2013

Jacinda and McCabe got to spend a week at the Stubb’s house.  They had a lot of fun going to the beach, the movies, eating frozen yogurt and catching lizards.  We decided to drive to Vegas to get the kids.  This would give us a few days with my dad and sister, Tarra.  It was just me and the kids.  It was very hot in Vegas (105 degrees) my phone would not charge because my battery kept over heating.  Dad was busy selling pianos so I did not get to see him very much.  I was busy chasing Teagan and making sure he did not hit the pianos with his toys.  We all went swimming with Tarra and family.  It was fun to see her and her two boys, Cody and Xavius.  Dad did not join us because he was too tired.  After swimming we ate at Inn and Out.  It was my first time in years that I had a cheeseburger and it was yummy.  Later we went back to the house and watched t.v.  Teagan was so tired he kept crying.  It was hard for me to deal with all the crying so I put him down for a nap.  He slept for an hour and then got up and started crying some more.  That is when I decided to cut the trip short.  I came home a day early.  I needed Tim’s help.  Before leaving, we went to Kripy Kreme donuts to eat some yummy treats and watch how donuts were made.  We finally made it home and now here it is 10 pm and the kids are too wound up to go to sleep.  I guess they got some good naps in the car.  I am tired so I am off to sleep.

Sunday, July 21, 2013

What an incredibly busy few weeks.  As I sat here thinking of what to write, my first thoughts were…..hmmm nothing exciting happened.  But then that is not true since three weeks has passed without blogging I better write about the “nothing.”  At the end of June we went to a wedding at the Manti Temple for Nancy Osmond.  It was a great ceremony and afterwards we saw Roxanne and Richard Squire and Ron and Barbara Ballard.  After sending a picture of Ron to Tim’s dad, Steve, he (Steve) felt an immediate need to see Ron because of Ron’s deteriorating health.  Within 4 days Steve came from Washington to Utah.  It was a Fisher/Ballard family reunion.  It was a lot of fun to see everybody visit, laugh, and share memories. 

It is hard to watch people get older and go through hard times, especially when death could be so close.  It makes me enjoy what I have now, the mundane daily routine of loading and unloading the dishwasher, changing diapers, and the constant vacuuming.  I have great health which allows me to do all that is required and beautiful children to keep my life exciting and full of never ending chores.

We have filled our summer with learning, swimming lessons, and tae kwon do.  We also had Kate and Brinton Squire up for a few days while their parents ran in a race.  I cannot believe how many more dishes I had to wash with 2 extra kids.  McCabe and Brinton set-up a lemonade stand and sold drinks and wet sand.  McCabe got sand from the sandbox and added water.  He said it was “Indian sand” because it was so smooth.  So there he was with his little sandwich bags full of sand.  I don’t think he sold any, especially because he wanted $7.00/bag.  However, they did make $8 selling the lemonade.

Xadia’s big thing lately is taking a late nap and then staying up late because she cannot fall asleep.  We tell her to stay in her room but she has the tendency to come out and knock on our door.  She says, “I need to tell you something.” My response is, “ok what is it?”  “I love you so much, much, much, much, much, much.”  And then she turns to Tim and says the same thing.  She then gives us a hug and a kiss and goes off to her room.  Many times she comes back because she has a piece of colored art work to give us.  She is adorable.

Sunday, June 23, 2013

No doubt we are having summer fun.  The weather has been beautiful…not too hot and not too cold.  We got a slip and slide and the kids were so excited to try it.  The temperature was in the low sixties but that did not stop them.  They played until the lawn was saturated.  Once they were done with the slip and slide it was off to the sandbox.  Tim built a really neat 6’ x 6’ sandbox.  While it was being built, McCabe was complaining that it was too small; however, 5 kids were happily playing in it the other day.  I need to mention that McCabe was one of those kids.  So needless to say, if I don’t have water on my floors then I have sand.  I have to clean my floors 2 to 3 times a day.

The summer also brings hungry kids.  It seems like my kids are eating more.  Thank goodness fruits are in season.  Every time they ask for food I lead them to the crisper.  There is always an apple or an orange waiting.

I had an amazing experience yesterday.  We went shopping at Costco and while at the bread section I was overcome with excitement and became speechless.  I tried to get Tim’s attention while rounding up the kids.  Immediately I got the kids and walked them over to brother and sister Uchtdorf.  I stopped elder Uchtdorf and said, “I know you are shopping, but it is not everyday this happens.”  Then I introduced my children to an apostle of God and his lovely wife.  They were both so kind.  They asked what names were of our children and then told us we have a beautiful family.  I got to shake each of their hands and the kids gave them a high five.  Of course neither Tim nor myself had our phones so we could not take a picture.  So all we have is the memory.  It was still very exciting and emotional.  Kinda weird….my eyes almost started tearing because I knew the significance of meeting Elder Uchtdorf.  I could not help but think about God and how much I love Him and He loves me.  It was a great shopping trip.

Sunday, June 16, 2013

What a great day. I love Father’s day. We had a great breakfast consisting for egg sandwiches, sausages, hashbrowns, and a smoothie. Then we sang some Father’s day songs to Tim and gave him presents. They were simple presents consisting of homemade peanutbutter stuff, paper ties with family pictures, and then a video recording the kids. On the video, I asked them a variety of questions like, who are your friends? What is your favorite color? How old are you? What do you like about your dad? The answers to the last question was priceless. They unanimously agreed that they like that he builds. In fact, yesterday, Tim spent hours building a sandbox for the kids (it turned out awesome). The kids also said that they like him because he is their dad….what more can be said about that? Tim provides for them, he helps me (his wife), he loves his children, he takes them to fun places like swimming or camping. He is a good man.


At church today, I was in the back of the primary room as the kids were singing. After singing a song about fathers and getting gray hair, McCabe raises his hand and says, “that does not make any sense. My dad is getting white hair not gray.” The adults in the room laughed. I thought that was a precious comment. Just wait until that six-year-old boy becomes a dad. He will understand one day.

Sunday, June 8, 2013

Ready or not, here is summer.  School is out and now it is time to deal with kids all day.  I am planning on a routine that consists of chores and learning during the morning and then the kids can play during the afternoon.  I have the best intentions so we will see how long this lasts.  The kids just want to go camping and swimming and visit their cousins in California.

We do not have any big plans this summer.   The biggest thing we did was have an out of school party.  We had snow cones and popcorn, played games, and watched an outdoor movie.  It was a lot of fun.  There were 17 kids along with some parents.  I want to do it again because it was so awesome.

The change of weather has brought allergies to our house.  Tim and I have a mild case.  Poor Jacinda, she has terrible allergies.  She has to take medicine twice a day along with eye drops.  If she does not take her eye drops her corneas swell with fluid.  It makes me so sad and my eyes start to itch.

Teagan is walking full time now with occasional falls.  Just the other day he fell into the corner of the island and got a nice cut on his forehead.  It was deep but not very wide.  I cleaned the blood and then super glued the cut.  I put a band-aid on his head.  The first two days were great.  Then he discovered the band-aid and now pulls it off.  He is so cute.  He is a big walking tummy.  His gut sticks out further than anything.  It is the first thing that enters when he walks into a room.  Teagan is saying “hi” and waving to everyone.  I love it.  He brings a big smile to my face.

McCabe’s latest adventure was finding a snake in the rock wall.  He and Tim caught it.  They put it in a big trash can, however, an hour later the snake was gone.  As I went to get my sun glasses out of the car, I saw the snake on the ground.  I screamed and the boys tried to catch it again.  It ended up slithering on the belly of our car.  I don’t know where it is now.  Hopefully it fell down while we were driving.

 McCabe has the tendency to say funny things.  While on our way to the rec. center, he kept singing “teenage mutant ninja turtles.”  When he got to the part about a turtle in a half shell, he would replace the word “turtle” with someone’s name and then just start laughing.  Then he would say, “that cracked me.”

Sunday, May 26, 2013

Tim brought home a bird from work.  It had fallen out of its nest and so we were going to nurse it to independence.  Well today that day came and Buttercup, the bird, flew away.  McCabe was really sad.  He started crying and the rest of the evening he was talking about how much he missed Buttercup.  I was happy Butter cup flew away because now I don’t need to feed it worms, change its paper, or give it a bath.  I also don’t have to tell the kids to stop bothering it as they try to hold it or throw it in the air.  It is for the best that Buttercup is on his own now.

Teagan is now a walking boy.  He walks everywhere and reaches for everything.  His latest thing is to carry hairbrushes around the house because he can reach the brushes on the counters.  He also likes to walk with a big cheesy grin, eyes closed and head tilted back.  It is really cute.  I like how his belly hangs out in front of his body.  He is such a healthy boy.

McCabe just had some serious dental work done.  He got some crown and had some root canals done.  He loves his 4 silver teeth.  He shows everybody who will stop to pay him some attention.  I am very pleased with McCabe, because I recently received an e-mail from his Kindergarten teacher, Mrs. Savage.  She has chosen McCabe (out of all the kindergarten boys) to receive an award for being the nicest and most helpful boy.  Gee, that sure makes a mom feel good.

Jacinda is busy working hard trying to earn money for a parakeet.  She has written rules to follow for taking care of her parakeet when going out of town, for feeding it, and what to do if it dies.  She is constantly asking what she can do to earn money.  Right now we have her scanning photos into the computer.  She is doing a great job.

Xadia is busy taking swimming lessons and doing a music class.  She loves both and these classes are so good for her especially since her older siblings go to their lessons.  She so badly wants to be like them.  I cannot believe how independent Xadia is.  Just the other day I walked into her room and she was using the glue gun.  I told her not to use it and she said, “I won’t burn myself.”  I let her finish and then unplugged the gun.  It is unbelievable that a 3-year-old knows how to do so much.