Dear Santa,

I've been a good mom all year. I've fed, cleaned and cuddled my children on demand, visited their doctor's office more than my own doctor's, and sold sixty-two cases of candy bars to raise money to plant a shade tree on the school playground.

I was hoping you could spread my list out over several Christmas', since had to write this letter with my son's red crayon, on the back of a receipt, in the laundry room between cycles, and who knows when I'll find anymore free time in the next 18 years.
Here are my Christmas wishes:
I'd like a pair of legs that don't ache (in any color, except purple, which I already have) and arms that don't hurt or flap in the breeze; but are strong enough to pull my screaming child out of the candy aisle in the grocery store.
I'd also like a waist, since I lost mine somewhere in the seventh month of my last pregnancy.
If you're hauling big ticket items this year, I'd like fingerprint resistant windows and a radio that only plays adult music; a television that doesn't broadcast any programs containing talking animals; and a refrigerator with a secret compartment behind the crisper where I can hide to talk on the phone.
On the practical side, I could use a talking doll that says, "Yes, Mommy" to boost my parental confidence, along with two kids who don't fight and three pairs of jeans that will zip all the way up without the use of power tools.
I could also use a recording of Tibetan monks chanting "Don't eat in the living room" and "Take your hands off your brother", because my voice seems to be just out of my children's hearing range and can only be heard by the dog.
If it's too late to find any of these products, I'd settle for enough time to brush my teeth and comb my hair in the same morning, or the luxury of eating food warmer than room temperature without it being served in a Styrofoam container.
If you don't mind, I could also use a few Christmas miracles to brighten the holiday season. Would it be too much trouble to declare ketchup a vegetable? It will clear my conscience immensely.
It would be helpful if you could coerce my children to help around the house without demanding payment as if they were the bosses of an organized crime family.
Well, Santa, the buzzer on the dryer is ringing and my son saw my feet under the laundry room door. I think he wants his crayon back.
Have a safe trip and remember to leave your wet boots by the door and come in to dry off so you don't catch cold.
Help yourself to cookies on the table but don't eat too many or leave crumbs on the carpet.

Yours Always,

MOM
P.S. One more thing ...you can cancel all my requests if you can keep my children young enough to believe in Santa.

A Child's Perspective

One day a father of a very wealthy family took his son on a trip to the country with the firm purpose of showing his son how poor people live. They spent a couple of days and nights on the farm of what would be considered a very poor family.

On their return from their trip, the father asked his son, "How was the trip?"
"It was great, Dad."
"Did you see how poor people live?" the father asked.
"Oh yeah," said the son.
"So, tell me, what did you learn from the trip?" asked the father.
The son answered: "I saw that we have one dog and they had four.
We have a pool that reaches to the middle of our garden and they have a creek that has no end.
We have imported lanterns in our garden and they have the stars at night.Our patio reaches to the front yard and they have the whole horizon.We have a small piece of land to live on and they have fields that go beyond our sight.
We have servants who serve us, but they serve others.
We buy our food, but they grow theirs.
We have walls around our property to protect us, they have friends to protect them."
The boy's father was speechless.
Then his son added, "Thanks, Dad, for showing me how poor we are."
Isn't perspective a wonderful thing? Makes you wonder what would happen if we all gave thanks for everything we have, instead of worrying about what we don't have.

Catch- up! (August)

  We were very excited for August to come this year as it meant Jeff (Cauley's little brother) was getting married to Jaclyn. We all LOVE Jac! (I just don't happen to have ANY pictures of her or Jeff as we were not the ones taking them.:( Oh well, I will get some during the holidays and put them up for everyone to see my new GORGEOUS sister-in-law as well as her handsome hubby!) They got married in Mesa and then had 2 receptions- technically just one and then an open house/reception. I am sad to report that we also don't have any pictures except the 2 of Tyli below that Cauley stole from my sister-in-law. Isn't my 3 year old beautiful? (I am VERY partial!) I made her dress so please don't look too closely! She had SO much fun dancing in it the night of the reception too! (Sadly though, the dress didn't hold up from the dancing. Her cousin decided to join her and one tug on her new dress broke the stitches in the sash that gave me a headache trying to get right.)

Here are the boys on their new bunk beds. They needed more space and Tyli needed a big girl bed.

First Day of School!
Dallin was very blessed to get into Benjamin Franklin Charter School this year. We have loved every school he's attended, but I felt so strongly that this year he needed to switch over to this school. He has another wonderful teacher and many friends he already knew in his class. I'd say his school has about 80% LDS kids, which I really like too. He does have a dress code- but it is very lax except for the pants part. I have never been happier with my child's education! He has come leaps and bounds this year in everything, including his handwriting! (And that is coming from being in the accelerated program here in our local school district!) Dallin has got really awesome grades- except in his handwriting, but he IS improving on that! Way to go, D-MAN!

McKade's birthday falls toward the end of August. This year was his year to have a party, and PARTY we did! He invited lots of friends and family over and we put on a "Minute-to Win-it" party! I have to say, I have the most amazing husband ever! We had about 22 kids here, and he kept their attention the ENTIRE time- including opening presents! (Notice no other kids around the birthday boy- oh wait, who is that little girl?) There were 9 games that we played and there were no losers in any of them! My favorite one was when Cauley, who is a school teacher, taught all the kids how to shoot rubber bands to knock off pop cans from a table. It was incredibly hilarious watching the kids try and shoot the can. They never quite got the cans so Cauley threw up a balloon and had them try and hit that instead. I think every one had a blast, and McKade has never been so spoiled in his entire life! We ended with cupcakes made in ice cream cones (less mess!) A big thank you to all those who came and helped out!

September

September was more laid back. This is my "Spy Kid", aka D-Man. Dallin and McKade really got into being agents, spies, and a whole lot of that kid of stuff this month. Love the gear!

These are some of my favorite cookies- playdough cookies. I love eating them, but making them is a very arduous task! I'll be posting the recipe soon on my food blog!

Pretty much the rest of the month was spent doing the football thing. With Cauley being the head Freshman coach and also helping out during the varsity games, that means 2 games a week that we attend. The kids are troopers! They love to dress up for the games, so I made a onsie for Halli (the one she is wearing) that says I love coach clark on the back and I made her little headband (that she destroyed a couple of games ago!).

A Camping we did go!

This year during Fall break we decided to put the tent we just bought to good use and head out for our first "official" camping trip as a family. (The other 2 times we've gone have been spent sleeping in a cabin, playing pool, and soaking in the hot tub.) This time we "roughed it!"

We don't have too many supplies as of yet (we have only been married for 10 years!) so we borrowed some from Aunt LaRee. (Thank you!) Basically, we took our tent, blow-up mattress, and sleeping bags and clothes, and we used Aunt LaRee's firewood and tarps. We didn't take much at all, but we were LOADED down!

We had SO much fun! I can't wait until our next camping trip!

This picture was taken as we were leaving our neighborhood



We went to Christopher Creek to go camping and here is that famous (not really!) creek! We kept telling all of the kids to stay out of the water, knowing that inevitably someone would fall in. Sure enough, McKade took the plunge- TWICE!

(Evidence of those slippery rocks!)

Daddy and his daughter! After a short hike, we stopped and let the kids play more by the creek. (This was a shallow, slow moving spot.)

Hanging out!

So I went up to the car to get a diaper to change Halli and when I went to come back, I found this tarantula on the top step. Thinking it was fake and that my family was playing a joke, I took another step forward just as it MOVED!!! It climbed down 3 more stairs before Cauley and the kids came running. Cauley calmly grabbed a shovel and picked it up and carried it down the road and up the mountain a long ways. We definitely made sure our tent was zipped up wonderfully after that!

DINNER! We went really easy with roasted hot dogs and chips!

DESSERT!!!

It got pretty chilly! The days were BEAUTIFUL! (around 74 degrees) But once the sun went down, it got cold! Halli had over 4 layers on here!

It was a long night! It got really cold and the kids didn't stay in their sleeping bags at all, which kept us up with them. Halli was up a bunch too, wondering what was going on. I had a rough time- with the whole camping trip that it. My back had been hurting for about 6 days and I could barely move at all without seizing up in pain! Good thing we bought a blow up mattress!

Morning was the chilliest of all! Cauley got up and found us some fire wood so we wouldn't freeze as we ate our poptarts and orange juice! What a hubby- he gave me his sweatshirt as I forgot to grab mine before heading up to the mountains. (Hey- I didn't forget anything else though!)

McKade had the best adventures EVER!

And we succeeded in wearing them ALL out! (about 20 minutes into our drive home)



6 Months old!

Can you believe she's 6 months old already? I can't! My sweet little one may look like a 6 month old, but she sure doesn't act like one! Halli weighed in at her 6 month appointment at a whopping 14 lbs, 6 oz and measured a little over 27 3/4 inches long! (Very normal for my kids- in fact, she is the shortest of all my kids at this age.) The interesting part is that she still won't roll, grab most things, and sit up. The pediatrician isn't concerned at all- he says it's because her siblings do everything for her, which is very true! She CAN roll over, she just really is against it. In fact, the first thing she does when I lay her in her crib is roll to her sides, catching herself from rolling over. She also can grab things, but usually she'll just wait until someone puts in it her hand or her mouth for her. I was starting to wonder if she could do it one day when I turned around to find her with a handful of flour going toward her mouth. (I was making bread and she was sitting in the bumbo next to my baking area.) She is also really good at grabbing and pulling handfuls of Tyli's hair out!) She is almost sitting on her own- just not good enough for me to leave her on the floor sitting just yet.
Halli LOVES food- just like her siblings! She is almost through all of the veggies so far and definitely doesn't like the green ones. She eats more than one jar a meal, and STILL wants to nurse afterwards. Her 2 little teeth are like razors, and it won't be long before she's eating everything we are!
Halli is sleeping mostly through the night- she still thinks 3 a.m. is playtime, but will usually play for awhile and then go back to sleep. Nap times, however, are still very difficult with her- no schedule, usually only half hour naps. GGGRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR!
She is starting to say a few things like mama, dada, and well, that's it. I love that she said mama first- my first child to say it before saying dada. Halli still loves to blow raspberries and spit at her siblings! Her shirts are usually always soaked right through.
I love this little monkey more than she'll ever know! I feel blessed to have her in our family!