What an adventure- so far!

I don't know if you can tell how dirty this girl actually is, but she is FILTHY!!! This was the beginning of our summer- a summer of service projects. I believe that Tyli went and helped the boys shovel a "little" bit of rock, dirt, pavers, and a bunch of other stuff for the remodeling of their backyard. (TOTAL sarcasm when I say "little") I'm not sure just how much help the kids were, at least Tyli brought home a shovel or two of dirt in her hair and clothes and Dallin definitely brought home his share of sand inside his shoes! The boys (Cauley included) have also been busy washing other people's (and ours!) cars, mowing down an entire backyard of weeds and trash with their shovels (the weed eater broke 5 seconds into it!), and moving rock for a few families. I LOVE that my husband is such a hard worker!

Just a little leaf bug that tried flying into our house the other day. He was on our lemon tree, but I opened the door to tell Cauley something out back and he flew at me. Not every day you can find a leaf bug. Cauley and I let him crawl on us, and Tyli was going to brave it out and do the same, but freaked out when Cauley went to put it on her. (Cauley's hand is so dirty as he had just got home from helping out yet another neighbor move rock or something.)

This is actually how Halli sits while in a stroller, shopping cart, high chair, you name it. She even tries while in her car seat, but that's a little more restrainable. My favorite is when we are someplace else and all of a sudden her foot come out of her seat onto the table. (The look on other people's faces is priceless!)

And here she is just chillin. (Her favorite- outside in the stroller.) Too bad you can't see that her feet are up, and over the tray of her stroller and she is re-laxed!

Yep- you see right. No, this is not a picture from last year. I am the world's biggest klutz! I fell down my stairs again 2 weeks ago. We were called as Ma's and Pa's for our Stake Trek, and very much looking forward to it, but had to cancel at the very last minute due to severely sprained foot and hairline fractured ankle. At first, we weren't totally sure anything was broken, just badly sprained. It was about 3 days before I was supposed to walk on it, and it just hasn't healed very fast. I went in for my 2 week appointment today and found out indeed it is fractured (just a hairline fracture though!) and I have 2 torn tendons around the ankle (over the top going toward the foot, and one underneath). No surgery, just have to wear the dumb boot another 2-4 weeks and then I have a brace I'll have to wear for another 4-6 weeks as well as PT. No fun. At least I have permission to get in the pool again. (I can sit, but that's better than having to sit outside the water while watching everyone else in the water! (Especially while living in AZ in the summertime!)

Another thing about the fall. When I fell, I was carrying Halli down from her nap. When I fell, I accidentally dropped her and she landed on her right arm. That night Cauley took her in and they think she may have had Nurse Maid's elbow, meaning a partially separated elbow. She still wouldn't really use her right arm for a good week, and when she did, she didn't really lift it up, just moved her wrist. We think she also hurt her shoulder a bit and that's why she didn't use it. Even her scooting around the floor was one-armed. She's finally doing MUCH better now and using both arms/hands as she used to. I have felt SO horrible!

Can you believe this guy turns 8 tomorrow? He was welcomed into Cub Scouts last week at Pack Meeting and last night was his first time going to den meeting. I can't believe I will have an 8 year old! Even though his den meets about a mile from our house, we let him ride his bike with his buddy, Karsen.

Ok- I am not going to get into details with this next story. It involves my beautiful daughter, Tyli, and a flashlight. Anyhow, really short story- Mike and Kathy (my MIL and FIL) took the kids (minus Halli) up to Prescott for the weekend like they were going to do when we went on the Trek. (They went up on Thursday, we were now following on Friday.) Anyways, after a long day, some excited to be in a tent/away from mom and dad overnight, some rough housing in the tent, and kids that were up WAY too late, Tyli ended up at Yavapai Regional Hospital at 11pm for stitches. It took a long time since someone else there kept "coding", so it wasn't until 2:30 am that everyone was able to go home for bed. Tyli was a trooper though and slept through the stitches. She now informs me that she loves the "bubbly water" they kept putting on her eye to flush it out. She got 3 stitches inside, 7 outside, and then they had to glue another spot on her eyelid. (lower left side.)

It really wasn't fun laying in bed, jumping as the phone rang at 11pm, listening while wondering who would be calling at that hour to my husband who is told "Is this Tyli Clark's dad? This is Yavapai Regional hospital and we have Tyli here who is going to need some medical attention and we need your permission to treat her." Yah- let's just say we freaked out! About 10 minutes later (ok, probably only 7-8, but it really felt like 30!) my father-in-law called us and we got the scoop. They planned on calling us, they just wanted to get Tyli to the hospital asap and so he called as soon as he could.) Just a bit scary/overwhelming/frustrating/alarming to get a call like that out of nowhere!

This is the day before Ty got her stitches out. I was really surprised it didn't bruise more than it did. She thought it was pretty and wanted me to put make-up on the other eye. (I didn't have the right colors to make it match though- I shoulda called Steph!) She went and got her stitches out today and was SO good, just laying there while Dr. Leavit had to remove some that had scabbed over. He then put them in a row on a tongue depressor and put a piece of tape over them so she could keep them as a souvenir. Kinda cool, kinda gross. She's happy with it though!

I had to add a picture of this guy. He is all ready for Kindergarten, although he's already getting really nervous. He went and got his shots today. He did great! I love how sweet, loving, and compassionate he is, especially with his sisters! His big worry is making friends, but honestly, he should have no problem with that!

I love these two! I love all of my awesome little family! I'll post again sometime of the many upcoming adventures we're off to have to finish off the summer. (and there will be lots more- just hopefully none that involve ER's, urgent cares, or unplanned dr. offices!)

And the winner is...

Sorry- if you're looking for a giveaway, this is NOT that blog. This post makes me SO happy for my wonderful hubby, Coach Clark. He came home Saturday night (really early Sunday morning) with this trophy- one his team won at the State Track Meet this past weekend. The Boys got Division III Runners Up (lost by 1 point) and the Girls won State! For more pictures and information, go to his track blog at higleytrack.blogspot.com GO KNIGHTS!!!

My Baby turns 1!

Halli on her actual birthday

Pigtails- a new, wild look for the girl.

These sisters love each other- or so the picture says!

I can't believe my baby is already one! Where oh where did the time go? Halli, also known by me as "monkey" and has her daddy completely smitten! is now a year old! Her birthday landed on Easter this year so we celebrated with Cauley's parents and the Greers who came over for dinner and cupcakes. (I do have pics of that, but I'll save you the time by just saying that they are just as cute as the rest of all these pictures.) For her birthday Halli got new sippy cups (she's completely weaned from nursing AND the bottle!), a ball that she adores, bath toys, some money from Grandpa Clark and Grandma Kathy, and a cute onesie and sundress from the Greers. She also got a stuffed frog which her siblings named "Hoppy" (for Happy Easter/Birthday) from her Grandma and Grandpa Ruth which she absolutely LOVES and snuggles often. She was one spoiled little girl!

Halli is such a mamma's girl, unless her daddy is around- then she ONLY wants her daddy! She's a bit different from the rest and wants to be held at all times. (Not always so easy for a RS president to do!) Halli has all but 2 of her teeth, but she's working on them. She loves balls just like her big brother Dallin did. She loves to make animal sounds and the duck is her favorite. She loves to eat just about everything except rice, and LOVES to drink milk. Halli doesn't have near as much hair as Tyli did at this age and it is SUPER thin and blond. (who knows where that came from- we don't do thin hair in our family- it's all or nothing for us!)

One unique thing about Halli is that she still doesn't roll over, crawl, pull up, or walk. At 4 months old, we were sent to the Children's hospital for an ultrasound on her hips looking for a dislocation, but all was found ok. Then we were sent for x-rays and that showed that her hips are formed correctly. Now we know that she has very loose hip sockets, allowing her hips to dislocate easily, but mostly at her will. Weird- I know. We figured this out as whenever we'd put her on her knees to try and crawl, her hips would fall to the sides and she's sit there on her pelvic bone with her hips in a weird position. Also, it does this whenever she tries pulling up. Basically, her feet are under her body, feet together, toes on the floor, and knees on the floor. Halli also does this thing when she is tired where she'll put both hands on her left leg while sitting upright and move her right hip in and out of socket, just going in a circular motion. When she does this, you can see a pained expression on her face. She DOES, however, get around the house at will by scooting on her bottom! What is funny about this is that she puts one leg out, other in like she's stretching her hamstrings, and scoots, then switches legs and scoots and so forth. (Left, right, left, right, etc.)

I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE this little girl so much and am so happy she is a part of our family. She definitely brings character to our home and is loved by all of us here.

1 Year stats

Height: 32 inches tall

Weight: 19 lbs 4oz

Cuteness: ADORABLE!!!

I guess it's our new favorite pasttime?

Don't let your eyes fool you- McKade is squatting down. BUT Tyli is pretty tall! (McKade had come home from Father and Sons missing the screw that holds his lenses in, so no glasses for him for the hike!)

I carried Halli and all of our water about 3/4 of the way due to Tyli wearing shoes that were too small and Cauley having to give her a shoulder ride.

Where we stopped for water.

like father like son!

Did something die in the path? Nope. It's just McKade literally playing possum! (too much Jeff Corwin for him!)

One thing we really like to do as a family is to hike. We have a great excuse to do right now too as Cauley and I have been called to be Ma's and Pa's by the stake for the Youth Treck coming up next month. We borrowed a baby pack, and loaded up the troops to hike the San Tan Foothills. This hike is SUPER EASY and perfect for little kids. (my kids prefer a bit more of a challenge though, but they still had fun.) We only did about a 3 mile hike but it was a good time nonetheless. I just can't wait until the kids will carry their own water!

Our Digorno Houseparty!

All of the loot that we got sent to us for our party! What you can't see is the coupons for the FREE Digorno pizzas I was sent to feed our guests at the party along with coupons for $4 off a Digorno pizza that we gave to our guests!



Some of the partiers!  (This may be the only shot I have of anyone even eating the main event- PIZZA!) Check out my mini basketball sugar cookies I made.



Tye Christopher was a very tired little guy.

and so was Bryce! Oh wait a second- I DO have another shot of the pizza being eaten! Way to go Brad!

Taylor just had a great time riding the zebra.

If you haven't yet signed up for Houseparty.com, DO SO NOW!!! This was the 2nd party I have hosted for them and it is AMAZING! It is free to sign up, and mostly free to throw a party. (You just provide all filler stuff like extra food and drinks and any decorations or anything else you want to add to your party.) Anyways, once you register, you basically fill out applications to become hosts for the parties that you would be interested in throwing. They'll email you if you are chosen to be a host, and then they send you lots of cool, FREE stuff! My first party I was chosen to host was the Just Dance 2 party and I also received Just Dance for Kids as well in my host package. Basically I had people over for lots of fun and a little yummy food- all for FREE! This time around, I was chosen for the Digorno Hoops Party. (That's how behind I am- this party was in March during March Madness.)

As a host, I received a over-the-door hoop and ball, FREE pizza coupons, plates, hand wipes, a kitchen timer shaped like a basketball, refrigerator magnet, basketball shaped hot pad, pizza cutter, spatula, LOTS of LOUD blow-up noisemakers (which all of the kids quickly turned into swords out in the backyard!), and a tournament sheet thing that we didn't use. We also had chips, pretzels, cookies, wings, bread sticks, and PIZZA! Thanks to everyone who came and partied the night away with us! Now GO and sign up for Houseparty.com! (they have their Ball canning one coming up real soon, and if I'm not chosen as a host, PLEASE invite me if you are!)

My reward

Today is Mother's Day. I don't like Mother's Day. In fact, I really DISlike Mother's Day. I love the quote a friend gave at church today- in her own words she said, "I was once a perfect mother- for about 2 seconds until my first child was born." It's true. That's how I feel every day of my life. I especially dislike going to church on Mother's Day and hearing how perfect every other mother in the world is/has been. (Especially since I just yelled at one of my kids for not having shoes on as we walk out the door after they've just spent the past 5 minutes fighting or throwing a tantrum, or that one of my children usually has their lunch down the front of their church clothes even though they didn't even have their church clothes on when they ate the said lunch, or my daughter's hair, which looked absolutely ADORABLE a few minutes ago now has been taken out and redone to HER specifications, and so on.) Anyways, this Mother's Day was that way. I was happy to head out of the chapel during the prelude for the Sacrament hymn with Halli in arms to find Tyli who was MIA/in the bathroom since BEFORE the meeting even began. I was being overcome with my own doubts and bad feelings about me as a mother. As I stood in the foyer with both girls, these doubts and feelings became overpowering. A reminder of the squirming 1 year old in my arms who doesn't roll over still, doesn't crawl, doesn't pull up or cruise made me feel like I was doing everything in life wrong as a mother. However, right after I leaned forward and whispered for Tyli to fold her arms for the Sacrament prayer which was to be said, I caught a glimpse of this little baby who is delayed- arms folded, head bowed, and a sweet smile on her face. It was then that I KNEW. It was then that I received my best Mother's Day gift ever. My doubts about being a good enough mom flew away as I received confirmation that, although I am not a perfect mommy, I am doing my best, and more importantly, I doing what is expected of me by teaching my children the gospel, sharing with them it's truths. Teaching them things that they need to know and do in this life so we can be together forever. I hope I don't forget this lesson, and I pray I may have more Mother's Day rewards like today.

Check out this Boutique!!!

Hey everyone. I have several friends getting ready for the big day- The Pecan Creek Boutique which will be coming up real quick. Right now they are doing a giveaway so head on over to their website pecancreekboutique.blogspot.com and enter to win some fabulous prizes!!!

Happy Valentines Day!

Halli sure enjoyed her mashed potatoes and her valentine from mommy!


My sister, Jeni, makes her family a special Valentine Dinner every year. I decided to follow suit and make a candlelight dinner for my family this year too! It wasn't anything out of the ordinary food wise, but my kids were excited to have my homemade lit candles on the table (t-light candles inside baby food containers so wax didn't get everywhere and more importantly so the kids wouldn't keep blowing them out during dinner!) as well as lots of candy hearts sprinkled on the table (which was dessert!). We had onion chicken, mashed potatoes, and corn, and purple juice that Cauley and I got to drink out of some plastic goblets we got for our wedding but have never used. It was so fun, and the food was yummy. Oh how I LOVE my family! (And I have the most handsome, hardest working, sweetest, and sexiest Valentine of all!)

One last picture I forgot to put in the soccer posts: the most supportive sisters, Tyli at one of the early games. It was definitely COLD this year and we usually always had a game that started at 8am!

Kid #3, Broken arm #3

I don't know if this is a very good stat- broken arm #3 for our household. (Dallin and McKade broke theirs a few years ago, remember?) Anyways, we were at Cauley's Aunt and Uncle's house for a family get together when Tyli, who was getting off the trampoline in the backyard, fell forward and landed on her arm. There was no absolute scream, just crying, but I could tell she was really hurt. the problem was, I couldn't tell WHERE. I decided we should have her daddy who was at home doing homework take a look at it so we loaded up and went home. After a blessing and Cauley looking at it, we decided I had better take her to the Urgent Care. She cried every time I went over a bump on the way there, but still didn't know exactly where it hurt. It was 8:20 when I arrived at Urgent Care and was told I had a 4 hour wait. RRRRRRR! Well, I occupied my time by making friends with others waiting to be seen. Tyli fell asleep in my arms somewhere around 11:00, and even though she was really heavy and hurting me, I didn't dare wake or move her as she would cry. Sometime around 12:40 I was finally called back to see the dr. (we were somehow the last patients seen, even though there was about 8 people who checked in after us!) We didn't ever see the dr. at first, just the radiologist who needed to know where to x-ray. Tyli was SO out and so we had a hard time finding exactly where to x-ray, but would cry whenever we moved her wrist so we decided to start there. Well, when the radiologist moved her wrist to x-ray it, it woke Tyli up and she started screaming. Hmmm...mystery solved? No. We then go to talk with the dr. who told me her wrist was fine.(?) When the dr. moved her arm though, Tyli again woke up screaming and so we went back to x-ray where they x-rayed her elbow. This time the dr. said there was a "suspicious" part where the fat had been pulled away from the bone with a small streak of blood underneath which usually means a break, but she wanted to just put it in a sling and send us home. I asked about her wrist, and the dr. said "oh yes, Bonnie (I can't really remember her name) said it was very badly sprained." Then she said again that she only needed a sling and that is when I told her no, put it in a splint! As I was saying this, the nurse walked in with everything to make the splint and so the dr told her to put it on and that in the meantime, she was going home. The confused nurse said, "I thought she might have a broken elbow and a badly sprained wrist so why wasn't she going to put it in a splint?" Hahaha! Good question! I was SO ready to scream! Anyways, we got it splinted and then went home, arriving around 2 am. (see the above picture of Tyli) Well, 2 days later, I got a call from the radiologist who read the x-ray saying indeed it was broken, and not even where the dr. thought it was suspicious. So I made an appointment with a Phoenix Children's specialist to get it casted and called to have them transfer records and x-rays from the urgent care. That Friday we drove over to the specialist's office for more x-rays. The dr. again couldn't see a break, just the "suspicious area." I asked about the radiologists finding, and he told me he had no such report and to come back in another week so they could look for bone growth and at that point they would cast it. I was quite frustrated at this point! So, after another week of wearing the splint, we again went back to have more x-rays. This time we saw the nurse practitioner. She looked and at first saw nothing, but went back and re-read our file. Then, she grabbed all x-rays, and showed me where the radiologist found the break- right on the outside of the elbow! It was pretty much healed, and miraculously healed correctly since it was just in a splint! Apparently, they got the radiologist's reading AFTER my first appointment with them and just tucked it into Tyli's file. She got stuff ready to cast it, and me, being cheap like I am, asked her not to. The cast would come off in less than a week, and I didn't want to pay for them to cast it, take it off, and another follow-up appointment after all the frustration of is it broken or not from the past 3 weeks! So, Tyli wore her splint like a good girl for 3 1/2 weeks, not ever getting her pink cast, on her BROKEN arm. But she was such a good sport about it all, even though it hurt her pretty bad for about the first 2 weeks.

McKade Plays soccer!

McKade being a monkey

McKade (5) and cousin Parker (4) (TEAMMATES!)





A throw-in by McKade with instruction from his coach- his Daddy!

Halli enjoying being outside

showing off some of her teeth (and her BEAUTIFUL brown eyes!)

Mom and Tyli hanging out, cheering on our boys. (this one is actually from Dallin's game, but oh well.)

McKade has been SO excited to turn 5 so he could play soccer like Dallin got to. That is wat he asked Santa to bring him this last Christmas- a soccer ball and shin pads. (Of course Santa fulfilled that!) McKade was excited for the fact that Parker, his cousin, would be on his team and that he was coached by 2 men that he knows and loves: his Uncle Brad who was the head coach, and HIS DADDY who was an assistant! (Cauley had to coach so we could get these two boys on the same team.) McKade is VERY left footed- he ALWAYS kicks with his left foot. (and it looks so wrong!) McKade made one really good break away and scored a goal against a really good team. He scored another goal toward the end of the season too.  He learned a lot and had a blast! (and he had suck cute kids on his team this year!) (and great coaches!) GO GOLDEN EAGLES!!!

Dallin Soccer

This was D-Man's 3rd year playing soccer and we really loved watching him play! His team was a lot different from past years as this was most of his teammates first year playing. (lots of room for improvement and improve they did!) Dallin took on a more "offensive" approach this year, but still loves to play the defense part. He only got to play goalie for 1 quarter of 1 game this year, but after he figured out how rewarding it was to score goals, didn't mind. This was a VERY COLD season too! (I almost wanted to go buy snow pants and make my boys wear them like my mom did for us kids!) Go COMETS!

You couldn't lose the members of this team! (tem color: high lighter!)

Go Dallin!

I will catch up....but not today!

Well folks, I'm not gonna lie to ya- I have been 1 busy woman! I spend so much time in meetings, trainings, going on visits, doing other things a Relief Society President does, being a "soccer mom" (literally, and I LOVE it!), playing with my kids, FEEDING those kids (they are bottomless pits that weigh next to nothing!), taking said kids to dr appointments, buying groceries to keep our hungry, growing family appeased, and hanging around with Cauley for a little personal time once the kids are in bed, that my blogging time is severely limited. I may or may not go back and catch up on all the missed Christmas adventures and happenings since then. I will try and blog about soccer and the sadness of my baby growing up WAY too fast! But, as my title says, not today- there is chicken that needs canned and a big shiny new pressure canner that needs to be used.

Birthday Surprise

This year for my birthday my wonderful and amazing hubby decided to surprise me. He told me I needed to be ready and have the kids ready to be gone (and in something to sleep in) by 4:45. He wouldn't tell me anything else other than we needed to eat before hand because he wasn't quite sure when we would be eating next. Well, the time came and we all loaded up and drove toward the 60. (I thought we'd just be dropping off the kids at his parent's, but nope- I was wrong.) FINALLY, after driving for a while, he told me we were indeed dropping off the kids to be with his parents, but we had to meet them first at a T-shirt convention that they were at in Phoenix. (My father-in-law has a business selling screened and embroidered shirts, sweats, hats, etc.) After we dropped off the kids, we headed downtown and I started going crazy not knowing my surprise yet. Finally, after parking and walking a few blocks he gave me the hint of "The only thing your surprise cost me was the $12 for our parking." I had it figured out- he was taking me to a Suns game!

Back Up to August: At Jeff's wedding reception, Tom M., the former athletic trainer for Dobson High School was talking with Cauley and I and we found out that he is now an assistant trainer for the Phoenix Suns and he said that if we ever wanted to go to a game, just to give him a call. Both Cauley and I filed it away in our memory box to be used at a later date, and I guess Cauley decided it was time!

After we found our envelope at Will Call, we were excited to make our way to our seats. We didn't quite know what to do as we not only had amazing seats, but Tom had also given us Guest Pass's. We asked the usher who directed us to an area down on the North side of the court just inside the black curtains. Feeling WAY out of place, we made our way down and through. The media area was right in front of us and so we tried going in there, but we told we had to make our way behind that. So we did. And we felt even MORE so out of place being in the VIP area. It was AWESOME food, but there were people in that room that we both felt we should know, but didn't quite recognize. (It was mainly people's family members who were there.) Can you say AWKWARD!!! After we finished eating, we made our way out, just in time to realize we were right next to the Suns locker room! They had all come out and were doing a pregame huddle/jump/dance thing before running past us, giving high fives as they made their way to the court for their pregame warm ups. We caught Tom as he headed out and talked with him for a minute before we too headed out and to our seats.

The first half of the game was ok. There wasn't many people there, and not many of the fans there were really into the game. Besides, when the buzzer rang, ending the first half of play, the Pacers were winning. Jenn, Tom's wife, found us almost immediately and escorted us down to the VIP area the back way (to avoid everyone in the isles.) We got to talk to her for a bit before the Suns players came out to get ready for the 2nd half. We got to see all of the players and coaches again, and even got to talk with Tom once more before we went in and ate some more food. This time we sat and talked with someone's wife and son who had 2 of his friends there with him. It was fun, but we missed most of the 3rd quarter. We stocked up with cups of Sprite, water bottles, and popcorn before heading back to our seats to watch the end of the game. The 2nd half was so much more fun as most of the fans had finally arrived and it got LOUD! The Suns came back and ended up winning, although my 30 year old brain can't remember the final score.

We decided to head home after the game to relieve our sitters instead of heading back to the VIP area once more. (We were so full anyways, we'd probably look funny just standing around in that room!) Thank you so much Cauley for such a memorable birthday surprise!

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!