Reflections

Today the kids are at their dad's house until wed night and then they go again to their dad's thurs. night until sunday. You know, when you have them with you all the time, you would think that's it's nice to have some "me" time all to yourself. Right? Wrong!!!! Yeah, okay, I do enjoy "me" time but not that long! I miss them so much! I miss Alec's jokes or his silly sense of humor, I miss Crista's wanting to help me cook in the kitchen, I miss Calli's little giggle and her silliness, I miss Caidin's rather hard hugs and his sudden tackling you to the ground, and I miss seeing my little Caitlin all in her dress up clothes, and when I mean all in her dress up clothes, she tries to put EVERYTHING on - even if it means putting on double or triple the clothing! She then comes downstairs and thinks she is the prettiest thing ever! And she really is! I love everything about them! They are all so different in so many ways and I love it!
I think I don't want to grow old if it means having no children around. I love having little ones around! They are so inspiring! They make me want to be a better person and look at the world differently and to actually enjoy life, not to just endure it! I hope when I have grandchildren that I get to be around them all the time! I made my kids promise me to stay close and I will be their number one babysitter! Well, maybe 1 out of the 5 will do that! I wish I lived closer to my mom and dad! As much as I loved living in South Dakota, I don't know if I could stand the really cold winters there! Sorry guys! I am spoiled with Utah's winters! And spoiled with the close walmarts, libraries, thrift stores, etc.



My dad is the best dad around! I have grown so much appreciation for him in the last few years. He has had the roughest life and it brings me to tears when I think about it. I think of my kids and how much they have - which is really not much - but it was so much more than what my dad had. Number one, my kids had a family and a home that shows real love to them. He had a children's home and people there that said they loved all the children but if the walls could speak, you would hear so many horrible stories. My dad did the best he knew how to raise a family and I think he did a wonderful job! I love him so much and I'm grateful to have him in my life!



My mom is the best momma in the world! She is the most kind, tender, caring, selfless person I have ever known! She had all six of us and taught us to pray, love the scriptures, and took us to church (which was an hour away). She is an excellent example to me! I hope that I can be as good as a woman as she is.




I love all my brothers and sisters. Yes, we all have our differences but that is what makes us unique. We are brothers and sisters to help each other. To strengthen one another. I hope with this new year, that I can become closer to my family and be the best mother, wife, sister, daughter, aunt, friend, etc. Happy New Year!

"Isn't I so pwetty?"

Caitlin came skipping down the stairs the other day and came up to me and asked "Isn't I so pwetty?" I instantly replied, "I LOVE it! You are so beautiful to me!" ......You know,....I'm gonna really miss these days! I cherish every moment (or at least try to) with them! I love all my kids so much! They are my life and I wouldn't know what to do without them!

Let it snow, let it snow let it snow!!!

We are getting dumped on with all this snow! I am loving it and then again, I'm not! All the kids want to go outside and play in the nice, white, fresh snow! Ahhhh....peace in the house! The silence in the house and listening to the kids yell and scream and play in the snow! How nice of a feeling that is! Then before you know it, your life turns upside down! Everyone coming in, kicking off the snow stuff, runny noses, freezing hands, crying......and who knows what else. Ugh! My floors are a mess, I have stinky, wet snow clothing all over that needs washing and the kids are freezing and wanting some nice hot chocolate. *Sigh* Life as a mom - never getting a long moment to herself! It's the start of Christmas break and we are in for a lot of snow .......and messy floors, stinky snow clothing, runny noses, and freezing hands! Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow???? Maybe in the winter wonderland!!

Happy Birthday Crista!

Today Crista turned 12! I can hardly believe it! She is so excited to be 12! She has been so much fun to have and I look forward in many more birthdays so spend with her! I love you Crista!




No, she really didn't have a binkie and ride in the carseat....she wanted to be a baby so she hopped in Calli's carseat!


12 Things you may not know about Crista

1. She was 6# 14 oz and 18 inches long.
2. She the second child but oldest girl
3. She had her tonsils taken out
4. She loves cats and dogs
5. She is really good at clogging
6. She has 3 brothers and 2 sisters
7. She is learning to play the piano
8. She has so much personality and loves all the girly - girl stuff
9. She is a determined girl that won't give up too easily
10. She is very helpful and is a very good babysitter! (Anyone out there that needs
a babysitter, she would be great!)
11. She has a testimony of the Savior and is a very good example of Him
12. She has had many nicknames - because her siblings couldn't say her name very well
They are Da-da, Twista, Dersta and Dersty.

We love ya and so glad you're in our family!!!

Pampered Chef

Hey, I am holding a Pampered Chef Show on Friday Nov. 21st at 7:00 pm! If anyone is interested in getting some cool products then leave a comment and I will get back to ya!! I am closing my party on Nov. 25th. It's a great time to get stoneware for 20% off!! Also, I would love to have you come to the show that night!! Hope everyone is doing great!!

Photo Tag

I saw this photo tag thing and thought it would be fun. So I opened up the 4th photo and the 6th photo and here it is! So I tag Jay, Christina, Jani and whoever else

High School Tag

My friend Tagged me.....so this should be fun!

All about High School...

1. DID YOU DATE SOMEONE FROM YOUR SCHOOL? No, not really. There was one that was a very good friend and we called each other all the time. He still is a really good friend to me even though I haven't heard from him in 2 years now. :(

2. WHAT KIND OF CAR DID YOU DRIVE? A Big White Ugly Station Wagon! I called it the party wagon!! No, I really didn't party tho!

3. DID YOU PASS YOUR DRIVER'S LICENSE TEST YOUR FIRST TRY? I think I had to retake it cuz I missed it by one point or something. Stupid me! But I took the test at 14! Scary!

4. WHERE YOU A PARTY ANIMAL? Not much to do in South Dakota! I did hang out with my friends but I didn't drink. Watching them look like puking fools made me not want to even try the stuff. So no, I wasn't really a party Animal!

5. WERE YOU CONSIDERED A FLIRT? Um, I don't think so!

6. WERE YOU IN BAND, ORCHESTRA, OR CHOIR? I was in band and choir. Was I good at any of them. Probable not. Just needed things to do in a small town!

7. WERE YOU A NERD? No, I don't think I was a nerd. I could hang out with anyone, nerds, popular, anyone! This was a small school and pretty much we were all family! It was great!

8. WERE YOU ON ANY VARSITY TEAMS? No, I played Basketball in Junior High but stopped before High School. Probably could have made it since the school was so small. I just didn't believe in myself enough. Yeah yeah, poor me! :)

9. DID YOU EVER GET SUSPENDED/EXPELLED? Nope! Teachers liked me and also I feared what my dad would do if I ever got into trouble! Yikes!!!!

10. CAN YOU STILL SING THE FIGHT SONG? I don't I ever knew the words cuz I always played it on my clarinet!

11. WHO WERE YOUR FAVORITE TEACHERS? I had many teachers that were my favorite in different ways. I like Mr. Kinder my English teacher cuz he was fun but really taught us. I liked my Spanish Teacher Mrs. Hinckley - she was so kind and sweet. Mr and Mrs Meyer has to be the best teachers in the world. They were my Science teacher and Home Ec. teacher. Mr. Ehrke my band/choir teacher taught me a lot about the love of music. Okay, those are the ones that stick to me the most! Thanks awesome teachers!

12. WHERE DID YOU SIT FOR LUNCH? Anywhere where there was room.

13. WHAT IS YOUR SCHOOL'S FULL NAME? Willow Lake High School. Although the elementary was in the same building too.

14. WHAT IS YOUR SCHOOL'S MASCOT AND COLORS? We were the Willow Lake Pirates and they were purple and gold. I was actually the school mascot at one time!

15. DID YOU GO TO HOMECOMING AND WITH WHO? Yes, I went to Homecoming but in our school anyone could go even if you didn't have a date. So I went dateless but danced with everyone - even with their dates! Like I said, we were all like family!

16. IF YOU COULD GO BACK AND DO IT AGAIN WOULD YOU? Yes, I would. I would try harder in sports, try harder on my grades, be kinder to everyone, and be the best ever!

17. WHAT DO YOU REMEMBER MOST ABOUT GRADUATION? Standing up in front of everyone and talking about our class memories with my best friend Ben. And I remember feeling so sad that I was at a point in my life that I know that all this High School memories and friends were coming to an end. That I was moving on and and going to Utah. I was going to miss all my classmates and other friends that I had. I knew that most of them were going to stay in South Dakota and if I ever came back I would see them again. But I really was going to miss my friend Ben cuz he was moving back to Texas and the chances of me seeing him again was slim to none. So really I felt a loss of a friend when I graduated. I losing my best friend Ben. Thanks for the memories!

18. WHERE DID YOU GO SENIOR SKIP DAY? I really don't remember skip day! I probably either stayed there in school or just went home and did chores or something.

19. WERE YOU IN ANY CLUBS? Was FHA a club? I was FHA President! Beat that! :)

20. HAVE YOU GAINED SOME WEIGHT SINCE THEN? Yes, but by the time I got back to South Dakota this last summer I lost all but 10 lbs!! Yeah for me!!! Yes, I was one hot sexy momma with 5 kids!! J/K

21. WHO WAS YOUR PROM DATE? One year I hade a neighbor named Ryan, then, I dont think I had anyone for jr. year then sr year a guy named Rocky. No, I wasn't Rocky Balboa either!! He was a very sweet guy!

22. ARE YOU PLANNING ON GOING TO YOUR 10 YEAR REUNION? I will go to my 20 year! I want to come back every year! We have reunions every year anyways!

23. DID YOU HAVE A JOB IN HIGH SCHOOL? Nope, there was no place to work in a town of 300 people. I did work at the swimming pool the summer before my senior year. That was fun!

There you have it! I will tag, Jill, Sonja, Sunny, Jay, Jani, Emily, Kelli, Jenni, Jen and whoever else wants to play!

Happy Halloween

Here's a picture of the kids and I at the church Halloween party. Of course, I had to be a witch. Caidin wants to be what Alec is - whatever that really is! Crista is a Charger cheerleader, Calli is some sort of 70's girl, and Caitlin HAD to be the little mermaid. It was fun and the kids got plenty of candy!!

Halloween Fun

Okay so it's been a while since I updated my blog. Also, I am getting grossed out looking at the mouse picture that I have. So I need to add something different. But here's a picture of my big picture window. No, I'm not really an artist as you can tell but the kids love having things all decorated for the Holidays! It's fun! The kids make the Holidays so much funner! It doesn't take much to get them all excited about the Holidays.

Someone wasn't payin' attention in the meeting........

YES!!!! SUCCESS!!! I DEFEATED THEM!!! Or maybe this one wasn't paying any attention to the big mouse meeting on how to stay AWAY from those traps!! Or maybe he had a huge peanut butter craving and just couldn't help it! But whatever the case is, I got him or should I say her? It looked either well fed or pregnant! Yeah! Finally success!

Happy Birthday Calli!!

Okay, so this is way late! My baby Calli AnnMarie was born September 11th, 1998. She turned 10 years old! Where did the time go??



Here are some other fun pictures of her. The pictures only go up to a certain age cuz I need to get caught up with my pictures! I know, I'm a bad mom!! :)



Here is the Birthday Girl today!!




Here are 10 things about Calli!

#1 She was born on Sept. 11th- 3 years before the tragic plane crashes! I never did want to have her on that day. It just felt like a yucky day for some reason!

#2 She was born C-section because she was breech-naughty baby!

#3 She was know for having a Mona Lisa smile - look at the picture above with her as a baby at the table and you will see what I mean.

#4 She loves soccer and is very very good at it!!

#5 She helps mom out a lot with chores or babysitting

#6 She is s sister of 2 brothers, one older and one younger and 2 sisters, one older and one younger

#7 She is a trooper when it comes to stitches and ER. Earlier this month she put her hand through a window and got 42 stitches right up the inside her arm. I blogged that one too!:)

#8 She is so loveable and sensitive

#9 She is not they girly-girly type. She likes to play rough and tough and get dirty.

#10 She always makes us laugh with jokes, or other silly things she does.

Happy Birthday my little Calli Wally!!! I love you so much and I'm so glad you are in my family!!!

Mother-Daughter Reunion!

Okay,This is kinda silly but I am so excited about this!! I have this doll named Holly Hobby. I have had her since I was a little girl! She was my very best friend. (I know, pretty pathetic!) As you can tell in the picture below, Holly Hobby was known to always have a side view shot of her. I had always wanted to see what her face looked like. I thought maybe she was just an ugly girl and never wanted to show her face. It was such a mystery to me!


So one day I got a Holly Hobby doll as a gift. This one was so cool because it actually showed her face!!! She wasn't ugly! She was beautiful to me! I thought only special kids got to have the Holly Hobby with a face! I felt so honored to have her! So she immediately became my very best friend. I told her all my problems. I even cried with her as you can tell by the stains on her face. She was very well loved!!


So the other day, I was at DI (thrift store). I was just rummaging around the stuffed animal shelves and guess what I stumbled upon?? I was so shocked to see it!! It was a miniture Holly Hobby! She looked the same as mine! I was so excited to see her! Of course I had to reunite her with her "mother"!


Okay, so there you have it! Mother and daughter reunited at last!

Mouse Traps!!

I have a problem here! Can anyone help me out here? Okay, I love where I live, sorta. I love the fact that my back yard has a lot of trees and I feel like -somewhat - I am in the boonies! But there are bad things about living in the "boonies". MICE!!!! Yeah, Yeah, I have mice! Last year, I think I caught 10 of them in those nifty old mouse traps! It was an exciting and disgusting thing to do! Whenever I would check to see if I caught a mouse, I would slowly creep up on the mouse trap having mixed emotions on wanting a mouse caught but then hesitating on seeing the gruesome way he died! I usually wait until the kids get home so they can dispose of the smashed little mousy body. They seem to enjoy that for some reason! So I reset it with peanut butter on it and wait for the next victim. It is sooooo stinking gross to me but I have to do it!!! So that was last year.......This year I think the little mice had a big meeting and warned them all of the dangerous mouse traps that I put around the house and to STAY AWAY FROM PEANUT BUTTER! Or maybe the mice now are just so sick of peanut butter that they have developed an allergic reaction to it! Whatever the case is, my traps are sitting there mouseless. I've even checked the traps to see if they even work! SNAP! They work alright! It scares me every time! I know there are other options out there to catch mice. I thought the old mouse trap that actually kills them instantly would be a better choice. Randy's son Michael had set up his very own mouse trap. You know, the typical prop a box up with a pencil with a long string tied around it and then you wait patiently until the mouse is under the propped up box and you pull the string and "Bam" you caught the mouse. Well, Michael did it. I thought it was funny and it would never work. But hey, he doesn't have to work that day and he's got plenty of time on his hands so I thought what the heck, it will give him something to do. Okay, so in no time, he caught the mouse!!!!! I guess they didn't warn them about that one in mouse school!! Okay so besides buying a cat, what other options work good for you guys? Or should I just forget the whole mice trapping and tell them they won the war and just start charging them rent? AHHHHHH! What do I do? I wouldn't mind them so much if they didn't poop all over the place!! Thanks for listening!!! :)

The Girls

On 2 Saturday's ago the boys went on a campout and us girls hung out! It was fun! The boys need to do it more often!! Or better yet, we just need to go out more often! I love my girls so much!! They are so much fun!!!

Our New Addition!!!!

Here's a picture of our newest addition to our family!! She is loved and taken well care of.......as you can tell!!! Poor little thing! Her name is Lexee and she is a very good doggy.

Y Mountain

Whew! We hiked to the Y today! It was great! The kids loved it and it was perfect weather to do it! I took some pictures from my phone but can't figure out how to put it on my computer. So for now, here is what the Y looks like from a picture I took off of a website. My 5 little hikers were awesome! Even Caitlin who whined, and complained the whole entire time! It's a lot of work for a little person!

I am still alive

Hello again! Wow it's been crazy over here and the more I thought about catching up my blog, the more I was getting overwhelmed by it! Too much info to post here! So here it is in a nutshell more or less!

Our South Dakota trip was awesome!! I finally overcame my fear of driving long distances with my 5 kids! I did it all by myself. I am sure I had the Lord's help too! It was a great time! We stayed in the hunting lodge my mom and dad have in town. This is the first time in 10+ years that all of us have been together in our little home town! Some of the highlights were a rodeo, parade which included tractors, tractors, and more tractors, horse back riding, frog catching - I will tell about that story in a little bit - and catching up with some real good friends and old classmates! I loved growing up in my little town! There was 300 people in it and everyone seemed like family! We are definately going to come back soon! Maybe in August when the sweet corn and all the garden food is all ready to eat!!! MMMMMM!!!




OKay, so I tried to look for my pictures on my computer, and I guess that it didn't transfer from my digital camera to the computer. The digital camera is on the blink right now I guess this is what you'll have for now for pictures. Thanks to my wonderful and always prepared photographer sister, we have this pictures and the couple below too that I have already posted!



So, now to my froggy story....ahem....well, the kids caught this frog or toad or whatever it is and they wanted him to come back to Utah with us. I reluctantly let him come back home with us. My fear was that we all would get these nasty warts from it! Well, after we got home, Caitlin really loved the froggy! She would play with him all the time, in our little baby pool out on our lawn or she would play with him in her room in her play kitchen. I know that sounds pretty gross and all but I had to let her do it cuz believe me, I've played with worse and gross looking things than that!!! So after about a month, froggy came up missing. I had asked Caitlin where froggy went. She said, he's in his cage and went way deep in the dirt. She says, "Willy, I'm telling the twooth!" So I believed her cuz 4 year olds never lie!!! Hahaha!! So the next day I would ask her just to see if her story changed. Nope, still the same story. After a week, she said, he's lost in the house. Great!!! I do NOT want to find him! I was getting sick to think about what he would look like if I found him! I tackled and thouroughly cleaned all the rooms! I looked like a crazy cleaning lady! Well, today I found froggy's remains. I was in the bathroom and noticed the sink was plugged. It's been plugged for a while now. I just thought that maybe it was really slow for some reason - maybe hairs in it - who knows. But the word FROGGY poppped into my mind! I got my flash light and looked down the drain. Yup! Froggy coloring down there! I was real sicked out! I didn't want to poke him and pull him out. I didn't want to even SEE him! So I got my husband's wet vac and yup....you got it! I sucked him right out of the drain! Plus other hairballs and who knows what was sucked up too!! Those wet vac's come in handy!!! I'll be a plumber any day if all I had to do is suck out the scum or whatever out of the drain! So problem solved - froggy is found - probably happier now - and my sink works great!!! Yeah for me! I did it!!



So long little froggy! You will be remembered for your patience and tolerance of little 4 yr old hands!

South Dakota

Here are a couple of pictures we took when we were in South Dakota. I will do more pictures and write more later!

Baseball

I have Alec in baseball this summer. He absolutely loves it! He has always had the desire to play and I thought he was pretty good at it too! I had signed him up for t-ball when he was 5 years old and then just never really got a chance to get him signed up again probably because of babies being born or just wrong timing. So now he's almost 13 years old, we decided to have him play no matter what. His team is called the Padres. When he found out that that was their team name he was so excited! This is the team that his dad loves because he's from San Diego. It's so much fun to watch the games. I find myself getting into the games and cheering louder than other parents. Alec is doing great in it. It's been a challenge for him to hit the ball sometimes. The pitchers are kids his age and some of them struggle to pitch a good pitch. It's kinda scary to be up there to bat when you know that the pitcher does not have a good aim and sometimes uses the batter as the target! But last nights game was Alec's best one. He actually hit the ball in the outfield and got a double! And then ended up making it to home! He was on cloud nine all night long! Other times he got on bases was because the pitcher walked him to first or the catcher dropped the 3rd strike and he ran to base. All these little rules I didn't know about baseball are kinda cool! He has awesome coaches, he's building up his confidence and he's loving it! This is something I know he wants to do next year too!

Big Birthday that ended with a big..........Cut!

Well, my little baby Caidin turned 6 on the 12th. I can't believe how much he has grown! I would show pictures if my scanner would work properly so until then, you will have to use your imagination on how cute he really was and still is! He came out like a hairy little monkey and still is very hairy! You should see his lower back hair! It is really funny!

Caidin had a birthday party with his friends on the 11th. It was suppose to be a great big slip and slide party but it was only 60 degrees out! So we had some inside games, cake and ........some more cake! Just when I had enough of the craziness in the house and I was about to lose my mind before the mothers came to pick up their kids I sent tham all out to play. The sun was poking through and it was a little warmer for some outdoor games. We all had fun running around playing tag. Then they decided to play hide and go seek. They used the front porch as the base. Everything was going great, kids were having fun, I was destressing, and there were only 20 more minutes until the moms come and pick their kids up. Whew! I almost made it through another birthday party! I went inside the house to clean up the mess when I heard this glass break. I ran right to the front door and saw that the glass on the door was shattered. My heart sank, my stomache twisted and turned and fear started to kick in. Before I got to even ask what had happened, I saw my Calli standing there with her hand out, eyes in shock and her face pale. The other little 6 year olds were standing there with eyes wide open, mouths hanging down and in shock too. I looked down and saw the biggest cut I have ever seen on my baby's arm. Things were showing that were not suppose to be showing. Things severed that were not suppose to be severed. And I said a quick prayer and asked Heavenly Father to help Calli and prayed that it wouldn't be real serious - that their wouldn't be a lot of damage done to her. I felt like the world was twirling around me so fast. I couldn't think - all I know that I was the only adult and there were - which seemed like- a million little kids that need to go home asap. I very caring guy across the street came over - which happened to work at the ER but only stocked the shelves. He sat down with Calli, held her arm and was great support to her and me. I did manage to find someone to watch the kids until the moms came. It was a great feeling to know that there were a lot of people over from my neighborhood to help clean up the mess, watch kids and even offered to make dinner for my family! Thank you so much! I got her to the ER and they took her right back. To make a very long story short, Calli did great! The worst part of the whole ER stay was the 10 shots they put in her wound to numb her. She got 41 stitches, severed one tendon - with was a tendon that 90% of the population don't even have and is used as a donor tendon - cut the main tendon almost in half and the scariest thing is she was literally only a hair away from the main artery, and nerves in her arm. She was definately watched over and protected! She will have a slow recovery but thankfully she won't have to go through any hand therapy! She was one very lucky little girl! So since it was her left hand that got cut and she is right handed - I told her she will still have to go to summer school!!! I know, I am a mean mom! :)

Pheasant Hunting

My brother uploaded this video to YouTube. It's of my dad hunting - he gets 5 pheasants on the rise. They were wild and the crazy thing is that my dad is 65 and his eye sight is not as good as it once was! The birds are going all different directions and my dad only has 5 shells in his gun. For those who have gone hunting or even shot a gun before knows that this is amazing!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WOB-A79oO7Y

Happy Birthday Jeram!

Sorry this was late but I wanted to wish Jeram a Happy 15th Birthday! Here are 15 great things about Jeram!

1. He was my first nephew!
2. He was so cute as a baby and grew up to be a very cute young man!
3. He has the longest eye lashes in the world! Just like his daddy's!
4. He's great buddies with my boy Alec
5. Always so happy
6. He has great parents that teach him to be strong in this crazy world we have!
7. He was his sisters little side kick and did whatever she wanted him to do! Even dress up in her dress up clothes! Very cute!
8. He's a good chess player
9. He's smart!
10. He's got a great personality and fun to be around
11. He lives clear in Iowa but is so thoughtful enough to call me or text me every once in a while!
12. He's an awesome big brother to two cute little sisters and one big sister!
13. When my family and his family took a trip to South Dakota, we stopped somewhere in the black hills to tour around. We found a place that had a big dinosour behind some brush. We all sat there and watched him to see what he would do. Then all of a sudden, he roared so loud and stuck his neck out of the bushes. Jeram seriously thought the dinosaur was going to eat him up. Jeram darted out of there like his life was going to end. He ran for his little life! It kinda scared us cuz there were a lot of tourist there.
14. He also likes to play video games - that is one thing Alec loves to spend time doing with him!
15. Jeram is just been so fun to see grow up. He turned out to be such a good young man. He's going to be an awesome adult! I love you Jeram! Hope you had a wonderful Birthday!!

Happy Memorial Day!

Happy Memorial Day to everyone! My thoughts and prayers are with those that served are still serving and those that have fallen! Our little town in South Dakota had lost a hero. Thanks for all that you did Scott and the example you showed to your country, friends and little town that you grew up in! The above picture is a memorial that some of Scotts buddy's did in memory of Scott and his service to his country. Thank you! http://www.fallenheroesmemorial.com/oif/profiles/saboescotta.html

Happy Mother's Day!!

To all the mothers out there - Happy Mother's Day! To all the women out there that never got a chance to be a mother - Happy Mother's Day! You too have helped make a difference in children's lives! There are many women out there that taught me skills that made me who I am today. There are school teachers that taught me to love books, music, basic cooking, sewing, goal setting, and developing leadership skills. There are many other big and little things that many women in my life had taught me. I am so grateful for every one of them!



I would like to especially wish my mother and her mother a Happy Mother's Day! When I think of my mother, tears immediately come to my eyes. She is one valiant soul! She has a heart of gold, there are so many great things about my mother that I don't have room to share it all. Let me first start with Oma - my mom's mom - she taught me how to be organized, (which I am still working at!), how to work and do your best at it, how to be frugal (yard sales are the best!) and she gave the best back rubs! I am so thankful for Oma and her generousity. And now my mom.....where can I even start? She is my bestest friend ever! She's so beautiful, caring, giving, thoughtful, loving, fun, humble, righteous, a hard worker,....oh, I could go on! She is the perfect mother! I wish everyone could have her as a mother! I am so blessed to have her as my mother and friend. Now that I am a mother, I always reflect back on how my mom was with us and strive to be like her! I wish we could live closer to each other but Ma, you are always in my heart! I love you so much! Thank you for all that you put up with and thank you for your unconditional love!


Also, there is my dad's mom. I never knew her. My dad was only 4 when she passed away. But he told me that she is just like my mom. Just a sweet, sweet lady! I can't wait to meet her! Grandma Cone, I love you too and Happy Mother's Day!

Happy Mother's Day to all!!

My Best Friend......Lysol!

I never knew how much I liked lysol until 3 of my 5 kids got sick yesterday! Boy was I the cleaning lady! Hopefully noone else will get sick! I hate the stomache flu! Poor Caidin was screaming just before he threw up, "I hate ME! I wish I was someone else!" I am the same way! I hate being sick! They are all well now and bouncing off the walls. Aren't our bodies amazing?

Mother Nature

What is up with this weather???? I think Mother Nature is going through menopause! Hot flashes and then she's cold again! Where is the spring?? It's May and last night we had snow!! Crazy!

Raw Fingers.....Beware!!!

So here's Caitlin's fingers. Poor thing but I can tell that it's gonna look really good! She's quite the trooper! She hardly takes any pain med. Only when she goes to bed because she plays so hard and uses her hands that by night, she is in a lot of pain! It actually looks way better than when I saw it 3 days after the surgery.

The Boyz

Just real quick, here is a picture of Randy and 2 of his 4 kids. So there is Ryan on the left and then Jeff is on the right. They are the oldest 2. They are great guys! It's always fun to have them around!

Farm Day!

On Saturday the kids and I went to a farm off of Geneva road that was open to public from 11-2. It was a little farm compare to what I grew up with but it was cute and had all the stuff for a farm. The kids especially liked the goats. I think they wouldn't mind having their own pet goat! Caitlin absolutely loved that she could feed the baby goats with a bottle!

Doggy Hollywood???

So the kids were bored this spring break and decided that Amber needed to get all jazzed up. I'm not sure who enjoyed it more...the dog or the kids! She was a good little sport about it though!

Surgery #3

Yesterday Caitlin had her surgery number 3 on her fingers. I think we are on the tail end of the surgery thing. Hopefully! The Dr. replaced some of the old skin graft with new from her right groin area. The Dr. said that we could've waited on the surgery, but I thought what the heck, let's do it now. I wanted to get it done before she had to start kindergarten. With it being her right hand and all, I didn't want to stress her out by having to use the left hand for writing. For those who don't know, when she was 10 months old, she had an accident with the treadmill. I was using it but then had to go upstairs for something. I shut it off but didn't take the key out. Caidin, who was 2 at the time, turned it on and was playing on it. Caitlin crawled up to it and tried to get on it but got her hand caught in the roller where it goes down and around again. I heard her screaming cries but didn't react fast enough to save her hand from the horrible burn. It looked horrible. I thought that maybe she wouldn't have any fingers or maybe no use in her 2 fingers. I was amazed that with her whole hand being under the treadmill roller, that her it didn't get the severe burn. Only the 2 middle fingers. I know the Lord was looking out for her! So, after many days of therapy, surgeries with pins in the fingers, lots of tears, pain, and heart ache, I think we are on the last road of healing. I can't even imagine the pain that people go through with burns all over their bodies! These are just 2 little fingers and they cause a lot of pain and tons of therapy! So one advice for everyone with treadmills........always, always, always.....did I say ALWAYS?....Well, always take the key OUT of the treadmill and put it way up high. Stash it away! Stick it in your bra, I don't care! Keep it away from the treadmill if you are not on it! I've heard worse stories than mine about those treadmills. So that's my lecture on treadmills. So back to Caitlin, she is recovering great. She hates the pain medicine cuz it taste so nasty. She refuses to take it on a regular basis. She only takes it when she is in complete pain and can't handle it any longer. She goes to the Dr. on monday to get her hand rewrapped. So I will get a upclose, gross picture of her fingers. So beware! She's doing great! Thanks for all the prayers!

Happy Birthday Elizabeth!!

17 great things about Elizabeth!

1. She was my very first neice!

2. She has a great sense of humor!

3. She was a very cute baby and grew up to be a very beautiful young lady!

4. She loved tea party's at my house when she was 3 or 4. Before we had our "tea" I told her to say "cheers" and click our little teacups together. She loved doing that so much, she then asked if we could say "tables" next! (She thought we said "chairs")

5. She was a great little helper to me with my little babies.

6. She has a beautiful smile and nice, great teeth! Thanks to her mom!

7. She's full of life!

8. She's got beautiful hair with cute freckles!

9. She's smart

10. She's got a contagious laugh that brightens the room

11. When she was a baby, she would get hurt feelings one moment with a pouty little lip and then smiling the next moment. Too cute! (I think I have a picture of it somewhere)

12. She got baptized and she was so beautiful all dressed in white. She was on cloud nine the whole day!

13. She's very hugable

14. She's got the best momma in the world that loves her so much and would do anything for her!

15. She's got 1 cute brother and 2 adorable little sisters!

16. I remember at age 3 or 4, she was the most organized little person I have ever met. She would remind ME where things were at so I would put them in the proper place!

17. She's just an overall a very cute girl!

Elizabeth, I love you and I hope you had a wonderful birthday! I hope to see you this summer!

Me back in the days

Yes, that is me in the undies.....I don't think I ever wore that much clothes....saved on the laundry!

South Dakota

Yeah! We got the vacation guide info on South Dakota! I am so excited about it! It actually made me a little homesick for the good ole days of South Dakota! This trip, I want my kids to really enjoy it! I want to show them the things I did, which tree I attempted to climb, the gophers I would drown out, the pasture I would walk, the stock dam I would swim in, the school I went to, the church I went to, and so on! There is so much to do there and I am so excited about it!

Finally Jumped on the bandwagon!

So here I am. I did it! I am blogging! Hmmmm.....now what do I say? The reason why I didn't blog is because I really don't know if I know how to put picutres on this thing. But I guess I will figure it out sooner or later! Hopefully sooner! So this blog will be short and sweet. I will fix up the site better with pictures and stuff but this is what I have for starters.