Something Sweet

We had a terrible time trying to get Dallas to bed the other day. He was just too tired to get it done. We had an argument. He eventually ended up in bed and all was well, so I thought. Yesterday, out of the blue, he said to me, "Mommy, I'm sorry I wouldn't get my pajama pants on when you asked me to." I thought, oh, how sweet. Before I could respond he said, "And I'm sorry I didn't apologize last night." Say it with me now, Aaaw! I told him it was okay. A few seconds later, while I was still thinking what a sweet adorable kid he is, he says to me," Well, aren't you going to apologize for yelling at me?" Put me in my place! Of course I did. There is nothing like having kids to make you a better person!

Successful Christmas defined

Today was a successful Christmas. The kids liked their gifts, not one of them mentioned a thing about not getting something else they had asked for, although, the dolls will go back into the re-gift pile once again. These include the one that Lily got for her first Christmas, which I left in the box thinking, "What will she do with a Cabbage Patch doll this year?" This same doll was given to her for her birthday when she turned two years old. They boys got puzzles though, and they are much more fun. So, back into storage it went. Christmas last year, not a hint of interest.

This year we have noticed a major shift in her "girly-ness" When we walk down the aisle at Wal-mart where there are pink things Lily thinks they all need to be hers. She even wrote a letter to Santa with my sister's help asking for a doll. She brought me the paper and announced "DOLL!" So, I bought her another doll this year, making two for her to have. Lily looked around at the gifts under the tree. (We had about three for each that were not wrapped – towels, pillows and pillowcases that I actually finished with mom's help…) Her dolls were not wrapped. One of the boys brought it to her. She completely ignored him. I took it and tried to hand it to her. She yelled, "NO!" and ran away from me! I tried later after the wow of everything had worn off a bit, same response. Two dolls into the re-gift pile. She was very excited to get a car trailer with cars on it like the boys have though, just as excited as they were. At least she likes pink, pretty hair (though she seldom lets me fix it), and being called a princess in her dresses.

Less really is more! Christmas was scaled back a lot this year, as I am sure many were. The kids each got a scooter and helmet, not wrapped, except for Stephen because he got a scooter for his Birthday last August. He got a racecar track for hot wheels. Super cool, especially when Daddy will let the kids touch it. (He really enjoyed it too.) This kept everyone busy for an hour or two.

This year we had planned to open a new playroom in the basement where some of our toys have been taking a vacation. We were going to put up shelves and paint the walls; we got some maps and letters for decorating. Really all we needed to do was unlock the door. Alas, this was not to come to pass. During our dinner last night Evan got sick, multiple times, and though the night too. We decided we had enough stuff and put the play room off until maybe Valentine's Day. This was very good. We had just enough, not too much. In years past, we have felt as though we were forcing the kids to open more gifts when they just wanted to play with what they had already opened. We finished opening in record time- well, a lot faster than we have in recent years. We began around 8AM (another little miracle – the kids waited for us to get out of bed) and finished around 10:30AM. Steve was reminding me how long it took us in 2005.

The first year the kids were home Christmas 2005, we took the kids to church for the first time, just for sacrament. We came home to relish in the first day as a family, with no help from anyone. (Like the word "relish"? Ha, ha, ha, ha. We didn't want to impose on anyone's holiday plans.) Anyway, church was at 9AM, after which we came home, ate and fed, started opening presents. We had so many interruptions with feeding, diaper changing we were still working on opening our gifts, which were mostly boxes of diapers, at dinnertime. It took us close to 6-7 hours that year. Ahh, sweet memories. We had the diapers and sick kid interruptions this year, but wow, so much faster!!! I do think it was louder this year….. can't imagine why….. maybe because Brenden has decided he can make siren sounds for his fire trucks…. The possible reasons are near endless.

Last thought for today: The kids got these "Mack" trailers from the Cars Disney movie that have cars ride in his trailer. The three younger boys got them a few weeks ago from Steve's work party Santa. The older boys "needed" them and they all had to have Lightning McQueen ride inside. We only had one McQueen. This is the first time they have ever had an ongoing disagreement. They usually figure out how to take turns or something. So, we went and found a few more of these, including the one for Lily. We also got 11 more McQueen cars hoping it would end the arguing. Low and behold, Marek comes walking in the room some time later with ALL the McQueens in his trailer. It is only built for three! However, no one else complained. They have such unique talents.

So, enough but not too many gifts, at least one project gift completed, kids letting us get out of bed too, not too much vomit or arguing, only one ornament broke, and a good start on next years Christmas gifts. (who knows, maybe she will want a doll next year) A successful Christmas!

Singing Bananas

We had a great day at church singing in the choir on Sunday. Almost all the pieces turned out better than the practices. There really is just nothing quite like singing to feel the spirit! I am finally starting to feel in the spirit of the holiday. Steve also sang a piece as a double quartet. Very good! I was able to see the kids from a distance – a chance to look at the forest and not be too close to the trees so to speak. I thought they were good. They were not near as loud as I thought they were. They only went between the row in front of and behind where they were supposed to be. One of my friends said she was watching them and they were little "angels" (Yeah, she is a grandma herself) When I got back to the family (thanks to Mom, Shelly, her kids, and Lacey!!!) Lacey said, "Your kids are out of control!" That goes to say a lot about perspective.

Now, here comes the Monday. Kids out of school – yes. I am out of school – yes. Laundry to clean – yes. Dishes piled high – yes. Paper plates to cover the gap – yes. Parties to attend- yes. Sick kids - Yes, yes, yes. Gifts to take – yes. Wrapped? No. Projects being attacked? No. Christmas cards mailed – now, really where did this month go?

The kids have learned how to open the bananas all by themselves while I am not looking! Yes! Feel free to use your imagination here, but it wasn't that bad really. Lily was the only one that felt like painting the boys ate most of them. Runny diapers? HOPE NOT! (Our attempts at potty training were less than fun for me and we will try again in several months. Lily, sweet Lily is not at all interested, although she was very excited to get her new "socks", it will be a while before she gets the idea.)

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!!

what will Santa do?

I think Santa will have to decorate our tree for us. What few decorations we have that are not broken or in safe keeping have migrated up to the top and off of the tree. At least we have colored lights on this one so it kind of looks decorated. I can't believe it's almost here already!!! The boys have started the official countdown and I am out of time! AAAUURAUGFH!!! (that's a scream of anxiety/frustration/fear/exhaustion/etc....) It will be a miracle if Dallas doesn't firgure out who really gets the gifts this year. He is so observant! Stephen is too but he doesn't tell me about it and ask more questions. UGH.

Sunbeams, here we come!

For anyone wondering what to do for the nursery kids as they approach the age of three and prepare to join the older kids as sunbeams in the primary, it is not waiting until two weeks before the end of the year to talk to them about it! It is probably much better to talk to them about it in October, and then have them join just for the singing part, and then come for the entire time.

There are two weeks until our kids join the big kids in real classes at church. Their class will be called "Sunbeams" I have heard the nursery leaders mention before that the kids in there just have a really short attention span and the lessons need to be kept short. I have seen several children that fit that description, but I believe we should be teaching them what will be expected of them, not catering to their current level. By this, I mean trying to get them to sit in the chair a little longer each week instead of saying, "Oh, they can only handle it for about 5 minutes so if we have a lesson that is four minutes long it will be good enough." I am not saying this is what the teachers in their nursery class have been doing, I really do not know. I am also guilty of not teaching them better at home myself. This is a mistake!

They were introduced to primary today. I have been asking for a month or two now when this will occur. I learned it was today when I heard Evan's screaming protest from the other side of the building. He did NOT want to be there! The other kids were okay for a few minutes, but it was a very few. When I heard Evan, I went in to help and sit with him. Didn't help much. Steve came too. I left to teach the R.S. class. I heard Evan more. I eventually left and brought him to class with me. I have not had a kid in class with me since they were about 19 months old! My friend eventually took him out and stayed in the hallway with him until it was time to go home. Someone in the primary asked what was wrong with my kids. They were all a bit rowdy today.

Earlier in sacrament meeting, I leaned over to Steve and said, "I think we have a few ADD kids today." As they were all climbing over each other and bouncing off the chairs (Lily and Marek), singing ABC's repeatedly (Dallas), blowing raspberries in the air (Brenden and Lily), trying to escape and run out of the chapel (Evan and Marek)... The good part here is that we have learned not to take anything hard that could hurt a neighbor when thrown. Steve said to me, "Ya think?!?!" Evan did manage to escape, made a new friend who flagged him down. I ended up taking Dallas out, with Lily. This does not happen often since it causes more work than it is usually worth.

While we were out having our "time out", Dallas managed to trip me. I twisted my ankle, landed on his head, which pushed him into the wall. And since I was holding Lily, I banged her head against mine. Dallas laughed of course. We were really on one today! Maybe it was all the parties over the weekend full of sugar. Maybe it was lack of sleep. Maybe it was the stress of their mother rubbing off on them. (Finals this week!) Maybe it was just our turn to be crazy. All I can say is I hope those teachers are ready for the new sunbeams class!!!

After church, we went to choir practice. While we were there, the kids gave Grandma a run for her money! They have new toys from Santa that cause many problems, more on that another day. They got paint out and painted a few things, washable, some bubbles took over the kitchen thanks to Stephen. Marek broke a baby Jesus Dallas was painting. Stephen decided to disassemble my bulletin board and make one of his own…. Luckily, the exploding diaper happened when I was home this morning!

And Sunday is supposed to be the day of rest. We had a great choir practice followed by a sing a long. I thought this was just when everyone went and sang along, but it is when each ward choir in the stake performs a piece and the rest of the people there sing a verse in between while the choirs trade places. It was nice – we were the best, in my opinion. Other people had their kids there. I was glad ours were not today! A boy in Stephen's class gave us some chocolate fudge as a gift. His mom said he was excited about it. It was nice. Thanks for tending for us Grandma! Now that I have that out of my system, I will attempt to study for a final or two.

Where is everyone?

Hi again. Here we are watching the snow falling, possibly turning into a nice "blizzard". It was difficult to get everyone back in the house today after taking the older boys to school. The snow is too much fun!!! Even though yesterday we stayed home from church with illness,we are rearing to go today! My neighbor drove by this morning while we were out and asked if we were okay. She looked in the nursery yesterday and asked the nursery leaders, "Where is everybody?" It seemed kind of empty there. The Taggart's were missing. Yup, we fill a room.

Here is a funny for the day: Friday we went to the Festival of Trees, fund raiser for the children's hospital. We stopped by the little office where they can tell you how much the tree you built sold for. (We were pleased with ours. There were still quite a few that hadn't sold yet and they were not selling for as much as they have in the past because of the economy.) And the lady there said, "Five boys and one girl? Did I count that right? Five boys and one girl?" I said yes. Then she asked, "So how long did it take you to get your girl?" I thought this was pretty funny. I thought it looked a little obvious. I said, "she's third, but there was only three pregnancies." She looked for a second then said,"oh, did you have two sets of twins or something?" When we explained they were quads the shock factor set in. It was so funny! I haven't had that question before. There's a first time for everything!

Sweet memories

I have been reminded of something I wanted to post when it happened but I didn't get around to it yet.

A while ago when we were all sick we lined the kids up around the tub instead of the toilet to aim their vomit. I know it sounds gross, but it was so much easier and now it's sort of funny. Then a few weeks ago Marek said he didn't feel well. I said, "Oh, okay." Steve asked him if he felt like he was going to barf. Marek gave no response so I thought nothing of it. Some minutes pass and I don't see him anymore, so I start looking for him. I find him up in the bathroom just standing there. I wonder, is he trying to go potty without me? Is he trying to take a bath? What's he doing? I get there and ask him, "Marek, what are you doing?" He leans closer to the tub then looks up at me with these terribly sad puppy eyes, like he has a huge concern. He pouts his lower lip out and says with a little whimper, "My barf's broken."

Apparently Lily didn't remember that you are supposed to go to the tub for those kinds of things, or that I have finals soon. She emerges from her room tonight saying, "Oh no! A mess! A mess!" and she is covered from head to toe in her "dinner". We have gone through all her clean jammies. She chose to wear her Sunday tights with flowers on them and a t- shirt, but now we are moving into regular day clothes. I am grateful that we have a brand new 4 pound box of baking soda that "eliminates odors on contact" and I am very glad we had rice for dinner instead of the spaghetti I was considering! I to wonder though, why didn't I get that plastic cover for her mattress yet, and why did it take me three times to decide that she was sick enough to have her hair up in a pony tail for bed time???

happy everything

Well, Thanksgiving came and went and Christmas is on the way!!! Happy everything to everyone! We had Thanksgiving dinner here at our house. The boys were excited that grandparents were coming. When I told them MY grandparents would be coming Stephen gave a delighted squeal. Dallas was concerned. He was worried because they are old. He said, "but Grandma Bell can't leave her house! She's too old. We're supposed to visit her! How will she get here? She can't drive!" Funny, cute. When my mom was telling me they were coming there was a similar conversation between Grandma Bell and my mom. "How will we get there?" "I guess you could walk." "Oh, we're pretty slow." "well, you better get started now!" My mom went and got them and drove them here.

The next couple weeks will be spent trying to prepare for my finals! Therefore, I may or may not get a chance to update for a while. Here is some good new though: My sister Lacey passed her state licensing exam for massage therapy! HOORAY!!!

More later, make it a great day!

what do you get?

What do you get when you take one husband out of town on business, one curious 3 year old girl, five young boys with need of haircuts and a small budget? *insert picture here, but we have to pretend because I didn't actually get a picture. But it was great! The house is total disaster. Lily found the other scissors while I was trimming the boys hair. Luckily she missed her own hair - a miracle. But she got her shirt. She was quite proud of herself! There was a nice pattern. You'd think I would notice since she was standing right next to me, and the scissors never actually left "my sight" but it didn't register to my brain that she was decorating her shirt. ha ha ha!!! How many holes in the shirt? about ten. No skin, no hair, just the shirt. What a sight! Wish I got a pic!!!

What a man/pure hearts of children

We are almost late to church today. We set the timer and actually started to leave soon after it went off. Steve opens the door and the kids start running. I am still getting my shoes on and we have one straggler that is still trying to nibble a lunch. I convince him to go out the door but then he realized he forgot his tithing! (the bible says 10% for tithes) I am impressed that he wants to pay so we go back but the door is locked, so we open the garage. He then announces he doesn't remember where he left it. Meanwhile, the rest of the crew is rounding the corner at the end of the street. Good thing we don't live far from the building!

I found some change in the truck and we are off on our way. As we near the church, I can see over a fence. What I see is one cute five year old and four absolutely darling three year olds in matching striped sweaters with a handsome, brave man opening the church door for them. What a turn on! I am the luckiest person on this planet to have such a man! We were on time too!

Sacrament meeting was great. The speakers talked about not having excessive holidays and living within our means/budgets. Something we all need to remember this year! They also spoke about having faith that the Lord will take care of our needs when we are choosing the right. I actually kind of got to listen this time. No kids being crazy, even Dallas was good!

Dallas paid his one penny to tithing and Stephen ended up with 13 cents. He owed 7 for tithing but had a hard time deciding what to do with the rest. The result: 7 cents to tithing one to a fast offering, one for building temples, one for the perpetual education fund (a load type set up for third world countries to pay back after they go to school. They get a loan. We give the $. They pay back the fund, not us.) one penny went to missionaries, and one towards …. I don't remember all of them but you get the idea. He was so sweet and cute. I am sure the bishop will get a good chuckle out of our kids pure hearts. 

Have a wonderful day!

What did I wish???

Did I really need another lesson in "Be careful what you ask for?"

Here is the quick run down: Dallas sick on Thursday. No one else seemed effected. Dallas fine by Thursday night. Must have been something he ate... Friday trick or treating - yay! Oops. A sick one - Brenden, home with Grandma and vomiting. Okay. Take us home, but Sister - wonderful sister Shelly says, "don't punish the other kids because he's sick. I've already been barfed on. It's ok." So we stay, and he empties his contents a few more times. He is recovered by Saturday afternoon. Stephen gets ill Saturday night. I get it Sunday morning. By this time, I start to wonder and ask OUT LOUD, why can't we just all get sick and get it over with? Duh! Don't ask for that until I am not sick anymore - note to self.

Within hours everyone else is sick. We get about 3 hours of interrupted sleep. Steve misses work Monday, yadda yadda yadda. hits us hard, quickly, but also leaves quickly. What did we learn? don't ask for things!!! Plastic bed covers are a good thing - get more bed sheets - more baking soda.

Blessings of note - glad we have a shop vac! Best husband there could ever be is mine - yup- sorry he's taken - mine! And I have a great family that let's us be sick. Shelly also got it. Thanks! Now we are trying to figure out how to catch up on laundry/housework and the week is almost gone!

Oh, we went to Kiddie Kandids Tuesday for the free picture they get for their birthday. Great to do if you don't know about it yet. Anyone/everyone, not just us cause of our quads, gets a free 8x10 for their birthday. My mom helped with it on Tuesday. They are so cute! I wish I new how do post pics quickly. Sorry. Maybe over the holiday weekend I will have time to...

Um, yes. I am planning that far in advance for this event. Have a great day!!! Happy November!

Your wish is my command!

Man! This going to school with the holiday deadlines and everything is killing me! I could really use a day off. I wish I could have a day off.

WOOHOO! I have a sick kid! We don't have to drive to/from school today. HOORAY! My wish has been granted. I get the day off!

No, wait... is that right?

For Entertainment's Sake

Yesterday was the primary program at church. This is when all the kids between the ages of 3 and 12 participate in singing and each has a small speaking part. It is always one of my favorite Sundays of in the year. As if our church attendance isn't entertaining enough with our kids, they all decided they wanted to go up with Stephen and Dallas, but since their birthday was not before January last year they aren't in a class that participates in this yet.

We were not quite early enough to get a large space for us, but didn't worry too much because the kids go up after sacrament is passed. So, Evan decided he needed to leave more times than I can count. A sweet grandma Martha saw and let him go sit with her. Lily went too. They just kept going back and forth across the aisle. Funny, until Evan grinned at Martha, she beckoned him he giggled and started going to the opposite direction. I caught him and chaos pursued. It was just about this time when Dallas got up with his class for their parts. The teacher knelt down near them and whispered for them to remember. It sounded like, "Whisper whisper." "Mumble mumble." Next kid, "whisper whisper." "Mumble mumble." Then came Dallas. The teacher stood and backed up away from him. He was the last in his class. "If Jesus were standing next to me I would try to be good." Good job Dallas! Then we hear some laughter. I wondered if it was because of the idea that Dallas would try to be good. I found out later from someone else that an older sister to some other kids was down front trying to make her family members laugh. She was doing air guitar, singing in the mic, being real exaggerated and fun. Good to know.

On the way home a neighbor was out and stopped me to let me know she was just laughing at Dallas, as she was listening to the other kids and thinking, What? What? Oh! Dallas did it! He seemed so mature. We of course already knew he was mature for his age, but where was the real humor?

Steve went Home teaching later - this is when the men in the priesthood go to check on the members in the ward, be good friends and see if they could use any help with anything. We try to visit every month. Anyway, one of the families made a point to thank him for the entertainment in church today. I think she was referring to the continued chaos that was followed by me giving up and deciding to take two that were so eager to escape. When I got to the hall to give them a good talking to, all four of them were there! I took Brenden and Marek back in and told Steve, "I'm only taking the naughty ones out!" So, of course they all began a big display of naughty to get out of there. They love going to their class and think that if they get out of sacrament meeting they get to go to class sooner. I missed Stephen's part during all this confusion, but I heard that he did it and was good.

The funniest part for me: I forgot until Saturday morning that the primary program was this week. I had lost Dallas's part. I asked him what he was supposed to say and he told me. I said, okay if you say so. Good. That kid amazes me.

Later at night, Steve said to me, "You realize we will be sitting on that bench alone next year…" My kids are growing up! Sigh.
All in all an entertaining day, just like every Sunday.

Test, test, test!

When are these college professors going to realize that "test" is a four-letter word?

After a long week of not being home because of movie production day, a day to the doctor's, a surprise change in the school schedule (Dallas was getting out of school before Stephen, but the night before it changed to Stephen was getting out first. This changed our car pool possibilities.) The only thing I remember about Thursday was being in a class taking a test. Friday I remembered why I took statistics as an "in-person" class verses an online course - UGH!

Saturday was fun filled from 10 AM until nearly 3PM as we had a great party at Steve's work. A big "hoorah" for the good fiscal year! There are pictures for next time I can figure it out. We had fun with a giant blow up slide/bouncer/clown balloons/tours/lunch/popcorn/cotton candy/and more! All for "free", you just have to give your life to the company each day of the normal workweek. :) Steve became an impromptu tour guide, and he was in the right place at the right time to help with the candy toss! I won a "guess how much candy is in the jar" game and we missed the magic show. We ended up walking away with full tummies, tired legs, and about $25. There was money with the candy toss and in my jar of candy! WOOHOO!

After the party, we went pumpkin picking again, since we "NEED" more. I was not able to get good pictures there unfortunately. We were getting to the end of our fun meter. Dallas smashed his finger after having fought with Stephen over who got to pull the wagon the whole time. He got his turn in the last half walk through the parking lot. Got to the truck and the weight of the pumpkins carried the wagon further than he wanted, smashing his finger between the handle and the bumper. He is fine, but it was a loud ride home.

We lined our pumpkins up in front of the house. The boys were so excited we were finally decorating for Halloween! The orange globes were only there one night. Yup, stolen. They were so considerate and left two pumpkins. Grrrr, not my favorite people. Why does anyone have to steal things from kids? We will not be purchasing more this year. There is one for each boy, good enough.

Anyway, this week is looking like another crazy one. There was a test tonight in history, statistics reminded me we have a test this week, and I had a test last week in geology! I expect to take my final for cooking class sometime soon. I still have five more things to cook. You'd think I have to feed my family, but no, this doesn't make it easier for me to cook the class requirements. Here is a funny note - Dallas loved the fish I made last night. I have never cooked fish before. He was upset we couldn't have it for breakfast this morning and also asked for it at lunchtime. I made chicken for dinner today. I asked if he liked it. He said, "Yeah, it looks kind of like fish!"

credit given

okay, I need to give credit where credit is due. My mom tended the other kids until Steve ot home from work on Tuesday and then she helped them pull weeds. THANKS MOM!!! Another tidbit: Wednesday we went to the Dr. for check ups - all great and in the proper growth range now, even Breneden. We came home with 3 kids on antibiotics and the other was called in a prescription yesterday. I missed my statistics class, but made it for some of my history class. AND... LACEY HAS GRADUATION TODAY!!! She is graduating from the Utah College of Massage Therapy. Good Job Lacey! Thanks again Mom!

really really long post!

Good morning! As I begin this blog it is 4:30 AM Friday morning. There is nothing better for me to do other than sleep and that is just not happening today, so here I am. Yes, this really is the only time I can do this! And yes, I have been interrupted by kids three times already!!!

We were chosen to be in the movie called "Waiting for Forever" on Tuesday. I didn't want to post anything about the auditions in case nothing panned out from them. Anyway, it was a great day! I didn’t want to short change the blog, but I am going to summarize a bit anyway.

In the movie biz they trade kids out for the parts of children. Kids get tired and grumpy; they can't work them as long because of labor laws and stuff. Therefore, they take views from a distance or different angles to make similar kids look like the same kid. That is why we were all going to be in this movie. Our boys look enough alike to do the trick.

When we first got there, they said stuff like, "Let's have one of the triplets." And, "It's time for another one of the boys." Evan was closest to the door, and he kept trying to escape our little waiting room. I thought he would enjoy it the best so he went out first, and second, and then they started asking for him. "It's time for Evan again"

The day started around 9 in the morning. My sister Lacey went with me. I told her it would be at least 6 hours. She was not able to stay the entire day, but she was there for most of it. We waited for long periods of time while they did other scenes, practiced with the adult parts, changed the camera angle and lighting, and other stuff. They would take Evan for a while and bring him back, take him again, then bring him back.

The suspense was killing us! What were they doing with Evan? What was he doing? After the first couple of times, we started talking about watching. So I asked the people, Rachel was the name of the person who came for Evan most of the time. She let Lacey watch the next time. When she returned, she reported that Evan was so good! So Cute! They are moving the camera because the sun keeps moving, some of the people are really rude, but Evan is so good!

Around noon, I took a turn to watch. I thought the people were really nice though. The director let me sit in a corner where Evan couldn't see me. I watched him on two screens and listened on a head set. He was SOOOO CUTE!!! He was really good at this and he was having so much fun! They would repeat the scene over and over. Lacey said I was out there watching him for about an hour! The director would tell the actors something like, "That was good. This time do it more like______" and they would repeat the scene. The person next to me asked how long he had been taking acting lessons. Ha ha ha ha! This was our first of anything like this!

At this point, remember this is around noon, they were asking me how I chose him and what he was like at home. This is Evan, what you see is what you get. They told me that by this time they usually had to switch kids 2-3 times. Evan was the best kid they had ever worked with, and "I've worked with a lot of kids."

Long summary, I know. When I was watching Evan, they were interacting with him. He was responding exactly the way he should. I thought we were going to be background while the adults acted in the front. I was so wrong. Evan was center attention. The lead actor was asking him questions and he was nodding his head or saying things to him. He was so adorable! (Sorry I don't do well with celebrity names. I know I am an oblivion. More on this topic in a minute.)

The other boys meanwhile were getting grumpy. Marek kept wanting a turn to "play." We went outside a few times. There was nowhere for us to go really, just a parking lot that was kind of roped off. They had a food trailer with chairs outside. Marek and Brenden lined up three chairs like a train. They kept asking where Evan was and said he had a spot there. They put a bag of chips in the chair for him. They are so cute too! They spent some time going around the barricades. They pretended it was a hot dog stand.

Rachel came out and asked us how we were doing after Lacey left. I told her I thought we were getting really tired. I knew I was done! She went in and talked to the director. When she came back she said, "I'm sorry. I tried to tell them but he just really loves Evan. He wants him to be in another scene." Long story a little shorter, Evan went in again and again. The last scene they brought him out and said he needed a diaper change. Rachel stayed with Marek and Brenden while I went in. I was able to watch a little more. I watched three takes and decided I needed to check on the other two. I wish I had stayed a little longer. Evan did the entire part by himself! They only thing the other two got to do was for a bonus feature. They were interviewed with Nikki Blonskey. Brenden called for his mommy and picked his nose. Marek tried to get away and Evan was adorable and talked with her. They tried to sing a song, but the boys just sat there and smiled. They are so cute. I know I already said that.

One of the directors came out soon after me and asked if I had seen what Evan did. Apparently, they all gave him a round of applause. He looked around at everyone and threw his arm in the air, "YEAH!" Turns out the director gave him a speaking part! He was asked to say a line and he did, at the right time! I wasn't sure what this meant, but all the people there were so excited for him! It means he is now eligible for SAG, the screen actors guild. I am told that is what all actors live for and some wait nearly their whole lives to be given a line. It also meant he would get more $ for the day. Other than that, they told me I would be getting a lot of mail from them in a few weeks about it. IF ANYONE KNOWS ABOUT THIS PLEASE LET ME KNOW WHAT YOU KNOW!

While I was inside that last time, someone went out with a camera taking still shots. Marek started posing for him. They are just so cute I can hardly stand it! All three boys were happy the entire day, except when Marek wanted his turn. They were so tired that Evan was falling asleep before I was able to get him in his car seat to go home. They did not nap at all the whole day. We left around 7:30PM. However, some of that time was spent trying to get our own clothes back on again. I was alone at that point and my kids get a little more active when they are tired. I think they try to convince themselves they are not tired when they are.

We had lunch "with" all the actors. I asked for autographs for Shelly. She would be so upset with me if I spent the entire day surrounded by celebrities and didn't! They said yes, but I did not have a pen or paper on me. Yeah, here is the duh moments. I was not prepared at all on my part. We were late getting there, of course. They told us we could leave our things in our trailer. They just wanted to see us on the set and we would be right back. Well, that minute turned into the whole day! After a few hours, I asked Rachel if we could get the diaper bag. She sent someone for it! I had no wipes, don't ask how they ended up next to the diaper bag instead of in it. I had no book for myself to read, no camera, not even my cell phone! It did not help Lacey be less bored either. They loaded us into a van and took us to a place set up for lunch – not at all delicious; the boys did not want to eat. Probably because they just wanted to run and not be in that little waiting room and they had been snacking like crazy all morning. The lunch lady was so nice. She kept coming and asking if we would like anything else. They had a table set up near the back door with snacks. Every time we would pass by Brenden would grab another couple bags of chips. And lunch was not until 2!

Anyway, the moral of this story is NEVER, I repeat NEVER leave the diaper bag when you go somewhere, keep the phone in your pocket, take the camera with you where ever you go, a lunch for yourself and do not be late!

Here is a copy of our invitation. I hope the pictures transfer okay. Sorry this story has no names in it. Not my greatest strength.

PROJECT: WAITING FOR FOREVER
PROJECT TYPE: Feature Film
CASTING DIRECTOR: Cate Praggastis
SHOOT DATES: Filming begins September 29, 2008 – October 30, 2008
SYNOPSIS: It is a cute - romantic story. Being produced and directed by James Keach (Blind Dating and Walk the Line) - starring Rachel Bilson and Tom Sturridge
CHARACTER: GABE - but the baby needs to be a part of twins or triplets. There will be some flexibility with the age.. 1 - 2 or so... the babies will be part of Nikki Blonskey's family... (Hairspray)

Nikki Blonskey

Nelson Franklin

These are pix of mom and dad to baby GABE

Oh, I guess the pictures won't go here. You can look them up by their names if you want. Sorry. Have a great day!!!!!

big news

Hi! We had a marvelous day today! I will tell you all about it ASAP, but not now. We had a long day, very, very,long. But some great blogging to look forward to! I have to find some pics to post with the story. Hopefully it will be on tomorrow!!! I am sure Shelly will remind me if I forget, but how could I? No, we are not pregnant! And it's not about the weather being crazy. I think they said it should be up in the 70's again this weekend...

until then! :)

okay, okay! I can't keep it all a secret! We - meaning some of my boys, meaning mostly Evan - are going to be in a movie! More later!

Ahh, memories...is that snow?!?!

Hello again! This morning brought with it a fresh blanket of snow. I don't remember it snowing this early in the year here before. I wonder what this global warming is... but the kids sure were excited!!! I was happy that I did not procrastinate for once and trimmed a few roses yesterday. Here is a picture of what I ended up with.



Here is what I saw in my yard today.



Since it was my turn to teach Relief Society today I was preparing my lesson and not paying all the attention that I should to everything else, and since we have been under the weather lately, and since my brain just doesn't work right sometimes, I glanced out the window. My heart skipped a beat as I got ready to grill the kids on who threw the laundry off the deck again. Then I realized what I saw was the melting snow with toys, mud, and grass poking through in the back yard. Ahh, Sunday the day of rest!

pictures

Been pretty busy lately. Too much to report on in a simple blog. Here are some pictures to cover my not posting them very often. Simply put my school is great, kids are incredible, hubby is amazing, we are all doing well.

Oblivions?

Okay, so it's my turn to be an oblivion. I went to school the other day, got out of my first class early and decided to get some dinner at the Subway across the street. It is a cozy place with only 4 tables in it. Of course, they were all taken. An older gentleman saw me looking around and we caught eyes. He started moving his things off the table and invited me to sit. I said thanks and sat down. We chatted a bit. "Are you native to Utah? How long have you lived here? The commute from ??? for 20 years as he has worked where he does..."

Another man waked in and ordered a sandwich. They knew each other and the man I was sitting with stood to visit him a while. When he sat down again (the other man was getting it to go) he asked if I recognized the one that left. I said no, but he did look vaguely familiar. Well, that would be because he is a news anchor that I see, or should see more than once a day for I don't know how many years! Oh well.

We chatted some more about the work he has been doing for the last 20 years. He works for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, just down the street in that great big building. I ask, "Oh, what do you do for them there?"

Umm..This is where he tells me he a full time employee, what is called a General Authority of the Quorum of the Seventy. Yup, a leader of the church that I belong to that has probably been on TV many more than one time, who I am supposed to pay attention to and has his picture posted at least twice a year in the conference session issue of our church publications. The conference that is this weekend! Ugh! So what do I say in response? He is most likely thinking that I am not even a member of the church according to our conversation. "Oh, I guess they wouldn't be hiring in your department then." DUH LYDIA!!!

This is a lifetime calling from on high, not a real job! Here is the real kicker though. If I did see him on the television as we are watching conference this weekend, I do not think I would remember what he looked like and I don't remember what his name was. As we parted after more stupidity revealed by myself, he said, "That's okay. I like the anonymity." I can relate to that.

On another note, yes, my kids had a birthday this week. They are three years old now. My sister has posted a few pictures on her blog if anyone wants to look at them. Here is her site http://clarkcharacters.blogspot.com For today I am still in denial that they are growing up. Maybe I will address it tomorrow. And yes, they are way too cute!

Another day survived!

Wow! Time sure flies, unless you are sitting in a meeting at church with six kids crawling all over the place, fighting over who gets which book to look at, who is touching who, when we will get to go home, etc. This is a really, REALLY long list if I wanted to write it all out. Use your imagination.

We were on time today, but that translated to late anyway since there was a baby blessing today. We were able to find a whole bench open and available just for us. The problem was that it would have been better suited for a family with only five people, not our eight. So, amidst all our fun, Evan sent to the row behind us. I was very happy to find our friend sitting there, and I wondered who the other gentleman was that was so incredibly tolerant of crayons being thrown at him. I looked over to the other side of the room and caught the eye of some friends watching us. I smiled. They waved. I found out later that they watch us every Sunday, with a "vested interest". I think that was what he said. Come to find out, many people watch us "every week". No kidding! Probably ten or so people commented to me today about how nice it is to watch our kids. I think they are really just trying to make me feel better about their embarrassing 2 year old behavior!

Well, we are all friends here! We, (Steve and I) were discussing again how wonderful our area and friends are. We truly must be in the "true ward". In our church, one Sunday out of the month is for fasting and giving testimony. Anyone, everyone is invited to share their faith building experiences at the pulpit on this day. This is the day that babies usually are blessed. This was today. So, I was sitting there listening to a dear sister (all women in the church are sister, men are brother) I was listening to her tell how she loved our people helping her with her five kids, how prayers were answered, and so on. I got that funny feeling in my chest as I thought, "ME TOO!" I leaned over and whispered to Steve, "I'm going up." He said, "What?!" I repeated, "I'm going up." He said, "You're crazy!" I repeated again. He just rolled his eyes. He is the best husband!

I was brief, actually said "ditto" and a few other things, but I really was brief! Lily followed close behind, ended up being there with me. Brenden cried the whole time screaming, "Mommy! I want Mommy!" Repeatedly and when I got back to my seat, Marek was in the other row with Evan. Lily also decided it was really her turn to talk, and she jabbered right along with me. I don't know what she said but the bishop found me after and said he enjoyed both our testimonies. ha ha ha.

Today was especially exciting since we let all the kids walk with NO strollers. It is not very far, just around the block luckily, but an adventure just the same! I suggested to Brenden after a fall that he walk instead of me carrying him. He replied, "NO! RUN!" And he did. We also got compliments on what a sweet boy Stephen is turning into. Dallas is just crazy. I asked Steve if he was feeling all right. He had a headache named Dallas. I was very glad that he sat next to him, and I didn't!

Final thought for the day comes from President Uchtdorf's talk to the Relief Society yesterday. He said we should all be trying to be more like our Lord, who is a creating and compassionate God. Therefore, we should be creative. The word "create" means to make something that wasn't there before. There are many ways to be creative, for example, how many smiles can you create? We often don't give ourselves the credit we deserve. Find the happiness around you, if it isn't there, create some.

A day late and a dollar short

A picture of a window with our new blinds in it! I only have one picture, but there are somewhere close to 20 other windows just as beautiful in our house. Someday we will maybe get curtains too.



Dallas playing the part of the vampire. Behind him you can see a bit of our weekend project. Here is a better view.

Yes! We spent the day canning! It was great. I should be more descriptive in my requests to my darling hubby, and follow through with my friends better, but it all turned out great! I had talked with a friend a few days before and mentioned getting together and canning. Nothing set, but I asked Steve if he might like to watch the kids for me on Saturday. This turned into him saying something to Amber (the friend)about her coming over "today". She says, Oh, okay! We quickly get on the same page, she has her older kids able to watch her younger kids and we head off for the farmers market. Wonderful experience! If you have never been to a farmers market, I highly recommend it.

We got some tomatoes and peaches. This is what we ended up with. We also made some peach pit jelly today (Monday) as it had to sit for 24 hours. I do know how to count and know that after 24 hours it would have been Sunday, not Monday, but this is what our schedules would allow. WE are looking forward to canning some more soon. Perhaps apples, grapes, .... ? We are going to get together every year now I think. Hooray!

After our hard work her family came over for pizza and socializing. When they left, I asked the boys if they had fun with our friends. Of all the possible answers, I was surprised to hear not, "I had fun because..." or "I hated it because..." or even the option of "Who were they?" No. I heard none of these.The response I heard was,"How come there's no bones in our stomachs?" I decided to send them to bed and forget analyzing the day further.

I do have one question though. Why do they make stoves out of melt-able parts? Canning creates a lot of heat!

two left feet

Aren't they cute! I was once again trying to find where the quiet was coming from and found the boys at the piano. They were just sitting there reading a book. Lily has decided to be more girly all the sudden. She follows me around a lot more and wants to be with me. Still, she doesn't prefer dolls or stuffed animals yet.

I thought I would take a picture of all our black dress shoes to go along with this next story, but I can't wait long enough to figure that out. Tomorrow I will for sure be posting pictures. I have too many to wait much longer! So, imagine a giant pile of shoes, they are all black, they are all similar style and size... got it? okay. I am sure this has happened to most people, if not everyone sooner or later, but it's the first time it has happened to us. This was actually on Thursday, but I wanted to get picture to go with it. Next time I will post about our weekend, with pictures!

"DALLAS! YOU"RE LATE!!! HURRY, HURRY, HURRY!!! JUST GET SOMETHING ON YOUR FEET LET"S GO!" I yell as everyone has been waiting in the truck with their seat belts on for near five minutes already. We are late to school again today. Why is this time? Well, I made the wrong thing for lunch. Ramen noodles are what he wanted yesterday when I made mac & cheese. Today he wants PBJ sandwiches. I convince him that it is okay to eat it. Dallas inspects his lunch and discovers that some pineapple juice has touched his noodles. The world may end over this you know. We negotiate. He gets a new plate but the noodles are all distributed and the only noodles for Dallas to eat are on the plate with juice.

This attitude spills over into "I'm not going to do anything you say or want toady, especially get ready for school." I finally just shout his directions and go out to wait with the kids in the truck. When Dallas emerges, his feet look not quite right. I see he is wearing his shoes on the wrong feet. Nope, that's not it...he has two of the same foot shoe, not a match! "Let's go in and find one that matches." So, in the house we go. He is wearing a size 10 and a size 12. The next one is size 11. They are all the same foot shoe! Does it matter that we have assigned shoe cubbies? Apparently not. I guess we need to give the old ones away and go back to that old rule of get the clothes ready before you go to bed at night, and get dressed before you eat breakfast in the morning. He was only about ten minutes late.

I have been talking about Dallas a lot lately. He is just the most amusing for this week. The other kids are doing great. I was trying to get them all out to go one day this week. Marek and Brenden were not out yet. I went back in to find them coming down the stairs holding hands. They are so cute! Stephen has adjusted to school well so far. We are talking with his school about loosening his help and direction while there, letting him be more independent.

There was a shooting in our neighborhood the other day. Not anyone we knew, but still unnerving. It was a domestic dispute. Life light more or less landed in our back yard, the park that is behind our house. We were pretty tired yesterday because of it. Dallas came up from bed to talk about it, but Stephen didn't. I don't know if he just didn't notice, or it didn't bother him, or if he is keeping his feelings inside. He seems fine though.

Here are a few more final thoughts for the day: A double stroller, although built with extra wide seats and a weight limit of up to 50 pounds each seat, is still going to break if you put four kids in at the same time and hit a curb with gravity's help going down a hill. Our wheel broke. It fell off with a crack. Hmm. I thought I heard something when I hit the curb, but it didn't actually fall off until Steve was taking the kids to the school activity last night- while I was at my school. He is wonderful. He was able to get everyone home with out a wheel.

When asked how I look yesterday, Dallas replied, "Like a mom, that's already married." I guess I don't need to impress anyone. Thanks for the compliment.

Friday?

So, I know everyone is dieing to know what really happened on Friday. Sorry to keep you in suspense for so long..... is that long enough? Okay.

I spent the day Friday making a Vampire costume (this translates to cape) Dallas is so excited to be a vampire for Halloween. He thinks they are funny because he saw a show of pink panther that had one sound: "bloah, bloah, bloah!" accompanied by the tongue sticking out each time. It is a good cape! I was quite proud of myself finding the scraps in the basement and using Velcro to stick them together! (Pictures on the way, I promise!)

Well, when we finally got to the party after driving past at least three times and missing it, Dallas ran off hardly saying goodbye to me. He was happy to play. I had stuck my cell number in his pocket and told him that he could call me for any reason. Was this a mistake? On the outset, I thought it was wise since he did not really know who the birthday kid was. Just a few minutes after I drove away, the kid's mom called me. Dallas was crying and needed me. I tried to talk to him, but he was too busy crying. I turned around and went back to collect him.

When I got there, he was not happy. I apologized and took him away. They gave him a goody bag, which he opened in the truck on our way. He found he liked the things in there. Come to find out, the other kids think vampires are scary. Go figure! They all started running away from him. Dallas thought they didn't like him and that is why he needed to go home. Then he told me that his friend Tayton was there. When I asked with surprise why he didn't want to stay, even though Tayton was there, he changed his mind! Another go figure!

I turned around again and took him back. This day turned into a lot of driving! Meanwhile, I was planning to help and my parent's house. That turned into dropping the kids off and having hubby meet me there. I cut a few tomatoes, cucumbers, and a pepper. I went back to get Dallas from the party. I think I was "helping" all of 10 minutes. Oh well. When I got back to get the kids, my parents were leaving. They were feeding about 100 people at the church - Dad's little hobby?

Over the weekend, we had regional conference. This was a great treat that we were able to go downtown to the conference center and see the prophet and other leaders of our church in person. Steve was privileged to go on Saturday morning, I went on Sunday morning and Stephen went with me. Steve, my darling hubby, tended the other kids. Saturdays have also turned into the major-try-to-catch-up-on-cleaning-the-house-day. This is great, since we have so much else going on during the week. Ugh.

Friday! Friday! FRIDAY!!!

Yes, today, tomorrow, but really today by time this will probably be read, is FRIDAY! We have survived the week again. Friday night I have arranged a "girls night out" that means I get to have ice cream with a friend, no kids! My hubby will tend our kids, and her mom will tend her kids. Wow. That was easy. I should try that again in a few months.

On Monday Dallas was invited to a birthday party for a new friend at school. I asked him who he was, and he said, "Umm, well, he's in my class at school. I don't know what he looks like. How come my name isn't on the envelope?" And thus we are thrust into the all too humorous and all too dismal life of parties that invite the whole class. This party is tomorrow. Short notice, fine. This party is a costume party. Not so fine. When I called to find out more details on the event, I learned that like private schools, charter schools may have anyone attend from anywhere in the state. A bit of a drive, fine. As the week has progressed I tried to figure out weather or not Dallas really should go, if he really knew who this person was. He is so excited to be at this party it is almost hilarious. Not only is it a costume party, it is only for boys! No girls will be there at all, except for his mom. That is so AWESOME! (As Dallas says) This is quickly followed up with, "I hope Taden will be there." This is his new found "best" friend, not the birthday boy.

So, we have been talking about birthdays at our house and discovered that WOW the four will be turning 3 in a few weeks! Marek tore a paper cup apart and put the pieces on his head. He turned to Evan and said, "I's my birftay. Eban! Say happy birftay to me!" Way to cute!

In other thoughts, I love "oblivions." These are the people that are oblivious to their surroundings. Usually I really enjoy not being the center of attention everywhere I go. It makes me feel somewhat "normal". So, here's the story. We have been to Waterford for a little more than a week now. Granted we had a holiday in there and we didn't take all the kids in one day (see posting called late again) but we had been there. I dress my kids all matching, generally speaking, when we go out. It is easier to keep track of them, they are just so darn cute that way, and it cuts down on time to sort the laundry. So, when we have been there we were cute.

In addition to this possible obviousness, there is a boy going to the class that was in the same class with us last year. I chatted with his mom. She introduced me to a friend or two. We went through the whole "Wow! That's four? All at the same time? You must be busy! Did you have tons of help? How did it happen? Were you surprised?" The whole bit.

Fast forward to Wednesday. I am there with all the kids in their cute matching outfits. I sit on the floor and play with them. We read books, build with blocks and sort toys. They come to me and call me "Mommy". It is not really that big of a room. After a while my ear catches a conversation that included, "tree skirt" and "$5" followed by a store name. Since we do a tree for the festival, I go to the mothers and apologize for butting in and ask for clarification.

After we talk for a few minutes, the kids keep coming to me with a bumped head, stolen toy, whatever. All the sudden, one of the moms gets that shocked look on her face as she starts putting things together. "Do you have triplets? Are they twins?" I answer, "No, they are quadruplets." Her reply, "Oh! You should write a book!" Of course, the usual questions followed, including when do I get a break. I get to brag about how wonderful my husband is and tell them I am going to school. If they had a look of shock before, amplify it about one hundred times. When they ask what class I am taking, I list three, they are completely amazed. I tell them there is another one that I can't remember. Boy! I forget that we are so different. Yeah, I like oblivions. They make my life more fun.

Needless to say, I have seriously thought of writing that book, in my free time of course. :)

LATE AGAIN

Have you ever noticed how when you are late for one thing it topples everything else off the schedule? We had that problem today. We couldn't find Stephen's lunch box this morning. Then my keys were lost. UGH! I finally remembered that we have an extra copy in the firebox. We were ten minutes late! This, in the minds of my little ones, is like an eternity late.

We were late to pick up our carpool friend, late to school (Dallas only, Stephen was on time), late to get Dallas from school (Waterford - computer class) late bringing our carpool friend home. (Luckily, his mom wasn't too worried) Everything was ten minutes late until we were taking Dallas to his other school. He was only two minutes late, and the teachers had not taken the class inside yet. This translated to "on time" for Dallas. Hallelujah!

I start for home and my phone rings. My mother is inquiring weather or not I remembered the family reunion tonight. Um, no. I didn't. What? Mom remembered something that I didn't? And I was the one sending out the reminder email last week? Yes.

From there we hurried home, made some cookies, scoured the house looking for the keys, almost on time to get Dallas home. I sat in the pick up line for almost 30 minutes, thinking I was on time, but he still says, "Mommy. I was the last one to go home again." Followed quickly, luckily for me, by, "But there were lots of kids missing today." From there we were late to get Stephen from school. He was happy though because he found his lunchbox! Yup. At school. No wonder I couldn't find it.

We were on time to the reunion though. We had a great time there! Everyone said our kids were so cute, even though I am sure most of them were really thinking something more like, "Man! Those kids are so grumpy and whinny! What spoiled brats!" I thought that a few times. We stayed way too late, of course. They were over tired, late all day, feeding off their mother's stress, etc. However, there were bubbles and more importantly DIRT! They did have fun.

Stephen's biggest problem was that other kids sat at the table that he wanted us to sit at, after I decided we were sitting somewhere else. Hmm... Maybe he should say the words ALOUD before he tells me he already told me. He was sweet and had set up some cups of water on a table and I didn't notice. The repercussions from this lasted around 45 minutes.

All in all, it was a wonderful day! My hubby is marvelous with the kids, and let me gab with family. My cookies turned out great. I completed a homework assignment for my cooking class, and I did not have to eat them all by myself, which of course I would have if they were in my house still. And, I found my keys. Oh, what was that? Where were they? In my purse.

Success??

I am back. I will make this short though since there is another day waiting for me tomorrow. This morning my niece was baptized so we all got dressed up and went out for that. We stopped at a few ward sales along the way. I scored a bench seat for our deck, $10, and loads of blankets, a few leap pad books, and a little doodad for the Festival of Trees 2009. (Oh, we got our spot for this year - A9 in case anyone wants to check it out. Fund raiser for the Children's Hospital, hint hint and let me know if you are bored or lonely and want to help with the project this year. That sounded wrong. You can want to help even if you aren't bored or lonely, and I don't want any weird-o people following me around. I have enough of that already.)

We came home for a "quick" change of clothes and lunch, which actually took way too long! We didn't get back out again until almost three o'clock. The plan was for around one o'clock. We went to the state fair. The best part for me was watching the reactions of those around us. We are not very obvious anymore when we go out to busy places like that. We take one double stroller and two singles. Stephen is a great big brother and helps push one. With this arrangement, we are separated often. One time I was a little behind and the people going between us were laughing at. I was laughing at them. I wanted to shout, "Yup, that's my boy!" But they were having too much fun. Dallas was screaming about wanting to go home - RIGHT NOW! His feet hurt, etc, etc.... I guess it's funny to watch a small person with such a large vocabulary who knows how to use it. We stopped for dinner on the way to the Stake Anniversary Celebration. I decided to let Steve take the boys while I put the other kids to bed. Yeah, right. They could see the party from our windows (It was at the park behind our house. Dallas came home via over the fence.) They didn't want to go to bed. Lily kept carrying blankets to the window and calling for her brothers, "a bed! A bed! Teeben (means Stephen) Dallas! A BED!"

When I was attempting my earlier post, I was sitting on my new bench out on the deck, listening to the live band, wishing I could be down there dancing, but enjoying the distance. I was watching the kids go down the big blow up slides and bounce on the bouncers. The sun was barley glowing behind the mountain as it had just set. The breeze was cool and gentle. I was a great minute.

Now I am inside sitting on floor without a breeze, smelling old laundry and diapers. The music is gone. All I hear are a few cars going by on a road in the distance.

Anyway, Steve got a picture of Stephen doing an "air guitar" at the bottom of the slide. Our batteries are out on the camera now. Someone remind me to post the pictures! Also got a good one of the kids on a boat at the fair.

Sweet success...

Okay, so today went kind of like this, with a lot of other kid interruptions in it. Wake up late (of course, by this I mean it was already 7 and the kids were out and about the house before me.) Late start to breakfast, meaning it ... oh this will have to wait longer. There are more kid interruptions.

Another day, another miracle or two.

Here are some pictures of our new blinds! Just kidding. Sorry no time for taking pictures and waiting forever for them to download to the computer. I am sure there must be an easier way! We DO really have our blinds up though!

They only took three days, one new tool, and one persistent husband to get them up. Amazing! They are so beautiful I can't believe it took us so long to get them. Our home is much more cozy now. The kids have endless fun with the boxes. They are building a shed for Daddy, since it's so expensive to buy one. They are so thoughtful and smart! Yup, this idea came from Dallas.

We have had these other blinds over our sliding glass door up for about a month now. They are still ALL up! Another miracle, I know! We get so many miracles! The packaging they came with that is perfect for racing cars down, see previous post, is still entertaining the kids.

In other news, school is going well so far for the boys. They have not been late yet! Miracle number... um, I've lost count. But that is a big miracle! I was late to my class yesterday. Go figure. Taking all the kids, we are on time. Taking myself alone, I am late. hmmm.

I did manage to get a picture of the four today. They are having a big celebration in our stake for a 30 year anniversary something. Since we were a big service project they asked me to send a picture of our kids for display. Here is one of my attempts. They were getting pretty tired of me and although no one is really smiling, this actually has all four kids in the frame. Next time I will have a helper, like a professional or something. I ended up finding an older picture from before the kids were old enough to run away for the display. :)

Marek, Evan, Brenden, Lily

Who needs to buy a gift?

Here are the kids playing nice together. Yes, ALL six kids are playing nice together!

Another miracle for our day! We got these blinds for the patio door put up a few weeks ago. The kids have not broken them yet! Miracle number two for the day. These car ramps are the packaging for the slats. They are perfect for cars! No expensive toys needed around here. (Miracle number three.) Although, I hear it is common during Christmas time for the kids to play more with boxes, I didn't think it went to these old ages. And here is another picture of the kids playing. Evan is on the chair, Marek is behind Stephen who is holding Dallas. It should be easy to know which one is Lily. Brenden can't be seen in this pic. Sorry.






And now, it's time to gather Dallas from his first day of kindergarten! He was more than happy to see me leave and be at school. We got a new backpack for him this morning. (He is in afternoon kindergarten)
We have a crazy schedule. I am not sure how it will work, but so far the kids are cooperating, and my mom was able to tend them this morning while I took Stephen and Dallas to their classes. So, here is what is in store for our future.

Daily, Stephen's school starts at 9am. Monday, Wednesday, and Friday starting in September Dallas has Waterford starting at 9 AM. We have a carpool set up that I think will work for those mornings. This research group has classes for one hour from September through April. Dallas was in the class last year and loved it. Then, Dallas has kindergarten from 11:30 to 2:35 every day. We get Stephen from school at 3:45. Some how dinner should get made and lunch should be eaten. Next week, my school starts! I will have classes starting at 5pm on Tuesdays and Thursdays!!! Wednesdays the boys will also have piano lessons, and there is scouts for Steve. If that wasn't enough, the kids have all decided they want to go on the potty. UGH! They just want a treat really, but whoever told them they could?!?!?! This of course takes TIME!!!!

It was super funny when Evan had his first "success" on the potty. I will have to write more about that later. Time for Dallas to be brought home. Why didn't I just put them in the same school and let them be "normal"? Oh yeah, they are not normal. Hmm.

I must be crazy! (miracle number four for the day?)

Me, Myself, and I

Today Me, Myself, and I were able to enjoy a sunrise together with a cup of warm cocoa. (Note to self: 30 seconds in the microwave does not make it warm enough.) I was up "on time" which is before the chaos begins with everyone else being awake. I exercised, showered, dressed myself, and went to the deck with my cup. As a mother of five boys and one girl, the oldest almost 7, a 5 year old, and almost 3 year old quadruplets, I must say

MIRACLES DO HAPPEN!

And, it's all thanks to Dallas for being sick in the early morning. Of course, I was not able to get back to sleep so I was ready for the day today. Thanks Dallas! I tried to take a picture of what I saw, but I think I was a little late for the best part. I didn't think of it until after my cocoa was gone, but here it is. We have a great view from our deck!!!

In other news, today is the last day of free lunch at the park. I plan to be there early today and stay late. We have really, really enjoyed making new friends and playing there. I will miss visiting with adults on a regular basis, although, we have arranged a probable carpool or sorts with one family. There is potential for real talking still.

Let's not forget that I will also be starting my classes again in September! In these cases though, I tend not to talk about my life too much. It is generally a big distraction from the class topic.

Yesterday I completed a homework assignment that I started in March. HOORAY! Yes, it took me 5 months to do. Good thing it is a class over the internet and I have a year to finish the class! Yay me!

As for the kids and how they are doing? Dallas and Stephen are getting excited for school to start. The four have no idea what is about to happen to their "schedule". And, everyone is still asleep!

Good morning!

Today I was so excited to have the blinds up in the front room windows! Thinking of the cut in cost for air conditioning tickled me pink. The late afternoon sun comes through the front room straight onto the thermometer. Now, our new blinds are not only light filtering, they are dark, heat absorbing, and light blocking. I could tell early in the morning what a difference it was going to make. Little did I know what would come to pass later on.

The kids found a new "light switch" that turns on the fireplace. Hmm. There go all the happy thoughts from this morning! The A/C did not get a break. Oh well. Brayten was here to be tended today. Marek learned many new things from him today, like that switch that he never noticed before and every one wants a turn on the potty. Talk about time requirements!!! Brayten is their cousin and basically the same age as our four. He is already potty trained.

Yes, I am completely crazy. I had five (5!) two, almost three year olds all day, starting at 5:30AM, until about 4:40-ish. We have fun though. We went to the park for lunch again. Stephen and Dallas are such good helpers! They really make my work lighter, even if I did push three kids in the stroller up hill on the way home.

I should be seeing these pounds come off more than they are....go figure. Maybe it's because I don't get enough sleep? Goodnight!

another little miracle

Today we have blinds to hang in our windows!!! Finally, after nearly two years since the remodel we are going to hang blinds. Of course, this will take more than one day, maybe more than a week. Hopefully not longer than that! We have waited this long, what's one more day? ha ha ha! Our security system will be gone now though. Brandi was the first to term the sheets in the windows as our security system. You know, the rif raf that might want to break in and do some damage will see the sheets and think, "Hmmm... reminds me of home. They probably don't have anything here that I would like to take."

You might be wondering why we took so long to get something in our windows. Well, we wanted to paint before we hung them and time just didn't work well with us. Then, when we painted - silly me- I thought you just go get the blinds from the store and hang them. That is not how it works. You have to measure, in our case we had to special order, and then it takes weeks to actually get them! So, we have had nothing at all in some of the windows because we didn't want to make extra holes in our wonderfully painted walls. Of course, as time proves, cars being thrown, crayons with out paper, kids in general made plenty of their own holes and marks on my beautiful wall. I should have put the sheet back while we waited. Oh well.

Now Steve is out buying a drill from Wal-mart because we can't find our pieces in our garage, which has also suffered from the remodel procrastination.
We started to put them up with a normal, hand-held screwdriver. Yeah. He went to buy a drill.

In other news, I took a final today! Hooray! No more school.... for two weeks. We have decided to get the required on campus classes out of the way. This should get me back on track to complete everything in time to graduate in 2010. Nothing like good old procrastination everywhere I look! But, hey. My kids are happy and we have fun. So what if the laundry doesn't get done every day. We have clothes to wear, and we wash them when we run out of clean ones, usually.

Well, Steve's back with the drill. I better get back to work! I will post pictures of our blinds when they are up. :)

Chocolate days

Here area few pictures of the kids and our activities.

A day at the parade. I wish I had better luck with this picture, or had more of them. The bright orange shirts say "E=mc2 I'm the smart one" I thought this was too funny since they are all the smart one. LOL!





Later that same day we went to a picnic at the church park. Brenden was able to reach the dessert table. I was worn out and chose not to argue or fight with the brilliant tike. His dinner therefore consisted of chocolate cookie, chocolate cookie, and chocolate cookie! He was offered other things, but who would choose anything else when there is a cookie within reach?!?!




Chocolate is as chocolate does!







Steve DID win the pie eating contest!!! Although the tough competition was mildly interested, Steve was very serious about winning. There was one man that Steve talked into playing and the rest of the eaters were young-uns, under the age of 12. BUT HE WON!!!














A day at the zoo was free courtesy of our friend's yearly pass having extra space for a few of us, and the fact that kids under three are free!!! Hooray for free!!! Hooray for generous, kind friends!!!

Here is Dallas feeding the geese at Liberty park. It was hilarious when he threw a piece of bread on the backside of one goose, causing his "bum to get bit".


Of course we spend time at the park on a regular basis. Here are the swings.Our sweet boys like to help each other. Aawwww! Right after Marek pushed Brenden for this picture, Brenden came back and knocked Marek over.
Aren't they just too cute for words?!?!

Summer stuff

Wow! I can't believe how busy we have been lately. As I am studying for my finals this week I noticed we have a ton of pictures from this summer! We were going through some to send to Steve's mom for her birthday gift. There are over 500 that we took since I last posted!!! Needless to say, they will be posted, in part, this week! We have been to the zoo, a birthday party for a friend, the ward picnic/water party, we were in the parade, found a giant butterfly in our yard, played in the rain, played at the park, went to grandmas, Wheeler Farm, Westfest, aerospace museum, and the dinosaur museum. We forgot the camera for the dinosaurs though. We also saw the Riverton Days parade at Grandma Bell's. Whew!


This is the only picture I have of Lily with her hair actually "done". This is at Hunter Park near our home.
Here are the four on a ride at Westfest, with another boy we have no idea who is.
This is the butterfly that was in our front yard. We have had lots of new creatures in our yard including butterflies and hummingbirds.

Another funny thing; I noticed that all the outfits seem to be the same in all the pictures. I guess I wanted to be able to spot our lot easily in a crowd. I unknowingly dressed them in their brightest orange shirts each time we "went out". I knew I was dressing them bright, but I didn't realize it was the same bright shirts every time! Ha ha ha ha. I will have to label them well. This will be another day.

Until next time!

Parade Day!!!

Tomorrow we will be walking in the youth parade for the Days of 47!! Whooohoo!! Again, what in the world am I thinking!!??!?!? We need to be there by 9am and the parade starts at 10. A whole hour waiting to walk for a mile or two??? (I don't really know how long the route actually is. That could be another issue....) Then there is a carnival - free - to thank the kids for their participation. They will have 50 cent hot dogs and cotton candy blah, blah, blah. We are excited, and I am tired thinking of it. After the carnival I plan to have a slow, possibly long drive home so they will rest before we go to the neighborhood BBQ/family night. They will be having three leg races, water balloon toss, and more fun, fun, fun! The part Steve is looking forward to most is the pie eating contest. Hopefully someone will get some pictures of us.

Well, here's what's been happening here this week.

Steve, my darling husband, took the kids - all of them, by himself- to watch a parade that goes past my grandmother's house. I had school but class got out early. None of my family were there, other than grandma of course. She was so excited to see them she called earlier and asked if they were still coming. She made them dinner and Grandpa washed the driveway and the area of the road in front of their house.

We have painted and moved the big boys to a room in the basement. Tonight is their first night down there. They are excited and I am nervous. My babies are growing up.

Earlier today before it got too hot, the kids played in a little blow up pool the neighbors gave us. They filled it with dirt. We emptied the dirt and got new water. They filled it with dirt. We emptied it and refilled it again. And, then they filled it with dirt, shoes, and a winter sled that somehow is in our back yard. Then we sent them back in the house to watch a movie while we attempted to find the garden.

We had some success in weeding the garden, and found that most of the plants we planted were still there! We just couldn't see them under all those weeds! There are even a few tomatoes on the plants and some yellow squash. The ones that have died are cucumbers, melons, and a zucchini. I couldn't believe that a zucchini would die! But Steve reminded me, that is what will happen if your daughter plucks it out of the ground.

I have changed my school schedule around. I was going to have two classes on Tuesday and Thursday nights. They canceled my second and I signed up for another. That one was also canceled since I was the only student that showed up. At this point I thought it must be a sign. I am not supposed to go to school so much right now. I went the the first week and was happy. Then I discovered that they would be charging me the part time student rates if I only took one class. This basically meant that I would be loosing about $200. I signed up for another class that was not canceled and have a ton to read to catch up for missing the first week. It is a wonderful class, though it is on Monday and Wednesday. Now I have class Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday starting at 5 pm till about 7:30. Not including drive time. My only solace is that it is a condensed summer session so I will only be gone for dinner and bedtime until August.

The only other news that I think could possibly excite anyone would be that Dallas has lost his first tooth! He was so incredibly thrilled that it came out! The new tooth is already coming in behind where the young tooth was. I almost got into big trouble because the tooth fairy forgot to come, but Stephen, that wonderful big brother, told Dallas that the tooth fairy couldn't see it because his tooth was on a cloud. His bedsheets have stars and clouds with moons on a blue background. Dallas moved the tooth to a darker part of the bed. Then we double checked to see if the tooth fairy came. I just couldn't believe she wouldn't come, and she had in fact came. :)