Take Me Out to the Ball Game!

Last night the local Baseball team had a special night for my kids' school. As a treat for those who reached their AR goal (Accelerated Reading program) they could come out to the field and be in a 'parade' that walks around the field. It really was a little thing, they just walked along the dug outs and it was over within 3 minutes. But my kids do so well with reading, that I thought this would be just an added bonus for them, that is until they couldn't keep their hands off one another in the line waiting to go out. All 3 of my older ones kept pushing into one another, and "accidentally" hitting the other one. All the other kids were lined up nicely patiently waiting to go, and then there was my kids looking like they were in the middle of a mosh pit!

The picture was taken after the parade, and the look on Emma's face (the one on the end) pretty much sums up the attitude that night. This is before the game even started, and we had already had 5 meltdowns, at least one was from me, a goose egg on Charlotte's head and an overflowing soda bottle because Miriam was shaking it.

We had to pass the jumpy houses to get to the start of the parade line, so when we got our food and sat down, immediately the kids started begging to go back there. Theo and I had plans to watch at least HALF of the game, but before the 3rd inning started the kids had won out and we went down to the jumpy houses. Once we got down there, they went straight for the water slide and did that the rest of the time. I tried to get Hannah to go, but I think she chickened out so I followed her around to the jumpy houses and the dry slide. She thought she might want to try again, but after standing in line her nerves got the best of her and she started to run out of line. I tried to coax her back in line, because I know her and she is going to regret not going down later. But as I was giving her a pep talk this chubby boy went down the slide and did a massive splash that covered me head to toe! Hannah never did go down, and sure enough when it was time to go she sobbed all the way home because she didn't get to go down the slide, just like I knew she would. And then the older kids who stayed on the water slide cried because they didn't get to do the jumpy houses, or the dry slide. I just can't seem to win...

Theo and I were done by the time we got them all in the car. For some reason my window was down and as we were driving off you could hear all the kids screaming in the back, this one man who was walking by just looked at me and started shaking his head. It didn't look like a shake of disapproval, but a shake of sympathy. At least I hope that's what it was, please don't tell me that it's just my kids that act this way. Maybe we will try to take them out again....in about 10 years!

Saying Goodbye to My Dream Home

It's not really good-bye, just Until we Meet Again kind of a parting. We had our house on the market since February, but because of the insane amount of foreclosures right now it has really screwed up our plans. We decided to take it off the market and rent it out. The new plan is to hold on to it for a few more years and hope the market goes up and we can try to sell again further down the road.

Lucky for us, we have actually been home owners of a rental property for 10 years now. So we know the ropes, the good, the bad and the ugly of renting out. Our first property was Theo and my first house we bought together. It was the house we brought Tobie home to when he was an infant. But when Tobie turned 2 months, Theo who was fresh out of Coast Guard boot camp decided to go Active Duty instead of Reserve as was the initial plan.

It was heartbreaking to have to leave that house, purely for sentimental reasons. We panicked that we couldn't get anyone to buy, since it was a manufactured house on his Dad's land that someone would have to move themselves. But finding our first renters in a family member we thought that our mortgage bill was secure. That was the beginning of a long line of really terrible renters. The house turned into a thorn in our side, having to evict several tenants for non-payment, making repairs, and covering the smell and stains from smoking inside the house (even though it was clearly stated in the contract NO SMOKING PERMITTED!). But it has also been a blessing in disguise by providing us extra income allowing me to stay at home with our 5 kids and not have to worry about working outside the home.

Hopefully this time around we will have enough knowledge and judgement under our belts to get some good reliable tenants and this experience will also be a blessing in disguise.

Notorious Noshing

A while back I posted about these Maple Buttercream and Bacon cupcakes, and ever since then they have been the talk of the town in my social circle. Everyone wants to try them, and some think it sounds gross, but their curiosity takes over and they too want to taste them.

Yesterday was the last potluck at our Ward that we will be going to since we are getting transferred to NJ this summer and I figured I would go out with a bang!

I spent all Saturday cooking bacon and baking the cupcakes. It was well worth it! They were so good, and a big hit! Not one single cupcake was left. It was a sad Sunday, but the cupcakes definitely helped soften the impending separation. It's true what they say, cupcakes really do equal happiness. =)

Just Keep Them Busy

A few months ago I came across this article in the February Ensign "The Power of Early Preparation", by Ronald Errol Bartholomew. In this article he talks about the importance of feeding our children spiritually now. There was one quote that really stuck with me and I have quoted it several times,

"As a friend of mine once mused, “If I were the devil, I don’t think I could get to Latter-day Saints with any of the big sins. I think I would just keep them busy.”"

This really stood out to me because I find that happens too frequently in my house. And I'm not talking about the time outs that I take for my well being and sanity, like Bunco or my time at the gym. I'm talking about the time that is filled with mindless activities around the house that is eating up my time to be with my kids and teach them the importance of the gospel.

There's Facebook, Pinterest, Netflix, computers, XBox, Wii, Kindle, even games on my phone that my kids will beg me to play if there isn't anything else for them to do. We even turned off the satellite thinking that it would cut down on our tv watching, but I think the opposite has happened. We got Netflix which saved us a lot of money, but with on demand viewing there is an endless supply of shows we love to watch!

This ties into my last post as well, it's ironic that I spend a lot of my day pinning things on Pinterest that I imagine doing with my family, but at the end of the day I run out of time because of my mindless cyber surfing. And then, because I run out of time to do those things I think I am an inadequate mother, just like in the article that I linked to Wednesday.

It's a vicious cycle!

I realized a while back that Hannah, my 4th child, will most likely be going to Pre-School this fall, and I am missing out on her toddler years. That's mainly the reason I didn't get to post yesterday. I spent the day playing board games and hide and seek and snuggling on the couch watching whatever her little heart desired. I know these moments go by fast, but I don't want to look back on my life and have regret. I want my memories to be filled with simple fun, not how many cool things I found on the internet. Through this I know I will find those sweet moments to teach which will allow His Spirit to be in our home, and through that they will know the fullness of the gospel.

The Power of Moms

I have been meaning to post THIS ARTICLE for some time, I can totally relate to this. I love Pinterest and I've been a blogger for years. But I guess the constant stream of other peoples accomplishments has started to take its toll.

Many nights I have had that same conversation as this lady with Theo. I have felt inadequate as a Mother and Wife. Was I doing enough? That was the constant question on my mind. Several times Theo has tried to convince me that I am enough, and that is all they need. But I didn't really believe him, I didn't think he really felt the pressure of being a good mother. Not until I read it from another mother's perspective did I realize that I am not alone, and I need to stop trying to do MORE, I just need to be me.

Iceland Roots

Tonight is our Quarterly Enrichment night at church. My sister who is the Enrichment Leader started to tell me months ago that the theme was going to be International night. I have to admit, I was less than thrilled about this theme. We have done it so many times before, and I just couldn't really relate to it. They ask the ladies to randomly pick a country that they have to put together a table presentation, make a native dish and speak briefly about that country.

But I always felt disconnected to this activity, because unless I am going there, there is no amount of Schnitzel that is going to give me the true German experience, for example.

Then Rochelle (my sister) continued to tell me that this theme has a twist. We are going to incorporate genealogy to the theme! You actually have to do some genealogy and find out where you ancestors come from and that is the country you are going to present. BRILLIANT! What a great way to make this more personable!

I could have gone with my royal heritage and done my Creek background, but we actually have a couple of ladies in the ward that have Native American ancestry and signed up before we did. So instead we went with Iceland! My brother, Ruffin, was doing some genealogy of his own and was able to take our line all the way back to the Vikings in Iceland! Pretty cool if you ask me. We are actually related to a Thor, who had a son named Odin.

I'm making this, just don't ask me to pronounce it! I love doing genealogy! It is so fascinating to me to find out where you came from. And now a days it is so easy to find out with all our technology. There are so many websites you could try, and it really is fun. I encourage you to check it out and see where you come from.

Miriam's Perception

Miriam completed this at school and gave it to me on Mother's Day. Her answers are italicized. I especially love what she says is my favorite thing to do!

My Mom is very special! Here's Why!

My Mom looks
Beautiful

My mom's favorite thing to do is
Go on Facebook

My mom loves me because
I give her kisses

I love my mom because
She gives me kisses and hugges gives me a sqezze loves me very much makes me my favorite breakfast!