Happy New Year

Hello Everyone,
I know it has been one month. Yikes!!! We survived the Holidays. It was a great Christmas! We spent time with family and friends. It was great fun. We even got to see family we haven't seen for a while. We spent one week with a sick baby and all are doing much better now. Thank goodness. I forgot what a good nights sleep is. I am so thankful for sleep. Now that school has once again begun, life can start fast forwarding. I am surprised how quickly time flies. Mackenzie and Kathryn are playing Basketball and it keeps us all hopping. Davis will be playing a little later. I can not believe how old my children are getting. I am now starting to understand my oldest sisters life. Running older children all over and draggin little ones to boot. At least, everything is close so I don't have to go to far. Church is good now that we have it at nine AM. YEAH!!!! Now when we get up we are not getting ready for church all morning. Lily seems to do ok, even though morning is her prime napping time. James loves nursery. So the run down. We are all doing well. Mackenzie is glad to have her teacher back from maternity leave. She is discovering new friends, still reading "Warriors", playing computer and so forth. I took her shopping for clothes and she hated it the whole time. She is too much like her mother. She is playing Basketball with some of the girls in our ward and her grade. It is a great experience for her. Kathryn is playing AAU ball and she loves it. She is loving fourth grade and has suddenly become interested in reading again. She is great with Lily. She loves to go shopping with her mother, but thanks Santa for taking care of that shopping trip. Davis is are toothless first grader. Slowly those front teeth are coming in. She is a silly girl. She loves school and all her friends at school. She has already started talking birthday party. I told her that she wasn't allowed to ask me about it until March 1st. She is getting better at remembering to obey things like that. We will see. As you can see in the picture James and Davis have great fun together. James loves his sisters. He goes crazy boy when they come home. We are trying to convince him the potty is the place, but he doesn't seem to think so. Lily is loving baby food and is thinking about moving. I am doing great. I am grateful to have the holidays over. I didn't send Christmas cards until after new years, but oh well. I feel like I have my brain back. I do know I function better when I am busy. So why I keep saying yes, I will never understand. Anyhow, I hope everyone's new year is going well. I am very thankful for all the many blessings we have been given.

Barbie Shepards, Roaring Lions and Nativities

Well another crazy week has gone by. We decided to have a play day on Saturday. The church next to the temple was having a Nativity display. We went to see what it was and to our surprise we found a pink Barbie Shepard and we were even related to her. It was fun to see Aunt Reilly and all the different Nativity sets. Then off to the zoo. It was free, so we went. It was a little chilly, but not too bad. It was fun to see the new giraffes and Lions. The male lion actually roared for us. If you have ever heard a lion roar it can be quite shocking. James and Zach had moved on, but when James heard this he came running back. He loves the animals. It was nice to get out of the house. It was nice to see all the parents, who it was obvious would not take them because of cost, bring their children. Anyhow, it was fun! Home to the warmth and Forgotten Carols and Polar Express. Two great Christmas shows. Bedtime came way to late. However, Sunday was a bizarre day for Lily. She pretty much fussed all during church. She never does that. I think she could feel her mother's stress. However, the Christmas Devotional was great. I am thinking bowls of oatmeal for Christmas and a little Samuel the Lamanite might be joyous fun. Monday we went to Grandma Lily's and this is always a treat. The kids had fun finding costumes to perform the Nativity for Grandma. James, who was Joseph stole the baby Jesus from Davis(Mary). This was great humor for us all. Then we decorated Grandma's tree. James did his Chicken impersonation for Grandma and of course we all had ice cream! What a fun night. We stopped by Zach's parents for a quick visit and home again to bed. Tuesday was enrichment night and I am so glad it is over. I did get to see some golden friends earlier that day and it was pleasant. Then to new friends that night. Even more pleasant. I just love people. I just love getting chores done also. Enrichment was a good success. Today is Market day for Kathryn. She will be selling her picture cubes. She is very excited and I think the whole school is humming about this adventure. The fourth graders will run a market that the rest of the school can purchase items. No more than fifty cents. It was funny to hear Kathryn discuss what people were selling. Some were smoothies, bubble gum, sling shots, home made Idaho spud bars, etc. She is selling a craft out of wood that you can put a picture on. I wish I could attend, however, crazy two year olds are not permitted. So Zach will attend. I hope everyone is doing well. I will be grateful when it is December 24. Then I will have completed all major tasks. Happy HOlidays!

Crazy Days are Here Again

Happy Holidays everyone. The time to reflect and think of the true spirit of Christmas. Or perhaps, glancing at ones calendar often and hoping that you don't forget something. Crazy, crazy, crazy days. I suppose I just have to buck up and go forward. Everyone is well, Thanksgiving was good. I hope everyone keeps a level head this season. Goodluck to you! I don't know what kind of blogging I will get done this month. We have family parties, ward parties, pianos to play, projects at school, cookies for school, work parties, yikes. I know that everyone can relate at some point in their life. What a crazy way to celebrate Christmas, however, it is fun creating and giving to others. So the haste in it is muted somewhat by the end result. So remember smile while you are baking your 500th cookie and changing your 6 millionth dirty diaper. All is well when we smile!

Happy Thanksgiving

Well I suppose since it is Thanksgiving that I should list a few things I am thankful for. I am thankful that eleven years ago to the day we were blessed with a child. I can not believe it has been that long. I am also thankful that in the last eleven years we have been blessed with four more children. It is hard to imagine life without any of them. I find myself wondering what I ever did before them came to our family. I am so grateful to be a mother and wife. I am so grateful for a husband who works hard for our family, in all aspects of life. I am grateful for turkey, potatoes, pumpkin pie. I am grateful for relatives, all of them. I am grateful for blogs, because it is the only scrap booking I am getting done. I am grateful for eternal truths. I am grateful for sleeping family members. Every mother needs a little quiet now and then. It is as if our brains need the radio stations (children, husbands, phones, etc.) turned off for a while to refocus. Anyhow, I guess it donned on me how many things we take for granted as I was putting a belligerent 2 year old to bed. I was trying to side track him by saying all the things we are thankful for. I could go on and on. He didn't not seem to be thankful for going to bed. I was thankful for him for him going to bed. Anyhow, I hope everyone has a wonderful day and stops to ponder all that we have been given. Gratitude is an incredibly satisfying tool. It reminds us we are never ever alone. Happy Thanksgiving!!!!

November 20, EEEK

Well it has been almost twenty, well it has been twenty days since my last post. Since this is the only form of Journaling and Scrapbooking I have been endevouring. (I know my spelling stinks) The last 20 days have flown by with out evening feeling like I blinked. It is almost 6AM and I can't sleep. I am thinking long and hard about getting on the treadmill. I am grateful for blogs. They help me to recall events I am not sure I would, plus I can see how everyone else is doing without being too intrusive. Anyhow, back to the last 20 days.
Zach has been busy at work, getting the Treasurer in line to send out Tax bills. We both wonder when we will go to bed before 11PM. We are back to crazy Sundays, but I suppose that is just the way it is. Probably won't be so bad when Lily is not nursing and James is not so wild. The older girls are great help, so I can't complain. You just feel like a whirlwind hit the house. I don't think it matters how much you prepare your house the day before. Tornados strike our house every Sunday. It probably is good because I can't stand it and get up and clean up, then I don't just crash for the sake of my children.
Mackenzie loves school. She is going to play Y Ball (REC) this year with the 5th and 6th graders. We think she will have a lot of fun. She has a friend playing on the team with her from our new ward. We had her try out for AAU out here. She made it, however, this friend from the ward convinced us to do the other instead. We hope she builds lasting friendships. She can't wait for her birthday, even though she knows what she is getting. She picked it out in October. It is inconcievable to believe it is a Breyer Horse. I can't believe she will be Eleven. She is growing up and it James's Mackenzaroo.
Kathryn loves school also. Right now we are working on an Idaho Indian Tribe Report. She too will play Basketball, but she will be playingn AAU. I guess we will see just how crazy it can be. She was funny the other day because we let her ride the bus home with a friend for her birthday. So we were saying things we were thankful for and she was thankful for the bus on several occasions. I guess I didn't realize I was depriving my children by not letting them ride the bus. This friend is sweet however, she lives 45 minutes away to Kathryn. (probably only half that) That is just crazy! They have a farm clear in the boonies. Anyhow, she is still my crazy Kathryn, but a wonderful helper with Lily!
Davis has made that transition into 1st grade. She is cutting a little more of Mom's apron strings. She will be getting two front teeth for Christmas. I love it. She was out on the tramp with James and Mackenzie and I was on the phone with a ward member. She came in with tooth in hand and the look of injustice. Well, I was trying to listen to the ward member and she was trying to motion to me, that Mackenzie had done her wrong. Well, I saw the tooth and gave her the thumbs up. She wanted more sympathy. After we convinced her that she wouldn't die because her tooth was knocked out. I still think Grandma Lily has the worst story about letting Uncle Ross take a nail and hammer to her tooth. Anyow, Zach and I laugh because DAvis is Ms. Social. We think she know more people than we do.
James is little wild man. Lately he has become a negotiater. He told me the other night NO Thank you to going to bed. After 100 repetitions of saying We say Please, no thank you, thank you, sorry, yes. Some, a small fraction is being retained. The other day he asked for a drink. He said please, I said yes, just a minute and 30 seconds later he is leaning over the chair and says, Well, do I get a drink. I instantly knew which sister he learned that from. He loves all his sisters and which ever parent isn't taking him to bed.
Lily is growing and sitting up and trying to move around on the floor. Still no teeth and I am glad for that. She is so even tempered it is a joy to have her around. She just hangs out. She is still pretty bald so we will be covering up for the head this winter. I got industrius and made her some homemade baby food. She tried it and was doing well and gagged it all up. I don't think her reflexes are quite there yet. We will keep plugging away at it. Speaking of her I hear her in her bed. Better run. There is a 20 day update. All is well. Happy Turkey Day!

Happy Halloween

Well I cannot believe that it is October 31. This is James third Halloween and the poor boy is sick as a dog. I guess he can actually go trick or treating on his fourth halloween. Oh well, thanks to a very generous grandma the girls had reprief from their boredom. She took them to the Canyon County courthouse for trick or treating. It was going to be an extremely action packed day and most of the plans are out. What a bummer, we had a party planned with some good old friends and our children today. I am very sad about that. Perhaps, this is why I don't care if much gets done today. Oh well, the girls were bummed out also. Not much you can do with vomit. Anyhow, at least the little guy is sleeping. We had a fun family party last saturday with the Blacker side and it was good. At least the kids had that. we did a few games and cookie frosting with Grandma. Hopefully, James feels better as we have a family baptism tomorrow! Mackenzie is a Horse Jockey this year, thanks to Grandma Wagoner. Kathryn is a BSU fan and DAvis is my little witch. They were excited and a little crazy for the day to finally come. Lily has somewhat of congestion herself. So I am relieved to not put her into the cold. Zach is extremely busy working in the Elections office. Since, he works under the Clerk and the clerk is in charge of the elections office. We will be glad when it is November 5. Hopefully he will get that day off! The girls have finished one quarter of school and I cannot believe it. They are all doing well in school and we love their teachers. It is almost surreal to be where we are. Life is very good, not always easy, but we are grateful for everything we have. Now if we could just find a house. I hope everyone has a wonderful Halloween with their children. What a fun, fun day!

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