Jonathan gets BAD DAD AWARD! :)

I help with a play here in town. I had practice on Monday. I asked Jon to make sure to get Avery to dance on time....4:45.....That he did, that he did....
I get back from the play around 5:40... Jon was at his parents working on his new/old truck :) I go looking and find all my kids except Avery. I go in the garage and ask him where she is. His eyes get big and says "What time was I supposed to pick her up?" "5:15!" I say. I run out the door as fast as I can....I am calling her teacher while driving and I get up the street and I see Avery walking....:( I stop the car. She had no coat on and her arms and face were red and freezing. She walked like a mile...I grabbed her and held her and said over and over how sorry I was. She just kept saying "my eyes are only wet because it's windy." I asked her why she didn't just tell her teacher I wasn't there and she said that her teacher was busy and so she walked.
She was so sad but wouldn't cry. I felt like BAD BAD MOTHER AWARD...And I wanted to PUNT my husband! I am so so proud of my daughter who knew which way to go and made it safely home. I am so glad we walk as a family a lot so she knew the roads a little bit. She did say "I almost went down one road but it didn't look right so I kept going"
Some parents probably think that is so stupid of me to worry, but when my Kindergartner is walking all the way across town by herself without a coat during winter, it makes my heart hurt. Those are the moments I am grateful I prayed for my kids to be safe and protected that day!

NEW YEAR RESOLUTIONS!!

I read my sister Lacey's blog and I almost cried! It was so sweet and I am so excited to say she is going to have babies almost as close as my first ones were! I am so excited for her and Patrick! But reading her blog inspired me to write how I really feel. She was so honest and I think she is such a good mom and friend.
I realize that I only write the surface things on my blog. I must totally come off as lame and boring- when in reality my life is wonderful and fun! I always worry about writing all the good stuff and having people think I am bragging and stupid.... Or write the bad stuff and have people think man her life must stink! But I guess I may as well be what I am right?! And plus I haven't blogged in so long that I am pretty sure no one reads it any more...So now is a good time...lol
I am trying to be a better person this year. I am trying to be more kind and more outgoing. Those are my New Years goals...I am working hard to right the wrong I have done in my life. It feels so scary but so good to actually write a meaningful letter to someone I should have a long time ago. Or to say sorry to people when I was too scared to say it before. I truly want to be a good person. I want to know God and Jesus Christ. Not just know about them like I have done before...but truly know THEM. Through my search to find God in my life I have realized the many things that I do or have done that led me away from Them. I also see the things I do that bring me closer to knowing them. I am so not perfect and never will be. I am sure I will screw up and people will see it and think I am not Christ-like at all....But I am trying. I am trying to be the person God intended me to be. Hopefully this year I can be more kind, more outgoing, more helpful and more Christ-like!
If I have offended anyone who may read this I am truly sorry. I can and have been immature unthoughtful, insecure, and unkind.... Hopefully (cross my fingers) I won't be anymore!

Anywho....That is what is new in my life! My kids are still healthy, fun, sweet, ornery, screamy, lovable and smart! Here are some pictures from the last 8 months that I never blogged! And of course I wrote first so when I added pictures it totally messed it up! Oh well... my life!! :)

Hmm....It has been...8 months! Holy smokes! Where to start, where to start?!
1. Evanna did brake her arm and she broke it again falling off my mom's trampoline. A week after that she climbed up her dresser and fell off and hit her head. She started throwing up and I had to take her to the ER by my self because Jon was gone for football. She ended up just having a concussion. (just?!) Needless to say, I am making her do balancing exercises at home. :)
2. Halloween was fun. Our family was the scooby gang. Jon being Fred, me being Shaggy, J.T. being Scooby, Avery being Daphne, Evanna being Velma and Alyvia being scrappy doo. It was fun to see Ashley and her family since they moved. My moms party was great this year. I think Micah won being the hulk! lol
3. Thanksgiving was great. Jon was working that day but the trains didn't show up until later so we actually had dinner together at my moms and his moms...(We have learned to ration our food)
4. Christmas came and went. Jon was working Christmas Eve and Christmas but the trains didn't show up until night so he was home for both of those! I can't believe Christmas is over. It makes me so sad because I have to stop listening to Christmas music! lol
5. The new year came...Jon worked and was gone for New Years Eve so I put the kids to bed and cleaned the house and watched 300.

Ok, so that in a tiny nutshell were our Holidays! The other things happening were:

1. Alyvia potty trained herself right when she was two! A little sad that my baby wants to be big but also happy it was so easy! And soooooo happy I don't have to buy diapers anymore. Can I get a WHOOT WHOOT! lol
2. J.T. started first grade! How in the HECK did that happen? He is so smart and loves his teacher and his class.
3. Avery started Kindergarten again and is doing great! I decided I didn't want them in the same grade so she is doing another half day of K. She has the same teacher and is still loving school.
4. Evanna gave me grey hair...lol...not really but if any kid will do it, it will be her.
5. Jon still works for Midland and still loves it.
6. I am getting ready to go to Hawaii in March! I am trying to work my butt off. (literally) I am finally back to normal from having Lyvi, so I have no more excuses...
7. Birthdays!!!...Jon first, Ave next, J.T. after that, then me, Lyvi only a week after me and then Evanna!!!
Well, thats about it... Yay, I posted!

My poor EVANNA!!!

Here is Evanna...at the doctor getting a splint and sling for her arm... It actually happens to be the one the nurse is holding while the splint hardens, the other arm is just in the stuff to show her it didn't hurt.
STORY: My sisters and mom and I went to the Rest Home to visit on Sunday... Jon was watching the kids (hmm... (: ) I get home and Jon tells me that Evanna fell off her bike and hurt her arm but that it didn't look bruised or anything.
Evanna wakes up and cries and cries and cries saying her arm hurt and that Cheyanne, our neighbor, ran her over (come to find out later when her mom did ask her, she totally did run her over with her bike...) Jonathan says shes fine (she isn't bleeding out and a bone isn't sticking out of her arm, so she must be alright?! WRONG!!!) So I watch her that night and she is moving it around. I figure if she is moving it, she probably just bruised it. MONDAY: She holds it close to her body and it hurts her but she is still moving it.... hmm... TUESDAY: It gets totally swollen around her elbow... Her arm is like twice as big.. DANG IT!!!
So we call and make an appointment for the next day. They do X-Rays and inform me that she has fractured her growth plate and tweaked the bone. So they did a splint and said if she can keep it REALLY STILL for five days, she will only have to wear a splint for a couple weeks. If she can't she will have to get a cast for a few weeks. (ok, what 3 year old can hold still?) I think i would have felt better with a cast to start off with. That kid is giving me heart attacks, as she falls on it, pulls her sling off, climbs on the table only to fall....AHH!!!
We go back on Tuesday to take more X-Rays to see if the splint has worked....My guess is going for cast....I will be really really shocked if it has healed after all she has done.... I can hope right?

Just what I needed...

So it seems like life has been crazy lately... Busy and crazy and fast.

Well tonight I took all the kids and cooked hot dogs with my mom and Ashley's boys. Ashley and her family are moving soon so they were busy packing.
So we do hot dogs and then we took the kids to a playground to play. The kids had so much fun and I am sad I didn't get pictures. But that is most my life... I am too busy carrying a child or children to grab a camera so most the time, unless it's a planned thing, I miss the everyday pictures.
After getting back, Lyvi was asleep and all the kids were zoned out to the TV (A whole lot of running around and playing...I do parks to tire my kids out) I started reading the ENSIGN. I just opened to a random page and started reading and what I read really spoke to me. I don't even know who's talk it was, it was on becoming like a little child... The part that stood out to me was when it said...When Jesus came to the America's, he gathered the little children and held and blessed each one...And after he blessed them he wept...Then he spoke to the parents and said "behold your little ones"
I got all teary eyed picturing the Savior weeping because of how precious all the children were. Then the talk went on to say something to the effect of : Behold your little ones, it is not just glancing their way or looking at them once in a while, it is seeing their worth and really caring. It's seeing their potential.
I looked down at Alyvia sleeping and looked at all the kids sitting there so calm and realized I have been doing it all wrong lately. I have been too busy with all the things that in a year I won't even remember or care that I did. I have said things that I wish I could take back. I have rushed almost everywhere we go, not even enjoying the getting there... I need to love all the little moments. I have been a really cranky mom lately. I suppose I needed to read that right now...

Happy Easter!

We had a great Easter. It was filled with lots of fun and wildness! My kids' favorite aunt (AUNT NELLY) Janell is going on a mission to Seoul Korea on her mission and her farewell was Easter Sunday. It was really good. We are going to miss her so much!!

It has been about a year since I have taken my kids pictures. These were after egg hunts and church and lots of playing! But, some turned out nice... I need to do better with taking pictures and videos. Time is flying by so fast and my kids are growing and so many things are changing and I really don't want to forget.

Anyway Easter was a great one and I am grateful that we got to spend another Easter with all (most) our loved ones! Hope you all had a great one as well!

8 !!!EIGHT YEARS!!! 8

Where has the time gone? EIGHT years?! Wow, we are old! Or got married young...Whatever the case eight years seems so long and so short all at the same time.

It is crazy to think about how much has changed since then... Like Jonathan can now grow some hair on his face...

We have twenty beautiful children... Did I say twenty, I meant four...

I am totally teasing... I love my life! Eight years ago I married the man I loved and today I love him even more, so we must be doing something right.

Jonathan is my best friend... He can make me laugh and make me cry, he can drive me nuts - both good and bad, he can embarass me like there is no tomorrow, he can tease me until I want to scream, he can make me laugh until I can't see straight, he can win bets without being too smug and will pay up when he loses them, he can be so thoughtful, and he makes me feel like I am the most beautiful women in the world.

I love my crazy husband.

I am so glad I married him!

It has been so long since I looked at our wedding pictures! It was fun to go through all of them with our kids and tell them about our wedding day... like how nervous their Mom was and how NOT nervous their Dad was, why their Dad's fingernails were blue and black in the pictures... because he was building houses and had so many blood blisters from hitting them with hammers, Why we "had" to kiss so many times in the pictures...

It was fun to go through and answer questions. It helped me remember what I was thinking and feeling.

Anyway, It's been a good year and I am still glad I am married! :)

And did I say how much I love the music on blogs? I always turn on my playlist and listen to Jon and my favorite songs. So I decided to put our song on number 1. It is on our wedding video...Speaking of that I can't remember the last time I watched that...