The Tietjen Family

The train park

2011-04-17T17:39:00.000-07:00

I was waiting to download pictures from another camera before I posted about this, but I still haven't done it so I'm posting these in the mean time. I LOVE my friends, like really really LOVE them. I have the most amazing group of girlfriends and have waited a long time to have great girlfriends again (I'm sure I have posted about this several times before) We went for a fun day at the Train Park during Spring Break and it was so much fun! It was a bit hotter than we would have liked it to be, but we still had a blast! We enjoyed good friends, yummy lunch, and a day outside. EVEN loosing Ryker for 20 min (big surprise) it was still a great day and we will do it again.......when its not 100 degrees outside!

Paper towels and Tide

2011-04-17T16:59:00.000-07:00

Paper towels make me happy. I know, its really weird but when I have paper towels on my counter it makes me feel blessed and I'll tell you why. There was a time when we were starting our concrete business with Devins brothers over 10 years ago that at its worst we went 9 weeks without a paycheck. I don't know how we managed! Tiffany and I were both pregnant,....both with our 3rd baby; it was stressful and I think all of us involved cried a lot. During that time we had to make every dollar we had go as far as possible so we gave up simple things in life that were just amenities; things like paper towels, Tide & Downey. We used the store brands of everything just to save a buck, even if the store brand didn't even hardly clean the clothes. Today our lives had lead us to a very different path. Devin being a full time student at 38 with 8 children.....it almost seems as though we are doing life backwards. BUT, even though our satellite might get turned off from time to time, or we are scrounging to find gas money, when I see paper towels sitting on my counter it makes me feel joy and I find gratitude for being able to have paper towels, I smile when I smell my laundry and downey fills my nose. I know its dumb, but I guess I am grateful for the hard times so I can appreciate the small and simple things in life.

Conference Sunday

2011-04-03T21:02:00.001-07:00

Conference Sunday is my favorite!! Hanging out with family, staying in my jammies all morning, yummy breakfast!! It's the best! We had everyone over for breakfast to spend afew more hours with Cassie before her flight back to Utah. The girls also did nails.....including Maddy and Mercedes Hahaha! We had a great Sunday!

This little man!

2011-04-03T20:57:00.001-07:00

I tell ya.....I forgot how challenging 3 year old boys are!! Little Mr.Ryker is really testing his limits these days! Devin has to take a toilet off weekly to retrieve a car, or fork or whatever else he has stuck in there. Tuesday he poured a gallon bottle of honey into a pencil case.....I guess at least he kept it in the case?? LOL THEN.....this is how the little crazy man saves himself....by bringing me his crayons and coloring book and laying next to me on the couch to color for a half hour! As MUCH as he drives me crazy, he sure is cute...and THAT my friends is what saves his life.

Silly Brinny

2011-03-28T22:17:00.001-07:00

This is a little girl that seriously cracks me up! This is what she wore to bed tonight....boots and all! WITH the promise to Liberty that if she could wear the flower to bed she would give it back in the morning so she could wear it to school. Her MOST hilarious thing she does lately, is wear deoderant....EVERY day! Hahahahaha!! Emberlyn started wearing it about a month ago and I guess has told her sisters all about it.....I'm assuming Brinley thinks its SO cool that she must do it to! Really, I love this princess!!!!

1st lost tooth

2011-03-28T22:11:00.001-07:00

We have waited a long time for miss Liberty to loose her 1st tooth! The baby girl is gonna be 7 in 3 months and is just now loosing her 1st one!! I was getting a little worried because her two bottom teeth have been loose for a long time AND her big girl teeth have already come in behind her baby teeth, but thank goodness Daddy had a pair of pliers teasing he was gonna pull all her teeth out and POP...out it came. I was cracking up, even more so when Libs started to act like she was gonna cry, then realized it didn't hurt so then she started giggling. She's such a cutie pie! Happy 1st tooth fairy visit Liberty!!

Family Pictures 2011

2011-03-20T19:39:00.000-07:00

Ok, here is the disclaimer....none of these are edited yet, but I was dying to get them put on here. Seriously could my family be any cuter??? These are some DANG cute kids! I'm so happy how these turned out! I spent weeks ordering and shopping for clothes, planning outfits, making bracelets and blinging out sandals...ya know....stuff that NO ONE will ever notice but me! But, it was worth it! We got some great shots (afew more to come....I took afew with my camera of the boys I just have to download them) and it was worth all the stress leading up to it!

CRASH and Burn!

2011-03-20T19:16:00.000-07:00

Seriously! OUCH!!! You just look at this and wince thinking about how much this must have hurt, but yet here is my Brigham smiling about it the next day! He is the king of horrible accidents, with no dramatic story behind it! He was riding his scooter and fell on the sidewalk out front, poor kid! It will probably take awhile for the skin to heal all the way.....its funny how I can look at a pic of one of my babies being hurt so bad but still think "awwww, hes so cute!"

Valentines Day 2011

2011-03-20T19:11:00.000-07:00

This is what I woke up to Valentines morning, I'm pretty sure the little kids were even more excited than I was! I got to enjoy my balloons for about 10 min before the little kids divided them up and decided which one was "theirs" The one that played music when you tapped it was the hot ticket item!

I was the MOST thrilled with my real gift.....my wedding ring!! Devin surprised me by going and getting it from the jewelers. I took it there over 9 months ago when a side stone fell out and you know how life is....shoes for the kids are more important than picking up your ring from the jewelers. So I was beyond happy to have it back; it was the perfect present!!!

I'm not sure how many years ago we started our annual Valentines Day family dinner, probably going on 5 years? I had kind of a flash into the future this year, of all my kids being married with their own families and continuing this tradition. I figure Grandma and Grandpa can babysit on Valentines so all the moms and dads can have a nice date night and then on like the Monday before Vday or something still have our traditional dinner. Am I weird that I think of those things? Probably....but I love thinking about what life will be like 15 years from now with my family...I guess because I love hanging out with my own brothers and sisters so much!

This was our pretty little table that I decorated while the kids were outside playing with their friends. I was gonna make super cute cookies, but after all the junk they got at school, plus the candy I put int their cups I figured they didn't need any more sugar. I LOVE and adore my family, and I think even more I LOVE that this once romantic day that just Devin and I celebrated has turned into a day of making sure my kids know just how much their Mom and Dad love them.

Brigham @ the mall

2011-03-20T18:58:00.000-07:00

Somehow Brigham got to go on a Mommy and Daddy errand to the mall to get new workout shoes and it didn't take him long to find the escalators. Daddy was super nice and let him go up and down for about 20 min while I tried on shoes! His favorite was for Devin to go down the down side and for Brigham to run down the up side. He would laugh hysterically at beating Dad even going the wrong direction, it was quite funny to watch.......for me and everyone else! What a cutie pie!

Brinley and miss Sally

2011-03-20T18:51:00.000-07:00

Crystal calls baby Elise all sorts of nick names, and Miss Sally has stuck for me, I love it! The girls heard me call her that one day and said "MOOOOMMM! Her name is Elise!!!" like "come on, dummy!" LOL I love this little girl and wish she would stop growing! We went for a little shopping trip one day and this was her sassy outfit....yes she has on leg warmers!! I almost died when I saw her....not sure the last time I saw anything SO cute!! It makes me REALLY miss having a baby girl!

My new BFF

2011-03-20T18:46:00.000-07:00

The past 6 months life in our home has changed with Brigham being in school; it has left a lot of time for Brinley to hang out with mommy and daddy. This little lady has become my MOST favorite person to hang out with!! My other girls have been a little different when it comes to running errands especially.....they beg and beg to go and then 20 min into running around the spend the rest of the time asking when will be done and when we can go home. THIS little lady will literally follow me from store to store for hours and hours and every time we get back in the car ask "where we going next" I LOVE it!!! She is such a fun shopping companion and I have adored my one on one time I get to spend with her! I am going to be devastated when she goes to school next year....I keep telling her "Brinley, please don't go to school, who is going to hang out with me??" She just giggles and flashes her cute smile at me. It makes me sad at the same time, that I don't get to spend this much one on one time with each of my kids AND makes me understand better the special relationship my mom has with my baby sister Cassie. I don't want my baby girl to grow up, and she is doing it WAY too fast!

Happy Birthday Daddy

2011-03-20T18:31:00.000-07:00

1st off I'm so tired of my camera on my phone....it takes GREAT pictures.....as long as everyone is standing completely still! grrrrr! Devin is kind of funny when it comes to celebrating his birthday; he really doesn't care if we do anything ever, doesn't really care if he gets gifts, he really just lets us put on the birthday celebration for the kids sake. They LOVE it! They love singing, they love wrapping gifts, they love baking a cake, its almost as much fun for them as their own birthdays! So, we had fun wrapping up daddies gifts (clothes...so practical I know) and helping bake him a cake. I think Brigham and Brinley sang happy birthday for weeks after. We love our daddy, and we appreciate everything he does for us. We actually love him being a full time college student, they get a little less time with mom because while daddy is studying mom is usually running errands or working sometimes, BUT I think all of us would agree that it is going to be really hard to have to go back to life with Dad at a full time job, not getting to see him every day!

He is such a good Dad, and we love him so much! Happy Birthday!!!!

Spring Break

2011-03-19T15:42:00.000-07:00

This was a CRAZY break for me and the kiddos. My mission: get to the gym, get us ready for family pictures and play play play. The kids mission: if I had to guess would probably be sleep, play and NO chores LOL! I think they got plenty of play time, and by the looks of my house, not as much chores as mom would like...but oh well!
One of our fun outings was meeting up with my sister and her 3 girls for a movie date, checking out the puppies at the mall and even ice cream at McDonalds (by the way....who ever thought it would be a good idea to have a playplace at a fast food place that doesn't have a door that shuts?) The kids had a blast and for the most part were really good. I even played the "cool mom" card and allowed my older 3 boys and their friends to go see a different PG movie so they didn't have to sit through Tangled with all the little kids. I LOVE my kids and LOVE LOVE hanging out with my sister!!!!!

My baby boy turns 3

2011-03-13T17:13:00.000-07:00

So this is another new first for me....I have a 3 year old and NO baby in my house. Different days I feel different about that subject...but that's for a whole other post. This post is about my baby Ryker turnimng 3....... gosh I love this little guy. There are days that he drives me BONKERS....like this morning when he threw a wooden spoon and it smacked Brinley in the face, then grabbed his bowl of cereal ate 2 bites and then tossed the whole bowl on the floor THEN lets the milk that was in his mouth slowly spill down his face and his shirt! REALLY? I don't even get this kid sometimes. BUT then there is the other Ryker....the super cute, super sweet, super cuddly Ry Ry. My favorite thing in the world is when he manages to be up late and climbs into bed with me and Devin and cuddles, or reads a book to US, or shows me all his belongings that he brought into bed with him. He has this whole family wrapped around his finger and he totally knows it too! Here are afew things Ryker is all about these days;

* LOVES books!

* loves his teddy bears, stuffed doggie, and Barbies (I know...hes so weird LOL)

* he LOVES shoes...probably because he spends a lot of nights cuddling with us and watches mommy surf shoe websites! He will say "ooooohhhhh, mommy....look at da shoooes! Pretty shoes!" He will find the girls shoes and come find me to show me his silver sparkly shoe on one foot and the black shiny one on the other!

* loves being outside with his brothers and sisters. He is pretty fast on the pink and purple tricycle pushing with his feet because he refuses to use the pedals. (really, should I be worried about this kiddo?)

* he gives TONS of kisses and every day Brigham leaves on the bus he will stand with me and blow kisses and wave "Bye Bigam"

* LOVES his family, but he really loves his big brother Austin. He will yell HI AUTIN every day when he comes home from school and especially if Austin is gone on a campout he will ask for him and is so excited when he gets home!

* HOT or COLD...you don't get in between, he is either all hugs and kisses or he is chucking stuff across the room OR having a meltdown because the kids sang him Happy Birthday??

* His smile melts my heart and will save him from trouble every time!

* we are working on putting a stop to the climbing on the kitchen counters, and up the shelves in the hall closet

I really really love my baby boy, hes my buddy, hes my cuddle bug and I love when I get to spend one on one time with him. I couldn't imagine a day without him and I adore the love that this entire family has for this little man!

The WORST night!!

2011-03-08T07:38:00.000-08:00

So its been 3 years since I have had a little baby, so I am used to getting my sleep at night. Well, last night I think my dog Maddy wanted to die! I don't know what her problem is...ok really I think I do; its called being extremely SPOILED!!!! She gave birth to 4 sweet puppies Saturday night and has been so great with us and the kids and things have been great....until last night! She is has gotten her energy and strength back and is torn between wanting to spend time with me and Devin and taking care of her babies. This is how my night went...

She almost always sleeps with us (remember I capitalized the word spoiled....ya theres a reason!!) and last night she REALLY wanted to be in bed with me and Devin while we were watching TV but every time one of the puppies would whimper she would jump off our bed to see if they were ok then 2 min later jump back up in bed with us.(and we have a REALLY tall bed that she has to jump up onto my cedar chest then onto the bed....you would think she would have gotten tired at some point!) After about 10 min of that Devin said, I'll fix this....and he put the babies in bed with us and everyone was happy. When we were ready to go to sleep he put all the dogs in their bed (which is in our room) ALL night long Maddy would come to my side of the bed jump on, lay down for 5 min, hear her puppies, go to Devins side, jump off check on the babies, then back to my side to jump back onto the bed and lay down for 5 min. Literally ALL night!!! So finally at 4:00 I couldn't take it anymore so I went into the little kids room with a pillow and found a Little Mermaid sleeping bad to snuggle up with. I look up and see the TV mounted to the wall and think "Holy COW if that thing were to fall down it would probably kill me...we really gotta move the bed!" then I couldn't fall asleep bc I kept thinking about the TV falling on my head! 20 min later I hear the little "click, click, click" of Maddys feet on the wood floors coming to find me!! You have GOT to be kidding!!!! She does the same thing, lays with me for 5 min then off to find her babies. So 2 or 3 times of that I'm done and I pick up and head downstairs to lay on the couch...she HEARS me from the other room and chases me down the hall AHHHHHH!!! Here it is 4:30 in the morning and I'm in the hall hollering at my little dog to leave me alone and go away with a pillow and a freakin Little Mermaid sleeping bad...seriously I just want to sleep! I never get mad at this dog, she is always wonderful and I'm just about to loose it! No joke, 15 min later she comes down stairs and jumps on the couch; I hide under the sleeping bag and am yelling at her "Maddy seriously go away and leave me alone your not sleeping with me" She finally jumps off the couch and slowly marches up the stairs like I have just crushed her little heart! I'm so tired this morning BUT I can laugh about it bc it is just because she is so spoiled. She LOVES me and Devin and as I'm laying in bed with her going round and round between us and her babies the scene from Overboard flashes in my head where Goldie Hawn is laying on the couch on her yacht talking to her mom on the phone and her mom says "But if you HAVE a baby then you cant BE the baby" HAHAHA Maddy is still trying to hold on to being the baby and I love her for it.....I guess!

A MUST blog to follow

2011-03-07T22:31:00.000-08:00

Devin and I took Love and Logic parenting classes years ago from the MOST amazing lady! She has a great blog and is having an incredible giveaway right now that you MUST check out! Love & Logice....and Keri Maughaun changed our lives with our kids!
http://www.kerimaughan.blogspot.com/

Yes Thanksgiving

2011-02-23T00:43:00.000-08:00

Yes, I am this far behind that I am just now posting about Thanksgiving. It was SO great this year!! Cassie and Landon surprised us and came into town to spend Thanksgiving with us! They got to meet baby Elise for the first time, and Cass got to come shopping with us for Black Friday YIPEE!!!! I love my family and could not imagine spending holidays without my parents, brothers, sisters, husband and kids. I know it won't always be this way.....I know the day will come that all of us will have grown children that had children and we will want to have our own Thanksgiving and Christmas celebrations with just them and us getting together as brothers and sisters wont always happen, but for now I cherish every single time we get together and hope it lasts as long as possible!!!

Christmas 2010

2011-02-23T00:34:00.000-08:00

Its time for some catching up!! We had an amazing Christmas this year.....Devin told the kids at the beginning of the month we wanted to focus more on Christ, so every night with scripture study we either read a story about Christ, or found a little video to watch. It was so wonderful, it really helped all of us focus on the true meaning of Christmas this year.
One of the FUNNEST parts of having a lot of kids, is even if they only get afew gifts each it looks like SO much stuff when it is all under the tree! It makes for a really FUN grand entrance! We have a couple of traditions on Christmas......Santa always leaves some sort of decoration, usually lights all the way up the stairs, its really fun for the kids to wake up and find the stairs lit up! Then they all get to come downstairs and see what was in their stockings, THEN the youngest gets to come in and see the gifts around the tree before everyone else. All the other kids squeal with excitement when they hear the ooohs, ahhhhs and squeals coming from the other room. It might be silly, but it is SUPER fun.....not sure what we are going to do when all our kids are grown and its not this fun anymore??
Merry Christmas my babies!

Valentines Day to me

2011-02-14T07:39:00.000-08:00

I think Valentines Day will always be a little different for me since last year this is what I was doing! Spending Valentines Day in the hospital with Devin after almost dying, king of gives you something to reflect on.....I guess adds to would be more correct. Adds to remembering what Love means to me. Last year was a tough year for this Tietjen family, Devins road to recovery was a long one. But here we are a year later, he is healthy and well with a few gnarly scars that remind us all the time just how scary this whole experience was. I adore my family, and even more, adore my role as a wife and a mother. On Valentines Day I love reflecting not on really the people in my life that love me, but how blessed I am to have so many people in my life that I love so much! I have an amazing little family (I do use the word little for humorous effects LOL) and especially on Sundays when they are all dressed perfect, with 8 cute heads of hair done and we LOOK like we are this perfect little family.....I look down the long row and think to myself "how did I get so lucky" I don't know if life will bring us any more kids, I don't know if I will ever get some fancy degree, or drive a fancy car....but I truly am the worlds luckiest gal and wouldn't change a thing. Every day I'm amazed at the gifts God has granted me; and this Valentines day, the 1 year anniversary of my hubby almost dying ;) makes me realize that even more.

My baby girl

2011-01-31T22:44:00.000-08:00

I have a lot of emotions about my oldest daughter turning 8! I went through 3 boys and waited and waited to be blessed with a baby girl; and she was definitely worth the wait! I was ecstatic to have a little girl, and showed it by having a pretty bow on her head EVERY day of the 1st year of her life, precious bling earrings and adorable outfits...that I will admit I sometimes changed afew times a day, just for fun! She reminds me of me as an 8 year old....happy to pitch in and want to be involved with the little kids....I will find her changing a diaper and ask her "did Daddy ask you to do that?" "No, I just knew he needed to be changed" She loves to help in the kitchen, loves being a big sister, and is happy about life. I love her beautiful curls, pretty green eyes, and cute dimples when she smiles at me. For some reason I'm not super touchy feely with my older boys, the older they get....but I can't imagine never wanting to cuddle with my girls. Girls are drama that's for sure, but worth every bit of it!! This little girl changed not just me, but her Daddy as well; little girls have that effect on their daddies. They flash their cute smiles and get away with almost anything. I can't say I'm looking forward to Emberlyn growing up, I want to keep her a little innocent precious girl, but I can't. Shell be dating and driving and not want anything to do with me soon, BUT, I know that the relationship I am building with her today, will mean that someday, when she gets over thinking I am embarrassing or mean, she will be an adult, have a family of her own and she will cherish the relationship we have built, just like my relationship with my mother. I will teach her how to sew, cook and be a good mommy and someday she will do the same with her own daughters. For now, I just try to soak up every minute of her little girlyness and try to be a good role model for her. I LOVE my beautiful Emberlyn and feel so blessed that she was sent to our family!

(left to right)

Grandpa & Grandma Mosley, Aunt Tiffany, Uncle Lester, Aunt Cindy, Aunt Amanda, Austin, Ryker, Dad, Mason, Hunter, Aunt Tiffany, Uncle Mike, Talia, Aunt Stephanie, Uncle Jeremiah, Mom, Grandma Cronin, Great Grandma Adams, Brigham, Korryn, Emmy, Brinley, MaKenna, Liberty, Piper and Noelle

Mom, Dad and Em

Emmy and Korryn

Big broher Mason

Austin and Emmy

Liberty and Emmy

Emmy and Kenna

Emmy and Mom

Grandma Cronin and Emmy

Great Grandma Adams and Emmy

Em and Brinley

Emmy and her Daddy

Hunter and Emmy

Piper and Ems

Nursery fun!

2011-01-30T19:13:00.000-08:00

Sometimes I miss being in RS with my friends, listening to a great uplifting lesson and meeting new people, but there are Sundays that I LOVE my nursery calling. The little boy in the corner is gathering all the kids over by whispering "come here come here" and then when they are all hunched in the corner with him he yells "RAHHHH!" and they all run and scream....it was actually really cute. I am leaving nursery and headed for a new adventure with the 16 & 17 year old boys and girls in Sunday school and I am SUPER excited about it. I actually enjoy teaching because it gives me opportunity to study and read, something I don't usually take time for! I'm gonna miss my little munchkins though, they are so sweet and I love spending time with them. Here's to new adventures!

Baby Elise blessing day

2011-01-30T17:32:00.000-08:00

I am the proud owner of the only picture with her smiling....she just loves me that much!!

Daddy and his pretty dolly

I LOVE this little lady!! I wish I could go visit her every day and when I do get to see her I seriously could hold her for hours!!! Her blessing day was no exception, she looked so adorable and we had a blast at Jacob and Crystals!

Emmys Rock Star Party!

2011-01-30T16:55:00.000-08:00

I had a BLAST planning this party for Emberlyn......wish I would have had afew hundred dollars to drop on it, but it still turned out great! I let her invite all the girls in her primary class and a couple girls from the neighborhood and we ended up with 19 little girls at our house, it actually went a lot better than I thought! The girls were a little bummed out that we ran out of time and didn't have time for hair, but we got nails and makeup done and did our photo shoot along with some rock band and cupcake decorating. I LOVE girl parties!!!

Her hair was probably MY most favorite part!

I made a dozen tutus for the girls so they have a fun photo shoot for the party. Thanks to the Rock Band props I think it turned out GREAT!!

Kenna girl!

Libs wasn't getting the whole props part LOL!

Pretty Brinley!

Sweet Pipes!

Rock star Whitney

Birthday Girl rockin it!

BFF and cousin Korryn

SISTAS!!!!

BEST party ever!!!

Flashback Friday

2011-01-30T15:34:00.000-08:00

This one came courtesy of Tiffany Tietjen. I was telling her yesterday that when Austin and Hunter complain about Brigham and Ryker get into trouble I tell them "really??? If you knew HALF the things you two did, you would be grateful these boys aren't like you were!" She reminded me about a stake conference in Queen Creek MANY years ago when They got outside and were helping "direct traffic" in the parking lot......they probably thought thats what they were doing, really they were just being sneaky and naughty! Those two caused me more trouble than another other kids! When people ask me how I handle 8 kids I tell them....."because I survived life with Austin and Hunter as toddlers....everything else has been a piece of cake!"

Flashback Friday

2011-01-18T09:46:00.000-08:00

Not sure this is really a flashback, but I remembered something a couple months ago that made me laugh. When I was pregnant with Ryker we thought about letting the sex of the baby be a surprise...we did it with Liberty and it was really fun and I think its fun (especially after having 7 kids) for their to be SOMETHING exciting for everyone else too. I mean really, we know what sex the baby is, what the name of the baby is and for us even the day we are going to go HAVE the baby, there isn't much anticipation with any of that. BUT, I didn't want to let it be a surprise, with two small babies I wanted to plan and be ready. So we decided to find out what the baby was but not tell anyone......I just realized afew weeks ago that outside of telling my sister last month, no one knows we did that HAHAHAHA! We knew the whole time and it was awesome!!! I would buy things for him and hide them in case anyone came over and I would purposefully call him a her or a him to throw people off. It was REALLY fun and we would lay in bed and laugh about it. I love this little man and couldn't imagine life without him.....even when he is giving me his grumpy face and growling at me AS I write this LOL!
(These pictures make me want to cry....WHY do they have to grow up so fast???)

Flashback Friday

2011-01-09T20:30:00.000-08:00

I really want to give props to the right person for this idea....I know its one of my gorgeous nieces, but when I find out for sure the right one then I will give proper acknowledgment LOL
I have only had this blog for afew years and obviously have had kids a lot longer than that and my kids LOVE hearing stories about me, Devin or themselves as little kids so I am really going to try and be good about posting some sort of memory every Friday..........I know how much my kids will love this!
So here it goes; (and hopefully as I go through our stuff that has been in storage I will find all our pictures and scrapbooks and be able to post pictures with these)
When we had Austins 2nd Birthday we had the Mechams, Parkers and Dale, Tiffany & kids over for cake and ice cream and gifts. He opened every present and would cover his mouth and gasp like it was the most amazing thing he had ever seen! My favorite part was when we got ready to sing him Happy Birthday he folded his arms and INSISTED that we say prayer.....I'm still not sure what he thought we were getting ready to do, or if he just figured we were eating so we needed to pray?? Whatever was going through his head....it was funny and unexpected. He was always making us laugh.....he drove me crazy always getting into stuff, but he really made us laugh!

Monday Night Madness

2011-01-03T21:31:00.000-08:00

At the beginning of every new year I set goals....I set many and I am not really sure if I ever accomplish any of them. Last year was to get to 100 blog posts, which didn't happen :( So this year I put a lot of thought into what would be an obtainable goal and what would be something that would not only impact me, but my family for the better . I decided on only one goal, because when I decided on this one, I realized how much this will change not just me, but our family.......100% Family Home Evening. To some this might be no big deal at all, and sad to say I really never thought I would look back as a parent and say that I had NOT been 100% with such important things, but unfortunately my health has affected my family a lot and it breaks my heart. We have done good with all the ups and downs with me, all the stress, all the moves, the schooling etc. etc. etc., but good is not good enough for my family. They deserve the best! It can't be that hard right? Its only 52! Tonight was my 1st test of sticking to it or not, because Devin left with the boys to go do some work that could not be avoided, so I was left with a migraine and 5 kids under the age of 8, which I normally would have said, "I'll just do it tomorrow night when Devins here to help" (guess how many times that actually has worked out......you guessed it, a big fat NONE!) But I did it, and somehow singing time and my lesson on being happy and doing things to make others happy turned into this video of Ryker which is pretty funny actually.
So here's to a year full of family memories, togetherness, teaching moments and the Spirit of the Lord filling the walls of my home and bringing our family closer together ;)
1 down, 51 to go
(share with me some of your most successful FHE)

Temple Lights 2010

2010-12-26T20:23:00.000-08:00

Me and my hotty Sister!

I hope some little kid didn't see Devin doing this and think it was cool and then try it out himself!

I think its really funny to take more pictures of Ryker when he is being mad

HAHAHAHAHAHA!! Such a drama queen!

My favorite baby Elise

They are getting WAY to big!!

Ryker wasn't mad the whole time. He LOVED LOVED LOVED the lights!!

Dad and his teenager

I love spending time with my family....I REALLY do!

My new FAVORTIE blog for party planning!

2010-12-26T20:09:00.000-08:00

I have really tried to put more effort into my kids parties, or even having people over so I am always searching for new blogs or sites with great ideas. My new one for the week is
http://www.divinepartyconcepts.com/
LOVE LOVE LOVE!! I showed Emberlyn some pics for a Rock Star birthday party and she loved it and I can't wait to start planning it!!!

Updates on the sicky

2010-11-28T14:52:00.001-08:00

Yes, I mean me. The drama continues :( Last Sunday night devin rushed me to the ER after I had been feeling very weak, dizzy, and short of breath for an hour and then fell to the ground when I tried to stand up. I didn't pass out or loose consciousness, more like my muscles wouldn't work. My entire face, hands, legs and chest were numb....even my mouth, I couldn't hardly open it to talk. It literally was THE scariest thing I have ever experienced!! I tried so hard to concentrate on breathing, and not totally freak out while tears just streamed down my face. When I got to the ER and they saw I couldn't hold my own head up, or talk they went right to work. In probably 5 min or less I had an IV in, blood work off to the lab, and EKG, and who knows what else. They found that my potassium was extremely low (good is 4 and mine was 2.5) which apparently your body can't function, or survive without potassium? So they admitted me to the hospital to get my potassium up and my blood pressure down. My BP spiked two weeks previously which NEVER once have I had high blood pressure, not even elevated!! They think the low potassium was caused by the medication I was put on to lower my BP, but I was only on it for three days, so I'm not entirely convinced. I was there for two days, every test was done and I was told your fine, open the shade, let some sunshine in, go for a walk and you will be good as new.(did I mention the ER Dr said I had hyperventalted? Yeah studying to be an EMT I don't know what hyperventalating is?!?!) I was also told, after explaining my frustrations of all my medical issues over the past year, that sometimes people need to just stop looking for things to be wrong and they will realize that really they are fine. So here I am feeling exactly the same as I have for almost a month, collapsed again on Thanksgiving and almost again yesterday. I try to take it easy, but still keep up with the house and the kids. I'm praying for some answers soon, but trying very hard not to get discouraged. I was given a beautiful blessing at the hospital and I just keep review that in my mind. I know there are MANY people, including very dear friends of ours who have it SO much worse. I'm grateful to even be able to switch over the laundry when I can! Sure makes you grateful for the simple things in life, when all the sudden those simple things become very difficult.
(BTW, the pic of me and Brigg is him helping me plug my nose when dad smelled the room up BAD! LOL he said OH MOM, its so yucky!!!)

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It's hard being poor

2010-11-28T14:13:00.001-08:00

Ok, were really not poor. We are able to pay our bills, for the most part, keep gas in the car, and the power on so that's not poor right? Well, my kids have moved to this new neighborhood were seriously almost all of their friends MIGHT have one sibling, but most are an only child. This has made my life a little challenging. All of them have everything, get everything, do everything.....which on one hand is super nice that they get to have fun experiences (like riding in a limo to go to dinner......when your friend turns 10!!) but on the other hand it makes me look like such a LOSER!!!! Really if we had millions there is still a lot I would still choose NOT to do for my kids, but man it really makes it hard when I stress about keeping 8 kids in clothes so they don't look like homeless children, while all my kids friends are getting more money spent on them for their birthdays than I spend on Christmas for TWO kids!!! I just hope my kids enjoy being part of a big family, and don't hate me later for it.....because I REALLY love it, money or not!!

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So brave!!

2010-11-28T14:03:00.001-08:00

It's been 9 years since I have had short hair, and it took a lot of being brave to get it all cut off. It needed to be done, stress has made it all fall out, so while I can backcomb like no ones business, it truly was extremely thin and so damaged. At least this time I warned devin ahead if time!! When I was pregnant with Emmy and it was this long and I cut it off to my chin, I just came home with it short.........he didn't even talk to me the rest of the day he was so sad. Yes he is one of those guys who LOVES the long hair, Idk just on me, or in general? But this time I talked about for a couple days before I did it so he was prepared, still doesn't love that its short, but he said its "nice" Change is good, and I feel sassy and fresh which is nice; wish I would have done it when it was 115 outside!!!

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Mom isn't supposed to get sick

2010-11-18T00:46:00.000-08:00

(I'm on Devins computer and somehow these are on here and I thought they were funny!)

Moms just shouldn't have to get sick......EVER! It should just be a rule when you bring a child into the world, mom never has to take a sick day. I'll be honest, 24 MAYBE 48 hours of staying in bed, watching all my shows, food being brought to me. (I really do have the best Hubby ever) After that though, I cannot stand to be in this room anymore, I want to get up and clean, I want to watch Ryker play and listen to Brigham tell me all about school that day. I want to clean the kitchen and cook dinner and put clean clothes in the closet! I know that sounds crazy, you would think a mom of 8 would welcome a week off, but I guess it just makes me feel so guilty! SO guilty that Devin is taking care of everything while I'm in bed feeling like crap! Very rarely do I hide out in my room while I'm sick, but this past week and a half I have been SO sick, and I guess after going for my second trip to the ER tonight and finding out maybe its not a non contagious sinus infection and actually bronchitis (at least that's their guess now) I'm SO grateful that Devin has taken such good care of things and kept me away from everyone, especially my babysitting kids because now I have a better chance that the kids wont get sick from me.
There IS a point to this post........I found out a very dear friend who was on the heart transplant list has now been told, because of good ol government cutbacks, that the transplant will not be paid for...anyone have an extra million sitting around? Didn't think so :(
This made me grateful not only for my silly little 11 days of being sick, but it made me even MORE grateful for being able to take care of my family. I LOVE being a mom, its the best gift I have ever, or WILL ever be given. Our dear friend cannot even stand up and toss the ball with his 3 year old son, but has to sit in a chair to do so.....makes me so ashamed for complaining about a little sickness for a couple weeks!! May we all remember how precious our time with our sweet families truly are!

Halloween 2010

2010-11-10T22:20:00.000-08:00

AHHHHHH!!!! EVERY EVERY EVERY year I swear I'm not going to be sewing the week of Halloween, EVERY year I swear I'm going to start sewing in September, so WHY do I always end up sewing up until the last min?? I know it's my own fault, I know that I can buy costumes AND that I have bins of other costumes I have made so why not do that?? Honestly, besides the stress of it all, the end result makes me smile, it makes me feel like I'm a good little Homemaker, and really I do love doing it. I wish I made more time to sew because I love seeing the end result and I love that my kids love it! (didn't do the Darth Vader costume and the older boys ended up going on a campout that ended up with them kind of missing out on Halloween this year.....what good boys! AND Ryker and I both got sick with the stomach flu Saturday so we didn't go to the ward party and Ryker didn't even get dressed up :( Again, almost every year end up with someone sick! UGH!)

My pretty little Alice in Wonderland

My beautiful Queen of Hearts

My handsome Rabbit (not sure what the grumpy face was all about, but its funny!) And HE is the one who begged me to be the Rabbit, that was supposed to be Rykers costume but Brigham insisted he be the Rabbit.....weirdo! ;)

Pretty Princese Leia

Princess Leia and Darth Vader

Seriously could these kids be ANY cuter!!!!! I LOVE my adorable kiddos!

Never too old to learn something new

2010-11-10T22:02:00.000-08:00

I learned something new about myself this October.....I HATE carving pumpkins! I guess I have never really done it myself, as a kid or an adult. As a mom, it has always been a Dad and kids activity and now I know why! Devin was out of town so I picked up pumpkins and thought I'm gonna play the good mom and carve pumpkins with the kids. Maybe if I didn't have to help clean out 6 pumpkins and trace out several patterns.....BLAH! No thanks! I LOVE that the kids love it, and I am glad I did it because they all had a good time, but I won't forget again that this is definitely a Dad job :)

I Love that Ryker looks so involved in working hard....not sure what he was doing, but he looks so serious LOL!

They all worked very intently making sure that each of their pumpkins turned out perfect! HOW I ended up not getting pictures of the end result I'm not sure (I'll blame that on being a single mom that week LOL)

I'm an auntie again!!

2010-11-10T20:51:00.000-08:00

Elise Noelle Cronin made her grand debut....and I mean GRAND debut, Halloween morning!! It was such a grand entrance because she was FOUR weeks early! We didn't even know Crystal was in the hospital, and it happened so fast for her I'm sure her head was spinning! It was the biggest surprise ever to get a text at 7:00 in the morning with a picture of Crystal HOLDING her baby with the sentence "not a trick but a treat" How cute is that!!! We were so blessed that Elise arrived safe and completely healthy! She is the tiniest little jelly bean I have EVER seen! Weighing only 4 lbs 8oz I have literally never held such a small little baby ever and thought I was going to die! It felt like I was just holding a bundle of blankets instead of a baby! Baby Talia is over a year old, so the entire family is excited to have a new baby around again!! The kids are dying to go see her but unfortunately we have had some big time sickness over here, so until that clears up we are staying away. I do get to go spend the day Friday helping Crystal out and I can't wait! I'm already in love with this little sweet girl and I didn't have to do ANY hard work to get her here. I love all my nieces like they are my own girls and am very excited to have another one!!! Congrats Jacob and Crystal, we love you!!

She does not like to be unbundled!

I LOVE that my brother is a DAD!! It's so exciting!!

I have never been freaked out by moving a baby before!

This picture makes me laugh......I was NOT texting; I wanted my mom to take a picture of me but she couldn't figure out how to turn the camera on so I had to do it for her! I couldn't stop laughing because I couldn't get over how tiny she is!

Can I have one please??? ;)

It's funny to me that I have the largest baby (11 lbs) and now Crystal has the tiniest baby title! LOVE it!

I'm so excited to get to know this little girl more!

SheRa or SheDevil???

2010-11-06T19:17:00.000-07:00

I think this is how every Mother wishes her kids thought about her.....NO I don't mean bc she has a rockin bod, although that WOULD be nice; I'm talking about the Mom that can do it all, bake bread from scratch, hem a pair of pants, iron every piece of clothing so every one always looks presentable, never gets angry, and is able to leap tall buildings in a single bound! Unfortunately lately I feel like my kids see me like this:

For years off and on I feel like everything is chocolate and roses unless Mom is around, because my kids mean old mom is the one who makes them do chores and clean their room and pick up after themselves. When mean mom isn't around its full on play time but when she shows up it's NO fun!

Today I have had enough of being MEAN MOM; I'm tired of being the bad guy, I'm tired of my kids thinking "none of my other friends have to do all this" I just can't take it anymore. I can't stand leaving for afew hours, everyone doing whatever they want and then I get back and I can see it on their faces "GREAT, play time is over" Why can't they just learn that all I'm asking is that they keep up with their responsibilities and there is NOTHING I want more than for them to go and have fun and enjoy life....they just need to get the not fun stuff out of the way 1st and then have at it!!!

SO my kids are in for a very interesting week this next week. I have thought about going on strike, not lifting a finger and see how much they like being here after 2 days of filth piled up, problem with that is that I babysit other peoples kids and I cannot have them showing up to pick up their kids and have crap everywhere! So the plan is the exact opposite.....I'm going to do EVERYTHING!! I'm letting them know, there is no more chores, no more responsibilities, just FUN FUN FUN all the time!!

I wonder how tired I will be? I wonder how much energy I will have to take kids to their friends house, or go to the store and buy milk, or even be awake enough at the end of the night to sign those last min papers they need signatures on?? This ought to be quite interesting! I wonder after a week of Mom not having a ounce of energy from doing ALL the work around here if they MIGHT decide it would in fact be MORE enjoyable around here if we all pitch in?? I wonder??

Yummy Pumpkin Cupcakes

2010-10-20T12:55:00.000-07:00

I have had several requests for this recipe. ENJOY!!!

Ingredients:

1 stick unsalted butter, room temperature

1 c. firmly packed dark-brown sugar

⅓ c. granulated sugar

2 c. cake flour

1 (3.4 ounce) package instant butterscotch pudding

2 tsp. baking powder

1 tsp. baking soda

1 tsp. ground cinnamon

1 tsp. ground ginger

½ tsp. freshly-ground nutmeg

⅛ tsp. ground cloves

½ tsp. salt

¼ tsp. freshly ground black pepper

2 large eggs

¼ c. milk

¼ c. sour cream

1 tsp. vanilla

1¼ c. canned solid-pack pumpkin

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 350° (175°C). Prepare a cupcake tin with 18 liners.

2. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the butter and sugars on medium speed until fluffy, about 5 minutes.

3. Meanwhile, sift the flour, butterscotch pudding, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, cloves, salt, and pepper into a medium bowl.

4. Add the eggs 1 at a time to the mixer, scraping down the sides after each addition.

5. Alternate adding the flour and milk, sour cream, vanilla mixtures, beginning and ending with the flour. Beat in the pumpkin until smooth.

6. Using a standard-sized scoop, divide the batter equally between the cups. (They’ll be about ¾ full.) Rap the filled pans once on the counter to release any air bubbles. Bake the cakes until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean, about 20- 25 minutes.

7. Cool the cupcakes on racks completely. Make frosting during cooling time.

Cinnamon Cream Cheese Frosting:

1 (8 oz) package cream cheese, softened

¼ cup butter, softened

5 cups powdered sugar

1 tsp. vanilla extract

1 tsp. ground cinnamon

Mix the cream cheese and butter until well blended. Add the cinnamon and vanilla- beat well. Slowly add the powdered sugar.

Traditions

2010-10-18T22:56:00.000-07:00

I like traditions! Sometimes its hard, sometimes I think "oh yeah, this is what we do, blah blah" but when I do put forth the effort and not only try and create new traditions, but actually stick to them, I'm so happy in the end. I'm not sure if I have ever posted about our Ice Cream dinners that we have, but oh well if I have. Twice a year when I go to parent teacher conferences if all the kids get a good report (which they do) then we have ice cream for dinner.YUP! JUST ice cream for dinner! (come on, two nights a year of just ice cream for their nightly nutrition isn't gonna kill them....wink, wink) The kids LOVE it and its so fun to see their smiley faces! I actually look forward to PTC because I'm reminded that even if my kids seem to fight with their siblings 24/7, and even if I feel like sometimes they do things just to torture me, that I must be doing something right, because they REALLY are good kids! I just wanted to journal afew things that each teacher had to say:
Austin: Very kind to all the other kids, very sweet, GREAT writer with an amazing ability to tell stories through his writing, very funny! (pretty great since he has 4 teachers and the ALL had the same things to say!)

Hunter: Very bright, kind and sweet to the other kids, willing to put in the effort to work hard. (it was super cool; his teacher had him actually conduct the conference and talk about his grades and if he thinks he deserves those grades and had a question and answer paper he read to me that was really cool)

Mason: Sweetest kid, (every teacher tells me how much they love this guy....which is the truth, he is super great!) very kind and a huge heart. Never gives up even if he doesn't know the right answer he still puts forth his best effort. "One of my all time favorite kids I have EVER had in all my years of teaching" (talk about the biggest smile from mom....really I can't take the credit bc he just came this way!) likes to talk, not just to the kids but to the teacher too, and talk and talk and talk (really he does talk SO much....sometimes Devin will turn to me and say "did you even realize he is still talking to us?" It's really not mean, he will TALK your EAR off and its SO funny!

Emberlyn: "I'm not even sure what to talk to you about except how great she is" Very smart, very willing to offer to help someone else with their work, or help the teacher. Excels at everything she does and is so sweet and kind. (I'm just SO glad that at least if she is going to take after her mom....not to brag, but she does hahahahaha! but really, at least she doesn't get busted for talking in class all the time! The story goes that when I was in Kindergarten I would never shut up and would try to "teach" the kids next to me while the teacher was teaching, so one day poor Mrs. Withey thought she would get me to stop and said "Kristina, would you like to come up here and teach the class?" my response? "SURE!" and I marched right up, picked up where she left off and kept going........dumb I know! LOL)

Liberty: SO sweet, so nice to the other kids, always does what is asked of her. "Sometimes I forget she is even here because she just sits back and does what she supposed to and I don't hear anything from her" (HUH??? For those of you who know my beautiful Liberty KNOW that you always know where she is....maybe this teacher has another Liberty in her class?? HAHAHAHA!! totally kidding)

I LOVE my kids, and I have always told them that it is WAY more important to me that they are good people, responsible and kind than ANY grade they get in their classes. They get good grades, but for ME, hearing every one of my kids teachers tell me how kind they are to the other kids and what a joy they are to have in class in worth more than all the A's in the whole world!!!

GNO!!!!

2010-10-18T22:11:00.000-07:00

So we had the BEST time last night with the BEST friends!!! My super new super FAB friend Lindsay and I took our 5 girls to a movie and the mall for a girls date night. We saw Nanny McPhee (which was really wonderful!!) took the girls to Tinkerbell in the S.S. mall which was so fun for all of us! We all found something fun and the girls were in heaven looking at all the jewlery. Funny story; all the girls got to pick one thing they wanted to buy and Emberlyn brings me this tile bracelet and says, Mom look I found the best bracelet for church.....she shows me this horrible bracelet where each tile has a picture of Christ on it. It took all of my effort to keep from cracking up in front of her; so I waited till she walked away LOL!! I told Lindsay I really should have got it and let her wear it to church just to see the look on Devins face.....Lindsay then suggested the Virgin Mary one would be better HAHAHAHA!!!

The funnest was when we drug them with us to Charolette Russe to look at shoes and while we were checking things out we look over and the girls are tromping through the store in these GIANT shoes and were cracking up! It was such a fun girls night! They are never too young to teach them how fun it is to be a girl!! Thanks FAB McRae babes for such a fun night!!

Liberty, Emmy, Whitney, Laine, and Brinley. What adorable girls!!!

Every Mothers Nightmare!

2010-10-12T13:45:00.000-07:00

Fair warning! These pictures are pretty gross, look away if you need to. I think every Mothers nightmare is having to see their child in pain; physical pain, emotional pain, spiritual pain, it all hurts. Last night was physical pain for my sweet little Brinley. The kids LOVE to ride on Devins bike with him and last night was no different, until Brinleys foot slipped and got caught in the spokes of the tire and sliced her wide open in two places. I was shuffling daycare kids out the door (blessing #1...ALL 3 of my moms showed up early to pick up their kids, which never happens) when Devin came rushing in strongly letting me know "I need you, I need you right now" By the time I got upstairs he was just standing in tears holding Brinleys foot while she cried. THAT seriously broke my heart!! Devin is the brave one, the "keep your head" when scary situations arise and to see him standing there in tears shook me to the core. He just said, "shes hurt bad, we gotta go" I called my mom who happened to be about 10 min away from passing my house on her way home from work (blessing #2....my mom was early getting off work) and asked her to come get my kids as I had TWO guys downstairs finishing painting and the entire kitchen and family room was covered in drop cloths and plastic. I couldn't leave all my kids (two of which who were in tears) with my house is complete disarray! We loaded Brinley into the car and headed to the hospital across the street (blessing #3....we live SO close to a hospital; what an amazing blessing for our family time and time again) They immediately put us in a room (blessing #4....we happened to have some left over Tylenol with codeine from Emmy and were able to get Brinley comfortable before they even looked at her foot) We waited for awhile before they came in and the Dr looked and said that her tendon was still intact (blessing #5....upon further inspection, the spoke just skimmed over the membrane on top of the tendon, missing it entirely) and she was going to require some pretty intense stitches. For the next two hours while we waited, Devin loaded her up with juice, M&M's and cookies and we watched TV. They washed it (which was torture), put topical lidacane on it and we waited another hour. I insisted they give her Morphine before they started the numbing because just the washing was awful (which by the way....I HATE it HATE it when someone is in incredible pain and a nurse sits there the whole time saying "honey, this doesn't hurt, its just water, your not in pain" REALLY!?!?!?! When is the last time you were sliced open 2 inches deep and had someone shoot water inside of it!?!?!?! I was NOT a happy mom!!) So they waited for that to take effect, and then came the horrible part. I knew it was coming, and kept telling myself I would be brave, but after 5 min of screaming, "I want to go home, Tell her to stop, Just put a band aid on it so we can go home!! I broke down into tears and just cried with her. It took about 20 sticks and almost 10 min just to get it all numb. After that was over she laid on her belly while the Dr put two layers of stitches with a grand total of 30!! (Which out numbers ALL the stitches ALL of my kids combined have ever had) I sang songs with her and a couple times we had to tell her she couldn't sing with me bc she was moving too much :) and since the morphine was in full effect she was actually being quite funny. We would be in the middle of "lead me, guide me, walk beside me" and she would blurt out "what is that on my knee, something is touching me knee. Is the Dr closing my owie?" I LOVE LOVE LOVE this little girl!!! They decided to also put a splint on it and don't want her walking on it at all for at least 5 days so it can stay sealed up good before she starts bending her ankle. It was a LONG night, and absolutely heartbreaking, but she was such a good girl and so brave. I wish as moms we never had to see our children in pain, but in a weird way I think it reminds us of just how much we love them and even with all the craziness that they really do fill our lives with joy!

(more pictures coming after I get them off Devins phone)

Brynn this morning. Kids are incredible!!! As an adult we would be laid up all day after a night like that, but she is all over the place like NO big deal! What a doll!!!!

Friends that Inspire

2010-10-10T18:52:00.000-07:00

I have realized a lot lately how desperate I am to be better. I better mom, a better wife, a better friend; along with that I have realized that I have a handful; well maybe two handfuls, of amazing women in my life that inspire me. They bless me with their example and being around them, or talking with them, makes me want to be a better person. Really can you ask for anything better in a friend? Someone who is such a good example that you think about picking up your scriptures more, or loving on your kids more just because of them?? Someone who one minute you are laughing together about a movie, and the next minute having a conversation about being a better wife. I want to be that kind of friend.....not so other people can look and think how great I am, but for ME! I want to be able to lay my head down every night and think, "I was a little bit better today than I was yesterday" I'm incredibly grateful for amazing friends, old AND new, who inspire me and set a good example for me. Thank you for being strong, kind, wonderful women and for helping me to be a better person!

I couldn't possibly list all my "friends who inspire" OR have a picture of each of them; and I would never want to offend anyone, BUT this is just ONE of my amazing friends that makes me want to be a better person; I miss her and wish she didnt live so far away because I want to be like her when I grow up!

Love this little man!

2010-10-10T17:12:00.000-07:00

Really how cute is this kid? He is growing up WAY too fast, but we have SO much fun with him! We grabbed these jammies for him the other night and told him they were his monster jammies. He thought they were even cooler when we showed him that they glow in the dark. Except when Devin turned off all the lights in our room and showed him in the full length mirror, then he freaked out.

After Devin got him all dressed he was pretending to be grumpy about wearing them. I even said "say cheese" and without lifting his head he said cheese. I really love my little man and wish I could just keep him this way forever.

LDS.org - Ensign Article - Contention—and How to Eliminate It

2010-10-07T14:40:00.000-07:00

LDS.org - Ensign Article - Contention—and How to Eliminate It

I used part of his article a couple of weeks ago when I spoke in church and haven't been able to get it out of my mind. My favorite excerpt was "if we will observe the great virtues in our companion the Lord will magnify them for us. Looking at virtues will many times eliminate contention before it has a chance to grow and develop..........so a marriage will not grow in love, harmony and happiness when the couple neglect caring for and nurturing their love. With such nurturing there is no ground for contention to grow in."
In a story he tells about a couple he is counseling he asks them to write a list of 25 things that each spouse loves about their companion. I want to encourage every one to do this. Heaven knows that we wives especially can get irritated with the shoes left on the floor, or the garage not getting clean when WE want it done, but I feel really strongly that if we will take time to write our list of 25 things and refer to it often that we will quickly look past those annoying things (which by the way, speaking only for myself, I KNOW I have plenty of annoying things!) and "the Lord will magnify" those virtues for us.
Just my thoughts for today :)

Little Man Babies

2010-09-28T15:10:00.000-07:00

Brigham was playing Doctor today and was listening to my heart and informed me that I have little man babies in there. IDK if anyone will be able to understand him on this video but it is SOOOO funny!
He informs me that my hear is ok but I have little man babies in there and I say, that doesn't sound good what are we gonna do and he says they have to stay in there, I don't wan to break your heart.

New house, New adventures

2010-09-26T19:25:00.000-07:00

I just realized I never posted about moving.....AGAIN!!!! We started looking for a house back in April because even though we didn't HAVE to move until August, I really felt like it was important to stay close to my family and I didn't want to switch the kids schools, again! So we looked and looked, found one that was perfect and would have had it if I would have lied about how many kids we had! I just couldn't do it, one lie leads to another lie and another, and I knew that's how it would be! So would I have to lie to the neighbors who had known the owner for 5 years, hide pictures if the landlord ever had to come over?? So we told the truth and they said SEE YA! It's ok, because the best house, in the best neighborhood, in the best ward fell into our laps!
I was on FB and saw a friend who I have known since Jr. High, post a pic of a beautiful house asking if anyone in Mesa needed a rental because her brother was renting out his house. So I immediately messaged her and emailed him and met up 2 days later. Outside of one more bedroom, which I was willing to give up, this house is perfect! 2 story, which we really wanted, a big open kitchen and family room, in a gated community, with a community pool and park one street over! We were in heaven as soon as we saw it! The owner must have felt like it was right too, because even knowing how many kids we had, he sent us the application papers and it was a done deal within a week. We KNOW this is where we are supposed to be. I know people move all the time and probably don't think twice about where they are going, but I guess since moving to Queen Creek was such a life changing experience and we did that with a lot of prayer, we have always prayed about where we are supposed to be, asking the Lord to help us be where we are needed and where our family would be happy. Its hard to just move somewhere as your kids get older because it effects their lives so much.
Kind of funny though that after all that searching so I wouldn't have to move schools, we moved the kids to the school in our neighborhood. It was a REALLY hard decision, which again, we did with much prayer. But probably 80% of the kids in our ward and almost all the kids in our neighborhood go to this school and we want them to build relationships with the kids that they will be going on to Jr. High with, and in church activities with. Devin went to a school when he was a kids where he was literally the ONLY kid in his ward that went there and all the other kids went to a different school, and he said he hated every min of it because he wasn't super close with the kids in his ward because they were together for all the school stuff and he felt so left out. So, we moved them, which we feel really good about. We walk to school every morning which we all really enjoy. They see all their friends, AND I'm happy Hunter got away from all these little girls that were falling all over him; although I give it 2 weeks until new little girls are calling the house for him!! It is rated really high on the list for public schools in Mesa, and everyone in the ward said they have been VERY happy with it. We will really miss our old school, and this new one has very big shoes to fill!
We hope to be here a LONG time, it feels right, and all of us are really happy here!

IRONY

2010-09-26T19:21:00.000-07:00

While I was finishing laundry at 2am this morning thinking about the day I had just survived and what a great blog entry it would make, I laughed out loud when I remembered the last thing I posted about. How ironic it was that I wasn't too happy about being a mom that day, but my last post was all about the JOY I find in being a mom!
I survived yet another, "why do I have boys like this when it seems like everyone else has theese sweet little boys that the worst thing they do is play in the mud" day!! I know there were a few little things Brigham went to time out for that I just can't even remember, but the main ones were for things like finding him in the boys bedroom closet with a pair of scissors clipping the strings on Hunters bow for his violin, AFTER he went to the bathroom he "i didn't put a toy in the toilet mom, thats whats not in there" and flushed it a dozen times until it flooded, AND to top it all off while I was running an errand and the older boys were babysitting Brigham climed up the shelves in a closet and found black and NEON green craft paint and I found him pouring it ALL over the carpet in his room. When Devin saw it he even said he didn't think it was gonna be THAT bad!! Actually that wasn't even the straw that broke the camels back; THAT straw would have been when I was gone picking up Devin from school and returning a school book and found out that Hunter packed his back pack and LEFT on his bike because he was mad that I yelled when I saw the craft paint on the carpet.
So I couldn't sleep at all last night and into the morning, so I cleaned and thought, folded laundry and thought, showered and thought, and still no sleep came because the thoughts of the day kept me wondering WHY? I am usually not one to ask "why me" when we are going through financial hard times, or sickness, or other trials that life throws at us, but when it comes to my mischievious little boys I find myself asking WHY ME a lot! Why do other people have these adorable little boys who sit and color sweetly, or play with their dump trucks in the sand, and whose biggest offense in their little life is to strip down in the back yard and play in the mud? Why do I get all the boys who climb shelves to get a brand new 5 pack of kodak film and fling it around until every roll is fully exposed (can you tell I'm using stories from YEARS ago?)
Devin always tells me when I'm overly stressed that I was "blessed" with these challenges because if someone else was blessed with these kids they would seriously probably kill them. That doesn't really make me feel much better BUT I think deep down I know he is right. I think kids are born with so much of their personalities, or at least I tell myself that so I can sleep thinking I didn't train them to be this way :)

I love my kids I really do, for as much as they drive me nutso, they make me smile, make me laugh and help me learn new things all the time; most of the time things about myself.

The JOY

2010-08-25T20:18:00.000-07:00

She has the perfect beautiful green eyes, the most amazing shade of stunning long blond hair, I mean the color women pay hundreds of dollars for, she has perfect heart shaped lips, and her laughter can light up the whole room. There is something to be said about the innocence and beauty of a little child and the quiet moments I get to spend with my precious baby's fills my life with JOY! As I sat and snuggled with Liberty while she sounded out words in a book, using all her knowledge and ability to try and read the words on the pages, I was in awe of her beauty and the love I have for her. I wish I could bottle her up and keep her this way forever. Never to see her get her heart broken, never see her struggle, never see her get sick, but just the pure Joy that she exudes forever and ever. I love being a mom, it's all I ever wanted to do in this life and no amount of stress, no illness, and no zero in the bank account can change any of that. These precious little moments fill my life with so much Joy, I wonder why I ever spend any time being sad or stressed or angry. What a wonderful gift I have been given and through others trials, especially those of friends going through severe illness and even grieving for a lost loved one, I am reminded of the Joy that fills my life.

Random thoughts

2010-07-16T03:16:00.000-07:00

I LOVE to organize!! It's the truth, I really do! I would opt to spend money on organizing stuff over a LOT of other things because I love it so much! I was thinking today about how my sister and I tried to start a company professionally organizing for other people, that really might be my dream job! It has been on my mind a lot lately that maybe the economy has gotten at least a little better that it might work better now? When we started it was when the economy really took a dive and no one had money to spend on someone organizing their home, I think we should take another stab at it; it would make us both SO happy. Hmmmmmmmm??

On another subject, (I can't sleep so I am just rambling) I really miss Austin!! I am actually quite surprised at how much I miss him! I thought, oh, hes a boy and I won't worry about him too much because I know he will have so much fun, but I have thought and worried about him everyday he has been gone; I love that boy, he is SUCH a good kid! We actually had to have a talk with him about NOT spending all of his cash we were sending with him on all the other boys LOL, and he still asked "could I just buy lunch for everyone on the way up?" How adorable is that? He really is a great kid and I'm so lucky to have him in my life!

LIFE

2010-07-14T22:07:00.000-07:00

I found this picture and love it so much because of the smiles on their faces!

I have realized a lot of things over the past couple of weeks, maybe it was great Relief Society lessons (which I have been in Primary for almost a year so I have missed that!) or great conversations with a beautiful niece, inspiration from a good friend through her own blog, or a wonderful Ensign article that reminded me that we make time for things that are important to us in life; so if I'm not reading my scriptures or whatever, it's because I am focusing too much of my time somewhere else. I don't know, I have just been reflecting on things lately and how I want to be a better person. I have also realized that there is one major thing that keeps me from moving forward in life and that is worrying WAY to much about what other people think of me. I can only do my best and I can honestly say that all my life I have tried to be a kind person and love other people, sure life throws crap our way that may cause us to act out of character from time to time, but I spend so much time worrying, "did I offend, did I upset, are they mad?" when none of those things are ever intentional and it is exhausting!!!! I HAVE to let go of my obsession with other people! ALL my life I have had an overwhelming desire for people to like me, if I think someone is upset with me or doesn't like me it literally keeps me awake at night! So I made a decision this week.............NO MORE! I have 8 sweet little ones that deserve my time and if I cut out the time I spend worrying about what other people think I would have more time for them! So I realized all I can do is be the best person I can be, be as kind as I can be and that's all I have control over. I can't control when other people take offense when none is intended, I can't control if others are hateful, I can't control if apologies are made and others choose to not forgive; those are things I do not have any control over. What I do have control over is me; my thoughts, my actions, my kindness towards others and my desire to be a good person. So that is where I am going to focus my energy, I can't spend the rest of my life hoping that other people like me, or if they treat me the same way they treat another family member or friend, but I have a beautiful family and husband who loves me despite my faults and they love me unconditionally. It makes me sad that I can't MAKE people like me or MAKE people forgive, but I just have to get over it. I'm SO grateful for the gospel in my life because I don't know how I could get through this life without that peace and strength it brings to me!

Kids growing up

2010-07-10T22:07:00.000-07:00

I was looking over my blog the other day and found a post where I said one of my goals for 2010 was to make it to 100 posts on my blog, then I saw how many I have actually done this year......yikes!! I really have to get a move on it if I am going to make it to that goal! So I thought today I would post about my Austin growing up so fast! He leaves for scout camp on Monday, that's so crazy that he is going to be gone for a whole week!! So super last min we realized he had to have a physical so we ran him to the Dr today. Devin didn't bother telling him exactly what was going to be involved in that physical so I laughed my freakin head off when we were walking out to the car and he said to Devin, "you totally owe me ice cream" HAHAHAHA my little boy took a step towards being a man today LOL!!

Pretty Chelsea tied the knot!!!

2010-07-04T16:29:00.000-07:00

I'm not sure if I was more excited that Chelsea was getting married or the fact that Chelsea getting married meant that Cassie got to come into town! The wedding was wonderful and the reception was amazing, in true Stutts family fashion!! Chelsea found the PERFECT boy for her and they are an adorable couple! I'm SO happy for her and it was a beautiful day!

The girls LOVE Chelsea and when they are trying to figure out which Chelsea I am talking about they ask "is she the Chelsea who always gives us hugs" Awwww

Her dress was so pretty!!

Naughty Naughty LOL!!!

Jacob, Crystal and baby girl

I'm not playing favorites and that's why Brinley is the only one in a picture, unfortunately the other kids learned (as they have many times before) when mom says you don't get to go if your room isn't clean, she means it. It was really fun hangin out with my sweet Brynn!

Sweet Landy and Cassie! SOOOO happy we got to see them, even if it was only for one day!!

2010-07-04T16:11:00.000-07:00

I am SO glad that Kenna is still in dance class bc we LOVE going to see her dance. It makes me almost cry though because I really hope to someday get my girls back in, but it will happen I think. MaKenna has gotten SO good and she rocked it this year, I'm really not just being biased she really was the best one in her class and the routine was absolutely adorable! Unfortunately it was too dark to take pictures of Mike dancing with the other Dads, it was SO hysterical (and HE has gotten really good as well HAHAHAHA) Love you all sweet McGee family!!

Fathers Day 2010

2010-07-04T16:02:00.000-07:00

It takes forever to get a picture where everyone is smiling HAHAHAHA!

Dads getting old and cant hear his card!

(who am I kidding, he hasn't been able to hear for a long time hehe)

Silly Jeremiah and James

Pretty Big T and little T

James entertaining us with his sprinkler dance :)

What would we do for entertainment without James around???

We always have fun getting together whether we are celebrating something or just hanging out. It is always good times, good laughs and good food. I am SUPER grateful for my Dad! He always taught us what is right, he always took us to church, and he always makes sure that we know that he loves the Lord. I don't think that you realize how much you appreciate your parents until you become a parent yourself. My Dads faithfulness to the gospel has held our family together and I feel so blessed for having such a good example in my life.

I feel SUPER bad that I don't have pictures of Devin and the kids; we did it separate and my battery was dead, but he is definitely the other Father that is in my life that I look up to. Devin is an amazing Dad!!! I have always been amazed with his patients with our children, sure we both loose our temper, but he is amazing at being able to handle very serious situations and figure out the best way to handle it that will create the best learning experience for our kids. He didn't have the best example for a Father, don't get me wrong, his Dad is a wonderful person, one of the kindest people you will ever meet, just wasn't in his life full time after the age of 8 which is hard for a child, I can only imagine! I know that he took that experience and chose to apply it in his life for good. I think many men would end up not being a good Father due to lack of a good example; Devin did just the opposite and chose to decide who he does want to be as a Father because of what he did miss out on. I love the man he is and I love the father he is and the good example he sets for our children. He knows how to say sorry, he knows how to laugh, and he knows how to teach. Just like my feelings about my Dad, my kids will not understand how blessed they are until they become parents themselves.

Mothers Day/Birthday Bash

2010-07-04T00:28:00.000-07:00

People always think its great to have a Birthday on Mothers Day and I say EH!?! Every other girl is getting gifts on that day too, what fun is that?? LOL But Devin did a great job at trying to make it extra special for me. I wasn't feeling well at all because I had surgery afew days before and just wanted to sleep, but I put on my happy face for my kids; they were so excited to give me presents and cards! My favorite was my card!! Devin found a card with 3 chicks on it; he photocopied the chicks and pasted them in the card so their was 8, THEN he printed out clip art to paste on each one to reflect each childs personality. I was IN LOVE with it! The kids don't know that I had a few gifts bought ahead of time and hidden, hehe! And of course my mom and family had a cake and ice cream party complete with a gift certificate for IKEA which bought me new dishes when we moved! It was a wonderful day and I am INCREDIBLY grateful for my beautiful kids who gave me the gift of being a mom!

2010-06-29T22:20:00.000-07:00

A couple weeks ago in church our high councilman gave a GREAT talk about teaching our kids. He said that for every ONE hour of instruction or gospel teaching our kids receive they also get hundreds of hours of influence the OTHER direction. Basically we teach for an hour, Satan teaches them for hundreds of hours. His point was that we need to find every opportunity to teach our kids that we possibly can. So I started thinking about what I could do to find more time to teach my kids. I came up with something that I am absolutely loving and thought I should share. I printed out slips of paper with topics that we could discuss as a family such as, honesty, respect, sacrament, repentance, stuff like that. I put them in our "dinner jar" and the nights that we sit as a family and eat dinner together, which isn't every night, but we try, one of the kids takes a slip of paper out of the jar and we discuss whatever is written on it. I have really loved having these discussions with my kids, even more than I thought I would. I think because it is in a non-teaching setting, we are just hanging out having dinner, they open up so much more and we really have some good talks. I tr to get them to tell me what THEY think things mean, so I can try and help them understand and learn more. I hope this is one "new thing" that we really stick to because I really love it!!

Happy Birthday Liberty Kae

2010-06-27T01:17:00.000-07:00

I love this beautiful girl! I love how pretty she is, and I love when she wants to snuggle still, and I SUPER love her laugh! I love her pretty hair and even more that she LOVES to let me do her hair, I love that she is ALL girl and when she isn't being moody, she is a DOLL!!! I can't believe how grown up she is becoming...I really forgot she was turning 6 because it seems like she is older than that. She is super smart, loves school, playing house with her sisters, coloring, and riding her bike. She can cripple her Dad with one flash of that pretty smile, and he knows it too!
We had a BLAST celebrating her Birthday with a girly tea party. She had friends and cousins come and get dressed up, eat TONS of yummy food, and make placemats. They all looked so cute in their dress up clothes and had fun just being girls. Thanks everyone for making Libertys day so special!!

Ryker loves peanut butter

2010-06-27T00:55:00.000-07:00

It's true, there is ONE member of my family who loves peanut butter as much as I do! If anyone leaves the PB down Ryker will find it and eats it by the handful! Someday I will find the picture of Jeremiah as a 2 year old with handfuls of PB, they look so much alike its crazy. I LOVE this little 2 year old!!!

This is what happens when Daddy stays home with my Ryry! LOL

Happy Birthday my little ones!

2010-06-02T23:10:00.000-07:00

It makes me a little sad that no one ever looks @ blogs anymore (I'm guilty too) but I realized, this blog is for me and my family, so I need to spend more time on it (and less time on FB!)

My sweet little twins turned 4!! I was brought to tears the morning of their birthday when I looked and Devin and said, do you realize what we were doing 4 years ago right now? Holding our brand new little twins! How did 4 years go by so fast?? I almost don't remember them as 18 month olds or 2 year olds! Having twins has been one of the greatest, funnest experiences of my life. If I could choose to do it all over again I WOULD in a heart beat! In my dream world, 2 years from now I would have another set of identical girls and then call it quits (In my dream world!).

Brinley and Brigham have been T-R-O-U-B-L-E, but still fun! Sunday night the girls spent the night at Grandmas and the next morning Brigham came running in my room, frantically looking in the corners and around the bed and said, "Oh hi mom, I just lookin fo my friend" ME "what friend?" Brigg "my dada friend" (NO idea why he calls her dada...with an auh sound, always has) I thought that was the cutest thing ever, UNTIL she came home and he went running to her and shouted "DADA! DADA! Yu home!! I missed yu yast nite" Those are the moments I live for and that make up for all the flooded bathrooms, dirty dusty feet, markers on the wall, and late nights waiting for them to quit playing and go to sleep! I really love these two and couldn't imagine our lives without them!

Finishing up the monkey cupcakes

LOVE my new cupcake stand.

(can't really see the cute leopard print ribbon around the edge of each plate)

Working on our jungle animal masks

Told ya its a ZOO here!

We had a wonderful birthday party for them! I made a decision to put more effort into my kids Birthdays and I was quite proud to show off my treats! Thanks Amber, Tyler, Brooklyn, Carson, Nicole, Audree, Liv, Shelby, MaKenna and Piper for coming and having fun with us!!

Our new Happy Birthday Wreath for the front door

Close up of our Happy Birthday Banner

(the fabric can be changed out to match any party theme we decide to do)

We survived!

2010-05-16T17:04:00.000-07:00

Well, we did it!! Devin and I survived our 1st semester of college. I'm not even sure how we did it? But we finished and what a learning experience this has been! It has been crazy stressful but we both have learned what things we will do differently next semester. Summer session I am taking class during the day for EMT and Devin has classes in the evening, I actually think it might work a lot better. I will be home by 1:00 which will be really nice and Devin only goes 2 nights a week. He is still deciding what degree he wants to go for and as for me, as long as I love EMT as much as I think I will, I will continue in medical and become an RN. Although I really enjoy school I do miss being a full time mom though. I miss having time to do things like make things for my kids or making it to their scout stuff. It is all for a good purpose and I will get better and better at balancing everything......I hope :) I do wish that I would not have taken summer classes and just enjoyed the summer, BUT we are probably moving into the campus housing for families and we have to be enrolled, so I guess its a good trade; there is a community pool and fitness center which I hope to visit on a regular basis. No back yard but plenty of places for the kids to ride their bike and playgrounds. We will know in July if we get the house or not. Hoping to have a really great summer no matter what!!

Begining of Summer fun!

2010-05-16T16:31:00.000-07:00

We were supposed to make a trip to the Gila Valley Temple Open house, but our plans got messed up at the last minute and we were not able to go which we were all very sad about, but we decided to find something fun do to with the kids anyways. So I jumped on my new favorite website that this lady put together and you can find all kinds of stuff going on in our area and found a store in Scottsdale that was having a free activity that ended up being really fun! Each of the kids got a free backpack, a wristband, and free toys (there was a table where you could build something with these toys calls Zoops and you could keep 12 pieces, well multiply that by eight and we have quite a collection now hahaha!)

There were toys everywhere for the kids to try out. Like jousting.

Ryker with his cute backpack

There was a super cool fountain they put these cute fish in and the pole they fished with had a magnet that would attract the fish and you could reel it in. The little kids LOVED it!!

Hunter trying out the stilts

Then we stopped by The Golden Corral for a yummy lunch

AND the sandboxes and sprinklers helped cool everyone off.

(sorry these are out of order, got tired of messing with it)

With school full time for both of us we haven't gone and done too many things with the kids so this was a nice treat. We are going to work harder and spending time doing fun things on the weekends instead of cleaning.....it's messy all the time anyways right! :)

Sisters

2010-05-16T15:48:00.000-07:00

Good parenting times! Sometimes when you get so tired of kids doing the same thing over and over you have to get creative. I have done this before, but why I forget and don't do it EVERYTIME they fight I have no idea! They really loved it can you tell?? LOL

End of the year concerts

2010-05-16T15:45:00.000-07:00

Austin and Hunter have really enjoyed playing instruments this year. They each came to me on their own and asked if they could be in band/orchestra and I'm so glad they did. They have both worked really hard and have done really well. Austin chose to be in the band and play the drums, which entails actually learning all of the percussion instruments, bass drum, snare, bells, and everything else. Hunter decided to try out orchestra, at first the choice was because in 4th grade you can only do orchestra not band, but now that he is done for the year he told me that he does want to continue with it next year. I'm proud of both the boys for working hard and sticking with something!!

Hunter and Mr. Felton

Austin and Ms.Janeroe

Updates

2010-05-04T14:06:00.000-07:00

Last week when I finished getting the little ones all ready to go run errands Brinley said, "mom, we all look so cute, we need to take a picture" I was laughing so hard cuz I thought, man we don't get out much HAHAHA! So I have to find the cord to my phone cuz most of my pictures are on my phone and I hate posting without pictures, but here are a few things going on.

Devin and I have a week and a half left of our first semester of college and 1st lesson learned...Devin wont take 4 late start classes again! And 2nd lesson learned is organization is Key! It has been a little bumpy figuring out how to keep up with the house, tend to all the kiddos and both of us get our homework done, BUT all a wonderful learning experience and we will get better and better as we go. Devin may take off 1st summer session to have time to get some things taken care of and I start my EMT classes on the 17th! I am SO excited and can't wait to jump in! The kids are getting really excited for summer vacation and we are too! We are still living across the street from my mom and dad which has been so wonderful, but later this summer we will be moving AGAIN! UGH!! 4 times in one year is NOT fun! At least a lot of our stuff is still in boxes! I am going to be an aunt again....Jacob and Crystal are expecting their 1st baby in November and I am ecstatic to have a new baby around again!!!!! Lucky girl is feeling great and excited to be a mommy.

Austin is becoming quite the teenager and loves going to YM and is serving as the 1st counselor and is such a good example to the other kids. Hunter is such a little social bug and has girls calling the house for him already! It has been tough realizing that we are going to have to start making some serious decisions about how to raise teenagers which scares the heck out of me, but we will just try to do what we feel is best for our kids. Mason is doing much better in school and still is our little jokester! Emmy is loving school and enjoys flirting with Austin and Hunters friends..........this is going to be trouble! Liberty still is my thumb sucking cutie with a scream that will put anyone down! She is the WORST to get up in the morning, very particular about what she wears, how her hair is done and what shoes she has on, it's always drama! Brinley is such a little girl, I don't know how she has grown up so fast and she is so tall, Brigham still relys on her for a lot but I love that they get along so well. Then there is my baby, who isn't a baby anymore and I miss having a little baby. Life is good, we are getting ready to enter our stream of birthdays which I love. We are busy as ever but enjoying school life and being a family. Hopefully I will find my cord soon so I can start downloading more pics and getting caught up on posts I need to get done.

My little Baby!!

2010-04-13T21:06:00.000-07:00

I wish these pictures were better, but I am in love with this little man! What an amazing blessing this little guy has been in my life. He is the light of everyone’s life and all of his siblings LOVE to treat him like he is the baby and he loves it as well! I can't believe that he is two years old already; maybe since he came out so huge it made the time go by so much faster.

This is what my little man is like at 2;

* loves to show off and get laughs from everyone
* I LOVE his exploding knuckles that he does. He will go from person to person until everyone gives him knuckles, and after Jacob taught him exploding knuckles, now he has to make the exploding sound too. SO funny!
* decided 6 months ago that he was too big for his baby crib; I cried!
* Loves to play with cars, blocks, be outside and read books.......everything boy!
* he is a total climber and we are constantly getting him off of things
* he has started talking a TON, and among his favorites is asking to watch SpongeBob (sheesh!)
* loves to go to nursery and has never given us a problem
* he does throw some pretty fun fits, on the tummy, legs kicking.....it's hysterical!
* he has the ability to make everyone he comes in contact with light up and smile
I couldn't imagine our lives without this sweet adorable boy and I want him to stay my baby boy forever.......here’s to wishing!

Garden time!

2010-04-11T21:49:00.000-07:00

We have really missed our beautiful garden from when we lived in Queen Creek and I have had the gardening bug for quite a while!! So my mom had some extra room in her garden and offered to let me put some stuff in. So we decided to sprout some seeds of our own which was a new adventure. All the kids got involved and they all took turns helping me plant the seeds. I had to hide the tray of seeds on the top of the fridge to keep them away from it while they sprouted LOL.

It wasn't long till they were HUGE and needed to be planted. Hopefully they will survive the transplant and we will have some yummy veggies this summer!!!

Pretty Teeth

2010-03-28T18:50:00.000-07:00

No more braces!! I have been in braces for about 9 months (for the 2nd time in the past 8 years) and am SUPER happy with my new smile! It is so incredibly worth it! I hate to see my kids go through their teen years with crazy crooked teeth but at the same time, I think I appreciate my pretty teeth WAY more than I would have if my mom and dad would have gotten me braces as a little kid. Either way, I'm happy!

Great Aunt?? Sheeeesh!!!

2010-03-28T18:46:00.000-07:00

I love being an aunt......but am constantly reminded how freakin old I am getting!! 20 YEARS ago a family moved across the street from me and my family, little did I know they would end up being my family.

(The family is Devins sister Colleen.....thats how Dev and I met) I was their full time babysitter and watched their kids grow from the time the oldest two were about 3 and 1. NOW, these two little kids are married and having kids of their own! The little Jessica I babysat from the time she was a baby, became MY babysitter and is now babysitter her OWN baby! CRAZY!!!! They both have had babies in the past few months and I love it! I wish I could camp out at their houses and get my baby fix!!!

Love you Ty and Jess (and sweet little babies!)

Breylon Sellers (Jessicas baby) weighed just over 6 lbs ....... smaller than my twins.

He is SO cute and such a tiny little peanut!

Reece Bowman (Ty's baby) He is getting so big and loves to suck on his fingers. SUCH a cutie pie!!

These two boys are gonna be such great friends!

Bounce U

2010-03-28T17:54:00.000-07:00

This was our first time going to Bounce U and the kids had a BLAST!!

(ok, so did I.....if I had one of those and played everyday with the kids, I wouldn't need the gym lol!)

We went during Spring Break because they were having a special $5 entry charge for St. Patricks Day.

We will totally go again!

The pictures aren't the best cuz I took them on my phone and when the kids are moving fast

it's hard for the pic not to be just a big blurr ;)

Liberty

Emberlyn

Brinley being crazy!

Ryker deciding if he is gonna let the cute girl climb in with him. LOL

All the other kids were moving to fast to even get a picture!

New blog; new me

2010-03-23T16:35:00.000-07:00

I have done a lot of self reflecting over the past few weeks and I started a new blog today based on what I have decided to do to be fit and healthy, FOREVER!! I'm DONE dieting and am going to focus on eating right and exercising. No more "diets" just changing my ways and helping my family to do the same!! Check it out!
www.kris-ahealthyme.blogspot.com
(also as the side of this blog under sites I love)

Lots of new things

2010-03-21T17:18:00.000-07:00

We are coming the end of our spring break and I'm really bummed that the kids are going back to school tomorrow! We had a lot of fun together, despite having to listen to fighting allllllll the time! ;)

We did more this past week together than we have in a long time. We went to the park Monday with my parents and the Twilleys, Tuesday we rented movies and played all day, Wednesday morning we met up with some super great friends at the park that I haven't seen in 7 years (I will never let it be that long again!) then went to Bounce U, which we will be visiting again soon because we had a blast!! Thursday I ran errands and we cleaned cleaned cleaned and Friday we spent the day with my sister and her girls having lunch, touring the mall and going to the movies to see The Chipmunks (was lacking on the amount of songs, but it was still cute)

Scattered in there was Dr's appts for Devin which went really well. He is starting to get back to normal, still on about 4 meds, but is up a lot more and feels like things are somewhat getting back to normal. It's so nice to feel like we have our Dad back. His gastro Dr came in the room at his appt and said, "I really didn't expect to see you ever again. When I sent you off to surgery I really didn't think you were gonna make it" WOW that really makes you stop and think! It really affected Devin because I was there going through all of it and he was asleep the whole time, so he doesn't really get what it was like and how serious it was. He feels very blessed and grateful for every ones prayers. I reacted different because even though I was very stressed out, I knew the whole time that he was going to be ok. The thought crept into my mind once, "oh my gosh, what if he dies" but it was quickly replaced with a peaceful feeling that I need not worry and he would be fine. I'm so happy we are on the downhill side now!!!!

3 weeks and counting

2010-03-02T22:24:00.001-08:00

Today I got a call at 8:30 am with Devin letting me know he was coming home today! I was thrilled and got up and immediately started getting the house cleaned spotless and got showered and looking pretty for my hubby. I waited and waited and waited for the call letting me know he was ready to go. I checked in with him a couple times and he said it was just taking a while because he had to be on IV antibiotics for another week so they were making arrangements for a nurse to come to the house every day and give him the medicine or else he would have to stay in the hospital. About 5:30 I got a call from Devin; a very upset and frustrated Devin. He asked me to hurry and come down to the hospital because it looked like they were going to make him stay for the next week instead of let him come home. Long story short, the insurance company is putting up a fight and not wanting to cover a nurse coming to the house to give him the meds. Which makes NO sense because it is WAY cheaper to pay a nurse to come in once a day vs. staying at the hospital!!! One Dr came in and said he was good to go and everything had been worked out, then 20 min later another person came in and let us know that in fact things were not worked out and wouldn't be until tomorrow. It was horrible........we had both been excited all day long for him to be home so it was like a huge punch in the gut! So here I am all by myself for 21 days in a row! I miss my hubby and my kids are really missing their daddy! We are just praying that everything will work out tomorrow and he will be home with us finally!!

Still here

2010-02-23T19:31:00.001-08:00

The kids just stared at him at first. It was probably the most still I have seen them....EVER!

The girls drew some pictures to hang in his room. So cute!

Well, he is still in the hospital. Yuck, I know! He did have his barium swallow test today and it went good, looks like the tear is healed because they didn't find any leaks! The setback is that he has spiked a fever and they think his left chest cavity is infected, ON TOP of finding out today that the reason his right chest has been hurting so bad is because his lung is partially collapsed! That would explain why it has hurt him so bad to even breathe! I feel so bad for him, he has yet to get to the point where he actually has started feeling better. I took the kids up to the hospital last night and we got to visit for about 20 min in the waiting room (no kids aloud on the patients floors). The twins were really funny, asking a million questions about every single tube and wire they could see. Brigham kept telling him "Dad, dad, I like your water. You have water dad, I like it." We were cracking up. Brigg wanted to sit on his lap the whole time Brinley kind of kept her distance at first. Leaving was the hard part; Emberlyn burst into tears and Brinley screamed ALL the way home because she was so mad about leaving. It was good for them to see that he is up and around and somewhat ok. He's a trooper and is keeping a good attitude about everything. We really miss him here though, can't wait for him to come home!!

Keep on movin along

2010-02-17T16:40:00.000-08:00

Afew frustrations today. Oh, but 1st I just realized that I didn't post yesterday that he is OUT of the ICU!!!! YEAH!!! No more dumb visiting hours thank goodness! I'm starting to get a little overwhelmed......sometimes we don't really realize all the things our spouses do for us until we have to be in charge of EVERYTHING! The bills, the chores, the oil in the car, school work, HIS school work and appointments, the dishwasher breaking, sink being clogged; keeping everything strait is managable but tiring! He didn't look so great today when I got to the hospital, really pale and sweaty. When I told him he felt really warm he said, "oh, yeah they said my white cell count is up so they are running some cultures on the IV's they took out yesterday to see if they find infection" Hmmmmmm, wonder if it could be from the nurses NOT wearing gloves!?!? I haven't been able to spend much time with him yesterday and today because I have several sick kids; serious coughing going on over here. As long as I don't get sick, I can handle it :)

I did get the chance to speak to someone in administration about the nurses wearing gloves, finally. She said she was glad I brought it to her attention and asked me if it would make me feel better if there was a sign at his door asking everyone to put on gloves; I said "yes thank you, that will make me feel much better!" I told her that nurses wearing gloves should be the LAST thing I should have to be worrying about right now. DUH!

Class got canceled last night so I got to spend a couple hours with Devin instead of pretending to pay attention in English. And Mason pulled out yet another of Emberlyns teeth last night. The kid is weird, this is the 4th tooth he has pulled out for her...they are seriously either the best of friends or the worst of enemies. LOL We are doing good though, hangin in there. We are SO SO SO thankful for wonderful friends, family and ward members who are taking such great care of us. Having meals brought in has been SUCH a wonderful stress reliever, I think we would eat corn dogs every night if I had to think about cooking!

And he's up!

2010-02-15T11:17:00.000-08:00

Blowing kisses to Dad!

Every day he gets better and better! They have started getting him up and having him walk around the hospital. The 1st two times were horrible to watch, but he is much better now at getting in and out of the bed (still with the help of 4 people) and walks further and further every time. I came in last night after I had been home with the kids and he was snoring!!!! I NEVER in a million years thought I would enjoy the sound of him snoring, but it was so wonderful to see him laying comfortably in the bed snoring away! He seriously had not slept for longer than a 20 min stretch since they woke, him up on Friday, poor thing! He slept really great last night and they are actually moving him OUT of the ICU today!!!! Pure happiness!!! That means no more stupid visiting hours, a bathroom actually IN the room, more privacy and I can even bring the older 2 boys in to see him. I'm so happy he is doing so good. I know this time next week he is going to be dying to get out of here, but I'm happy he is here where he doesn't have little babies climbing on him because they want his attention. We miss him at home, but he can rest and get all the care he needs here, which brings me comfort. Valentines Day was sad for me because I started a new tradition about 5 years ago having a family Valentines dinner. I bust out the candles and wine glasses, the nice GLASS plates, I decorate everything and make a super yummy steak, potatoes, corn, rolls and dessert meal. YUM! I just couldn't bring myself to do it without him there, so that is going to be Daddys welcome home dinner! (I'm not gonna lie.....I might blend up his steak!!)

My blog, I can do what I want

2010-02-14T14:26:00.000-08:00

Sweet baby sleeping!
Ok, Devin was really confused when he looked at this, hopefully it's bc he is medicated. The incision goes from his side UP his back towards the middle of his shoulder blades. UGH! It is a LOT bigger than I thought it was going to be!

I'm sure some people will think this is awful to post on a blog, but it's mine, and I'll do it if I want :). Friday night was a VERY long night. I stayed at the hospital which was exausting! Devin moaned for hours and hours and hours. Some because of the pain, but I think mostly because he is so drugged up he didn't even know he was doing it. Finally about 1:00 I had to go lay down in the waiting room and get away from it for a little bit. I slept till about 3:00 then went back to check on him. He kept saying that it hurt so bad, which I don't doubt for one second that he is in a lot of pain, BUT I think his pain was so out of control before he got knocked out Tuesday night that he has so much anxiety about being in pain that he says he is in pain. He is on so much meds.....I'm SURE he isn't comfortable, but I know he is ok bc if he wasn't he couldn't fall asleep in the middle of a sentance. :) The worst is that he is so afraid of the pain getting out of control that he won't sleep bc he is scared that he will fall asleep for a long time and no one will push his button....he isn't getting it that he has a continuous drip going wether the button gets pushed or not. I stayed in the room till about 6 then headed back to the waiting room, where I slept till 9:00. When I went back, there was NO moaning!!! Oh thank goodness...I didn't know how much longer I could take it! He was resting comfortably finally!! The day went much better than the night had. He rested for shorts amounts of time, still being afraid to be asleep for too long. He is pretty loopy so he says really funny stuff, or random stuff, so at least he is entertaining. He probably doesn't appreciate it that everyone that comes to visit I tell them to watch him try and push his button because it is so funny to watch him try and find it. Sometimes takes 5 min, even though he is looking right at it! LOL. I'm just so happy he is awake and talking and on the right path to recovery. They told him he could have ice chips every once in a while, just afew, so he is SO happy! He has been so thirsty and begging for any relief, this makes it just a little eaiser for him.

HAPPY HAPPY!!

2010-02-12T19:17:00.000-08:00

I got to the hospital at 8:15 this morning and they actually let me in early. I was immediately upset because the dumb jerk Supervisor, who yesterday told me that YES they would wait for me to get here before they tried waking Devin again.....he went ahead and did it anyways. What is wrong with these people?? Do not tell me your going to do something just to appease me for the moment! I would much rather you tell me up front NO then lie to me! GEEZZZ!!!!! It went exactly like the time before....he had to be knocked back out, again. So around 10:00 the lung Dr came in and said that she wanted to wake him up but this time leave all the pain meds on, unlike the last two times. WHAT!?!?!?! Yes, you heard correctly! The other two times they woke him up, AFTER they turned off all his pain meds. I'm not in the medical profession but that doesn't make much sense to me. Of course he is going to be thrashing around in tremendous pain!! Well, it went perfect, imagine that! He was calm, even though he absolutely hated the tube in his throat and kept mouthing "please take it out" to me. They had to watch him breathe on his own for about 10-15 min, which felt like an hour! He remained calm and they made the decision to take out the tube. He immediately starting softly talking to us and cracking jokes. He asked all the questions I thought he would; are the kids ok, how long have I been asleep, what did they do to me. He seemed to take all the answers really well (except the feeding tube....yikes!). He did great for about an hour then the pain hit really bad. He was so miserable and couldn't be still and his breathing was getting more and more shallow. So after about an hour they changed his meds to something different and gave him a button he could push every 10 min for a little boost of the meds. He still wasn't doing any better and kept complaining about how much pain he was in. They made me leave at 1:00 and assured me he would be fine. (did I mention how much I HATE visiting hours?!) When I came back at 4:00 he was resting comfortably and the nurse filled me in. She had to up the medication a little and added Valium to help him calm down. Thank goodness! He was actually resting peacefully! It's been a super long day and I feel bad that he is in so much pain, but I am so happy to see him and know that he is awake.

My new halfway house, sucks!

2010-02-11T18:29:00.000-08:00

I don't like being here. I don't like all the 1/2 dead old people everywhere. I don't like Devins nurse today. And I really don't like that Devin is still sleeping! I have been able to have a smile on my face and power through all of this staying positive and looking forward, not backwards. Tonight is the first time I felt despair and frustration. I know everything is fine, but I worked myself up ALL day thinking about how excited I was that they were waking Devin up at 4:00. I know he was going to hate it, and I'm sure would much rather be asleep. I guess it's my one selfish thing in all of this. I hate that he looks like he is dead and I want him to open his eyes and understand what is going on, and be able to squeeze my hand! 4:00 came and the nurse said it would be 4:30; at 4:15 Devin opened his eyes. For about 45 seconds he just looked back and forth between the nurse and myself........Then it started. The pain, the terrible excruciating pain. His eyes got wide with fear and terror trying to understand why he felt this way. I TOLD the nurse to give him some more pain meds so when he woke up it wouldn't be as bad, I TOLD her!!!! No one listens to me! Don't I know and understand him better than anyone? I HATE when dr's and nurses act like its no big deal because they do it everyday AND by the way I would LOVE to know when was the last time they were cut open and had a 4 hour surgery!!! I tried as hard as possible to talk to him calmly, keep him looking at me and trying to convince him to stay calm. Nothing was working and the Respiratory team and the nurse were just watching as he struggled to breathe, tears streaming from his eyes. The nurse actually had the audacity to say "Devin, are you in pain?" WHAT! REALLY? I wanted to hit her....I had been telling her give him something he is serious pain!! UGH! His heart rate continued to climb and his breathes became shorter and shorter. They kicked us out and told us to go to the waiting room and they would come get us. I was sitting in the waiting room thinking "This is stupid! How is it that I am his wife and they can make me leave? I am the only person who is bringing him any sort of reality or comfort!" I had my head in my hands thinking how sad I was and how defeated I felt....then I saw these cute shoes in front of me. MOM!!! It was exactly what I needed at that moment! She hugged me and took me for a walk. I told her how upset I was that no one would listen to me, how the nurse wasn't even putting gloves on when she touched him and how mad I was that I had to leave. She said, were going back in and finding the person in charge. So we marched back in. It had only been 15 min since they kicked us out and when we walked up to his room he was lying there asleep and no one was around. Exactly! I knew they didn't care to come get us! So we stayed with him for a while, talked to the head nurse (which was a waste of time!) who actually chuckled at me when I asked if they could please not try waking him in the morning until I was there @ 8:30 (visiting hours shouldn't apply to the spouse....just my opinion!) Can you believe he actually snickered at me? Was that really too much to ask? He looked at me like "you stupid, silly girl" Oh, so help me, if I show up in the morning and they woke him up!!!! So here I sit, typing on this stupid thing instead of holding my husbands hand.....and him actually squeezing back. Tomorrow will be better, it will.

2010-02-10T17:25:00.000-08:00

Just for the record, I do not go around wearing ginormous flowers on my head...

we were at a Halloween party.

So before I literally fall asleep sitting up I wanted to post about Devins surgery. The Dr's worked on him for a little over 4 hours; longest 4 hours of my life! I am SO grateful my parents hung out with me the whole time helping to make the time go quicker. Finally the surgeon came out and filled us in on what is going on. From all of the procedures Devin has had done on his esophagus it has transformed it into a non healthy, abnormal esophagus. At the bottom where it should be very thin and pliable, it is like a piece of leather and very very thick. So think in fact that they think that the tear is in there, but didn't go all the way through. He had lots of air in his chest cavity on both sides, which they removed as well as decompressing his stomach (taking all the fluids out) The cut him open (which the nurse just informed me that it is said that this surgery is a more painful recovery than open heart surgery because of the muscles they have to cut through) and went in through his side to try and repair the tear, but were not able to find it. So here we sit in the ICU, a chest tube on both sides for everything to continue to drain, a huge incision, a feeding tube out his stomach, the ventilator coming out him mouth, another tube out his nose, heart monitors, cuffs on his legs to keep the circulation going and an IV in his wrist and vein in his neck. WOW! A lot to take in that's for sure!

It is all just a waiting game now. He will be here for 2 weeks, no food, no water, to allow everything to heal. The hope is that his body will heal itself and poof, no more tear. They will do some tests in two weeks to find out if that works, if it doesn't work, it will be a really big bad surgery where they will remove his esophagus. So I am trying to stay focused on where all my kids are and pray that he gets better. It's going to be one day at a time. I have been the most sad all day that he has NO IDEA that any of this is going on. The last thing he knows is that they were putting in a tube to help him breathe, he is not going to be a very happy camper tomorrow...rightfully so!

How did we get here??

2010-02-10T10:00:00.001-08:00

I will try to make this as short as possible, but lets face it, you know I'm long winded! So last night I am sitting in class and Devin calls 3 times in a row, so I text him to see whats up. His response was 911. So I book it into the hall with my phone and dial his number only to hear him completely distraught on the other end. "Kristina, I choked and I'm coughing up blood, I called an ambulance" So of course I run in to let my professor know that I gotta go (hope I can retake the quiz we had) and I race home. I get there just as the paramedics are going into the house and I find Devin hunched over spitting blood into a bowl. He tells all of us that he was eating rice, choked, tried to clear it with water and it felt like something exploded and he started coughing up blood. Now let me back up a min, Devin has had problems with his esophagus for over 10 years. He has been treated off and on over the past 10 years, going in for several procedures where they actually stretch it open; lasts about a year and then they stretch it again. When it starts getting bad, choking on food, we go back to the Dr and he has it done again. I have been telling him for MONTHS to go to the Dr.....why couldn't he just listen? So that brings us back to last night. We get to the ER and they don't really pay much attention to him, they just put him in a room and give him a bag to puke the blood into. The pain continues to get worse and worse despite their efforts to control it. Since the pain is getting completely out of control he is becoming more and more out of control and not being able to keep calm. They do a chest x-ray, and it's clear. And they still leave him to sit in horrible pain. Finally at midnight they take us to endoscopy to stick a camera down his throat to take a look. After about 10 min the Dr comes back and lets me know that before he got very far he ran into a lot of blood and clots and didn't feel good about continuing the procedure. The decision was made to send Devin to the ICU and put him on a ventilator and sedate him. It was for the best; he could barely take a breath and was in tremendous pain, and being in that condition was not going to allow the Dr's to run tests to find out what they need to. At 1:00 he was peaceful, finally, a little too peaceful if you ask me! This is probably one of the most horrible visuals I will have with me the rest of my life.....seeing my husband completely passed out hooked up to a ventilator. I am used to being able to give him a kiss on his forehead while he is sleeping and have him respond in some way, whether it be a smile or a touch, but always a response. It is awful to touch and kiss him with not even a twitch. I hope things go by fast!

I love this boy!!

2010-02-09T12:51:00.000-08:00

I was just going through some pictures and found so many cute ones of Ryker I just figured I would put them all together in a post about this cute boy I'm in love with!!

Ryker has been climbing out of his crib for probably 4 months now. It is really funny to find him in all sorts of places and in all sorts of positions after he falls asleep. This was by far my favorite!

Emmy helping Ryker brush his teeth. So cute that she was having him say AW (mouth open) and EEEEE (mouth closed) just like I do!

My poor baby got really sick in December and we had to give him breathing treatments three times a day. He fought like crazy the 1st few times, but after a while he would just sit and watch TV with us while he had his mask on. How cute is he?!?!

Rykers 1st head injury...OW! We found out later that Brigham picked up a tire iron and swung it at him, mean big brother!! He was such a trooper!

2010-02-07T18:48:00.000-08:00

I love hanging out with my girls! We went to the mall about a month ago with Tiffany Kayla & Korryn. I'm pretty sure that the employees of Tillys were not to thrilled with us! The girls were trying on glasses, hats, necklaces and whatever else they could get their hands on. They are such cute girls and I hope they want to hang out with me FOREVER!!

Pinewood Derby 2010

2010-02-07T18:23:00.000-08:00

I just downloaded all the pictures from my phone so I am going to just post away and try to get caught up; I'm not even going to worry about going in order! So the pinewood derby this year was SO awesome!! Our stake did some really cool stuff that made it really great for the kids. It was Masons 1st year which he was so so so excited about, and Hunters last year, so it was bitersweet. They both did great, and both placed 3rd in their pack. (they had awards per pack and overall) It was short, sweet and had yummy treats....what more could you ask for!

Great day!

2010-02-07T18:11:00.000-08:00

Today Austin was set apart as the 2nd counselor in his deacons quorum. As I sat waiting for his turn, I reflected on the Sunday he was ordained, and actually realized that I had not blogged about it yet and what a great opportunity it would be to do it today. It was a great day when my 1st son was ordained to the office of the Aaronic priesthood. I remember thinking that this would be the 1st of many great days in our lives with our boys. Many priesthood ordinations, callings, responsibilities, all would open a new chapter in our lives and bring great blessings to our family. Today I sat and thought how incredibly grateful I am for my boys. I always want to have a boy first and was so thrilled when we started out with 3!! I am so blessed that I get to see the priesthood through the eyes of my boys. I think every time things in my life change I learn more and appreciate more the amazing things that come hand in hand with the priesthood. First as a girl, experiencing Fathers blessings whenever I needed, watching my Dad in his callings. Then as a wife, having a husband to give me blessings, take me to the temple, serve in callings and participate in several amazing priesthood callings. Now as a mother, to watch my boys learn about it, embrace it, and take it into their own lives. I was overcome with gratitude that my family will not only be blessed for and by the priesthood that my husband holds, but I have 5 boys that will bring blessings into our family through their own priesthood. What an amazing blessing!!!

(looking for the pictures from his ordination)

2010-02-06T10:32:00.000-08:00

So I was introduced to a blog today that tugged at my heart in such a tremendous way. This sweet family has been struck with incredible tragedy and despite the horror they are going through at this time, this wonderful woman is sharing her experience. I am so grateful for her sharing, so I can remember how important life is! I think most mothers (including myself!), in some way or another, are guilty of doing things that take precious time away from our children. I am grateful to remember, through her terror instead of my own, that there is nothing in this life that is more important than our children we have been given stewardship over; not a book, not homework, not our favorite TV show, not a blog, or facebook, or ANYTHING, that is more important than our kids. Believe me, I am not preaching to anyone, I am taking a major look at my own mistakes and realizing how many times I think "just 2 more min, then I will check on them, or it's just a sec, they will be ok" or any other thoughts that are quite frankly, not worth it! We don't have to be paranoid and keep our kids under our arms every minute of the day, I am just one of the lucky ones that my "just a minute" has never ended in tragedy. I hope her story will help each of us to love our kids a little more and hug them just a little longer.

http://www.stakerzxposed.blogspot.com/

New adventures for the Tietjens!

2010-02-03T08:06:00.000-08:00

(sorry about the silly pics; my mom called my kids and told them to make sure they took pictures of mom on her 1st day of school! LOL)

So a new year has to bring new adventures right?? Well, we are definitely headed into some uncharted territory for us, and only time will tell how this will turn out. I think the events over the past year of loosing everything due to this wonderful economy, has caused me to reflect on how things could have turned out different; my solution was a college degree. I felt like if Devin or I would have had a college degree then we would have definitely had more options and definitely Devin would have had many more doors to open to try and look for work. (not that he would have necessarily found it; I know its really hard right now for even those with amazing education resumes!) I reflected on what I could do to try and help our family if times like this rear their ugly head again. (not that we are through the woods yet!) So school kept coming back to my mind and I tried to talk Devin into it. Telling him that I felt that we have been given an opportunity to get an education and we should jump on it. We don't have a mortgage, or car payments, so why not? (not too sure how much more poor we could be, so why not be poor college students and get something out of it haha!) Despite my best efforts Devin wasn't thrilled about school, but I decided that I could at least take a few classes. So I got all set up, which was SUCH headache, and started classes the 1st week of January. It took a week & a half of me being in school for Devin to catch the bug! He actually came to ME and said, "I'm kinda jealous, I want to go to school..." I laughed so hard while I listened to him tell me all the great reasons he should go, and how fun it would be to go to some classes together! (guess how many of the things he said were the exact words I used to try and convince him of this 6 months ago?!?!) So last week we spent scanning all the classes that were open for Spring late start, got all the financial aid stuff figured out and TADA!!! Devin and I are BOTH students! We are actually only taking one class together, but mostly due to the fact that that there were very few choices for him. So I am taking 3 classes, English 101 (LOVE LOVE LOVE), Computers (with Devin), and Food & Culture (online, just started, looks very promising!) Devin is a crazy person and decided a FULL schedule was the way to start off! He went from not wanting to do school, to deciding to just be a full time student? How does that happen LOL! So he is taking weight training, English, Macroeconomics, History, & Computers. We are both really excited, but ask me around finals & we will see how fun this is. Not sure how everything will work out, 8 kids and two parents in school, BUT I know this is right for us.....crazy, but definitely right!

Oh, I forgot

2010-01-01T11:58:00.000-08:00

I started a blog about my diet; there is a link on the right of the page. Check it out. Plus, here is a copy of my facebook posts from 2009 I thought it would be fun to make sure I kept it all.

A new year

2010-01-01T10:43:00.000-08:00

2009 was seriously the WORST year of my entire life! I don't usually say things like that,

I try to be a positive person, but I'm not gonna lie, it was truly horrible!!!

Thank goodness we learn from our trials!
I am thrilled to be welcoming a new year! Not many times in the past have I very literally felt a welcome feeling when ringing in a new year. Devin and I both said SEE YA 2009, and are so excited about this next year! I know it is going to be wonderful! A new body, school, finding more work and all sorts of things are waiting for me this year. I am excited to work more with Devin at finding more work, strengthening our family and starting school! He truly is my best friend, and we have been through not only a difficult year, but the most challenging time our relationship has ever seen, so I am thrilled about what this new year has to offer us! I wish everyone all the love and happiness that life could possibly bring!! HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Goal #1 for 2010

2009-12-28T01:23:00.000-08:00

I just looked at saw that my entries for 2008 was 84 and in 2009 it went down to 32 (well 33 now!) That is SO terrible!! So I just decided that there are enough fun, crazy things going on in this house that I can make it to 100 posts in 2010!! Thats my goal, so if you happen to check in from time to time and there is some stupid post that doesn't really mean much......I might just be trying to get my numbers! LOL! But really, there is never a shortage of crazy around here, so it shouldn't be too hard!

Pictures with Santa

2009-12-14T12:17:00.000-08:00

So if you live near a Bass Pro Shop, they have free pictures with Santa as well as crafts and activities for the kids, all for free. (you can go to www.bassproshop.com/santa to check it out) My kids had a blast and since we shaven't had pictures with Santa in YEARS they were really excited to see him! Devin secretly overheard Austin tell Santa that this year for Christmas he wanted "for all the people who aren't going to have a Christmas to be able to have one" I guess we do afew things right as parents?? I can't believe how big my kids are getting! sniff sniff Brigham was so cute, as soon as he looked up and saw it was Santa he gave him the biggest hug and Brinley was terrified! She barely let go of me to get the picture! What cutie pies!!

Great sites to go to!

2009-12-12T10:59:00.001-08:00

My sister finds the best websites and blogs and I just wanted to share the latest addictions!

www.woot.com
Every day they have a "deal" of the day. Last week they had the Disney MP3 players for $7.99!! I check it every day!

www.mykitchencafe.blogspot.com
I LOVE this cooking blog! Every recipe my sisters and I have tried we LOVE!

www.craftsanddeals.blogspot.com
Just introduced to this one today and I am afraid to even spend the time looking around in it because I know I won't be able to get off! Amazing craft ideas and deals.....like telling you about $5 fleece jackets at Old Navy, today only! So cool!!

Happy Birthday Hunter

2009-12-11T10:02:00.000-08:00

My sweet Hunter turned 10 in September! He is such a wonderful kid....seriously! Finally I have a kid who cares about if they house is a mess, and from time to time I even catch him getting after the other kids "come on guys! We aren't a bunch of pigs! Cant you just pick up after yourself!!" (wonder where he has heard that?) If he watches kids for me I will come home to find the house completely clean and happy kids! One Sunday I walked in and found him ironing his Sunday clothes! For his Birthday he wanted to go to Amazing Jakes really bad. I explained to him that there was just no way we had the money for that. He was fine, but came back about an hour later with a proposal. "what if I work and earn my own money to pay for me and my friends to go, then could we?" I couldn't refuse, I was so shocked that he was willing to work to earn money to take OTHER people with him! So he did, he worked really hard at Grandma & Grandpas, and a little here, and earned almost $60. It was such a proud mommy moment! How did I get so lucky? Here are some things I love about Hunter at age 10

* he is very smart and does all his homework without being told
* he loves to ride bikes, play rock band, play outside, and go rock climbing
* he LOVES music! he always has on the radio and knows the words to everything
* he enjoys scouts and likes participating in pack meeting
* I love catching him when he is alone doing things like reading his scriptures, helping someone or cleaning up after his brother and sister that make the HUGEST messes!!
* he never forgets to give us hugs, kisses and thank yous

I love everything about this kid, every way you look at it! I am really enjoying him as he gets older, we have become good friends and I love hanging out with him. He is the most amazing kid and our family is so blessed that he is a part of it!

2009-12-09T12:45:00.000-08:00

A good friend of mine had to go yesterday and tell a good friend that her 26 year old husband and father to their 3 little children had been killed. I have not been able to stop thinking about this sweet little family whose lives have been changed forever. For their 10 month old baby who will never remember its father. And for a wife who is spending her Christmas season planning a funeral. Life for so many of us seems to not turn out the way we had planned and as I reflect on this woman's pain I am forced to look at my own life and recognize the sweet blessings I have been given. It really makes me stop and think about the next time I want to complain about not having enough gas or enough milk, or anything else, and to stop and recognize the Lords tender mercies that I am blessed with every day of my life. I know people will think of this woman and think of the blessings that will come into her life because of her trial she has been given, but I reflect on the blessings that will come to so many lives, lives she will never know about because of her trial. The many people who will hold their kids a little longer and who will love their husbands a little bit more, and look over the little things in life that are of no importance and relish in their lives that they have been blessed with. My heart aches for this young family, but I hope and pray that this sweet sister will be able to feel of her Saviors love and that somehow she will know of all the lives that she, unknowingly, will touch for good.

My 1st baby is 12???

2009-12-08T20:01:00.001-08:00

I can't even believe that my oldest baby just turned 12!! How did that happen so fast? It was so weird this year to try and plan an "older" kids party instead of going and getting the spider man stuff at the store and calling it good! So we just sent the girls to Grandmas and ordered pizza and set up Austins Birthday present and let the boys just party. They had a really great time and it was so cool not to have to entertain, we just let them play and then we did our own thing. Here are some things I love about Austin at age 12

* I HAVE A BABYSITTER!!!!! (I have waited for 12 long years)

* he really enjoys reading which is so surprising bc it took him a long time to learn to read in the first place, now he loves it!

* he still loves to be outside, and still will build forts and all sorts of stuff (he and his brothers recently dug a 5ft deep hole in the back yard....just for fun haha)

* I have loved his enthusiasim about turning 12 and getting the priesthood and passing the sacrament

* he enjoys video games and watching all the stuff his Dad likes (BORING) History channel, Military channel, Discovery channel

* he is an AMAZING artist!! I am floored at the things he can create and draw, he has an incredible imagination and so much creativity!

Austin is who 1st made me a mom, and I love him for that! I didn't know if I was going to survive this kid as a toddler, but he has sure made it worth it! I am so grateful for this him being so patient as I have learned, and continue to learn how to be a good mom. Happy Birthday Austin!!

Halloween 2009

2009-12-08T19:26:00.000-08:00

So I am the WORST mom in the world!! We were in a huge hurry to get to our ward party and Austin & Hunter were not finished getting ready so there are no pictures of them.....I know, I told you I was the worst! I was really heartbroken this year that I didn't have the money, or the time to make their costumes. It was the first time in 8 years that I haven't made them, not sure if I will ever get over it. Thank goodness for great friends who let me dig into their supply of Halloween costumes! We had a blast at our ward party with Mom & Dad, Mike & Tiffany and Jeremiah and Ciera. Maybe I can get my crap together and get costumes done for next year! (in case you don't recognize them.......Mason-batman, Emmy & Liberty-witches, Brinley-Glenda the good witch, Brigham-a very upset scarecrow, and Ryker the Lion)

Utah part 2

2009-12-08T18:50:00.000-08:00

Oh I finally feel human again!! I have the computer set up now and can finally get caught up on my blog. I wanted to start with the rest of my pictures of my trip to Utah. It was so much fun to spend the weekend with my sisters and I'm so lucky that I have a husband that is willing to stay home with 8 crazy kids so I can go play!!! Day two of our trip Landon, Cassie and Lance took us shooting and we all had a blast!!! It was so cool watching Cassie, shes really good! Thank goodness they are coming to see us again soon because we have so much fun when we are together.......it makes the distance a little bit easier to bear. It was the best to go see HER because we didn't have to share her with anyone. Thanks L & C (and Lance) for letting us invade your house and showing us such a good time!! Love you!!!

Utah day one

2009-10-16T21:31:00.001-07:00

So my sister Tiffany planned this trip to Utah with a friend of hers and I totally invited myself, and I am soooooo happy I did!!! We left super early yesterday morning, spent 13 long hours getting here, then today had a fun filled day!! We started with pedis and some window shopping at Rod Works, then headed to Salt Lake City to meet up with some friends that we have had for 15 years but have not been able to see for 10 years :(. Then we walked around the beautiful Gateway Mall, and then headed to the temple. Checked out the Beehive house, walked around Temple Square, went to the Joseph Smith Memorial building, and went to eat at the Purple Turtle on the way home YUM! The weather has been amazing and although I am missing my hubby and my kids, this is a much needed vaca! I love laughing with my sisters and can't wait to go shooting tomorrow with Cass and her husband Landon! (and IKEA) Thank you SO much Devin for taking such good care of all my babies while I am away! I love you!!

2009-09-11T14:03:00.000-07:00

Oh how I miss my blog!! I don't have a computer at our new house.....yes, we moved AGAIN! So I am never able to get on here anymore. So many things have been going on.....Devin in hospital with bronchitis, the same weekend we moved, Liberty in the hospital with an RSV thing, more hours at work, Masons baptism tomorrow and on and on. I just wanted to put my feelings down about the things that have been going on in my life lately. At 1:30 this morning while I was laying in my bed sobbing like a baby because our Tahoe had been impounded, and will be for 30 days (looong story....no suspended registration from no insurance) and now we have Devins single cab work truck to accommodate 10 people.....I felt very strongly that I needed to pray. I am the WORST at saying a prayer when I know I should, but don't feel my heart is in the right place, but I did it anyways. My tears kept coming, but I started thanking my Father in Heaven for the blessings in my life, and all the good that I could find. Slowly the tears slowed and I felt overwhelming peace fill my heart. Despite the uncontrollable shaking from fighting off a complete panic attack, I knew the Lord was mindful of me and I was very grateful that he helped me to look for the things in my life that were happy and wonderful. We will figure things out, just like we always do, but I am grateful most of all for the Gospel in my life and a Savior who suffered all so I can be better.

My fab job!

2009-08-13T21:58:00.000-07:00

I don't think I have ever really blogged about my job?? Before I do, these pics are from Thursday. Our office manager was being silly and wanted to take pics outside. We were discussing how the true "charlies angels" pose is, not knowing that the Dr. was snapping pictures the whole time! It really is funny though cuz we are a bunch of nerds! (we missed you Heather & Jennifer!!)

I have been working at a dentist office since May and I absolutely love it! I really love learning about the dental world and interacting with all of our great patients, and I super super love the gals I work with (ok, the DR isn't so bad either HAHA.....he is my cousin) I enjoy being there and laughing....and even being laughed AT cuz I am kind of a nerd! It's even better now that one of my best friends is working there! It's great when I need someone to talk to about crappiness and I can sit down at lunch and vent......AND to be around when someone else needs to vent. On the flip side, I really miss being with my kids. I will be honest, there are days that I am happy to be away from the craziness and volume level of my house, but most days I feel guilty that someone else is putting my babies down for a nap. Especially yesterday when the older FIVE (crazy I know!) started school and I got to be home with my 3 babies!! It was so great to just hang out with them, wipe their cute faces, have them curl up with me on the couch and just chat 3 year old talk w/them. I am excited about the things I am doing that will benefit our family for years to come, but that doesn't take away the sadness of leaving them with someone else. I'm sure most working moms feel the same way.