The day about my naughty Gavin

The pic above is of my sweet Gavin. We went ice skating last night for FHE. I forgot my camera, but I had my cell phone. I took a ton of pictures, only to come home and find that I had not saved them, this is the only one that worked. By the way, our whole family is NOT good at ice skating. Mandy and Brett watched Kayler for me, thank goodness. The rest of us struggled around the rink a few times. I’m not going back anytime soon…lol.

So today I need a little advice on my Gavin. Let me just say, he is the sweetest most precious and adorable little 4 almost 5 year old. But, he had been on a bad streak for lets say….a few years now. He is just the one kid that I constantly have to get after. This is not saying that my other 2 kids don’t have their naughty times, or that they don’t get into trouble. It is just that Gavin does twice as much naughty and definitely lives up to the “middle child” syndrome.

He is always the first one to tell me that I am pretty. He was the first to notice the Christmas lights all around and say how beautiful they were. He is just so sweet. On the other end of the spectrum, he is so darn naughty. He is always been the one that is so sneaky and breaks things, makes huge messes, is very mean to other kids (especially his brother and sister), and who is very hard to discipline.

For example, he loves to trip Kayler. He will just be walking along and he will throw toys or anything at his feet just so he can see him fall and cry. I will try to talk to him, put him on time out, etc. IT DOES NOT WORK. A few weeks ago, he had gone too far, Kayler had cried all day because of him hurting him. So I spanked him (gasp…I know that is against the law now). I felt terrible, and he felt terrible, and it broke his heart. I thought that for sure would do the trick. I was wrong. It wasn’t 15 minutes later and he took a little couch thing and slammed Kayler from behind and sent him flying across the room. I have tried reward charts, like if he is nice for so many days, he gets a trip to he dollar store. My mom has bribed him for every day that he is not mean to Kayler, she gives him a dollar. Well, he has currently earned no trips to the dollar store and no dollars from my mom. This has continued up until now, and he has another bad habit.

He is peeing everywhere. HOW SICK IS THAT. So far, it has been on his bedroom floor, on his bedspread, and in a bathroom trash can. He says he “can’t find the toilet.” I don’t know if he is trying to get attention, or what. It is very hard as a mom of 3 to give all my children the same amount of good attention. When Hallie comes home from school, I try to tell her good job on her papers. I try to teach and praise Kayler, but he is a baby, so he has a lot of needs as well. I go completely out of my way to find things to praise Gavin about, because I know that when he is so naughty all the time, he is getting a lot of negative feed back and he needs to have balance. I make a huge deal about the smallest things, and truly love the smile on his face when he realizes that I love him and I am proud of him, even though I have to get after him so much.

So basically, how can I go about stopping this terrible behavior without breaking his spirit? I personally think that kids this age are so fragile, and the things that I say and do to him will stay with him for a lifetime and shape the kind of adult he is. I don’t want to ruin him. So, give me some advice. I know that I am not alone, and other moms got through this too, but I hope things get better soon.

The day about My Thanksgiving Holiday

Well, we made it through turkey day. What an event. We went to my moms as usual. The guests were me and my family, my parents, my brothers, Emily and Rachel, My Grandma and Grandpa, and my Great Aunt Venna. The day was nice, pretty uneventful. The only out of ordinary thing that happened was when the whole family was seated around the table, and my brothers were bringing good ol’ aunt Venna to the table. Well, as she was walking, her pants fell clear to her ankles. So there she stood in front of us all in her garments and adult diaper. She was oblivious to it all, because she is a slightly mentally handicapped along with being 80+ years old. So I ran over and pulled up her pants, and didn’t know whether to cry for her, or laugh. But, since it obviously didn’t bother her, we all just laughed it off. She enjoyed Thanksgiving dinner SOOO much, it was so cute. My mom had to feed her like a little baby because she is no longer able to feed herself. She really enjoyed her doing that. She loved the kids, the TV shows, and loved to have a nap. It was the funniest scene ever, her and my grandparents (all of whom are 80+ yrs old) watching the discovery channel and then simultaneously falling asleep and snoring. I felt so bad when we had to take her back to the care center, but I was so glad that she was able to come.

The day continued on with a movie and more food. Then we went home and broke out the Christmas décor, which was so fun. I woke up this morning and finished it all. There was a community Holly Days celebration, but the wind was blowing and it was SOOO cold. So, G.J. braved the weather and took Hallie and Gavin to a few things. The picture above is of them at a train ride thing or something. I had a few errands to run and me and Kayler just hung out at home.

We finished the evening off by going to my moms to enjoy her new Wii game thing, with a little Guitar Hero and Mario. I am not so good at it yet, but give me time…lol. Anyways, to keep the kids busy while the adults were playing we became desperate with activities for them to do. My brother Kris gave Kayler his $400+ Blackberry Phone to play with. Well, pretty soon, Kayler was nowhere in sight. I searched and found him in the bathroom, dipping the phone in and out of the toilet. He was soaked in toilet water, and I am sorry to say that I think that phone has heard its last ring. I feel so bad about it. Guess us adults shouldn’t try to be kids again by playing videogames.

Anyways, our thanksgiving was nice, and I am really starting to get into the holidays and am fully enjoying every second, because it just doesn’t last long enough. Hope you all had a good time too. Have a good day!!

The days of Holiday Spirit

So today I broke out the Christmas music. Mandy brought me a Josh Grobin Christmas CD and I was so excited and I listened to it all. It was even sweeter that my little Kayler sat on my lap listening happily as I did my work on the computer. I love this time of year. I love deciding what to give people for Christmas. I love receiving the millions of catalogs in the mail and browsing through to find that perfect gift for the people I care about. I am about 1/3 of the way or so finished with my shopping. I love giving, and I love to think of the person opening the gift and knowing that I put a lot of thought into it.

I received an email a while ago that asked the top 4 things I wanted for Christmas. I honestly could not think of one material type thing that I needed. I tried and tried, but all I really could think of was the things that I wanted to give, and the way I wanted to feel this time of year. I love the true spirit of Christmas to radiate in my home. I love to feel happy, attend lots of Christmas parties, see the lights, hear the wonderful Christmas sounds, and just try to soak it all in during the short Christmas season.

Most of all, I love to see my kids enjoy the whole scene of it all. I have such wonderful memories of my childhood and Christmas. I can see my kids acting the same way that I felt so long ago. It has been really fun this year with Kayler talking a little more. He is seeing all these new things and is very curios. I bought him a tiny stuffed Santa at the dollar store the other day. He carries it around and says so cute, “HO, HO, HO!” Hallie and Gavin of course have to scream at me during every commercial of the toys they want, which is not so much fun, but it is cute in a way.

I hope that this Thanksgiving will be a time to reflect on the great year I have had along with my family. I am truly blessed in every way. Have a good Thanksgiving, and make this the best holiday season ever is my wish for all who may read this. Have a good day!

The day of being Thankful.

Well, I am so glad the weekend is almost here. I just had to post some funny things my kids brought home from school today. They both had to write things they were thankful for. Gavin's paper went a little something like this, "I am grateful for carnivals, I like carnivals. I am grateful for mommy, because she says prayers. I am grateful for daddy because he goes to work." Hallie's was more of a story, and I have to type it how she spelt the words, because it is so cute. "I like to eat pupkin pie and I'm crazy abot cranbarys and I like to pick pupkins and I like to play in the levse the end." Aren't they so cute!!!! I am sure if Kayler could talk he would say he is grateful for his binky, bottle, blanky, binoculars (he has this pretend pair he just loves), candy, dora and spongebob, and his mommy of course. I am truly grateful for so many things, so I will make a list in no particular order: my family, the church, my friends, my home, my cars, my food, my water, my warmth, my health, my children's health, happy days, sunny days, shopping (when I have money), for my brother to be getting married, for the holidays, and most of all-my savior, for which all of the above things are made possible. Have a great weekend!

The days of Cute kids

Well, since I am writing this blog, you will all know that I survived my dreaded day of 11/11. Everything was quite boring. I woke up late, got ready for church, went to church, came home, rested, went to choir, went to my moms for dinner, came home, went to bed....all without an accident.
I decided today to write a few of the funny things my kids have told me, because I really want to remember how cute they are at this age. Hallie and I were driving down the road a couple days ago and we drove past a really big house. This is how the conversation went. Hallie: "I am going to live in a mansion someday when I am 25, and I am going to have a baby when I am 25 too, and my mansion will have 25 rooms." Me: "where will your mansion be?" Hallie: "vernal...or maybe Roosevelt." Me: "ewww. Roosevelt?" Hallie: "well mommy, I wouldn't have to eat the food there or nothing." Then she thought about it for awhile and said, "I think I will have it in Salt Lake because then I can eat at Olive Garden everyday and go to lots of rodeos." (my brother Kris took her to a rodeo last summer...lol must of been a good one). Then she said"I will have a little baby girl first and her name will be Princess, and then I will have another baby girl and her name will be Susan, and then I will have a baby boy and he will be named Jaden after his daddy." Me: "Oh, will your husband be named Jaden?" Hallie: "Yes, mommy, I have a new boyfriend and I am in love. His name is Jaden, and today at recess I asked if I could play with him, and he said, "sure princess!" so that is why I will marry him and why our first daughter will be named Princess!" Isn't she so CUTE, she had really given that a lot of thought.
Gavin is absolutely obsessed with money, quarters, dollar bills, and the dollar store. If he can find quarters, he will close his eyes, put them over his eyes, and fall asleep like that, I need to take a picture. If he has a dollar bill, he will wad it up and sleep with it in his fist and if he wakes up and can't find it he freaks out. The other day he told me, "could we go to the dollar store, the one with the green sign, (meaning dollar tree) and then after that can we go to the three dollar store?" I asked him what the 3 dollar store was and he said it had a red sign, so I thought about it, and G.J.'s mom had taken him to family dollar a few days earlier. He must have noticed that everything there was not just 1 dollar and the toy she had gotten him was 3 dollars, and he remembered that. He is so cute.
I'm very blessed to have such cute kids and I cherish all their little stories and hope they will always be able to tell me anything and that I can be a good listener. Have a good day!

P.S. I promised I would post a pic of my friends, so the pic at the top is one we took Saturday night at Catholic Bingo. I went with Janice, Mandy, Holly, some of Mandy's family, and my mom came for a minute. It was SOOO much fun. I really had a good night.

The days filled with 11:11

Well, I know that after everyone reads this blog, you will officially think I have lost my mind. I have had a weird problem for the past 6 months or so. Every single day at 11:11 a.m. or 11:11 p.m., I just happen to glance at the clock. It doesn’t matter where I am at or what I am doing. I could be dead asleep and just wake up with one of my kids or to go to the bathroom, and the clock will say 11:11. I could be busy running errands and flip my cell phone open to call someone, and bam….11:11. I will even purposefully try to avoid the clock at that time of day. It even started to bother me so bad that I prayed for it to stop, which it did for a few weeks and then it is back with a vengeance. But the VAST majority of the time, I never miss it.

My brother, who thinks I have completely lost it, says that he has always thought if you see the clock when it is 11:11, you are supposed to make a wish. So, I have tried making wishes. I have a good life so I know that I am blessed and whatever wishes I have made have came true in some way. Other people think that something really good is going to happen on today, which just happens to be (duh!) 11/11. Other people say that it is just coincidence, and nothing is going to happen.

I, being slightly pessimistic, have fully persuaded myself that something bad is going to happen today. I decided long ago that I was not going to go anywhere today, and I encouraged all my family and friends to do the same. But, that idea went out the window when my dad and brother decided to go on vacation to Guatemala. Hallie stayed the night at my moms, so she is away from me, and we really need to go to church. G.J. lets me sleep in on weekends (isn’t he so sweet) anyways; usually I wake up by 8:30/9:00. Today, I slept in and when I thought it was about time to be getting up, I glanced at the clock, it was 10:23 (you thought I was going to say 11:11! lol) The first thought that came to my mind was OH GREAT….today is 11/11, and I instantly felt sick inside.. I must have little faith.

So, after today, I will have to update if anything happened in any way. And then, I hope the curse of seeing those numbers will go away. If not, I will have every 11/11 to dread, especially the big date of 11/11/11, which is not so far away. So call me a weirdo, or tell me I need to be in a crazy house….lol. I know it seems like it. But, I hope me and my family and all my friends and people I care about have a wonderful, accident free day.

The day about my pets

After reading Tari's dog trauma today, I decided to write about my pets. I have had several, and although I am NOT a pet person. I decided to write about the great ones I have had.

My first recollection was my dog Mandy….I don’t think I have ever told you Mandy that I had a dog named that. She was the sweetest thing; I don’t even remember what breed. Anyways, when I was 5 or so, she had to be put down and I remember sitting at our front window watching my dad take her away and I just cried and cried.

So, we got another dog named Bucky. He was the best golden lab in the world. He would follow us kids everywhere around the neighborhood. I remember once I took him for a walk all alone, and our neighbor had 2 German Shepards. Well they came after me and good ol' bucky stood in the way and took care of them. They fought so bad and I cried and cried because I thought he was going to die. That was the just the beginning of him getting hurt. He got ran over 4 times…..but to make matters very interesting, it was by the SAME man. He was slightly blind and should NOT have had a driver’s license. Our poor dog had to have surgery after surgery to repair him from being run over. This same man also ran over my cousin’s cat right in front of my eyes. He finally got the best of Bucky, and he died. I remember they took him to the vet to try to save him, but he was gone. Me and my brother Kris prayed and prayed the whole time he was at the vet, but it didn’t do any good. I remember that was the first time I was mad at heavenly father. So, I colored him a headstone and I still know where it is today.

On my first day of kindergarten, my cat Ralph was born. He was a HUGE beautiful cat that was my best friend. He went through his 9 lives and then some. One of the worst times was when our other rotten neighbor caught him in a trap and let his hound dogs chase after him. My brothers were so mad and they snuck into this neighbor’s yard and rescued him. He had to have surgery, stitches, and had 3 toes bitten off. He stayed with me clear until I got married and then he stayed at my mom’s house. Hallie got to play with him even. Then his last day was a terribly tragic one. I was 9 months pregnant with Gavin and due any day. I got a phone call from my brother Kael and he was sobbing. That was rare for him. Well, he had accidentally ran over Ralph, killing him instantly. He was so sad, he wrapped him in the shirt he was wearing and buried him. I was hysterical with grief. I was so sad, and Hallie seen me crying and then she was crying, it was quite the scene. My parent’s were on vacation at the time and so we went up to console Kael. Well, to my horror, there was a HUGE blood stain on the driveway, and it was the middle of the winter and it was frozen there. I made G.J. pour bucket after bucket of hot water there until it was gone, it was a very traumatizing event.

I also had a dog Tucker. He was a Sharpe with all the wrinkles. He was such an idiot of a dog; I think he was a handicapped dog. Once we lost him up at Iron Springs. It took 3 days to find him. It was so sad. Then, the same damn neighbor who captured our cat beat him over the head with a shovel, requiring 200 stitches! No lie- My parents were too nice to be mad at him. They did mention it to him, and he said, “Oh, I didn’t know that was your dog.” Which was a lie. Anyways, he couldn’t see very well, and had to have a few eye surgeries. He also snorted so loud ALL the time and drooled a lot. His life came tragically to an end when I was about 16. We were living in trailers at the time because my parents were building their house. Kael again was the cause of death. He drove into the driveway and tucker didn’t see him and he didn’t see tucker. He ran him over and it was SO awful. Because he had so many wrinkles, he basically got skinned. To make matters even worse, he would not die, and was yelping and I was in hysterics and my mom was too. So poor Kael had to shoot him.

Kael had all sorts of animals that I did not call my own. We had sheep, hound dogs, horses, etc.etc.etc. When I got married, I decided because of the major drama I had experienced with pets as a child, we would NOT have pets. Well, I gave in and got Hallie a cat when she was 3. It was named Polly. It was a good cat. That is until it jumped over our 6 ft. vinyl fence and got tangled in some barb wire on the other side of the fence. Well, it roamed around and didn’t die on its own unfortunately. We found it and took it to the vet and it had a $200 surgery. Then it had to be spayed, and that is when it went crazy. It bit everything in sight, scratched, and hissed. My grandpa wanted to take it to kill the mice on his farm. So everything went nicely until it killed every single one of his prized chickens. So, that was the end of Polly. We will never have another cat, because after we had her, we found out Hallie was very allergic to cats anyways.

In September for Hallie’s birthday, I gave in yet again, and let G.J.’s mom and dad get her a dog. So now we have Dexter. He is so cute, but still a very naughty puppy biting and chewing and peeing and pooping all over the yard. We are going to take him to obedience school, and I hope that works. I like my kids to have pets because it is good for them. I just don’t want them to go through the pain that I did having to watch them die. So, I guess as long as it doesn’t get ran over, or put in a cage, or heaven knows what else, we will just enjoy him while we can.

The day of updates

I feel like I haven't really updated what is going on in our day to day life because I am so busy with all the other topics. Everything is going well, we are having our spurts of busy/boring all the time.
Our stake just split the wards all up and it is just crazy. We will be going to a new chapel clear in Naples....YUCK, but oh well, it is the ward and gospel and all that goods stuff that matters, right? Anyways, I am the visiting teaching coordinator, and I am currently in visiting teaching HELL right now trying to reorganize it all. I am also helping out with the Drill Team here and there. It is fun, makes me want to get into shape again. Which is why I also started up diet class again tonight. I took it a year ago for a total of 20 weeks, and I lost over 30 lbs. I ended in March, and since then, according to my weigh in tonight, I have only gained 5 lbs give or take....lol. So I am proud. My poor dad took it with me last time, and he lost 30 lbs too, and he came again tonight and he gained every pound plus some back. Other than that, I am just trying to keep up with these kids
G.J. is just trying to get adjusted at work. The poor guy comes home and has to help me every second. Our kids are just at very needy ages right now. I don't see an end in sight, and I want them to need us, but it sure gets exhausting sometimes.
Hallie is busy as ever at school. She is so darn smart it freaks me out a little. She is in 2 dance classes and is learning a lot. She is such a dramatic 7 year old and always has a drama type story to tell me about her friends or school. Her top 2 teeth are loose, so she may be asking for some two front teeth for Christmas.
Gavin has finally made a friend at preschool, named Carston. His best buddy is Quayd, and he came over to play today. Quayd jumped up on our Foosball table, and hurt his little "unit" if you know what I mean. We heard him crying and the next thing we knew, Gavin was running up stairs and he said, "I promise I didn't touch him!" This is a big accomplishment because Gavin has been a little violent fart and kinda has a tendency to beat up on kids and make them cry, and then he ends up crying because he is so embarrassed and sad he did it. He is making leaps and bounds in that area though, along with him improving every day at school
Kayler is finally starting to feel better I hope. He is so darn cute, and has a new super cheesy grin that he does and is still giving his mommy lots of loves, and I just soak up every bit of it that I can. He loves Dora and Spongebob still, and what is so funny is that there can be the smallest picture of either of those characters on a box, or TV, or anywhere and he stops in his tracks and says, "doa....spon-bob" He is so cute.
We are busy getting ready for my brother Kael's wedding on Dec. 7th. I cannot believe this day is ever happening. He is 30 years old and Finally found the perfect girl and I am so happy for them. Thanksgiving is also approaching fast. Christmas is already thrown into our faces, I can't believe the commercials already, and the stores are just wild. I was kind of getting annoyed with it all, because I think retailers are just trying to make money. Then I decided to be a nice girl and cherish every single day of the christmas'y like spirit. It is so fun. I was at the dollar store today, and it had a huge sign that said -50 days until Christmas- SO it will be here soon.
Life is good, we are grateful. Hope all is well for everyone who may read this. Have a good day!!

The days of sick kids

I’ve decided not to blog on weekends. My life isn’t interesting enough. What I chose today will be quite boring to most, but I’m having a pity party so I can do what I want to!

My kids get sick. A LOT. And I am so sick of them being sick I could scream. Last week we went through our ELEVENTH hospitalization. Kayler came down with some sort of stomach virus. He threw up at 2 p.m., and by 7 p.m. he couldn’t even hold his head up and he was in the hospital until Tuesday night.

Their illnesses have mainly been intestinal/dehydration. We have had a few croup/pneumonia types too. I am always baffled at how my kids get so sick. I am one of the cleanest people I know. I rarely take my kids into huge public places with lots of germs. I am the annoying mom that meets them off the school bus with a bottle of purel and sprays Lysol on all their stuff. I try so hard to feed them well, let them get rest, keep them clean, give vitamins, etc.etc.etc. Yet, they always seem to catch whatever is going around, and it seems to affect them much worse.

One Dr. suggested a disorder that they could have. It is called neutropenia. It basically means that a person gets sick much more often and much more severe than the average person. There are many forms of it, but he believes they have the kind that gets much better as they get older, and I agree. It seems that the older they get, the less they get sick, but it is the getting there that is hard. He was hesitant to write this disorder in their charts because it does not look good on their medical records. Even with that diagnosis, I still don’t have much comfort sometimes

I know that every person-man, woman, child, baby are going to get sick sometimes. It is just the way things go. I accept that totally. I also know that without a doubt, the small things that my kids have gone through are MUCH less severe than the millions of kids who suffer with life threatening diseases every second of their lives.

The reason I am such a big baby about all of this is because I hate how their being sick messes up my life, how selfish does that sound. I first off and foremost feel so sorry for their tiny little bodies when they just do not feel good. There is nothing worse than watching your sweet little angels suffer poking and prodding and tests and them being scared. Anyone who knows me well knows that I am an over organized anally obsessive person who likes things in order. When my kids get sick, it throws things out of whack so bad and it takes so long to get things back in order. Like it has been a week since Kayler was in the hospital last, and I feel like I am barely catching up. To make matters worse, the money that is spent on medical bills and medicines is just so hard to handle sometimes.

Along with all that, I also have to go through the embarrassment of people thinking I am a bad mom and actually let my kids get sick or even worse, want them to-there is nothing further from the truth. I would need to be in a nut house if I actually felt that way. I am so embarrassed every time they get sick or get put in the hospital and I rarely even tell anybody. I actually live in a constant state of fear that my kids will get sick. I find myself not wanting to go anywhere or do anything with anybody that would get them sick. I have to reassure myself that I can’t live in a bubble, and that everything will be ok. Faith and patience and endurance and long suffering are thing I definitely need help with.

So, I’m sorry to all who read this boring blog, I just needed to vent on this certain topic. And if you can find it in your hearts, please pray for health and strength for my family. I could use all the help I can get! Have a good day!

The day all about my Friends.

I’ve been excited to write this blog ever since I started the whole blogging thing about a week ago…lol. So, I grabbed me a candy bar from my kids Halloween stash, poured me a cherry coke over crushed ice, and here I sit, ready to write about my friends.

I tried to think of a way that I could write about every friend I’ve ever had, but I knew I would leave someone out. So what I decided to do was write about the friends I have had that have been the very closest to me throughout my life, and who remain close to me to this day. I will go in chronological order starting from my first friend, to my most recent additions!

My first friend arrived six weeks after I was born. She is also my cousin and her name is Heather. Our moms were best of friends and we did everything together, and I mean everything. We were in the same dance, stayed the night with each other, went to lunch all the time with our moms, we even got the same things for Christmas. I always thought Santa was so cool that he would buy me and my best friend the same things. Anyways, we have remained close all these years. Sometimes we went through weeks, even months without making contact because of our busy lives, but we always knew we were there for each other.

My next friend arrived in Kindergarten, and her name is Jessica. She was so much fun. I loved going to her house, because her mom let her cook top raman soup all by herself and I thought that was so cool. We have remained very close through the years, no matter how separate of paths each of our lives were taking. She shares my OCD disorder of being a clean, neat, organized freak, so that makes us even closer. She is always there to listen and I am always here to listen to her too.

My next friend was Nikki. She arrived in 5^th grade. We were destined to be friends. Our teacher placed our desks right next to each other on the first day of school, and the rest is history. We have gone through so much with each other. Our funnest times were the rebel years when we would sneak out to “hang out” with the neighborhood boys. We have had a very special bond all these years. We pray for each other, give advice, laugh, and most of all, and just feel comfort knowing that no matter what happens, we will always have each other as friends.

Throughout middle school and junior high, we had a little group that consisted of Me, Heather, Nikki, LaToya, and Steph. LaToya now lives in New Zealand, and I miss her so much. She is a very very strong girl and I admire her in so many ways. Steph is here in town. She is so pretty and nice and thoughtful. I don’t get to see her as often as I would like due to our busy lives. Both Steph and Toya’s houses were the hangout/party houses. We could always guarantee on the weekends to have a great time at either of their houses.

In 9^th grade, after I made Drill Team, my closest friend became Erin. She and I were inseparable, and boy did we have some crazy times driving around in her moms super old car we called the gray ghost. She had her license, but was afraid to drive, and I didn’t have mine but I still always drove. We only hung out with each other and we had so much fun. We always found a pair of boys to be our boyfriends. We would just have them around until we were sick of them, and then we would ditch them and move on. She is the one person who I can almost immediately know what she is thinking without her even telling me and vice/versa. She is moving into my ward within the next year or so, and I am very excited about that. Although we probably won’t have our crazy times like we used to, we can still have lots of fun.

After I got married and had Hallie, I lost contact with lots of my friends. It wasn’t that we didn’t like each other; it was just that we all led very different lives. I was married with a husband and house and baby, and they were all headed off to college. Those were some very lonely times for me. I had Gavin and moved out to where we live now and then came Mandy, who unbeknownst to her, became a lifesaver to me. We were in the YW pres. Together, and she was a happy-go-lucky kind a gal who was so crafty and talented, the type of girl who could add her special touch to any event and make it so much better. She invited me to hang out with her and her Bunco group and to get together and all sorts of stuff. I was so happy that I finally had friends again. She moved out of our ward and I was so worried that I wouldn’t have her anymore, but she stuck it out with me and we have remained close ever since. We had lots of late nights scrap booking, having nacho trips at 7-11, and just talking. We have become even closer over the past year or so too. She has went through a lot, and has allowed me to be her counselor. I love to lend a listening ear, and I am always here, and she has been very good to me as well. She is still very talented, a great cook, mother, wife, cook, aunt, daughter, daughter in law, sister, cousin, granddaughter, sister in law, niece, friend, and downright fun to be with because of her personality. Notice I put cook twice because she is very good at that and you all know how I love to eat.

Through meeting Mandy, I have had opportunities to meet all sorts of people, but one of my favorites is Janice. She is a Hoot! She is this nice Mormon gal, but has a wild streak in her; she loves to PARTY-not like the drunken kind, but always ready to have a good time. She is a marathon runner, something that blows my mind. I can’t even run half a block but she runs 26.2 miles, which is just amazing. About a year ago, she and I and Mandy decided that we were all a little fat…isn’t it amazing how having kids does that. So I took the leap first joining a diet class. Janice was always the first to compliment me and made me feel so good. She and Mandy joined shortly after, and as a group, I lost 30 lbs, I think Janice lost 40 or so, and Mandy lost close to 40 (?) so that is like 110 lbs total. We lost the total weight of what I used to weigh in high school! She is a very good wife to her husband and mother to her kids. She is very involved in her friend’s lives because all her family lives out of town and so she has the time to be very dedicated to all of us. One of the things that is great about Janice is that she isn’t afraid to make new friends. She has a keen eye for people who may be lonely or need a friend. She always invites them to stuff that we might be doing as a group and that is very good of her. I know that it makes a lot of those people so happy. That brings me to my next friend.

Holly is in Janice and Mandy’s ward, and they invited her to be in our little group, which is a huge deal because we are so awesome. Holly is famous because her mom and dad are in the Mormon Tabernacle Choir…lol. j/k but that is a huge deal. She is a great cook as well. I mention my friends being great cooks because I am terrible at it. She is very spiritual and her family has a wonderful set of values that we should all strive for. The great thing is that she still lets loose and has a wonderful time with us. When Janice, Mandy, Holly, and I get together and the mood is right, we can get a little out of hand with our jokes, laughing, stories, etc. She is a very thoughtful person, always giving so willingly of herself. Whenever I have been sick, or my kids, Holly is always there to bring me a wonderfully homemade meal, and that means so much to me. She is good to listen, offer advice, and help.

Just off the top of my head, I am going to name a few more of my close friends which I have had that I don’t talk to near as much as I would like to, and if they read my blog, please don’t feel sad that I didn’t dedicate a whole paragraph to you. I am only putting first names. They include: Dana, Jesenia, Lindsey, Raquel, Corinne, all my drill team friends, all my Bunco friends, card swap members, neighbors, church friends, and all others who have touched my life in some way. I love you all; truly I do and am grateful to have you. As I sat here thinking back on all the years, I have had so many good people to call my friends, I am so lucky and grateful, so thanks to all of you. Have a good day!

p.s. sorry, I don't have any pics of my friends. that is not very nice of me. I will someday though.

The day of Halloween

Our Halloween this year was great! I feel so bad that G.J. was out of town and had to miss it. It was a lot like the Halloween’s that I remember as a kid. I think that the time change being later this year, along with the weather being nice, it helped out a TON. My kids were so cute and excited.

I hate Halloween costume drama, but we still had a little this year. Hallie wanted to be a Chinese girl. So, my brother Kris brought her some Chinese outfit from New York. She wore it once and got it dirty, so I washed it. Well, it fell to shreds. G.J.’s mom worked all day on it getting it back together. By this time, I had borrowed a witch outfit from her cousin. So on Halloween, we decided to bag the Chinese idea, and just go with easy witch since I hadn’t bought anything else for her Chinese costume. I didn’t give Kayler or Gavin a choice this year, because it is just easier that way for now. Gavin was a dragon, and Kayler a lion and they were so warm and cute.

Our day was very nice and boring, just stayed home all day and relaxed. We then went and got some dinner at Wendy’s. Then we found the face painting lady, she does such a good job, and cheap too! The kids thought that was awesome. We then went to my Grandma Stewart’s, my mom’s trunk or treat at her ward, caught up with Grandma and Grandpa Searle, did my ward’s trunk or treat, my Grandma Bowthorpe’s, and finally home, washed up, and in bed by 8:30. It was nice and smooth and free of any problems except for one. As you can see in the pictures, Hallie and Gavin’s faces are completely green. Well, that paint came off ok, but left a definitely noticeable green hue on their faces. I scrubbed for 30 minutes last night and this morning. I had to send Hallie off to school this morning with a green face. But, she didn’t mind. I will work on Gavin’s a little more. Hallie said that next year she would be cat so she would only have to have her nose painted and some whiskers. Such a logical girl.

I think we are in for lots of days of sugar high’s. I brought their candy home and dumped it into my 40 cup Tupperware bowl. It completely filled it and then some. That is just sickening. Oh well, I need a treat or too here and there, or more like every time I pass the bowl! Hope you all had a happy Halloween, have a good day!