Merry Christmas

For the first time Christmas came too soon! We are still getting ready, I gave up on homemade treats yesterday and bought some stuff for neighbors and friends. It has been an eventful year. Jonathan has started getting an interesting take on life. Obviously he is old enough to act like a teen. We have watched his testimony grow and seen him begin to turn into a young man. Even with the attitude it is neat to watch. He is preparing for the priesthood and REALLY loves to help Jon serve in the ward. We recently won a snow blower at Jon's work party and he is excited to get to use it to help the neighbors. Joseph has also started coming into his own. It has been a roller coaster of a year with him, but we know his Heavenly Father has a plan. He has gotten really good at reading the scriptures and can make out almost every word. He also informed me today he wants to wear a suit every Sunday from now on because he "feels good" in it. He has always been a sharp dresser. It will be very expensive to keep him happy come High School. Who says boys aren't hard to dress? Josh is really a riot. He loves school and is very excited to be learning to read. He can sound out alot of 3-4 letter words and recently told me washing the walls makes him feel happy. No, you can't borrow him, I'm not done yet! He even helps Austin clean his room and get dressed (which Austin can do alone, but why go to all that trouble when you have a big brother to do it for you)? Austin is alot of fun. Still the smallest of all his friends he is developing a Napoleon complex. The funniest part is when Aaron (who is a week younger, by the way) holds him on his lap. You can not tell they are the same age. It's like a 5 year old holding a toddler. Cheryl and I got a kick out of that. He is always telling people he is 2 years older than he is and argues with them when they don't believe him. He is also learning to read, he can sound out 2-3 letter words and gets really excited. Josh just glares at him because it is his newest skill too. Many people have asked us what the deal is with the house. We are moving in May/June. We want to finish the school year out in case we do not stay in the school district, so we have until June 15. We do not know where we are going yet, only that we need at least 1 more bedroom because Jonathan and Joseph are driving us nuts and neither of them can share with Josh, either. Everyone wants to share with Austin. Also, we are looking in to Foster Care and intend to adopt an older sibling group (2-3 kids over 4), maybe for Christmas nest year. There is a brother and sister, 8 and 9 we are interested in and the kids are excited at the prospect of kids to grow up with. We thought it would be better to raise them all together as siblings instead of after our own kids. We will see what happens. Since we don't make girls we'll have to go get some.

Next year looks to be pretty promising so far and we look forward to sharing it with all of our friends and family. Have a wonderful Christmas!

Friends

I am so thankful to have so many good friends. Before we moved here I only had 1, my RS Pres. I miss her tons, but have been so blessed. Granted there were icky things going on and I felt I had to isolate our family, but it was very lonely. I remember crying and praying things would be different once we got here, and could not imagine actually having one friend let alone many. While I can be a little obnoxious sometimes, they stick by and just let it pass. Life is so much richer and so much fuller when we have friends to share it with. I never thought I would feel part of anything again. We all probably feel like outsides in our own lives sometimes, but thankfully that passes, too. In 2 months my oldest friend and I will celebrate our 20 year anniversary. So awesome. It would be so great to keep you all that long. Even better, each of the boys has at least a few good friends. They have tried so hard to be good friends and bond with kids in their school and church classes and have been pretty successful. It is such a blessing to see them fitting in for the most part in spite of their individual struggles. It doesn't seem worth it sometimes, but things straighten out and turn out well. Thanks to those of you who share your boys (and Kylie) with mine.

School Performance

Today I am thankful for school performances. It is so cute to watch your kids and how they respond to your face in the crowd. We have very animated children, but if you put them in front of a bunch of people and give them a line, they actually sit still. Thank goodness for that. Joseph had his Thanksgiving performance last week and it was the first time he has been able to function in an environment like that at school. He is such a sweet and tender spirit. We love him so much. Joshua has his in a few minutes and I am sure it will be absolutely adorable. I wonder if he will sing his lines this time? I am also thankful for video cameras. Every Mom needs a good amount of blackmail video. It makes wedding receptions so much more fun! We really are lucky to live somewhere that prizes culture and the arts.

Cards for Heroes

My aunt sent me this and thought I would pass it on. My cousin was injured (not war related, but over there) and had to come home, so our family will all be together this year, but so many won't be able to be home, a few will never come home. For these men and women I am thankful. Their sacrifice and service and especially examples are so important to our family. Please consider sending a Christmas or Hanukkah card to one of our soldiers this year. If we pass this on and everyone sends one card, think of how many cards these wonderful special people who have sacrificed so much would get.

A Great Idea!!!

When you are making out your Christmas (or other holiday) card list this year, please include the following:

A Recovering American Soldier
c/o Walter Reed Army Medical Center
6900 Georgia Avenue, NW
Washington , D.C. 20307-5001

It's still free

I am so thankful to live in a free country. It is such a blessing to be able to go to church, get an education and chose where you live. We have so many freedoms given to us. It is a little scary how many others want to take away in the name of civil liberty, but if we keep up the fight and keep praying, maybe in the process of civil liberty we will not lose all of our religious freedoms. I know it is the last days, but that does not seem to make it less frightening. So I am thankful that, for know, we are allowed to worship as we see fit, teach our children as our own conscience dictates, bare arms to protect our families from those who would do it with or without permission, and chose freedom and life over captivity and death. Please remember to pray that our freedoms will be protected.

Sweet Voices

The Ward primary program was this weekend and it was awesome. The boys all remembered their lines and delivered them clearly. Josh, our little soloist, even sang his. Just imagine his cute lisp sung perfectly on key: "I am a chiod of God and He has a pwan for me!" Tears. Then Joseph "If the Savior stood beside me, I would ask him to tell me how special I am." Any guesses on his love language since he got to fill in the blank? More tears. It really makes it easier to know what to say to him, I'll tell you that. Jonathan, who was assigned the line, but totally lives it: "I help to bless others when I share the gospel." So sincere. Tears. His good friend, who actually came Sunday again because of Jonathan's invites, showed up 10 minutes before church a month ago, all decked out, tie and all and says to me: "Jonathan said I could come to church with you today." YAH! Needless to say I have a little to learn. He has $27 saved for his mission. Stud. More tears. Totally stoked. Austin, not to be left out made up his own line he has been practicing with his brothers all week. He also sings his, then hides his face, embarrassed: "I love to see the Temple." More tears. I love these guys!

Locked and Loaded

This weekend was awesome! And may reveal just a little too much about my take on things, but that's ok. Friday we doubled to the shooting range. Poor "orange man" as Jess calls him. There were 2 for me, one took various wounds in many places, not all of them pleasant, but he will never taunt me again. #2 only took 20, ten to the head (ok, 9, I missed one) and 10 in the gut. Ok, only 9 there, too, but whose counting? I'd say he'll survive, but let's not kid ourselves. Bad guys beware, and forget the dog! It is amazing how little anger and frustration is left after 100 rounds. Who wants to go next month?

Thankful Post

My friend Marlies has a month long gratitude post on her site, and I like the idea so much we are going to have one. Tell us what you are thankful for by clicking on "comments" and leaving your feedback.
Monday Nov, 17 I am nowhere near as good at this as Marlies, and I am thankful no one has mentioned it. I am also thankful my Grandpa is ok. He is the last one I have left and has been sick, but he is doing ok now and we hope he will continue to get better and be with us for a long time. Medical advances are so amazing and we are so blessed to live in this country where we have access to them. Because of modern medicine my brother has 20+ years on him instead of "a few." I am so grateful for the man whose death brought my brother and a 9 year old girl kidneys, a 68 year old grandpa of 22 a heart, and someone else new eyes. A family mourned greatly that day, but at 2:00 am, 4 more cried together for what we had received. You can never be thankful enough for another day to live and love. I thank God every morning for another day to love and hear the voices of my boys and sweet husband. I thank him every night we had family prayer together again and I was able to kiss them all goodnight with the hope of tomorrow. I know too many who have lost a child's laughter and life way too soon. Please kiss your babies every day and love the tough ones, no matter how hard it may be in that moment. It could be your last. Someone once told me that the harder they are to love, the more they need it. And for those I love who have lost or been lost, I am thankful that families are forever and the moments when the veil parts just enough that we get a glimpse of what we need most in the painful hours. I love you guys.
Wednesday Nov, 12 I am thankful for friends who give me produce from their own yards to turn into food storage. Yesterday I learned to make apple sauce. Yum! The boys were very impressed and Jonathan is thankful I did not make him drink apple juice. (He'd eat 5 apples a day, but won't touch apple juice that is not from the store) I am also thankful for the Stake classes that I have learned so much from. Most of all, today I am thankful that someone challenged me yesterday to quit projecting hard stuff from the past into the future, and then getting stressed out about it. We will see how it goes, but if I can be better about not letting the past freak me out about the future, Today will be so much easier to deal with. He also said we all need to develop a passion for being wrong as most of us are wrong about what others think, their intentions, and what is going to happen almost 100% of the time, so getting used to it will really help. Because of this I am so thankful for repentance and forgiveness and hope to become better at both. Thank you for being my friend.
Monday, Nov 10 Today I am thankful for the Atonement and what it means for my family. I am thankful for some really difficult life experiences that have made me who I am, and help me understand circumstances alot of people only read about. Some of them were painful, some are more painful now, looking back, than they were at the time, and I am thankful I understand why. I am thankful our boys do not know what it is to go hungry or wonder if you will have someplace to come home to after school. I am thankful for a 4 person camping trailer and horse field that kept us off the streets, and that my mom did her best to make sure we always had something to eat. And for music. Sometimes it is the only thing that makes any sense.
Friday, Nov 7 Today I am thankful for sleep. I wish I could get more, but am so thankful for what I do get. I am also thankful for Eleventh Hour, which probably has something to do with needing more sleep...:) I am also thankful for adoption because hopefully someday I can have a little girl. Jonathan is thankful his brothers play with him, Joseph is thankful for our pets Maggie (cat) and Buddy (gecko), Joshua is thankful for his stuffed animals to cuddle, and Austin is thankful for "Aubwee and Sam and Aawon" (Aubrey, Sam and Aaron. Jon is thankful for (and I quote) "My beautiful wife and my awesome kids."
Thurs, Nov 6 Today I went on a field trip with Jonathan's class to the State Capital. It was really neat. If you have not been, I totally recommend it. There is so much marble there that at one point we wondered if there was anything else involved in construction. Today I am thankful for a Democratic Government (especially the Republican part of it). I am a little nervous about a few things, but thankful, nonetheless. I am also thankful that I know God will protect my family and prepare us for what lies ahead if we are willing to listen to the council of his Prophets and our local leaders. If things get really scary, we will still be together forever because of the priesthood power found in His Temples. If you have not yet received these blessings yourself, I encourage you to look into it. There is such peace in knowing whatever man throws at us, God has it covered. May we all be strong in the face of what lies ahead and never faulter in our faith, but instead be as Job, never forgetting "God giveth and God taketh away" and still love Him.
Wednesday November 5:I am thankful for a free country where we are allowed to voice our opinions and fight to protect our rights and freedoms. I am also thankful for the men and women who serve us and this country. Joseph is thankful for his Mom and Dad and little brothers. (guess after a fist fight big brothers don't make the cut :) Jonathan is thankful for the family, even Joseph. Joshua is thankful for Thomas and Sam. Austin is thankful for Aubrey. I am also thankful that all of my children listed people as what they are thankful for without even having to think about it. It just proves how little "stuff" really matters, even to kids.

Congratulations Senator Obama

Congratulations to our newest President-elect, Barak Obama. We did not vote for him, but plan to support him. Long before last night we believed God's will would be done. It is a wonderful day for those who truly feel all men are created equal, and I bet MLK Jr. was dancing in the clouds last night with Rosa Parks. Even though there are many things he wants to do we do not agree with, he is now our President-elect, and as citizens of the United States of America, we will pray for him, as we did for President Bush. Aren't those girls cute? God Bless the U.S.A.

Happy Halloween!!

Here are our little goblins. Jonathan was Captain Rex, the main Storm Trooper Captain in the Clone Wars, Josh was Batman and now things he is Bruce Wayne. Austin wanted to be "a widdow pink piggy" and it was so cute to hear him say it, I gave in and made him a costume. Joseph is Charizard, a fire Pokemon. We had tons of fun trick or treating and TOTALLY made out in the sugar arena! The weather was awesome, no jackets required. We hope your Halloween was just as fun!

Fall Fell

This was just before our first family leaf fight. If you have never been involved in a leaf fight, we highly recommend it. Just wear turtle necks, it would be much less itchy. You would not believe the places we found leaves hours later.

I read it!!!

Ok, to all of you who have been telling me to read the Twilight series: I did! It was so awesome. 4 books in 3 weeks and I think obsession fits the feeling. WOW! And to think I was rooting for Jacob the whole time. Poor kid, he isn't even a real werewolf? That just ain't right. Was anyone else floored by the whole Jacob-Renesme thing? Unreal. Who wants to go to the movie? I may not have gotten to audition, but I'd like to see if "Edward's" lack of hotness can be made up for in acting skills. James is hotter than Edward? Sheesh!

School

Yeah!!! School started! Boys LOVE their teachers, first 2 days went well. Josh starts next Monday so it will be just Austin and I. Speaking of Austy, his nose is healing nicely, there is a funky scar on the end of his nose, but at least he didn't hit an artery. Ah, small miracles. The gnarly scab that was closing off the whole nostril washed away in the bath last night. Good thing, it was gross.

Back to school, is every one else as excited as me? We enjoyed summer, don't get me wrong, but silence is golden! Hope the first few days went well for ya'll, too.

Butter Knife "Meats" Schnoz

You will NEVER believe what happened this morning! Austin took a butter knife up the nose. Yeah, the 911 operator had me repeat myself, too. Butter knife up the nose. I bumped him, he slipped, the dishwasher was opened, he fell over the silverware tray and started gushing and screaming. Apparently there is ALOT of blood coursing through a nasal cavity at the same time and it is always looking for a good escape cause it poured. (Thus the ambulance and police cars, I thought he was dying) Jon didn't even argue when I dialed 911. 3 hours later we have mostly recovered. Doc says he will be fine, cosmetic damage on the opening (his little nose had to make room for that big 'ole butter knife blade) and a hefty laceration up the schnoz that should heal up with out any more occurrence in the next 2 weeks. Side note: expect bloody boogies for a good 10 days. Who knew? The morals of the story (yes, there is more than one): Turn even butter knives upside down and do not rush past the mini 3 year old standing at the dishwasher helping unload. Bad news all the way around. You want pictures you say? No you don't, trust me. It is so sad: his perfect little nose is so tragic all swollen and cut up. 3 lacerations form one knife. There is a funny part: his forehead has a 4 dent indentation from fork tines. You have to smile at that. Watch for us on the talk show circuit as Austin takes his claim to fame very seriously.

Great, I ignore Marliese for a few weeks and she gets obnoxious and tags me! Now I have to tell you some stuff about me, lucky you! ok, here goes:

3 Joys: I have 4, they are all boys. I really like boys!
3 Fears: drowning, suffocating, losing one of my boys
3 Obsessions: learning, chocolate and Barrymore/Sandler movies
3 Surprising facts: Cheryl's pregnant (haha!), I won't swim in water over 5 feet deep, I wanted 7 kids when I got married!

All VERY interesting, I know. I'm going to go make brownies now!

Made Changes!

I added a few things to answer some questions about our faith, feel free to browse. Also, if you have more questions visit one of these if you don't want to ask me :) http://lds.org or http://www.mormon.org

Maggie's Babies

Maggie's babies are 8 days old today. She has 3 boys and 2 girls, the white ones are not albino like we though, but have blue eyes and are starting to look Siamese (mix, of course). They meow alot and have started wiggling out of their bed. Naughty kittens! They are so fun and adorable. Both white kittens have a home, there are 2 boys and one girl (the girl is solid black) still in need of homes. Let us know if you want one.

OOWW! Austin bit me! And that really hurt Austin!!!

MMMM...Mallows!

He didn't even drop any of these in the fire...er smoldering ash. He did freak out when they caught on fire as Dad pumped in some "fire water," though. It was funny. GO JOSH!

Aren't we cute!?!

This is at a family reunion in June, we had Tons of fun at Wheeler farm. Joseph was sad he didn't get to milk a cow, but we'll try again soon. Everyone needs goals!

Welcome!

Welcome to the Crooked Circus!!! It's a 6 ring, so watch out! Stuff's a flyin'!!