Neiswender

Once upon a magical Father's Day morning

2010-06-20T11:17:00.000-06:00

As I looked out the double french doors at my two oldest children I couldn't help but smile. It was one of those oh so elusive "maybe I am doing something right" moments. There they sat on a beautiful Father's day Sunday shucking corn. They did not argue about the task I had assigned. They did not grumble or groan. They sat across from each other smiling and laughing together as they worked. As I noticed the happenings just outside my window I hesitated to acknowledge what I was actually witnessing for fear that it would vanish just as quickly as it had appeared. But I couldn't pass up this opportunity to document this occasion. If only for myself; for in the future I may need a reminder that there was at least one time when I felt like a successful mother. So camera in hand I snuck towards the doors to snap a few shots. Then got braver and stepped outside to get a few more. I feared the spell would break as soon as the door cracked open. But somehow something truly magical was afoot just outside my door. They smiled and told me how much fun they were having and asked if there was more corn to be shucked. Saddened that they had nearly completed the job to it's fullest they quickly perked and returned to last of their duty. I then reminded them that they needed to pick up the husks that had dropped around the garbage can thinking surly this would cause the murmurings I had so desperately hoped would not return. Again smiles and compliance. Then without being asked they brought the bowl of shucked corn inside and took the full sack of corn husks out to the garbage. Then just for good measure they grabbed the recycling that needed to go out as well.

Happy Father's Day Ben! This is why we do what we do.

Sweet home...

2010-04-08T16:51:00.000-06:00

Wouldn't it be great if Alabama was one of our options so I could end that phrase the way it is meant to be said.

Oh well I guess one state in the deep south is as good as another; right?

We are going to Georgia. I know it is a big shocker, but I will say there were a few days there when I thought Ben was going to do a 180 on me and decide on Michigan.

That would have made the t-shirts we bought for everyone in Georgia useless.

It is so nice to have an official decision. Now the really fun part begins, selling our house and moving across the country. So if you know anyone that wants to by a house in Sandy I know where you can get a really nice one:)

Raising Arizona

2010-04-05T23:42:00.001-06:00

So we got home from Georgia last Tuesday night then promptly headed out to Arizona Wednesday night. I think I am beginning to understand the meaning of whirlwind...and we have only just begun. (Did I mention that we are going to Oregon in 2 weeks for one brother's wedding reception and another brother's baby blessing. Yep we love 12 hour drives so much we want to do it again and again.) Anyway we took the kids with us to Arizona for a couple of reasons. First it was Easter weekend and it just didn't seem right to leave them on a holiday, second we were driving so we didn't have much of an excuse not to take them with us and third we couldn't ask Ben's parents to take the kids again after just having them for 5 days and we couldn't ask my parents because they aren't close enough for impromptu babysitting...although if we had asked I know that our parents would have gladly watched the kids. This trip to Arizona was on again off again for about 3 days. We loved Georgia and thought that going to Arizona was a bit pointless, but felt like we needed to give them a chance, Ben's co-workers all thought that he needed to see all of the programs before he made a decision so even though when Ben left for work Wednesday morning the trip was off by the time he got back home it was back on. So why not get a head start we thought. We packed up the kids and headed out around 9 o'clock that night. We hoped they would sleep through most of the drive and that we would be able to get a good start on the driving. Oh how wrong we were. We left as a storm was starting but thought that we would get through it quickly. Wrong. We must have been in the middle of the storm and it was with us all night. The kids did sleep for awhile. The drive was really scary. At one point we almost got in an accident. You know one of those "thank goodness we said a prayer before we left" type situation. We should have been in an accident. We decided to stop so we could get off of the road even though we hadn't gotten as far as we had hoped. We stopped in a little town with 2 hotels, one was full and the other had one room left but it was $80 and it had a broken T.V. so we decided to go to the next town which we thought was just a few mile down the road. Wrong again. We were on the road for another hour at least and the roads only seemed to get worse. Then the best part...Van started throwing up. Not just a little a lot. We couldn't stop because the roads were too bad and even if we did there was nothing we could do in the middle of no where. Of course at this point the other two kids had woken up so all three kids were wide awake. I have to say the kids were really good through all of this. I think they could sense how stressful the situation was. So on we drove hoping to get some where, any where soon. Around 2:00 in the morning we ended up in Pangutich Utah and stopped at a crappy hotel for the night. We got Van cleaned up in the shower because of course there was no tub. And cleaned up everything else the best we could in the little tiny bathroom sink. At this point we are tired and very frustrated. So as we climb in bed for the night Lillie says "I think we need to say a family prayer, because I think we are all pretty frustrated." Sweet Lillie. So we did and then went to sleep hoping to put the events of them past few hours behind us. The next day was just more driving. Until Joseph threw up on the floor of a convenient store bathroom. Not very convenient. Poor Ben had to clean it up. Finally we got to Arizona. The next day Ben met with faculty and got a better feel for the program. While Ben was at the school the kids and I went to the Phoenix zoo which was huge. I think in the three hours we were there we only saw about half of it. Once Ben got back to the hotel we decided to cut our trip short and just head home. We wanted to sleep in our own bed and be done traveling for awhile. So just one day after arriving in Arizona we headed home. After a long drive and a quick stop at the Grand Canyon we got home late the next night. So now that we have seen all of the schools you may be wondering what is our decision. Well we have made a decision but we aren't ready to announce anything yet. I think we need a couple days to let everything settle and make sure we still fell good about it. But we will let everyone know soon. I know you are all so anxious to hear, so we will try not to prolong the suspense for too long.

First things first...

2010-03-29T15:55:00.000-06:00

So before I give another Georgia report I want to share a picture with you that I took before we left Utah...this is what happens when you try to take a shower leaving a 3 year old to take care of himself...

Yes that is in fact a potty seat. And yes he was very much stuck! He was pretty upset when I got out of the shower. I asked him if I could take his picture before I helped him out of his predicament. At this point the tears stopped and he smiled and said "Yeah!" Come on you know you are all glad I grabbed the camera this is too classic and oh so Van!!!

Ok now onto the next Georgia report...

We met with a realtor yesterday. Over all it was good. We were hoping to see some amazing deals, although the housing market is more affordable here than it is in Utah we are not going to be getting a amazing deal. We did find quite a few houses that were newer and that would work well for our family. We also saw some not so great houses. But we saw enough good ones that we feel confident that if we move out here housing wont be too difficult to figure out. Ben is meeting with faculty and students from the program today so check his blog for the details about that.

Georgia on my mind

2010-03-27T20:58:00.000-06:00

So we got to Georgia last night. We flew into Atlanta then rented a car to drive the rest of the way to Athens which is about an hour and a half away. From the time we pulled into town I loved it!! It is so cute and quaint. It has such a small town college-y feel. It has a lot of the stores that we are used to having, those that are noteworthy include, Walmart, Target, TJmaxx, Hobby Lobby and Payless. There are also some that we are not used to like Publix, Piggly wiggley, Kroger and a bunch of others. So it is a good mix familiar and new. There are trees EVERYWHERE, which I love but Ben is still getting used to. The trees remind me of Oregon. Especially the ones that are in full white bloom. They are not exactly like the pear trees in Oregon but similar and very beautiful. I wish I had made room for my camera. But all we brought was the crappy point and shoot. So sorry no awesome pictures for you. We are meeting with a realtor tomorrow to get a feel for the housing market. I can honestly say I can see us living here. Arizona and Michigan have a lot to live up to and it is going to be tough for either of them to out do Georgia.

Just a side note: although I hate to admit it a GPS is awesome and totally worth having. When Ben brought up the idea I thought he was just trying to get a new toy out of this trip, which lets be honest he probably was. But it has been soooo nice to have and because we have it I was able to venture out on my own today while Ben was at his conference.

That is my report so far on Georgia. I will write more after we talk to the Realtor and see some houses.

And then there were three

2010-03-18T11:45:00.000-06:00

It's official. Ben has been accepted to all 3 schools he applied to; ASU, GUA, and MSU. So now comes a whirlwind of trips and lots and lots of decisions. This is all on top of our already hectic and crazy lives. So this should be an interesting couple of weeks for us. Wish us luck!!

Finally!!

2010-03-16T11:36:00.001-06:00

We finally heard from ASU! Ben has been accepted, Yay. For those of you keeping track he has been accepted to Arizona State University and Michigan State University and we are still waiting to hear from University of Georgia (of course my first choice is taking their sweet time). Looks like we can start planning visits and making decisions. This is an exciting and scary time, but we are all excited for the adventure which surely lies ahead. If you would like to add your 2 cents about where we should go visit Ben's ~~nerd blog~~ professional blog to vote. It is not the first entry so scroll down a bit.

I know that for some of you it is hard to think about us leaving (that sounded totally self centered, sorry not my intention). I only know this because you have told me. Anyway, we really appreciate your love and support despite this being difficult. Some of you hoped (myself included) that this would all blow over. That in the end we would stay right here, but I can assure the chances of that happening are dwindling daily. This is happening and I am happy we can start making decisions instead of being in limbo. And I really am getting excited about the adventure our little family is about to take.

This is what made me laugh till I cried today

2010-03-11T18:51:00.001-07:00

Joseph (to Lillie): Spell pizza
Lillie: p-l-a-z-z-y
Me: audible laughter
Joseph: audible laughter
Joseph: No spell pizza
Lillie laughing: p-l-a-z-z-y
Me and Joseph: hysterical laughter
Me between sobs and tears: Lillie there is no l and no a in pizza
Joseph (puzzled): Mom there is an a
Me: realization
All of us: more laughter and tears

Just when you think being a mom is the hardest job in the world someone spells pizza with a y and and someone else forgets the a. Thank goodness motherhood is sprinkled with hysterical belly laughs! Because the hardest jobs are always the ones most worth doing.

Missing

2010-02-12T14:46:00.000-07:00

...my motivation! Have you seen it? It's about yea high, weighs 100 lbs or so. Typically hangs out with guilt and sometimes ambition. Ambitions seems to be MIA as well so they are probably somewhere together. Guilt however is still here and has for whatever reason taken on a bigger role with motivation and ambition on leave. Anyway if you see them let them know I am not happy here by myself with guilt...we are not compatible left on our own.

Here's your (NEW) sign

2010-01-27T12:58:00.000-07:00

I told Ben recently that he needs to wear a sign that says "WE DON"T KNOW ANYTHING YET!" Referring of course to our pending move and total life style change due to Ben going back to school to get his Phd. We get asked a lot what is going on and up until now have had to say "nothing, we are still waiting to hear from the schools." But we finally have a little something to share.

Yesterday, Ben got a phone call from Michigan State telling him that they want to send him an acceptance letter but that they needed a few more things from him. You know little things like his GRE scores, transcripts from BYU and WGU and 2 more letters of recommendation. Either Michigan State is really interested in Ben or they will accept anyone...even if your application is severely short on the necessary materials. I am pretty sure it is the first, since he was one of only 8 applicants that were flown out, on the schools buck, to visit the school and see the program first hand. It's nice to be loved!

He also received an email from University of Georgia wanting to schedule a phone interview. I guess that means he made the 'first cut' in Georgia.

So I guess what this really means is that this is starting to feel real. Things are starting to happen and we will have some big and interesting decisions to make very soon.

Even though I joked about the sign...because we really were getting asked a lot. We feel very loved and supported through this transition. Thanks to all of you who care and are interested in our decision and our future. We will definately keep you updated as we know more details!

Goings on

2010-01-21T09:48:00.000-07:00

I thought after Christmas things were supposed to slow down...well life has not gotten the memo! We are super busy so I thought I better do a post and hit a few of the highlights.

Our resident smarty pants was recently invited to participate in the school geography bee. I didn't even know such a thing existed. But it does. Joseph was one of 2 from his class who were invited. There were 2 kids from each class in 4th, 5th and 6th grades. There were about 18 kids total. Joseph made the first cut and tied for 4th place. It was so great to see him up there and being oh so proud of himself. Situations like this always make me a bit nervous, because you never know if he is going to handle the competition aspect well and if he will remember appropriate microphone etiquette. He was great. After he was out he came and sat by us in the audience then proceeded to whisper the right answers for most of the last questions. Go figure. He was so excited and his class was so excited for him it was a great day for him. I love seeing my kids grow into themselves.

In other news we have recently re-surfaced our master bathroom. If you want to see pictures you are going to have to visit my craft blog...because why post it twice when I can just give you a link, right?

Well I am off to catch up on a million things...ok I am off to close the gap between where I actually am and being caught up, I am pretty sure I will be forever "catching up" A girl can dream though!

I'm back

2010-01-06T11:49:00.000-07:00

I know you all terribly missed my ramblings about my life, so who am I to disappoint. We had a fabulous Christmas break. We went to my sister-in-law's cabin for Christmas and it was so fun. We ate (waaay to much), played games, had a pool and ping pong tournament, went sledding and just generally had a great time. (Just a side note on the pool tourney, Haley beat Sam and I beat Ben so it was totally awesome! Yes I just said totally awesome) At some point in the week all of Ben's siblings and their families were there except James and Lauren who we missed! It was stressful getting everything ready to go and the weather was pretty rough on the way but once we were there I was so glad we went. The kids were well behaved and had a great time too. Even our homebody Joseph who was pretty sure he would hate it loved it. He didn't complain once about being there. After we got back form the cabin Ben had the whole next week off. It was so great to spend time doing what ever we wanted. This week has been a little rocky getting everyone back on a schedule. Mostly the mornings, remind me again why school has to start so dang early. But it is always nice to get back on track. You may notice an obvious void of pictures. In our rush to get to the cabin I forgot my camera. I am like the worst photographer ever. I always forget it. So no pics to share, sorry.

I hope you all had a fabulous Christmas vacation too, and that you are adjusting to the torture of getting up early again.

Happy Birthday Joseph!!

2009-12-07T20:37:00.004-07:00

If turning thirty this year didn't make me feel old then Joseph turning ten certainly did the trick. Last Tuesday was Joseph's birthday. We had a family party and key lime pie in lieu of cake and ice cream.(I have pictures of this party, but can't find the camera...I think Ben took it on his trip, insert eye roll)

On Friday night Joseph had his first friend party. This is a pretty big deal, he tends to be a bit of a loner so we were excited he actually wanted to have friends over. He had two friends over to watch a movie in our theater room and have movie treats. Joseph had fun and I survived. So all-in-all I would say it was a success.

Happy Birthday Joe! We love you and all your corkiness.

Thoughts on Christmas

2009-11-16T12:56:00.003-07:00

Every year around this time I start to ponder Christmas. The gifts, the meaning and the legacy and traditions I want my little family to remember. It seems every year I decide to make it a homemade Christmas. I get excited at the lessons I will be teaching my kids. Things like Christmas being about the birth of our Savior and that giving is what brings us joy during this wonderful season. But somewhere along the way I get caught up in the commercialism of it all, and my visions of a homemade meaningful Christmas become lost in the search for store bought gifts. I think as a mother I want to give my kids what ever I can. I don't want to disappoint them, and somehow I give into the mind set that giving them what they want for Christmas will show them just how much I love them. This is of course all subconscious. Typing it out makes it sound beyond ridiculous. But it happens just the same.

I don't know that this post has a point other than I have been thinking about how I can change the focus in our home at Christmas time. We talk to our kids about the true meaning of Christmas and we read the story of the Savior's birth in Luke each Christmas morning, but is this enough? Are we showing them the true meaning?

I hope that this year we can show them and not just tell them. Weather or not this is accomplished by a homemade Christmas or not, I am not sure...but that seems as good a place as any to start.

How about you? How have you kept the focus in your home on the Savior and on giving rather than the latest must have toy?

My new project

2009-11-04T19:47:00.004-07:00

I have been feeling like I needed a new project. Because 1 husband, 3 kids house and up coming holiday's aren't enough project for me. Anyway I said to myself "self, what should I do that I would enjoy and that I can share with others?" So I decided to combine two of my favorite things writing and being creative. So Love thy neighbor's crafts was born. It's my take on a craft blog and I think it has a fun new twist. So if you are so inclined please check it out and if you like it pass it on and grab a button!

oh and not that my feelings are hurt or anything but did you see my adorable kids in their Halloween costumes in my last post? Yeah I thought so, so where's the love...not a single comment? I expect better form you...I forgive you this time:)

Halloween Happenings

2009-11-02T11:30:00.004-07:00

Halloween was low key for us this year. I love fall and Halloween and like to go all out, but this year it just wasn't happenin'. So here are a few pics from our very predictable Halloween.

First we carved pumpkins...the night before Halloween. Most years Ben is lucky if I agree to wait until the week before.

Yes he is holding a pumpkin carving knife...don't judge. Have you met this kid there was no way in heck he was going to sit idly by while I carved it for him. I was supervising though.

If you look closely you can see Joseph is wearing his Christmas jammies from last year...just a bit of holiday confusion.

Such concentration; I am glad someone is finally taking this holiday serious! I needed an ally.

Cute little pumpkins all in a row

On Halloween we did the usual grandparent rounds followed by trick-or-treating in our neighborhood...here is our adorable and scary crew.

I love this picture!

What can I say he is who he is.

Is it just me or is she looking a bit too grown up?

Around the world in 9 days

2009-10-28T22:10:00.004-06:00

...ok so technically we didn't go all the way around the world but pretty close. And after 2 24 hour travel days which each included a 12 hour flight plus four more hours of flights it feels like we went around the world. So without further ado here is the much anticipated "China blog"

We stayed in a very nice hotel that sat right next to the main tourist area of Shanghai called Nanjing road. It was a very long street full of shops, malls, restaurants and lots and lots of people. So lets start with the people. The people are not what I expected. I was expecting a very formal and possibly overly courteous people. I was quite mistaken. It was quite informal and apparently living in a city of 13 million makes you, how do I say this nicely, fend for yourself with little regard for others. That is not to say that people weren't friendly. One on one and in small groups we met some very nice people but in large groups it is defiantly an out for oneself situation. For example we did a lot of walking and shopping. No one opened doors for another, moved to the side to let some one pass or any other basic courtesy one comes to expect in a social situation. They have very little regard for personal space. Now I know I tend to need a bit more personal space than most, but this wasn't just me being too sensitive. They really do get really close when they are talking to you or are in an elevator with you. It was quite uncomfortable at times. I admit I thought about pushing someone a time or two...but I refrained.

There are no smoking laws in China. They are still allowed to smoke wherever they would like. So that was a bit of a culture shock. Especially since it seemed like every man in china smokes. No so great on the ol' asthma.

The thing that sticks out the most as far as differences however is their driving. Street lights and lanes are treated more like suggestions than actual laws. You feel like you are taking your life in your hands each time you crossed a street or rode in a cab. Drivers honk and swerve and maneuver until they get where they need to be. I am amazed we didn't see a major accident while we were there. We did see one minor accident and a scooter incident that was quite humorous. Which brings me to my next observation there are just as many if not more bikes and motorized scooters as there are cars. You would see women in dresses riding a bike or a scooter. Couples, friends, kids and even dogs rode on scooters or bikes. It was a very interesting sight. I think we talked more about the traffic and the scooter/bike/car situation more than anything else while we were there.

Some of the smells were awful. I just leave it at that.

People would just spit or maybe more appropriately "hock a loogie" in the middle of the street or side walk where ever they happened to be. It was a bit disturbing to see old women do this. I guess because the air is so polluted this is not considered rude...pollution or no I still thought it was nasty.

Almost every time you saw a pair of women walking together, which was often, they had their arms linked or were holding hands. Again with the personal space infringement.

This brings me to fashion, how I am not sure but just go with it. The men were, well, men and mostly dressed like any man you know...predictable. Not so with the women. They had a fairly American based fashion but with their own twist. For the most part I really liked what I saw. There was very little jeans and a t-shirt sort of outfits. Which made me feel under dressed most days since jeans and a t-shirt is my usual uniform. They seemed to dress up and accessorize more. I think because it is a major metropolitan area people just dressed up a bit more. And boy do they love their shoes. I think I saw 2 pairs of sneakers the whole time. Most of the time they wore nice shoes, even they crossing guard we thought was a man was wearing hills. So either she was a bit masculine or he was a bit feminine. Either way cute shoes. What was really weird though is there relationship with socks. Here are just a few of the weird ways they wore their socks: nylons (not tights) with short shorts, so short in fact that you can see the line at the top of the pantyhose leg; knee high nylons with bottoms that do not cover the top of the knee highs, again we are not talking tights here we are talking 'no one is supposed to know you are wearing knee high nylons' nylons; another favorite of mine was the ankle nylon(which I did not realize existed) with pants that do not cover the top of the socks...there is a severe misunderstanding about nylons and their proper usage. Then there wwere the people we saw in pajamas.

A big part of shopping in China is bartering. Ben and I really enjoyed this part. There are regular department stores where the prices are set like here, but there are also touristy areas where you bartered for goods, we got quite good at it. The secret is to be willing to walk away. There were very few times when we didn't get the price we wanted.

Space is limited in Shanghai. There is no single family housing, it is all apartments and condos. Many buildings have a very small footprint but are many stories high. This includes malls. It was very typical for a mall to have many small levels. And the stores are set up differently too. Depending on the place they are either tiny little cramped shops or they all kind of blend together. And you can't just pick something out and take it to a register. You have to show them what you want, then they write it down, you take the piece of paper and your money to a cashier who gives you another slip of paper to take back to the person you started with, who will then give you what you bought...figure that one out.

The food was for the most part really good. But there were some things that were just yucky. For example our first dinner included what can only be described as tomato jello, complete with seeds. Anyone who knows me well knows I don't do jello, veggie flavored jello took that dislike to a whole new level. Just in case you are wondering, yes I did try it and I threw up a little in my mouth! Don't worry it was totally sly.

So if you made it this far I am impressed you are either really bored, avoiding something more productive or you just really love me...my bet is on the first two.

Now for some pics...

One more reason to love cranberries

2009-10-14T13:00:00.004-06:00

Have the cranberries ever caught your eye as you wondered through the produce isle? Have you wondered what one might so with fresh cranberries besides cranberry sauce at thanksgiving and garland at Christmas? Well my friends I took the leap and bought fresh cranberries, honestly having no idea what I was going to do with them once I got home. Through the miracle that is the internet I found that there are a lot of things you can make with fresh cranberries that do not involve a major holiday. I actually wanted my family to eat what I made so I decided on cookies. Now I understand many people do not like cranberries, to those people I say first come on give it a try and second you will after you try these cookies. I am not going to lie I love cranberries so I was pretty sure I would love anything made from cranberries, but these are amazing. They are a great combination of tart and sweet.

I did change a couple of things from the original recipe...nothing crazy but a few things.
First I used the food processor to chop the cranberries, I knew big chunks wouldn't fly at my house (that sounded way grosser than I intended).

Second I only dipped about 1/3 of the cookies into nuts, my family also not into nuts.

Third I decided I didn't love the look or the taste of the cookies dipped half in chocolate...the chocolate was over powering and detracted from the cookie (I never thought I would hear myself say that chocolate detracted from anything). So I piped chocolate over the cookies in small lines which I liked much better.

Oh and just for the record I used milk chocolate instead of semi-sweet.

Next time I make these I think I will add some orange zest and maybe try dark chocolate.

I know what you are thinking "But Terrie shouldn't you be getting ready for your trip to China and not spending all morning making cookies, photographing said cookies and then blogging about the cookies." To answer your puzzled looks ABSOLUTELY, I should be getting ready for China. But this was way more fun. And I might have gotten a new lens that I wanted to try out...maybe.

How you too can have your very own $100 enema

2009-09-30T14:13:00.004-06:00

Start with one very uncomfortable and cranky two year old. Add a whole day of no eating, no drinking and no dirty diapers (that last part isn't as good as it sounds). Next take your concoction to the urgent care, here they will tell you to add a sprinkle of "it might be an appendicitis" and send you to Primary Children's Hospital where they will be able to tell you for sure and possibly do a little surgery for good measure. Once at hospital put sweet two year old boy through tests, IV's, catheters and Xrays. Rule out hernia with more than one exam. All the while having your heart break every time said two year old whimpers "thank you" to the very nurses and doctors who do invasive and uncomfortable tests/procedures on him. Only to find out in the end he is so "backed up" that it has blocked his bladder. Proceed with enema. Let enema do it's business (sorry couldn't help that one). Head home with a much happier two year old. So 2 co-pays later that is how you too can get your own $100 enema.

It was a very long night. As miserable as he was Van was quite the trooper. He cooperated with just about everything the doctors and nurses asked him to do. When he didn't like something he tried to reason with them. He really was amazing. In the end (no pun intended) this was the best possible outcome. I am so glad we are not at the hospital with a post-op toddler. While I hope $100 enemas do not become common place, I am glad things turned out the way they did. Thanks everyone for your concern and prayers. We are all a bit tired but overall we are doing fine. And for the most part Van is back to his normal two year old self.

The President's speech Part 2

2009-09-08T13:48:00.006-06:00

I feel like I need to clarify a few things. I hope that my last post did not sound like I was myself, or encouraging my kids to follow blindly. Of course I think that we need to be informed before making a decision in any aspect of our lives politics included. I also believe that no matter what situation you are in, parents are responsible for educating their kids. They may choose to send their kids to public or private school or they may choose to home school, no matter which vehicle is chosen it is the parents responsibility to make sure what is being taught is in harmony with what they believe and what they feel comfortable with. I think that the parents who decided they did not want their children to watch the President's speech had every right to do so. I just wonder if they chose that for reasons other than political. My last post had less to do with politics and more to do with not letting preconceived notions interfere with an opportunity. I think this was an amazing opportunity for our children. To have the President take a specific interest in the youth of this country and address them directly is incredible in my opinion.

I think that the speech was great. He didn't talk down to our children nor did he talk over their heads. His message was clear. Take responsibility for your education not matter what your situation. I think this is a message that many kids need to hear. They can blame no one and nothing for their failure and deserve credit for their achievements. They are capable of so much if they put forth the effort that is required for success. One of the things I especially liked about the speech was the fact that he encouraged kids to make their own goal for the school year; however big or small and be accountable for that goal. I also loved his take on failure. Failure breeds successful people. Those who fail the most are trying the most and will eventually succeed. He encouraged them not to let failure define them. This is a lesson that I think we can all learn from. Even if he did use the tired and over used "Micheal Jordan didn't make the Jr. High basket ball team" example. The President counseled our kids to ask for help when they need it reminding them there is no shame in asking for help. Asking for help does not make you weak.

And now I will step down from my soap box.

Have you heard?

2009-09-04T16:01:00.003-06:00

I am not going to lie to you. I am not a huge political junkie. But I like to be informed and I do*wait for it* have opinions. So this is one of those times when I just have to speak up. As I blog hopped this afternoon, you know the usual fluffy craft and food blogs, I stumbled upon a blog post about President Obama's speech in the schools on Sept.8. Apparently there is an uproar by some that has lead to -get this- a boycott of school that day. Seriously? SERIOUSLY?!? I know that we do not all have the same political opinions but when did it become a) optional to attend school b)Ok to be so disrespectful of our elected leaders and c) just plain paranoid?

What could the president possibly say, in a mere 20 minutes, that would be so damaging? Are people that insecure in their parenting that a speech from the president would undermine all of their efforts to teach their children what ever it is they teach them (in this case I would guess intolerance, Maybe?) This type of reaction does teach our children some lessons; sadly I am afraid it will be the wrong lessons.

The Presidents speech is supposed to focus on the importance of staying in school, working hard and making goals...OH THE HORROR OF IT ALL!!!

Lest this sound like a democratic rant I think this type of behavior on either side is ridiculous. I have no doubt that some on the left would be acting just as unsavory if the tables were turned. No matter what our political affiliation we should respect each other. Whether a republican president or a democratic president he, or hopefully at some point she (a post all it's own), has every right to talk to the citizens of this nation. Last time I checked that included kids.

Hopefully no one reading this blog is actually considering taking their kids out of school for that day, but if you are please rethink the message you will be sending. It is one of intolerance and paranoia...not lessons I would want my children to learn.

So how do you feel about it? Leave me a comment, I really want to know.

First day of School

2009-08-27T09:01:00.004-06:00

Yesterday was the first day of school. YAY! We are always in such a hurry that pictures tend to be rushed so don't expect too much in the way of creativity. They(the kids) are cute just the same...

I love this one with Van following all smiley not knowing he is coming home with out his "Lolliejoe" He actually tried to follow Lillie into the building more than once.

This is my favorite...they look so grown up!

Joe and his friend Paige

Lillie and Sophie

Oh how I love the first day of school, and not just because the kids are at school and back into a routine...although I do love that part. I have always loved the first day of school, summer is winding down and fall is just around the corner. Fall is my favorite! I loved school when I was a kid and was always so excited to be back...so far my kids are not as enthusiastic as I was but what can I say I was a big nerd. We did get to meet their teachers the day before school started so that help the enthusiasm a bit. I hope this is a great school year for us all!

Deep thoughts

2009-08-13T16:58:00.004-06:00

...said in my best SNL announcer voice.

As I pruned away in my very humble little flower garden this afternoon I couldn't help but reflect on a conversation Ben and I had earlier this week. Ambition is good and contentment equally so; but where do we draw the line with either? Ambition drives us to do good things and accomplish things that would otherwise go unrealized. Contentment gives a sense of peace and calm. But can you have both? How do we move forward and become successful without ambition? Can too much ambition cause an unbalanced and possibly counterproductive life? How do you find peace without contentment? Can contentment lead to laziness and complacency? At what point do you transition from being ambitious and slip into contentment?

I am still working on the answer, an answer that is very individual to my own circumstances. I certainly do not claim to have the definitive answer to this conundrum. So far this is what I have come up with; without at least some amount of ambition our progress becomes stagnant. Ambition can take many different forms and mean something different for every person, but without something to reach for and strive towards there is arrested development on some level. But that doesn't mean that there can not be contentment in other areas of our lives. Just because we are trying to improve our station in one area of our lives does not mean that we can not be completely content in another. It is possible to find balance. What is a bit trickier is in which area do we assign ambition and which contentment?

So why would gardening bring on this thoughtful reflection? I had to do some brutal pruning in hopes of producing a better product in the end. A refining if you will. Sometimes it is impossible to grow to our full potential without some pruning. But in the end what we become is so much more than if we had not gone through the refining, as painful as it may be.

For now, in my own life, assignments have been made. Assignments that will surely change with time. But for now my ambition and my contentment know where they belong. Ok at least they have a general idea.

And just because post are so much better with pictures, here are a few from my garden...

The saga continues...

2009-07-20T16:47:00.004-06:00

You may remember this:

Well let me tell you part two. Van recently graduated to a big boy bed. A few nights ago we were playing games with Ben's parents and of course Van was not going to bed as well as we would have liked. But he was staying in his room so we just kind of ignored it and let him play in there. As Ben's parents were leaving they decided to say good night to Van. Well this is what we found upon arrival:

He had meticulously smeared Desitin all over his body. He didn't just half heartedly smear some here and there. Oh No, he made sure ever inch of exposed skin was covered...and evenly so. I think if we would have come in just a few minutes later he would have had his whole face covered. Notice how the Desitin goes right up to his lips but not actually on them, now that is commitment. I was oddly proud of him for doing such a thorough job. If you are going to do something do it right, right. Well, needless to say the clean up was a nightmare. Not only had he covered his body and his hair he also shared the love with the carpet, his blanket, a hat and some toys. All of which still carry a very distict Desitin odor...including the kid! The weirdest part is we don't even use Desitin, my brother left it here when he was visiting...thanks Kirk. I will get you back! I have heard Vaseline is a pain to clean up.

Road Trip

2009-07-12T16:52:00.009-06:00

For vacation this year we decided to take a road trip to Mt. Rushmore. We figured we were in the car for over 36 hours over 4 days. It went amazingly well. The kids did great. It was not without hiccups but no major incidents or meltdowns. The kids all slept great in the motels we stayed at and even the one night we camped. Which you know, if you have ever traveled with kids, is a feat all it's own. Here are a few pics of the trip...

This is Devils Tower...Just a big rock formation.

Van in a coon skin cap...this picture was very difficult he did not want to wear the hat, so worth it though. When am I ever going to get another chance to get a picture of him in a coon skin cap?

This is the place where we camped, the kids don't even know who the Flintstones are, but Ben and I thought it was funny. And they took the Flintstones theme very serious...everything was Flintstones. This was Lillie and Van's first time camping and we were very nervous. We went once when Joe was a baby. And haven't been since. Our families both camped a lot when we were growing up and we have wanted to take our kids but have been too scared...it was awesome. We had so much fun.
Ben and the kids setting up the tents.
Notice Joe's job was interpreting the directions.

Joe and Lillie had their own tent and actually slept in it the whole night.

This is the tent that we moved 3 times before we finally liked where it ended up. The people around us probably thought we were crazy. This is also the tent we shared with Van. BTW "two rooms" translates into one big tent with a very flimsy piece of nylon that you can attach to the center, but provides no real separation. It was at least big enough to set up the pack and play and house all of the luggage on one side and a full sized air mattress on the other.
Cooking dinner
Everyone pitched in

Roasting marshmallows...the best part of camping.

Cheap mans view of Crazy horse, it was more expensive to get into Crazy horse than it was to get into Mt. Rushmore...this view was just fine for us.

Finally at Mt. Rushmore

I loved the way the flags looked all together...had to throw in an artistic pic for good measure.

The last part of our trip I do not have pictures of. We decided to end with a drive-in movie after we got home. Yet another thing that we have wanted to try but have been to scared to do. And again it went very well. I have very fond memories of going to the drive-in movies as a kid and have wanted to share it with my kids for a while. Ben had never been either so we decided it was time to give it a try. We had already conquered the trip to Mt. Rushmore and camping this week why not add another notch to our belt.

We had a great time this week trying new things together. I hope this is one of those trips that the kids will remember fondly for a long time.

Happy Birthday Lillie

2009-06-29T09:06:00.004-06:00

Lillie turned 7 last Thursday. I can't believe she is getting so grown up. She is such a sweet girl and a great sister for her 2 rambunctious brothers. She really wanted a big friend party but we (Ben) decided that we weren't gong to have big friend parties every year. She has had one for the last 2 years so we kept it slightly lower key. We took her and her brothers to Chuck E Cheese and then had family over for cake and ice cream later. Here are a few pics from the festivities.

She got lots of fun stuff, like always but her big gift this year was a bigger bike. I was a little nervous about how she would handle a bigger bike but she did great. Here she is waiting for the big reveal.

All she wanted for her cake was "pink with toys on top" so here it is in all of it's pink and toy glory. Boring I know but there you have it.

In a totally unrelated story Friday night there was yet another storm. This one ended with an amazing double rainbow. Here is one of the pics we took. Sorry we live in the suburbs so there was no shooting around the neighbors houses. But you get the idea.

Happy Birthday Ben

2009-06-09T08:18:00.002-06:00

Saturday was Ben's Birthday. We had a fun day celebrating. In the morning Ben and I went golfing with Ben's dad. It has been quite awhile since I golfed but it was a lot of fun. Ben wants me to start golfing so bad that he bought me a new set of clubs for his birthday...he is so sweet. For not golfing in about 5 years I think I did pretty good. That night we went to the new Star Trek movie. Because we have a theater room we don't go to a lot of movies so it is always fun to go a real theater.

Happy Birthday Ben! I love you and am so grateful to be married to you. I hope you had a good birthday.

That is so last year

2009-06-05T08:27:00.004-06:00

I know I just posted a funny kid conversation but this is classic. This is part of the conversation between Lillie and Joseph this morning over breakfast:

Lillie: That is so last year (talking about Joseph's regular butter and maple syrup choice over her peanut butter and strawberry syrup preference)
Joseph: What does that even mean "That is so last year"?
Lillie: It means it isn't popular anymore. That is what they did last year.
Joseph: Whatever they had peanut butter and strawberry syrup last year, they were invented in the 90's.

I love listening to them when they don't know you are listening...they say the funniest things. I guess I will have a lot of time for that since to day is the last day of school. Oh I hope I am ready for this. I think I can, I think I can, I think I can...I can right?

Best mom ever

2009-06-04T09:12:00.002-06:00

Lillie: You are the best mom ever!
Me: Thank you
Lillie: Even if you are kind of mean sometimes and you don't do very much; you are still the best mom ever.
Me: Thanks?

Embrace your inner flake

2009-05-21T15:09:00.004-06:00

For the last couple of years I have had an internal battle that sounds something like this:

Self #1 (Flake): I really want to do X (go back to college, start my own photography business, submit a photo in a contest, write an article for a publication, etc.)

Self #2 (Control freak): First of all you will not be good at X, and second what will people think? I'll tell you what they will think, they will think you are a flake. You have already tried Y (scrap booking, guitar, drawing, writing, college the first time a round, photography etc.) and we all know how smashingly those endeavors have worked out for you. Now you want to put more time, money, sweat and love into a hobby that wont last.

Self #1: Yes I do, and I am going to.

Self #2: Fine, but it is going to be a disaster.

Later...

Self #1: Maybe you are right, it is too hard to be a mom, do all of the things I have to do and have a consuming hobby/interest. I feel horribly guilty about the time away from my kids and the other household duties that have suffered. Plus what if I totally fail?

Self #2: Well you are right you are a horrible mother, housekeeper, wife and you really weren't any good at X anyway. Stop now before anyone else notices, and just keep faking the other stuff.

Self #1: Did I say horrible mother, housekeeper and wife? ...is that true? It must be. Oh no, I have already failed.

You get the idea, this is an endless conversation, but I am sure you can see where this is going.

So when ever I get a crazy idea I have started repressing the urge to try something new. Because I have started thinking that Self #2 is right. I have realized however that all of these hobbies, interest, whims what ever you would like to call them are the very things that make me interesting. I love to try new things. So what if I never become a famous photographer or writer. So what if I am tone def and playing the guitar was never in the cards for me. So what if I have numberless unfinished scrapbooks, craft projects and book ideas. So what if it is taking me longer to finish college. So what if I entered a photo in a contest and didn't win.

If I didn't try new things I could not stun my kids by telling them I played the drums in a marching band, played golf and basketball in HS and was in a musical. For about half a second Lillie thought I was cool when I told her about the drums.

From now on I am embracing my inner flake. I have been thinking it would be fun to start playing the drums again, or take a creative writing class, or sell prints of the temple on-line, or the list is endless really. And I may do all of them or none of them that is what being a flake is all about...

And there is always room for more flakes if you would like to join me.

Slacker

2009-05-06T12:36:00.007-06:00

Who; me? Well yes I have been neglecting my blog so be warned this may be a bit long but it will be mostly pictures...common you know you love pictures of my kids...admit it. So here goes.

Easter:

I love this picture of Ben and the kids...especially Ben and Joseph. Soo cute. So GQ.

So after Church I wanted to get a few pictures outside before everyone came over for dinner, well I am sure you can all guess how that worked...Ben tried to bribe Van with candy, which basically back fired and Joe and Lillie found this hilarious.

Look how dejected he looks.

Pinewood Derby:

I am sad to report that Joseph's car came in last every time. We don't know exactly what was wrong, but I am sure it is karma. The universe is punishing Ben and I for hating scouts. I am happy to report that Joseph handled it soooo well. This type of thing would have sent him over the edge awhile ago. I am so proud of him and how far he has come in the last year. And I think he really did have fun.

Van:

One morning Van was being particularly quiet, almost never a good sign. So I went to check and this is what I found. How cute!! My mini engineer.

Another morning Van was being particulary quiet and this is what I found...

Any guesses? Yep he was making cookies. I am so glad I caught him before he got to the eggs! He was so proud of himself. Apparently he is a man of many talents.

Soccer:

I love this picture of the girls standing together...look at the huge size difference; Sophie's birthday is only 4 days after Lillie's...where did this amazon child come from?

Lillie started here first season of soccer; it's official I am a soccer mom. She is doing really well considering they don't practice together...they just play games. Did I miss something? I am pretty sure teams should hold practice first...I guess not. Anyway she is on the "Orange Dragons" (which according to her she came up with) with her best friend Sophie. They are pretty cute in their neon orange outfits. Her favorite position is goalie. I have always thought that she would be good at sports, so I guess we get to find out.

Who knew?

2009-04-09T16:48:00.003-06:00

This afternoon I had horrible heartburn. I don't usually get heartburn except when I am pregnant...before my brothers and father-in-law have a chance to say it, no I am not pregnant! Anyway it was quite bad. So I tried water, then something small to eat, then milk, begrudgingly pepto and finally bread (not one right after the other, there was time in between each attempt). Nothing helped and some things even seemed to aggravate it. Finally in desperation I went to Google. The first home remedy was a spoonful of ice cream. Well you don't have to tell me twice when it comes to ice cream. One (ok, ok two) spoonfuls later the heartburn was dramatically decreased and within less than 5 minutes I was feeling much much better. Now I have a legitimate medicinal reason to have ice cream regularly. I was eating it regularly anyway, but now I have to...it's for my health! Can't argue with that right. So eat up it really is good for you! AWESOME!

Update

2009-04-01T12:16:00.002-06:00

I went to the doctor today to get the results of my blood work and x-rays. I do not have gout or Rheumatoid arthritis. But that doesn't mean the appointment was all good. Mostly because of Van and the fact that because there was nothing on the x-ray or in the blood work the Dr. had to draw fluid from the joint in my thumb. By the time all of this occurred Van and I had been there for over an hour and he was, shall we say done with being at the doctor. Ok lets be honest he was done being there as soon as we walked in, but by then he was being a total pain. Anyway I digress. While they were numbing and then draining fluid I was trying to calm a very cranky Van down and trying my hardest not to cry over the pain or the uncooperative toddler. I shed a few tears but recovered quickly. What they found was a ganglion cyst. After the fluid was drained the doctor put a steroid in the joint and said that should be it. The stuff I read online said it may take a few treatments, but I really hope my Dr. was right and I do not have to do that again. And if I do I am not taking Van! As far as what ever is going on with my feet he said it may be a vitamin D deficiency and put me on supplements...I really hope that is all that it is, I can handle adding an extra vitamin everyday. If that doesn't help then I think it is back to the podiatrist or a joint specialist for me...fun, fun, fun. Even though this appointment was rough I am so grateful that I do not have RA (I never thought it was gout). This ordeal definitely makes me appreciate the health that I do have and even though I turned 30 this year I am not old and I need to enjoy my health while I still have it!

Random fun (and not so fun) stuff

2009-03-27T09:14:00.008-06:00

Like always there is a lot going on around here. So here is the quick rundown. Last weekend Ben's parents invited us to join them in St. George for a little get away. It was so very fun and too short. We swam, hiked, played and enjoyed the beautiful weather. I love St. George! Here are a few highlights...

The kids loved playing in the red sand...we did not love that it came home with us!

Trying to get Van to hold still for a pic...not so easy.

A pictures is worth a thousand words!

Just in case any of you were wondering about my celestial nature...I have proof.

Lizard

The views were amazing.

Serpentine, serpentine!

We had a great time and took a ton of pictures (shocker) I am hoping to make a slide show soon but that will have to wait until after I get back from Colorado. I am going to my cousin's wedding in Denver and really should be getting ready...oh well.

Now onto our other fun news of the month. Joseph had his first piano recital this week. He was so cute. He was nervous but did a great job, even though he had to go first. He played two songs he has been practicing with his teacher and one original composition. This kid is amazing and I am so glad he has finally found something that he loves and that he is really good at. I love hearing him play.

So cute in his suit!

So the not so fun part of this post is that I spent yesterday getting blood tests and xrays. We wont know anything until next week but it seems that the problems I have been having with my thumb and feet may be Rheumatoid Arthritis or Gout...two fun choices huh. I don't know that the really it of this has set in yet. I have been living with it for so long now, that until the symptoms get worse nothing will change. But when things do change it could be pretty bad. My Dr. was quite candid when he told me that if it is arthritis and if there is already joint damage at my young age it is bad. Although I really want to know what is going on I am not happy with my options at this point. So we will see what the next week brings and go from there.

Mother knows best (sometimes)

2009-03-17T11:25:00.003-06:00

Let's just get it out in the open, I am a bit stubborn. And by a bit I mean a lot! I don't like unsolicited advice or opinions. I tend to think I am always right...it's ok I am at peace with my inner control freak. So a few years ago when my mom said she thought that Joseph had Asperger's Syndrome, I smiled and nodded but listened to the doctors who said we was bi-polar. I should listen to my mother more often! Turns out she was right, Joseph is not bi-polar, he is an aspie.

Shortly after this discovery a friend asked me if I was heart broken, the answer I gave her then and the answer I give you now are the same...NO! There is light at the end of the tunnel with Asperger's, there is understanding and help. Dealing with bi-polar was like a black hole that we could never dig ourselves out of. There was not a lot of positive to look forward to, educators looked at us with eyes glassed over and arms in the air; even family and friends didn't always know how to handle a diagnosis that was so big for such a little guy. We worried that Joseph would be on meds his whole life and wondered how he would be effected by this as an adult. We have a family history of bi-polar and know the heart ache that it can cause. Please do not misunderstand me, bi-polar is not a death sentence nor or the people diagnosed with bi-polar a lost cause. They are wonderful people dealing with a disease that I can barely wrap my head around. But I was relieved when Joseph's diagnosis was changed.

So many things make sense now. So many behaviors and "quirks" have been demystified for us. We are better equipped and better educated about how to deal with the issues that Joseph faces on a daily basis. This fits, it makes sense and we have seen a big improvement in Joseph and his quality of life. Knowing what we are truly dealing with has made all the difference.

So from now on I will at least consider that my mother might be right.

Van turns two!

2009-02-23T11:26:00.006-07:00

Friday was Van's birthday. We had such a fun time celebrating. We had all the grandparents, 3 great grandmas, aunts and uncles. It was a very full house, and Van ate up every minute of it. I decorated the house with balloons and streamers while he was napping so when he woke up he was so excited to see the "laloons" as he calls them. I also made him a race track cake, which turned out so cute. He is such a great kid. He is fun and funny and enjoys life. I feel so blessed to have him in our family and look forward to seeing him learn and grow.

Here are some pics from the festivities...

Here is Van with his mountain of presents...this picture doesn't show just how many presents there were but his face is priceless.

How cute is this?

Sorry hun, I couldn't resist...this pic is just too funny.

Here is Lillie's version

And Joe's...he wouldn't eat it because there was coconut in the cake.

Something different...

2009-02-19T21:47:00.000-07:00

I thought this was a fun idea! Thanks Becky.

The first five people to comment on this post will get something made by me! My choice. For you. This offer does have some restrictions and limitations:

1. I make no guarantees that you will like what I make!
2. What I create will be just for you.
3. It'll be done this year (hopefully sooner than later.)
4. You will have no clue what it is going to be.
5. I reserve the right to do something extremely strange.
The catch? Oh the catch is that you must re-post this on your blog. The first 5 people to do so and leave a comment telling me you did will win a marvelous homemade gift by me!

Let the games begin!!

Fourth file, fourth pic, little sis

2009-02-13T12:35:00.004-07:00

I was tagged by Nicole. So here is the drill you are supposed to go to your photo files and pick the fourth file and the fourth photo, then explain it. This was a little tricky because my professional photos are mixed in with my personal stuff (something I keep saying I am going to fix, but just never get around to it) Anyway so I had to fudge a little and chose the fourth personal file. And this is what I got...

This is my little sister Bethanie. We did a shoot when she was here over the summer. She was kind of a stinker about it, but we had fun and we got some really cute pics, this is actually one of my favorites from that shoot.

Now I get to brag about her. She is so cute I love my sister so much!!! We are almost 15 years apart and separated by 3 very rowdy brothers. Don't you feel sorry for us. You would if you knew our brothers:) She likes to tease me about being old but that's ok her day will come. For those of you who do not know she was adopted. She looks just like me so you would never guess it. We had her in foster care when she was 15 months old and were finally able to adopt her when she was 4. I was already married by then so Ben and I got to go to the temple when she was sealed to my parents. It was so awesome. I have always felt like she belonged to us, and even though she was adopted she was always suposed to be a part of our family, even if she came to us in an unconventional way. Our family would definately be incomplete without her. I love you Bethy!!

I tag, Melanie, Shannon, Haley and TeKarri! Have Fun!

One year older and wiser too

2009-02-09T11:24:00.003-07:00

So it happened. I tried to stop it but alas I did turn 30. Surprisingly it wasn't that bad. I think the weeks leading up to it were tough at times but my actual birthday was great. This is because I have the most thoughtful and loving husband ever. He started by buying me a new camera a week before the big day. It is awesome. This will mean very little to most of you so I will keep the camera talk to a minimum, but I have to brag a bit. Ben got me a new Nikon D90. This camera is a whole new class of camera. It functions amazingly in low light situations and it does HD video. Plus it is just a wonderful camera, I expect my photography to hit a whole new level as soon as I can figure out all the bells and whistles that this camera offers. I am excited to get out and shoot. Last week was so busy I haven't had much time, but it will happen soon and I will post some pics.

Then Friday night he came home with flowers and took care of dinner and the kids for the rest of the night, this is not atypical by any means but still very appreciated. Saturday we spent the day shopping (without kids, thank you grandma and papa) and went to dinner that night (without kids, thank you aunt Lydia) . Sunday I slept in and was awakened to a very cute rendition of Happy Birthday and biscuits and gravy for breakfast. After church we made dinner. Then I took a nap while Ben cleaned up. Later in the evening we had pie instead of cake. The kids gave me a very cute coupon book that I am very excited to use, full of great things like back massages and doing extra chores without complaining. I also got a new wii fit game I am anxious to try.

It was a great weekend; I don't think I changed a single diaper, Ben took care of just about every thing for 2 days.

So turning 30 isn't so bad, I think it helps that I am the youngest of my friends; Ben and the rest of my friends have all turned 30 so I figure it is better to be last than to be first, at least in this particular case!

Ok here are a few pics I took of the flowers Ben gave me. This is with natural light. Most of you probably don't care or understand...but this is a big deal. No flash inside on a gray day and look how good they turned out. And I didn't put a lot of thought into them I just wanted to show you some pics. Anyway it's an amazing camera.

If you are a cutie pie you might as well be a cake

2009-02-03T12:44:00.006-07:00

In an effort to calm a tired and cranky Van down as we drove home, I offered to sing to him. He wasn't having it, desperate I asked "how about we sing Van is a cutie pie?" He stopped fussing got a large grin on his face and nodded excitedly. Now I was in trouble Van is a cutie pie is not a real song, but no one else was in the car with us so I made it up. Be so grateful you were not there! At the conclusion of the song Van said "Cake!" He wanted me to sing a song about him being a cake. He is so clever! I love being around him all day he says and does the cutest things.

Here are a few pictures from my new camera. More to come on that later! I do need to point out that these were taken at night with only the bedroom light and the built in flash...for having terrible lighting they turned out quite good, the new camera is awesome!

Back to the pics, the fist one is just cute. But the second is so I have a record of what this kid requires to go to sleep at night. 3 blankets, 2 mickey dolls, 1 puppy named puppa and the newest addition a basketball. Some nights even require a mach box car or two. And notice the silly smile...he is such a ham!

I'm cute again

2009-01-28T08:19:00.002-07:00

...well not so much me but my blog is cute again. I know this background is a bit loud, but it is the complete opposite of what is going on outside my window so that makes it great!!!

not so cutest blog on the block

2009-01-27T12:01:00.002-07:00

I hate it when you start to rely on something then all of the sudden it is not there. I use cutestblogontheblock.com to get all my blog backgrounds. But their blog backgrounds have been down for over a week now. I love their stuff and especially love that you don't lose any widgets. Does anyone have any suggestions for where I could get cute backgrounds that wont mess up my layout? I don't care for pyzam and the others I have found on google aren't much better. PLEASE help or my blog will succumb to a life of mediocrity and conformity!

Draper Temple

2009-01-19T17:52:00.004-07:00

Saturday we had the opportunity to go to the Draper Temple open house. Although it was a long process, with many lines and lots of waiting, it was well worth the effort. We took Joseph and Lillie with us and I am so grateful they had the opportunity to see the inside of a temple. Lillie was is awe from start to finish and loved every minute of it. Joseph liked most of it, but waiting is line is not a strong point for him. Regardless they were very good. I was so grateful that we left Van with Ben's mom and dad, because that would have been horrible. Anyway, it is a very beautiful temple and I am excited to be within it's district and look forward to serving there soon. Although I didn't get to take pictures on Saturday, here are a few that I took a couple months ago. I am looking forward to getting up there in the spring to take some more!

Christmas

2008-12-30T17:35:00.004-07:00

We had a great Christmas. All of my family came to our house this year. I am the oldest of 5 kids. So we had a very full house which included, My mom and dad, my brother Kirk and his wife Heather and daughter Hazel, my brother DJ, brother Sam and my sister Bethanie and of course all of us that usually live here. My family trickled in between Tuesday and late Wednesday night. We had dinner then opened the traditional PJ's. This year I made my kid's jammies and I thought they turned out pretty cute. (I think that the picture above captures my kids perfectly, Lillie laughing, Joseph being a know it all and Van with a big mischeiviouse smile on his face!) My mom supplied everyone else's pj's. Then the kids were off to bed and the rest of us stayed up visiting. It was so fun to be with all of my family at one time, it has been a long time since we were all together there is always someone that is missing for one reason or another. So after we were sure the kids were asleep "Santa" paid his visit.

The next morning we were awakened not by our own kids but by my married brother. Our kids slept in until 8:00. What kind of kids sleep in until 8 on Chrismas morning? Awesome kids! So we got up and woke the kids up. Then had the difficult task of getting them from our room to the theature room downstairs without them seeing the living room in between. Once downstairs we read the Christmas story in Luke. Then back upstairs for presents. It was a very laid back day and we didn't have anywhere we had to be until that night when we headed over to my uncles house for Christmas with my Dad's side of the family. That is when the monster of all storms hit and we had to cut our visit short so we could head home before the already aweful storm got worse. We made it home fine and enjoyed the rest of our night.

The next morning the sickness hit and all the fun we had been having came to a screaching halt for half of us. And then for the rest over the next couple of days. So Christmas was great, but the 3 days afterward were not so great. I am very grateful my family could all be together on Christmas and that no one got sick until after Christmas...just a side not my mom was sick the day after Christmas, which happens to ber her birthday and my sister was sick 2 days after Christmas which happens to be her birthday. I felt so bad that they were sick on their birthdays!

We'll call it my Arizona

2008-12-14T09:47:00.002-07:00

When I was about 10 years old my family moved to Arizona. We planned to live with my uncle while my parents got jobs and found a place to live. Well two weeks later we were on our way back to Utah. My mom likes to call it "the time we went on vacation with our furniture." I don't remember much about our 2 weeks in Arizona other than it was very hot, I passed out a few times and living with my uncle's family was not so fun. So in my young mind these were the reasons for our move back. Now that I am an adult I realize that there were probably much more adult and substantial reasons for our departure.

Fast forward (almost) 20 years; Ben and I decide to get a puppy. We had high hopes and grand visions of what this puppy would mean to Joseph. Well hopes and visions do not always become reality and sometimes you have to turn back, furniture and all and say, for what ever reason, we just aren't ready for Arizona (or a puppy).

I am sure you can see where this is going...

We have decided that we are not ready for a puppy. Our intentions were good but sometimes rather than forcing something to work that clearly isn't, it is best to say "we made a mistake." This becomes much tougher when emotions are involved and this has been a tough decision for us to make. And I am sure there are people out there who will say that having a puppy or living in Arizona for only 2 weeks is not enough time to make a rational decision. To those people I would say, sometimes you just know when to quit even if your ego is a little bruised.

So today we say so long to shivers. He is going to a loving home with 2 older girls and built in pet friends. I will admit that I shed some tears but I still feel like this is the right decision.

So what have I learned:
1. It's ok to try new things
2. It's ok to make mistakes
3. It's ok to get attached to animals
4. If you change your mind about something you have always thought (I mean a total 180) then it might be in your best interest to think about that change of heart for more than 24 hours before making a decision. Or if you have said for the last 10 years you would never have a pet then one night decide maybe that is an option, do not buy a puppy the next day!
5. If you do decide to do something spontaneous, have fun with it while it lasts...if you never go out on a limb, you will never reach the fruit!
6. Don't take your self so seriously...this is a lesson that I have to relearn way too often, but between 3 kids, my husband and a short stint with a puppy, I will eventually learn this lesson.
7. While our kids may not understand all of the reasons for this decision, hopefully they will understand we did what we thought was best for all of us.

There you have it MY ARIZONA!

Happy Holidays!

2008-12-12T12:53:00.002-07:00

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

This is how Ben spends his time.
So go ahead laugh at our expense.

Happy Birthday Joseph!

2008-12-04T11:33:00.004-07:00

I have been a bit of a slacker with my blogging, there has been a lot going on here, so this is the first of 3 new posts.

The big news around here is Joseph is 9. And he is not letting anyone forget it! He really wanted to go to Asian Star, a Chinese restaurant in town that we had not been to. So we went to dinner and then came home for dessert and presents. It was a fun night and very low key. After all the parties I have thrown this year it was a welcomed change. I should mention that he decided what we did, I didn't give him the shaft because I was partied out. I would have thrown him a big party, but he is too much like his dad to want that. Anyway I digress...

It is hard to believe he is 9. He is growing up so fast. He has taught Ben and I so much about being parents and about how to love unconditionally. He is a great kid with so much to offer. It is fun to see him grow and develop into his (more) grown-up self. He likes to try new things now which has been difficult for him in the past. He is also developing a Ben like sense of humor. It is fun to see him trying to be funny and watching for peoples reactions. He is very smart and very stubborn which can be a difficult mix in a personality but he is also very sweet and has moments of great tenderness. I am grateful to be his mom.

SHIVERS UPDATE
I thought that some of you might enjoy an update on our puppy. It has been an interesting week and a half with plenty of ups and downs. We are all finding our selves getting attached to shivers. In some ways having a puppy is not as bad as I thought it would be, but there are plenty of times when it is as bad and worse than I thought it would be. There have not been any major incidents...but lots of little accidents! I will keep you posted on the puppy front.

And the winner is...

2008-12-04T11:20:00.003-07:00

Just over a month ago I wrote about a photograph that Joseph submitted to Reflections. Last week we got a call telling us that Joseph was getting an award for his photo and that we should plan on attending the assembly. I did not know how the awards worked, but was excited to see him get whatever it was. Once I got there I realized there were two types of awards, an honorable mention metal and a trophy for the top 5 in each category. Those top 5 also got a pizza party and they each go on to compete at the district level of Reflections. First they had everyone who participated in each category stand, then they read the honorable mentions then they got to the top 5 from each category and handed out trophy's.

The photography category ended up being more popular than I thought it would be and there we quite a few entries. It turns out that Joseph was one of the top 5 for photography. He was so excited to get his first trophy. I was so proud of him. I know that winning isn't everything, and we try really hard to teach our kids good sportsmanship and how to handle disappointment, but it was so great to see him get recognition for something he was so proud of.

Hello, we are missing one!

2008-12-04T11:08:00.002-07:00

Van is a very smart little man. Although he doesn't talk much he has great non-verbal communication. Here is just one example...

A few days ago Joseph and Lillie put up Christmas trees in their bedrooms; a tradition that we started last year. Van was of course fascinated with them. So the next day he grabbed my hand and drug me down to Joseph's room, stood in the doorway and said "Tree." I said something like "Yes, do you like the tree?" Then he grabbed my hand again and took me back upstairs to Lillie's room, stood in the doorway and said "Tree." Then he walked over to his door way and stood there for a second then turned to me and asked "Tree?"

We had neglected to realize that not putting a tree in Van's room would be a problem. Apparently this over site did not go unnoticed. After telling my grandma this story, she very sweetly donated a small table tree to Van's cause. We put it up and decorated it today. He was so excited and wanted to sit right next to it, he even laid down for a nap without complaint because I told him I would leave the Christmas lights on. I love it when they are this easy to please!

Somewhere pigs are flying and Hades just got a little frosty

2008-11-25T08:22:00.003-07:00

I did something yesterday that I honestly thought that I would never do. Maybe it was the high from my fun weekend or maybe just the motherly instinct to do whatever we think is best for our kids. Either way it was extremely atypical. We bought Joseph a puppy for his birthday. I have been anti-pet ever since we got married and Ben has agreed. We thought that kids were enough on their own and adding pets was, well, CRAZY. They are stinky and needy and expensive. So why would we want a pet? Until the night before last night we didn't...ever. But we were talking about what Joseph wanted for his Birthday and a dog came up. It was the weirdest thing, Ben and I got kind of into it and started talking about it and looking at dogs online. Then it hit me how good a dog would be for him. For all the normal reasons like teaching responsibility and compassion for other living things, but this went further. Joseph struggles socially, he is likable, but he doesn't always understand social situations and how to get involved. So he places the love that should be given to friends onto stuffed animals. Although there is nothing wrong with this, we really wanted him to have a more reciprocal relationship. I honestly think this experience was largely due to the spirit. Trust me, this is not something Ben or I would have willingly done on our own.

Although I have had moments of "What was I thinking" and "Why did I agree to this" I have to admit that our little Shivers is adorable. And for a puppy quite easy (so far). He hardly makes any sound, he is very calm but still playful and lovable. There have been a few accidents in the house, which I will never be OK with, but I am not freaking out like you might expect me to in that situation.

Most importantly Joseph is loving having a dog. I know that he has only had him for a day and some of this enthusiasm is bound to wear off, but I really think having Shivers is going to do a lot for Joseph.

So here he is our little eskipoo chihuahua...Shivers

If you are really interested you can see a couple video here.

In a word... AWESOME!

2008-11-23T17:21:00.003-07:00

This week end has been so fun and so busy. It started with a Friday night showing of Twilight with some friends. Although the movie was disappointing the company was great and a girls night out is always fun.

But two girls nights out in a row is better. Saturday night was the real event...the much anticipated Coldplay concert. And as my title states it was AWESOME! We had terrible seats. By terrible I mean the only way they could have been worse is if we were in the row behind us, which was the last row in the arena. And there was a weird techno opening band that lasted way too long. Even with these less than perfect circumstances I loved the concert.

The music was, of course, amazing. I was worried that I would be disapointed seeing them live. Some bands just aren't the same live. And I have heard less than stellar things about the accoustics in the ESA. I was not disapointed in anyway. I left loving them even more than I did when I got there, which I didn't think was possible. Chris Martin (singer) was personable, very funny and gracious. I felt like I could have gone up to him and had a real conversation.

At one point they left the stage to play in the middle of the audience. Oh how I wished I had sprung for the better seats! They played right next to the fans, I even saw them shaking hands and giving high fives. How awesome is that.

So basicly I loved it. The friends I went with got into it and although there were a couple that just went for the fun of a concert they left huge fans...I'm glad I could do my part!

But none of this could have happened without my awesome husband who supported me in my girls weekend with very little complaint. He was even left to deal with the kids during the BYU/Utah game, which I know was a bit of a sacrifice to divide his attention. Anyway I have the best husband, thanks Hun.

Sew Cute

2008-11-15T21:52:00.004-07:00

For some reason the game marbles is cool in school again. So much so that it is difficult to find any in Sandy. Joseph and Lillie really wanted some marbles so they could learn to play and take them to school to play with friends. After 3 stores we finally found some. I bought a set for each of us (excluding Van) so we could all learn how to play. Of course Ben already new how to play and killed us all, so we had to ban him from playing until Joseph, Lillie and I got better.

Anyway, we could have used the mesh bags they came in or baggies to store them in, but I decided to get out the sewing machine and get a little creative. Here is the result...

I think they turned out pretty cute. And No your eyes are not deceiving you those are drawstrings you see. As you can tell I am pretty proud of these silly little bags. I know I am easily amused and impressed with myself. The buttons are just a creative way to tell who's is who's w/o writing our names on the bags.

A few new additions

2008-11-15T21:28:00.004-07:00

We have a few new fun things that I wanted to share. Due to a broken top oven (which we have already fixed once since we moved in) we needed a get a new double wall oven. I was oh so disappointed. We got rid of our circa 1990's white monstrosity, and in true form I did not take a before picture, and replaced in with this...

Of course this trade was not without incident, besides the monstrous cost of a double wall oven, when it was delivered we realized that the new oven was about 8 inches shorter than the old oven. After discussing our options we decided the best option was to add a drawer under the oven to fill in the gap...again bummer! It just so happens that we have 3 drawers in our garage that fit perfectly. We aren't sure why, because they couldn't fit any where else in our Kitchen but the whole where the oven is. We think that the old owners had intended to put drawers here with a single wall oven, then decided on the double oven, but were not sure. Anyway, my handy husband spent the afternoon installing the new drawer and re-installing the new oven. Oh how I love having a handy husband! I love the new oven and the new drawer. Way to go hun!

Our other addition is a new dinning room table and chairs. We have owned our old table for most of our marriage (10 years). It has been a good table and served us well, but it was time to say good bye. The great thing about this table besides the price, thank you IKEA (I know my parents are laughing right now) is that it has two leaves so it can seat 6-12 people...how awesome is that! No more card table extension for big family dinners!

Oh and we got new stools for the counter...It almost feels like a new kitchen. Now if the fridge, microwave, dishwasher and cook top would just break down so we can finish the rest of the kitchen...oh and the counter tops and the floor...

Only a matter of time

2008-11-12T10:13:00.003-07:00

It happened, I wasn't sure if it would but it did. It happened with the other two and now it is Van's turn...he likes T.V. and is asking for a certain show. Joseph's favorite was Toy Story (we watched that movie everyday for 2 years). Lillie just loved anything, she still does, I am so glad she is in school so I don't have to say no to T.V. all day long.

Van's favorite? Well it is Mickey Mouse Club House. A twist on a classic. I am so glad it is something that I can actually stand having on. When Joseph was a baby I decided that I would only let him and now the other two watch things that I could watch with them and that was appropriate of course. So that automatically eliminated Barney, Teletubbies and now wonder pets...oh how I hate baby talk. Why, oh why would you make a show for kids that encourages baby talk? Sorry that is something that all of the a fore mentioned shows have in common. Anyway my kids have of course see all of these shows despite my efforts...I have learned it is ok to leave the room, and as annoying as many of these shows are they are better than so much of the crap that is out there for kids.

So back to the point Van asked for something this morning. At first I thought he was asking me to sing "bringing home a baby bumble bee" his favorite song. But no that was not it, so after some clever mommy detective work (asking everything I could think of and then waiting for a clue, in this case a point to the T.V.) I figured out that he wanted to watch Mickey Mouse Club House. As much as I hate just sitting him down in front of the T.V. it is nice to know that it is an option for entertainment when needed. Like all new moms I promised myself never to use T.V. as a babysitter...oh how naive I was. Sometimes T.V. is a great babysitter...plus it gave me time for this awesome post!

Too much of a good thing...

2008-11-04T19:56:00.007-07:00

Well maybe not too much but just enough for sure. October was a crazy busy and fun month. We had something Halloween related at least once a week. Here is the run down of how our month went:

It started with a traditional Halloween dinner party and movie night with old high school/college friends.
Gardner Village to see the Witches
Our big adult Halloween party
FHE w/ friends to carve pumpkins
Trunk or treat with the grandparents
The kids Halloween party
The school Halloween festival
And finally the big event Halloween itself

Not to mention dentist appointments, photo shoots, volunteering at the school, art classes for the kids, doctors appointments birthday parties etc. I love Halloween and all that comes with it, but by the time Halloween actually got here I was ready to be finished with Halloween for the year. Here are a few picture highlights...

Just in case you need a hint, Joseph was a bear, Lillie was a witch and Van was a dragon.

Finally!

2008-10-30T18:54:00.004-06:00

We had our first appointment with Joseph's new psychiatrist today. We were really struggling to see eye-to-eye with his previous psychiatrist. Every time we questioned something he was doing or recommending he would hold up a medical journal and tell us that he has "read all of these." I guess that is impressive and supposed to mean something to us. Well it was neither impressive nor reassuring. If he did not hold up his reading material, he would ignore us or get defensive. Not the best atmosphere for healing as you can imagine. Anyway we have been trying to get a new psychiatrists for months. This has been a frustrating and fruitless process. Apparently psychiatrists specializing in adolescence is rare and therefore hard to find and of course our insurance only covers a handful. Anyway to make a very long story short we were finally able to find a child psychiatrist that accepted our insurance and that was able to see us in a reasonable amount of time. Enter new psychiatrist...

From the time we walked into the building I felt the difference in this office. The decor was nice, the staff was friendly and there was no weird art on the walls for sale created by the psychiatrists wife/receptionist (I am not kidding). After filling out the necessary paper work we were off tho see the doctor.

We walked into his office and were greeted with a smile, a hand shake and eye-contact, all at the same time. We are off to a wonderful start. He then asked if we used email...oh I am really starting to like this man, and gave us his email address! The eye-contact lasts throughout the whole visit. His manner is pleasant and attentive. He talks to all of us and interacts in a normal humanly fashion. Now the best part, I know I didn't think it could get better either; he actually listened to what we had to say about our own son and what we were concerned about! He agreed with most of what were saying and also wanted to simplify Joseph's meds which we felt were getting out of hand. Then he did the most amazing thing, he actually typed up what we talked about, what we needed to be doing, and the med changes we talked about....and gave us a copy! When we left he was again pleasant and told us we could email him anytime with questions or concerns. WOW!

Ben and I left in a bit of shock and disbelief. The many months of frustration with our old doctor left us sad and upset with Josephs care. The many months of searching for a new doctor left us mad and cynical. In one visit our new psychiatrist erased many of those feelings (don't get me wrong I still think that our old doctor is a quack and probably shouldn't be seeing patients). I am so grateful that we found a new doctor and that he is all the things that our old doctor was not. I think this is someone we can trust as well as someone who can really help Joseph! It is so nice to come away from an appointment feeling hope rather than despair!

Just a bit of "WOW" to brighten your day

2008-10-24T21:53:00.005-06:00

I had to show off my budding photographer. Lately Joseph has taken quite a liking to photography. So he decide that for Reflections he would do photography. Reflections is a program that showcases the art of school aged kids centered on a specific theme. This year the theme is "WOW." There are lots of categories to choose from but Joseph wanted to do photography. I did not influence his decision...I promise. Anyway we went looking for "WOW" tonight. He used our point and shoot camera and I just made suggestions. I have been very careful not to tell him what to do or how to do it, but I have given suggestions. So when we got home we were both really excited to get the pictures on the computer to see how they turned out. There were quite a few that were good. But this is a "WOW" photograph. Honestly I was fighting back tears! Now I know that I am a biased judge but this image is amazing. I told Joseph I wished I had taken it, and I was being totally honest. I hope I haven't built it up too much and I hope that it shows well on blogger. So here it is...

"This is Halloween"

2008-10-23T12:14:00.006-06:00

I know it's early but I had to share some pictures from our Halloween Party. We had a bunch of friends over for a party last weekend and it was so much fun. Anyone who knows me well knows how much I love fall and Halloween. So this year I decided to turn that love into a party.

OH MY HECK...I might have gone a little over board (Shocker). I had been planning this party for over a month. Then the night before we changed everything but the food and the decorations. We decided to make the games a little more interesting and split people up. We put two couples together in rooms throughout our house. Then after 20 minutes we switched rooms/games and were with a different couple. So of course that meant that I had to try to decorate the new rooms that we would be using. Anyway I think that it turned out pretty good. Because we decided the night before to do things this way there were some snags of course, but nothing monumental, overall I think the games went well. The biggest disappointment of the night was the fondue. Apparently fondue does not work well over a long period of time. I think that it was fine at the beginning of the night but by the end it wasn't so great. Oh well lesson learned. It was still tons of fun and so fun to see how creative our friends were with their costumes. Here are some pics...

Some of these pictures do not do the costumes justice!

The Pendletons were pirates, actually Vanessa was a pregnant pirate. Apparently Vanessa had made Matt grow out the beard just for the party. These guys won first prize in our game competition.

The Rushtons were bikers and actually came on a motocycle! Way to own it guys!

The Weights were "Home improvement gone wrong." It was hilarious they had wounds that included blood, wood protuding from toes and nails stuck through fingers...very clever. Crystal won our best costume of the night. I wish I had a better picture!

The Greenwoods were superheroes. These guys may end up being related to us one day; Aaron's brother is dating Ben's sister...small world.

The Burrups were sports fans. Josh had a Y shirt on with a noose around his neck to symbolize the Cougars horrible loose the night before. (Which almost ruined my party because Ben was so upset that they lost...DUH)

The James' were the Milk man and the housewife. So funny. You can't see it but he has lipstick on his shirt.

The Cleggs were Siegfried and Roy, we all got a kick out of the mullet wigs. I thought it was a good look for the cleggs!

And finally we were a gothic prom couple. You can't see them very well but we are both wearing black corsages that I made. Earlier in the evening Ben had a lip ring on and he is wearing an earing that you can't see in the picture. I had on some awesome eyelashes that of course you can't see well in the picture. For those wondering that is my actual senior prom dress. I was so excited that it fit again after 3 babies, I didn't care what I was as long as I wore the dress!

Like I said the pictures don't so the costumes justice. Maybe everyone will get dressed up again and come over so I can get some better pictures...what do you think guys:)

Overheard

2008-10-12T16:04:00.002-06:00

Joseph: "Do you want to hear something really bad that pirates do?"
Lillie: "Yes"
Joseph: "They sneak into movies and video tape them, when they are not supposed to"
Ben and I: Silent laughter
Joseph: "Then they try to sell them to Prophets!"
Lillie: Confused
Ben and I: Hysterical muffled laughter

The vacuum chronicles

2008-09-30T22:15:00.002-06:00

My new vacuum sucks...and I couldn't be happier! Finally a vacuum that sucks for all the right reasons. Now my carpets are finally clean...for real this time.

Seriously?

2008-09-30T11:45:00.002-06:00

Yesterday in the spirit of getting things done I wanted to get as much of my house clean between the time the kids left for school and the time I go for a walk with friends. This is about an hour and 20 minutes; if spent well, quite a lot can be accomplished. So I set off, cleaning up breakfast, sweeping and mopping the kitchen, dusting, general cleaning up and finally vacuuming. I finished just in time to get ready to go for my walk. I had just a few minutes left and decided to vacuum the stairs so I had one less thing to do when I got home. So I pull out the attachment to do the stairs and instinctively check the suction with my hand...NO Suction. I had just spent the morning vacuuming with a vacuum that sucks, but in all the wrong ways! Ugh, sometimes I wonder why I even bother.

My blood runs purple

2008-09-19T09:48:00.005-06:00

I have a cute Joseph story I have to share. Last night we were at the store and decided to get Ben and the kids some BYU hats. While we were checking out the checker asked Joseph if he was a BYU fan, he paused and then said "Well my blood is kind of purple, I cheer for BYU and Utah." If you don't get that you probably don't live in Utah; blue (BYU) and red (Utah) makes purple. I thought it was pretty clever that he made that up himself...such a funny kid. And Lillie, whose hat is actually pink with a big white Y on it, just wanted to show papa her new hat so she could tease him. Papa is a Utah alum, and thus the red component of Joseph's purple blood. Kids are so cute!

My Testimony

2008-09-15T14:02:00.003-06:00

In my last post I went on and on about a band I love. Later I wondered do people know I have a testimony and that I love the Gospel. I never go on and on about things of the spirit. So although I do tend to rant about nothing and everything on my blog I am not without perspective. So here is my testimony, it is not meant to be preachy and I hope that this does not offend anyone. I just feel like it is something I should share.

I know that the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter day Saints is the true church. I know that Joseph Smith saw God and his son, Jesus Christ and restored the church to the earth. I know that Joseph Smith is a Prophet as is Pres. Thomas S. Monson. I know that my Savior lives and that he atoned for my sins as well as the sins of everyone else. I know that I am a child of God and that he loves me and knows me personally. I know that the work that is done in the Temple is important and that the covenants made there are sacred. The Gospel is true and it is meant to be a joy and a blessing to each of us. I have been blessed beyond measure by my Heavenly Father and for this I am truly grateful. I hope that I can live my life in such a way so that others know that I love my Savior and am trying to live the teachings of the Gospel.

And since I fell for that spell I am living it as well

2008-09-06T11:09:00.005-06:00

What is it about British rock stars? Why are they so amazing at what they do? And why am I so drawn to their music?

Obviously those are all rhetorical and that is not why we are all here today. We are here because I can't stand it any longer I have to give my opinion and review of the new Coldplay album. I have been resisting the urge to scream it's praises since I first heard it in it's entirety. I can hold it in no longer. Their new album Viva la Vida or Death and all his friends is, well, ingenious. Strong wordage I know but I am nothing if not honest. So what is my reasoning for such intense feelings. I could go on and on but I will give you just a few.

1. First of all it is, I think, a big departure from their previous albums. It is still immediately recognizable as Coldplay, but the music is different. To be able to produce songs so different than anything you have ever done and still keep your signature sound, ingenious!

2. Second is about the album it's self. There are probably not many of you who have listened to the album from first song to last and started it again right away (I know I am obsessed), but if you had you would have noticed that it comes full circle. What I mean by that is that the end of the last song leads directly into the beginning of the first song. AMAZING! Whoever thought of that...my guess is Chris Martin (lead singer and song writer), is for lack of a better word a genius. Seriously think of what a good song writer you have to be to pull that off and make both songs work on their own!

3. Lyrics, Lyrics, Lyrics. As a want to be writer let me just say lyrics matter. Chris Martin's passionate lyrics are poetry. The songs are deep, beautiful and powerful without being in your face.

4. Last (well last of this short list) the instrumentals in this album shine. The first song is all instrumental. And it holds it own. I thought that was a very gutsy move. The decision to put an instrumental piece as the first track even though many will be judging the album based on the first track and some might lose interest quickly when faced with an instrumental track, risky. This song is SO good anyone losing interest would have to be...I better not finish that sentence just in case there is some out there that I might offend. There are other amazing instrumentals throughout the album. Instrumentals of this caliber are a throw back to the seventies. Classic rock songs, especially from the seventies are famous for long instrumental intros and bridges. Think Led Zeppelin's Stairway to Heaven, Iron Butterfly's In the Garden of Eden and Pink Floyd's Wish you were here (By the way if you have never heard these songs please find them and listen to them they are a piece of Americana).

So if you haven't heard the album you should. If you have and you thought that it was just ok, revisit it, and if you love it as much as I do, then let me know why you love it!

Ok so I was also going to talk about the new Death Cab for Cutie album, but I will have to do that another time.

FYI the title is one of my favorite lines in the 4th track 42.

First (and second) Day of School

2008-08-26T21:04:00.004-06:00

So today was the first day of school for Lillie and the second for Joseph. They both seem to be liking their teachers and school in general. Somehow they both got put into classes with only a couple of people they already know. For Lillie this is not a big deal, she has already told me about some of the new friends that she made today. I was more sad than her when I found out that her 2 best friends were in another class together. But in true Lillie form she shrugged it off and headed to school with a smile on her face. Our biggest concern for Lillie was how she would handle being at school for the whole day. When I asked her about it she said "It wasn't that bad, you said all day, I was not there all day" apparently there was some miscommunication about the definition of all day. Anyway she loved it and is excited to go back tomorrow. Joseph although he his liking school has a slightly harder time making friends. He spends his lunch recess visiting with the recess aid who happens to be our neighbor. I hope that he will be comfortable enough to branch out and play with the other kids but I guess time will tell.

I am sure you are on pins and needles wondering what Van and I did with our first full day alone together. Well I did not stay home and clean like you are all thinking. We went with a friend to the Thanksgiving point gardens. It was a lot of fun. We even stopped at one of my favorite restaurants, Rumbi and had lunch on the way. Of course I took my camera but just as we were getting to the good stuff my battery died. I was pretty disappointed because there were a lot of opportunities for pictures. But I did get a few cute ones of Van and a couple fun ones of the gardens. Overall I think it was a good day for all of us.

I love the look on Van's face in this picture. He is looking so grown up these days.

Here is one of the only interesting pictures I got before my camera battery died.

This isn't Coldplay!

2008-08-21T19:18:00.003-06:00

There are a lot of proud moments one experiences as a parent. Some of them you expect; firsts of all sorts, walking, talking, school and so forth. But there are a few that catch you off guard. A few that may mean nothing to anyone else but to you is amazing. Here is just one of those moments I experienced with Joseph the other day. I am loving the new Coldplay CD and have been listening to every chance I get, as a bonus Joseph also loves it. We were in the van when the CD ended and I thought it might be time for something different. So I put in the new Death cab for cutie CD (also awesome!) As soon as the first cord of the first song spilled from the speakers Joseph yelled "This isn't coldplay" in a very how dare you voice. It was a very proud moment, I swelled with, dare I say, pride. I love the fact that Joseph loves music and that we have a lot of the same tastes and can share that bond. It doesn't hurt that this shared love makes me "cooler than dad" according to Joseph.

We are music people in our home. We all love music, and there is a very eclectic mix of tastes and genres that one might hear at any moment in our home, but there is almost always music playing (even if it is in headphones). We all have some very strong opinions about music...we all try to appriciate and be accepting about each others music, we are not always successful however. Joseph also likes some music that I do not care for (his dad's influence) such as The beach boys and Neil Diamond. But this too is fun because it creates a chance to tease...although there have been some pretty heated musical discussions that have included Joseph and Lillie...we might care about all of this a bit too much.

Since I am bragging about Joseph's amazing ear for music I will tell you just a few more interesting Joseph music facts, he can name almost any classical composer by their songs, he can recognize and usually name any Police song before the singing starts and he loves the Beatles and can recognize and name most of their songs as well. He can also play the piano by ear.

Just as a footnote I am going to the Coldplay concert in November and can hardly wait, but Joseph doesn't know I am going...at least I have a few months to break it to him that he is not invited.

An ode to Mr.Destructo and his side kick Captain Mischeif

2008-08-20T07:38:00.005-06:00

Who is this Mr. Destructo and and his side kick Captain Mischief? Well he is actually the same person as well as a visitor that is living in our home. We are not sure how long his stay will last, but he will not let his presence be over looked. He is very short and says only a few words. He mostly communicates in grunts, points and the occasional emotional outburst of screams. He gets into everything that is not locked and climbs on top of everything that is climbable. He rips paper and chews on anything he can fit in his mouth. He is messy when he eats and never cleans up after he is finished. He leaves a trail of match box cars wherever he goes. Why would we let such a visitor remain, well he also adorable. He is sweet and intelligent. He is a great snuggler (when he stops moving). He has the greatest laugh and the most interesting facial expressions, you can always tell just what he is thinking even though his words are few. And although his extended visit was a surprise he seems to have us all wrapped around is tiny destructo finger. When he is not going by his super hero name he is more commonly known as Van. And we wouldn't have him any other way. We love our Mr. Destructo!

You know you are getting old when...

2008-08-10T20:40:00.002-06:00

Recently I have noticed a few things that are making me feel, well OLD. Here is my list of how you know you are getting old:

1. Although you are not a morning person you wake up early and can't get back into a real sleep even though you used to be able to sleep at any time, in anyplace with out any problems.

2. You go to Lagoon and all you can think about while you are on the rides is all the things that could go wrong. And once you get off the rides all you can think about is what new part of your body is sore.

3. Every time you talk to your kids you swear you hear your mother.

4. Your third kid gets away with way more than your first two ever did. And surprisingly the world didn't come crashing down around you.

5. You finally get to the point when having a clean house isn't the most important thing on your to-do-list. And you realize that a few toys on the ground doesn't make you a bad person or a bad mother...imagine that.

6. You let your husband go golfing without complaint...ok minimal complaint I'm not that old, I still have kids at home!

7. You can forgive yourself and others more easily.

8. You realize when you are being a brat or unfair and you try to fix it.

9. You try to give people the benefit of the doubt.

10. You recognize your blessings and know that you truly do have a wonderful life.

A call for help

2008-07-29T08:48:00.002-06:00

Most of you probably already know this about me but I am not the best cook. Not that I am inept just lazy. With everything I do obsess about somehow cooking and nutrition slipped through. The point? I am starting to feel bad about it. I feel like I should be better for the sake of my kids. I realized recently that we are still eating like students. Now we are not "rolling in it" by any means but we can definitely afford to eat better than starving students. But it is so much easier to open up a can or a box and and call it good (before you think me too horrid, I do cook real meals occasionally) . So why am I telling all of you this knowing full well that most of you are great cooks and do give thought to the nutritional value of the meals you are serving? Well that is kind of the point, I need help. I need ideas and recipes that are easy, nutritional and that picky kids will actually eat. Keep in mind that if the ingredients list is more than 5 ingredients long I tend to glass over. If you have anything that might help bring it on!

Meet Hazel

2008-07-22T13:59:00.005-06:00

We are so excited to have another new niece, Hazel May Case. It's official I am no longer the soul baby maker for The Neiswenders or The Cases! You don't know how exciting this is for me. Anyway back to baby Hazel. She is adorable and tiny. She only weighed 6 lbs 11 oz and was 18 1/2 inches long. She still has that newborn smell and was so sweet and quiet I think I heard her cry once in 2 days and that is with my, very loud, family around. I only wish they lived closer. Now we have 2 nieces and they are both in different states. Apparently our siblings missed the memo that said once you have kids you have to move back to Utah. Oh well. Here are a few, ok a lot of (unedited) pics from our trip.

I think this is my favorite picture of Hazel. Isn't she adorable!
The next one is pretty cute too.

You know me I love baby feet.

This is Kirk, Heather and Hazel in front of the Rexberg, Idaho Temple, which is actually right behind their beautiful new church building.

This is just a funny picture of Van...it is so him, I love it!

This is my parents with all of their grand kids, they were so happy to have everyone together. And no Van is not floating behind everyone, Ben is crouched down holding him up because he wouldn't let anyone else hold him.

This is my cousin Jason and his cute pregnant wife, Deanna.

This is just cute I love this pic.

My parents.

So there is this really cool place in Idaho called Yellowstone Bear World. You drive through an actual bear habitat. It was so awesome, and if you know our kids at all you know that they all love Bears so this was a pretty amazing experience for them.

This bear tore of the front license plate of this car. It was coming toward ours but one of the workers shooed it away. We found out later this car was a rental.

After you drive though you can go into the petting zoo and amusement park areas. They had a big area fenced off that was full of bear cubs. They were so cute.

One of the rides.

If you made it through all of those pictures just be grateful I didn't post all 356 pictures (I am serious). It was a great trip and I am glad that we made it.

Too many good things

2008-07-16T17:18:00.003-06:00

How can that be a problem? Well let me tell you. We have been so busy this summer that we have hardly had a chance to breath. And this weekend is no different except that this weekend we had to choose between 2 good things. One was the obvious priority, but we were really looking forward to the other option as well.

My brother and his wife had their first baby a week and a half ago and they are blessing her this Sunday. The other was a trip with friends we have had planned for quite awhile. Originally we thought that we could fit both trips into one weekend but it just doesn't work. I hope this does not sound like I am complaining about the blessing because I am not. We are so excited for this baby and to have a chance to visit with my brother and sister-in-law. My point is I hate it when there are 2 (or more) good things to choose from and you can only pick one.

So to everyone we bailed on we are sorry, I know you all understand and we love you for that. And to Kirk, Heather and Baby Hazel, we can't wait to see you! By the way for those wondering I will post pics of her as soon as I get back! I can't wait to get my hands on that little girl and take tons of cute pictures.

Happy Birthday Lillie

2008-07-07T08:04:00.010-06:00

For Lillie's birthday this year we had a Luau. It was tons of fun and tons of work. I know it has been over a week now, but here are the highlights.

It was so much fun planning and decorating for this party. I may have gone a bit overboard but it was totally worth it. Now I have all this great Luau stuff so I can do it again!

The kids had lots of fun playing on the tramp, doing a beach relay race, hula hooping, doing the limbo and of course hitting the pinata...
However the pinata was less than co-operative so we had to ask some of the big boys to join in the fun. Well uncle Sam got a bit overzealous and as you can see broke the pinata off of it's hanger. Not to worry we got the fish hung again and the pinata fun resumed.

This cake was so fun to make. Although I had my share of panic moments throughout the process, I think it worked out well in the end.

I am so grateful to have Lillie as a daughter. She is kind, thoughtful and compassionate. She has an amazing imagination and can turn anything into a toy to keep herself busy. She is feisty and passionate and we love having her in our family. There is rarely a dull moment when she is around. I love you Lillie I hope you had a great birthday...and have a wonderful year to come.

Tagged...again

2008-06-21T07:47:00.003-06:00

I hope this isn't too boring, here it goes again...at least these are slightly different questions.

3 Joys:

1. Being a mom. I know that sounds like a cliche', but it is true. Some days are hard, but I can't think of anything I would rather do or anything that is more rewarding.

2. Doing something well. I love the feeling of knowing I did a good job. It is totally superficial and has no eternal consequence, but I also love the praise. That is so embarrassing.

3. Date nights with Ben. I love having full conversations that aren't peppered with "just a minute, I am talking to your dad; stop doing that; please be nice to each other; do you need to go to the bathroom"...the list goes on , but I am sure you get the idea. We can talk about anything and do anything together, I love being married to my best friend.

3 Fears:

1. Having someone think badly about my kids. I know kids are kids, but I have this irrational worry that someone will think my kids are bad or are doing something wrong.

2. Someone thinking or hinting that I am a bad mom, until recently I thought that was all in my head too. But once someone implies you are a bad mother it is something that sticks with you.

3. Having Ben or one of my kids die. Ever since we got married I have felt like Ben would die before me. Every once in a while I will feel really panicky about it and worry about every minute he is not with me.

3 Current obsessions/collections
I am obsessive by nature so this will be a short version of a very long list.

1. My photography website. Actually not having a photography website. I spend way too much time looking for the right web hosting and templates and features it needs to have and on and on. I could write a lot more about this but I won't it is too boring for normal people.

2. Photography in general. I don't spend enough time actually shooting...I'm too busy with 3 kids home all day. But I think about it constantly.

3. Cleanliness/State of my house. I can spend all day cleaning and I feel like I am never done, there is always a million more things that need to be done. I actually have to tell myself to let things go for a day if I am going somewhere or need to do something else, otherwise I will spend all day cleaning and never leave my house.

3 Random/Surprising facts about myself:

1. I can turn my eye lids inside out.

2. I laugh at my own jokes, sometimes I can't get through the punch line because I am already laughing too hard.

3. I love hosting parties or activities. Although planning and executing parties can be very stressful I love the planning, shopping and decorating involved.

I tag Shannon C. Becky E. Kristin S & Emily G. Have fun!

All about Ben...

2008-06-17T07:53:00.003-06:00

Well the title pretty much sums up this Blog. Ben's birthday was earlier this month (the 6th) and in true Ben fashion I was forbade from doing anything fun for him. So from the beginning I was planning on at least a blog entry. Well with all three kids home all day I haven't had...ok I haven't made the time to do so. Now Father's Day has already passed and I still haven't done his birthday blog so I will roll them into one. I will try to keep this short, but that is tough because Ben is such a great guy. He is the best husband and father and way more than I deserve. For some of you reading this will sound like a bit of a repeat of my talk on Father's Day. As horrifying as it is to talk on church at least I got to talk about Ben and let everyone know what an amazing man he is. Ok a short list of some of the reasons I love Ben...
He is...
Patient
Loving
Kind
Selfless
Funny
Sensitive
Goofy
There are so many more reasons but you get the idea. He is always willing to help people and always finds the good in situations and in people even if(I think)they don't deserve it. He loves my crazy family, and they love him. We have been married for over 10 years and it is still very common for my mom and my grandma to tell me how much they love Ben and what a great guy he is and on and on. I think they are trying to tell me in a nice way that I am the lucky one, not him. Which I can't disagree with, I am the lucky one. He probably deserves some soft spoken, meek, have dinner ready (and edible) as soon as he gets home type of wife and he got...me. Poor guy, but he still makes me feel special. On top of all that he is the greatest Dad I could have imagined for my kids. They really are blessed and I hope that they will realize that as they grow up. I love you Ben, thanks for being you!

Rubber Ducky your the One...

2008-05-28T17:08:00.003-06:00

Van's favorite toy is a huge, inflatable, plastic duck. This duck is supposed to be a bathtub. It has never seen the water. But don't fret it is getting plenty of play time. It is hilarious to watch him carry a huge plastic duck around and snuggle with it...yes I said snuggle. One of his favorite things to do with his duck is dive head first into it's center. He thinks this is the funniest thing ever (so do the rest of us for that matter). On more than one occasion I have found Van sitting in his duck with his blanket and a smile ear to ear. He isn't playing he is just sitting there enjoying his duck. Thank goodness for rubber ducky's, what would we do without them.

Van in his duck after a dive.

Snuggle time with the duck.

I believe the look on his face is pure joy.

Thanks uncle Sam and Aunt Haley for "The Duck."
The poor thing doesn't have a real name yet.

Our newest addition

2008-05-18T20:33:00.004-06:00

We are all so excited to welcome the newest member of our family. Morgan was born just over two weeks ago and we went to Evanston Wyo to see her Saturday. She is so adorable. We have all been anxiously awaiting her arrival. This means I am no longer the only baby maker for the Neiswenders! Which is good considering there is no more baby making in my future. (Famous last words, I know) Anyway, we have one nephew that is actually more like a brother so this is very exciting for all of us. The kids finally have a cousin that is closer to their age and we get to be the fun aunt and uncle for a change (we always have to play the role of mean parents)...oh the payback! The kids haven't stopped talking about how cute she is and how much they love her and want to go see her again since we left on Saturday.

10 years...where has the time gone?

2008-05-09T21:09:00.004-06:00

We just got back from Mexico and awesome does not even begin to describe it. This was our 10 year anniversary trip (yes one more reason for me to feel old). We had a very simple honeymoon and until our spontaneous trip to Disney land have a very simple vacations. Needless to say we were so excited to go on a real vacation...even better a real vacation without kids. We stayed at an all inclusive resort in Cancun. This vacation was all about the relaxing, we didn't do any excursions or trips into town. We sat by the pool, we walked on the beach, we napped, we slept in, we ate, we read and we talked a lot. And this is exactly how we wanted it to be. It was 4 days of nothing to do but be together. It was amazing. We had such a great time being together and reminiscing about our life. When people found out that we had been married for ten years the first thing we heard was you look way to young, the second was something to the effect of it is nice to see people staying together. This is so foreign to me. Of course we have stayed together. I suppose it is all a matter of perspective. Sadly not enough people have an eternal perspective and marriages that last are the exception rather than the rule. I am so grateful for my marriage and for Ben. How I ever got so lucky I will never know, but I do know that I am very blessed.

Here are some of my favorite pictures:

Palm trees on the beach.

Some bug skin...sounds weird but what an awesome picture.

This is the view from one of the 4 buffets to one of the many pools.

This is the bridge down to the beach from the resort.

More palm trees.
We took a lot of pictures, these are just a few of my favorites.

I have to say thank you to my awesome mom and sister who came all the way from Oregon to watch the kids while we were in Mexico. Knowing that my kids were safe and well taken care of made the trip that much more enjoyable. Thanks mom and Beth you guys are the best!!!

Van's first hair cut

2008-04-29T14:23:00.005-06:00

It was finally time for Van to get his first hair cut. OK I should say I finally relented and gave Van a much over due first hair cut. All of these firsts are coming way to fast for me. I think because he is probably our last baby all of his firsts feel like my lasts. I don't want another baby I just want the one I have to stay a baby a little longer. Anyway back to the hair cut. He is one of the few people I know that had a comb over before the age of one. For some reason he had a patch of hair that grew much faster than the rest leading to what I called "his old man hair cut to match his old man name." But it was time to say good by to the comb over and hello to the clippers. He actually did very well. It was a fairly short and simple hair cut, all the same he cooperated nicely. Here are a few before and after pictures.

I think this pictures illustrates the crazy comb over nicely.

Nice, no comb over. I was surprised at the difference this hair cut made in the way he looks. He is still super cute, but for better or worse, I think it makes him look older.

Small Victories

2008-04-21T22:11:00.003-06:00

Well I don't have much to write, I know it seems weird, but it's true. But I do want to share some small victories that have happened around our home recently:

1. I am finally down to my pre-baby weight. It only took me 14 months.
2. The baby that caused all that extra weight is walking. And it is adorable, so much so that I sometimes forget that I do not want him to grow up.
3. I had a huge photo shoot this Saturday, and by huge I mean 9 families and over 1,100 pictures and I have not shed a single tear or felt inadequate since. In fact I am finally feeling like I could actually do this, for real.
4. Joseph had an awesome Sunday. He was polite and reverent during church and that carried on through out the day. You may not know it, but for some reason Sundays are always hard for Joseph. We are not sure why exactly, but that is how it has been for awhile now. So hopefully he has turned a corner and we will see a happier Joseph on Sundays, I guess we will have to wait and see.
5. This isn't so much a victory as it is just really exciting, our trip to Mexico is 12 days away.
6. We seem to have another music lover in the family. It is fitting seeing as we all love music, even if we have differing tastes.

How cute is he!

Van loved wearing the big headphones and controlling my MP3 player. For those wondering he is listening to classical music...I thought about classic rock but I figured I should encourage the building of brain cells not the depletion of said cells.

More on photography...

2008-04-14T14:16:00.006-06:00

For those of you tired of hearing about my photography endeavors read no further, for those interested in fueling my narcissism forge ahead. I had 3 shoots in 2 days. I would consider each a success, but I can't be sure because I have only had time to edit one of the three shoots. Photography is much more emotional than I had anticipated. On any given day I vacillate between wanting very much to be a photographer and feeling so inadequate that surely I must be fooling myself (and no one else). This all came to a culminating emotional breakdown after my 3rd shoot this weekend. I was feeling very overwhelmed not by the work load although 3 shoots in 2 days is a bit extreme, but by the fact that I want to give everyone I do a shoot for the best possible outcome. Because I am still learning as I go I can pick out a multitude of things that I would do differently as I look at the pictures post shoot. Anyway back to my emotional breakdown...

As we all know I hate to fail, I hate even the hint of not doing well at something. So I cried and pouted and tried to get my head around what I was doing. This is were my sweet husband Ben comes in. Not only did he take care of the kids for most of the day on Saturday while I helped with wedding plans, got a hair cut and did shoot # 3, he was also there for support through my break down. He didn't tell me I was awesome and that I was as good as any professional photographer (he tends not to lie) but he did help me realize, much to the chagrin of my perfectionist personality, that this is a process. A process that will be full of successes and failures. He said many kind things about my work, but it seems weird to repeat them here. The point is I am so grateful for a supportive husband who loves me and wants to see me succeed.

Besides Ben's support the other thing that pushes me to follow this dream is the fact that I love being behind a camera. Even though the rest of the time I have to deal with incredible amounts of self doubt that tends to subside as soon as a shoot starts. I hope that this candid confession does not scare those of you who are planning shoots with me. Just know that I do love taking pictures and I wont break down during a shoot...I save that sort of thing for home.

For those interested I have posted more pictures on my photo blog. I hope to have the other shoots posted some time this week. The link is under My favorite blogs.

The Prophet is never far away: sometimes much closer than you think

2008-04-03T10:55:00.004-06:00

Yesterday Ben and I were talking to the Joseph and Lillie about conference and how this conference was going to be special because President Monson will be sustained as the new prophet. Joseph told us a story about his friend Adam who saw a picture of Joseph dressed up and told Joseph he looked like a prophet in the picture. Lillie got a very confused look on her face and said "how did you even talk to him?" At first I was confused by her question, but Ben started laughing and said "Not the Prophet Adam, Joseph's friend Adam." As we all laughed and Lillie realized her mistake she pointed up and said "Oh I thought he meant the prophet Adam, that lives up there on our roof." Which caused another eruption of laughter.

I love those moments. The kind you know will be infamous family stories in the years to come.

Our spontaneous trip to Disney Land

2008-03-25T17:06:00.014-06:00

The morning spring break started Ben came into our room and said something to the effect of "Why don't we go to Disney Land for spring break?" I was still basically asleep and it took me a minute to realize he was serious. Keep in mind this is something we had not talked about at all. After a few minutes of disbelief I realized he had already had a rough plan. So I reluctantly got up from what was supposed to be the first of a few days of sleeping in. Needless to say a few hours later we were on our way to Disney Land. Yes we planned a whole trip to Disney Land in a matter of hours. Obviously 2 days of driving there and 1 day back is not the most pleasant situation with 3 kids. But over all the drive wasn't bad, yes there was some whining, a lot of are we there yets and a throw-up incident. But all things considered it was a successful car trip. We had tonz of fun at Disney Land and Disney California. The kids were great, I don't think it could have gone much better. We spent 2 days in the parks and were very exhausted when it was all over. We are not typically the type of people to do anything this big without lots of planning, but it all worked out so well maybe we will have to do more impromptu trips.

This is in front of the Disney Castle.

Lillie was so excited to see Minnie.
We waited in line while the boys rode on a roller coaster near by.

We waited, and waited and waited to see Mickey. But I predict this picture will be a family favorite.

They are so cute in their Mickey ears!

We wore poor Van out, he fell asleep during the Pirates of the Caribbean ride and slept for about an hour in his stroller afterwards...this was a minor miracle as far as we are concerned.

This is the first float in the electric parade, this was the most amazing parade I have ever seen. The kids were so into the parade that they hardly moved while they watched.

Joseph never sleeps in the middle of the afternoon. He was exhausted and begged us to go back to the hotel so he could take a nap, I didn't think it would actually happen.

Don't worry he does this all the time...I know it looks horrible.

This is the second day. Notice the clock in the picture of Joseph. We were all so tired we came back to the hotel for a rest and then planned on going back to Disney Land later in the evening. Well we didn't make it back, I have to admit I was a little disappointed but the kids seemed to be fine with it. We fit a lot into a short amount of time and I think the kids were feeling a bit overwhelmed.

We had an amazing time, it was definitely a trip that we will all remember for a long time, thanks to Ben and his sudden bout of spontaneity.

A (HUGE) Leap of Faith

2008-03-19T11:14:00.000-06:00

For those of you who are regular readers of my blog you may remember a previous blog in which I said my biggest fear is failure and I do not do things unless I am fairly certain I will succeed. Well I have decided to take a leap of faith and a take my photography to the next level. I am hoping to start doing portraiture “professionally.” Obviously, there is no guarantee that this will be a successful venture. I am very aware that I still have a lot to learn. I am hoping that a combination of my schooling and experience will help me to build a portfolio that will lead me to professional status.

This is where you, my friends and family come into the picture (no pun intended). In order to build a portfolio I need models. I want to specialize in newborns and kids. And most of you reading this blog either have kids or know someone who has kids. My proposal is this: I will do a portrait session with your kids; I’ll even do sessions with your family and friends as long as I don’t become too swamped. The session would be totally free for you. I will come to your home or we can be on location. I will give you a CD with the pictures from our shoot that you will have the rights to and you can print as many or as few as you want. I will Photoshop and enhance the pictures and help you find a good place for printing. I will retain the right to use any of the images on my website. I will not use any names of course. In return, I hope that you will recommend me to friends and family once my website is up and I am working professionally.

For those of you who might be wondering, I had my first shoot yesterday. It went very well for a first shoot and I am feeling very confident at this point. My first models were awesome. I felt like it was a good experience for all of us. I will post some of the pictures from this session so you can get an idea of the style I will be shooting. Being true to my promise I will not give the names of these models but many of you will recognize them. I could not have asked for a better first shoot or models. I appreciate their mom so much for letting me take their pictures. I have two more shoots this week and two others set up (we just have to wait for them to be born).

I would love to do a shoot for you. If you have other needs such as family pictures, engagement photos or anything else, I would be happy to help you with those as well. I need as much practice as I can get in a real shooting environment if this venture is going to be a success.

If you are interested in seeing the style that I am striving for I have links to other photographer’s websites that I would be happy to pass on.

Everyone will think I am stylish…

2008-03-12T10:56:00.002-06:00

Lillie’s best friend is Sophie. Sophie and Lillie are polar opposites in almost every way. Lillie is loud and outgoing (possibly obnoxious) while Sophie is quiet and shy. But for some reason they are drawn to each other. I was visiting with Sophie’s mom the other day when the fashion of our 5 year olds became the topic of discussion. It seems they do have at least one thing in common. They care about what they wear and what other people think about what they wear. I was happy to find out that my 5 year old is not the only one that worries about what others think of her.

All year I have been trying to get Lillie to wear two shirts, usually an under shirt and a regular shirt. But sometimes just because two shirts layered is cute. Typically, this is a source of contention between us because she thought that that just was not fashionable enough for her tastes and the other kids won’t think she is “stylish.” If it is a modesty issue I insist (because she is so tall and long wasted many of her shirts are not long enough to reach the top of her pants) but if it is just what I think is cute I try not to push it. Two days ago, I tried to get her to wear a short-sleeved shirt over a long sleeved shirt, well like usual she didn’t go for it. I let it go and that was the end of it. So yesterday, I set out her clothes, being sure to choose a shirt that is long enough that she will not have to wear another one with it. A few minutes later, she comes out with a long sleeved shirt under the shirt I had chosen for her. I was quite surprised and said “I thought that you didn’t like wearing two shirts.” To which she replied, “I like it now, everyone will think I am stylish.” So I chuckled to myself and added it to the many times that she has wore something based on the fact that “they” or “everyone” will think she is stylish. This morning she insisted that she wear two shirts, a short-sleeved on top of a long sleeved. And informed me that she was only going to wear shirts like this from now on. She will be disappointed when she realizes she only has a few shirts that she can do that with and no matter how much “they” like the look she can’t wear the same 3 shirt combinations every day. I think this is cute and the stuff that funny stories are made of. But I do worry about her and all of the other 5 year olds that already worry so much about what others think about how they look. It makes me wonder do we do this to them by constantly verbalizing our own worries about what others think of us. Is it ingrained in them by a society that places too much enfaces on outward appearances and not enough on who the person really is? Yes, to both. Although I do want my kids to be clean and presentable I do not want the focus to be about what others think about how they look or dress. I want them to worry about being polite, having good manners, being kind and showing people who they really are on the inside because I like to think that beauty has more to do with who you are than what you wear.

Did I say Snowball? I should have said Avalanche!

2008-03-06T18:57:00.004-07:00

The theater room project is nearly finished. The projects that resulted from the theater room project are not however. You may remember it all started with a furniture purchase and some plans to rearrange the projector and the screen. Well moving the projector and screen were slightly more involved than I had anticipated, but not horrible and Ben did most of the work anyway. Once we got the room cleared we decided to go ahead and have the carpet replaced, those of you have been in our theater room will agree this was a much needed update. The carpet did not happen as swiftly as we had hoped which pushed everything back. The basement hallway and the stairs were to get new carpet as well. This meant we could finally get rid of the carpet in the entryway, Yeah! So we decided that we would try tile…which happens to make way more sense than carpet anyway. All of this carpet replacement meant that we needed to replace the baseboard moldings that the previous owner felt was unnecessary. Which actually did make this whole process simpler, one less step before the carpet was installed. Did I mention that we torn up the old carpet ourselves? So the new carpet is in, the baseboards are up, the new furniture is in place, the screen is moved, the projector is mounted, the walls are painted, all of the components are hooked up, and the speaker wire is in place and hidden. This brings me to the things that are not quite finished. One of the new speakers (part of the avalanche, not the original plan) seems to have a problem. Luckily, we bought the warranty so we are hoping this is just a minor setback not a major problem. Ben is taking care of that today. And later tonight we start the first step in the tile process. Then all that is left is the paint touch-ups that are required for the moldings and a few places in the entryway. I notice that I say “we” a lot. In some cases, this is true but really, Ben has done most of the work…especially the hard labor. I helped with the errand running, the painting, the supervising, the decision making, keeping the kids out of Ben’s way and I installed all the baseboards (after Ben cut them). However, because of our inadequate nail gun, the baseboards were much harder than they should have been. Ben did everything else; he has been awesome and has saved us a ton of money by doing most of the work himself.

New paint, new carpet, 4 trips to circuit city,4 trips to Lowes, 5 trips to home depot, new baseboards, projector mount, new speakers, shelving, new tile and never ending supplies $. Having the theater room project finished…PRICELESS.

So for our next project…

"Can you help me occupy my brain" Black Sabbath

2008-02-29T20:24:00.005-07:00

OK so I have been feeling a little overwhelmed with the theater room project. Don't get me wrong it is coming a long wonderfully and we have accomplished a ton in less than a week. But disarray is not something I deal with well. And disarray is definitely where we are at. So what is a girl to do. What any self respecting control freak would do in this situation...get out the MP3 player, find the heavy metal play list, crank up the volume and clean! It is amazing how much better I feel after a good cleaning. And there are a few universal truths that become clearer during this process. I would like to share them with you:

1. Sometime a little AC/DC and Black Sabbath are just good for the soul. Keep in mind this is Ozzy when he was just "bite the heads off of bats crazy" not...well I haven't quite figured out what kind of crazy he is now but he is certainly crazier.

2. Hard work is good for you. It doesn't matter if it is cleaning a house that will just be dirty again by tomorrow night...I take that back I give it about 20 minutes from the time the kids wake up in the morning. Or something more important. No matter what the work is if you do it well and you do your best you always feel better afterwards.

3. If you clean so hard that you sweat, it counts as exercise for the day, I don't care what anyone says.

4. If the first thing you do when you are done is write about it in your blog, you may just have an addiction that may require intervention.

Well there you have it life according to Terrie, it is simple and sometimes sweet...but always honest.

The snowball effect

2008-02-27T11:37:00.002-07:00

We decided it was time to do a few upgrades in our theater room. By a few upgrades, I mean some new furniture and rearranging the layout a bit. As any good project does, it has snowballed out of control. What began as a few simple upgrades has turned into near minor remodeling, complete with demolition. It all began with the furniture. We chose something we liked and set up delivery. Later that night as we started to make room for the new furniture we started to think of other things we would like to do with the room. Well since the room will be empty for a few days, it is only logical that now is the best time for new carpet. Because the room will never be empty again we need to take advantage of this opportunity. And if we are going to carpet the theater room then we should probably go ahead and look into carpeting the rest of the basement and maybe up the stairs, get the point. The jury is still out on the carpet debacle. One of things we have planned on doing since the beginning of this project was moving the screen from one wall to another. Sounds simple enough, right. Well the screen just happened to be covering a monstrosity of a wall that has horrible wood paneling. Not the kind that is all one sheet no that would be too easy. This is the nasty seventies variety that consists of hundreds of pieces of ugly wood nailed up on the wall. Why, oh why did anyone find this attractive? As we talked about our options for this eyesore of a wall, we decided to test a piece to see how hard it would be to remove. The next thing I know we are knee deep in nasty seventies wood paneling. Now we are committed. Obviously, we have to paint the wall now. First, it needs to be sanded and prepped for paint because not only was the wood nailed to the wall but also glued, for good measure I suppose. Ok now that we are committed to painting, there are a few places that need touch ups around the room so Ben starts to spackle and even to mud and tape in a few places while I head out for paint with what we are pretty sure is the right color chip to match the rest of the room. The trip for the paint is a story all its own. We start to paint and it is obvious that we will need at least two coats for the one wall. While that wall is drying we start to work on the touch-ups around the room. At first, we thought we got lucky and matched the color. After some time drying, we realized we had not been so lucky. The new paint is considerably darker than the color already on the walls. This means we have to repaint the whole room. So today my assignment is, get more red paint. Then tonight we paint. The real kicker is the new furniture is coming tomorrow, the whole room is torn apart, and we cannot get carpet laid in there until Friday at the absolute soonest. Like I said, the snowball effect. To be continued…

Jobs, Vans and a student of the week

2008-02-23T20:26:00.002-07:00

The kids are asleep and the hubby is working (I know on a Saturday night , how rude) so what better time to blog. Well it has been an eventful few weeks for us. I guess we are making up for lost time due to “the sickness.” So, I promised an explanation of the vague job offer reference from an earlier post. I will try to make this very long story short and sweet. Basically, the church came to Ben and asked him to apply for a position they were hiring for. Ben has wanted to work for the church or BYU since he graduated from college. Having said that, Ben also loves his job at Westminster and is in the middle of a very big project that he did not want to leave. However, he decided that this was an opportunity that he did not want to pass him by so he decided to go ahead and interview. The very long process of interviews ended, time passed and we heard nothing. We assumed they had gone another direction and didn’t think much of it. Then Ben got a phone call from the woman who had interviewed him offering him the job. They even offered him slightly better pay then what he was making at Westminster. The down side was the benefits. We have been lucky enough to have good benefits our entire married life and the ones offered by the church were pretty bad. At this point Ben decided it was time to let his boss at Westminster know what was going on and told him the situation. Let us just say Westminster was not going to let Ben go without a fight. Westminster made the decision easy to make. It was nice for Ben to see how much he is valued at the college. OK so that is the job stuff.

We also made a big purchase this week. We bought a new van. Yah, Yah, for all of you jokesters we mean the vehicle not the baby. Our old van had a cracked radiator and we were tired of putting money into it. So we took the plunge and bought a 2007 Chrysler Town and Country. We have never owned a vehicle this nice. I have to admit now that the guilt has worn off (why is there always guilt associated with car buying) I really like it.

Other fun news…Joseph was student of the week. He acted as if it was no big deal, but I think he was actually excited. He got his picture taken and posted in the hall, he also got a certificate and best of all a lunch with the principle. We are really proud of him and the good efforts he has made.

Of course, the big news of the week is Van’s first birthday. We kept the day low-key with the highlight being the infamous first birthday cake. He was the most tentative of our kids about “digging in.” He kept looking at me like “are you really going to let me stick my fingers in this and eat it?” After some encouragement, he started using his fingers to eat the frosting and then eventually went for it. He was still quite clean about the whole thing. When all was said and done, his hands and face were a mess but his bib and clothes were clean (such a considerate boy). Anyway, we had a fun night with him eating cake and opening presents. I still cannot believe he is one, but at least I am not crying as I write this like I was during the last post. All of you moms know what I mean, don’t act like you didn’t cry too. Once again I have written way more than I intended, so for those of you that stuck through to the bitter end, I hope it was worth it!

2008-02-19T15:53:00.001-07:00

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Third times a charm

2008-02-19T12:32:00.004-07:00

I do not know how true this is as far as universal truths go, but it has defiantly been true for our third baby. Van was well… a surprise. We were not planning to get pregnant and weren’t even sure if we wanted another baby. I am so glad that our Heavenly Father knew better than we did and blessed us with this sweet boy. All babies are cute and fun. However, Van is special. He exudes happiness, and it is infectious. He smiles at anyone and everyone from the check out girl at Wal-Mart to the ladies at church. He is quite the little flirt I must say and has melted many a heart. The other day someone said he has 20 times more charm than any one should be allowed. This is a very true statement. He amazes me every day with his sweet spirit and genuine happiness. He is usually laughing or smiling. He is very determined to the point of stubbornness, I am guessing he gets that from Ben. Don’t get me wrong he is a baby and therefore has his moments of less than desirable behavior. But these moments are few and far between and generally short. Van turns one tomorrow. For some reason it is always hard for me when my kids turn one. Of course I look forward to all of the fun firsts he has ahead of him and all the great things that we will be able to share with him as he grows older. But I can’t help but mourn the loss of the baby…you know the snuggling, the late nights when it was just the two of us and the special bond that a mother and baby share. Maybe I feel this way because it is usually around a year that I stop being the favorite and Dad steps in to fill that post. Luckily, Van is showing no signs of being foiled by the fun that is dad. So, at least for now, I am still the favorite…tomorrow may be another story.

Something Fun

2008-02-13T07:45:00.001-07:00

Tagged...

The rules:
1) Link to the person that tagged you.
2) Post the rules on your blog.
3) Share six non-important things/habits/quirks about yourself.
4) Tag at least three people at the end of your post and link to their blogs.
5) Let each person know they have been tagged by leaving a comment on their blog.
6) Let the fun begin!

Here are my 6:
1. I am very particular about most things, dare I say anal? I like order and hate clutter. Don't get me wrong I am not saying that I am always successful in my mission against all things chaotic but I try. In my defense I have chilled out somewhat since having my third baby and starting school.

2. I care way too much about what other people think...I think that might be part of the reason I am so worried about the cleanliness of my house, for what would people think if they saw unvacuumed floors and toys scattered about (my poor kids).

3. I am terrified of failure. This has deterred me from many an endeavor. If I am not pretty sure I will be successful then many times I never start. Yes I am a perfectionist, as demonstrated by 1-3.

4. One of those said endeavors; writing. I used to write all the time in High School and loved it. But life happened and I lost the passion I once had for writing. I have been thinking for awhile I would like to start again, but am afraid I have lost it. I guess the only way to find out is to try...but what if I'm no good?

5. If I could be like anyone it would be Ben. He is so forgiving, never holds a grudge and is one of the most selfless people I know. All things I strive to be better at. (I could go on about Ben but it would take too much time and space, so I'll leave that for another blog)

6. I have a personal space issue...I like mine and protect it. I hate it when people look over my shoulder. I can only handle so much closeness before I feel claustrophobic. This is a fact that my brothers, especially Kirk, exploited many a time while growing up...well even now; he is such a tease.

So there you have it way more information than anyone ever wanted to know about me...hopefully it was good for a laugh.

I tag Becky, Tiffany and Katie

An interesting week...

2008-02-09T18:16:00.000-07:00

I am happy to report the “sickness” is finally gone! We have had two healthy weeks. There was a small incident with Van involving his first throwing-up episode, but we are pretty sure that it was something he ate. It was still very sad, seeing my kids sick and in pain is miserable.

Well, the 8^th was my birthday. I turned 29 and am one year closer to the big 3-0. I have to admit I was not looking forward to this birthday. The closer it got the more unhappy I was about it. But it came anyway and once it did I was fine. I have had a whole day of being 29 and I have lived to tell the tale. Being 29 is just like being 28. Having a birthday has caused me to reflect. This year Ben and I will be married for 10 years. Crazy, I know. If being 29 did not make me feel old, then being married for 10 years is sure to do it. Anyway all these milestones have made reflect on the last 10 years. I think this might have been what brought on the unhappiness in the first place, because as I started to think about all the things I hadn’t accomplished. The schooling left unfinished. The mom I wanted and still want to be but frequently fall short of. And many other insignificant things. Then Ben got a job offer that caused us to step back and look at where we really are and the things we have accomplished over the course of our marriage. I no longer feel unhappy. We have been very blessed. Together we have accomplished a lot over the past 10 years. And Ben has been very successful in his career. Which I like to think I had a little something to do with. The point is I am happy with the life that we have made together and getting older is not a new concept, it didn’t catch me off guard but it did sting a little.

You are probably wondering about the job offer…well it is a long story. There has not been a decision made but I will write more about it once I can tell the whole story along with the ending.

For Valentine’s Day, I surprised Ben with a stay at the Castle Creek Inn, which is where we spent the first night of our honeymoon. (They were booked for Valentine’s Day weekend, so I had to schedule it for the 8^th) It was so nice to get away, even for a night. It is something we do not do nearly often enough. We had adult conversation the whole night without interruption it was awesome! It was so nice to reconnect and spend time together without disruptions. When we got home, we both felt ready to deal with life and being parents again. We are hoping to make getaways like this more of a priority.

Another week with "the sickness"

2008-01-28T19:51:00.000-07:00

I wish I could say that everyone was better and that everything I said last week was just a memory now...I wish I could say that. OK so that was a bit melodramatic, but we have had another rough week at the Neiswender home. So shortly after my last post Joseph got sick and Van and Lillie stayed sick. It turns out that all three of them have ear infections (Van's is a double), they have all had an awful sounding cold and on top of it all we had a few days of throwing up...so that is always fun. I am happy to report that both Lillie and Joseph went to school today so I think that we are on the upside of things. I hope so anyway. So of course that meant that we got about 4-5 inches of snow in just under 3 hours, because of course I wouldn't want to get out of the house at all...ever. Ok I am done with my rant, at least they are all getting better and I am very happy about that.

On a more serious note our beloved President Hinckley has passed away. Like everyone else we will miss him, but it is hard to be sad. He lead a wonderful, full life. He was a great man. And we all know that he is in a happy place with his Heavenly Father, Savior and his sweet wife. I am grateful for my testimony of the church and my knowledge that the organization of the church is set up in a way that we will always have good men in leadership.

Well our uneventful week has led to another uneventful Blog. Hopefully something more exciting will happen this week!

Another week, another blog...

2008-01-21T13:22:00.000-07:00

Well this week has been fairly uneventful due to sick kids. Lillie missed a whole week of school, because of a nasty cold, which she is still getting over. Van started to get sick in the middle of the week and is still sounding pretty yucky. We thought that Joseph had gotten lucky and voided "the sickness" but the last couple of days he has complained of feeling sick. So there we are the joys of motherhood.

Joseph started scouts 2 weeks ago, which has been really fun for him. I have never been a big scouting fan and was not all that excited about the idea of having a scout, but I have to admit that Joseph's excitement has rubbed off on me. I have little idea of what to expect as the mother of a cub scout but if Joseph enjoys it then I am willing to go along for the ride. The day we got his shirt he was so excited he wore it the whole day, even though it was not a scout day.

I started my photography class this semester and had my first day in the dark room last week. I am really excited to be in this class and hope that it will help me to decide for sure if photography is the way I want to go.

Like most people we were looking forward to a fun family day today (Monday, MLK Day) instead we woke up to a lot of snow that has steadily grown to about 14" So our fun family day has had to be inside.

Well that is about it for this week. Between sick kids and lots of snow we have had a lot of days inside. I wish I had something more interesting to write but that's life. Especially in Utha in the winter, lots of snow and lots of colds!

A lesson every Mom must learn...

2008-01-10T13:56:00.000-07:00

So I have a story to share, I wish it was funny or witty but sadly it is just one of those mom stories that we all have, the type we file away under lessons learned. I hope that this one will help someone else avoid a similar situation. To preface the story it is important to know a few things, first we live right across the street from Joseph and Lillie’s elementary school and second they recently started walking home without me (which you can imagine was a difficult choice for me). Anyway, back to the story. Tuesday after school I was watching for the kids as usual. After 20 minutes of waiting and seeing no Joseph and Lillie, I was starting to worry. Van was asleep so I resisted the temptation to go find them hoping that they were just dawdling. However, I could not see them anywhere. Finally, after about 25 minutes I could wait no longer and headed out the door into the snow, without Van. Yes, I left him sleeping, feeling sure that I would be back in less than 5 minutes. Thinking that leaving him asleep and warm in his bed must be better than taking him out in the snow. I was certain that I would meet the kids along the way and we would head straight home to a sleeping baby. Sadly, this was not the case. As I headed to the school and walked through the schoolyard towards the school Joseph and Lillie were nowhere to be found, nor was anyone else. When I got to the door closest to Joseph’s class I found it locked. This is when the panic started. Luckily, I saw Joseph’s teacher coming my direction and knocked on the door. She came towards me looking worried, another wave of panic, my last hope was that they were still in Joseph’s classroom. Her face said otherwise. As she opened the door I asked if Joseph and Lillie were in her room and she said no. But that we could do an all school call to see if they were still in the building. Then full-blown panic set in what was I supposed to do, remember I left Van at home thinking I would be right back. Do I stay and look for Joseph and Lillie or do I go home to Van. I decided to go to the office with Joseph’s teacher. Over the course of the next few minutes we found them. It turned out that through some miss communication they walked to a friend’s house where Lillie was supposed to play after school instead of coming home first, which I thought was obvious. In the mean time, Joseph’s teacher from last year had called another friend to go to my house and sit with Van while we figured out where Joseph and Lillie were. After I found out where they were and that Joseph was actually on his way home I headed home. When I got home Joseph and Van were both safe and my friend was there waiting for me. I was very relieved, and grateful to see both of my son’s safe despite my afternoon of mistakes. My friend left after many heartfelt thank yous. After talking to Joseph and getting his version of the story I was able to put things together a bit better. And found that neither Joseph or Lillie were trying to be sneaky or disobedient, they were just confused. So what did I learn?

o Do not assume your kids will not wonder off, remind them often of the rules…especially if there is a change in the routine, and make sure they know how things are going to work.

o A cell phone is useless if it is on your dresser at home

o Don’t leave a sleeping baby, not even for a few minutes you never know what could happen

o Thank goodness for good teachers, school principals and friends. Believe me I was a mess but I would have been much worse if it had not been for their help.

o There is probably a logical explanation, explore those before you panic

So I hope this story doesn't make me sound like a horrible mother, but if it does it will be worth it if it can help someone avoid the heart wrenching situation I put myself in.

2007-12-30T19:46:00.001-07:00

Christmas Eve

This week has been a lot of fun for us. Of course we started off with Christmas Eve which consisted of something new that we hope will become a new tradition; sledding. Both of Ben’s brothers came, both were trying to get their minds off far away girlfriends…well Sam’s girlfriend was not quite gone yet but he was mourning her impending departure just the same. It was tons of fun seeing Joseph and Lillie get up their nerve and try bigger and steeper hills. Lillie quickly got the hang of things and was voted Bravest while Joseph took his time and earned Most Improved. At the last minute James hopped onto Sam who was sitting on a very flimsy sled and earned, well we aren’t sure what to call it but I’ll call it funniest moment while Sam’s solo head over feet 360⁰ earns honorable mention. It was definitely a memorable morning. Later we went to lunch with most of Ben’s family so we could meet Hailey’s (Sam’s girl friend) family. It was fun to get to know her family a little bit. From there we went home to get ready for Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. We made cinnamon rolls and cookies for Santa. Then Sam joined us for dinner. Afterwards we opened our traditional Christmas PJ’s. It was a very fun day.

Christmas Day

Christmas ’07 started out like many Christmas’ past, early. Joseph came into out room at 6:28 after some stalling and then reading the Christmas story from the scriptures we finally woke Van up and headed to the Living room to see what Santa had brought.

After presents, we headed to Evanston to visit Ben’s sister Amanda. We had a fun time with all of Ben’s family opening presents, playing games and of course eating. However, the drive home was scary. For some reason our van would not defrost the windshield. There was a thin layer of ice on the inside of all of the windows including the windshield. I had to scrape the inside of the windshield with a credit card so Ben could see to drive. Finally, after some fiddling the air started to blow right and the windshield defrosted. But by that point we were almost to our final destination. Our last stop on Christmas was my uncle Donnie’s House to celebrate Christmas with my Dad and his family. We had a lot of fun seeing lots of family that we only see a couple times a year. Then we drove home with some very tired kids. Through it all they we quite good. They even had enough energy to call Meema and Grampy.

The rest of the week…

The rest of the week has been full of new toys and lazy days. It has been fun to have so much family time together. However, it will also be nice to get back to our normal schedules next week…I think I m the only one who feels this way though.

Another year full of Blessings

2007-12-19T08:00:00.000-07:00

Well another year has come and gone. And with it many blessings for our family. The best blessing of the year came early and brought with it joy beyond measure. Van Anderson Neiswender was born February 20, 2007 after a tough and emotional pregnancy. The pregnancy was a surprise, and we like to call him our best surprise ever. He is an amazing baby. Everyone that has contact with him is amazed first by the piercing blue eyes and next by his sweet spirit. We are always getting comments about what a good baby he is or about how social he is, because he has a smile for everyone, an infectious laugh and loves to be the center of attention. He must be taking a page form the Lillie book! He is 10 months old now and is all over the place. Many of you have seen the "army crawl" a crawl that has become so efficient that even though he can crawl on all fours he would rather use old reliable. He loves following Joseph and Lillie around the house and it is obvious that he wants to be one of the big kids. We often wonder what we would do without him and are grateful that the Lord knew us better than we knew ourselves and saw fit to bless us with our "best surprise ever."

Lillie
Lillie started school this year and as you might expect is loving it. She is doing very well and is making good improvements with her reading. She enjoys all school has to offer, especially the social scene. As unbelievable as it is she is more social and outgoing everyday. Lillie is a wonderful big sister. She loves Van very much. She is always willing to help and plays with him all the time.

Joseph
Joseph just turned eight. He was baptized on December 1st which is also his birthday. He was so excited and loved the whole experience. It was a very special day for all of us. Joseph is a great big brother. He likes to plays with Lillie and now that Van is more mobile and more fun Joseph is really loving having a baby brother. Joseph is still a great reader and loves to learn. Now if only his class could keep up with him.

Terrie
So I did something this year that I have been saying I would do for almost ten years. I finally went back to school. I started classes at Westminster in the fall. Although the timing seemed less than ideal, with three kids, a husband and a house to take care of going back to school seemed a lofty goal at best. I felt like for some reason this was the right time. So I took a leap of faith and had the best and the worst of times. I loved going to school. I felt in a lot of ways like I was in my element. But it also helped me to really appreciate many of the blessings that I already had. Namely Ben, he has been awesome. He has been supportive and understanding. He has picked up the considerable slack that I left with the house and kids. And done it all without complaining. He is an amazing husband and father and I feel very blessed to be his wife. It also helped me to realize how much I love being a stay at home mom and what a great blessing that truly is. I have a new appreciation not only for being able to stay home but for those who don't. It is hard to be away from home and have other responsibilities and find balance. I am grateful for the life I have, for the family that Ben and I have created and for the opportunity to become a more well rounded person and am looking forward to next semester.

Ben
Besides being Super Dad at home, he has also been busy at work. This year has been full of new and exciting opportunities at work. He was put on a team that is implementing a project based degree for Westminster College. A program which was recently approved. After months of hard work Ben's team was given the go ahead to move forward, complete with an invitation for dinner with the college president. Now, we all know that Ben does not love social situations, but even he realized how important this invitation was. Dinner was fun, but the real treat is seeing Ben enjoying his job and doing something he loves...besides being super dad.

So as you can see this year has been a good one for our family. That is not to say we have not had our difficult moments, but with the support of each other, family, friends and most importantly The Lord we have endured. We hope that for all who read this that you have had a great year as well. And may next year be even better.