We're moving......again! That makes 15 times in 16 years. *&%$#?@+!!!!

Brian got a job!!! YAHOO!!! He said,"You don't seem very excited about it." I said, "I'm really excited about it it's just that now the work begins for me!" Packing. Cleaning. Changing addresses. Finding a place to live. Changing the kids schools. Finding a preschool for Louie. Changing Dr.s, dentists. You know all that fun stuff. All while taking care of 4 kids by myself morning, noon, and night. Breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Getting the kids ready for school. BEDTIME :{ All.....alone.....while Brian stays with his mom until we can all move down. He'll come home one night in the middle of the week and on the weekends but I am such a wimp! I haven't had to consistently do this alone since adding our 4th bambino and I'm really, nervous but I'm sure it will all work out I just hope I can get every thing done. The very, very worst part of moving of course is the most dreadful thing of all!!! Finding a new hairstylist since Emily doesn't live there anymore!!! I've had to go to the hair schools for the last few years because the budget wouldn't allow anything else. I would pray desperately before each appointment and things turned out amazingly well other than it taking 4 1/2 hours for a cut and highlights. Brian colored my hair the last time it was done. SCARY I know but he did a surprisingly good job. But I'm sure that he is just as excited for me to have someone else do it next time as I am! Now if I could just find a place to do the boys and Brian's cuts every month that wouldn't set us back $48 bucks so I wouldn't have to do that anymore! They might have to go to the beauty school now. No, scratch that, NO ONE has that much time on their hands!!!

How can I tell?

Well, school is officially back in session. How can I tell? My floor is covered in wood chips again! Gotta love it! :)

Hannah Montana Rocks!! :)

Yes, it's true, I like Hannah Montana! Ok, so I'm 36 years old and maybe that seems weird but you know, I just don't care! I started out watching the show with my kids, I always watch at least one episode of a new show with my kids before I let them or banish them from watching it whichever the case may be. It is really a cute little show! I think the writing and the actors abilities have evolved over the life of the show and at this point it is really quite entertaining. I feel like it works for all ages. I've even caught it after the kids are already in bed and I'm flipping through the channels and I watch it without them because I think it's THAT cute. There aren't very many shows on regular television anymore that we can watch as a family. The sitcoms or reruns of sitcoms are all pretty risque for our little ones so it's been fun to find a show that the whole family can enjoy. It is pretty funny too! I always have a good chuckle during it. The kids LOVE her brother, Jackson. He's really pretty funny! Well, I wanted to see the movie but I couldn't get Huey to go to it with me because he's a closet Hannah Montana fan as well apparently since he's a boy and it's about a girl and he's just not ready to let the world in on his little secret. Well, I rented it and watched it and I thought it was really, really, good! It even made me cry a little at the end. (Not such a hard thing to do these days with my hormones still trying to even out after having my baby in May. But still.) I just love that song she sings at the end called The Climb. It is SO good! It's made me get choked up every time I've ever heard it because it is so sweet and is a great inspirational song for kids and grown ups alike I think. Now, please don't misunderstand me. I am not particularly a big Miley Cyrus fan. She does some weird things and I'm afraid she's headed down the same path as Britney Spears and the like but I really like the character she plays on the show Hannah Montana. Anyhoo, my confession is over. Don't judge, just love! :)

Poor little Buttercup!

Little Buttercup had 3 shots today and an oral vaccine as well. Now, I know the dangers of not having the vaccines, I know they need them, I know they are just a plane ride away from getting some horrible dread disease if they don't get the vaccines, my kids are all 'up to date'! But I'm worried sick! I always am every time one of my kids get vaccines. Huey would always run a fever for days. Dewey broke out in a horrible rash all over his body and ran a fever for days when he was 12 months old and got 5 shots at once. So, when I read the reaction symptoms to watch for I always get totally freaked out worrying about them. Sometimes the rash or other reactions can show up several days or a week after the actual vaccine. It's always sad to me to see these sweet little angels going through pain when they are so good, so precious, so trusting. I am grateful that we have vaccines now and that medicine has evolved so much now so that our children can be better protected from horrible diseases but it's still not easy to go through it!

Darn ghost kids!!!

I went in the boys' SCARY bathroom to clean it and found the counter top covered in toothpaste, chocolate syrup (don't ask me!), and dirty foot prints. The mirror was all smeared up too. So, I called my boys in because I just wanted to give them a 'friendly' reminder that we rinse toothpaste down the sink when we brush our teeth and that we only put a pea size amount on the brush. Wouldn't you know they all said that they DID rinse down the toothpaste. Must have been those darn ghost kids again!!! I tell ya, my ghost kids are the messiest, naughtiest, craziest ghost kids EVER!!! They are always getting into things they shouldn't, messing up the toy room, leaving toys in my room, spilling stuff everywhere, writing on walls and furniture, the list goes on and on! They are making my real kids look really bad!

Just have to vent...

I was so stinking mad today!!! I went to the school and got the note I need to have my Dr. fill out saying it's ok for my kindergartener,"Dewey" to have an epi pen at school in case his throat starts swelling shut from an accidental nut interaction since he's deathly allergic to all nuts. Well, I also decided I better get some epi pens from the pharmacy so I could actually take one to the school. I go ALL the way to the WalMart in the adjoining town that is about 10 minutes south of where we live to find out that my refilling ability expired for that prescription on July 31st. GREAT!!! So, I called the Dr.'s office to see if they could call, or fax in a prescription order for more epi pens and they are out to lunch and won't be returning until 2:00. Mind you it was 12:30 when I called!!! Who the crap takes AT LEAST an hour and a half off for lunch?!?!?! I get 2 minutes TOPS!!! I know I'm a stay at home mom but seriously I am lucky to sit down for lunch let alone taste the food I scarf down in 2 seconds flat. I understand an hour but AT LEAST an hour and a half is PRETTTTTY darn excessive if you ask me!!! Well, I decided that after I picked up some other stuff there at WalMart I would drop my hubby and Buttercup off at the house and take Dewey and Louey with me to their office so I could get the paper filled out and I would ask about the prescription refills then. This means I drove 10 minutes back home and then drove the 35 minutes in the other direction it takes to get to the Dr.'s office just to have a different Dr. in the office's receptionist inform me that it's my Dr's day off today. I said," I thought his day off was Tuesday." She said, " Oh it is but he took today off too but you can leave the paper here for him to fill out and you can come pick it up first thing tomorrow morning." With a big smile on her face! BREATHE!! DEEPLY!!! Do NOT freak out!!!! Don't say what you are thinking in your head!!! (Look toots!!! I tried to call your office an hour and a half ago but you were out to lunch, by the way, how long exactly, DO you have for lunch anyway?!!, and I live 40 minutes away so...that...isn't...good...enough...for....me!!!!!!!) Instead I just tried as calmly as I could to discuss this rationally and luckily there was a nurse there that sent in the prescription order for me and I'm going to call in the morning and see if the school will accept a faxed copy and see if the Dr.'s office will fax it to the school. Let's hope because I don't know how long the niceness can last!!!
I did perk up, however, when I decided to go to Old Navy since I was already up there and they were having jeans for kids for $10 a pair and I wanted to see if I could find a pair of new jeans for Dewey for school. I wanted him to have 1 new outfit for school since we got Hewey 1 new outfit for school. Well, I ended up finding a pair for Hewey for $3.79!!! BONUS!!!! He's husky and husky's are hard to come by, especialy for $3.79 a pair!!! All is right with the world again! See, shopping does make EVERYTHING better! :)

I'm Scared!!!

So, our little Buttercup was born in May and I have found the transition from 3 kids to 4 to be surprisingly easy. I have even thought that if I didn't have such a hard time breathing while I was pregnant i would probably have at least 2 more. After all we do make adorable children! :) As most of you know, Brian has been out of work since 3 days before Buttercup was born and has been my right hand man. Well he's been gone most of this week (including an over nighter) doing work for our brother in law and it has become abundantly clear to me that I'm a total wimp! Brian has been gone lots of times this summer and I handled things just fine and I thought I had it all together. This week was different because I actually had a lot to. Before, I just stayed close to home, planned trips to the store around Brian's schedule, and took it really easy. Too easy! I thought it was difficult taking 3 kids to Wal-Mart with me when I was pregnant...PIECE...OF....CAKE....compared to taking 4!!! It's like the Multi-Tasking Olympics! Buttercup is usually pretty good. My main worry with her is keeping her brothers from knocking her car seat off of the cart and occasionally I'll have to carry her around but that's to be expected since she thinks her umbilical cord is still attached. :) Huey is pretty helpful I have to say but he always has a big of the gimmes. Our money just seems to burn a hole right through his little pocket and he likes to rile his brothers up just to torment me. With Dewey it's, stop climbing in the shelves Dewey, stop sitting on the packages of paper towels on the shelf Dewey, stop touching everything Dewey, ok now pick all of those up that you knocked off the shelf Dewey, no you can't have that Dewey, not today Dewey, maybe next time Dewey, it's not your birthday Dewey so NO you can't have that, because I said so Dewey, and my mom's old favorite, we'll see Dewey. With Louie I'm constantly saying, stay by the cart Louie, come on Louie, get over here Louie, where's Louie?, get off the floor Louie, stop running in front of people's carts or you're going to get run over Louie, put that down Louie, LOUIE!!!! And there is always at least one trip to the bathroom. The whole time I'm trying to keep the boys from wreaking havoc on Wal-Mart or getting lost I'm trying to focus on my list, get the best bargain for my money, check out all the sales, keep from getting kicked out, and not to completely lose it by the time I'm done. Like I said before, Buttercup is permanently attached to me but occasionally she'll let her dad hold her so I can get something done but this week has been very difficult. I knew it would be. I knew she was getting spoiled rotten but I just couldn't help myself. She is most likely our last baby and I just can't believe how fast she is growing and I just want to hold her as much as I can before she reaches that age where the only time you can hold them longer than like 2 seconds is when they are asleep or sick. She is the sweetest little thing, too! I just can't help myself! So now that reality is sinking in, school will be starting in a few days along with new schedules, and I know that someday, soon I hope, Brian will go back to work and I'll be back to doing all of my duties alone, I'm scared. Very, very scared!

This will make you smile! I love it!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QFsTPx5UrbA

Frogs, snakes, and earwigs..oh my!!!

We live in a home that is right on the edge of a small town. We love the beauty and the calm that come from being kind of away from everyone but I have to say I'm not diggin the creatures that surround us! My husband and 3 boys saw 4 snakes in the yard when they were out there playing catch one day and my mother-in-law saw one slither into a crack on the drive way one day. Now I'm terrified to weed the flower beds for fear one will slither out from under a bush or across the grass. Can you imagine?! The boys were playing out by the pond in our back yard and found a pretty cool frog. I don't mind him at all. But we have had an infestation with wasps I swear! They are everywhere and we can't seem to get rid of them. They even keep trying to take over our BBQ grill. NOT COOL! Then we started seeing earwigs. Now I can take a lot of things but earwigs freak me out! I was worried that we were going to have to do a bug bomb or something but luckily we seem to have killed them all now. We've always had a lot of spiders since we moved here but then Brian killed a huge brown spider with a crazy pattern on his back. I want him to check out pictures of spiders on Google to see whether it was a brown recluse or a wolf spider. I'm feeling WAY too close to nature at this point! The boys left our back door open for hours a couple of different times and now I'm totally scared I'll find a "special friend" lurking under something they left on the floor when I pick it up. Freaky deaky! I'm keeping my fingers crossed that we've seen the last of the different types of creatures. I don't know how much more I can stand!

We Survived!!

In our church the members of the congregation are asked to speak on different spiritual topics during our sacrament meetings. People rarely have to do this unless they live in an area where their membership is very small or...like us, you move every time you turn around. When a new family moves in they always want to hear from them so they are usually asked to speak within the first few months of moving in. Well, we have been married 16 years and we have moved 14 times, therefore, we have spoken in church 14 times. We moved to a new area the last day in February and last Sunday after our meetings we were asked to speak this week. The topic...Patience! Anyone who knows me knows I have NO patience at all and found it quite humorous when they heard the topic we were speaking on! I read the monthly newsletter and realized the topic was actually having patience in your afflictions. Well, that wasn't quite so bad because, although I'm usually not so patient in my afflictions either I have learned some very valuable lessons over the years that have helped me TRY to have patience in my afflictions and to find peace and joy during the trials we face. Mainly, praying always and asking for the help of my Savior, Jesus Christ, asking to feel the love of my Heavenly Father, asking for the comfort and companionship of the Holy Ghost to help me through these times, all of which bring me peace during the hard times and help me to be able to know I'm not alone and that I can make it through. Well, all week we pondered and worried and wondered what we should say in our talks that might help others. My poor husband HATES speaking in church so much (I have yet to find someone that enjoys this) and he was a mess all week. My husband is like THE most patient person I've ever known in my life. Proof: He's been able to deal with me for the last 16 years! :) This week I heard him suggest that we really should consider having a hired clergy in our church that spoke to us each week so he never had to do this. He said maybe he should just quit church altogether so he didn't have to do this again. I can't think of the other stuff but he cracked me up all week long! I didn't really get very nervous until we were actually sitting on the stand, in front of everyone, waiting for the dreaded moment to arrive when it would be our turn to get up and hopefully not make fools out of ourselves. We said prayers in our hearts that it would go ok and it actually did. We had so many people tell us what a great meeting it was and how much they liked our talks. Brian gave an excellent talk! It's funny, I wasn't nervous all week until we were there and then I was most nervous once I was standing in front of everyone and Brian was a nervous wreck all week until he stood up there and then he was fine. We are so glad it's over now! At least until the next time we move and have to do it again. Wouldn't it be great if we could just find a nice place to live and NEVER move again!?!?! Here's hopin'...

My new best friend...

SPRAY 'N' WASH MAX. I LOVE this stuff! I have used it quite a few times now and it is AWESOME!!! One day I washed and dried a shirt with a stain on it and then sprayed it and washed it again and it came right out. Today I was so excited when I tried it on a shirt that was on my dryer since like May needing to be treated. It had chocolate stains all over it. It came right out! Chocolate is a TOUGH stain!!! I love that you just spray it and throw it right in. It doesnt have to let it sit or anything! THE BEST!!! It works great on grass stains too and even Utah's red dirt on white baseball pants! LOVE IT!! LOVE IT!! LOVE IT!!

16 years of wedded bliss?

Uhh..NO! We're HUMAN so therefore the last 16 years have not been easy! We've had lots and lots of ups and downs. We've had many, many disappointments. We make our plans and Heavenly Father laughs at us and then we ride out His plan as best we can. We've laughed a lot, we've cried a lot and through it all we STILL love each other. We have shared some of life's greatest joys. We've also experienced a lot of heartaches. We are there for each other. We have each other's back. We made 4 dang cute kids!!! We still can't stand being away from each other for long periods of time. We're still attracted to each other even though 16 years has morphed us into somewhat different looking people. Brian still looks quite a bit the same, other than his bi-pap machine mask that makes him look weird and sound like Darth Vader, but I look so different that last week my cousin that I haven't seen in almost 16 years didn't even recognize me. :( Some things have changed. Some things haven't: Brian still doesn't do dishes, however he will unload the dishwasher and dish drainer and he's a great cook! I still want to talk things out in a fight and he still just sits there... not saying a single word...and making me more and more irrate by the milisecond! He's still the first person I want to share news with, the good and the bad. We are each other's safe place to fall. I'm thankful that we are together and that our children have such a loving father. I'm glad I get to see it since he's private and doesn't really show it much in front of others. I'm thankful he honors his priesthood. I'm thankful that we are patient with each other's idiocinricies since I'm not sure that any one else would be. We are as happy as two people that have faced our challenges can be. I'm glad that I know Brian in different ways than anyone else on earth will ever know him since he is pretty shy about letting others see that part of him. And I hope we can withstand all of life's pressures, challenges, frustrations, temptations enough to be able to share all of the wonderful joys in this life and in the life to come that the Lord has to offer. For eternity! Forever, for always, and no matter what...within reason of course! :) Happy Anniversary Babe! I love you tons and tons!!!