Make a Smilebox slideshow

A few of our Family Traditions

It has always been a tradition in my family to get to open one present on Christmas Eve and it is always our new pajamas. This year the kids requested robes instead of jammies. You will notice Reid and Lily are missing from the photo. Reid refuses to wear jammies and Lily was already in bed. Everyone loved their robes, except little miss Kandrea. As soon as she opened the present she ran away screaming and crying. I always love that reaction when you give someone a gift you thought they would love.

Got ribs?

This is Lilia's first taste of her mommy's ribs. She loved them. It is always funny to me to see my babies chewing on a big bone.

Merry Christmas

Every year we take the kids to Haggin Oaks here in Bakersfield. It is a really nice community that has their homes decorated to the hilt. One of the houses always has the Disney princesses and Mickey and Minnie to entertain the public. The Disney princesses and princes sing for everyone. Their house is always a favorite to visit. I just found out this year that they are members of the church. One of the young men from our ward played Mickey this year.

Gingerbread Anyone?

In case you can't read the signs, they say "We did these all by ourselves". They sure did. For those of you who know me, that is a big deal. I am somewhat of a control freak. I think I am turning over a new leaf.

Where did she get those eyes?

I wish I had eyelashes like these!

Happy 4th Birthday Kandrea

Shopping.......REALLY?

Don't I look pretty. I ended up getting the flu the night before Thanksgiving. I was up all night throwing up. It was one of the shortest, but worst flus I have ever had. Making Thanksgiving dinner the next day was the last thing I wanted to do. Luckily, Trevor and I had done most of the prep work the day before. Trevor did most of the dealing with the raw bird on Thanksgiving morning. I basically ate two to three bites of our Thanksgiving dinner.
I still don't know why I even bothered making a huge dinner. At 2:00 PM when we called all of the kids to the table for our Thanksgiving feast, let's just say they were less than grateful. Every single one of them was griping about having to eat. Hilarious. Here I thought I couldn't let my family not have a special Thanksgiving dinner and they could have cared less. At least I know Trevor enjoyed it.

Dress Up, Dress up Everywhere

So, is Kandrea a ballerina or a burger flipper? I never know what ensemble my children are going to put together when they go through our dress up box. It is fun to see all of the combinations and sizes that they come up with.

My New Cleaning Lady

I love that even my BIG girls still love to dress up. Maybe cleaning would be more fun for us Moms if we dressed up too.

Thanksgving, REALLY?

We were really looking forward to Thanksgiving this year. We had big plans to spend four to five days in Moorpark with our family. I was suppose to do a bunch of mylar bagging with Kandy (Trevor's Mom) and WEndy and I were looking forward to showing everyone what we learned at our Energy Medicine conference. Two days before Thanksgiving our family came down with the flu. Can I just say I HATE the flu. I am sorry for the inappropriate language, but this situation warrants strong expletives. The worst part of it all is that Lily got really sick. Here she is with her Daddy, notice the towel to keep him clean. Poor baby Lily.

Our Own Little Model

Trevor and I were out cleaning the garage on Saturday and out comes Kandrea in her bathing suit. Yes, it is cold here, but Maddi, Reid and Kandrea had decided they were going to go swimming. Anyway, Kandrea plopped herself right down on this Rubbermaid bin and said "Mommy take a picture of me". So, here she is in all her glory.

Tired Girl

The other day, I left the kids at home with Heidi while I went to pick up the babysitter. Trevor arrived home before I did and this is what he found. Reid is an amazing big brother. He always makes time for Lily. She is the first one that he greets when he gets home from school. I think she has taken a liking to him too.

Our Future Looks Bright

These pictures should restore your faith in our younger generation. What a sight to see all of these youth devoting their time last night and on Sunday to call the YES voters and remind them to get out to the polls. I wish you all could have been there with me, it was two days that I will never forget.

YES ON PROP 8!!!!!!!!!!!!

Well everyone...the election of a lifetime is only a day away. I was able to spend four hours yesterday with at least 30 members of my ward calling all of the YES on 8 voters to thank them for their support and to remind them to get out to vote early tomorrow. All of us gathered at Kathy McKeon's business, she and her husband own a Thomasville furniture store. It was a sight to see all of us perched on different couches, chairs, tables and even comfy beds phoning the people that were on our list. Again, I forgot my camera. I was so sad that I couldn't capture forever the sight that my eyes beheld. The feeling that I had inside was something that I can not put into words. What a blessing to come together as a family to fight for what we know is right. I stand all amazed by the devotion of people to do what is right, no matter the sacrifice. As Kathy McKeon said on Sunday, during our Fast and Testimony meeting, members of the church are some of the busiest people on the earth and yet we stop everything that we have to to devote our time to The Lord's work. I testify that fighting for YES on prop 8 is the Lord's work!

America The Beautiful

Yesterday I had the opportunity to go to Maddi's class with Kandrea and Lily to watch her class perform a patriotic skit. I was not at all prepared for the effect that it had on me. The children recited the Preamble and after each line they explained what it meant. They went over all of the rules for dealing with our country's flag. They then recited quotes from many different former Presidents. The quote that hit me was by FDR, "There is nothing to fear, but fear itself." With the election of a new President on the forefront and this scary Prop 8 business, I have felt a lot of fear. I know that that is the opposite of faith, but it has been a major struggle for me. I can take the things that affect me as an adult, but my children. I feel like a mother bear wanting to protect my cubs from danger. When the well being of my children is threatened, I want to tear someone's throat out. I have been actively helping with Yes on Prop 8, but I have made it a point not to go out on the streets or to meetings where the opposition will be. I know that the church needs those people that are even keel to be at those places and that is not me right now. I am afraid I would end up being one of those people on the nightly news punching some dumb youth (from the opposition) in the face.
Back to Maddi's program, until this year, I have never truly appreciated the freedoms that we enjoy in this country. I have always loved my country, but now that passion is deeply embedded in me. Just saying the Pledge of Allegiance yesterday got me all choked up. Do we really realize the freedoms that we enjoy? Do we think about the abundance that we have in this country? Do we think twice about the opportunity that we have to fight for what we know is right? I hope that we can all find joy in fighting for this awesome cause. We must not stay complacent anymore. It is time to stand up for what we believe in, in all things and in all places. Stand up and be counted. Let's show the Lord and all mankind whom it is that we serve.

FHE FUN

Trevor was in charge of the activity for FHE last night. I think he chose this one because he thought he could beat everyone. Well, he did beat everybody's time, but he is paying for it now. He has a rug burn and a hurt hip.

And The Award for Best Mom of the Year Goes to........................ME!

Lately, Kandrea has become a very strong willed little girl. If anyone in the house even looks at her a way that she doesn't like, she screams her head off. One moment there is quiet, the next you moment you would think someone had ripped a chunk of her hair out. We have been trying for some time now to curtail this behavior. At first, we used baking soda and when she began to like that (Yuck!) we resorted to using soap. Soap worked for about a week, then we moved to the squirt bottle (Trevor's personal favorite). I am not sure that ever worked. Needless to say, we have tried everything we can think of. She just jumps off of her timeouts over and over again. Lately, I have even spanked her and it doesn't seem to phase her much at all, within minutes she is being naughty again. Apparently she is only this angelic for us. I asked my friend Lucinda, who keeps Kandrea two half days a week, how Kandrea behaves at her house. She told me that she is always so even keel and that she plays wonderfully with all of the little girls. She is always willing to share her toys and her puzzles with everyone. She said that Kandrea never raises her voice or does anything mean. I guess I should be grateful for this blessing, but I am left wishing she acted that way at home too.
I do have a story to share, I just have to give you some background to the situation so that you will still love me after you hear what I did. The other day, Kandrea was especially rotten. Let's see, after I told her no to one of her questions, she screamed at me and then I proceeded to put her on a timeout for the next 20 minutes. She got off every 20 seconds or so. I forgot to mention that while this was going on, I kept having to put Lily down on the ground in order to place Kandrea back on her timeout and Lily was screaming her head off. Finally, I gave up and I put Kandrea in her bed. In my head, I was trying to figure out what I was going to do with her the next time we had an issue. The first thought that I had was to put her in a cold shower, but I quickly realized that that was a little harsh. The next thought, the swimming pool....Within 4 minutes, Kandrea threw the straw the broke this camel's back. I whisked her up and we quickly walked out to the pool. I dunked her right in up to her belly button, jeans, long shirt and all and then I placed her on a chair outside and I told her to stay there. I walked in the house and I informed Trevor of what I had just done and I walked out the garage door to pick Heidi up from the bus. I texted Trevor to ask how Kandrea was doing and he said that she was still sitting very still in the chair outside. When I got home (10 minutes later) I went outside and I explained to Kandrea that she cannot keep behaving this way. She agreed and said that she was sorry. So, I said let's go get you some new clothes, she said "Yeah, I am a little wet." Inside her room, I told her that she needed to behave. I said "I do not want to spank you anymore." Her reply, "Why Mommy, does your hand hurt?"
If you all want to start a vote, I am sure that my actions will earn me the Mom of the Year Award for that one. Don't tell too many people about this experience though, the last thing I need is Oprah knocking down my door!

Doesn't She Look Like Abby

I decided to see if I could put a bow in Lily's hair tonight and it stayed. While she was crawling around, I could totally picture Abby as a little baby with her hair in cute bows. I am sure that you will all think that I am crazy and not see the same thing.

Just a day in the life of a Mom

Some family funnies that I have to share. The other night Heidi came out of her room after we had already put her to bed to tell us that Ali informed her that she had already said her personal prayer. Heidi asked her when she had said her personal prayer. Usually the girls say their prayer after I scratch their backs and kiss them goodnight. Ali replied, "I said my personal prayer while you were saying the family prayer." Now, if you know Ali, you can imagine just how she said this to Heidi. I am picturing her looking at her like duh. So, we called Ali out and asked her if this was true. She, of course, said "Yeah?" She was really bugged that we were even asking her such a silly question. Trevor and I could barely hold back our laughter. Brother, she brings new meaning to my favorite saying of killing two birds with one stone.

CAUTION: This story could cause discomfort for the male gender

Then, the other night at dinner, we were talking about bad guys or something like that. Reid said that he wasn't scared he would just punch him right "there". It seems this Summer Reid learned a very valuable lesson about that area for a boy. One of his friends was over and they were all playing in the hot tub. They were taking turns doing flips under the water and splashing about when Reid accidentally kicked his friend "there". His friend was pretty mad and so he proceeded to punch Reid in the same spot as hard as he could. I came outside because Reid was screaming and crying. I couldn't imagine what had happened to him. When I got to the hot tub and asked what was wrong, Reid couldn't talk. His friend said we both accidentally hit each other in the balls (those are not my words and I would never use that saying, nor would my kids. So, you can imagine the look on my face and on my children's faces when he said this.) As I pried a little more, I found out the real story and I explained to this boy that that was never an okay thing to do to someone. I told him that Reid would never have intentionally done that to him and that it was a complete accident. This friend of Reids comes from a family of all brothers. Is this really what boys do to each other. I am glad I am a girl.

When Mom's Away, The Kids Will Play

So, I had to go to a meeting last night and before I left, Trevor asked me if the kids could watch TV. Week nights are so busy for us that the rule is no TV usually, but I said that they could watch a show if they had their rooms clean and all of their jobs done. Basically, no. I knew they weren't going to be able to get all of that done before bedtime. I guess I was wrong. It looks like they also had time to play a little.

Too darn cute!

This picture of Lily sleeping in her Daddy's arms was just too darn cute. Wow, I guess sixth time is a charm. I always say, Lily is an angel baby. I just hope she stays that way.

Halloween Already

So, the kids made me get out the Halloween box on Sunday. They all had fun trying different things on. It looks like Reid had the most fun though. For some reason he ran around the house in this panda suit that was way too small for him. So, Trevor chased him around and tried to take pictures. Reid try to do everything he could to stop him from getting a good shot. If Reid finds out that I posted these pictures, I will be in so much trouble. Shhhhhhh, it will just be our little secret.

We love to read

So, Trevor has been telling Maddi and Reid his own version of The Lord of the Rings at bedtime. They have been loving it and so he decided they were ready to read the books. On one of the first nights of reading, they lasted about five minutes. I guess Trevor's version was a little more interesting than the books.

Me and my girls (well, 2 of my 5 girls)

Cute Cousins

Sleeping Beauties

Have you ever heard the expression, it is easier to ask for forgiveness than permission? Well, I am going to need Mark and Kate's forgiveness after this post. I just couldn't resist taking this picture. We love conference, but 8 hours is bound to induce sleep.

Cookie Fun

I made Trevor a deal when we do sugar cookies. I make the dough, he rolls it out and cuts them with the kids, I bake them and frost. I think I got the good end of the deal. He is so good to have agreed to it. Anyone who has done sugar cookies with kids knows how hard it is to roll them out and cut them efficiently with little ones helping.