Other stuff

I forgot to mention (Kevan reminded me) that Navek turned 7 on the 19 of December! Wow, time flies. He really is a great kid. He is such a blessing in my life. He is so good at so many things. I enjoy watching him with his little sisters and brother. He likes to put Tristyn on his shoulders and walk around the house with him. Thankfully he hasn't bumped into any walls or anything. He does the same thing with Emerald except she is just on his back. He carries her around the house and then he will come in the living room and fall on the couch with her and it makes her laugh and laugh! He is becoming a really good reader too. He can read a couple of the beginner Dr. Seuss books and he feels very accomplished with he finishes one! He has started to do this funny thing where he will say the last syllable first...so his name is Veknav, and Emerald is Raldem, Yzabelle is Belleyz. So imagine him singing a song. He will say all of the words regular and then through a funny word in there somewhere...for example..."ostyfrost the mansnow was a jolly happy soul, with a corncob pipe and a uttonba ohzno and to eyes made out of ollco" He's so funny and creative!

We had a pretty good Christmas. I love seeing the kids open up their presents. There cute little faces and their expressions are so funny. The kids played with their toys all day. It was fun to not have to go anywhere, and to just hang around the house.

Christmas is such a wonderful time of year. I felt so loved and cared for in our ward and neighborhood. So many people left presents and other gifts for me and the kids. I felt so sooo sooooo good and taken care of. I knew that they had listened to the spirit and had followed through with whatever act of kindness the could for us. Thank you so much...I have no idea who they were but I know that they will be blessed for their kindness

Merry Christmas!!

Man it has really been a long time since my last post. Kevan took the computer to his sisters house, so I don't have one at home and when I'm at work, it need to work!!

Holy Crap!! Life is so busy for me right now. Here is an update on the last month or so.

We had a fun Thanksgiving with Kevan and his parents, and his sister, they came up from California. We had a nice dinner and enjoyed the evening playing games and getting ready for shopping the next day. Jennifer and Kevan got up at 4:30 and went to Wal-Mart. I got up at 5:30 and ran over to Target and stood in line for the store to open up at 6. Holy early!! It was so fun though. We got a couple of things that were such a good deal, it was worth spending what little money we had!! Later that night we went to this place down in SL, it was a "fun center" kind of thing. There were rides for the kids, and we also played miniature golf all of Kevan's family were there, well at least the ones who lived in Utah. Kevan took the kids over to Juliann's house for the night and I went up to the house and finished up some house work and a little project that I was working of for our Tree. I will explain later. Saturday I went down to J's house and we all had another Thanksgiving dinner.

Every year, the Monday after Thanksgiving is "The Festival of Trees". It is one of my most favorite days of the whole year. Six ladies, including myself, decorate a Christmas tree in memory of our babies that we lost. So the tree is just for them. I think about all of the time and energy, the love and concern I have for my 4 kids here and all that I do for them. I love them so much. Well, this tree is for Yzabeth. Oh, that cute little girl! And that stupid cord that was wrapped so tight around her neck..sorry, I just had to get that out!! Anyway, I think about her too. I think about what my life would be like if she was here with our family. I think about what she would look like. I know that she was identical to Yzabelle, but how would they look the same and how would they be different. I think of her cute little face. It just flashes through my mind. I just think of her a lot. The tree really brings me closer to her. We make, and gather things and then we decorate it. We do it in this huge conference place in Sandy. Anyway, the trees are auctioned off and all the money raised goes to Primary Children's Hospital. There are hundreds of trees, gingerbread houses, and wreaths. It is such a wonderful, spiritual thing. I love doing it! This was our 5th year!! I will get pictures from my friend and post them later!

So much to say! I will write more later!!

Junk and stuff

Life is busy, busy, busy. I haven't written in a while just for that reason.

Tristyn was sick last week. He had a fever for a couple of days and I love it. That may sound weird but boyfriend is so flappy, and wiggly and always moving, but when the fever hit he wanted to SNUGGLE. Holy cow, I didn't know what to do with myself. It was fun to have his little head on my chest and for him to just want me to hold him. My house suffered from it though, I'm okay with that, he's only a baby once!

I'm doing pretty good considering my circumstances! I feel like my heart is light and I am happy most of the time. I have been very grateful for such wonderful parents. I have always been amazed with how supportive and loving they are with ALL of their children (8). They have been the best example of how parents should unconditionally love their children. I think that we were all raised the same, but we have all made different decisions and chosen different lives for ourselves. No matter what though, our parents have always loved us. They have always loved me. Silly old Jessica (Bones is what they call me!). There have been times where I haven't wanted to tell them what is going on in my life and stuff like that, but when I do, they never judge, or tell me what to do. They are the best parents, and I love them so much!! I am a lucky daughter!! I hope that I can be like them as my children get older.

Gettin' round

Tristyn has officially, as of 5 days ago, started to crawl. He also has been pulling himself up on furniture and beds, and stuff. He thinks that he is sooo cool too. He is a little dare devil. He will pull himself up and then let go and balance for a second or two and let go at only 7 months old! He plops on the floor on his bottom and then crawls over to whatever interests him. He was in the bathtub the other night doing this. Standing up...and falling on his cute little bottom, then he would flap his arms like a crazy boy and splash in the water . He did it over and over again. I think that he thought he was funny...of course we did too. He can never just sit still either, he is so wiggly...is that even a word? He is always moving and bopping up and down. I am so glad that he is such a good baby. Heavenly Father has truly blessed me with such a happy spirit.

Emerald is a sassy little lady. The other day she was telling me that she needed to look at Naveks private parts, and I said no she could not. Then she proceeded to say "I have to mom.....I have to!" Okay whatever! She will say "I have to mom....I have to." about lots of things...like hitting her brother or sister, or eating candy before dinner, or just naughty things in general. Why she feels that she has to be so verbal with her intentions is so hilarious, and beyond me! At the same time it's very hard to keep a straight face and be serious, and redirect her to be nice and to make good choices. Oh my...what will the future bring.

Last night Navek was telling me that he was looking forward to voting on voting day. I told him that he had to be 18 to vote. This made him very sad...so sad infact that he started to cry. I asked him if he wanted to come with me to vote on Tuesday. He said yes. So I checked him out of school early today and he went with me to the polls. I showed him the machines and told him what I was doing. He really enjoyed it. Maybe he will grow up and be in politics!!

Every time something makes Yzabelle sad, or unhappy she will touch her eye and say "eye hurts" I'm not sure why. She has been a little moody lately. It's easy to get her to smile though...all I have to do is say "don't you smile....don't you laugh!" And she instantly starts to laugh!! That's what my dad used to do to me !!

Where have I been?

Wow, I have been so busy, tired, stressed out lately that I haven't posted in a long time. I have been a single mom for about a month now. Kevan is living with his sister right now in SJ. The kids go to visit him every Friday night and return on Saturday. It's nice to have a little break. I have increased my hours to 20 a week. I average about 4 hours a day. My sister L watches my kids and she gets paid from he state gov. It's nice to not have that added expense, it would eat up my whole paycheck!

Navek has been off-track for 2 weeks now, but looks forward being back in school. He had an awesome season in soccer. He is such a fast runner, and loves scoring ( he averaged about 3 goals a game!) He still has the best imagination, and is so creative. I had a parent teacher conference and his teacher said that she always looks forward to seeing his work, cause it's so awesome.

Yzabelle loves going to pre-school. She gets to ride the bus, which is also very exciting. It picks her up at our house and drops her off and Lindsey's house. Very convenient for me! She is talking more and more, her teacher said that she is opening up more to her and the other teachers. Maybe she will start talking to the kids! She loves to draw and just be cute!

Emerald wishes so much that she could go to school. She has a new interest in taking care of her dolls. She loves to collect things. When we get ready to go somewhere she goes into her room and tries to carry as much as she can get in her hands. She thinks that she must bring all of it in the car with us. She is so funny.

Little Tristyn is really movin and groovin'. About a month ago he really started to get around the house my doing this really cool body flop-worm crawl. He is really fast. When he is more patient with himself he does do a little crawling. Last week he thought that it would be cool to pull himself up on furniture. What a smart little boy. He likes the feeling of being tall I guess. He is such a good baby. He loves to play in the girls room and chew and slobber on all of their toys. he pulls himself up on their bed, and the little kitchen and the bookshelf in their room. I hope that he is not walking anytime soon. He likes to eat...what baby doesn't! He is my only baby that has ever like rice cereal, of course I mix it with applesauce but he pounds that stuff down. He is always flopping too. He flaps his arms sooo much, I think that he thinks if he does it enough he will eventually fly. He is sooooo happy. He is always smiling and just being cute!

Being by myself is hard, but I am happy. We will see what is in the future for Kevan and myself. Only the Lord knows!!

Yzabelle turns 5!!!

Yzabelle's birthday was last week. I have been meaning to write about her and all of her progress...this is probably a good time. Holy cow I can't believe that she is 5!!

She has grown and learned so much over this past year. I am so proud of her. I get frustrated with her sometimes because she is so stubborn, but then i realize that she needs to be stubborn to help her with her disability.

She is a very sweet considerate little girl. She is never shy and never hesitates to give kisses...I love that. She loves to snuggle and hug and be held. I think that's her idea of a good time. She is very gentle with Tristyn (at least most of the time). Her and Emerald play so cute together. Usually Belle is the baby and Emerald is the mom...does that really surprise you??

Her favorite thing in the world are the Disney princesses. Anything that has to do with Cinderella, Belle, Ariel or any of them catches her attention. I'm sure that she thinks that she is one of them.

She loves to sing. She knows all of the words to "Teach Me to Walk in the Light" and we sing it every night before we go to bed. She actually sings with me...it's so great. Her favorite movies are "Mary Poppins" and "The Sound of Music" That movie is like almost 3 hours long and she will actually sit there and watch the whole thing...She knows a lot of the songs to The sound of music...she calls it "hills." This is major progress for her. She can remember the words and then tries to say them. Even if she can't get all of the words she still know the tune to the song. Sometimes I will sing the songs with her and stop at a certain point and she will fill in the missing word. What a smart girl. She makes up song too. Sometimes when Tristyn is crying she will go up and in her cute little singing voice say "Uh hill(ww)s a lolly day!" We don't know exactly what she is saying, but it's cute anyway!! She knows primary songs, but doesn't sing at church. I think that she knows more than we think she does.

She started her 3rd year of preschool this year. I have been trying to work with her on her colors, and shapes. I think that she knows most of her colors, I'm not too sure about the shapes.

She is talking so much more than she was last year. She can put 3-4 words together in a sentence, but a lot of the filler words are "uh". I totally speak "Yzabelle" though so I get what she is saying mostly! I am hoping that she will branch out and start to talk to other people. I think that most of time she speaks very clearly, but she is really shy and quiet in front of other people.

She is so willing to try new things. Last year she wouldn't go near the trampoline. This year it was one of her favorite things to do outside. She can jump really high and it is a good exercises because it puts pressure on both of her legs. And oh man...you should see that girl swing... This is another thing that just amazes the crap out of me. She actually holds on to the swing with both hands and pumps her feet. She goes soooo high! It is really a great thing because she has to hold on with both hands, and I know that she has to hold on really tight in order to go so high. She has really improved strength in her right hand (the one she doesn't use as much)

She also can (FINALLY) get herself dressed. She is so funny when she does it too. Her clothes are either in-side-out, or backwards, or both. But she doesn't care. Have you ever tried to put on your clothes with one hand? I am so glad that she can finally do this. She hardly ever asks for help either. Last year she used to stay in her room for 1/2 hour just trying to put on underwear. She would scream and cry because it was so hard for her, and she would get soo mad at me if I tried to help her. I eventually learned that she really did just want to do it herself. Totally determined and some junk!!

She loves to color, draw and paint. Last year she would just scribble. This year she has turned scribbling into circles and little pictures. She says that she is drawing people. They have fat little bodies and really long arms. She tries to draw eyes, and noses too. I love seeing her pictures.

She is so happy and she loves to laugh...totally just like in Mary Poppins!!

I am so impressed with her. I don't know how she does what she does. For those of you who keep wondering what I'm talking about...she has been labeled "developmentally delayed" She suffered a stroke right before I delivered her. She has right sided weakness. The doctors told me that she may never walk or talk. She totally proved them wrong. I am so proud of all her accomplishments. She is so wonderful and sweet, and so stinkin' beautiful!!

I wish that I had better pictures, but my camera is broken!

Give mamma a little kiss!!

it's been a while

Sorry it has been so long since I have posted anything. Well, it seems by my comment section that no one but my sister and my friend read my blog anyway!

I have had a hard month. Time is going by so fast for me and so much is happening with my kids. I feel bad that I don't write down their every move and note their every word! I have been so tired at night so I just go to sleep instead of staying up late on the computer.

Some of the blogs that I read are annoying to me. It seems like no one has any problems or trials. Why don't people ever write about those kind of things. Life is all wonderful and perfect according to their posts. Wow what a positive happy mood I'm in!

Choo Choo

This past weekend we were able to spend some time with Kev's parents. On Saturday we went to this train place in Kaysville called S&S railroad. There is a guy that has devoted his life to trains. He had built a bunch of tracks around his property and would give his kids rides when they were younger. It turned into sucha popular place for their friends that they expanded and opened it up to the public. Here is us on the train

This is the smaller train. It goes for a 10 minute train ride around his place. There is some cute stuff for the kids to see on the ride such as: pony's, kittens, we went through tunnels, and over bridges, and around the whole park area. It was really fun for the kids!

We had a bunch of fun. Here are the kids just playin around in the park area. Cute cute cute!!

Sacrifice

I was in YW yesterday and learned something very interesting ...the definition of the word sacrifice. Ready? Okay...it is "giving up something good for something better." I repeated that in my head about a dozen times to try to fully understand it.

Then I got to thinking about how much a mother sacrifices for her family. I feel like my life is extremely difficult sometimes. I feel like I have been through a lot and have experienced many things that most people won't have to in this life. I'm not feeling sorry for myself, but it is true. Anyways, sacrifice. Giving up something good for something better. Wow, that makes so much sense. I feel like I give up "good" things like my body (5 kids in 6 years Yikes!), my time, my social life, sometimes my talents. What better things are there than this? Is it good to give up so much?

Well, after pondering for a while I decided that my kids are "something better" I would much rather hear and witness everyday cuteness from certain little people then work out at the gym for 4 hours in hopes for a better body! I would much rather have a "better" conversation with Navek then with somebody at work. My kids are so precious. They are so unique and different, but they belong me here on this earth.

I still probably don't FULLY understand sacrifice, but I will take it one day at a time. To think that Jesus gave up his good life here on earth for an even better one in eternity. How amazing to think of all that he went through. He did it for us because he loves us.

Lately I have been feeling a bit overwhelmed. It is so challenging having 4 kids so close in age. I know that we are supposed to live for the future and be prepared and stuff like that. But with all that I have on my plate it is all I can do to make it one day at a time for right now. I made it through today with out any life threatening situations so yay for me and some junk!!

A bit too honest!

Yesterday there was a neighbor over playing with Navek. Emerald kept hitting him with this pool floaty thing. I kept asking her to stop but she didn't. She can have a bit of an attitude sometimes! I finally took the float away from her and put it up high where she couldn't reach it. She kept asking for it back...so finally I asked her if she was going to be nice and she said "no", then I asked her if she was going to hit Coby again and she said "yes". Silly goose! Then she couldn't understand why I wouldn't give it back to her! At least she is honest with her intentions!

Weekend

We had a fun time with the B family this weekend! We had a "family reunion" and the only reason why I put it in quotes is because it was a reunion of Kevan's great-grandfather. Weird and some junk. There was this guy with the last name of Parker and he had 2 wives...combined they had 15 kids...can you imagine!!?? Each of those children had between 8 to 13 kids. What a great genealogy tree. Anyway...it was at the "This is the Place Park" in Salt Lake. Totally fun. We went and met some of the family that was there for the luncheon. We visited with some distant family that we never new existed. It was cool. Kevan's mom and dad were there along with his sister and her 3 kids. We went around the park and saw attractions there. The kids really enjoyed it.

We thought that it would be fun to make a weekend trip out of it so we went over to J's house (kevan's sister)and spent the night. It was fun to visit with family. We went to church with them the next day, then came home and had lunch and took naps..of course!! Then we had a yummy dinner, packed up and went home. It was just an overnighter, but sometimes that's what you need!! Just to get away and be somewhere else. The kids had fun playing while the grownups enjoyed chatting.

K & J (Kevan's mom and Dad) had been going through pictures at there house in C...I mean boxes and boxes of pictures!! They've spent the last few weeks scanning pictures into the computer (with the help of their s-i-l in Oregon who came down to help) It has been a lot of work for them, but soon we will all have copies of all their pictures. K put the pictures on a little slide show type thing on his computer and we were able to see pictures of all the B kids when they were younger!! It was a lot of fun to see!

I would post pictures but my camera wasn't working...

Back in June

I was looking on the KB family website that we have and came across this letter that posted in mid June...enjoy...(but don't think that I'm totally crazy)

Get this people...I really don't know why I put myself in positions that I do. I needed to get the AC fixed in our van Thursday and figured that I could handle all of the kids at the shop while they were checking out the car. Shaa right!! When we first got there, the kids were pretty good. They were sitting in the chairs and talking quietly, every once in a while they would get up and go look at the displayed tires in the store (very excititng). Then good turned to worse... I'm going to play the shoulda, coulda, woulda game.

Emerald has been potty training herself and been doing a great job at it. When I got her out of the car she didn't have a diaper on only underwear I should've put a diaper on her but I figured that she would be okay. Anyway, we were chillin in the store and all of the sudden she lifted up her dress and pulled down her underwear and said "Mamma I poop... MAMMA I POOPIE" Yikes!! I glanced over at her, I was helping Belle put the sunglasses back that she was trying on, and noticed that there were 2 little poop piles on the floor in the shop. That's right I said poop. Poop on the floor. I totally could've lost it but instead I just laughed, while all of the workers and people there stared in disapproval! Tristyn was in the middle of the store cause I was helping Belle, but I had to leave him there as I picked up Emerald by her side. She was flashing everyone with her poopie bottom, I raced her to the bathroom and sat her down on the toilet because she said that she had more. I was in there with her for 2 or 3 minutes, but had to leave her cause I had to go clean up the poop. So I went out into the store...Tristyn was still in the same place. Yzabelle was still trying on sunglasses and Navek was going his best to keep an eye on the both of them. I picked up the piles of poop and threw them away while huffing and puffing to keep myself from totally loosing it. We spent a little more time in the bathroom finished up there and came out. I was so embarrassed!!! I called my neighbor to come and pick me up but for the rest of the time my kids were pulling things off of the shelves and asking for treats. AARRUUGHHH. I will NEVER do that again...never, never!! I love my kids and this will go down in the books as a funny, but embarrassing moment in history!!

"mammma...i dank it oll gone"

Is what Emerald said to me this afternoon with a smile on her face and unusually good smelling breath. I asked her what she drank. She said "ppaahhsis" which, in Emeral language is medicine. Yikes! She had found a bubble gum favored bottle of children's motrin and drank what was remaining. I'm sure that it tasted good to her too, hense her running downstaird to tell me...I was vacuming at the time. Then I remembered last night Navek coming into our room and saying that his legs were hurting, so I went upstairs and gave him some motrin, guess I forgot to put it away. What can I say...I'm a tired mom. I called poison control and found out that she will be okay and to just give her some food so that she wouldn't get an upset stomach! I know that they make yummy flavored medicine taste good so that the kids will take it but dag!! Maybe next time I should search for the nasty flavored medicine!!

"Normal Life"

I just got done reading my sisters post from today. She said that she is having a hard time at night adjusting to being home (still). I have to say that I have had a poopy week. I really miss my family. We had the best time together. We are all such different people, but we all compliment each other well. I think that my favorite days were Saturday the 21st and Friday the 27th. It was so great to see our old friends from Indiana on Saturday. It is cool to see how their family has grown by 2 grand kids, who by the way are so cute!!
Friday was a perfect way to end the week...at the Temple with Lindsey and Zak!! What a happy family they were...what a great "place" they are in, in their lives right now. I can't explain the feeling of that day. It was too wonderful for words. After we were at the temple, we went and had lunch at Liberty Park. The kids played at the park and us brothers and sisters just stood around for at least 2 hours talking about the past growing up. We laughed and laughed...it was so great!!
I need to move on though. I haven't wanted to do much of anything lately. The other thing that I am way sad about is that my neighbor is moving, or I guess I should say that she has moved. She is one of the most amazing people that I have ever met. She has a certain spirit about her that makes her so likable. I have never felt judgement from her. She is so giving, so kind, so funny, and so insightful, so caring and so helpful (is that the same as giving?) Whatever. I am so sad that she is gone. I will still see her, but it won't be the same because she isn't across the street. She is one of the most special friends that I have ever had!

Let's hope that next week is better. Navek starts 1st grade on Monday!! My sweet boy!!

More Family Picts

Here are a couple more pictures from when my family visited...

Here is Kathryn with Tristyn.











Tristyn is so cute with his lips.























Here are Yzabelle and Emerald at the Temple...what beautiful girls I have.

Some are a little fuzzy...I don't have the best camera in the world, but it will do for now!
Here are Devon (10), Navek (6), and Kathryn (almost 13). They get along really good. It is nice that they are semi close in age. I look forward to the future with these young kids...I'm sure that they will grow up to be friends!!







Here are Navek and Trevor on the Temple grounds playing with the pretty flowers. We kept asking the kids not to pick them, and after asking several times they finally obeyed...then we turned the corner and looked on this little wall and there were a whole bunch of already picked flowers...so thank goodness our kids weren't the only ones picking them!!

Do vs Don't

I feel like I loose my patients too much, especially with my kids. It is hard with 4 little ones. I want to be a good mom, and want my kids to feel like I am there for them and they can talk to me about anything. They can't do that if I am always yelling at them...actually I don't always yell...I need to give myself a little credit. Anyways....

I decided to try this new approach, instead of telling them DON'T do this and DON'T do that I will tell them what i DO want them to do. For example I use to say "Don't run into the street." Their little brains can only handle so much...the last three words that they heard me say were "into the street." how confusing for a little kid. So I decided to say "Stay on the sidewalk." or "stay close to mommy." Now they know what they are supposed to do. Another example...we have a lot of hitting in our house right now, oh man it is so annoying. I used to say "Stop hitting your sister!" Now I say "Be nice and be soft" or something along those lines. It seems to be working because they know what I want them to do. I have to think really hard and make a conscience effort to do it. Every once in a while I will slip up and use the "Don't" word, but I am working on it, and it seems to be making a difference!

What a week!

Last week was the best. I anticipated it all month long and when my whole family was finally here, it seemed to go by so fast. We spent the weekend of the 21st and 22nd with some close friends from Indiana, Devon, Brenda, Gina and Heidi. We had a lot of fun visiting and talking about the good old times.

On Monday the 23rd it was my birthday...the big 30!! Most of my family went on a hike down in Provo while I stayed home and caught up on house work. Yikes...to make the day a little better I gave myself a birthday party. It was a lot of fun. My whole family was there, Kevan's brother and sister and their families were there and some close friends. We had a bbq and visited. I got to blow out a cake with 30 candles on it too!!

Tuesday we just hung around.

Wednesday, we went to This is the place park...it was a lot of fun...then that night we got our family pictures taken. Wow...23 people, it was crazy but very fun.

Thursday evening Lindsey (my older sis) and her husband Zak received their endowments in the SL Temple...What a great experience. I loved being in the temple with my mom and dad...I felt so lucky to be their daughter and to be born into my family. I love my sister so much and was so glad that I could be there that night.

Friday, bright and early, we got up and went to the temple again to see L & Z get sealed with their 3 cute kids. It was so awesome...I can't think of the right words to explain it...It was one the best experiences that I have had in a really long time. What a wonderful thing to be apart of.

I am sad that the time went by so fast.

It was so much fun to be around all of my brothers and sisters. It is funny how we are all "adults" now (even though we totally don't act like it). But we really enjoy just being around each other...we all get a long so well.

There are 8 kids in my family 5 girls and 3 boys. I am the second oldest. The first 6 of us are really close in age, then there is a 6 year gap, then 2 more. Here are some random pictures of us.

This is Kathryn and I, what a beautiful young lady!

This is my handsome Andrew. He is the oldest boy in our family. Andrew is very smart and funny and always has a story to tell. I love this bean!!!

This is my cute Ezra. He just finished his freshman year at BYU Idaho. He is very charming and funny. I love being around him!

Did I mention that everyone in my family is good looking? Here are Mary, Lindsey and Daisy

The only one that I don't have a picture of is Devon...but I will find one. I love everyone in my family...I had such a wonderful week with them...I will miss them, and all of the laughs and good times!!!

Family

Oh my gosh!! It has been so long since I have written, but I do have a good reason...my family is here from Maryland. It has been 4 years since we have all been together.It is so much fun to visit and talk with each other. There are 8 kids in my family and there are 11 grand kids so it has been loud, and hectic, but also wonderful and memorable. I love my family so much and am soooo glad that they are here. I will write more later.

A prayer from Navek

I had one of "those days" yesterday. I woke up in an okay mood, but that changed quickly. I just get soooo tired of picking up messes, then I turn around and there is another mess, or the girls mess up what I just cleaned up. I hate that! I feel like my house is falling apart, and what's worse is I hate that I care so much. Why can't I just let the "clean house" image go for a while. Sometimes I will tell myself to just forget about it and play with my kids. So I will go into the girls room and start to dress them up or read books or play house or something, then 10 minutes later I will start to pick up their room. Why? Is it really THAT important. I really wish that I could just maintain my house, but I can't even do that. I am always so self-conscience when people come over or someone just drops by. I'm afraid that my house stinks or it's too messy or whatever. In reality it's not really that bad, I just think because it doesn't sparkle. Anyways back to my morning. I was upset because I just couldn't do any good work. I tried to pick up the girls room and it didn't stay clean for even 15 min. I got upset and started to yell and felt like I was totally going to loose it. Navek noticed that I was upset and asked, in a very humble way, "Mom, do you want me to say a prayer that you will feel better?" I was so touched. He wasn't being a brat about it, he was totally serious about it. I appreciated it so much. I told him to go ahead. It was such a sweet, innocent, humble prayer. What a thoughtful boy! I got everyone ready and we left for the morning...I had a whole bunch of errands to run. Among other things I had to take some books back to the library...as I was leaving I noticed some sprinklers on by the high school. I looked at Navek and asked him if he wanted to run through them. He smiled at me and say "yes!!" We parked on the side of the road and got out and got wet!! It felt so good. Something that simple. I took the girls out, and we ran through them together!! They thought it was cool. I think that I need to stop and run through sprinklers more often!! Enough about having the perfect house, I love my kids and am so grateful that they are mine here on earth. What precious people they are. Hopefully they will remember times like these and when mommy was happy rather than what my house looks like. Yippee for Navek's prayer!!

Funny things

I just wanted to jot down a couple of things to remember about my kids...this is mostly for my info so I can look back and remember how silly they are.

A couple of nights ago we were saying prayer on our breakfast and Emerald was saying the prayer. I have to tell her what to say. Belle was trying to annoy Emerald by coping everything that I would say. At one point I said..."Bless us to be happy!" Quickly, Yzabelle said "happy", then Emerald said to Yzabelle, with eyebrows bent..."NO Bello (that's what she calls her) MY happy!" the she said in her sweetest voice "happy." What silly girls.

Emerald has also started to tattle on Navek and Belle. She will come up to me and say their name and then mimmick what they did to her. It is hard to keep a straight face when she does this. Her voice inflection is so funny...and she is so serious about it.

Here are some more pictures

Emerald

I feel like I have written a lot about Navek lately and need to talk about another one of my adorable children. My little Emerald is now 2 years and 3 months, and how the time has flown by. It seems like she grew up so fast. She was such a good baby. I enjoy her now that she is more a toddler. She is the most extreme in some areas...more than my other kids. She is by far the strongest. She has always had this amazing grip...what I mean by that is she can hold on so tight to things. The other day we were at the park and she was on the glider thing that was up in the air and she was pulling herself up as if she were doing a chin up!! Wow. She can also run super duper fast, her legs just go, go, go! I remember when she was younger I would be chasing her and I would go toward her and she would totally dodge me, like she were a football player or something. Maybe she will win medals in track when she grows up.

I also think that at this age, she is my funniest kid. She does the silliest things! She was playing dolls a couple of weeks ago and she would take one and start to nurse (like mommy) then she would put it up on her shoulder and burp her, then for some strange reason she would start to spank (she would say "pank, pank")the doll. Why would she act so loving then start to spank! I hope that she didn't learn that from me! Another thing...I walked into the living room the other day and she was totally changing Tristyn's diaper...she all had his legs up and was wiping his bum, as if she were the real mother. She in very animated when she talks. She likes shouting out directions to people, go figure that the 3rd one would be the most bossy. I love her sweet, funny personality!

She is very independent. If she needs or wants something she will just get it herself. I walked into the kitchen the other day and she was cutting herself some cheese...because SHE wanted some. Lucky for her she didn't cut herself. She watched me a lot as a child and she just naturally just knows how to do things!

She is starting to get a cute imagination when she plays with her toys. I just love it. I sneak up on her and listen to conversations that she has with her toys...what a crack up!

She is such a good sister to Yzabelle. She helps her and talks with her and, for the most part, gets a long with her pretty good.

She has the blondest hair!! It is really fine though, and sometimes hard to fix. She has beautiful blue eyes and is a true joy in my life. I feel like out of all my kids she has grown up the fastest. Where did all the time go? She is a very happy girl. She prefers Kevan over me...a real daddy's girl!! These are pictures when she was about 9 months old...what a cute, beautiful, wonderful girl!

Navek graduates from Kindergarten

On Friday, Navek graduated from kindergarten. What a happy day! The girls, Tristyn and I went to his school bright and early for a small program they did. It was mostly songs that they had learned throughout the year. It was funny though, Navek had this look on his face the whole time...like he was too cool to be singing. I don't think that he smiled the whole time. What a goose!!

We all went back to his classroom, and his teacher presented all of the students with a memory book that she put together for them. It was so cute!!. It had pictures of him and his friends, and of his teacher, and of things that they done throughout the year. She was a really great teacher. I got to know her a little cause I helped volunteer in his class. It was a great year for him. I actually cried when she was presenting him his book. He is officially a 1st grader!!!

8 things

I got this from Gina a few weeks ago, so here goes

The Rules: Players start with 8 random facts about themselves. Those who are tagged should post these rules and their 8 random facts. Players should tag a few other people and notify them they have been tagged

1. I think that marshmallows are the grossest thing in the whole world. They are so fake and disgusting it just makes me want to puke just thinking about them.

2. I really, really want to learn how to play the guitar. I played the violin for 8 years then taught myself how to play the piano, which I'm actually pretty good at But, I want to learn something new. I really like the way the guitar sounds and all the cool cords and picks that go along with playing it. I think that I would be pretty good at it too, cause I already know how to play a string instrument.

3. I am extremely good at multi-tasking. It totally comes naturally to me. For example, I can make dinner (without burning anything), help Navek with is homework, while doing the dishes and helping the girls put on their dress up clothes...sometimes I can talk on the phone while doing this too. Totally talented!!!

4. I really like the words "like" and "totally" and I use them a lot. I mostly use them around people that I know, who won't think that I am some blonde valley girl. I just use them to be funny and make people laugh!!

5. I have fond memories of my child hood dancing in my living room to songs from musicals. My mom had soooo many records from musicals. We would have the greatest time listening to them, then we would start to dance and sing, and just be silly!! It was so awesome!! There was always a good feeling in our house because of the music. The funny thing is that I knew most of the songs from the movies, without even seeing the actual movie itself. Go figure.

6. I like to push buttons!!! Sometimes when I go to the Target that we live by, I imagine that I am at the cash register and I get to push the buttons that they have there. They are the good buttons...there are, just so you know, good buttons and bad buttons. I like the sensation that my fingers feel when the button goes down and then up again!! My neighbor has a laptop, which has the good kind of buttons, and once I went over to use her computer just to push her buttons, it was so awesome!!

7. I really get annoyed when people leave their windshield wipers up when they have turned off their car. Like totally put them down before you turn your car off people!!! And I also don't like it when their windshield wipers are on and it's not even raining. It gives me a really weird sensation. Geezz!! (just a little pet-peeve of mine)

8. I like to cook. I think that it is fun. 90% of the time I can come up with different things to make and cook for our family, there are some dry spells here and there, but for the most part I like it. Kevan always compliments me on my cooking too!! I like eating at the dinner table together. I think that it is a good habit to get into, enjoy the times that you can be together as a family.

I wish that I could type what is really going on in my head. It always sounds so good up there, but when I put it in the computer, and I read over it, it never sounds how I want it to. I'm not the greatest writer there ever was!! Like oh well!!

Makes me happy

There is something so cool about little babies. I was feeding Tristyn tonight and put him on my shoulder to burp him and the most amazing sensation came over me. Babies have magic that way. They don't have to do anything but just be themselves. I was the greatest feeling in the world! I just love him so much, I guess you could say that I am in love with him. He is the sweetest little boy. He makes me so happy and life is good when he smiles at me. I am glad that he is in my life!

My Navek

Navek is now 6 years old...wow!! He will just be finishing kindergarten this week and has had an amazing year. He is learning how to read and is very good at it. It is fun to see him sounding out words and reading books and stuff. It's like a whole new world is being introduced to him, and he is so excited about it.
His teacher has mentioned to me that he is probably one of the most creative kids in her class...This kid so creative it blows me away. The things that he draw and the pictures that he colors are just so beyond anything that I have ever seen a 6 year old do. Of course I have nothing to compare him too, so I can think that he is the best!! He likes to draw treasure maps, pictures of our family, animals, cars, our house and things like that. He has always been very good at coloring things they way that they should be colored. e.g. water is blue and the grass is green... horses are brown and strawberries are red. He notices details like that. Along with that, I should mention that he is an amazing builder too (just like his dad!!) he can build the coolest things. I bought him a set of DUPLO blocks and he has a hay day building towns, cities, farms, spaceships, watercraft, churches and so forth. It's fun to watch him build!
Navek is also a great helper to me. By this time last year he was emptying the dishwasher, vacuuming the stairs, and washing the bathroom all by himself. He did an okay job on the bathroom too for being so young. He is very motivated by money too (that's how I get him to do chores). He thinks that money is like to coolest thing ever. He saves it for no reason really, but to see it grow. He counts his money a lot and like to keep it in his wallet. What a silly boy.
Navek is a great athlete too. He played soccer this year and was the best one on his team. (I'm not just saying that..he really was) He was the fastest by far, and scored the most goals. I loved watching him play.
He is into this stage right now where he asks soooo many questions. Questions that I have no idea what the answer is. Like: "Mom why is the sky blue?" Now I know that there is a scientific answer to that, but heck if I know what it is. He asks questions like "Why is there a red car coming down the street?" "Why is ice cream so good?" "Why do bees make honey?" Sometimes I don't mind trying to come up with some good "Mom" answer but please...I don't know what color Jesus's hair is.
He is a good big brother to is little sisters. He loves them very much and I have no doubt that he will be a great friend to them as they grow. He is very patient with Yzabelle and helps a lot with his little brother too.

Navek loves me a lot too. He likes to snuggle with me and have me scratch his back. I hope that lasts into his teenage years!! Oh man, how I love my little boy!!!

Getting started

I would like to talk about each of my kids individually this next week so that they can look back in a few years and see what kida stuff they were doing.

What a day Mom Had

Today was one very good day! I felt like I got so much done. I woke up and got Navek off to school (he only has a weekend a half left of Kindergarten), got the girls and me breakfast, fed Tristyn and then took a shower all by 10am. Yey for me and some junk. Then I picked up my room, which is of course the messiest one in the house, and Trisytn's room which is right next to mine. I picked up all of the dirty laundry in the house and sorted it, realizing that I'm really, really behind on laundry! I put in a load and continued to pick up stuff around the basement. I am trying to get my house ready for when my family comes in July. Let's hope that I can maintain it till then! Anyway, I picked up Navek from school and we went to "school lunch" over by Lindsey's house. Then we came back home, I fed Tristyn (again for the 3rd time, he is slowly weening himself on the bottle), and put him down for a nap. The girls went over to the neighbors house and Navek and I picked up his room, then vacumed it. He then went swimming with the neighbors in our back yard and I just picked up and cleaned and did laundry and stuff. I even cleaned the bathroom in our bedroom!! Kevan got home around 4:30 and I headed off to work at 5. I was there for only about an hour and a half then went to YW. I am the Personal Progress leader and it was my night for an activity. I updated all of my records and the girls in my ward are doing great with there goals.
Sometimes I sit at home and feel like I am not an accomplished lady, cause I just clean my house and watch my kids all day, but not today! I am an accomplished lady cause raising decent children in our society today is the most important job ever!! I am lucky to have such great kids, and husband.
I will figure out the picture thing soon so you can witness some real cuteness!