Ice Cream Factory

I went a little overboard with the pictures, but hey! I have a great bunch of children and a wonderful sister and brother-in-law. They suggested we drive to visit an ice cream factory that sells the best ice cream. We were all over that idea. I pulled the kids out of school (shhh! They've only missed maybe two days this entire year) and we made the trek and saw how the ice cream is made. And then we got a scoop to try out afterwards. So much fun.

As you can see in some of the pictures, MOST of us were having fun. Spencer knocked the chair over, got embarrassed, wouldn't come out from under the table and threw a silent fit that kept going and going and going. I finally got him to get on the cow statue for a picture. The three boys slept all the way back and Danielle needed an attitude adjustment when we got home so she took a nap, too. We had a great time. Bonnie and Jarom will probably never want to go out with this group of yayhoos again, but we love them and hope they still want us around. 

I look at this picture of us in front of the car a seriously wonder where all those kids came from. I still can't believe they are all mine. Wow!

Elementary School Deems Inappropriate

Taneal has been part of a newspaper group at her Elementary school for two years. She has had fun writing articles for the paper that are actually published in a newspaper and distributed to the student in her school. She has really enjoyed interviewing people for her articles and has had so much fun coming up with ideas and then seeing them in print.

There has been a delay in the printing of the last paper because of Taneal's article. The administration says it is inappropriate and refuse to print it without deleting several paragraphs. I thought she did a wonderful job, especially for being a 5th grader and still in Elementary School. So I thought I would share the uncensored article with you and see what you thought. I changed the name of the school and the names of the teachers:

The Butterfly Garden
by Taneal

Many of you know the beautiful butterfly garden at our school. You may think that Krueger hires someone to care for our garden, but that is not the case.

Fifth grade teacher, Mrs. Reed, is so nice and willing to help take care of our garden here at Krueger. Mrs Reed wanted to help out at the garden because when people drive up, that's the first thing they see. The beauty enhances our school and shows that we care about it.

"We plant plants that bring the butterflies. Especially the monarchs when they do their Journey North (migration)," Mrs. Reed said. She wants people to sit on the benches and admire all the plants and butterflies that come. "Different classes have different plaques that are dedicated by class and people that made a difference in our lives at Krueger," she said.

Mrs Reed has been working in the garden for two years. One of Mrs Reed's hobbies is gardening. She enjoys it because it is peaceful and gives her the satisfaction when she's finished and it's beautiful. She's proud of it. She works on the garden school for about two hours during the week, and on the weekends for six to eight hours. The butterfly garden was started by Mrs. Parks (a former science teacher) who had a great interest in butterflies and teaching children about plants and flowers and butterfly migration.

Mrs. Reed's family, especially her husband,  helps her with the garden. "Former students come by all the time," she said. Mrs Zamella's family and boy scouts have helped build it too.

Unfortunately, some people do not love the garden as much as Mrs. Reed and Mrs. Zamella. Flowers have been pulled and ripped out. People have shown disrespect as well, by letting their animals run through it. Decorative spinners and chimes have been stolen out of the garden.

On the weekends, visitors come by and talk to Mrs. Reed about how beautiful the garden looks, and how much they appreciate it. Every Mockingjay should take pride in our school and our beautiful butterfly garden.

We can help keep it beautiful by walking around the garden instead of through it, and being respectful and not destructive. And maybe you could even volunteer to help in making the garden a lovely part of our school. We are thankful to Mrs Reed for our beautiful butterfly garden because without her there would be no butterfly garden.

Please be respectful to the garden. It's part of Krueger!

Shark Girl

Danielle is my little princess. She is all things pretty. All things girly. And she loves to shake those hips. She is in the 1st grade and almost finished. And she still hasn't lost a tooth. Those two front teeth aren't the least bit wiggly either. But what she has done is grown a second set of teeth. Kind of strange. I took her to the dentist and they x-rayed her and said not to worry, the new teeth would push the baby ones out on their own. It has been two months since that diagnosis and I'm starting to get worried again. The front ones are supposed to be getting wiggly. Nothing is happening. I guess we will wait and see.

Poop Happens

I recently shared this story with a friend and she had a story that totally blew mine out of the water. And I am very grateful for that. I do not wish to have some experiences in life. The ones I have are plenty. I was shopping at Costco yesterday and I was about ready to head to the checkout line. My cart was full, found all the things I needed and some that I didn't need. I had made it through the shopping trip virtually problem free with three little boys, when I smiled at Gavin and then noticed the yellowish orange stuff coming out the leg of his diaper. There wasn't just a little.

I didn't know whether to laugh or to cry. I almost started crying right then and there. And so I took a picture. If I picked Gavin up I would for sure get the poop all over my hands. I didn't have a new outfit, but I could buy one there. I had diapers and wipes. But then the stuff was all over his car seat, so bad that I couldn't just wipe it up. It needed some serious washing with some serious spray. So I quickly went through the checkout, left Gavin in all his poopy mess, and b-lined it home. I took him from the car seat straight to the bath. The car seat cover went straight the to washing machine.

I wish I could say this is the first time this has ever happened to me. But check out these pictures.

My mom gave me some sound words of advise when I started having children and with the messes they make. She said, "before you get mad, take a picture." Normally I don't think the average person would take a picture such as these. But when I feel like I should scream or cry, I really do take a picture instead. It takes a lot of the negative emotion away.

I am using this blog as my "journal" so that in years to come, I can look back at the happy days of being a mother and remember how it really was, not just the faded memories that we all have if we don't write it down or take a picture. And here is to remembering it how it really was, poop and all. 'Cause, it really happened.

Nathan's Pocket Knife

Nathan is about as boy as they come. I don't quite know what to think sometimes.

I caught Nathan sawing on the fence outside with what I thought was a pocket knife. Where would he have gotten one of those and oh no! He is two!

As I carefully approached him so he would not stab himself and I could take the dangerous weapon away from him, I realized that he had simple gone to the drawer in the kitchen and pulled out a pair of nail clippers. He took the file and extended it out and was using it like you would a pocket knife.

And he is two.

In his pockets you can almost always find his "pocket knife" (nail clippers) and a battery. This kid thinks like a boy, acts like a boy, and even smells like a boy (yes, he is still in diapers and refuses any other option). He is about as cute as they come, acts as tough and grough, but still needs the cuddly times with mom when he is tired or has his feelins hurt. He is a Daddy's boy most of the time. At least once a day he puts on his boots and announces that he is "going to work. To make some money." And he really thinks he is going to work.

Occasionally Evan actually takes him to work and he is thrilled.

I'm sure the day will come when Nathan will want a real pocket knife. But for now the nail clippers are doing the job.

I'm a little nervous.

St Patrick's Day

This day is one of our favorite holidays. Spencer even came up to me midday and said, " Mom, this is more fun than Christmas." I wonder why that is? For St Patrick's Day the children put out treaure boxes the night beofre and the leprichauns fill them. Then we eat everything green. That's it. But they LOVE the day. They love that we eat green scrambled eggs with kiwi and green orange juice. Or for Lunch that we have nasty looking green macaroni and cheese with green french bread. I must admit the green sugar cookies are awesome. But the green milk and green mashed potatoes and green buscuits? It is fun. Just not sure why in particular makes the day so great.

This ST Patrick's Day the leprichauns left green silly string. We went to the park in the neighborhood and had a silly string war. They LOVED it. And then we had a race to see who could pick up the most of the silly sting off the ground. Danielle won that one.

We all wore green.

It was a lot of fun and I this holiday sure brings fun memories.

We like Ribbons

It all started with Taneal. That girl was born with so much hair. It took a while for me to figure things out, but I did. I learned to make hair bows. I bought ribbons of all kinds, clips of all kinds, and I decorated my little girl. And then Camie came along. I bought head bands and all the works for that bald little girl. Nobody ever confused her being a boy because she always had bow in her hair. Then to top things off, Danielle, our third little girl was born and she had all the hair accessories, too. Thankfully Spencer was a boy because, well, I was getting tired of all the bows. I do remember thinking how plain he looked and how easy it was to get him dressed. I didn't have to paint his nails and I didn't have to find or make the perfect bow to match his outfit.

When Spencer was about 6 months, he needed something to play with while I put the last finishing touches on whatever it was I was doing. There were no toys in sight, a ribbon was lying on the floor, so I handed it to that little guy. And he went crazy! He sucked, licked, giggled, and was so entertained by that satin ribbon. Within minutes that sucker was dripping with spit and Spencer was one happy baby. It became a staple in my diaper bag. The perfect toy for a boy? Not so perfect, but oh how he loved it. And by the time I had 4 children, I quit caring if he was playing with something oh, so girly.

I never thought to give Nathan a ribbon to suck on.

Gavin has more of a temperament like Spencer. And he loves the ribbon. I even tied one to his exersaucer and that is his favorite thing to do, suck on a ribbon. I have started carrying in my bag and it has been a life saver. It is small, there are lots hanging around the house, and they wash. And with six kids, I really don't care at this point that it is pretty girly.

We love ribbons!

Happy 15th Anniversary

Fifteen years ago I married my man.

I remember the day we met. I was in my 2nd year of college. I was working as a math tutor in an open lab. Evan had just returned home from his mission. He came to the lab for help with his homework. And I was the lucky one who got to help him.

15 years later we are still going strong. 6 children later we are crazier than ever.

And lookin forward to the next 15 years.

Busy Everday Life

This morning was one of those mornings.

6:00am the baby wakes up.

6:30 wake all the kiddos up for school.

7:00 shower (if it doesn't happen now, it doesn't till noon)

7:30 miss the bus.

7:50 load the kids into the car because we missed the bus.

8:00 McDonald's Dr. Pepper helping to get my eye lids open.

8:20 home and time to feed the baby.

8:55 start the dishwasher full of breakfast dishes.

9:00 Primary Presidency Meeting at my home.

10:45 rushing everyone out the door so I can leave for my visiting teaching appointment.
10:49 slapping peanut butter and honey between two slices of bread for lunch for the kids.

11am Visiting Teaching appointment

12:30 PTO meeting to do my PTO treasury job

1:30 still haven't eaten. I am starving. Peanut Butter and Honey Sandwich will have to do.

2:00 Home and Spencer announces to me that he ought to go get dressed for the day.

WHAT??????????????

He was in jeans and a t-shirt. I asked him what he meant and he pointed to "himself" and said, "I still have my night-time pull-up on." Oh my goodness! I thought he was dressed for the day, but no. He never got dressed in his pj's last night. I was at a Relief Society Meeting and was not home to tuck the kids in their bed. Spencer somehow managed to get the night-time diaper on and redressed himself in clothes rather than pj's last night. And so when I saw him this morning I thought he was already dressed for the day.

How embarrassing is that? That poor little guy. He had to wear his stinky pull-up all day because I was too busy. Maybe it didn't bother him. Probably did. He's too sweet to say anything about it until he knew he had the opportunity to change.

I guess it could be worse. My brother tells the story of getting up one morning, going to kindergarten and realizing in the bathroom at school that he forgot to take his nite-time diaper off. At least we aren't in kindergarten yet. YET!

I just laugh. What else can you do?

Oh, and check out his black eye. The other morning after the kids did manage to catch the bus, Spencer came running back in to finish his breakfast and tripped over his feet (had to of been his feet rather than the toys spread all over the place) and landed his nose smack into the bench. Yah, that makes a lot of blood. Freaked Spencer out. Freaked me out. It didn't bleed for too long. The next morning his eyes were slightly swollen. Today he has black eyes. Poor guy.

Walking around in a wet night-time diaper with black eyes and peanut butter smeared on his face. Man, I love that boy!

We Eat Eggs

I truly am a hick. You should see some of the pictures my brother recently send to me that prove just how hickish I am/was.

I now live in a suburban community with a tiny backyard and I can hear my neighbors outside my windows that are having a conversation inside their home. It really isn't that bad, but our homes are pretty close together.

I grew up on acreage with cows and pigs and horses and chickens and lots of dogs and cats that actually caought mice. My brothers ran around shirtless and I ran around without shoes. When my mom needed a break from the 8 of us, she would walk up the hill and hang out with the chickens. I think it is funny how much she enjoyed their company, and as I have more children I am starting to understand.

How I was raised runs though my veins whether I want to admit it or not. Sometimes I actually find myself thinking a farm would be nice. Especially with the amount of eggs my family goes through.

My sister decided to raise her family on some acres and actually have chilckens where she collects and eats their eggs. She still hasn't admitted to hanging out with the chicken, but I secretly know that she does! When she came to visit me back in January, she mentioned that she had so many eggs in her fridge that she wished she would have brought me some. She didn't have cartons because she no longer bought eggs. I decided to start saving my egg cartons and over the course of 6 weeks, look how many I saved! Or shall I rephrase that. LOOK HOW MANY EGGS WE EAT!!! I knew my kiddos liked eggs and ate them really well. But I had no idea we ate them that much. I counted 18 cartons, and many of those cartons hold 18 eggs.

And that was over 6 weeks!

Quite the Artist

Somehow, somewhere, my children managed to pick up some serious artistic talent. I always dreamed of being an artist, but, yah, it never happened. And then when I see my children's creations, I really wonder where they got it from. I know they didn't get it from my clown of a husband. I guess maybe he has the hidden talent. But if he has it, he has done a really good job at keeping it hidden.

Check out this cool little fish Taneal sculpted at school. I was impressed. That girl received a scholarship for art classes (we declined because they were downtown). She really has a natural ability. I love seeing her pencil drawings, even the pictures she creates with crayons. And the talent doesn't stop with Taneal. My other children seem to have it too. Anyways, thought I would share her creation with you and the great picture I captured.

Hoe Down

It was that time of year again when the school had it's Hoe Down. The children all get to dance together and loathe the fact that they have to dance with those nasty boys in their class. But they really do have fun dancing and swinging and doin it all Texas style. It is a great way to kick off the Rodeo coming to town. And this year my girls will all get to go see the rodeo. I will definitely have to make sure Camie takes her camera with her to get some awesome pictures. Evan is the lucky guy that gets to take these gorgeous girls out on the town for that. I will stay home with my nursing baby and well . . . nurse him.

Taneal has outgrown all the shoes I have ever bought her, including her boots. She was pretty put out on Hoe Down day that she didn't' have any boots to wear. I will be shopping today to find her some more so she can wear them to the rodeo. I think I can buy them in my size and they will fit her. That girls is almost all grown up. Still amazing to me that I have almost a full-grown child. Anyways, after that tangent . . . Thought I would share what my girls looked liked on Hoe Down day. So much fun to be Texan!