Happy Mother's Day

This Mother's Day I am trying to look at it a little differently. Instead of it being a day that I am honored and I just sit around while everyone serves me and I expect them to serve me (not really, but I did use it to my advantage when I had kids in diapers if ya know what I mean). Or being a day that I feel a little guilty for not being the kind of mother I wish I was. I am looking at it this way that I am honored to be a mother. As far as I can remember, I have always wanted to be a wife and mother. When people would ask clear back in elementary school what do you want to be when you grow up, the first thing that would pop in my head would be, I want to be married and be a mom. Of course, all the other girls would say teacher or nurse, but hey isn't a mother that and so much more. I feel very blessed to be a mother not to just one but six kids. I know a few people who can't have kids or who can only have one or two who really would love to have more or at least one and my heart just aches for them. I love being a mother and wouldn't change it for the world. I love my mother and the example she set for me and my sisters by being a stay at home mom. I feel very blessed to be able to stay at home with my children and care for them. I wouldn't change being a stay at home mom for anything not even for a bigger house, a car with all the bells and whistles, or expensive vacations etc. I love and want to be the one teaching my kids, helping my kids, driving my kids, just being with my kids, and knowing where my kids are at all times and hopefully being a great example to them. I also want to be an example to my daughters and let them know that it is great to be a stay at home mom and hopefully they will put being a stay at home mom at the top of their list once they are married and start having a family of their own.
Jon didn't have early church meetings this morning so it was nice to have him around to help out. The past 3 years during part of the 3rd hour at church the men would set up half of the cultural hall with chairs and a table filled with desserts. The men are to buy or bake their wife's favorite dessert. The Young Women would fill in for Primary. Then when church was over it was a free for all for the Primary kids. I think this year had more store bought things than previous years probably more than 80% were store bought not that there is anything wrong with store bought as long as it is their wife's favorite. But come on Little Debbie snacks as someones favorite, yes I do like a couple of the Little Debbie snacks but I wouldn't call them my favorite. Whatever!!
After church, we had my parents and Taylor and Christa and her family over for dinner. It was our turn for the break the fast meal the previous Sunday but my parents and Taylor couldn't make it so we change it. We had what I call a mini Thanksgiving dinner. I bought a couple turkey's last month. They were selling them real cheap the week after Easter. So we had turkey, mashed potatoes, green bean casserole, 3 layer jello salad, homemade bread, and some watermelon (because after all it is spring). For dessert we had a big double decker cookie cake from Sam's Club. It was all yummy and not much work to do the day of.

Blood Drive

On May 9th our ward was having a blood drive at the church. I signed up because it has been a while since I last donated. I just didn't realize how long it actually had been. The last time I donated was in 1999. Yikes has it been 10 years already. They had me in the computer but it was at the address we moved from almost 6 years ago. I guess it was after I stopped nursing Connor but before I became pregnant with Payton since they are 2 years apart almost to the day. I used to donate anytime there was one at the church or school. It felt good to do this for someone who will need it. I also picked up my Mother's Day corsage the YW made and were selling for girls camp. They did a really great job and they weren't too big. They had small red, white, or pink carnations and or roses on them.

Field Trips Galore!!

The end of April was field trip time for the kids. Connor goes on one field trip a month with all the kids in the North Metro program (autistic kids) of the elementary school. They do things like go to the movies, the mall and eat at the food court, bowling, indoor swimming, Ci Ci's pizza along with Walmart and Dollar Tree, things like that. A lot of autistic kids have problems with going places so there field trips are centered around taking them out in the community to everyday places. Luckily, Connor doesn't have a problem with that he just follows along. Talmage has gone on about 6 field trips this year. He went to a pumpkin patch, the train store which they walked to since it was next to his school, the park, an elementary school, Publix grocery store across the street, and a fire station. Payton, Brenton, and Kennedy only got to go on one field trip and they were one right after the other. On April 29, Brenton went to the GA Aquarium. The next day Kennedy went to the GA Aquarium and the day after that May 1st Payton went to Fernbank Natural History Museum (ya know the ones with the dinosaurs and lots of other stuffed dead animals). Payton was kind of sad that she didn't get to go the the aquarium because she has never gone before and is now the only one in our family that hasn't been. A few years back we had annual passes to Fernbank. I wish they were a little more spread out because I had to hand over $57.25 for all three of their field trips to cover cost of the bus, the ticket for the museum, and extra $$ for those who couldn't afford or didn't pay. Because on the field trip form it says that the payment is optional but if they don't get enough people to pay it would be cancelled. I felt better handing over that kind of $$ knowing they were going to cool places. But the best part of all those field trips is that I got to go with Brenton and half of the 6th graders to chaperon. I guess the 6th graders are divided into 2 teams. One team went to the aquarium and the other team went to Fernbank. I'm glad Brenton's team was the one that went to the aquarium because Brenton has never been before. I could have gone to the aquarium the next day too with Kennedy's class but I had a meeting with Connor's new school that he is going to next year (he will be in 6th grade Middle School next year).

We left at 8:45 am from the middle school on school buses. Besides riding in a small circle in the elementary school parking lot on Kindergarten preview with each of my kids I don't remember the last time I was on a bus for more than 2 minutes. Each chaperon had either 5 boys or 5 girls in their group. I had 5 boys in my group of course Brenton being one of them. Here they all are next to Deepo (Neemo wanna be). Not sure who the girl is but didn't feel like cropping her out.

The aquarium is divided into 5 areas. Each of the kids were given a clip board and a sheet to answer questions on one of the 5 areas. We saw everything from Whale sharks, to sharks, to beluga's, otters, crabs, sting rays, turtles, fish of course, jelly fish basically if it swims we probably saw it. They don't have the seals anymore they are replacing them with a huge dolphin aquarium that they are building right now and we couldn't see the penguins because they are next to the future dolphin exhibit so it was blocked off. We even got to touch a few thing. We touched little sharks (rubbery), sting rays (smooth), starfish, and sea anemones

I had a real great time. I was a little nervous about having a group full of boys. Those boys were very well behaved and they all stuck together and listened and waited patiently while others had to look for answers and fill out their sheet. I had a great time. Oh and I forgot to mention chaperons were FREE so I didn't have to fork over even more $$ than I already had for the 3 field trips.

Lovin no homework!!

A week after Spring break the kids had testing. One of my 2 favorite school weeks of the year. The kids are in school so I get a break from them and no homework Yippee for me not so much for them. When they got back from school they had a week to prepare for testing. They did a bunch of practice tests at school. Kennedy had no homework that week and Payton had just a little bit of math review, but no spelling and Brenton had very little. They started testing the following Wed so again no homework for any of the kids that week. They did testing Wed, Thurs and make up for those who missed either of those days on Friday and the following week Monday and then just Brenton and Payton had testing on Tues and Wed grades K-2 only have 3 days worth of testing. So basically out of the whole month of April the kids only had 1 1/2 weeks of homework and then in May Payton and Kennedy will have 2 weeks of homework and then it is the last week of school and since they hand in all their books the Friday before the last week of school no homework that week except for Brenton who is in middle school. His last day for homework will be Tuesday because on Wednesday they will clean out their lockers and they aren't allowed to bring their backpacks on Thurs or Friday. So basically after Spring break everything goes down hill from there as far as homework goes so that is why my favorite time while the kids are in school are CRCT testing and the last week of school because I can get a break from homework (the kids get a break too) and they can just go outside and play their little hearts out because it stays lighter longer and we live in the south so it is warm in April and May.

Summer time = Crazy time

I am still 3 weeks behind on my posting but wanted to post this in real time not one month later time like I'm used to.
Today was the last day of school for my kids. I have mixed feelings about this. I am happy that I don't have to get up at 6:25 am to get kids ready for school even though I really know I will be getting up just a few minutes later due to kids who are used to getting up at that time and the dang sun coming up at 6:30 am now. Now that I think about it I am trying very hard to think of more good things about school being out and the only one I can think of besides sleeping in maybe 30 minutes longer on a good day is not having to worry about homework, but while I don't have to make sure they do their homework, I am having Payton, Kennedy, and Talmage do Summer Bridges and read and Brenton will work on Scouts, Duty to God, and reading so I will be nagging just as much and making sure they get those done so really not much of a break.
Everything takes soooooo much longer to do when all the kids are home. I do have the kids do some chores in the summer other than the few regular ones they do all year round. They vacuum their rooms, clean their bathrooms, and new this year I think I will have them take turns doing the dishes. That way they can learn how to take care of a house and maybe things wont take sooooo much longer when they are helping out. I bet at first it will be longer until the kids get the hang of how I expect the things to be cleaned.
We don't have any plans as of right now for the summer a few ideas but no set plans. The only thing on the schedule is Brenton's Scout camp.
Here's to a great summer!!!

Snow Day!!

No, not really a snow day but it sure felt like one. On Sunday, April 19, the kids and I were headed to church and we noticed one of the street lights near the church was out. Jon was already at church for meetings. He met us out in the parking lot and told us the power was out and the utility people estimated it would be back on around 11:00 am so church was cancelled. So off we went headed for home Jon was going to stick around for a while. There was a baby blessing that was going to take place. On the way home, I noticed that same light that had been out was now working so I didn't think anything of it just thought that they are starting to get power up and running on part of that street. About 1 1/2 hours later Jon came home. He said that right after I left the parking lot the power turned back on. They ended up just having Sacrament meeting, because all of the people who were early to church left after finding out the power was off so there were missing teachers. I just wish I would have know about the power being out before getting all the kids dressed and in the car and to the church. Oh well. I bet some of the people who were right on time or late had wished they were early so they could get a "snow day" like some of the rest of us. It's not that I don't like church it is just fun once in a while to have a "snow day". So we went home and got changed into our regular after church clothes (PJs or comfy shorts/sweats).

Happy Easter

Saturday evening Jon and I gave the kids their Easter baskets. We usually do some sort of hunt for them whether it's looking for their certain color of eggs or a treasure hunt in search of some sort of present. Not this year. We were (mainly I was but it didn't take much to talk Jon out of it) to tired and hadn't been home all day from being at Cheri's house to do any of that this year. I only had a little left over candy that didn't fit into the 60 eggs I had to fill for the egg hunt but I did have some presents for each of them. Since they already got lots of candy and they aren't real big candy eaters we bagged the candy and gave them their presents. We usually do our family egg hunt the week before so the kids are ready for more candy a week later. I didn't want more toys so I decided to give them books.

Brenton got a new set of scriptures with a case since he lost his over a year ago (Now I know why his first set of scriptures after he was baptized were the cheapest you could get). These ones were expensive and we even had his name engraved on them. My hope is they will last at least through seminary and maybe even his mission if we are lucky.

Payton got a new dress for church (well new to her I bought it at a consignment sale). I know it is sleeveless. I also bought her a cute short sweater to go over it also thanks to a consignment sale. She also got stickers to put in her scriptures. She was looking at some of my old scriptures that Brenton had been taking to church and loved the stickers I had in there. She also got a Sleeping Beauty crayola wonder book with markers that can only show up Crayola Wonder paper. I love those books. They are great for church, but they are costly. I picked a bunch up at Toys R Us when they had them buy one get one free.

Kennedy also got a new to her dress that has been in the garage for two years since Payton out grew it. She loved it and didn't care that Payton used to wear it. She also got some books that are at her grade level that she can read all by herself (Hurray!!) and a Tinker Bell Color Wonder book.

Talmage got an Alien Color Wonder book and some Little Critter books as well as a book about Snakes and a dog named Sam.

Hayden got a puzzle book, a search and find Thomas book, and a Diego Color Wonder book.

Connor could really care less about the whole thing. I know I got him something but don't remember really what it was and I don't have a picture of him because like I said before he could care less. I'm sure it was something he could feel and hold onto.

Then on Easter Sunday we went to church. I only had 3 kids in my class (there is usually 6 or 7). Went home for a few hours and went to my parents house for Easter dinner. We had the usual, ham, potato casserole, rolls, and pineapple. We also had sweet potato pudding and broccoli salad which we usually don't have but they sounded yummy so why not. I made the broccoli salad and potato casserole. For dessert we had chocolate peanut butter cake, and a sunflower cake made with peeps. We also celebrated Eliza's 3rd birthday since it was in less than 2 weeks and the family was all together.

On Monday, the day after Easter, I went to Target and Walgreens and bought a few Easter things for 1/2 off. I love going to Target after a holiday for the 1/2 off things. I usually buy the small toys that are stocking stuffers, to put in Easter baskets, Halloween treats etc to fill up our treasure box. We use this treasure box for a variety of different things. Some times they want to pick out of it for their report cards, if they get the best listener award 5 times, or if we have lost something and can't find it after looking for days we will let the person who finds the item pick out of the treasure box. I also bought candy. Not lots some for that nights family home evening since they kind of got ripped off from the Easter bunny and the rest for storage. If I have to eat from my food storage, candy will be a nice bonus and what a better bonus when getting it 1/2 off.

Spring Break 2009

Spring Break for us started on Friday, April 3, after school got out. The kids went to the Primary movie night which I already wrote about. Followed by 2 day of watching this

Jon and I watched all 4 sessions of conference from the comfort of our home. I really enjoyed listening to the prophet, apostles, and other general authorities. My favorite talk and the one that I remember best has to be the Saturday morning session the very first talk given. It was by Elder Robert D. Hales, Becoming Provident Providers Temporally and Spiritually. Jon took Brenton to his first General Priesthood Session of conference at the Stake Center. Now over a month later I am reading them in the Ensign and remembering the talks all over again as well as reading what the men heard in the Priesthood Session. I always start with the Priesthood Session first because that is things I haven't heard yet except for what Jon has told me after the Session which isn't much after all he is a guy and not one for details.

Monday and Tuesday of Spring Break was cold. We have had really great weather this year. A very mild winter and it seemed to me that spring came a little earlier than normal. So we had to stay indoors which kind of stunk because we had been indoors Saturday and Sunday due to watching Conference. Payton and Kennedy did have a sleep over on Monday night at Maddie's house (Jon home teaches their family and the girls like to go with Jon). I did have a brilliant idea of taking all the kids except Connor and Hayden to the cheap theatre on Tuesday because it was cold outside and Tuesday is half price day so the tickets were $0.75 each. We were going to see Bedtime Stories since we have already seen Bolt and didn't really want to see Pink Panther. I guess everyone else had the same idea because that place was packed. When we were 5th in line, they posted a sign that Bedtime Stories was sold out. So my brilliant idea was no longer brilliant with kids sad and whining. Luckily, that movie just came out that day on DVD so we headed to the store and rented it and made up some popcorn and watched it at home.

Wednesday morning was chilly but warmed up nice and fast as the day went on. We decided to take the kids to the zoo. I think everyone else had the same idea because that place was packed with people. Luckily we had our year pass so we didn't feel to bad about skipping the panda bears. They actually had a line to see the panda bears. They had ropes and all to form a nice straight line. I think the big hype was the baby panda bear was finally out to be viewed. I guess baby panda will just have to wait until next time for us. Here are some of my favorite pictures of this zoo trip. Brenton took most of these.

Hayden licking the ice cream out of the cup

On the way home from the zoo we picked up cousin Gabbie for a stay late play date.

On Thursday, I planted our veggie garden. This year I tried a few more things than previous years. I planted lots of bush beans, 2 jalapeno pepper plants, 2 green pepper plants, 2 zucchini plants, a yellow squash, and a cucumber plant. I planted the yellow squash and cucumber plants in an upside down hanging planter which is something I have never done before and so far they are growing great. A few weeks later I planted 3 different kinds of tomatoes (they were mail order tomatoes and I hadn't received them yet). I am happy to report that over a month later they are all still alive and growing like crazy. I already have 3 small zucchinis and the other plants are starting to flower. That night Jon and Brenton went to the temple for our ward youth temple baptism trip. This is Brenton's first time doing baptisms for the dead and probably his last time for 15-18 months since the temple is going to be closing in July so they can change the endowment rooms so they will run like the new temples are. All the other temples around us are small temples that can only accommodate 10 youth at a time for baptisms. We have tons of young men and young women in our ward. I would say about 60 kids or more. The closest big temples are Orlando and then Washington D.C. Jon stayed to help out since you need lots of priesthood holders for baptisms and confirmations. Jon baptized some of youth including Brenton. Brenton also got to be baptized for some of my relatives on my dad's side. But best of all, he was baptized in behalf of my Grandpa Bugee who passed away a year ago December. I was so glad he got to do that for my Grandpa before the temple closed. Hopefully my dad can get all his work done before July. Hayden also turfed it outside while running down our driveway. His face broke his fall. He didn't have a scrap on his hands or knees. Poor guy. It looked worse than it felt. This picture was taken a few days later Ouch!! Hayden's crash and burn marks

Good Friday Jon and I went to the temple and did some sealings. The passed 3 years our stake has done a Good Friday temple day and they encourage everyone with a current temple recommend to attend the temple sometime that day and they really want you to do some work for your own ancestors. Jon and I went early to the temple and the place was filled with people. They even had to open up more sealing rooms because they were to many people wanting to do sealings. After the temple, I took Payton and Kennedy over to my sister Cheri's house so the girls could have a sleep over with her girls.

Saturday morning, the whole family headed over to Cheri's house to celebrate Megan's birthday which was the week before. My parents and Morgan and Taylor weren't there they were in Southern California having a great old time in San Diego, and L.A. area including Disneyland and California Adventures. We started off by going to their Community Easter Egg hunt. Each of the kids got a sack lunch to eat later. It consisted of chips, fruit snacks, and a crustable pb and j sandwich. Then the kids took turns holding and petting one of 2 big rabbits that were there. I think Kennedy was the only one who didn't want to hold one.

Payton, Talmage, Brenton, and Hayden each holding a rabbit

After the puppet show put on by the community youth church group, it was time for the egg hunt. They had 3 areas. 2 and under, 3-5, and over 5. I was with Hayden and Talmage while Jon went with the older kids. They all found lots of eggs. Too bad most of the candy was the cheapy crap. We knew that going into it but the kids had fun anyway.

Talmage ready to start

Hayden ready for the hunt

After that we walked over to their community fire station (Cheri's hubby volunteers there) and let the kids go in the fire truck and sound the siren. Which of course they thought was awesome.

Then we headed over to Cheri's house to eat lunch, have Megan open a couple relative birthday presents, and eat cake and ice cream. After the kids played for a while, we went to a place and did a family egg hunt. This time with the good candy. Each family was responsible for filling 10 eggs per kid (wow 60) and they each got to hunt for 10 eggs. This is the best group shot of all the cousins I could get. Not too bad for 13 kids 12 and under and 3 people trying to take pictures when all they want to do is hunt for their eggs.

Talmage, Connor, and Kennedy in the fire truck

So that was our Spring Break. It was no Disney, but we had fun even though we weren't busy every second of the day.