Lovin' the stars and stripes

On Veteran's day, we were treated to the most awesome program, by all the first graders (of which Rylynn is one). I was very impressed, and almost moved to tears at how hard they worked to honor and show appreciation to the men and women who serve our country. Rylynn was singing these songs around the house for weeks because she wanted to have them perfect for her program. They had a slideshow of all the veteran's that were relatives of the first grade kids. It was very sweet and I was proud of both these beautiful children singing (especially mine) and our amazing country and servicemen and women.

Kellyn!

Oh my goodness, I love this girl! Our baby girl turned 4 on Friday, and if she could read this, she would very adamantly point out that she is NOT a baby, but a big girl. And, since she is 4 now, her hair is almost blond (her words). When she was born, we prayed so much that she would live, but we told ourselves that if Heavenly Father needed her back, then that was how it was supposed to be. I am so grateful he let us keep her! She lights up our home with her personality and I don't know what we would do without her. Here are some fun things about Kellyn:
1. She can't say her V's. So, I am told at least 20 times a day "Mom, I lub you".
2. She is the only "mommmy's" girl. The other 3 "lub" Joseph, but I got Kellyn!
3. She had so much red hair when she was born, but she is right, it is all blond now
4. She can name every latter-day prophet.
5. She screams when she laughs! She also screams when she cries!
6. We love her "a million billion" as she would say!

Happy birthday my sweet girl! I love you!

What the funk!?!?!?!

I have been in kind of a funk lately - physically, emotionally, spiritually. Life is hard. I sometimes get tired of reading other people's blogs, which often seem like they are advertising how great their lives are..."Look at my wonderful kids, look at my perfect husband, look at my immaculate house, check out my perfect life"!!! My life is so far from perfect, it is laughable. I guess it is on my mind because in the past week, I have been in situations where my parenting, family, marriage, etc have been somewhat under scrutiny. Nothing big, but things like parent teacher conferences or visiting teaching. In these situations, I invariably hear comments like "You must be doing such a wonderful job with your kids" or "you are so organized and have it so together - how do you do it all"? I am not congratulating myself. When people say these things to me, I feel like a big, fat fraud. Not a day goes by that I don't wonder in what way I am permanently damaging my childrens' psyche; and organization and having it together are not concepts I am at all familiar with. I desperately wish these people's perceptions were true, but the fact is - they aren't. So when they say these things, which are meant to be compliments, I just feel even more lousy. My life is loud and messy, and I have managed to (unintentionally) trick quite a few people into thinking otherwise. Please don't misunderstand. I love my children more than anything, and I couldn't wish for a husband that I love more than Joseph. But life if still hard. I usually feel I am just barely scraping by, making it through each day. So, just for once, it would be nice to hear that it is not just me. That maybe everyone else's life isn't as idyllic as it is made out to be on their blogs and Christmas cards. For someone to just say, yeah, life is hard. I am reminded of that saying "I didn't say it would be easy, I only said it would be worth it". I know it will be worth it, but I wish I didn't have to expend so much enery trying to make it look like it is easy. Ok, enough of this emo crap. I need some ice cream.

Why Hello there!

I have been absent from the blogging world for a while. Well, I am still lurking around, reading everyone else's blogs, but not bothering to update my own. Here is what is going on in our world:
Joseph: Working - a lot. Loving football season. Didn't love the BYU last week. His hair is getting long. I love my husband.
Me: I started a job about a month ago working at.....Walmart! I know what you are thinking, and yes, it is that glamorous. I work 4 nights a week from 9pm to 6am. That way I can still be home to put kids to bed, take kids to school, have FHE and do all the mom stuff, while still contributing to the gross national product.
Fabiola: Still working at Subway. Will be enrolling in Job Corps soon and will be able to get her GED and driver's license. She is pretty excited about it, but also a little nervous.
Maryn: Fabiola braided some super long extensions into her hair, and she is looking fabulous! Still as social as ever, she is making slow but steady improvement in school and has been so helpful to me lately. She is such a good girl.
Kaydin: He needs new glasses. I had parent/teacher conferences yesterday and his teacher is very impressed with him. She said he is one of the most intelligent, if not the most intelligent kid in the class. He frequently tutors other kids during recess. Has decided he wants to be a vetrinarian.
Tristan: Is also making progress in school. He is working independantly and is really trying. He is starting to recognize some words and knows all his letter sounds now. For those of you who don't know Tristan, you don't realize what a big deal that is, but it is HUGE! Good job, buddy!
Trevin: An academic wizard. At his PTC yesterday, I was informed that his is testing at 10th grade levels in his reading and vocabulary. He is in 3rd grade! He also feels the need to tell me multiple times a day that I am the best mom in the world. It isn't true, but it is still nice to hear!
Rylynn: She has already gotten to end of year levels for first grade! Her teacher is in love with her and just went on and on about her. I was even blushing! But I can't argue - she is a neat kid! One day soon she will have TWO front teeth - she has been missing one since she was 18 months old.
Kellyn: I love having some one on one time with her. She is so fun and she makes everybody laugh. She tries to mother Ewan all day long while the kids are gone, and she is so funny with him. Fabiola likes to take her to work and out with her friends and show her off! So funny!
Ewan: Still only answers to "Goob". He is running all over the place and is developing more of a vocabulary. He likes to climb on the table and get into the dog food. he can say "mommy" "daddy" "what" and a whole bunch of other stuff that I can't understand. His Aunt Amanda gave him his first haircut, so he no longer has a baby mullet.
So that is the short version of what is going on in this part of the world. We aren't sure we're ready for cold weather, but the kids are jacked about Halloween. We are going to Lagoon for Frightmares during the day and will come home in time to Trick-or-Treat that night. Woohoo! I have put a bunch of new posts down below -with pictures! so scroll down for a look!

Why I love Kaydin

Kaydin has a blanket. He may be upset with me for posting this, but it is pertinent to the story, so I must. His blanket is actually MY baby blanket, passed down to him, and it is pink. Today as I was doing some laundry and I discovered some items of clothing that had been inadvertently bleached, Kaydin asked why I bothered with bleach at all. I told him that bleach kills germs and bacteria, but it will also, in some cases, remove dye. But some things will hold dye, even with bleach - like your pink blanket, I said.

"but my blanket is really faded" says Kaydin
"Yes" says me "but I think that has less to do with me using bleach on it and more to do with the fact that is is almost 30 years old"
"30 years old"! exclaims my son.
"Yeah, well how old am I"? I ask him

Without missing a beat, or even pausing to think, my darling oldest son says "22". I love this kid.

Squishies

I have been a little sick and have been taking some cold medicing and massive doses of antibiotics. As I was napping today, Trevin came into my room and asked if it was ok if he did some "squishies". I believe I must have mumbled something like "do whatever you want just let me sleep", and then willed myself to lapse into a coma.
Hours later, I was up and feeling moderately better, going about my mom business of feeding kids and having them shower. I sent Maryn up to shower and she came back down with red stuff all over her pants. I asked (slightly alarmed) if she was bleeding, and she said she didn't know. She sat down on the toilet and something squirted her. Trevin was in the kitchen, and I noticed he was having a really hard time keeping a straight face. Turns out, a "squishy" is when you put ketchup packets under the seat of the toilet, so that when someone sits down, they explode on the unsuspecting victim. I had apparently ok'd this in my drug-induced stupor. I tried mightily to be a stern disciplinarian. Believe me, I really did. But I just couldn't do it, and I died lauging. Kaydin was laughing, Trevin was laughing, I was laughing, even Maryn was laughing. I did have Trevin clean up the bathroom and take the ketchup packets off Fabiola's toilet before she sat on it. What a bunch of pranksters I am raising.

Mermaid man and barnacle boy!

We went to the Living Planet Aquarium over UEA weekend. It wasn't very big, but it was big enough. The great (or not so great, depending on your perspective) thing about having a gigantic family, is that a membership for places like this are about the same price as a one-day admission, so we are now members at the aquarium and can go whenever we want.

Me and Ewan. Petting a stingray!


That is a shark. Kaydin knows the name of every shark there is.







I don't know what kind of fish those are, but the kid is Rylynn
All the kids (minus Fabiola, who was working that day) at the aquarium