Hello again

This summer has been an interesting one.  It is SO hot in Florida that there isn't a lot to do outside, so we've been forced to be creative.  Some activities that we came up with were....

*Made slime

*Made edible playdough

*Swam....lots of it

*Played dress up with our dog, Cooper

*Played Pokemon

*Earned money for chores

*Made homemade ice cream (for a Pioneer day FHE)

*Took a trip to Cincinnati to visit family

*Husband went on a fishing trip to Alaska with the brother-in-laws and my Dad

*Spencer and I both broke a toe

*Jake got his tooth knocked out

*And lots of imaginitive play

We've tried to stay pretty busy, but the kids still feel "cooped up" in our little house and ask everyday "what do we do now?"

We still have a couple more weeks until school starts.  What kind of things have you done this summer?

Spencer's Baptism, 10/9/10

Spencer's Baptism was wonderful. It was just what I thought it would be like. My wonderful family drove all the way from Cincinnati, except for my sister Alissa and her family, whom we missed SO much! It always feels so incomplete without everyone there.

We had a BLAST!! Here are some of the things we did together......

All the boys ready to swim in Nana and Popi's hotel pool!!

Having a picnic at the park...

Played with one of my cutie patootie pie nephews. Oh, I just couldn't get enough of his blue eyes and yummy cheeks!

Lauryn couldn't get enough of "Baby Evan" either!

Attempting a pyramid....

Cousins enjoying time together....

Dan with the Bishop and 1st Counselor at the baptism

Me and my beautiful Mom....

Spencer and his cousin, James.

My sister Heather and her baby Evan

Family photo

Spencer with Daddy

Here's my sweet boy straight out of the waters of baptism, pure and clean......

I love this...nothing makes me more happy!

At the reception afterwards.  Sorry, Dan, I just couldn't resist :-)


It warms my heart so much that he decided on his own to be baptized.  That is what I want for all my children.  That they have their own desire within them to do what is right, follow the commandments, and keep a close relationship with our Heavenly Father.  We have the gift of free agency and as my children get older, it's becoming a reality to me that they have to start making decisions on their own and be accountable for them.  I just hope and pray they are good ones!

Critters

So, we got a puppy for Christmas and it's been hard. REALLY hard! I can't wait until he's older, housebroken, and calmer. It just stresses me out to have ANOTHER thing to worry about. We also thought the kids would step up more than they have been. A lot of times when I ask them (my 8 and 5 yr. old) to take the dog out to do a job, they whine and cry and have a major attitude about it! I thought dogs were suppose to be a good thing for children. A best friend. A playmate. Well, I guess we haven't gotten to that point yet.

Also, dogs bring in pests. FLEAS! OMGosh!! If any of you know me, you know that my worst fears are spiders and cockroaches. Well, fleas aren't my favorite either!!!! I felt bad for the poor puppy 'cause he was, and still is, scratching like crazy. We got some flea medication, Advantage, in the tube. The kind that you squirt on the skin in between the shoulder blades. Well, he was just fine the first day. The next morning his fur had a pretty bad chemical stink and he started to act really strange. He slept for almost 6 hrs. in the morning and then when he got up he couldn't walk straight. It was like he couldn't get his balance or he was dizzy and his head would wobble back and forth. He would run around crazy and then he would have no energy, no appetite, and just wanted to lay down. I started to freak out a little since this is our first dog and I was afraid of killing it! Dan called the Vet and got NO help AT ALL! They had NO idea what was wrong with him. They just said to watch him and if he didn't get any better by 8am the next morning, to bring him in. So, that night we did A LOT of research online and finally came to the conclusion that our dog had overdosed on the flea meds and we immediately gave him a bath. We gave him the exact amount of meds the vet had prescribed for us, for how much he weighed, but I guess it was still too much for the little guy. We were sure glad we figured that one out and know how to avoid that one next time. He was back to normal by the next morning. Whew! And we think we have it under control and have an appointment made with our "bug lady" next week to come and spray the yard and house for bugs and fleas.

THEN a couple days after all that, I found a swarm of dead bugs on my windowsill!!! AAAAHHH!! I'm freaking out! We are being invaded! Dan said they could be termites or flies. Well, I was sure praying they were flies! We sent a picture to our "bug lady" and researched these babies online again......what did we do before the internet? holy cow! Anyway to our dismay, we found out that we have TERMITES!! OH. MY. GOODNESS! I am still freaking out! So we had a termite person come out and take a look, and it only took her all of 2 seconds to shine her flashlight up the wall above our front window to give us the diagnosis. There were 3 TINY little holes that I never even noticed before that they were coming out of. Turns out they've eaten all the way up our front wall to the ceiling and we have NO idea what the damage looks like on the inside. (*sigh* and thinking of $$). So the wall is "active" and needs to be treated. This just makes makes me sick to my stomach! You can probably figure out the rest of the story.........we now have a "termite lady" coming to our house on Friday to solve this problem too!

Oh how I hate bugs! I bet the Garden of Eden was AMAZING!!

Thoughts...

This post might be all over the place, but....

I've been thinking a lot lately. About anything and everything. Deep and not so deep. What is our REAL purpose/mission in this life. Am I doing the right thing? What is next on my "to do" list, did I play with my children enough today, did I take the dog out, do we have enough money, why won't my children obey, did I appreciate my husband enough today, did I remember to email so and so, etc, etc.....I could go ON AND ON. But I've found that I do my best thinking when it's late at night and the house is perfectly quiet. The kids are asleep and my husband is out of town. I haven't had any major revelations, but I've felt the Spirit. I know He is aware of me and my worries and stresses. I make mistakes everyday, but tomorrow is another day and I can try to do better next time. I'm getting "older" and I forget a lot more, my knee pops, and my wrists have a constant dull pain, but it just reminds me that this life is but a short moment. We need to look at the BIG picture.

I've been reading the New Testament to my kids at the bus stop every morning and it's been such a great blessing, but also a struggle. My 8 yr. old dreads every minute of it and makes sure that I know he doesn't like it, but my 5 yr. old and 2 yr. old have come up with some pretty amazing questions. We were reading in Matthew about the event of Christ's crucifixion and when Jesus died, He cried out to the Father and said, "It is finished." My 5 yr. old said, "but isn't Heavenly Father, Jesus?" You have to understand that he is going to preschool at a private Baptist school where they teach the children that the Godhead is one being. So we got into quite the discussion about how we believe there are 3 separate beings and we know that is true, but we can still respect his teacher for believing what she believes without judgement because we are all children of God.

I love moments like that. It makes me really sad that I don't have very many with my 8 yr. old and I wonder why that is, but I'll never give up trying. I can just see what our lives are gonna be like when he is a teenager.......ugh....but I'm so grateful to my Heavenly Father who has entrusted these little spirits in my care. I want to teach them, protect them, and love them and I just hope I am doing it the way the Lord wants me to.

Halloween Fun!!

We had a REALLY FUN Halloween!!! It started with......

a Halloween train ride......

Carving Pumpkins.......

went to the Trunk or Treat......

as Timberwolf.......

Ariel......

and Lightning Lad......

It was all worth the hard work to see the biggest smiles on their faces.......

Jacob turned 5!

I don't like that my kids are growing up. It seems like just yesterday that I held one of my babies in my arms. I can't believe how fast time goes by. I remember when Jacob was born. When the doctor put him on my belly, I couldn't BELIEVE how heavy he was! He weighed in at a whopping 10 lbs. 9 oz.! He was such a cute, soft and squishy thing. He still has those yummy, squishy cheeks that I love to kiss and I hope they never go away. He is very sensitive and still loves to cuddle, which of course I love. I'm so grateful for such a wonderful little boy who brings so much joy to our family everyday.

He was such a serious baby. It took A LOT to get him to smile........and now he can't stop!

Jake and Lauryn decided to "help" me with the cake. Oh boy, was that a huge mess to clean up!!

But, they had A LOT of fun!

Dan "pimped" out Spencer's old bike that he grew out of, and Jacob was very excited about it!

He loves Ben 10!

I think it turned out pretty cute........Jake thought it was really cool!

Happy Birthday to my sweet Jacob!!!