What is in a name?

When Don and I were first trying to figure out what to name the kids we had a rough time. We both wanted our kids to have names that had a meaning. We didn't want to just pick a name "just because". By the time number one came along we pretty much had a good list of boy names. We both wanted biblical names but some of the names in the bible are well..........umm........ya know. Caleb was the name we chose for our first son. Caleb was a great bible name and had a strong meaning. It means faithful and loyal.

When we found out we were having another boy we got out our list again. Don and I just couldn't quite agree on these names even though we really liked all of them. For fun we decided to put all the names in a hat. After the baby was born we would pick a name and that is what he would be called. I can remember so vividly sitting in the bed and choosing the name Isaac. I looked at Don and I said, "OH PLEASE BABE CAN WE NAME HIM ZACHARY? Well for those who know us you know the rest of the story. The name Zachary means remembered by God.

I was super excited our next was going to be a girl. I could hardly wait. But the girl names in the bible are really not my favorite. So this was REALLY hard. Don loved pretty much all of the bible girl names but to me they sounded so old fashioned. Don really wanted the name Rachel. I didn't really like it at first and he really had to convince me. But I am glad we picked that for Rachel because it really fits her. The name Rachel means innocence or lovely (it is actually the Hebrew word for Ewe.

We were again excited but surprised that we were pregnant again so fast. We had alot of trouble getting pregnant in the first place and actually had two miscarriages. I used fertility pills with our first three and so we thought we couldn't get pregnant without them. Well surprise. We were very excited and when we found out we were having another boy we knew it wouldn't be too hard. I tried to find a bible name that wasn't too popular but wasn't too odd either. I really liked the name Ethan. But we wanted to stick to bible names. But then one day I was searching in the index in the bible and I found the name Ethan. COOL. Don loved it too. My brothers wife had been married before and had an Ethan but he died a few days after birth so I didn't want to stir up any sad feelings. So it took me a long time to get up the nerve to ask her permission to use that name. She was very willing and excited for us to do that. The name Ethan means firmness and steadfast.

So by now we knew we didn't need fertility pills any more but well you all know we quickly had another baby after Ethan. And I was praying it would be a girl. It was amazing to find out that it was definately a girl. But that would mean another hard time with picking a name. And there were not any other girl names in the bible that I liked. It took us a LONG time to figure out what to do. I searched online and read alot of baby books when I was pregnant with number 5. Then one day I found it. I found the perfect name. I was a little concerned to ask Don about it because I figured he wouldn't like it. But he loved it. The only problem was that it wasn't a bible name. But it has sort of a religious meaning. In the bible most (if not all) the names end in AH. Putting the AH at the end of a name (I think( means of God or something like that. So NO the actual name is not in the bible but we made sure to add an AH to the name Maya-------making her Mayah. The name Mayah means close to God.

SO for FHE tonight we made our names and their meanings into a craft. The kids LOVED it and did a wonderful job. In fact they did better than me. That figures though. I am NOT a crafty person. But if was a lot of fun. I love that my kids can know that there was a meaning behind their name.

Trash to Treasure

The kids were very excited to learn about recycling in school. SO for FHE we worked on their projects. We saved quite a bit of recycled items to be used. Zach made a cool helicopter and I put it in a sack for him so he could take it to school. Well Thursday morning is trash day so I gathered up the trash in the house and had the kids take it out. UMMMMMMM well at first I thought I had thrown it away. But come to find out I put it in Caleb's backpack and he left it at school (broken). I honestly cannot even remember putting it in there. I'm losing it. They say you lose a certain amount of brain cells per child. Do you think I even have any left now? SO we actually had to "borrow" some trash from Andrea. How many times have you called someone up to borrow their trash? Poor Zach. We ended up doing something very simple but he was OK with it and can't wait to actually hang it up in the tree for the birds to use. He made a cute bird feeder. Thanks for the ideas Sue. Caleb knew what he wanted to do and we gathered all the things on Monday and then finished it all up tonight. He actually did an awesome job and it took quite a bit of time painting and glueing and cutting. But here are their final projects.

Lifesavers (not the candy)

Oh ANDREA. Thanks so much for taking Rachel and Ethan today to play. What a huge relief. Mayah is sleeping and I was able to get a shower and just rest. And you brought lunch and it was yummy. I wonder how many more times I could get strep throat. This is pretty fun now. :) But really it was exactly what I needed. You are the best. Thanks.

POSITIVE

So that was the result of my strep test today. BUMMER. I just had strep not long ago. I guess I have to be grateful that the kids have gone so long without getting sick. It is such a huge blessing. But today I found something very helpful and funny. I am definately making this recipe when needed.

BROWNIE RECIPE

A father of some teenage children had the family rule that they could not attend PG-13, R or X rated movies. His three teens wanted to see a particular popular movie that was playing at local theaters. It was rated PG-13.
The teens interviewed friends and even some members of their family's church to find out what was offensive in the movie. The teens made a list of pros and cons about the movie to use to convince their dad that they should be allowed to see it.

The cons were:
*It contained ONLY 3 swear words!
*The ONLY violence was a building exploding (and you see that on TV all the time they said),
*You actually did not 'see' the couple in the movie having sex, it was just implied sex, off camera.

The pros were:
*It was a popular movie, (a blockbuster).
*Everyone was seeing it.
*If the teens saw the movie then they would not feel left out when their friends discussed it.
*The movie contained a good story and plot.
*It had some great adventure and suspense in it.
*There were some fantastic special effects in this movie.

*The movie's stars were some of the most talented actors in Hollywood.
*It probably would be nominated for several awards.
*Many members of their Christian church, including the pastor, had even seen the movie and said it wasn't really 'that bad'.

Therefore, since there were more pros than cons the teens asked their father to reconsider his position on just this ONE movie and let them have permission to go see it.
The father looked at the list and thought for a few minutes. He said he could tell his children had spent some time and thought on this request.

He asked if he could have a day to think about it before making his decision.
The teens were thrilled, thinking, 'Now we've got him! Our argument is too good! Dad can't turn us down!' So, they happily agreed to let him have a day to think about their request.

The next evening the Father called his three teenagers, who were smiling smugly, into the living room. There on the coffee table he had a plate of brownies. The teens were puzzled. The father told his children he had thought about their request and had decided that if they would eat the brownies, then he would let them go to the movie. But, he explained, just like the movie, the brownies had pros and cons.

The pros were :
*They were made with the finest chocolate and other good ingredients.
*They had the added special effect of yummy walnuts in them.
*The brownies were moist and fresh with wonderful chocolate frosting on top.
*He had made these fantastic brownies using an award-winning recipe.
*And best of all, the brownies had been made lovingly by the hand of their own father.

The brownies only had one con :
*He had included a little bit of a special ingredient: The brownies contained just a small amount of dog poop. But he had mixed the dough well and they probably would not even be able to taste the dog poop and he had baked it at 350 degrees so hopefully any bacteria or germs from the dog poop had probably been destroyed.

Therefore, if any of his children could stand to eat the brownies which included just a 'little bit of crap' and not be affected by it, then he knew they would also be able to see the movie with 'just a little bit of smut' and not be affected. Of course, none of the teens would eat the brownies and the smug smiles had left their faces.

Now when his teenagers ask permission to do something he KNOWS THEY SHOULDN'T BE DOING the father just asks, 'Would you like me to whip up a batch of my special brownies?'

Sad but true

So today I found out Don has to stay about 2-3 weeks longer. OOHHHHH are you kidding. WE had it down week to week how long until he came back. Now that messes us all up. Every week Caleb writes down on our white board how long he has been gone and how long till he comes back. The most recent writing is 3 weeks down-------5 to go. But NOW it will be 3 weeks down 7/8 to go.

But there is something VERY cool that we were able to download for free. It is called Skype. We can see each other and talk to each other over the computer. The kids ABSOLUTELY love it. Now they want to do it all the time. Pretty crazy when you have five kids all around the computer trying to talk to dad at the same time. But it is so cool that he can see each of the kids and hear what they have to say to him. He showed them the room he is in and it is SMALL. But the kids loved the fact that Don has each of their pictures in a frame on top of his t.v. He made sure to show Rachel the seashell necklace he was wearing. She loved that. She doesn't remember very often to wear the other part of that necklace. I know that the kids really miss him and Rachel's typical thing at night is to say, "remember MOM. I miss daddy". And I reply with YES Rachel so do I.

I am very blessed to be married to a wonderful man. I am so grateful for you DON and the things we have gone through together. There have been many rough times as well and are now dealing with some new challenges in our family but what a blessing it is to have the gospel in our life to help us along this path. I LOVE you Don and I really miss you too. You are my best friend and always will be. Thanks for all your hard work and dedication in doing what you are doing. It has allowed me to stay home and be what I have always wanted to be---------A MOM.

Here is our song. LOVE YA.

FOOD FOR THOUGHT

You have to check out this delicious meal. Doesn't this look so yummy. This is a meal my sis prepared for her kids. So there are chicken nuggest, mashed potatoes, and peas and carrots. To drink a yummy red punch. And in the middle cupcakes for dessert. Looks tastey. The kids got up to the table and soon realized that this wasn't really what they were expecting. The chicken nuggets were candy. The peas and carrots also candy. The mashed potatoes and gravy was really vanilla icecream with carmel topping. The punch was jello and the cupcakes.................meatloaf with mashed potatoes on top (with food coloring). This was their April Fools Day dinner. Way to go sis. Fooled them for a bit. Very cute and creative. I will have to do this next year. Too cute.

SCARY BOUNCE

Not sure what you all call it but I call it bounce. Some may know it as fabric softener. Well this morning I was folding laundry and a bounce fell to the floor and Mayah started whining and kind of moved quickly away from it. It was hilarious. So I picked it up and tried handing it to her and she wouldn't touch it for anything. I got one of her tigers that she was playing with and we pretended it was a blanket for the tiger. I told her to pick it up but then she said, "it care (scare) me. She actually attempted to touch it but as soon as she felt it she pulled her hand back really fast. I love the innocence of kids and just each little thing they view in "their world". I thought it was so funny and had a good laugh over this one. I will have to put it in the baby book.

UVA/Taylor Swift

Ok so my sister sent my niece my blog address and during class she opened it-------not knowing that it had music. What are the rules at UVA for playing a Taylor Swift song full blast in class? Just want to let you know Nadia that my blog plays music. SO the next time you are sitting in class I recommend that you don't look at my blog. That is too funny. Atleast it was a good song.

Family and Friends

There is absolutely nothing better than family. I have lived in Washington state most of my life. I love it there. I know with Don's career that we will probably never end up there(although I am still praying). But what a blessing it is to have a sister out here. She is only 20 miles away and it has been so fun to spend time at her place. Now that Don is gone I pretty much spend my weekends there. I love that she lives on a culdesac. This kids played and played all weekend long. The weather was so nice. I don't think they have ever played so much basketball before. Even the adults played a little. Rachel has two friends across from my sisters house that she just LOVES. They are inseparable. The boys also have a couple friends that they play with but mostly have a TON of fun with their two cousins.

Next weekend we are having a party to celebrate something very important. The kids are excited for Friday night. It is when Ben Ten will be getting new aliens. This is a big deal so I have decided to make a party of it. I love getting together with family and I use any and all excuses to have a party. SO bring it on BEN TEN. We are ready to party.

I am so exhausted from all the late nights. We didn't get to bed until midnight and 1 a.m. last weekend and this weekend and I am sure next weekend will be the same. You have to stop doing this to me SUE. :)

Sara is walking on the stilts that Don made for the kids. She is the stilt champion and puts everyone else to shame. Way to go Sara. Rachel and her friends are all sitting on a skateboard and going down the driveway. LOOKED SO FUN. Too bad I am too big to ride. The kids are playing four square in the middle of the culdesac. They play it so much different from when I was growing up but it looked fun too. What a fun weekend.

Matching or NOT

OK so Friday Zach was so excited to get ready for his mismatched day at school. He came running down asking me if the clothes in his hands would be good. Pretty funny that he brought down some very nice matching clothes yet on most days he doesn't match. It was so funny. Anyway we worked together to come up with something he liked and once he was dressed we got everyone in the car and out the door. Friday is carpool day for the kids. I take them to school and back and they LOVE it. They don't particularly like riding the bus but they look forward to Fridays. SO we pull up to the carpool lane and Zach is looking around and sees NO ONE dressed up. I asked him if he was sure that it was mismatch day and he nods hesitantly. I kissed him goodbye and watched as he walked to the door. I told him to leave all his clothes on because it didn't matter if no one else dressed up. He looked GOOD. But as he got closer to the door I could see that he slipped his tie off. DO YOU KNOW HOW LONG WE TOOK THAT MORNING TO FIGURE OUT SOMETHING TO WEAR? I asked him about it as soon as I picked him up because he wasn't wearing his suit jacket or his mismatched shoes. He told me that he took everything off as soon as he noticed no one else dressed up. KIDS. But it WAS mismatch day. OH well. It was fun taking pictures and it was fun to see Zach help Ethan get all dressed up so he could be mismatched too.

just fun and simple things today

My favorite thing today was hearing from Don. He is doing well and went right to work. So no time for him to do much else. He will probably be working from 7 a.m. to about 8 or 9 p.m.

Mayah helped me make banana bread today. I put a chair up to the island for her to stand on and then I pulled out the butter so it would be soft. I had to go out of the kitchen to get the recipe that my sister sent by email. Well when I got back into the kitchen Mayah had put the butter in the bowl. As soon as she saw me she said, "I did it". It was soooooooo cute. I looked in the bowl and only about half of the wrapper was taken off. And she had even put that part in the garbage. I taught her well. So we took the other part of the wrapper off and I let her throw the butter back in the bowl.


I was putting the boys to bed and Zach wanted me to scratch his back. I was laying next to him and he told me that tomorrow was mismatch day at school. I just about laughed out loud. Zach is very funny when it comes to dressing. I let them pick out their own clothes and more often than not he doesn't match his clothes. SO I thought it would be really easy for him to choose his clothes for tomorrow. But he wants to wear two different shoes and he isn't sure yet what else to do. We have to see what he comes up with in the morning. He kept asking me if certain colors match.

So tonight I wanted to make whole wheat pancakes. I remembered Laurel talking about a really yummy recipe she had so I was dying to try it. I called her up and got the recipe and was so excited because instead of using the whole wheat flour you just use the wheat kernals. I have alot of that. So instead of the pancakes we decided to try waffles. Laurel gave me a different variation to make the waffles. SO I mixed up the batter and heated up the waffle iron and once the waffle was done and I lifted the lid I was a little concerned about what I saw. It was pretty much gone. There was no substance to it at all. SO I had to take a fork and scrape it out of there. SO then I thought maybe I should just try the pancakes. Got the pan out and heated it up and put the batter on and they just all seeped together. Oh what a bummer. I let them cook for awhile thinking that maybe they would be ok if I just turned them over. I couldn't even turn them. So I made wheat pancake stirfry. I just mixed it all up and it literally was like a rice texture. I WAS LAUGING. I have NO idea what I did to mess that one up. I knew if I tried to serve that the kids would WHINE. They were so excited to have waffles. But instead they got grilled cheese.

Sharing Grandma's

Today the kids and I drove around Triangle and Dumfries looking at some homes for sale. It is funny what things kids pick up from songs. I was listening to the radio and it had been on the whole time but there was a part in one of the songs that talked about the guys grandma dying. Rachel said, "MOOOOOOOOOOM. His grandma died. We can share our grandma with him". Oh how sweet. So Grandma McHargue and Grandma Burns you up to sharing?

Rachel has already cried for her daddy. But that was only because she got into some trouble. And that is very typical of her. Any time she gets into trouble she wants her daddy.

I am part of a message board of some very great people. One of the girls sent me a care package a couple of months ago and in it was a book of quotes. There is a quote for each day. I love it. I flip it over every day to see what the quote is and hoping that it will boost me for the day. Here is the quote for April 3rd. (I know a day early but I couldn't resist turning it tonight). It reads:

"The most significant indication of your progress on this journey of life is not necessarily where you are on the path at the moment, but rather the direction in which you are moving."

Sheri Dew

I like Sheri Dew. I am currently reading on of her books that I borrowed from a friend. It is called God Wants a Powerful People. I love this part of the book.

"But He understood completely that we would have ups and downs. We try to change, start over, make progress in one area and sometimes slip back in others. Some days we live beneath ourselves and need to back up and even turn around, while on other days we zoom forward with confidence and determination, the Spirit as our guide. Some days our faith is strong; other days it can be a litle wobbly. We handle some challenges well, while letting others stall our progress or even get the best of us. But through it all, if we "press forward with a steadfastness in Christ," feasting upon His word and enduring to the end, we will have eternal life (2 Nephi 31:20) Thus, the very nature of the progression suggests we are slowly but steadily moving upward and onword, learning and growing, backing up and turning around, going on to gain more knowledge and experience, elevating our habits, purifying our hearts and motives, and gradually becoming the men and women we are destined to be."

I absolutely love that. It is so true for myself. Some days I do feel like I am zooming and flying high and then there are other days when I feel like my faith is being tested. But I am so glad to know that many people feel like this. And it is OK. And like we know if we just continue on and do our best and work our hardest we will be OK. He will help us and all we have to do is just ask. I am so grateful for books like this that really help me when things seem a little bit tougher that I want to have to deal with.