No need to exercise now

I think about 4 of the family have been sick this last week. Don's mom got sick and wasn't able to take her flight out on Thursday so she had to buy another one way ticket home for Sunday. Yesterday I had some stomach cramps on and off but I threatened myself not to throw up like everyone else. It worked. But yesterday as I layed around on the couch for a bit I found an exercise channel on t.v. It was so funny because Rachel and Mayah got up and started doing the yoga. It made me realize that if I just watched the t.v. and the girls that would be enough exercise for me. I feel so much thinner now.



OK so not sure you all know this but we are Steeler fans. Don more than I but when you come as a pair you kind of follow. My brother in law doesn't like the Steelers at ALL. But since the Seahawks are out of the picture we will see what happens. He is all for the Cardinals now. But as a joke Caleb and I bought their 8 month old daughter a cute black long sleeve onsie and decorated it up really cute just for them. The little football that Caleb painted in on the bum. CUTE!!



Then yesterday when I was cooking dinner I turned around to find this:


Apparently she thought it was easier to get to the utensils if we pulled them out of the drawer and put them on the rug. She opened up most of the cupboards and drawers as well. She loves to line things up and she was pretty darn busy lining up everything on that rug.

Great quote

I love quotes. They really get me thinking. My favorites are from the prophets. But this quote (not sure who it is from) is one of my favorites too. My niece has it posted in her room.

It's not who you are that holds you back,
it's who you think you're NOT.

We all do it. We all think I am not as good as so and so. I am not as good of a mom. I am not as good of an athlete, I am not as smart. I am not as pretty. I am not as skinny. I am not as helpful. I am not as patient. I am not as rich. All of these things hold us back from what we can become. Don't let those things get in the way of who you are.

I know for myself I tend to hold back on a lot of things for fear of failure. I am getting better. In fact, I so wish I could go back to highschool now with the things that I have learned and the things I know. I would be a totally different person. But I guess that is the way it goes. We grow up and learn and develop different qualities. We have events in our life that strengthen us and shape us into certain people. I am so thankful for the things I have faced in my life. Some of those things were not so great at the time but now that I look back I realize that they have helped me to become stronger and able to face more difficult situations. We can't be perfect and we are not even expected to be. But like President Hinckley say's, "Be a little better."

A few updates

Have you ever felt really busy but yet not really doing anything? Seems weird but that is how it has been these last few days. WE have had a few sick people in the house. Don's mom is here with us and thankfully because she picks up my slack. She cleans ALOT. Anyone want to borrow her? She is great. She can't manage to beat Caleb in tennis or baseball on the wii. Caleb loves it.

Caleb and I worked on his bookcase for awhile. We are painting it black. It looks really good. It isn't quite done but almost. It was going to be part of a theme he chose but now he has changed his mind on that theme. But oh well. WE already had the paint and black pretty much matches anything.

Rachel is reading to Mayah in the picture below. Those two play really good together but if you get anyone else in there forget it.

Judy (Don's mom) is going to teach me how to do a little sewing. We are going to start with curtains. We are just having a difficult time finding the opportunity to get out and shop for some material. There is NONE close by so we have to go out of town but with sick kids and a sick dad that made it really hard. Maybe we can go out today with the two younger kids and try to find some good deals. I really want to learn how to do this so I need to get on it quick before she leaves. Don and her are going to Pittsburgh for the weekend to visit some family there.

Rachel has been talking about having curly hair. I think she 'thinks' she wants her curly hair because Mayah has curly hair. So we braided her hair in a french braid two days ago and left it in. The results after taking it out were kind of cute. But I think I like it better straight. She was happy to wear it to school curly today. It is kind of "BIG" but still cute.

Rachel, Ethan, and Mayah catching snowflakes on their tongues. We finally had a day of snow that lasted more than 5 minutes.




The before and during picture of the bookcase.


Rachel reading to Mayah.


Rachel with her curly hair.

A great step

Today Zachary was baptized. It was awesome. I just can't believe how fast the kids grow. There were alot of people at the baptism and I was very thankful for all of the people that supported us today. There wasn't even enough room for us to fit in where the font was so we started off in the chapel and then went into the room with the font and then back into the chapel again. There was a lot of people that helped with the music, talks, prayers and with dad doing the baptism and confirmation. A special thanks to Grandma Burns for her talk and it was very exciting to have my sister and her family come. It was a very special day. I am so very proud of you Zach for this step you have taken in your life. What a great decision. This is the first step that will lead you down the correct path as long as you stay firm and strong in your beliefs. What an awesome day. This will be something for you to remember for a long time.

A HUGE THANKS

Ok so I am not that great at sitting the kids down and having them 'write' a thank you. I know it is very important and it is something the kids should do and need to learn to do. But this time we are blogging our thank you. Years from now we will look back at this 'jounal' and remember that we actually did thank you.

MOM and DAD or GRANDMA AND GRANDPA MCHARGUE

We thank you so much for the notebook you make for us each Christmas. It means so much to us. It reminds us of the fun times we share as a family. It helps us to know or get to know people we never had a chance to meet. We are reminded of great things and stories that went on from generation to generation that help us to realize what came before us. It is so very important to have these memories and we are so grateful MOM for your time and energy spent on this project. It is very memorable and nothing can replace these special memories that you are creating for us. Dad thank you for the energy you spend on helping come up with different things. I loved your great quote. I think about it often and even bring it up to the kids when things seem to get tough. SO YES "Faith and Perseverance accomplishes all things". We love you and are truly grateful for the things you do. You mean more to us than you can ever imagine. I am most grateful for parents that care.


CALEB: When I opened up the notebook I was like "wow cool". I looked through the whole thing and found lots of cool pictures. Thank you for giving us the notebook every year. Love Caleb

ZACH: Those were cool pictures!!!!!! Thanks for the notebook. Thanks for taking the time to make the notebook. My favorite picture was of me bungee jumping for the talent show. Love Zach

RACHEL: Thank you so much for the book. My favorite picture was camping with my dad.

ETHAN: He will be more thankful when he gets older. He is throwing up today so I am sure he isn't really happy about anything.

MAYAH: Sends her happy smile and know that when she can read she will send her thank you's.

REALLY this gift is priceless. I love that is just keeps getting bigger and better each year. It is awesome. THANK YOU FROM THE PUHLMAN CLAN.

Painting with the kids

I got a bunch of free paint and crafts from freecylce. The kids were so excited to use it all that they went through all three boxes to find just what they wanted. You should have seen the room with all the stuff on the floor. There was a ton of paint and a few new shirts and sweatshirts. They all decided that painting would be fun. There were three or four books with iron on's. IT got a bit messy but it was fun. I even painted on a shirt. Ethan chose a dragon iron on and he was so excited about it. When I handed him his paints he was so excited. He painted on the entire shirt and the poor dragons (there were 2) were no where to be found. Caleb decided to do some free hand painting. His Dad was sooooooooooooooooooo proud of his finished product. You will see why. Zach painted a sleigh and some geese that were in the box. Mayah just painted all over and on anything she found interesting.............including the hard wood floors. Thanks goodness it came out.


Here are the kids getting ready to do their painting project.


Here is Rachel's unicorn shirt. She wasn't very happy. She left it to dry and Mayah got a hold of it and did a bit of her own painting on it. Still cute.


Zach's creative painting on wood. He did the sled for Don and the geese for me. So sweet.


Here is the dragon shirt that Ethan painted. Can anyone spot where the two dragons WERE?


This is the shirt I painted on. The sweatshirt will fit one of the nieces. I hope.


Here is the cool shirt Caleb painted. I think his football is awesome.



A quick funny about Ethan. Last night we were doing scriptures in Zach and Ethan's room. I took Ethan's blanket to his room and threw it over his bed. When Ethan came in the room he went over to his bed and then ran over to me and threw his arms around me giving me a huge hug and saying "mom, you made my bed. I am so proud of you." Then later when I was putting him to bed he wanted me to scratch his back. All the Puhlman kids want their back scratched. Don wanted to know last night who in the world started this back scratching thing. Caleb always wanted his back scratched as a kid so it is something that just passed from one kid to the next............kind of like a bad cold. So I was scratching his back and he was telling me that when he turns five he gets to go to school. I was playing with him and I was pretending to cry and telling him how much I would miss him. I was over exaggerating it on the crying. Then he put his hand up and said, MOM, don't panic. He reassured me that he would miss me too. It was FUNNY. Zach was reading a book to Mayah and it really cracked him up too.

One busy weekend and a little bragging

Ok so first off I have to do a little bragging. Isn't that what a mother gets to do from time to time? Zach is going to be baptized this Sunday after church. He turned 8 in November but has been waiting for Dad. Don't mom is coming soon so we decided to wait for her. Today he had his interview with the bishop. I am very happy and humbled about the bishops comments. He said that Zach is THE MOST prepared 8 year old he has ever interviewed for baptism. He said Zach really knows his stuff. And just for a bit more bragging. He has been a bishop 2 different times. Now if that doesn't make a mom happy!!!!!!!!!!!!

Friday Don picked up a loft bed for Caleb's room. Then took Zach to Lowe's to get some paint. At dinner the other night we put numbers in a hat and had the kids draw numbers. Whoever picked number 1 was the first person to get to do their room with dad. Zach and Ethan picked number 1. Rachel chose number 2 and Caleb is last. So Zach LOVES camouflage anything. He and Ethan chose to do an army theme. Well, Zach kind of chose and convinced Ethan. I was really surprised how long both boys stayed and helped paint their room. The paint was called evergreen. And man was it dark. Couldn't believe that Don had to run back into town to get another gallon of paint. They still need to put up his bed. Not sure what you call them but it is the beds that have the drawers underneath. We have before, during and after pictures of their time well spent on Saturday. Then Rachel already has princess border in her room but I am sure she will pick either pink or yellow for the paint. Then Caleb is trying to decide between two things. You will have to wait awhile to see what he chooses. We will be having too much fun ith Don's mom so the painting will have to wait a couple of weeks. Stay tuned to see everyones choices.








While the boys were painting I took the other kids out in the front yard to sled. NO WE DON'T HAVE SNOW. But we DO have ICE. LOTS OF IT. If you look in the pictures you will see the ground. That is ALL ice. It fell off our trees and made the perfect sledding spot. Plus the grass after that was super slick from the freezing rain making a very nice path. It was super fun. I love sledding and it was a blast. Caleb took a picture of me. The dog would chase us down the hill each time. I took Mayah with me at one time and we sled all the way to the end and my leg hit one of the broken off branches that was laying on the ground. So glad we weren't going any faster. It kind of hurt. But it was well worth it. The kids didn't want to come in but it was SO cold and was raining so it was turning into freezing rain. BRRRRRRRRR. We had to come in and enjoy some hot chocolate.

Startled in the night

Last night I heard this super loud noise that woke me right up. My heart was pounding. I woke up Don but he was pretty much out of it. He didn't even hear it. I had NO idea what it could be. I thought maybe with our ice storms it was ice falling from the roof making a crashing noise.

Don came home from work and had me look out the window. A huge part of a dead tree on our property broke and it was laying on the ground. We are pretty sure that was what startled me awake.

The kids did not have school yesterday and they were on a 2 hr. delay today. There was thick ice everywhere. Branches were falling off the other trees from the thick ice pulling them down. It got warm enough today that it is melting but also causing more branches to fall. I have never been in an ice storm like this before. It is crazy. The drive way is slick and took Don a good five minutes to get down it and then up it again when he came back home.

I was praying our power wouldn't go out. It only flckered a couple of times but thankfully it stayed on. PHEW.

Catching my breath

So this is super funny and it really made me laugh ALOT. So not only did someone in our ward take the kids for a night plus all day Saturday but she also wrote down some super funny things that they said and did. I swear, Ethan is as funny as they get. I was a little embarrassed by what Rachel said but it made me feel a bit better when Laura said she was just as opinionated when she was younger. Thanks Laura so much and also Leisl and Devon. Ok so here is the list: One quick note-----they have a dog and his name is Toby too. Just so you don't think that we took the dog over there. Pretty funny that the two dogs have the same name.

Here are some funny stories from your kids' stay with us:


About thirty seconds after you left, the kids found our gingerbread house. We realized we might need to hide it when Mayah came around the corner with candy in both hands, candy in her mouth, green drool dripping from her chin, and candy stuck to her bottom.

The boys' favorite trick with the electric train was running it faster and faster until it shot off the curve.

At the park I was pushing Mayah on the swing and heard Ethan holler that he needed to go to the bathroom. He came running, and I asked, "Poop or pee?" and started trying to get Mayah out of the baby swing and calculating how fast we could get home.The next moment I looked and Ethan had dropped his pants and was making a stream right there by the swing. Devon and I just cracked up.

The boys all slept in Devon's room, Caleb and Zack on folding cots, Devon in his bed, and Ethan on a pile of blankets on the floor. They arranged their beds so they were all sleeping around Toby. In the middle of the night, Ethan came into my room crying, "Toby took my blanket!" When we got back to the boys room, there was Toby on Ethan's bed, snuggled up with Ethan's blanket. We kicked him off and got Ethan all tucked in again, but it was so cute and funny.

I didn't witness this one, but Devon said that when the boys were getting dressed in the morning, Ethan was running around in his underpants, chasing Devon and swinging his shirt over his head.

When Liesle's date came to pick her up, Rachel asked the boy where they were going. He's a big guy and he had to bend over to talk to her. He told her where they were going, and Rachel asked if she could come, too. He told her he was sorry, but he didn't have room in his car, unless she wanted to ride on the roof. She thought for a moment then her eyes narrowed and she said, "You only have two seats in your car?" As they went out the door, she followed them chanting, "Can I come? Can I come? Can I come?"

Liesle and I thought it was adorable how Mayah says, "Smismas tree" and she has to get a running start to get that big word out--"Smi--smi--smis--smismas tree."
I already told you how I was messing with Rachel about my cooking, but I didn't tell you about Zack's line:

Rachel -- "I really don't like this."
Laura -- "Of course not. You don't like anything I cook."
Rachel -- "I like lots of things!"
Laura -- "Yes, but if I cooked them, you wouldn't like them."
Zack (eyeing me and taking deliberate bites) -- This is delicious.

You have great kids and we had so much fun with them. It was like stepping back in time. I kept saying to my kids, "This is exactly like you were," and "Remember when you guys did this?" (Case in point: One time my next door neighbor called me, laughing, and told me to look out my front window. There were three little Biggs boys standing together, peeing on the tree in the front yard.)

We would happily have them again, so you know who to call next time you want a getaway.

Love,
Laura

A night alone or a lonely night?

So there is this super amazing gal in our ward that offered to take our kids over night so Don and I could have some date time. She actually wanted to take them for 2 nights. She is very creative and fun. I was afraid that the kids might not want to come home if they stayed with them. We dropped them off at about 5:30 and then took off to Winchester for dinner at the Olive Garden. It was good but not nearly as good as when we went to Caraba's. We had a few places in mind we wanted to go and I had been searching diligently to find a fun place to go. We were thinking about staying in a cabin or going to West Virginia. We even wanted to go snow tubing. Everything looked so fun so it made it really hard to choose. Our decision was made when Don's car started having problems and we had to fork out $600 for the repairs. We decided we would just stay home and sleep in our own beds. There is no other place more comfortable. We went shopping after dinner and bought some paint and supplies at Lowes. Next day we spent ALL DAY painting the kitchen and the family room. Pretty romantic date huh? I had attempted to do the family room while Don was gone but had some problems with two different colors blending together so we had to do that room entirely over. We tried to match it best we could but it is darker than I thought. Oh well. I like it. When we were walking around Lowe's I saw this kitchen and I just loved the color of the paint. We asked someone to help us try to match it and the lady that helped us is supposed to be one of the best with colors so she told us the name. We found the paint and headed home. After getting the paint on the kitchen walls my eyes got bigger and bigger the more we painted. Don just kept saying "you don't like it do you?". I had to keep looking at it and looking at it and I finally think it has grown on me. It is green. It is a bit darker than I thought too but it is nice. After we get a few more accessories in there it will look even better. It was fun. We turned up the music and painted away. It was very nice to have time to just talk and spend time together. It helps us to have a little break from the kids so that we can strengthen our own relationship. I also think it is good for the kids to get away from mom and dad once in awhile. And it is important for the kids to see Don and I spending time together and working on our friendship too.

The kids had a great time. They ate a picnic lunch in the tree house. They went to the park. They had a great time and just as I had expected............they wanted to stay another night. But once we got home and got the kids to bed Caleb said he was so glad to be back in his bed.

I am so very grateful for people that serve. It was exactly what Don and I needed. I know it wasn't easy for this family to do this. She has five kids herself but her youngest is 12. It was funny to hear her talk about how you totally have to change your mind set and how you forget what it was like when your kids are young. She had a couple of funny stories to tell. OK, one was funny and one wasn't so funny. But she was actually impressed with how they did. She said they were angels. I don't know if I would go that far!!!!!!!!! Just kidding.

I do have to admit I did cry that night as I really missed the kids. It was actually the first time they have stayed the night away from us other than with family. And that is even rare.

If you look up at the right hand corner where the two walls meet you will see a difference in paint color. Don't ask. Long story.


This was FUNNY. I was so nervous about the dark paint here. I kept questioning it and Don started getting annoyed with me. So in order to get a picture of him I had to act like I was going to complain about the paint and I said, YOU KNOW WHAT? He turned around and was about ready to say something and I snapped it. So cute. Check out the bottom of his pants. He had to roll them up so he could really get into the painting.


This picture and the next are of the finished family room. There are some spotting from the light and camera.


Another of the finished product. A bit darker than the first time around but we LOVE it now.


And here is the finished kitchen. I do LOVE this color in the picture but it is a bit darker in person. Still love it though. It has already grown on me. Besides, sometimes you just got to be brave and live a little. I really enjoy color in a home too. So this is super fun. I am going to paint one of the bathrooms a plum color. YEAH.

Our New Years Eve party

We all had fun at my sisters house. Once again we played games and had a lot to eat. Kids enjoyed their time on the wii. I even started a wii tournament and ended up losing pretty bad in tennis. My own son beat the pants off of me. In fact, everyone beat me. Rachel, Mayah, and Ethan went to bed fairly early that night but Caleb, Zach, Sara, and Sami all made it until midnight. It was fun.

picture of the kids eating their new years eve snacks.


Two of my gorgeous nieces Leila and Nadia


One of the yummy foods. Sue made this delicious tree.


Can you guess who this is? Everyone says how much we look alike. It is my oldest sister.


Mohamed (brother in law) with his daughter, Sara.


Mayah, Rachel, and Ethan enjoying a movie.


Zach, Sami, Rachel, Caleb, Sara and Rachel is in front. They were making candies with pretzels and rolos and m&m's. These are so addicting.