YI YI YI

WOW.....the school supply list is absolutely insane. I am thinking of sending in the kitchen sink. That might be alot easier than getting all the supplies needed for FOUR kids. Here is our lists:

Caleb (7th grade)

4--1inch binders
3--black and white composition books
3--dry erase markers
Dividers
Pencils
Loose leaf paper
Blue/Red/Black ink pens
Tissues
Quart size ziploc bags
Gallon size ziploc bags
Colored pencils, markers, or crayons
Highlighters
Zip pencil case for binder
File folders
Scissors

Zach (4th grade)

24--#2pencils
1 pack colored pencils
2 pkg. WIDE RULE loose-leaf notebook paper
4 JUMBO Elmer's glue sticks
1 black marbled composition book
One 1 1/2 inch Navy blue three ring binder with pockets
1 WIDE RULED, 3 subject Notebook
4 WIDE RULED, sprial notebooks
One 1 inch Green 3 ring binder with pickets
3 box tissues
2 pkgs. of 5 colored tabbed dividers for binders
4 yellow highlighters
1 pair scissors
1 pencil pouch
2 boxes ziploc gallons size bags, snack bags, quart bags
4 dry erase markers
1 ream of copy paper
1 pkg. red pens
one 5 pack of 3 pronged 2 pocket folders
1 black medium point sharpie

Rachel (2nd grade)

Three 70 pg. spiral notebooks
8 pocket folders with clasps and pockets
48 #2 pencils
2 yellow highlighters
2 boxes crayons
1 pencil box
1 box tissues
1 box ziploc quart bags
1 box ziploc gallon bags
2 bottles liquid glue
1 pair scissors
24 Elmers glue sticks
1 ream of copy paper
1 large bevel eraser


Ethan (grade K)

2 marbel cover compostion books
2 boxes 200 count tissue
1 prang water color paint set with brush
2 boxes 8 count crayons
2 boxes 16/24 count crayons
4 bottles of washable glue
1 pack washable classic color markers
1 pair of scissors
1 plastic pencil box
1 decorative pocket folder
4 3-pronged pocket folder
1 pack of copy paper
non disposable water bottle
1 box snack size baggies
1 box gallon size baggies
1 box quart size baggies

and then for the boys.....napkins, plastic forks and large paper plates

Now I know I need to provide things for my kids for school but GET REAL people. Are you totally serious here? I still need to feed and clothe these little ones. Might have to rent us a dump truck in order to get it all in.

We have a few items on the list already packed into their backpacks. Now we have another long list of things that we still need to purachase. OH....and we had to pay a fee at the school too. I paid $25 for Caleb. And then wrote a check out for the other three for $34.

So when did school get so expensive? Is this the definition of free public school? OK OK I am done complaining now. I better get off this computer and find me a job so I can go pay for all these supplies.

It's a number thing

It's funny how Caleb tries so hard to gain weight. He steps on the scale quite often and gets so excited anytime he sees the numbers go up. He weighed tonight and came running with the scales to show me. It read 104. WOW. That is a bit higher than normal. We have recently switched his medication. The other one was making it so he didn't feel quite like eating (dang, I wish I had some of it). He lost some weight and was pretty much around 96ish pounds. Caleb is tall and Caleb is skinny. Not sure where he got that. :) So now he is so excited that he has gained weight. At first I thought maybe he was grabbing on to the walls and pushing down as hard as he could. I had to watch him weigh to believe that he had really gained that much. I am really liking his new medicine. He eats like a normal preteen boy now.

I use a different method when I weigh. I grab on to the walls and pull UP as hard as I can. Even then I can't quite get to my goal weight but it sure gets me closer.

A fun drive

The other day we took a drive. On our way home we saw this cool looking church. Don wanted to take some pictures. That is a very old building. I LOVED this door on the side of the church. So I made Don take a few pictures of me in front of it. Isn't it cool? Wouldn't that make an awesome back drop for wedding pictures?

One in color.

My silly kids.

We are wondering if they even still use this building to worship in. It is old and worn but MAN it was beautiful and had so much character.

What an awesome picture.

Amazing quotes

So I really love quotes and when I find a good one I print it off and try to keep it where I can see it often. Then somehow they get lost. Well the other day I came across two that I love. I have been reading them often the last couple of days and they have helped me in more ways than one.

"Trials give us opportunities to show the Lord and ourselves that we will be faithful. We can choose to feel sorry for ourselves and ask, "why me?" or we can grow from our trials, increase our faith in the Lord and ask, "How can I be faithful in the midst of this trial?" We can let adversity break us down and make us bitter, or we can let it refine us and make us stronger. We can allow adversity to lead us to drift away from things that matter most, or we can use it as a stepping-stone to grow closer to things of eternal worth. (I am not sure who this is by)



"God's will is what we would choose if we knew all the facts." (This is from the Duggar family...the father said it)

SO FUN

For FHE on Monday we decided to go to Skyline drive and take a few pictures. It was a super fun FHE. Don saw a camping site called Matthews Arm. Don asked the kids to make up a story as to why it was called that. We had some pretty good ones. Even Don and I joined in the fun.

We all thought it was pretty cool that we got to see a bear. The kids were all saying they had never seen a bear so close up. We were driving and Don pointed it out. It had just crossed the street so we sped up a bit and stopped. It looked at us and the kids were so excited they started screaming. It didn't stick around long but we had our windows down for the great view. :)

Here is Don with the boys.

Don and I....I love this picture.

The whole family. Hmmm Mayah doesn't look to happy.

Just a fun one. Not sure where Zach was on this.

Me and my girls.

pretty pretty

So this is what is happening around our house. Kids are getting bored and doing this. :0) Kind of funny. Isn't Lexi a pretty dog? I am thinking I might need to put together some activites to keep them from getting so bored.

A wonderful day

Sunday was a great day. It was very special. It was the day Caleb received the Aaronic Priesthood. When I first walked into the Chapel the first thing I noticed was three beautiful arrangements of flowers. They were GORGEOUS. I was wondering who had put them together.

I was very happy on Saturday when the bishop gave us a call to see if he could come to our home to give Caleb an interview. He was scheduled to have one on Sunday after church but the bishop felt we should use that time for Don to give him the blessing. And it worked out perfectly because Don's mom and step dad came Saturday night and they were able to be there on Sunday. I truly appreciate our bishop and he was so amazing with Caleb and helping him understand more about the Priesthood and about how to pass the Sacrament. Caleb will be passing the Sacrament this Sunday for the first time. The bishop has asked Don to help him. What a great opportunity for them both. Can't wait.

The blessing was AWESOME. Such a wonderful spirit was in that room. I am so glad that all my kids and my inlaws were able to come.

I normally teach in Primary but I got someone to take over my class so I could be with my mother in law in Relief Society. When I walked into the RS room I saw one of the bouquet's. OH it was just lovely. I couldn't stop looking at it. As I sat there and listened to the lesson I thought, "man I would love to take that home".

They were giving away some different Young Women items that they no longer wanted. My mother in law wanted something so I went up in front with her. The lady that arranged these flowers came up and as she took the flowers I asked her if she was the one that put the flowers together. She said yes and then put them out in front for me to take and said she wanted to give the flowers to me. I was SUPER EXCITED.

I think they just look amazing. I hope they last a long time. I was looking at the arrangement and saw many of the flowers not in bloom yet. It reminded me of Caleb. He just received the Aaronic Priesthood and is very new or not in bloom yet. Soon he will pass the Sacrament. He will learn and grow and develop a stronger testimony. Just like that small unopened flower Caleb will open up and soon be a large great looking flower with a ton of potential. I am excited for him. I was sooooooooo proud of him when the bishop asked him to bear his testimony. He did it. It was short but OH SO VERY SWEET. There was a time that Caleb would have NEVER done this. It took him quite awhile to pray or give talks in primary. And now he is bearing his testimony is Sacrament meeting. Seems strange that this is the same person. In fact I remember a time that Don and I took him to his first day of school. I think it was first grade. He grabbed onto a flag pole and would NOT let go so we could take him inside. That was not an easy thing. I had to go to the car and let Don take care of it. I cried all the way to the car and all the way home. I didn't want him to see me sad. But it was hard. And now he is growing up and getting ready to pass the Sacrament and going to Deacons. WOW. As I said....it was an amazing day.

More birthday fun

Even though we already celebrated Caleb's birthday I still wanted to do something fun for him today. We headed over to our friends land. They live along this river. The kids had so much fun swimming. I even swam and it was alot of fun. Here is Caleb playing with Lexi.....our new dog. She is a yellow lab and she is pretty smart. Ethan and Rachel are playing with the volleyball.
Ethan is so funny. He is like a fish. He sure loves the water. And you can see that Don had to buzz his hair. He took a pair of scissors to it and cut out a big piece right next to his head.

Mayah and Ethan with Lexi.

Oh yes...and since I am always the one behind the camera I decided to take a picture of myself. I have sooooooooooo few pictures and I wonder if my kids will ever know what I looked like as a 'YOUNG' mom. :) Don't look so young here with my wrinkles but hey after five kids what do ya expect. Alteast the hair hasn't gone gray yet. Crossing my fingers for that one.

Caleb and Zach having fun.

OH BOY....How is it that I got two girls that love to pose. HMMMM not sure where they even get this. :)

Yes...I am starting her off early. I would play volleyball everyday if I could. Love it.

This was funny. The kids kept finding huge rocks. The one that Rachel is holding is sort of shaped like a guitar. So she is rocking out on it....get it..rock'n out on it. I know...dumb.

I just loved this picture of Mayah. She looks so grown up here. Caleb helped get her dressed like this so she could go outside and walk around in the pokey weeds while the boys built an army fort.

And we can't forget this....Caleb already had donuts for his birthday celebration on Friday. But he wanted to make some homemade ones today. And I was going to bake them so it wouldn't be so gross but they didn't rise for some reason so we decided to go ahead and use the oil. They weren't that good.

Here are the donut holes with the glaze.









NOPE...still not rising.

After I exercised this morning I started making lunch...this is what I found. Mayah decided she needed a little exercise. So did Rachel. They each took turns walking on the treadmill. I guess that was a good thing since we had donuts for lunch. I know....not the greatest but hey it was Caleb's birthday.

Rachel and her pushups. I didn't do this. I should have.
A lot of fun times today. It was a great day and the kids and I had fun. We did a lot of skipping rocks and finding HUGE rocks that looked like different things. Many memories made today. I even canned 6 quarts of tomatoes. And as soon as I was done cutting and putting them in the jar the power went out. Thankfully our gas stove still works and I was able to boil them. So glad it didn't go out before that. It would have been too dark for me to see what I was doing.

12 already?

WOW....It just doesn't seem possible that I have a 12 year old. I am pretty excited that Caleb will now be a Deacon and that he will be able to pass the Sacrament. He is excited to attend the temple and we wanted to go today to do baptisms but we have to wait until he gets an interview with the bishop and he didn't have time on Sunday. We celebrated his birthday on Friday night. He wanted donuts instead of cake. I liked that choice as well.

This is a funny picture. This was while we were visiting family. He had bed hair and he was working on painting his yo yo.

It was pretty funny....he put 12 candles on that little donut and it started dripping wax pretty fast. It took him awhile to come up with a good wish.

He looks excited about his gifts. This year we gave recycled gifts and in my opinion....they are the best kind. He got Don's Ipod and Don's binoculars. Now he can use it when they go hunting.

After blowing out the candles.

Caleb was a super cute baby. He was my smallest baby at 7 lbs. 8 oz. After that none of the other ones were under 9 pounds. I remember the day he was blessed. The counsellor in the bishopric got up and said that he doesn't consider babies to be cute but that Caleb was a very cute baby. Caleb had colic. But once he got over that he was the sweetest thing ever. And as soon as he could walk that is when there was NEVER a down time for us. He was busy busy. And we know now it is because of his ADHD. I will never forget the amount of time I read to him. That was the ONLY thing that kept him still for any length of time. There were times when we lived in California that I would sit and read to him for 3 hrs at a time. That was pretty much the only time I sat still. I would take him to the park for play groups but he wouldn't play on the play ground. He would run off and end up in someone's yard or try to run across the street. It didn't take long before I quite going. That was frustrating for me. All I wanted to do was talk and get to know the people at church but I had to watch Caleb like a hawk. It is pretty funny now when I think about all the things he did. And I am thankful that he was born to me first. I feel like I can pretty much handle any situation my kids bring.

There are so many things I love about Caleb. I have always felt he was a special kid. YES...I got very frustrated MANY MANY times but he has this special spirit about him. Caleb is so kind. He has the biggest heart. He is so very thoughtful and you will find him getting someone some water if they are hot or doing something kind. I love that he can see what needs to be done and does it. He cooks us dinner/breakfast sometimes. He is great with kids and one day he is gonna make a killer dad. Just yesterday he was helping Mayah fix her hair. This morning him and Zach were heading outside to make an army fort. They were going to be in a bunch of pokey weeds and Mayah wanted to go. So he took extra time to go upstairs and help her finid some jeans and a long sleeve shirt and boots so that she wouldn't get hurt as they were walking through the weeds. What 12 year old do you know that would do that? I am pretty sure....not many.

It isn't an easy task being a mother of someone with a disorder. But I am so grateful to be Caleb's mom. I am so blessed to have an opportunity to raise him. YES....that are many hard days and days that I end up in tears. But there are so many qualities that he brings to our home that outway his disorder. I just have to make sure I see the qualities over the irritations. I am still learning how to be a better mom to him. It is taking me so much longer than I ever thought. And maybe I will never get it right. But one thing I do know is that Heavenly Father has blessed me with a very amazing young man that is going to make a huge difference in this world. I am thankful for his testimony. I am thankful that he wants to do what is right. Don bought Caleb a bunch of classic books from a used book store. He was telling Don that he had almost read them all except there was one that he wasn't going to read. When Don asked him why he said that it had a bad word in it. When Don told me that I wanted to cry. I am so proud of him. I am so excited to see what life has in store for Caleb. He truly is a blessing to me and I want him to know that I love him so much and am so happy to call him my son...my oldest son.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY CALEB.....you rock.

Thankful for challenges

Today at church the bishop challenged us to read the Book of Mormon in the month of Aug. That would make 18 pages a day of reading. Our family took the challenge and started today. I have never read the Book of Mormon in a month. I normally take it very slowly and read a chapter a day. I am thankful for this challenge. The kids put on the Book of Mormon cd's we have and they were excited when they finished their 18 pages. This will not be an easy challenge for me. But I am up for it.

I only had one girl in my primary class and the lesson was about David and Goliath. Did you know that Goliath was close to 9ft 9 inches tall? WOW. And his armor alone weighed 150 pounds. David was just a small guy. He was young yet brave.

The purpose of the lesson was to help the children seek Heavenly Father's help in overcoming obstacles.

Challenges in our lives can be stumbling blocks or stepping stones depending on how we handle them. If we become unhappy and angry because of the difficulties we face in life, they are stumbling blocks to us. If we handle our difficulties with a positive attitude and learn from them, then we become better people and our challenges are like stepping stones to us.

Even though David was small he had the help of the Lord. Goliath was huge and his body was covered in armor. This just goes to show that the Lord is much more powerful than any physical strength one can possess.

I am thankful for this lesson. I think it was for me more than for my one primary child. Lately I have been complaining about the 'Goliaths' in my life. And my attitude hasn't been the best about a few things that we are facing right now. I know that I can turn any trial into something positive if my attitude is different. There is soooooo much to be said about a persons attitude. And I need to change mine.

It has been awhile since I have had a cold sore. I usually get them when I am under a lot of stress. So if I can rely on my Heavenly Father and have faith that everything always works out I could save myself alot of unneeded stressful times. Always a bit easier said than done. But I am working on it.

Recently I came across a blog that really hit me and helped me again to realize that our attitude and the way we handle things says so much about who we are. This family just lost their little girl to drowning. These young parents are handling this loss amazingly well. It is the attitude that the parents have that is affecting so many people. So many strangers have written on their blog how they have been strengthened because of their story. A marriage has been saved. Mom's are treating their children better. Families are coming together. And because of this one HUGE TRIAL so many other people are being blessed. It would have been easy for these young parents to become bitter and angry at God. And they had many people ask them if they ever thought "WHY US". And their response to that was....Why not us? And so many times I have been brought to tears for their testimony and their strength and I realize that my trials are not nearly that stressful and yet I have complained about what I have been going through. I am thankful for the way they are handling this trial in their life and it has helped to open my eyes more and to see that I really don't have it that bad. I am thankful to Heavenly Father for putting us through trials to help strengthen us. He never puts us through things to cause us misery. It is all for our good and it is to help us to learn and grow and to become better people.

Here is the blog if you are interested in reading. Also...a stranger to this family wrote them a song about their daughter. You can download it for $1. That money goes to the family to help pay for expenses from the funeral. I downloaded the song and it is very beautiful. I hope all who read my blog will do so as well.

http://patrickandashley.blogspot.com