Boys

I have been listening to my boys play today and they have said some pretty funny stuff. I just thought I would share.
Jonah to Simon: "Be quite man, you're blowing my bubber" (instead of cover)

Again, Jonah to Simon as they were playing star wars with empty wrapping paper tubes.
"No Simon, I just cut off your arm. That means that you have to put your arm in your shirt and hold your light saber with your other hand."

They have also been playing Santa Clause and pretending to bring presents and put under the tree.
Too funny!

Starving Luke

So, my little Luke who the doctors say is under weight, never stops eating! Lately it has been so funny because he recognizes the words breakfast, lunch, dinner, snack and food very well. I will ask the boys what they want for lunch and Luke will respond "MEEEEE". He doesn't know what we are having and he doesn't care he just wants some. He also is always going around eating off of everybody else's plates if they leave their food. My poor nephew Jakob has had his dessert eaten for him the last two Sunday's because he has left it at the table for a half a second. The poor kid just never gets enough to eat!

Happy Birthday Simon!

Well, today is Simon's birthday! He is 4. Time goes by so quickly! It seems just yesterday that we found out that we were going to get him. We were so excited and the the 3 months of waiting for him to be born started. That time went very slowly. It seems more slowly then the last 4 years have.

The funny thing is that he refuses to believe that today is his birthday. I kind of don't blame him. We have been celebrating his birthday all weekend, so I can see how he is confused. We decided to wait and give him his present from us today, so that he would feel like we did something on his actual birthday, but he really doesn't care. I think he will when we give him his gift, but right now he doesn't. We had a great weekend. On Saturday we meet Simon's birthmom Jessica at the Mayan resteraunt and had lunch with her.

Then we all went to Chucky Cheeses to let the boys play. We took them to the mall after that to let the boys see Santa, but the lines were way to long so we ended up just getting ice cream and visiting more. Simon had so much fun with Jessica. She gave him some playdough and some matchbox cars. He has not stopped playing with them for days.

On Sunday we had a family birthday party for him. I made him a monster truck cake. It was fun to make! I named it the Slim Monster. That is what we call Simon alot of the time, because he is always picking his nose. It is decorated with "slim" or lime green frosting. He loved it!

He has grown up to be a very fun boy. He makes us laugh every day with his cute smile and laugh. Of course that is between his very frequent fits that he throws. He is just 4 after all. He has a few choice words that he likes to use (which I will not mention) that have frequently gotten him into trouble and he is definitely the "Drama Queen" of the family. But we still love him! His favorite things right now are cars, monster trucks, forts, tractors, anything with wheels or anything that he can build. He loves tools and we often find him with a screw driver and several wall plates from off the light switches. Here are some pictures of him over the years! We love you Simon!

Just one more!

Just one more post, I promise. I just wanted to share this about my boys. We got a whole bunch of boxes of food storage delivered to our house a few weeks ago. It was Travis' grandma's that we got because she passed away. It was sitting in our front room for a few days because we didn't quite know what to do with it yet. The boys figured out really quickly what to do with it however. Make a space ship out of it naturally!

They stacked up the boxes and cans and played in it for two days straight. It was so fun listening to their little minds work and hear what they had to say about space. It was fun to watch their imaginations at work. After they were done with the space ship, they decided to take a few of the boxes and make glidders out of the boxes. This kept them busy for at least two more days.

Happy Birthday to me!

Ok so, my birthday was Dec. 1st but I haven't posted about it yet, so I thought I would. It was a fabulous day, a fabulous week actually. Probably the best birthday that I have had in a while. On Monday we hadn't planned on really celebrating, (we were going to wait til the weekend) but Travis stopped at the store and got something to make for dinner and some "presents" for me. We had decided that I wasn't going to get anything for my birthday this year, because money is tight and I really wanted to go out to dinner instead. Anyway, Travis cooked dinner while I relaxed. He also helped the boys make some wrapping paper and wrap my presents. I was in the other room and after the presents were wrapped Jonah and Simon kept bringing them down and showing them to me and saying, "This is not a present, it is just something we worked on." and "We cannot tell you what is in here, but it is good!". It was pretty fun to see them so excited.
We had dinner, complete with fancy glasses and sparkling cider, and then the boys each gave me a gift. The first was a package of chocolate licorice. The next two were Hot Tamalies and Jr. Mints. Then Travis pulled out a Red Box movie for us to watch. It was Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants 2. I have been wanting to see that, so I was very excited. It was nice to know that even though we wern't planning to do anything special that night, that Travis still thought about me and wanted to make it special for me anyway. He did a great job!
The rest of the week was fun. We went to the Desert Star Playhouse for Travis work party on Thursday. That was alot of fun! Then on Saturday, I went to lunch with my girl friends. We went to the Olive Garden as usual and then did some Christmas. This is a Tradition that we do every December for two of our birthdays. I very much look forward to it! Travis meet me in Lehi and then he took me to the Cheesecake Factory for dinner. We meet some friends there and it was alot of fun. After that Travis took me to Sears. He had a gift card there that he got as a gift and decided to get me a present after all. A new pair of very much need pants!
On Sunday I got spoiled all over again. We had a family party for me and I got many of the things that were on my birthday list from my wonderful family. I also got my favorite birthday cake. Peppermint hot fudge sunday cake! Fabulous!

Christmas Decor

Well, so far these are the only Christmas decorations up in our home.

We have purposefully done this. (Actually that is not true. The boys somehow found this in the storage room today and pulled it out by themselves. Otherwise I wouldn't have them out. Thank goodness nothing got broke. I decided that if they went to the effort to find them, then I should have them out.) Usually our house is all Christmasy the weekend after Thanksgiving, but this year we just don't want to have to deal with it for to long. Considering that this is the normal state of our house these days...

(because I have three little boys that get into EVERYTHING! and I am very busy just trying to keep up with things) I just don't want to have anymore things up that I have to be constantly vigilant about. It is just not something that I can handle right now. We will probably just get out one of the Christmas trees a couple days before Christmas. I know sad huh?
But instead of getting more stuff out, we have decided to take the time to go through things and re-organize. We have been working really hard to get closets cleaned out and things moved to different places. We have had so many things without places since we moved here because our basement was not done. Now that it is, we are moving things around. It has gone well so far, but we have a lot to do still. I cannot wait until it is all done!

Thankful

With Thanksgiving upon us I have been thinking a lot about my blessings. I have so many to be thankful for. This year has not been an easy one financially for anybody and we have not been excluded from that, but the Lord has looked out for us and blessed us tremendously! We have had many people bring us clothes. I have not had to buy any clothes for the boys. We have also had people give us money for my schooling which has been so helpful. We seem to always have food in the house even though we haven't done much shopping. One of the most amazing things is that I have had a gift placed upon me that I have never before had quite like this. It is that I am able to look into the pantry and see the food we do have and make a meal out of things that I never thought possible. I have never been good at that and I have been very good at it the last few months. The food was also not only eatable, but it tasted good! We have also had many opportunities that have come to us that have allowed us to make some money here and there and come up with the money that we need. The Lord has certainly been looking our way and we are so grateful for that! We are grateful to all the people that the Lord has directed our way to help us as well!

We have been blessed with health and strength to accomplish the tasks that we have taken on. We have been blessed with learning and our home has been touched with the spirit more often.

Happy Thanksgiving!

One of my favorite Christmas songs

I cannot find it to add to my playlist so I thought I would just post it. Enjoy!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kGrhzCgy_bg

Tagged by Kim

Where is your cell phone? I think it is on the floor under the piano, not sure though.

Where is your significant other? At work.

Your hair color? Blonde? I am really not sure right now.

Your mother? Caring

Your father? Twinkly

Your favorite thing? Boys that don't make messes and break things.

Your dream last night? I don't usually remember my dreams

Your dream/goal? To finish my zoning classes and start really helping people, and to become better at homeschooling

The room you're in? The kitchen

You're hobby? I like to read, scrapbook, watch movies, cooking, play with my boys and hang out with my girl friends, make craft projects and try to be creative when I have time.

Your fear? My husband or children dying and heights

Where do you want to be in six years? Right where I am now only hopefully with one more child and more money in the bank.

Where were you last night? At my mom's house eating dinner and talking

What you're not? Good at keeping a spotless house

One of your wish list items? Another baby

Where you grew up? Mostly Sandy, Ut

The last thing you did? Cleaned up Luke and his crib because he puked in the middle of the night

What are you wearing? Pajamas

Your TV? An old big screen tv that finally works again after like 4 months of it not! Yay!!

Your pet? Our dog Bo, or Bobofet, or Bodog, or something like that

Your computer? A nice little laptop that I bought last year. I love it!

Your mood? Nervous for how this day is going to go. I have so much to do and am not sure how Luke is going to be.

Missing someone? Not yet, Travis has only been gone for an hour and the boys have been good so far.

Your car? A green 1999 Pontiac Transport with a Chevy grill and so many scratches and dings in it that you'd think it was a demolition derby car, but hey, it is paid off!

Something you're not wearing? a bra

Favorite store? Roberts or Joann's or some place crafty like that. Or else Seagull or Desseret Book.

Your summer? Kind of stressful because I spent a lot of time worrying about homeschooling and what I was going to do.

Love someone? Mostly 4 wonderful boys

Favorite color? Blue

When was the last time you laughed? Yesterday, I laughed a lot but I cannot remember exactly why. I think I was in a mood.

Last time you cried? I cannot remember

I tag everybody that wants to do it!

Whole Wheat Sourdough Bread

So, as part of my quest to live a healthier life I decided that I was going to start making my own bread. After learning and researching I decided that I was going to make sourdough bread because it doesn't have yeast in it which can be very bad for your hormones and for kids with ADHD. I got a sourdough start and I made it, then last night I whipped up the dough and let it rise over night. I got up this morning and was so excited to form it and bake it. It really was not that much work. Quite easy infact. I pulled it out of the oven and I was so proud of it. It looks so pretty.


I let it cool and then we sliced it open to taste some. Yea, it tasted like dog food! I am so bummed! I didn't add any sweetner to it so maybe that is the problem. I think I will try it again this weekend and see. Now, what to do with the bread?

Dog Food and Ketchup

Can I just say that dog food, water and ketchup mixed in a pitcher and left to sit over night does not smell pleasant! Don't ask, just remember that I have three boys!

Halloween

Halloween was a lot of fun this year! We did things through out the week in school. On Haloween we went to our neighborhood trunk or treat. It is a huge bash that takes place on one of the streets in our neighborhood. There are always a couple of areas set up that have food. People do scones and chili and hot dogs. There is always donuts and hot chocolate. People that live on that street come out to there porches and others that don't either bring there cars over or just a chair to sit on next to someones house. It is a lot of fun! The last couple of years the young men have put together a "haunted house". It really is just a haunted porch, but it was fun. Jonah really wanted to go inside. He bragged the whole time in line that he was not scarred. When it was our turn to go inside he was a little reluctant, but went in. The first thing that we saw was a box that one of the YM jumped out of. Jonah grabbed on to me. Then we were walking down one side of the porch and he saw a YM that was crouching down. They could see that he was scarred so they didn't jump at him or anything, but he wanted to go back. I told him that he needed to move forward. At the end of the porch were some YM with candy I told him to go get some candy. He RAN so fast, grabbed some candy and booked it out the other side of the porch. By the time I could get out of the house he had gotten out and ran across the street. He claimed he wasn't scared though. Travis was behind us the whole time holding Simon. He told me that Simon just clung to him the whole time. He said he was scared, but then he asked to go through again. Travis asked if he was sure and he said, "Yea, I want to put my mask on and scare them!" He had gotten a little monkey mask from a lady in the ward. They waited in line again and this time Simon walked through all by himself and "scared those boys in there". It was pretty cute!
The night after Halloween we went to my moms for a family Halloween party. It was fun. The kids got to play games. They bobbed for apples, we made finger pens, they played the hooky spooky (like the holky polky) and went on a treasure hunt for there Halloween treat from G-ma and G-pa. Then we ate some really fun food that my mom made. There were mummy fingers, gobblin guts, pumpkin toes, and a whole lot more stuff that I cannot remember the names for. It was a Halloween to remember!

Jonah's Self Portraits

Apparently Jonah got a hold of my camera again. I found these when I downloaded my photos.

This one is my favorite! I will surly never forget what his nose looked like at age 6!

He did take this one of the clouds however. I really like it. I really like clouds.

Man Tag

What is your husbands name? Travis H.
How long have you been married? 12 years come February
How long did you date? 6 months, then engaged for3 more months
How old is he? 31
Who eats more sweets? Me, if you are not including pop as a sweet.
Who is taller? Travis, but not by much.
Who said "I love you" first? I honestly cannot remember
Who can sing the best? Definitely me! Not that I have a spectacular voice, but Travis cannot carry a tune for anything.
Who is smarter? It depends on the definition of smarter. I got better grades in school than Travis, but he is super smart when it comes to figuring things out, finding directions, you know street smarts. He also has a fabulous long term memory. His short term memory could use some work however.
Who pays the bills? He brings in the money, I pay the bills.
Who sleeps on the right side of the bed? Nobody, I sleep on the left and Travis sleeps practically right on top of me.
Who mows the lawn? Usually Travis, I will sometimes if he is really busy.
Who cooks dinner? Usually me, but Travis helps out a lot. I always make him grate the cheese.
Who drives? Travis. I hate driving!
Who kissed who first? Travis kissed me. It was sweet!
Who asked who out first? Well, I would say that I was the instigator, but Travis probably technically asked me out first. I really wanted to date him, but we were friends and he didn't really seem interested in me. In fact I was usually setting him up with other girls that he liked. Anyway, one day I asked what he was doing for memorial day and he said that he and his family were going to Lagoon. That night I went home and asked my parents if we could go to Lagoon for memorial day. The next day at school I asked him again what they were doing for memorial day. He didn't remember that we had already had this conversation (again, his short term memory) and told me that he was going to Lagoon. I said, "Really, me and my family are going to Lagoon also". Thank goodness he picked up the hint told me that we should get together and go on some rides. We ended up driving up together and spending the whole day with each other and haven't been apart since.
Who wears the pants? Nobody....Just kidding, probably me

I tag Everybody that reads my blog! I would love to hear your Man Tags!

Zoning Appointments

Hi all, I just thought I would let you all know that now that my life has slowed down a little bit, that I am going to be taking zoning appointments. I still am not graduated so I cannot charge yet. Now is a fabulous time to come and see me and figure out what all this is about and not have to pay for it. Just call me for an appointment.

My cute boys!

Jonah and Simon share a room. The other night Simon was scared and didn't want to go to bed. Jonah said, "Don't worry Simon, there are only 3 things that are real. Woofs (wolfs), bears and Hyenas, and I know how to take care of all of those because I know karate." So, Simon crawled into Jonah's bed and they slept together.

Tagged 8 things...

Tagged Eight things...
I was tagged by Olivia

Eight favorite TV shows
1. Lost
2. Samantha Who?
3. Challenge on Food Network
4. Iron Chef America
5. American Idol
6. The Next Food Network Star
7. ???
8. ???

Eight favorite restaurants:
1. Cheesecake factory
2. Panda Express
3. Geckos
4. The Philadelphian
5. Cafe Rio
6. Jamba Juice
7. Chin Wah
8. Wendys

Eight things I did yesterday
1. Went to church
2. Zoned two people
3. Ate dinner at my moms
4. Laughed
5. baked rolls
6. sewed fabric together to make a quilt
7. Tucked my boys in bead
8. Talked to Travis

Eight things I love about the Fall
1. Leaves changing colors
2. Crisp mornings and warm days
3. Halloween Candy
4. The smell
5. The fact that I know Christmas is soon to be here!
6. Eating warm soup
7. That life seems to slow down for just a while inbetween summer and Christmas
8. pulling out my sweaters to wear

Eight things I look forward to
1. Travis coming home from work
2. Having another baby
3. Going to bed
4. Graduating from my zoning classes
5. Jonah reading
6. Luke talking
7. The feeling of Christmas and listening to Christmas music
8. weekends

Eight things on my wish list
1. For more time to read
2. new carpet and hardwood floors
3. my family to be healthy and happy
4. my bedroom to stay clean
5. that Like was potty trained
6. another baby to have to potty train
7. that my boys were not so noisy
8. that Luke would stop playing in the bathroom

Eight people I tag
1. anybody that wants to

Know what these are?

BOOBEES!!!

I Love It!

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

Adoption book

I just got an e-mail from a lady that has been working on an adoption book. It is a bunch of stories about adoption that she has gotten together. I contributed our adoption story to be put in the book and I just found out that it is going to be published! I am so excited! It is going to come out in the spring of 2009! I can hardly wait to see it!

A long time

Wow, it has been a long time since I last posted. Things have just been crazy around here. The soccer season is finally over so that has helped things be a little less crazy. Jonah really enjoyed playing and we loved watching him, but two night of our week were gone and it was hard.
I have been studying a lot, and been attending classes. I am heading out of town this week to attend more classes. Homeschool is going great, but keeping us busy. Check out my other blog if you want to hear more of what is going on as far as that goes. I just thought I would post a few pictures from the last few weeks to get caught up.

Tv repair man

We had a tv repair man come out today. I tried to keep the kids upstairs so that the poor guys could work in peace but somehow they slipped past me. I was in the kitchen and I hear Simon say "Hey, what are you doing here?"
The TV guys said, "I'm fixing your TV."
Simon: "Oh, Well we go to homeschool"
Tv guy: "Oh yeah?"
Simon: "Yeah, what kind of school do you go to?"
Tv guy: "Oh, I don't go to school. I am too old for that"
Simon: "Yes you do to go to school."
Tv guy: "Nope, I am to old."
Jonah pipes in: "How old are you?"
Poor Tv guy: "I'm 32"
Jonah: "My dad is 22 too"
Annoyed Tv guy: "No, I am 32"
Jonah: "Oh, yeah, my dad is 32 too."
Laughing, but trying to hold it back mom: "Jonah and Simon, come back up stairs"

Just had to share!

Well meaning advice

I have always gotten comments and advice from well meaning people (as many others do about their own children) about Jonah, but it seems that it has become an even greater occurrence in our lives since we have decided to homeschool. Many comments are helpful and we can tell that they are spoken with love and true concern. Others, and we can feel the meaning behind them no matter how masked they are, are just flat out criticism. I have really struggled with this this past week and so when I read the following quote on a website that I was looking at, as I was preparing school work today, I started to cry. I thought I would share to if nothing else get some things off my chest and maybe educate some, (not nessasarily anybody that reads my blog) about how it feels to be a mom to Jonah. She says it so well, better than I have ever been able to put into words.

"You will undoubtedly come in contact with others who do not see your child as a "gift". I know that many other moms watch with horror as I calmly extract my child from the top of the refrigerator upon which he has climbed. They grow weary as he shares with me the 3 millionth thought which just flashed into his head. They even comment that they could never handle a child with the energy level of my son while I harbor the belief that they also think I should just make him "straighten up!"

Others have responded that I seem to hold the reigns of discipline too tightly. I do indeed keep "a shorter leash" with this child, for I know that there is a line of excitement where, once crossed, he will act on any impulse immediately, without concern for consequences or dangers. So to these parents of calm, compliant children, I do seem to respond too quickly to what appears to be a very minor infraction. But I know what comes later, if things aren't kept in check now.

So I have learned to smile politely when their well meaning comments are sometimes way off base. I have learned that my child is special. I really believe that my son is destined for something wonderful...something that would be impossible for those calmer, regular-energy level children. I can think of several occupations where boundless energy would be an incredible asset. I delight in the fast pace of his thought. I am even jealous of his tireless enthusiasm for life and wonder what more I could accomplish if I were so blessed. And I am most especially delighted that I am able to help him reign in and shape this gift of boundless energy.

If he were in a traditional school setting, he most certainly would have been labeled a "trouble-maker" and he most probably would have believed it himself. I am so very thankful that his image of himself is of a creative, innovative, intelligent, can-do child"

Carol Barnier

My dishwasher is fixed!!!!!

I cannot even begin to tell you how excited I am! Having my dishwasher fixed is releaving so much stress. It is one less thing that I have to worry about right now. This weekend we are painting the basement. Yes, that means that we are finally done mudding also! #2 stressful thing crossed off the list. School has gone great this week (see my other blog for more info) and all seems to be well.
Travis and I are going to go on a date tonight. Well actually we are going to look at carpet, but we will be without children so it is defiantly a date. Maybe we will even stop and get some ice cream or something!

A little overwhelmed

Ok, I just need to take a little breather. Things are a little crazy around here lately. Of course school has started this week. That has made things a little stressful. We have had fun and everything is going well, but it has taken a little getting use to for all of us (see my homeschooling blog to read more). Travis got a new calling in the YM presidency this week so between my Primary Secretary calling and now his we are busy with meetings and things that need to be done. I am of course going to school, which hasn't taken time away from home really, just time to study and do my "homework". It really hasn't been bad, just one more thing. Travis is going to go back to school in the spring and is trying to get things ready to do that. Of course there is the never ending basement project. I swear we are never going to get done mudding! The worst however has got to be that my dishwasher, my brand new dishwasher is broken, and has been for over a week now. The button that locks the electrical panel is stuck on and so I cannot start the dishwasher. All the lights just blink at me when I try. We called the repair center to have them come fix it and they finally came out on Tuesday after we had talked to several people on the phone. They came in, said "oh, it is the lock button that is broken" acted all surprised even though we had told them that a MILLION times. Then said that they couldn't test it if the lock button was broken so they would have to order parts and come back to fix it. They will not be back until the 28th!!!! So, on top of having tons on my plate already, I will not have a dishwasher for over another week. It really will be all ok! I just need to get it off my chest for a minute. I bought a whole bunch of paper products last night so that I will have less to worry about as far as dishes go. I am sure that school and the new calling will feel less stressful as as we settle into them and they are not so new any more. I just need to take a deep breath and relax.

Random Sampler

Well, since I have not been great at blogging the last few weeks I thought that I would

do an update of sorts. Here are a few random pictures from the last little while.

Of all the places to fall asleep! It is funny though how common of an occurrence this!

Simon and his friend decided to roll around in a mud puddle. I have a picture of them being sprayed off that I was going to post, but it is giving me a headache trying to get it posted.

This is the beginning of my knubon! All zonologists have big calluses on their knuckles. I am starting to get one after only zoning three people (myself included). I am very proud of it! I'm not sure if you can really see it from these pictures, but I thought I would try anyway.

Ed week part two

I just wanted to write about my favorite class at Ed week. It was taught by Merrilee Boyack. You may have heard of her, or read one of her books. She is fabulous! I went to several of her classes and loved every one! This one imparticular that I wanted to write about was about goals. She says that you need to set goals until you are 100 years old. She says that too many people set goals and then when they achieve them, (or give up on them) then they never set more. Now I have never been a goal setter. That is not true, I set them, but I never do them. I try and make them achievable, but it never seems to happen. But something about what she said made so much more sense to me that anything else about goals ever has. She made it seem really doable!
Anyway, she told us to dream really big! Then to write down all of our dreams. She told us to set marriage dreams, family dreams, faith dreams, financial dreams, home dreams (not just where you want to live or how you want your home to look, but how you want your home to feel), fitness and appearance dreams, friendship dreams, personal dreams, professional dreams, fun dreams, and an outrageous dream. She gave us assignments like writing our eulogy and a personal essay to help us figure out our dreams. This actually helped a ton! These are our life long goals that we want to accomplish.
Then she told us to set yearly goals that support our life long dreams. This made so much sense to me! I could hardly believe that I had never thought of doing it before. She also challenged us to do what she calls a perfect year. It is one goal that you set for yourself that you do perfectly for one year. If you miss a day, then you start your year over until you have done it for a year straight. I have been so excited about this. I have set my goals and so far I have done great!

Zonology

So last night I took my first classes to get certified to be a Zoneologist! It was so much fun. I learned so much and it is just the beginning. I have classes tonight and Friday and all day Saturday. By the end of Saturday I will know how to do the zone completely so that I can start to practice on people. My training won't be complete until the first of the year however.
For those of you that don't know what zoning is, which I assume is most of you, I will give you a definition now that I know better how to explain it.
Basically there is a map, or signal system on the bottom of your feet that is connected to every cell and organ in your body. Zoning helps to correct, balance and renew the bodies cell system through this map. We can also asses the bodies current state of health through this signal system. It is so exciting. I have seen the difference that it has made for several people in my family and I am so excited to be able to help others to feel better and have a more balanced body! I am going to need people to practice on, so if you are willing to be my guinea pig let me know! By the way, it feels great!

Ed Week

Last Wednesday I headed up to Idaho to go to BYUI's education week. It was so fun! The classes were from Thursday to Saturday. I learned so much! I just thought I would share some of what I learned. I think it will be in a few installments because I learned so much.
The first class in the morning was about Armageddon and the Second Coming. It was fascinating to me. I had no idea what Armageddon really was. I learned that Christ will come twice before his actual millennial reign. Once at Adam-ondi-amen and once after Armageddon. It was so interesting.
I also took a class called Uniting and organizing your family team. It was awesome. The most important thing that I learned was that in order for family members to want to always come home they need three things, a friend, a responsibility and to be nurtured by the word of God.
We have tried to teach our children to have responsibilities. We have given them chores and they just don't seem to work. Now our kids still have chores, but they are not really structured. I am not a structured person and I really cannot expect my kids to be if I am not. So they still help around the house, but not by a chore chart per say. I want them to feel like they are in charge of something however and have a responsibility for something in our family so what she taught me was so great. She said that our families should have committees like in the wards of the church and each person should be the chairman of that committee. She gave us a whole bunch of examples of the committees that they have in their family.
So, each of the boys have their own committee that they are now in charge of. Jonah is over the family activities committee. He is in charge of planning and organizing our family activities. He got this assignment on Monday night and we have already had two family activities. Yes, that is one a day. Monday night we watched a movie together and had ice cream. Tuesday night we went for a bike ride and got snow cones at the little shack by our house. He is very excited about his job and we can tell that already he is feeling a sense of being needed more then ever before.
Simon is over the Family Sunshine Committee. That means that it is his job to make everyone happy if they are sad. He has such a talent for making people happy by just laughing or smiling at them. He is perfect for the job. We also thought that he would be great for the job because he is three and he is actually the one that needs the most cheering up these days. We hope that it will help him to just be happier himself more often. He is also doing great and is very proud. If we remind him that he is supposed to make people happy he tries so hard to do so and usually succeeds (unless it is Luke, who is cutting molars and no amount of anything will make him happy these days). Luke is too young to be in charge of anything obviously. Travis and I are in charge of a few other Committees as well like the Family Service Committee, and the Family Preparedness Committee as well as a few others. We will report on our assignments at our family council meeting each week to make sure that everything is going well. We are excited to make this change in our family and see how it goes.
This is all I will post about ed week for now, but stay posted for more exciting stuff. I haven't even gotten to my favorite speaker yet!

Swimming

I think my children need a swimming pool seeing as how they are swimming in the street!

About me

1. What time did you get up this morning? 7:15

2. Diamonds or pearls? Diamonds

3. What was the last film you saw at the cinema? Iron Man

4. What is your favorite TV show? Lost

5. What do you usually have for breakfast? Green smoothie

6. What is your middle name? Ann

7. What food do you dislike? soggy bread

8. What is your favorite CD at the moment? John Mayer Continuum

9. What kind of car do you drive? My 1997 Pontiac Transport, which I am so glad to have back!

10. Favorite sandwich? My special tuna sandwich

11. What characteristic do you despise? being judgemental

12. Favorite item of clothing? PJ's

13. If you could go any where in the world on vacation, where would you go? Europe

14. What was your most recent memorable birthday? My last birthday is the only one I remember. I am getting old!

15. When is your birthday? December 1st

16. Morning person or a night person? night

17. Shoe size? 9, yes I have big feet

18. Pets? one Bo dog

19. Any new and exciting news? Nope

20. What did you want to be when you were little? a mommy

21. How are you today? GREAT!

22. What is your favorite flower? I love spring bouquets

23. What is a day on the calendar you are looking forward to? July 30th, I am going to Idaho for Ed Week, and Aug 6th, I am starting my Zoning classes

24. What are you listening to right now? John Mayer

25. What was the last thing you ate? Left over lasagna from last night

26. Do you wish on stars? Absolutely

27. If you were a crayon, what color would you be? blue

28. How is the weather right now? hot and muggy

29. Last person you spoke to on the phone? My sister in law Roxanne

30. Favorite soft drink? None

31. Favorite restaurant? Chin Wah or Geckos or Panda Express

32. Hair color? blond

33. What was your favorite toy as a child? My cabbage patch doll

34. Winters or summers? Fall

35. Chocolate or Vanilla? Twist

36. Coffee or tea? Neither

37. When was the last time you cried? Sometime last week

38. What is under your bed? a whole bunch of junk

39. What did you do last night? started my cleaning for today so that I would have less to straighten today and made cookies, they are really good by the way!

40. What are you afraid of? Heights

45. Salty or sweet? both together!

46. How many keys on your key ring? three

47. How many years at your current job? six years

48. Favorite day of the week? Saturday

49. Do you make friends easily? I think so.

Luke Damien Garner

Notice I used his full name. There is a reason for that. I don't remember my other boys getting into quite as much stuff as he is at his age. He must be trying to keep up with his brothers.

Yes, this is him. He WILL NOT leave anything in the cupboards alone. He is always is in them. I swear I put the contents away at least 10 times a day. I dont' even organize it anymore. I just throw it in because I know it will be back out in about 5 min. He also puts stuff in them. I find dirty sippy cups in them all the time as well as pieces of bread and stuff.

This is also him. He will not stay out of my plant. He used to get in it and throw maybe one handful of dirt out and then he would leave it alone. I could deal with that. Now he just throws dirt everywhere. He always does it when I am in the bathroom or busy cleaning somewhere.

After him getting dirt all over the living room three times we decided to put the plant up in our bedroom.

This is him as well. Isn't he cute! It just kind of makes up for it all!

Memory Game!

I got this from a friend, it's fun to hear all the different memories.

Here are the directions:

1. As a comment on my blog, leave one memory that you and I had together. It doesn't matter if you knew me a little or a lot, anything you remember!

2. Next, re-post these instructions on your blog and see how many people leave a memory about you. It's actually pretty funny to see the responses. If you leave a memory about me, I'll assume you're playing the game and I'll come to your blog and leave one about you. If you don't want to play on your blog, or if you don't have a blog, I'll leave my memory of you in my comments

Where do they come up with these things?

Simon just told me that I am a "genieous" (genius). I have no idea where he picks up these words! It was meant as a compliment however so I feel flattered.

Deep thoughts from a 30 year old

I have been thinking a lot about my life lately. I have always heard that getting older is great because you are wiser. I really believe this. I have been 30 for over 6 months now, and as I look back over the last several months I can see that I have been living my life different then I ever have before. For one thing, I can say that I am truly happy. Even when things aren't going like I would like I can say that I am happy. I am truly enjoying everything about my life even the things that have seemed completely mundane to me in the past I am enjoying. Like doing the dishes for example. I actually don't completely hate doing dishes any more. I look at it in a completely different way. (I am still working on the laundry thing however.)
I have finally found myself and who I have always wanted to be, and who I knew I always was inside. I am now changing things in my life that I have always wanted and tried to change without any luck. It seems easier now, even though I think that it is more my perception of life that is actually making it easier. I feel like I have overcome some great trials that have made me stronger and wiser. These experiences are helping me get through the trials that I have now. Hopefully in a little bit easier way then in the past.
Now, I don't think that it just magically happened over night on my birthday, but because I have been reflecting back I have noticed it more.
I am proud to be 30! I am excited to get older. Hey, I might even love my 40th birthday! I don't think I will ever try to hide my age because I am proud. (My mom still says that she is 29! HA! I am older then her.)

Birth cousins

This is Luke and Elijah. Elijah is Luke's birth cousin. He was born one day before Luke. We got to meet him and his mom over the weekend. It was fun to see the two of them together and to spend some time getting to know each other a little.

July 4th

We have had a really fun few days. On Thursday we went camping and 4 wheeling. The boys has a lot of fun. Luke got real dirty as he loved to sit and play in the dirt. Grandma and Grandpa Garner came with us and we got to sleep in their tent trailer. We came home on Friday and got cleaned up then headed back out to go on a picnic with my side of the family. We played a game of kick ball after the picnic. Then we headed to my sisters house to wait for the fireworks to start at Thanksgiving point. We can see them well from her front yard. While we waited we set off some fireworks and the boys got to do some sparklers. The older kids, (ie the parents) played Guitar Hero which was projected onto my sisters garage door. It was a lot of fun!

Random Pictures

Luke never stops eating!

Simon at the park.

This is what Simon looks like every morning after he drinks his green smoothie. He loves them!

Simon with his birth mom at our birth mom reunion. I will post more about it later. I am going to be getting more pictures and will share more then.

Jonah and Simon with Jonah's birth mom at the reunion.

Yesterday

Yesterday was quite possibly one of the worst days I have had as a parent. The day started out good. I was planning on having some of my friends and their children over for a play date. I was excited! They came we played, ate and talked. The kids had gone outside to play in the back and I really wasn’t too worried about them. They only thing that they could really get into was the water, but Travis had just put caps on all of the bibs so that the kids wouldn’t play with them, or so I thought. I guess he had tried to put them on, but they didn’t fit. So, I went back to check on them and the entire stair well was full of water. They had turned the hose bib on and left the water running and it seeped down and started to full the well up from the bottom. Of course they didn’t think to turn the water off, or come and get me and tell me what was happening, they instead decided it would be fun to play in it. When I found them I was actually surprisingly calm and simply told them to go to their room. I told the mother of their friends that were here and she proceeded to take the kids home.

I went up to the boys’ room to check on them again and their window was open and all of their books, dresser drawers full of clean clothes, blankets pillows, sheets and toys, pretty much anything in their room that was not to heavy for them to lift was thrown out the window. Now let me just say, that their window is right above the stairwell that was now filled with water. Everything was sopping wet. All the books were ruined. I couldn’t stop crying about this. I love books! I love my children to have books to read and learn from. I am so disappointed in my boys. Don't get me wrong. I love them deeply, which is part of the reason for my disappointment. I am at a complete loss at what to do. Every time I went out to try and clean things up, all I could do was cry. We have tried, and tried to teach them the rules, to teach them obedience and responsibility for their things. Our FHE lesson on Monday was on obedience and it’s importance.

We have now taken everything out of their room except their mattresses and one blanket each. They will have to earn the rest of their stuff back. We cannot trust them with it. Their window is shut up so that they cannot open it. Travis found a way to cap the hose bibs. They are grounded for the rest of the week. And they must help me wash all the clothes that they threw out the window. I don’t know if any of this will teach them however. I feel so lost and unsure of what to do.

Good Start

So last night I made some cookies. I know that is a great thing to start eating healthier with huh? But, I really had to know what these cookies would taste like so that when I am getting a sugar craving I know that I will have something I can turn to so that I don't totally loose it. Anyway, they turned out really good. I just took my chocolate chip cookie recipe and halved the sugar in it. Then I replaced the flour with whole wheat flour and the chocolate chips with raisins and almonds. They really taste good. The boys even like them and I feel lots better about letting them have some since they are healthier.
This morning I got up and made a green smoothie for breakfast. We are hoping to have these everyday. I just put water Kale, spinach, and collard greens into my blender and liquefied it. Then I added bananas, apples and some frozen mixed berries. I was worried about what the family would think. Travis was very supportive of it. He was excited to try it and loved it. Jonah and Simon initially turned their noses up to it because it is green, but they tried it and liked it, and even asked for more. I really liked it also. Luke was the only one that would not drink it, but he is really sick today so hopefully that is why. I will keep trying with him. I defiantly think we could have these every day. The benefits are so great! In just that one glass of smoothie we got all of our fruit and vegetable servings for the day, lots of fiber and healthy carbs for energy. And Kale is really good to help clean out toxins in your body. This is the first step that we have decided to take. Hopefully it will continue to go well.

It's Time!

So my little family has been slowly under going some small changes over the last few weeks in our diet and the way we look at health. Travis has quit drinking pop. I have stopped drinking milk and we all have started trying to drink more water. There have been other small changes, but not major ones. Now the reason for this, is because of a Zoneologist that we have started seeing lately that has helped us to realize the things that these products are doing to our bodies. I will get more into what zoneology is another time, but we have been very excited with what we have learned so far! By the way, Thanks Kirsten for the referral! Anyway, we have recently (within the last few days) decided that it is time to make even bigger changes in our health. The reasons? On Sunday I found out that my cousins husband, that is around my age and has two small children, has cancer. Not only does he have cancer, but he has three forms of it, two of which are very aggressive forms. It breaks my heart. Then, to top it off, yesterday I found out that my grandpa has prostate cancer, and something is wrong with his heart, they are not quite sure yet. We are not sure on the prognosis, as my grandpa will not tell anybody yet because he does not want us to worry. But it has really hit home with me this week with everything going on, and what I have learned about my body, how precious life is. How short it really is. How wonderful our bodies are and that I should be taking better care of this gift that I have. That I should be teaching my kids from a young age how important it is to eat healthy. So I am going to be working on this. I am going to be trying new things and we will hope that it all goes well!

Travis' birthday

Travis' birthday was a few days ago and we had so much fun! We dropped the kids off at Travis' brothers house and we went 4 wheeling for a few hours, just the two of us. It was so nice and relaxing. After that we went to dinner with some friends. We went to the Cheesecake Factory. It was so yummy! Travis had steak, which they cooked perfect, and shrimp. It came with mashed potatoes and they make them chunky, just how Travis likes them. I had a Cobb salad, which was also really good. And of course we each had some cheesecake as well. Travis tried the Adams peanut butter and I had the Dutch apple. SO good! The company was great! We laughed and really enjoyed ourselves. After dinner we went and saw Iron Man which Travis has been wanting to see for a long time. Travis really liked it. I thought it was pretty good but a little disturbing at times. I have become pretty sensitive to violence lately. Anyway, It was a great day!

The piano #2

So yesterday was Jonah's second piano lesson. Last week didn't go well however, so this week was really his first piano lesson. It went really well! He was able to sit and do many of the things that were asked of him and he actually enjoyed it. He did really well with rhythm and he was picking out the beat. He was also able to find all the "c"'s. I was so proud of him! Simon didn't do as well however, but we have some things that we are going to work with him on and see if he can get to the point that he is more ready. He is the one that really wants to play, so hopefully he will start to do better.

A little comic relief

As I was changing the clothes from the washer to the dryer just now I found 5 rocks, a small toy car, and some metal thing shaped like a horse shoe in the bottom of the washing machine. I couldn't help but laugh. The things little boys put in their pockets! I guess that is what I get for not checking Jonah's pockets before I wash his pants.

Why?

There is a towel in my refrigerator.

WARNING

Just a warning to you all, I am here today solely to complain in hopes to make myself feel better. I thought today was going to be a great day, busy but great. I woke up at 8:00. Can you believe it? I got to sleep until 8! My kids were all still asleep, the house was quite so I decided to relax and do something for myself. I actually got to watch TV for a half an hour uninterrupted! Seems great so far right? Well it was, and then the kids started to wake up. Jonah woke up and told me that he peed his pants. I told him to go take a bath and proceeded to go get Luke from his crib only to be assaulted by the most horrible smell that I remember smelling in a long time. Luke had thrown up sometime in the middle of the night and it was everywhere. All over in his hair, all over his blankets and crib, on the floor. On top of that he was poopy and it was very near to leaking all over as well. I made Jonah get out of the tub so that I could clean up Luke. I then cleaned up his room, which was worse then cleaning Luke up.
As I am sitting here rocking him and typing with one hand, I can only hope that he feels better and will not throw up again. I have errands to run today and piano lessons to take the boys to and Travis and I are supposed to go to the temple tonight and I am not sure if I am going to be able to do any of this. The worst part of it is that I now have a ton of laundry to do between the two of them. I HATE laundry. Now I think I will go give him another bath as I can still smell it on him.

Jonah's Prayer

Jonah said the cutest prayer yesterday. I just had to write it down. He said thank you for all the usual things, his toys his house etc. Then he asked to bless dad to come home safe and then he said "please bless Joseph Smith that he could not die, because I really like him, because we have the same name. Well, not really the same name, but kind of the same because we both start with a "J" and then an "o" . So we are kind of the same, in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen. "

It was so sweet and innocent. It was such a good example to me of the way that I should talk to Heavenly Father. Just like I would talk to some one else.

Today he thanked he Heavenly Father for the toys that Santa gave him for Christmas and asked that he could get more toys by earning money. He is so cute!

Working weekend

Well, we didn't do a whole lot of fun things this weekend, but we got a lot done and that made it wonderful! We got our new dishwasher installed. I LOVE it! I never knew that a dishwasher could actually clean dishes this good! I actually enjoy doing dishes now. We will see how long that lasts. I got my clothes folded, just in time to start doing more laundry. We got some mudding done in the basement and some yard work done. And we finally got our garden planted! I am so excited to be getting some of our to do list crossed off. It defiantly makes life less stressful.

We have set a date to be done with our basement. Hopefully that will encourage us to work on it more and harder. It is so hard to work on it at night after Travis gets home from work. We are both worn out and just don't want to do it, but it needs to get done. So our deadline is By August 16th. We want to have it done as much as our budget will allow by then so that we can not have to worry about it when school starts. We want to make one of the little rooms down there a "school" room where I can keep all of the school supplies and have a little table for the boys to draw on and such. We should be able to have it all painted and finished other then maybe carpet. We really hope to have that, but we will see. Also, later we will be adding finishing touches like a new built in entertainment center and a built in desk unit and bookshelves. They will have to come later however. Maybe with next years tax return. Anyway, life feels a little more under control now and that is nice.

The Piano

So, we are going to start the boys in piano lessons. My mother in law teaches Suzuki Piano and we have thought about for some time that we would like to start both the boys when she got home from her mission. We decided that now would be a great time to do so. School will be out, and then next year we can just work it into Jonah's homeschooling. I am so excited about it! We are not sure how it will work, if he will be able to sit for a very long time to play or practice, but we feel that it will benefit him and Simon greatly. The great thing about it is that it will be grandma teaching them and she is SO good with kids and keeping their attention. She just has this special way with kids. She also will be able to tell when Jonah has had enough and move onto something else because she knows him well and can be patient with him.
I have been playing a lot recently as well. I haven't played in quite a while, I'm not really sure why, but I forgot how much I enjoy it. It is amazing to me how quickly it comes back to you. I have been practicing everyday for at least an hour and I feel like I am getting caught up where I was before when I stopped taking lessons a few years ago. Well I guess it was about 6 years ago. That is weird, I had no idea it had been that long. Now I am even more impressed! Anyway, I think that I might start taking lessons again once I get refreshed on the material. If I am going to be up there for the boys I might as well learn more myself. And it will be a great example to the boys as well.

Catching up

Well, there hasn't been anything terribly exciting going on the past little while. Just little things here and there. Life has pretty much been the same thing, different day. I am pretty preoccupied figuring out home school stuff for next year. I know it is three months away, but I have to order my curriculum and look over things and make sure it will work for Jonah. I have also been spending a lot of time trying to find my home school philosophy. Why I am doing this, and what I think is the best way to do it for Jonah. After much research and thought and prayer, I think I have it! I am so happy about that. It makes me excited to be doing this, instead of just being scared. I cannot wait to get started and have to just remind myself that Jonah needs a summer break.
Travis has been occupied with all of the projects that we have going on at our house. We have a laundry list full. It is frustrating because it all seems to be taking so long to complete. Time is our biggest enemy right now. We never seem to have enough of it to really get anything done other then what absolutely needs to be done. And all the while the list keeps growing and it all seems beyond our control. We are trying to get our garden started and were planning on working on it yesterday, but the weather was not cooperating. We have lots of other yard work to do. We need to mud the basement still. This is what really seems like it is taking forever! And now we have a new dishwasher coming on Friday to put in. Not to mention all the housework and regular stuff to do. Can you tell I am a little overwhelmed?
I am very excited about our dishwasher however. I wish we didn't have to get a new one, but it will be really nice to have one that actually works and that the dishes don't come out dirtier then when you put them in. This last week it has looked like the dishwasher ate oatmeal, chewed it up and then spit it all over my dishes. I end up having to re-wash 3/4 of what I just washed. That does not help with the time problem at all. I hate doing things over and over. Anyway, this is our life at the moment. Not terribly exciting, but not bad.