New Years Bash

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This is where all the cool people will be this year!

15 years and counting.....

Today is our 15th wedding anniversary!! When we got married people in our families were actually placing bets on how long we would last. Due to some crazy circumstances which some of you know (no,I wasn't pregnant which makes it that much more crazy) we got married my senior year of high school. I was 17,he was 18. We have far exceeded their expectations and are the happiest of marriages in the family. I'd say we've come a long way in that short amount of time. And we both agree it really doesn't seem like it's been that long!! Which is a good thing because this is nothing compared to eternity!

We have gone from immature teenagers to what you see above you. I wish I could put a pic of us when we got married but I'm still working on this whole computer savvy bit.

We met in 9th grade. Were "together" for a week. I dumped him. We stayed friends for the next 1 1/2 years. Then started dating again. Basically, we've been together since. We were going to wait to have kids so we could go to college. That plan lasted about 3 weeks. That's o.k. By the time our baby is 18,we'll only be 45. Then comes the traveling,etc. And we'll be young enough to enjoy it!

So,here's 15 reasons why I'm still so in love with my sweet husband after 15 years of marriage:

1. He tells me he loves me SEVERAL times a day.
2. He works hard to keep his business going.
3. He keeps the peace between me and our 3 teenage girls.
4. He knows how to have fun.
5. When I'm in my "crazy" times he just steps back and asks "what do you need,what can I do to help you?"
6. He still tells me I'm beautiful all the time even though I'm not the size 2 that he married.
7. He makes me laugh ALOT.
8. He feels bad when his snoring wakes me up.
9. He never brings up past mistakes even when he's mad at me.
10. He works really hard to teach our children how to become wonderful adults.
11. He holds the Priesthood and is a good example to our boys of what that means.
12. He constantly talks to our girls about what they need to look for (and avoid) in a guy when they start dating. It hasn't been that long since he was a teenager.
13. He is one of the smartest people I know. He can talk about almost any subject and actually know what he's talking about. I just fake it and then ask him later.
14. He always helps the kids with homework. He gets it and he's patient with them.
15. He is a GREAT example to the boys of how you should treat your wife and a good example to the girls of how they should expect to be treated by their husbands.

So,here's to the future with a wonderful man. Against all odds we've made it this far and we are still crazy in love. I couldn't ask for anything better than that!!

Dr appt

I had my appt with the surgeon today. Basically he said my films don't look bad and he needs something to compare to so he can see if they are changing. He assured me that if he thought there was even a chance it could be cancer,he would biopsy the lumps.So I need to go back in 6 months for a follow-up ultrasound to see if the lumps are any different.So,for now,no worries!!

The Bee and The Angel

Jake was in a spelling bee yesterday. I knew he was going to be in it,I just didn't know when because he didn't tell me until he called me afterwords to announce that he got 2nd place! Jake being brave.

Jake being nervous.

Now I suppose you're wondering if I wasn't there,how do I have pics. A very sweet person (you know who you are) was there,noticed that I wasn't so she took some pics of Jake and then e-mailed them to me. This was so awesome to me. I'm really sad that I wasn't there but so happy that I have pics. This was a reminder to me that even though the service we do for somebody might not seem like a big deal to us,it might be HUGE to the person receiving it. To this angel it was just a few extra pics and an e-mail. To me it was a much needed service to get me through the day. I have had some major stresses lately and I'm grasping to any good news and happy thoughts. Getting these pics was so much more than that. Knowing that somebody noticed my absence and went out of their way to help me was just what I needed.Thank you! And--Congratulations Jake! You're an awesome speller!!

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Great Story!!

We all keep hearing about all the horrible things happening in reaction to Proposition 8 in California. We have seen what happens when you stand up for what you believe. And perhaps gotten a very small taste of what it was like in the days of Joseph Smith.I received this story by e-mail today and was told there are many others like it on lds.org.It was so sweet I had to share it.

My heart is overflowing with joy and gratitude to our Heavenly Father for His tender mercies and mighty miracles in our behalf. I just have to share this with you. As most of you know, I am a Temple ordinance worker and work the morning shift in the LA Temple every Saturday. Today, I had the privilege of translating sister Martz-the new assistant Matron's-message during our devotional. She started like this "The prophet Joseph Smith said that no unhallowed hand would be able to stop this Work from progressing. These past few weeks when mobs have combined and armies have gathered against the saints, the Lord has protected His house". She went on to say that those, like her, who were inside the Temple when mobs were surrounding it, did not realize how scary and terrifying this looked on TV to the rest of us, because inside the House of the Lord all was calm and there was peace abundant. After Proposition 8 passed, the Temple began receiving threatening calls and mail from those opposing it. They were warned that more than 5000 people would come to the Temple and burn it to the ground, and stop Its work. The first Thursday when the mob came, the new LA Temple President called the Salt Lake City Temple Offices for instructions. He was instructed to call the local police and to insure the safety of those attending the Temple by closing the gates. The assistant Matron said today, that it was a tender mercy from the Lord that the mob chose that Thursday to come since they had only one person coming to receive his own endowment that day, which he received in time to leave before trouble started. The LAPD and the FBI responded quickly to the Temple Presidency 's summons and patroled the grounds and kept the mob from entering the same. Most of them had never been there before and expressed their surprise at how beautiful and peaceful all around was. They were invited to come back during the Christmas season to see the lights and they promised they would. On Thursday, November 13th, sister Campbell, a secretary in the Temple, was opening the mail and upon opening a large manila envelope found inside a smaller one. When she opened this one, a white powder flew all around her desk. She thought this could be related to the demonstrators and feared the worst-ANTHRAX. She contacted the President, who in turn called the Salt Lake City Temple office again for instructions. The FBI, the LAPD, and even the SWAT teams were once again in the grounds to investigate, and the Temple once again had to close from around 11:30 AM to 5PM. They closed the gates and were instructed to keep all the people there wherever they were found at the time. Those in the parking lot had to remain in the parking lot. Those entering the Temple had to remain in the first floor and those already upstairs were taken to the Celestial Room. Then, the miracles began to happen: A brother serving as a recorder that day is a Microbiologist by profession and used to deal with hazardous substances every day. He was the first to say the white powder in the envelope was only talc, and put every one at ease. Then the sister coordinator upstairs was impressed to call upstairs to the sealing area, and said "They said we can't go down but no one said we can't go up, and I have many people in the Celestial room with their ceremonial clothes on ready to work. Could they do some sealings?" As it happened, there were four sealers present that day and they ran four sealing sessions non stop while the Temple was closed. Downstairs, someone else thought to invite those in the Lobby to do some initiatories, which they promptly did for all those hours too, brothers and sisters alike. Among those waiting in the parking lot there was a large group of young men and women with their leaders who had come to do Baptisms for the dead, and who waited patiently all those hours and decided when the Temple was reopened to go ahead and fulfill their assignment instead of driving back home. The Temple reopened in time for the 5:30 PM session. The next day when recording the ordinances, they discovered that they had performed 2000 sacred ordinances on Thursday, only one less than the day before when three stakes had been visiting the Temple . Once again the assistant matron reminded us of the words of the prophet Joseph Smith, "No unhallowed hand can stop the Work from progressing...". But, this is not all, a prophecy was fulfilled also. When the new LA Temple President was set apart by President Uchdorft of the First Presidency, he received a blessing and these words were pronounced: " The time has come for the LA Temple to come out of obscurity and become an Ensign for Righteousness to the world under your presidency." The pictures of the Temple have been shown on TV, newspapers and the internet, not only in this country but worldwide. People of other faiths have called and sent letters to the Temple thanking the Church for defending marriage and protecting the family, and commenting how impressed they are by how beautiful and majestic the Temple looks . One minister of an African American church, who by his own admission had harbored ill feelings against the mormons before said " I am impressed by your integrity and Christ like behavior, and even if I am not ready to consider you my brothers and sisters in Christ, we can be first cousins!". I asked the assistant matron if I could share her comments and she said to go ahead. I can only addmy own testimony that I know the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints has the power and authority of God on earth. God Lives and Jesus, His only Begotten Son and our Savior is coming soon to redeem His people. I am grateful to know this and I pray we stand firm, steadfast and immobile while the prophecies of the signs before His Coming are fulfilled. "Be not afraid, only believe" He has said, and also " What I the Lord have spoken, I have spoken, and I excuse not myself; and though the heavens and the earth pass away, my word shall not pass away, but shall all be fulfilled, whether by mine own voice or by the voice of my servants, it is the same." I testify that this is true and testify it in the Holy Name of Whom I strive to serve, even Jesus Christ. Be faithful and safe is my humble prayer.
Your sister in Christ, Patricia H. Arnazzi

Good news and ??

I got my test results back. My MRI on my ovary came back showing more cysts.I'm only bugged because I went through the claustrophobic horror of the machine just to find out I have more cysts.Why couldn't they be more clear on the ultrasound?? So, I have to go back for another ultrasound in January. Now I have to pick the lesser of 2 evils. Either I can continue getting painful cysts and having them checked on a regular basis or I can finish off my hysterectomy and go through menopause,yuck.
My breast ultrasound wasn't as positive. The first cyst they found 6 months ago is still there. But now I have 3 more "something" that aren't cysts. He gave me some long name for them but said they are basically lumps that they aren't positive what they are. So,he's sending me to a surgeon so he can review the test results and decide if he wants to biopsy them or not. YIPPEE!!
So once again--back to waiting...

Pam the nut

So,yesterday when I scheduled my MRI the lady asked if I was claustrophobic 'cuz they could drug me for the test. I said "yes and that would be great,let's do that!" That was the only reason I could handle the thought of going in "the tube" So as the lady was putting me on the thing to lay down I said "wait,what about the drugs they promised?" She replied with "whoever told you that was mistaken,we don't do that here" So,I cried.And I cried. She said she would just try to put me in,take me right back out and see how I feel. We tried. HECK NO! So another lady came in and suggested that they put me on my tummy so I could look out the tube and not up at it. That kinda worked.To distract me I listened to the sounds the monster was making and tried to make words out of them.There were 2 distinct sounds.One sounded like "Pam" the other went "da-dut" or better yet "the nut" so I layed there,eyes closed,saying "Pam the nut" over and over! Then I remembered an episode of 'Scrubs' when a lady was in "the tube" and it broke,she was stuck in there for hours. I thought "it's mind over matter" so I layed there chanting "I can do this, Pam the nut!" Hey,it's crazy talk but it worked. That and knowing that my honey was waiting right outside the door to take me away from that place! From the time I walked out to the the time he got me home I was a wreck. It was not a fun experience.So,unlike myself,I was very quiet. Everytime he asked if I was ok,I started crying again.About the 4th time he said "ok,you only teared up that time,you'll be ok now." So,hopefully the worst part is over. Hopefully the results will come back good and I will know I climbed in the tube monster for no stinkin' reason.But that could take until next Thursday (at the latest). So,back to waiting!

Update

After 2 weeks of fighting with the insurance for pre-authorization,I'm finally going to get my testing done (MRI on the ovary and ultrasound on the breast,that's what the insurance is going for right now). The place that I have to go to get it done is so awesome! I found out this morning that I got approval and within 30 minutes the place was calling to schedule and I'm going in tomorrow! I'm so happy that it's not going to drag out and take forever to get in. Hopefully it won't take very long to get the results. I know the only reason it got approved and that I got in so fast was because of prayers. Never underestimate that power!

If I Were an Angel..........

A very creative friend of mine made this video. And of course, since it has some of my angels in it, I had to put it here! These are available for purchase through her. If anybody is interested, let me know, I'll get you in touch with her. It's very touching. You can also find this on you tube.




This just reminds us that though they can be challenging, they are gifts from above and we are so blessed to have them in our lives.Thanks Marika!

OK People, what's in the water??

In June I had a partial hysterectomy due to a big complex cyst on my right ovary and some other issues. I thought "great,no more time of the month,no more pain,etc" Yeah right!! Since then I have had constant pain in my left ovary. They've done an ultrasound every 6 weeks watching cysts mostly come and go(some stay)So today I went in for another one. The routine is usually that after I go home and they call me within a week to schedule yet another one to keep an eye on what they found.But that wasn't the case today. The tech left and came back with the Dr.Ugh,this can't be good.They start discussing the 4,yes 4 things they see very clearly,but unlike usual,they can't tell what they are. Not the normal (or complex) cysts they normally see. Something else maybe but it's not quite clear. So,I'm waiting to find out when they are scheduling my MRI for.

But wait,it's not over yet!! 5 months ago I was sent for a mammogram and ultrasound of my right breast. There was some tenderness,just being cautious. Except they found something "suspicious" So they scheduled another one 6 months out,which was scheduled for November 20. But after talking to him and with the findings today we decided I should get an MRI instead of just repeating the US and mammogram which wasn't very clear last time. MRIs seem to pick up alot more than the other 2.

So,back to my question. What's in the water?? People all around me are getting diagnosed with cancer or having other really weird health issues that are cause for concern.Is this some form of bio-terrorism? What the heck??

So,now I get to be patient. Easier said than done.

TY and school

Alot of you have been asking if Ty is doing better with the whole "school situation" So,here's the background and the update. When Ty started kindergarten this year, it wasn't pretty! He doesn't do well with change (that's putting it nicely) He doesn't even like going on vacations because it's out of the usual.At Disneyland he kept begging to go home. Anyway,the first day of school I got a call from the teacher,something about a "meltdown" I informed her that was normal because it's a change blah blah blah. It got really bad really fast. We had several days of me being called to the school 'cuz he was "out of control" He hit the principle,the counselor and one time beat up the security guard. That's when they called in the district psychologist :)We were thinking that some of the acting out was tied into to the fact that he was having a hard time writing,cutting,anything with his hands and maybe he was just frustrated. They decided to do all kinds of tests for academics,emotional disabilities,motor skills,etc.So,we had the meeting today. They don't want to label him with anything since he's only 5. But we did find out that his IQ is 115!! (the average ranges from 75-115) so he's at the highest end of average. Some of the more specific things he even scored 118.So,he's smart. So for now they are saying he's "at risk" for ADHD and emotional disability.They are implimenting some new things for us and his teacher to try to get him past this before he's too old. He will also be working with an occupational therapist.So,hopefully he'll be acting a little better. He's so stinkin' cute so it's hard to get upset with him.

Now the part that bugs me (i think)....one of the tests they had him do (I wish they could give me a copy of it)he had to draw himself, Mark and me. Mark was at the bottom of the page and big,which they said means Ty knows dad's in charge and he better think twice before messing with him and that dad is a grounded person. Then she pulled out mine and Ty's. Ty was bigger than me and he was at the bottom of the page and I was at the top of the page. This means--Ty is in charge of me,I'm a softy push-over and he's more grounded than me! Also,everybodys arms stuck out the sides of their heads.At the time we thought "ok,that's weird" but later Mark pointed out "oh,spongebob's arms are on the side of his head!" OK-that makes sense.Anyway,I'm normally very strict,consistant (I've been told I run my house like an army base) but when it comes to Ty,it's just easier to give in than fight him 'cuz he doesn't give in easily.He's been doing so much better with behavior at school.But, today we found out it's 'cuz his teacher knows what sets him off so she just avoids those things. So,she's as bad as me. Avoid and give in!!

At least I know that this is all due to the fact that "his brain is wired differently than other kids" and that I didn't do a bad job raising him.So,I'm off the hook,yeah! But it's gonna be a long road to get him to work with his "wiring" So,wish us luck!

We are finallly final!

Thursday morning was the adoption hearing. We had family and friends there to be excited with us. Kyra cried,it was really sweet. We took pics with the judge and outside the courthouse but of course I haven't figured out how to download pics from my camera yet. After the adoption we picked up lunch and went to eat at Mark's office. Then the crazy started. We had to clean the house, get decorations, finish painting the girls room (a big thank you to Stephanie G. for running to get more paint when we ran out, I just didn't have time and thank you to Gloria for watching Stepanie's boys so she could go!) And we had a ton of little errands to run to get everything for the party ready.

Saturday was awesome. We had the sealing in the afternoon. Thank you to everybody that showed up to share it with us! Everybody,including my kids (especially Jake who gets along the worst with Kyra)was crying. The Spirit was so strong and the love was definitely felt.
After leaving the Temple we realized the only one with a camera was me and my batteries were dead! So while we are all trying to take pics on our phones,Ada saved the day!! She went up to random strangers asking if they would take pics and e-mail them to us. This very nice couple let us use their (35mm) camera and then just take the film. Sweet Ada went to get it developed so we could have the pics by today. The best part about taking pics was the wind! Ada's skirt kept flying up and tucking it between her legs wasn't working so hot.So Pam C. was on the ground holding Ada's skirt down around her legs. I would have loved to have a picture of that.It was really cute.
We left the Temple and had "linner" It was already 1:30,we hadn't had lunch and we knew there wouldn't be time for dinner before the party.Then off to get the last of the food for the party.

The party was great! We had a good turn-out and lots of yummy food (thank you to people that brought stuff to contribute) We had a picture video set to music that Stephanie F. made when she took our family pics. It brought tears to some including Mark's big brother (he's 6 ft 2 and 36 years old) He was so touched he even hugged Mark. Of course I totally missed that precious moment and had to hear it a day later through the grape vine. But at least we have updated family pictures and a cute video.There was karaoke,air hockey,guitar hero and some fun conversation.

But the day wasn't over yet. The party died down about 9:30. It had been a long couple of days and our kids were DONE. So we put the younger ones to bed and went out for sushi with some friends. I was a sushi virgin,never having the guts to try it before. But after the month I've had,I needed to try something fun. I did ok but I have to say I'm not a big fan. But I needed the conversation and relaxation. But the poor people at the restaurant... It closed at 10 and we were there until 11:15!!
They were really sweet and didn't seem to mind and we weren't the only ones lingering so they wouldn't have been able to close anyway.

The kids all slept in this morning. The younger kids slept about 1 1/2 hours later than usual and a few of the older girls slept til noon.

All in all it was a great weekend. Our family is COMPLETE. And now we can get back to the normal craziness without the extra craziness that we had for awhile.

OK OK OK,we got it!

Yesterday we finally tracked down the form we needed for the judge,we just needed to get it in our hands. Then.....we went to the church so the kids could do their interviews for temporary recommends and found out that the ward clerk never tracked Kyra's records down. To be able to take her to the Temple we had to have her baptism date. But,there was no record of her in the system. So,of course I was totally stressing. We were actually discussing re-baptizing her! But,thanks to LOTS of prayers this morning we were able to get the paper for the judge AND find her in the church records.So.....the adoption is Thursday morning and the sealing is Saturday afternoon. The party is still on for 6:30 Saturday night for those of you that can come. Now,I'm tired! I've been running on adrenaline for 3 weeks trying to get everything in order. Now when I think of the list of things I have to do in the next 2 days for the party it just makes me tired and I'm taking the "I don't wanna!" attitude. But,it's done so I hafta! See you all on Saturday!

Get your visual DNA

It's been delayed

We heard from our adoption attorney today. There was a problem with our paper work and she has to re-file everything to the court. So,needless to say,the adoption will not take place this Saturday. I told her we already have the sealing and party scheduled for October 11th (which is at 6:30,by the way) and people are already invited.And we have people coming from out-of-state that have already bought plane tickets. So she told me she would try really hard to push it through so I don't have to call everybody to reschedule. So pray with us that she'll be able to get us a new court date BEFORE the 11th.I'll keep ya posted..........

I'm VERY SUPERIOR

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108 As a 1930s wife, I am Very Superior Take the test!

I got 108!! Take the test and let me know your score

And the award for most dramatic goes to.............you decide

My 11 yr old son who we tend to call a drama "king" ( I'll leave his name out so he can't say I embarrased him) sprained his ankle 4 days ago. He has NO tolerance for pain. He's been on crutches with it wrapped up and using this as an excuse to get out of any chores.He's laying on the couch with it elevated whining alot. So I casually said "you sure are whining alot" and he said "you whined when you had surgery" so of course my response was "so you are comparing my surgery where I had 5 incisions and 2 organs ripped from my body to your sprained ankle? are you kidding?" I wonder where he got the drama from?? I keep reminding him that we have 3 teenage girls in this house and when it comes to injury or illness he out-does them all! I guess he's following in the tradition of guys being babies when they are sick. But he'll be gone before I know it so I guess I'll baby him while I can :)

Another announcement

We scheduled our sealing.It's gonna be on October 11th. I SO wish I could have EVERYBODY there. Especially knowing (for real this time) that this is our fourth and final time to have our whole family joined in such a wonderful setting. But,since there is limited space(dang-it) We will be having a celebration party that evening. Please come one and all! The few people who actually know about and read our blog are our friends.So please come party with us. I'm not sure on a time yet (I'm debating if I should serve dinner or not) As the time gets closer,I will fill you in. Just know that you need to set the evening of October 11th aside and you'll be set!

It still seems weird to me every time I say "I have 7 kids" I know some of you have more than that so you're like "yeah,aaand,what's the big deal?" But from my previous blog you know it IS a big deal for me. But there's actually been a few times when we are having FHE or getting ready for family prayer and even though everybody is in the room,I feel like somebody's missing. (Don't even think about it!) Of course when I voice this to Mark,he's ready to commit me. But,he's the one that had a dream last week that we had a new little baby boy. That's when I said "crazy" all the kids are in school, NO.MORE.BABIES. Besides our adoption certification expires in like 7 months and the process and cost to renew it are both beyond my capability. So,even if another opportunity popped up right now,the process moves too slow to happen before then. Plus....our car is full! Everytime I get in this conversation with my sweet children, Kyra says "if Heavenly Father wants it to happen,it will happen" Of course she is the same one that said (after my hysterectomy in June) that if He wanted me to get pregnant,He could make it happen. I think in that situation there is a limit to "miracles" right?? But,poor Natalie,surrounded by boys and 5 years younger than the next girl really wants a sister her age. I just told her I was surrounded by boys and was 4 years away from my closest sister and I survived!

So,our family will soon be complete (only 17 more days) and will be eternally complete in 31 days. It's crazy,we are in our (early) 30's and have this huge family when some of our friends are just getting started and are older than us. But,when they ask how we handle it I remind them that when our youngest is 18,we will be 45!! WOO HOO!! We will be young enough to travel,go on a mission or whatever other crazy things (like skydiving) that we've always talked about doing. I forget (on purpose) that if my daughters follow in my footsteps, we could be grandparents by the time we are 37! UGH!! But,I'm up for it! At least I'll be able to keep up with my grandkids without the assistance of a cane :) And I'll get comments like "is she yours? NO,your too young to be her grandma!" I can't wait!

EXCITMEMENT!!

We went in June back to Washington DC for the 3rd time to get adoption papers signed. We've been patiently waiting since then to get our adoption date so we could get things rolling. It's never taken this long before, but we've never had a child this short a time before putting the papers in, so it was ok. It gave us all time to be sure. Anyway, I just got an e-mail from our attorney, I was excited, so I wanted to share it with everybody. Paulette (who, as most of you have heard wants to change her name to Kyra with the finalization) will be officially stuck with us on September 27th! We are still working on a sealing date. We have people coming across the country so we need to work with their schedule. But it will follow soon after that. We will be a family of 9! That is SO weird for me to say. When I was a teenager growing up in a big family I said on more than one occasion "I will not have a big family, I hate big families" Yet, out of my 5 siglings (except one) I more than double the amount of children they have. I have one sister who comes close to me. But the rest have between 1and 3. Heavenly Father definitely had different plans in mind for me. Was he laughing at me all those times I announced that to my parents?? I was so sure!! I even had bad pregnancies and stopped after 3. So,I thought "see,even He knew I couldn't do more than 3, he made it hard for me to have kids" NO!! He just gave me a few years and then gave me the desire to adopt. Now c'mon, is that fair? Yeaaaahh, I guess. Though challenging at times, we have an awesome family. I have some amazing children. Just another lesson--He knows us alot better than we know ourselves!

Just to add a little venting.......

Can I just say teenage girls are way too dramatic! What's with the mood swings, the freaking out over little things,the idea that they can yell at parents,the idea that they can pick and choose which rules they will or won't follow based on whether they "like" the rule or not and the totally unpredictable.........whatever!! I don't know what I got myself into having 3 teenage girls at one time. I don't know what Heavenly Father was thinking bringing these girls into my life at such hard ages,especially when between the oldest and the youngest I have 3 girls within a 13 month age range. Holy freakin' cow! What do I do and why was I given this calling in life?

OK--my ranting is over. I do love my girls. Most of the time they get along great. But when they don't, it comes out of no where and I'm not always equipped to handle it. But they can be so entertaining and helpful and sweet too. Today was just one of those days.........And in my bad reaction to it,I actually broke a cell phone (not mine) which set off a whole new set of "crazy" Aren't we entitled to be crazy right along with them? I mean,we are girls too.

hmmmm.......I feel a little better now!

MY NEW OUTLET

I went to Grub Club for the first "real" time this week. For those of you who don't know--it's this awesome time once a month when some really fabulous women go to dinner! Holy cow--my kids just about died 'cuz I was gone for a whole 3 1/2 hours. I loved every minute of it. I sat by some fun "girls" We talked,laughed and vented. I got to know a few of them a little better than before. And they found out some stuff on me too.I must say, this is my new found love. I'm comitting to going every month now. What a great escape. My hubby even bathed the kiddos and put them to bed,it.was.perfect! I'm kicking myself for not getting into this sooner. I feel like I've missed out on some great possible friendships by passing every month.Let the fun begin!!

WOO HOO!!

I finally taught myself how to download pics from my computer to my blog! I put one on of the kids but the lighting isn't that great. Now I just need to learn how to download pics from the camera to the computer. I'm obviously not the most computer savvy person around. Hopefully I'll remember to ask Mark for a tutorial tonight and get some cute pics of us going....

FINALLY!!

This is the 4th week of school. I was so excited all summer because for the 1st time in 14 years I was going to be home with no kids all day,every day. I had a big list of fun things I was going to do:

• Spring cleaning
• Filing paperwork
• mani/pedi
• more spring cleaning
• massage
• facial
• work on year supply room
• more spring cleaning
• shopping
• take an accounting course at CGCC

It's not that my house is gross,it's just that when the kids put dishes away,it's not organized. When they put clothes away or put food in the pantry,it's not the way I want it. So this was my chance to clean and organize the way it "should" be and hope it stays that way for a few days. But since school started all I've accomplished is:

• going to the school several times to help the counselor get Ty through a meltdown(he's not good with change and kindergarten was a big change)
• having sick kids home
• taking kids to the dr
• going to work to straighten out paperwork issues
• taking me to the dr
• keeping up with laundry
• taking turns at the orthodontist with 4 different people (I finally got my braces off!)

So finally today I starting my spring cleaning.

• I wiped out and organized all of my kitchen cabinets and drawers (anybody need a nutcracker? apparently I have 3 of them and we aren't big on nuts that you have to crack out of the shell).
• I scrubbed my dryer lint filter (I found out that dryer sheets leave a film on the filter that can cause a fire and/or kill your dryer long before it's time)you should clean it every 6 months.
• Then I disinfected my sink--that lint filter was gross!
• Washed out the microwave
• Cleaned and organized the fridge

Right about this point the thought came to me--I need to get rich and hire a maid!!

Usually I enjoy spring cleaning,but usually I have at least 2 kids helping,talking,goofing around and just being distractions so the time passes quickly. I thought it would be so much easier by myself 'cuz I'd get alot more accomplished. But, IT'S BORING!!

So,if anybody wants to join me in any of the above spa treatments,let me know. My schedule is pretty open.

The intro........

I feel like everybody and their dog has a blog. I also feel like with my horrible journaling skills,I'm missing out on the memories that make life so exciting. This is my attempt to keep track of the craziness and keep those we love updated. So,here goes............

We've been married for almost 15 years. We have been blessed with 7 kids in that time. We are big advocates of adoption,having done it 3 (soon to be 4) times ourselves. Our kids range in age from 5-14. 4 girls,3 boys. So far,boys are easier!

OK-that's the basics,let the fun begin. I hope I can keep up with this and I hope you are all entertained!!