Saturday mornings

When I was growing up, every Saturday morning, we cleaned the house. We would be given our job card, or just told which jobs to do, then we also had to clean our rooms. I remember so vividly, my Mom saying, " If all 7 of us work together, we can have the house cleaned in a few hours. If I have to do it by myself, it will take all day." In one ear and out the other. But oh how times have changed!! Now it is me on the other side of the fence. Trying to keep up with a family of 6. The laundry and dishes alone are enough to drive a sane woman to the brink. Let alone, picking up toys, clothes, art projects, scrubbing toothpaste off the counter, making beds etc. etc. So this new year will find the kids with new jobs to do. Tasks that will have to be completed before anyone plays gameboy, computer or video games. Why should I have to do it all by myself? Just because I am a stay at home Mom, doesn't make me a slave right?! Right? Please say I am right...Today and tomorrow ( of course) I will be working on my new years resolutions. want my life more organized, less cluttered, less stress, more good times.And part of that starts with me learning to delegate! Wish me luck!

behind the scenes

One of the shows that Ben really enjoys, although we don't watch it much anymore,is Extreme Makeover Home Edition. Since they have shortened the time, all the "middle stuff" doesn't get shown as much. You have the beginning where they introduce the family, then the demolition. They work for awhile and then the dramatic ending. Everybody just wants the end result right? Well that is kind of how I felt about our Christmas this year. Christmas Eve, Ben and I are sitting in the living room. Under the nicely lit tree, are piles of presents, the cookies have been made (although not set out...just like TJ and Heather apparently), the kids are asleep in their new pj's, and It's a Wonderful Life is on tv. Sounds picture perfect. OK, but what about all that middle stuff? All the work that went into it? Here is a behind the scenes look....

**Connor's dream was to get Lego Star Wars 2. We ordered it and upon opening it, it was Lego Star Wars 1. So... we emailed the company. We get an auto-reply email saying they will get back to us within 3 days! Ugh. So by the time they respond, we send it back, and they send it back again, would we have it by Christmas? Who knows! So we asked for a refund and waited in line at Wal Mart.

**waiting in a huge long line of cars so that we could go and see the holiday lights on the boardwalk. The kids loved it and didn't even notice the traffic b/c they got to sit in the back and watch a movie.

**crabby kids, crabby parents, fighting, whining, crying and naps ( kids and parents!)

**me running around on the 23rd trying to get the last of the Christmas stuff. Crabby shoppers and rude drivers. Not to mention the lines!

** dragging all of the kids to church for what was supposed to be an hour meeting, and they were all behaving horribly,not just Ivan

**the morning of Christmas Eve, Connor tells me he can't wait to open his stocking because he gets a box of cereal in there. Crap! I forgot the cereal boxes. Not a big box but the multi-pack of little ones. After church, go to the store, yes I know on Sunday, and go and get some. Last one left on the shelf. Phew. Crisis diverted.

** a sore back after sitting on the ground wrapping gifts for over an hour

** a toy that doesn't work. Luckily it was Ivan's and he didn't question why a toy that Santa brought him had to be returned to BJ's

** finding Christmas cards on my desk that I forgot to send


I guess I never realized how much goes into pulling a happy Christmas off. What can I say, hind sight is 20/20. But you know what? The kids were so happy with everything they recieved. The smiles were worth it. I love Christmas time. Now I have 363 days to go before I have to do it again!

Holy cow!!!

Uhm yeah...went to Weight Watchers tonight...and I lost 3 lbs!!! Over Christmas! I guess having the Biggest Loser theme song on my ipod has done the trick. Go me! :)

a glimpse

Ugh! Tired! So busy the past few days! Totally ready to go to bed. I will update my blog in the morning but just wanted to share a few pictures.Hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas!

Merry Christmas Eve Eve

Last night when we sat down to dinner, it was Ethan's turn to say prayer. We all cracked up when he said, " please help us have a Merry Christmas Eve, Eve, eve". Too cute. Well today I am finally finished! A few quick trips to get last minute stocking stuffers and I am DONE! It seems like I always have everything done and then there are always those few last minute things. I know I am way late on sending a few gifts and cards. They will be in the mail on Tues I swear!! I feel badly. It is just that there is soo much to do and not enough time to do it! I was actually listening to a commercial on the radio that was comparing Christmas prep with the launch of the space shuttle! I am going to make a quick dinner and then we are off to go see the holiday lights on the boardwalk. It is our kind of trip, we don't have to even get the kids out of the car! I will try to post some pictures later. Hopefully I will be able to get some good shots since I am not driving!

Birthday wishes

happy birthday to you

happy birthday to you

happy birthday dear susan and dad

happy birthday to you!

If it weren't for Ivan...

**I would have more patience

**my house would be cleaner

**the floor under his high chair would not need to be swept and mopped 5x's a day

**I wouldn't have to worry about Harmony leaving the bottle of syrup on the table

** I wouldn't grit my teeth as much

**I wouldn't drink as much caffeine

** no one would scream until the their food comes

** Ben's deodarant would never be lost

**the house would be cleaner

** the door to the entertainment center would still be on

** the playstation wouldn't be unplugged 5x's a day to get the boys attention

** I could eat all of my yogurt by myself

**there would be no fear when opening the fridge

**I wouldn't hear,"Mommy! Ivan is____________"

** I wouldn't have a little boy bring me his blanket to take him upstairs for nigh nigh while patting me on the back.

Life would be soooo much different without Ivan the terrible/the great!!!

new baby?!

The other night I was getting ready to read stories to Ethan. He comes in with, " The Berenstein Bears New Baby." I was just teasing and asked him why he picked that book.
E- " Well because I decided that we should have another baby."
M-" you did huh? It would end up being another boy. Are you sure you want to start all over again with another baby?"
E- " well we could just have Vale be my new brother."
M-" There's an idea. So we would have 5 boys? Daddy, you, Connor, Ivan and Vale?"
E-" no six boys."
M-" What? How did we get a sixth one?"
E-" the other new baby you are going to have."
M-" But I don't think Mommy could handle having another one."
E- " Don't worry Mom, I think you can handle it."

Thanks for the vote of confidence Eth but....not gonna happen!

good day

Today I ran/walked ( but mostly ran!!) for 2.5 miles!!! Go me! It has been forever since I worked out hard. Believe me when I say it hurt like heck to walk up the stairs when I got home! I ran at 4.5 miles an hour with the incline set at 2.5. Serious butt kickin' workout. Feel great. All of this leads up to...going back to Weight Watchers tonight. A couple of weeks ago, I had the motivation. Went back. But slowly lost it as things just started to come up. Last week, however I watched the Biggest Loser. I totally love, love, love that show! When I first heard about it,I thought it was terrible. Parading these over weight people around on tv. How humiliating. Right? Wrong! It is seriously so inspiring. The person who won last week's lost 214 lbs. Holy cow! Now, fortunatley for me, I do not have that much to lose. But I do have my work cut out for me. Last night, that seriously sweet husband of mine, downloaded the theme song to the Biggest Loser to my ipod. Totally helped me run faster. I am lovin' it. This is going to be my obsession for awhile. I guess it all fits in with my resolutions. Which wow, that is coming up soon! I have so many things about my life that I want to change. I actually love making resolutions. Last year, a few of my friends and I were meeting once a week to talk about and encourage one another on our resolutions. I think we need to start doing that again!!

Sidenote- for those of you who have not recieved a card from me, I'm sorry! It is coming. I thought I was doing so well!!!

Anyway, I am off to finish my book. Only 50 more pages!

Christmas tag

Ok here is another one. Christmas style! This is a fun one people! Gets you thinkin' about memories which hmmm yeah totally one of my favorite things! So everybody has to answer!

1. Egg Nog or Hot Chocolate? I love both! My Mom's eggnog (non alcoholic people)and a cup of hot choc. with cool whip and a mint candy cane to stir it

2. Does Santa wrap presents or just sit them under the tree? depends on how hard the gift is too wrap and if I bought enough paper

3. Colored lights on tree/house or white? white

4. Do you hang mistletoe? Nope. We do pretty well on our own!

5. When do you put up your decorations? the day after Thanksgiving...if Ben is home.

6. What is your favorite holiday dish? hmmm I am not sure. I don't think I really have one!
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7. Favorite holiday memory as a child? Okay, I have two. One was the year that we had the scavenger hunt, and it snowed the night before. We were running around everywhere and then it led us to the Christmas tree where we got $50! The other is we used to always go Christmas caroling with the missionaries and hand out goodies to the people they were teaching. Then coming home and opening stockings.

8. When and how did you learn that Santa isn't real? I don't remember actually. I just remember the first Christmas that I was supposed to read stories to Tobin and DeAnne so that the adults could get presents wrapped.

9. Do you open a gift on Christmas Eve? Much to Eric's dismay, we open our stockings on Christmas Eve. It was always so fun for our family, and although I am sure he is not telling the whole truth, Ben said he didn't really have any traditions, so we took on one of the Kennedy traditions.
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10. How do you decorate your Christmas Tree? Usually from the middle and go to the top. Keeping ornaments away from small children. Maybe someday we will have matching ornaments surrounding the whole thing. But for now, mismatched ornaments. Ones that the kids made.

11. Snow! Love it or Dread it? love it and totally miss having a white Christmas. I miss it.

12. Can you ice skate? uhm yeah that is a big fat NO

13. Do you remember your favorite gift? Idon't know. Favorites kind of change with the years.

14. What's the most important thing about the Holidays for you? watching my kid's faces light up and teaching them the real meaning of Christmas. The birth of our Savior.

15. What is your favorite Holiday Dessert? fudge. Love fudge. I made it for myself one time and it totally got ruined. I haven't tried again! :(

16. What is your favorite holiday tradition? staying up late with Ben on Christmas Eve, wrapping presents after the kids go to bed, when they open their stockings we have a movie in there. We all get blankets and pillows and sit and watch one. Then reading How the Grinch Stole Christmas.

riddle me this

How do you know if you have lived in Norfolk too long?

A- When you pick your daughter up from school, and while climbing in the back says, "Ethan, you are in my spot and I am not going to sit in no car seat."

Yuck. Mom cringes. Grammar is horrendous. Say her name and give her a look that she is wondering what in the world she just did. " Do not ever say that again. You do not put the word no in front of a word like that. You may say "the car seat". ( Not knowing the actual rule of grammar to tell her.) She is looking at me like I am off my nut. Bad grammar = Mom pet peeve. Sentence structure apparently isn't as important.

Advent calender

Since the Lego Advent calender, didn't quite go how it was planned, we were so excited to get another one from Grandma Kennedy. It is adorable. Mom did such an excellent job on it. ( My friend even said she thought it looked store bought!!). The kids enjoyed opening their first clue yesterday! btw- Ethan's lack of enthusiasm had nothing to do with what we were doing. Ivan had just "messed" with him...once again.

Little wise man

Every year the pre-k class dresses up as the different people in the Nativity story. Last year, Ethan made one cute little donkey. This year, Connor was a wise man. I was very surprised when he came walking down in a very bright pink outfit! He was so cute though and practiced "his part" all week. Kneeling in front of the manger. He is so sweet and sang all the songs. Mommy's favorite was the Reindeer hokey pokey. Ecspecially putting your tail in! So cute. Connor is such a sweet little boy. He is really just one of those kids that you think you could eat up. Not that he is without faults but he is definatley a sweetheart! Unfortunatley, I didn't get a close up of him in his costume. A friend of mine thought she got one though so is going to get me one. Another friend is going to make me a copy of the video. Fun stuff.

Christmas party

Connor had his Christmas party on Tues. It was from 11-12 and since I had to take Ivan, I decided to just go for the last half an hour. But since I was also busy finishing teacher gifts, I was a little later than planned. By the time I got there, there was only like 15 min. left and they were all outside playing on the playground. So basically I sat and talked to one of his teachers and watched him on the playground. He got tons of goody bags, and treats, plus one of the Mom's owns a novelty store, so they get helium balloons at every party. Totally spoiled huh? So here is a non-Christmasy picture of Connor at his party!

10 days left!

Ugh, is it really that close? Stress. Major stress. We are shopping on Friday and hopefully will get everything done. Yikes. I don't want to stress over Christmas, but there are still some cards left to be sent, concerts, class parties, presents to wrap, presents to send and more. Taking some major time off tonight. Going out for a girls night out. El Azteca, our favorite, going to see The Holiday, and although some want to go to dessert, I may end up heading home. Connor has a party in the morning, and I plan to get everything off to the post office. I found this poem today, disclaimer- I didn't write this, that I thought people might enjoy!
Funny, Funny Mother!
See Mother.
See Mother laugh.
Mother is happy.
Mother is happy about Christmas.
Mother has many plans.
Mother has many plans for Christmas
.Mother is organized.
Mother smiles all the time.
Funny, funny Mother
!See Mother.
See Mother smile
.Mother is happy.
The shopping is all done.
See the children watch TV.
Watch children, watch
.See the children change their minds.
See them ask Santa for different toys.
Look! Look
!Mother is not smiling
.Funny, funny Mother!
See Mother.
See Mother sew.
Mother will make dresses.
Mother will make robes.
Mother will make shirts.
See Mother put the zipper in wrong.
See Mother sew the dress on the wrong side.
See Mother cut the skirt too short.
See Mother Put the materials away until January
.Look! Look!
See Mother take a tranquilizer
.Funny, funny Mother!
See Mother.
See Mother buy raisins and nuts.
See Mother buy candied pineappleAnd powdered sugar.
See Mother buy flour, dates, pecans, Brown sugar, bananas and spices.
Look! Look!
Mother is mixing everything together.
See the children press out cookies.
See the flour on their elbows.
See the cookies burn.
See the cake fall.
See the children pull taffy.
See Mother pull her hair
.See Mother clean the kitchenWith the garden hose.
Funny, funny Mother!
See Mother.
See Mother wrap presents.
See Mother look for the end On the Scotch tape roll
.See Mother bite her fingernails.
See Mother go.
See Mother go to the store Ten times in one hour.
Go Mother, go.
See Mother go faster.
Run, Mother, run!
See Mother trim the tree.
See Mother have a party.
See Mother make popcorn.
See Mother wash the walls.
See Mother scrub the rug.
See Mother tear up organized plan.
See Mother forget gift for Uncle Harold.
See Mother get hives.
Go, Mother, go!
See the faraway look in Mother's eyes.
Mother has become disorganized.
Mother has become disoriented
.Funny, funny Mother
!It is finally Christmas morning.
See the happy family.
See Father smile
.Father is happy.
Smile, Father, smile.
Father loves fruitcake.
Father loves Christmas pudding.
Father loves all his new neckties
.Look! Look!
See the happy children.
See the children's new toys.
Santa was very good to the children.
The children will remember this Christmas.
See Mother.
Mother is slumped in a chair.
Mother is crying uncontrollably.
Mother does not look well.
Mother has ugly dark circles Under her bloodshot eyes.
Everyone helps Mother to her bed.
See Mother sleep quietly Under heavy sedation.
See Mother smile.
Funny, funny Mother!

Like Father Like Son

Tonight Connor was helping me make dinner. We decided on scrambled eggs with ham. So he was sitting on the counter, helping me put the ham into the pan. Then he reached over and gave me a huge hug. When we let go, he had this sneaky little smile on his face. I asked him what was going on ....

C- " I smelled you"

M-" You did huh? And what did I smell like?" ( totally waiting for something not very nice)

C- " you just smell like a mommy."

Which is a funny story because when Ben and I were dating, we had a similar conversation:

B " you smell good."

M" Thanks. What do I smell like?" ( not wearing perfume or anything that day so was curious)

B" ...uhm...just like...girl"

Connor is his father's son! Not that I was doubting that for a second!

The rules

OK, so last night I got to go to a Christmas party for Ben's work. It was nice to go and be with him at the NORFOLK YACHT CLUB! Yes I know...very fancy. Seriously it was nice. My friend Deborah watched the kids and when I came to pick them up I asked her how the kids had been. She said fine, just that Harm and Ethan had fought a couple of times over some game rules. So I asked Harmony about it later...

" So what were you fighting with Ethan about?"

H- " Well he wasn't making fair rules!"

M-"ok like what?"

H-"He said if you didn't catch the ball then you were out."

M-"...and?"

H-" Mom there were only 2 of us playing!"

Yeah I got a laugh about that. Kids are funny!

not fair!

So a while back I decided to take a break from any sort of healthy living whatsoever. I know not my best of ideas but I really wanted a break from meetings, counting points, worrying about how much I was exercising and so on and so forth. Well, about 3 weeks ago, feeling disgusted with the way I look, I went back to WW. They have 2 different programs 1) their popular flex points one and 2) a program called Core. Where you can basically eat your fill of a list of certain foods. Well I choose to do Core. So the first week after I weighed in I lost 1.4. Feeling good. This week, I started exercising again and was at the Y 4 times. Doing at least 2 miles each day. Today I went for my weigh in and....I GAINED .2! The secretary was like that is nothing.Basically you stayed the same. She really is a sweet lady. Liar, but sweet. But here's the thing...while I am not happy about my lack of loss, I am fine with me. Make sense? Let me explain...I did nothing "wrong" this week. I ate all my fruits and vegi's. I drank all my water. I exercised. I had a GOOD week. It just didn't show up on the scale. But unlike my last time on Weight Watchers, I am going to not get upset with myself. I mean why should I? I am not going to lose all of my weigh over night. I am just going to ride it out. Making good choices and well trying not to get upset. Sounds very adult and mature of me right? Well I just keep thinking that whining and pouting are going to get me no where. So I am not going to do it. I am sure everyone cares about my whole weight loss issues but since this is my blog you get to read about it anyway! :)

confession time

Last year, was Ivan' s first year sitting on Santa's lap. HOWEVER I was not there. I know I am terrible. I missed the ward Christmas party. I went to Eric and Susan's. But not mine. So I was a little worried about the reaction that Ivan would have while sitting on Santas lap. He isn't that great about going to strangers. Maybe he was in a good mood, because he had a big dinner ( everything the other kids didn't eat!) and even had a cookie that Ben went and stole for him. I took him up there and waited in line and then...nothing. NO crying, no drama. He stared at him. But nothing. My friend snapped his picture while I was trying to get him to smile. He took his goody bag and well...that was that. He did not let go of his goody bag until he was in his bed. The big kids, well of course, they know that Santa is a good thing. Harmony asked for girl legos ( check, thanks Eric), Ethan asked for Christmas legos ( check, thanks Eric) and Connor asked for Lego Star Wars 2 ( check). So apparently the whole "santa can read minds thing" really worked. Well I am off to take a shower and start a long and busy week!

just in case...

So just in case you didn't believe me about the boys being so sweet to each other..here is my proof. "Breakfast with the boys". That same morning they came downstairs in just their pj pants, wrapped in a blanket, both wanting Cocoa Puffs. Matching bowls. Matching spoons. "...because we are bestest brothers huh Ethan?" Even their Lego guys joined in on the action! The boys told me that they are just trying to be twin brothers. Gotcha. OK, those little dudes can seriously be cute.

the sweetest sight

As Ethan and Connor were eating dinner the other night, they sat by each other whispering and doing "boy things". I was thinking about despite the fact, of their close age, they have such a sweet relationship. They really do. They can totally count on each other. So this morning I woke up at the crack of dawn. Seriously, I fell asleep after I read to Harmony last night. We were cuddled in my bed reading and as soon as she got in her bed...wam I was out. At 9:00. So by 6 well I was ready. I didn't hear any kids so I slipped into my scraproom. BUT I kept thinking I could hear something. I finish the pages I was working on...and go into the hallway. No lights are on but I can hear whispering. Open Harmony's door, and she is sound asleep. Open the boys door, and there they are, laying on Connor's bed, under his blanket..talking and playing legos. Seriously the cutest thing ever!

Busy day today. Ben is taking the kids to Happy Feet and I am going to try and work on Christmas stuff. Then I am making some food for our ward Christmas Party tonight. Ethan is very anxious to tell Santa what he wants. "Santa always comes to the church party Mom!" They are not worried about the fact that Ivan can't tell Santa what he wants. Even though he can't tell him, they figure that Santa can just read minds. So there you have it. Anyway I will post pictures later. Have a good Saturday!

**oh and most of my Christmas cards went out on Thursday! Woo-hoo!!!

Boys from A-Z

My boys are cute. My boys are gross. My boys are future missionaries & fathers. My boys are mine. When testosterone levels are high, I often wonder why I was given 3 boys. I asked for one boy. One little Mama's boy. And I end up with 3 wild boys. So I started thinking of all the things that my boys entail. Keeping up with them day to day. So here it is A-Z:
A- arm farts, animal crackers, annoying,"anything goes", airplanes
B-Buzz, balls, Batman, bandaids, bananas,
C-cheetos, crumbs, crying, chasing, cups of juice, chicken nuggets, cars
D- Daddy’s boys, dinosaurs, dirt, "don’t!", danger, digging ,dogs
E- energetic, entertaining, eggo’s, exploring
F- fun, farts, fixin’ stuff, forts, fire trucks, fire men, french fries
G- gameboys, "gimme that!", guns, grapes, going places, gross
H-hiding, hitting, hammers, hero’s, huge eyes, hungry all the time, hats
I- Incredibles, ignoring the rules, ice cream, "I didn’t do it", "Ivan did it"
J-jumping on the couches, juice, Jedi’s, just kidding
K-kisses are gross, knights, kissable, kicking, knots
L-lego’s, light sabers, "let go!", licking the beaters,
M-Mommy’s boys, making stuff, markers, mayhem, maps to treasure,
N-no limits, no boundaries, no rules, name calling, noisy
O-overalls, Oreos, oranges, outgoing, outside playing,
P-pirates, popsicles, playing, plotting, pancakes, pb&j, problems
Q-quirks, quiet for no one, qt's
R-running, rambunctious, rowdy, rope tying,
S- superhero’s, stinky, sweet, syrup, snacks, snakes, striped t-shirts, sports
T-trains, tv, time outs, thirsty, tiring, tantrums, tears, toys , tools
U-umbrellas with Batman on them, underwear with Batman on them, underwear is a funny word
V-Vale, video games, vying for attention, van rides,
W-wild, weird, wonderful, "why not?" "Watch this!", waffles, wrestling
X-eXtreme sports, eXcited, eXercise
Y-yawn, yelling, young, yucky, yogurt,
Z-zainy, zoo trips, ritZ, cheez -its

priceless...

one bag of snack size cheetos-.24

one juice box from the snack counter- .35

buying Ivan's affection-.67 (total of snacks plus tax)

Ivan's good behavior at the store-priceless

Frustration

I have decided that the Lord gives us our children, to teach us. To help us try to understand. Ecspecially the ones who we do not share the same personality! I love Harmony to death. I think she is the coolest chick on the planet. BUT...we can definatley but heads. She is so sensitive and it drives me nuts! Every day for the past month or so, she has come home and declared, " I have had a bad day. Everyone teases me and picks on me." I give her love and tell her how much I love her etc. But it is happening almost every single day. I pick her up today, and she doesn't have a coat on. Now it is a good47 degrees outside. She had left it at school but I told her to make sure she brought it home. I get upset with her and she starts sobbing, " this has already been such a bad day and now I am getting in trouble." Patience is at a minimum. I said, " fine, I want to know EXACTLY what happened." 1) Someone was calling her Harmony Timmy Turner. ( There is a cartoon on Nickelodeon and the boy's name is Timmy Turner.) 2) two boys kept saying that she had been playing during their quiet time when she hadn't. I was like is that it? That doesn't seem that bad. So I asked her if she told the kids to stop...no she didn't. I said did you defend yourself in any way at all? No, she didn't. Totally fed up. How do you teach a kid to toughen up? Because seriously that is just a drop in the bucket. There are so many worse things that can happen to a kid but she is getting so upset over tiny things. I don't know how to deal with it. If it were me I would have told them to shut up. Now I told her not to call names but still....Grr. I think I have Harmony to teach me patience. This is a total ramble but frustrated, frustrated, frustrated! What do you do?!

Christmas is here

We usually set up our Christmas decorations the day after Christmas. However with the way things worked out this year...well we decided to wait until Ben got home. After we got home from Burger King, we started setting up the tree and decorating. However, Ben can not for the life of him find his hammer, so that has put a halt to some of it! But the kids did well in helping. Of course they were very annoyed with Ivan's attempts to help! He has only broken one ornament so far! It was fun to spend some time with the kids. They were up at 5 am today because " we wanted to see the tree and play Christmas". Did telling them that the tree was going to be up for at least a month mean anything? No...not at all. Ahh kids. They really do help bring out the magic in the holidays. 22 more shopping days to go...

Congratulations Lt. Turner

Nov 15th marked 4 years since Ben was sworn in as an Ensign in the Navy. Due to everything going on with his family, we had to find a different time to do his "pinning on". This is where you change the medals that he wears on his uniform. We were going to try for next week sometime but then Ben called me on Friday around lunch time to see if the kids and I could be at his office at 4. Uhm yeah...sure...no problem. We did make it and the kids were well not the best behaved they have ever been but certainly not the worse! I got to pin on his medal and as you can imagine it is not an easy reach. So he always has to bend a little! The best thing about making Lt? That would be the pay raise. About $800 more a month! Sweet! However, since it doesn't kick in until next pay period, we decided to have a celebratory dinner at...Burger King. Ok, ok we did have the kids with us. They were pretty happy with that. It was so nice to be able to go and support Ben. He is such a hard worker and I am just so proud of him. :)

Lego Mania

Thanks to a very nice Uncle Eric, the kids enjoyed playing with Lego's on Thursday after school. Apparently, Eric knew exactly what Connor would want for Christmas (after reading my post about the stolen guys) and he was right! I didn't let them have all of them but did let them open an advent calender. As luck would have it, not all of the kids heard the " you can open one each day" speech and they dove right in. They have been playing Lego's morning and night ever since. So THANK YOU UNCLE ERIC FOR AN AWESOME CHRISTMAS GIFT!

Is that a hint?

This morning, Ethan comes into the kitchen ready for breakfast.
M- " OK little man, what do you want for breakfast?"
E -Huge sigh, " I guess waffles"
M-" What is the matter with waffles?"
E-" Well, I just had a dream that you FINALLY remembered to get me some more Cocoa Puffs."
So I made sure to grab him some from the commissary while I was there. I just couldn't let him be deprived like that. Poor totally spoiled child.

And speaking of depravation, the DVD player in our van hasn't been working. We just ignored it for a few months and than finally decided to go in and get it looked at. Long story short, we got it back yesterday. I usually do not let the kids watch a movie going to Harm & Ethan's school because it is literally 5 minutes away. But I let them today simply because we finally got it back. And what does Harmony say?
" Finally, we get some entertainment in the car again!" Poor, Poor deprived children. Someday I am going to say no DVDs, gameboys, any of their cd's and crank up good o' Sunny 910. And let them go places the way I used too. Listening to Dad's music with nothing to do except sleep or read. Good times!

help wanted

If you are looking for someone to sweep your house...I have the man for you. After coming down from a Triaminic high ( and a 4.5 hour nap!) Ivan was living every woman's dream. To have someone else do the cleaning. Unfortunatley, this phase doesn't last long AND he didn't actually clean anything!
But he is still pretty dang cute!

How many?

How many Turners does it take to go to Target to get Triaminic? That would be 5. Yeesh! On top of everything else this week, Ivan was up all night. He has a fever, coughing, runny nose...the works. He is miserable. Why is it that when kids aren't sick, you have tons of baby medicine? But when they are sick, you don't have any? Hmm it's a mystery. I feel bad because there is no way I am going to make it to church tomorrow with him. That was always a problem when Ben was in Afghanistan. If one kid is sick, the whole family has to stay home. I am also feeling bad because the 1st counselor in Primary, being very organized, called me Wed. night to see if I needed a sub. She was trying to find people early. And I told her, no I will be there no problem. Didn't quite happen that way. Long story short, we are all going to head to Target. I am going to drug him and put him back to bed. Poor kid. :( Hopefully we can have a nice, calm, relaxing day. We'll see!

"thank you for"

Connor: " Mommy, do you know what I am thank you for?
Me: " what?"
C- " the whole wide world"
M-" well I guess that pretty much covers it"
C-" and my Mommy and Daddy"
M- "that's sweet Connor. Anything else?"
C-"yeah the places we go"
M-" like where?"
C- " like Chuck E Cheese, McDonalds, Target, Burger King and to Wendy's. And BJ's."
M- " so you are basically thankful for fast food?"
C-"what is fast food?"

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

A childs prayer

Tonight, said by Ethan:

"Dear Heavenly Father, thank you for this day. Thank you for this food. Please help my boo-boo to get off. Please help Ivan to leave my castle alone. Make sure Daddy is a good boy at Grandma and Grandpa's house. Help us have a good night sleep. In the name of Jesus Christ amen."

4 am

What do you do when you have to get up at 4 am to take your Daddy to the airport? Lay around and watch tv. The kids were little troopers about getting up. But now, they don't really want to move from their "spots". Ivan is the only one that is "awake". I am sure they will crash hard. Which is fine with me because it is a very rainy and cold day. I am going to try to get some major house work done. The kids technically have school today but since they got up so early,they are not going to go. They would be cranky and I don't want to make the teachers deal with it. So thoughtful aren't I?

"A" Honor Roll

Well with everything that has been going on,there are still good things. Isn't life like that? " You take the good, you take the bad, you take the m both and there you have the facts of life..." I enjoyed that show..Last year, Harmony worked so hard in school. Her teacher, who I really liked, just wouldn't give her an A in writing. Not in spelling, or the composing of stories but her actual handwriting. It was frustrating but at the same time I am thinking " this is 1st grade! Why am I so concerned that she gets a 4.0?" So we dropped the subject. Literally, we stopped talking about it and just concentrated on her doing her best. Well little Miss Harm is a very driven little girl. She was not satisfied. She wanted A honor roll. And this year, 1st quarter she made it. During the awards assembly, they usually go from 1st and then go up to 5th. Not this time though. They started with the upper grades and worked their way down. So they had finished all of the 5th,4th, 3rd and all of the 2nd grade except Harmony, and she was the first one with A honor roll!!! There were 3 more after her, but they were all in 1st grade. In their school, A honor roll can be all A's with one B. B honor roll is when you have a mix of A's and B's and then B average allows them to have a C. Her hard work really paid off. When they were calling her class, and they announced that Harmony recieved A honor roll, the whole crowd was clapping for her. She had so many "congratulations" from people she didn't even know. A friend of hers,Tiffany, her Mom gave Harm one of Tiffany's balloons since she was so impressed with her hard work. Her teacher from last year told me that she had heard so many great things about how well Harmony was doing from the gifted teacher. She said she thinks they are going to test her soon. I am very proud of my little girl! She is a hard worker, driven, smart. She knows what she wants! My girl...love her to death!

Life

Wow, life really doesn't turn out the way you expected it, does it? Yesterday I finished my Thanksgiving Day shopping. We had planned to participate in a program called "Operation Thanksgiving" where we host a military member,from the singles branch, who couldn't go home for the holiday. Everything was all set. Then life threw us a curve ball. Ben is leaving very early Wed. morning to go home to Oregon. A family emergency that is a very private matter. So I won't get to spend Thanksgiving with him. I am not upset. Not in the least. There is no doubt in my mind that he is where he should be. I will probably let the kids eat in the living room or something. That is there idea of a good time! :)

I wanted to say publicly, ( or somewhat publicly) how much I love Ben. He is so strong. He is amazing. He takes on so much and just handles everything so well. He is a good example to me because I can't handle anything!! I love him and support him and I know his family can make it through. Please keep them in your prayers.

For now, that is it. Have a good day!

fake turkey

After we got home from school, Ethan asked me a question about what I had been doing today. I told him I went to the store and got the stuff for our Thanksgiving dinner. A turkey, a ham etc.
Ethan looked at me wide eyed and this is the conversation that followed:

E- " Can I see the turkey?"
M-"uhm, ok if you want too. It's in the freezer."
E- confused look
M- "sweetie, it isn't like the turkey that you saw on the farm. This one isn't alive anymore."
E " You mean somebody killed it?"
M-"yeah" ( enter Connor)
C- " So we are going to have a real turkey?"
E- " No Connor, it is a FAKE turkey. It isn't alive and it doesn't say gobble gobble anymore so it is a fake one." ( he runs off)
C- "Mommy, did you and Ethan kill a turkey while you were on his field trip?"
M- exasperated sigh. Sometimes these conversations are so hard!

On a different note, I made Ethan go apologize to Ms McKnight. She said that he really had her going and she is going to read him "The Boy Who Cried Wolf". I told her what he told me was the reason why he did it. Which I realize I didn't share here...He told me that he had just had a bad day and that he really missed me. I was telling her this and she said, " he is so devoted to his Mama. He just talks about you all day long.I bet he really did miss you!" sweet. Anyway, off to make dinner!

Gobble, Gobble

Yesterday at preschool, Connor had a Thanksgiving concert. He was very excited to be a pilgrim and can tell you that pilgrims came over on the Mayflower. He admitted that he didn't know all the words to the songs but he definitley tried. He was taking his own sweet time eating his Thanksgiving "feast" ( chicken nuggets, tater tots, apple slices) so he decided to just take it home. Connor can truly be a little sweetheart. He is so quiet and just cute. I do love that kid a ton, even if he has the tendency to steal. He has let me know every day after school that, " don't worry Mom. I didn't steal anything today!" The kids are ready for Thanksgiving but more interested in decorating for Christmas. We have some fun and stressful times coming up. Hopefully I can get everything done that I want too.I have decided on a pretty simple design for my Christmas cards. So the next step is getting an appt. at Sears for the kids. Fun Fun! Anyway, I have major work to get done around the house so I better get on the ball!