Us and our little people

Texas 2012 tour of last times

2012-01-05T12:23:00.000-08:00

Well we are at the end of our adventure in Texas. I have cried so hard just thinking about all the good this place as brought to me and my family. We won't leave until the end of June (hopefully not sooner). So I told the kids this is our last time tour 2012! They can choose 1 place they have loved about Texas that is one of their favorite memories, and we'll try to accomplish 1 a month.

To start out our tour we went camping on Jan 1st. We had a great time. Josh smashed his finger in the shelter door and so that was a bummer, the boys went fishing with Russ, me and the younger kiddos went on a hike, but the best part was the being together around the campfire talking. We banned electronics (except for the TV for the little kids) so we had to a talk and laugh. I told some spooky ghost stories. :) Not really I couldn't get past their faces as I'd start so I'd laugh through my whole story, and they'd say, "is that it?" It was nice having Russ all to ourselves b/c as most of you know that is rare. I love him so much! Sorry that was random, but I do.

I have loved this place. As I look at my great friends I have made here and have watched their kids grow up, its like they are my family! I know kids adjust well to their surroundings, but this will be like leaving their cousins for some of the friendships they've built. I truly hope that we stay in contact and see these wonderful kids grow up still. I will miss not hearing their sweet voices when they've called to talk with my kids. People say Houston isn't a beautiful place and I agree, sometimes, but one thing is for sure, the people we have had as dear friends have been beautiful, they have made this adventure beautiful and the best it could be, and to them I am so grateful!

This year for my ornament it's a longhorn and it says, "Texas proud!" I feel I have earned all the rights to be "Texas proud," I feel like I could get away with saying, "ya'll" if I wanted to. Russ even got a gun handlers permit! This has been the only home my kids have known, besides Loren and Em. They are tougher from living here. I mean who gets to catch and play with frogs, bugs, lizards, and even SNAKES in your own backyard? So awesome!

I am so thankful to my Heavenly Father who has led us down the paths we have taken as a family. He has been there to help us through obstacle we've jumped.

Okay usually not so cheesy in my blog, but I've been crying not stop and thought if I type out my thoughts then maybe I'll stop crying so much. So if it's random and a lot of jumping around that's why. :)

Holden's surgery

2011-05-29T20:04:00.000-07:00

Holden got his tonsils and adnoids out, due to chronic infections. He had strep throat 3 times in 8 weeks and seemed to be sick with a sore throat every morning. The fact that we live in an allergy infested climate doesn't help the poor boy, I'm sure. Nonetheless, we decided to take the plung and see if this would help him out. He was so brave I was so proud of him. He was a little nervous at the hospital, but I reminded him of the blessing Russ gave him and that he said he would do good and recover good. Then I explained to him that the blessing is from Heavenly Father. He then relaxed and was fine. He has great faith! We are still crossing our fingers for the results, but so far he is feeling really good. He was in a lot of pain for a week and now he's feeling good without the pain meds. So back to school he goes, even if it is only for 3 days. :)

Blueberry picking!

2011-05-29T20:03:00.000-07:00

We went and picked blueberries this weekend and it was really fun! Between the 6 kids and I we picked 17 1/2 lbs! Loren was the star blueberry picker, but really I was so impressed at their stamina.
We woke up early so we could beat the heat and put on our backyard boots and ate and picked as much as we could stand. (Really we went by when we ran out of water.) I had Mason on my back and the others all walked. It was so fun to hear their voices of excitement as they would find "more blueberries!" They really did great. In the end they got snow cones while I stood in line to pay. My kiddos love blueberries and eat them as if they are a dessert so this was huge for them to go get them. I got a few pictures, unfortunately I didn't get any of Loren. He said on the way home, "that was really fun!" It really was!

Ashley's testimony

2011-05-29T19:26:00.000-07:00

After our FHE today we were all sitting around and Ashley mentioned something about a testimony. I asked her if she wanted to bear her testimony, and she said yes.

She said:
"I want to bear my testimony, I know the temple is true, I know the church is true, I know that Jesus died for me, and that when is hands were like this (she shows us his hands clasped together, I think maybe in the Garden of Gethsemane) His hands hurt really bad. In the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.

Then she proceeds tell me that, "you know b/c his hands had those marks on them (nails) his hands really hurt."

I loved the sweet spirit she brought into the room, or at least into my heart. I felt what she said. She was really bearing her testimony. She really feels these feeling inside of her heart! I am so thankful for my children! I learn so much from them.

Mason Man his eating!

2011-04-03T20:46:00.001-07:00

This little 17 plus lb lug is eating baby food! He loves it. He watches all of us eat our food and tries to grab it. It's funny that after having so many little people that I still forget that they will swat at anything in view. I've had many items almost knocked over b/c he's trying to swat at it!
He's had an ear infection for a few weeks now that wouldn't go away so we had to hold off on baby food b/c with the meds it was making him throw up everything he'd eat. It was really sad/embarrassing to find that out at JCPenny! I felt like a really crummy Mom that didn't care if she brought her sick baby to the store at
9pm! The ladies were really sweet though. I felt awful that he had that reaction. Poor baby.

Happy St Patty's Day!

2011-04-03T20:24:00.000-07:00

Every year growing up my Mom, who served her mission in Ireland, would celebrate St Patty's Day! It was another holiday in our home. My Dad had a special tye he'd wear to work, or say his eyes were green, which doesn't count so we'd pinch him. We all put on our green. My Mom would make us a really fun lunch full of lots of green things to take to school, etc. But the best part was the meal. Corn beef and cabbage! To some that might sound gross, but it is so yummy.
So in our house now we do the same. To Russ the smell of it makes him gag, of course. So I do it as a lunch. St Patty's falls during spring break so we can eat it during lunchtime and try our darndest to get the smell out before Russ gets home. :)
First, though I make the kids go on a scavenger hunt all over the house looking for our "pot of gold" from the Leprachaun. I make up really cheesy riddles that make no sense, but totally rhyme and they find their stash of candy. During the hunt one of the clues makes them pose for the camera.
We had our friends over for the lunch this year and it was yummy! We even had a green pistachio bread that was so good. Can you tell I love food too much?
Happy St Patty's!!

Just for fun!

2011-03-09T10:33:00.001-08:00

I was going through old pictures of my kids. My older kids photos aren't on the computer so they aren't on here. I am the baby in the pink dress with white tights, and I put that so people can see that in fact my kids do look like me! Ashley is the one in pink stripes, which I think looks like Mason. Emily's eyes are so beautiful with her too. Holden is the cute blond baby. He still smiles like that. Josh was the one on the ladder, what a cutie. Russ was doing a really funny face in public and wanted to post it. It was on Match Day years ago. He was "acting surprise." The one of me and Janette, she's going to KILL ME!! That one is a beauty to remember. Nicky made and wore those dresses to proms!! She design the pink one herself. Beauties!! Janette and I thought it would be fun to go and wear these gorgeous dresses and darkened our eyebrows, put on moles, crazy hair, etc. Good times!!

Cupid wishes you a Happy Valentine's Day!

2011-03-09T08:58:00.000-08:00

I sent this to a few people on your phones on Valentine's Day. Last time to make a baby wear ridiculous clothes and not fight me, right? It was either him or Russ. Anyway, hope you all had a great V-day!

Our cute little Boo!

2011-03-09T08:42:00.000-08:00

Mason is 4 months now! He's a great 6th baby, just rolls with the punches. He usually is fussy when he knows he can be held b/c his sissy Emmy's home or when Dad gets home. He's a smart one! We love him so much!! One of the pictures is him yawning, but looked a bit like an "angry pirate face," why not start that out early?

The best housekeepers around!

2011-03-09T08:11:00.000-08:00

Russ had to go to Washington DC for 4 weeks in Jan-Feb so my wonderful, retired parents came to help hold down the fort for 3 weeks. As you can see they loved on our sweet little Mason, a lot. My Dad would take him over to the kitchen table and stand him up or just play with him. I had to take pictures of them together b/c he was so sweet and tender with him. My Mom was always caring for and loving them too. So besides their time devoted to my 6 kiddos they also cleaned my house everyday! We went for walks and then my Dad would make us a "green drink." It is everything healthy that is green thrown in the "Vitamix" and it's pretty good, but very healthy. Even the stickers are healthy. :)
We also tried out a ton of new recipes. Russ as you know doesn't like to eat creative food, or most food in general, so my way of getting through him being gone was cooking. My parents are being very healthy and so we tried out a ton of healthy meals that they could eat too. It was very fun!
On top of all of that, they watched 5 of the kids, while we went away for a night. It was to celebrate Valentines/Anniversary. (We went to Killen's Steakhouse. It was delicious!! Then we went to a nice place downtown in Houston. In the morn we ate at this yummy place for breakfast.)
Anyway, I can never repay them for the time and love that they showed me and my children. They are one of my best friends, so wonderful and I am so thankful for them! Love you both so much!! Thank you!

Christmas 2010

2011-03-09T07:58:00.000-08:00

Okay so here's one picture of Christmas. We used our phones for the actual day, but this is Christmas Eve. The kids all got their jammies on and we went caroling with our friends the Fox's. We had a great Christmas! The kids were really happy with all they recieved.

Nature in your own backyard!

2011-03-09T07:35:00.000-08:00

Long time no talk. :) Well tons has happened, but we'll just rewind a little so I don't bore you with every detail of my life.
This is our opossum we found in our yard one day. We were all sitting talking and I tell Holden, "K, Bud it's time to pick up the dog poo." (That's his daily chore.) He goes willingly, which doesn't usually happen. He's back inside as soon as he had opened the door making a sound he only makes when he is scared out of his wits. Like for instance the snakes he's almost come in contact with, etc. Anyway, he comes to me, and says, "Jaggers (our dog) is eating a rat!" Now for those of you who truly know me that is a bad word in our house. My whole body shuts down when I hear that word, I can think clearly, I want to just pass out. Why? Because I've had them in our old house in our attic before and I wanted to die.
Anyway, lots of emotions here sorry. After debating on what the heck to do I look out our kitchen window and I find this huge rat, but am a bit more calmed at the fact that it is a opossum instead. He's laying there dead (looking). I'm all panicked and luckily my man is home, sleeping, but still home (he worked night shift). So I run in and tell him.
Another side note: My awesome dog Jaggers is guarding our back door. He is not letting any of my kids go outside. He literally sat on the back door so they couldn't go out. Loved him that day. :)
Russ is Russ and I'm Denise so I'm freaking out and he is slowly waking up to listen to his crazy wife. All the while, I hear the kids say, "his ears are twitching, he's breathing, HIS EYES ARE OPENING!" Their screaming, I'm crying (on the inside), Russ is slowly getting up to load his pellet gun. As soon as my dog saw Russ he backs off and stopped protecting b/c he new Russ would take care of it. That's amazing to me. He sets up camp and starts to shoot the creature. I take the kids upstairs so they don't watch and Russ took over and he dies.
Later I research opossums and find they aren't anything like a rat, except for they look like a huge one. They actually are, "nature in your backyard." They eat rats, mice, snakes. Now I'm really crying as I read this b/c he was trying to help. We still would've had to kill him though b/c Jaggers and hurt him, while protecting us. So I am thankful for my dog today and my hubby. So glad he was home to take care of this! Crazy stuff huh?

Emily is 9!

2010-11-07T08:09:00.001-08:00

Yep it's birthday central at our house. Starts with Ash on the 26th, Em on the 27th, and Russ and Mason on the 1st of November. So we have way too much candy and cookies.

Emily is 9! I can't believe it. It seems only yesterday that she was baptized. We did an early birthday for her this year. We went with her best friend, Lexi and her Mom to The Woodlands, up north of Houston. We went the first weekend of October just incase we had a baby early. Which didn't happen. We stayed at the Marriot, Residence Inn. Went shopping all day long. The girls got their ears pierced, which was a drama scene in itself, but they did it!

Emily is such a wonderful helper at home. She is our second mother for our kids. If I had to pick a word to decribe her I'd pick "free spirit." Okay so it's 2 words. She has such a free vibrant spirit. She loves life and loves to entertain the kids. She reminds me of my sister Nicky. She's always got a game or way to entertain the kids when they are bored.

She is loved dearly in our home. If I need someone to hold little Mason there is nothing, but excitement in her voice to do it. I love you Em!!

Ashley's 4!!

2010-11-07T08:05:00.000-08:00

I accidentally put her picture on Mason's pictures. She has been so excited for baby Mason to come out on her b-day. :) She was a princess for Halloween so we did a princess party. She loved it. He friends wore their dresses, colored princess crafts, made sugar cookies, and decorated them. She didn't want a cake b/c my kids are on this new kick that they don't like cake. So we did cookies. She is such a joy in our family. Love you Ash!

Mason Fisher Wright

2010-11-07T07:33:00.000-08:00

He arrived!! Our new bundle of joy was born on November 1st, 2010 at 7:09pm. Weighing 8 pounds 9 ounces and 21 inches long. As some of you know that is his Daddy's birthday so that was kind of neat. His birthday is also when he proposed to me so I think this was a wonderful ending to our delivering babies.

The delivery went well. Russ gave me a wonderful blessing the night of Thursday the 28th of October. I was getting induced on Friday the 29th. In the blessing he kept saying, "enjoy the last part of your pregnancy." I thought, "okay I can handle that b/c it was only 6 hours away, right? Nope, we still had the whole weekend b/c the hospital was too full. Oh well, I did enjoy the weekend watching the kids trunk o treat on Friday and then passing out candy on Sunday with the kids. We did s'mores as well so that was fun.

Monday morning we started potocin and I was doing great. Water broke, getting to a 4 was faster then usual, but then my Dr. had a c-section he needed to go to so he asked them to stop the potocin so I wouldn't deliver without him (which is sweet). He has delivered the last 4 kids. I've hemmoraged at the end before so he's always great to be there for my deliveries. The nurses were wonderful. One was training so she took her time figuring out the dilations, but that was okay. My Dr. said, "give her whatever she wants," I said, "I'm starving." But he didn't fall for that one. :) Anyway, after his c-section was over he started it back up again. It took awhile to get to a 9. My uterus was having a hard time thining out. Dr Putterman said, "good thing your done b/c your uterus is old, warn and used up." I loved that! I just laughed. He was done with work and just hung out with us on the chair for the last hour, finishing up his work. It was a nice ending to delivering babies with him. I did bleed a bit more then they liked so I had to get to shots to stop the bleeding, but they all did good working on me. He's a great doctor!

The kids are doing so well with the baby's arrival. So helpful and kind and loving. Josh even tried to pick him up to, "put him higher" in his bouncy seat. Russ is always wonderful and helpful when he is around. He was able to take off the day after so he could tend to the kiddos needs.

My wonderful parents have been here helping us keep everything under control. They have been such great helpers. When I am a brat my Mom and Dad have been so forgiving a patient. Russ always says, "I can't believe your Mom helps you and your sister's when you treat her like that." She's wonderful that's why. Thanks Mom and Dad!

Top 10 things I'll miss about being pregnant

2010-10-07T09:13:00.000-07:00

As most of you know this is my last baby. It has truly been an incredible being pregnant and I am so thankful for the blessing of being able to have 5 soon to be 6 kids. I never realized that it was a blessing to just be able to get pregnant. As I've had friends and family that have had difficulty I realized that this is something I took for granted. I have had many spiritual experiences with this last baby in the temple that have been wonderful feelings of joy knowing this is the last baby for me.

As I've gone through this pregnancy I've thought of funny things, annoying thing, and wonderful things that only a mother gets to go through while carrying a baby. Here they are:

10. Having to go to the bathroom constantly, and heartburn. Why the heartburn?

9. Feeling like your groin is going to fall out from the pressure of the baby.

8. Having the knowledge of what the sex will be. I've always had a feeling and known what I was going to have.

7. Going to the Dr with my kids and having to explain why I'm peeing in a cup, and then Josh asking if he gets to pee in it too. :)

6. Waiting for Russ to pick a name! This is the ONLY time in our marriage that the man is difficult. :)

5. My older kids wanting to feel the baby kick them, and writing down their names and passing them along to Dad to see if he'll take any of them. Janette calling me and giving me more names to choose from. She's done this with a few babies. Russ denied every name nonetheless, but that was so sweet of her to care to try again, and again.

4. Being told that I look like I swallowed a basketball. Josh actually thought that is what is coming out of my belly. Not a baby, but a basketball.

3. The surge of energy that I get the last few weeks of delivery. I wish I could always have that energy.

2. Feeling an elbow or bum roll around inside of me.

1. Knowing that Heavenly Father sent me these sweet children, trusting that I'd do my best.

I am so thankful to be a Mom!

Seaworld!

2010-08-06T06:27:00.000-07:00

Okay so I don't have any pictures of our day at Sea world San Antonio, but we did go. I forgot our camera and our stroller. Oops! That actually turned out better. The strollers there are huge and could hold 3-4 kids if needed. We needed 3 to board it most of the day. I really thought that maybe Holden would walk now that he is 6, but no, he was more then willing to sit right down and get the ride to the rides. :) He is a total homebody and he kept on saying, "okay I'm ready to go home now." This was at around 11am. The park just opened. Finally after I told him that I can't just take him home b/c we were 3 hours away he kind of stopped asking about it.
Anyway, it was a great day. We started out with getting pulled over on our drive up, but the cop was really nice and said, "I'll give you a warning this time." Then he proceeded to tell us he grew up in Pearland and told us a few stories about how small it was. Emily then told us on our way out that Josh was saying in a mad voice to the police officer, "Get away right now!"
Russ had taken off the day so we could go during the week to beat the crowd. Most of the day Russ had the older kids on the crazy rides. I took the little ones to the shows, which they loved. Then we'd meet up for meals whenever we could. We bought these passes that you can eat all day for one price, and we ate all day long, even when we weren't hungry. :) The only thing was I didn't read the small print stating that the feeding the dolphins closed at 6pm. So when we walked over there at 7pm to just pet them I was so sad for my kids that they didn't have that opportunity. Oh well, maybe next time.
It was really nice to go somewhere with just our family. These days that rarely happens. Poor Russ had to go to work the next day with 6 hours of sleep and moonlight that evening, plus he's working all day Saturday. We loved the time we had with him!

Canada 2010

2010-07-31T14:07:00.000-07:00

Emily went horseback riding with her cousins and Grandma Fisher. She was of course in heaven. She looked like a natural on those babies. There wasn't a fear in the world of the fact that they were hiking up a bear infested mountain. Luckily they all made it back safely. (I'm kidding about bear infested, but they are up there sometimes.) The other kids did pony rides. Loren went golfing with Russ and Grandpa with a few other cousins, but I didn't get pictures of that, unfortunatley. The had fun though. Holden opted out of all this so he spent his money at the Duty Free shop on the way out of Canada.

Canada 2010

2010-07-31T13:52:00.000-07:00

Here are a few more! There is Joshy in his cast too. As some of you know he broke his tibia jumping on the trampoline in the rain with his older siblings. He says, "I got bounced on the tramp and Holden bounced me." There were too many older kids and his knees locked trying to avoid the bounce, but it broke his leg doing it. He had to wear his cast for 3 weeks so he didn't get to do any of the water activities the others got to do in Canada, but he could go canoeing. :)

canada 2010

2010-07-31T13:42:00.001-07:00

Our family went to Canada this year in June for our Fisher Family Reunion. Even though I got sick for 3 of the 6 days we were there it was breathtaking. The mountains almost look fake when they look like that. I was in awe at what a beautiful world God has created for us to enjoy, and I truly appreciate that he put it all here for us to enjoy.
We did lots of fun thing. We swam, we went hiking, canoeing, ate Gyros, went to Banff, and blessed our newest addition to the Fisher Clan, Will.
I really wished I had more time with my them and that I wasn't sick for most of it, but it really was a nice time! I love you Fisher people. :)

Loren's Class Book

2010-07-31T13:34:00.000-07:00

Loren's 4th grade class wrote a book and it got published. His teacher asked him to write a few different short stories b/c he is such a great writer. They all did their own illustrations as well. At the book recognition they had to each stand and explain their own part of the book. We are very proud of his writing skills!

Our Riddle for baby #6

2010-06-10T12:05:00.000-07:00

We found out the sex of our baby and the kids and I made up a very inappropriate riddle and read it to a few family members so they could guess. My Mom said I needed to write it down so here it is. :)

We have 3 of them so far,
5 if you count dogs.
Our toilet is always a mess,
full of lots of logs.
Joshy says all of his "p" sounds with an "h"
we think he's a genius.
So in Joshy's words,
Our new baby has a "henis!"

It's a boy!

Taylor Swift Fearless

2010-05-27T06:58:00.000-07:00

I have put in a lot of pictures so details are at the bottom. It was so FUN!!

2010-05-27T06:49:00.000-07:00

2010-05-27T06:42:00.000-07:00

More of Taylor Swift

2010-05-27T06:36:00.000-07:00

You Belong To Me

2010-05-27T06:30:00.000-07:00

Taylor Swift Fearless Tour!

2010-05-27T06:10:00.001-07:00

Emily and I went to the sold out Taylor Swift concert last night! My friend DiAnn got tickets for Emily and her daughter Alyssa for their birthdays in October. The concert was sold out in 5 minutes I think, so it was amazing DiAnn even got tickets and we were lucky she picked us to go with her. :) We first went to Lupe Tortilla's with a large group of people from school. It was about 12 girls and 1 little boys to 7 mom's. :) One of the girls mom's made a poster beforehand so they held it before we ventured off with our own group.

When we got to the Toyota Center they handed out glow sticks that turn on and off (for free). Then when you sat down on random seats there were little flashlights with a note attached that said to shine this at me during "15."

Kellie Pickler was one of the opening acts we missed the other one. She was pretty good. I'm not a big fan of her songs, but she was okay.

I feel like a little kid getting all giddy about this Taylor Swift concert, but it was so AWESOME! I have been to other concerts, but this girl topped them all. She had awesome sets, she changed in to like 5 dresses, she threw stuff out to the audience, and the best part was that we were one aisle away from her when she came down the steps (into the crowd). She blew confetti hearts out into the crowd, like raindrops! She was hugging people, kissing them, picking up little kids. It was so personable and cute. She really is an incredible performer. I loved that she was so innocent as she played the music and not seducing the crowd with her looks, which she's totally got. I wasn't once thinking twice about Em being there.

Emily was so cute through the whole concert. She screamed her head off. There was a family in front of us that had earplugs in that would look back at our group of 6 screaming girls, okay 7 b/c I was totally in on that. :) We got t-shirts that were ridiculously expensive, but when do you get to see Taylor Swift?

Anyway, we had a wonderful time. I totally recommend the concert. It was a blast!

Loren's Arrow of Light

2010-05-26T07:20:00.000-07:00

Last night Loren received his Arrow of Light! I never had brothers so this whole cub scout thing is totally new to me. I was put in as the Committee Chair about 2 years ago and have grown to like the program and see the good that comes from it for all different personalities. It teaches good values (which we taught at home), but for those boys that might not receive it at home it is good for them. Then there is the athletic and outdoors man side that Loren loved, of course. :)

I was asked to say something about Loren. I talked about how he obeyed the Scout Law very well, but his strong points are being trustworthy, loyal, and friendly.

Anyway we are very proud of him for working hard at receiving this on top of all the other things he is doing right now. Good job Loren!

Ending with Mother's Day

2010-05-13T10:30:00.000-07:00

I have now spent 2 hours with sick kids doing my blog to catch up. Mother's Day....Saturday night before Russ left to work the night shift he told me that he was so sorry (with adorable puppy eyes too, like my Holden), but that he would have to work not only the night shift, but moonlight at home as well. Now prior to that he had worked all day and had 2 hours of sleep before going into the hospital. I just shrugged and said it was okay b/c I had it covered.
I had decided that since he was working night shift this month and moonlighting during the day/night all month long that I would have roast for dinner. Usually Russ barbecues for me. I love a good steak, but roast is my most favorite meal ever. I haven't had one forever. I bought a box of brownies b/c Em knows how to make brownies on her own, and she did it. The roast was wonderful and so were the brownies!
The kids did such sweet things. Cards, flower pots, I even got a card in Spanish from Holden that said Mi Mami. :) Church was great. Em and I were in a choir during sacrament that sang a Mother/Daughter duet. It was hard not to cry through the entire meeting including the song. I was worried about going up there since Russ was gone, if Loren could take on the other 3 kids, knowing that Josh would probably cry. They did great. Loren took Josh out of the room and Ash and Holden sat quietly. That was a blessing.
When I got home I found a bouquet (wish I'd taken pictures) of chocolates in a vase with a bear attached to it with a note from my sweet husband. It was from the hospital store, which makes it even sweeter. He felt like it was so dumb, but it was the best thing he could do, due to the situation. I loved it. I loved that he thought about me as his exhausted body took the time to stay at Ben Taub for 10 minutes longer. I love that even though he only had maybe 4 hours of sleep in a 24 plus time frame that he tried so hard to stay awake to help with the children that day even though I kept telling him to go to sleep. Actions and words are so much more to me then any gift. Thank you Russ I love you!
I also wanted to tell my own mother what a wonderful mother she is! She is my every morning conversation that keeps me moving. I also feel so bad when I think about anytime I mistreated you as a child and adult. :) You've always been such a good example to me. I aspire to be like you in so many ways.
To Marie, I want to let you know how much I appreciate you for being a wonderful mother to your boys. I always think of the scripture you used to have on the fridge of the 2000 stripling warriors and know that it is b/c of your faith that Russ is who he is today and I am so thankful for your strength in the gospel. It shines through you in all that you do.
Of course to my wonderful friends that have taught me to be a mother. I've learned so much from all of you. From Chicago to Texas. Thank you and Happy Mother's Day!

Joshy's new thing

2010-05-13T09:51:00.000-07:00

Josh loves sports! Baseball, basketball, soccer, you name it the boys is obsessed. So the "new thing" is to go into the laundry room and get Loren's or Holden's dirty or clean, but mostly dirty uniform and wear them. Today Josh is sporting Loren's dirty baseball jersey (black), dirty orange socks, and yes those are his dirty slider pants that go under his pants. Now I haven't asked to see if they wear underwear under those or if Josh is wearing dirty underwear around the house? Yuck! He calls them, "Loren's sliders." Anyway, even when I take the dirty stuff away he still takes it out seconds later. So what's the use? :)

Track Meet 2010

2010-05-13T09:41:00.000-07:00

Every year Pearland holds a track meet that consists of all the elementary schools coming together to compete against each other. The PE teachers choose kids at their school to represent them. Loren and Emily both were chosen to run it this year. Emily was in the 100 meter and Loren was in the long jump. Emily ended out taking
3rd place and so did Loren. It was really fun to watch them do it! Em was a bit upset that she got 3rd place b/c she almost got 2nd, but she got over quickly. Good job Loren and Em!
I don't know why I can't upload the pict in the order I want them. Just imagine what I'm trying to show you. :) BTW Em is lane 1.

My new bathrooms and the women behind it all!

2010-05-13T09:28:00.000-07:00

Russ's mom, Marie, while she was in town decided to take on a project I hadn't finished since we moved in last summer. When we moved in our master bath had dark purple wallpaper everywhere and our mud bathroom had blue and cream striped wallpaper too. I tore a lot of it off when we moved in with the help of the kids and their friends, but it was put on hold when Russ said we needed to wait, due to other repairs that needed to come first. So we aimed for after we received our taxes. Life got busy and so I never got motivated enough to stay up all night and finish the mess. So Marie said she wanted to do it for me. She spent hours in both bathrooms ripping the rest off. I spray painted the light fixtures, Russ textured the bathrooms and then I painted them. Marie requested to see the finished project, so here it is. For some reason the colors aren't showing right. My bathroom is not hunter green. It is a brown with gray tints to it, but at night it does have a greenish tint too, unfortunatley. I also haven't decorated it at all. Thank you Marie for your help and for motivating me to finish it.

Happy Birthday Joshy!

2010-05-13T08:38:00.000-07:00

Joshy turned 2 on the 28th of April. Grandpa and Grandma Wright came into town for the weekend and stayed to celebrate with us. We started out the day with heading to Chuck E Cheese. The kids love that place! Josh still is asking when we are going back to celebrate his birthday again. Russ went and bought Josh a Spiderman pinata and I made a spider cake last minute b/c I didn't know we had a theme going. :) Emily had the idea of using licorice so we went with it and it turned out pretty good for a quick job. Josh fell asleep watching me decorate it sitting up on the chair. When it was time to brake open the pinata he was a little confused at why his siblings would want to hit his new friend, Spiderman. He took one hit and didn't want to hit again. I had to take him to the pinata and let him hug and kiss it to be okay with the whole thing. :) Then we opened presents. We had bought him his car bed earlier, but Grandma and Grandpa bought him a t-ball set and cleats. He loves them! He also got some cool "bay-ball" underwear from my parents that he love as well. Thanks for coming to celebrate his b-day!

Friends Forever

2010-05-13T08:13:00.000-07:00

Emily has the most wonderful friend, named Lexi. They are like "kindred spirits" (Anne of Green Gables). They are so alike and understanding of each other it is adorable. I love Lexi too. Anyway, Em for her B-day, was given a day spa kit. The girls decided to explore it and make an oatmeal honey mask. I told them to take it outside b/c it was going to get messy. So they decided the best place to lay out was in the front yard on the driveway. I was just laughing and so were all of the neighbors as they drove by. They had a wonderful time. Lexi said, "I wonder if I can make this at my house?" Em said, "No, you can't b/c the kit says you have to use their oatmeal and honey." (she really believed the paper too, and so did Lexi.) What cuties!

These are my people (some of them)

2010-05-13T07:54:00.001-07:00

Two of my sisters and Mom came to Houston this year for our annual sister weekend! We started out the weekend with a trip to the temple. It was a beautiful time of year to be at the temple. I loved the purple trees and tulips. We then drove to San Antonio to go to Sea World. I guess I didn't get any pictures of that, but we had a blast! My mother was the bag lady while we road all of the rides. It was a pretty sweet deal, actually. We ate a ton of food and had a blast! Then to end the trip off we went back to Houston and went to the rodeo. We saw the finals and the concert was Brooks and Dunn. We had awesome seats, thanks Jimmy.
I feel like a kid again when I'm around my sisters and Mom. They are so fun and crazy. I always feel rejuvenated when I return to my wonderful family. Thanks Russ for taking off time for me. The kids really enjoy their time with their Dad too. It's a win/win situation. Thanks ladies for coming to see me!

Rewind to Spring Break :)

2010-05-13T07:43:00.000-07:00

First and for most we always celebrate St. Patty's Day at our house. This year I found some really fun "green" things for the kids to wear. I always tell them they HAVE to wear green or somebody will pinch you. So they sleep in their green attire for the next day pretty much. In the morning I gave them their hats, hair, and bow ties. They loved wearing them. Even my oldest wasn't too cool. I love that. Russ was working the night shift, and no he usually doesn't participate in our festivities in case anyone is wondering. :) For lunch we ate Corned Beef and Cabbage, carrots, and red potatoes. YUM! Why do I get into the holiday you ask? My Mom went on her mission to Ireland. So growing up we always had fun with it. I love it!

If I Were in Charge of the World- by Emily

2010-05-03T17:37:00.001-07:00

Emily created this poem at school the other day and brought it home and read it to me, and I thought it was cute so I thought I'd post it so I would remember it. :) I capitalized it the same way she did.

If I were in charge of the world
I'd cancel Doctors appointments
strawberries
schools and also
Taxes.
If I were in charge of the world
There'd be Ice Cream Mountains
milk Rivers, and
People can fly
If I were in charge of the
world
You wouldn't have football.
You wouldn't have baseball
You wouldn't have bossy
people
Or bears
You wouldn't even have fish
If I were in charge of the world
A sundae with sprinkles and cream
Would be fruit
All cats would be dogs
And a person who somtimes forgot to blush
And sometimes forgot to flush
Would still be allowed to be
In charge of the world.

The best part was the Loren read it and about stopped in his tracks at her baseball comment, and said, "Em this doesn't make sense." I love her creative mind it is beautiful.

Joshy's new bed

2010-03-12T14:02:00.000-08:00

I know you're probably wondering if I even love my other children beside the littlest ones. I totally love them all equally, but number one they aren't home during the day and number two, they aren't doing adorable things all day long. I still feel like I can't capture all the sweet moments.

Anyway, we got this awesome bed for Josh off of craigslist (my favorite place as some of you know to find furniture for a steal deal). Every time I would get on the Internet to look at different ideas for bed for his room (it's a smaller room) I would be looking at toddler beds and see this specific bed. Josh would see it and say, "Oh that's my race car bed!" So I thought we'd get him one for his birthday in April. Anyway, I happened on a good deal and right here in Pearland even so I couldn't pass it up. He LOVES the thing. Ashley said, "I wish I'd asked for a dark blue bed for my birthday." He sleeps in it all night doesn't get out of bed or anything. When I put him in bed he use to want me to, "get bigger" which in Josh's language means get smaller and sleep with me. Now he says, "Mom can you go out please?" Yay for the new race car bed!

PS the answer is yes if you're wondering if the hideous sheets and pillowcase came with the bed as well. Yep and he love them all!

My tired boy

2010-03-12T13:49:00.000-08:00

Josh went the entire day without a nap, due to a million errands. Usually he falls asleep in the car or something, but today he didn't. By about 5 o'clock he became very grumpy and so I put him in time out on the stairs to relax. When he got quiet I came around the corner and found this. Look at his sweet lips. Aren't they so kissable?

One Half Marathon under my belt.

2010-02-15T18:40:00.000-08:00

Well I did it! I ran a half marathon on the beach this last Saturday. Emily is reading this out loud as I am typing and I am feeling like a total loser as she reads it. She's doing it with a southern drawl. :) Anyway, I did it and it's over and so I went to Walmart and bought Valentines candy today.....it's 50% off and I ate a lot of chocolate because I can now! :) Although I do have to admit that I am a little addicted to it and made myself not run today. I said I would never do one again before the race, but after doing it I changed my mind. It was pretty fun. Okay I'm feeling even dumber because Emily is still reading over my shoulder out loud, so I'm done.

Lesson learned!

2010-02-08T15:50:00.000-08:00

Today while Emily was doing her hair in my bathroom she decided to look into one of my cupboards and found a purple spray bottle. I guess it wasn't as good as her yellow spray bottle to get her hair wet, so she used it. I came in about 10 minutes later and found the purple spray bottle down on the bathroom counter and gasped! I use this special purple spray bottle for bleaching my bathroom showers when they get a little black build-up. That's why I put it up in my cupboard out of reach for the little ones. :) So I ran out realizing that Em probably sprayed her hair with it (she did clean the bathroom for me, as a side note, there were good intentions involved in this craziness). I quickly asked her if she used it, she had, and fell to the ground crying when I told her what it was and the effects it has on hair. Then we washed it out quickly. It didn't do anything that I can tell, luckily. I was totally laughing as we cleaned it out because the girl knows better than to get into things. So lesson learned, at least until she finds out that some people do bleach their hair. :)

Uh-oh!

2010-02-03T06:13:00.001-08:00

This kid is in to everything! The other day Russ called me into the room to catch Josh in the act of helping himself to the rest of the milk jug. Where did he learn that? Not one of us drink out of the milk carton.......or I thought. The other picture is of Josh on the table, again, and he is looking very closely at Em's new turtle that she got for Christmas from her Grandma and Pa Fisher. It's not real, but it looks real. Tricked Josh right?

A few more cuties in action......

2010-02-03T05:55:00.000-08:00

Emily is riding Loren's skateboard. She really knows how to ride that thing. She is a total daredevil. I get on a skateboard and I about brake my neck. Loren was just riding around and Joshy was watching him. It has been so great to live in this neighborhood. We have sidewalks, and a cult-a-sac just down the street so they can loop around. Sidewalks are key to not having a nervous breakdown.

Just because...

2010-02-02T19:35:00.001-08:00

These are just a few shots I got of Ashley a few weeks ago after church and on random days that she wanted me to take pictures of her. Some of them turned out kind of cute.

5 year milestones

2010-02-02T18:36:00.000-08:00

My little Holden can ride a bike without training wheels! He decided yesterday that he wanted to ride his, "two wheeler." Russ was home and he asked him to help him. I came home and Russ said he went about 7 houses without falling over. So today he wanted to show me. The kid was off around the neighborhood within minutes. Ashley also has been out riding her Dora bike with training wheels. She looks miserable in the picture, but she wanted me to still take a picture of her even though her bike flipped over, and she was still crying. She will ask a million times a day to ride her bike, and I'm sure Holden will be jumping on that bandwagon. As they were riding around the block I was thinking today about how many things a little kid learns. They say that the first 2 years of a child's life they learn the most. Such as, talking, walking, crawling, eating, drinking, and the list goes on. I'm amazed at what they learn after that too, but really 5 years is quite the milestone in itself. They learn so much as they start school, learning to read, tying shoes (still working on this one), riding bikes without training wheels, taking on new jobs in the house, etc. It seems that with each child and each age they all hit the same milestone. It really has amazed me to watch them all learn new things at their own rate.

Oh the moments

2010-01-13T18:33:00.000-08:00

Tonight I had a few good laughs at the crazieness going on in the house. First, I came around the corner to find Holden hiding his head in the stairs. I asked him if he was okay and he said, "Yeah, I'm trying to find a toothbrush." ???? So apparently Ashley had gone off to "hide" a toothbrush for Holden to find. So Holden kept his head down on the stairs for awhile. Then I hear, "Ashley, hurry up and hide the toothbrush." So she comes downstairs with the toothbrush wrapped in Josh's spiderman pillowcase and drops it at Holden's feet at the stairs and says, "Okay, Holden try to find it." Now normally Holden would be very upset at his wasted time with his head burried that long, but he laughed the cutest laugh ever. I just started laughing too. It was adorable.

Then I proceed to the bathroom to get Josh out of the bathtub. What I left him? Yes for a second to grab a towel, but the water was all the way drained. Anyway, I came in and he'd gotten himself out and was getting his wet little body dressed with Ashley's yellow Dora underwear. :)

So for bedtime Josh has been sleeping in his own bed. Usually he goes to bed pretty good, but tonight after being called a few names as I left, meanyhead, maniac, and the list goes on, then I hear him say, "Goodnight mom, goodnight mom." So I said, "Goodnight Josh." Then he immediatley replies, "No, Mom it is not a goodnight."

I wouldn't want to miss these sweet moments for a million dollars...well maybe. Just kidding I love being a mom.

My house, finally!

2009-12-07T11:20:00.000-08:00

Here are a few pictures of our house, late I know, sorry! :) Anyway, I disliked my fireplace at first when we moved in because I thought it took up so much space. I now love it! It is so much fun! When my house is clean I will take more, but this is as good as it gets right now.

It Snowed in Texas!

2009-12-07T10:58:00.000-08:00

It totally snowed in Texas on Friday morning! I couldn't believe it! The kids went to school on the bus, due to Ashley falling off the couch and breaking her collarbone the night before. I was so sad because I couldn't pull the kids out of school because it hurt Ashley to move. So Josh and I moved Ashley's mat close to the door so she could see the snow falling and feel the cool air. It was so sad because she wanted to go outside, but she knew her shoulder would hurt. I brought snow in for her to touch and taste. She loved it!

Now as you can see in the pictures that the snow is very little, but this is huge for Houston. I think we broke some record for Houston because it was so early. Early it's December for goodness sake. :) Anyway, I got a phone call from the school saying school was going to let out early, due to the weather conditions. I was so excited!

As you can see the kiddos had a blast! Emily wasn't ever around when I had the camera out so I took one of her after she played in the snow in the house. I was so thankful for the snow. It was so beautiful. I forgot how much it makes it seem like Christmas to have it around us.

There are a few shots of my sweet little Ashley's arm in there too. Russ was able to help the process at the hospital not take forever. It does pay off to have a Radiologist as a husband after all! :)

Thanksgiving Holiday

2009-12-06T20:23:00.000-08:00

My parents stayed after Emily's baptism for Thanksgiving. We had a wonderful time. It was so wonderful to have company. Russ had been so busy for a few months. At times it seemed unbearable to be a single mother of 5. So this was such a lift for me!
We started the trek with singing, "The good ole' Mountain Dew," in the chorus it says, "I'll shut up your mug if you feel up my jug." Josh loved singing, "shut up, shut up," the whole time. This is a Fisher family favorite as Grandpa sings and we clap and our hands and then we join in the chorus. My kids eyes when they heard me sing shut up widened because I was encouraging them to sing along. :)

We went to San Antonio and saw the Alamo. What's that? What's the wheelchair for? :) My Dad has horrible feet issues right now so we borrowed a wheelchair and made him sit in it while we pushed him around the River walk. Grandma attempted to push him at the Alamo, but when she ran into a bump and sent him almost flying out of the wheelchair he huffed off and pushed the kids around in it for awhile. :) I only wish I had thought to take a picture of that moment. My mom stood in the middle of the street, a busy street, with her legs crossed, laughing her head off. I kept saying, "Lady get out of the street before you get hit by a car!" She couldn't though because she was laughing so hard that if she'd moved she would have peed her pants. They now laugh together about it. So at the end of the day I took a picture by a handicap parking sign, seeing as he has a pass now and all. They are so fun and crazy!

We then headed over to Bastrop State Park where we stayed in these cool cabins that the CCC build years ago. My mother says she'll NEVER camp in Texas so this is as good as it gets for camping. :) It was good enough the kids had a great time.

For Thanksgiving we stayed at home. Russ was on call the entire weekend and got called in a few times, but mostly we all got lucky to have him around.

My mom and I always venture out for the day after Thanksgiving sales. We started at Midnight and ended my adventure at 7am. My mom's ended with my Dad at Joann's Fabric (yuck) at around 11am. What a trooper he is. My mom is a sewer and I remember having to wait in lines for sales when I was a kid. I think that is kind of what Hell will be like. :)

Thanks Mom and Dad for coming. We loved having you and miss you so much.

The Wright's

2009-12-06T19:59:00.000-08:00

The Wright's came and visited us for Emily's baptism a few days before her special day. We had a lot of fun. Josh really fell in love with Grandpa Wright. He followed him everywhere. They were outside together watching the kids play on the trampoline and Josh told said, "Move, move," until he was up mimmicking what Grandpa was doing. Loren played catch with Grandpa a few times and loved every minute of it. Uncle Dan, Russ's brother, came and brought his daughter, Ally. Emily and Ally had a blast from the second they saw each other.
We took the kids out of school a little early and took them over to Nasa. It was nice to drive over with Marie and have an adult to talk with. My kids always enjoy Nasa even if they only played on there playground. Then we stopped by The Waffles House. Pretty good waffles, I have to admit I was a little nervous when the lady took our order. Only if you've been to a Waffle House can you relate to this fear I had. :) All in all, I'm still kickin'!

Emily and Ally

2009-12-06T19:47:00.000-08:00

After Emily's baptism, my mother and I, took Ally, her cousin and her out to this store called, "Sweet and Sassy!" It was so fun. They went and made there own soaps and decorated them and then they got stars "sparkled" to their faces. I told them they could pick a fun little gift to take home with them and they both picked out these adorable boas. If I could video the way they walked the street back to the car. It was priceless. My mom and I just laughed. The radio was playing at the mall outside and their little bums we right on beat. There wasn't a care in the world. It was like it was only Ally and Em on the whole street. They were shakin' it all the way to the car. Where do they learn that?

When we got home they were laughing and running around. Then Ally spotted my Dad, she really took a liking' for both of my parents, which they loved. Then she put her boa on his head and so did Em and they dressed in matching PJ's and posed for the camera.

Thanks Ally for coming Emily missed you the moment you left. She keeps saying I wish Ally was here. :)

Emily's Baptism

2009-12-06T19:00:00.000-08:00

Our sweet, beautiful, Emily got baptized on November 21st, 2009. We are so proud of her choice to be apart of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. She looked radiant on her baptism day, dressed in white. She picked this gorgeous, white dress because it was long and it reminded her of Taylor Swift when she sings, "Romeo and Juliet." :) I was so worried that she was going to only think about being Taylor Swift instead of focusing on the feeling that was definitely there. Jim Potts, our friend even said to her, "I heard Taylor Swift is getting baptized." She was so excited he thought she was Taylor Swift.
We were also so blessed to have both of our parents come out as well as Uncle Dan and Ally. She felt so loved.
My fear was taken from me as she showed us that she knew why she was truly there that day. She listened so well to all of the talks, including making eye contact with our Bishopric member when he welcomed her in the Ward.
I was so flustered during the baptism with making sure it ran smoothly that I had to stop and take in the Spirit. When I held her hand and handed her to Russ in the font my heart swelled and I knew Heavenly Father and Jesus was so grateful for her choice too. I was so thankful for Russ, that he holds the priesthood and could baptize and later confirm, our beautiful daughter. What a blessing it is to be a member of this wonderful gospel. You know even more that the church is true when your own child takes on the sacred ordinances that are so important to return and live with our Father in Heaven. We love you Emily!

Our bike ride and the "dog whisperer" that I am not. :)

2009-10-27T08:37:00.001-07:00

This morning it was only 50 degrees! Now for some of you that seems "normal," but for us Texans this is unusual weather. So I thought it would be great to go for a bike ride with the trailer (Josh and Ash would sit in) and Jaggers our black dog would pull us around the neighborhood. Jag was ecstatic of course. So ecstactic that the dumb dog wouldn't calm down. I pulled a "Caesar Milan" the "dog whisperer" on him, and said, "Ch" and did a dog bite with my hand to stop the behavior. This wasn't working so well. So I thought it must be my "not so calm and assertive energy" that I'm giving off. So I puffed my chest and tried again to "calm" the dog down. He started relaxing a bit, but we had to wait for a long time. Josh and Ash were starting to fight in the trailer, but I was trying to have my calm assertive energy so Jag would eventually give up on his annoying behavior. After about 15 minutes of waiting patiently for the dumb dog to submit to me he finally stopped whining and laid down. Now during this 15 minutes I am "biting" him with my hand and pushing the dog to the ground and holding him so he can calm down. He would and then he'd get back up and we'd start all over again. As we started down the road once he submitted to me he's literally pulling us down the road and this guy that was about 4 houses down gets out of his truck and looks as me like I'm crazy and I look at his car advertisement and it say, "Petiquette, How to train the perfect dog."
My first question is this,
1. How long was this "dog trainer" watching me in my driveway with Jaggers?
2. Was he laughing, because I am now!

For those of you that don't watch the dog whisperer this may have been the dumbest post ever, sorry.

Ashley is 3!!

2009-10-27T08:30:00.000-07:00

My sweet little Ashley Nichole is three years old! When she woke up and we were singing to her, Emily came downstairs and smiled so sweetly at her. It reminded me of when she first saw her sister at the hospital. She was only 5 and so excited to have a sister. They are like best friends. I love it.
Some cute comments she said the night before as we were discussing that she was going to be three tomorrow were, "I don't want to be 3, then I won't be your baby girl anymore." I of course reassured her that she will always be my baby girl. That's what I call her around the house I guess she assumed that I wouldn't call her that anymore. :(
When she got dressed for lunch she looked so old. I can't believe how quickly this girl has grown up. She got a new baby and she has taken her everywhere with her. What a good little mama!
I love you Ashley! :)

U2 360 Tour baby!

2009-10-15T11:39:00.000-07:00

That's right U2 fans I went to their concert last night with my great friend, Tamany. She actually invited me because her poor husband that was dying to see them couldn't go because he had to go out of town for work. So I went as "Jared," except we didn't kiss. :) Anyway, it was AWESOME! We were on "Floor Access" seating so we stood and danced the entire time. It was a great girls night out. Thanks Tamany and sorry Jared. :)

Holden Hilights

2009-09-29T19:35:00.000-07:00

Holden's teacher came up to me at school the other day and said, "I've got to tell you what Holden said today to me." She was asking the kids what they wanted to do today. Holden raised his hand and said in a very sweet voice (she love the boy), "Um if you don't have any plans then can I go home?" She said to him, "Holden, don't you want to stay and play at school with Ms Holloman?" He said, "No, I just want to go home." She laughed and told the class that she did in fact have some fun things planned for the day. He then asked her, "how many more days until my days off?" She just laughed and said, "Two more."

So he does miss me! Or at least home, but I'm here so lets pretend it's me he misses. :)

Holy Ghost

2009-09-22T15:26:00.000-07:00

I was setting up Halloween decorations...I know a little early, but I've been dying to set up because I loooooooove fall! While I was setting them up I put a cute little ghost on our front door knob. Ashley went over to it and said, "What is that Mom?" I said, "It's a ghost, isn't he cute?" She said, "Oh, I know the Holy Ghost! My teacher teaches me 'bout the Holy Ghost in my class!"

I am so grateful for the teacher that taught her 'bout the Holy Ghost. :)

FHE

2009-09-21T10:04:00.000-07:00

For FHE last night Loren was teaching the kids about cheating. It was in the Friend for September. He asks the kids the questions at the end. He did a great job. After he was done I add in about how I cheated sometimes (or a lot of times) in school and how one of the many consequences is that I don't know any thing. Their eyes got big as they take in that "I don't know anything." I have to restate that I do know stuff, but there is a lot that I missed because I didn't always use my own brain. I used others brain. (My poor mother if she's reading this I'm sure I'm braking her heart.) Anyway, they all decide that they want to be like Dad and study and "use their own brain." I say, "that way when you go to college your prepared for it." Emily butts in and says, "I'm not going to college, I only want to be a mom. My work will be at home taking care of my children." :)

I didn't know what to say except, "I'm glad you want to be a mom, Emily."

I didn't want her idea to feel small. She has clearly seen and knows that I didn't go to school and that this was my choice too, but I do want her to do well in school and go to college later too. I didn't want to push one or the other either though. Getting an education is important, but raising children is my top priority.

Late Night

2009-09-21T09:00:00.000-07:00

Loren had a "late night" with his buddy the other night. A "late night" means that he went over to his friends at around 7pm and came home at 9pm. :) He said he had a great time. The next day I run into the father of the boy and he say, "Hey Loren, I heard about what you did to the cockroach in my neighbor's yard last night." Loren's eyes grew very big, and so did mine. I asked what they did, but the father was so sweet and put his arm around Loren and said, "lets just keep it between the two of us." Loren immediately relaxed and they laughed. When we got in to the chapel I leaned over to Loren and said with a serious face, "what did you do to the cockroach?" He tried to avoid the question. I asked him if they made a mess in the neighbors yard? Nope. I try again, did you dissect it? Nope. Finally he said they peed on it. My eyes get bigger for 2 reasons, 1. his friends Dad is the stake president. 2. well really just reverting to number one again. I ask him who's idea is was and of course he rats out the neighbor. Oh, I guess Kyle was there. That made me feel better even though my boys have done a fair share of peeing on numerous things in our backyard that I'm pretty sure I knew who's idea it was. He assured me it was dark outside, which is was. I tell him to not do that again, but who are we kidding boys love to whip that out any chance they get. That little stinker. :)

Painful Piano

2009-09-03T08:38:00.000-07:00

The other day I was taking Loren and his best buddy, David to skateboard camp. On the way up Loren announced to David that he will be starting piano soon. He said, "Hey David, I'm going to take piano lessons, dude, so I'll be feeling your pain." David and his little brother, Tyler decided that they should let Loren in on how painful piano is for them. They did say the good things as well. I was totally laughing at this adorable conversation. Tyler at one point says, "Piano is so PAINFUL!" and then at another moment, "piano rocks!" The best part was that they all agreed it was a good thing and worth it in the end.

So Loren and Emily started their lessons yesterday. Loren asked just before he left, "Do you think I'll be any good at it, Mom?" He's so sweet. Emily came home and ended up going to her room because of the pain it brought her. Loren can't keep his hands off the piano. He loves creating music I can tell. Emily loves it too she just needs to get back into the practicing routine.

I ran into his piano teacher at school and she said that he was so sweet. He was nervous and so tense. He'd appoligize everytime he made a little mistake. She said, "I told him that if he did everything right then he wouldn't give her anything to do so it's okay to make a mistake here and there." Then she said, "He was so tense it looked painful." I started laughing. Now is that a Seinfield moment or what?

Piano is terribly painful, but the music is so worth it.

Funny comments

2009-08-31T17:23:00.000-07:00

We went to the zoo on Saturday. We were are the monkeys and these two monkeys were fighting over a tree branch. They were basically playing tug-a-war, but it was really ticking the other monkey off. Josh must have felt the Howler's hostility as he yells, "ET GO! ET GO!" which in English is "let go." I was laughing.

Today Holden was telling me about his new friend named Joey. Ashley came in and assumed that he was talking about his Uncle Joe that they call, "Jobee One" after the famous "Obee One" from Star Wars. :) Then Holden replies in an iritated voice, "No, Ashley not Jobee his name is Joey." Then Ashley began to sing, "Joey, I'm so sorry." It's a country song.

I can't get enough of the funny conversations around here. It's what makes my job or staying home so worth it!

I am 30

2009-08-29T13:53:00.000-07:00

I just thought I better give a call out to Russ and my kiddos for surprising me with streamers all over the ceiling and a chocolate birthday cake! I had gone to the temple for the early session and came home to yelling children, but the yells were sweet. It was Ashley yelling, "Happy birthday, Mom!" and Emily saying, "DAD she's here, she's here!" It was very thoughtful and I felt like a princess. They even gave me a heart necklace that blinked and said, "Birthday girl." It was for a little girl. Russ let the kids pick all the 30 things out at the party store while I was at the temple. It was very sweet.
Then in the evening I went out with my friends to a Mama Mia sing along. I love Mama Mia, and I thought I was going to be the superstar, but this man behind me knew every single word to the entire movie! :) After the movie was over we went to visit Russ and Ben Taub hospital. He took me and a few friends on a "behind the scenes" tour so that was fun. It was the first time I've seen him in the hospital working. It was so fun to see him there.
Thanks for a wonderful Birthday everyone!

First day of school

2009-08-29T13:30:00.000-07:00

On Monday I had 3 of my kiddos go to school. Russ gave us all our back to school blessings the night before, and I bald my eyes out. My shirt was wet. Holden kept on saying, "Mom why are you crying?" I am so thankful for the priesthood. What a blessing to have that in my home and live. It always amazes me how everything Russ says in the blessings are exactly what I needed to hear, and I didn't tell him my feelings or thought on any of the stuff before to prep him. It came straight from Heavenly Father. Without these blessings I would be a nervous wreck the entire year while they were at school. When I put the kids to bed I couldn't even sing them their songs because I was a cry baby still.

The kids looked great in their school uniforms and were so excited to go to school. I took Holden in to his class and was waiting in the doorway and I thought he was next to me so I grabbed his arm, but I came to realize that was this scared little girl that was clinging to her Dad with all her might. I scared the snot out of her I'm sure grabbing her like that. The Dad didn't look to pleased when I said, "Sorry I thought that was my son." I looked up to find Holden and he was making himself comfortable walking around trying to find his spot. I found it with him and gave him a kiss and said goodbye.

Emily got sick of waiting for me out of Holden's door and found her class herself and was getting situated when I got there, AND SHE WAS TALKING TO HER TEACHER! Let's fast forward to 2 years before where for 2 weeks I was prying her off my legs to go to kindergarten. I went in a kissed her too, and she went on with what the rest of the class was doing and didn't flinch once.

Loren was sitting in his class by the door and I waved and blew him kisses. As I was doing this I realized that he was giving me that kind of embarrassed, but too nice to say anything look that his father gives me when I kiss him in public or say "I love you." Like father like son. Sweethearts think alike. I'm a little sad that he grew up that fast, but I guess it had to happen sometime.

All in all this week went great for them. After waiting for a few days in the insane parent pick up line for a hour we decided to bus the kids from school to home. They love it, and it drops off in front of our house. It's a sweet deal.

Josh walked around saying all week, "Loren go ba bye?" "Loren go ride da bus?" can you tell who he loves the most? Really he calls all 3 of them the same name because its easier, but he does truly idolize Loren.

Ashley has had an adjustment with learning to play on her own. She is so use to having Emmy lead their play that she kind of followed me around the first few days, but now she loves leading the play for Josh. They play cute for the most part. There is the occasional, "maniac" reply from Josh, poor misled child. Who is his mother anyway? We're getting there....I hope.

pros and cons to talking babies

2009-08-25T07:18:00.001-07:00

So a few months ago I posted that Josh was talking, and how cute it is. Well it is cute, except for when he learns words he shouldn't be saying. For instance, when Ashley gets upset she'll call one of her siblings, never me or Russ, "maniaces" or maniacs. Unfortunaley she learned that from the older siblings that trickled down to Ashley as well. Well I thought that was not okay. Today I caught Josh playing in my make-up and when I took it from him and said, "NO!" He looked at me and said, "maniac." I turned and started laughing, and he proceded to keep calling me a maniac. I'm working on changing this behavior, but getting a 16 month old to stop saying a bad word is kind of like teaching a dog to poo in a toilet. Now if that is possible then soon Josh will have a cleaner mouth. :)

New house!

2009-06-28T20:24:00.000-07:00

We are in the process of moving into our new house! I am so excited and the kids have just been so pumped about it. It's been funny. We spent the night there last night because we had a few mattresses there, and Russ is working the night shift this whole month. So I thought we can sleepover and then I can clean or put things away. Loren and Emily stayed up until 12:30am laughing and goofing off. Those stinkers. Today I went to the "old house" is what they call it now, and got another load of junk to take over there and Emily had organized our junk that we dumped previously. She said, "While Holden and Loren played I was working." What a love. She is so helpful! I will post pictures as soon as I find my camera. :)

Joshy's words

2009-06-13T21:10:00.000-07:00

Josh is starting to randomly say a few words here and there. I want to type them down so that I remember his words when he's older. Jump down to the next posting this one is boring, but not to me. :)

Mommy/Daddy
waffle
doggie
MOOO (for cow)
Mackdy (Mackie the dog)
bakdudan (bakugan)
ball, ball
baskaball (basketball)
bup (up)
ouw (out)
ow
dree (drink)
babble (bottle)
mowr (more)
na na (bed)

That's all I can remember for now.

It's been awhile

2009-06-13T20:53:00.000-07:00

The other morning Josh, Ashley, and I were laying in bed and Josh started pounding on Ashley's back. She quickly responded, "Josh I'm not a basketball, don't dribble me!"

Russ has been working the nightshift and a few 24 plus hours at a time so the things that come out of his mouth are funny, but the best is that he is laughing at himself because he knows what he said made no sense at all. :) He asked me one day if it scares me to think he was taking care of patients? :)

Emily's new gig for now is to be Hannah Montana/Taylor Swift and sing and dance REALLY LOUDLY through the house and backyard. She really has some good dance moves. It reminds me of being a kid and rockin out in my front room with my sisters. Who are we kidding I totally rock out with her too!

Loren and Holden are hilarious together. They wrestle, play Super Smash, catch bugs, play Bakugan. The skies the limit for those two. I love to watch them play together.

Josh said, "Waffle!" We were (who are we kidding there is no we these days, he's gone! love you babe) I was getting breakfast ready and Ashley said, " I want a waffle." And then Josh said, "waffle!" He repeated it a few times until I actually shut my mouth (I was in shock) and got him one. :) It's so random what he says that it makes me laugh!

Well I guess the biggest news is that we are moving into a bigger house this month! Yeah! We found a cute house that will fit our family. We are excited to have a little bit more space. Now selling our own house is another story. :) No we have had so many people come and look at it, it has been crazy! Last week alone we had 12people. So I hope somebody want to buy it. I did, 6 years ago and it worked great for us. Anyway, we have been so blessed to have this house. Heavenly Father really blessed us to be here in Pearland and has blessed us again with this new house. Now if I only had the song, "Blessed" by Martina McBride that would give those few sentences the best setting right now.

Pictures will come someday.

My Mom's here!

2009-03-15T20:49:00.000-07:00

My mom came to visit from Minnesota! It has been so fun to have extra hands around the house. I use to refuse help but now adays any help is better then no help. I'm so grateful that she has come to help she truly is a great lady! I helped her create a blog and I published some really great posts for her! Mostly about how lucky she is to have me as a daughter. We just laughed when she read them. :) The kids have really enjoyed having a listening ear around. Thanks Dad for letting her come!

He's back!

2009-02-28T10:16:00.000-08:00

Russ has had a long and hectic month (Feb) so we are so excited to have him back with us! Josh (10 months today) can't stop saying "Da, Da, Da!" He doesn't just say it he screams it with such excitement it is hilarious. We went to the grocery store and the whole way he was so excited. If he saw Russ he'd yell, "Da, Da!" So on the way home Joshy fell asleep in his seat. As I went to get him out he wakes up immediately and again yells, "Da, Da, Da!" But when I picked him up he went straight back to sleep. Emily and I just laughed later. I wish I could take a picture of his face it was adorable. Even our little baby is excited to have his Daddy back. :)

Sing with me

2009-02-25T07:53:00.001-08:00

The other day I was putting Ashley in the car and I hear her say very calmly, "Oh a bider (spider)." I looked and in her window there was this tiny spider just hanging out, but before I could kill it she said, "Sing with me, da bitdy, bitdy bider ( the itsy, bitsy, spider) went up the," and she sang the whole song to the spider. Then when we were done singing to it I killed it. :)

Big Brother Note

2009-02-09T11:35:00.000-08:00

When I was putting Holden to bed last night I saw a note on his dresser with a candy bar (half eaten) the note read,
Dear Holden,
I'm giving the rest of the Chocolate bar to you I don't want the rest so thats why I'm giving it to you.
Your
Big
Brother,
Loren

I thought what a sweet big brother. He earned the candy bar in his class at church by doing homework, and then turning it the following week. I tried to take a picture of it, but our awesome camera couldn't pick up his soft pencil writing. So I copied it exactly how he wrote it. What a sweetheart. I picked this picture just because it was about Loren. It doesn't even go with this. :)

Cell phones and texting are beyond us!

2009-02-09T07:40:00.000-08:00

Russ just started moonlighting and had to get a cell phone... uh oh! How do you use a cell phone and what is texting? We have had one pay as you go cell phone for a few years, which we tried to avoid, only because of finances. So we got one. Then Russ started moonlighting and apparently they didn't like that he had to call me from work so that I could call his work, and then turn on the party line (I'd put the phone down,and then they would discuss their business). :) It took Russ's job actually saying to Russ, "You need a cell phone." So now we have 2 pay as you go cell phones. :) We are so white trash it's incredible!
Anyway, Russ got texted the other night that they needed him to pull an extra shift because somebody had quit, but we didn't get it. Who knew that when your phone makes this little beep sound that you have a text. Well we didn't. We heard something weird come out of the phone, but it just didn't register. Why is calling so hard to do? I mean texting seems harder to me then picking up and dialing the number.
So when we were at church (the next day) Russ told me his work had texted him last night, and they wanted him to work today (we sound flakey, but really we're just texting retards). So he "text" them back, and he told them he never had "text" anyone is his life. I guess they got a kick out of that, but so did we. We know we are so out of the cell phone world. I hope everyone pays attentions to texting now because we're in the know and we're going to use it. Just kidding Russ. I guess texting cost more too if you don't have a plan for it. So really we won't be using it. :)

Bedtime boots

2009-02-07T07:20:00.000-08:00

Ashley wears these boots EVERYWHERE we go! She usually is wearing her Dora backpack with it which is cute. The boots aren't so cute. Let me give you some background on these babies. First of all they've been past down through a few kids. Usually they were used for the backyard, but Holden, when they were his, decided to take a pen and color all over them. I never tried to scrub that off. So now are you with me on how beautiful these boots are? I don't force her to take them off because she really loves them. It's like she turns into a princess when she slips them on. Her personality blossoms and its adorable. Well worth looking past the boots past history. :) Anyway, now she has decided she needs to wear them to bed! If you take them off she throws a temper tantrum, which I'm okay with her doing, but not when every child is in bed already and that means I get to deal with them. So for now our beautiful yellow white trash boots are being worn to bed. :)

When do we get to go in?

2009-02-06T14:23:00.000-08:00

Today was our wards "fill the temple" day so my friend Emily and I took our little people that weren't in school with us.
I told Holden the night before what was going down and that Miss Em would be in charge of him and the other 2 kids. He said, "After you and Miss Em go in who's going in with me?" I explained that he needed a special ticket called a temple recommend to go in, and later when he's bigger he can go inside. He said, "Well, when I'm bigger I'll just go in by myself. I don't need anyone to go with me." That is so Holden to go by himself.
First, I should say how the morning ran before we went. Actually, it seemed to be going perfectly until 5 minutes before I had to go get Holden and meet my friend. All of a sudden Ashley peed her pants (which NEVER happens) so I had to clean up the pee and then bathe her AGAIN! Then Josh pooped (which I expect out of a 9 month old) so we had to change him. Then since Ashley peed in her pink shoes she went and slipped on her yellow backyard boots! I tried to convince her to wear different boots, but she said, "I tan't I have to wear my boots to the temple." I thought that was to cute to argue with so I let it slide. :) The when I went to get Holden he stood in the hallway, and patiently waited for about 5 classes to pass. I'm waving to him trying to get his attention. He was too far to really yell his name without interrupting the students. Finally he decided he was done waiting for all the classes and he cut in front of them and came to me. :) Anyway, somehow that made us all 30 minutes behind.
As I went onto the temple and left my dear friend Emily with 5 children 4 and under, to of them being babies,at the park nearby I felt calmer. Who knows if she did, but I did! :) No really the temple was great! It was a beautiful blue sky, the weather was like 70 degrees, and the flowers were blooming. It was great. When we switched the kiddos so Emily could go in I took them around the temple grounds. I needed to go into the distributions center which is attached to the temple, but I was saving that for the end. So we started walking the paths of the temple. Ty (Emily's boy) said, "when do we get to go in there?" I said later, and then I realized that he too wanted to go in the temple. What sweet kids. The lady in the garment center gave Holden, Ty, and Ashley a temple bag to hold there acorns they found on the grounds and a temple 2009 session card. They felt like they were given the best present ever. I heard Holden tell Ty, "That was sure lucky that she gave us a temple card." They really could feel the sweet feeling of the temple. I think our souls long for it.

Is 7 now the teens?

2009-02-04T11:34:00.000-08:00

The other day Emily was sent to her room for sassing her mother outside, and as she stomped her feet to her room and rolled her eyes, so did I (with my head down). Later after the buzzer had gone off she came out all happy and went on with her playing. A few hours later I went into her room and I noticed a few sticky notes attached to her mirror. One of them said, "I haet you mom," and the 2nd one said, "I haet your owfit too!" I just laughed to myself, and then I called her in. She was a little shocked that I found her notes. I think she had forgotten completely about it. I told her that wasn't nice and that hurts my feeling. :) She said, "Sorry." and then I asked her if she really hated my outfit. Really I was curious, and she said, "No I love it!" We both laughed! Pretty sad when they already know how to or think they know how to hurt your feeling. Anyway, I still thought it was a funny moment. I wished I'd taken a picture of it. Oh well, I'm sure I'll get another one! :)

Joshy's pulling up!

2009-01-17T14:04:00.000-08:00

Josh has discovered pulling up (a few weeks ago), and now he figured out how to pull up in his crib. I kind of encouraged it because I came in and found Josh staring out his crib with his finger in his mouth, and then I showed him the top of the crib and he pulled up! Smart guy!

Finally a smile!

2009-01-17T13:41:00.000-08:00

It is so hard to get a good picture of Ashley. Usually it's because "I tan't smil-o because the mean witch locked me in the tower, so now I tan't smil-o." :) That's a little sneak peak of Dora Saves the Snow Princess if you haven't watched it yet. Anyway, she finally was given back her smile :) so I took a few pictures. The other picture is her when she fake laughs she sticks her hands by her face and laughs. This picture pretty much caught it so I had to post it. Mainly for Russ because he loves it when she does that! :)

Starting over with my dogs

2009-01-17T08:40:00.000-08:00

I use to be a dog lover when we got Max (cockapoo). He is such a great dog! He doesn't shed, and he lets the kids do whatever they want, ALWAYS! The we happened on Jaggers our black Collie Mix of something I don't know maybe mixed with poo. Just kidding he has Blue Heeler in him. The first day we got the dog he tore up my porch swing and our trampoline net and pads! Anyway, I have at times had good moments, but they both really started irritating me the more children we added to the bunch the less love I've shown the pups (my kids have kept loving them). Then I went a few weeks ago to see the movie "Marley and Me," what a great movie! I cried so hard at the theater, I called my parents and cried on the way home about it, and then I cried to Russ at home! Pathetic huh? A little I agree, but it reminded me of what dogs are really truly here for. They really are a mans best friend. They are there for my kids when they are sad, happy, lonely, loyal, and always so forgiving! If you saw what my kids did to the poor things you'd be impressed my dogs are still happy to see them. :) That movie reminded me of what my dogs meant to me as a child and even though I don't want to cuddle with them now (I did after the movie though, Russ thought I was going crazy literally!) they really are great dogs! I am thankful to God for putting such great animals in my life and my children's. My New Years goal is to try to love my dogs. I'm sure I lost a lot of you here on this one, and maybe I really am going crazy who knows! :)

Nicky came to see me!

2009-01-16T17:54:00.001-08:00

My sister Nicky came and saw me at the end of October 2008! My parents had some miles that they needed to use so Nicky came to console me after the hurricane. :) We had the weekend to just hang out! Everytime we get together we find a new hat. We got our brown hats in Washington, but we're modeling them today! :) I love it when my sisters are around me it give me a good pick me up! I love you Nicky!

Monday Night Football

2009-01-16T17:37:00.000-08:00

Russ's attending gave our whole family tickets to Monday Night Football in December 2008. He even gave us his parking pass. (He has season passes for the Texans) We've never been to a NFL game before let alone Monday Night Football. We sat in the season pass section, and you could just feel the excitement of all the lovers of the Texans. It was really cute. The kids really enjoyed the game for about the first hour. They had in our season pass seats these cute Go Texans rolling signs that entertained them for awhile. Loren loved the game, but the others kind of started getting tired and cold by the end. At about 9:30pm we called it quits when we saw all of the kids except for Loren had already fallen asleep! The best or worst part was carrying all of them back down to the car. Russ had Ashley and Holden across his shoulders and hip, and I carried sleeping Joshy. Emily reluctantly followed us only because she wasn't sure if we'd leave her since she decided a fit was appropriate for the fans to hear. :) All in all it was a good time!

Grandma Helen

2009-01-16T13:28:00.000-08:00

Grandma Helen, Aunt Betty, and Kent came and saw us from Utah! It was so fun to see her. Emily's named after Grandma so we took a picture with then together. Russ and his Grandma have a sweet bond. It's adorable. She really means a lot to all of us. She's a good, good lady. We love her!

Camping November 2008

2009-01-16T13:09:00.000-08:00

We went camping the weekend before Thanksgiving as a family! The kids LOVE camping so we try to take them a few times a year. This place was a new location and so that was fun to explore a new place for them. It was really cold at night though. We had a heater on in the tent the whole night to keep warm. We saw deer all over the campsite on our hike. I found a few good places to take pictures of the kids, but taking 5 kids pictures is really hard. They all look every which way.

Thanksgiving 2008

2009-01-16T12:28:00.000-08:00

My people (my parents) came for Thanksgiving this year! It was so nice to have them around for the holidays! We had a great time at the Zoo with them, getting Kolaches (a delicious sweet roll with food in the middle),playing new board games, cooking the turkey with Grandpa (what a hoot), and waking up way to early with all the other crazy shoppers after Thanksgiving day with my Mom.
Cooking the turky was the cutest part. Holden was so excited to cut this baby open and see what was inside of it! All the kids stood around Grandpa as he showed them the insides of the turkey. He pointed out every part. He was hilarious! I wish I had a video camera to rewatch that great moment. He lifted up the birds wings and would say, "does anyone have any deodarant?" He let them touch it, and we all ate the gizzard, heart and neck (my favorite part). It's a little sneak peek of what our delicious turkey will taste like. Loren and Emily didn't love the insides as much, but Holden LOVED it! He still talks about the gizzard! Even Josh army crawled over to get a view of the excitement in the kitchen. Grandma had to pick the little guy up so he could see. Ashley as I'm posting this says, "Grandpa was so slilly with that turkey!" Thanks for the wonderful time!

Christmas 2008

2009-01-16T12:10:00.001-08:00

The kids had a their best Christmas ever! They each got about 3 things each from their Santa lists. They thought that was so great! The three older kids all got MP3 players. They were singing at the top of their lungs all day. Russ and I laughed when Lore and Em got mad at Holden for singing really LOUDLY "Feliz Navidad" over and over again. We tried to tell them we have heard them do that all day, but they didn't or wouldn't believe us. :) Ashley got a kitchen. One day when she was watching Dora on tv during the commercial a princess kitchen appeard,and I heard her say, "Oh, tool, tool that's what I'm getting for Tismas!" It wasn't really in the plans, but after that and seeing the after Thanksgiving specials it became our plan! Loren and Holden got bakugans! They love these things. It's a little ball that rolls around and turns into other creatures? You know what I have no idea what they turn into, but they are pretty cool things. Emily got her "American girl doll" it's Target brand, but she calls it that. My parents bought her and Ashley the pj's that match the doll and that match them too. It was Emily's favorite thing ever to wear her pj's with her doll! I had to tell her to take them off after 2 days of wearing them straight. Josh we thought would be preoccupied by the Christmas paper all over the floor so I didn't have Russ put together this giraffe ball toy my parents got for him, but man he bypassed all the papers that covered the floor and went over to the box with his toy into it! It was really adorable.

Emily's Piano Recital

2009-01-16T11:39:00.001-08:00

In the first week of December 2008, Emily had her first piano recital! This is HUGE for Emily! She hasn't ever had or wanted to have her own thing to do, but she has loved the piano. She did so great. She played "Jingle Bells" and "We Wish You a Merry Christmas." She practiced so hard for them and memorized Jingle Bells because she liked it the best. She borrowed her friend Jaden's dress and felt like a princess. Thanks Jaden! :) She was nervous, but didn't shy down once. We were all so proud of her. I think I caught Russ tearing up a bit, although he won't admit that he was. It was very sweet to see how proud he was of her. Yeah Emmy!!

My boys

2009-01-15T19:35:00.000-08:00

Being from an all girl family I love boys! They are so stinkin' cute! I don't know if it's because they look exactly like their Dad (especially Holden) or if it's that I've never experienced this before.
We got very lucky and had our son Loren first. Buddy is an excellent oldest son and brother. Very caring and loving to the boys. I always tell him, "I always wanted a brother just like you." He really is so great.
My puppy, Holden, knows how to turn his puppy blue eyes on me in a flash. He looks so much like Russ that if he cries it's like seeing Russ cry which happens so rarely so I quickly hug Holden. He loves bugs and won't walk away from any of them. He has a soft heart for nature. :)
Joshyboy is such a sweet little duder. He will follow the boys with his army crawl as fast as he can to be with them. We'll see if he walks early just to keep up.

2nd mother

2009-01-15T19:18:00.000-08:00

Ashley fell and got hurt and she totally passed me up and ran to her 2nd or apparently first mother, Emily! :) Emily from day one has been such a sweet sister to all her siblings, but the bond that she has with Ashley is something special. It's adorable. Coming from a family of all girls I know that bond between sisters and I'm so glad that they have each other. Sisters are so important!
I always catch Emily playing and entertaining the babies! Their eyes light up when they see her walk into a room. Josh can't wait to see her smile at him in the morning! He just waits for it. It's great to have a wonderful, bubbly helper around.

Another monkey!

2009-01-15T19:01:00.000-08:00

Joshua has already figured out at 8 months to almost climb out of his highchair! We lost the seat belt 5 little people later (go figure) and so I can't even restrain the little duder! Anything he finds that he can pull up on he will, and the highchair is one of those things I guess. :)

Ashley's "na, na"

2009-01-15T18:40:00.000-08:00

Today's been a big day for our little Ashley. She's a thumb sucker and I don't let her take her special blankets (na, na) with her when we go places, but at home it's always been around just incase.... but today I put them away in a closet.
She could only have them when it was naptime and bedtime. We had a few drama moments because she is use to the thumb and her blanket to console her. She did really great though! Although I did catch her laying in her blankets sucking her thumb a few times. I couldn't help but take pictures, which only encouraged her behavior. I will truly miss the blanket to the nose and the thumb in her mouth, but she needs to be weaned.

First time blogging

2009-01-15T12:52:00.000-08:00

Well here goes. My very first blogging experience ever! I am so excited to start doing this so that it will be like I'm writing in my journal, which never happens, so maybe now it will. Nothing really exciting has happened this week just the normal day to day events. The kids are finally adjusting to returning to school and so am I. :) Well I'm not sure what else to say so see ya!