Rhoton Family

Halloween

2010-11-02T12:05:00.000-07:00

Ok, so I was a bad mom and did not take any Halloween pictures. We did have lots of fun over the 3 day celebration of Halloween. The elementary kids had their parties at school. Lots of cute things came home with them - crafts and different stuff. Poor Camryn started throwing up Friday night (McDonalds just loves us:) She chose to be sick to her stomach right after eating her happy meal. We made as far as the front of the bathroom door before it all came out. We are talking walls, floor and bathroom door (although the cashier kept getting our order wrong and then he had to clean up the mess - felt sorry for him but also a little vindictive - not a good thing!) Saturday night was our Ward trunk or treat and carnival and the kids had a great time. They were overloaded with candy.
We decided to take the kids out trick or treating on Sunday just around the block. We went as a family and called it Family Home Evening. It counts - right?? We were all together and having fun.
November is going to be a busy month. I get to go to Utah as a birthday present (short 3 day trip). The week after that I volunteered to be the camp nurse for my 5th graders Outdoor Science School in Payson, AZ. It is a very fun experience for the kids and I get a whole cabin to myself to relax in when no one is sick or injured. I love taking a book up there to read, sit out on the front porch of the cabin and escape into the reading. I also can follow my son's group around and see all the fun things he is doing, like cave studies, animal tracks, fossil dig, hot shot firefighters, team building exercises and so many other fun things.
Then the next week is Thanksgiving. This November will be busy but lots of fun:)

School

2010-09-22T12:54:00.000-07:00

I have been volunteering at school and working every Thursday as a vounteer at a Title 1 A + school( Ishikawa elementary school mean) I get the joy of working in the copy room, making copies and not blowing up the copy machined. If teachers had to make their own copies it would take away time from the classroom and spending time making copies. I have learned so many techniques of making copies. Thankfully there have been those other volunteers helping out or teachers showing me in their spare time! I love being able to volunteer at the school. Prior to this I always just sent in treats or candy as that was the thing I could do. I am having fun at this is and praying every thursday that I will not blow up the machine. Tammy Taylor is in change of it all so having a great friend help me is wonderful!! I have had so much fun meeting teachers whose names I have only known before and now I get to know them. They are such fun loving teachers and you can tell they put their all into it. Volunteering makes me feel as if I am making a difference and hopefully the teachers have had a tad of compassion as I try to figure this complicated machine out - give me a patient or a sick person and I can try to figure it out. Give me a copy machine and I panick!!! But it is getting better every week :)

What Does a Mom do When All of Her Kids are at School

2010-09-09T11:10:00.000-07:00

Now that I have all this free time during the day you might ask yourself "What does Stephanie do now that no kids are at home?" Besides the basics of laundry, vacuuming and the hated bathrooms, I have come up with a list of strange things I am finding myself doing in an empty house.

Randomly breaking into any song that pops into my mind. Best part, it does not even matter whether I know the entire lyrics or not cause no one is home to tell me!
Randomly breaking into dance when I have music on. My little ones love to dance with me but the older boys always laugh. Now I can bust a move whenever I want :)
Staying in my jammies until noon. Ok, sometimes I did that when the kids were home but now I don't feel guilty!!!
Read a book in peace and quiet and eat ice cream without anyone wanting a bite. Bad for the butt but great for the soul.
Taking a bubble bath by myself in our jacuzzi tub. It has been 15 years since I have bathed or showered by myself. Love it!
Not sharing my drink if I indulge in a Sonic run - best thing ever!
Last but not least, take a nice nap and actually feel rested (who knew working nights as a nurse could take so much energy??)

I do miss my kids and have those moments that I really miss having one at home that almost brings me to tears. Today I worked at the copy room at the school for a few hours in the morning and the best part was getting to see each of my kids as they walked to lunch. I got 2 high fives and one sweet little kiss from my girl:)

First Day of School

2010-08-19T12:56:00.000-07:00

Camryn and her Kindergarten teacher, Mrs. Kolodny. Colton had her and I just love her!!
Colton in front of his 2nd grade classroom. I love the fact it he is in classroom #2 for the 2nd grade. He is in heaven as 2 of his best friends are in his class:)
The kids right before they took off for school. I am not sure what Dylan was doing during this picture. It makes me laugh everytime I look at it!
Camryn posing for the camera. I cannot believe she is 5 and in kindergarten already.
Best buddies and super excited to start school.
Brandon on his new bike ready to start his new adventure at Mountain View High School!

I cannot believe I have a sophomore, 7th grader, 5th grader, 2nd grader and kindergartner. I have had a child home for the past 15 years so it was sad for me to send my little buddy to kindergarten. She is loving it!! Brandon was in shock from watching and hearing things from the Seniors. Needless to say, we had a long talk about our expectations of behavior, grades and being careful with who you hang out with. Darin started Jr High and is loving it. The 3 younger are still in elementary school. I love how they can all walk or ride their bike to school. Much easier on Mom! It has been strange to have the house so quiet during the day. I did sign up to work in the copy room at the elementary school for 1 day a week. It is fun to see my kids and to get to know all the teachers. I must say, I am not made out to be a copy machine person! I just hope I do not blow it up. Now if the heat would start to go down but that is just wishful thinking until October:)

Sedona 2010

2010-07-29T02:14:00.000-07:00

I figured I better get some pictures up of our Sedona family vacation before I forgot! We had a great time meeting my mom and dad, brother Mike and family and our family. Wish my baby brother could have been there but airfare is expensive from VA to AZ. We had fun hiking the West rim of Oak Creak Canyon, swimming, playing cards, game room and eating at the Cowboy Club. There we were treated to rattlesnake, buffalo burgers and cactus fries. They actually were quite tasty! Next year maybe Grand Canyon?

Panic Attack vs. Anxiety

2010-07-22T10:07:00.000-07:00

I always thought panic and anxiety were along similar lines. I always thought that a panic attack is the same as an anxiety attack. Similar words, denoted similar meanings - right??
WRONG!
I have been seeing a counselor and it has been great. He asked me if I ever had a panic attack. I made him define the meaning between the panic and anxiety. I mean, I am a nurse right? I should be able to differentiate between the two and diagnose it (that last bit was for my parents:) They think I tend to diagnose myself, which I admit I do:) Anyway, the difference between panic attack and anxiety is that anxiety is the feeling of being anxious, constantly thinking and heart racing. Panic attack is a full blown whole other story. I had the joy of experiencing one while I was driving home from a work meeting. Camryn had went with me and I was strapping her into her seat belt. I started to feel kinda funny and just attributed it to the heat, not having water with me and the misery of being asked to work 9 days in a row:( I stupidly said yes to that one - I just cannot say no to the owner of my company.
I started driving home (30 mile drive) and started to spasm in my neck. Next it went down the whole left side of my body. My muscles kept relaxing and spasming. Next it went to the left side of my mouth and my mouth started to droop. By this point, I was hysterical. Of course, I kept driving. Stupid, yes, but I felt I had to get home. I did not want to pull over on the freeway and be stuck on the side of the road in traffic like that. So I started praying and so did Camryn ( I do believe I freaked her out!). I finally made it home and collapsed on the living room floor. Darin was very worried and called 911. By this time I had stripped off all my clothes, down to my Mormon undies, because I was so hot. It was then the cute firemen showed up. So now the panic went full blown again because I was in my Mormon undies in the middle of the living room surrounded by firemen and police - all male!! My husband came home right after the paramedics showed up. Thankfully, they checked me over and said they did not think it was a stroke but a panic attack. So I decided to stay home and not go to the hospital. Instead, I finally calmed down and went to bed.
The next day I had an appointment with my counselor already. I told him what had happened and he said "yep, that is a full blown panic attack". Downside, having one can trigger others. Upside, I now know what it is and the counselor said if one comes on again, to welcome it, tell myself that is what it is, and he said it will go away very quickly by responding that way to it.
I hope to never have another one but I can now say I experienced it!!

The End

Mother's Day Poem from my 10 year old, Dylan

2010-05-12T13:37:00.000-07:00

MOM
Kind, talkative, loving
I like you like books like a locker
Funny
Mom helps with siblings
Smiley
I need you like humans need oxygen
Cares, sincere
Mom makes the best dinners
Awesome
She helps with decisions
Cool, carefree
I love you like Snowball likes food

Love,
Dylan
May 2010

I Am

2010-05-05T19:08:00.000-07:00

A poem written by my 12 year old for his 6th grade project.

I am a boy who loves baseball.
I wonder if I will make it to all-stars.
I hear the crowd cheering.
I see the ground ball.
I want to get the out.
I am a boy who loves baseball.

I pretend I am in the MLB.
I feel the seams of the baseball as I pitch the ball.
I touch the ball with my bat.

I worry that I will mess up.
I cry for success.
I am a boy who loves baseball.

I understand how good I am.
I say that I am not that good.
I dream of the MLB.
I try my hardest to be the best.
I hope I will make it to the MLB.
I am a boy who loves baseball.

Depression Sucks

2010-04-07T12:08:00.000-07:00

Ok, I know that is not a fun name for a blog title but it is the only one that truly expresses how I feel about it. I have been dealing with depression and anxiety for the last 5 years, with the last year being the absolute worst. I do not tell people this or even let on this is happening. I still laugh, can still have fun, and yes lie that it is even happening. I mean, what Mormon mom is supposed to have depression with 5 kids, a husband, work full time and be 41? Shouldn't this be the time in my life when I have this all figured out and can just deal with it?
I finally decided to seek professional help for it and this time actually stick with it. That is one of the fun things of being a nurse. We tend to think we know better than the Dr. It did not help that my primary care Dr is a good friend and I would go in with studies on information on new medications and talk him into changing my meds. This time I have picked a psychiatrist (oh heaven help me:)) who does not know me, I totally trust and he will not let me dictate to him what I think I need to be on. Darn it!
There are other parts to this story that I am not going to go into but I am very thankful for parents that have not given up on me or a husband that has not given up with me. I think I would have walked out on myself due to some of the behaviors. I am sure some of the people at church think I am either stuck up or just don't care to interact with them. Neither is true. Depression can be a very selfish disease and there are days I can barely get thru my duties of being a mom, wife and working. At times I just cannot carry on a conversation with someone at church due to the anxiety kicking into full gear or the fear of being judged for not having my food storage or the gazillion other things it seems at times we Mormon women should be doing. Sometimes Relief Society feels like a big guilt trip and I know it is not meant to be that way, again just my twisted perception at this time.
I am very thankful for my kids who do not afford me the luxury of spending all day in bed even though there are days I want too. They have needs and I am the one who needs to be there for them. My five year old daughter, Camryn, loves to pull the blanket off me in the morning and have me play games with her. Once the boys get home from school, we talk about what went on at school, I have to get dinner started and then either get ready for work ( depending on the week) or get ready for baseball games. Did I mention I have 4 boys playing baseball on 4 different teams? Crazy!!
I know this is a trial that I am meant to go thru at this time. I am also very impatient and wish that it would just hurry up and get over with! But I guess that Heavenly Father is not going to just hurry it up just because I am impatient - again Darn it!!
The next post will not be as serious as I want to blog about my now 7 year olds birthday- just a few days late:)

Valentine's Baby

2010-03-11T10:34:00.001-08:00

This was my best Valentine's gift in the world. Dylan Austin was born at 2:14 pm on 02/14/2000. I wanted to have a millennium baby so that I would never forget his age:) After 3 weeks of bedrest (and going crazy with two other little ones) he was born 3 weeks early weighing 6 lbs 4oz. What a cutie he was with his peach fuzz on top of his head and a great set of lungs. He was hospitalized for 4 days following his birth due to jaundice. I have type O blood and he has type A blood, thus I transfer over antibodies at birth which broke down his blood cells and caused jaundice (called ABO incompatibility). He got to stay in the NICU and wear cool shades while he was under the baking lamps.
He is my child that loves to give me hugs and is very affectionate. Now that he is 10, he is a rock solid kid and if he gives me a running hug it knocks me over! He is quiet at school - he loves to take out a book and read it when he is really supposed to be doing math or something else. Thankfully he does this after he has completed his other work! He is the king of one word answers. Just ask my mom and dad! At home, he is not so quiet... He is such a fun child to have and I am so glad my Heavenly Father trusted me and my husband to raise him.

Funny Poem

2010-02-08T17:47:00.000-08:00

Cleaning Poem

I asked the Lord to tell me
Why my house is such a mess.
He asked if I'd been 'Computering',
And I had to answer 'yes'.
He told me to get off my fanny
And tidy up the house
And so I started cleaning up....
The smudges off my mouse.
I wiped and shined the topside.
That really did the trick...
I was just admiring my work...
I didn't mean to 'click'.
But click, I did, and oops I found
A real absorbing site
That I got SO way into.
I was into it all night.
/sigh
Nothing's changed except my mouse
It's very, very shiny.
I guess my house will stay a mess...
While I sit here on my hiney.

Found this poem and thought it was hilarious (and maybe slightly true:)

Friends

2010-02-05T07:36:00.000-08:00

Today I am thankful that my kids have great friends. I am also thankful that they live very close by and can walk back and forth to each others house. I am also thankful for friends that trade play dates so that my daughter (who is the lone one at home during school hours) has something to look forward to each week. Every day Camryn asks "Is it Phoebe day yet?"
And to my sweet friends who are being dumped on by 20 inches of snow today in Virginia, I have to say that I can honestly say I am thankful for living in Arizona;)

Happy Birthday Camryn!!!

2010-01-25T11:32:00.000-08:00

Today is my baby's birthday (as she sits here screaming thru the house with enjoyment of her very cool mermaid bathtub toy from Grandma!!). My only girl is now 5 years old. I remember the exact moment she was born - 4:23 am. Half a push and she was out! I guess having 5 kids should allow me to have a last labor that only required half a push:) She was bald with just red fuzzies on her head and looked just like her 4 older brothers. My husband and I always laugh that couldn't one of them look the tiniest bit different at birth?? Of course, I think they all have their own unique look now but everyone says when they see them all together they know they are Rhotons.
She was taken from me about 3 hours after her birth as she was jaundiced and had to spend 5 days under the baking lamps to bring her levels back down to where they needed to be. I still have the little sunglasses they put on her and the nurses in the NICU were sweet enough to make her name and post it right above her bed. I still have her paper made name hanging up over her dresser. It was the worst feeling to come home without her and then leave the 4 boys every day to go feed her and hold her for the few minutes I was allowed to take her out of the baking lamps.
Now she is a fiesty, redheaded girl that is also so sweet and loving. I sign her up for kindergarten this Friday - bittersweet as I admit it will be nice to have all 5 children in school but will miss having someone at home during the day. Of course, that does mean that I will actually be able to take a real nap after working nights as a nurse!!
Happy Birthday baby girl:)

New Ward

2010-01-19T11:42:00.000-08:00

I grew up in Ohio and Virginia and with being Mormon that meant that our stake and our ward boundaries were huge. In Virginia, I believe our stake boundaries were 50 miles (I could be off a mile or two:)) When I moved to Mesa, AZ almost 18 years ago I found out that I lived in a mini Utah. By that, I mean that ward and stake boundaries tend to be a lot more smaller and compact. Our family can actually walk to our ward building and it is not that far of a walk.
Our Stake was split 2 years ago and with that came changing ward boundaries and just plain old change. We thought that we would remain within the same boundaries for at least a few more years. To our surprise (and many others), our ward boundaries were realigned again a week ago. Our family (and our street) now belong to the brand new Lehi Crossing Ward. Our ward boundaries are the largest but probably contain the fewest homes. We also lost 2 housing developments that have lots of young families with younger kids and babies (which I love!). It was very strange to go to church on Sunday and not see those beloved faces. Our bishop remained the same and the best part is we got our 8:30 am starting time back. It was very interesting for those 2 weeks previous to figure out how to keep our 5 kids in the Sunday mode until 1 pm.
I have faith that it is going to be a great ward and that with time many new friendships will be made. It is always interesting for the first few weeks as callings are put forth and we all learn how to mesh as a new ward. I also forgot to mention that those who are no longer in my ward only live a few miles away, so it is not like I am never going to see them again (just feels that way right now!) I am amazed how the youth handled it. For my kids, it was all ok and it probably helps that they attend school with those who are no longer in our ward. Here is to hoping that these ward boundaries will stay the same for at least another 2 years!

Patient

2010-01-13T12:53:00.000-08:00

I have decided, and it has been confirmed, that nurses make not so good patients.
We tend to think that we know best and that we can go what we want. Unfortunately, that is not too good to do on my part. Supposed to be in bed but I am blogging. Thank goodness my parents are here to help out and remind me to get my butt back in bed. Soon I will be recovered from this surgery and I can get out of bed without sneaking:)

Trashing Out the House

2010-01-05T12:06:00.000-08:00

Where have we accumulated so much stuff (toys, clothes, etc) from? It is a good thing my parents are stopping in Sedona, AZ (one of the most beautiful places in AZ) before they come to stay here. I told myself I would spend each day on a separate room and then the house should look somewhat clean and dejunked by the time my folks arrive. I am hitting a snag in my plans though as it took 2 days to do the youngest kids rooms (and their room is not that bad).
I am afraid for Wednesday. That is the day I have told myself I am going into the middle 2 boys room. If I had any guts, I would take a picture and post it. But I don't want the blogging world to see just how bad their room is! I kept asking and pleading with them all of Christmas break to please start picking up their stuff and clean the room. They would make a little progress forward and then about 5 steps back! This morning I gave them the speech that if Mom is cleaning it, then you better not complain if you cannot find something or if something goes missing. My goal is to shock them tomorrow with how well their room can sparkle and how much better it really looks decluttered!
That is one of the best parts of having my parents come down is that the house gets thoroughly cleaned and dejunked. Now if I could just motivate myself to keep the kids helping with this on a weekly basis instead of yearly......

Goodbye Christmas Decorations

2010-01-04T12:51:00.000-08:00

I finally did it. I took down the Christmas Decorations today. The house looks pretty bare without them but I seemed to have found more room!! Always a plus. My parents are on there way down from Sandy, Utah to sunny Mesa, AZ for a visit and to help take care of me after having lithotripsy (where they use a laser to blast your kidney stones into small fragments). This will be the 4th procedure in a year and a half and I am hoping that we can find out why I am producing so many kidney stones and what I can to do get healthy and remain there!! That is my New Year's Resolution - pretty simple I am hoping. It has been a nice quiet day here at the house so far as 4 of the 5 have returned to school. They were grumbling about going but I know that they will have had a great day (and yay for some peace and quiet at the house:))

Goodbye 2009

2009-12-31T18:58:00.000-08:00

2009 has been a year of ups and downs, as I imagine it has been for everyone! Thankfully, Rich and I still have our jobs and are employed full time. I know of so many families out there who are looking for employment and my heart and my prayers go out to you. Even in their time of need, these sweet friends I think of still continue to serve and strengthen our family. They are truly people I look up to (one has a most awesome blog - I need to ask her for tips how to make mine look as cool as hers!)
We are surviving the teenage years with a son who is 14 and taller than both his mom and dad. He is our "breaking in" child as he is the oldest. I often times think he must have volunteered for this in heaven as being the oldest cannot be easy. Everyone expects more out of you, expects you to set the example and never have a meltdown! Just think, I only have 4 more to go thru this with!
We were blessed by my Mom and Dad to go on a great family reunion to Pagosa Springs, Colorado this summer (Rich had to stay and work - that was a bummer!) The kids had a great time with cousins, aunts and uncles and of course Grandpa Dexter and Grandma:) My younger two ask every day when we are going again today. After a 9 hour car trip driving the 5 monkies by myself, I informed them it was going to be a looong time!
My youngest is going to turn 5 in January and that means kindergarten next year!! I cannot believe I have reached that stage where all my kids will be in school. Brandon is a freshman now and it just seems like he was my cute 2 year old running around. Darin is going to turn 12 in 2010 and will receive the Aaronic priesthood. It is going to be wonderful to have 3 priesthood holders in our home.
It has also been a year of tests and trials. Some of the trials I thought we would never have to go thru, but thankfully we are starting to see the reason why for them (even though I still grumble at times about this certain trial and ask "why me?!") Guess Heavenly Father just needed to really beat this one into my obstinate head and I am going to just have to keep looking for those lessons I am supposed to be learning.
I am so thankful for my immediate little family and my extended family. It is so wonderful to know that I can call up my mom, dad, brothers and sisters - in - laws and vent and bounce ideas off of them. Sometimes it is nice to get a new perspective on things and I think I wear my husband out by constantly crying to him.
I was released from the Primary this year after being in there for 10 years. I miss my primary kids and I miss singing time!! So far I do not have a calling in our church, so I am trying to lay low and not remind them. I am enjoying the time off from it!
2010 promises to hold many new and exciting things. More dance lessons and plenty of baseball games with 4 boys playing in league baseball this spring.
Hope everyone has a Happy New Year!!

Christmas Day

2009-12-31T18:48:00.001-08:00

Hope everyone had a great Christmas! Little bit late with the photos but I was trying to figure out the new camera. We all had a wonderful day and the kids were so excited to help each other out with their gifts and actually played nicely together. Now to put all the stuff up.....

Preschool Christmas Program

2009-12-22T11:46:00.000-08:00

Camryn is my youngest child and the last one to attend Mrs. Billing's preschool. My oldest did not attend as a group of mothers did Mommy School. A dear friend told me about Mrs. Billing's preschool for my next child, Darin. All of the rest of my kids have attended her preschool.

Every year she puts on a Christmas program with the children. So fun to watch them perform the Christmas story and sing songs. I did not get a video camera until last year, so unfortunately I was not able to video tape the others.

Camryn played Mary this year and she loved it! She also is the redheaded girl singing in the christmas songs. She is like her older brother, Darin, and likes to perform and ham it up for any video opportunity. Now if that particular talent could only earn them some money........then Rich and I could retire:)

Does anyone know how to get the popup ads from underlining key words in my post?! I do not know how to make them stop.

Secret Santa

2009-12-21T11:19:00.000-08:00

We woke up last Tuesday with a Chistmas card on out front door. I love receiving Christmas cards and seeing what my friends and family are up.
I opened the card just expecting to see Christmas greetings (which would have been great!) Instead someone put $200 dollars in the card and an $100 dollar gift certificate to Toys R Us. In some ways I feel guilty as I know there are so many people that are more deserving and in need of it. I have been the recipient of Christmas presents being delivered to our house 5 years ago, when Rich lost his job 2 weeks before Christmas and I was 8 months pregnant with my last child. I felt the same way then, that someone else must be needier and could benefit from it. I cried both times that someone had thought of our family and showed great love for us.
My family did a secret santa for a friend a few years ago. Her husband was out of work and she was frantically searching for a job. It was the best feeling in the world to be the giver of the Christmas gifts!
For now, I will just take this kindness and blessing and be thankful. I have already made a goal that next year I will do the same for someone else. I am a big believer that it is better to give than to receive!!
On a side note, our sunday school teacher made an awesome point about gift giving. He said often times our families just need our time and that is the greatest gift of all. I am going to try to keep this in my life this next year. The housework can wait just a little bit longer so I can give the gift of time.
Hope you all have a wonderful Christmas and a Happy New Year!!

P1100127 on Flickr - Photo Sharing!

2009-12-16T06:58:00.000-08:00

P1100127 on Flickr - Photo Sharing!

This picture is from our work Christmas Party we had the first week of December. I cannot figure out how to just get the picture off Flickr as a friend took them and put them on this website. The party was lots of fun, awesome food and so fun to see everyone dressed up instead of wearing scrubs. It was also fun to just go out as adults and no kids:)

Christmas Songs

2009-12-14T13:26:00.000-08:00

My daughter is cracking me up right now. She is standing outside, singing Christmas carols at the top of her lungs, waiting for her brothers to come home from school. I sure hope the neighbors enjoyed the free concert as I know the neighborhood had to have heard it. Anything to embarrass her brothers!! I do believe that is her goal in life at the moment.

4 year old dance recital

2009-12-12T03:43:00.000-08:00

Is there anything cuter than watching a group of 3-4 year olds dance in their recital? I am very blessed to have a great friend that runs Miss Beverly's dance loft out of her house. She has a master's in dance and still currently performs with a group called Conder (which I believe is a mixture of modern dance, ballet and movement - in other words I need to go watch Bev perform!! She has the patience of a saint with her classes and the girls learn so much for her. She has been a sweetheart and let me exchange helping sewing with the costumes in exchange for the lessons- I love having great friends!! I also have to say that she has had 4 kids (oldest is 12 and youngest is 4) and she looks like she never had them!

Hard here to tell who my daughter is. When the group finally sits in line on the floor, she is the one who spins around first. She also has a bun in the back of her head - not on top. The whole group is just so much fun to watch!!

Orchestra Concert

2009-12-11T16:55:00.000-08:00

Darin performed in his 6th grade orchestra. He is right behind the music stand, in front of the conductor. The piece performed here was "Believe" and I think they did awesome!!

This piece is a Christmas melody. Darin changed from the violin to cello and has done a great job!

This is Silver B ells. Enjoy and I hope this helps bring the Christmas spirit!!

ER trip

2009-11-30T06:54:00.001-08:00

Brandon started complaining his stomache hurt about midnight last night. I was tired and gave him some medicine. About an hour later, I could hear sobbing in his room. He was rolling around in pain. Me , being the oh so clever nurse, said "just try different positions and see if that will work." After about 20 minutes of this, his pain was much worse. So I loaded him up and headed off for the ER. Thankfully no one else was in there at 1 am. They got his iv hooked up, gave him some pain medication and he started to get some relief. They said his white count was slightly elevated but that the CT scan of the appendix looked good. The doctor then followed this with the news that sometimes appendicitis is misdiagnosed in the early stages. So I will be keeping a close eye on him today and praying that it is just a GI bug (which the doctors said could cause all this pain too). Does not matter how old your child is, you always worry and feel overprotective when something happens to them.

Stinky Smoky House

2009-11-28T21:14:00.000-08:00

So what happens when your child puts an enchilada in the microwave for 8 minutes??
A stinky, smelly smoke filled house!! He swears he read the directions.
However, the directions said heat in the oven for 8 minutes. Needless to say the plate was put in the garbage, all the windows have been opened. Does Febreeze work??? Heck no!!!
I have the worst headache from the smell - so Rich and I went to see New Moon. Good excuse!
Any suggestions to take the smell out of the house? Everything stinks - curtains, couches, clothes, etc. Won't we smell lovely at 8 am church tomorrow!! Still love my Dylan though - now to teach him the distinction between microwave and oven:)

Mad Hula Hooping Skills and Hip action

2009-11-26T17:07:00.000-08:00

Colton and his hula hooping buddy
I could just go on for hours!

Where does this boy get his hip action and mad hula hooping skills? I had no clue he could do this until I went to the turkey trot this afternoon. He seriously hula hooped for 10 minutes and only stopped because it was time to go in for class. He told me he does this every day at recess with his best friend (top picture). Too bad there is not a "Hula Hooping With the Stars" - my Colton would rock the competition!!

Turkey Trot

2009-11-26T16:48:00.000-08:00

Our elementary school holds a Turkey Trot the day before Thanksgiving. The parents are encouraged to come trot around the field with their children. I am now on my fourth child participating. I went to the elementary school 3 seperate times to make sure that I was there for each of the 3 children I have that are participating (Brandon is a freshman so I suppose Turkey Trots are above them:))

It was such fun to watch the teachers, parents and siblings run after the turkey (not real, our friend Bill, dressed up in a turkey suit). Although it would have been kind of funny to watch them run after a real turkey..........or maybe not! Dylan (9) ran 2 times around the field and was outlapped by his teacher. Darin (11) ran once around and then decided to walk ( I think it has something to do with being in 6th grade and the cool factor). Colton (6) ran all 3 times around the field (3/4 of a mile) without breaking a sweat!! And don't ask what was up with his hair - he somehow snuck out of the house without one of his parents combing it! Camryn and I - well let's just say Colton outdid us.

Video 4

2009-11-25T12:01:00.001-08:00

Singing at Mrs. Billings preschool program.

Preschool Thanksgiving 2009

2009-11-25T12:00:00.001-08:00

Thanksgiving Program at Mrs. Billings preschool.

New Moon

2009-11-19T10:36:00.001-08:00

Release at midnight of New Moon tonight!! I have to work so I will miss out on the screaming teens at midnight showing.
I did talk Rich into seeing it with me next Friday - that was part of the agreement of me seeing "This is IT" by Michael Jackson. I did love listening to his songs and watching the rehearsal. He was a perfectionist but was so kind to others when he was correcting them during the singing, cues, dancing, etc. It would have been an awesome concert to attend. Rich sang throughout most of the movie and has been practicing his moonwalk at home:) Camryn just keeps telling him to "knock it off Daddy!"
Cannot wait until next Friday to go see New Moon!!!

Couple Missionaries

2009-11-15T08:32:00.000-08:00

We had a wonderful talk today by a couple in our stake who just returned from a mission in San Juan. They had set a goal to go on a mission when their youngest boy went on his mission. Sister Bost spoke of health problems she had before going and how they felt insurmountable to her and she told her husband "forget it, I just cannot do it!" Her husband gave her a blessing and promised her that they would find treatments for her medical conditions so that they would be able to serve. And guess what? Treatments were found and they were able to fulfill a one year mission.

Sister Bost also made mention of the way the deacons sat in the 2 rows so reverently 10 minutes before church started (trust me, I taught this age group in primary before they turned 12 and I know how hard it is for them to be reverent!) We have a total of 15 deacons right now, so for all of them to be reverent and in their seats is amazing.

The young men and young women sang a beautiful song today. It brought great joy to my heart to see my son standing up there with all the youth (I think I counted 60 up there) and singing such a tender song. I remember being that age and growing up in Virginia. I think there was maybe 20 (give or take a few) of young men and women. We had a very tight knit group and it was such fun to become such good friends with them. Hopefully we were able to do missionary work in our area in Virginia by living the gospel, setting an example, and inviting nonmember friends to our "Mormon" parties. We even had some nonmember friends come to early morning seminary all 4 years - now that takes commitment from someone not knowing what our church is about or even just being there at 6 am! It just amazes me that my children can be surrounded by so many members. I do hope they realize what a blessing this is and to not take it for granted.

The talks this morning inspired me to start thinking about serving a mission when I am older. I was going to go on one when I was 21, but met my now husband and was married instead (even though that took 4 years - a whole other story). I am grateful for those who have served and for them setting the example for the rest of us.

Wrestlemaniacs

2009-11-12T11:27:00.001-08:00

I video taped this and my 11 year old added the comments. I tried to figure out how to do it, but leave it to the kids to figure it out! He also tried to add music but that did not work - I think he was just trying to cut out my commentary:) You notice he is doing this with a broken hand. Kids - you just cannot stop them from having fun!

Phoenix Zoo

2009-11-11T15:13:00.001-08:00

Today we went to the Phoenix Zoo for Veteran's day (the kids were out of school). And wouldn't you know it? My camera battery went dead and I think all of Phoenix was at the Zoo!! I have not seen that many people there except for Boo at the Zoo or Zoolights. It was crazy.

We took Brandon's friend, Daniel, and Dylan's friend, Carter, along with my 5 kids. I now have a feeling what my friend, Mary, with 10 kids must go thru for each outing she goes on! I was continually counting heads and trying to make sure that Dylan and Carter did not get lost. Those 2 had a tendency to hang out at every exhibit until I had to physically go back and get them. At least they had fun and were actually reading about the animals:)

There was a new exhibit called the Komodo Dragon exhibit. They were awesome!! I would not want to run into one of those in the wild. They inhabit a small island close to Australia and New Zealand (as well as a bunch of little islands that I cannot remember). My son did try to take a video of them, so hopefully that will turn out.

Hope everyone had a great Veteran's Day and thanks to all those who served or who are now serving in our armed forces:)

Pioneer Heritage

2009-11-08T18:44:00.000-08:00

We are finally getting a new Stake Center after sharing with our old stake for the past 2 years. There was a ground breaking ceremony yesterday that was attended by over 1000 members (and that is just from our wards in our small stake boundaries!) At the youth conference this past summer, all the youth were able to write their testimonies on a tablet. This tablet is going to be the cornerstone of one of the buildings on the grounds. Brandon was able to go to this youth conference (he was able to attend even though he not quite yet turned 14). How exciting that his testimony will forever be a part of this Stake Center!!

One of the neatest parts of where the Stake Center is has to do with Arizona's pioneer heritage. Many parts of Arizona were settled by Mormons (one of them is my husband's great great grandfather, John D Lee). Right by where the driveway is going to be (I think I have this part right!) is where the pioneers crossed when coming to settle Mesa. It will be a reminder every Sunday of the sacrifices made in order for us to live in this beautiful desert. I cannot imagine living all those years ago without air conditioning, scorpions (mothers put the legs of the cribs in water in order for the scorpions not to crawl up into the crib), trying to put crops into this hard desert soil and all the other hardships. We each have our own trials now, but at least we have air conditioning when it is 120 degrees in the middle of July:)

I cannot wait to see the Stake Center be completed!

Happy Birthday to Me

2009-11-02T10:17:00.000-08:00

I made it another year:) Now officially past being the big 40!
The kids cleaned the house and I received the present I had been asking for - a nap!
The door was locked and I napped in peace for 2 hours - pure bliss.
Here is to a great year of being 41 and enjoying my family and the joy they bring me (I know, I forget to add that part of it alot!)

Halloween Decorations

2009-10-12T17:42:00.002-07:00

Here is a picture of the pumpkin that Darin and Dylan created. Walmart had these cool Mr Potatoe Head like decorations that you could put on your pumpkin so that you don't have to carve them! Love it!

Colton's crazy pumpkin decorating. He wanted to have a very unique one.
Camryn's decorations. The great part about putting these decorations on the pumpkins is that you don't have to cut into them. The pumpkins last longer and do not rot as quickly.

The kids are out on October break this whole week so I am trying to come up with something for them to do everyday besides sit in front of the tv. We had a great time with the pumpkins and decorating our cactus with spiderwebs and spiders (you have to be very careful putting those spiderwebs on those cactus:) Nothing says Halloween time in Arizona like a decorated cactus!!!

Field Trip

2009-10-08T13:00:00.000-07:00

Today was Camryn's field trip to Fry's grocery store. I almost did not go as I am so tired from work last night. But she looked so darn cute in her preschool field trip shirt that she had already put on that I could not resist going. Plus, we were out of milk and cereal - what else is new in this house with a teenager and preteens that think they have to eat constantly!!!

I forgot to take the camera but the field trip was so fun. We got to go in the back of the store and see where all the food was shipped in. The kids each picked an apple to eat which they all thought was way cool! We got to see live lobsters and watch them be fed - the kids loved it! We went to the deli and the kids got samples of boneless chicken wings. Then they went to the bakery and watched the baker slice bread and of course got a sample of it. Camryn's favorite part was going in the walk in refrigerator for the milk and us moms peering thru the other side to see them.

The store also had its Halloween decorations up so we got to spend lots of time watching the spooky pirates with their cannon that blew out fake smoke. The animated witch was also a great hit! I have been on this same field trip with all my boys but it always amazes me how much fun we have each time.

Ok, this subject has nothing to do with a field trip but is a fun thing for our family and Darin. We received an email from the local basketball league that they needed 2 more players and the first 2 people to respond to the email would be able to play on a team and the best part - the fee was waived for the sign up!! Whoo hoo - we saved $120 dollars:) I knew there was a reason that I have our email also go to my work owned blackberry as I responded back within 2 minutes (yay me!) Darin is the shortest kid on his team ( he is 11 and will turn 12 in april) but he is the fastest. It is exciting to see him play, learn the rules and sneak around some of the taller players! I am just thankful that only 1 child is playing a sport at this time as opposed to spring when all 4 boys play baseball - and Camryn is already asking to play Tball. I don't know that I can manage all 5 kids playing at one time, getting them to practices, their games and working every other week. We shall see how it all turns out.

In the meantime, I am happy for fun field trips and watching 30 preschoolers just be enthralled with going behind the scenes of the grocery store! And to top it off, it is actually cool here in the mornings in Arizona. The temps have been in the 80's during the day and the 60's during the night. We actually think we are freezing - go figure!!

Life is Precious

2009-09-28T13:34:00.000-07:00

I had lots of time this week to think about life, how we live it and how we leave it. I was privileged enough to see a man in his last stages of life this weekend. (I know, some people get freaked out about talking about death or seeing death, but it is a natural part of the life cycle!) I had the honor to be there with him for awhile and just sit with him and hold his hand. I did not know him to well so I did not have much to talk with him about. Instead, I used the powerful sense of touch. People need to be touched at any phase in their life, but it seems they need more touch as infants and at the other end of the life cycle.

I have been able to do this for quite a few patients over the last 15 years. It still amazes me that just touching them, rubbing their feet, massaging their hands, caressing their heads, etc. It may seem strange to do this for people, but you would be amazed at how much anxiety and pain this relieves. I used to do this for my babies and still will do it for my kids if they are having nightmares, tough times, or just need an extra hug. I also have to say that I also like being on the receiving end of it! It was great to come home on Sunday and have my eldest son massage my shoulders for no reason. It nearly brought me to tears ( must be hormones!).

This sweet man did pass away with no one at his side ( I was unable to stay as I had other patients to visit and I am not sure where his family was). It made me sad to think that he had to make that journey all alone. I hope to be there for my parents when there time comes ( which better be years and years away!!!) as well as I hope my children (who will be grown by then) will be willing to be with me when my time comes.

Which leads me to say, take the time now to enjoy the precious things and simple things in life. Enjoy being with your family, kids, whomever may be in your life. Enjoy the outdoors (soon here for us AZ people where it is still 100 degrees).
Just enjoy being:)
And Yippee! General Conference is this weekend - another reason to just enjoy life!

New Moon Official Trailer #3 (HD)

2009-09-25T14:59:00.001-07:00

Here it is! Cannot wait until November 20:)

New Moon

2009-09-17T13:28:00.000-07:00

Just in case you forgot, I put the countdown to New Moon on the bottom of my blog! Cannot wait for November!!

Life

2009-09-17T13:11:00.000-07:00

Life has just been crazy around here and it does not have anything to do with school starting or work. Sometimes we are given trials that bring us to our knees and makes us question why???
What I have learned from this recent trial is a renewal of my faith in our Heavenly Father and the things that we (and I) have not been doing very well as a family. It is all about going back to the basics that we have learned in primary - read your scriptures, say your prayers, do unto others as you want them to do to you, and prayer again with fasting. I have not fasted in years due to either being pregnant or nursing. But I honestly have not had that excuse for 3 years. It was a definite renewal of faith to fast with a purpose.
It is so easy to get caught up in the cares of the worlds, the panic of the times, Satan's temptations, and listening to that voice that tells you that you are not worth it. Why does it seem so easy to teach my children these lessons but not follow them myself? Do I think that I am any less valuable than they are? At times, yes but then I pull myself back up and realize that little eyes are watching and learning from the example I set. My daughter, who is 4, is sitting on my lap watching me type and wants to know when I am going to send this letter to her best friend:)
Life marches on and we (I) need to realize that we can pull through anything with the love of our Saviour and getting back to the basics of what I have been taught by my goodly parents. Whew, now I feel a nap coming on!!!

Pictures from Pagosa Springs, Colorado

2009-09-03T12:05:00.000-07:00

Brandon and I rode to the top of this mountain on horseback. 4 hour ride and a very sore butt!
All the grandchildren on the Fowkes side. In order by height but not necessarily by age.
The whole Fowkes clan (minus Rich who could not get off work). This was taken right after we went to church in Pagosa Springs, Colorado.
The very nice condo (timeshare) that my family got to stay in.
The group who actually made the hike to the top of chimney rock. I was not about to carry Camryn the whole way up there!
My boys who made it to the top of Chimney Rock.
Chimney Rock, Colorado.
My son, Brandon, and his cousin Patrick. Could they look anymore enthusiastic??
Dylan at the all you can eat cookout at Astraddle a Saddle. He was one happy boy!
The wagon we rode up in to the cook out.
My dad, Aunt Kim, my son Colton and Patrick on the wagon.
Building a house for their roly poly they caught (this is right outside our back door).
Camryn showing off her roly poly bug.
Brandon and Darin trying to teach Uncle Gerald the finer points of throwing a baseball (like not throwing it to the ground in front of the player:))
Colton and his 2 cousins having fun.
The cool bed that pulled out of the wall to sleep on each night. There was one in each of the condos we had.
The geese that came every night after the golf course was watered. They could have cared less about the golfers that came thru. This was right outside our back door. What a great trip we had!!

Pagosa Springs, Colorado

2009-08-20T12:59:00.000-07:00

We had a great time on our vacation to Pagosa Springs, Colorado. The only down side was that Rich's boss told him the night before we were due to leave that he could not go. Too much going on at work (he is the controller at Karsten, ASU golf course and they just laid his secretary off) for him to go. We are glad he still has a job but sad he missed out on family fun. Also made for a very long 9 hour car ride with 5 kids ages 14-4. I was holding open my eyes with matchsticks by the end - just kidding!

Pagosa Springs is 40 miles north of Durango and in beautiful country. It was 90 degrees during the day and dropped to the 50's at night. Us Arizonans thought we were freezing to death:) We met my mom and dad, my brother Mike and his wife Kim, and my younger brother Gerald and his wife Becky. The cousins (11 in all) ranged from ages 17 to 4 months old. Just 4 girl cousins, the rest rowdy boys!

Our condo backed onto a golf course and every night a flock of about 50 geese would show up practically at our back door. The kids loved this. There was an indoor pool, workout area, raquetball, miniature golf, swingsets and a jacuzzi that was attached to our unit. Lots of big grassy areas for the kids to play around on. We had a blast!

We spent lots of time with family, went horseback riding, went to an outdoor cookout with awesome food (just ask Dylan how much he ate!), toured Chimney Rock and my 4 boys made it to the top. Camryn wanted to be carried and I was not about to carry her up the side of a mountain. We stayed down below with Grandma, Sydney and baby Ellie. We even attended sacrament meeting at the local ward. Everyone greeted us and I think we doubled their youth population with the grandkids. It really was a small ward but fun to attend.

The older 2 boys played hearts against Grandma and Grandpa whenever they could. Kind of a tradition and my boys do like to beat Grandma! Lots of taunting, dancing and trash talking going on during those games!

Grandpa also taught them how to fish. Darin is the only one who caught any fish (4) but he had to throw them all back as they were too small. But he was very happy that he outshined the grand fisherman ( sorry Dad!)

The boys were happy at the missed the first 2 days at school but they did go last Friday. I will have to do a couple of posts with just pictures, as Brandon helped me take plenty!
Thanks again, Mom and Dad, for getting us all together and for a great time!!

Gardening Failure

2009-07-22T13:24:00.000-07:00

Yes, I am sad to say my so called gardening attempt failed! With prices going up on all the produce we like to buy I thought "why not just plant our own?" I planted chocolate peppers (it produced one and was sooo yummy), banana peppers and tomatoes. I fertilized, I watered, I made sure they had sun. We were so excited as we thought we would have homemade salsa all summer long. Sigh, it did not happen. I would take a picture of the plants now but it is just too sad! They are shriveled up and very brown. I don't know if I planted too late in the season and it was too much sun (June was great here but July has had record breaking temps - 114, etc).
My in laws have a garden and their garden has overproduced. We luckily have been fortunate enough to pick from theirs (yellow squash cooked in olive oil - yummy!) Little tired of the zucchini but I should not complain as it is free.
I am going to have to do some research on how to garden better. I have friends that do box gardening and it seems to work well. I have a perfect spot picked out for the next time I try. It is right next to our citrus trees (which thankfully I have not killed off!) We just have to clear out lots of rocks and make the soil better. However, I think that is going to wait until we are not having record breaking temps and we can actually clear it out without everyone passing out in the process!!! Hmm, that would make for an interesting story - LOL:) Another side note, the amazing tomato planters that hang and your tomatoes grow upside down - did not work!!! I believe those will either be headed for the trash or donated (probably cannot find anyone who would want them). Wish me luck for a better garden in the fall - the beauty of Arizona is that we have a growing season in the fall and winter here:)

Not wanting to poop

2009-07-21T13:42:00.000-07:00

Ok, the title is NOT about me. Just wanted to clear that up!

My 4 year old has been potty trained for 2 years now. She has suddenly decided that she does not want to poop. She said it hurts too much and is not going to do it. I have tried reasoning with her that since we eat food, that we all have to poop. Well, that totally backfired! For 4 days she would not eat food, only drink fluids. She told me "now I won't have to poop anymore".

My next step was to limit her milk intake and try apple juice. We kept telling her now it would be ok. Can I just say that my laundry has increased and she is still having problems! We have resorted to making her sit on the potty and try and try. She either waits too long and has an accident or screams the whole time she is on the toilet. I am at the point of wanting to pull my hair out and scream (which I know will not make it any better).

What do I do? She starts back to preschool in a few weeks. I have told her she will have to wear a diaper and she does not want that. She tells me she is a big girl. I will have to say I find it interesting (and at times exhausting) the different trials that my children put me through. Who would have thought this would be the trial for now:)

Kit Allen

2009-07-13T13:22:00.000-07:00

Just in case you were wondering what the new thing I added to the side of my blog, it is an artwork store (hope I am getting this right!) created by an old friend Kit Allen. We grew up together during our teen years and his parents were my seminary teachers throughout all of my early morning seminary. Awesome teachers!!
Kit is an art teacher and has created a line called Kit's Kids. From what he has said, some of them were made into greeting cards that were in certain Target test stores. He also writes children's books and you can find him at Amazon.com and type in his name to bring up the books.
It is so fun to reconnect with old friends (via facebook) and see what fun things they have been up to. So give his site a look and see what wonderful creations he has drawn and books he has written.

I have a 14 year old?!

2009-07-13T10:57:00.001-07:00

I cannot believe I have a 14 year old! He was born July 9, 1995 and was our first baby. In my mind I still think of him as the baby even though he is taller than me, wears bigger shoes than me (and I have big feet!), sounds like a man with his deep voice that has magically changed, and is now officially a teacher at church. It just seems like yesterday we were at the hospital and excitedly waiting the birth. My water broke with him and no contractions! I was induced and 10 hours later (with a lovely epidural) he was born. He had peach fuzz on his head and 2 dimples:) My heart just melted when I finally was able to see him. He was born at 9:30 pm and I stayed up all night at the hospital playing with him.

He has been a great big brother and a great example to his siblings. There are times they fight and times he can drive me nutty (oh the teenage years) but he is such fun too. He took photography this past year at junior high and loved it. The eggs and goggles was an assignment he had (not too sure what it was). We also have other really cool pictures that he took and developed in the darkroom. One of my favorites that is hanging on the wall is a candid shot of the younger kids jumping on the trampoline. He caught them mid jump and with huge smiles on their faces. He is my go to person for any picture that needs to be taken as his turn out better than mine. He is on his way to becoming an Eagle Scout (in about a year) and faithfully attends his scout meetings. The best part about having a 14 year old is no more babysitters! Now Rich and I can go out on a date without coordinating a babysitter. I am sure this will change as he becomes older and has more of a social life, but for now we are taking advantage of the babysitting.
I can't wait to see what the future holds for him. Someone told me that 14 is a hard year for teens and I am hoping that is not true:) He also is officially a freshman at school even though they still attend the jr high here. This is also the year that he can start seminary. I had early morning back in VA so I am a little jealous that he gets to sleep in and have it as a part of his school day.
Happy 14th birthday, Brandon!!!

July 4th

2009-07-06T13:29:00.000-07:00

As soon as I put the pictures into the computer, I will post them. We had a great 4th of July. I had to work so we kept it pretty low key. We usually have all of Rich's family over, swim, bbq, etc. Since I had to work we decided to keep it just our family. I finally made it home about 2 pm and went out and watched the family swim. Took lots of pictures, just need to put them in the computer:)
We decided it was to darn hot outside to grill (it was 108 degrees) so we went to In and Out Burger. They have the best burgers and homemade french fries!! It was actually pretty crowded - I was surprised. We then came home and turned on the tv to our local pbs station. I grew up in Virginia and was lucky enough to see the fireworks at our nation's capitol a few times. I found out a few years ago that pbs broadcasts the fireworks and the concerts before. We sat in our air conditioned house and enjoyed Barry Manilow, Aretha Franklin, Sesame Street characters (they are celebrating 40 years of being on tv!) and various bands from the military. We then got to watch the most fantastic fireworks - my kids loved it and did not miss being outside at all. The way they filmed it made you feel like you were sitting right underneath the fireworks.
Brandon was invited to go Swing dancing with one of his friends and older sister. He did not know what it was but decided to give it a try. He came home and said it was lots of fun and they gave lessons that night too. How was your 4th of July?

1 am

2009-06-25T00:53:00.000-07:00

It is now 1 am and I cannot sleep so I decided to blog and eat ice cream, What a great treat - I get it all to myself with no one wanting to take a bite. The house is so quiet and peaceful and the perfect time to eat ice cream - loaded with cookie dough, peanut butter and chocolate syrup. How can life get better? I am sure I will work off the calories painting my kitchen and hoping to finish it. I got tired of the color and am painting it a buttery yellow. Not too bright but golden and pretty. I have always wanted a yellow kitchen and Rich gave in and compromised on a color. I have it half done and it looks so homey and cheerful.

My next project after this is to refinish the counter tops. We have formica and cannot afford to replace it with granite or other expensive types of counter tops. They are a pinky color and I am sick of them. I ran into a lady at a garage sale a few months back who does painting and interior decorating for a living. She gave me the directions on how to repaint the countertops and make them look awesome. Has a few steps and lots of sanding but I have 3 boys to help me out. It is a cool technique where you sand, then paint, then put a wood stain in a swirling pattern over top and then about 3 coats of sealant. Hers looked great and cost about $40 dollars as opposed to thousands of dollars to have new ones put in. I am so excited! She then also taught me an easy method to redo our existing cupboards. After 20 years they are looking a little worn. There is a product at home depot that you paint on first so that you don't have to sand them down. This product makes the paint or stain stay on without sanding-yippee!

My last transformation is going to be making Roman Shades for the kitchen. I got the material clearance about 3 months ago. I have been making curtains for friends and neighbors. Nice side business and I love to sew. I got a cd that shows how to make Roman shades and it is actually quite simple. I will have to take before and after pictures. I love having things look new and refinished and doing it for a minimal cost. Plus the kids love to paint and have done a great job in the kitchen. I have just had to go back and touch up paint. Wish me luck on my projects. My dad has even offered to come down from Utah and help with the countertops but we are hoping to talk him into helping Rich make loft beds for the 3 boys. They have a buzz lightyear very bright blue room with yellow window sills and a lime green plant shelf. I love it but Rich wants to repaint. I told him to go for it as I think I will be pooped after the kitchen remodeling:) The boys love their buzz lightyear room so we shall we shall we who wins the battle of repainting that room. It has very high ceilings and takes a lot to repaint it. We shall see who wins the battle of repainting it (I think me:))

I have also been following the advice from the conference talk I wrote about last time and it is amazing how small mental changes can really help bring you out of a funk:) I also finally got released from teaching primary after 6 years. I will miss the kids and singing time but will enjoy going to Sunday School and Relief Society after all these years of not going. I do believe our Heavenly Father knew I needed this break to be able to attend these classes!

Answers to Prayers

2009-06-22T02:30:00.000-07:00

Conference is one of my favorite times of the year. Unfortunatley I had to work conference weekend and was only able to catch bits and pieces of it. Where else can we be uplifted by conference talks and still be in our jammies:) As many of you know (or maybe not) I have been suffering from depression and anxiety. This really stinks as I am 40, have 5 kids and need to be showing them about my faith, not how mommy can stay in bed most of the day. It is just kicking my butt - and yes I am in counseling and taking my happy pills. I think it is time for new happy pills as these are not working. I know that I have to do my part to help get out of this, but lots of stinky stuff going on at work that has helped to trigger it this past month. Wish I could get a new job but working nights lets me be at home with the kids and no daycare, which is very important to us.

Rich gave his lesson in priesthood today from parts of a conference talk. I had been up the night before crying and praying that I could not take this depression anymore. I have been in bed and just letting everything go lax at the house. Thank goodness for a husband that has picked up the slack and is helping me get back to where I need to be, which is out of bed and being a mom!!

The lesson today was about Joseph Smith enduring persecution during his time on earth. What a great prophet he was and I don't think I could have been thru all he went thru and still believe - but that is just me. Rich brought into his talk a conference talk from Elder Kevin W Pearson of the seventy. I had been up crying and pleading with the Lord the night before that I could not take this anymore and needed to get out of this depression and anxiety and that I needed God and Jesus's help on this. Lo and behold, his talk was directed at me! We watched it on Tivo last night and the boys actually paid attention and listened, as did I. Here is what he said that can help us. Faith and fear cannot coexist. One gives way to the other. He also quoted Bruce R McConkie that faith is a gift from god and available to all.

He then tied in what he calls the 6 destructive D's that can erode and destroy our faith. In order they are doubt ( fear which leads to lack of confidence in one's self or abilities). It is inconsistent with our divine identity as children of god.

Doubt leads to discouragement. It comes from missed expectations. Chronic discouragement leads to lower expectations, decreased effort and greater difficulty feeling and following the Spirt. It is the antithesis of faith.

Discouragement leads to distraction, a lack of focus. Discouragement and distraction are 2 of Satan's most effective tools and I unfortunately have let them come into my life over the last few months.

Distraction leads to a lack of diligence, a reduced commitment to remain true and faithful and to carry on through despite hardship and disappointment. Disappointment is an inevitable part of life but we have the tools from Heavely Father to get thru this.

If not reversed this path ultimately leads to disobedience which then undermines the very basis of faith. The result of this is often disbelief. The scriptures define this disbelief as the state of having chosen to harden one's heart. It is to be past feeling. I hope to never get to this point no matter how hard or crushing my trials may be!! He ends his talk with saying we can choose to avoid and overcome them.

My goal is to stop the fears and doubt that have been plaguing my mind and soul. I don't think it will be an overnight thing but with God's help and the atonement I hope to someday get past this point in my life and moving on to being a better mom and daughter of our Heavenly Father. (My kids actually sat down and listened to the talk - now that is a miracle:)).

Missing Brandon

2009-06-19T15:28:00.000-07:00

My oldest is at Scout camp this week. He is due to come home tomorrow. I am very much missing him right now! He is such a big help and I just miss his sense of humor, his funny little quirks and his smile. There are times they all fight and that can drive me insane, but I have forgotten all that for the moment and just miss him. What am I going to do when college comes and then a mission? Hopefully gotten used to the fact that they are all growing up and will be leaving the nest one day. For now, I just miss him and will be very excited to see him:)

4 year old girl

2009-06-17T22:39:00.000-07:00

I love my little girl but what the heck has happened to her at 4 years old?! We went to see Up today and we all loved it. I would highly recommend seeing this tender movie. I cried thru several parts of it. Brandon is off as Scout camp this week so I just took the 3 boys and Camryn. They were all well behaved during the movie until it was over and they had to go potty. The family restroom was right next to our theatre but each kid had to go in by themselves!! Camryn went in second and she would not get out. I could hear her keep washing her hands and drying them. We banged on the door and she finally unlocked it but would not come out! Darin went in to get her and her monster side came out. She came flying out of the bathroom cussing (not the worst word but close) and was screaming it down the hallways of the theatre. She then took off after Darin and was biting him, punching him, kicking him etc. She became the monster child I never thought I would have. I got down to her level, tried talking to her but she was still mad. I then told her she was going to time out when she got home. You would have thought she would cry but instead told me she was going to run away from home?! I am sure she would have gotten soooo far:) My boys do fight amongst themselves but she is taking it to a whole new level. At least she is well behaved at primary and preschool. My mom claims that I have created her by giving into her too much (which I do, 5th child and I am tired from working nights). She and I are going to have to have some heart to heart talks about what is appropriate behavior and what is not. She did at least apologize to me and went and gave Darin a big hug when we got home. I know there is a blossoming polite girl in there somewhere!!

Dancing Maltese

2009-06-15T14:48:00.000-07:00

We are watching our dog's brother while his family has been on vacation. Our Maltese is the butterball and Jake is the skinny one. These dogs can supposedly be trained to do tricks, dance, etc. Snowball has learned to chew up underwear and try to sneak on the table after we eat:) He is a cutie but can cause lots of mischief (he dragged my dad's whole shaving kit under my bed when they were visiting along with other such fun things my dad needed.) Jake has learned how to get attention by dancing on his hind legs - funny to watch. He will dance for Rich or I and then Snowball becomes very jealous and knocks him over! Snowball is letting him know that he is the alpha dog and Jake cannot be the leader over here. Jake will get his revenge when Jake's owner watches Snowball when we go on vacation in August. I just hope and pray he does not climb onto their table - not good manners for a guest:)

Bass Pro Shop Outing

2009-06-14T19:22:00.001-07:00

First time we went to Bass Pro Shop was on Saturday. It was a fun day to go as there was lots of free things to do and free pictures:) They got to learn about archery and shoot arrows at a fake deer. We saw tons of cool fish, stuffed bears, antelope, deer and who knows what else. What a fun store! I could go back and spend a few hours just looking at all the displays. The kids had fun (minus one or two fights) but I could not wrestle Brandon into getting his picture taken. What is up with teenagers?! I literally tried to pull him over to get his picture taken but no such luck, not even bribery. His loss!! At least I got 4 pictures taken and they turned out cool:)

Mopping

2009-06-12T16:15:00.000-07:00

These are my 2 youngest kids. We needed to mop yesterday as the floor was looking kinda yucky. I have one of those cool mopping machines but it decided not to work yesterday. We have lots of tile as carpet would get ruined in the high traffic areas with the kids constantly going in and out from swimming and from them running throughout the house. It takes quite awhile to mop with just regular mops.

Thank goodness I had 2 willing helpers (the others were gone to a Diamondback game with the Scouts.) We had fun mopping even though I had to keep going back over parts of it as these 2 thought they were on an ice skating rink!! But they sure are cute:) Oh, and my 2 middle boys cleaned their room again on their own today-yes :D

Mr. Trowbridge's Retirement Concert

2009-06-10T16:23:00.000-07:00

http://www.facebook.com/video/video.php?v=221164710304&ref=mf

I was not in attendance at this concert nor did I take orchestra. My baby brother, Gerald, did take orchestra from Mr. Trowbridge and in fact is going to take his place at our old high school, Gar-Field Senior High, as the new orchestra teacher. I still cannot believe that my brother, whom I listened to squeak his way thru the cello has become so accomplished and grown up. He currently teaches at my rival high school, Woodbridge Senior High, and also plays in different orchestras around the Washington, DC area and gives private lessons. He even got to play at one of the events for President Obama's inarguation ( i cannot spell that!). My favorite event he played at was at the Kennedy Center honors they do every year. I think he was still in high school at the time. They were honoring YoYo Ma and he got to play, along with his private teacher, at the Kennedy Center and was on TV!!!! So cool that he could do that and I had fun watching it on TV at home. They actually showed him a couple of times so it was fun to point at the TV and say "there is Gerald!!!). Thank you, Mary, for posting this on facebook so that I could steal it from ya:)

Diet

2009-06-09T20:14:00.000-07:00

So my good friend, Jill, says I have not blogged enough. I told her that things have been kind of down lately and she informed me that I should blog my feelings anyway:)

A year ago I was diagnosed with many kidney stones. Since then I have had 3 surgeries, medications, problems, etc. I have also gained 30 lbs in the last year. If I weighed 100 lbs then I probably would not care but I don't weigh that. I went to the doctor about a month ago because I put on 10 lbs in 2 days. I am a nurse and know that is not good!! My feet were swollen and my belly. So my doctor proceeds to tell me that I am just fat (but said nicely) and I am also 40 so my metabolism has slowed down, and blah, blah, blah. She then proceeded to prescribe me phenteramine, which is one of the ingredients in the diet pill that came off the market (phen-phen). This supposedly is the ingredient that you can take without having problems. It speeds up your metabolism and decreases your hunger.

So I started to take this medication. A full pill gave me chest pain and a racing heart so I was told to take a half pill. It did give me energy but kept me up at night. I then started really having the edema, my shoes did not fit and my clothes did not fit. I had lost 10 lbs but it all came back with this water weight. What the heck was up?! I decided that the only thing that had changed was this pill. I stopped taking it and also made an appointment with the doctor.

Here is what I found out about Phenteramine. Your body metabolizes it like speed so it will show up in a drug test. It can cause kidney function problems and other dysfunctions in your body. When I stopped taking it, it was like I was in drug withdrawal. I was freezing cold, then hot and sweating profusely the whole time!! Needless to say my edema was gone after 3 days of this. I also had no energy and just wanted to sleep the whole time. My doctor told me 1% of patients taking this medication have this effect when stopping it but I believe it has to be higher, or else I just had the rotten luck of being in that 1%. I do not ever want to put something in my body that shows up as speed!!

Lesson learned is that there is no magic pill, potion, etc. It is all about watching your portions, what you eat and excercise. I have developed a love/hate relationship with my Wii fit and Wii personal trainer. Love how I feel after working out but hate getting started. It may take awhile to get this weight off but at least I will be healthy and not have a heart attack or kidney failure while doing it:) Next post will have some more uplifting story or tale of my family ( that is my goal).

Concert

2009-05-30T15:35:00.000-07:00

We had the chance to see No Doubt and Paramore in concert last Saturday night at Cricket Pavilion in Phoenix, AZ. We got lawn tickets for $15!! Last concert we saw was Ricky Martin (great show) and we paid $75. This show was sold out and lots of fun. Paramore has 2 songs on the Twilight movie. Rich and I have been fans of No Doubt for quite awhile. Fun fact about Gwen Stefani is her whole name is Gwendolyn Renee Stefani and she was born Oct 3, 1969. She bounced and jumped thru her whole show. Not sure how she does that as she and her husband had 2 babies 2 and a half years apart. She kept telling us to jump but there was not a bathroom close enough for me to do that:) It was a diverse group of people there. One girl told me she liked my shirt (it was black tiger stipes with pink neckline) and another said "some guy is undressing behind you!" I thought what the heck until I turned around to see that it was just my husband taking his shirt off. It was outside and it was 90 degrees!! Told the lady it was ok as it was just husband! Hope another band comes along soon that we can afford to see!

Boys clean room

2009-05-30T15:07:00.000-07:00

I was in shock yesterday. My middle 2 boys room has been a mess and I have kept getting after them. They did a quick clean a week ago for a sleepover (that meant I could at least see the floor:))

Yesterday I heard happy voices and kids getting along. That itself made me happy but I decided to go see what was up. They were deep cleaning their room!!!! I had not even asked them or nagged them. They even put away all the game cube games in their cases. They next asked me to sit there while they cleaned out under their bed. I was the catcher:)

Rich and I have praised them endlessly for this and for doing a great act of service for me. The best comment was "We did this last summer when Grandma and Grandpa Fowkes were here. I bet this will shock Grandpa to hear we did this ourselves!" Dad, hope you are still standing after reading this :D

Kindergarten Graduation

2009-05-21T18:57:00.000-07:00

My baby boy is finished with kindergarten. They had a wonderful program. I was either laughing or crying. Oh the singing voices!! They were so enthusiastic and so proud. I was running around trying to get the best angle to shoot this. Camyn kept sitting on my lap so it is a little bumpy! As soon as I download the pictures I will post them. Colton was crying after we took a picture with Mrs. Kolodony. Heavenly Father blessed us by putting him in the best class for him. She is full of life and sings and just brought out the best in him. She is being moved to 2nd grade so Colton may get her again in a year!! I love that she is just a kind, gentle person and mom. My mom got to meet her and see her classroom and she agreed she was a great teacher (and my mom worked at an elementary school for 15 years as a bookkeeper - Mom, remember to turn off the music so you can hear the singing:))

Colton is in the top row, the 7th from the left. He has on a green shirt and the girl next to him has very blonde pigtails and no hat. He told everyone that he is going to be an artist when he grows up and I believe him. I always buy him notebooks I find on sale to draw on and for a 6 year old, they are great pictures. Colton, congratulations and we are so proud of you for doing your best in kindergarten!

Blog Slacker

2009-05-17T22:56:00.000-07:00

Yes, it is true, I have become a blog slacker:( Sigh.....I started off so well and now I am just slow with this. Must have to do with working for 10 days straight and just not doing anything (at least that I am going to tell about) too exciting!

This is the last week of school. They officially get out on Thursday. We have kindergarten graduation at 1 pm and then Brandon has an art photo show that night. Baseball has finally wound down - yes!!! Colton is supposed to go to summer school for help with his reading. Of course the form that was supposed to have been filled out is no where to be found in this crazy mess of a house of mine. I seriously could bulldoze it over right now as I feel it would be easier to start from fresh instead of trying to clean the explosion that has happened in my house this week. How can 5 kids make such a mess?! Do they not know where the trash can is located or the fact that we do own many clothes hampers and that Mom does not appreciate dirty clothes strewn all throughout the house. I was able to go to an Enrichment night this week and they talked about keeping our houses clean and in order. I seriously had to try so hard not to either laugh or cry!!! All these well meaning and loved sisters were talking about spring cleaning, maintaince cleaning and all I could think of was that I wanted to go hide my head in the sand and just hope the house would be clean when I finally emerged! On the good side, I have this week off and after I recouperate, go to a work meeting, go to court for a photo radar ticket (bad, bad girl!!), go to counseling and somehow fit in a doctor appoinment for my feet and legs that have suddenly decided to retain fluid!! I look like that Micheline tire guy right now:) What happened to fabulous and 40? I think my body seemed to have not gotten that message and heard breakdown and 40!

I am very excited for the kindergarten graduation as they sing songs and put on the cutest program. I also am excited to see Brandon's work in the photo art show!! He has loved this class and I cannot wait to see what he has created. He is my go to guy for all pictures now (if he is home when the event happens). My pictures just look ok where his are interesting, fun to look at and a joy for this mom to see. My other kids are doing well too but these 2 boys are the ones with all the fun stuff this week.

Ok, now that you all think that I should be headed for the looney bin, let me say it just felt good being able to write what I am really freethinking now:) No script, no story just a rambling post about our crazy life this past week. I promise to return to some sort of normal on my next post (or maybe not:)) Just kidding!

couseling

2009-05-11T01:20:00.000-07:00

I was able to finally go to another counseling session. Can I just say that it is wonderful to meet with someone who understands the Mormon culture, our background and our beliefs! What a difference from the psychiatrist person I saw who was not LDS and had me convinced that I was a really messed up woman and that it all has to have stemmed back to a traumatic event in our life. That may be true for people who were sexually assaulted, molested, igonored, etc. But I had a great home life with 2 parents that loved us and were always looking out for our best interests. I never knew how hard that job was unil I am now in the middle of it. So thank you Mom and Dad for providing a loving hom and guidance when we needed it. I may not have said so at the tme, but I truly appreciate the skills you instilled in us of hard work, finishing a job and serving others. I am proud to say I learned many great lessons from my wonderful parents. I just wish they would have moved to AZ instead of Sandy, Utah. They are much closer than Viriginia but I was hoping my dad would not really think his brain would fry here in the summer's. I think after coming to help me after 2 surgeries back to back in the summer made them quite happy wth their choice to go to Utah:)

I now have the complete model of what the counselor was telling me during our last session. I just could not remember it, but thankfully he wrote it down and so did I! Ok, ready for some psych 101 (ok, this is probably more advanced but just chose that name for convience sake:) He says an event happens, we have an instantaneos that which leads to our reaction. A straight line up from our thoughts are our rules that we have eiher set for ourselves or that may have been set for us from our parents or whomever raised us. Traveling up te arrow from the rule is our Core Belief system. In my case it means my core beliefs about the church are what is right or wrong for me within the bounds the church has set for us (which I love and am so glad they are there). He told me to keep a journal of every event and my reaction to it. I do have to say I acted little kinder as I did not want Rich thinking I am some whackadoo going around yelling at everyone in sight!

The one I chose to brng up was my sweet 13 almost 14 yar old boy. He is usually a pleasure to be around and brings much love and vitality to our household. He was having a bad week last week (according to him). I knew he was in a bad mood so I asked him politey to please take the trash out. He just sat on te couch and defied me. I tried sending to his room, turningoff the tv, games, etc. Darin, of course, was added into the mix as always. If there is every any argument, Darin will be right in there throwing in his 2 cents. That did not go over well that day so a knock down fight happened. I finally got thm apart from each other (no small feat when one is taller and stronger than you). I then put them in separate rooms so I could have a minute to just calm down. I was told to shutup by Brandon and then that is when the mean yelling mom came out! We then later had a discussion about it at family home evening and the boys had to tell each other they were sorry, face to face. They also got to talk with dad on the phone!

I brougnt this up with the counselor as right now all my time and energy are wrapped up in these little people. He gently reminded me that I do need to take some tme out of each day and just have mommy time. It can be as simple as going to the bathroom ( i have a feeling I will be spending alot of time there). He also showed me a disciplining strategy to try over the mext week. When eve the kid misbehave or get me to a point where I am gong to blow, he said that I need to calmly (which that is the hard part) approach the child, tell him that they were disrespectful and hurtful. I am then t0 time how long I am feeling that way and then tell the child that he owes me that much tme back in chores,cooking, cleaning, laundry, etc. I know my kids well enough that this is going to take longer than a week to get rectified. I also know that no matter how tired I am that I am going to have to be consistent and so is Rich. It will be hard but worth it!!

He said this all ties back into my depression and anxeity as I have set my rules pretty rigidly, so when they are broken I tend to find some solution, shopping, etc. to fill the void left from the confrontation/emotion. So my plan for this week is to get a set of rules that are not so rigid (taking out the I should always and my kid would never). These words are absolutes and we are just setting ourselves up to fail or keep gong viciously around and around the circle. I want out that circle!! Wish me luck with my plan writing and implementing this week. I will wrtie back about this after I find out how I did with it. Hopefully well:) Happy Mother's day:) Your gift is in with your other present.

More Recital

2009-05-10T19:23:00.000-07:00

Here are the other two videos I took. The first is Beverly Kerr and she is the one who owns "The Dance Loft" and does all the teaching, instructing and choreography. I helped her sew some of the costumes and that was fun. The second video is the finale when each class got to come out and do their short final dance.

Camryn's Dance Recital

2009-05-10T12:37:00.000-07:00

We had such fun yesterday going to our first dance recital. Beverly Kerr has her masters in dance and has opened a dance stuio in her home that is in a loft - thus the name Miss Beverly's Dance Loft. She teaches beginning ballett, modern movement and also belongs to a group in AZ called The Condors. I helped her with some of the costumes and it was great fun watching them perform! The ages range from 3-18. Camryn is in the beginning class for 3 and 4 year olds. It was very nice there was only 4 kids in the class. In the videos just look for the girl with the red ponytail wearing a bright blue superhero costume with a bright pink cape:)

What teenagers do to amuse themselves

2009-05-07T22:08:00.000-07:00

Can you tell I finally found the camcorder:) This just cracked me up!!

Mother's Day Program

2009-05-07T20:37:00.000-07:00

Every year Mrs. Billings puts on a program for Mother's Day. I have had fun going to quite a few of these as Camryn is my 4th child to attend this preschool. I cracked up about how animated she was - she could not stand still throughout the entire program!

Darin is 11!!!!!

2009-04-29T07:56:00.001-07:00

This is my second child, Darin. He is 11 today!!! He was my biggest baby and now is my skinniest preteen. How I love this boy. As a baby, he was chunky and always laughing. He is 3 years behind Brandon. Brandon was so happy to have a sibling but was a little disappointed that he did not come out ready to play. In fact his exact words "All he does is cry, cry and then he poops". Classic!!

Darin is also one very smart kid. He taught himself to read in kindergarten. He read a short book to me and I thought he had it memorized. So I went and got another easy reading book and he read it!! I was shocked and just a little embarrassed that I was not the one to help him. He currently is in the 5th grade and reading and testing at a 9th grade level. I love that as I love to read and am glad he does too. Now if we can just get those fractions in his head.....

He was my fastest labor and delivery. I worked the whole day and then came home with back pain. Did not think too much of it as I thought this cannot be labor. My first child was induced so I had no clue what the beginning of labor felt like. After about an hour the contractions were getting closer. Rich's parents had just called us up and invited us out to eat. We were pretty poor then so I was not about to pass up free food - heck no! So we went out to eat and I just kept having contractions:) But I was nice and full. Finally Rich and his sisters said enough was enough and that I better get to the hospital. So we left Brandon with Grandma and off we went. I got to the hospital and was dilated to a 7!! Darin made his appearance 2 hours later after no epidural and just Stadol. Note to self, I never did that again!!! It hurt like heck and was not worth the pain (at least not for me). Plus they had to use forceps because I was not pushing but just screaming:) I will get a slide show up of Darin, as the kids love to have one of them. I am so glad he is in our family and cannot believe he is 11!

Pass it on

2009-04-24T21:18:00.000-07:00

Pay it forward chain
So my dear Friend started this chain.
If you want to do it great,if not no big deal. Here is how to play.the first 3 people to post on this blog will receive a handmade "pay it forward" gift from me.This is how it works...So, if anyone out there is up for the challenge...1. Be one of the first THREE bloggers to leave a comment on this post, which then entitles you to a handmade item from me.2. Winners must post this challenge on their own blog, meaning that you will pay it forward, creating a handmade gift -anything!- for the first THREE bloggers who leave a comment on YOUR post about this giveaway!3. The gift that you send to your 3 friends can be from any price range and you have 365 days to make/ship your item. This means you should be willing to maintain your blog at least until you receive your gift and have shipped your gifts. And, remember it’s the spirit and the thought that counts!4. When you receive your gift, blog about it! If you are not one of the first three to comment on this post, you can still play along.Go ahead and start your own Pay It Forward chain, and encourage your blogging friends to do the same! It's all about paying it forward. My email is rsrhoton@cox.net. Let's have fun playing this pay it forward and thanks LisaLou for keeping it going. I cannot wait to see what I get:) And I am letting you in on a secret that I love to quilt! Mary, you better answer and send me those beach pics! The one of you and Keith together this last trip is adorable!

What I learned today

2009-04-24T15:48:00.000-07:00

Just wanted to share what I learned in counseling today. I don't feel bad saying I am going to counseling as we all have issues but mine need to be addressed now! I am also thankful for LDS social services as I can go to a counselor and know that I have someone helping me thru this with the same core beliefs in a Heavenly Father who loves us and his Son who is also here to help us.

Anyway, today was the first day and he put up a diagram of how he intervenes to help his patients have healthy coping mechanisms ( dang, shopping did not count!!!). His diagram went like this......Event (any event, does not have to be big or tragic) causes our thought process to kick in and then we react. He said the thought process kicks into action in a matter of seconds and sometimes we do not even realize what we are thinking, thus the reaction. He gave an example of a kid in junior high school, getting a drink of water. While getting a drink of water, the kid gets bumped. His reaction could be to hit the offender, run and hide out of embarrassment or some other reaction. Now, what if the offended turned around and realized it was just a little kid who accidentally bumped into him because the halls were so crowded? Would our reaction be different? Mine would be, I would tell the kid it was ok and things were fine.

The other part (or ladder) of the thought process goes up. Dang it, I forgot the middle part but the top part is our core beliefs. I need to ask for the diagram so that I can fill in the middle as it is just as important as the top. Say you were abused as a child - your core belief is that you hit when any event happens. So what if it is just a little kid who bumps you, you still hit. Your thought process is that any time you are hit, you hit back. So the idea behind this counseling is getting into the thought process and how to stop certain behaviors (reactions) when any event occurs ( and I am not saying that I am hitting;)). I absolutely love the idea of being able to stop and think and rationalize why I am doing certain behaviours instead of cycling thru event=bad reaction. It was a light bulb moment!!!

I am sharing this as I hope it might help someone else who might need it. Counseling can be good and not scary:)

policeman

2009-04-23T03:12:00.000-07:00

My digital camera broke after 8 years;( Guess it is time to buy a new one as my second son got his arrow of light yesterday and I had to rely on friends for pictures. Which means I am now waiting for her to email them over. I am not too excited how I look since there was a Tball game right before and I was hot and sweating!

None of this has to do with the real reason I am writing the post. Now I am past the embarrassemnt I will share:) All the kids were gone to school and preschool so I thought perfect time to take a shower. We have a big master bath with windows that I normally kept shut. I am having the joy of starting menopause (which can go on for years I am told - so not fair!!). I had the air on and was still hot. Decided no one was home so i would just get ready in my birthday suit!!

My Maltese, Snowball, loves to bark. I was drying my hair and heard him barking. He quickly came into my room and sat at my feet, which was weird. He normally will go outside and bark too. Might I add I also have the doorbell disconnected as I did it when we moved in here with the 4 th boy being one. Figured that if someone wants me bad enough they will knock.

Now back to the fun part of the story. I was singing, blowdryng my hair in my birthday suit when all of a sudden I saw cops swarming my back yard! My first thought was they were after me seeing as how the truancy board came to my house( wh0le different story) How dumb was that?! So I grabbed my jammies and went out the front door around to the side gate to ask what the heck was going on. Never occuried to me these are armed men and I should not just go la -de -daing into my back yard! They also had our pool gate open and the one officer shooed the nightgown clad lady with the awesome hairdo back into my house. He finally came to our door and stated the lady behind us had called in a burglary. Let me start by saying this is the same house that karoake's till midnight and I can smell pot drifiting over!

The suspect was apprehended in my pool area. All I can say is thank goodness for the prompt reply of these policemem or that burgalar could have easily ended up in my house since the backyard was unlocked!!! That will teach me to do my hairdrying in my birthday suit in my bathroom. I do believe this incidence has added 10 years to my life!!

Dancing Pictures

2009-04-21T15:49:00.001-07:00

My friend, Michelle Devine, took these pictures of Camryn at Miss Beverly's Dance Loft. I love the pink and black look and think she did an awesome job. She also takes family portraits and I have seen those too. Awesome!! It has been fun to have a girl to take to dance lessons ( i offered it to all 4 of my boys and they said no way).

No Doubt and Paramore

2009-04-16T20:57:00.001-07:00

I am so excited!! Rich and I are going to see No Doubt and Paramore in concert on May 23rd at the Cricket Pavilion in Phoenix, Arizona. Last year we had tickets for Gwen Stefani for my birthday but she cancelled the Phoenix show. Rich went online last night and they had reduced the lawn tickets to $15 dollars. Yay us!! We may not be able to see as well but it is going to be good times:) The last concert I saw was Ricky Martin (amazing show) but we payed way to much for tickets to sit in the nosebleed section.

I will take lots of pictures of us having a great time!

New Moon

2009-04-16T20:34:00.001-07:00

Video

Posted using ShareThis

This is a clip I found on TwilightMoms about the Mitch Hansen band. He read all the Twilight books in a week and then proceeded to write a whole album about the series. The first one is called Jacob Black and is kind of funny! The second is a lullaby he wrote. The band is going to be one of the featured artists on the New Moon CD. Enjoy (and I concede that Jill is the biggest Twilight fan:) )

Easter Pictures

2009-04-12T13:45:00.000-07:00

Easter 2009 is here! We have church at 8 am so we took 2 sets of pictures as Brandon gets to the church at 7 am so set up chairs in the overflow for the extra people. I sure love him for doing this service each and every Sunday!

Camryn had to be held. Starting from far left is Dylan, Colton, Brandon behind him, Darin holding Camryn.

My boys and Colton turned his head at the last second!!

Rich and I. Darin took the picture:)

Dylan and Darin. Best friends and buddies with the occasional knock down drag out fight. Oh well, guess all families have to deal with that!

My 2 babies, Colton and Camryn. Colton was so excited to wear his fancy clothes. I had to get them out last night and hang them on the back of the door so that he would know right where they were.

The lower 4 - Dylan, Colton, Darin and Camryn. Brandon was already at church setting up chairs.

My mom and dad are sweethearts and send us money each year to buy the kids new Easter outfits and I love it as they get to wear them the rest of the year. Brandon opted for 2 new ties ( the other is an awesome pink one). With only 1 girl I tend to have a blast shopping for her dress. Did not make one this year but found this dress at JC Penny. It is called the "Cinderella Dress" and she is in love with it. Had a little fight getting it off of her after church.

I am so thankfull for the atonement of Jesus Christ and for his sacrifice for us. I love being a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints and for all the values and knowledge it gives us. We had great talks and the choir sang. But it still did not beat the Bell Choir my dad leads and puts lots of time into in Sandy, Utah. Wish I lived closer so I could just pop over and hear it and bells playing is an amazing arrangement and really puts you in the spirit. One year I will make it up there for Easter and be able to hear this one as welll as the Christmas Day bell Choir. Hope you all have a great Easter and were able to feel the atonement working in their lives today.

Way to go THUNDER!!

2009-04-10T21:42:00.000-07:00

Here are 4 boys who are best friends as well as baseball buddies. They play for the Thunder minors team this year in 4 peaks baseball in Mesa, AZ. My son Dylan is on the far left, Jonathon Nussbaum, Nicolas Nussbaum, and then my son Darin are in the above picture. They are a young team and have won only 2 games so far this year. I wanted to share a quick story about their thursday night win.

Dylan may look big but is only 9 years old. He is one of 2 boys that has volunteered to play catcher. That is a hard position no matter what age you are. He has to squat down (which he is very good at), wear all that gear, be right behind the batter and be able to make good decisions on what plays to make. He is working on this as mentally it can be hard for a 9 year old to have to pay attention to the whole field and decide where the play is at. He has taken this on with great confidence and not too much backtalking to the umpire (just kidding:))

The game started with Darin pitching. He threw lots of strikes and did a great job. Jonathon spent last year in the outfield but has progressed to being a great first baseman. I have seen him outrun the other players to first base as well as make some wonderful catches. All this has happened because he has practiced and perservered in wanting to be a good player. All of his hard work has payed off:)

We were down by 2 points in the last inning but thank goodness we were home team. The boys were pumped up and determined to win this. The first 2 boys were walked to first base. Then Jonathon came up to bat. The last 2 years the poor boy has been a ball magnet! Everytime he was up to bat he was always hit by a stray pitch. But did he give up and quit? Nope! He practiced and practiced. This boys can now smack that ball a good distance and so far has not been pegged by the ball. In a key play, Jonathon stepped up to the plate with confidence and a smile:) He hit the first pitch and it was a huge line drive right thru second base area. He made it to first base and got two of our players home (one being his brother, Nick). Next up was Dylan and he was walked to first base and Jonathon was on second base. Darin hit a solid hit down midfield and was able to bring Jonathon and Dylan home and thus we won the game! All of us parents were high fiving, screaming and dancing around. The best part was to see the boys line up at the end of the game and have the hugest smile on their faces.

My moral to this story is that practice and not letting our fears overcome us can lead to great things. Jon could have easily quit and said he was tired of being hit. Instead, he practiced and built up his confidence. I am so thankful for our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ, who gives us these opportunites to shine and make the best of ourselves in our lives.

Day of Contrasts

2009-04-10T21:20:00.000-07:00

Boy, I have been slacking!!! Busy week last week and I volunteered (haha more like got strong armed into it) picking up extra days at work. Thank goodness I have 2 days of down time. I missed conference due to work and am so thankful for TiVo!!

Last Sunday was a day of contrasts for me. It first started with a patient who was having horrible chest pain and me driving like crazy to make it 55 miles quickly. Won't say how fast I got there but it was quick:) Sweet lady was made comfortable (and I lucked out as she was LDS and I put on conference as a distraction to help her thru the pain) and then sent to our inpatient unit. Hospices have inpatient units to send patients to instead of the hospital. She arrived safely, was made comfortable and was able to pass on and see her sweetie pie on the other side of the veil.

I then got the call I had been waiting eagerly for the past week. My baby brother, Gerald, and his wife Becky had their 3rd baby. Eleanor Renee Fowkes was born on conference Sunday. Sweet girl weighed in at 10 lbs 11 oz and 22 and 3/4 inches long. Way to go Becky!!! Each of her babies has gotten bigger at birth and I honestly do not know how she delivers such big babies. My biggest was 7 lbs 3 oz and that was big enough for me!! Eleanor has dark hair and looks alot like her big sister, Scout. I was also very touched as they named her middle name after my mother. I love the name and think it sounds very regal. They are going to call her Elli and I cannot wait for the day I can meet her. They live in Virginia and I live in AZ so it might be awhile.

My day continued with going to do continuous care for another sweet lady who had lung cancer with brain mets and was dying. Hospice offers continuous care for patients who want to stay at their own place but need round the clock care. Was not really ready for this emotionally or physically. I did the total care on her for 18 hours. That involved turning her, cleaning her, giving her medicine, consoling the family and trying to talk the group home into letting the daughter spend the night. Very exhausting work!! Much to my disbelief the group home would not let the daughter spend the night. Here her mother was passing on and all she asked for was to stay with her mom for these last precious moments. I got into a very big arguement with the group home owner (I kept my temper and was diplomatic) but nothing I said would budge her. I tried all the tricks and played on her emotions all to no avail. The daughter did go home but with the promise I would sit by her mom all night long, and I did. I sat in a hard back kitchen chair and took care of the patient. It has taken me 4 days to catch up on sleep but I was honored to be with her during her last hours on this earth. Was also glad that the daughter trusted me enough to stay with her mom with the promise I would call with any change. I did call the daughter to come back at 6 am as her mom was changing rapidly. She thankfully was able to be there with her mom holding her hand as her mom passed onto the other side.

So there was a birth and a death both in the same day. I realize this happens all the time but I am usually not having this happen to me! I am also glad for this week I have had to recouperate as well as reflect back on our beliefs of an eternal family and how thankful I am for our Saviour and Redeemer, Jesus Christ. Hope you all have a wonderful Easter!

Colton's 6th birthday

2009-04-02T13:27:00.000-07:00

I cannot believe my last boy is six!! He is still my baby and in fact I still call him my baby boy every night before bed. He still gives me lots of hugs and kisses and I love that he is still young enough to be genuinely happy when I show up in his class room. I brought him treats today at kindergarten and he ran right up to me and gave me the biggest hug! Made this mom's day:)

He was born 3 years after the 3rd boy. When I was first pregnant, I was convinced this was my girl. He had to be as how could Heavenly Father give me 4 boys? He was also going to be our last child so he had to be a girl. I have to say I was so upset when they said he was a boy at the ultrasound that I cried. Kind of silly but I did. I am so glad he was a boy as we were intended to have 4 boys in our family. I always teased Grandpa Rhoton that he kept praying for boys and to stop. He wants to have the Rhoton name carried on. He did pray for a girl with Camryn!

I was put on bedrest with him at 7 months and wondered how I would ever do this with 3 other kids. I had 4 of the best friends in the world step up to the plate and bring me dinner for the entire time I was on bedrest. No one asked them to, they just did. It was such a relief for me and Colton only came 2 weeks early so I know the blessing of them bringing in meals helped relieve that stress part for me.

He was born at 9 pm at night after laboring and walking the halls and outside of the hospital for 5 hours. He had red hair just like the previous 3 and looked just like them too. Rich and I laugh as we said we have a mold going on and he did not break it! He weighed 7lbs 3 oz and is the biggest baby I had. I feel blessed to have had smaller babies as it made for easy delivery. We chose the name Colton as it was one that my dad had said he liked and we liked it too. His middle name is Mitchell and we stole that from a family friends little boy. We thought it sounded good with Colton. The funniest part is he has a first and last name that sound similar- Colton Rhoton. He got used to the noise at our house very quickly. I could put him in his swing and he would fall alseep all on his own. In fact, when he finally moved to his crib we could not get him out until he was 4! I figured he would not sleep in it forever and he now is in a bunk bed with his sister.

He had a hard time when Camryn was born as she was 22 months behind him. He cried for 2 days straight and reverted back to baby behavior for awhile. There were times I wondered if something was mentally wrong with him or if he was autistic. Come to find out he is just stubborn! If he does not want to do something, he won't. A perfect example is his first day of preschool. He was 3, cried when he got there but I did not get a phone call so I figured he must be ok. I went back to pick him up and he was sitting in the same spot as when I had left. The teacher said everytime she said "Come do this Colton, he would just scream no". Now that he is in kindergarten he has stopped that behavior at school but we do see it at home sometimes.

He also was very shy and was not a talker until kindergarten this year. Our nickname for Colton was BooBoo. Not that he was a mistake but we called him that after Yogi bears little friend. The name stuck for about 3 years. He is now just called Colton. Now I cannot get him to be quiet as he has just blossomed being in school. Our friends, the Nussbaums, say that Colton will talk and talk to them where before he was just quiet. Just ask my dad about the last time they came to visit. Colton talked and talked for the whole first hour after they came. My dad kept asking if it was his bedtime and Colton kept saying nope!

He is finally playing T-ball like his brothers did and is having the best time. He has wanted to play for the last 2 years and is so proud that he is playing. It helps to have 2 of his best buddies on the team too. He actually has a game tonight so I am going to take some pictures. Rich actually cancelled his baseball practice so he could come to his birthday game.

We are so glad to have him in our family and I am truly happy to have 4 boys. Heavenly Father did know what he was doing when he sent him to be a part of our family. Colton, we love you!!

Colton's 6th Birthday

2009-04-01T19:22:00.001-07:00

Life with Baseball

2009-03-31T13:03:00.000-07:00

One a good note, I am finally feeling better. I did end up with pneumonia but thank goodness for antibiotics. They have kicked in and I am feeling better. Thank you for all your well wishes. I did get the project of shelves and less toys going in Colton and Camryn's room but have not finished. I still need to finish Julie's curtains seeing how I took half of them down and now her windows look funny!! Julie, they are coming!!

The baseball craziness has officially begun. We are having games every night and sometimes more than one child is playing a game. I am so thankful that we got on teams with friends and that those friends have been so willing to help us out. The Nussbaum's have been great about offereing to take my 5 (he will be six in 2 days!!) year old to tball. That has been a huge stress reliever as this is my work week on and it has been busy already. I so want to make all their games but am realizing that it might not be as easy as I thought it was going to be. I am so glad the boys are having fun and it makes it all worth the juggling, early dinners and late nights to see them enjoy this and just having a great time with it.

Camryn is still doing dance. I am so excited as Michelle Devine took professional pictures of them today. She did a class pic of all of them in pink leotards and an individual picture of them with black tutu's. I cannot wait to get the CD with the pics on them. I have seen Michelle's other work and it is gorgeous. Once I lose about 500 lbs ( just kidding) I would love to have her do a family outdoor picture before it gets too hot. She has some great locations and again, her work is amazing. So for any of you in Arizona, look up 1 day at a time blog for Michelle's work. I wish I was that talented to take such great pics.

I will be working on doing a slideshow for Colton's birthday which is in 2 days. He has seen the ones I did for the other kids and is soooo excited it is his turn. It will be fun and a little sad knowing my 4th and final boy is turning 6.

Wahh!!

2009-03-26T20:30:00.000-07:00

How is that for an indulgent title? Wish I had something more funny, more witty or more anything to say. But yet, I get to blog I am sick yet again. I have tried lysol, antibactierial spray and have even considered moving into my own plastic bubble:) That could be fun but a little boring I suppose.
No kidney infections or even pains this time. Just a lovely sinus infection, bacterial (can we say working on pneumonia) upper respiratory infection and strep on the outside of my throat. How is that possible you say? Well, I have it. And do not even ask me to take a picture as it is horrendous and just downright disgusting. I have also lost my voice, but my kids are all seeing this as a good sign as is my husband who keeps saying "honey, I just cannot understand you!" That is ok as I will just save up all my talking for when I feel better - watch out Dad! (He seemed to be a little too giddy about getting off the phone with me after only 5 minutes:))
I have been taking Zinc, drinking lemon water and just about any other holostic thing that someone can come up with. But darn it, it is not working! The doctor told me I had to rest and that just about put me into hysterics! I have 5 kids and work full time and my house is a mess, so resting is just out of the question for now. Guess I will just tone it back (although if I tone it back anymore my house might get condemned). I do have lots of good ideas for curtains, kitchen paint and repainting my countertops. My yard sale lady does the refinishing as a business and wrote down the instructions for refinishing my counter tops. Will cost about $30 dollars in supplies and lots of elbow grease. I have the boys to help with the manual labor. She even is going to give me directions on how to refinish the cabinets on a shoestring budget. I will get a whole new kitchen look for a fraction of the cost and will get the satisfaction of knowing I could do it myself. I love those moments:)
Well, I am going to go back to resting and then tomorrow take on the 2 little kids room. At least I can sit thru it as right now it looks as if someone set off a toy bomb in there! I think I might take before and after pictures as I got some cool cubicles from Target for their toys. Wish me luck and if I don't resurface for a few days, it is probably because I passed out in their room:)

China Hutch

2009-03-21T22:26:00.000-07:00

Here is the china hutch. I am thinking putting some greenery on top. Let me know if you think that will be too much!

Twilight

2009-03-21T21:22:00.000-07:00

The big day is here:) Twilight was released on DVD. No matter that I somehow got a copy on my personal computer a week ago (thank you Snediker). I still dutifully went to Target today and bought the movie!! Now I can watch it whenever I want. One of my friend's, Ali, said she had already watched it 4 times today. Mine is still in the shrink wrap:) I plan on flying out to Virginia to enjoy it with Kasandra as she cooked a turkey, is making homemade popcorn and is making a party out of it. Here I come!!

Spring

2009-03-21T21:12:00.001-07:00

I love the scents and colors of spring. We only get a very short season in Arizona before we are into full on summer. So for now, I am going to enjoy having the fun pastel background and try to not be hungry from "sugar" being in the title. Rich also surprised me by bringing home my garage sale smokin find of a china cabinet. I finally get to put out my china and crystal that I have had since I was married. It is out of the box!! It survived being stored at my parents house and being moved from Virginia to Sandy, Utah. My parents then drove it down to Arizona. Granted, this all happened about 12 years after I was married. I am having such fun arranging it and rearranging it. The back has mirrors so the kids are having great fun looking at themselves. I foresee lots of dances and goofy stuff going on in front of it:)

Crazy Drivers

2009-03-18T01:29:00.000-07:00

I grew up learning to drive in Dale City, Virginia. At that time, we were just a small (relatively speaking) suburb off of I95. Like people said, Dale City was a like a faucet. You turn it on in the morning and everyone leaves and the faucet goes off. You turn it back on at night and everyone comes back home after another days work. It has grown now and I don't think I would just call it a suburb. Anyway, learning to drive there meant learning to drive in lots of traffic. Navigating the I95 for the first time as a driver was scary. People did not slow down to let you yield in, you just had to go for it!!

I now like in Mesa, Arizona and the Phoenix Metro area has become very big in the last 15 years. I was headed out to see a patient tonight in the town of Sun City. This is actually a retirement town and is age restricted. I was driving along the 101 and minding my business of driving. For once, I was not talking on the phone or texting on my blackberry (both very bad habits). I was paying very close attention and I believe I was because the Spirit whispered to me to pay extra attention to my driving tonight. I am not a crazy driver but can get distracted. This time I kept hearing the still small voice saying "pay close attention."

I am so glad I did because if I did not I would either be very badly hurt or have gone to see Heavenly Father tonight (which that is ok too but I still want to be around for my kids). I was driving in the middle lane of the freeway when some whacky lady pulled right in front of me from the left lane. She clipped the front of my van but continued on her way off the exit!!! She never slowed down, turned to see why there was a loud noise or anything. She was young looking so it cannot be blamed on the Snowbirds here. Thankfully, there was no other cars next to me so I was able to swerve a little, put on my brakes and manage to get the car driving in a straight line again. Thankfully the car behind me was not tailgating and was far enough back that he was able to put on his brakes. Believe it or not, no other car was hit, the flow of traffic was not interrupted and thankfully my van was not upside down!!

I pulled over, got out one of the baseball bats and pulled the wheel cover out so I could still drive. I was supposed to be at a patient's house at 5 pm but was a little late. They were very understanding and helped this poor tear stained nurse into their house. They managed to calm me down (I was there to admit their mom to hospice services) and we went on with the admit. I was told I needed to file a police report as I need to get the car fixed. I did not call on the freeway as I was late to the appointment.

So tomorrow I and my 5 kids are going to drive down to the Phoenix Police Station to file a report on a hit and run. I know the lady will not get caught and I don't really care about that. I am just so thankful I listened to that still small voice or there woudl have been a different outcome tonight. I am hoping by taking the 5 kids with me that I will get in and out of the police station fast:) Lesson learned to pull over and call the highway patrol immediately or else you have to go to the highway patrol headquarters:) Sigh....what a fun spring break for the kids!

More Garage Sale Pictures

2009-03-16T10:40:00.001-07:00

Here is some pics of the material. The yellow and blue is imported from France. That fabric already has plans for a home at a friend in Virginia's home:) The others I am going to hold onto and I am sure at some point I will find a way to use them.

Here is some more of my garage sale finds. I also bought two silver platters but our good friends the Nussbaums have a website where the sell high end pens for great prices. Todd said he would like the platters to photograph his pens on. We lucked out as we traded the platters for some very high end pens. Give his website a visit at http://www.isellpens.com/. I also got material imported from France, Italy, etc for dirt cheap prices. I got a whole bolt of gorgeous fabric that was originally $22 a yard. My friend Julie bought the whole bolt (15 yards) for $25. It matches her kitchen perfectly so guess what, more curtains!! When I finish them I will post pics as I cannot believe what a perfect match it was for her kitchen. I never go garage selling but this one got me hooked. Now Julie and the Nussbaums are going to come over to help me know where to put all this stuff;)

Garage Sale Finds

2009-03-16T09:32:00.000-07:00

Went to a garage sale in our neighborhood this weekend. The ladies are interior decorators and had lots of fun left over treasures from clients that decided to change their decor. Fun for us!!

Also got a china hutch but I have to go disassemble and reassemble it to get to my house. Lots of fun times. Now I just have to figure out what to do with it all:)

Curtains and pillows

2009-03-12T09:40:00.001-07:00

The above are the curtains with the shears lying next to them.

One of the pillows with my funky trim. Could not get it to lay straight so you could really see the trim.

Another shot of the pillow with the funky trim.

This pillow has tiny beads for the trim. Wanted to mix it up a bit.

Can't quite see the trim on this one. Next is making the kids blankets as I am finally done with Julie's curtains. Yay me:)

Maybe a Broken Bone?

2009-03-11T14:30:00.000-07:00

My 9 year old has been complaining of a sore foot for 2 weeks. Me, being a nurse and so thinking I can diagnose anything, thought he just had a pulled muscle. Took him into the Dr yesterday for an earache. Turns out he has an ear infection and possibly a hairline fracture of the ankle. Made me feel like a horrible mom for not taking him more serioulsy! Thankfully we just got a call from the Dr and it is just sprained. Good thing with baseball season here!!

Now I am going to go work sewing for my friend, Julie. I have been making her curtains and am surprising her with some throw pillows for the family room. I found the funkiest beaded, fringey stuff to go around the pillows. It is going to look soooo cool;) Sewing actually relaxes me and it is fun to make things for other people. Has gotten me back into the groove of sewing again as last year I was doing lots of baby quilts, costumes, etc. Now my creativity bug wants to come out!! I will take a picture when I am done with the pillow so you can see how fun and funky it is going to be! Off I go to sew:)

Baseball Practice

2009-03-10T16:06:00.000-07:00

I was soooo excited for baseball season to start. Now I have 4 practices today for each boy (thankfully Rich is the coach of 2 of them). But I think I might lose my mind! I did find out more friends on Colton's team so I am hoping that it will work out with a carpool.
What to do? Put on my driving shoes and run everyone to practice, then do homework, then shower them all and then fall into bed. Did I mention I love my comfy king size bed? My husband told me he had to sleep on the couch last night because I snored. I never snore!!! I told him he was lying and next time he will have to record it so I will believe it. He is the snorer in the family, not me!! Hmm, how rude I say to that comment:)

play lists

2009-03-09T09:09:00.000-07:00

Decided today they were boring so I am mixing it up and hope you have fun listening')

Baseball Season has Begun

2009-03-06T08:48:00.001-08:00

Baseball season has officially begun for those of us that live in AZ. I have 4 boys playing this year and Rich is coaching. These pictures are old as we don't have uniforms yet to take pictures for this year.

Brandon is playing in the juniors league, Darin and Dylan are playing in the Minors league (on the same team thank goodness) and Rich is coaching their team again. Colton is almost 6 and is starting his first season in T-Ball. His best friend, Cameron Nussbaum, is on his team. Colton is so excited as he has been waiting to play for the last couple of years. It is going to be so much fun watching these little ones play!

This also means it is a crazy time in our household, trying to get them all to practices, games, etc. Brandon's team is practicing at his Jr High school so at least he can ride his bike there. Darin and Dylan get to go with Rich to their practice. I am going to have to work out a carpool for Colton!! The season means that we will be having ball games every night except for Sunday and Monday. We pretty much bring picnic dinners to the games. Camryn will be my only little one running around at the games. It is still nice weather so we are not dying of heat stroke during the games!! I love to watch the games and the boys always laugh at me as I am a very vocal and cheering mom (ok, sometimes they get mad at my loudness.) I just cannot help myself from jumping and screaming at a good play or a good hit. That is just the kind of mom I am at sports games my kids play in - loud!! Brandon has so enjoyed me attending his basketball games and yelling my loudest (haha). So I am now resting my voice so that I am ready for the cheering to begin for my 4 baseball players:) Bring it on!

Pinewood Derby

2009-02-26T11:52:00.001-08:00

I am not sure what is up with Darin's face here. Oh well!

Dylan is the one in the middle, waiting for his car to race.

Ok, why oh why did they have my 2 boys race against each other?! They are 22 months apart and get competitive at times. Darin is putting his car on the track and Dylan is looking away.

Darin is the far left just waiting his turn. The lighting was not too good in the building so sorry about the fuzzy pics. Plus I do not photoshop well! Lessons anyone?

Our Awesome cubmaster. He puts lots of time and effort into this. He is also a DJ and just a fun person to be around. Love the hair:)

Dylan waiting againg for his car to race. He looks worried!

Dylan's car is in the middle.

Just a general shot of the setup. Pinewood Derby is fun although I must say I think Rich had more fun putting the cars together. The boys helped a little but the rest was Rich. I am happy my boys tied for 6th place. That meant no fights at home about whose car was better and that means a happy mom. They had a great time and it is also nice as we have 3 nonmember boys who are part of the pack. Great time for missionary efforts and also fun for the new boys as they all attend elementary school together. This is Darin's last race as he advances up to 11 year old scouts in April. Rich will only have to make one car for the next 2 years until Colton becomes 8. I think the best part is the boys do not remember down the road who won. Brandon has all his cars and honestly cannot tell you whether he won or not (well besides the first year he came in dead last but was happy as he got 24 packs of gum as a consolation prize). Next big thing for cub scouts is the Blue and Gold Banquet. Our stake did things a little backwards and had the pinewoood derby first. Whew, a whole year until the next one - yipee!!!

Learning to Think Before I Email

2009-02-23T17:12:00.000-08:00

Crazy week at work. I work nights for a hospice and do the triage out of my house. I usually have a pretty steady week and am able to get some sleep most nights. For some reason, Friday thru Sunday was just crazy. The phone rang nonstop all throughout the day and the night with patient problems. My LPN and I were driving all over metro Phoenix to see these patients. Each night we would get home and say to each other "tonight will be a good night." Thinking these thoughts did not work!!! Neither one of us have slept for 3 days in a row.

My boss had made some comment Saturday night that just made me mad!! Usually I would not get upset or if I did, I would not stay upset (I know my Dad is laughing right now). Due to lack of sleep (or I am going to blame it on that) I kept getting madder and madder until I finally emailed him a nasty note at 3:30 am. He also was the administrator on call so needless to say, my email woke him up!!

I did get called into his office today for a mandatory meeting. Whoops!! I apologized and thankfully he forgave me. Moral of story, next time I will just write the email but not push send!! Then I can get my anger out but not have to get called in and worry about losing my job:)

Pink Fish Food

2009-02-20T07:35:00.000-08:00

What is it about pink fish food that makes my children want to just dump it in the fish tank? If I was computer savy enough I would link back to my post where my daughter did this and we had a mass guppy suicide:(

This time it was my 10 year old, Darin, the owner of our gazillion guppies who accidentally dumped in half the can at 6 am. So guess what I did at 6 am? You are right! Ignored it. Just kidding:) I vacuumed it out, had Darin catch all the guppies (and we just had newborns 3 days ago, dang those are hard to catch!). I am proud to say that not one single guppy was harmed in the cleaning of the fish tank.

From now on, I think I will just buy the dull colored flakes. What do you think?

Flu Season

2009-02-18T13:11:00.000-08:00

We seem to be one of those families that is prone to the flu around here. I am not posting pictures as it is not a fun sight!! Camryn started it all off and now everyone has it, including me. Rich is the only one who has not caught it but he takes Zinc everyday. Once I can actually keep something down I am going to take Zinc. He does not get sick that easily and something must be working!! Why is it every kid who is sick has to sleep in bed with us? I guess it is because they need Mommy time and I want to provide that for them. The funniest story is Brandon screaming at the top of his lungs at 2 am that he had to throw up!! I thought as they got older this would subside but it just goes to show you they still need their mommies. Heck, I want my mommy right now!!! At least Brandon was in the bathroom screaming he had to throw up. I was that lovely child who would go into my mom and dad's room, go to my mom's side of the bed, announce I had to throw up and then promptly throw up all over my mom!!! My poor mom having to deal with a sick child and clean herself up as well as the bed and me. Thank goodness my mom still loves me and hopefully has forgiven me for the numerous times I did this too her:) Camryn was good for only being 4. She made it to the bathroom and then I took my friend, Kasandra's advice and kept a big bowl in my room. It worked wonders!! Camryn would tell me she had to throw up, I would hold her hair back and the big bowl was right by. My kids were painfully honest with me today as they snuggled into bed with me. There first comment was "Gee mom, you stink!" Sure made my day and I did manage to make it into the shower. Sometimes I think kids are too painfully honest!!!

My Valentine Baby

2009-02-14T23:05:00.000-08:00

What could be a better Valentine's day gift than a newborn baby? Dylan Austin Rhoton was born 02/14/2000. Both Rich and I wanted a millenium baby as we thought we would never forget his age!!

Dylan was blessed to come into a family of 2 older brothers. I had a miscarriage right before him and even at 11 weeks, the doctor could tell something was wrong with the baby and that the baby would not live after birth. Heavenly Father let me know that it was ok (even though having a miscarriage was devastating and even though Darin was only 6 months old at the time) that I would get pregnant again soon and that this sweet spirit wanted a body that would live longer than a few minutes after birth. He has been fiesty ever since.

I was so excited to go to the ultrasound. Rich and I had bets on whether it would be a boy or girl. After already having 2 boys, I of course said girl! The deal was that whoever was right got to name the baby. As soon as we found out it was a boy, Rich immediately said his name was Dylan. I chose the spelling since Rich can't spell anyway (love ya honey!).

I bled early on but thank goodness that was resolved quickly. At 30 weeks, I started to go into labor. This was the first baby I was put on bedrest with and given that yucky, but necessary, drug terbutaline. I stayed on bedrest until 36 weeks. He was born 3 weeks early on Valentine's Day 2000 at 2:14 pm. Had another wonderful epidural with him and the birth went great. He was the first baby I was able to push out by myself (whole other story). He stayed with me the first night, but by the second day was in the NICU for ABO incompatibility, which turned him jaundiced. This was the first baby to have this. He had to stay for 3 nights in the NICU under the bilirubin lights. I am so thankful for modern medicine as if he did not have this treatment, he would be mentally challenged.

He was a joy to have in our home and the older 2 boys loved him. Darin had no jealousy issues and in fact, I had to buy him a baby doll as he wanted to nurse his baby too - how cute!! He did get ear infections early on and frequently, but by the time he was 2 they stopped being so severe. He still gets them from time to time, but has never had tubes.

He gave us a scare at 9 months old as he had a black tarry stool diaper. That means bleeding internally higher up in the GI tract. I took the diaper and the child to his Dr. that day and it tested positive for blood. I was one worried mom! He had xrays, blood work, stool samples and nuclear medicine studies. None of them turned up conclusive as to why he was bleeding. At night sometimes, he would just curl up into pain and I would just hold him and rock him. He also had plenty of priesthood blessings. One day, he pooped out a shiny metal ball bearing. It was the cleanest one you have ever seen! To this day, he has never had any GI problems again. I am just amazed that it never showed up on all the tests he had.

He has always been my loving child to me. I get constant hugs, kisses and I love you's every day. He tries his best at school and overcame not being able to read in kindergarten to being one of the top readers in his class in 3 grade. He loves to play baseball, video games, jump on the trampoline and play with his best friend since 4, Nick Nussbaum. Those 2 crack me up as they call themselves dog cousins as we have matching maltese dogs that are brothers.

Dylan loves to eat and thinks he has to eat every 2 hours. He had my dad convinced he was going to be a health inspector (because he could eat for free!!) until my dad told him that does not alway mean eating the best food. He has since decided to be a food critic and he is already trying it out at home, despite my pleas to have him stop! He told Rich and I one day he was going to own a restaurant and that is would be fancy. I told him "good, then your mom and dad can eat for free." That little turkey said "Oh no, but you can have a 10% discount." I about fell out of my chair!! The Grandparents get a 20% discount as they are senior citizens. What a generous boy!

It was a beautiful day to watch him be baptized by his dad last year and being given the gift of the Holy Ghost. There are times when I can see this power working in his life and it makes a mom proud:) We are blessed to have him in our family and I love seeing him grow and make good decisions thus far.

Happy Birthday and Valentine's Day Dylan Austin Rhoton! We love you:)

Camryn's 4th Birthday

2009-02-14T16:41:00.001-08:00

Dylan's 9th Birthday

2009-02-14T16:36:00.001-08:00