Interesting Meme

Here are the rules. You must post the rules before you give your answers. You must list one fact about yourself for each letter of your middle name. Each fact must begin with that letter. If you don't have a middle name, just use your maiden name. After you've been tagged, you need to up-date your blog with your middle name and answers. At the end of your post, you need to tag one person for each letter of your middle name. (Be sure to leave them a comment telling them they've been tagged and need to read your blog for details).

K - I have NEVER cracked my knuckles - EVER.

E - I am always early for everything, I really dislike it when people are late (and aren't most LDS people?) Especially now that we have church at 1, I just don't understand how you can be late for church at 1 PM?

L - I love to linedance! It's so much fun!

L - I have to turn up the TV very loud because it's hard for me to hear!

Y - I have a blanket I'm not working on (crocheting) because the skien of yarn I'm working with is tangled and I need to untangle it.

That wasn't as hard as I thought it would be. Let's see K-E-L-L-Y, that's 5 people to tag! Let's tag Linda, Jennie, Stacey, Natalie, and Beth.

The Living Room and Dining Room

So, like I promised, here are the pics of my living room/dining room area. Remember my disclaimer...my house is not perfect and I have come to terms with the fact I will not have a perfectly clean house until my children are grown and gone, so please excuse stray toys, things I might have missed under the table, markers and school work on tables, carseats and kids toys in the living room, oh and my park chair is in the living room right now too...gotta put that back in the car for tomorrow! So, keeping in mind my disclaimer, here is our home, decorated in Vintage-Hand-Me-Downs from my mom's house, table is a Hand-Me-Down from my grandma. We'll just call it Shabby Used. :)







I couldn't get a clear shot of the plaque on the wall between the windows, but it says "Love Is Spoken Here" and I got it at TARGET! Can you believe that? Target sold a plaque that said "Love Is Spoken Here" in California! LOL

A Face Only a Mother Could Love

No, not my baby, she's gorgeous. But still sleeping.

I was cleaning my house while watching the news this morning and they mentioned something about all dogs and cats having to be spayed/neutered in CA unless they're for breeding. So I think, "oh yeah, Buddy still isn't spayed" (Buddy is a girl) and then I think "Oh yeah, Buddy is over a year old and she's still not gone into heat, that's weird." and then I think, "Buddy sure has been around alot of other dogs to never have gotten pregnant!" (At our old house she used to get out of the yard alot and other dogs used to get into our yard alot.)

Then the grand finale of Buddy-thoughts occurs to me..."I think Buddy is so ugly, that no dogs want to mate with her!" To which I roll on the ground laughing, almost literally...we have one UGLY dog. LOL We love her, but she's U-G-L-Y. She has a face only a mother, who is nearly blind, could love...LOL!



It's ok, you can laugh, I did! LOL

Now, off to finish picking up a bit for pics and to stop subjecting you all to my crazy-lack-of-adult-conversation-thoughts.

One Day Down...

...and many more to go!

I ended the day with 2 pts left, yesterday. I felt full most of the day, I only struggled when I was hungry and could eat something but all the things I could eat take a minute or two to prepare and I had to wait for Jayden to go to sleep or let me put her down or something to make myself something healthy to eat. So it wasn't about not being able to eat because of the diet, it was about not being able to eat because of the crazy needy baby! LOL

Jayden had a ROUGH day yesterday! She didn't nap well at all and then went to bed super late and then decided 5 am was a fabulous wake up time. Luckily Jakey thought it was a great wake up time too and so I recommend having babies once you have an 8 year old, LOL, he came and got her for me and changed her (he does peepee diapers) and watched tv with her in the living room for an hour until I got up at 6 am. All babies should come with an 8 year old sibling, LOL.

Today she is 4 months! I'll get some pictures and even of my living room/dining room area today to show you all our new house. I have been waiting and waiting and waiting for when it's perfectly clean to take the pictures but guess what????? My house is NEVER perfectly clean. It's just not, there is ALWAYS a few toys out, a pair of shoes by the door, a backpack hanging off a chair, a cup of water being drank at the table, a basket of markers for an art project, etc. and if I wait until all that is gone, my kids will be grown waiting to take pictures of their own houses without clutter! LOL So I'll get those pictures taken today and you'll have to excuse the "clutter". :)

The View

I usually watch The View during Jayden's morning nap, while Justin watches Caillou and then draws for 30 minutes or plays with stickers at the dining room table. It's my time to fold laundry and clean the living room, and get in adult thoughts, like politics and fashion and even entertainment.

Today's guests were Valerie Bertinelli and Tracy Gold. I thought this was interesting because Valerie Bertinelli has recently lost alot of weight using Jenny Craig. She said she's lost 40 lbs on the program. I also saw her on the Today show the other day and she was with Mackenzie Phillips - it was a One Day At A Time (which I've NEVER seen) reunion and she was talking about her drug addiction days. She said that she never really struggled as badly as Mackenzie Phillips because she was more addicted to food than to drugs, that food was her drug of choice. Boy do I understand that!

Then Tracy Gold was on and she, of course, has struggled with her weight alot over the years, and she is almost nine months pregnant! (Due April 7th) She has really gained alot of weight and she looked really good. Interesting contrast huh? Tracy Gold gains weight and she looks great, and Valerie Bertinelli loses weight and she looks great.

I had a decent day, ate well, feel full, and still have a few points...I'm going to have a snack when I get the kids to bed. My favorite part of the day is when all the kids are in bed and I can eat something, anything, with out being asked for some of it, or asked to get someone something else, or asked to do anything...so I'm looking forward to that. Right now, I have to stop the boys from waking up Jayden The Unhappy Teething Baby, oh and send them to bed, they owe me an hour because they stayed up until after 9 pm last night playing in their room after I had sent them to bed at 8:00...oh bliss! Night all!

The Scale Is Not My Friend!

Oh wow. I'm back at the exact weight I weighed a year ago when I found out I was pregnant! Those darn Valentine's Day sweets did me in! LOL

Oh well, now all I can do is get it off, right?

So I'm not going to say outloud on here the number, but this is my ticker for my first goal - to get under 200 lbs, so my first goal ticker is for 199 lbs...so here it is...do the math if you wish, but I'm not saying that number outloud again! LOL Mostly I was looking at the BMI differences between where I am now and where I want to be, that's a big difference too!

Anyhow, here goes nothing!





Oh and I get an INSANE amount of points because I'm nursing - 43 pts, the most you should ever have is 44, LOL, and I get 43. I kind of had to try to come up with something at Breakfast because I only used 5.5 points. So I'll be having a yogurt here in a few.

I'll get some before pictures later when Jakey gets home from school. Yikes.

Time to lose weight!

All of baby #3's weight came off quickly, I have a few lbs from baby #2 hanging on, and I have a TON of weight from baby #1 hanging on still. It's time to lose that.

I got all the stuff I need today to start Weight Watchers (doing it online, even though they don't have it for nursing moms, I just can't make the meetings with Kev's crazy schedule - so I'm doing it online but adding 10 points for nursing like I was told to do.) Kevin's grandma and sister are on it and they've each lose about 10 lbs since January 1st. Since I'm nursing I get alot more points than they do, so I wonder how I'll do at losing weight.

Anyhow I am not sure of an exact number right now of what I weigh (I know the first two digits for sure, LOL) so tomorrow morning is weigh in day (Kevin's grandma and sister are weighing in with me on Wednesday too) and I don't think I'm going to share an exact number but it's ALOT. I am going to take a before picture though.

I can safely say, my first goal, is to get under 200 lbs...I can't wait to see a 1 as the first number on the scale again! And in two more months I can leave Jayden in the gym daycare so I can work out more frequently, but for now I'm going to do what I can to get there, or work out at home. I've had the car all week but have walked Jakey home from school just for the exercise, so things like that until she's old enough.

Anyhow, wish me luck. It's time to get rid of all this weight!

I'm a Hazard!

Ugh, so at lunchtime I made Justin a sandwich and was trying to open a new jar of applesauce to put some applesauce on his plate. I banged the jar on the counter to loosen the seal and it wouldn't budge, so I tried again. I banged the jar on the counter apparently too hard because the glass of the jar shattered. Applesauce went everywhere. (You can imagine the short, but angry moment I had here.) Then I picked the pieces of glass out of the applesauce and started mopping it up with a wet dishtowel. I rinsed the dishtowel and went to wring it out and apparently a piece of glass had stuck to the towel and I ended up wringing out a piece of glass...yeah ouch. It cut into the center of my hand deeply. I ran water over it and then applied pressure and it's a nasty little cut. Not deep enough for stitches, but if I went in I bet they'd glue it shut. I put a bandage on it but it's not clotting fast enough (don't worry I'm pecking at the keyboard while pushing my hurt hand down, I'm bored so I thought I'd blog while I wait for it to clot shut) for me to put another bandage on it yet. Ouch. That stinks.

How Do You Entertain a 4 month old?

Well she'll be 4 months in like 2 days, but anyhow...By showing her her own toes! She's been trying for an hour to get them in her mouth, LOL.

Do you ever have several thoughts for interesting blog posts and then finally get around to posting them only to have all your thoughts go missing? It's been getting more and more difficult for me to type at the computer because as of today Jayden has learned the fabulous art of banging on the keyboard whenever mommy is trying to use it. Fun game, huh? So, once she's in bed for the night, my brain turns to mush and I couldn't possibly blog about things that are important, blog worthy, of note, or interesting.

I did finish Eclipse. Can I just say I can't wait until August? I thought Twilight was good, New Moon was hard to get through but ok, but Eclipse was my favorite so far! The other thing that randomly struck me while I was doing dishes today, this is my version of adult conversation, thinking of adult things while doing chores, LOL, the characters name is so graceful - Bella Swan, and she is so NOT graceful, and how ironic (I'm sure intended) that is. And I liked Jacob more in this book then in New Moon.

I need more books to read now. So any suggestions for a good book? I like them long so they last a while. These are the first books I've finished so quickly because usually I read a series and I struggle through the last book because I don't want it to end. So I try to savor it, and then I forget about it (I forget about what I wanted to blog, forgetting what I was reading isn't too far fetched! LOL) and I never finish it. I think it helped that the store owner where I found Eclipse told me the release date for the fourth book, so I knew it wasn't really going to be over when I finished this third book.

Menu Plan Monday

I need to be vigilant and stick to my plans this week, so here's to accountability!

Monday - Fish, pasta (white shells and cheddar), and salad

Tuesday - tacos, rice, beans

Wednesday - lemon chicken and pasta bake (it's a campbells soup supper in a box) and salad

Thursday - blue and gold dinner - we're having Chinese Food because it's Chinese New Year Themed.

Friday - 99 cent burgers or something, I'm not cooking!

Saturday - Steak, baked potatoes, salad

Sunday - Roast, mashed potatoes, carrots

Race Lovin' Girl!

Today Justin and Jayden and I were bored and so we decided to walk down to Kevin's grandparents house before we had to get Jakey from school. Yesterday (and Saturday) NASCAR races were postponed due to rain (here in CA, shocker, I know!) and so they had the race on. We're big Harvick fans around here because he's from Bakersfield, in fact Kevin and I both went to the same high school as he did (he was wayyyy older than me, I think a senior when I was a freshman?)...anyhow so NASCAR is a big thing here.

So the race is on and Jayden is mesmerized by the TV...she usually doesn't watch any at all but wow, it was so funny to watch her stare at the race. When Kevin's grandpa would get excited she'd look at him and smile and squeal and then go back to staring at the race. She did this for like 30 laps, LOL!

Then Kevin called to say that he's coming back to town (he was supposed to be down south for a few days) and so we were all getting excited. Well...then he just called and he got pulled into the scales and his tail lights are broken so he has to try to get them working or he can't go on, so now who knows when he'll be home. And he was supposed to be around town doing some local work for a few days and then go back down south on Friday, but nope, now they want him back down south first thing in the morning. I'm going to demand he put his foot down (it's illegal anyways, he has enough hours to demand a 48 hour time off) and take at least tomorrow morning off. Poor guy is running ragged. He hardly ever has to work on Sunday but he hasn't had a day off since the Sunday before last and he is just beat.

Well Jayden's up...better go get her...she napped so good! From 3-6! Good girl!

The Aftermath

Look at my title, I'm getting all dramatic. Must be all that reading I've been doing. I'm on page 471 of Eclipse...I finally found and read New Moon, then yesterday spent the day searching high and low for Eclipse and now I'm almost done. Good thing #4 comes out in August!

Anyhow...the aftermath...

She was upset, but it wasn't so bad. And my stepdad was most understand and actually drove the van over to my house and traded her cars so we had the carseat. It worked out pretty good. She did spend alot of time talking about how rediculous the carseat laws are, blah blah blah, but I told her I won't ever forgive her if something happens and Jayden isn't buckled in, accidents happen, and if we did everything we could ok, but I truly don't think I'd ever get over it and nothing is more important than her safety.

So now I'm home snug and warm with my kiddos. Kev is away, I hate that! I really dislike sleeping without him here to protect us. Not that anything's going to happen but I slept terribly last night because we had crazy high winds (75 mph) and the metal roof of our back porch (so ghetto, LOL) was clanging so loudly in this one spot that was torn. We have a rod iron gate thingy in our front yard and it blew over too, crazy! Our landlords are in our ward and asked if the house was ok from the storm yesterday and I told them what had happened and that I can't pick up the rod iron thingy and so they came over and the husband righted the blown over thing and fixed it and said he'd be back Tuesday to fix the porch roof so it's not so loud in the wind.

Now, onto the new ward. It was doubly hard because Kevin wasn't there today with me, so I had all three kids alone. But I really felt like an outsider today. We went into the chapel and sat down and no one talked to us...the bishop even came down and was shaking hands with the people behind us, and didn't make eye contact or talk to me or anything and we've never been introduced because last week was ward conference. But even the women...I mean some of it was explained later in the meeting by their releasing the whole Primary Presidency and reorganizing it (whew! dodged that! LOL) so I'm sure some of the ladies were preoccupied thinking of their new or past callings.

Anyhow, then the boys went to Primary with no fussing! Yay for that! and Jayden and I went to Gospel Doctrine. I had to have been the youngest person in the room by a good 20 years, and Jayden was talking really loudly. The only seat available was next to this lady who was probably about 50, she gave Jayden that sideways "oh look a baby" smile and was about to turn back to the lesson when Jayden LAUNCHED the entire contents of her tummy all over this lady (she was facing sideways)...the lady looked like she had just been shot or something...I handed her a fresh burp cloth but I don't think it helped much. She went and washed up but that baby puke leaves a smell that stays with you. I felt so horrible I went and sat in the foyer ready to cry because already no one likes/talks/looks at me, and now my baby just puked on the only person who would even sit with me! I sat there REALLY trying not to cry. I missed my old ward, Kevin, everything so much then. Finally Jayden fell asleep.

Then I went to Relief Society which was held in a different room this Sunday because it was Visiting Teaching Conference and the men had taken over all the women's callings so all the women in the ward were there. Eventually Jayden woke up and did her howler monkey impression until I took her to the back of the room to stand. There were two other mothers my age bouncing babies and I was excited that maybe one would talk to me when the program was over, but they huddled together and started talking and didn't look at me.

In all fairness the RS President does know me, has introduced me, and does say hi to me whenever she sees me - I met her last summer while swimming at my mom's house because my mom used to be in this ward, so I do know her. I do know my mom's closest friends but I don't have a whole lot in common with these women - they all have grown children - like my mom...and they're great, but they're also busy because in this ward they seem to have the busy on Sunday type callings. The wife of our landlord couple saves me a seat in RS, but I don't know her very well and she bolts when RS is over. And when it was brought up that the Enrichment Activity for this month conflicts with the Blue and Gold dinner the sister in charge of Enrichment didn't sound very enthused at the idea to change it. (Which after this month will still be a problem - it's Pack Meeting night, I'll never get to go to Enrichment, therefore never meet anyone!)

I did get a Visiting Teaching route. As most of you know, the names/ages of the children of who you visit teach are on the list and one lady on my list has two young children so I'm excited to meet her...the other sister is inactive from what I was told. I did meet my Visiting Teachers, they seem nice.

I don't know how much of it is me just missing my old ward, and missing being a *ward member* the kind who knows everyone and about everything and is serving right alongside the others, and how much of it is not feeling that welcomed into the new ward. Maybe it's both? Well, I don't know, but I hope it changes...I just feel so...alone.

I Hate Confrontation!

Argh. I'm about to have a blow up with my mom and I know it. And I hate that it's going to happen. :(

Kevin went to work yesterday and didn't know that he was going to have to stay down in the town he's in for a few days. So he had taken our car to his work, but he's not going to be back for a while. Which, I might need milk or something in the meantime so I need to get the car.

So our plan was - my mom would take me to church this afternoon. She meets in the same building, that I live around the corner from, and she gets out at noon. She'd bring her van, and I'd make lunch, then she'd drop me off. Then, at 4 when I got out, she'd be back, with the van, and drop me off and go back for Choir practice (for her ward). So, I loaded up the kids just before 1, and left Jayden's carseat in the van. I never take it in, I told her I was leaving it, she watched me take Jayden out of it. And Justin's booster (that she owns) was in the van.

Anyhow the reason for our soon-to-be fight is coming...

So she comes back at 4 WITH HER CAR and WITHOUT our carseats. So I tell her go grab a red bucket infant seat for Jayden out of our garage and Justin's booster off our porch (we always keep a spare booster around the house). So she came back with the bucket seat but it's one that HAS to be buckled into it's convenience base or it won't strap into the car AT ALL. So there's no base. So, it's around the corner so I say, ugh, it's fine I'll just walk. So we come home and I'm supposed to look for the convenience base. Well it's NOT here. We're supposed to go get my car and then go to my mom's house for dinner when she's done with choir practice, we cannot go with this current carseat situation. She HAS to go get Jayden's carseat from the van or Jayden has no LEGAL or SAFE way to ride anywhere. And I know she's going to blow up at me when I tell her this. She thinks carseats are stupid, that her children didn't use them and we're all fine so that must mean that they're stupid. Which is lame because cars aren't even made of the same materials anymore, and people drive faster, and there are MORE drivers on the road then ever before so obviously there are reasons for new laws.

Anyhow I'm not looking forward to when she calls to tell me she's done with choir and I tell her that i can't find the convenience base (in the move it seems to have gotten lost, this is our back up carseat, it's not like we're overly careful with it) and that she has to get Jayden's carseat from her house (pretty far away)...she's going to yell at me, even though this is HER fault for changing cars and not getting the carseat. Ugh. I wish she could just smile and laugh about her mistake and move on, but that is just not how she is. I wish I could just say whatever, I'll get it later, but I'm LITERALLY stranded without the carseat, and I can't go get my car without it. Ugh.

Well give me courage because she's almost done, and I don't know what to say because I know she's going to yell and this is so not my fault. And it's SOOOOOO unsafe and illegal to not have Jayden buckled up. I would NEVER forgive her if anything happened and that's just not a chance I'm willing to take.

I cannot get her to laugh for anything! She has no sense of humor! LOL

It's a cold rainy weekend....I'm kind of glad about it though, perfect excuse not to go anywhere or do anything, just stay home in my jammies doing laundry, making cookies, cleaning house, and reading!

Kev's working all weekend too, so it's just me and the kids. Well Jakey is over at Kev's grandparents house. Even better - frozen burritos for dinner! LOL

Soooooooooooooooooooooo, last night we went to Red Robin for dinner and Justin wanted the balloon man to make him a puppy balloon, the guy did that and then Justin was telling him "that's what I had wanted for my birthday, a new puppy" and the guy asks when his birthday was and Justin tells him "oh a few days ago" and then the guy made Jayden a ladybug balloon and left. A few minutes go by and then 10 or so employees of the restuarant come out clapping and singing to Justin. He FREAKED out. He screamed and cried and crawled under the table until they stopped and went away. What is up with this kid? Jakey never did these things, he just took everything in stride and was laid back. Justin is so emotional and freaked by everything!

Well Saturday Morning cartoons are almost over so I better hurry and get some more stuff done before I lose my "babysitter" LOL!

The Best Part...

Tonight I was changing Jayden's diaper on my bed. Kevin and Justin were laying on the bed while I was doing this and when I was finished Kevin and I started talking while Justin was making faces at Jayden. She kept smiling at her brother and he kept getting more and more silly. Finally Justin stuck his tounge out at her and made a funny razzberry sound and Jayden busted out with her very first BELLY LAUGH! It was SO CUTE! She looked totally startled, like, "who did that?" LOL

Argh, Matey!

Justin's newest obsession is a book with a CD we bought on sale at Borders the other day. It's a Pirates of the Carribean book that came with a CD. We don't have personal CD players anymore, just docking stations for our ipods, so we uploaded it to Jakey's shuffle and Justin LOVES sitting in a chair (the only place he's allowed to use an iPod) and "read" his book. I need to find more of these!

February 20th

On February 20, 2007 there was this tiny ball of cells dividing and growing deep inside of me, that I didn't even know about. The cells that would someday make up my beautiful daughter.

On February 20, 2008 as I'm cleaning the kitchen and trying to get the house ready for another day, she's screaming for me from her Daddy's arms. She won't be soothed by anyone but me. So I take her and go and sit in our favorite chair for nursing and set her in front of me. I'm so frustrated, I just want to get the dishes loaded and laundry started, and she just keeps crying - for me. She smiles at me and then leans her head on my chest - not to nurse, just to hear my heartbeat, and wraps her arms around mine. It's a three and a half month old's version of a hug, her way of saying, "I love you!" Her eyes are wide open and not showing any signs of being ready to close, so I rock her. There is a spot on the very top of her head that I love to smell, so I sniff her babyness.

The dishes and the laundry are all having to wait because right now, on February 20, 2008, is the only day my daughter is going to be three and a half months old, showing me in the only way she knows how, how much she loves me, and on February 20, 2009, she will have become a toddler, who won't fit in my arms quite the same way again, or smell quite how she does now, with her babyness.

I bested myself again and got 93 WPM...yay me.

Anyhow, yep I'm a dork. Once, years ago, I got a typing certificate for 121 wpm. That was back before I broke my thumb and my pinky. Yep smoke comes off my keyboard.

Today I took Jayden and Justin over to Kevin's grandma's house before it was time to walk to get Jakey from school. They have a walker over there for the boy that Kev's sister babysits and so we put Jayden in it for a bit. She LOVED how the chewing toys were so much closer and she could more easily get to them. Then she started trying to bounce (we only own a jumperoo) and was surprised to find that walkers don't bounce! LOL She kept looking at us like, "what is wrong with this toy?" LOL! Then she made it slide backwards a bit and she was soooooooo excited and proud of herself!

So Jayden's going to be four months old in like a week and I can start Weight Watchers for breastfeeding moms then (they prefer you wait until your supply is well established - 4 months) but I'm undecided. I mean, I want to lose weight, but I LOVE food...and I'd rather do something I can really live with forever, yk? The gym is running a special and this weekend my mom and I are going to buy their special deal - 6 months of gym membership for $99 (doesn't include childcare but Jayden's not old enough anyway.) So do you think that if you watch what you eat, but don't diet, and exercise that you can lose weight? I gave up soda and I've had a few diet sodas (I'm such a cheater, LOL) but it's not an addiction anymore and I'm still losing weight - I've lost 15 lbs since the first of the year - well that was before Valentine's Day, I might have gained some from all that V-day candy! LOL So I know making my diet healthier by not drinking soda helped, maybe I should cut desserts and try to eat smaller portions and healthier foods, rather than actually doing a diet? Does Weight Watchers really work?

Well on that note, I'm starving because I had to get up from the dinner table early cause Jayden didn't want to sit there anymore, so I'm going to reheat my food and go eat!

I bested myself!

92 words

Speedtest

LOL!

This was fun

91 words

Speed test

We love to read!

I found New Moon! I'm on page 470 of it! LOL If I finish it soon I'm going to head to Target and pick up Eclipse before Kev goes to work.

LOL just now I told him I'm on page 470 already and he said, "that's crazy, you don't even need the book longer then a day or two, you should find a place to rent it from!" and then laughed and said, "oh yeah, that's a library." But libraries are free, LOL! And ours has a LONG waiting list for this series.

Anyhow last night I was reading a new book to Jayden, it's a fingerpuppet book and the book is in the palm of your hand with the puppet on....anyhow this is what Jayden thinks we should do with our books...





Eat them! LOL (Ack, don't mind my hair, it was falling out of my ponytail by the end of the night!)

Achoo!

I think the rapid weather change just got to me. It went from upper 70's/lower 80's (I know, don't throw snowballs at me, ok?) to the 60's and it's supposed to rain the rest of the week...the change was just so rapid, I think it made me sick. (I know, my frozen blogging buddies are throwing snowballs at me now! LOL)

Anyhow...Ok in B-town we have Borders, Barnes and Noble, a local bookstore that is pretty big, and an LDS bookstore (that is very small)...I found Twilight at Borders, but not New Moon or Eclipse, I found Eclipse at Target but not New Moon or Twilight. Where am I going to find New Moon?????? I finished Twilight the night before we moved and now that I've got a handle on unpacking I'd like to read the 2nd book!

Well, my mom is on her way over to take us to some bookstores and to lunch, so I better finish getting myself and the kidlets ready to go.

Justin's Party and our first day at our new ward.

Whew! I am glad today is over!

We started by going to our old ward, just Kevin, Jayden and me went, the boys stayed here with Kevin's sister. We spoke in Sacrament Meeting and said our goodbyes. I wasn't given a topic, told to just bear my testimony or do whatever I felt inspired to do, and as I was giving my talk I was saying some of the things we had gone through in Fairview Ward and realized, we didn't *grow up* chronologically in that ward, but we grew up *spiritually* in that ward. We went from a very newly active and new convert couple, to just a regular LDS family over these past 3 years. Kev got the priesthood in that ward, we served in callings that helped us grow so much, we went through the temple, were sealed, had Jayden, Jakey was baptized, all in that ward. Our family really grew there. Anyhow, it's all about the small and simple things...

"Now ye may suppose that this is foolishness in me; but behold I say unto you, that by small and simple things are great things brought to pass; and small means in many instances doth confound the wise." Alma 37:6

Our former ward was small and simple, but great things came to pass in that ward.

Then we came home and had lunch with the kids and tried to prepare them for their new Primary classes. Jakey could have cared less, he went through church just fine, met new friends, saw people he already knew, like his teacher and class, said that "the church is the same pretty much everywhere" yep, so true. Justin, however, it was like day 1 of Sunbeams again, kicking and screaming at the Primary door. Finally Kevin took him outside and had a talk with him and he went to the last bit of Primary willingly. Jayden could have cared less, she slept through all three hours, except for nursing a few minutes of Sacrament Meeting, LOL.

Several people went out of their way to introduce themselves to us. It was Ward Conference so the Stake Presidency was there (we're in a new stake now too) and so we met them as well. Well I knew one of the counselors, I had babysat for him growing up, but I hadn't met the others before. The mother's lounge was a little frightening by 3:30 PM on Sunday afternoon - yuck, but that's ok I'm not too shy to nurse in public and change my baby in the bathroom. Overall, I think we're going to be ok. The Relief Society President made a joke about claiming me before the Primary does - I kind of hope she does! LOL I'll do whatever is asked of me, but I secretly kind of hope for a little more adult interaction in my near future.

Then we had Justin's b-day party here. It went fine, well I got whacked by a bat that was going for a pinata on the arm, but I survived it...and decided Jakey does NOT need a metal bat! OUCH! My house survived the party in really good considtion and Jayden gave us an awesome present, she slept from 5:00 when everyone started showing up until 9:30 tonight, well after everyone left and I was cleaning up! Good girl!

Justin got alot of Transformers toys - specifically Bumblebee, and alot of doubles but he's REALLY excited about it because "now there's one for Jakey too", isn't he the sweetest little boy EVER? He even got two $5 bills and he handed one right to Jakey and said, "yay, two monies, so Jakey can have one too!" I love my boys! (Jayden too, but I mean specifically the bond between them as brothers.)

Well, nighty night all. I'm wiped. Still trying to get this yucky cold...blah.

Happy Birthday Justin!

Today Justin turned 4! I can't believe how far he's come since he was this tiny little preemie baby!



Justin the day he came home from the hospital - 4 lbs 15 oz! Way down from birth - 6 lbs 3 oz!





His 1st birthday



Justin's 2nd birthday



Justin's 3rd birthday - it was a rough one!



Tomorrow is his birthday party and I'll be sure to add to this his 4th birthday pics. I just can't believe how big he is getting! He's come a long way since my tiny baby 4 years ago!

My kitchen and Justin and Kevin get into a Marker War

Yesterday, Kevin and Justin were making Valentine's Day cards for Justin's grandmas...I went to get Jayden dressed for the day and when I came back into the living room - this is what I found.




Anyhow, I'm unpacking more/cleaning today for Justin's b-day party this weekend...so the first room completely set up - THE KITCHEN. I'll post more of a virtual tour of our new home as I get it cleaned/organized this weekend.

A Meme about Kev, for Valentine's Day

What is his name? Kevin Craig
How long have you been together? Over 10 years!
Where was your first date? We went Christmas shopping and out to eat.
How long did you date? Well, we had a sort-of date on November 26, 1997, an official date on December 20, 1997, and then got pregnant in January of 1999, had a baby on October 28, 1999, and then got married on April 7, 2000.
How old is he? he's about to be 29
Who eats more? Kev for sure. I know how to eat, but he eats way more.
Who said I love you first? Gosh I don't know...probably Kevin...it's been so long!
Who is taller? Kev is - he's 6 foot.
Who can sing better? We certainly don't compete in that department - neither!
Who is smarter? Well it depends, in book smarts and stuff like that - probably me, in things like cars, mechanics of how things work - he is - but that's ok, we compliment eachother.
Who does the laundry? It's a family effort...Kevin starts it, Jakey switches it and brings it in, and I fold it and everyone puts it away.
Who pays the bills? I do, and I think it's bad for my health...I've been forgetting alot of things lately - like small bills like car insurance or the telephone bill and they call and are like "where's our money?" LOL I need a better system I think.
Who sleeps on the right side? When you're looking at the bed? He does.
Who mows the lawn? Jakey, our son
Who cooks dinner? I do 99% of the cooking, he does all the grilling.
Who drives? Kev does, he's a professional after all. :)
Who is more stubborn? I have no idea, both of us.
Who kissed who first? we kissed eachother - I don't know. I think he made the first move...LOL
Who proposed? He did
Who has more friends? I do, he has really close friendships though. He only has two really close friends and the surprising thing is they have the same birthday - he must be drawn to a certain type of person for friendships.
Who is more sensitive? I am as in I cry easily, he is in that he takes EVERYTHING personally.
Who has more siblings? Well...I have 3 brothers, only 1 living though, and he has 2 sisters and one brother, so we both have 3 siblings, but he has more LIVING siblings then I do, unless you count step-siblings.
Who wears the pants? I really do *try* to defer to him as the priesthood holder...not that i don't steer his decision making in what I'd favor, but if he decides something different, I try to *submit* to it.
I tag: Everyone who wants to do it!

Mmmmmm...good.

I got roses and cherry cordials from Kevin for Valentine's day. Yum!

The boys got chocolate from us, their grandmas, they are just in heaven!

Jayden got a rose from her daddy.

And we got heart shaped pizza (take-n-bake) - 2 of them for $14. They look really good!

How's your Valentine's Day going???

HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY, MY FRIENDS!

Happy Valentine's Day!

Tomorrow is Valentine's Day!

We're not doing anything special. I tweaked our Menu Plan for the week and cooked on Monday instead of Pizza so that we could have Pizza on V-day...so we've had every meal I've planned just bumped up a day. Tomorrow when Jakey gets out of school we're going to pick up a Papa Murphy's heart shaped pizza to take-n-bake, and I'll make a salad to go with and we're going to watch a movie as a family (Underdog) and then send the kiddies to bed and we're going to watch my FAVORITE romance type movie - The Notebook. Since my grandma passed away from Alzheimers this movie gets to me, but I love it. I wanted to watch Charly because Kevin's never seen it, but we don't have it and I don't have time to go to the LDS bookstore tomorrow. Maybe I'll see if I can borrow it...

Anyhow, Justin let his music class sing to him today! He's so cute all day he's been telling me, "and now I'm all grown up!" whenever we refer to his birthday at all. He brought me his jammies tonight and told me they don't fit anymore because he's "all growned up!" (Nice try kid!) His little glasses slide down his face and I tell him, "hey Granny Goose, put your glasses back on your face!" Then he spilled some bubbles in the house and I was telling him, "now Justin..." and he says, "I'm not Justin, I'm Granny Goose!" LOL He's so cute!

Jakey completed his Valentine's for his class with no help from me...let me tell ya, after doing Justin's, I couldn't have been happier he's reached an age that he can do that! We did have a long talk about Jesus in his class. LOL (Hey-seuss) He says, "No it's Jesus (Gee-sus)", and I tell him, "No it's Hey-seuss", "Gee-sus" "Hey-seuss" so we've agreed, he can ask the kid tomorrow, lOL.

Well I better clean up a bit and put out the kids' Valentine's Day presents and head to bed, I'm exhausted! Kevin went into work at 3 am this morning and he usually gets up with Jayden at 6:00 am when she wants to get up for an hour and play...Mommy was begging her to sleep just a little bit longer, but yeah, that didn't happen! LOL

Bad Parenting

Whew! I have been unpacking, organizing, and cleaning our house like crazy the past few days! We're planning on letting Justin have an "amazing" birthday party on Sunday after church here (family get together, so we're still keeping the Sabbath!)

On Sunday we were asked if we could give a talk in our old ward this coming Sunday so we have that to do at 9:30-10:40, then we'll run home, where we'll have left the kids, and get them ready for 1:00 PM church (new ward). Then while we're at church Kev's family is going to come over and decorate the house with all the Bumblebee (Transformers) stuff I got at the party store (black and yellow ballons, Transformers table cloth, plates, center pieces, etc.) and set up the #1 thing Justin has wanted at his b-day party for YEARS - a pinata! Better yet, a Transformers pinata, better than that - a BUMBLEBEE pinata! He's going to be so excited! I can't wait to see his face!

I typically ask the kids what they want for their b-days and get the "I can't live without this toy in particular" item and pass on the rest to family/friends that ask, well Justin's "I can't live without this toy in particular" item was something I really didn't want to get him. A scooter. Not just any scooter, because I actually like the idea of him having a scooter as his bike doesn't fit in our car to take to the park, but a specific scooter. It's a Razor Cruiser. Yeah. So, it's kind of neat in that it's so wide, that should make it easier for him to handle, and Kevin had taken him to look at scooters and this was THE ONE. Kevin took him over a month ago to look at scooters and he told me again today - I want a Razor Cruiser Scooter, so I felt a little bound to get him the exact one that he wanted because he was so specific about why he wanted it - his words: it looks strong, like it won't break, and it's wide so I can have my whole foot on it, even when I get bigger. So, I bought the scooter today, and I rode it around the store - and I liked it too! LOL

Anyhow, he's going to be so excited! Now just order the cake - yeah, I do "amazing" but my baking skills aren't "amazing", but Albertson's are!

Well, I better get on addressing his Valentine's for his V-day party at his music class tomorrow. Funny story - on Sunday Justin freaked out and wouldn't stay in Primary, I mean full on screaming again - this was after his class, when they were coming in for closing exercises. When I got him home I asked him what was wrong - he knew we were going to sing "Happy Birthday" to him and he said, "You can't sing Happy Birthday with no cake, and we can't have cake in the Primary room, so I knew there wouldn't be any cake, and I don't like that song without cake, it's just not fun." So, tomorrow at Music Class they want to sing to him, and I just know he's going to freak out, I've been trying to prepare him, but he really doesn't want them to sing to him unless we're having cake. Little weirdo. Anyhow, V-day cards are calling my name...did you know that they come with Fun Dips ON the card now??? You know where you dip the little sugar stick into the little packet of sugar and lick it off??? Like PURE SUGAR, in TWO FORMS...oh yeah. :)

Menu Plan Monday

I can't find my little picture, so I'll come back with my little Menu Plan Monday picture in a little bit!

Monday - Pizza from Costco

Tuesday - Garlic Chicken, salad

Wednesday - Chicken Fettucini Alfredo, salad

Thursday - beef tacos, rice, beans

Friday - grilled chicken, salad, mashed potatoes

Saturday - pizza at the mall, blanket day for Project Linus & it's Justin's b-day

Sunday - Crockpot Ribs, baked beans, hawaiian bread, salad, cake (Justin's family b-day celebration

The Girls and The Boys

Last night Natalle and Erica stayed the night at our house. This morning Kevin had to go to work (his weekend on call) and so he wasn't able to be here for the "getting ready for church" hours of the morning (he left before anyone woke up). So I got FIVE, yes FIVE, children, ages 8, 7, 6, almost 4, and 3 months, ready, plus MYSELF for church, ALONE. When I was walking out the door Kevin called my cellphone and said, "So do you still want more kids?" LOL

Since it's been a long time since some of you have seen the girls, and cause my boys are super cute too, and Jayden's asleep during these pics, here's some photos from this morning - after my mom showed up just in time to help us get to church. (Our car only holds so many people currently.)



Jakey:



Natalle:



Erica:



Justin:



Jayden:

The kids have been tagged!

Natalie and her daughter, Kenzie, did a Meme, they didn't specifically tag anyone, but I thought it was cute. Kenzie did 8 unusual things about herself, but I have several kids and couldn't choose just one. So they get to Meme according to their ages. Jakey is 8, so he gets 8 unusual things, Justin is going to be 4 on Saturday so he gets 4, and Jayden is so tiny she just gets one unusual thing!

Jakey

1. I don't really care if people call me Jake, Jacob, or Jakey just as long as they don't use my middle name!

2. My favorite food is beans.

3. I have crooked pinky fingers, all of my dad's family has them.

4. I am a yellow belt in karate but I don't take karate anymore.

5. I have two best friends, Jacob and Peter, they're brothers and they're both my best friends.

6. I used to think that ducks said, "AFLAC" until I was in Kindergarten!

7. I secretly like to watch High School Musical, but pretend I don't when my Aunt Catherine wants to watch it.

8. I share my birthday with my sister.

Justin

1. My favorite word right now is "amazing"

2. My favorite color is yellow, I love Bumblebee from Transformers and that's his color.

3. When we drive down the road and I see a yellow car/truck/SUV/motorcycle I say "look it's a Bumblebee car/truck/SUV/motorcycle!"

4. I make my mom play "I am a Child of God" over and over and over in the car.

Jayden

1. I am a thumbsucker, attempts at getting me to take a paci have failed miserably.

Awesome Leadership Training Broadcast!

Today I went to the World Wide Leadership Training broadcast at the Stake Center. It was awesome! Of course, I'm pretty partial to Elder Oaks (I love all the Apostles but I REALLY *get* what Elder Oaks is saying - he doesn't sugar coat ANYTHING). I loved the roundtable discussion format - it was much easier to stay in my seat for 2.5 hours.

Some of the things I took away from it were:

*My personal thoughts on my family's size. We're still in the "whatever happens, happens." mode of things, but we more welcome the challenge of having more children after hearing some of the counsel today. I think Kevin needed to be reminded that we've been commanded to be fruitful and multiply and replenish the earth in the same discussion as the Lord will prepare a way for us to do righteous things. But also, that it's ok if we don't have more children because we have been fruitful.

*Our FHE's, we need to work harder on it not just being a game night because I'm too tired, I've really let this slip. I can't raise a righteous posterity if I'm not teaching them anything! I think it was Elder Oaks who said something about children not hearing anything at church that they hadn't already been taught in their own homes (in regards to the scripture stories, and church doctrine, etc.) and I think I let some of this teaching slip since having Jayden.

There were alot of other thoughts that came to me from this broadcast, and I especially loved hearing our Prophet, President Monson, speak. Then in our building we sang "Love At Home" which I was surprised to find I knew all the words to all three verses to, without looking! (Jayden wanted to eat the hymnbook.)

So, did anyone else get the opportunity to see the broadcast? What'd you think? They even addressed my #1 concern, I walk away from broadcasts like these almost down on myself because I'm not doing everything I should, but this time, I didn't! I took away a few things I should be working on, the overall idea that I *can* raise a righteous posterity, and reaffirming faith in our prophet and Heavenly Father's plan for our family.

I'll answer Natalie's question about what I said/think about adoption/teen pg in a new post...

I had a teen pregnancy (as everyone on the planet knows, LOL) and I think in *our* situation we followed the church's counsel (get married, keep the baby) so I think that was the best decision, but it's not always right for everyone. I think the most important thing is "Will the child have an eternal family?" it took us a few years - but we do...our baby we chose not to place for adoption has an eternal family.

If the child has no hopes of an eternal family with it's biological parents - then yes, I think that they should probably place the baby for adoption. This particular teen girl is going to be a single mom - come to find out the baby's daddy is a mental case (not just saying that, like his official diagnosis is something schizofrenia - however that's spelled, he's got alot of issues and just not capable of handling the baby) and so she's going to be a single mom. That means this baby is not only going to have a mother/father family - the baby will not have a righteous priesthood holder in his home, and an eternal family will be delayed if not never possible for him unless he chooses the right path and marries in the temple for himself. Not to mention the poverty the child is going to live in.

Do I blame her for wanting to keep her baby? Nope. I don't think I'd ever be selfless enough to place my baby for adoption, and I can't imagine the teens who do choose that - they must be truly specatacular people.

What I did tell my friend, who is making her teen daughter move out so that she's not a "bad influence" on her younger children - that I don't entirely agree with that, and I don't agree with not helping her get rides to/from school/work/church. Especially church. This girl is 34 weeks pg and sits in Relief Society every week. Goes to every Enrichment, and does not shy away from the Bishop. And I am more proud of that ward then ever because not ONCE has anyone ever gossiped about her or said anything bad about her or made her feel bad at all. In fact, there are some in that ward willing to think she's just getting a little big around the middle - not that she's actually pregnant. I really did not get that kind of support from my ward family, if I had, I probably wouldn't have gone inactive.

I don't know what the right thing to do is. I wish that it didn't happen, I know from having gone through infertility that couples going through it cringe when they see pregnant teens and that a selfless act like placing your child for adoption could answer all of their prayers - so it can be the most beautiful thing in the world.

I pretty much just file this in my "worst nightmare" category for my own children and hope that they can beat the odds.

But I do think it's actually kind of a nice way to think of it (if the girl is in the nice circumstances) that her situation is how this other family is going to be blessed with a child.

And I'll leave you with - one of my favorite family photos, from the weekend of our sealing, Jayden's there - inside me as an egg still - but she was born in the covenant, a very cool thing for us - our first child born in the covenant...doesn't make her any more/less sealed to us - but it's special :)

Politics, again.

So Mitt Romney dropped out. Eh, oh well...I mean it would have been nice, but it is what it is. So we have John McCain for the Republicans. I was talking with my girlfriends at the park today about who would make an awesome Vice President and alot of them thought Fred Thompson would make a great VP, the more I learn about him, the more I think they're right, he'd make a pretty good VP. We all solidly agreed please don't let Huckabee be McCain's running mate...ACK! LOL It'll be interesting to see though.

Anyhow, we regularly swing our children on the swings, pass out goldfish crackers, break up sand fights, and discuss religion and politics. It's like brain exercise, having adult conversations about adult topics...very nice.

A new lady joined us today from another ward and it was nice to get to know her better. I'd met her a few times at some stake functions but hadn't really gotten to know her well. Turns out we have alot in common. We both have sons named Jacob and had issues with fertility with our 3rd babies! She's older than most of us by a few years, but it was neat to get her opinions to our conversations.

Anyhow, we were talking about teen pregnancy (one of the moms in our group has a teenage stepdaughter who is pregnant) and someone said that she was taught that a pregnancy that happens before you're married is Heavenly Father's way of blessing a couple struggling with infertility, that there is just no room for discussion on the subject in her family on the subject, babies born out of wedlock should be placed for adoption. I thought that was an interesting thought. We haven't talked with the kids about much (they're too young) but I hadn't really thought about what we'll say or what we would do if we ever (please no!) had to face decisions like this with our children.

The most heated debate of the day was - how bad are Goldfish? I mean I know they're not healthy like fresh fruit and veggies but they're not cookies and ice cream either, yk? There were some moms adamantly opposed to their children eating Goldfish (how can you even be LDS and not have a goldfish eating child????? LOL) and some were like me and figure, eh it's better than a cookie. So what do you think? Are Goldfish THAT bad?

The thing about hardwood floors...

Every morning I dread putting my feet on the ground to get out of bed! LOL I lay there wishing that the kids would sleep in until it's a little warmer in the house under my nice warm blankets and then drag myself out of bed, touching the cold hardwood floors.

And our lows in the middle of the night are like 45, LOL. That's higher than some of my readers HIGHS for the day, so now they're laughing hysterically to themselves thinking - you should come stand on my hardwood floors Dawn! LOL

In good news, it's going to be in the 60's again today! Yay for gorgeous weather!

Last night I went to Enrichment and we had a lesson on "Small and Simple Things." Everyone was pointing out the small and simple things that bring us closer to the Lord and (this was my old ward) how small and simple our ward is. I started bawling - I'm going to miss that ward so much!

The missionaries came by to meet us while I was gone last night and Kevin said they seemed surprised that we were active, I guess our landlords had given them the impression that we weren't very active? Weird. Anyhow they're supposed to be here this morning to help the landlord get the rest of his stuff out of the garage. Thank goodness, I can't wait to park in my garage!

Anyhow, a war has broken out, I usually walk Jakey to school because it's just a few blocks away but Kevin can't because he's having some foot problems and it's his morning to take Jakey to school so the boys are upset that they're not getting to walk. They're nuts, it's COLD out there! Better go get my squawking baby girl, too!

Brrrrr!

I just got back from walking Jakey to school - it was COLD! It was nice though - sunny, and it's supposed to be in the 60's today! Can't wait for that! I need to find the cord for my camera so that I can upload some pics of the house and the kids, especially since it's going to be such a gorgeous day and I can get a good pic of all of them.

Last night I had enrichment with my new ward and tonight I have enrichment with my old ward...this Sunday we're going for our last Sunday in our old ward and getting released and all of that...I'm sad but what can ya do.

Anyhow Jayden's squawking from her jumperoo. Oh Jayden got her first tooth! I don't know if I mentioned it yesterday or not, but yesterday it popped through, it's more through today, but holy cow - she's only 3 months old! The boys didn't get teeth until they were almost 1! And she's a biter - OUCH!

Ok, I'll be around to visit everyone, I've missed you all so much! Have a great day!

That Was Easy!

Well amazingly enough, the Principal and Vice Principal of the other school got ahold of this school and talked to them about Jakey and so it was fine. They enrolled him in 2nd grade no problems. Unfortunately though, Jakey is like the TALLEST kid, LOL. He really stood out! The school has a uniform policy but apparently some of the parents are opting out of it and not sending their kids in uniforms. I really wish they would. Anyhow it appears most of the boys wear their uniforms so Jakey's wearing his. I'll get a picture of him after school today and get some pics of our new house.

You Know You're Addicted To The Internet When...

...you're up with your baby at 3:30 in the morning and notice the "connected" light for your modem is on, and REJOICE! LOL

We got our keys Friday night, and moved Saturday morning. It was that fast. Kevin got a 47 foot trailer from work and it took like two loads. We didn't even need help from our new or old wards to move because it just went so fast. Plus we moved during the Prophet's funeral and didn't want anyone to miss it on our behalf. We did get it Tivo'ed by my mom so we will be watching it this coming weekend.

Anyhow, it's 5:30 am, and as interesting as the Primary returns are (yes, I found time to vote!) on the early AM news, I need some more sleep because I have an uphill battle to fight today with the principal of Jakey's new school. After alot of prayer and talks with Jakey, Kevin, Jakey's teacher, vice-principal and principal of his old school we decided to have them enroll him in 2nd grade and then drop him so that this school would HAVE to put him in 2nd grade...they still don't want to do it, they want him to finish the year in 3rd and if necessary repeat. I'm not making things up here, he NEEDS to be held back and he's finally ok with it, they need to just do this. Anyhow, I have a meeting with the principal and I have letters and forms from the teacher, vice-principal and principal of the other school, so hopefully it goes well today....so I must get some sleep! I'll be around to comment later this morning.

Missed you all!

Our Crazy Morning!

This morning started with what sounded like someone yelling "Wake Up!" In my ear, I thought it was Kevin and that we had overslept, but no one was awake. I walked around the house but went back to our bedroom and heard Jayden coughing alot. I got to her and she had tears streaming down her face and was coughing hard. I grabbed her and screamed at Kevin to get up and then realized my throat was burning and that I was coughing too. I got the boys up and we all went to the garage (not attached, but really close to the house) and then I ran back in and got everyone clothes (we all sleep in various forms of not really dressed, something I'm re-thinking after this experience.)

Anyhow, Kevin had to leave for work and we were all safe, my mom was on her way to come get us/the kids/whatever, and Jakey's bus was pulling up - so Jakey went to school, Kevin went to work, and the fire department showed up. They went through the house but they think that my opening windows as I went so that I felt ok being in there to get our clothes might have dissapated whatever it was and made their monitors not work so well. Their suggestion, because their throats felt a little burning too when they came out was to call the electric and gas company and see what they say.

I was really sick, all of us were safe, so my mom and I decided to go to breakfast. I started feeling a little better, the kids all look good, so we went to get Justin's glasses fixed. When we were waiting for the fire department Jakey was swinging his backpack around and around and I told him to stop 5 million times, but he didn't and the last time he did it his backpack hit Justin in the face, knocking his glasses off his face into the gutter, where the arm broke off of them. Argh. Anyhow they fixed the glasses and ordered new ones (the fix is temporary), so we went to walmart to get one of those things for around the back of his head - dorky I know, but this is what 3 year olds in glasses need!

Anyhow, I called the electric and gas company and they are sending someone out right away - Kevin's going to meet them. The news I've been holding off sharing on my blog is about our new house that we're supposed to get keys to tomorrow but we weren't planning on moving until Feb 16th, but this is probably moving that date up, Kevin's calling our new landlord (who will be in our new ward) to see if that's ok but for tonight we're going to stay at my mom's house. Although if the electric company clears the house I am going to go back and pack alone while my mom babysits the kids.

So crazy, it's amazing that we all woke up when we did! Thank goodness! (And NO monitors were going off and we have a fire and carbon monoxide detector!)