Look what Mark did...

He finished our bathroom downstairs. Didnt he do awesome! Its nice to have it done. However now everyone fights about who gets to 'use' it. Im so glad its done. Now we just have to finish the boys' room and the kitchen and I will feel like we are semi ready for the twins. I dont think I can prepare myself all the way for what is in store, but we'll do as much as we can.

Today was an accomplishment. This morning I got the kids on the bus and took the other three visiting teaching with me, Thats always a lovely experience, giving a lesson while feeding Hunter fruitloops and telling the two girls to share the toys in your nicest voice so the lady your teaching doesnt think your a mean Mom!!!!! ( I think I pulled it off this time though). We got home and Put Hunter down for a nap. Finished making my cards for the card club. Got the kids lunch, put Gemma down for a nap and got Aspen on the bus. I thought about taking a nap, but I thought I would just enjoy the quiet. I did for a half hour and Hunter woke up. Mark ended up not having one of his classes so he came home early and started right in on working on the basement. Right now we are trying to get the second bathroom done. I did laundry until the kids came home. Talked to them to see how school was and started on dinner. After dinner, I was off to the card club. Its so nice after you shut the door behind you just to feel the stress leave your body! Honestly it was a little crazy tonight and I needed to get away for an hour or so, and it helped. When I got home Mark was still going strong, and still is. It looks like a bathroom now. He is doing such a great job. I am absolutely tiered as can be and I need to go to bed. If I am going to do this blogging thing, I need to stick with it though.

Nicknames are so much fun.

As most of you know, we are famous for having at least 5 nicknames for each kid. Well we came up with a new one for Brooklin. Remember these do not take the place of old ones, they just get added to the list. Brooklin has about maybe 10 now. It seems whenever I ask Brooklin to do something, she always answers "hu, what?" So I started to call her HU-what! Well soon enough Mark caught on to it, becasue she started doing the same thing with him as they were working together on the basement. It was getting old to her pretty quick. By dinner time she asked Mark to 'stop calling her that, she didnt like nicknames and it wasnt very nice". In response he continued to tease. Finally Brooklin had enough and said "Fine, If you call me that, Im calling you "get-back-to-work" because thats all you say to me!" LOL I startetd laughing so hard. Finally Mark was getting what he was dishing out. So now its "hu-what"- "Get-back-to-work"-"Hu-what". It is too funny.

The BIG BOY started school AGAIN today.

Yes, today Mark went back to school. I had gone up to Pocatello to get some things and I ran into him at Lowes of all places. We were both getting some drywall compound to finish downstairs. Anyway- he had no idea I was coming up and I thought he had work right away, so it was nice to run into him. He was just as surprised and said, "Well now that you're here, I dont want you to leave." (sigh...) thats exactly what I needed to hear! I love him. Its times like those that come very unexpected and not very often, but it reminds you of how wonderful they really can be.

Do you like it?

Ok so my other background was a little girly, you know me though, I LOVE brown and pink. However I thought if it is our FAMILY blog then I need to make it not so girly. Do you like this background better? I found a background I wanted, but I had to erase all my HTML things to put it on- that was some pics, so I wasnt willing to do that. Let me know what you think. Should I try again or leave it alone?

Sunday

Today we had the opportunity to speak in sacrament meeting with our four oldest kids. It would have been five oldest, but Gemma came down with a fever and was throwing up the night before. We were asked to speak on temples. I asked each one of the kids what they wanted to talk about. Caden, for some reason I dont know, came up with talking about the first temple built, the Kirtalnd Temple. Brooklin wanted to talk about being sealed in the temple. Daisy wanted to talk about her experiance when we were able to go to the Rexburg Temple Open house, and all the things she saw inside. Aspen talked about how the temple reminded her of getting baptized and getting married. They all did a great job. I was so proud of them, you could tell they were a little proud of themselves also for accomplishing it. Aspen did tell me last night as she was going to bed that she was going to 'be scared in front of all those peolple, and I might mess up.' I told her 'guess what.......ME TOO'. I think It made her feel better to know that even her mom was a bit nervous of speaking also. Mark of course did a great job, he always does. I think we are good for another two years of not giving a talk now. We'll see.

Aspen first day of kindergarten

Aspen was sooo very excited to go to kindergarten.

And yes I did cry a little when she left. It was weird to have my big helper gone from me for such a long time. She came running off the bus to give me a big hug, that made it worth it.

First day of school.

Honestly I am excited they are going back. A little sad, now that they are really gone, But really looking forward to my nap with Hunter today.

Daisy is such a poser!

Caden was already getting his funny on this morning. Hope he controls it in class.

I cant believe Brooklin is in 5th grade. Today I realized she really is getting big.

Back to school night.

I had remembered at 4pm that it was back to school night at 5pm-6pm. That was not smart of me. We picked up the house as quick as we could and got in there at pretty good time, so I thought. There was a million people there already and limited parking for a 15 passenger van. We made it though. Aspen LOVED her teacher, and drew her a picture and gave it to her. Daisy likes her teacher. She likes to act like shes not excited and tries not to smile, she is though. Caden of course loves his teacher. Mrs. Geddes is the teacher everyone wants. She lives out here by us, in our ward and is FUN FUN FUN. Brooklin said her teacher "looked nicer than she thought she would." LOL I thought that was funny. She also didnt say a word to her teacher. When we got home I was talking about it and she had a stomach ache and said she 'probably is nervous about school. Im sure she is, Brooklin takes after her mom and worries about things too much. Here are pics I took of them before we left.

Soccer Practice

How do you think the first practice went?Brooklin said It 'kicked her butt' . LOL the poor girl was so tiered. The coach said it wouldnt be fun for two weeks, after that it will be fun. I hope he is good to his word.

Final day of the Fair.

We started today off by taking Hunter into the baby contest. We have done it with all the other kids, so we kinda feel like we need to do it with the others.

Mark with Chub during the judging.
I asked chub chub to 'SMILE'.
Hunter took 2nd attendant to the king. Here he is pictured with some of the other winners.

He won 2 nice toys, a puzzle, T shirt and a free haircut.

I had taken these pic of Hunter the night before. It was like 10;30 and he would not go to sleep. I let him lay on the couch. Next thing I know he has Cadens hat, he thought he was so funny.

Alright- He WAS pretty funny!

After the baby contest there was a bunch of games going on. Brooklin was out running even the 12 year old kids.

Gemma doing a 'Farmer Relay'

Daisy at the fish pond. You got to catch a goldfish and keep it. I wonder how we ended up with 7 goldfish and yet we only have 5 kids participating???

Caden at the Treasure Hunt

The kids all took part in a chicken run and rabbit run. You run after the animal and you get to keep it. Well, Aspen won in the younger age group. Yea for us, we just got rid of two sheep, but we get to bring home a new bunny and 7 goldfish!!-no Im really not excited about that! The kids LOVE it though. After the games we went home and called the fair a good one for the year.

Last day of the lambs.

Well we did it. We sold Cadens lamb today at the auction. Its so nice to know that we wont have to worry about feeding them and walking them and watering them. They are going to be fed in the morning and gone by night feeding. That was the first animal market I have gone to. Very interesting. Im sure its all who you know. Some lambs went for $250, some for $450, one went for $1100 (no that is not a typo). Even the auctioneer started bidding at $100 with some lambs and $250 with others (our was one of those, thank goodness.) The Champion animals were crazy priced! But seeing the work the kids put into them, they deserve it. I thought in the beginning of this whole fun ordeal, the animals were actually judged, but as the kids got into the ring to show their animals I found its actually more on the kids and if they are paying attention to the judge. The judge stands in the middle of the ring and looks at the animals and kids as they go in a circle. The kids need to hold the lambs in position, holding onto their neck and head, and keep their eyes on the judge. When the judge says stop and square them up, that means all four legs need to be in line with the others. If they need to be straightened you need do do that when the judge is not looking at you or your lamb. Its interesting the things you learn your first time doing this. Caden wants to do a steer next year- I dont think so- I saw some of those steers throw a couple of teenage kids around, just think what they could do to little Caden. Anyway, it was nice and now its nice to be done with it. Now we need to focus on school starting next week. So far they are all excited- Yep, even Brooklin (for now).

Day 2 at the Fair.

We started at 10 am into the fair this morning. We got the sheep cleaned up, looking all spiffy for the judges, they walked them for a little bit, ate our lunch and then the fun began. Brooklin and Caden changed into their shirts and took their lambs to be judged. The first was showmanship. I was really surprised how well the lambs did without their halters. Brooklin and Caden did so well watching the judge and keeping good control of their lambs. They remembered to change sides as the judge did as well. It was great, they both got blue ribbons. Caden was up a second time for the Quality show. There was about 20 lambs in that part of the show. They took out one lamb at a time. Well I thought this was the ones that they liked, come to find out they were taking out the ones that were not 'quality show lambs'. They ended up keeping two 'quality lambs'. Caden would have been 6th place. His lamb was very nice. He will be able to sell him at market tomorrow. We are excited for that! All in all I probably whined the most, I was hot and tired and needed a nap. LOL. The kids loved it and are already looking forward to next year.

Caden in the middle.

Brooklin with her lamb.

The Fair Begins

The day started with Brooklin and Caden taking their lambs in to get weighed. They had to be at least 112 lbs to be able to sell them. Well first up was Brooklins, weighing a whopping 103 lbs. Yes she was disappointed but what do you do. Caden was up next with 111 lbs- NO WAIT- it went up to 112 lbs. YEA!!! One out of two isn't bad. We just need to find a buyer for Brooklins and we will be in great shape. They took the lambs and washed them so we could shear them later. I wish I had the camera at that time. It was so cute to watch those two wash their lambs with Mark. The lambs kept shaking and got them all wet. It was great. we headed home to rest for a couple hours and went back for Daisy's Bloomfest Pageant. She was so excited to say her speech and surprise her dad with what she was going to say.Here she is right before we left. She did her speech so well and Mark thought it was so cute. I will post the video below so you can watch it.

Mark escorted her out during the formal wear. He bent down and handed her a pink daisy. She kissed him on the cheek. No she isn't wearing any shoes.

She did soooo good. Not just as her mother saying that. We were so proud of her. She won a trophy for entering. The princess for the night ended up being one of her best friends. She was so good to go up and give the girl a hug afterwards. Daisy did ask me if she could keep trying each year until she won. Im glad it didnt get her down. I love Daisy so much, she has a great personality and doesnt let things get her down. She will go far with that kind of attitude.

Before and After

I took the two older girls in to get thier hair cut. Yes that is a big deal, considering I usually cut thier hair. Brooklin wanted her hair to look like the babysitters hair, with layer and such. Daisy wanted her hair cut short, I didnt want her to do that because they are getting perms done in a week. So she wasnt real happy when we left, but I think they turned out really cute.Brooklin Before

Brooklin After

Daisy before

Daisy After

One of my favorite things.

For those of you who may not know, I love to decorate cakes. Its one of those things that I do to get rid of stress. There is something about having a cake and a big bowl of frosting and seeing what I can make with it that gets me going. I havent made many cakes lately, Im just too tired. But I thought I would post a few to show what I love to do. This football cake was for a nephew of mine.

Of course this one was for pioneer day, we have a big dinner in the community and I was to bring a dessert.

This was for a Baby Shower for a close friend of mine.

This was a cake that my husband took to pharmacy school to auction off at a dinner. It ended up selling for $35.00. For sure more than I would have charged.
(ISU mascot is the Bengal Tiger)

This is one I did two days ago for my BF Jacques little boy.

A day with the Grandmas and Grandpas

So yesterday the kids got to go to the Heritage Home and put on a Primary program with some other little kids in the ward. We were the first ones there and it was so cute to watch all those Grandmas and Grandpas light up when the kids walked in. My kids walked around and shook each of thier hands and told thier names, it was so good for my kids to do that. They quickly learned that the older people could'nt hear so well, so the had to 'speak up'. Gemma and Aspen did a wonderful job on thier part. Brooklin, Caden and Daisy each sang a verse of a primary song with either one or two friends. I was so proud of them for getting up there and doing that. They were just having a good time up there and had no idea they were making the Grandmas and Grandpas so happy.

ITS A BOY AND A BOY!!!

I went to my ultrasound appointment yesterday and found out we are having two boys!!! I was shocked to find they were both boys, for the fact that at my last ultrasound one was a girl LOL. So anyway, I met Mark for lunch after and told him, He said "SWEET!, Way to go sweetie". He had a permanent grin on his face the entire time. We are all quite excited though. I just hope Mark and I can agree on some names before the boys get here. Also, I really did try to upload my ultrasound pics. Im not sure why they wont load- they just wont. Anyway, once I figure it out I'll get them on.

Thought I would share this adorable picture of myself at 18 weeks (half way). I will regret it later. Everyone seems so interested in "How big Im going to get". So I'll humor you all and keep you updated on the pics as long as no one makes fun!!!

We have our car seats and stroller. We are at least ready to take them for a ride!