It has been a stressful week, financially and emotionally. One of my best friends in the world is having a baby and I am throwing her a shower tomorrow night! I wanted everything to be perfect, Mark took 3 of the kids with him on errands, and (with Owen sleeping in his room) I could get a head start with cleaning and decorating for Christmas and Ruth's baby shower.
I actually got more accomplished in those 2 hours, than I had the entire week!! I was feeling very liberated and in-control, The house was looking pretty and the Christmas tree was neatly decorated. I was very pleased with myself.
Then Mark returned home with the kids, and quickly the boys headed into the front room. I was hoping they would be excited with the decorated tree, but instead they seemed disappointed that it had been done without them. In an attempt to compromise, I told them they could put a few (left over) ornaments on the tree. I walked away to check on dinner, at this time Owen had ripped a decorative paper off the shelf, and Kyle and Brody were "decorating the tree kid-style" Milo (the dog) was chewing up one of the ornaments, I began trying to "fix" the decorations on the tree, and I blurted out to Mark... "see I can't get anything done when they are here!!"
Immediately Kyle ran off to his room. I went in after him and asked him what was wrong. He told me I had hurt his feelings, My heart felt like it was going to brake, I didn't mean what I had said, and I had completely missed the point of Christmas. I was truly sorry to the point of tears, I asked kyle to forgive me. I learned an important lesson, the most important thing in my life are my precious children, that Heavenly Father trusted to me. Their little feelings matter!! All of a sudden, I didn't care about anything else, I didnt care if my house looked pretty, or if the dinner got burned, or if I was going to throw the most perfect baby shower, The only thing that I care about is that my children are happy, and feel loved and safe.
I went back into the front room and took off several decorations, and let the boys put them on however they would like! I am going to leave it just the way they did it as a reminder to myself to remember to keep my priorities straight.
I learned an important lesson today, taught by my sweet little boy.
Thursday, December 1, 2011
christmas priorities.......
Sunday, November 13, 2011
my baby is SEVEN!!!
where has the time gone???
I cant even express in words how much I adore this little boy!! He is everything I could hope for!! smart, handsome, kind, good, clever, caring, adventurous, compassionate, polite, energetic, loyal, sporty, and everything in~between.
Here are some random snaps of my little Kyle.....
He writes me little love notes.... how sweet!!
some of kyle's 7th birthday party, you might have to tip your head to the side! :)
my little pumpkins.......
We started the festivities at the school fall festival, we played games it was a lot of fun. Kyle asked to go round the stalls with his 2 little friends from his class, I let him go. I felt mixed emotions seeing him act soo grown up! I would keep a sneeky eye on him from a distance, but wanted him to feel the pride of his new-found independence.
The children had lots of fun this year at our ward trunk or treat! Then they also got to go to their cousin's ward trunk or treat! We kept recycling candy, but it seemed to keep multiplying. Finally we went to our friend sonja's house for a wonderful halloween party, it was perfect! We came home and went trick or treating our neighborhood. The kids had soo much fun!!! 
If only I could turn american candy into british chocolate!!!
"meat market"
I was at Fry's supermarket casually doing my grocery shopping with my dear friend Mayte. We went our separate ways in the dairy aisle. I made my way over to the meat counter as I envisioned a nice sunday roast dinner! It was then that I began making conversation with a man. I asked his opinion on which of the meat joints would make a better roast. The man piped up energetically about the type of roast I should be looking for. He then started asking members of staff on my behalf for this certain kind of beef joint that he was clearly passionate about!! He then went running down the aisle looking for this perfectly packaged roast for me. I thought he was very friendly and helpful. When he came back over to where I was standing, a guy came over and asked for a picture with him. I was confused and asked my "new best friend" if they knew each other, and he answered that he did not!! I was even more confused, and then he said.. "I am DMX!!" "EH? you are who??" I asked (verging on rudely) and he answered.. "I am a rapper!!" Noticing he was wearing a mcdonald's badge I challenged him.... "NA, you work in mcdonalds!!" and he said.. "honestly I am dmx, I collect badges) soo I started screaming for mayte (afraid that she was missing a once in a lifetime experience) anyway sooo we met DMX at Fry's meat counter. I will post a picture as soon as I get it off mayte's phone!!
Sunday, October 16, 2011
daddy's got my back!
Just saw a darling picture of my nephew and his little girl. Its a close up of her taken from behind as she looks out over a lake and unknown to her, Daddy's hand is securely holding on to the handle on the back of her life vest. It reminded me of the Savior and how we think we are being so safe with our life vests on, but it truly is His hand, holding tight to our vest, that affords us safety, even when we don't realize He is there, hanging on to us, He always is. How grateful I am for that handle on my vest and sacred hand that is always grasping it!!
(thoughts provided from Aunt Julie, but the models are both mine!)
Friday, October 7, 2011
it's my blog and I can brag if I want to......
Kyle has totally given me some major bragging rights this afternoon!!
His teacher has always felt that he was really smart, so she asked us for permission to test him to see if he could qualify to be in the academically gifted students group.
He did a week of testing, and we waited to see if he got in to the group. This afternoon I received a phone call from the lady in charge of Kyle's testing, she informed me that they have tested 6 schools in the area, and only 3 children Kyle's age got into the group. Kyle was one of them! She then proceeded to tell me, Kyle was in the 99th percentile in every subject. I didn't know what to say so I said.. "wow thats great" She added.. " Its amazing!!" I told her kyle had always been clever, and she said.. "he's exceptional!!!!" I was just as proud as can be!!!
well done handsome! we are sooo proud of you!
Saturday, October 1, 2011
Sunday, September 18, 2011
PHEW.......what a day!
I know everybody has them! SIGH.... Mine was on Tuesday.
I woke up around 6.30am and began the morning routine of getting everyone ready and out the door for school. I was beside myself trying to pack lunches, trying to find Kyle's shoe, trying to put Kyle's limp foot into his shoe (seriously... I felt like I was couching a women in labour~ "come on, you can do this.. PUSH PUSH" Trying to motivate a sleepy Brody who is moping around with severe bedhead, making breakfast, keeping track of the 2 little trouble makers. It is CRAAAZY in the morning!!
Side note, lets talk about,,,, My outfit!~ Ok so I fell asleep the night before in a fancy blouse shirt, in the morning I just throw some pj bottoms on, I couldn't find any flipflops (AVA) so I grabbed a pair of fancy church heels. "its ok the school has a drive through lane nobody is going to see me~ I will get dressed properly when I get home" I think to myself.
SOOO I load all 4 kids into the car and head to school, feeling relieved that the hardest part of the day was out of the way. As I pull into the drive-through lane I observe a police car, with flashing lights behind me. "hmmm I wonder who thats for" I think to myself. It takes me a minute to realise :I think it's for ME!!" I come to a stop and the policeman issues me 2 tickets! One for going 20mph in a 15 zone, and one for not coming to a complete stop at the stop sign. I turned on the tears but he was not having any of it! Meanwhile the school bell rings while we wait in the car. (the lovely policeman wouldn't even let me run the kids into school) we all had to wait there!
Sooo now the kids are completely late and I have to sign them in at the office, I have 2 half naked babies. One in each arm. As I am hustling the older kids across the street, It is then that I remember my outfit! Let me remind you... a fancy lacey blouse, polkadot baggy jammy bottoms and a pair of formal high heels, I have dried in smudged make-up from the day before, and messy greasy hair. owen and Ava wearing nothing but a diaper! What a sight we must have been!
Anyway, I sign the boys in at the office leaving them to find their own way to their classrooms. I load the toddlers into their carseats, close the doors. When I try to open my door... It is locked, and Mr owen has the keys!!!! So I spend the next 15 minutes trying to coach him into pressing the right button." Press the button owen.. no not that one, OWEN press the other button... no thats the same one!! OWEEEN Not the alarm!!!!" Finally by some miracle, Owen pressed the unlock button and everything was fine!! Fine except my petrol gage is in the red, thats ok, should be enough to get home.
Sooo we made it home, pheww.... "I might put Ava down for a nap, settle Owen with a cartoon and jump in the shower" I think to myself as I hit messages on the answer machine. There is a message from the school. turns out... Brody was not sure where his classroom was and got himself in a state, and the school wanted me to come and pick him up!!! UGHHHHH OK here we go again, until I remember there is no petrol!!! could this morning get any worse??
Anyway the next day I offered to make a meal for a sweet couple in the ward, (she had not been feeling well) I made a delicious shephards pie and took it round to their home. The next day I heard the disturbing news that the man had suddening passed away. I am extremely sad for the sweet old lady, but there is a part of me that will always wonder if I am responsible.
welcome to my world
Sunday, August 21, 2011
Sunday, August 14, 2011
a quiet sunday afternoon....???
Today whilst at church.... I was in the nursery taking care of the children when the primary president came to find me. It was loud in the nursery and I couldn't really figure out what she was telling me. I could make out the words "brody" and then "door" I immediately thought..."OH NO... has he done another runner????" But then she said "STITCHES" I felt myself get shaky and emotional as I tried to gather my things including owen and ava I frantically make my way over to a big couch in the church hallway and there he is.... my wee Brody with a big ball of paper tissues on his bleeding head. He is sobbing and cuddling me. He would not let me look at his cut, but his teacher is a nurse and said it would need stitches so we headed off to the urgent care. Poor brody cried all the way there. and sweet little sensitive Kyle sniffled and tried to hide the little tears that were sneaking out and rolling down his freckled cheeks.
When we got in there (me and Brody) they lay him down and put a movie on for him, Brody kept asking for kyle the whole time. I finally had to go and get him to stay by Brody's side. When the doctor injected numbing medicine in Brodys cut, he screamed out in pain, Kyle had to cover his ears because it upset him so much to hear his brother cry. I just find it amazing at how close they are. They are soo lucky to have each other.
Brody got 4 stitches in his forehead and took it like a man! They didn't have to bind him up in sheets (like Kyle had previously had to endure) I was soo proud of him. I promised I would give him a sweetie, so we picked up his presciption and a bag of airheads (as promised) even though it was sunday - ;)
milo or maisy????
Yesterday as I was visiting a friend, a lady approached me asking if I have lost a white dog. I quickly said I hadn't and went on my way. I turned back to see the lady looking somewhat stressed, so I asked her what was wrong and she told me she had found this dog but she couldnt keep it. and apparently it costs money to take it to the pound!! I looked at the lady, then I looked at the dog. Took a deep breath and then decided to take the dog home to the kids. I told them we were just looking after..... (quick check) er "him" until we could find his owners. The kids were just delighted!! They decided to name him milo.
Eric came round to give us some doggie supplies and play with..... (quick check) er "HER" ... so long story short we might have a dog, and it might be a girl named Maisy!!
tears,fears and fugitives.......
Brody has always had seperation anxiety! When he was 18 months old, he started nursery at our church. Every week without fail, someone would bring him to me informing me that he was sick. We slowly began to recognise a pattern, he had mastered the art of making himself throw up!! He was assigned his very own teacher. I would hand him to her, she would hold him over the bin let him do his thing, and that was that!
When Brody was 4 we signed him up to pre-school. Every morning he would happily chat the whole drive to pre-school, but as we approached Ms Jones house, he would get hysterical, crying kicking etc etc. I would carry him up to the door, and as I drove off, he would happily sit at his place and get on with his work.
As we know, Mr Brody just started kindergarten, his first couple of days were pretty perfect, but as the week progressed, Brody began to get upset as I pulled up to the school. On one occasion, he actually was running after my car as I was driving off, (there were 2 teachers holding him back as they ushered me to keep going) it was very upsetting to me but I figured that this was somewhat normal and that he would figure things out.
This past Tuesday, I received a phonecall from the assistant principle, informing me that Brody had managed to escape from school, and was trying to make his way home. I was shocked and upset about the incident and decided to remove the kids from the school.
THE NEW SCHOOL......
We went back and forth about what to do about Brodio and decided that moving him to a school that offered half day kindergarten was the answer. The school of choice teaches a grade above public school so we decided to take this opportunity to place kyle back in 1st grade and be with his correct age group (instead of being the youngest and smallest kid in his class)We thought long and hard about this and decided to go for it.
When it came to telling the boys the news, Brody was excited about the fact that school for him was only 3 hours long. But Kyle........ dear sweet little Kyle, was just heartbroken! I took him up to say goodbye to his teacher, and he just held her and sobbed. I watched with teary eyes as I wondered if I was making a big mistake.
Mark and I went to the shops to buy some last minute uniform stuff for the new school, and they began the very next day.
They both went without a hitch. Later that evening Kyle asked me..."mum have you ever been the kid in the playground that nobody plays with???" My heart just dropped... "why? is that what happened today kyle?" and he shook his head and bravely said no!
Later that night as I was tucking him into bed, he looked at me with a quivering lip and said..." I was that kid today" I had to look away to stop myself from losing it. He told me he asked someone if he could join in their game, but he said... "its too hard for you!" I told him it would get better and that he would make some friends really soon.
THE PLAN......
The next morning Kyle excited told me that he had come up with "A PLAN" He would talk to his teacher about the fact that nobody was playing with him outside, he was soo excited that he had solved his own problem. But when he came home that afternoon I asked him about the plan, and he said the teacher told him she would talk to the kids but she forgot! so he played alone for recess once again!
It is so hard to see your child struggle, and this was weighing heavily on me.
SOMETIMES YOU HAVE TO BE THE SUPERHERO IN YOUR OWN LIFE!
I emailed his teacher to let her know the situation, and Kyle and I said a prayer and asked Heavenly Father to help Kyle make a friend.
The next day, We picked Kyle up from school and he had a huge grin on his face... he said he had made a friend!! It was such a special experience to be able to recognise that not only does Heavenly Father hear and answer MY prayers, but he hears and answers the prayers of my children. It was a beautiful feeling, and a lovely experience for Kyle to learn so early in his life that there is Somebody who loves him and is watching out for him.
Sunday, August 7, 2011
The princess is 15 months!!!
What can I say about this girl????
This has been a whole new experience for me! I don't care what anyone says... girls are soo different from boys!!!! She has learned how to climb........ she is the only child of mine who has ever climbed out the highchair!!??? She climbs on the chairs, she climbs up the bunkbed ladder, she climbs up the huge play structure. What a busy little girl she is.
Fake cry! This girl can turn it on out of nowhere. (not a single tear though)
She knows how to say quite a few words including... mummy, daddy MARK, pizza, uh oh, NO!, MINE! (said with pout and major attitude) doggy, baby.....
She knows how to work an audience! She commands attention wherever she goes!
she is charming
last week at church, she stretched her arms out to 3 random people for a tight arm round the neck cuddle!
she is sweet
She LOVES SHOES! She is always wearing someone shoes. She likes to hide them too ;)
She LOVES to eat...... EVERYTHING! especially beans, raisins, bananas, pizza, chicken nuggets, she will not eat cottage cheese (cant really blame her)
She loves to put hats and headbands on, necklaces and bracelets, she loves to stare at herself in the mirror giving her self big kisses and excitedly saying "doggy" (she gets the word doggy and baby confused) she is just absolutely adorable. I LOVE my sweet little girl!!!
Brody is FIVE!!!!
Brody is growing up before our eyes......
He loves to play football (soccer) He loves to swim. He took swimming lessons this summer and is doing great! He can swim the width of the pool without his lifejacket. He loves action hero guys, and playing legos with kyle (his partner in crime) 
Brody is known for his quick wit and his cheeky one-liners. He is a funny, silly little boy who loves to please. He is a joy to have in our home. 
We celebrated his birthday at barros! Some of his most favourite people in the world were there, including his superhero BFF's Sy and "Sambrown". We ordered Brody a pizookie and he wanted doughnuts instead of birthday cake. this is the boy with a sweet tooth (which incidentally I am pretty sure I know which tooth it is... the one with the tell-tail brown dot?? 
I can't believe how big he is getting!! He is 43 lbs and only one lb smaller than kyle! I love how they share clothes and shoes.
Happy Birthday darling... I hope you had a fun day! We love you xxxx
