Update

So finally I am able to sit down and blog about this C-razy week.
I love my calling, it is a fun calling, but the week of an activity is really busy.
I feel I procrastinated a little more with this activity, we had a meeting with the activities commitee and the primary and all of the sudden it hit me, how much stuff still needed to be planned out.
I didn't sleep very well, Thursday night or Friday night for that matter. I even had a dream about the activity.
If you are wondering, what was the activity, it was a breakfast, bike parade (which I have not been to or participated in, in a LONG time!!!)
The kids decorated their bikes etc... and the Bishop led the parade, it was so fun.
A few people said you are so calm, how come you are so calm.....oh I wasn't calm inside. I always worry about the food and I secretly watch people walk by with there plates, I never look at their face, I just watch how many pieces of bacon they are taking, and I am FREAKING out. Thinking to myself, I didn't budget for them to take 2 pieces of bacon....ahh.... I mean who eats just one piece of bacon??? right, so I don't blame them.
But people are so nice and say that it was fun and that it was a good turn out, which to me is success....
I have not taken any pictures lately, I seemed to misplace my memory card. I did find it finally after the activity.....
Other than that we have been having a great summer, we have a big slide in the back yard that ends up in a pool and quite a few neighbor kids come over and it is a blast. We just need some shade to take a break from the heat.
Ben's latest project is a playhouse for the kids, I will take some pics and post them later, but it is really fun and turning out to be cute. I was REALLY skeptical at first, I will admit. But Alivia is in heaven she takes all of my stuff outside to clean her house, my broom and dust pan, some dish towels, she wanted to take some rugs and plants to put in there. She also made sure we put her picnic table on the deck Ben made for them, so she can go eat her food up there.
This summer has been one to remember, we have seen a few movies and gone swimming, gone on a trip, played in the backyard with lots of friends. We are trying to go to Lagoon before school starts, for Target Lagoon day.
Alivia is SO excited for school to start, we got her a new back pack and some new clothes for school, she can't wait....
This week should be a little less busy, but hopefully just as fun....
Cooper is doing really well, he doesn't like to play outside as much as Alivia does, Bauer however loves to be outside, he just can't always keep up with the big kids.
Kessler is doing really well, he is a big boy just under 16lbs, and is so happy. He giggles and loves to cuddle, he now will lay his head on your shoulder and just look around. He also loves to still be wrapped up in blankets, you can calm him down really quick if you have a blanket and a soother (pacifier for you American's).
I am so glad to be their Mom, I am so lucky and blessed, I am thankful everyday, for the joy they bring to my life!!!

Mercy

I was driving the other day stopped at a light waiting for it to turn green, and then a loud bang I looked up and a man was just hit on his motorcycle.
I can't even describe the feeling that I had. I jumped out of my car and ran over to him and knelt down by him, it was so chaotic and scary I had this OVERWHELMING sense of helplessness....as we were waiting for the ambulance to get there, I just kept telling him, he was doing fine and he would be okay. He was barely breathing and still face down on the hot pavement. As I knelt there looking at his helpless body I could smell that he maybe smoked cigarettes. I had a prayer in my heart, Heavenly Father no one is perfect, please help this man in his desperate time of need. I was on the verge of tears knowing that he is one of God's children and we are never perfect and hopefully the day, when we are in a desperate time of need, Heavenly Father will grant us the mercy that we will so desperately need.

Empathy

I try to teach my kids to be sensitive and have empathy for people or things.
So some things we talk about might be a little over exaggerated.
Yesterday I was sitting on the porch and Livi brought me something small and yellow and then told me it was the leg to the grasshopper.
I then saw a squashed grasshopper on the sidewalk.
So this is how our conversation went.
I said "Livi, now that daddy grasshopper can't go back to his family"
(we try not to kill bugs outside) (inside a different story)
She said "Mom, they can get a new dad"
"hows that"
"Mom, there are more grasshoppers."
Yes there are, we have a lot of grasshoppers this year and it has been quite fun to watch the kids try and catch them.
Bauer loves bugs and will walk right up to them and pick them up.
Ben also found a garden snake, the kids loved him and were sad to see him slither away back to his snake family. There is no more room in our family even for a snake.

hApPy BiRtHdAy GinA!!!

Happy Birthday to Ben's sister Gina, our sister in law, Aunt and friend!!
We love Gina because....
1. She loves Mountain Dew.....(a lot)
2. She is an Awesome mom and has really cute kids.
3. Her husband has a cute butt.... (Ben wanted me to make sure people knew this was an inside joke)
4. She is a VERY talented scrapbooker
5. She is very organized
6. She will never neglect to tell you how she feels or what she thinks about something...
7. She looses her belly button when she is pregnant (weird)
8. She went to BYU....whoo-hoooh
9. We have the same car, a white suburban...
10.She makes really cute baby blankets.
11. She loves to eat stew.
12. She hates bugs, especially moths.
13. She loves to read.
14. She likes to listen to Rascal Flats
15. She likes Jamba juice.
16. One of her favorite stores is Pebbles in my pocket.
17. She likes to shop at Old Navy.
18. She is really good at sending cards to people, with cute pics of her kids.
19. She likes to sleep in
20. She gets home sick during the holiday season
21. She dated Ben's best friends:)
22. She likes to play pranks on her siblings (when she was younger)
23. She doesn't like to wear dresses.
24. She would take her blanket to seminary.
25. She didn't want to get her drivers license because Ben would drive her every where.
26. Gina is a whiner (according to her husband, from her blog)
27. She was really excited about Deegan being potty trained.
28. She likes pizza pops, old dutch jerky sticks, fudgee-0's, shreddies and hickory sticks.
29. She likes to give goodie bags at Christmas.
30. She is collecting Willow Tree figurines.
31. She has a great Disney DVD collection
32. We love her and hope she has a great birthday!!!

Friends...

My whole life I have been so blessed with good friends. When I was younger growing up in a turbulent family situation they saved me, literally.....I would not be the person I am today without the example they and their families showed me.
And today I still am blessed with such good friends, friends who want to do what is right, be good people. Care about being good spouses, raise their children with the spirit. Help me be a better mom, make me laugh, challenge me to do things, maybe I wouldn't do.
I am so blessed, in every way. Thank you friends, all of you.

Calling all Memories!!

So here is a fun new blogging game:
1. Leave one memory that you and I (or Ben) had together, as a comment on my blog. It doesn't matter if you know us/me/him a little or a lot, anything you remember!
2. Next, re-post these instructions on your blog and see how many people leave a memory about you. It's actually pretty funny to see the responses. If you leave a memory about me, I'll assume you're playing the game and I'll come to your blog and leave one about you.

Potty trained??

So yesterday was one of those days you mean to get the kids dressed and stuff keeps coming up. Well I have heard of the method where you just take their pants off and let them pee on the floor or where ever and they learn really fast to go in the potty. Well that is kind of how it worked, Cooper ended up getting Bauer dressed and put big boy underwear on him, and that didn't last very long, he got those wet, but when he realized his pants were wet he was really upset.

So Bauer generally goes the bathroom at the same time every day, I am sure some of you can relate (Lily Boston:) and so we just let him sit there for a while, yeah didn't go..... but ended up going later. I was thinking this is a good start, well this morning he woke up and went right to the potty and went potty. He didn't have a diaper on last night.

So did we make it? I don't know but a good start for sure....