A New Baby Is Coming

Polly, Penelope, Patricia, Piglet, Pooh Bear, Paisley, Primrose, Phoebe, Paige, Pellie, or Roo what will it be. We've been having fun seeing what everyone thinks the new baby will be named since this is the first time we haven't told anyone. We have laid out the clue it begins with a "P," but that is all and the kiddos are going crazy not knowing what their new little sister will be named, but also having fun at guessing the name. We only have a little more than a day now and we can hardly wait to introduce our eighth child to the family and to the world. We feel very blessed and loved that God has entrusted us with another blessing from above and especially at this holy time of the year. Praise be to Him!

One of these days, I WILL JUST GET IT!

So, let me start off by saying, again I have not updated the blog and I have over a 100 photos waiting to be used in some posts, but I need to get this out of me. I love my husband! I love have talks with him and I love how he shares his view points with me and tries to make me understand things that I just don't get. Hopefully, one of these days, I WILL JUST GET IT, without him having to help me get there. Here's some backstory: most people know I didn't grow up in the LDS religion, but I had many friends who were LDS and I attended mtgs. activities, and even seminary with occasionally. I didn't become a member of the church until I was 19, but loved everything about it. Fast forward a few years and some not-so nice wards(one where we buried our eldest son and no one in the ward knew of his passing until the morning of the funeral-yeah, ball got dropped somewhere with the Bishop and others)and experiences and it has made me question the culture and as of late I have confused the two-church teachings vs. the church culture. I keep telling myself they are two separate things, but we have moved into an area where I am having a hard time distinguishing the two. It seems our ward brings out the culture aspect a little too much. We seem to keep having the same group/cliques shuffled into all the callings in our ward-which is extremely annoying me. I have a hard time believing that the callings are indeed "called from above." When all is done is the primary presidency seems to be shuffled into the Young Women's presidency which they then get shuffled into the Relief Society Presidency, and the same goes with the men. It's like we have a handful of the same people just getting shuffled into the presidencies and it has started to bug me. How is anyone else suppose to grow and share and bless others if the same people are getting called to all the positions. I have struggled with this, mainly because to me it just seems like a popularity contest and I've gotten released from callings because of having babies and now I'm sitting on the sidelines watching this ridiculous game of juggling the same group of people into different callings. How is this really a calling from above? That was my question to my hubby yesterday, and he helped as best as he could saying the Bishop only can do what he knows and in it's way it is a calling from above, but it bothers him too. He as well sits back and watches the show, because no matter how many times he asks for a calling he is overlooked. I don't know why it is, but after 5 years it is getting very frustrating for the both of us. I need to remember to keep in mind that the church is not about it's people it is about Christ, His teachings, and making it back to my Heavenly Father. It has been extremely hard to not get caught up in the culture and let it deter me from going to church. I don't like the politics, the games, the cliques. I never have, but hopefully, I will be able to concentrate on being more Christ-like, understanding that He does know and see me, and trying to make it back to Him someday. It's an interesting point that the hubs has- most people that grow up in the church don't see a church culture, but those that don't, struggle with the culture vs. the truths/teachings of the church. How he, one who has grown up in the church, sees this as a reality makes me feel lucky. I can talk to him and he doesn't judge me, he just tries to teach me to stay strong and not get so frustrated and to stay on that straight and narrow path I promised to do back when I was baptized. I love this man more than anything and am glad he can look out for me.

Random Ramblings of a Pregnant-hormone hyped mamma of 7

So yeah, it's been awhile and my camera is in some serious need of emptying the ten thousand pics it has of our going-ons for the past 6 months, but I haven't uploaded them yet. I thought I would get my ramblings out of my head for awhile and update this nice lit'l journal of mine, since it has cobwebs in it from the lack of posts.

It's been a busy, crazy, fun, exciting, worrisome, loving last 6 months and I've come to the conclusion that yes- I AM DEFINATELY CRAZY! I don't know what I was thinking when 6 months ago I thought yeah, why not add another little one into the mix. It was weighing heavily on our minds and our hearts that we just were not done with our family and after the loss of our baby we didn't know we were gonna add, we believed another little spirit was waiting in the wings and sure enough-we were right. Now don't get me wrong, we fully wanted our last little one to join us it's just then I got the crazy idea to add a few more things on top of it. We began re-doing all 4 girls' rooms(painted, moved furniture from basement to top floor, from top floor to basement, re-decorated to fit personalities that would be now sharing a room, got a new closet organizer put in a room that with two beds was just too small to hold a dresser in, and we rearranged all the nursery furniture as well)because being pregnant with 6 little people to take care of just wasn't enough to do- I guess. Then we thought, oh we should reorganize all the closets(well the hubs thought this up all by himself and began without even letting me in on it), reorganize the garage, declutter the entire house-you know since our ward had a DI drive and all(we could help others and ourselves, the thinking process of the hubs), and to top it all off I, yes me and me alone, thought hey I want to be out of debt by December 31st this year. This normally, for others I'm sure, would not be a problem-but you see we have been in debt since we lost Christian. We have been trying to get our grounding back-but when you add more children to the mix, the medical bills alone work against you. So I thought surely I could take an amount that no one would even think to pay off in less than 3 years and have it paid off in 8 months. Bring on the challenge, bring on the fear, bring on the STRESS, bring on the massive headaches. Yes, it's been challenging and stressful-especially taking an $800 budget for food and household items down to half that, but I can say(knock on wood) that we will be making our, okay my, goal of being completely DEBT FREE! I feel blessed and guided through this process of trying to get back on track. I lost that feeling for awhile when we had a scare with our little one, but I'm back and feeling better than ever. Our life really is crazy-BUT, I wouldn't trade it for anything in the world! I would hate to be bored, able to sit around and laze around, doing anything I want, not be challenged, even not have some of the worries that come with having a bunch like we do. I love this crazy little thing called my life! It makes me stronger and challenges me every day making me a better person. I'm glad all of our little ones chose us to be their parents and guide them through this life. Yes, more money would be nice, more free time would be nice, more SLEEP would be nice, and more time with just the hubs and me would be nice-BUT, you know what I will get that soon enough. Kiddos grow up fast and life calms down too soon, so I'll take this crazy, rambling time that makes me crazy, but also makes me laugh so, so, so, much EVERY DAY! I don't know about anyone else, but just thinking and looking back on all we have done in these past 6 months makes me tired. Because through all of these things we still had our usual spring and summer fun-vacation, swimming, planting, weeding, movies, parties with good friends, birthday celebrations, church responsibilities, fundraisers, graduation from elementary school, starting school again, new job-hunting, ultrasounds and check-ups, playing at parks, hiking, girls' camp, and about a million more things we do every day. It's a crazy time, but exciting at the same time. Love and play with your little ones tons now, because one day soon, they won't be little anymore. I'm learning that more and more as the day grows nearer when I send my now junior higher, off to school. I still am wondering, when did this happen, but I'm glad I've spent so many fun times with her before she gets to the point of being too old to hang out with mom. Loving life with it's craziness and all it offers me!

What's next on the agenda

So lately I've been crafting a ton and learning how to take some really good pictures of the family, but now I'm SO ready for this... It's the 2nd book in one of my favorite author's new series. It comes out tomorrow and I can hardly wait to read it. This will be taking up my Thursday night this week. I would read it over the weekend, but we will be off on our first couples retreat. Good food, good times, good friends-what more could a girl ask for.

Trial of Accepting God's Love

We have all been through our own trials in this life. Some are small, some are big. Some we overcome and some we feel we will never be able to bear. I have experience all of these kinds of trial and although I thought I experienced an unbearable trial of losing my son, I have come to understand my real big trial is not this. My unbearable trial is accepting God's love and knowing that He does everything with a reason. I may not understand this now, but through His love and His plan for my life I will some day. I use to think and feel He had it in for me. I have battled this feeling for some years, especially as of late. I couldn't imagine that He actually loved me and listened to me until this past month. I felt that all my trials and troubles were because I had done something wrong, didn't have enough faith, wasn't strong enough. I was lost and blind to what He actually was trying to teach me. Faith is a fragile thing when you do not exercise it fully. Sometimes it's easy to say you have faith, but when it needs to be put into play, it may be a hard thing to do. I have been this person. I believe strongly everything the missionaries taught me. I know I'm a daughter of God, I know that our families can be together forever, I know that my Savior suffered for me personally, I know that I have been blessed immensely, and I know that my Heavenly Father gave me the Holy Ghost to give me comfort whenever I need it. What I have struggles with is knowing that my Heavenly Father loves me and hears my prayers always unconditionally. I struggled with this a ton when we were losing Christian. All I felt was He was not listening to my aching heart. He wasn't making the cancer go away. He only listened when I turned my will over to His and begged to take my sweet Christian away so he would not be in pain anymore. I again struggled when I lost my parents through divorce and in the end any relationship with my mother. I struggled when I begged to not lose another baby this past month. It's a hard thing to do, turning my will over to God's will. I prayed to let the baby stay and grow in me, but I also finally came to a point where I realized maybe it wasn't in God's will to keep the baby. In the end it was the case. We discovered at 9 weeks that the baby stopped growing at 6 weeks and I officially lost the baby 2 weeks later. Not an easy thing to do, but through this past experience I learned a GREAT deal of just HOW much my Heavenly Father really does love me. I had to actually take a medicine to get rid of the baby, due to my body just did not want to let go. It was painful both physically and emotionally, but I prayed so hard that I literally was brought to my knees sobbing, that this would go quickly and my body would be able to bounce back quickly. Well, through the power of prayer, this is exactly what happened. Instead of waiting 2 weeks for the miscarriage to take it's course, it happened within 24 hours of my shot. I also bounced back quickly and although I miss our baby and what would have been I know that God loves me and this too shall pass. This last trial of mine, although it wasn't like losing Christian it was at the same time as when I lost Christian. The two combined brought me down to a horror of a low level and I believe I only made it through by the grace of God. I now know that God does not give us our trials because we've done something wrong or as a way of punishment. I believe that He actually gives them to us to not only make us stronger, but as a way of showing us His love for us. I know that this will always be my trial, to remember He does love me and always will. He knows what's best for me and how to make me stronger. He gives me my trials and challenges in this life because He loves me and wants me to come back to Him someday. He wants us all to return to Him. We are His sons and daughters. He wants us all to live with Him eternally and it is through the trials we face that He shows his love for us and helps us come closer to living eternally with Him.

The Talk!

It's been an eventful Saturday in the Hansen home. The hubs and I finally sat down with the two older girls(separately) and talked to them rather openly and very frank. We have had small talks with them in the past, well-actually, I have had talks with them, but never have we sat them down and taken them through everything between a man and a woman before. We threw body part words at them, which they kinda knew already due to our talks, but we explained to them exactly what takes place during sex and making a baby.

I picked up this great book to help me prepare and then sprung it on the hubs that he was gonna sit down with me and the two older girls. Needless to say, he was less than excited. I have been meaning to do this for awhile, but life's been a tad bit crazy around here. The book recommends talking with them at age 8, which we have had talks before, just nothing quite so BIG before. We let them in on the amazing, wonderful, awesome, "secret." We also told Laney she would get to know the "secret" this year on her birthday. She's rather excited. I totally love building the "secret" up just like the book recommends, because sex is not dirty, weird, or embarrassing. It is extremely wonderful, awesome, and intense. I want our children to know and feel like they can come to us and ask us "anything." I didn't have an open relationship growing up with my folks, but I sure want my kids to have that with the hubs and I.

We were both kind of nervous to have this talk, but it actually was a lot easier than either one of us thought it would be. We stressed to them a lot on NOT doing anything until they are married, but we felt they needed to know about all the facts about sex-the why, how, who, when, and most importantly God's plan for the power a man and woman have when they come together. There were lots of questions, more from Kaleigh than Alexis(which I expected, due to Alexis's quiet-in-her-head personality), but both girls felt informed, and like they could talk/ask us anything. Mission accomplished in my book. It's a crazy world out there and we want our kids armed with everything possible so they can make the right decisions and not be left in the dark. We also feel that opening up to them and having frank discussions a lot will help them stay on the right path. We know there will be bumps and mistakes along the way, but we stressed to our girls making this mistake-having sex of any kind before marriage, is one we hope and pray they do not make. They understood and no one squirmed or felt uncomfortable which was very nice. I highly recommend reading this book. It helped me gather my thoughts and organize exactly what/how I wanted to say things. My hardest part was actually using the right terms for the parts of the body-I'm still working on this, but by the time it's little Miss Bella's turn, I'll be a pro.

Sobering Day for me today

12 WEEKS

Today would have been 12 weeks now, but again for the second time, tis not to be. Here's to trying again down the road, maybe.

Another peek inside of me

So, everyone has tough times in their lives, I know this. But when it's your turn for a tough time you feel as though no one has ever felt the pain you do. I am here in this hole and it was only after looking at the hub's eyes and actually hearing his words that I'm able to put our life back in the right perspective. You see, I cry, A LOT, these days and the poor hubs try as he might, has not been able to help me stop. It's a roaring rollercoaster here and I really wanted off, but didn't know how to get off, until I looked into the hubs ever-loving, concerning, worried eyes this morning. He told me to remember before things get too bad that there are others to talk to. I told him I would NEVER, EVER doing anything harmful to myself or anyone else, I know what awfulness that would bring from past personal experiences. I would always be here for my family and kiddos. To which he clearly, and very profoundly stated, "you need to be more than just "here" though." A wise man I married, I tell you. I sat with those words for a bit and thought about the harm I was doing without even knowing it. I need to be more than just "here." I need to be present and alive. I don't like my circumstance I'm in, but only time and God can heal my wounds and let me move on happily. Eventhough the hubs doesn't believe EVERYTHING happens for a reason, I do, and I need to put my trust in God's hands and believe He does NOT have it in for me. Oh me of little faith, I know. I feel I am letting myself down and my faith has been shaken quite a bit over the past few months, but I'm still learning day by day how to strengthen my faith and not let it quiver. Not having gone to church my whole life, the trust and faith with God has gotten built up slower than most LDS people, but I'm working on it. God does love me and sometimes(even a lot more for some), bad things just happen to good people. It's a jungle and a trial, this so-called life, but sometimes, it's the GRANDEST time! I have a lot of great things in my life, but in the throws of despair, I forget a lot of the best things I have. I'm glad I have the hubs to pull me up when I'm down, and remind me all is not lost and this too, shall pass. He's the best friend a girl could ever have, and I'm glad he chose me to spend all eternity with. When he's down, I pick him up, when I'm down, he's right there to help me up. We work as a team, and it's the best feeling in the world! We've been through a lot together, and I'm sure there will be more hard times along the way, but as long as we've got eachother and remember we have God on our side too(I need to remember this more than he does)we can enjoy our ride on the up/down rollercoaster of life. God is good. God is love. God is Grand!

A New Year and New Luck!

Another year has started and man am I glad it began with GREAT, WONDERFUL news!  The end of 2010 was a rough one for me personally and for our family.  A lot of bad things happened and then more bad things happened.  Many do not know the bad, the ugly, and the horrible because the hubs and I just don't share what's going on in our lives.  We've kind have been like that our whole marriage, but not now.  I'm spilling the beans, mainly 'cause I'm SO glad it all worked out for the good.  My life has flashed before my eyes and I've come out of it with a new determination to NEVER sweat the small stuff and ALWAYS enjoy the here and now.  Not that I didn't try really hard before, I just have a new viewpoint now.
    Let me back you up.  I really thought I was done having kids, but my inner soul kept bugging me about one more.  I know, you would think 7 is enough for anyone, but I guess not me.  Well in strolls September's events.  We lost the hub's grandma and so we had the whole family in town for the funeral.  Perfect timing for a family photo.  The hub's and I had a suspicion I might be with child, so we laughed at how every time we take a family photo, there's a bun in the oven-making the family photo all ready null and void.  Fast forward to a week later and said bun-in-the-oven no more.  I lost what we now refer to as the maybe-baby while on a family getaway to our family's cabin.  I wasn't sure at the time it was really a MC(can't even type the word), but after many months of problems we now know it was.  This event however, wasn't even the worse of the last 3 months.  Moving on to what I like to call a little Too Much Info for some.
   The problem with being on a family getaway is you don't want to end the fun, or at least I didn't, so suffering silent is what I did and after about 10 days of pain it finally stopped-so no doctor did I see(looking back, SO wish I had).  This is what started the ever so stress, worry, and life scaring events for me.  I wasn't the same after this(luckily I am now), at least my body wasn't.  I was having problems emotionally, physically, and mentally.  Finally after a few weeks I was able to see my doc, only to be put on an emotional rollercoaster.  They wanted to test me for everything from cysts to the ever dreaded... CANCER!  We really don't like that word, but with my symptoms and family history, they really, really thought it was.  I was a nervous wreck waiting for the results.  The hubs and I would talk, but he didn't want to hear it.  One night he got really upset and asked if I would stop wondering how/what we would tell the kiddos.  My life of only 33 years was quickly flashing before me and I couldn't get out of the what if I do have cancer, what will my kiddos do, what will we do, what will the hubs do?  It was a place I never want to visit again.  While all this was going on with me, I also had to deal with my dad's results for his heart test as well.  I was scared to think of losing him too.  It will kill the kiddos to lose their grandpa, he's too young.  My dad was a little bit of a wreck too, he had never been sick in all his 57 years, so this was a new thing for him.  He didn't like the prospect of having to go under for heart surgery just as much as I didn't like it.  I felt overwhelmed, neurotic, angry, and just plain old TIRED!  On top of all this, the holiday season was upon us and the last thing I wanted to do was put on a happy face and celebrate, but that's exactly what I did.  Finally, by the end of December we had some news, but it went from o.k. to NOT,  very quickly.  I didn't have any cysts, blood work was o.k., but was told symptoms are not and I needed a few more ultrasounds and scans.  So, in I went and finally had an answer the first week of January.  Heed this advice from someone who learned the hard way... if you think you have suffered a MC and your body starts to act funny, get in to a doc ASAP!  My GREAT news that I received was I all clear, not even a spec of precancer cells anywhere.  Just a body that should have been cleaned up after the MC and since it wasn't, I had an infection and it was messing up with my natural hormones causing all the confusion and pain.  And on top of that GREAT news, my dad's heart is finally healing with the new meds they gave him and so it looks like he might stay out of the operating room.  They are giving him another check-up in 6 weeks, but the doc is very optimistic that it will heal 100% by then.  I mean in a little less than 2 months it went from 29% pumping to now 42% pumping.  Let's just say I'm crossing my fingers, hoping and praying that the meds do indeed fix it all the way.  I'm very thankful we have the medical advances we do today.  I hated the thought of my dad in surgery and I'm glad I don't have to think about it for the time being.  I'm also glad it is a new year with a new chance of great things to come.
   I know, a long story, but it explains why my blog/journal is a month behind.  Hopefully I'll get it caught up over the weekend.

Day 23

Today I'm grateful for the medical world. I'm thankful for the modern advances in medicine and that I can just drive a few minutes to get to a hospital. Thinking of all the people in the olden days who died from illnesses because of the lack of medical advances is sad and makes me glad that we have what we do. I'm thankful for all the hard work researchers do to make our lives healthier and longer and for the research to save children when they need saving.

Day 18, 19, 20, 21, and 22

I have gotten a little behind again(much ado has been happening around these parts of the woods) so I'm combining all these days into one HUGE thing. I'm very grateful for my children. I'm grateful for their smiles, laughs, tears, anger moments, bad moments, misunderstandings, love, but most of all- I'm grateful that I have them. I have been in a state of turmoil over losing babies, a son, and now the possibility of ever having that one last baby my heart aches for. I should be grateful that my house is filled with the six children I have, but alas, my heart has been aching for more and I have spit on what I do have(really not intending to, but kind of what happened). I want to be able to be happy with what I have, I need to be happy, but it's a hard thing to do when your heart and mind are playing tug-of-war against one another. So, a new day, a new chance to be ever so grateful and love all that I DO HAVE! So, this is my blessing for these days and I vow to remember it and cherish all my children and pray for their continued health and happiness. Giving thanks and praise always to the Man upstairs for all that He has blessed me with.

Day 17

I'm very grateful for nap time! I know it's a silly thing to be grateful for, but one that is needed a lot everyday. I love my kids, but they can be a handful sometimes and this blessed time of the day known as nap time, gives me the recharge I need. I get to sit and either craft, blog, or catch up on house duties that I have fallen behind on while playing with my children. I love this time also because of the quiet it brings. When all the children are sleeping and nothing is on or making noise in the house, it is SO peaceful. I get a lot of thinking done during these times and it is great! I love to just sit in a quiet space and hear myself think and appreciate all that I do have. It helps me put life into perspective in a very deep way.

I also love that I get time to browse other blogs and get inspired to make something or try something new, like making the homemade baby wipes. I've also tried out making my own dryer sheets, and let me just tell you, they work like a charm. You just cut 3 sponges in half and put them in a container and pour some fabric softener in and let them soak. Every time you need a dryer sheet, pull a sponge out and ring it out and throw it in the dryer with your clothes. You then put it back in the container when your load is done. Reduce Reuse Recycle baby, that's what it's all about. It may be a small thing, but I feel I'm doing my part and saving some cash at the same time. This is what my glorious nap time lets me do. I love it and will miss it when it's gone, because, oh yes, it will be gone soon. My babies are becoming not so baby anymore and nap time is slowly drifting away. I will HATE it when that day comes! But for now, I am extremely grateful for it.

Day 15 & 16

So again, I'm combining two days. I am very grateful for this one huge thing. I'm grateful for groups that are forming to bring about a new awareness to the world. I'm talking about the awareness for children suffering a horrible disease that they shouldn't- CANCER! No parent should ever have to hear the words "your child has cancer." It's horrible and I hope to never hear it again and hope that no one near me has to hear theses words. It shakes your world and changes you and your family forever, no matter what the outcome. Unfortunately, I'm sure this will happen due to the research for these type of cancers get little or no funding. I'm grateful for the groups of people, myself included, who have said "enough is enough, save our children." There's a great movement beginning to get more money for research and for, hopefully, cures so that our children do not have to suffer. I'm grateful that we as a group can be heard and as the awareness begins to grow we will be heard and hopefully our children will get what they so deserve-to live, healthy, long lives!

I put this video link on here asking for you to watch it. Let me warn you, it is a very difficult thing to watch, but I believe every person should see it. It brings the awareness of what families and children experience to light. God bless and hopefully we will cure our children sooner, rather than later.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=JI4h7u4yNC8

Day 12

Today I'm grateful for talents! I love that Heavenly Father has given each of us special talents. I'm thankful for the opportunity to grow my talents and to teach my children to foster theirs. Today was a special day concerning talents. My lovely Alexis won the Award of Excellence for her school's Reflections contest. She was the only one in her age group that won. I'm so proud of her and glad that she is fostering her talent. She has many, as I'm sure most people do, and I'm glad she knows and loves them all. I enjoy practicing my talents and am thankful for the ability to do so.

Day 11

Today I'm thankful for my dad, my FIL, and all the other men and women who have served this country and who are still serving. I have many family members who are/were veterans and it takes a lot of bravery to do what they do. I think many of us would not be here if it weren't for these honarable men and women, so my heart full of gratitude for their service goes out to them.

A Little Late to the Thankful Party

As I'm sitting here coughing up a storm and watching my voice disappear, it dawns on me that it's the 10th of November and I haven't been posting what I'm thankful for. You see, I had it all in my mind that I would post one thing that I'm thankful for everyday throughout the month. Well, busy mommy taking care of everyone who is sick, I forgot. So better late than never.

Day 1 Time I have with my dad

Day 2 The opportunity to vote and let my voice be heard

Day 3 My girls and the joy on their faces as they rehearse for a play

Day 4 My boys and Bella- being able to play with them all day

Day 5 School and the joy it brings to the kids when they love learning new things

Day 6 The changing seasons, it's miraculous!

Day 7 Daylight Savings Time- love when I get that "extra" hour

Day 8 The changing weather, I love when it's all rainy and I can be cozy with a blanket

Day 9 The hubs and his help with our sick little ones

Day 10 Being sick- It reminds me how I love being well and to try and stay healthy more.

So here's my list so far. I have a lot to be thankful for and reminded to think of all that I have. We all have our challenges and stresses, and although they might not be the same, we all need to remember to count our blessings even during the hard times. It's funny how I forget this so much. I dwell sometimes, okay a lot, on the things that I have lost(or the people) and it brings me so down. I hope to remember a little more at what I DO have and not grumble at what's been lost. I have a great many of blessings to be counting, so I should count them one by one.

Showing some extra love for the hubs

I decided I wanted to take a different approach to our date nights. I wanted to do some fun, eventful, dates, so every month I will take a little more time in planning our nights out.

We have usually just set up dinner and a movie, or dinner and chatting. Don't get me wrong, we love getting out, and we haven't been doing it much until late, but I wanted to show the hubs how much I love him with spending some time coming up with funny themes for our dates.

We had been talking about the "choose your own adventure books" with Alexis and we were sad that she had never heard of them before. An idea popped into my head for a theme for our date. I also thought it would be nice if we made it a double date with our friends Liz and Scott. It's nice that the hubs and Scott get along SO well. It's like they were cut from the same cloth.

Any who, here's the invite I gave him a week before our date night. To say the least, he was quite intrigued and excited.

I made up rhymes/clues to 5 different restaurants the boys both liked and they had to choose which one they wanted to go to. On our way there we had car tasks that everyone had to do. We did things like sing "Popcorn popping on the apricot tree" with exaggerated hand gestures , rock out to "talk radio", party and dance with blaring music until the light changes, etc. Then when we got to the restaurant we had restaurant tasks. Each of us chose one out of an envelope and had to complete it before dinner was over. We then had 5 rhymes/clues for our activity and the boys had to choose which one they wanted do. We ended the night with dessert at Sonic. We all had a blast and laughed all through the night.
This is what I gave the hubs for just lovin' him this month. I filled it with some of his favorite candies(which are gone now) and he was surprised when he came home and found it. I'm just glad he enjoys the little things I do for him and I need to remember that it was the two of us before our crazy bunch arrived. So here's to showing the hubs a little affection and appreciation.

New Mantra

God doesn't give us what we can't handle;

God helps us handle what we are given.

I am a child of God and He loves me and I put all my trust in him!

Kaleigh's 9th Birthday

FUN IN THE SUMMER SUN!

Kaleigh's invitations for her party.

We put an otter pop in each one with this saying...

I'd OTTERly love it if you

could POP on by for some fun,

summer birthday fun.

She was so excited to be able to have a friend party this year and we came up with "summer fun in the sun," as our theme.

She loves being 9 and is having a blast!

We love her so much and we're glad she is a part of our family. She is so bubbly and can give smack like no other. She fits right in and really can dish it out just like her daddy.

I've been procrastinating this post because it turned out horrible for her and for me to see my 9 year old in tears sitting on our grass. She invited 7 of her good friends and she was excited to play all the games we came up with. We had a balloon catching game, silly string tag, tug-of-war over the filled kiddie pool, water sponge ball game, and of course her cake and cupcakes. It all came to a screaming halt about 20 minutes into her party time.

I hadn't received any RSVP's but just thought people just would show up. Insert my BIGGEST pet peeve-no one RSVPing whether coming or not. Well not one of her friends showed up. Picture that cute, bubbly girl, balling on the grass. Heart-breaking!!! We called up some cousins to see if they could quickly come over and a couple of neighborhood kids who weren't doing anything and our very upset lit'l girl was once again happy.


These were our party favors. I didn't want to just give trinkets that would break in about 5 minutes, nor did I want to give them a ton of candy. Insert the dollar tree, I found these cute beach buckets, bubbles, water, silly string, and chalk. I made 8 of them and the total worked out to be only $3 per kid. Not bad if I say so myself. Love that Dollar Tree store.
We added the leis at the last minute(I got them awhile ago at Walmart in the clearance section)and the candy was left over after making the cake and cupcakes. I fancied up the water and bubbles with some cute paper to tie into her theme. Each kid got to pick the colors of sponge strips to make their own sponge ball and then they got to take them home.

I love these little waters, perfect size for the kiddos.

The beachy, ocean cupcakes. Kaleigh loved them and so did all the kiddos.

I made a surfboard to serve the cupcakes on. I know the fin goes on the bottom, but K wanted a pic of herself on it. The birthday girl gets what she wants on her party day.

Here it is with all the cupcakes on it. The kids were thrilled to find out they each could have TWO!! Wanna make kids' day... give them more cake to eat. They'll love ya for it!!!

I like to make a little cake for the kids at their friend party. Kaleigh absolutely loves sharks, so I made this one for her especially. The cake was rainbow too, which she also loves.

It was windy outside, so the second we lit the candle it blew out. We sang "Happy Birthday" to her and she dug in and ate the shark right away.

Friends and Family enjoying their good eats.

We gave her our presents we had for her and she was over the moon when she saw them. I made 2 hair clips for her, one was a flower and the other one was a corker ribbon bow. I used them in place of a bow and it turned out really cute.

This is one outfit we gave her. It came with some guitar leggings and a skirt. She also got a new pair of pants and a bop it game. Alexis has one and Kaleigh has been wanting one ever since.

Here are the leggings that go with the shirt. She loves them and put them on first thing Monday morning. Glad I could make her happy and I was very glad we could find some friends and cousins to attend the party. I was afraid she was going to hate this birthday. In the end we found out that it just so happened that all her friends she had invited all had other family plans that day. It would have been nice if the parents had RSVPed, but oh well. I think however, if it ever happens again with another friend party I will not be doing them anymore. I just don't want to see my kiddos so upset again.

Craftin', Bakin', and Pluckin' the garden, make this woman VERY satisfied!

I love being busy! And man, have I've been busy with tons of stuff and it's only getting busier for me and my bunch. You would think summer was our busy time, but nope, come August, we don't stop until the end of January. I guess that's what ya get when you have four birthday children within 2 months. Then we have the 3 major holidays and closely followed by the oldster's birthday(and it's a big one, she'll be 12 ya know-insert tears welling up). Anywho, I love creating new things out of old and trying my hand at new things. I also LOVE, LOVE, LOVE finding treasures at the D.I. I found this lovely beauty... It used to be a cork message board, but the cork was all scratched(knifed up is what the hubs called it) and it had drawings and some sticky stuff on it. I saw its great potential and for only $8 it was a steal! It is really big and thick and I had to have it for our new craft room.

So began the transformation. I took it all apart so I could cover it with fabric and spray paint the frame. The frame was in really good condition, It just didn't match the decor in the room.
Here's the piece all covered and ribbon on it to make it my new message board. I love the birdie fabric. I love it because Bella says "birdie" everytime she sees it.
And here it is all done. We hung it up on the wall in the dining/new craft room. I love it and can't wait until the room is all done!

I also made up some stuff for Kaleigh's party. We were going for some summer water fun. What's better than buckets of water and throwing homemade sponge balls. This was so simple, but the kids LOVED it so much. I just went to the $ store and bought a pack of sponges.

You cut each sponge into 3 long strips

Then you stack 9 strips together and tie with twine and VOILA...a homemade sponge ball! I let the kids pick their colors so each one was unique and it was a craft project for them at the same time. I just did this one to show them how they would look.

I have also feel in love with the corker hairbows that we see everywhere. However, they start to add up when you have 3 girls who love hairstuff. These bows are sold in boutiques and at kid to kid, but cost about $5 for one. Way too rich for my blood these days, so i decided to try making them myself-guess what, they are super easy!

You just wrap your ribbon on dowels and bake them!

Then you unwrap them after 25 minutes of baking and this is what I had. I cut each strip into 3 pieces(4 inches) and just sewed a bunch together.

Then I wrapped an alligator clip with ribbon and hot glued the corker bow on top and voila... the cutest little hair bows ever. I love making things that my kids wear and I'm getting really good at it. The hubs says I should sell them because I like making them so much.

Oh how i love fresh garden veggies. Aren't these gorgeous! Unfortunately, the rest of the garden didn't turn out so well, but we did get about 10 lovely zucchinis. Maybe it'll go better next year when I have more time to help with the garden. Poor hubs, he was so frustrated with the garden that he nuked it a week ago with weed killer. Oh well, we'll just try again!

I have also been trying out my new recipe concoctions. I've had this one in my head and wanted to try it out. I think I have finally come up with the best blueberry muffins! I've been trying at this for awhile now. They have been either too dry or too sweet, but this one is so YUMMY!

Blueberry Crumb Muffins

3 c flour 2/3 c oil

1 1/2 c sugar 2eggs

1 tsp. salt 2/3 c whole milk

4 tsp. baking powder 3 c fresh blueberries(Costco's are great)

Topping

1 c sugar 1/2 c butter 2/3 c flour 3 tsp cinnamon

Mix sugar, eggs, milk and oil together. Add salt, flour, baking powder, into the wet ingredients. Fold blueberries in. Drop into cupcake liners and fill about half way. Mix the topping ingredients together until crumbly and sprinkle some over each muffin. Bake at 400 degrees for 20-25 minutes. Eat and Enjoy!

This is one yummy, easy dessert that is quick too.

Ice Cream Cake

24 ice cream sandwiches

16 oz tub of cool whip

whole bottle of magic shell

In a 9 X 13 pan lay out 12 of the sandwiches(unwrapped in case ya didn't know), you need to kinda of squish them so they all fit. Then spread half of the cool whip over the top, then layer the next 12 sandwiches on top. Spread the remaining cool whip on top and then pour the magic shell on top. Put it in the freezer for at least an hour. Slice and serve. People will be amazed at how easy and DELISH this is. There are so many flavors of ice cream sandwiches, you can make all kinds of cake. This one was Neapolitan layer and a vanilla layer with heath topping.

Eat and Enjoy!