The Most AMAZING Day Ever!

Today was FREE ICE CREAM day at Ben and Jerry's. So we took a trip up there to get a free single cone for each of us. It was fantastic! We all loved it. Then we went to the Store to pick a couple of things up. We had to pass Ben and Jerry's on the way home...you guessed it, we got another cone.

The kids say I am the best mom ever! I hope they remember that tomorrow when they get made at me.

Some stress over

Laurel Just called me and told me that we do not have Girl Scouts this Wednesday, it is next Wednesday. YES! One stress down.

Then I went to school and found where the new flag pole it (I had been trying to get the old flag pole to work). It is really nice to we are going to work on the ceremony today after school. This will be the Girls first flag ceremony and I know they are scared, but they will do a good job.

Today is Ben and Jerry's free ice cream day starting at noon. Tomorrow is 31cent night at 31 flavors. I am really excited. Normally I don't eat a lot of ice cream. But today we will be having fun!!!

Botanical Gardens

They have a big slide in the middle of a big tree(not real, in case you were wondering).
Logan sitting on a big turnip.
Kellsie loves potatoes. If I could cook it, she would eat it.
There is a big walk in pumpkin there. Jakob always thinks it is real. Jeff lifted him up to touch the seeds. Oh the JOY!
This is a pic from the Zoo a couple weeks ago. I put the wrong one in. Sorry.

More pics of the Gardens

All three of the kids. At the same time. Mostly smiling.
Jakob hates to look at the camera. I guess I should be lucky he sat still.
Kellsie and some way cute yellow tulips behind her. Boy is she growing up. My little baby girl!
Logan likes to pose looking "Cool". I think he worked it out.
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They have a big watering can and Kellsie was pretending to turn the water on. Jakob was a little sad that it really didn't turn on any water.

Last week we went to the Biotanical Gardens. Here are some pics

What kids learn

This is a picture of Jakob hugging Jeff. Do you see the "Looser" sign that he is holding up? Where did he learn that?
Here is a picture of Jakob making another "Looser" Sign. Where did he learn that?
Another pic of Jakob making a "Looser" Sign. Where did he learn that?
Here is a cute pic of Kellise and look who is behind her making a "looser" sign. That is right. Good old JEFF!

One Crazy Week

Sometimes things get really crazy...like this week.

Today-I dropped the kids off at school. I went to pick up the flag from the PTO room (they forgot to buy it, so they went to buy it today, I hope). I went to the flag pole and tried to get the lock off it. All the keys the school gave me do not work. So I was trying to think of how I am going to get the flag up there.

Then I went to the library to pick up containers that Brandie is using for her book fair. Of course two of them are missing and I went to buy a couple at the dollar store. I took them to Brandie and went home.

I cleaned the garage for 1/2 hour then took Jakob to preschool and watched Andrew while I cleaned the down stairs.

After School I went to pick up the tshirts for multicultural day, walmart, the Bank, and the ceramic store. We came home and I made dinner, poured ceramics and fired ceramics and organized all the ceramics while the kids were playing out front (do you see why I should be thinner?).

Tue- back to cleaning the garage, work on the Flag Ceremony with the girl scouts (and Hope I can find a way to keep the flag on the pole) pour and fire ceramics, clean upstairs and Judo

Wed- Preschool with Jakob and watching Andrew. Pour and fire one more batch of ceramics. Set up the tables and get the ceramic molds all set up for Thursday. Work on the flag ceremony. Girl Scouts field trip at 4pm. After I get home I am running to help Brandie with her Clifford night at the Book Fair.

Thurs- Multicultural day from 8:30 to 1:30. Help clean up. Run home and pour a whole mess of ceramics. At 5:30 12 girl scouts are coming over to do a Ceramic Badge. At 7pm I have a meeting for Girl Scout Day camp.

Fri- If I am still alive...help PTO with popcorn and help Librarian move some books (I know you are thinking about how fun that sounds, so if you have some time feel free to drop by and HELP)

Sat- Wake up and be to the cub scout breakfast at 7pm (Jeff has off, so he is going to help me). At 7:30 I am leaving to go to the cannery. Kellsie has a Daddy Daughter dance with Girl Scouts that night, so I will come home and try to put together a costume (Fairytale character. Jeff is not happy. But he will deal with it or else).

Sun- I am having a brake down. After Church I am sleeping all day. Next week will be better. Well... we will see.

Time to vent again

So about 20 min ago I heard a thud in back of the house ( it is 10:06pm right now). Jeff runs upstairs to look out the window and a car has overturned on the street behind us. The people got out of the car ok and told people they were fine. I called the police to help them. And within 10 min one police car shows up. The a min latter another one shows up. Within 15 min four police cars, a paramedic truck and a fire truck all pull up. I am glad. About time.

And then I start to think. I called the police about a year ago telling them we had been robbed and I was not sure if the robbers were still in the house. I told them I was alone and that I had three small kids with me. It took them over 1 hour to get to my house. My husband got there way before the police and he had a 30-45 min drive from work. WHAT??? And then they didn't even take finger prints or pictures.

I really am saddened by the criminal system. Our Jails are over crowed, so we can't send too many people to jail. Well, when my kids do something wrong they get sent to their rooms. Their rooms do not have TV. People who get sent to Jail have play yards and TV and can get free schooling. Why wouldn't you go to jail. I would love to go to jail. My point? Now that jail is so fun and so full, we are making deals with other people and sending them back into the street. This overwhelms our police and they are unable to help everyone, so we just pray nothing bad happens where we have to call the police.

I hope next time I get robbed it is at 10pm at night. Maybe then someone will come and help me.

Back to the rolled car. They are ok. I am sure they are scared, but they are walking around fine.

Just one little light...

So today was kinda stressful. Kellsie has been coughing for 10 days now. No other symptoms. So I call the DR today and got her into see him. She has Pneumonia. Poor Baby. He gave her antibiotics and an inhaler. She is all excited because she has always wanted asma (did I spell that right?) and how she can pretend. Crazy girl.

When I got home from the Dr's there was a message from the surgeons nurse (at least someone called me back). She talked to the Dr and the Dr wants to meet with us on May 5th (Jeff's birthday) and go over exactly what we will be doing for the surgery and then she will do a write up and submit it to insurance so everything is taken care of before we get to the surgery date.

What was that? Some Dr actually caring about my child and our bank account. The nurse who has been so helpful is Anne. I told her today that I love her so much that I would blog about her today. So I am keeping my promise. I LOVE YOU ANNE! YOU ARE MY FAVORITE!!!

Kellsie is resting now. She can go back to school on Monday. We are not going anywhere on Saturday. I don't know about church on Sunday. She in not contagious, but she might be tired, we will see what happens latter.

Zoo Field Trip

Three weeks ago, Jeff, Jakob and myself went to the zoo with Kellsie for her class field trip. We had a lot of fun. Since so many parents went we only had to take one other student with us. Thank heavens it was a good friend of Kellsie's. Here name was Melanie. Here are some pictures.
The volunteers brought out the porcupine. The kids and Jeff were able to get pretty close.
Why is the best part of the zoo, feeding the ducks?

In the reptile house (my personal favorite) they have a dino bone. Here are Kellsie and Melanie touching the bone.
Kellsie's feet got tired and her loving, caring, cool dad gave her a ride.

Rant

On the news most of you have seen the stories about the FLDS who have had their kids taken away for child abuse. Just my random thoughts...

I AM TICKED! I can't believe any mother would stand by and let her kids be abused. I think the very thought is...well I can't say those words. We are sent here to earth to protect our children, not turn a blind eye. No excuse!

I understand the mothers going on TV asking for their children back. They should be hurting that they were taking away. They should be emotionally scared for life! Because their kids will be scared for life!

Where are the men? My husband would never let me face the firing line alone! Nor would he ever sit back if his kids were taken. Why aren't they on TV asking for their kids back?

Don't sit behind religious persecution. You don't even know religious persecution. Pick up a book!God would never ask parents to put there children in harms way (well I guess there was Abraham and Issac, but that was a little bit different and I don't think we can compare any of those men with the Prophet Abraham). Stand up and be a man!

These poor kids. They have grown up thinking this is a normal way of life. I am all for modest clothes and sheltered children, this is not what I am talking about. This is against the Law. More than one wife and marrying underage children is wrong. They knew it! That is why they stayed away from people. But the children don't know this. Now we are taking them away from the only life they have lived. Tossing them into a world they don't know and can't understand. So many emotions. I feel for these children. I hope and pray they go to good families and get good help for all they have gone through.

I hope the mother's eyes are open. If they do get their kids back, I hope they protect them! They had better protect them!

Thanks for listening to my rant.

Also for those of you who are not Mormon. This is not us! We are good people. Kind people. Law obeying people!

Now what?

While I was fixing dinner I loaded the dishwasher (multi tasting as always) and it started running, but I didn't hear any water. So I opened it and DRY! No water! I waiting until Jeff got home and he tried a couple things and still no water.

I went to Judo and called Jeff and told him how scared I was. The thought of washing dished by hand again scared me. I don't know if I could do it. The amount of dishes we go through in a day is...well...a lot! I told him if he fixed it by the time I got home, I would buy him ice cream.

When I got home the dishwasher was running perfectly! I didn't get the ice cream yet, but I will get some tomorrow.

Thanks Jeff! You Da Man!

So Proud

Tonight was Logan's Judo class. And this is the night that he if officially promoted. We were suppose to go as a family (except Kellsie because she had Faith in God class tonight) and cheer him on. But Kellsie still has that horrible cough and she stayed home with Jeff and Jakob.

I was excited to go, since I had missed the testing part of it. After They gave him the belt, he shook hands with everyone. They all lined up and threw him. Tradition every time you earn another rank. 13 men all took turns throwing him. It was cool to watch. But now Logan is in the tub soaking because one of the new guys threw him a little too hard and Logan's neck and back are soar. I am sure he will make it!

Anyway, on the way home we were talking about how exciting it was. And I told him that I was really proud of him. He said" I am proud of me too, mom". I think his self esteem is fine.

YOU ROCK LOGAN!

I HATE INSURANCE!!!

Kellsie has bad feet/legs, we all know that. She had been seeing a specialist on feet and ankles from July 4th to end of DEC last year. He said they would have to do major surgery to fix her feet. He told us he didn't feel comfortable doing it and referred me to the children's hospital here. I called our insurance and verified they are in our network. I also checked their website and verified the same information. I then called the hospital to make the apt and verified with them that they do take Cigna.

I went to the apt on Jan 28th. I paid the 35.00 specialist co pay. The Dr looked at Kellsie for about 10 min and told me I had to see another Dr.

We took Kellsie back the next day, paid another 35.00 and saw another Dr. This Dr set us down the hall to get xrays taken (we brought our xrays from the prev Dr, but he did not take them right, so we paid money for them for NOTHING)! She said the inserts the prev Dr had Kellsie using were causing major problems and hurting her feet. She said Kellsie needed surgery on her legs, not her feet.

A month latter I get bills saying I have to pay 750 deductible (not my normal 250. in network). I called insurance, they said that children's hospital billed under UNM hospital not Carry Tingly Hospital so they would not cover at my normal coverage. WHAT??? SO I called the hospital and told them the problem, they would have to bill under the correct name. They will not! So I call the nurse person at the hospital who was setting up the surgery and she said she would work with her billing person to get ever thing worked out.

Ann (the nurse) called to give another date for the pre opt apt and I asked her about the insurance. She had not done anything. I told her the problem I was having and she gave me another number to talk to and see if they would re bill under carry tingle hospital.

I called the new number (the UNM business line) and they told me that Carry Tingle Hospital is covered by cigna, but the Dr.'s are not. Again, WHAT??? I told her I called everyone to verify that everyone was covered and they all said yes. But that doesn't really matter, does it. She said to call insurance and see if they would cover the Dr's under an umbrella clause.

I called the insurance and Dixi ( I am on first name basis with everyone at the insurance now) said that most of the insurance things have been fixed, because the name UNM Hospital that they originally billed was still under my in network plan (all this stress for what?). Then she tells me that I still owe money. WHAT??? The hospital billed those office visits at outpatient procedures. Dixi said they would have to re bill as Dr visits. She also said to get the procedure codes for the surgery and casting and call back and they would give me the amounts that I would be charged for the surgery.

I call the business hospital line back and tell them what the insurance said. She said she would have to talk to her manager. FUNNY!

I called Anne back, she gave me the procedure codes.

I called the insurance back. I gave them the codes, they said thank you. I asked them how much it is going to cost me and they can not tell me that information. That is even funnier. I tell her I just talked to Dixi and she told me to do this. But no, the hospital has to sub in writing the codes and authorization. Then the insurance will fax them back and tell them what they will cover and if they are in network or not.

So I call and leave a message for Anne asking her to get with Shirly (another billing person) and see if she can fax all that stuff.

So I didn't get anything done. I am still waiting on a call back from the person talking to her manager. And I have to wait to hear from Anne on if she can get shirly to do all the paperwork. That was 2 hours out of my day that I can never get back. And of course the insurance cannot call the hospital and work this out. That would be too much time on their part.

So, we might have to take a second mortgage out to pay for Kellsie's surgery, or we might only own 250.00 plus 20%, who knows. It is all a crap shoot anyways!

I need a nap. I need headache meds, I need some dang customer service! I need to go pick up the kids from school. Update you latter, or maybe not, it is all out of my hands!

Logan update

Logan tested for his Orange belt today and he passed! We are so proud of him. He worked really hard to know all his throws and holds. I wish I could have been there to see it. But Jeff said he did great!

Sick Day

Kellsie was up all last night coughing. She has yucky stuff in her chest and we can't seem to get rid of it. Since she was up last night, I told her she was staying home today to get better. She has already taken 2 baths to soak up as much steam as she could get. I have her on musenex medicine that is suppose to help along with Vit C. She is also drinking tons of water. She already sounds better today, but we will see what tonight brings us.

I am going to Time Out for Women tonight and tomorrow. I am feeling a little guilty, because I am having to pass on some kid things that I would really like to be at. Logan is testing for his orange belt tomorrow and Kellsie had a mother daughter tea party with Girl Scouts that we could have gone to. Every once in a while I try to do something for just me, but I always fell massively guilty about it. Wish I could get over that. Jeff is taking off Saturday, so he can take Logan to Judo and possibly take the kids to the Bio Park.

He is working on overnight on Saturday night and on Sunday morning he is having an store meeting. He would have missed church with the overnight, so he is killing 2 birds with one stone. That means I have three kids with no hubby for church. Sounds like it is going to be a fun day on Sunday.

Tagged Again

My niece Laura tagged me. I love these.
a new one....
-If you were an animal...which would you be? A cat, not that I paticualry like them, but I would love to take naps whenever I wanted and I would love if someone else had to clean the bathroom (littler box)

-If you were a city...which would you be? San Diego. I really liked living there. Lots of beaches, tons of things to do and I loved the weather. NO SNOW BABY!-

-If you were a flower...which would you be? A pink carnation. Those are my favorite and they last forever. Jeff just bought me roses last week and they dies within days. Carnations last well over a week and they are totally cute!

-If you were a vegetable...which would you be? A baked potato with lots of butter!

-If you were a color...which would you be? Pink.! I love pink! It is a happy color and Jeff hates it, which only makes me love it more.

-If you were a fruit...which would you be? Pineapple or strawberry-If you were a month...which would you be? Tough one… December. Normally I would say something in summer, but I really like Christmas. I love setting up my nativity sets and the spirit of Christmas is amazing!

-If you were a shoe...which would you be? a flip flop.....

-If you were a vehicle...which would you be? Right now I would be a minivan (just my stage in life) But I will soon (in the next 5-10 year) a cute jeep or something like that. NO CAR SEATS!

-If you were an appliance...which would you be? Ice Cream maker

-If you were a Disney Character...which would you be? Peter Pan. Mostly because he could stay a child forever and have no responsibility. And I think it would be cool to fly.

-If you were a dessert...which would you be? cheesecake

-If you were any time of the day...which would you be? Dinner time when Jeff is cooking

-If you were a cereal...which would you be? Captain Crunch with Crunch berries or Lucky Charms

-If you were an instrument...which would you be? a guitar

I tag Laurel, Roxie, Amanda, Chris, and anybody else who wants to join in.

Another Field Trip

As the end of the school year approaches I find myself going on lots of field trips with the kids. Last Thursday is was the Children's museum with Logan's class and this Thursday it was the Zoo with Kellsie's class.

Since I seem to go to the Zoo all the time I made Jeff take the day off and go with me and Jakob. It was so much fun. I love going to the zoo when I don't have to take care of the kids all by myself.

Since I have a background check done with the school district, I can take a part of the class by myself. There were so many parents there with background checks that I was able to take Kellsie and one friend with us. Very nice.

Jakob loved having Jeff there! They are starting to bond way too much.

Logan

So on Saturday at 12noon Logan is testing for his Orange belt in Judo. This is really a hard one for him as he has to know all the points and terms for competition. He will have to know them in English and In Japanese. He also has to know 4 throws and 2 holds. He knows them really well, but it is still hard for him to say them in English and Japanese. I have faith. He is working hard. We have made him flash cards with all the words and we go over them a couple times a day

In May we go back to PALS for Judo (it is free, so I love it). PALS heater has been broken, so the man who runs is (Jessie) let us go to his Do Jo until the other one is ready. Jakob cannot wait, because as soon as we go back to PALS he will get to start doing Judo. He already knows a good number of moves, because Logan has taught him.

Anyways, keep Logan in your prayers. He is really nervous and he need to remain calm. Hey what year was Judo founded? 1882. That is right one more useless fact that will could my brain. I also know the name of the body drop throw, I just can't spell it.

Tagged - I have not been tagged yet. This is my first one. I am so excited!!!

1. 10 years ago: I was 22 just about ready to celebrate my 1 year anniversary with Jeff. We just moved into our first home in San Diego. I was working as a Funding Manager at a Mortgage Company. And I was serving as 3rd counselor in Primary at Church (all you LDS people heard that right. We had so many kids that the Bishop said there could be 3 counselors). I also had blonde hair.

2. 5 things on my to-do list today:Take stuff to Goodwill, Laundry, Pour, clean and fire ceramics,

Dishes and do homework with the kids ( I know, some very major stuff going on in my life, how will I make it)!

3. Snacks I enjoy:Girl Scout Cookies!!!, Girl Scout Cookies!!!, Girl Scout Cookies!!!

4. What I would do if I were suddenly made a billionaire: I would move far away from ALBUQUERQUE! I would move to Austin Texas and put my kids in GOOD schools. I would go to Disney World and Disney Land every other month. I would help my brothers and sisters get caught up on their student loans and life in general. I would buy Somberros burritos and place one in each city, so where ever I go, I could eat a special burrito. I would buy a shed for Jeff to store all of his collections ( I mean crap) in. I would buy Massive amounts of Girl Scout Cookies! I would travel and pay for our families to come and visit.

5. 5 places I have lived:San Diego, California, Austin Texas, El Paso Texas, Albuquerque New Mexico, Provo Utah

6. 5 jobs that I have had: Mc Donalds ( I dressed up as Grimice and did the Birthday parties on Saturdays), Hostess at Brick Oven Pizza, Crafter, Processor at mortgage company, Funding Manager at Mortgage Company,

7. 5 Random Things people don't know about me: I hate to cook ( I guess most people know that), I dye my hair (you might know that too), I love Girl Scout cookies (that might be out of the bag also), I like the Beach Boys (the songs, not the singers), I hate to clean (not a big surprise either). I have a very open life I think.

8. People I tag: Laurel, Roxy, Amanda, Laura, Chris and Melanie (Gina I would tag you, but you don't have a blog. So get one up and running and I will tag you!

Going Green

So I watched a show on Operah a couple months ago and they were talking about "Saving the Planet". A couple things they said really inspired me to be better at how I do things around the house.

So at dinner that night I was talking to the kids (and Jeff) about the show and that they said if each person would use one less napkin a day that would save XXX amount of trees.

Of course my hippy daughter is now a believer. She wanted to start using cloth napkins, less harmful cleaning products and recycle. That is all fine and good, but guess who gets to do most of the work for that stuff? It might not be that bad, we will see.

Kellsie and I went to walmart to pick out some material for napkins. I sewed them today, so tonight we will be making our earth a better place to live.

I have been cleaning with vingegar as much as possible. Good thing the smell goes away.

Kellsie is saving cans for our church Humanitarian aid (we really don't drink soda, but she is still saving them).

I really do need to watch what I am tossing in the trash and get better at that. Heavenly Father gave us this earth to live on and I feel bad giving it back to him looking like it does tight now. Anyway, just a thought.

Making Money!!!

For those of you who have emailed, phone or posted to the blog telling me to sell the glasses for money...

We have already checked eBay. The only thing that might sell are the sets of star wars cups. A set of 4 should sell for around 10.00. That is not enough for Jeff, so he already wrapped those up and is keeping them for our children (sorry Kellsie).

The other cups are already washed and put into the cabinets. I had to move all the hot chocolate mugs to make room for the wrestling cup. That one is the worst.

Why Me???

Many of you have heard (maybe endlessly) about my husband and his collections. His massive amounts of baseball cards that we move from house to house. His records (even though we don't have a record player), His Tshirts, Star wars figures, and the list goes on and on. The computer room walk in closed is packed with his CRAP, I mean collections.

I think it runs in the family. His older brother Tim has massive amounts of Tshirts himself. And who knows what other crazy stuff he has in his closets. Jeff's niece Laura has some crazy collections herself: Spoons, shot glasses, purses, beaded necklaces and now coasters (sorry girl, but you know it is true, I have seen your blog pictures). And Kim would amaze you (did you think you were safe?). She has so many Christmas decorations that she can decorate by theme! Her favorite theme is snowmen (I love those myself and I keep buying them for her, so I am not helping).

Anyways, I just broke my last glass cup. All I have left is plastic. Jeff and I have been talking about getting a matching set. A nice set, for when people come over, so they don't have to drink out of plastic kid cups.

Today, Jeff brings me a box out of the garage. A box I had wiped from my memory, or at least I tried. He unwraps 41 glass cups with various people and cartoons: roadrunner, pacman, Wendy the witch, star wars (2 complete collections), baseball, buffalo bills (a whole set of these, I am so lucky) and my all time favorite...are you ready?...I really think you should set down for this...a WWF (that would be World Wrestling Federation for you none Wrestling people) cup with Hulk Hogan appearing front and center.

If you think I am making this up, then you must see the following photos. Enjoy! These are my new glasses for when company comes over.

Believe me now?

Our Garden

A picture I forgot to include in the last post. It is our entertainment center. The TV does look out of place because it is silver. A black one would look nicer, but we are still not getting one this year.
Here is Logan and Jeff watering the garden. We plants tons of peppers, tomatoes, carrots, cucumbers, zuccinni, strawberries, corn, glarlic and pumpkins will go in soon.
Kellsie was in charge of most of the front flowers and the herb garden begind her. She did a really good job and the flowers look great!
Jakob picked all the flowers at walmart, but he only wanted to plant one. The white one he is pointing out in the picture. He helped with the garden a lot, but only helped with one flower.

Living Room pics

Here is the living room as you walk down the hallway from the front door. Notice the curtains that I picked out all by myself. I am very proud. The pic frames handing on the wall are red (that is my accent color).
Here are the floating shelves that Jeff bought from STaples on clearance for 1.50 each. SCORE! I still think we need one more in the middle, but we are still working that out. Jeff thinks that he is getting a tv that hangs on the wall that will look really good in the middle. I think he is crazy and we should put another shelf up.
THe sofa is pushed too far over, but you get the idea. The Temple pics are ones that Jeff gave me for Christmas. He took them himself and framed them for me. In the corner is a black metal shelf. I got it at a garage sale for 15.00. I could have hagled a little, but I didn't .
Here is my "sofa table" that I put against the wall. If you look close there are tiles on top. They are really cool. I have already taken off two of the statues and replaced them with pics of the kids in red frames.
Here is our side/lamp table. Tiles on top of this one too. The blue thing in the picture is a mop handle that Jakob likes to stick up into each of my pictures, because he thinks it is funny. IT IS NOT FUNNY!

So we have been working on our living room. We have new furnature for the room and we have been putting up shelves, curtains and pictures. Let me know what you think (as long as you like it, because I am not changing it).

Logan's best day EVER!

Logan's tooth finally came out. This is a very big deal because this is his first loose tooth. All his friends have lost a tooth or more already and he was feeling a little left behind. BUT NOT ANYMORE!

He asked Jeff tonight to pull it out. I have to laugh, because kids say they want it pulled out, but when you get your fingers around it, they start screaming. Logan didn't . Jeff pulled and pulled (Jeff said it really wasn't ready to come out today, but Logan never cried) until it came out! What a man! So I will post a picture when it stops bleeding and grossing me out.

Logan

Multicultral Day

At school we are having a multicultural day. It is on May1st from 8:30am to 1:30pm at Carlos Rey Elementary School. They have a bunch of people coming and selling stuff (kinda like a craft fair). There will also be lots of tables and entertainment from other countries. It was amazing last year and it will be even better this year.

Everyone is welcome and it is free! I know, I love free too. Kellsie's class is working on England. They are doing a huge poster and doing a performance. They are singing "Let it be" by the beetles. I am going shopping for round sunglasses and gathering big cardboard to make guitars. I am really excited about the whole thing.

If you are interested in selling your crafts there, the table is free, just email me or call me and let me know, so I can get your name on the list.

And if you want to host a table with your culture we would love to have you!

Conference

So twice a year our church has a General Conference. It is held in Salt Lake City, but it is also broad casted on TV. They start with two sessions on Saturday and two sessions on Sunday. I forgot to tape Saturday's because I was at Judo with Logan and it slipped my mind, but as a family we all sat down and watched Sundays.

This was an amazing conference for a lot of reasons, but the main one is that our new Prophet President Thomas S. Monson spoke to us. President Hinckley died at the start of the year, and President Monson took his place a week after.

It was amazing to hear our Prophet and the 12 apostles speak to us on so many gospel principals. One talk was on prayer. He said how sometimes we can become relaxed as we pray and start staying the same things without any meaning. He said after we pray we should take action toward our prayer. If we pray that we have more money, we should focus on better education and better job, so the Lord can bless us in our efforts. I really liked that talk, and I am trying to be better at saying meaningful prayers.

The other talk I really, really, really liked was the last one on Sunday about mothers. He talked about mothers making sure that we spend quality time with our children. He said sometimes we worry about getting everything done, that we lose the special moments with our children. I am totally guilty about that. yesterday I worked really hard on spending quality time with the kids and not so much about cleaning the house.

He also went on to say that as mothers we need to take time for ourselves. Do 1 or 2 activities that we really like. He mentioned not being able to get water from a dry well and that if we don't replenish ourselves and make our selves strong and happy, that we will not be the best mothers to our children. I am very bad at this. But I am going to get better. I just have to remember to take time for myself.

And another thing he said was to limit our Internet and TV time. I am really bad at this, especially the Internet part (as I am currently typing on my blog). He says we can spend too much time doing nothing. I agree! Now I have to put it into action!

Conference was amazing. The spirit was strong! I loved hearing the Prophet bear testimony of the Savior. He asked us to be kind with other people, their thoughts and religions. He asked us to have homes that are safe from the outside world. To make our homes a safe place for our children to be. I love that! I also love that my children were able to see and gain a testimony of President Monson.

Kellsie and her many faces

What a supermodle!



If she only new how pretty she was. I think we are in trouble.

Kellsie skating

In between playing with Andrew and taking the boys for a ride in the wagon, Kellsie did some skating of her own. But she looked prettier doing it.

Logan's many faces

What an adorable boy!

Logan and Porter doing tricks on skateboards

Logan and Porter thought they were all that while riding skateboards, so they started doing "Tricks". Look and be AMAZED!


The under the legs trick could have ended in a bad way...but didn't!
And amazing enough, no one got hurt