Not much...

...is what I have been up to lately. We went to Shreveport to visit Daddy and our Aunt Debbie this last weekend. When we were there, Reese looked at me and said, "Mom why do I have to sleep on food?" I'm thinking, On food? When did we tell her she had to sleep on food. Then she said, "You know, the crouton!!" Meaning the futon. I guess she didn't hear me correctly when I was trying to explain sleeping arrangements earlier in the day.

Ryan is just growing like a weed. Every day he will say a new word and I will think, "Did he know that word before today? If I was a good mom I would be writing all these things down on a daily basis." Oh well my kids will just have to grow up thinking they never had milestones growing up and then go through years of therapy later to fix the problems that I have so negligently placed on them.

I am excited for Christmas. It is here but it is not New York so I will be happy at that.

The absolute cuteness of a 2 year old

Let me just say that it is a good thing he is this cute. It is the one thing that keeps him alive some days.


At the circus










He thought it would be so funny to climb in the bottom of Baby Ethan's stroller.

So I just kept pushing him and he stayed in there for about an hour.

This is Ryan asleep in the bottom of the stroller. Guess he just needed a place to sit down.

Thank you all!!

Thank you to all who wrote to cheer me up. I needed it. Let's just say there were a fair amount of tears shed last week.

Now for the update. I think we have the mouse problem taken care of. We called an exterminator and he came over and put down some bait. He said it dehydrates the mice and they go else where looking for water. They start to come out of their hiding places because they are getting desperate and that is why I was seeing a whole bunch all of a sudden. Then on Friday another guy came over and sealed up the house for us. He put wire mesh in the weep holes that were too big and he sealed up the garage pretty good. He also sealed a whole in the wall of the garage which is where he thinks they were getting in to the walls and finding their way to the kitchen where there is a massive hole under the sink. So I think they are gone for good. I haven't seen any new droppings around the house in the last few days.

In the mean time I have been washing every dish in my entire house. I have been to walmart a few times to replace a few of the appliances that were under the cabinet and had mouse droppings in them and couldn't be sterilized in the dishwasher. I have cleared out every cabinet and drawer and vacuumed it out and then wiped it out with Clorox. I hope that gets rid of any and all germs lurking where mice had been.

As for Reese and the school thing we talked to just about everyone we could talk to. We called the Texas Education Agency and found out from the director of school governance (the lady who has the final say on all laws governing public schools in Texas) that the school district is right. Because of when her birthday is (October) she meets the cut off for New York which is in December and misses it for Texas. If she had finished kindergarten she would be allowed to start first grade but since she didn't finish she has to leave. I also saw a lady on the FAQ section that said they just moved from Arizona and there is only 6 weeks left of school and her daughter couldn't finish kindergarten either. It is a bummer but we will get over it. The bright side is that she will graduate from high school when she is 18 and not 17. The other thing I was thinking about is that she can have the whole winter and spring to do things we couldn't do in New York because those things weren't available. It is going to all work out for the best. I have that much faith.

Now on to Thanksgiving. I need to finish a few loads of dishes and finish cleaning the bathrooms so I can have my family over. At least I don't have to make the whole meal. I am doing the turkey and I am buying it already cooked. I deserve to cheat this year. Besides, it always turns out better when I don't cook. I will make dessert and be done with it.

It was brought to my attention that we no longer live in New York so things must be changed, Thank you Andrea.

Again, Thank you all for your words of encouragement. They were greatly needed this past week.

Oh one more thing. Reese asked me where Daddy was and I told her that he is on his way home. She said, "But where is he?" and I told her that he is in Longview. She said, "Longview? What, do they have lots and lots and lots of things that they want you to see? Is that why it's called Long View?" She is so insightful!!

I need some good news....

I am in need of some good news. I have been through the week from hell and it is only Thursday morning. Let me go through it for you...

...Sunday
Sunday was the primary program and we were supposed to be early to church. There is no big deal in that but it just seems when you can't get to church on time how are you going to get to church early? It is just stressful. Then on my way out the door I smashed my finger in it. OUCH!! It is all black and blue and I can bend it again but it still hurts. Then we get to church and Reese will not go to sit with her class on the stand. She threw a fit and made a scene and refused to go up there. Why does my child have to be painfully shy? And stubborn too? We did get her to go to class though so that was good. When we got home from church I walked downstairs and saw a mouse run across my kitchen cabinet. I screamed and made Golden go to Home Depot right then to get mouse traps. I can not live in a house with mice. Then we went to my moms for Sunday dinner, the typical thing for all family members living in the area. It was my birthday dinner and no one came. Not my two older brothers or their families. Not my younger sister and her family. No one. Except Jennifer and that's because she lives there. What a great day!!

Monday...
Golden got up and left at 4 Monday morning. I hate Mondays. Then I had to be in the house all day knowing there was a mouse in it. I was afraid to go into the kitchen and open a drawer or a cabinet. But things were still not that bad. When I picked Reese up from school we walked down to the park. We stayed out as long as we could. When we went home we had caught a mouse. It was on a mouse trap in the pantry. YEAH!!!! I couldn't make myself dispose of it so I called David Fisher and the saint that he is came over and disposed of it for me. Things are starting to look up.

Tuesday...
Tuesday was my birthday and I thought things were going better until I saw another mouse. He was in the living room just walking across the floor. Fun times. I called Golden and he called an exterminator. He came and placed a few more mouse traps and gave me a few pointers as to how they may be getting in. Oh and it was my birthday. It is hard to feel like a prisoner in your own home. When you can't even open the cabinets or the pantry in fear of seeing a mouse run at you.

Wednesday...
Got up and got Reese to school and decided to find out where the mice are coming from. Looked all around the house and found mouse droppings in every room of the house so we either have a very active mouse or we have a bigger problem than we know. After vacuuming the whole house and scrubbing everything down to prevent disease it was time to sit and eat lunch. It is hard to have to wash every dish when you pull it out of the cabinet before you can even eat. After school I get a phone call from the school and the Data clerk told me that we have to withdraw Reese from school. She has been in school for 3 and 1/2 weeks here so why didn't anyone tell me this earlier? And why did they have to do it over the phone. This is something that should have been done with a conference and not over the phone at the end of the day. After I came out of my shock and got my wits about me I tried to call the school back and of course no one answered their phones. I finally put calls into the school board and emails to the teacher and the principal and no one got back to me. How am I going to tell my 5 year old that even though she has been going to school for a year and a half now and she is half way through kindergarten that she will have to take the rest of the year off and do kindergarten again next year? How am I going to keep a child that can read already and loves school and wakes up every morning ready to go and runs to school away from it?

Oh and Golden is still out of town and I have had to deal with this all by myself. I told him last night on the phone that I would almost be ready to put up with another New York winter if it meant I didn't have to put up with this crap. Almost.

Do you see how come I need some good news. Anybody got any??

If you have never been, GO!!

In the last year and a half I have had the opportunity to go to Palmyra no less than 8 times. I have been able to walk through the sacred grove and to see where Joseph Smith and his family lived and worked. I have been able to see the hill Cumorah and the pageant that takes place there. How appropriate that I have been able to do this and had the wonderful gift of teaching the lessons from the Joseph Smith book in Relief Society. I am truly grateful to my Heavenly Father for this blessing. It amazes me that He knows just what we need and when we need it and then He finds a way to give it to us. Especially when we are humbled enough to get down on our knees and ask for it. Just another reminder of He knows what is best for us and we need not question it. I am grateful to Him for the opportunity to live in New York and to have my testimony strengthened this last 18 months.

The kids enjoying The Hill Cumorah

Running into the Sacred Grove


The Whitmer Farm House


The frame house on the Smith property


The visitors center

The chapel and visitors center at the Whitmer farm


In the Sacred Grove


Emma's parents grave markers


Josiah Stowell's house


The Aaronic Priesthood Restoration site on the Susquehanna River

Halloween

I know that it is the middle of November and I am behind on this post. When you move across the country the week before Halloween I would hope you are forgiven when you post your pictures 2 weeks late. It is not like I had any thing else going on right?

So this is what happened. We didn't get to go to the trunk or treat at church because Reese was sent home from school the morning of with a 102 degree temp. She came home and laid on the couch and didn't move from 9:30 in the morning to about 3:00 in the after noon when she rolled over to puke. The next 2 days were filled with more of the same. On Friday, Halloween, the fever finally broke but she was to weak to walk down the street. She didn't even put her Tinkerbell costume on. She sat in the stroller and went to about 5 houses before she made Daddy bring her home. This was the only picture I got of Ryan. It was an interesting week to say the least. But he was a darn cute pirate wasn't he?

ELMO!!!

Yes that is my son wearing an Elmo costume and no he was not Elmo for Halloween. I bought the costume after Halloween on clearance for only a few bucks and he has worn it more than real clothes since we have had it. Of course he has to also strip off all other clothes to put it on. He runs around like a crazy person until his head falls down and then he runs up to me screaming, "ELMO! ELMO! ELMO!" I am assuming that means he wants me to put the head back on because as soon as I do he is off again. Why is it that kids like being something else so much?

Look at the happiness radiating from his face. Complete joy for a 2 year old.

Boom a Ring

We went to the circus!! We saw people do amazing things and saw some pretty scary things too. We saw elephants and tigers and horses and a guy shoot an apple off his own head through a series of bows and arrows. Some really cool stuff. When we got back to the car and I asked the kids what their favorite part was they both said, "The puppies!!" The puppies? The little wiener dogs that ran around and stood up on their back legs and knocked over the little stands they were supposed to be standing on? Stuff we could have seen at the local pet store? Really? That was your favorite part? You mean I could have saved all that money and just taken you to the pet store to see some puppies run around and it would have been just the same to you? WOW. At least I will know for next time.

The Missing Tooth

Yes, if you are keeping up with the things I write you will know that Reese lost a tooth. We were at the apple orchard and she was eating an apple and all of a sudden she started crying that she couldn't eat it because her mouth hurt. I looked and I didn't see anything so I told her she was OK. I thought maybe she bit her tongue or her cheek or something. Then she started to cry worse and she told me that her tooth hurt so I felt it. I know sticking your hands in someone else's mouth is both disgusting and dangerous but as a mom you do those sort of things. What I found is that her tooth was loose. That was on Friday afternoon and all weekend she cried every time she ate something. That was loads of fun. Then Sunday evening after dinner she was eating a popsicle and all of a sudden she said, "I think my tooth fell out!" She was right. Then the tooth fairy came to visit her.




The new tooth is already starting to grow in and it is super crooked. I can't wait for braces.

First things first

It has been such a long time that I need to go back and catch every one up. Here is Reese's first day of Kindergarten. I of course couldn't remember to charge the camera battery the night before so it is a picture of AFTER Reese's first day of kindergarten. Hey, better late than never.


Next-- We had a nobodies birthday party. There was a man who got up in church one day and said that today this day was his son's birthday. His wife had died the year before and he mentioned (about 12 times) that he hadn't planned anything for it. The primary president told all the kids that she was going to go home and make a cake for Daniel and all the kids were invited over to sing him happy birthday. Reese really wanted to go. The boy was turning 18. She doesn't even know who he is but she wanted cake. I told her that instead of going over to someones house we don't even know just for cake, why don't we just go home and make our own. She said that it had to have pink icing. So here is our Nobodies birthday cake, we sung and all got to blow out the candles and then ate cake with pink icing.
If Ryan looks confused here it is probably because he is. "If it is nobodies birthday, how come we sang happy birthday 3 times and we are eating cake?"




And last thing for tonight--We went to an apple orchard. If you live in New York it is something you have to do. The kids had a good time picking and eating apples. I bought the most delicious apple cider and fresh apple butter that was just heavenly on my favorite biscuits. It is also where Reese said, "I can't eat this apple, my mouth hurts!" but more on that tomorrow night.

Are you out there?

Melissa, Are you out there? You do not know how long I have been looking for you, or Andrea or Kristy. I can't seem to find anyone from those years. I just got your comment but there was not a blog attached to it. Are you there? Hello? Is this thing on?

On to other things. Yes we are here and I have Internet again (not that I didn't have it all that time it was just that every time I sat down to blog I felt guilty because of all the stuff I still had to do and I got up and did something else)My life is slowly getting back to normal. We are getting into some kind of a routine and I think it is good for all of us. OH MY there are so many other things that have happened in the last 2 months I don't know where to begin. I will start with pictures(not that there are a ton of those either)

Tomorrow. Changing times twice on 2 consecutive weekends seems to have done me in:)

KIDS SAY THE DARNDEST THINGS...(#2)

We went to heave dinner with some friends tonight and there were about 18 kids running around. One of them found a glow stick and they were all playing with it all night long. Reese ended up taking it home. When I was helping her get ready for bed she said, "Maybe next time we can find another glow stick." I said, "Maybe next time we should just take a lot of glow sticks so the kids have something to play with." (We were outside) And Reese replied, "Yeah, and maybe Pie!"

I rolled on the floor laughing. Pie!! She wants to take pie next time. I am not sure where she gets it from.

Ouch!

Just realized I haven't posted in a week. Been really busy. School started this week and I feel like HOLY COW!!! How am I supposed to get my daughter up and dressed and fed and out the door and to school on time with every thing she needs. I never could remember my own lunch or homework till, well I just never did. I feel like a failure and we are 2 days into the school year. I feel like I am going to let her down and we haven't even had a full week of school, after all that is me.

Maybe someday I will become a responsible adult and get my life together.

Then again, maybe not.

Cool Stuff

I know a lot of you have probably seen this but Golden played it the other day and just from listening I thought it was more than 1 person. Pretty cool!!



P.S. For all of you who have asked or for those of you who just want to know...
The plan is to be in Dallas about the 3rd week of October. Golden left this morning to head that way so you may see him around:) We are still looking for a place to rent...any suggestions?

My dad would be so proud

I know most of you would think I am crazy but this is my favorite part of summer.



For those of you who don't like tomatoes, you don't know what you are missing. There is nothing like a fresh vine-ripened, home grown, hand picked tomato to compliment a summer meal.



These are some of the other things I grew in my garden this summer. I should not really take any credit for it, I planted some tiny plants and went on vacation and this is what I got when I came back. Yes that is a cantaloupe, squash, cucumbers(or dew jumpers as Madi calls them) there are also onions and jalapeno peppers. YUM!!!


This was the biggest tomato. I picked it because it was on the ground and it barely fit in my hand. I know it was not ripe yet but I put it in the window and it ripened in about 5 days. You can see how pretty it is in the picture above.

Now I know it is still August and that it is officially still summer but the last week has been absolutely gorgeous here. The highest it has gotten has been the low 80's and today I took the kids on a walk after dinner and this is what I saw:



Yes those are leaves that are already starting to turn. It is a good thing we are going to be back in Texas for the winter, it is going to be an early, cold, long one here!!

Reese-isms

Reese always asks me, "Mom, why is the moon following us?" How do you explain that to a 4 year old. When I insist that it isn't, she insists that it is because she saw it at church and now she can see it at home so it must be, right? I have tried and tried to explain it to her she just doesn't believe me. And the other day the sun was setting and she said, "Mom, the sun is almost all the way to his house so he can eat dinner." Apparently the sun has to go home from 'work' so he can have dinner, go to bed and get up in the morning to wake us all up.

The other day I was in the kitchen and I heard Reese saying to Golden who was laying on the couch, "Daddy, you have a fever and a sore throat, You have a bad case of the blues. No I mean a bad case of the chicken pox." I thought it was funny. I can't believe my baby will start Kindergarten next week. AHHHHH!!!

So obvious

This was a little obvious don't ya think?

You Are Gymnastics

You are agile, expressive, and precise. You have the drive to practice until you get something perfectly right. And you have the confidence to perform difficult moves when under pressure.

What Olympic Sport Are You?

What a mess!!

We went away on vacation and have been home for less than a week and this is what the play room looks like!!





Can you find the kids in there? They got lost and I have to go dig them out!! Just kidding.

Grandma Judy says it looks like the Toys R us truck pulled up and unloaded one of everything into the basement. No my ids aren't spoiled or anything:)