293/365

Today was the final day of our very short trip. We spent most of our time at the pool.  The kids could  spend hours and hours chillin in the pool.  I have to say, this was a really fun vacation.  It's amazing how less work it is to just have two kids with you. Especially when they are the older ones.  As much as I missed Bright and Connor, I have to admit, it was the most relaxing vacation I've ever had with kids with me.  We had a blast.

Before we left, we went to see the St. George temple. It was cool to be there with the kids and talk to them about the peaceful feeling of the temple.  It was one of my favorite parts of our trip.


We also went to this crazy place in the middle of no where.  It was called "The Glitter Pit". It was full on gypsum rock that "glittered" in the sun. The kids brought back two huge buckets of rock to sell to their friends. We'll see how it goes.

All in all, I think we all had a great time. I loved this trip.

292/365

Tonight was the big play!!
We had so much fun.  The kids loved it.  We took them to Texas Road House before the play.  These kids LOVE steak!



 Little Mermaid made me cry.  Let me take it back.... Avery watching Little Mermaid made me cry! At intermission, she said, "Ahhhhh! I love this soooo much!!"  Then at the end when we were clapping for the actors, I told her that when you think they did a good job, you can stand up and clap.  Before I could finish the sentence, she popped up out of her chair and started clapping.

                          

It could have stopped there, but then we got to see Ariel... ok....I'm just gonna start crying again.  My little girl is ALWAYS going to be my princess... no matter how old she gets.  What a fun night.

291/365

Hello St. George!!!!

We decided to take Kaden and Avery on a little mini vacation to St. George this year to see The Little Mermaid.
They feel pretty special to be going on a special trip.
They are most excited for these three things:
1) That they get to stay in a hotel and go swimming
2) They get pancakes and waffles every morning
3) They get to go without Brighton (I love you buddy... you can go next time!)

Funny how Brighton wasn't invited, but these guys made the cut.

We weren't in our hotel room more than 30 seconds before the kids had their swimming suits on and were out the door.  They LOVED that our room was right next to the pool.



 Dad was a much more fun swim partner than mom.

290/365

It's 3 am and I'm ready for bed... finally.
Getting ready for vacations are so stressful.
Laundry Cleaned..... check
Bags Packed...... check
Snacks bought.... check
Bathrooms cleaned..... uh... not this time
Wedding Cake done for photo shoot on Friday.... check
I'm tired.

289/365

"Mom, do you know why I'm dressed like this? 

 Because Kaden made me into a Diva Girl! I even have a phone!!

(then she rummaged through her purse to get her phone)

(So, apparently to become a diva, here's what you need:

 a purse, a paper phone, a hat and a skirt and a pair of princess shoes.  

That's all it takes. Now you can become a diva too! 

(the best part of what Avery said, is that she can't say her "r"s very well, it when she was talking to me, it was  more like: "Mom, do you know why I'm dressed like this? 

It's because Kaden made me into a Diva Goel"

288/365

Happy Birthday Connor!!! 

 

Dear Connor,
I can't believe this year has come and gone so quickly.  You have brought our family so much joy. Your brothers and sisters love you and take care of you all the time.  They love to hug you, hold you, feed you, play with you.  Everytime they see you, they all stop what they are doing and run over to you and say, "Connor!!!!" They love to see your smile. They love to make you laugh.

Connor, you are our last little one and I just want you to stay small just a little longer.  You make me so happy to be a mom. Being our last, you have helped me appreciate every little moment, every little milestone, every little smile.  I love how you cuddle. I love how you laugh when you you try to roll away when I change your diaper. I love your open mouth kisses.  You are my special buddy! I love you so much!

We had a fun little party tonight with your Grandma's and Grandpa's. Mom is feeling a little bit guilty that you didn't get a fancy cake, but you didn't seem to mind, You LOVED!!! your cake.

Opening your presents were a little too hard for you, but your favorite toy was a plastic want that makes noises when you move it.  Luckily, Brighton loved all of your presents. He's going to "borrow" them until you are big enough to play with them yourself. 

Oh, and he loved your cake too! 

287/365

Although I don't do the canning in our family, I do get to reap the rewards.  I have to say that FRESH grape juice is AMAZING!!!  Thanks Bri for all your hard work!

When I say fresh, I mean FRESH!!!

Brian picked these today about 10 am (Thanks John and Shauna for being such great gardners!)




A few hours later, all those grapes turned into this.
Oh my gosh, AMAZING!

32 Bottles later.... we've got grape juice to last us a while.  YUM!

286/365

Have I done any good

As I was cleaning the kitchen tonight, somewhat grumbling about how my day turned out, this song came into my mind:

Have I done any good in the world today?

Have I helped anyone in need?

Have I cheered up the sad?

Or made someone feel glad?

If not I have failed indeed.

Here's the back story.... 

(it's a minute by minute journal log... I apologize in advance for the lengthy post)

It's been a rough week.  Sick kids all week long, and then today Brian was home with the goomba as well.  All I wanted to do today was get my life back to normal, have a little time to clean my house, get my laundry caught up from the countless sheets and clothes I've had to wash due to peuking kids and work on  this cake I'm doing for a photo shoot next week that is going to be ridiculously time consuming.

Well, as typical days go... life happened.  Here's a re-cap:

Took Kaden to school. Got home and took Avery to dance.  Ran to the cake store. Picked up Avery from dance. Hurried through the drive through at Chick fil-A for a quick lunch because Brighton was going to be late for preschool.  Got home just in time for Brights car pool to show up and sent him on his way. Hurried and did Avery's hair and got her all dolled up for school picture day and sent her out the door.  Whew! Three kids are in school. Sick hubby is asleep and Connor is napping as well. I'm about ready to fold a load of laundry that's been sitting on my couch since last night when I hear crying.
Yep... Connor's awake.  Really?  Naptime is mandatory around here! He is not allowed to be awake when all the kids are at school!!  When I go into get the little guy, I realize he's burning up.  I check his temp and it's over 101.  AFter about 20 minutes, I finally get him calmed down and he's about asleep in my arms when the doorbell rings.  I ignore it, because I just want to hold my baby and make sure he's comfortable.  And truthfully, I don't want to talk to anyone, I'm already really behind on my scheduled "'to do list" for the day. The doorbell rings again.  OK. OK.. I will answer it.
It's one of my old young women who came over to see if I was busy because she was having a major cake disaster and was in need of help. She had told a friend that she'd make her wedding cake and it had all crumbled to the ground and it needed to be done in less than 4 hours.  Ahhh! Seriously?? How in the world does she think she can fix a wedding cake in 4 hours when the whole thing is ruined?
(This is about the time I start to grumble.  This is not on my to-do list! I've been so good the last few week about following my schedule and actually feeling like I have my life a bit organized.  All I wanted was to have a bit of quiet time to get some stuff done before the kids got home from school.)

So I take my sick kid over to her house to help her start over on a wedding cake she was trying to do without really knowing what she was doing. Luckily the grocery store had frozen sheet cakes so we could do actually pull this off! I Stayed there for a while to help her fix things, then ran home just in time for Brighton to get home from school and give poor Connor some medicine to lower his temp.  He finally went down for a nap, and I took Brighton to the store to get Brian some Sprite I had promised him a couple hours earlier.  (Ahhh!! I haven't even been around to take care of my sick hubby!!!.. this day is getting nuts!) We got the Sprite and made it to the kids school just in time for the school "store" to open.  Kaden has been dying to buy a toy at the school book fair with his own money.  He wanted to get the "Airblaster".  A funnel like thing that apparently shoots air about 20 feet. (All this could be his for a low price of $12.95!) There were only 3 of them, so he was very worried they would go fast. We had made a deal that I'd meet him after school so we could get it.  Luckily he was patiently waiting for me in the office (with his awesome thigh length black and red striped socks on for crazy sock day.... he looked pretty cute!) and we got to the book fair.  The good news was, the Airblaster was still there.  He ran over to it, (actually crawling between some kid's mom's legs to make sure he got this gun thing that no one was even trying to get at the time!) He grabbled his little baggie of money and handed it to the librarian.  He was one happy kid! We ran home and he wanted to put this dumb toy together.  All I have to say is that some toys are a pain in the behind to put together! This stupid thing took me forever to put together!!! Luckily I got it put together and off he went to play with his new toy. Now it was time for diner to be made. Got that taken care of, fed the fam and started on our nightime routine. Homework, showers, prayers, etc. etc.  I didn't even get to the kids doing their evening jobs, I just wanted them in bed. They lucked out tonight!

Wow.. I can't believe me my day is almost gone.... now it's 8:00 pm... I finally getting to clean the dishes from dinner and get to all the housework and laundry I was planning on doing all day long.  Well the kids are in bed. I's quiet! Finally... no distractions! I went into a cleaning zone and  happily my mind began to clear..........It's always great when cleaning can de-stress me.
No,w back to the reason for this lengthy post.

As I was enjoying cleaning my dishes without any distractions, the song came to my mind, but this time, I had some answers:

Have I done any good in the world today? 
Have I helped anyone in need?   (yep, I did that)
Have I cheered up the sad?  (I did get to cuddle my sick little baby in my arms and calm him down)
And made someone feel glad? (I was lucky enough to see Avery's big smile when I praised her for picking up her things on the floor without being asked)
If not, I have failed indeed.  (hmmmm... maybe the day wasn't that bad after all)

The truth is... life is all about perspective.  I need to remember that it's what I do for other people that's really important.  Heavenly Father  doesn't care if I have a couple extra loads of laundry or if my dishwasher needs to be filled.  He DOES care that I' do good in the world,  that I help those in need. I've cheered up the sad, and make others feel glad... and as the song goes, if I don't do that, I've failed indeed.
When I look at this day with a clearer vision, I'm happy about how it turned out.    Even with a little grumbling, I did the right thing... not because I felt like I had to, but because in heart, I really wanted to.  I'm happy I didn't fail on what matters most. It really was a good day.

285/365

Halloween Crafting!

I decided to do a little updating on my Halloween decorations this year.  

(It looks much cooler in real-life)

Once I had it all decorated, Kaden said, "Whoa mom... this is the best our house has EVER looked for Halloween!" 

It's always good to have your kids approval.

Like My Bottles?  How did I get such cool bottles you ask?

I MADE THEM!  Yep, Angie and I had a "craft night" the other night till about 1:00 am making these fine bottles.  We had way too much fun with modge podge.  Who knew that stuff could be so cool?

284/365

We had a good report at Parent Teacher Conferences today.

Kaden is the best reader in his class! He's reading and comprehending at a 4th grade level!!

And Avery is doing good too.  My favorite comment her teacher made was, "I love how confident Avery is" Apparently every time she does a worksheet she will runs up to the teacher and says, "Miss Crane, I'm really good at this huh?"  Oh, I bet kindergarten teachers have incredibly funny stories.  

It's always nice to have positive feedback.  Hopefully that will last for years to come. (That's directed to you kids, you know!.... Good grades, good reports from now till the day you graduate college you hear?) 

Now, I'm a bit worried about our 3rd child though... 

I asked him to take something over to Angie for me today, and he put it in his mouth, started barking and acted like a dog all the way to and from Angies.  When Angie took the paper out of his mouth... yep, his mouth, he barked and panted.  Hmmmmm.  Maybe we shouldn't expect great parent teacher conference reports for Sparky... oh I mean Brighton. :)

283/365

Today was crazy hair day at school. 

And boy did we have some crazy hair. 

Well, from the front, her hair doesn't look too crazy, but......

 Check out the back! 

Is this awesome or what??

282/365

281/365

Avery couldn't miss out on all the fun.  Today she asked us if she could have her training wheels off.

She did AWESOME!!!

Way to go Avery! You are now in the pro bike rider club with your brother!

(pics coming a bit later. I was too busy taking video, forgot to get the actual camera)

280/365

Life as we know it has changed forever.
He decided to climb up the stairs for the first time today.
He wasn't afraid. He wasn't tired. He didn't want to stop.  He made it to the bonus room (about 20 steps) in about a minute.  Then went straight for the toys!
Oh boy! Here we go!!!

279/365

It's Late Over Time!

Wow! Crazy Night. 

I had to deliver a wedding cake tonight before late over so I was already in a rush. I felt pretty lucky that everything worked out so nicely.  

Kids were coming over at 6pm

Left LaCaille at 5:40

Got home right at 6:00

Walked in, gave the babysitter money then heard the doorbell rang,

...it was the pizza guy! 

Put the pizza in the kitchen and started cutting up apples and all the cousins showed up.

Whew! Couldn't have timed that any better.  

If the night goes by this perfect, I won't realize I'm exhausted since I went to bed at 3am this morning. 

Thank goodness I have the best nieces and nephews in the world.  They are wonderful kids, great friends, and love to be with eachother.  That makes watching 11 kids under the age of 9 all worth it.  

Late over was awesome tonight.. the kids made spy gear. (they can get so creative)

Ok.. let me see if I can remember all the gear:

 Ear piece 

Spy Glasses

Belts and Headbands

Spy watch

Sword

278/365

Brighton wanted to help me make my bed today.  He did it all by himself.
Way to go buddy! You are such a good helper!

As I'm talking about this cute little guy, I thought I'd share what he said to me tonight as he was sitting on the potty.
Brighton:
"Mommyyyy!!! I need you to get the toilet paper. All my poop ran out"

277/365

Sunday was a wonderful day.
Kaden FINALLY got the confidence to ride his bike!!!!! He's had his bike for over a year and has been a little too timid to ride on his own. We've practiced with him over and over, but he's just been a little nervous.
Sunday we decided to try again.  I don't know what happened, but all that fear is gone and now he's is awesome! He LOVES his bike and rides it every day!
Today Brian picked him up from school so they could go on a bike ride at the park.  He thought he was pretty special to have the one on one time with dad.  For the long ride around the park,  Brian had bought him his favorite "sport" drink.  Gatorade Perfom.

Gatorade Perform is Kaden's drink of choice when he goes up skiing with Brian.  It makes him ski harder, jump higher, and ride down the hill faster.  He never goes to the resort without it.
                                                           It's a miracle drink.
When he got home from his bike ride today, he came in the house and told me how awesome he did bike riding. He said, "mom, that Gatorade Perform totally make me go faster than Dad on my bike! It worked so good! I bet I will be able to beat a purple belt at karate tonight!"
Then at karate, Brian said he was the first to volunteer to spar the higher belt kids and he was in their face the whole time.  He's usually pretty timid when he has to spar (fight other kids) but tonight, he still had Gatorade Perform in his system so he was on fire!!!
I'm so glad we are able to purchase the confidence enhancing miracle drink locally without a prescription.  We really lucked out.

Kade... you are awesome buddy!

276/365

Got a text today with a picture similar to this that said,
"That was scary. But the light is fixed"

With these vaulted ceilings, Brian gets a little creative when he needs to fix stuff. This was probably not one of the safest idea's he's had. And then what do I do? Make him get back up there so I can take a picture.  What is our problem?
To describe the picture:
4 tall kitchen chairs
A 6' table ontop of the chairs
the ladder ontop of the table
Brian at the top of our ceileing just inches away from the stairwell going to our basement. He's literally 3 floors up right now. It kinda looks like a fort my kids would have made, but a lot more dangerous.

275/365

Kaden figured out how to ride his bike today

274/365

There are on occasion, days that I have a clear perspective on what I need to do to have my life run smoothly.  Most days, I feel the perspective is a bit blurry and I don't know where to even begin on keeping my life organized, my body healthy, and my kids living productive, yet fun lives.
But today I had a clear vision.  You know what happens when I have a clear vision?
Psycho OCD Turia comes out to play:
I make lists.
I organize and label everything.
I make job charts, daily schedule routines for me and my family, house cleaning charts, I write down goals,  and I actually try to think about what I will cook for dinner for the whole entire week.... this could go on and on.

It's good when I get this clear perspective, even if it's fleeting. I feel like I have to hurry and write everything down that I'm thinking of so that when my blurred mind comes back, I will have a "game plan" of sorts of what I need to do to stay in control.  I wish I could always have a sound understanding of what I need to do to keep my house in order, my family in order and myself in order, but the truth is, it always gets a little blurry.
Today, as I was feeling so great that I had some organization to my life, I realized something I've never really thought of before.  I can pray to stay like this. I can pray for clarity in my life. I can pray for the ability to know what matters most and then prioritize. I can pray for inspiration for my family, I can pray to understand how to eat and live healthier, I can pray for the energy to do it all.
(laaalaaaaalaaaaalaaa) I love it when I have these simple epiphanies in my life.  Life's too hard with the blurred vision that I receive when my life is not in order.  I  need a plan. I know I'll stray from the plan, but the plan itself keeps me focused... even when I may have to tweak it, I'm still focused. I'm still closer to obtaining that sound understanding that I want and need in my life.
So today's life lesson..... pray.  Pray for everything. Not just the basics, but the things that will help me and my family stay happy and focused.  That's the ultimate goal anyway isn't it?
 Why is it that the simplest of answers in life are often the ones I overlook the most?

273/365

 It's conference weekend. I made the mistake of going to Wal-Mart in between sessions today. OH MY GOSH!!!!   INSANITY! You could barley move in the aisle where the eggs and milk and cheese were. Everyone was there to get their Sunday brunch goodies.
As was I.
Utah is a funny place. I had to go to 3 different stores before I finally found frozen bread dough for monkey bread.  I'm sure we are the only state in the country that has a frozen bread dough shortage a couple times a year.

I guess a whole lot of people have the same tradition as us. Next time I'll remember to go to the store much earlier in the week.

272/365

Last week I went to the Relief Society Broadcast. It was such an amazing night. I learned so much and have felt the spirit of that meeting all week long. There were things said in that meeting that have truly changed the way I think about things. I know I was there for a reason. I know there were things that I needed to hear. 

One of the things that was talked about was to enjoy and celebrate the small achievements we see every day instead of always dwelling on the things we don't accomplish.  We were told to realize that the small successes that we see every day are so important and that we should be proud of them.  If we take things line upon line.... or one step at at time, each one of those small successes will be cause for great celebration in our life if we stop and appreciate them.  

Today, I understood that a little more clearly.  Kaden has been struggling with math a bit lately on these 5 minute timed tests he has to take.  He's been getting really low scores and we've been working really hard to practice these tests several times a week and teach him different tips to help him to them faster.  

Well today, we got to celebrate on of those "small successes".  He finished his timed test and only got 1 wrong!! I was so proud of him! He was so proud of himself.  It was great cause to celebrate.  

As I looked back on this, I thought of the talk at womens conference.  You know, this test was just a small weekly test. Nothing big or fancy.  We could have treated this test like another piece of homework that needed to be signed and returned back to school, but instead we cheered for joy! It was a small success, but brought us such joy because we KNEW how hard Kade had worked on improving his math skills.  

It must be a little like how our Heavenly Father feels when we sees true success in our lives.  He's seen how hard we've worked and He's proud of us.  Whether the accomplishment is big or small, it doesn't matter. All that matters is taking time to appreciate and celebrate those small successes we have each and every day and not focus on the other things in our life that may not be as successful. 

Kaden, I'm so proud of you! You worked so hard and you did a great job!

271/365

I wish I had a picture of Brian in a frilly little apron, but he would be even more embarrassed. 

This is the year my hubby grows a beard and looks like Grizzly Adams till the snow begins to fall, 

and he also turns into Martha Stewart and spends days canning. 

Hmmmm.. A bearded Martha Stewart? 

We just might have a talk show in the making right now!

Despite my teasing, I will reap the rewards:

15 bottles of peaches

18 bottles of pears

6 bottles of Dill pickles

30 bottles of freezer Jam

and 2 batches of Raspberry Ice Cream

yum. yum

Thanks for your hard work Bri.

270/365

Kaden has now been in cub scouts for a month. He LOVES it!!
We've been working hard to help him earn his bobcat.  Tonight he got his first award. Bobcat is completed, now he's working on his wolf. He was so excited. I think he reminded us of pack meeting about 10 times in the last couple days.
Way to go buddy!

269/365

I went into my room today to see Brighton and Connor watching a movie together. 

Bright was lying there with his arm around his little brother. 

Awwwwww!!

268/365

Avery loves to be girly.  And she loves to show off how beautiful she looks to her dad.  

Every Sunday after she is dressed and her hair is done, she goes into wherever Brian is and will stand there and sway back and forth with a cute smile on her face until Brian says, "Avery, you look so beautiful!' She loves the approval of her daddy. 

Today while I was getting her ready for school she looked in the mirror and said, "I wish dad was here to see me today".

I thought it was so sweet that she wanted to show her dad how pretty she was.  We snapped a photo on my phone and sent it to him right away.  Daddy was quick to text back how beautiful she looked.

Avery's smile went from ear to ear. 

There's something pretty special when it comes to the bond a daddy has with his little girl.

267/365

Isn't this beautiful? 

We love our Sunday getaways to the mountains.

A few days ago, we came up here for a quick lunch and hike. WE didn't want Kaden to feel too left out, so we brought him up with us this time 

Sadly, we are coming to an end of summer and I don't think we'll be doing too many more Sunday afternoons in the canyons for a while. 

Brian roasted the BEST marshmallows EVER!!

Oh my gosh... could this s'more get any better? Look at it's gooey yumminess.

We love all the fun little pets we find up here.

(Avery started getting a little nervous when the caterpillar started going down her shirt)

 I love Brighton's grubby little hands.  

 and this kids grubby little smile.  

265/365

My nephew Riley had his 9th birthday party today.  He had an angry birds party. I had a blast making his cake.  The best part was that I left off all the characters and structures and let Riley assemble them they way he wanted. His mom said he kept re-arranging them in different scenarios all day.  

I guess it's my first interactive birthday cake!

 Here's the characters.... all edible of course.

264/365

I've loved blogging every day this year and I'm glad I have, because I think this little guy would be jipped on documenting some of his major milestones. But that being said...... even with me blogging each day, I'm still blown away at what I've missed. 

In less than a week, this little guy has started to crawl and he pulls himself up on everything and he can entertain himself pretty good if there are toys on the floor.  

Man, he's growing up so fast.

His favorite trick is to crawl to the stairs, pull up on the railing and take a few steps.  What a show off!
 

263/365

Today we decided to leave the housework and yard behind and go on a picnic and hike up the canyons.  It was so nice to get away, even if it was for only a couple hours.

Sorry we left you behind Kaden. You were already at school. Next time you will have fun with us too!