Goal #43/44 – Dixon in Drawers, Kelly’s 40th Birthday, Teenager Leash, Shaved Head and the “H” Word!

Since I said this blog would include my “Real” life, I will just say that I didn’t reach my goal last week because the last two weeks put me over the edge.  The kids had a Debate/Speech Tournament that I had to help with and it sucked up the “extra” time I use to keep my head on my shoulders.  I really dislike that something so simple can affect our family so much.  It wasn’t only that but many other things that are just hard….  I’m sure I will come out of it this week as I make decisions to only do what we need to and to pamper myself and the kids a little bit.  I’ll try to not be too negative and focus on all the wonderful parts of my life.  So, here it goes…..

THINGS THAT DIDN’T WORK:

Dixon is now climbing into any drawer he can find and then whines until we help him out!  Ahhhh!

Dixon in drawer!

Dixon in another drawer!

During a movie an actor said “Do what Jesus would do”.  Hadley turned and said “Hey, that’s what I do, USUALLY.”  She had a huge grin on her face.

Heading to a movie with a friends kids and the little girl threw up in the back of the Suburban.  It was just like the movie Ramona and Beezus, everyone moaning and groaning at the same time.  The entire car was full of kids.  We felt so badly for her, but still had to take them home and forget the movie…..

Realizing how much I love being at home with the kids and all their friends going in and out of the house, just to further realize that I don’t even get to enjoy it because of the lists of things I have to get done for all of them!  Huge oxymoron!

Finding food hidden in many different parts of the fridge!  The kids have left overs that they don’t want anyone else to have, so they hide it!

Losing the beaters on our mixer.  We looked for 8 months and couldn’t find them, bought an entire new mixer, then found the old ones the next week!  Ahhhh!!

Addy finding Dixon on the kitchen table eating food that didn’t get cleared after dinner.   I guess dinner chores don’t get done as quickly when Kevin and I are gone.    When she came in, he started to quickly crawl away, knowing he was in trouble.

Not getting to open presents until 2 days after my birthday!  We finally had my ice cream pie 3 days later.  It is just a scheduling thing.  I guess I better get used to this….  Hadley collected things from around the house to give to me. 

Deciding that I can’t go to Germany.  I had decided to go for the last month or so, but after the last two weeks I realized it is impossible.  Dixon has taken to screaming if a non-family member is in the house, only when Addy and I are not there.  Kevin and I will just have to take a 3-4 day trip in the United States. 

Teenagers complaining that the leash is too short!  This turns into big discussions which equals exhaustion!  I think the only length that they would approve of would be no leash at all.  This entire parenting this so hard to figure out.  Thankfully, our kids are respectful (most of the time) to us.  It’s just all the different situations that come up and talking our way through them (also making sure Kevin and I are on the same page).  The art of letting go…..

Sleeping right through the tornado sirens.  I was so exhausted by Sunday night that I never heard them.  Maybe this should be under the “works” part!    Thankfully, my wonderful husband was awake and tracking the storm all night.

Bryson getting shoved (pushed back like the beginning of a fight) at his basketball game.  This team has always threatened to start fights.  Thankfully, it didn’t continue, but I was surprised that I was standing up and ready to charge!  I realized afterward that I would have been down there in a minute and punching the boys lights out!  This would have only gotten myself hurt, but I realized when it comes to my kid I don’t care!  Wow, the feeling is still in me a day later…  It probably had something to do with how much smaller the players look from the top of the stands. 

THINGS THAT DID WORK:

Royce has decided Corbin is his hero!  He wants to do everything he does and wear everything he wears.  Addy offered to do his hair, Royce said he couldn’t do it because Corbin hadn’t done his hair. He is also in a Batman phase.

Batman

Grocery store guy giving a compliment!  I was at Kroger’s checking out my $300.00 basket of groceries and the checker asked “Do you really like to make ham sandwiches?” (it must have been the seven loaves of bread and 4 boxes of lunch meat).  “No, I have eight kids.”  Drum roll…. (this happens at every grocery store I go to!)  His mouth is hanging open at this point.  “No way!  Wow, you look amazing and really good, you really have 8 kids, no way!”.  It was good timing the day before my 40th birthday. 

Dying my hair!  I have never dyed my hair (minus one small encounter with Sun-In in High School).  I forced myself to cover my grays the day after my birthday.  Kevin didn’t want me to do it (must be the color blind thing).  We were worried what might happen.  Not one person has noticed!  I must have chosen the right color since the kids didn’t even notice.  Or maybe no one looks at me anymore.  They all sure seem to notice my gray hair though! 

Kevin making me Strawberry Toast early in the morning on my birthday!  So sweet!  My parents gave me a real pearl necklace!  I was shocked at it’s beauty!  My Fabulous Aunt Pat gave me a special garnet bracelet (my birthstone) that she has been holding onto for 10 years.  I felt so special and love it!    A neighbor took the time to write 40 things she liked about me.  It was the funniest, sweetest list.  Thanks for all the sweet cakes and treats everyone!  All of  your thoughtfulness warms my heart. 

Bryson shaving Matthew’s head!  Matt hasn’t had his hair short since before the 5th grade.  It was so fun! 

Warm, anonymous cookies on our doorstep!  My day had been so bad that I was in tears and then all of a sudden there were wonderful cookies.  It really warmed my heart.

Getting to talk to Pam Cheney and Michelle King!!!  For a few minutes I felt like my regular self.  Thanks gals!

Hadley doing her school work in a creative environment. 

Hadley doing school under a dress.

Reading the Media portion of the updated For Strength of Youth to the kids during devotional, we went over pornography.  Hadley asked what it was.  We told her that it was people with out their clothing on.  She said “Well, I have seen some.  Myself in the bathtub!”    We were very relieved!

One moment of silence during the afternoon!  Everyone was outside and I had forgotten what silence sounded like! 

Preach My Gospel mock discussion.  I had each of the kids knock on the door and teach me the first discussion.  I was a different type of investigator each time.  It was so fun and good to learn how hard it is to keep things on track.

Hadley asking me if she can say the “H” word.  I thought it would be HATE but it turned out to be Holy Cow.  So funny!  My kids were the ones that started all this “H” word stuff, it just cracks me up that they think these words are so bad.    Royce said “You said the “E” word Addy”.  AJ:  “What word is that Royce?”  RJ whispers:  “Hate”.

Goal #42 – Stupid Games, Ski Goggles, Bribing and “CHIPS dreams”!!!

Bryson before the dance.

THINGS THAT DIDN’T WORK:

Kevin having a dream that he was visiting Brian and Aimee (his brother who just died) and someone stole his Ipad out of his car.  Brian and Kevin started chasing the guys through the neighborhood but then “John and Poncherello from CHIPS” (you have to be our age to appreciate that!) started chasing them on their motorcycles!!  He did retrieve his Ipad by the end of the dream….    He was feeling all weird in the morning though.

Still throwing punishments out before thinking!!!  Having to follow through on them and torture myself at the same time.  You would think I would have this down by now!

Bribing Royce with Star Wars.  Last year we let Royce watch a lot of the Star Wars movies after the baby was born (out of desperation).  It was only for a month but he turned into a violent little boy…  He has not watched one since.  So, I thought I could bribe him to stop whining by letting him watch one on the weekend (bad parenting tip number 200).  Bryson watched me and was smirking, I turned to him and said “You know that used to work on you too.”, he said “It still does!”.

Tessa dropping eggs as she carried them inside.  She thought the flat box had an end to it!    She sweetly cleaned it up.

Dropped eggs!

Thinking it was time for a trip to Disney World (because we are so close).  Realizing it would be a waste of money to take Dixon (our slightly high maintenance child) there.  

Kids playing a stupid game!  Yes, I said stupid!  The game was:  Let’s put a blanket over your head and then I will push you.  This happen to be in a room with tables all over it!  Thus, Hadley split just under her eyebrow open, having slammed into the pool table.  She needed stitches but all the Urgent Care facilities were closing.  So, we pulled it together and by the morning it looked great.  We’ll have to see if we made the wrong decision (hopefully, she doesn’t want to be a model!) 

Poor Hadley!

My 40th birthday is next week and I am surprisingly very bothered by my age!  I have to go help at a Debate/Speech Tournament all day, which doesn’t help my attitude.  Thankfully, there is a Baskin and Robbins right by it. 

THINGS THAT WORKED:

Royce wearing  ski goggles at Sunday dinner.  This would sum up his personality.

Need I say more?

Bryson “If I had two moms, I would like you best!”  Good thing I was the one that gave birth to him! 

ROCKET CENTER!!!  It is so inspiring, even though we have been so many times.  We worked hard all week at school and Friday is testing then field trip day.  It was so worth it!  The weather was warm and the center was empty!  The kids were able to climb the rock wall as many times as they wanted!  I still wish everyday was a vacation!

Merritt at the top of the rock wall.

Saturn 5?

Chaperoning Addy and Bryson’s Stake dance!!!  It was so fun and the kids are so great!  They were all dressed up and having a great time.  I love seeing good, clean fun!  I LOVE THE YOUTH!  Kevin and I even got to dance a little. 

Stopping for the kids, singing and wrestling with them.  I love the surprised look on their face that it’s play time!  I just need to do it more….

Loving the rain!  It has felt like Oregon for the last 5 days!  I keep finding myself gazing out the window remembering what it felt like to be there.  The birds even sounded different (or I’m losing my mind, could be either). 

Filling out all the grades for our Home School Cover School.  I actually hate doing this, but after wards, I feel so much better.  I have learned that in December I always feel like I am failing my kids with their education, but then in January, I fill out the forms and realize how much we really do.  I guess it just seems like it’s all a part of our “life”, thus it doesn’t stand out as “education” until I fill in the box.  How “schooled” is that?!!!

Changing my schedule.  I have let too many things get in the way of working with my kids (patiently) in the mornings.  So, I have rearranged my schedule and I am not going to let anything get in the way, right?    These two weeks have been so much better.

Goal #41 – Dixon on top of Ladders, 5 Mile Mark, Blower Face Pictures and New Paint!!!

THINGS THAT DIDN’T WORK:

Not being able to answer Hadley’s odd questions!  HJ “How do ducks kiss?”  Me “They don’t, Hadley.”  HJ “Then how do they get married?”  Me “They don’t, Sweetie.”  “But Mom, in Mickey Mouse Christmas, they sure did, so how do they kiss?”

Whining about the cold mornings.    We crank the heat up in the morning and the kids all stand over the vents in the dining room while they eat.  It’s was actually cute until Royce started whining “Moooom, she’s taking my heat!!!”

Dixon climbing on chairs, tables and to the top of ladders!!!!  This definitely DOES NOT WORK!!!

Here he goes....

Yes, he climbed up there all by himself!

He can’t even walk yet, so he doesn’t have any balance once he gets there.  He is the size of  two year old and super strong, but extremely wobbly.  He also whines half the day because he can’t figure things out.  I told Addy that this is the year of FRUSTRATION, not only for Dixon but for us too!  I do so much better with two years olds. 

SWEETS!!!  Curse all those incredible holiday treats!!!  I did great for the first 3 weeks (this means only eating about 1/4 of what I normally eat during the holidays), but then the last week and a half I went for it!  By New Years weekend I was eating yummy food and treats late into the night and my belly shows it!!!  Oh boy, I pigged out and felt so gross!  I am back on track now and hopefully I will feel better!  It’s really hard to start over!  I have cried a number of times in the last few days as I change my habits again.  I truly am addicted to chocolate!

Starting school on Monday.  I have a love/hate relationship with this.  I love learning and the structure, but I LOVE vacation because we just get to enjoy each other.

Kevin and I taking pictures to turn in for something.  I dislike seeing myself age! 

I said to Addy that this looked just like one of our wedding pictures. She responded that we look A LOT older!

THINGS THAT WORKED:

Addisen taking “Blower Face Pictures” with Kevin’s help.  They are so weird but they had fun.  Here are a few of the good ones…

Hadley's blower face picture

Tessa's blower face picture!

Finally crossed over and ran 5 miles!!!  I don’t normally care how much I run, but Kevin has been “Mapping his Runs” so I checked and I was excited to see how far I made it.  I could have kept going, but I could hear the kids from a mile away…..

Five Mile Mark Day with my awesome t-shirt!

Kevin painting the dining room and the deck all in one day!!!  We have been meaning to do this for so long.  The dining room was a horrid bright pink!  We are so pleased with the results. 

Love our new paint. So does Hadley.

Royce helping Daddy at Home Depot and every other project.  He ran to get his tool set and hammered all day long!  So cute! 

Love the kids having late nights with neighbors.  We don’t do  overnights, so we do “Late Nights”.  The little girls even got in their pajamas and slippers to go to a friends house during the break.

Taking Ashley (Addy’s friend) through her first car wash!  We didn’t know it was her first time until we started going through it and she was freaking out.  She was so cute!!!

Ashley in her first car wash!

Love Christmas Break!  Lots of fun, relaxing, lazy time.  A lot of movies and snuggling too!

The three girls stacked on Daddy, New Year's Eve!

Royce and Tessa snuggling.

Moving the TV out to the family room.  We have had it in the playroom (a very uncomfortable set up).  Now we have our couches to lay on.  I lied down on the couch in the afternoon to try to watch the Duck’s game and Royce asked me “Are you sick Mommy?  Why are you on the couch?”  I realized he had never seen me lie down there.  He is usually in bed.  I guess I am on the move a lot!

Goal #40 – Uncooked Ham, What is a Virgin Daddy?, Burning the Stuffed Dog, Oregon Video and a Spatula!

Here is the video that Addy made as a Christmas present for my parents and Justin: 

THINGS THAT DIDN’T WORK:

Dixon slipping in the bath and slicing open his eye lid.  We almost took him in for stitches (it would have been horrible timing!)  but then it started to just close right up, so we left it.  He had a black eye in the morning but it healed perfectly!  Lucky us!

Dixon's big ouchy!

Exhaustion on Christmas Eve.  I know you all know what I’m talking about, but I was sooooo glad Christmas was over so I wouldn’t have to coordinate all the excitement anymore!  It was fun and I love it, but my brain is feeling much better now. 

Having a very frustrating moment and instead of saying what I really thought of that person I just said in frustration “Stupid, stupidness!”.  When I finally caught up with Kevin he was just shaking his head saying “Stupid, stupidness huh?”.  The funny thing is I can’t even remember what the incident was as I write this….

Kevin had a frustrating moment and he couldn’t spit out “force field”, he just kept saying “forris field”.  We were laughing so hard!

Leaving 11 gallons of milk in the back of the car for an entire afternoon.  We kept remembering about them when the car was gone!  Thankfully, it was a really cold day. 

Dishwasher breaking right after Christmas Eve dinner!  Kevin came to the rescue though!

Missing family during Christmas. 

Kevin’s explanation of what a virgin is during our Christmas Eve scripture time:  “Daddy, what is a virgin?”  “Well, a virgin is a person who hasn’t had a baby.”  Merritt “Then I am a virgin.”  Daddy:  “Well, yes you are.”  Merritt:  “Hey, so are you Daddy!!!”  Whoops!!!!

Merritt, Tessa and Royce coming out of their bedroom while we were setting up “Christmas”!  Kevin was helping Santa set up the train table he left for the little boys.  I think they were all scared for their lives, Kevin yelled, Royce cried, I freaked.  Royce ran back to bed and with a quivering lip said:  “I love the trains, are they mine?”  We are still working on the healing.

Santa's helper. Isn't he cute?

Uncooked Christmas ham!!!  My Mom always had Honeybaked Ham and it was pre-cooked perfectly.  I naturally thought all ham came that way….  So, when I went to heat it up for dinner, Kevin pointed out that the 9 lb ham needed to cook for 3-4 hours!!!  Whoops!  Don’t you think cooked and uncooked ham looks the same? 

Dixon attacking the cutest little boy that was visiting us.  He started with giving him hugs but then it turned into a Godzilla move and he wanted to bring him down.  We can teach him right? 

THINGS THAT WORKED:

Christmas party with a surprise visit from Santa!

Poor Santa!!!

Ice Skating on Christmas Eve!  I was so sore after racing the kids out there that I couldn’t life my legs up without help from my arms!  The little kids were amazing and Royce was all over the place with the plastic helper thingy.

Ice Skating

Corbin had a present under the tree from my parents that looked like a spatula.  We kept saying why would he get a spatula….  Then he opened it and it was the coolest spatula ever!!! 

Corbin's awesome spatula!

BRYSON MEMORIZING THE FAMILY:  A PROCLAMATION TO THE WORLD!!!  proclamation?lang=eng    Go Bryson!

Bryson wouldn't take a normal picture for me!!!!

Taking Bryson and Corbin to Hugo  and ice cream (we never pay full price for movies, so this was a huge treat!).  Our boys make us laugh so much and are such a pleasure!

NEW BEDS for Merritt and Hadley!  They have been sharing a full size bed (thank you to the Milams, we are still using the bed you gave us years ago, now it is Bryson’s) for 4 years!  They are so happy to have their own twin beds.  Merritt is especially happy to not get pushed out of bed anymore. 

New pajamas on Christmas Eve!!!  I have always wanted to copy the tradition of new pjs on Christmas Eve, but I am too cheap to spend that much money on them when they have hand me downs.  I finally shopped the sales and bought some for everyone.  It was a hit and they all got to have that special snuggy feeling in bed that night.     Made me happy!

Traditonal Christmas picture before running to the stockings.

Christmas Eve testimony book!  One of our favorite traditions that we started last year is that we all write down our testimonies and then share them on Christmas Eve.  It is really special and helps us focus on the true meaning of Christmas.  It was neat to see last years testimonies in our special notebook.

I went and played paintball with a group of people Bryson put together!  First game I was hit in the neck (a very sensitive spot) and the leg.  I tried to go in again but I was too scared to get hit again.  I had so much fun shooting things that I asked all the guys to just line up so I could shoot them.  Only one guy would let me!  Thanks Tim for letting me have fun!    I stood on the side and shot at really old, run down mobile home.  I covered the windows with tons of yellow paint and I felt so good about my adrenaline release until…… someone came over and told us that people live there!!!!  OH MY GOODNESS!!!!!  I felt so badly!

Paintball! Addy played the entire time! Go Addy!

Monte Sano State Park!  Beautiful views, waterfalls, creeks and a fun playground.

Dixon and Kevin at Monte Sano.

Lazy after Christmas recovery week!  Left overs for dinner!  Love it!  Especially lots of HAM!!!    We never have leftovers anymore (the kids eat them all up for lunch), so this is really great.

18 years of marriage!  I love my Kevin, he is the love of my life.  I am so thankful to be married to a fun, great, caring, loving, wonderful man!  I want to keep going on about him, but it would get too mushy!  There is never a dull moment at our house with Kevin!

My awesome husband!

Burning “Sam the stuffed dog”.  My Mom gave us this dog over 11 years ago.  We have used it to lay on and watch movies forever, but you can not clean it.  So, it needed to go away.  The boys decided to burn it and let it rest in peace.  Here is the video, it’s way to long to watch the entire thing, so just turn it off after the beginning:  

Three hats for Christmas from Nana and Boppa!  So cute!

Cute hats!

Royce's Racoon Hat!

 

Goal #39 – Girls sing, Dixon’s First Steps, Letters From Santa and Frankenstein!

I love my boy!

THINGS THAT DIDN’T WORK:

Kevin having multiple personalities!  Kevin says to me this week “I have a lot of different personalities, but every single one loves you a lot!  Aren’t you lucky?”  I love my man (or should it be men).  

Bryson decorating Dixon with puffy igloo pieces, thus creating Frankenstein.

Frankenstein Boy

Addisen and yard work!  These two just don’t mix!  The picture will tell all! 

15 year old grumpy face!

Hadley shopping with Addy at Walmart and acting like Addy was her Mom and I was her Grandma (is this because I am turning 40 next month?!!!)  HJ says to Addy:  “Mom, was I adopted and where from?”  AJ: “Yes, we got you at the hospital.”  HJ, in a whisper:  “No, tell me I came from Grandma.”  She is so funny!  She continued to call her Mom the rest of the time (I was in another part of the store).

THINGS THAT WORKED:

Getting a phone call from one of “My Missionaries”!  Elder Standage checks in every once in a while and it’s such a treat!  He confirmed me almost 20 years ago!

Hadley sending a note to Santa (she included Royce in the letter).  She was adamant that it go in the mailbox (she even wanted a stamp on it, but I told her it will go directly to the North Pole).  The mailman took the letter and after a couple days Royce and Hadley both received letters from Santa himself!  They were decorated and so cute!  We were all jumping up and down with excitement.  The little old elves even signed the drawings.    I love people that go the extra mile even though they don’t have too! 

Letters from Santa!

Temple Sealing team!  It was so fun to ride down and back with other couples whom make us laugh!  The kids watched the debates and reported back to us (gotta love it!).

I Love Christmas Break!  We are baking, wrapping and reading!  We got back from the temple to see under the tree full of presents that came while we were gone.  What a fun surprise!  I think my Mom even tried to match the wrapping and ribbon with our living room!  Thank you everyone!

Dinky Home Depot tree and the pretty, matching presents!

A special, unexpected Christmas present from a dear friend in Oregon!  She gave me an acorn necklace because Oak trees are so strong.  I love wearing it!

So pretty! My acorn necklace.

Saturday morning surprise from our neighbors, a huge, beautiful Gingerbread house!

Gorgeous Gingerbread house from our neighbors!

Dixon finally taking his first steps!  He is extremely wobbly, but at least there is hope!  I also had to shave his hair too.  It was so messy looking and food was drying in it everyday.  He looks younger now, but his eyes stand out more (in my opinion). 

Dixon's haircut!

Every morning we know Royce is up because he will plug the Christmas lights in (the plug is in his room, but the lights wrap around the banister).  It’s so cute because he doesn’t come out for awhile but we know he is awake.

Special package with an ornament and framed picture of Brian (Kevin’s brother who pasted away in September).  Isn’t that the most thoughtful idea!  Wow, we are blown away!  We are feeling all loved up! 

Singing Christmas Tree!  It was really neat!

Singing Christmas Tree

Ward Christmas party!  The Primary kids sang a lot of songs and did a Nativity program.  I LOVED IT!  So cute! Merritt and Tessa got to sing one verse by themselves!  Great job girls!  We were so busy watching them that we didn’t even notice Hadley up on stage for awhile.    Corbin filmed it and he said his arms were tired!    The girls sing the second verse. 

Hadley was one of the kings!

Frame and ornament pictures of Brian. So sweet!

Oh, my Corbin! Love him!

Goal #38 – Germany? Yes or No?, KKK, Girls Camp!!!, A Key to Unlock the World!!

As some of you might be new to my blog, I thought I might explain why I have been doing this.  Here is what I wrote back in March:  “Here is my one year goal!  I am going to write once a week about the things that worked and didn’t work in my life.  I plan on doing it every weekend (jotting down notes each day).  You have no idea how hard this is going to be for me.  I haven’t written in my journal for over a year.  I am so far behind in so many things, I don’t think I’ll ever get to catch up.  I felt prompted to start doing this, thus I will obey.  I’m not quite sure why, but I really felt like I should do it in this format.  Soooo, here it goes……”

Now it is 38 weeks later and I love it.  I am much faster, I know how to attach a video and I still hate doing it!  I always love it the next morning (as do the kids), but it’s a struggle to get it done.

THINGS THAT DIDN’T WORK:

Deciding whether to go to Germany!!!  This is a really hard decision.  What do y’all think?  Kevin was asked to speak at a conference in Berlin, they will pay for him, so it wouldn’t be too expensive…..  but leaving the kids????  Can I really do this?  I keep going back and forth (usually with the kids behavior being the leading reason for my fluctuation).

Signing my Christmas cards “KKK”.  I usually sign them “Kevin, Kelly and Kids”….   I thought about shortening it since we live in Alabama……

Conversations with little kids through the bathroom door while taking a shower.   All I can hear is muffled sounds and I’m always having to shout back that I’ll be out soon (I try to sing it so they will think I’m being nice!).  Royce has resorted to slipping things under the door for me to see when I am finished. 

Running in shorts and a t-shirt on December 14th!!!  I need a cold winter to make it through the hot summer!!!!

1 step forward, 2 steps back!  This would sum up my life!  I spend most of my day listening to everyone and picking up or getting ready for the million things to come.  I am sooo thankful I can be at home to do this but it feels like I never make headway.  I get ahead for an evening but then the next morning I suddenly have a huge list again.  I know, I know, 10 people in a family can do that to you!    I do love all these wonderful people!

Finding out that a dear friend John Blankenagel had passed away.  He was our neighbor in Oregon and one of the most serviceable men we know.  He will be very missed.  Thinking good thoughts to those that are hurting right now.

THINGS THAT WORKED:

NEW CALLING for me!  Yippppeeee!  I finally get to go to Girls Camp!!!  I am the Stake Assistant Camp Director!!!  I get to work with wonderful ladies  and Young Women, I’m so excited (minus the bugs, spiders, snakes and heat, but I won’t focus on that!). 

Royce wondering where the prophet went on the steeple ornament!  He meant Moroni on top of a temple.  So Addy created a replacement out of tin foil!

Our new Angel Moroni on the steeple ornament

Dixon sleeping with his blanket, sucking his thumb and snuggling on Zippy his new birthday Zebra.  I love snuggy things like babies!!!!

Zippy Zebra can be a pillow too!

Zippy Zebra, a blanket and your thumb, what more could you want?

Hadley:  “I think Santa lives in the moon.”  “As apposed to on the on the moon”  “Mom, of course he is in the moon, that’s why we can’t see him!”

Getting to have the Relief Society Christmas Dinner at my house (the Stake Center was closed for the Festival).  It was so fun to have the ladies here and have a Pot-luck dinner and a sock exchange!   Fun, fun, fun!

Glorious Stake Christmas Festival!!!  Kevin got to sing in the incredible choir, they sound like Motab and I love going to the Live Nativity.  We are also glad it is over, so we can have Kevin back a little. 

Royce:  “Why do Dads and Moms have to be so tall, like a house?”

Dreaming that I got to spend an entire day with a good friend from Oregon.  Until my wedding ring slipped off my hand and we spent hours looking for it (in real life,my rings have been slipping off my fingers)! 

Saturday morning breakfasts!!!!  Breakfast Cake, Farm Fresh Eggs, Orange Juice and Christmas music!  The house feels so happy and like Christmas morning!  Love it!

Taking  Royce shopping without any other children.  We played together the entire time.  He came back all filled up and happy.  After we got back, he went in the playroom and talked to himself for an hour while he played.  It was so cute and he was really happy.  Wait is talking to yourself a red flag?

My Mom’s doctor appointment with really great recovery news!!!  We are all so happy for her!

Dixon and Royce pulling a Radio Flyer ornament around.  So cute!

Roycee pulling the Radio Flyer ornament

Still doing the Preach My Gospel thing with the kids on Sunday night.  We read one page a day and discuss one thing from each page on  Sunday.  We get a special dessert each week too!

Preach My Gospel "Brownie Stencil Dessert"

Dixon’s well check!  He is normal!  Weighing in at 27 lbs.  He has succeeded in throwing my shoulder/arm out and hurting my back!  Will he ever walk?????

Hadley’s (6 years old) answer to what she wanted for Christmas (a stranger asking)  “I want a key that will unlock everything in the world”.  She is completely serious, I think we are in trouble.

LOVE getting Christmas cards from everyone!

Royce misunderstanding the words to Feliz Navidad:  “I guess, naughty, not!” 

Someone is secretly doing the 12 days of Christmas on our doorstep.  It is so exciting and makes us smile each night!  The little poems that are left are really cute.

Organization e-mail.  I received the greatest e-mail and I want to do all of these clever things (click here).  I plan on doing it when things slow down, ha, ha!

Goal #37 – Dixon is One!!! Graham Cracker Houses, No More Hagley and Huge Bonfires!

THINGS THAT DIDN’T WORK:

Holes in our walls!  I’m still getting used to how much boys wrestle.  Not that our present holes are from wrestling (they were just accidents).

Bryson, Corbin and Kevin wrestling with the group of boys at the Court of Honor.

Christmas pictures, cards and everything that goes with getting these out!  Worth it, but so stressful!

Unedited version, we had to exchange some heads!

Christmas shopping!  So hard to get it done, but I’m finally done and can enjoy the rest of the season with fun activities.

Spending time trying to negotiate selling our house in Oregon!!  Very stressful!

Not finding any time for our entire family to be together to celebrate Dixon’s birthday.  We were doing Family Business on Sunday and we just couldn’t figure it out.  Thankfully, something was canceled and it all worked out! These last two weeks have been insane!  After this weekend, it will calm down and we can just enjoy each other.

Hadley finally cluing in that we call her “Hag” or “Hagley”!  I knew this day would come!  HJ:  “Mom, why do people call me Hagley?”  “Well, Merritt couldn’t say Hadley when you were born, so she said Hagley, same with Royce, isn’t it so cute sweetie?”  “No, I really don’t like being called Hag”.  “Oh, OK, HADLEY, I can listen to you and talk to the other kids.” 

THINGS THAT WORKED:

Went to the coolest Eagle Court of Honor!  It was outside with a huge bonfire  and a walkway with torches and amazing food!  The weather was perfect and you could see the moon through the leafless trees.

Basketball games for Bryson, Tessa and Merritt!  So fun!

Escaping to the temple!  So worth it! 

Decorating the tree.  This is a wonderful/stressful event with 8 opinionated kids.

Finished memorizing the “13 Articles of Faith”!  I memorized ten of them years ago, so I re-memorized them and finished the rest!

Love having Kevin in our ward for church!

First Presidency Christmas Devotional!  I love started the Christmas season off with this.

Hadley adding her “beautiful picture” to our wall of Christmas cards.  She thought that was what we meant when I said we hang the Christmas pictures on the wall.   I love filling the wall up with all the wonderful cards and pictures, just warms my heart….

Girls putting beautiful make up on!

Thankfully, Royce didn't have any on!

I didn't see it until the next morning!

Home School Group Christmas Party!  It was so fun to have it in our home.  I got to help Hadley’s class played Christmas Bingo and made Graham Cracker Houses.  We sang Christmas carols and did a cookie exchange.  Thanks to everyone that helped! 

FHE Graham Cracker Houses!  Kevin poured frosting into the kids mouths! 

Royce calling Bryson’s guitar picks, pickles! 

Hadley asking what divorce is.  I love that she doesn’t even have to worry about it. 

Dixon’s first birthday!!!!  We love this little/huge guy so much!  He has completed our family perfectly (I am extremely happy to be done having babies!!!). I can’t believe it was only a year ago that he came to us!  He  woke up at 6:00 am on his birthday, he must have been really excited!    He got a Sit n’spin for his birthday.  Love you Dixon!!! 

Whoops, I almost forgot the Chore Chart idea!!!  Feel free to stop reading if you are not interested, but a number of people have asked for it so……  First, Kevin and I make a list of all the chores we want done.  Then we take it to the kids and let them add any we forgot (they actually do tell us some extras!).  Then we write them on the wall (in our broom closet), we put a push pin in next to it.    We have 10 tags for each kid  with their name on it.  We just go in order and put the tags on.  It’s extremely HOME MADE by the kids.  I rotate the chores Monday, Wednesday and Friday.  We have a Weekly section that I rotate once a week.  They do those on Saturday.  We have noticed that Bryson is not around enough to do this, so he has a project (like taking care of the yard), that he can do when ever he wants.  Hadley is younger so she has 3 chores that are easier and we don’t rotate hers.  We add and take away chores when needed.  It’s great, because after school they know exactly what to do before they can go anywhere else.  We also can check to see who didn’t do a good job on their chore (then we give them an extra chore).  I can give a list for the individual chores we thought of, if anyone wants it.  Happy working.  By the way, my house is only Kid Clean!  I wish I had time to clean it myself, but I pick up and put things away a lot!  If this doesn’t make sense you can call me. 

Dixon with his new birthday ball!

Gingerbread houses with Hadley's group. Aren't they adorable?!!!

Singing Christmas Carols in the living room by with the piano (this is with out the 12 and above kids).

Cookie Exchange! Yum!

Goal #36- Thanksgiving, Hadley’s Anger, Awesome Bike Ride, Shotgun Threats and Mom Finishes her Personal Progress!!!

Hello everybody! This is BRYSON filling in for my dear mother. I will be telling you about the things that were messed up, and things that went well in our happy family. This should be fun! Y’all should know that this is the true, unbiased version of things.

THINGS THAT WORKED:

Thanksgiving! We had a great Thanksgiving. Mom cooked all day, and made some amazing food. Although I am disappointed that she did not deep fry the turkey, or cook it in a trash can in our back yard, it was the best turkey I have ever tasted! It just fell apart, as if it was pulled pork. Soooo good. We had the Hoggard family over, and we played some fun games, and had lots of laughs. We sure do miss having Thanksgiving with our family though. We didn’t have to cook, and our aunt always did the dishes for us. But best of all we would spend so much time with the people we love. We miss that a lot. But we survived!

Our Thanksgiving dinner table.

That morning we had our TURKEY BOWL!!! Best football ever. We were sooooo sore after, all the guys just sat on the couch, and Tim Hoggards legs would cramp up every time he left the dinner table. Everyone enjoyed laughing at his pain. Back to football, Dad was the oldest guy there. And he isn’t even 40. And best of all, out of the 5 interceptions that happened during the whole day of football, I did 4 of them!!!!!!! I have now decided that I am going to play football!

LADY ANTEBELLUM CONCERT!!!!!!!!! One of the best nights of my life. I bought tickets that were on sale a few weeks ago, because Lady Antebellum was coming to our city on Black Friday.  So I bought two tickets, one for me and one for a date. I ended up taking my neighbor and it turned out great. The tickets I got were way up there on the side. But two of my friends from Calhoun called me and said that they had heels on, and weren’t going to stay the whole time anyways, and wanted to give us their tickets. So we switched…….. and we were on the floor!!!!!!! We were on the end of the catwalk! After wards I was sooo stiff and sore from standing so long, but it was the most amazing experience ever! We got to touch their hands, and it was just an amazing concert!!:)

WE made a huge list of all the family traditions that we can think of during Christmas. It helped our family……….. bond a lot? Or I’m sure it brought the Christmas spirit in to our house.

Mom loves me being the chauffeur. I was going to get batteries for her and she said for me to take all the kids and help them do their Secret Santa presents at Target. It went well! I didn’t lose any children for very long, and they weren’t very sneaky, so I know just about everybody’s Christmas presents including mine. And the best part is that I forgot to get the batteries!

According to tradition, our family set up Christmas on Black Friday. Us men are usually gone on some insanely long and freezing hike, so I have missed out on it every year that we have lived here. ( I missed it again because I as doing yard work) It was great for everyone else to bring out all the decorations that have the best memories, and setting up some cool Christmas lights.

We had our first family bike ride since we moved here! We used to do it all the time, but we haven’t for a while. It was amazing. It was so beautiful outside, nice and warm. ( I was wearing shorts and a T-shirt, and it snowed 2 days later) It was nice to have our family together, except Tessa was not with us. We missed her. Little Royce was awesome, he peddled his little bike as fast as he could, and was able to keep up most of the time. Hadley got a side ache halfway through, and she got to ride on Corbin’s pegs. With Hadley and Royce not being able to ride the long distance, we ended up piling their bikes onto the trailer, and Dad pulled it all. We went to Chick-fil-a after wards, and as always, it was amazing.  Best restaurant ever      

Dad with little bikes stacked on the trailer!

Family bike ride.

In church, we sang “For The Beauty of the Earth”. It went very well, Addy played the piano, the 3 girls sang the first verse, the rest of us sang the second, and we all sang the 3rd. Dad  said it went well, so we are just gonna have to trust him. Except I sang the third verse instead of the second, and we kept laughing, but it made us look like the happy family we are.

Momma finished her Personal Progress! Although I have nooooo idea why she is doing something that has to do with Young Womans, she is very proud of it and it seems fitting that it should be on the blog. GOOD JOB MOM!!

Also, it rained on the way home from church, and it was snuggy. 

We had an activity girls activity here, and they all had fun. 

Merritt reading her Activity Days paper.

**Side note:  Bryson was reading off of the list I made, so he had to put things on here that he doesn’t care about.    Also, for those of you that wanted to know the details of our chore chart, I will get it on as soon as I can.  I’m hoping my next two days will be better than my last week!

THINGS THAT DIDN’T WORK:

When I went to pick up my date for the Lady Antebellum concert, her father came out to the living room with a big ol’shotgun. I always promised myself that I would laugh if this ever happened. Well, I laughed, but then after a few seconds he didn’t smile. I wasn’t smiling anymore. It was a joke (I hope), but still freaked me out. He asked who was driving, then said I better take good care of his daughter. Then he said be back by 9:30…. no make that 9:00. Then he cocked the huge shotgun and it echoed through the whole house. I have waited for that my whole life!! It was awesome. But it was very intimidating. The collar of his Polo was stuck up so he looked like on of those lizards that has the frill that pops out to intimidate their prey.

When making the pudding for Thanksgiving dinner, Royce messed with the mixer and it sprayed all over the kitchen and he was covered in vanilla pudding!

Royce with pudding all over him! He was not very happy at our laughter!

Mom also got confused as to why there isn’t 4 innings in football…….

As I said earlier, I was doing yard work all day Friday. We have so many trees in our back yard. Way too many. And Dad says we need to get it all up and bag all of them before they kill the grass. For the past two months, I have spent the better part of every Saturday blowing the leaves into piles. And there is always more. So I think we should cut them all down!!!! Get rid of them forever. The end.

Riding in the car today, Hadley just started telling us a little fact about herself  “Sometimes I want to be mean, but I make myself not do it. I punch the ground and then it goes away. I don’t know why that happens. Do you know why it goes away??”

Well, it was fun telling y’all about our happy little family. 

Goal #35 – Anonymous T-shirt, Rolling Trash Cans, “The Help” and a Wonderful Husband!!!

THINGS THAT DIDN’T WORK:

Kids rolling down the hill in the garbage can that they were supposed to bag leaves in! 

Underestimating how much Kevin supports, loves and helps me around here!  He was gone six entire days and I have to admit that eight kids were too much for me by the end of the fifth day.  I really started to lose it.  He was flying home across the country and he kept calling me to tell me he would come home and rescue me!  He did exactly that, Saturday was blissful to be back in his arms and have him getting the kids back on track.  He is truly the greatest man and I am so blessed to get to share this life and the next with him.

Making a Christmas list and starting to shop!  It really stresses me out until I get going on it.

Addy and Bryson learning to push for what they want (I know this is normal for teenagers, but it’s really exhausting!).  I love teenagers, especially mine, but they decided they needed a new Mom that would answer the way they wanted.  Thankfully this was only temporary (and they were cracking themselves up as they said it)!  They are so great, but while Kevin was gone, they started in on me and I was taken back by it!  Still learning…….

A dog following me all the way home!  Half way through my run this dog started chasing me, but then decided to just run inbetweeen my legs and come home with me!  No we didn’t keep it!

THINGS THAT WORKED:

Best part of my week was getting the cutest t-shirt dropped off on my doorstep!  I have always wanted a shirt to go running in that said “I have 8 kids, give me a break”.  There was a note attached saying “To Kelly, Because you’re awesome!”.  Wow,  someone knows how to make me feel so special!!!!  Especially when I was still trying to get my feet under me this week.  It just brings tears to my eyes!  If you are reading this now, THANK YOU, and tell me who you are!!!!     I’ll have to start questioning the kids to see if they saw anyone….

Front of t-shirt!

Back of the t-shirt!

Reading “The Help” because Addy read it and said I had to also.   We wanted to go see the movie at the $1.00 Theater.  I was finishing the last 15 pages during the previews!!!    We liked the book better, but enjoyed the movie (Corbin even came with us). 

On the way home from the theater! Love my kiddies!

Finishing the book "The Help" in the Theatre!

Chore Chart!  I love our rotating chore chart.  We tried so many things while the kids were little, but this has been around for years now.  We rotate the tags every Monday, Wednesday and Friday.  They have once a week Saturday chore tags too.  The kids are so cute as they realize they have a group of easier or harder chores.

Bryson’s looooong quote about dying without ever owning an electric guitar!  “If I were to die I’d miss out on being married, relations, and kids but I’d have that and be with my family in Heaven.  So the only worldly thing I would really miss is not having had an electric guitar to play my Country Music!”.

Taking Addy shopping with her gift certificate.  I’m really not cut out for this shopping stuff, but it went well and was fun to be with her and Corbin. 

Bryson, Addisen, Corbin and Tessa going to a Debate and Speech Marathon for an entire day.  It was really quiet in the house with only four kids.

GETTING A PING PONG/POOL/AIR HOCKEY TABLE FROM OUR AWESOME NEIGHBORS!!!!  Everyone has been playing it none stop (with some arguing).  Our Media Room is perfect for it (mainly because it is downstairs and it has a house door on it, so I can’t hear them!).

Bryson and Kevin playing pool. Please excuse the food storage in the background!

Hadley:  “Why is Mr. Ray going to put a pool in our downstairs house?”  She had never seen a billiards table. 

Hadley:  “I want to play Pimg Pom.”  She says it correctly now….

Royce saying his prayers!  When I put him to bed he normally likes me to say it for him, but one night he wanted to do it.  It was the longest prayer as he so sweetly kept ducking his head under his bed to look at his favorite treasures and include them in his prayer.  Love him!!!

Kevin getting set apart for his new calling!  It was very special, we were able to bring the three older kids too.  Just before he left for his meeting he gave me a hug and I got a lipstick mark on his white shirt!  Whoops!

Smelling Thanksgiving pies baking the night before Thanksgiving!

Home school group Thanksgiving Day activities.  So cute!

Goal #34 – Climbing Trees Way Too High, New Calling, Helicopters, Leaves and 11:11:11!!!

WHAT DIDN’T WORK:

Hadley still pulling things out of the trash!  The other day she pulled all of Kevin’s old business cards out.  I keep finding them all over my room.

Kevin traveling on business all week.    On the first night Corbin said he could just pretend that he was at a meeting.  That only worked for about a day!

Tessa leaning over my head in the middle of the night (on the night that she got to sleep in my bed) and saying some random phrase and then throwing herself down on the bed.  Freaked me out!  I let one of the three little girls rotate into my bed when Kevin travels.

Dreaming that a bug was on my face and I was squishing it, then waking up to a reality that I am REALLY killing a bug on my cheek!  Ahhhhh!  I had a hard time falling back to sleep!

Dixon trying to move from two naps to one!  I’m holding on for as long as possible.

Corbin’s new nickname… Chester… long story, but he doesn’t like it. My Mom and I had a great laugh over it though. 

Kevin sending me the picture of a tree, asking me to find Hadley (click on the picture of the tree now, she is a little camouflaged).

You can barely see Hadley up near the top!!!!

He said that she told him that she was just going to go climb a tree.  He said “Have fun!”.  After a few minutes he thinks, I should make sure she is ok.  He gets out there and calls for her… “I’m right here Dad!”, “Where?”, “UUUUPPP here!”  “Hadley you come down, you shouldn’t climb that high you could really get hurt, how did you do that?”, “Oh, it’s so easy, I would never fall.”  We are definitely going to keep a closer eye on her!  I happen to have been the same way as a kid, if I physically could do it, I didn’t understand why you would ever get hurt, you could just keep it from happening….

Inserting my foot in my mouth as I explained my OPINIONS about the difference between BYU Idaho and BYU Provo.  I had forgotten I was talking with the Rachel and John Ricks a descendant of Ricks College himself!   Thankfully they were laughing, but endlessly making the most of my mess up!

Hadley’s loose tooth hanging by one root but Daddy being gone!  She just kept crying that she needed Daddy to get it out (this has always been Kevin’s area of expertise).  She called him crying and it broke his heart.  I on the other hand successfully used Dental Floss and got that sucker out! 

My cute six year old missing her front tooth!

The weather!!!  One morning I’m enjoying the cold weather at 27 degrees, but two days later at the same time it was 63 degrees.  I had to use the air conditioning this week!!!  72 degrees and horribly humid on November 14th!

WHAT DID WORK:

Kevin being released as a High Councilor, then called to be the  Stake Executive Secretary.  He was really sad to not be on the High Counsel anymore.    With the stakes splitting it has been super busy, but he is learning a lot and loves the men he is working with.  I get to have him back with me on Sundays during church!  Yippee!!!

Leaves on the trampoline!   

Watching some of the CMA Awards with the older kids.  Fun!

Taking Bryson and Addy out to dinner at Red Robin as a thank you for doing such a great job when Kevin and I went back to Oregon for Brian’s funeral.  We all loved our Mud Pie!

Bryson and his smiley face Mud Pie!

Addy getting to drive again.  She had her privileges suspended by us for a month.  The drifting into other lanes at 70 MPH and then thinking it wasn’t that big of a deal, kind of did me in.  She’s driving beautifully now! 

Hadley was grabbing a flyer in front of a house that was for sale (this is a hobby of mine).  A dog was barking at her, when she got in the car she said “That dog said, GO AWAY!”. 

Getting to watch Kevin (on the web) give his keynote speech live from California.  The kids all got to watch it too!  Go Kevin!!!  He showed his video called:  When I Grow Up

Celebrating 11:11:11 A.M.  on 11/11/11!  Eleven is my favorite number so this was a big deal! 

Bryson is allowed to use “The Family Cell Phone” for his needs (there are rules that go with this and he is great about them).  One day he was expressing to me how thankful he is for HIS phone, I promptly took it away… JUST KIDDING no one else uses it anyways! 

Hadley doing an awesome flip on the trampoline.  I asked her how long she had been able to do it, she answered “Oh, I don’t know about 10 days”.

Wonderful neighbors that take my little ones on their riding lawnmowers while they do yardwork!

Tessa and Merritt going to  a science fair at University of Alabama Huntsville.  They loved it!  Royce got to see a helicopter land right in front of him.  This was his dream because he lands (or crashes them on purpose) the same type of helicopters on the iPad.    

Bryson going on a double date and three of the people have the last name of Jones!!  Funny!

Hadley looking like Nanny Mcfee with her loose tooth.

Nanny McPhee!!!

Having fun with trash bags full of leaves!  These were only some of the leaves from the front yard! 

Matching Pajamas!