Hello Again!

Luke and Joshua are doing tackle football this season. We have to remind them to be aggressive and be the LION. 

I organized the garage all by myself the other night while Jon Mark was coaching football. It was quite the feat, but I did it.

Mercedes likes drawing a family of heart people. She also recently lost a tooth and I accidentally threw it away, again. So, Jessica wrote a note to the tooth fairy in behalf of her client, Mercedes, pleading her case. The tooth fairy still left a dollar under the pillow even though there was no tooth to be found.

Luke likes drawing heart people too. He still is quite the ladies man. Today, Taylor was over here and she asked him if he had a lot of girlfriends. He said, "Yes, and one of them is here in this room with me now." He then nodded at Taylor. Oh, boy! I'm scared...

Caleb went missing for a few minutes the other day, but I didn't even realize it. I went about putting laundry away, and you can imagine my surprise when I walked into a dark closet and found a creeper.

I went on an epic girl outing with this sweet friend of mine a couple of months ago. We went skiing and I proved to be quite good even though it's been 15 years. We talked, laughed, and cried as we shared our hearts over that 2 hour drive.

I was trying to get a picture of all of the kids, but after 10 tries, I determined it was impossible. 

I took the kids hiking over President's Day. We hiked up Silly Mtn and it was the perfect hike for them. I fed them a lot of positive thinking as we hiked and reminded them that as they exercise their bodies, they are also exercising their minds and spirits because it is all connected.

Hannah and Cub like flexing their muscles for me.

Hannah loves this rainbow dress. She will wear it many days in a row and spin all day long. She's very jealous of my time now a days, and she needs hugs every time someone else gets a hug.  She also needs hugs every time I start to sound stressed with her or frustrated. She doesn't like their to be any sort of tension.

This Cub of mine loves playing in the tub. He also loves to be held. All. Day. Long. 

Jon Mark, Me, Michelle, and Jaron went on a really fun date the other night. We went to a Brian Regan show and it was hilarious.

I love this kid and he's growing up too fast. I'll take is goofy picture whenever I can.

Mercedes wanted in on the action. I love her so much.

Someone snuck my camera and I found these pictures.

I ran a half marathon wit Michelle and Katherine. It was so much fun. I was on a runner's high the whole time. I felt great! It was absolutely the best. I fed Michelle positive thoughts. I waved to everyone passing by on the sidewalk. I told every officer thank you. I skipped and I heel-clicked. I sang and I danced. I laughed. I cheered. I ran.

This picture below shows my enthusiasm.

Tid bits

I am getting bad at remembering to add to this blog. It's so important to me to record our happenings, but life gets in the way.

Jon Mark is busy with work, but we love it when he's around. He's fun with the kids and makes up fun games for them to play with him. Recently he bought a bunch of foam swords. He put them in chairs on the other side of the room and then the kids had to race to get a sword and be on the look out for limbs getting lopped off (in a pretense sort of way of course). We love him! We recently decided to sign the boys up for tackle football, I think Jon Mark will enjoy watching them.

Joshua is becoming more responsible. He's been great at getting himself dressed and ready for school without me having to hassle him. He loves building with his legos and collecting Pokemon cards. I think some of the joy of that has been taken away since school has banned the cards. On New Year's Grandma told Joshua that she would give him $2 if he swam the length of Papa Mac's pool. Joshua was so excited and brought extra clothes with him and everything. Everyone was chanting his name and making a big scene. He chickened out at the last second and I felt bad for him. I could tell he was disappointed in himself for letting his fear get in the way. He hid in the house for awhile (although he'd never admit to hiding). I went to check on him and told him that it's okay that he not give into peer pressure when he's uncomfortable doing something. That's actually a good thing. Sometimes it takes more courage to do that than it would be to do the task, whatever it may be. I thought it was a pretty good speech. But, then he turned to me and said that I was missing the right lesson. I should be teaching him to overcome his fears and not give into them. So, I guess that I'm not even sure what the right lesson was that had to be had.

Mercedes is a sweet girl who wants to do what's right. Sometimes her passions get in the way and we have to redirect her anger. But, she is the first to notice something that needs to be done and she does it. She tries to help me cook and clean more than the others. She's always got a new crush. Right now it's a boy named Jared and he has curly hair and glasses. I love her innocence.

Luke is funny. I asked him the other night if he liked playing with girls better or boys. I asked because he only ever talks about playing with one girl named Annalissa. He said, "Girls!". I asked him why and he replied, "Because they're so pretty to look at. Especially when they have long hair." Oh, boy! I worry about this one. He is a good boy, though.

Hannah says funny things that make everyone laugh. The other day she kept asking for neosporin. It took me a while to realize that she really meant lip gloss. She also said to me, "mom, do you know what I HATE on my pickles?" I said I didn't know. She said, "DINNER!" She was recently spotlighted in primary. She gave the following answers: her favorite food is blueberries, her least favorite food is dinner, she wants to be a butterfly when she grows up, and her favorite song is I Am A Child Of God.

Caleb is so adorable. We've been concerned recently about whether or not he's had seizures. His deductible is $6000 so it hurts a lot. I believe he's fine, but then again, it's difficult to not have him tested. He just had an EEG done and that was so sad. He cried and cried. I knew he didn't understand why his mom and dad weren't saving him when he was so scared. It broke my heart. He knows how to pray and folds his arms so well. He says AMEN at the end in the cutest way. Sometimes it sounds like M&M. He can repeat almost everything. I love the way he says, "I love you". He sings twinkle twinkle and jingle bells. He loves his Halloween pj's and his "ho ho ho" ones.