Fall Break

The kids had a good fall break. We mostly spent it with the Frost's. The Larsen's were out of town the entire week. I was fortunate to be better for the most part. My last post was about how sick I was. There are a few pictures of my hives that I had gotten as a result of that illness. My entire body was covered in itchy hives for several days, I am still recovering from them though they are no longer as bad or painful. I even had hives inside my mouth and my lips had swollen up like I had done plastic surgery to them, it was really bad. But by Tuesday I was well enough to show the kids a good time. We went to a lot of parks. Cubby got to ride the train finally. When the older kids were little, we did stuff like that all the time. So, my mom convinced that we ought to show Cub what it was like to ride the little train.

Here is Hannah's kindergarten picture.

She also had her face painted by Mercedes.

The face paint turned to body paint and she and Jaz were very dirty.

Here are the scary rash pictures. Sorry!

Hannah often demands that her picture get taken and I oblige. She is a cutie.

Mercedes 3rd grade picture.

The train ride.

Joshua used to love trains. He's a little big now I suppose.

Sickness and Being a Mom

I am really sick today. It started on Wednesday with a general feeling of unwellness. I snapped a couple of pictures of me for some sympathy and sent them to Lindsay who said I didn't look sick, I looked like I was trying out to be in a hoodie advertisement. So, as the sickness progressed, I took another picture and sent it to her so she could add that to my modeling portfolio LOL! I took other really sad ones as the illness got even worse, but those aren't as funny because I am crying in them. So, I didn't post those ones, just the funny ones. 

Being a mom and being sick is hard. Jon Mark has been supportive and the kids have been much better today than they were yesterday. They helped clean the house and have taken care of the younger ones. My mom and dad have brought me medicine and soup and dinner for the kids. 

I've had a fever and chills and bad body aches for about four days now. Today I woke up with hives up and down my body that itch, a phlemy cough, and an occassional fainting spell. I had to lay down in the shower so that if I passed out, I didn't fall and hit my head. I'm feeling better in that regard so long as I don't move too quickly or stand for too long.

It's always nice to feel grateful for modern medicine and technology. I am grateful for those things. Although I have not gone to the dr yet, I know it's available for me if things get too bad. 

I have so much to be grateful for. My life has been so blessed. I have the gospel and a close relationship with my Savior Jesus Christ! I know He loves me. Everything good in my life stems from that. Aside from that, although there is not really an aside, I have a great marriage. I have an honorable man who loves me and sacrifices so much so that our family can have everything we need. I am grateful for my children and their good health. I am grateful for close family and friends who are my mortal angels. I am grateful for the structure of the church and it's constantness. I am grateful to have a comfortable, warm bed and a wonderful home that is our slice of heaven on earth. I am grateful to be born during a time of great excitement in the church. President Nelson announced today that church is going down to a two hour block so that our homes can be the primary focus of gospel learning. I am thankful for that opportunity to strive to make my home an even happier and safe abode. I am grateful for my bike. Now that I am unable to run, my dad's given me the gift of exercise in a way that isn't going to hurt my body anymore. I enjoy my time bikeriding with my dad and Cub. I have so many blessings, it's impossible to name them all. I'll conclude with one more. I am thankful for this record that I have been diligent in keeping. It has blessed my testimony often as I reflect back on spiritual experiences contained in this record I call a family blog. It has blessed my children and husband because they rather enjoy reading about our little family and how it has grown over the years. On that note: I am grateful!

Some Pictures :)

Caleb held up this package of pepporoni and said he had abs like Batman.

We went to frozen yogurt after FHE one night.

Joshua finished first on his trail run with his football team.

There's always horseplay going on.

The kids are always stealing my phone and snapping pictures of themselves.

Sometimes I snap pictures of outfits I put together ;)

Cub was funny and put a swim diaper over his shorts and thought he was clever.

Luke sweats a lot after football practice.

These two like trying on the gear.

After my dad showed me how, I replaced the light fixtures in my house.

Cub does this dance that he calls the Hulk Smash dance. It's funny to watch. He is very serious and intense. He goes around smashing everything with his fists.

Cub wanted to take pictures with my phone one morning after we dropped his siblings off at school. Our mornings are quiet and delightful as we spend one on one time with each other.

I think this one is my favorite because he is laughing. I just wish he was also looking at the camera.

Luke wanted me to take his picture in his gear while looking tough.

Funny Things:

Joshua told me he wants a new butt. His has a crack in it. He's also been doing fantastic this year in school with his grades and showing tremndous responsibility and work ethic. He rocks a great attitude and gets himself up and dressed all by himself and he doesn't complain. He is a great kid! He is loving football and enjoys spending time with Jon Mark who coaches his team.

Hannah: Did you know that original people are popstars? A popstar is someone who sings, but they're still human you know. They're not really stars, but they're called popstars though.

Caleb: He is really into understanding dead things. Like we eat a dead pig and call it bacon, or we eat dead birds and call it chicken. At dinner he asks me what is dead. The other day he asked to see Jon Mark's dead body (he meant dead skin on his calloused foot). He thinks I don't like birds because he overheard me saying that I was going to kill two birds with one stone. Also, he's really into dinosaurs. He thinks dinosaurs are awesome. He found a costume at Goodwill for Halloween. The checkout lade said, "Oh, you're going to be a dragon for Halloween." Cub said, "No! It is not a dragon, it is a dinosaur, it does not have wings!" 

Luke: I was told at parent teacher conferences that Luke is a very good big brother to Hannah. He protects her and makes sure she gets to where she is supposed to be. He doesn't let go of her until he sits her down with her friends. His teacher was choked up as she was telling me. She said that she thought they must have been friends before coming to earth. The other day, Luke came home from school and told me that he wanted to make cookies for his teacher. Then, of those cookies, he set five aside and let Hannah take them to her teacher.

Mercedes: Mercedes is a wonderful student and has excellent grades. She didn't like her partner she had to sit next to at school and complained to me about how he is not a great student and has trouble staying on task. I told her that her teacher probably sat Mer next to him on purpose hoping some of her good habits would rub off on him. After that, she changed her attitude. Her teacher told me at parent teacher conferences that that was exactly what she was doing when she paired them. Mer is a rule keeper to the extreme and is very trust worthy.

I recently started coaching Jr. High cheer and it has been a fun experience. It makes us very busy, but I can bring the kids with me and earn a little money doing it.