Check…Check

* ONE big bag packed
* Laundry done….triple check, check, check
* Floors washed
* One award ceremony taken care of for my oldest
* Suit ironed for my youngest Kinder graduation before we fly out tomorrow
* Letters mailed
* Last day of work completed….
* Dishes done
* Laundry put away
* Car cleaned out
* Lots of snuggles given
* Medicine picked up
* One full tank of gas at only $3.89 a gallon
* Instructions given to mom on everyone and everything
* One nana picked up at the airport
* One dog bathed
* 5 kids bathed

AAHHHH, I am tired and cant wait to board that plane tomorrow! Got LOTS done today. I think I am going to sleep the whole flight….OR I will be NERVOUS wreck, because I HATE TO FLY!!!!!!! I MEAN I HATE TO FLY!!!!!! I probably wont sleep….and just be a nervous wreck. My poor husband! I will be sure to post LOTS of pictures when we get home! I hope everyone else has a relaxing weekend!

2 more days…

Oh I am so excited. Just 2 more days till we leave for Seattle. I AM SO EXCITED. Tonight I went to Toni and Guy and got my haircut. I have a new outfit to wear to the wedding. The normal guy that cuts my hair could not do it…so in walked Rachael. SHE HAD BRIGHT purple hair. I was a bit nervous. She said, “I could totally like do some awesome stuff with your hair.” I just politely said well purple really is not me…we are going to a pretty fancy wedding! I think she said “well like” a billion times! It was hysterical.

I have so much to do before we leave. As of right now I have 6 loads of laundry to do…. BIG SIGH…. I really really wish I could say that I loved laundry and could stay on top of it. I really hate it. I guess I don’t hate doing it…I hate putting it all away. So much work. I am supposed to be working on laundry right now! I am very unmotivated.

So is it really almost time for school to be out? I can not believe summer is here. We have been at the pool so much lately. My kids are turning into little fish and look like beach babes! They all tan really good. There hair really bleaches out. SO cute. The little boys hair is growing out and so it is getting curly. The month of June is packed full for us. We have Royal Ranger campouts, the boys are going to kids camp, birthdays! 4th of July we are hoping to go home. I need a trip home.

I was making cookies the other day and found little missy with her fingers in the dough. She loved it. And threw herself a royal fit when I took it away.

Then about 2 hours later I come in the kitchen to find her feeding Oreo Fruit loops. And making a big mess. She is such a little stinker! And yes my floor was dirty in that picture…

Okay, I am beginning to feel bad for not working on my laundry.

First Tomatoes

I went out to the garden today and noticed that I already have 2 tomatoes growing. I am so excited.

Krystina is sick. She has been running a high fever. We went to the dr. yesterday and he said no ear infection or strep. Just high fever. I sure wish she felt better. She is so miserable. And she is not sleeping well at night. So neither am I. No wonder my brain feels like it is in a fog.

9 days and counting…

till me and my hunk of love head out on our trip. I am so excited. I am so excited to board the plane without 5 kids + all there luggage too! Can you even imagine us all trying to fly out there…all 7 of us. Gives me a headache thinking about it! I have soooo much to do before we leave. Pack, Clean, Get ready for Chandler’s Graduation, Get all my stuff done in my classroom at school, Wash the dog before my mom comes, Mow the yard, Finish buying the stuff for Kaitlyn and my oldest birthday parties for when we come home, VBS stuff, and my list could go on. Are you tired too…thinking about all that STUFF! That is what it all is…..STUFF. I am REALLy, REALLY trying to get more organized. I used to be SOOO organized. BEFORE I HAD KIDS! I am serious….very organized. I feel frustrated because I am not so much of an organizer now. Or maybe I am and I am just slacking because I am tired.

So I have really been praying about some things. Me and Tony both have. And I have also been asking the Lord to make me more of a disciplined person. And He is…just not in the way I wanted him to make me more disciplined. Imagine that. He has given us some clear direction on some issues that we have been praying about. I was talking with Tony tonight about my struggles with some of the decisions. Not struggles, but maybe more frustration. And he just looked at me when we were done talking, and then it was like everything I had just spoken was replayed in my mind. And it was ALL ABOUT ME! What Heidi wants, needs, and feels regarding this issue. I know you must be dieing to know what it is, but I cant share it yet. It was not about what God wanted me to do and how he was going to grow me, and how yes I would be sacrificing again and basically dieing to myself, it wasn’t about how He was going to work it all out. Isn’t that what we are supposed to do…die to ourself, so that He can use us and grow us and make us more like HIM. SOMETIMES…it is hard for me to do. I am just being honest. I read on this other ladies blog (who has 5 kids) about all this stuff….stuff that I want to be like….she makes it seem so E.A.S.Y! So here I am growing…being stretched to the limit…not liking every moment…but knowing that God has his hand on my life. Knowing in “my knower” that He sees where I will be a 6 months and year from now, He sees what I need for each season of my life, He knows what is best for me…I just have to submit to that. Sometimes submitting to whatever it is that God wants is hard. I wish it were always easy. Sometimes for me it is not always easy. But I am growing…

Isaiah 26:3
You keep him in perfect peace
whose mind is stayed on you,
because he trusts in you.

So now it is 11:46PM and hour and 46 minutes past the time I said I would go to bed. So off to bed I go.

The Flu Bug AGAIN…

Let’s back track to Thursday night. Chandler throws up, and stays home from school Friday. The whole day goes by, Saturday goes by everyone seems fine. We even went swimming Saturday night.
THEN at about:
1:30 AM Kaitlyn throws up
2 AM Ben throws up.
Then they are both throwing up at different times for about 2 hours.
My oldest comes down some time during all of this. He is super nauseous. Fever. YUCK.
By this time I am sick, throwing up, fever, the runs out the other end like every 10 minutes.
It is now like 8 AM, we are all exhausted. I was still really sick and so was Bryce. We have both stayed in bed all day. I am currently still running a temp and my hips and legs feel like someone is stabbing them every time I move. I have tried aleve, motrin, and tylenol. Nothing has helped. It is almost 9 PM, and I am really ready for all the aches and pains to go away. And I am sure Tony is too. Since he cleaned up all the throw up all night long. Bless his heart. A little while ago I got up to see if walking would help with the hip pain. NOPE, I can hardly walk. It is the strangest pain I have experienced. And then just looking around at the house was just depressing. It looks like a tornado hit every area of our house. The kids were like mommy we are hungry. I said well I am sure daddy has fed you. Just chips and cereal bars, raisins, and bananas. My poor sweet heart. He was just in survival mode while I was in bed sick. So there you have it. I hope tomorrow we feel better. I hope that I recover quickly. My immune system is still not up to what it should be so it always takes me longer to recover.

Bubble Butt

SOOOO, interesting title huh? Well that is what I was called yesterday. So let’s back up a little bit. I decided to take the kids Rock Climbing at the gym. And the instructor dude, said oh come on mom you have to do it too?! So after much hesitation I said Yes. So Chandler started and was scared to climb up. So being the courageous mom that I am, I told him that I would show him how to do it. I have the guy help me get my harness on. I climb up about 100 feet. By this point my arms feel like they are going to just fall off! Have I mentioned how out of shape I am in! By the time I climb up several other families have showed up. Mostly dads with there kids. Chandler looks up at me… “MOOOOMMMM! Do you know your butt kind of looks like a Bubble!” He is laughing so hard at this point. I dont want to yell anything back down to him,,, cause that would just draw more attention to myself. I just hung on thinking, I cant go back down. All the men down there are for sure going to look at my butt now…you know, to see if indeed it is a bubble butt. HOW EMBARRASSING! So finally my arms gave way, and down I went. And then chandler was able to go up just fine. All at the expense of my BIG butt!

I love HER…

I love this little girl so much. She makes me smile every.single.day. Don’t you just want to kiss those cheeks. And her little eyes make your heart melt!

Water Aerobics 101

So tonight me and Tony swam. I did 25 laps and Tony did 22. We were worn out. And then we went to our aerobics class. We thought it would just be really easy. HA! It was a WORKOUT!!!! It was hilarious. We did dancing in water to every country song you can imagine, we did the grapevine (I think that is what it is called) to Foot Loose. Me and Tony did so much laughing. As we were going he kept making all these weird facial expressions and he kept flexing his chest. He would make his voice like the guy from Rocky. It was so funny. At one point he was bouncing out of the water saying, I am a ballerina. Mr.TIPYTOES!!!! It was a great work out. And we cant wait till next Monday night. We are going to keep swimming every day. I have already lost 10 pounds. WWHHOOOOO! It has been so good for me to do the swimming. Me and the water. It is so peaceful under water. And I have been sleeping so good at night. When I lay down…I am OUT like a LIGHT! The best part of all of this. Me and my honey get 2 hours of FREE child care, and 2 hours of just us having fun, 2 hours of us laughing, 2 hours of us loosing weight together, 2 hours of stress relief, 2 hours of just me and my hunk of love! Yeah, can you tell I love him. I do. I really really do.

Anyways, enough about my love, the kids are all doing good. Well except for a few issues with my oldest. But we are working through them. One day at a time. We are praying about some more big decisions. And I think we have some answers, but before I share I need to wait about a week more. I know, I know so rotten to reel you in and then leave you hanging!

Something that I have really become grateful for lately is how the Lord can handle me. He can handle all my emotions. He can handle all my feelings. He can handle me. All he requires is that I leave it at his feet. I hope that makes sense.

Okay I need to paint some stuff for VBS. Hope everyone has a great night.

So what did all you moms get for Mother’s Day???? TELL ME!!!!

Happy Mother’s Day

Dear Mom,

Well first of all Happy Mother’s Day. I love you so much. More than my words can describe. You are the most incredible woman I have ever met. You are strong, loving, faithful, caring, full of wisdom, full of patience, peaceful, joyful, kind, giving, always putting others before your self, always thinking of what great deal you can get someone, and so many more things. I can honestly say that I would not be where I am today if it were not for your influence in my life. You always give a listening ear when I need to talk. You always give me sound advice and point me back to Jesus when I get frustrated. You allow me to cry on your shoulder when I am sad or happy. You laugh at all my stupid jokes. You are more beautiful every year. Your smile is contagious for others. You are trustworthy. The heritage that you have left me is awesome. I love to shop with you and listen to you think of all these people that need the deals that you find. You are so compassionate towards people. You are brave. Fearless of the unknown, and that just shows me the kind of faith that you have in God. I could seriousely write a novel about you. All the things you have done for me and my family and others. I have watched you walk some hard times, but your faith was never shaken. You remained strong. Amazing you are!

But the greatest thing that I am thankful for is the fact that from a very young age you taught me that the greatest thing in life is to know Jesus. And that is so true. The greatest thing is to know him. I am thankful that you taught me that. I am thankful that you always bring me back to the cross in everything. Thank you mom for everything. You are my hero and my role model and best friend and the best nana ever! I hope one day when my kids are old they can look back on me and say half the things I feel about you.

I love you with all OF MY HEART MOM!

Love,
ME

Garden 2008

So here are my garden pictures. I got a little bit of a late start with planting this year, but it is planted and everything is growing good. The only thing I want to grow still is garlic. Probably this weekend we will plant some.

Basil…my favorite herb! So yummy…

Cucumber

Squash

Tomatoes

Yellow and Green Peppers

I have a few other herbs growing up front. I am anxious to see how things grow this year. I did not plant as much this year because everything got SO big last year and it was really crowded. My neighbor down the street, just planted a huge garden. I wish I had more land to work with.