Christmas was a lot of fun this year. My family (grandma and grandpa and the cousin name draw combined together) got the kids a Wii. It is a blast. I love playing games like this. The kids love it a little too much and so it makes for a good thing to take away if they are misbehaving. We have the game Sing It - High School Musical. We were playing it yesterday, Lexi loves that kind of thing. She is basically the only who can play it because you either have to know the song by heart or read the words on the screen. I've always wanted to be a good singer and I do think that I sound pretty good in my car. I decided to take a turn to "this could be the start of something new" The very first song from the 1st high school musical. I could tell that I didn't sound very good, but let's face it I thought, Gabriella has a higher voice. I got three stars rating not too bad (out of five I think). I decided to try something a little easier so I turned it to "Fabulous" from the second movie. About half way through I am thinking I should probably stick to just singing in the car and to verify my thoughts Hunter says "Mom you are not very good at this!" I started cracking up and he says "what? you're not."

Happy Birthday Karlee!!

Today is Karlee's birthday she is four years old. She has grown up a lot this past year (she still earns the name drama queen though). Today for lunch she wanted mac and cheese - we are out, then she chose white shells and cheddar - we are out, finally she asked for McDonalds, so I clearly needing groceries said yes to driving thru, then I thought why not leave the mess there and the kids can play. The kids were really good. When we were leaving Karlee told me that the little girl she was playing with asked her how old she was and Karlee said that she told her 3 and then Karlee giggled and said then I changed my mind and told her I'm four, today's my birthday. I never get tired of Karlee's stories, she has such a cute way of wording things. The fact that all her words start with a "T" and she has a hard time saying her Rs makes it so you really have to focus to understand what she is saying. Karlee loves preschool and playing games. She loves the alphabet puzzle and watching the Leap Frog video. She is a great friend to Hallie it is fun to watch them play house. Love you Karlee, Happy Birthday!

Merry Christmas!

Last night after our Christmas party, Wynden kept saying on the ride home "I hope it's not too late, I hope we didn't miss Santa!" So when we got home the kids rushed in to get their pajamas on so they could hurry and get to bed, so Santa would stop. Karlee ran in and then ran back to us, apparently she had went and checked the tree, saying "Santa didn't stop yet, I looked under the tree" out of breath and with such relief. It was so cute. Remember never to put the X in Christmas for it takes away the true meaning of the word; the birth of our Savior Jesus Christ, so no matter how much of a hurry you are in keep Christ in your Christmas. Merry Christmas!!

Happy Birthday to Lexi!

Lexi's birthday was last Saturday. It is hard to believe she is eight years old. I can remember just like it was yesterday that she was saying "scary part, scary part" Around the time when she was just learning to talk, the only thing she would watch on TV was Aladdin. But if you have ever seen Aladdin it does have some scary parts in it especially for a toddler. She would express that she was scared by crying and so I would say is it a scary part and then proceed to fast forward those parts. She caught on and instead of crying would tell me "scary part, scary part". Well during this time our house was listed on H St. Rd. and it is kind of way out there in the middle of nowhere it felt like (no offense Marsha). One day two guys came to the door. They were East Indian (not that means anything), but their accents were very thick making it hard to understand them. The one said that he was a realtor and wanted to show his client our house. Thinking back I was very dumb to let them into our house without checking it out a little bit (usually they call, make an appointment, and then you leave; not show up at your door unannounced). As they came in and started to look around, Lexi was at my side I think even crying, so I was a little embarrassed that she was sooo scared of them. Then to make matters worse she starts saying "scary part, scary part!!" about a million times very loudly. Unfortunately I couldn't fast forward that part. Thankfully they couldn't understand what she was saying, and they left shortly after that. Lexi is such a good kid though. She is my best cleaner, she loves to help in the kitchen, and Diesel thinks she is about the most entertaining person to watch because she is so animated. She got baptized on Sunday. I am so proud of her and the kind hearted person that she is.

What if...

-What if Diesel didn't sleep in the office...I could play on the computer more and post more often.
-What if I had not stopped doing pilates every night a few months ago...Abs of steel compared to abs of jello-like substance.
-What if I was naturally blond...I wouldn't have to spend so much money trying to make it that way.
-What if I didn't lose my hair after each baby..my dad wouldn't have more hair on his hairline than me (it is growing back, got to love the baby hair).
-What if there was no Dora the Explorer...I don't think I would be able to tidy my house in the mornings.
-What if there was no such thing as shopping...I would have no hobby :)
-What if there was no such thing as Macy's one day sales...Wynden wouldn't have to work so much.
-What if Jon Gosslin wasn't such a retard...Then Kate and him would still be married.
-What if Edward had killed Bella that first day they met...Then we wouldn't have been able to see Jacob with no shirt on.
-What if there was no such thing as blogs...Hours would be added to my week.

No We're Not From Mars, We Just Have Five Kids.

It is interesting when you have five kids to watch the reaction to people around you. In California it was really bad. When the kids and I were waiting outside while Wynden was getting the rental car this guy comes up with a puzzled look on his face and asks "are they all yours" And of course I say "yes" (although secretly I want to make up some sob story about how three kids aren't and how their parents were killed in a car accident and we took them in to help out and see what kind of reaction I get from that) He says "wow I've never seen so many kids." As we entered the airport with Karlee screaming and others crying I could see people counting. That's the funny thing I guess when you have four kids people can just at a glance look and see that you have four, but when you have five, people all the time count and it is usually out loud and as they count they point at each kid. This seriously happens whenever we are out. It makes me a little crazy whenever we are at a restaurant or at a store because I want the kids to be perfect to show them that we can be sane with so many kids because people are very grumpy when they see our family, as if we've broken a rule or something. I want to say "no welfare here we're paying for them all :)" just in case that is what is offending them. One of my pet peeves is when someone says "you've got YOUR hands full" And they say it so negatively. I kind of feel bad for the waiter who caught me in a mood a few months ago. I let him know that I love my kids and saying that I have my hands full is not a positive thing to say. He tried to dig himself out of it I know he was trying to recover his lost tip. There is a huge difference of how cute your kids are when you have two with you compared to when you have five. Whenever I have two kids, old ladies talk to the kids and smile, but when I have five they glare or whisper under their breath. It is actually quite entertaining to have five kids, not only do the kids entertain us when we are out, but so do the people who come our way.

Happy Day!

For the first time in his life Diesel only woke up two times last night. Did I wonder if he was no longer breathing - YES! It felt so good to get a good nights sleep.

Any biggest loser fans out there? I love it that Danny won! And I am so relieved that Tracy didn't. She actually looked very gaunt to me. I am sure that she is glad that she can finally stop starving herself. When I was in high school this guy drew a cartoon of where a guy and girl are at a restaurant and it shows the girl eating this tiny salad and the guy eating a normal size meal. Then the next box shows after the date and she has a huge chicken leg on the way to her mouth which is opened huge as if in an animal like state. It was pretty funny.

sleep...what is it good for?

Most of you don't believe that Diesel is our last baby, but I am satisfied with the crew. I do love babies, but I don't think I can do this no sleep thing ever again! Diesel is the worst sleeper I've ever had. He still wakes up 4 times a night! I am ready to let him cry it out, but each time I get serious about it he gets sick. Although I like to take each stage at a time and not look ahead so much, I can't help but get excited about when I'll be able to go to sleep and wake up once during the night to go potty of course and that is all. On most nights we have others that join us in our bed. Hunter who is the worst scaredy cat of all "I'm scared mommy" as he wakes me out of the first straight two hours I've gotten all night. Hunter likes to take the whole bed too if his foot isn't touching your head or his hand slapping you across the face well then it just isn't a good nights sleep for him. Karlee usually makes her way down if she gets too cold. She isn't as bad as Hunter goes as far as physical abuse during the night, but I would compare her style of sleeping as a piggy back ride. She cuddles up as close to you as she can get and doesn't move. Hallie every once in a while wakes up during the night. She comes to hang out not to go back to sleep. All of a sudden she will start playing with my face or start talking. Thank goodness for Lexi! She never wakes us up unless she is sick and I can handle that.

Rain Rain Go Away Come Again Another Day

I am definitely missing California weather. It feels like forever since our vacation, but I will do a post on it anyway. We had a blast. We ate a ton of food (PF Changs 3X). I got a little burned out of greasy restaurant food, so I was ready to eat at home for sure :) We went to Knotts Berry Farm and the kids loved it. I think they liked it more than Disneyland. Shorter lines, less people, less $ - dad loved it too! We went to the beach with my friend Allyson and her kids, which is so relaxing. We spent some time with my sister (who moved back up here now). We love just hanging out at the hotel and swimming in the pool. I think it will be a yearly trip.

"I'm not moving!"

We were lucky enough to enjoy 10 days in sunny California this month. We flew into San Diego and headed up to Anaheim where we stayed for half the trip and finished off the other half in Palm Springs. The plane ride went great both ways. The only problem we encountered was when the plane landed in San Diego we waited for everyone else to get off. We had talked about that I would go first then the kids and finally Wynden. Karlee decided that she would be the first kid. Well for some reason Wynden went first and Hunter followed. Picture this: Karlee, her suitcase that we needed her to pull to make it all work because we didn't check anything, Lexi who had a backpack on and then her suitcase behind her, me holding Hallie with my suitcase in tow. We were,'t moving yet and Wynden is off the plane now. So I say to Karlee "go Karlee" and she replies "I'm not moving" and I say "why not?" and she says "I was suppose to be first!" She doesn't cry, but she doesn't move either. And for the next five minutes I try to bribe her, threaten her, anything to get her to move. There was no way I could get to her. By this time the few that hadn't hurried to get off the plane were now lined up behind us and the flight attendant is trying to get Karlee to move as well and she is not budging for nobody. Finally a flight attendant from the front of the plane comes and grabs Karlee's suitcase to carry it forward, so now I can reach her and she is of course screaming because he took her suitcase. Wynden finally figures out that we are not coming and returns to find out the problem. So we end up exiting the plane and entering the terminal with three crying kids (actually Karlee was screaming). Everyone looking at us like oh I bet that was a long horrible plane ride, but I just smiled and laughed a little.

The other day the kids and I were taking pictures of ourselves for fun. I was holding the camera and took one of Karlee, Hunter, and myself. I turned it to look and realized the kids weren't in it very good and so I said "oh shoot" and then Hunter said "too fat huh?" I guess I must say this when I see pictures of myself. What a kid!

My sweet tooth

Halloween this year was a lot of fun. The kids got cold kind of early. I was still rearing to go and fill their bags some more, but oh well. No one is happy if Karlee isn't and she gets so cold so quickly because she has no meat on her bones. Regardless We have a ton of candy now and I am having a hard time staying away from it. For a long time our candy bowl has been depleted of anything good in it, but now we have TWO bowls full of snickers, reeses, butterfingers, twix, and m & ms. I love candy bars!! I will be glad when they are gone.

And the Winner is...

I love it when my obsessive compulsive behavior is rewarded. I am sure next year everyone will be way more competitive for the scavenger hunt (I can't wait). Bring it on Kaden!

Peroxide, who knew???

I got this from an email and thought it was interesting. This was written by Becky Ransey of Indiana (a doctor's wife), and I want to share it with you. She was over recently for coffee and smelled the bleach I was using to clean my toilet and countertops. This is what she told me... I would like to tell you of the benefits of that plain little old bottle of 3% peroxide you can get for under $1.00 at any drug store. (Bob Giddens recently bought a 32 ounce bottle at Wal-Mart for ninety-four cents.)My husband has been in the medical field for over 36 years, and most doctors don't tell you about peroxide. Have you ever smelled bleach in a doctor's office? No!! Why? Because it smells, and it is not healthy! Ask the nurses who work in the doctor's offices, and ask them if they use bleach at home. They are wiser and know better! Did you also know bleach was invented in the late forties? It's chlorine, folks! It was used to kill our troops in World War II. Peroxide came into popular use during and after WWI. It was used to save and help cleanse the needs of our troops and hospitals. Please think about this.
1. Take one capful and hold in your mouth for ten minutes daily, then spit it out. No more canker sores, and your teeth will be whiter without expensive pastes Use it instead of mouthwash.2. Let your toothbrushes soak in a cup of peroxide to keep them free of germs. (good one!) 3. Clean your counters and table tops with peroxide to kill germs and leave a fresh smell. Simply put a little on your dishrag when you wipe, or spray it on the counters.
4. After rinsing your wooden cutting board, pour peroxide on it to kill salmonella and other bacteria. 5. I had fungus on my feet for years until I sprayed a 50/50 mixture of peroxide and water on them (especially the toes) every night and let dry. 6. Soak any infections or cuts in 3% peroxide for five to ten minutes several times a day. My husband has seen gangrene that would not heal with any medicine but was healed by soaking in peroxide. 7. Fill a spray bottle with a 50/50 mixture of peroxide and water and keep it in every bathroom to disinfect without harming your septic system like bleach or most other disinfectants will.8. Tilt your head back and spray into nostrils with your 50/50 mixture whenever you have a cold, plugged sinus. It will bubble and help to kill the bacteria. Hold for a few minutes, and then blow your nose into a tissue. 9. If you have a terrible toothache and cannot get to a dentist right away, put a capful of 3% peroxide into your mouth and hold it for ten minutes several times a day. The pain will lessen greatly. 10. And of course, if you like a natural look to your hair, spray the 50/50 solution on your wet hair after a shower and comb it through You will not have the peroxide-burnt blonde hair like the hair dye packages but more natural highlights if your hair is a light brown, reddish, or dirty blonde. It also lightens gradually, so it's not a drastic change. (hmmm!) 11. Put half a bottle of peroxide in your bath to help rid boils, fungus, or other skin infections. 12. Add a cup of peroxide instead of bleach to a load of whites in your laundry to whiten them. If there is blood on clothing, pour it directly on the soiled spot. Let it sit for a minute, then rub it and rinse with cold water. Repeat if necessary. 13. I use peroxide to clean my mirrors. There is no smearing, which is why I love it so much for this. I could go on and on. It is in a dark bottle so it will not be degraded by UV. No home should be without it! With prices of most necessities rising, here's a way to save tons of money in a simple, healthy manner!

Ok Ok I am a freak!

On Sunday a scavenger hunt for Halloween was passed out as a fun activity leading up to our church's Halloween party. I was not planning on doing it, but that night the kids started looking at it and collecting items with their cousins. Three of the items had to do with gravestones at the cemetery, so I said let's go! We ran around the cemetery for about a half hour in the pouring down rain and very dark out I might add. We had a blast. Creepy huh. Well I have OCD (before this game I thought a mild case), so once I had it in my head that we were going to play, it was defiantly GAME ON! For the next two days it was all I could think about I was feeding Diesel in the middle of the night and thinking of where I could find this or find that. There were I think 50 items ranging from a scratch and sniff sticker to a wooden stamp of an owl or how about a penny dated 1967. A picture with a scarecrow and a picture of a bad hair day. Well you guessed it I found every item and was the first to get it all turned in. The kicker is that it is on a point system, so depending on the details of some items there are bonus points, which I got some, but not all. The winners will be announced on Friday. The kids are all about the prize, but for me it was just finding every thing and winning of course :) Who cares about the prize. I told Lorena (the person who came up with the game) that if she didn't announce my name as the winner after all I went through to get everything she might see me with arms stretched wide to take her out. My house was a mess and my car was hideous. I am just so glad it is over and I can return to my normal state of mind. Where you might ask do I get such obsessive behavior from? Well my dad called 4 times on Tuesday to see if I found things or to find out what else I needed....

The domino effect

First Karlee, then Lexi, Diesel was next, Hallie and then last, but not least me. Yes you guessed it we are sick. It started last Tuesday. A week later we are finally on the mend. Whatever it was it was not very fun! I'm not sure how Wynden and Hunter managed to not get it. I tried so hard not to get it or let poor Diesel get it I sanitized every second and washed my hands nonstop, but apparently there was no stopping whatever hit our home this past week. Hallie and Karlee's appetites only included popsicles or fudgsicles, not too bad for a 2 and a 3 year old.

I want to, but I won't...

I love it when we're on vacation or just random outings and Wynden thinks he is so funny when he takes pictures of me in my swimsuit or just looking dorky, but deep down I know that those pictures will never be put to print, seen on the blog, or in any scrapbook. What I do know is the pictures that I take of him will :) He of course does not think that this is fair. I took a picture of him with Lexi's Hannah Montana wig on the other day and it is pretty funny looking. His ears are sticking out pretty bad and his double chin is making an appearance. I for sure thought I was going to put it on the blog, but I feel a little mean doing that, so I guess it will just make it into a scrapbook, so enjoy the wig on Karlee. The mouse ears are from the library. Craft days are on Fridays the kids love it.

Traditions

My oldest sister Heidi was given this dress when she was a baby and all of my sisters and myself had our pictures taken in it. Also all my girl cousins on my dad's side had their pictures taken in it. Now all the grandkids have done the same. Hallie is the last one to have her picture taken until the great grandkids come. I don't have a scanner here, so I just took a picture of me in the dress out of my scrapbook. Thanks to Kaitlyn for here superb photography skills :)

Four reasons you should never let your 3 year old take pictures

Any Questions

Don't you wish your girlfriend was hot like me

This just so happens to be the song that is stuck in my head. I was playing it over and over in my head at around 2:30 am as I lay in my bed trying to fall back asleep. Lexi's coughing and Diesels's fever from teething equals a bad nights sleep for mom. The kids actually sing this song all the time because it was on the Chipmunk movie and let's face it, it is pretty catchy :)

If I could turn back time...

Two weeks ago we sent our hard drive to a place I think in Minnesota (I forget now) anyway they are suppose to be really good. We were referred to them by Windermere's computer guy. So basically you send them your hard drive and your email address. They look at the hard drive and get whatever they can off it and then email you the files they found and how much for each file. If they find nothing then it costs you nothing. They emailed Wynden and they found NOTHING. The next step is $600 and that does not guarantee that they will find anything. Needless to say we are stopping now. One years worth of pictures lost. Sad. I wish sometimes there was a small rewind button that we could push once a year. On the positive side of things because I try to find something good out of every situation. I am behind about a year and half on each kids scrapbook and with so little of pictures to scrap, I clearly will catch up a lot quicker don't you think :) I am grateful for my blog, looking back on it I do have at least some pictures.

Deep thoughts

What I can't stop thinking about....
1. PF Changs - Wynden and I were able to go overnight to Seattle this week for a meeting he has once a month. I love this restaurant. My favorite is the double pan fried noodles they are so good. I would seriously consider moving to Seattle just so I could be closer to this place. Ok so maybe I'm getting a little carried away, but I do love their food.
2. The treadmill key - I traded our 3 times used treadmill for a washer and dryer (the front house needed a dryer), but I can not find the key for it anywhere and it is driving me crazy. I know it is somewhere, where I said to myself don't forget you put that there. Clearly with the amount of brain cells I've lost in the past 8 years due to childbirth and pregnancy I should never say that to myself.
Things that make me happy...
1. An extra 50% off the lowest clearance price at Old Navy - I went downtown with Suzanne on Thursday and much to my delight that was the sign on the door of Old Navy. I went to Old Navy in Mt Vernon on Saturday and same sign. Love it!
2. Hallie and Karlee are playing so well this morning. Hunter and Lexi are both at school and Diesel is sleeping, so this is helping me get important stuff done like this blog entry :)
Have a great weekend!

Being in labor is hard work!

The other day Diesel had a doctor's appointment, so I had Josie and Gillian come stay with the kids while I ran him in for his 4 month check-up. He by the way is very healthy and growing like a weed. He is off the charts still for his height and 75th percentile for his weight. When I got home Hallie runs up to me and the first thing that she says is "Karlee sleeping" and she seems to find this very funny. My first thought was that they were playing house and Karlee was pretending to sleep. When I asked where Karlee was everyone said upstairs playing. Apparently she was playing house where she was pregnant and was going to the hospital to have the baby, which was Lexi's room. When I got upstairs, sure enough there she was on Lexi's bed fast asleep. The funny part was that she fell asleep during labor notice the baby is still in her tummy. I wish that I could had taken a nap when I was in labor with the kids :)