I Hope They Call Me on A Mission...

Mikkel's going to Veracruz, Mexico with a report date of March 4, 2009! I tried to send an email out but outlook is being lame and won't let me send anything out right now...

my bubble babies
Jacob 4 1/2 Abigail 2 1/2

first day of school
9/7/08

First day of school

9/7/08

Halloween - I couldn't get a good shot of Daniel

Here's a better shot of him

Jacob's just hamming it up for the camera

Abby's new haircut

Daniel is just cute.

Here's the visitor we found in our yard last weekend

He decided we were too boring and went to look for greener pastures.

Daniel and Isabelle watching t-ball

Abby helping to feed the goat.

Jacob is in on the fun too.

Here's our goat.

Birthdays and Movies

I know I said I'd post pictures and I will... I'm waiting on Mikkel to bring me my camera so I can upload them.

Isabelle turned 16 :( this week, Fred's on the lookout for a good shotgun...

We went to see Twilight at 12:01 Thursday night/Friday morning. We had a great time, we got there at 6:45pm and there were 20 groups of people in front of us... good thing we go there when we did! We sat in line with friends from our ward. We played spoons and Yahtzee for a while then I took Isabelle to get some gelato (for her birthday) and they let us in the theater at 9pm. Our group ended up taking a whole row of seats and we sat there for three hours waiting for the movie to start. It wasn't as bad as it sounds though, I haven't had that much time to talk with my girlfriends (uninterrupted) since I was a teenager!!! At some point in the night, three of Isabelle's friends got up, announced that it was her birthday and would we all sing "Happy Birthday" to her, so she stood up and 417 people (the theater holds 418) sang to her at the top of our lungs. She says she was embarrassed but I know that will be something she remembers for the rest of her life.

I thoroughly enjoyed the movie... not just the movie but all the sighs, squeals and comments from the audience members. The fun thing about going to the midnight showing on opening night is that you get all the major fans there and the excitement in the air is palpable, it's absolutely electric! Until this week, I was firmly on team Jacob but the movie has really turned me into an Edward fan.

I just found out that one showing alone made over $35 million (the movie only took $36 million to make!) and opening weekend numbers are around $70 million. They've already announced a sequel is in the works... how many days til it comes out?!?

Emotional Day

Yesterday was emotional... Isabelle sang one of my favorite hymns in church and Mikkel was ordained an Elder. Those kinds of days always kill me because it makes me miss my Mom. I should be over it by now, she died 7 years ago! I usually am but it's those big days in my life (and in the lives of my children) that the emotion comes rushing back.

Later I was at an enrichment board meeting and mentioned I wouldn't be able to help out at the January class. When asked why, I started to cry because I'm still emotional about having surgery. Of course the sympathy started and I appreciate that but I felt like a fool it was just a meeting for pete's sake! Plus, I don't like to make it all about me (I know you're all laughing at that but it really is true!)

To top it all off I was reading The Last Lecture by Randy Pausch and it's so sad! Okay, it's not sad, it's totally inspirational but it's so sad that he had to leave so young and with such a young family. His story is such an amazing one. So, of course I started bawling again... today I have a headache I wonder why?!?!?

Today was much less emotional, just your usual Monday, thank goodness! I did get to take a nap though, I'm saving up for Thursday night when we're going to see Twilight!!! We're going to the midnight showing and can't wait to see it. Thursday is Isabelle's birthday so that's what she's getting as a gift. I'm taking her out for dessert before we go to the theater and we're meeting up with a bunch of moms and girls from our ward. It will be fun - late - but fun!

Last week, Jacob and Abigail figured out that they could pull a chair over, get the key and unlock my bedroom door (we have to keep all the doors locked so they can't - well, couldn't - get into everyone's stuff) so they got in and totally ransacked the bathroom until they found the little flashlight Fred has and started to play with it. I found out what they were doing, got upset (they know better) and put them in their beds for time out. Of course, everything was better once we all cooled down, they apologized and they helped me clean up the mess, etc. When Fred came home he asked Abigail how she was doing and she told him "I bad. I bad Abby". I don't know where she got that from, I've never told them they were bad. You'll hear her say "be still" or "that's not okay" and I know she gets those from me but never that! We thought it was hilarious no matter where she got it. Oh, by the way, Fred and I immediately assured her that she's not bad and that we love her very much.

Oh, Abigail got her hair cut and it's so cute! We had to cut off 6 inches (thanks to Jacob's little stunt) and the part he cut is still 2 inches shorter than the rest. I wasn't willing to cut it to the middle of her ear... so we'll just keep trimming it until that part grows out. Actually, the haircut really suits her, she hated having her long hair brushed and now it's fast and less painful (fewer tangles!) plus it just looks like an Abby haircut!

Aaaaagh! Part Two

Just found out he cut Daniel's hair too. By the way, the sunshine crackers are a box of cornbread crackers that should last a week or two (if eaten in normal serving sizes).

AnneMarie commented on my last post that she's just agreed to help me out and watch my sweet children in January. I can only say that he usually goes in spurts so hopefully he'll have this out of his system by then. Also, preschool is two days a week so that helps to preserve sanity.

Daniel has decided he likes to play with the computer and somehow keeps changing settings and I think he even downloaded some software. We've been toying with the idea of re-doing the game room to make it harder for the kids to cause problems with the computers, now I think it's becoming a necessity!

I have to say that I've enjoyed reading your comments on the last post... they made ME laugh out loud! I also know that someday I'll look back and miss these days but I have to wonder if it will ever happen. that just seems so far away!!!

By the way, Mikkel sent his mission papers in today. I'll definitely post the news when he gets his call.

Aaaagh!!

Only 289 more days until school starts... next year. I wish it were sooner, Jacob is driving me nuts!! This week he ate all the sunshine crackers in one sitting, cut the dogs hair, lost my tv remote, ate the t-ball game snacks, cut Abigail's hair (now she has a mullet) and sprayed Pam all over the back porch and Daniel - at least they're both non-stick now! Oh, and he showed Abigail how to pee outside so she wouldn't have to waste time going into the house to go potty. Yea, gross!

I love him to pieces and I know some day this will all be funny, but right now his mind is too busy for my own good. He thinks things up and decides to try them out whether or not they're good ideas. He needs school to focus all his energy and experiments on. Now, I know I could be a good mother and work with him to do just that (focus) but the thing is, I do! These are things he's done while I was wasting time doing things like laundry or going potty (no, not outside) myself!

Calgon, take me away!!!

Funny Thing

The kids have been watching VeggieTales lately and in the end Bob the Tomato says something like "remember God made you special and He loves you". Well, Jacob has his own spin on that... he told Abigail "I'm special, do you know what that means? It means someone who gets treats."

He went to the dentist for the first time ever today. He did great, the dentist let him watch with a mirror, try out the "spit vacuum", feel the drill bit on his finger(they needed to "tickle" some "bugs" out of his tooth), he even showed him how the curing light makes your cheek glow in the dark. Anyway, on the way out he said "Mom, don't they give you candy for being good?" I took him out for lunch instead. Later, Fred said "Jacob, I heard you did great at the dentist today!" to which Jacob replied "You heard me all the way at the dentist?!?"

The other day, Abigail introduced me to our home teacher "This is my friend, Mommy"... man, I love my kids!

I've become my mother in a new way... Isabelle's goat needed a blanket to stay warm on cool nights. So we went to the feed store and when I found out I had to shell out 35 bucks I went straight to the fabric store and made one. Next thing I know, Isabelle's taking orders at school and I'm now in the sewing business! I'll bet none of you EVER expected ME to be doing that!!! Me either...

Roller Coaster Ride!

Not the fun kind... we lost more in that stock market fiasco than Fred made his whole first year at Motorola! That's okay though, this way we're buying REAL cheap shares and besides... we know there's more to it all than money. I know there are people that are very nervous, scared, uneasy about the whole thing but I know it'll all turn out okay. And, if we don't recover from this financial crisis, our kids can just take care of us in our retirement!

The REALLY great news is that Abigail is potty trained, only one in diapers now woohoo!!! She just decided one day that she wanted to wear panties and has only had three accidents in 2 weeks. I expected her to be HARD, (like she'd be in diapers until she was 20) but she's been the easiest one yet. I can't believe how much longer the diapers are lasting now!

Mikkel has his mission papers almost finished, next he'll have an interview with the Bishop, Stake President and then they'll push the "send" button. After that, we should have his call in the mail about two weeks later. We're all wondering if he'll be sent to one of the places where they announced the five new temples. It seems like once they announce a new temple suddenly tons of missionaries start going there.

Jacob was in the primary program at church. He was quite the clown, hardly sang, mostly made faces and waved at everyone he knows. Then, at the end he stood up on his toes and put his arms out with his fingers in the peace sign (think Richard Nixon) and opened his mouth and eyes as far as he could. Needless to say, no one in our family could be reverent the whole time, Isabelle was in tears she was laughing so hard (quietly, at least) and the rest of us were near the same. It wasn't one of the more spiritually moving experiences, definitely one for the memory book though.

Cow Shoes

Yesterday, Abigail went in to help with the goat because she was the one in the car who had shoes. They were flip-flops and didn't stay on very well. Isabelle told her that next time she should wear her cowboy boots. This morning, when it was time to go, Abigail came upstairs with nothing on but her boots saying "Mommy, I have my cow shoes on, can I go to the barm?" (that's not a typo, she really does say barm). How can you say no to that?!? If it weren't inappropriate, I would've taken a picture!!

I haven't had much chance to actually listen to conference (it's been on but it's hard to hear over three noisy kids) but I loved President Eyring's talk on being more supportive of our leaders and each other. I'll be glad when the dvd comes out and I can watch each talk when the kids are asleep!

Jacob names the First Presidency - "President Monson, President Earring and President Ufdork."

Just Stuff

The fair went okay. Isabelle and Felix (the goat) placed 15th out of 45 so she was pleased since he's quite a bit younger than most the other goats. Isabelle did only average in her meet but we're happy that she did that well. Since her shoulder injury a year ago, she's had alot of problems and actually was adding time in her events. She's starting to drop seconds now so we're thrilled! The insurance company decided that, despite the top orthopedic surgeons (in the city) opinion, her injury has nothing to do with the car accident (that injured that very shoulder two weeks before the big injury) and has only offered us $250 for medical, pain and suffering. We've spent over $5000 for tests, appointments and physical therapy so far and the orthopedist thinks that she will end up needing surgery for this which will mean more rehab and pain and MONEY! We've actually called a lawyer to help out on this one.

Mikkel went to the dentist for his pre-mission check up, the dentist informed us that he (Mikkel) has 13 cavities and it will cost us at least $1200 to fill them all (that's our portion - stupid dental insurance!). So, Fred and Mikkel went to Arkansas for the weekend so Grampa could work on their teeth (by the way, 6 months ago, Mikkel only had 2 cavities, I think this new dentist might be over treating... gotta pay off the new equipment!). This trip will cost about $200 and all Mikkel's and Fred's problems (well, the ones with their teeth anyway!) will be taken care of in one visit with no other costs involved! I'm all for saving over a thousand dollars I never had in the first place! Thank goodness for having a dentist in the family that lives (sort of) close by.

Jacob started baseball and has been running the bases, catching, hitting and actually throwing the ball right from the start! The last two seasons, he wouldn't do any of those things, he just played in the dirt. He loves his coach and finally started playing baseball for real at the very end of last season. Thankfully, his coach will be moving up to coach the next age group in the spring so we can stay on his team. I'm not sure Jacob will ever play for anyone else... he LOVES Coach Ron, he talks about Coach Ron all the time, even in the off-season!


Some Jacob-isms:
Jacob - Abigail, you need surgery.
Abigail - What's surgery?
Jacob - Its when you cut open your belly and take your heart out.
Abigail - Oh.

Jacob was singing the Veggie-Tales song (any parent of young kids should know this song), he sang it like this "Celery, broccoli, lemonly, gatorade, veggietales"

Jacob - Abby, Isabelle's making brownies. Do you know how to make brownies?
Abigail - No.
Jacob - You pour the brownie mix into a bowl and then you add two tablespoons of eggs.
Abigail - Oh.

Busy, Busy!

Saturday, Fred went to Houston to help clean up after Hurricane Ike. He said it was like a war zone, there was nothing left. They had so many people respond that they had to restrict it to one crew per ward in our stake. They expected 500 people and 700 showed up that morning, they ran out of the "Mormon Helping Hands" tshirts! There were 8 men in their crew, they helped demolish 2 homes including cutting up the trees that fell in the yard. Someone told them their church was supposed to come out days ago and they never showed so he called their pastor to tell them not to worry about coming because the Mormons were helping. The pastor was out almost before that man could hang up his phone!

So, he was gone all Saturday and Isabelle went to the Medina County Fair to show her goat. She was gone all day too. Mikkel worked, so it was a busy day for everyone. This weekend is even busier... swim meet in the morning, baseball practice and piano lessons in the afternoon, Relief Society broadcast in the evening and goat feeding twice a day, every day. This will pretty much be the schedule until the end of the season, except that some Saturdays we'll have a county fair to go to as well.

Today, Jacob and Abigail decided that Jesus isn't a bad guy, He's a good guy. They always discuss who are the bad guys and good guys, I guess this discussion was bound to happen!

Disappointment!

All day Wednesday the news reports were saying hurricane Ike would hit Corpus Christi as a category 3-4 and because it was so huge, we would be getting hurricane force winds and rain. Unfortunately, I had to run to the store that day to buy diapers... BIG MISTAKE! The place was a madhouse, people were buying as much bread, canned food, water and beer (yes, that goes fast before a big storm around here) as they could get their hands on! There was hardly anything on the shelves... makes me VERY glad I'm trying to heed the Prophets voice on the whole food storage thing.

I cut my lawn really short (so it wouldn't be too wet to cut later) hoping it would green up nicely with all the rain (it took me three hours, the grass was LONG!). I was hoping I would finally see a cool storm from a relatively safe distance... I don't want to be somewhere really dangerous in a hurricane but it would be cool to have an idea of what it's all about.

Yesterday was hot, sunny and HUMID! Not even a drop of rain
:( . What a huge disappointment!

Of course, I'm very grateful we aren't part of the 4 million without power in the Galveston - Houston areas. It's still too hot and humid to not have air conditioning! We have several thousand evacuees now staying in shelters around San Antonio, they don't know how their homes fared and can't go back to see yet. They are at the mercy of shelters, food banks and generous people for their survival right now, I've never been there (not sure I want to) but it sure makes me grateful for what I have.

Jacob - isms

On the way to preschool today Jacob rolls down his window and says "Now I can see the whole world!"

Yesterday, he was playing a game on pbskids.org and when he got the answer right he said "Mom, I rock!"

Preschool

Jacob started preschool Friday and loves it! Abigail starts tomorrow and can't wait, she's been wearing her "back-ack" all day, telling anyone who'll listen that she's going to preschool (and that's alot of people on a beautiful evening like tonight!) Then, as she's playing outside, she goes barreling down the driveway on the trike and gets hung up on something. The bike stays where it is and she, of course, flys over the handle bars and falls smack-dab on her face... she's actually fine, just a little scrape on her nose and a little bruising on her upper lip. But did it have to be the night before I take her first day of school picture?!?

A few funnies:

Abby has added on to her "baby-c" (abc) song, at the end she sings "Now I know my baby-c's, next time (mumble, mumble) sing with me, Hey!"

Abigail: (Crying very loudly, coming up the stairs to find me)
Me: Come here sweetie!
Abigail: I not sweetie, I Abby!

Me: Jacob, what's your teacher's name?
Jacob: Miss Crispy (her name is actually Miss Cristy).

Songs, School, Swimming

Jacob - singing Alphabet Song... A, B, C, D, E, F, G, H, I, J, K, Elmo, R, P...

Abby - singing the same song... Baby, C, D, E, F, G, mumble, mumble, mumble (for the rest of the song.

They start preschool soon; Jacob twice and Abigail once a week. They'll have so much fun, their teacher lives on a farm and has tons of animals. I can't wait because that means one day a week I'll just have Daniel for three whole hours! I wonder if I'll be able to clean the house that day or just spend it all enjoying the (almost) quietness of my home. This lady lives in our ward and is just about the sweetest, kindest person - EVER! She started a two-year-old class this year and I hope she does it again next year because I will for sure be putting Daniel in it!

The first week of school went fine, Mikkel discovered his classes are totally easy and he thinks college is great. I hope he realizes they won't all be so simple. He decided to only take 3 classes (one is a mandatory 1 credit class for all newcomers) so he could work more (and save more) for his mission. It's working, he has 37 hours this week!

We found out that swim practice starts at 6:00 every morning which wouldn't cause a conflict for most kids but Seminary is at the same time. What to do?!? She and the two other LDS kids on the team talked to the coach and worked out a schedule that keeps them practicing with the team but able to attend Seminary most of the time. I was thrilled that the coach was respectful of their desire to pursue both religion and sports. He even seemed impressed with their conviction. Besides, she'll probably end up with better attendance at seminary this year! Last year Mikkel drove and wasn't always ready and willing to get up in time... they had ALOT of make-up work to do!

Fred taught Sunday school today, he's an AWESOME teacher! Unfortunately, he was only substituting for the regular teacher who went to the gulf coast for Labor Day. With hurricane Gustav coming, I think they are probably on their way back home since everyone is being encouraged to evacuate, but I'm glad Fred got to do this anyway. I wish this were his regular calling, I love his Sunday school lessons, but I guess the Elders quorum needs his talent more than I do.

Funnies

Today, Jacob sang me the "doughnut song". When I didn't quite understand what he was singing he explained that it was about a kid eating a doughnut and a truck running over another doughnut...

Abigail informed me that on tv "that dude was talking" (that's what she said word for word!) She's two!!

Good Stuff

I know I promised moderation, but I forgot the good stuff!

Daniel said his first two words... "Honk" (the kids were pretending to be cars) and "Mama" (it seems as if this one is for real, you never know since that's a sound they tend to just make). He also learned how to climb yesterday - okay, that one is a mixed blessing.

Last week we had Stake Conference and had Elder Nelson presiding. It was amazing, he really emphasized teaching our children, gave us an Apostolic blessing and met every single person who showed an interest. I don't remember ever meeting an Apostle so it was very cool for me. Fred was in the choir, they sang beautiful songs and Elder Nelson said it was one of the finest choirs he's heard.

Moderation

I know I posted three things in like 2 days... sorry. I'll try to use moderation from now on!

Sunday is a hard day for me; I wrestle (sometimes quite literally) with the three little ones all during Sacrament Meeting, then with Daniel during Sunday School and finally I get to listen in Relief Society (except on the fourth Sunday-Fred teaches Priesthood that day) only to find out that I'm too tired to pay attention! Then at home the kids are restless, messy, grumpy, ALWAYS hungry and unwilling to help pick up the mess they made all day. Mikkel and Isabelle are usually helpful but they've both had to work Sundays lately. By the time Monday comes, I need a break and the ones who can give me that break are starting school tomorrow.

Mikkel works at H-E-B (a grocery store) and Isabelle lifeguards at our neighborhood pool. She will be done working at the end of September so at least there's a light at the end of that tunnel but Mikkel has requested Sundays off with no luck so far. Both companies have at least been willing to schedule around church and Mikkel gets Wednesday nights off for Missionary Prep. class, so we're grateful for that.

Yes, that's right... Mikkel is getting ready to put in his papers for a mission call. He can't send them in until October 11, but he has started the process. He's gone to the dentist (has a few cavities to fill) and has an appointment with the dr. for a physical (fun, fun!). He's also decided to get a passport, just in case. He's going to school at the community college and only taking 3 classes so he can concentrate on working ALOT. He's been amazing, only giving himself a $10 per week allowance, putting a small amount into a ROTH IRA (wow, I wish I'd been that smart when I was his age) and paying tithing. Everything else goes straight into the savings account, (which lately has been alot; he's had lots of hours). I can't believe the change we've seen in him in the last 6-8 months! Of course, it's still nearly impossible to get him to mow the lawn or clean the kitchen... I guess he's normal after all!

Isabelle got a goat for her FFA/Ag. program at school so she's going to be VERY busy this year. Here's her schedule starting tomorrow...
5:00 wake up, practice piano
5:45 seminary
6:30 swim practice
8:30 walk, clean, feed goat
9:00 - 4:00 school
4:15 walk, clean, feed goat
5:30 homework
6:30 dinner (or mutual, on Tuesdays)
7:00 homework, chores (or mutual)
9:00 bed (coach says they must be in bed before the 10:00 news!)

I don't know when we'll see her... maybe on Sundays - starting in October, that is!

All My Children

Here are my kids...



Mikkel - our graduate





Isabelle - at her champion swim meet

Jacob - playing t-ball

Abigail - loves her ice cream...

Daniel - love those blue eyes!

Industry and Occupation

I was just filling out my profile and when it asked for the industry I work in I almost clicked on "Non-Profit" and they didn't have an "All Of The Above" choice for occupation so I just left those blank.

I can't believe I'm doing this!

I've been getting into reading blogs lately and started thinking... I can't seem to keep a journal but always up late reading all the other blogs so why not just kill two birds, yada yada yada.

Jen, you inspired me to do this so it's all your fault and you BETTER read it!!

Mikkel went to work early today and Isabelle is at the school barn taking care of her goat... that's right, she has a goat for FFA and AG Sciences at school. Luckily when the school was built, our town was a tiny little farming place so the high school got barns. Now, we're just a suburb of the ever growing city and we can't have livestock in our neighborhood. I wish we could though, our lawnmower is broken and nobody likes mowing anyway. Felix (the goat) would take care of the grass no problem, and we wouldn't have to spend so much money on fancy goat feed!

So, long story short, I'm home with no car, the younger ones are watching Star Wars and the baby is sleeping so I figured I'd try this out.