I'm back~~ Maybe

I had the worst time last night.  I tried leaving a comment on a friends' mission blog and couldn't for the life of me remember how to sign in.  I spent nearly 45 minutes trying to retrieve data from info I couldn't remember.  I finally found my old info and was able to sign in.  In all this process, I realized that I haven't updated my blog in over a  year.  What a year it's been.  

I have not had the mental stamina for three days in a row to come up with the ability to write anything. Most days my hands won't type on a keyboard, legibly at least.  The worst part is that I don't remember most of this past year.  Most of my few waking hours have gone into taking care of the basic necessities of running our household.   The kids get excited when I actually cook dinner instead of "choose your own adventure" or "cereal for dinner" meals.  I tell them I'm just trying to get Jake and Josh ready for their missions, but I'm not so sure they are buying it anymore.  Without Josh, who now drives, I don't know what I would have done.  To say it has been a rough year for me is to underestimate my year.  :)   

  

This past couple of weeks was extra rough.   I had to bow down in my pride and ask my mother to come babysit me.  I felt defeated.  I was actually brought meals from members of the church for four days.  FOUR DAYS!  Do you have any idea how hard that is?  That meant admitting to myself that I;  #1) was in severe pain,  #2) needed help, and  #3)  am not as strong as I want to be.  That was a hard pill to swallow.

 My family is truly a blessing to me.  Elaina will even read to me so I can take my mind off the pain when it gets bad.  All four kids go out of their way to make sure I am taken care of when I am having a rough time.  Of course, I did have to endure lots of heckling from Jake.  Once he realized I was masking a lot of the pain, the heckling stopped, mostly.  They have come to recognize the look I get when things are not quite right. They don't even ask questions anymore when I look at them and say, "we need to go" from whatever we are doing.   My mother, and family are acting like worried hens.   I am not going to die any time soon or anything.  I just have to get thru this rough patch.  That's all.  I keep thinking "it will get better".  I have complete faith it will.  Heck.  I even called the Dr, and now I have pain pills that numb the pain to where I mostly don't feel it.  I can now go back into self-denial mode.  Things are looking up already!   :)

It's official!!!

My oldest, Jake, is now OUT of school!  He graduated May 31st.  I think it was a lot harder on me than it was on him.  We had a lovely time.  The graduation was nice and personal.  I'm so glad we found this school for Jake (and the other kids).  Jake has flourished and become a wonderful young man.

His Best friend, Jeremiah came to the graduation for Jake.  They both graduate this year.  Jeremiah had over 500 in his class graduating.  Quite a difference from the 50 in Jake's school!  :)

Jake's VI (Visual Impaired) teacher, Janet, also made it to the graduation.  She has been a big help with Jake since we moved here 7 years ago. 

The love and well wishes of our family and friends unable to attend were felt by everyone in attendance.

 We are so lucky to have Jake in our lives.  He is going to go far in life!  :) 

LDS Prom

Jake attended the LDS prom this year.  I'm quite jealous that they even have an LDS prom.  :)  We were stuck going to our school prom which wasn't quite church standards, if you know what I mean.  haha
 

Anyways, Jake went this year with a friend.  He said it was "the best date of his life".  Don't go getting all excited.  The boy hangs out with his friends every chance he can, but doesn't date very much.  ;)  I'm just glad he had a good time.  Josh, of course, wasn't up to finding a date (now that he's 16) and putting forth any effort for this sort of frivolity.  haha  We are doing good to get him to go to the stake dances.  One hurdle at a time I guess.  : D

My twisted sense of humor

I find things occasionally on the internet that really crack me up.  This little video did just that.  It reminds me of my kids.  haha  Thought you might enjoy as well.

Valentine's Day

For Valentines Day this year, I decided to make the kids a special after-school snack.  I actually had a little energy today (which was uncommon, but way nice).  I found this recipe on Pinterest.  Pinterest is the greatest and worste site in the world, but that's another story.  :) 

The recipe is quite simple.  HERE is the recipe if you want to try the recipe yourself.  I didn't add as much food coloring and I'm not as good at the marbled effect.  They still taste yummy, though.  I put the scaps in the freezer and I'm sure most of these will be joining them soon.  That way, I won't have to make snacks again for at least a day or two.  ;)

Since Mike is out of town this week, I told the kids they would have to make me a card.  Yep.  This is the card Josh made for me.  Sometimes I think he was blessed with a wacky sense of humor just so I will have someone who understands me.  :)  He's a pretty good artist, too. 

I am one lucky lady to have the family I have!  :)

Christmas 2011

I won’t lie.  We have been busy, and had lots of fun things going on here, but I just haven’t had the mind power to blog about them.   Nothing personal.  Just life.  :) 

Since today is Christmas Day, I will start there.   Hopefully I will be able to turn a new leaf and write more in the coming weeks, but let’s be honest.  I doubt I am very successful.  Haha    

Mike made a wish of mine come true for Christmas this year.  Actually, he gave me two wishes, but I only got pictures of one.  :)  After living in this house for 6 years, we were finally able to have a mantle for Christmas this year.  Of course, I already put away the Christmas stuff and didn’t want to mess with it on Christmas Eve, but that’s alright.  I have ALL year to use a mantle and then get it really pretty for Christmas next year.  No more “mantle envy” for me!  ;)

 Mike did a really good job, too!  That’s to be expected, though.  He is excellent at whatever he works on.  :)  He also fixed my dryer vent so I won’t have to go change the “filter” (my old pantyhose) every couple of weeks.  I didn’t expect him to fix it as well as he did.  He is always blowing my mind with how good he is at fixing things. 

The kids had a really good Christmas as well.  Jake hit the big time with most of the items on his list, which included a bolo tie, yin yang belt buckle, and a bow tie.  He has quite eccentric taste, if you ask me.  I love him dearly, though.  :)

Josh also enjoyed his Christmas.  He didn’t ask for much, so it was a bit difficult to find things he would like.  He is pretty excited, though because he got a HUGE box of chocolates along with lots of other fun goodies.  Santa also brought him a certificate for driving school.  I guess I might be getting a break from taxi duty soon!  :)

Emma is on cloud 9.  I worked on matching blankets for her and Elaina.  I think she likes hers.  Santa got her a new phone, which she has been begging us to get her for months, possibly years.  She has yet to set it down!

 

 

Elaina got a new doll, along with some Littlest Pet Shop toys.  Santa brought her some new roller blades since the ones she has been using are about 3-4 sizes too big, and WELL worn out.  The hard part is going to be making her ride outside and not inside too!  Haha  

All in all, it was a great Christmas!  We have enjoyed each others’ company and laughed much!  I am truly blessed! ~  Don't go getting upset about the lack of pictures of the boys.  We used a video camera this year and I didn't take pictures until the boys were knee deep into their video game.  I have enough pictures of that!  haha 

It's Friday, I'm in love!

There is a new man in my life!  I don't think Mike will get too jealous, but I am willing to take that chance right now.  :)  Have you heard of MR. Clean?  Well, he is the man of my dreams right now!  I kept seeing commercials for his new Magic Bathroom Eraser.

  

I usually put off scrubbing my shower, or better yet, get the kids to do it.  It takes me an hour to scrub all the grime away until it feels clean in there.   By the time I was finished, I was high from fumes and sore for days from all the scrubbing.  That's the main reason I have been making the kids do it lately.  They have more brain cells to kill off and they are in better shape than me.  At least, that's what I tell myself.  :)   

After seeing the commercial for this new eraser and having the realization that company is coming NEXT WEEK, I figured I should give it a try.  WOW!  I am still in shock!  It took me @ 10 minutes to clean my entire shower.  Top to bottom!  I didn't know what to do with all my extra time, so I took my little eraser to the sink.  After a couple of minutes there, my sink looks, feels, and more importantly, smells clean.   I wanted to make sure this wasn't just my imagination, so I then went to the kids bathroom.  That place scares me.  I know they "clean" it, but I'm not sure how much it actually gets clean, if you know what I mean.  To my disgust, I saw a tub that looked ready for a commercial.  Yep.  The ones where they scream at you that their product takes grime, soap scum and rust away with the swipe of your sponge.  I've tried those.  Most take a swipe of your sponge, along with a good scrubbing with a brush and AJAX!  Anyways, I digress.  So, I see this filthy bathtub and think to myself.  "I thought Jake cleaned this tub on Monday.  I guess his idea of clean and my idea of clean are different."  I will need to give a little intervention and instruction on the ins and outs of cleaning apparently. Oops.  I digressed again.  ;)  So, I took my new found love and went to work on that disgusting tub.  Holy!   Moly!  I almost took a picture of half a clean tub and half with what my children bathe in.  Then I decided that would be too embarrassing and perhaps used against me in a child protective services case.  I am thinking of going back to Wal-Mart and buying whatever they have in stock.  This little eraser is amazing!  My tub is white again!  My arms aren't sore and no toxic high.  YEAH!!!  I figure if I get the kids to clean with my new love then I won't have to worry about CPS...   as much.  haha