After Christmas recovery effort

Another Christmas come and gone. The house is turned upside down still. Christmas Eve was spent at my mom's house. We all exchanged gifts and had a light dinner. We looked at Christmas lights on the way home. Then the girls exchanged presents from each other. THe little girls went to bed in the cute nightgowns their Grandma Lane got them from the Disney Store. At Midnight poor Autumn woke up throwing up. And did it again at 3 or 4. Christmas morning she sat opening presents with a puke bowl beside her but no more action in that department. So the Amber Kelsea Kylee and I got ready for church and Lee Joe stayed home with the Autumn and Hannah. The kids sang well, thank goodness. We came home from Church and I was exhausted to say the least. My family didn't come over until after 5 for dinner. We had a nice time. Autumn had a bit of a tummy ache in the morning and looked a little tired all day but other than she managed well the rest of the day.

Favorite gifts-Lee Joe gave the 4 oldest girls CD walkman things. Lots of solo action. Favorite CD-Madagascar soundtrack to Amber and Kelsea. Kylee and Autumn got some dolls they love. Hannah loved everything. Especially her Disney princess nightgown. Lee Joe got Star Wars 1,2 and 3. I got a couple of glass seahorses I really like. And some of those super soft fuzzy socks.

The best part of this Christmas was making sure our neighbors were taken care of. A family Lee Joe knows "adopted" them. They were given bags and bags of groceries and there were presents for the 6 little kids and for the mom and dad too. Lee Joe and the friends got caught dropping the stuff off. But boy was the family grateful. I was able to give the dad money he earned from working on our basement to give his wife a present. She was floored and had a much better Christmas for it. He gave her a digital camera. So that was great to be able to do that for someone.

Today Lee Joe took Amber and Kelsea out and Kelsea came home with Hamster she bought herself and cage and everything else. So she is a happy camper again today.

And we are about to get ready for Hannah's birthday on Thursday. The big 4.

I finally knocked my cold I think. Woo Hoo

Vacation!

The kiddos are home for two full weeks and we are preparing for the big day. I have been fighting a cold with airborne and dayquil. I feel crummy. It figures. I am suppose to sing in the choir on sunday. We will see if I have a voice. Every December is like this. The primary is singing and I have to lead. Isn't that going to be fun putting a bunch of super excited kids on the stand on Christmas day. What were we thinking. We have church at 11 so I am just glad it's not 9am.

So far the kids have been good. Very little squabbling. Amber and Kelsea baked cookies today. I have yet to make fudge. It looks like we will go to my mom's house Christmas eve and exchange my family's presents and then after we get home from church on Sunday everyone will come over here and hang out and have dinner. My brother came over today with a present for my mom. He was so funny, it was like he never wrapped a present in his life. He has really gotten into the Christmas mood this year. He is shopping for everyone. He is doing well right now which is happy news for him and of course all of us too.

So other than trying to knock a cold-could have been a few nights in the garage getting business taken care of if you know what I mean- and hanging out without a lot of chasing around with kids,that is SOO nice.

As we speak here at almost 11pm, Lee Joe is still out doing his shopping. I am so done! I bought film and batteries today. So I am set.

And for you Lay folk out there, You might get a kick out of the fact that Amber has begun recitations of Monty Python and the Holy Grail. She has written down entire scenes, memorized them and shares them with anyone that has ears. Lee Joe finds it funny, I find it irritating. But it is her favorite movie right now. Even before Napoleon Dynamite.

The game

Amber's team won their game yesterday. They won 22 to 5. No injuries for Fairmont and they played their best game ever. No points for Amber this game. She forced a lot of turnovers. She fouled three times. She had a lot of assists. She played point guard which she hardly plays but does it well enough. The best part was when the other team went down the court for fastbreak and Amber flew down the court and before they could shoot she just plucked the ball right out of their hands and headed back down the court and they stood there like"Where did the ball go?". One of the dads of a girl on Amber's team asked me "Are you a Fairmont parent?" I said yes of course. "You couldn't be Amber's mom could you? You only look just like her." And then he said "I just love how she plays ball" He was so funny and excited through the whole game. It was great fun.

Today the kids get out early and Christmas vacation begins. Autumn has been singing We Wish you a Merry Christmas And she says "Good tithings to you to you and your him" She has a funny way she interprets things.

Lee Joe is going to be released from his scout calling and he is seriously relieved. So am I. He will be able to spend more time with his girls and he is so happy about that. He has been working almost two fulltime jobs lately and doing scouts. THe side work will slow down since this winter is so cold already and the ground is frozen so we will see much more of him.

Christmas is coming!

Devanie gave me the gift of a blogsite! How about that! Lately it has been so busy I haven't been able to get to my computer much.

In the last two weeks there have been 5 basketball games,a dance recital in senior center for 3 girls, two Christmas concerts, two doctors appointments, 4 sick kids-one was my nephew, I have been picking up my neice 3 days a week, lots of babysitting for two older girls, Christmas shopping and wrapping, An Honor Orchestra audition-Amber made it on the Oboe. I could almost sing the 12 days of Christmas for the last 12 days!!

Amber is on JV basketball but is the most aggressive and reliable player. She steals the ball all the time. Parents will tell me she spent a lot of time on the floor if I missed something. One game she almost had her nose broke because a girl elbowed her in the face gave her an awful bloody nose. Her nose did bruise and swell a little. They play that team today again. I will be at that game to make some noise! She also got an award for most outstanding player on the JV Volleyball team. She is headed that way for basketball again usually making at least half of the teams points every game so she is having a good time. The coach told one of the girls that Amber was the best player and it started some sort of spat between the girls. Kelsea, Kylee and Autumn will be playing after Christmas.

The rest of the girls are so excited for Christmas. Hannah is excited for both her birthday and Christmas.
I will figure out how to post pictures and I will post some from our trip to Seattle.

This Past Year

Aunt Devanie saved some emails and this is what she got to help me along with our Christmas newsletter.

September 2, 2005

Amber loves to play piano. In fact she gets in trouble because when she is suppose to be doing chores, she plays piano. She LOVES to play primary songs. Lately she has been playing Pirates of the Caribbean and it is sooo cool! She also has music to The Incredibles. Music is Ambers favorite thing.

Kelsea fought the piano. She had a hard time watching Amber and her teacher was frustrated with her. She started violin and that was great for Kelsea. Then later she started to show interest in the piano again.

Grandma Lay called us when we were in Yellowstone she was coming and planning to stay at our house. We had about a week to prepare for her arrival.

Janika came to visit durring the Summer.

I have pictures taken of Hannah I will send e-mail and snail mail this weekend. School started Monday. I was so worried. I don't like the schedule this year at all. Amber has to be at seminary at 6:30 in the morning. We have to be sure she has a ride to the school at 7:30. Kelsea has to leave the house at 7:25 or 7:30. she overslept once this week. I have to drive the girls to school by 8:30. And pick them up at 3:15.

Durring the summer Amber had Volleyball and Kelsea babysat after school for the family she and Amber worked for all summer. Amber made JV this year for Volleyball. She has been on Varsity for two years. Her shaky thing is causing some issues.

Hannah keeps wanting to go to school. I had her evaluated for a preschool through the school that I wouldn't have to pay for. She wasn't accepted because she is too smart. She is in the 93rd percentile for what she knows at her age. She knows so much more than any of the other girls knew at her age.

I had a massive sewing order that I got on last Thursday. I sewed nonstop for 7 days it seemed. I Sew to make a little extra money on the side. My back gave out from all the hours upright over the sewing machine and my Butt feels like it spreads 10 inches over the course of that many days. I don't know after all that time, along with the kids starting school if the $400 is really worth that. But I just approached the 4th company on sewing for them this week. I think I am crazy!

In September my Washer was leaking lots of water every time I washed clothes. I pulled the washer away from the wall so the water runs straight to the drain in the floor so I can wait a little bit to get it fixed but I want to replace it. I got a new LARGE capacity front loading washer the sewing money helped that cause.

What helped me after Hannah was born was to remind myself that every phaze every day is temporary. Every day the baby will be able to do something new. Every day the house might get a little easier to keep up with and then the baby gets more mobile and into things but that is temporary too. The time that a baby will need a mother is actually very short even though some days feel like forever. The busier your older kids are with activities the faster that time flies by. Remind yourself to enjoy it. You really have to remind yourself.

I remember going to the store for the first time with 3 it freaked me out. But now -upon occasion- I go with 5 so somehow I survived. Even though I still think 5 is too many some days but of course I wouldn't trade any of them.

September 10th 2005
My 3rd pregnancy was hard because it was hot but 4 and 5 put me down for weeks in the end. It was frustrating. Always let your Relief Society president know and you can get meals in and help especially if your Husband is out of town.

Here is something interesting. Autumn has two Sierras in her class. I think being close to the Sierra Nevada mountains makes it a more common name over here along with Hailey because of Hailey Idaho. We drove through Hailey and Ketchum on labor day. We saw Bruce Willis' name on the marquee on a sign there and I think we saw the restaurant he owns too. We went to a really awesome lake over the weekend.

Grandma Lay was here again this week. I didn't see her much I guess. She will be back in two
weeks.

We got Hannah's pictures. Autumn went in this week and her pictures will be back on my birthday-the 30th. I will be getting the other 3 in after our next payday. Kylee is going to be 9 this month!! Holy Cow!

Hurricane Season
My Grandparents were in Houston and my grandmother was too sick to travel so they had to sit and ride out the storm. She is on oxygen so there was a concern if all that happens where they are is that the power goes out. The church tried to make sure that she was taken care of with plenty of oxygen tanks on hand. My grandfather went shopping for supplies and he said the people were terrible!!

The Next Day. . .
My Grandparents, after the whole family making hundreds of phone calls and I put their names in at the temple have some Ok news. They found that the stake center just over a mile from their house had a generator and they were able to take my Grandma so she could be on her oxygen and have her breathing treatments. My Grandpa and Uncle were able to take turns caring for her and the other one stayed at their house and cared for their 4 dogs. And the storm moved a little to the East and was downgraded so that was good news. They were going to leave but traffic was backed up still and people were running out of gas on the freeways. All the gas at the stations were gone. So at this time it looks as if they are in a better situation.

September 27th 2005
I have a Maytag dishwasher. I really like it alot. I found out Cascade Complete does the best job of cleaning the dishes and they are usually spot free without having to use jet dry.

My grandparents fared pretty well. They were in an area that did not suffer from any power outage. They had tree limbs in their yard along with lots of pine cones.

Kylee and Kelli have the same birthday sept 26 and mine is the last day of the month-30th. Yes there are only 30 days in Sept. You know how many people have tried to argue that fact with me? Kind of funny.

I had another large sewing order I had to work on.

November 2nd 2005
I bounced back pretty quick after my last few girls and the pregnancies were awful. It felt so good to be one person again.

Kelsea got braces today. Amber got braces in Aug. And Kelsea also had the skin under her tongue "clipped" That hurts more than the braces right now. Poor thing. We found out she is still tongue tied-we actually didn't know she was until a few months ago. She has never been able to touch her tongue to the roof of her mouth until today-crazy huh? The underside of her tongue looks just awful though. She has had some scares coming home from babysitting and while babysitting lately. She came home one day and she watched this guy in the field at the church get in his car and then the next thing she knew he had pulled up behind her. She thought he was after her and came home hysterical crying. We found out the guy lived in the house that she was in front of at that moment. Then yesterday another guy came to the house she was at and kept knocking on the door and wouldn't leave. She called me crying because he wouldn't go away. By the time I got to the house the guy was gone. He had wanted to look at a van that was for sale in their driveway. She had a rough couple weeks. But she bought a Nintendo DS with her babysitting money so she is happy camper there.

Amber got done with Volleyball and started basketball last week. She has been handling early morning seminary quite well along with 3 accelerated classes. From how it sounds she is one of the smartest math students in her class. My other girls aren't quite up there though. Accept for Hannah I think is above average. Autumn is at grade level. Kylee is a little below grade level in reading. Kelsea is actually right where she should be and doing very well in 7th grade. She has A's and B's so that is great considering how hard she has struggled for years. All in all the girls are doing well.

We are having a bedroom and office put in downstairs. Our neighbor is doing it for us. I am going to get a long storage closet and we are making the furnace room smaller and insulating it big time so we don't hear it every time it comes on. We are having someone else put in windows in mid November I guess. So I am excited.

Lee Joe is working his full time job and all the side work he can handle. I get my sewing orders. I had two really big orders in Sept and Oct. I am waiting for the next one right now though.

I guess Lee Joe is going to baptize Zeona sometime this month and we are planning to go to Washington for Thanksgiving.. I hope be able to do all that!!