Is this really an award...

...or a desperate attempt to actually get me to blog! I'll take it, though, for whatever it's worth, Denise! There is a stipulation, however, in receiving this prestigious award...you must list 7 things you are grateful for. I think I can handle that!

1. Autumn--this is my favorite season. I love seeing the leaves change into beautiful colors. I love the crisp weather (not cold, I said crisp). I love pumpkins and pumpkin food, Halloween and apple cider, wearing sweaters and boots,...I wish it could last longer!
2. My sweet, sweet husband. I sure wish we were still on vacation. I loved spending so much time with him. I love his dedication to his family, work and church responsibilities--he has a knack for finding the perfect balance between them all. I never feel alone--even when he's away, I know he is supporting me.
3. My children. They challenge me, they encourage me, thy make me laugh (and cry). I love watching them grow and seeing their personalities develop. I love how forgiving and accepting they are--they are such an example to me.
4. The gym. Who knew that I would ever be so grateful for this little outlet in my life. I look forward to going, seeing friends and working my butt off every day! And even though I'm not '"losing" loads of weight (that's because I eat what I want), I feel awesome.
5. Great friends. I don't need a lot of them to be happy, but I am so fortunate to have some super friends! It's nice to always know that I have friends I can talk to and who are always looking out for me. I've learned that true friendship extends past boundary lines and I am so grateful for that!
6. My family. I sure wish I could see them more often. I am so fortunate to have great in-laws (parent, brother, sister). I am so glad that my kids look forward to seeing their cousins, aunts uncles, grand parents. I am so grateful to Susanne for coming out and watching the kiddos and that they got some good quality time with her. I'm excited to head up to PA for Thanksgiving and see everyone. I love them all!
7. The Gospel. My knowledge of the Savior and of our Heavenly Father is one of my greatest blessings. I am so grateful to know who I am and to know and understand my purpose.

I would now like to share this award with some creative bloggers that I know!! Lucky you!
Check out their blogs while you're at it!!

Katie (such a crafty gal and great blogger)
Suzy (private blog, but she's such an awesome writer--you're all missing out)
Audrey (she has the creative food/party bug, sure wish she lived closer)
Heather (she designed my blog and super creative, too)
Emily (love her writing, too--she should do more of it...)

We knew this day was coming...

...the day when Evan and Anna would wear the same size pants.Even though Evan is still quite a few inches taller then Anna, their legs are about the same length now. Last year, I'd bought Evan a pair of jeans that looked a bit girly when he wore them, so I put them aside for Anna to use down the road. Well, we've finally arrived at the road. They are both in 24 month pants. Still very strange to me...

Cruise in Review

I'm sure you won't find, the details of our cruise very exciting, but you can just look at the pics instead!

Some cruise things I have learned...

We will never take a young child on a cruise. First, where would they sleep? The rooms are SO small. And they can't go in the pools. And they'd be awful in the Dining Hall--and who wants to eat at the buffet the whole time.

Maybe a Disney Cruise would be different, but the kids have to be at least 4/5 years old and older!

Best part of cruising--no worrying about your next meal and whether or not it will be good. EVERY meal was a treat! And I have an extra 3 pounds who agree with me!

And you don't have to pick up after yourself (or anyone else). I loved leaving my towel on the floor and the bed unmade and MAGICALLY, it would not look that way the next time I went in the room!

It's a toss up on whether or not to have a window/balcony for me. I loved the pitch black room!! And not having sunlight to wake me up too early. But I always wondered what time it was when I did wake up.

I don't know if I'd book excursions off the ship. Because of weather each of our excursions were screwed up in one way or another, but the cruise line was very accommodating and we didn't feel like we were out any money. Key west excursion--snuba diving (I hated it, Rob thought it was okay). There was nothing to see because a storm had come through earlier, but we did go on a mini dolphin excursion which made up for it. Cozumel was our favorite, but because the ship was late getting in (because of weather)we had to rush through our visit at Tulum and our lunch/beach break was cut short. But we know now that we definitely want to go back!! Belize was the worst day (but fun at the same time)! Most excursions were cancelled because a Tropical Storm had just blown through (so, no zip line, cave tubing or snorkeling) but we did go to a beautiful private island and went kayaking and spent time walking around and getting rained on. Somehow being in a rainstorm is kind of fun when you don't have whiny kids with you!

The days at sea are a lot of fun! I loved just sitting out in the sun and having nothing to do but eat, sleep, read, layout, watch Rob belly flop, eat some more, go for a walk, rock climb, attend a yoga class, eat even more, etc...I could go on and on. If we had stayed on the ship the whole time, I would have been just fine!

Being with the same person for 7 days straight is not that bad! I thought we'd be annoyed with each other by the end, but it was quite the opposite. Since being home, we've barely seen each other and you know...I kind of miss the guy!

However, going on a cruise with people you know would be a lot of fun. We met lots of cool, fun and nice people, but it's not the same. Sure would have been fun having my sisters to dance with on 80's night or some friends to go to the spa with instead of snuba diving!

Take Dramamine with you if you go on a cruise--especially during hurricane season. It was my lifesaver!! The ship was rocky and next time I'd prefer to go at a different time of the year, but cheapskate me would sign up again during this same time of year because we had THAT MUCH FUN!

Puke Fest--On our way from Cozumel to mainland Mexico, we took a VERY BUMPY 45 minute boat ride--and no joke...2/3rds of the boat got sick--over and over again. Some how Rob and I avoided the inevitable (thank you Dramamine)! Sit in the open air to avoid this nastiness!

All in all, we will go again on a cruise and hopefully we won't have to wait another 10 years to do it!

Halloween on a Dime

What could cause such glee?
Spooky Dinner!

A Kunz Family tradition. Each Halloween, we weed through our recipe books and cook up a "spooky" or not so spooky, but more fun filled dinner. This year, the Beatty kids joined us for mummy meatloaf, crystal ball jell-o, bloody punch, witch broom bread sticks and mummy fingers. I think the kids had a great time and stuffed themselves full!
Saturday was the annual church trunk-or-treat and we all had a really good time. Carnival games and trick-or-treating...what kid wouldn't have a good time! It was "different" being with the new ward and we missed seeing all of our friends costumes, but that being said...we all had fun!

The boys all wanted to go with the Star Wars theme, so I whipped up some major cheap-o costumes! Tyler (aka Luke Skywalker) wore a black shirt, black pants, a quickly sewn up vest, one of my belts and his light saber. Jared (aka Yoda) wore his shepherd costume from a Christmas play and I made him Yoda ears out of a knit cap and felt and a big stick--he looked so cute!We bought Evan's costume earlier in the month, so his was easy. We got him the Darth Vader treat bucket to carry around, too. He's been in heaven ever since I bought him this costume--some of the best $20 I've ever spent! Anna was Princess Leia. I made her a white dress (made the pattern myself, too...I know...CRAZY!!), added a silver belt and made her these cute Leia buns out of felt and a headband--all stuff I had already at home.Rob was Senator Palpetine (the evil sith lord) and I was Padme. Another family did Star Wars, too and Rob and I's costumes were duplicated by them. Their Sith Lord won for scariest costume (he was 4 years old) and their little baby was an Ewok and he won for best baby costume--his costume was SO cute! But...the Kunz Family took the prize for best group costume!! We couldn't disagree with the judges! Especially considering we did Halloween on a dime!

Taggety Tag Tag Tag

2 Tags in one day! I guess if it gets me to blog, I can play along...

The first one is from Melanie...post the sixth picture from the sixth file in my photos. (We have way too many photo files, by the way!) But here is an oldie but goodie from 2003!This is from when we took Yao and Kinglo (and their sister), our Togo friends, to see the Christmas lights at the Washington D.C. Temple. Good times! I should look at these pics more often. So, I now tag Audrey, Kim, Suzy and Tara.

Next tag is from Kim...

10 Years Ago I
-I was gearing up for our wedding--2 months away!!
-I flew to Pennsylvania for my bridal shower.
-I was working for the Utah Youth Village at the Cedar Hills group home--oh, good times!
-I was living in Provo, UT (wishing that I wasn't), but I'd have lived anywhere to be with my honey.
-We were searching for an apartment to rent.

Things on tomorrow's to-do list
-Finish making Anna's Princess Leia buns.
-Make a "spooky dinner" for the kids and their friends.
-Go shopping for the "spooky" food!
-Make time to go to the gym (did I mention yet, that the cruise food was SO AWESOME...).
-Buy two cute baby boy shower gifts and make some dip for the shower--I'm thinking spinach artichoke...

Things I would do if I were a millionaire
-Buy an entire new wardrobe--loads of shoes/boots included.
-Put money away for my children (but not tell them, so they learn to fend for themselves).
-Have a total re-haul done on the yard (front and back), the bathrooms and the kitchen.
-Travel, travel, travel (several more cruises, travel around Mexico, go to Africa, oh what dreams I have...)
-Boring stuff--pay off the house and save for retirement.

5 Places I have lived
-Pontiac, MI
-Royersford, PA
-Rexburg, ID
-Rouen, France
-Manassas, VA
(and many, many other places in between)

5 jobs I have had
-Early Head Start family educator
-Family Teacher for Utah Youth Village
-Supervisor for mentally challenged group home (Chrysalis)
-McDonald's employee (and proud of it!)
-Dietary Aide at Phoenixville Hospital

I now pass the tagging buck on to...Rebecca F. and Rebecca K. and Laura.

Belly Floppin'

Oh my, look at this crowded ship deck! There wasn't even an empty chair in sight. So, what in the world motivated my husband to sign up for the ship's infamous belly flop contest? I'm still wondering...

There were 9 contestants. Two dives a piece. There were some BIG guys in this competition...I didn't know how Rob would fare being that he was the smallest of the nine. Rob did "okay" on the first dive and scored near the bottom of the pack.

On the second dive, they had to show off their dance skills (uh oh!)...I knew Rob was in trouble...
(Check out all the big dudes). Rob wowed the crowd with his incredible moves...Not Really! In fact, the cruise director stopped him and asked him what he was doing!! And he then became known as "White Boy" to all of the people on the ship. Luckily, Rob didn't let this public humiliation (actually it was quite endearing) get to him. I, however, was gloating. Finally, a thousand plus people as my witnesses--I've been trying to tell him for years!!!

But when Rob jumped from the platform, he pulled out the most remarkable flop!! One that has been "attempted at each competition, but never executed correctly." I wish I could have captured him mid-air--it was AWESOME! The whole ship was hooting and howling, cheering like crazy. In just a few brief seconds, Rob had become King of the Enchantment!!

He even got a coveted "5" from the Captain!! He scored a 4.889 for the dive--the highest score in the competition. But it wasn't enough for him to squeeze out a top three slot, but an impressive performance none the less!

One of the highlights of the trip!

Puke Fest

Funny how something as simple as the little boat could cause such an incredible reaction from a majority of the people on board. Story to come...

Brighter Days Ahead

Leaving Fort Lauderdale (and hopefully the rain) behind...

Sunday, October 12th--Our Day of Rest

Beauty and the Beast

Spent the day at Ft. Lauderdale beach. Sand stayed off our towels and snot stayed off the corners of my shirt! Everyone needs a day like this. Feeling much better. Slept a lot on the plane and at the beach and slept straight through the night--this cold will only be a minor set back...hopefully!

Too Excited

Because I lost 2 pounds this week.
My house is clean enough.
My bags are almost packed.
My kids are on the mend.
The weather is beautiful today.
My cupboards are full.
Because there are no hurricanes on the horizon.
The trip countdown is less then two days.
Yippy!!!

A Mere Head Wound

Oh no! Evan sure has had one BIG day! Makes me wish I'd taken him out of school to go to the farm...

I dropped Evan off at school and headed to the gym. When I got to the car, I noticed that I had 5 missed calls on my cell phone. Immediately, I called Rob who was home doing work around the house. He was on his cell and hadn't been home, so he had no clue who had called. Turns out it was Evan's school calling. He had fallen and hit a chair and they thought he'd need stitches.

When I got to the school, I knew right away that we were headed for the ER for Evan's first stitches! Evan has had tons of goose eggs and bruises from falling on his head--it's just part of the deal and we're okay with that. I explained that to the teacher because she felt awful. I'm surprised that this hadn't happened sooner.

Evan was a trooper and a charmer. His wish was their command while in the ER! Stickers, popsicles, crayons, lollipops, etc...And of course, he was as happy as can be--even as they wrapped him up as a mummy! UNTIL, they had to re numb the area and then he lost it. "Get off me!" "Me want to go NOW."

Six stitches later, all is good. He is home now, busy being spoiled and resting.

Tisk Tisk

Rumors spreed so quickly. Really, there is no word yet on the exact location of the Philadelphia Temple, so we patiently wait...

Tokyo Temple Adventure

I've been attempting to go to the Tokyo temple since I started traveling to Japan, and yesterday I finally succeeded. I finished work ~2:00 (for a change), and decided to head to the temple. When I logged on to the internet, I found that lds.org has a new map interface, which no longer seems to know about my Japanese congregation, so I no longer had directions to the temple. I did however get the address from LDS.org. Once I had the address, I had to figure out where in Tokyo it was located. None of the usual map services recognized the address. I finally found a web site called 'diddlefinger' that found the address. If you click on 'Panoramio' and/or 'satellite' you can see the temple under the green arrow and a picture from the street.

You'll notice if you clicked on the map-link above, that just to the west of the temple, is a train stop called Hiro-O (pronounced hero-oh). I next went to my favorite English train finder program and put Yokosukachuo as the start, Hiro-O as the destination, and 'unreserved' as train-type. Out popped my route and train times! At 4:30 PM I finally set out. I walked across the street to 7-11 (7i in Japan) to get cash. As I put my card in the machine, my cell phone rang. My co-worker said I needed to meet him, right then, in the hotel lobby to discuss some serious issues that just came up. I promptly returned to the hotel figuring temple trip attempt #10 was now over. After 45 minutes, though, I was on the road again. I hopped on the train and made it to the temple in 1 hour 40 minutes, just as the sun was setting. Usually temples are easy to find because they tower over everything in the area. Drive 495 in Maryland and you can't miss the D.C. Temple. In Tokyo, this is not the case. The temple is the same height or smaller than all the buildings, so I didn't know if I was in the right place until I was nearly next door and saw Moroni sticking out through the trees.

I entered the temple, and of course, no one spoke English. After attempting to ask if there were English sessions, I gave up and just showed him my recommend. (I have no clue what he may have thought I was asking for...) He then went and found a patron who spoke limited English and helped out.

Do you know your pant, shirt, shoe, and neck size in centimeters? I do now. After some trial and error, they got me some white clothes that fit. I then went to the service with headphones that provided English translation. (The headphones also had Spanish and various Asian languages you could hear by spinning the dial.) There were ~40 Japanese and two other Americans at the session. I felt the Spirit of the Lord very strong as we were being taught, and left the Temple very uplifted.
Afterward, I got some dinner nearby and made it home at 10:30 PM, ending my great Tokyo Temple Adventure!

Rob

100% Safety NOT Guaranteed

I wish I was one of those mothers who had an eagle eye and could keep their children safe from anything and everything dangerous, but experience has proven to me that I will never be that mom.

This little Anna sure does keep me on my toes. I didn't think I'd need to be buying more baby gates for our last child, but every time I turn my back she is on the kitchen counter. So, some gate purchases are in order! How did I manage to have three boys and she be my first real climber?? Somethings I'll never understand!

Besides having to be constantly on guard when she is around, Anna is very pleasant and happy. A definite keeper! She is starting to have preferences like what shoes or hair accessory she wants to wear. Her favorites are her rain boots or pink cowgirl boots and she loves her hats! And when she lays down for a nap, DO NOT leave these things anywhere in her sight--too distracting for her. She loves them that much!

Anna is starting to talk more and more, answering questions with yes and no head shakes and demanding attention when she wants it. She's really good at that! Check out this funny layout I did of her...I am tickled pink, though, that her favorite thing to say is "Mommy, Mommy." Melts my heart every time!

And just like my other children, Anna is so different and distinct--a true individual--and plays such an important role in our family. I know it sounds cliche, but I can't believe we lived so long as a family without her. Her brothers adore her (except when she loudly proclaims her desires) and she in turn looks up to them and follows them. Evan is her best buddy, Jared is her protector, and Tyler is her cheerleader. We are all definitely fans of this cutie girl!

I treasure her presence and spirit everyday and am so happy to have her entrusted in my care.

I Vow...

...before you, my loyal readers, and anyone else who can hear my shouts of frustrations to NEVER EVER take my four children out alone in public again. If you do see me out and about with them, please tell me to go home.

My biggest struggle (right now)

<--Yep! This is it. This child here. This crazy one. It amazes me how one little soul can make me feel like a failure as a parent...

Really there isn't anything wrong with him. It's all me. I just struggle with trying to know the best way to parent this energetic, sassy, goofball!

How do I play off his strengths? How do I encourage him to progress without nagging him constantly? How do I help him realize that there will always be consequences for our actions? AHHHHH...

Now don't get me wrong, I wouldn't trade this spunky kid in for anything in the world. He is my cuddler, my carer and nurturer, my beautiful blue eyed boy. He's a smart, smart kid who just needs a kick in the pants here and there (not really, folks) to get him going! He's always up for a good time. He loves his family dearly and is always protecting his younger siblings. He looks up to his older brother, but doesn't feel the need to be just like him--I love this about him! He has the craziest imagination and an endless amount of energy. He is sensitive (which is why I'm struggling to find the best parenting balance--who wants to constantly be herded). Jared responds to love and affection and is always willing to share a hug with me. Seriously, sweet and sour, sugar and spice, etc...

I worry about all of my children to some degree and I guess now is my time to focus on this one. Reality though, I think we are seriously lacking some Daddy attention here...Let's face it, children need their fathers. Almost makes me feel bad for taking him away again for our cruise (in a week and a half!!!!)...

Not really, though, because children also need their Grandma's!

So for now, I will cherish the peaceful, happy moments I have with him (and they DO exist regularly) while pushing forward in teaching this child--and counting down the days until Rob returns...