Weekend Update

My list is complete (well...minus the laundry, but that is always unfolded so I'm okay with that)! We skipped out on one reception and the YW Broadcast. I was the Big Caboose That Couldn't. So, so, so exhausted. Instead, Rob and I went out to dinner to a Chinese restaurant that Lia introduced me to. I ate sushi (thank you very much, 3 pieces and I liked it)! And we always seem to make it to the mall on our dates! I wanted to check out a picture at Pottery Barn Kids for some craft project inspiration. Check out these easy projects!!! (Is it okay that we took these pictures???)


Okay fine...I did the last one, but I must tell you that these projects are not worth the PB Kids price. They're a rip off to buy but way too cute to not be inspired!

Here is my craziest picture from the Bott/Small reception.

I can't wait to see the pics that Tamee took (or not--I may be embarrassed later that I got out on that dance floor).

The Science Fair was fun. The boys were excited to see their work displayed and I think they already have a few ideas brewing for next year's fair.

We took a quick visit to the county school's art fair to see Tyler's animal camouflage drawing/painting. There sure are some talented students in PW County! Made me think (again) how I wish Bennett had a better art program, but I did get some summer art project ideas.

I hope you enjoyed your weekend as much as we did! Here's a little thought that I'll leave you with!

TO DO List

• 1 pack meeting down, 0 to go (it was our first, Tyler had fun)

• 1 dozen potato chip cookies down, 0 to go (they were disgusting, but yummy if you ask the boys)

• 4 cavities down, 6 to go (yippee!)

• 1 baby shower down, 0 to go (this was fun getting ready for)

• 1 sick child this morning, 3 to go (but hopefully not)

• 1 clean house down, 0 clean house to go (yahoo!)

• 0 baskets of unfolded clean laundry down, 4 to go (joy)

• 100+ favors for wedding reception down, 0 to go (tulle, ribbon and chocolate, blah)

• 6 funky poofy tulle bow thingies down, 0 to go (not a tulle fan these days)

• 0 supplies bought for craft night, several to go (can't wait, really)

• 0 sports classes down, 0 will be attended (sick Evan)

• 0 school volunteering down, 1 to go (love going to Jared's class)

• 0 wedding receptions down, 2 to go to (and one even has dancing!)

• 2 science fair projects down, 1 science fair to go to (the things we do for our kids...)

• Always an art project down, 1 art fair to go to (can't wait to see Tyler's art project!)

• 1 ward 5K walk/run to attend, 0 down (I'll be walking)

• 3 gifts to buy, 3 to go (what to get the newlyweds...???)

• 0 YW General Broadcast to go to down, 1 to go to (we'll see if I make it...)

It's been a busy week and it will be a busy weekend...

Good Guy, Bad Guy

Evan loves fighting the bad guys and he loves fighting the good guys. He can never decide which ones are better and which ones he wants to be!

I caught this picture while Evan and Becky were unwrapping the candy for the cookies we made yesterday. So eager to help and so sweet for wanting to help.

Ten minutes later, Evan had sneaked the remaining chocolates and finished the bowl off. Who could blame him, though!! And when it came time to taste the cookies, he got up on the counter and ate the remaining ones, saved for his brothers. I used to be so on my toes, but it got really tiring! I'll admit it, Evan gets away with a whole lot more then Tyler and Jared do. And this is only the beginning! I apologize to my mom for complaining so much that the younger kids had it easier. Oh, how naive...

Today, I decided to be fair to Tyler and Jared. I was sticking up for the older kids! So, when Evan took a bite out of Tyler's arm today, there needed to be a consequence. I bit him back! (No, not really, but that would have made for a good story, don't you think?) I actually put him in time out. This rarely happens with him. It never worked with Jared (more like it was too much work for us. He was always getting up, being defiant,...oh that Jared--he was a hard one), so we just stopped doing them.

So much to my amazement, Evan actually listened. Now I just need to get him to sit still during church! For three minutes, he sat there with his arms folded. My jaw dropped! I just had to snap a picture (of course) which probably taught Evan that this was not a moment to take seriously--just fun picture time. He stayed, though, apologized to his brother and merrily went on his way...

...and we are left to wonder, "Is he a good guy, or a bad guy?"

Spring Break, Science and Six Boys

Spring break was fun (for the kids). I, however, was not a bit sad to see the bus pull away this morning. Rob's work unfortunately kept us home from Buffalo, so we made do. The boys filled their time playing with friends, sleepovers, and science projects.

Rob and I were crazy and daring enough to take the boys and their friends to IHOP. Several people thought they were all our kids!! WHAT? I'm sure my parents must have had comments all of the time, seven kids within five years of each other...Oh, how they were so brave! We ate out a lot, too...

Our new bookshelves finally came in and I couldn't have been more pleased. I LOVE THEM! What a difference they make in the room! Now I just have to fill them!

Bunny Day and Easter were great. We invited a new family in the ward over for dinner and had an enjoyable time. All the kids played Star Wars together, so we, as adults, were able to have some child-free conversations! Wow!

So, pretty much, it was just a normal week and of course, we have pictures to prove it! Enjoy!

It's a re-choir-ment!

When I was in the MTC it was a re-choir-ment that our district sang in the choir. My companions were thrilled. They both loved singing. One of them even later sang for The Mormon Tabernacle Choir. I, however, do not enjoy singing, but this choir experience helped my testimony of the Savior grow. I may not have a beautiful voice but I can appreciate beautiful music. And singing this song touched me more than any music had before.



So, you won't get too many posts like this out of me. It is Easter, though, and these are where my thoughts lie today. And as I reflect on our Saviors perfect love for each of us, I leave with you a few of my favorite messages from the March 2008 Ensign.

"No matter how much we say of him, it is still too little. He is not only the Carpenter, the Nazarene, the Galilean, but Jesus Christ, the God of this earth, the Son of God, but most importantly, our Savior, our Redeemer...He is my friend, my Savior, my Lord, my God."--President Spencer W. Kimball

"After the many testimonies which have been given of him, this is the testimony, last of all, which we give of him:That he lives!"--D&C 76:22

"We know not all that lies ahead of us. We live in a world of uncertainty. For some, there will be great accomplishment. For others, disappointment. For some, much of rejoicing and gladness, good health, and gracious living. For others, perhaps sickness and a measure of sorrow. We do not know. But one thing we do know. Like the Polar Star in the heavens, regardless of what the future holds, there stands the Redeemer of the world, the Son of God, certain and sure as the anchor of our immortal lives. He is the rock of our salvation, our strength, our comfort, the very focus of our faith.

In sunshine and in shadow we look to Him, and He is there to assure and smile upon us."--President Gordon B. Hinckley

Why Weepest Thou? by Simon Dewey

Kid Tested, Mother Dis-Approved

A picture is worth a thousand words, none of which are repeatable!

The damage!

The Culprit!

Yikes...I've been tagged!

Okay, Heather, I guess I'll play...

10 years ago...hmmm...March 1998...I was gearing up for graduation from BYU. My last semester was cake because I had taken all of my major courses before my mission. I think I had two classes--French Literature and Italian. Rob and I had been dating about a month, so I was in LaLa Land, and could have cared less about my classes. That would change a month later, when we broke up and I graduated. Obviously, we worked things out (or should I say that I came crawling back, begging with all my might).Here we are, crazy in love, on March 12th, 1998 at Rob's parents house.

5 snacks that I enjoy...

• Rita's Italian Water Ice/Gelati
• Pain au Chocolate or Croissant au Amande
• SweetTarts
• Southern Lemonade Pie Ice Cream
• Chocolate (any kind--with pb, nuts, caramel, truffle, dark, milk--you name it, I love it)

5 things on my To-Do list...

• Wash and fold laundry (this is always on my list)
• Plan a baby shower
• Finish reading Gift from the Sea
• Buy Anna an Easter dress (this is the only thing on the list I'm looking forward to)
• Clean my nasty bathroom

What would I do if I suddenly became a billionaire...?

• Travel. Go on our cruise and to Hawaii, and to Japan. I'd also love to go back to France. See Italy and Greece, visit Africa. With my children and without. I'd invite family members along because we always have a good time when we're with them (just not all at the same time--wink, wink).
• Re-do my kitchen and bathrooms. A complete overhaul. I'd probably buy some "real" furniture, too, which also entails a house cleaner because this is what my children do to my "fake" furniture.
• Oh my, what am I thinking...I'm a billionaire...I'll just buy a new, huge house!
• I'd do all the financial security stuff. Hook my children up for the future and make sure we'd be set for life.
• Of course, I have to add the do-gooder stuff, too. I always wish that I could give more/do more financially for others. Maybe I'd join Al Gore on his crusade to fight global warming. Or maybe not.
  

3 bad habits...

• I bite my finger nails. Gross. I know.
• I swear.
• I don't exercise regularly.

5 places I have lived...

• Provo, UT
• Rexburg, ID
• Rouen, France
• Damascus, MD
• Pontiac, MI

5 jobs I have had...

• Family Educator for Early Head Start
• Associate Family Teacher for a teen group home
• Residential Trainer at a group home for the mentally challenged
• EFY Counselor
• Dietary Aide for a hospital

What people don't know about me...

• I didn't get kicked out of Ricks, like my roommate Heather, but I did get turned into the Dean for having an "extreme hairstyle"--it was really a dye job gone bad (the black didn't take and turned kind of greenish).
• I haven't always been anal (really, I haven't). Once on my mission when Soeur Marbleu and I returned home from a trip to the supermarche, we raced in our apartment to see who could open the cereal box first. Story behind that...The French aren't big cereal people and the boxes were always a pain to open. My comp hated when the box top was always torn up. I hated that she cared so much about something so stupid. So we raced home to see who got to open the box first. I won! And I tore the thing up, just to bug her. Fast forward to 8 years later..."Who keeps opening the cereal boxes like this? Why can't you just open it up normal?" When I said those words, I immediately remembered my stupidity. I've since apologized to that companion for being so lame--I had turned into the anal one.
• I love foreign languages! And I was a high school French drop out--ironic, isn't it? I tested out of the BYU French courses, took two semesters of Mandarin Chinese (and was in the Chinese Club at Ricks) and an accelerated Italian course. Too bad I suck at them! If I had three wishes, one would for sure be that I could speak well in several languages. I just was not blessed with the gift of tongues.
• I was, however, blessed with the "gift of hands" for a short period of time while I was on my mission. Souer Wood knew sign language and she taught me so that we could teach our investigator, Claire. I was able to teach the discussions, teach members of the ward how to sign and translate French to Sign. I saw my comp and our friend Claire a few years ago and could not remember a thing. It truly was a gift given for that short period of time.
• I, once too, worked at the fair! Many of you know that my mom traveled with the fair around UT and AZ. After my mission she just showed up on my doorstep at college. I hadn't seen her in over five plus years. I would visit her at the fair when she was in the Utah County area and would help her run her booth (it was the Duck Pond at the time). So, I guess, I am also a Carnie! (I would have let you all in on this little secret before if I had remembered--my mom just reminded me of it a few months ago).
  
• 

I now tag...Sarah W., Tamee J., and Rachel D.

Pure Randomness

Okay, first off, an Elder from my mission had his blog's reading level on his list. Forbes' blog read at a college (postgrad) level. Check out my blog's reading level. Awesome. I'm feeling really good today. Such a self-esteem booster!

Movie Reviews

The other day, Tyler(age 8) smashed his finger in a drawer. He was in pain, but wanted to play it off "cool", but I could see the tears welling up in his eyes as he jumped around in agony (come on...this is at least high school level writing here!). "Tyler, do you need a kiss to make it feel better." I was teasing him, but he didn't answer me. He was still trying to be cool. However, a mom can read a child's true desire...he really did want a mom kiss to help it feel better! So I kissed his finger and sent him on his way, trying not to make a big deal about it. I know I won't be able to do that for much longer so I'm going to bask in my child's innocence for as long as I can! It was a sweet moment...Tyler has been busily working on his Wolf for Cub Scouts. He surprised himself when he was able to do this...Check out this funny silhouette of Jared that was made at school. No matter what I do, Jared will always have crazy hair because of the full 360 degree cowlick smack dab on his forehead. But, this day must have been a particularly bad hair day. What the...????The silhouette was done for President's Day. Jared wrote along with it that if he was President he would get to work in the Oval Office and he'd make sure that everybody had Care. I'd vote for him!

Check out Jared's awesome moves...Evan...he's been banned from any Star Wars or Ninja Turtle movies. And no lightsabers while playing with others. He hasn't realized that you can't really hit the other children. He can play with the lightsabers to his heart content when no other kids are around.
He's also decided that talking is pretty cool and he's turned into a little parrot--whatever we say, he repeats...'We need to get some more gas." "Mom, more gas?" And then he continues to say that as we pass every gas station. At a red light, yelling from the back of the car, "Mom, GO!" "The light is red. I'll go when it's green." "Go green light." So simple, but such an improvement! We can actually have a semi conversation with him now!

Here's something great I'm learning about girls...when their dresses get too small, they can turn into shirts! Wow! Talk about extending ones wardrobe. Here's Anna sneaking up the stairs in her V-day dress and jeans...

Sugar-free and happy?

Is it possible? Cutting back on sugar, eating healthier in general, has been something I've been thinking about for a few weeks now. Would my kids even notice the difference between sugar-free pudding and regular pudding? I tried it and they had no idea. Same with applesauce. We've been doing the Healthy Harvest kind for years now.

After the boys dentist visit this morning, I've just decided that they eat way too much sugar (and need to floss more). It hadn't been a problem before, but now it is, so it needs to be addressed and it didn't go over too well with Tyler and Jared. I tried to reassure them that there would be plenty of yummy options for snacks that don't contain loads of sugar. They were haters from the start...

"It's not like you can't have any or no sugar. We just need to cut back, drastically."

I don't think their candy lovin' father was thrilled either. I blame him, though, for this candy addiction that lives with us. Why does it always seem like he is to blame when ever things go wrong??!!!

Anyways, I took the boys to the grocery store and got them all excited about eating less sugar (as excited as I could get them). We read labels and looked at how much sugar we used to eat and how much sugar our new treats had. They were feeling a little better by the time we left.

And they thought the sugar-free cookie tasted no different.

So, what kinds of food do you serve your kids that are low in sugar? I'm a mom who needs some convincing suggestions! And do they make sugar-free jelly beans??

Confessions of a clean freak

Okay, some people think of me as a clean FREAK! (aka Monica Gehler). But I'm busting the myth today, I AM NOT. Well, maybe a little bit...really, only when I know company is coming or the messes have gotten way out of control.

What I am a bit freakish about is seeing all of my junk. This is what our computer desk looks like on the average day...and it drives me CRAZY! But I know me, and I make a mess of the thing everyday. It is such a pain to clean up everyday, so we came up with a plan. Really, we just wanted something more attractive. But was it the desk that was unattractive or was it the mess and clutter that had taken over it? Both.

So this our solution...You can't see a darn thing! It's the BEST desk in the world. I just shut the door and voila! It tucks into the corner and once the old desk is out of here, we'll even have room for some "Living Room" furniture!

So, from the outside appearance, my house may seem clean, but truthfully, I'm just good at hiding all of our crap! Open any draw/desk or door and you will see the messy me! And normally I'd be embarrassed if anyone saw my secret stashes of mess, but hey...it's a new day and I DON'T CARE!

We won the lottery!

What an exciting, long, tiring, informative day it has been!

Evan had his first of many (yearly) visits to the Skeletal Dysplasia Clinic at Children's Hospital. Overall consensus is that Evan is the easiest patient. Ever. And what a charmer! He had all of the doctors wrapped around his little fingers. He was weighed and measured, poked and prodded, all with the hugest grin on his face. Kind of like this one...Most everything looked really good. He is in the 5th percentile of average height/weight children and his proportions are not that far behind (right now). This will all change, of course, but so far so good. He needs to have an x-ray of his pelvis because of limited motion, but any problems in that area will most likely develop as he gets older, so not much of a concern right now.
We learned today that this condition is actually more rare then we thought. And we feel, as Rob stated today, that it's like we won the lottery! What a blessing Evan has been to us. And we look forward to raising him, with all of the challenges and joys.

The highlight of today, though, was not meeting all of the awesome doctors, but it was meeting a twelve year old boy named Zack. Zack and Evan are two of very few cases of Hypochondroplasia that this hospital sees (they may be the only two). And it happened that he was, also, at the clinic today and the staff arranged for us to meet with him and his father. I'll be honest, when I met first met Zack, my heart sank. It was my first real life visual of what is to come, and Zach was short. Reality check. I don't know what I was expecting.
We were able to meet with Zach and his father, Richard, and just talk about concerns, what the future holds, school issues, how to approach curious people, sports, friends, LPA, Little People Big World, huge heads...I felt like I could stay there forever talking with them, picking at their brains. But the most interesting thing, was the immediate connection between Evan and Zach. Evan, seriously, ran right up to him and gave him a hug. And cheesy as this sounds, it was almost like they already knew each other.

Zach has that same "happy" demeanor that Evan has. Richard said he thinks when their gene was mutated they were given a "happy gene" in its place. He has met a few others with Hypo and they all carry that same exuberance. Even when Evan is sad, he lights up. He's contagious.

Seeing what the future has to hold has made me even more in love with my goofy Evan! Can that be possible?!?

I'm looking forward to it!

They are FINALLY done!

These valances have been my biggest nightmare! But they are finally finished! They are hung and I never want to touch them again! I made a pretty big error with one of them and dreaded unstitching and fixing it, but turns out that I didn't need to unstitch, so I quickly finished them up yesterday.

My bookshelves will be here in 2 weeks. We found some faux wood blinds at Ikea last night (and an awesome new corner desk for our office--I'll post picks later) that we're going to get. There will be a little bit of rearranging and possibly some magic with a can or two of spray paint then the room will be finished!

We've lived in our home almost a year now, so it feels good to finally see some progress!

Classic Evan

There is nothing like a beautiful day and a basketball to make Evan's day!

It's a two entry blog kind of day!

If the whole credit card thing wasn't enough...

My kids wouldn't take naps!!! Aaargghhh...on a typical day if this were to happen, I would have ignored them until they A. fell asleep or B. were in their room for the amount of time I wanted them to sleep. For some reason (which I'll elaborate on more later), I checked on them. I decided I'd let Evan stay up (naps are less frequent for him these days) and have some one on one time with Bob (the Builder).

Then on to Anna's room. What was that foul smell? Anna was in her crib with all kinds of "stuff" ALL over herself and her crib. Eeewwwy! I forgot to mention that her nickname is Princess Poopy Pants. So I picked her up to change her, but I felt some resistance. Anna had grabbed the cord from the baby monitor and it was tightly wrapped around her neck! Holy Crap! My baby could have died.

And then I thought about that book. That book Melonie and Stacy had me read. That book that I was skeptical of the entire time I read it, but thought "hmmm...maybe". The book is "The Message". It's about an LDS man who had an out of body/near death experience and then wrote about the experiences he could remember. There was a lot about family in the Spirit World/Paradise looking after us here, giving us thoughts and ideas to help us a long our way. And that all though their deaths may have been tragic and hard for us, they were for a reason and they were okay with it. So, maybe, just maybe, Grams or G'pa Chiapelli or Daniel or someone was looking out for my Anna today. Right now, I hope that it is true because if it had been a typical day, I would have let herself cry to sleep. Maybe, just maybe...

The Message is a quick read and thought provoking, a "What if it is true...?" kind of book. If you haven't all ready, give it a try.

On to much better news...Rob was summoned for jury duty and I hope he can't "get out of it" because of his next trip to Japan. I'd much rather him be here then there.

Jared received the Fairness award in his class this month for the Character Counts program. Of course, he didn't tell me! His teacher realizes kids are like that, so she e-mailed me. There he is--bottom row, first on the left side. And I will hold this against him at home!!!

The Internet and my love/hate relationship with it!

Okay, so I really like the whole blogging thing. I've never felt "unsafe" or that I'm putting my family at risk...just a place to get my thoughts out.

I like to download digital freebies. Check out project ideas. Look at other peoples blogs. Search for answers for my stupid questions. This world wide web is GREAT! I even occasionally shop on-line (but very rarely because I like to see and touch an awesome deal when I score one)!

Yet, there are some people out there who have to ruin the whole experience.

Like the LAME-O who stole my credit card number this week and charge thousands of dollars to it--and get this, they got some pretty cool stuff and I'm sure they won't be sending me a "thank you". Gratefully, the credit card company was a little suspicious and gave me a jingle this morning and they are hot on the guy (or gals) trail.

Those stupid people have to take all the fun out of it!

My Dove Promise

I received a piece of Dove chocolate during a class at our Stake Relief Society Conference. Here is the message I found inside:
Any suggestions for what I should do? Years ago, I wouldn't have had to even think about it! I guess it's part of the whole "aging" thing. Boring...I know! So, I'm up for getting into some trouble--wanna join me!?!

And the winner is...

...the Caribbean (preferably the Western part)! Is that what you picked? There will always be Hawaii--one day--and from what some gals said today it sounds like Hawaii is baby creatin' land, so I'll hold off!

I'm not ready to leave my young ones for over a week--I'm so pathetic, I know! And Hawaii would require that (if done right). So a week in the Caribbean sounds absolutely wonderful to me. I want to see ancient Mayan ruins, swim with stingrays and sharks, go on a zip line through the jungle (who actually believes, I'll do that?), learn to scuba dive, and enjoy a fun filled week with my adventurous husband. We're thinking November or January. Can't wait!

AGING

I got my haircut yesterday! It was my second time going to to see Safadi (or was it Sadafi) at Master Cuts. I felt comfortable enough to ask him if he could see any gray hairs on the back of my head--since I can't see them and I've been wondering if any have been popping up.

"You're too young to have gray hairs. What are you talking about?"

"Whatever you crazy man. Check these out--(pointing to several white strands on the right side of my head) I've got plenty of them!"

He squinted (I'm sure just to be kind), "They can only be stress related."

Is that it? I wish I could say I was gullible enough to believe that one!

Of course, I Googled "gray hair stress" to see if there really was any truth to his claim. Not really. A girl could only hope, right? Besides, I can't really say I have loads of stress anyways. I'm lucky to have just a simple, calm life right now! Reality check--I'm getting old!