Who made Jesus?

With Jace lately, everything is "why did Jesus make...?". Spiders, snakes (basically the entire food chain), fire, blood (yes, blood. He refers to the heart as a machine or engine- therefore I told him that our blood is kind of like the gas- strange conversation!)- EVERYTHING! He asked me who made Jesus, I told him Heavenly Father, he said who made Heavenly Father (you can tell where this is going), I said His father and changed the subject -way too complicated for a 4 year old (and his mom!). Anyway, when he says the prayer on the food, he asks Heavenly Father to make his food "not hot", so when he's done with his prayer and his food is still hot, he complains "I asked Jesus to make it not hot and he didn't!". I'm always impressed that he understands that when we ask Heavenly Father to do something, he usually has Jesus do it!

One last thing- Jace LOVES skateboards and since we don't have one, he rides everyone elses whenever the opportunity arises. Tanner is one of those kind enough to share his skateboard when Jace is around. Well, Jace got it in his head that Tanner was going to sell his old skateboard to Jace because Tanner got a new one. The other day Jace was coloring something and I asked him who it was for. He said "Tanner" which was strange- he's never colored anything for Tanner before. I asked him what it was and he said "money". I asked him why he was making money and he told me that " Tanner said he would sell me his skateboard so I'm making him some money." SO FUNNY!

P.S. Kissin cousins

This is Trey kissing Brylee before Brylee became the agressor. Now she can't get enough lovin from Trey boy and follows him around, waiting for his attention. She just loves him, even though he closes the toy box on her head and body slams her to the floor! Kids are so forgiving! And check out her hair all stringy and sticking up. Now times that by 10 and you'll have Brylee in the morning. She has crazy bad hair! Maybe once she has more of it, she'll have a chance, but for now it's something you can't help but laugh at.

Kaleigh Grace

Here's our adorable little Kaleigh Grace in all her glory- or should I say her EAGLES uniform! Just FYI I was on the Eagles back when I was a youngin...those were the days...Anyway, this is Kaleigh after a long day at the ballpark, in which her team won once again. I'm amazed at how much they've improved in just a few weeks- herself included. So here we are at Logan's game (did I mention it was a LONG night!), where Logan's team wasn't so lucky- in fact they were quite the opposite, but we won't go there. In Logan's defense, they have him playing out in the field and he's got an amazing arm! The ball always goes right where it's supposed to. As for putting things where they're supposed to go, Brylee hasn't yet learned this lesson. You can't see all of this in the picture, but she's on the asphault just below the bleachers picking up sunflower seed shells- chewed up and spat out by other ballpark patrons- and putting them into her mouth. I stopped her when I noticed, but who knows how many she was able to sneak in there before I caught her in the act! While this is going on, I look over to see Jace at the playground climbing UP the slide, while dropping bark (Spanish Fork's idea of padding) on top of the poor kids that are playing on the sides. Of course he's not trying to be mean, he's just playing. That makes it OK, doesn't it? NOT! Good times!

Brylee

This is definitely poor quality photography (a phone pic again) but I haven't posted any pics of my kids lately and Brylee just happens to be the only one home with me today (sigh!). Once again she was caught being naughty and chewing on cords. That beautiful blue flooring you see in the background is in our rental home that, in spite of poor and dated flooring choices, we absolutely love! This house is about 1/3 the size of our new house, but it goes to show you that you can get used to anything. Not only that, but we don't always need as much as we think we need. It's a little too late for that as far as house size goes, but it's still a lesson learned. As far as Brylee's "naughtiness", let me just say you can't turn your head for a second! This child manages to find any and every pen in the house and has written on things such as new furniture, clothes, herself- you get the picture. She also can sense when the back door is just slightly ajar because she makes a mad dash for it! She's so much fun, but more of a handful than Jace ever was (which I tought was impossible!). Although she now walks, she still prefers crawling. Anyway, that's the latest- I'll post more phone pics of my other kids later!

My house!

It's been a while since I've blogged, so as I'm thinking what I can talk about, I'm drawing a blank! I never realized how uneventful our lives are, but I guess I should just enjoy this temporarily slow pace. My oldest kids are now in softball and baseball so we spend 3 nights a week at the ballpark and the other 2 days at practices. Brylee is walking FINALLY, but still choses to crawl a lot of the time because she's so freakin fast! I've never seen anything like it! This means that on game nights she is filthy! She crawls on the concrete and asphault at the ballpark as if it were a plush, shag carpet and she eats anything and everything in her path (old gum, candy, rocks, dirt- you name it). This means I spend as much time, if not more, chasing her than watching the games. It's still fun and reminds me of my days on the field. I LOVED summers at the ballpark as a player, and now as a spectator.

Anyway, as you see I've finally posted a picture. It's taken from a phone (still having real camera problems) and it's not clear, nor does it do our house justice, but it's all ya get! Since this picture, they've finished the framing, shingles (roof) and almost all the electrical. The plumbing should be done in a week, then they'll start on the siding and brick. I'm loving every minute of this, but unfortunately there are still MANY minutes left until we're done. I've bought several things for decorating purposes, as well as narrowed down my paint colors. The house is about 400 sq. ft. bigger than it was supposed to be, due to more usable space in the attic, so we're going to have a hard time staying within our budget, or should I say we ARE having a hard time staying within budget! Still, this is so much fun and hasn't even been a strain on our marriage, as I had been warned it would be. Jonathan and I are both so excited about this that he works on it every night without complaint, and I juggle kids day and night on my own with some complaint, but not much (I hope!). We're looking forward to August, when this will be done!

I had warned you all that there would be much detail about this process, so I'll just quickly tell you my favorite things about this house.

1- HUGE master bedroom with sitting area and lots of windows with awesome views!
2- 2 story family room with floor to ceiling windows and a second story balcony that raps around the entire room!
3- HUGE bonus room/theater above the garage- perfect for entertaining!
4-Both formal living and dining rooms - once again perfect for entertaining (we love to do this!).
5- Lots of nooks and cranies to decorate.
6- Angled ceilings on the second floor that give each room character.
7- Tons of windows- all with amazing views of the mountains, lake and valley.
8- Lots of storage!

There you have it! Are you so excited?!

Another SLOW day!

Are you seeing a pattern here? If you haven't already guessed I am once again at the furniture store. I've already rearranged all the furniture I can manage on my own, as well as the accessories and it's only noon! What better time to blog?! I wanted to take a minute and thank all my fellow bloggers. I could read your blogs all day long and never get bored! It's a good thing because I've got LOADS of time today. Anyway, you really inspire me! Some of you are so open and honest, as well as clever and funny. I learn so much from you and about you. Whoever thought of "blogging" was brilliant!
OK, so I have to copy a friend whose post I just read on gratitude (thanks Melissa!). I'm realizing that lately I've spent a lot of time complaining, which is obviously the sign of an ingrate, and I need to change that. Of course I've had many tough times and experienced things I would've never thought I could handle- Brylee's many hospital stays, for starters. You probably have, too, but I emphasize the word "thought" because we handled it! Although sometimes our trials are big things, it's the little things we (I) deal with daily that can bring us down to the "ungrateful" category. Example- KIDS! They are my biggest blessing and biggest challenge, but I wouldn't change a thing. OK, I could do with less whining and fighting and saying things just once, but I love them all to death. There are people out there who would give anything to have the blessing of children- I have 4 and I complain! Yes, it's hard, and yes, I'm entitled to be frustrated sometimes, as long as I can remain grateful and always let my kids and my Heavenly Father know how much I love being their mom.
Anyway, my life is filled with many wonderful people who have influenced me in such a positive way! I am so thankful for my family. My husband is so good and has sacrificed so much for me by living in Utah. This is a HUGE deal because he absolutely hates the weather and misses his family a lot. He's a very hard worker, is super talented, and absolutely adores our children. Most of all he has taken me to the temple and honors his priesthood. I have parents who have loved and supported me my entire life. Never have they been critical of me or caused me to doubt myself and my abilities. They've been "valiant" in their testimonies and have taught me to be the same. My sisters and mom are truly my best friends and are always ready and willing to "step up" whenever they (or help!) is needed. We have a blast together just doing the simplest things (Walmart, anyone?). I can't imagine life without Abbie calling at 8am so we can plan our day, only so our kids can fight and scream and we can ask eachother "why do we do this?". This happens every day, but regardless we just keep going. April usually witnesses all of this, but has older kids and no longer has to deal with her own daily drama's, just ours. Mom participates in these outings when she can and Alys is busy "bringing home the bacon". Robby is such an amazing brother. He's smart, handsome, talented and fun. Rob's always been really in tune with the spirit makes it look so easy to be good! His wife, Steph, is one of the smartest, most articulate people I've ever met. She's beautiful, ambitious, fun, and therefore fits in SO well (ha!ha!). As I said before I absolutely adore my kids and can't imagine life without them. I'm so thankful I get to stay home and don't have to plan my "kid" time around a job. This works well for some, but I hate that I'm missing out on whatever it is they're doing today. I also learn so much from them, as they are sweet, innocent, humble, trusting, and most of all forgiving. They love so unconditionally and appreciate the simplest things (like a popsicle!).
My "thankful" list keeps getting longer and longer as I type, so I'll save some for another day. I recommend to you all if you're having a crappy, "poor me" day, try this! It works!