Soccer Season

Soccer is in full swing. I am honestly read for it to be over. I have 3 in 3 different teams this year.

Ammon's PeeWee team is a joke. They have not had one real practice where the coaches taught them the rules of the game. Ammon just runs up and down the field after his teammates grabbing their shirts until I shout at him "Hands Off!". He is hilarious and he has a blast!

Gabriel has improved so much! He is running faster and has ball control. Being a leftie is really tough in a right dominated world though. He practically runs around the ball in order to kick it in the correct position. Poor guy! He has fun though and his team is winning-which he likes. Next year he wants to try baseball.

Zechariah. Holy Cow! The kid is good! He is fast, he is strong, he is fearless. Zech has gotten better at ball control and can keep it from getting taken away from him and can steal it away from other kids. He is still working on his shooting. He needs power behind his kicks. Other kids his age are lobbing the ball into the air and over the goalie's head. Zech isn't there yet. He hates going to practice but loves to play the games!

More pics to come...

Pee Pee Boys

My 4 and 2 year olds are crazy. C-R-A-Z-Y!  A few months ago after bath time with the 2 crazies, I went into the boys' room (all 4 share a room) to get Elijah dressed. Ammon was butt naked peeing on the floor! "WHAT ARE YOU DOING???", I yelled/gasped! He doesn't pee on the floor! He's 4-working on 5! He just looked up at me with his oh so gorgeous blue eyes and shrugged his shoulders. The expression was angelic. I asked him if he had an accident. He said yes! I made him get the cleaner out and a wash cloth and clean it up (then I cleaned it some more!) And then...every time I went into the room I smelled pee. I called my sweet friend who has a carpet cleaner to come over and attack that spot. She did. I STILL smelled pee! And then....I found out why.

Background: Elijah has decided he wants to be a big boy and wear underwear. He doesn't always make it to the bathroom though and with me packing, painting, and dealing with a fussy teething 10 month old, I am quite distracted and unmotivated to potty train. One day 2 weeks ago, I heard Eli and Ammon running into my room and giggling (also a bad sign) So, I walked into my bathroom to find my 2 year old peeing in the vent! PEEING IN THE VENT! Dawn, recognition, light bulbs, sirens, and a musical soundtrack exploded in my mind as I realized just why I could still smell pee in the boys' room and why Elijah thought it was cool and hilarious to pee in the vent! Ammon had peed down the vent in his bedroom! WHAT THE HECK??? Oh the joy of motherhood. I used to judge. I used to hear these crazy stories from my girlfriends and SIL's and I would wonder to myself, "Where were you?" "How did they get that permanent marker?" etc, etc. I formally apologize for my judgements. Karma is biting my butt with these 2, HARD! If they weren't so dang cute I'd pinch their heads off! :)

Pretty darn cool!

Last Sunday afforded my family and ward an unique opportunity:
Church Public Affairs came and filmed our meetings. The 1st hour, we had a regular sacrament meeting. There was no filming so as not to disrupt the Spirit. I am the choir director in my ward and we were scheduled to sing "Sweet Hour of Prayer". After receiving an email on Thursday informing us about the film crew coming, I asked a violinist from our ward to accompany us along with our pianist. I wanted to kick it up a notch. I am SO glad I did! The P.A. director asked us to do it again so they could film it! They then filmed portions of the sacrament meeting. I felt bad for a particular youth speaker who was asked to give his talk again. He was pretty nervous! I thought everything about the experience was cool. I've always wanted to be in a movie or on film. I just never thought it would be like this! Everyone was given a notice from the public affairs that talked about "Why" they were doing this.
Here's what I gathered:
Many news organizations have/are/do contact the church asking permission to film or take pictures of our "typical" Sunday meetings. Instead of disrupting many services to grant these, the church decided to film 2 wards in our stake for this purpose. The footage can be used in part or in its entirety. It may be released as print, ads, commercials, Mormon messages, etc.
  So look for me in upcoming releases from the church that show a sacrament meeting. You'll most likely only see my back as I conduct the choir-badly I'm sure! Anyhow, it was an amazing, fun, once in a lifetime experience and I am glad it happened to us!
It was also a bit frustrating keeping my little ones quiet and gorgeous and well behaved for 2.5 hours! YIKES! For the most part, they did really well. Until one of them knocked over a water bottle and it poured all over me and the pew. Oh well, I was wearing black and you really couldn't tell. Emma got VERY tired by the end though, was ready for bed, and got a little cranky. All in all, we all survived and I think it is a very cool thing the church is doing! AND I think it is sooo smart considering the political scene that is approaching. 
It was Pretty Darn Cool!

Faith, prayer, and the temple

My sweet husband and I had decided a while ago that we were not going to stay in the military. Once his time was up-we were getting out. We prayed about this and felt great about the decision. Then the "what do we do now?" began. Gary has ALWAYS wanted me to open my own performing arts studio. I say Gary because he has actually wanted it more than me. (TRUE story!) I mean, I thought it would be great but truly doubted my ability and resume to assume the position of "professional" on the matter. Anyways, we made plans, took them to the Lord and felt good about the plans that we were making. However, I always felt that we may not end up there. -In Florida with my own studio :( And then it happened. IT! My hubby woke up one night, couldn't sleep, and commenced to prayer. He felt an overwhelming impression to go to law school. This freaked me out and I honestly cried for a good 48 hours. On the 3rd day I was praying and had a thought: UGA!!! We could go back to UGA! I have friends there, I have work there, it's close to my family! YIPPEE! So we started going down that path...until Gary and my mother in law and the Lord said "what about Ohio?"

...Excuse me? It's cold there! It's NOT close to my family! I don't have ANY friends there! Did I mention it's cold?! WHAT?!? 

So after more crying,  sleepless nights, and many protestations of why it would NOT be a good idea to move in with my in laws as a grown woman with 5 children, I finally decided to pray for faith. (I couldn't pray for an answer because I didn't even have faith at this time!) Did you know faith is a gift? It is! And when asked for, it is received -or given, as the case may be. Did I mention I also made a list? Gasp! I know, I made a list of pros and cons to both law school in Ohio and Georgia. Ohio was winning in a big way! :( I needed to go to the one place on earth where my mind stops reeling at speeds so fast I can't keep up, a place where time stops, and a place where I am at such peace, I listen!  The temple.

I LOVE the temple! I love everything about it! I especially love that I feel so close to my Father in Heaven when I am there. Gary and I were able to go to the temple on Saturday. I was given faith and a peace in my heart that I desperately needed. The journey before me will be a new one with many challenges and great joys and I am excited for it! I have faith in my Savior and in my husband. I know we are on the right path and that everything will work out. I also received another interesting answer to a prayer but that will have to wait for a while...

Valentine's Day!

My sweetheart bought me the list book from BAM! What a surprise! We got the kids these cute M&M dispensers with Star Wars M&M guys on top (totally cute). I am lame because I did not take any pictures but since I don't have a decent camera-I can blame it on that. The only camera I have right now is my phone so facebook has WAY more pics than my blog does :( Anyways, I cut out hearts and taped them all over the walls and chairs and got a Valentine's table cloth from Target and the kids just thought that was super awesome. It's amazing how much fun things become just by changing the look of your environment. I mean, they got M&M's for V-day. That's it! But they felt like they were transported into Valentine's Day and they were happy! And so was I!

So here's today's list: (Idea taken from my new book)

List Bad Things You Did As A Kid

1. Egged my neighbor's mailboxes and front porches on my 9th (or 10th) birthday party. It was really stupid to do it to your own neighbors! I had to apologize and clean it up.
2. TPed houses ----A LOT!!! I used to TP houses every weekend. I would spend the night at my friend Anna's house and my brother would spend the night with her brother Mark and we would all sneak out at midnight and TP houses in their neighborhood. We never got caught!!!
3. Went to parties I shouldn't have and lied about it. Oh my gosh, I can't even count how many times!
4. Broke into houses under construction with my BF Morgan and played "house"
5. Drove her Mom's car to the grocery store when we were only 15. We got caught because we ran into a car! Oops!
6. Spray painted her closet with graffiti.
7. Hazed freshman when I was a Junior and Senior on dance team.
8. Went out on dates with boys before I was "allowed" to. 
9. Lied about where I was going and what I was going to do.
10. Stayed on the phone all night long. 

Yep, I lied a lot. But I never did drugs, smoked, drank, stole anything, or destroyed anyone's property. (toilet paper can be cleaned up) I wanted to write this list so I can remember that I did bad things as a kid and turned out OK. I need to remember that so I can relate to my kids as well as keep them from getting into trouble. :)

Things I am afraid of or fear

1. spiders ---seriously, don't go there.
2. Blood, yes blood! If it is not inside your body, there is something wrong! 
3. My teeth falling out. I have an implant with a crown on it right next to my 2 front teeth. When it was just a bridge, it broke several times and I was SO embarrassed!
4. Losing one (or more) of my kids. Not "losing" them as in I can't find them, obviously. I mean, they pass away before me. I am sooo afraid of that!
5. Losing my husband. Ugh! I know a wonderful lady my age with 4 kids my kids' ages and her hubby was killed in Iraq. I balled my eyes out! I was SO sad for her! I cannot even think about it!
6. Having no money. Scares the beegeezus out of me! That's a new word, feel free to use it! :)
7. Being on stage and forgetting my lines (I don't need to worry since it's been AGES since I've been on stage..)
8. Judgements (mine, yours, ours)
9. Not measuring up and being what I need to be.
10. Pride, jealousy, and anger

Top 10 favorite things to eat

1. Steak and potatoes. I LOVE steak!
2. Grilled salmon
3. croissants
4. chicken salad (without big chunks of celery and onions!)
5. milk chocolate caramels
6. French silk pie blizzards from DQ
7. burritos (Spanish rice, black beans, chicken, sour cream, lettuce, and cheese)
8. Hawaiian pizza
9. Dr Pepper (What? It's not a meal? GASP!)
10. anything I don't have to cook! 

I have interesting thoughts and feelings about food and actually don't like to eat but thought the list worthy of noting anyway. Food brings me no pleasure. I don't like to cook. I don't enjoy menu planning. I eat because I have to. Sad huh?