Our Crazy Life

Sam's Cooking ?!?!?!?!

2012-01-13T11:50:00.001-06:00

, a photo by mom4k12 on Flickr.

Need I say more?

Monkey Ball

2011-07-08T17:30:00.001-05:00

, a photo by mom4k12 on Flickr.

Moroni wanted to play Boom Blox, but alas, the disk bit the dust. He's played it so often that the Wii can't read it anymore (it might also have something to do with the ton of scratches from him not putting it away). He was devastated. He called it "Monkey Farm" so I thought he might like playing Monkey Ball (for the Game Cube). We inserted the game and found a couple of Cube controllers and away we went. He would get nervous if the ball was going to roll off the edge. Eventually it was too much so he relinquished the controllers to Ben and Sam. They had a lot of fun with an old game.

Bowling

2011-07-07T10:26:00.000-05:00

July7b, a photo by mom4k12 on Flickr.

This year Moroni is strong enough to lift the balls himself onto the ramp. He didn't quite get 'taking turns' and so had a heart attack when every other time wasn't his turn. Fortunately Adam tuckered out and he got to finish off Adam's game so he got to play each time in between Sam and Ruth.

Families

2011-03-22T09:09:00.003-05:00

For Family Home Evening we've had our children covering topics found in For the Strength of Youth. Rachel covered "Family" last night. We've been trying to get them to gear it towards the little kids, but so far they've just read out of the pamphlet and some of the scriptures that go with it.

Rachel was quite creative last night. She decided to interview the different kids for their definition of a family and end in a group hug. The results were funny, cute and thoughtful. Here are her results:

Moroni (3): Family? Family is a herd of a family. Is a run of a family.

Ruth (5): It means we have a lot of kids, we have a mom and a dad and one of us is part of this family of mom's and dad's from birth.

Sam (7): Your brothers and sisters and mom and dad. There were two people on earth, Adam and Eve, who had a family ad one of the kids gets married, has a family and it keeps going on and on. All of the families are forever.

Ben (9): People that love. I think family should be nice to each other and having a family is nice and without a family... I don't know what would happen.

Mary (11): People that you grow up with.

Rachel (12): The interviewer - After interviewing everyone I had a little time to think, hearing what everyone thinks about the *word* family is like knowing what they think of *their* family. 'Cause we speak from experience and it's a hard thing to talk and think about since we are still experiencing it. You only have on family so it's nice to think about how much you appreciate it.

Rebekah (14): Basic social unit consisting of a parent and child; also eternal.

Joseph (15): People you're born with. And some are adorable children and others are nice too.

Kissing Boys

2011-01-07T08:32:00.000-06:00

Ruth (4): I kiss boys a lot, but only if I have lipstick.

Sleeping

2011-01-03T14:16:00.002-06:00

While my kids sleep an average amount of time, it seems like about half of the pictures I ever take are of them sleeping. Sometimes it's the funny way/spot they fell asleep. But sometimes, like in this photo, it just an ahhhhh moment... the kind that melts a mother's heart.

EEEWWW

2010-12-02T06:28:00.001-06:00

Opening Scene: Cat vomit on floor

Me: Sam, I'd pay you to clean that up.

Sam: (looks at vomit, looks at mom) Okay, but can I wash my hands after?

The Day We've Been Waiting For

2010-09-27T10:10:00.001-05:00

So Ruth, out of no where this morning, exclaimed that "the next day will be the day we've been waiting for. Obama will be elected out of office." I hope she's right.

Extra Lives

2010-05-24T20:48:00.002-05:00

Ruth: Hey Joseph, I have two lives.

Joseph: So will you lose one if I kick you?

Ruth: Only if you kick me hard until I bleed and then I die. But don't do that 'cause I want both of my lives.

Joseph: Oh. Where'd you get your extra life?

Ruth: From Jesus. He gave his life to me. When I was sleeping.

Happy Baby

2010-05-18T10:55:00.001-05:00

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I love being a mom!!!

Sharing

2010-05-15T15:36:00.001-05:00

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Ruth decided to share her yogurt with Adam.

Things PARENTS Say

2010-05-13T13:01:00.001-05:00

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"Okay... Who cut the kittens whiskers?"

Sleeping Babes

2010-05-07T14:27:00.001-05:00

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Let sleeping babes lie.

Grasshoppers

2010-05-07T14:22:00.001-05:00

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Adam has discovered our favorite cookies. Need I say more?

Full Mouth

2010-04-12T13:57:00.001-05:00

Rebekah: "Sam, can you please not talk with your mouth full?"
Sam: "Ok. But my mouth's not full."
Rebekah: "[eye roll] Can you please not talk with food in your mouth?"

Growing Up

2010-03-06T16:19:00.004-06:00

Okay, so I know it's really hard to see in this picture, so I'll just post the significance. Joseph's mark on our 'Growth Wall' has surpassed mine and Robert's.

He's going to eat all of them!!!

2010-02-02T18:31:00.003-06:00

Ruth was watching Jurassic Park III (I know, not your typical movie for a 4-year old, but she started it from the Roku box). I peeked in on her and she said "Mom, 2 people already died. The dinosaur's so hungry. Soon he's going to eat all of them. Giggle giggle."
Should I be worried?

Christmas Fun at the Pool

2009-12-20T19:25:00.002-06:00

This last weekend we took a last minute trip up to the Dells. We got a really good rate on a condo, took up food for dinner and breakfast and spent Friday and Saturday swimming away. Here are some pictures.

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Finally Snow

2009-12-08T13:54:00.003-06:00

It's been unseasonably warm in Wisconsin. In fact, November was one of those record warm Novembers. We did have a little snow just before Thanksgiving, but it was gone awful fast. The kids put out a bowl to catch snow for snow cream, but we didn't get enough. Well last week we got our first real snow fall... okay a snow fall enough for snow cream and for Ben to get paid to shovel our walk. However, on Monday Ben was complaining about how little snow there was 'cause he wanted to play in it.
Fast forward to today. More snow when we woke up. Snow cream again. But it's supposed to really wail on us this afternoon and all day tomorrow. The kids can't wait for the snow plow to plow the dead end street. It usually packs it up into a huge hill and the kids have a snow fort in it all winter long. Until then they've been sledding down our sloped lawn.
Rachel bundled up Moroni and took him out to play. He really likes and tolerates being out in the cold. Most two year olds I have will go out for about 5 minutes and then want back in.
I was helping Sam into snow pants and snowboots and a coat. Then I steered him back to the garage to go get some gloves. He said, "Do I really need all this stuff?" Yeah, Sam, ya do!

A Cell You Can Eat

2009-11-02T14:57:00.003-06:00

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Today I made a cell that you would be able to eat. Though I advise you not to because it was made out of all kinds of grows things put together. Though I like bread, Jello, grapes, bananas, and carrots. I don't like them together. The first thing I did was I went down to the storage room and got lemon jello. We mixed it up and then I put one bag in a plastic cup. The plastic cup stood for the cell wall. That one was the plant cell. I filled it with half of the jello and then I took my other bag and put it in a bowl (so it didn't spill) and I poured the rest of the jello into it. That one was the animal cell. The bags stood for the cell membrane and the jello would stand for the cytoplasm. Then I took the dried prunes out and we cut them open. The prunes would be the nucleus. I took some carrot shreds and stuffed the dried prunes with it. the shredded carrots stood for the chromosomes. Then I put one stuffed dried prune into each bag. Then I took one piece of bread and rolled it till it was really thin (like a tortilla). I folded it up a bunch. Then I cut it to squares. That was the ER. Then I took dried prunes and cut them up like raisins. Then I stuck them in between the bread. Those were the Ribosomes. Then I put one of each in the bags. Then I took some thin slices on banana, stacked them on top of each other and put some in each bag. The banana slices stood for the Golgi body. Then I put in some mandarin oranges. The mandarin oranges stood for the mitochondria. Then I got some grapes and put them in the plant cell bag. They stood for the chloroplasts. Then I tied them up and put them in the fridge to freeze a little. When I pulled them out they were my own edible cells. :D ~ Rachel

The Unit Box

2009-10-06T15:29:00.002-05:00

When any of the kids (school age) complete a unit, they can pick a prize out of the unit box (or a can of soda or an ice cream). Sam completed a unit in Math today and we went out to the freezer to see what kinds of ice creams there were. Upon choosing a popsicle I let Ruth have one with him.

Sam said, "Ruth when you get older you have to complete a unit to get one... you can't just ask. That's what I used to do when I was a child, but now I have to complete a unit."

Special Delivery

2009-09-17T08:50:00.003-05:00

Delivering Adam was SO exciting! Doctor Cardwell, who reminds me of Bruce Willis and my Brother-in-law Jim Butts - because he's tall, bald, and amazingly calm under pressure, asked me if I wanted to do the delivery. So as the baby started to crown, I kept wondering when I was supposed to jump in. But once the head was ready to emerge, the doctor stepped back and let me ease the head out of the baby chute. Then I had to turn the head to the left and press down so that the shoulder could emerge. Once the shoulder was through, Adam just slid right out. I pulled him out the rest of the way and he laid there on the bed while the doctor suctioned his mouth to clear out the baby juice. Then I handed him to the nurse and we went over to the warmer to clean all vernix off him. He occasionally cried, but calmed down right away and just laid there.

It was an amazing experience - if any of you have a doctor who is willing to let you do the delivery - you should definitely do it! The doctor stays right there to assist (so that you don't mess up). I was rather nervous about doing it, but Doctor Cardwell was so calm and helpful that I was able to just enjoy the experience without any worries.

Adam sleeps a lot right now and doesn't really cry much - he's a very contented baby and seems rather snuggly. The kids are SO excited. Ruth refused an opportunity to go jump on the trampoline this morning so that she could protect Wanda and the baby 'from lightning'. The whole family is thrilled to have Baby Adam finally join us.

I'm off work for two weeks to help Wanda and then I'll be off every Monday and Friday to help ease her back into the normal schedule. Wanda is up and moving today (she just went to the store for blue balloons) and seems to be recovering quickly. She's sore from the after-contractions of course, but she doesn't complain. We're looking forward to her mother visiting in a few weeks.

Name Change

2009-09-16T12:25:00.004-05:00

After much discussion, voting, debate his full name is:
Adam Jacob Husted.

Baby's Here!!!

2009-09-15T21:21:00.002-05:00

Pictures are still to come, but thought I would send a quick announcement.

Jacob Husted arrived at 4:18 PM, today, September 15, 2009. Knowing he was coming early I asked Robert how much he thought the baby would weigh. He guessed 7lbs 10 ounces. Wouldn't you know, he was exactly right! Jacob is 19 inches long and so far is a really good sleeper (then again, so was Ruth her first night. hehe).

Exciting Part: Robert got to deliver him!!! How cool is that! We'll post pictures later with Robert's account of the delivery, but for now... all is well.

Eyes

2009-08-29T07:44:00.001-05:00

Ruth: "Mom, I'm rolling my eyes. Look!" (She tilts her head to the side.)

Happy Birthday

2009-08-22T19:58:00.000-05:00

Mary: Daddy, how old are you?
Daddy: 2 x 21
Sam: I know, I know! Is that somewhere in the hundreds?

Bugs

2009-06-28T20:56:00.002-05:00

This morning I was watching Moroni on his tummy. Usually it's his favorite position for coloring, but he wasn't coloring. He stood up and I realized he was holding an earwig. Eeewwwww!

He was so cute. He held it between his little thumb and forefinger of his right hand and would place it into the palm of his left hand. Then the bug would scurry around to the back of his hand and start up his arm. He would pick it off with his right hand and place it back on the palm. The bug then proceeded on the same path it had before with Moroni removing it back to his palm again. It was so entertaining to watch this procedure about five or six times.

Then he put the bug back down on the floor, he'd touch it, pet it, pick it up, put it down. You get the picture. Mary, Robert and Rachel were soon watching this with me. It was the cutest thing (Rebekah was just grossed out and wanted us to kill it). I left to go help someone with something and left Rachel with instructions to squish it once Mo was done. I then went back and told her just to release it outside. I figured it deserved its life after the torture Moroni was putting it through.

If you look closely at the picture you can see the bug escaping to the back of his right knuckle.

Paint

2009-06-26T21:40:00.000-05:00

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Moroni got into the paint today. Note the lovely orange and red hair, the inked-hands, and the oh-so-guilty look! Ruth had finger-painted the downstairs carpet, couch, boxes, and her brother!

I'll Be Back

2009-06-24T21:46:00.000-05:00

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Mo just thinks he's one of the boys.

Where?

2009-06-23T21:48:00.000-05:00

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I woke up and told Robert, "Wow! Mo stayed in his bed all night!" Robert said, "No he didn't. I got a picture of where he ended up."

Final Count

2009-06-15T11:15:00.003-05:00

Our Saturday total at the Lemonade stand brought in $67.25. That brings our grand total for pediatric cancer research to $167.50.

We're quite excited to send the contributions in to the Original Lemonade Stand. Thank you Mount Horeb and Blue Mounds!!!

Lemonade... Again

2009-06-12T21:24:00.001-05:00

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So this afternoon we camped out at Millers and Sons (in Mt Horeb) and raised $91.85!!! Much more than yesterday. Our grand total is now $100.25.

More Lemonade

2009-06-12T13:14:00.003-05:00

The kids were excited that yesterday afternoon the lemonade stand made $8.40. Today (Friday) we'll be at Miller's and Sons from 2pm - 7pm. Tomorrow we'll be at Miller's from 8am - 5pm.

Lemonade Days

2009-06-08T11:14:00.003-05:00

We will be hosting a lemonade stand this weekend to benefit Pediatric Cancer Research. If you would like to stop by and visit on Thursday, it will be in front of our home (pictures to come).

For Friday and Saturday... Stay posted. Robert is working on a more public venue for us!

If you would like to learn more about Alex Scott and the original lemonade stand you can visit her homepage. If you would like to donate online you can visit our virtual stand. If you would like to donate time (volunteer to help us) just contact me via email.

Baby's Movin'

2009-04-16T08:04:00.003-05:00

I'm almost 18 weeks and can now feel the baby move! Those first flutters are soooo exciting. I know they get more powerful and even uncomfortable later... but feeling the baby move and grow is my favorite part of being pregnant.

Yeah!

2009-04-06T23:33:00.002-05:00

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Can you believe it?!? Moroni went to sleep in his own bed (with the help of Joseph). This isn't 'he fell asleep on my bed and now we've moved him to his bed'... it's HE WENT TO SLEEP IN HIS OWN BED!!!

Where'd You Go?

2009-04-06T08:02:00.001-05:00

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Okay, so my son who refuses to say more than five words (the only word he says on a regular basis is "mo" for "more), loves to play peek-a-boo. In the last couple of days when I throw the blanket over his head says, "Where'd you go?"

First Haircut

2009-04-06T07:37:00.005-05:00

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Okay, so my camera has been missing for quite a while and it's been driving me crazy. Fortunately Ben found it yesterday at the end of conference so I now have pictures to share with everyone again!

Here's Mr Mo for his first haircut (3-12-09). Initially I just thought I would shorten the length so it wouldn't be so long and trim around his ears, but it didn't look right, so he got a regular old haircut. This is his 'before' shot.

He really didn't mind getting his hair cut at all. He even seemed to enjoy the clippers. (Ben for the first 5 years of his life screamed every time he had to have his hair cut.)

The 'after' shot isn't a good picture since his hair is still wet from the haircut, but you get the idea.

Felicia, we love you!

2009-03-25T11:25:00.002-05:00

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I remember this picture. It was taken about a year ago at the BYU book store. We had taken Felicia to sign up for classes (and pick up a giant mug for Daddy). She was NOT happy about going!
I'm so happy that things are better for her. It was so fun to go to Utah to visit (and even stay with her for a few days). We love you!!!

Things you can get in a K12 box!

2009-02-16T12:31:00.002-06:00

Are Ear Infections Contagious?

2009-02-12T13:21:00.002-06:00

Okay, so I know they're not, but honestly!!! And why can't everyone get sick all at once? We've had this cold going around our house (and of course it takes a few weeks for everyone to have their turn with it). Moroni came down with an ear infection middle of last week and we ended up at the doctor for some antibiotics. Then we went to the dentist and Sam sucked his lip swollen. After a day or so it started to ooze yellow so we took him to the doctor for some antibiotics. At that point the nurses were commenting on how much they'd seen me lately - I'd also been in the last couple of weeks for my ankle (fell down the stairs) and Ruth, Sam and Moroni's well child visits (of course all separate visits). This week it continued. Rebekah woke up Monday with an earache and after a couple of days (she hasn't had a cold or anything that would have me thinking ear infection)it was getting worse so we took her in to the doctor yesterday and came home with some more antibiotics. Joseph woke up this morning with a bad earache so in we went to the doctor's office yet again! Dr Gay told him that he had a blistering ear drum and that he can expect it to continue to ache for a couple of days even with antibiotics working on it. Who's next?

New Beginnings

2009-02-11T20:00:00.000-06:00

Here's Bekah's talk from New Beginnings:

I was asked to choose my hero, so I chose my best friend, Hope. She has so many qualities that are great, but i was told to pick only one: obedient. Obedient fits in to our young women's virtue; choice and accountability. In Joshua 25:15 it says,“Choose you this day whom ye will serve;...but as for me and my house, we will serve the lord” and the statement for this virtue is,”I will choose good over evil and will accept responsibility for my decisions.” And also, in Job 36:12 it says,”But if they obey not, they shall perish by the sword, and they shall die without knowledge.” So obviously it is a good thing to obey! And also, another. In 1 Nephi 3:7 it says “And it came to pass that I, Nephi said unto my father: I will go and do the thing which the lord hath commanded, for I know that the lord giveth no commandments unto the children of men, save he shall prepare a way for them that they may accomplish the thing which he commandeth them.” This verse is very meaningful and shows us how obedient Nephi is.

President Monson, in one of his general conference talks, stated “How exceedingly difficult it must have been for Abraham, in obedience to God’s command, to take his beloved Isaac into the land of Moriah, there to present him as a burnt offering. Can you imagine the heaviness of his heart as he gathered the wood for the fire and journeyed to the appointed place? Surely pain must have racked his body and tortured his mind as he “bound Isaac … and laid him on the altar upon the wood. And … stretched forth his hand, and took the knife to slay his son.” How glorious was the pronouncement, and with what wondered welcome did it come: 'Lay not thine hand upon the lad, neither do thou any thing unto him: for now I know that thou fearest God, seeing thou hast not withheld thy son, thine only son from me.'”

This small paragraph shows how obedient Abraham was to almost slaughter his own son. I think this is a good Christ like quality for us all to have. By being obedient, we could help out other people too and be heroes to them. Like if your mom asks you to do the dishes and you do, that is being obedient, and believe it or not, you can be your mom's hero too. In the personal progress program, You can set goals to help you become obedient.

The personal progress program has helped me become a better person. And I hope it can help many others and help others in the future too. I know the church is true and I close in the name of Jesus Christ amen.

Celery Stick?

2009-02-11T16:17:00.000-06:00

Ruth tried a celery stick.

"It has grass in it! We don't eat grass."

Grass and Other Discoveries

2009-02-10T08:49:00.002-06:00

Okay, so I still have to get pictures, but I thought I'd share the fun! Ben says, "Whoa! Mary, look at how much grass we have!" Does that say something about our winter?

Saturday night Ruth is in the buff on her way to the shower and tells Robert, "See this (pointing to her breast) and see this (pointing to the other breast)? They're going to grow big someday!"

Aftermath

2009-02-05T18:03:00.005-06:00

I felt so bad for Sam when he came to me in tears yesterday and said, "Mom, my lip's growing." At first I had assumed that it was the numbness of his lip (he'd been to the dentist for a filling), but then I realized that he'd been sucking on it while it was numb. It looks absolutely horrible. Go ahead and click on the picture!

Gratitude

2009-02-04T15:06:00.002-06:00

My girls asked if they could start adding to our gratitude list. I think it's a great idea!!!

Ben and Dad

2009-02-03T18:23:00.000-06:00

24 Hours Later

2009-02-03T15:40:00.003-06:00

Ear Infection

2009-02-02T16:40:00.002-06:00

Doncha just feel bad for my little guy. As if he hasn't had enough! He should be feeling a lot better by this time tomorrow. Aren't antibiotics wonderful!

Oh What a Night

2009-01-30T14:31:00.004-06:00

We woke up at about 1:30 this morning to the sea lion sleeping next to me. wouldn't you know it, Moroni has Croup. I picked him up and he felt kinda feverish. I immediately took him outside in the below zero weather to get some cold into his lungs for some relief. My kids never had croup until we moved to Wisconsin. Don't know if it's related, but it's NOT fun.

The cold only helped the barking. I brought him back in and he was shivering. I tried to hold him and his breathing was really labored. I got a blanket and wrapped him really good and took him back out into the cold. Then Daddy took him out into the cold. Then I took him back out into the cold. I laid down on the bed next to him and he was a little better, but his breathing was still labored.

After we sat and listened to him for a while, we gave him the ties on the blanket (that's his comfort cue) and he tried to settle down to sleep. BUT... then the gagging and vomiting started. It was all over me. I carefully got up and stepped into the shower holding him while he kept going. It was so chunky. I started to gag. Robert came in and asked what he could do. I was already vomitty (is that a word)so there was no point in contaminating him too.

I stripped he and I down, cleaned the chunks off of the shower floor and sat in the warm water with him. He actually started to drift off to sleep so I just held him for a while. I think the moist air might have helped his lungs better than the cold that the doctors all tell you to do.

Anyway, we cleaned up and got dressed. Robert got started on the laundry while I was in the shower... What a Babe! I went to get the Motrin and took his temp (102.2 under the arm). We laid down in the bed and while Mo wasn't breathing ideally, he was still considerably better than before. By the time we all got back to sleep it was 4am.

Moroni slept in this morning (good for him) and is coping quite well for being sick. I hope tonight is better. Usually the second night of croup is worse. Keep us in your prayers.

Baby It's Cold Outside

2009-01-17T09:02:00.003-06:00

Yeah I know. I never have time to post (or check on other posts for that matter). I'd like to be better, but really, there are other priorities that are higher right now.

Thursday was Ultra Chilly. The high for the day was -7 and they closed the schools. It wouldn't have been so bad if we hadn't have woken up to a broken heater! What a day for the heater to break. We would have just started the fireplace and gathered around it, but it was on the fritz too. We called the gas company out and, long story short, they fixed them both and we are much warmer. Yesterday the high was 3 and the schools were closed again. It's already warmer today at 15, but our high today is supposed to be 23! Maybe we'll go sunbathing if the snow stops?

BIG NEWS: We are expecting #9! I've told several people that now Ruth can be Seven of Nine. We debated on whether or not to share this news so early (we just found out Wednesday night)... but I'm no good at secrets.

The baby is due on Sep 20. Robert's worried that this messes up our pattern. Ben' birthday is the 21st, Moroni's is a week later on the 28th and Rachel is a week later on Oct 5th. I just told him that if the baby comes 6 days early (yeah, right!) we could still have our weekly pattern. Since 4 of our children will have a birthday within a month of each other I reflected on what was so unique about conception time. I guess it is just Robert having the time off around Christmas/New Years and it being so cold that there's nothing else to do. *wink*

We are all excited here. When we told the kids they were literally jumping up and down with excitement. They keep asking, "Have you told so-and-so?" I think they like spreading the news too.

December Already?!?!

2008-12-10T17:12:00.004-06:00

Man it's been a while since I last posted. I haven't had time to check on others' posts let alone time to add to ours.

Life is good here. We just do school everyday. It just seems like it's ruling my life right now.

We've had fun making Snow Ice Cream. My kids call it "Snow Cream." It's really good when you add orange juice after making it. Tasted just like those orange drinks you get at the mall.

Snow Cream: Mix 1/2 cup milk, 1/4 cup sugar, and 1/4 tsp of vanilla until sugar is dissolved. Then add mixture to 4 cups clean/edible snow and mix. Yum!

A Bed!

2008-10-31T09:15:00.001-05:00

I was so tired last night. I have to add a warm bed to my gratitude list!

Trunk or Treat

2008-10-30T21:29:00.007-05:00

All the kids are off of school for today and tomorrow (fall break), so our house has been the zoo. There was lots to do today, and not enough hours to do it all. But, then again, that's always the case.

My biggest accomplishment today was removing all of the summer clothes from their shelves. I've been meaning to get around to it, but just haven't had the time. When Ben and Rachel both dressed in shorts (it's been extra warm the last couple of days... in the 50s!) I knew all the shorts had to go.

Ruth had a lot of fun painting her "Ruthbot" costume. Since tonight was Trunk or Treat, we decided that we ought to get around to finishing her costume. We cut it out mid-September when she started walking around with the box on her head saying, "I am a robot." We quickly put the eye hole in for her when she walked into the walls.

After baths, Mr. Moroni wanted to play with Mommy. I keep noticing how long his hair is getting. Those curls certainly are getting wild! I'm sure it's time for a hair cut, but I'm not in a hurry.

This evening was Trunk or Treat and everyone got to try out their costumes. What fun!

Our Little Pumpkin!

Our Ruthbot!

"I'm half Pilot/Half Pirate!"
(Go ahead, say it out loud.)

Sneaky Ninja!

What a Tiger!

Our little Devil!

Swoop Bunny, Bunny!

What a Grim Reaper!

Orthodonti$t

2008-10-29T21:12:00.001-05:00

We got word about a week ago that Jo$eph would be needing brace$. With that looming over our head$ we were worried that Rebekah would be $uffering the $ame fate. Today, Rebekah had her appointment and the news was quite the opposite. Not only was the headgear/bite plate combo working, but she could cut back on the wearing of her bite plate to 12 hours a day! Woo Hoo!

Chocolate

2008-10-28T13:47:00.004-05:00

My mother told me that she was grateful for skin that could be washed. "Isn't it great that we don't have to dry clean our skin?" Of course, I laughed. But after thinking about this picture with Moroni, I'd have to agree.

Ruth tried to make her own hot chocolate and Moroni of course, sampled everything as well. After we bathed him, his hair still smelled like a cup of hot chocolate!

I'm also grateful to Daddies who rough house with their kids. Both mine and my kids' daddy.

Wonderful WIVA

2008-10-27T21:43:00.003-05:00

Today we got up early (before the bus) and left for state testing. My kids really like going to the testing site and taking the state tests. I know. Weird.

This made me realize that there is even more to be thankful for. I am thankful for the wonderful school, Wisconsin Virtual Academy (WIVA), that my children have an opportunity to attend. I am thankful for each teacher that touches my children's lives. I am thankful for the opportunity I have to learn about each of my children and to become intimately familiar with their education. I am thankful for the internet and the opportunities it provides us.

What a wonderful thing the mind is and the amazing things we can learn.

Family Fun

2008-10-26T20:59:00.003-05:00

This weekend has been stake conference. One of our challenges was to be grateful for something new everyday. This could be a great way to write about it!

One thing I'm grateful for is my Savior. I am grateful for the atonement, for the opportunity to overcome death and sin. I am grateful for eternal life and eternal families. I am grateful for a wonderful spouse who completes me. I am grateful for the wonderful children that have been sent to our family. I am grateful for the love that my children show me. I am so blessed!

After church today didn't start off so well. It seemed as if some of the children were just plain cantankerous and arguing with everyone. However, after some quiet time, they all gathered spontaneously at the table for a game. It was such a blessed sight to see six of them gathered together for a game and having fun with each other(Moroni and Ruth were with Robert).

Robert had been fighting with a computer virus and I dragged him in just to soak in the wonderful sight of our children all happy together. It's just one of those parent moments. We both were developing headaches and they were playing Pit (very loud confusion). We didn't want to tell them to put it away since they were having a lot of fun, so we popped some ibuprofen and joined in the craziness. Moroni, Ruth and Sam played with the potato heads while we joked around the table.

Grandpa moment: Ben at one point collected one of everything just to watch us all go crazy, but Daddy got the blame! Who'd have thunk Ben would be so devious.

We also got our first snowfall of the year. Ruth ran everywhere saying, "It's no (snow) time!" She put on her 'no boots' and insisted on walking in it. It's just a light dusting, but with the chill in the air, it's enough to give us a taste of what might lie ahead. I'm thankful for warm houses.

Pumpkin Pie

2008-10-25T21:42:00.000-05:00

Ruth and I had fun making a pumpkin pie.

Mmmmmm. Lotion

2008-10-24T21:53:00.000-05:00

This one's for you, Phil.

I was checking schoolwork in on the computer and Moroni comes toddling into the kitchen. I look and he has something blue all over him (mostly around his mouth). I pick him up and smell it. Wouldn't you know... he's been sampling the lotion. I knew I had to get a picture of it for my brother.

Later, however, when I walked into my bathroom, there was pink and blue smeared everywhere. Ruth and Moroni had had fun with 2 full bottles of lotion. Maybe I should have gotten a picture of it, but I was busy cleaning up.

Later on that evening I walked into the bathroom barefoot and the floor felt so soft and smooth!

Boogie Woogie Halloween

2008-10-22T21:49:00.000-05:00

My father-in-law got us this singing pumpkin a few years ago for Halloween. My children love it. This year it is a favorite of Ruth and Moroni. They carry it everywhere and Ruth even dances and sings with it.

Life Science

2008-10-20T21:47:00.000-05:00

Rebekah has been working with taxonomy in life science. This was one of the projects/lessons she had to do. She was so proud of it when she was done that she had to take a picture of it.

Throw the Baby Out

2008-10-18T21:45:00.000-05:00

No we're not getting rid of the baby. "Mr. Moni" just likes climbing into everything. It doesn't matter if it's the trash can, the dishwasher, or a laundry basket sitting on its side.

Fall Fun

2008-10-18T19:03:00.002-05:00

On Friday we went to the pumpkin patch. It was raining so the hayride to pick your own pumpkin wasn't available but Rachel, Ben, Sam and Ruth went with Daddy through the corn maze. It's all fun and games till Daddy slips in the mud and is all brown!

The older kids went with me to pick a peck of apples. We went home and made Apple Crisp. Oooh how yummy.

Today we went back to the patch (it was sunny) and took the hay-ride out to the patch. We were going to pair up to create our pumpkins, but everyone ended up getting their own anyway ('cept Joseph who elected to stay home - he'll help Sam carve and Moroni, who'll help everyone carve).

Cranberries

2008-10-03T18:12:00.003-05:00

It was Robert's flex day. We scheduled a tour of the cranberry marsh in Wisconsin Rapids. It was almost a three hour drive up there, but it was a lot of fun watching them harvest the cranberries. Rebekah's favorite part was when we got to walk in the dry cranberry bed.

After the tour we stopped at a Pizza Hut for their lunch buffet. The kids were so excited to be able to eat *in* the restaurant. We all learned a pretty important lesson. The root beer we ordered cost almost as much as the pizza at $16. Ouch! When we got home we went to the store and purchased $16 in root beer and had a taste testing contest to find out which one we liked better: A&W, Mug, or the no-name. A&W won out, but some of us really like the no-name. We even had plenty of 2-liters and cans left over ($16 buys a lot of root beer).

The kids decided that next time we would just get water and then they could all use the money they saved to purchase their own 2-liter of soda. What smarties they are.

Candy

2008-10-01T17:40:00.002-05:00

I walked into the kitchen and Ruth had her pink boot on the stove. Seems harmless enough at first, right? Well I discovered that she was stuffing candy into it and running off to go eat! The little sneak!

Look Who's One!

2008-09-28T17:29:00.002-05:00

I can't believe it. Moroni is one! He really enjoyed the birthday cake, but mostly the candle part. He kept trying to grab it! Poor Moroni, though. Since he's number eight, we really didn't need more toys and such lying around. He even has a lot of clothes from Grandma KK. As a result he only had one birthday present to unwrap (not that he'll remember anyway). He got a little toy remote with lots of buttons to push. However, this doesn't deter him from the real thing. His favorite thing to do on my bed is to drop remotes and phones behind the headboard. Thank goodness Robert got on of those long arm claw things to grab all of his fun from behind the bed and dresser.

The Same Mold

2008-09-28T13:22:00.001-05:00

Here's Ruth holding a picture of... Rebekah. I guess we just don't have a lot of different looks in our family. We have a picture somewhere of Mary in the same dress with the same pigtails holding the picture of Rebekah as well. We don't know where it is. It's probably digital. Robert wanted to get a picture of Ruth holding the picture of Mary holding the picture of Rebekah. Maybe he'll have to doctor one later.

Silly Sam

2008-09-28T08:43:00.003-05:00

Today we were getting ready to go to church. So we told Sam to go get dressed. When he was all done he came out to show us how he got dressed all by himself. But he didn't know that his shirt was upside-down. This is a picture of Sam with his shirt on upside-down.
~Rachel

My Friends

2008-09-22T09:17:00.003-05:00

We were looking at posts of our cousins and Ruth said, "I'm looking at my friends."

Surfing the Web

2008-09-22T09:07:00.002-05:00

Sam was surfing the web and was surprised that he could get onto one of his favorite games from a different computer. Ben tried to explain that since it was the web, anyone could play that game at any time, "even Rudolph Hitler."

Happy Birthday Ben

2008-09-22T09:04:00.003-05:00

Sunday, the 21st was Ben's 7th birthday. He said it was his "best birthday ever." Ben got U.B. Funkeys and they have even been seen on commercials. He really likes to play them and his favorite thing to do on U.B. Funkeys is discovering new worlds and purchasing pets.

Cousins

2008-09-19T21:43:00.002-05:00

Orion got to come over and play today. Moroni (and Ruth too) had so much fun playing. They were just loads of grins and giggles.

Sun and Moon and Stars

2008-09-16T21:02:00.002-05:00

Sam: Oooh! Look! The moon's all the way up!
Ruth: Huh? Where'd the sun go?

Allergies

2008-09-07T14:03:00.002-05:00

Today I went to the doctor's office because of Rebekah's and my allergies. They told me that Rebekah and I both had allergies to the medicine we were taking for are strep throat. Our allergic reaction gave us both red bumps. The bumps itched like crazy! I woke my mom up at 5:55 this morning because it itched so much. It itched so much at night I couldn't go to sleep. I itched it so much that when I didn't itch it, it would burn. But now Rebekah and I are on medicine. So now we're getting better.

-Rachel

Camping

2008-09-06T19:40:00.003-05:00

We went camping this weekend and the kids all had a really good time. Ben and Mary were looking for sticks to throw in the fire, Joseph was planning games of capture the flag and joined games of Frisbee while we discovered Rebekah and Rachel both have allergies to the medicine we have been taking for strep and Sam made a little club in the hiking area and Ruth was watching the fire very amused and Moroni can't really do anything yet. But wow was it exhausting!
-Rebekah

Weekend! Yeah!

2008-09-05T16:32:00.002-05:00

I'm still trying to get everything together for school. I know that I should have done it weeks ago, but I had other things to do. I'm just trying to be patient with myself.

It's been frustrating to blog and do email on our old laptop. I can't type a w,x or q. While the latter two letters aren't bad, I'm learning how much we use the letter 'w' in our everyday type. I usually have to cut and paste whatever letter I'm missing from somewhere else. As a result I never use a capital for my name.

We've got everything cleaned up and we're getting ready to go camping with our ward. Time to shut the computers down.

Sleeping In

2008-09-04T21:56:00.002-05:00

Robert is gone until Sunday. Since we had nothing else to get up for (with Daddy being gone) we totally slept in today. I never sleep well with him gone anyway. The kids rolled out of bed between 8 and 8:30 and were surprised that the bus had already come for the other kids. Hmmmm... I sure do like the freedom that we're provided.

Ben and Mary finished school by noon (and Ben even did some bonus classes) and Joseph, Rebekah and Rachel completed their assignments in time to play with friends. I'll count today as a success. Just three more days until daddy comes home.

School

2008-09-03T22:32:00.003-05:00

School has started. Things are full here, but I'm loving the time with my children.

Labor Day

2008-09-01T20:33:00.000-05:00

hat an aesome day. (Currently I can't type the letter that begins my name, so I'll go back and fi my post later) This morning e headed off to the ard primary activity here the kids participated in olympic events. Benjamin's favorite as the hurdles. You should have seen him flying through. Unfortunately I forgot my camera. Boo hoo.

After the olympics, our ard had a picnic. It as almost 90 degrees today, and e could really feel the heat. After the picnic, e decided to spend the last day of Summer at the pool. Some of the kids didn't ant to go to the pool, so I stayed home ith them and Robert took everyone else.

For family home evening, e talked about school starting and everyone got their father's blessing. hat a onderful blessing to have the priesthood in our home. e also did some planning for the schoolyear and brainstormed ideas of ho to stay on track. ill they ork? e'll see.

Saturday is a Special Day

2008-08-30T20:44:00.004-05:00

Since we were all quarantined today, we went to play (just our family) beach volleyball. The kids really had a lot of fun hitting the ball back and forth, but I think we need to rearrange the teams next time. Joseph and I were on one team with Mary and Sam, but Mary and Sam were more interested in the sand. Robert's team, however, had Rebekah and Rachel and Benjamin, all highly interested in the game and where the ball was.

We then decided to do our family cleaning after lunch, so once our quarantine was over, they would be free to play. We also had the missionaries over for dinner tonight. We really enjoyed our time with them.

We All Have It!

2008-08-29T17:05:00.002-05:00

While all of their quick cultures for strep were negative, the nurse called me this morning and informed me that their overnight cultures were all positive. Oh Joy! We now have a whole shelf in our fridge dedicated to antibiotics (at two bottles per kid). By the time our round of treatments is through, we should have no germs at our house!

It's not too bad. Nobody has any symptoms, it's just been a lot of back and forth to the doctor's office and the pharmacy. I did, however, forget to get myself cultured yesterday, so I had to go in today and get cultured. So far my quick is negative...

I got home and lined everyone up for medicine. They all love the pink stuff. Poor Ruth has the white one (Augmentin) for added protection and it's not supposed to taste too great, but she still likes to take it. Sam is disappointed that he only gets one syringe full (2 teaspoons) but Rachel gets two syringes (3 teaspoons). "It's not fair." Joseph has the easy way out. Since he's allergic to penicillans and cephalosporins, he gets to take azithromycin which is only once a day for five days.

Strep

2008-08-28T21:54:00.002-05:00

We have had a very full week. Moroni had strep in the diaper area, and Ruth had it around her mouth. It took a few days to figure out what was going on and after several trips to the pharmacy, we're all starting to feel better.

Rebekah had a sore throat kick in yesterday, so we took her to the doctor's office today to have her throat cultured. It came back positive, so the doctor felt it best to bring everyone in that hadn't been tested yet. That was 5 out of 8 of the kids. I kept getting comments like, "Brought the whole family in?" If they only knew.

Ruth put one of the k12 boxes on her head and walked around saying, "I'm a robot." I believe Rebekah has cut holes in boxes and had fun walking around. We never know who is going to watch us and follow our example.

WIVA Social

2008-08-28T21:52:00.003-05:00

Wednesday we went to Token Creek County Park to meet the kids' new teachers for the year.

One of the kids found money in the sandbox and all of the kids crowded into the sandbox and started digging. Someone had buried all kinds of change in the sand.

A Teenager!

2008-08-24T20:56:00.002-05:00

We finally have a true teenager! Joseph turned 13 today. Although, I have to admit, it's felt like we've had teenagers for a while now.

It's kinda funny how being a mom of older kids is what's making me start to feel older. Half of my kids are now baptized, Joseph is a deacon, passing the sacrament, and Rebekah will be starting in Young Women in December!

Mom always said that it seems like you're a mom of toddlers for forever and then you blink and they're all grown up. I think it's still having toddlers that is making my older kids' lives go by so fast.

I should just try to enjoy them all where they're at now!!!

Birthday Bash

2008-08-23T21:10:00.003-05:00

Friday was Robert's birthday. We went out for lunch at Red Robin, and I really overate!!! Talk about nummy!

When we sang happy birthday, we had to light the torch. We wanted to see if he could blow out all of his candles in one breath. Guess he's not as full of hot air as we thought.

The kids had a lot of fun wrapping Robert's presents. They even wrapped one present, put it in a box, wrapped it again and then put it in another box and did a final wrapping. However, when they said that he would be surprised at one of the presents they wrapped, he said "You wrapped it again and again, huh?" Rachel then said, "who told you!" He's so good at getting them to give away their secrets.

Robert's best present was Wii Fit. It got played all day long today. He's so worried that we'll knock off his high scores. We'll have to see.

Dirt Boy

2008-08-20T22:18:00.002-05:00

Okay, so while Rachel was writing the last post, I was holding Moroni while sitting next to her. I had given him part of a white chocolate cookie. By the time she was done with her post, he had abandoned the cookie for a fist full of dirt from a potted plant that was sitting behind me. The irony was that he was wearing his "Note to self: Don't eat dirt (It's not food!) shirt that Aunt Cherstin got him after he kept eating the dirt at great Grandpa's house. It's even funnier that the last time he wore this shirt, he ate dirt out of the garden while I was weeding. Guess it 'just looks like something he should taste.'

Achievement Days

2008-08-20T22:06:00.003-05:00

Today in achievement days we made cookies. They tasted really good. We had cookie paint and we painted them. Then we read the book Mrs. Piggle Wiggle! Then Rebekah and I sat in the car waiting for our mom for a long time.
--Rachel

Sleeping

2008-08-18T21:27:00.002-05:00

Elder Ballard said (April 2008 General Conference) "recognize that the joy of motherhood comes in moments. There will be hard times and frustrating times. But amid the challenges, there are shining moments of joy and satisfaction."

Team Husted

2008-08-16T22:29:00.004-05:00

Today, after breakfast, we went to the city park and played some softball. After we played some frisbee football. It's so nice having our own 'team.' Dinner was the High Priest's social at the Richards' home. The picture is Ben just before getting on the trampoline.

Sleeping!!!

2008-08-15T21:24:00.002-05:00

Let sleeping babes lie.

Dirt

2008-08-13T22:10:00.002-05:00

What can I say? It's Moroni with a cup of... dirt!

At the Pool

2008-08-12T22:44:00.002-05:00

I thought I would post a picture of Mary, since most of the pictures are of Moroni or Ruth. What can I say... we just have cute kids.

Last night was MISERABLE!!! Moroni tossed and turned the whole night. After Ruth ended up in our bed, he kept climbing on her and pulling her hair in the middle of the night. She couldn't sleep through it either. Teach her to sleep in her own bed? We wish.

While most of my morning was in slo-mo, I did manage to get the bathroom clean. WooHoo. What a statement that is when I'm excited to get the kids' bathroom clean?

Later on I made cinnamon rolls (talk about excited kids) and we went to the pool together.

Hopefully tonight we sleep better since tomorrow is full of meetings for both Robert and me.

Church with 8

2008-08-10T16:00:00.004-05:00

What a morning! I had a meeting at church at 8am, so Robert brought the kids by himself. When Rachel brought Ruth into the chapel, I was impressed that her hair was done. Rachel had helped with it. My awe ended there when Sam hurried in, still with Cocoa Pebbles all over his face, Mary's hair I don't think had been brushed since yesterday morning, and it was all topped off when Robert sat down with Moroni in jeans and a black T-shirt that said, "I still live with my parents" in bright blue letters. Ha!

Things were kept lively as when Joseph was passing the sacrament (water) in the foyer, he had to run to the restroom to throw up! Guess he was sick. The other deacons, not knowing what to do, stood in line for quite some time (Joseph was supposed to be number one). After a while, they all headed to the front and someone went back out for the tray that Joseph had left on the end table in the foyer. Needless to say, Robert took Joseph and Moroni home.

While in church, I peeked in on Ruth in the nursery and she was talking on the play phone to Grandpa. I guess we need to call him.

When the rest of us got back, Robert had dinner almost done. How sweet! Moroni was quite unhappy. I guess he'd only had a short nap on the way home and he was absolutely miserable. He did however learn how to drink from a cup at dinner time. I figure Mom, Desi, Cherstin and Felicia will appreciate this picture! *wink*

Softball Practice

2008-08-09T20:06:00.002-05:00

We took the kids down to Blue Mounds Park today for softball practice, including Joseph's friend Ben (distinguished as "Big Ben" vs. our own "Little Ben"). All the kids got to hit and they all got at least one run in. Afterwards, we had soda and then some of us played Frisbee Football.

Tower Hill State Park

2008-08-08T21:53:00.005-05:00

The kids had a great time today at Tower Hill State Park - we hiked up to Tower Hill, saw the film on how they made lead shot (they heat lead, pour it through small holes to create little droplets that become round as they fall down the tower and then cool instantly when they hit the water. Only about 10% of the shot is usable, the rest is taken back up to the tower and recycled. (I never considered that "recycling" was a wartime advance.) The mosquitoes fed well today as we walked around the park - we're just happy to be doing our part for the environment.

S'mores

2008-08-07T20:10:00.002-05:00

Tonight we had a fire in the back yard. We roasted hot dogs and marshmallows. Joseph made some double- and triple-decker s'mores. Ruth loved the s'mores, especially the ones without the graham cracker and marshmallows.

Doin' the Dishes

2008-08-06T22:08:00.003-05:00

When do the dishes become a chore?

Dirt for Breakfast

2008-08-06T10:00:00.005-05:00

I was so pleased this morning. For breakfast Moroni kept refusing the egg and milk once he had a piece of my homemade bread. I told the kids, "Moroni only wants to eat my bread, he won't eat the eggs because he only wants my bread."

My kids, sensing my pride decided to take me down a few notches by replying, "Yeah, but Moroni eats dirt!" After a good laugh by all, they tried to make me feel better with. "That's okay mom, it was probably good dirt. It just means that the dirt is better than your eggs."

Movie Time

2008-08-06T07:28:00.003-05:00

We still can't upload photos. Our newer machine has always refused to upload the photos, and now our older one won't upload them either. I finally got the virus cleared off of it, though!

Robert and I went to see Iron Man at the cheap theaters with Phil and Hannah. Our kids were wonderful and watched little ones so we could all go out together. They love to play with Orion and as soon as he got here, off they went.