Feathered Friends, Sunday Visitor

While making dinner a few Sundays ago, Kendal noticed a bird outside. "Mom you have to come see this bird laying down on our patio!" I'm thinking really, I've seen many birds what is so special about this one. "Seriously come and see, it is just laying down" Now I am thinking oh great I have a dead bird on the patio. By this time all the kids are curious and staring out the window at this big pigeon. We noticed it looked hurt as is limped around on one leg, and his back was missing a patch of feathers. I go back to making dinner, but the kids were enthralled with our new feathered friend, and very concerned about his welfare. For hours they questioned and talked about him. All through dinner, I started writing things down because they were cracking me up. Mostly Aubrey and Brinley.

Brinley He wants his mommy. Where is his bed? He needs to go back to the park. He looks sad. When he goes to the doctor he will cry, he will cry for his mommy.

Aubrey Will we have to take care of it forever? Do you think he can spend the night? Can we feed him...what does he eat? I bet a cat got it, his life is harder than ours because of the cats. Can we take him to the animal doctor? Can we text daddy? (he is at church) What is going to happen to him?

At this point I tell her well he is either going to get better or die. (sounds a little harsh as I type it) So her response is...."oh then he can meet LOPS, in heaven" Our bunny that died a few years ago.

I started feeling bad for the bird so I found some bread crumbs for him. The bird gobbled those up like nobodys business. Then I was thinking the bird must be thirsty after all that bread so we filled up a pie tin with water. This went on for quite awhile...at one point the bird actually came inside. Then Brinley was terrified and no longer wanted anything to do with the bird. That night the kids all prayed for the bird that he might get better and not die. That night I prayed that their prayer would be anwered. But the bird was not looking good and I really didn't expect him to make it through the night. Cory took one look at him and said, yeah it will probably be dead in the morning. OH YE OF LITTLE FAITH!!!! In the morning I woke up early to check on it, because if he did die I wanted to get rid of the bird and lie to my kids and say, well he must have got better and flew away......but he was still there.

The next day I actually bought some bird seed for the bird and Braden made a bird feeder out of a goldfish box, he even put a plastic penguin in there to keep him company.

Then our feathered friend becomes a problem because he is making a mess, poop, and feathers, bird seed etc.....and I saw it fly a few times so I'm thinking it needs to be on his merry little way. Problem is Aubrey named the bird, first it was Kelsey....then Kendal told her it was a boy because it had a ring around its neck.....so it was Dyson. Aubrey was in love with this bird! She wants to keep it forever!!!! Long story short after a few days of cutting off the food supply, taking away the handmade bird feeder, and several times Cory chasing it away with the shovel, the bird has never been seen again. Much to Aubreys dismay, the other day she was begging me to buy her a stuffed bird so that she could remember DYSON. Maybe it is time for a pet.....maybe NOT!!!

Funnies from Aubrey

While making lunch for my brood (aka) my kids...

the orders are rolling in...I want water, I'll take juice, just milk for me.

I want the red cup, I'm blue, blue, blue..and on and on.

They are getting impatient with me and I comment "hey I'm only one person I can only do one thing at a time"

To which Aubrey replies "well HELLO, you do have two arms you know!!!"



My Reponse which took a few moments to collect myself, "yes I know but they are attached to my ONE body"....."I'm not elasta-girl!"

My Motto "IT could have been WORSE!!" really??

Three weeks ago, Saturday morning I woke up to Braden who had got sick in the night. Too tired to wake up he threw up on his bed. So Cory and I go into the tag team effort, clean up throw up crew. Cory does the bed I attend to the few spots on the carpet. Luckily very little got on the floor. As I clean I repeat my motto in my head. "It could have been worse, it could have been a lot worse!" I use this coping mechanism a lot. Later on in the day I was taking inventory of the pantry for a grocery list and saw some pistachio pudding that we have had for quite some time so I decide to make it. My kids have never had it, and I remember liking it when I was little. I think to myself, oh this will be fun to make a treat for my kids. Aubrey helps me whip it up. I stick it in the fridge to set. A little while later I get it out and have some kids test it. Nobody likes it. YUCK, eww, whatever!! So I put it back in the fridge, however it slips through my hands lands on my kitchen floor. It was everywhere, the fridge, the floor, the walls, on the cupboards, down the hall toward the family room, baseboards. I look down at the bowl with still a substantial amount of pudding still left in the bowl. "Well it could have been worse" the whole bowl could have spilt out. This took me quite awhile to clean up. What a mess! After I am done cleaning that mess Aubrey runs in to use the bathroom and has an accident, I guess she was holding it too long. She is FIVE ! I can't remember the last time she had an accident. Cory volunteers to clean it up, but no she wants me to do it. FINE, I am in mess clean up mode anyway. Throw up, pudding, urine....I'm there!
That evening I had to take Kendal to her play performance, Cory was at the baseball game, so I had the other three kids with me. We went to Target to get a few things, then headed to jamba juice. Got our smoothies and are headed to the van. Braden was helping me carry the four little ones for the kids, they make it safely to the front of the van. I was carrying mine as I was finishing buckling Brinley she reaches for my smoothie and the whole bottom of the cup falls off. (very weird, faulty cup!! ) I say "OH crap" (not proud of it ) Brinley's response as she looks at me, "Well I'm just a baby". The smoothie is everywhere not one drop left in my cup. It is all down my pants, inside the van, on the side of the van, in the street! This time I have to really use my imagination to think, well it could have been worse. At this point I'm thinking, are you kidding me I just cleaned up a huge mess an hour ago. So I go into Jamba tell them I got a faulty cup. At least I get a new smoothie. They give me lots of napkins to clean up.I did as best I could while some impatient car was waiting for the parking space I was standing in cleaning up the mess. I look at the driver, seriously do you see the mess I am cleaning here. See the jamba all down my pants. There is another spot over there. After that I drive to pick up Kendal and home to continue the clean up process. The kids are playing outside enjoying their jambas as I clean up the van. So to sum it up, morning to night......throw up, pudding, urine, jamba!

SUNDAY....day of rest!!!!! Go to church come home and start to make dinner while Cory is still at church for his calling. Brinley decides she wants to wear panties, I deliberate, and think the worst that could happen is urine on the wood floor no big deal. I want to encourage her in her desire to wear panties. So I keep checking with her every few minutes or so to see if she needs to go while I am making dinner with Aubrey. Aubrey want to use the can opener so I was helping her with that. It got a little too quiet so I go to check on Brinley and I recognize that face right away. The look of Who ME, NO I didn't just poop. Yep she did, not only did she but it was the nice softy kind, ok it was diarrhea. Deep breath no big deal, at least it is all contained in there, none got on the carpet or floor. IT Could Have Been Worse!!! So I proceed clean up in the laundry room sink. While I was rinsing out panties I hear a blood curdling scream from the kitchen. Aubrey screaming, comes into the laundry room her finger is squirting blood everywhere. She is waving it around blood splatters everywhere. I am in the middle of serious sewage (for lack of a better word). I yell for back up, KENDAL!!!!! Remember Cory is still at church, Lucky him. When I finish with the panty mess, I go into the bathroom to try to calm Aubrey down and get ready to take her to get her finger sewn back on from the look of all the blood everywhere. I could not believe how much blood came out of that little finger. It was everywhere. In the laundry room, drops all down the hall leading to the kitchen, and the bathroom. There was blood all over, the shower, the toilet, sink, door.....one bloody mess. It took her awhile to finally let me see the cut. Luckily it did not need stitches, it wasn't even very deep. It could have been worse!!! Got everything cleaned up, dinner done, table set....Cory comes home. Oh the fun he missed. Aubrey vows to never ever, ever, use a can opener again. Or even eat anything that comes from a can. I reflect back on the last not even 48 hour tally of messes cleaned up. Throw up, pudding, urine, jamba juice, diarrhea, blood!!!!! Yes all the bodily fluids are accounted for......and it could have been worse.

PS......noticed pistachio pudding on the ceiling today, and a few blood drops that I had missed!

The face of Summer!

I got smore on my cheeks, down to my toes, marshmallows!!!!!!

Smore Happy Dance!

Too Funny!

Shopping a few weeks ago with Aubrey she found a rug that she was pleading with me to buy. "Please, Please...please can we buy it?, I love it, pleeeaase!" I am thinking no way, and why does she want this so bad. So I ask her "What would you do with it?" Her reply...."well whenever I want to pet a cow, it would be right there." Needless to say I didn't buy it. So whenever we want to pet a cow we have to look elsewhere.

Farewell to Clovis 2nd

I've been wanting to blog this for awhile but it is hard to find the words.

Nine years ago we moved from our little apartment to our first house. We didn't have much a few boxes and a one year old. Looking back life seems so much simpler. (Now we are a family of 6 with A LOT more boxes!!!) We moved into the Clovis 2nd ward. We knew very few people and I remember feeling very young. I told Cory one day after church that I felt like we didn't fit in very well because there weren't any young couples in the ward. He told me not to worry that soon we would be middle age and would fit right in, and then we would probably move. (not helpful) I also remember for a few years going up to what I thought were new couples in the ward and being so excited only to my disappointment when the usual response was, "oh no we are just here visiting our parents".

In time SLOWLY younger families moved in. Over the last nine years however it wasn't the move in of similar families that made me really come to love our ward, but service. Service that I was able to do, and the service of others to me and my family. I have come to know that it is through service that we begin to understand and love people. That we don't have to be in the same station of life, have similar backgrounds or common interests. The one commonality that we do have is the love of our Savior, and each of us working diligently to increase our testimonies. Through the nine years I had many opportunities to serve and teach. Three things I have come to realize to a greater extent happen as you serve. 1) you come to love those you serve, 2) you come to love those you serve with, 3)you see the love that our Father in Heaven and the Savior have for all his children. I can reflect back on both happy and sad occasions that there were people to lift me up, and also celebrate with me. The 2nd ward truly became my family.

A Quote I love from Elder Wirthlin sums it up perfectly. . .
"The Church is not a place where perfect people gather together to say perfect things, or have perfect thoughts, or have perfect feelings. The Church is a place where imperfect people gather to provide encouragement, support and service to each other as we progress on in our journey to return to our Heavenly Father." ( The Virtue of Kindness, May 2005)

So Thank you all!!! I have learned much from you, and will miss being together with you on a weekly basis. However we didn't move out of the country, state, or city. Just a few miles! We are even still in the same building. Yet now there are other people to serve, and come to love. In time I know I will.

**ON a Funny note (if you are still with me in this long post)

Aubrey (my five year old) is having a hard time adjusting to her "new church" as she calls it, even though it is the same church. I try to explain that Heavenly Father needs helpers where ever people live and since we moved we need to go at a different time. Her response "what is the PROBLEM just wake up early and go to church".(you really have to hear her say it, but it is with a lot of attitude) If you know her you will get it.

PS don't take me off your blog I like to see what everyone is up to

A whole Decade old!!

May 24, 2009 Kendal Brooke turned 10, what a milestone, a whole decade old. I have been a mother a whole decade! Her birthday was on Sunday so it was pretty low key. Just our family, grandma, grandpa, and Baubles!

When I think of Kendal I think back to when she was 9 months old, one of her first words was, "WOW". She would say it over and over, this little baby "wow, wow, wow". She has and continues to wow us with the things she accomplishes and the person she has become. Most recently she has taught herself the piano, she plays hymns and primary songs that I taught my fourth year piano students. She has never had a B on a report card. She is very involved at school and was one of 2 fourth graders to earn the block W award. Happy Birthday Kendal, we all love you and are so grateful you are in our family.




A self portrait, what an actress




Recieving her block W award!

Happy Birthday!

Make a Wish!

Well loved blankie!!

Brinley has had this blanket since she was born, it is her very favorite!! It was given to her by a good friend of mine. Well has been looking pretty gross for awhile so for about 6 months or longer I have been on the look out for a similar one. I was so excited to find the exact one at Target. I could hardly believe the difference in color. Pink and White vs. Gray and Very faded pink. She was excited at first but will have nothing to do with the beautiful clean new blanket. She just cries for "the udder one blankie", I even tried to give it to her when she was going to bed with the lights down low but it did not fool her. Oh well maybe I will put it in her 72 hour emergency kit.


close up of the old and new (you can not tell how gross the old one is here!)

Oh and special thanks to Gill for getting my last two girls blankies that they just can't live without!!

Bradens Baptism

On May 30th Braden was Baptized! A little earlier than planned because my parents were in town and had to leave back to Utah for the funeral of my cousin. We had a nice baptism with just our family and a few of our close friends. After the baptism our family came over and had a nice lunch and visited. I took a few photos in the morning of Braden, after about the 3rd one he looked at me impatiently. "Thats enough" he said. I told him, hey this is your special day and we are going to be taking lots more pictures of you. We are so proud of you Braden for the choice you made, the person you are becoming, and how your testimony is growing each day. We love you!

carpet angels & port o potties

Well we have been busy getting settled into our new house. We celebrated Bradens 8th birthday just before we moved, then Kendals a few weeks after that. Had my parents in town (our first house guests) for 10 days! Braden was baptized. I will blog later about those events and kids but I just wanted to post these pictures.

The day we got our keys Cory and I took Aubrey and Brinley over, they went running in their room. I asked Aubrey what they were doing, she said "we are making carpet angels".

Aubrey also thought it was very cool that we have a port o potty right across the street from our house. Cool if we ever need to use it, its right there. Well I didn't think she would actually use it. Few weeks later I go outside to find her crying she had fallen out of the port o pot, and scraped her knee on the street. I asked her what she was doing in there. "MOM, I JUST HAD to GO, and I DIDNT have time to go inside!!" hands on hips, saying it so matter of fact.

The crazy thing is that we used to go to a park that had a temporary port o potty while they were finishing constructing the actual bathrooms, and she would always throw a big fit about going in there. Finally I would give in and let her pee on a near by tree.

Tagged by Kim

I am suppose to list six UNimportant things that make me Happy (with photos I think but I am not that blog savvy)

1. Flowers, and first blossoms of spring. I love cottage gardens with lots of varieties of flowers and greenery.

2. Storage containers! Silly I know, I love the aisles of Target with all the organizing bins and stuff to put your stuff in. A place for everything and everything in its place. Oh the JOY!

3. Cookies!!! A nice warm cookie with a glass of ice cold milk.

4. Autumn leaves and crisp autumn air! Favorite fall colors!!

5. Any homemade meal made by someone other than me!!!! Actually it doesn't even have to be homemade.

6. Hot coco with a peppermint stick and lots of whip cream! And looking back on my list exclamation points seem to make me happy, I use them a lot!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I tag who ever wants to do this. Whoever is reading this!!!! That is a cop out I know.

kids photos

A friend of mine is starting to get serious about her photography and wanted to practice on my kids. I haven't seen all of them yet but these are some she posted on her blog. I think they turned out really good. So if you need some photos done call her!!!

ode to daddy take 2

video #2

Singing praises to DADDY!!!

It is very exciting to watch your children and all their firsts in life. The first time they roll over, crawl, those precious first steps.....and the first time they take off without their training wheels. With each of my kids I have tried to help them accomplish this new skill. I will work with them several times, running behind them, pushing them giving them encouraging words. But somehow with each of them thus far, Cory comes in and shortly there after they master the task. Daddy gets the credit.


Way back in September before we moved I decided to take off Aubrey's training wheels and start helping her ride her bike. This lasted a few times till she got very frustrated and wanted her training wheels back on. When we moved the bike went into storage. About a month ago I braved the storage unit and got the bike out. The tires were flat, so we (Aubrey and I) went to the bike shop to get them fixed. I found her training wheels and put them back on until Cory decided to take them off and start helping her.



After a few "lessons" as she calls them, we were waiting for Cory to come home from work and she wanted to try again with her bike. She quickly mastered it and was SO EXCITED, she could not wait for Daddy to come home so she could show him. Then she started singing what I will call "Ode to Daddy!" A little song in honor of him who taught her. I asked her "Hey what about me", she says "oh yeah well you did help a little ."



"ode to Daddy"
Daddy teached me so well
he is a good bike rider
I passed the test
he teached me very well

He is the strongest man
He teached me so well
and he's kind and he's loving
even though I suck. . . my thumb (this is my favorite line)

He just teached me so well
He teached me so well to ride my two wheel bike

(I prompt the next part with, how did he teach you?)

I take some lessons with him being as the teacher
He said balance, balance, don't lean to one side,
sit up straight I know you can do it!

Well maybe with Brinley I'll have better luck! In the mean time we will sing praises to DADDY!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Beauty in the Morning?

Last week after getting the two older kids off to school I was reading the newspaper before getting ready for the day. Aubrey takes a break from her cartoon watching to glance over at me she says,
"mom I really don't like you in the morning, the way you look, your hair is so crazy and you aren't dressed yet. . . . But after you get all dressed and do your hair, and put your makeup on. . .I like you like that, you look really pretty"

So much for the all natural look! Oh kids they are so humbling!

Aubrey!!!

I put the song Aubrey on my playlist in honor of Aubrey and her birthday February 28th. . ."and Aubrey was her name a not so ordinary girl or name...but whose to blame!" Read her birthday tribute below.

Check it out!

http://vimeo.com/2120177

Awesome video of a 20 year old LDS Harvard student being interviewed about her faith. Here is how you answer tough questions, I wish I could be as elloquent, I guess that is why I didn't go to Harvard.

Happy Birthday Aubrey!!

February 28, 2009

Aubrey turned five on Saturday. As I always do with each birthday of each child I reminisce about the day they were born, reflect upon the last year, and sigh and think of how fast time flies.

When I found out my due date with Aubrey (March 10) I thought it would be cool if she was born on February 29th, I mean what are the odds. Looking back it would totally fit her personality as well!! IHowever she came a day earlier, my easiest delivery by far. I remember thinking right after she was born, wow I can't believe she is here already. So tiny and petite with lots of dark hair.

Some funny things she has said recently. . .

1. As I was trying to wake up and get out of bed at 6:30am (on a Saturday)

Aubrey comes to my side of the bed and proclaims "mom aren't you going to come feed the hungriest kids on earth...or what!!" I'm thinking no because there must be hungrier kids on earth somewhere...and it is 6:30!!

2."Mom, Braden just jumped up and hurt his tenders"

(thanks to Kung Fu Panda for the new terminology)

3. When I couldn't get Brinley's big chucky feet in a pair of shoes at Target.

"Mom you should really only have skinny babies cause they are a lot easier to dress and stuff. But don't weary (worry) Brinley will grow out skinny when she gets big.

4. She had some questions about after Jesus comes again. She says from the way back of the van "You know when the lamb and the lion will be friends and they won't eat each other, and we can play with snakes, when exactly is that going to be, when is Jesus going to come again"

I explained to her that nobody knows only Heavenly Father and that we just have to continue being good, and try to do better each day. That we have to be ready when he comes. So she shouts back "I AM READY right now, Today!!

5. When a man at church was teasing her a little she looked him right in the eye and said with gusto "you are a strange, Man!! . . . .just don't like me so much!"

When I took Aubrey and Brinley with me to Utah last spring and called home to see how Cory and the other two kids were doing I talked to Kendal on the phone. She said "well I have discovered that Aubrey is the one that brings a lot of excitement to our home." So true so true....in so many ways!!!!! WE love you Aubrey and glad you joined our family, we would be so BORING without you. I put the song Aubrey on my playlist...in her honor, but it does need to be jazzed up a bit for her personality and all!!

Dog Pile

On our return home the kids dog pile Cory. They missed us!!!

Birthday Get away

Happy Birthday Cory!! February 16

We were able to get away just the two of us to celebrate this year! Valentines and Cory's Birthday on the sixteenth. It has been way too long since we have been away with no kids. The weather was quite nice the first day, and slowly the clouds came in. When we left on Monday it was pretty stormy, and very windy. We walked out on this pier, I was very apprehensive since I could feel it moving beneath me. I ask Cory, "Can the waves get up this high?" His response "you can swim right".

This trip reminded me of the first time we went to the coast when we were dating. We would be walking along the little shops and Cory would keep switching which side of me he was walking on. I remember asking him why do you keep switching sides of where you are walking? His response was that his mom taught him to always walk between a lady and the traffic, so that he is a barrier between the cars and me. I remember being so impressed by that. So anyway he still does it! What a true gentleman. I have no doubt that if there was a puddle he would gladly throw his cape down for me so that I could get across. Oh wait he doesn't wear a cape.