Merry Christmas Everyone...

I just wanted to wish all of you a Merry Christmas and a wonderful New Year! I have so much to be thankful for.First and for most I am so grateful for my testimony of the true church here on the earth today...The Church of Jesus Christ and Latter Day Saints.I would be completely lost if it weren't for my testimony. I have a true testament of the blessings of the gospel.I am so grateful to my brother Jesus Christ for his sacrifice, so that we are able to repent for our sins and live with our families and Heavenly Father in Celestrial Glory,Forever. I am so grateful for my good husband and best friend James. He is a wonderful husband,father,friend and person.I am so greatful to have these four beautiful spirits Father in Heaven has entrusted to me and James. They are such wonderful blessings and I love them dearly and would do anything for them. I am grateful for trials so that I can grow as a person.I am grateful to be surrounded by Family and Friends who love me.I am grateful for our family's health,happiness and safety.May you all find happiness being surrounded by your loving family and friends,not just for the holidays, but for always.Peace be with you till we meet again.

My Baby is Potty-trained!

I have been meaning to blog about this for a while,since Van has been going on the potty for a few months.But I think I can officially say it.We just drove to California and he did not wet his pants at all ! He would go when we made our stops! I am so excited for him being such a big boy! Part of me though is also saddened.Van is probably our last baby. I am so grateful to be blessed with 4 healthy children.Heavenly Father has richly blessed me.I love and appreciate each one of my children and their different special personalities.They are sweet spirits.I look forward to the next chapter in my life and watching them grow and experience life. I am so proud of you Van!Mommy loves you very much!

Happy Birthday Noah!!

Happy Birthday,Noah!! I hope you have a wonderful 7th Birthday!!I can't believe you are already 7!You are such a sweet boy.You always help Mommy when she needs you.You make me laugh as well as everyone around you. I will never forget when you came and joined our family here on Earth. It was Thanksgiving night 2001.Daddy,Caston and I had just gotten home from Grandma Peterson's house.We had Thanksgiving dinner with the Peterson's and the Dastrup Family.All of us were anticipating your birth the next morning.See it was 2 weeks over the estimated due date and the doctors were going to induce Mommy the next morning so we could meet you. Anyway Mommy got ready for bed and I sat down on the bed(it was midnight by that time) to go to sleep when my water broke! You were on your way!Right away, Mommy and Daddy called Grandma Dastrup to come over to watch Caston while we went to the hospital to have you.3 1/2 hours on November 23,2001 at 3:26am you were finally in my arms! You came so fast Mommy didn't get any pain medication!But as soon as you were in my arms ,all I could feel was happiness!You make us so proud Noah. You are an amazing person. When you want to learn something you learn quickly.You potty trained the fastest (1 week and you were trained completely).When you were 3 1/2 and wanted to ride on a two wheeler bike like all the other kids you did it right away like it was effortless. You are my best cleaner.Your organization skills are amazing! I can't wait to continue to watch you grow and learn.You are SPECIAL! You are so LOVED by so many,Noah.I love you,Noah! Happy birthday my sweet boy.

New Kids on The Block Concert!!

We had a blast!!My sister Carol and I went to Nkotb Concert last night. What fun!! Better than I even expected. We thought it would be fun to go see them since 19years ago we saw them when I was in 6th grade. It was my 1st concert! This weekend was also my sister Carol's Birthday. We weren't gonna go at first because we didn't want to spend alot of money on tickets,since we are both on a tight budget at the moment. Then I thought..hmmm. I wonder if anyone is selling them for cheap on Ksl. Sure enough,this lady had bought some during the presale,but then later won some more on a radio station! What a steal,she was selling them only for $25 each ticket! These were not bad seats either.So we bought them from her and had a blast at the concert.Natasha Bedingfield opened for them and she was awesome as well! What an amazing voice she has! The New Kids were AWESOME and definately still got it!! I love you Joey!!=)

Winter has arrived!!!

I am so excited!! I love the Winter! I love having everything look like a winter wonderland! I love comfy clothes, comfort foods and hot drinks to warm up to! The only thing I don't love is driving on unplowed roads. I hate it! Here's a few pictures I took this morning of what I woke up to! Happy Winter all!

Scared

So......It looks like we have a new President. I will be honest I am not happy at all.Not that we had awesome choices to begin with.But I definately felt more comfortable with John MCcain being President than Obama.I just feel the Adversary is winning lately.There is so much corruption and sadness in the world.Specially with people trying to make gay marriage legal.That breaks my heart that people are trying to corrupt the sanctity of marriage. I am scared for my kids and what they are going to have to deal with.If the World is like this when they are little what is it gonna be like when they are older.My only comfort is we always have the Lord to turn to. I am so grateful to have my beliefs and my testimony.

Pumpkin Carving

Thought I would share a few pictures of our "pumpkin carving night" for Family home evening!I sure love this time of year.We had gone to Wheeler Farm to the Scarecrow festival,and the kids got to pick out their own pumpkin!The kids had a blast picking out what their pumpkin should look like and then creating their pumpkin. Happy Halloween!!

Twilight...the movie!!!

I am soooooooooooooo excited for this movie.(I'm sure I am not the only one!) I saw a preview for this movie last night for the first time(I don't watch many commercials so I don't know how long the t.v. has being showing previews for this movie)but what I want to know is who is going to the midnight showing and who is waiting till the next day or later to see it? For me I don't want to be exhausted when I see this movie so I will most likely be going the first showing of the first day! Sooooooo excited!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Mini James....

I found a small laptop in James's office the other day and asked him what it was being used for.He said it wasn't being used for anything. I thought great can we let Caston use it,since I have to fight Caston to use my computer. He said sure and thought he could start teaching Caston how to program computers and teach him other computer skills as well. In the past,whenever I have asked Caston what he would like to be when he grows up he always says he wants to work on computers like daddy. You should have seen the great big smile Caston had on his face when James told him he would let this laptop be his and to start teaching him how to use it.So every night they have been working on his laptop to get it up and running. It is so great to see the special bond they are forming through this opportunity that has come into light.

Great New Blog I found...

Its called Thrifty Decor Chick. She just started recently,but has a ton of cute ideas to decorate your house for cheaper.On her front page right now,she has a ton of cute Halloween craft and decorating ideas! Check it out at www.thriftydecorchick.blogspot.com

Maddie and her baby.....

So we got this kitten back in July when it was only 6 weeks old. Ever since then Maddie has loved and babied this kitty. She carries the kitten around all the time. She dresses the kitty in her baby doll clothes and has even pretended to feed it with a doll baby bottle. The kitten just puts up with all the torture Maddie has inflicted on this poor cat. But what is so funny is the kitten adores Maddie. She always wants to sleep on Maddies bed with her. She will fall asleep in Maddie's arms. It's hilarious! I just love it and thought I would share some pictures of Maddie and her"baby". I am just wondering what happens when the kitty gets to big for Maddie to hold.=)

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies!!

I thought Mindy had a great idea about posting favorite recipes and ideas for these fun upcoming months.I wanted to share a recipe of Pumpkin Chocolate Chip cookies that I make this time a year alot! They are delicious and so easy to make!

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies

1 spice cake mix
1 can of pumpkin
3/4 cinnamon chips ( you can usually find them at walmart this time of year)
3/4 semi sweet chocolate chips


Blend cake mix and pumpkin. Stir in chips. Scoop on cookie sheet. Bake at 350 for 10min.Enjoy!

*if you can't find cinnamon chips or don't want to use them just use 1 1/2 cups of chocolate chips.

I AM....

• I am: content
  
• I think: we will have leftovers tonight.
  
• I know: The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints is the only true church on the Earth today.
  
• I want: new Kitchen rugs,jucuzzi, more green grass and more flowers.
  
• I have: alot to be grateful for.I am very blessed.
  
• I dislike: contention,scary movies,liars,flaky people.
  
• I miss: my sister Karen.We are very close,which is ironic because growing up,all we did was fight until she left for college.
  
• I fear: death or my husband or kids dying.
  
• I feel: guilty for not working out this morning.
  
• I hear: Liz's playlist on my computer.
  
• I smell: my vanilla icecream with cocoa on top.yummy!
  
• I crave: love
  
• I cry: whenever there is something to cry about..happy or sad.
  
• I usually: try and do my best.
  
• I search: for ways to be a better mom.
  
• I wonder: when Van will be completely potty-trained.
  
• I regret: alot of things.I am so grateful for repentence.
  
• I love: shopping,movies,Computer,FOOD,Dates with my hubby and friends and family.
  
• I care: too much sometimes.
  
• I always: try to be the best person I can be. Wife,Mother,Friend....
  
• I worry: that I won't raise my kids the best way there is,so they will be righteous.
  
• I am not: as organized as I would like to be.
  
• I believe: I will be the first in line for "twilight" the movie.=)
  
• I sing: with my kids in the car,and with my nursery kids,
  
• I don't always: get the things done I want to during the day.
  
• I argue: with my kids too much.
  
• I write: poems.Haven't in a while.Need too.
  
• I win: in the husband department.I am so happy to be married to my best friend and the hottest man on the planet.=)
  
• I lose: my keys all the time,atleast for a little while.
  
• I wish: James's business will take off and he will have to hire on other people so he won't have to do everything by himself.
  
• I listen: to music on my Ipod. I love the invention of the Ipod!
  
• I can usually be found: on the computer.=)
  
• I am scared: of people I care about getting hurt.physically and emotional.
  
• I forget: things more than I like.What is wrong with my brain?
  
• I am happy: when James and the kids are around and everyone is getting along.
  
• I am.......tagging you.

Treasures from "Oh Sweet Sadie"

I have been looking forward to "Oh Sweet Sadie" ,which is a gift and art show.All the proceeds went to a family in need. The parents of 4 young kids were in a plane crash and were badly burned.It warms my heart to be apart of a giving community to raise money for this wonderful family. I attended the one on saturday in Daybreak. My Mom and I went and had a wonderful time. There was alot of fun things to buy,but alas there is that money thing that gets in the way of all that I wanted to buy. I did treat myself to a hat and scarf. Not quite yet the weather for it,but soon it will be and I will be nice and toasty.

Ok I am feeling more in control...

Update... I am feeling better and more in charge. I think my overwhelmness had alot to do that I was exhausted. I have been feeling better and in control. Its only for this school year anyway. I can do this.But if anybody has any tips on potty-training 3 kids at one time let me know. We start this next week.=)

What was I thinking???

What was I thinking,when I told my sister I would care for her 3 1/2 twin boys,5 days a week all day? I know what I thought. I love her and her kids and wanted to help her out. I like to help when I can.That's the kind of person I am. I am gluten for punishment.j/k I am hoping it was just because I was tired today and it was the first day of getting used to this new schedule that I felt overwhelmed and exhausted by the time they left.I could barely cook dinner for my own kids.Yup,kids that's right it is Chicken Nugget Night!I will post pics of the adorable rascals soon!