Inside the house

This was from the back of our home in Vegas. All you could see were houses. We had about 15 feet from the back of our home to the cinderblock wall and only 5 feet max on the side. Now we have 10 feet on the side and way more than 15 to the back and the lot is wider since our home is single story. We have room for a tramp, a swing set, and grass! I know this may not look big to those of you in Utah or elsewhere, but it is a huge yard for us! Plus we have a nice covered patio with stamped concrete and a fireplace right off the back corner of the house. It is so fun to have! Ammon loves it most.

Kids bathroom

Looking in from front door.

To the side of the front door

Living Room

View of kitchen from front of house .

View of kitchen from living room.

As you can see I obviously need to do some decorating! That will happen little by little. We are getting blinds next week, I hope! I feel like we are in a fishbowl! I am going to make or buy bedspreads and paint the girls beds and room. I will also paint Ammon's and get him a bedspread. It will be fun to get it all done. It will also cost money and take time to buy all the things I'd eventually like to get. But for now it is great and we love it!

Snow!

We are all so excited that it snowed! It hasn't been much, but it is cold enough that it is sticking around. We are hoping for even more. The kids are having a blast in it and it looks so pretty. We had to buy snowboots and snowpants for Ammon and Lily because they haven't needed any for a few years and what we have is way too small. We also need to get a snow shovel. Wal-mart didn't have any so I need to go to Costco. I am so glad we have a garage so I don't have to scrape the car off in the morning. Ammon wanted us to leave it out so it would have snow on it. We said NO! I think I just need to pull out some pictures from Omaha for him to look at when our cars were practically buried in the snow! Happy snow days to you all.

Our New Home

More pictures to come...

We Made It!

I feel like I dropped off the face of the earth lately! We made it safely to our new home and so did all of our stuff, phew! I was a little worried about it getting here. Now we are in the middle of unpacking and getting settled here. Ammon started school today although he really didn't want to go. I hope he is happy when I pick him up. Life is busy and crazy and will continue to be for awhile until I get everything situated. We love our new home, our neighborhood, our ward and this area. I think we will be really happy here. There are some awesome dirt trails in the foothills right behind our house. Adam and I are having a blast running on them! We can't wait for the snow. We all hope it comes soon, even though it is looking like it isn't even close. We'll keep our fingers crossed for snow by Christmas! I hope you are all well. I 'll keep you posted and hopefully some pictures of the house soon.

I hope I didn't forget anyone!

If you know of anyone who has mentioned to you that they cannot get on my blog now, will you please email me their info and I'll send them an invite? Thanks!

Friends and moving

I love a song I heard on a children's cd a few years ago,
Make new friends but keep the old
One is silver and the other gold.
Circle round that has no end
That's how long I want to be your friend.
This post is a tribute and thank you to all of my absolutely amazing and wonderful friends!
Emily I am really going to miss you! Oh great, now I am crying! Thank you so much for watching the girls for so long on Saturday and for being such a great friend. It has been a treat being your neighbor all over again, and I wish it could stay that way! I am going to miss our park days and our phone conversations and watching the kids play and become friends. Thanks for all the great times!
Margene and Bob, we are going to miss you guys so much! The girls and I will especially miss our weekly visits to Wal-Mart. What is a trip to Wal-Mart without a visit to you? We love you and appreciate you so much!
Ms. Marwitz, We are all going to miss you! Ammon has loved having you as a teacher and I am so thankful to you for all of your hard work for him and your class. Thank you so much!
Don and Kelly, Thanks so much for being great neighbors! Lily will truly miss Olivia and so will I! Natalya, Lily will really miss the dance parties and dress-ups! Thanks for being her friend.
Spencer, Ammon is going to miss playing with you at school and Emily I am going to miss you! Thanks for your recipes and creative ideas!
Sarah, I am really going to miss Sunday's in nursery with you, and all the sweet little nursery kids! I love them all!
Ben and Amanda, thank you for welcoming us into the ward and for being our friends! Thank you for the book too! You guys are great!
Thank you to all who helped load our truck and sacrificed precious Saturday time to help us out!
Thanks to the kids primary teachers and all our friends who I haven't listed by name. You are all in our hearts and in our memories forever! This is one part of moving I really don't like. I dread saying goodbye to friends and memories. It all happens so quick and you never realize just how awesome the every day things are until they are gone. We are always happy wherever we live and we always make friends and memories, but there is always the sadness of leaving what is comfortable, happy and safe right now. We are looking forward to getting settled in Reno, well actually we'll be in Sparks, and hopefully breaking a record for our length of time in one place. So far in our eight years of marriage, the longest we have been in one place is two years and nine months. Do you think we will beat it? We better!! This will be our fifth state to state or across state move in the past two and half years. I am getting tired of it, and so are our boxes! I don't think they'll make it another move, so we are saying goodbye to them forever when we unpack them. Thank you boxes for lasting for so long. I get confused about what is in each box because there is so much crossed out and written around it... It's almost like reading a story when you read our boxes! Ha ha.
Thank you again to all of my amazing friends I have made here and to all I have made in all the other places we have lived. We love you and we will miss you!

Privacy Please

Okay, I had a good chat on the phone with my dad last night and he expressed his concern about my blog being public. I have been wanting to go private but haven't because of the extra hassle of signing in and not wanting to leave someone out that wanted to view it. I feel much better about making it private though. So, I will add anyone whose emails I already have, but if I don't have your email and you want to be added, leave me your address. I will be going private within the week. Sorry to any who this may inconvenience.

Broken Bones! Ouch!

My poor little Ammon broke both bones in his forearm yesterday at the park. He was running across the playground when a 10 or 11 year old boy jumped from a swing and crashed into him. Ammon land on his belly on top of his left arm, and he is left-handed! I had my back to him when it happened but as soon as he screamed I knew it was him and that it was probably not a simple little owie. I gathered the kids and drove home, which is only a few minutes away. He had calmed down a little in the car but as soon as we got home and he tried to get out of the car I knew we were going to end up at the hospital or Urgent Care. He started screaming and wouldn't move his arm at all. I called Adam and he said to call Shaun (our brother-in-law who is an orthopaedic doctor). Shaun was great! He calmed Ammon down and got his mind off the pain for a few minutes! Shaun we wish you were closer! Watching Ammon's face as he talked was so sad. He was trying so hard not to cry and be big and brave but I could tell he was really hurt. It is so hard for me to see my kids in pain! I wanted to cry for him! Shaun said he needed x-rays so we headed off to the ER. Thankfully we got right in, and Adam got there right after us. Ammon was glad to have daddy there. He started crying when we pulled in and Adam wasn't there yet. He was much happier after Adam got there. It did take awhile for them to get him some medicine and to get his x-rays, but we survived. The doctor said it is a non-displaced fracture in both bones. They put a splint on him and gave him a sling too. Ammon is excited about getting a cast, but not about all the pain. We go to the orthopaedic doctor tomorrow and if it isn't too swollen he will get a cast. It could be on for four to six weeks and he may need two or three casts depending on how dirty and loose they get. This will be a spendy bill! It is worth it for him to heal though. I hope it stops hurting soon. We keep doing Motrin every six hours. Thankfully he is being sooooo good. We are already on our third movie today. He and Lily are LOVING it. We don't watch TV very often so they are thrilled. I hope tonight goes well. He only woke up once last night! I slept with him for a bit and he told me this morning that he slept better when mommy was with him! I love you Ammon!

Of course my batteries in my camera died when we got to the hospital so I don't have any pictures of how sad but cute he looked in his wheelchair with his arm propped up on the pillow. He seriously was darling. He was so brave! I kept telling him he could cry if he needed to. He was on the verge of tears but held them back even when they tried moving his arm and touching it to find out where it hurt. He was awesome! Braver than me! I started feeling a little faint when they were wrapping it up and moving it around and I had to sit down. Can you imagine if I had passed out?! I tell you, I really don't do well with my kid's owies. The other night Ammon had a bloody nose and I felt like I was going to pass out as I was helping him try to stop it. I had to sit down then too. Oh dear I am really in for it!

Jinxed!

So I finally finished unpacking about three weeks ago. I unpacked my doll cabinet, all the boxes of books, and kind of put things together. Adam also changed his cell to our area code, and we finally got new drivers licences. So, did we jinx ourselves or what?! Moral of my story, never finish unpacking and you'll never move!

Adam's Birthday

Okay, this post is late, but I am still trying to catch up! Adam turned 32 OCtober 19th. We went boating the Friday before his birthday and had tons of fun. We got him a wetsuit, but it hadn't arrived yet, but thankfully he didn't need it! It is so awesome that we are still able to be out enjoying the lake in October and November. Adam is glad that I am enjoying boating so much. It is all new to me. He grew up around boats and it was a big part of growing up for him so he is seasoned...I on the other hand am learning about it all. He is VERY patient with me. Poor guy! I know I am not the best at driving when he is slaloming, but he says I am fine and he is glad I am willing to do it. So, we are having a blast and were so glad to use the boat his birthday weekend.
We had raspberry waffles and orange juice for breakfast and then the kids sent him on a hunt to find his gifts. They like to play the hot-cold game. It is so funny. Ammon kept giving things away. "Oh dad, look right over there next to the doll house!" He is hilarious. He also kept saying, "Mom, we are missing the present with the fishies, or the chocolate covered raisins..." He cracks me up. I guess the kids have caught on to the fact that you can't tell them what it is before their special day, but once the day arrives, they spill the beans! Like last year. Adam kept trying to get Lily to tell him what his presents were but she wouldn't say a word. The morning of his birthday, as soon as she woke up, she came in our room and said "Happy Birthday daddy! We got you fishies, and chocolate covered raisens, and..." and told him exactly everything we had gotten him. She was so proud of herself for waiting until his birthday to tell him too! It was so cute. As you can tell, a yearly repeat on the gifts is sweedish fish and chocolate covered raisens, two of his favorite treats. After his hunt we nibbled on treats and the kids helped me make a chocolate cake. They had a blast frosting it. When Lily was finished with her turn, the spatula was covered in frosting and so was she. We were all pretty sugared out before church, but we were ready for more after dinner. We had Bob and Margene over for dinner, roast and potatoes, Adam's favorite, and cake and ice cream. We had a fun day. We love birthdays! I love you Adam and hope you did have an aweome birthday!

Halloween

What a fun and busy week! Monday we carved pumpkins for Family Home Evening. We put Vaseline all inside Lily's and hers really ended up looking better. Ammon's poor pumpkin started caving in, but Lily's still looks great. Thurday Ammon had a party at school and we went and joined him to help out. I was in charge of the Marshmallow Toss game. They had to put a large marshmallow in their mouth and spit it into the mouth of a pumpkin on the wall. It was pretty hilarious and a bit disgusting too. Some of the kids had no problem picking up marshmallows off the floor to enjoy! Gross! I did the best I could to keep them in the garbage, but once in awhile, someone would would sneak one, yuck! Ammon did really well. Most of the kids weren't able to spit it out of their mouths. Boy, Ammon must have some awesome lungs because he could not only spit it out, but shoot it out! Way to go Ammon. Lily had fun coloring and sitting by her big brother for lunch. They had tons of treats. Anna also had a blast chomping on pizza, cookies, marshmallows and juice. Thursday night we went to the church for a Trunk or Treat party combined with four wards from our stake. They did an awesome job. We had lots of fun but avoided anything spooky. Last week we went to the Spooktacular at Ammon's school and went to the haunted house there. BIG MISTAKE! I couldn't believe how scary it was. We have had a rough week with Lily being scared and having bad dreams. So, we tried to avoid anything scary, which is really hard for Halloween. The kids enjoyed their rootbeer and cotton candy from the trunk or treat, and I loved eating a scone with honeybutter. It's been awhile since I have had scones. My mom makes the BEST scones ever, I love them! So, the trunk or treat was fun and safe and not too scary. We made sure to avoid the Spook Alley that Adam was in charge of with the young men from the ward. Ammon and Lily didn't want to get near it! For Halloween we went and saw Bob and Margene and then came back home to trick or treat. The kids didn't want to go to many doors because they were scared. Silly kids! Lily would walk half way up to a door and then change her mind. They started complaing that they didn't have very much candy and we told them that they had to be brave and go to the doors if they wanted treats. They finally started going to more doors toward the end of the night and made out with quite a lot of candy. I think I will buy their candy from them again this year and take them shopping for a toy. I can't stand having that much candy around, or having them eat that much. Anna loved everything about Halloween, including her costume! I was so happy she wore it because it was a lot of work to make it! Well, not so much hers, but just making all the costumes together. It was fun and I am glad I did it. They all love theirs and now they each have a new pair of warm winter pj's! Anna made the CUTEST duck ever! Everyone who saw her commented on how cute she loooked and she knows what attention is so she would just smile and nod yes when they asked her if she was a duck. She was hilarious. She even has a perfect little waddle like a duck. I am glad I went with the duck idea and not Yoda, we had considered a Star Wars theme for the family, but changed our minds. She was absolutely darling and I think she had fun! All in all we had a great time. It is nice not to freeze on Halloween like we did in Omaha. It is so nice here! But, back to the cold we go. We decided to transfer to Reno. Goodby nice winter, hello SNOW!

Swamped!

Okay I am so behind! Why do I find that it is so hard to take just a few minutes to post? I had a friend compare motherhood(well I am sure it is really just life in general for anyone, including busy dads!) to shoveling snow while it's still snowing! Is that perfect or what?! So, it's been snowing a lot for me lately. I will attempt to eventually catch up... I have had a sick baby, trying to get ready for Adam's birthday, trying to create a DVD for my RS class, sewing Halloween costumes, trying to rid our food storage and house of weevils, so gross, boating, yes I did say boating! We bought a boat about a month ago and we have LOVED it! Ammon named it Roogy. It is so much fun to go out and I have never loved wake boarding so much in my whole life! So basically we have been SUPER busy and we may be getting even busier, we are considering another move! Yes you heard me right. I think subconsciously Adam and I must love moving. Sad! I'll keep you posted, I promise. It won't be a new job, just a transfer within Adam's firm to their Reno office.

Silly Lily!

Lilian cracks me up! I think four-year-olds must say the funniest things! I was doing her hair the other day and we couldn't find one of her clips. She said, "I am so sorry I lost it mom." I told her, "It's not a big deal, it's just a clip. I'm sure we'll find it, it's probably just lying around here somewhere." Lily said, "Or it's probably standing up."! She is hilarious!

Then, that same day we were out running errands and when we stopped at a light there was a man doing jumping jacks at the corner, he was being very enthusiastic about it too. Lily piped up and said, "What is that guy doing!?" She was very confused, I wish you could have heard the way she said it. I told her he was exercising and she said, "Or maybe he just needs to go potty really bad!" I about peed my pants I laughed so hard! I am glad she makes me laugh so much!

I Love My Kids!

After I tucked Ammon and Lily in last night and put Anna down, I went back in to check on the kids. Ammon was still awake and asked me if I would cuddle with him for a little bit. I haven't snuggled him in so long I can't even remember. So, of course I said YES! I got in his bed and we talked about school, his friends, how much he is learning, if he is happy, which I am glad he said yes, and just talked. It was so fun. Why haven't I done it more? I need to stop rushing from one thing to the next and savor every minute with my kids. Ammon is sweet and affectionate at home and I know he loves mommy, but sadly we have moved on to high-fives at the bus stop. Silly boy, I guess he must be embarrassed that I want to hug him in front of his friends. Oh well, at least he still wanted me to climb in his bed! I also got to snuggle Lily last night. She woke up around 3:00 with a bad dream and so I decided to climb in her bed. She cuddled right up to me and shared her blanket and went right back to sleep. I wasn't sleeping well so I decided it was a good use of my time. Then Anna woke up and cried for awhile, which is very unusual, so I went in and cuddled her in my arms and rocked her in the rocking chair for a bit. I didn't really sleep from 2:00 to 4:00, but I got some awesome time with my kids and it was worth it! I must have been tired this morning because I woke up to Ammon and Lily laughing and talking about a cat outside on our front porch at 7:00. I am usually up way before them, so it was kind of strange to wake up to their sweet laughter, but a great way to wake up!

Lily's Animals

Lily loves animals! She carries them everywhere with her. She does their hair, feeds them, takes them for walks, talks to them like they are real, sleeps with them, you name it, she does it for them. She and pink puppy, the little poodle she got from Levi and Nicki as a baby is her favorite. She breaks into tears every night if she leaves her downstairs when she is ready to be tucked in. I tell you, if we ever loose her, Lily will be hysterical. I should probably buy an extra to keep on hand just-in-case. Well, today Lily is at a dancing party with her best-friend Natalya. She wanted to take her animals with her, I told her no. In the picture you'll notice that she has a bow in Lion's hair. I can never find Anna's bows, let alone a matching one because they are in the car, in Lily's room, in her animals hair... Lily is so sweet and she really loves her animals. I love you Lily!

Too Much

Okay so I felt soooo good yesterday I thought I could get back to normal. I went grocery shopping, vacuumed, cleaned the kitchen, made dinner, all the stuff I normally do, except I drove to the bus stop instead of walking, thankfully... Anyway, I was feeling so well, I even considered going running this morning. Ha ha! Well, I paid for it last night. I felt awful all night and realized that even though I felt great, I am going to have to take it easy for awhile longer. No running for me until next week, or maybe even later, Argh!

Anna's Newest Feat

Okay, so Anna is my little climber. Crazy girl will climb on anything. This week she has mastered the kitchen table and chairs! This could be bad. I am getting out the bungee cords right now and strapping the chairs to the table so she can't do this anymore. A fall from the table to the floor could be a disaster. Yes, I am listening this time!

Why Don't I Listen?

You know the Primary song that goes, "Listen to the still small voice! Listen! Listen! When you have to make a choice, He will guide you, always."? Well, I don't know why always think that when I have a thought, that it is my own, and not from the Holy Ghost. It is amazing all the small and simple things He will whisper to me about and because they are so small and simple, I think it is only me. I could certainly save myself a lot of grief and stress and coulda shoulda woulda's if I'd only learn to listen. It is a gift you know, so why don't I use it all the time? Does anyone else have this problem?
So here is my simple story. Last night after I bathed Anna, I didn't have any diapers for her at the changing table so I put her shirt on took her into my bathroom to check on Ammon who was in my shower and for me to use the bathroom. I had the thought, Anna always pees on your bathroom floor after a bath, you should go downstairs and get her diaper on first. Well, I really needed to use the bathroom so I ignored my thought and went in to the bathroom. Ammon was shaving the bar of soap with my razor and I told him that was dangerous and to put it back up on the shelf. I thought, I should just take it away right now. Well, Ammon is a smart boy you know, and he knew it was sharp, I thought, and so I thought he would just put it right away. Well, while I was in using the bathroom he, being the sweet boy that he is, didn't want to leave my razor dirty, and attempted to clean the soap out the blade using his thumb! OUCH! The poor kid cut his thumb up, but thankfully it wasn't too bad. Well, while I was looking at his thumb, Anna slipped and fell. Yes, she peed on the tile and it was slippery, of course, and she fell. Thankfully she didn't fall hard. I moved her away from it and grabbed a towel to clean it up so she didn't fall again. Ammon left the bathroom right as I was grabbing the towel and Anna ran to follow him out, I thought, Hurry and grab her so she doesn't fall. Stupid me, I thought I could get the towel down in time and grab her, but because I didn't listen immediately, she hit her puddle of pee right before I grabbed her and went down smack on her back. The back of her head hit the tile floor so hard! I felt terrible. So then I was all stressed out about her head. I grabbed her and snuggled her and eventually dried her off and got a diaper on her. She calmed down fine and acted normal. I kept checking her eyes with the flashlight to make sure they were dilating normally. Everything seemed and still seems fine, but I still feel terrible! I was worried about her all night. Every time I woke up I went in to check on her to make sure she was okay. So, I could have saved myself a lot of sadness and my kids a lot of pain if I had only listened! So next time you have a simple thought, follow through. You may never know why or ever realize it saved you from something, but wouldn't you rather it be that way? I know I would!

Not so fun

My post today is not a fun one but since my blog is sort of my journal, I wanted to post about it. WARNING, it's a little gross and personal so you don't have to read it. On Sunday morning I started miscarrying. At first I kind of hoped I was maybe bleeding just a little and everything would be fine. By Sunday night I was bleeding a lot and having lots of cramping. I didn't sleep well because I was having contractions all night that felt like after-birth pains. Monday I woke up feeling pretty well and wasn't contracting too much and wasn't really bleeding so I decided I felt well enough to go to my two visiting teaching appointments I had scheduled last week. Everything was fine until I had to stand up and then it really started. I bled all over my friends living room carpet and I couldn't do anything to stop it. Mind you that I did have on one of Anna's diapers and that wasn't helping. I got to the bathroom as fast as I could and was in there for 30 minutes trying to clean up. I just kept bleeding and bleeding. All the while Anna was screaming because mommy wasn't with her. I felt so bad. I was truly embarrassed. My sweet friend and visiting teaching companion were so kind about it all. They were so helpful and concerned. Thankfully I was able to make it home, I was looking pretty pale, and feeling a little faint, but I was fine. Anna went down for a nap and I tried to relax a little. Every time I would try to stand up I would start dropping blood out of me. I don't know if you've ever experienced this before. It is worse than just a super-heavy period. I was losing tons of clumps of blood. It is a strange feeling to have something falling out me that I have no control over. This is the third time I've experienced this. The first was when I went into labor with the twins in 2005 and then again in 2006 when I had my first miscarriage. Anyway, I hope you never have to go through it, it's not fun! One time I stood up in the kitchen and blood fell down my pants to the floor. I was too messy to clean up with wipes so I grabbed a towel and wrapped it around me and tried to sneak upstairs without Lily seeing me. That didn't work and she was really concerned about my cut because of the blood all over my legs. I told her I had a little owie and that mommy was fine. After I showered I showed her I wasn't bloody and that I was OK. I hope she isn't permanently scarred from that! I am so glad Ammon was at school. He just thinks mommy is sick. Well, after Anna woke up from her nap I was having a hard time taking care of her and trying to clean up after myself and I was bleeding so much I was spending all my time in the bathroom, but didn't even have the strength to keep doing that. I finally called Adam at 1:30 because I felt like I was starting to pass out. Unfortunately I am far too familiar with the sensations that come right before you pass out, fuzzy feeling in my ears, then they start ringing, the room starts looking fuzzy, and then things turn black and your head feels so strange. Thankfully I made it to the floor before my body forced my there. I started feeling better after laying there for a few minutes. Thank goodness to my sweet Lily. She was such a big helper. She got me everything I needed and was helping me with Anna until Adam made it home. Adam is my hero! I am so thankful for him. He kept calling me all day to see how was doing and I kept telling him I was fine. I told him I'd call him if I passed out. But then when I started feeling like I was going to I realized that it was probably a better idea to call him before I passed out! I am so glad he came home. He was a lifesaver. He took care of the kids, me, cleaned the house, and kept everyone happy. He was super busy at work too so I felt bad for calling him to come home, but he said he was happy to help me because I am more important than his work! I love you Adam! While he was on his way home I called my midwife and she gave me some good tips. I put a pinch of nutmeg under my tongue to help my uterus contract so it would pass everything. I was amazed at how quickly and well it worked. Caution, don't use more than a 1/4 tsp or it will drop your blood pressure and cause lots of problems. I am thankful to my midwives who helped me out. I am also glad I didn't have to go to the hospital and have a D&C. Those are not fun and last time I had one I had an allergic reaction to the general anesthesia and I felt like it took me about two months to get back to normal. I was losing so much blood that I was afraid I might have to go and get one. Thankfully my bleeding started to slow down and so I didn't have to go. I am hoping I have passed everything. Time will tell, but I am feeling so much better today. I still feel a little weak and get lightheaded if I am up for too long, but compared to yesterday I feel awesome! Ammon asked me this morning, "Mommy why aren't you crawling anymore? Are you all better?" He is so sweet. Yes, I did crawl a lot yesterday because I could get around that way without feeling like I was going to pass out and no I am not crawling around today! I am sad I lost the baby, but thankfully neither Adam or I have felt like it was real. Both times I have miscarried I have felt like it wasn't right. I am thankful for those feelings because they help ease the emotional pain that comes with a miscarriage. I honestly am doing fine. I got a little sad today because I looked up the size of an 11 1/2 week fetus and was surprised at how much like a baby it already looks. I need to not waste my time thinking about it because it doesn't help. I am just so thankful for my three beautiful healthy children. They are such a joy and bring me so much happiness. I hugged and kissed them a little tighter yesterday and today. Things like this always make me realize how lucky and blessed I already am. I have everything I could ever ask for. Like the song on my blog by Sarah Maclachlan, Ordinary Miracle, "Life is like a gift they say wrapped up for you everyday...It seems so exceptional that things just work out after all, it's just another ordinary miracle today..." I hope I can get pregnant again, but not until I get back to normal. I have a few gaols, to get in better shape and eat healthier too. I know the better I take care of myself the easier my pregnancy will be and the healthier I eat, I think it decreases my chances for a future miscarriage. Hopefully next time everything will work out and I will be able to make a post with good news about a baby, but for now, all is well and I am happy. Oh, everything came out of my friend's carpet and she brought me dinner too! Thanks Kim!

Mr. Peabody's Apples

How do you get the image of the book on your blog? You'll have to click on the box to see the cover, sorry I am not computer savvy!

The kids and I just read a great book that I wanted to share. Surprisingly it was by Madonna. I was pleased that she wrote a book that actually taught something good. Maybe I am passing judgement on her as she tells us not to in her book? Anyway, this book was awesome and the art work was fantastic! The kids loved the story and the pictures and I loved the message it taught. It tells about Mr. Peabody, who is a teacher and a baseball coach in a small town. Every Saturday after his game he stops at the market and picks a red apple from the stands outside and goes on his way. Well, one day a boy sees him and tells others and they watch the next week and soon all of the town thinks he is a thief and then none of the boys show up for his game on Saturday. He finds out and works it out with the boy. He always pays for his apple on Saturday mornings when he picks up his milk. He teaches the little boy that it would be impossible to undo the damage he caused by what he told the townspeople, just like gathering all the feathers from a torn feather pillow on a windy day. So, be careful of what you say and think of others because you never know their circumstances. I thought it was great advice, thanks Madonna!

Ten Rules of Happiness

1. Develop yourself by self-discipline.
2. Joy comes through creation, sorrow through destruction.
3. Do things which are hard to do.
4. Entertain uplifting thoughts.
5. Do your best this hour, and you will do better the next.
6. Be true to those who trust you.
7. Pray for wisdom, courage, and a kind heart.
8. Give heed to God’s messages.
9. True friends enrich life; if you would have friends, be one.
10. Faith is the foundation of all things, including happiness.
David O. McKay