tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-50890857144307730722024-02-18T19:45:45.433-07:00Pressing Forward with FaithMelissahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05785606622208818419noreply@blogger.comBlogger212125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5089085714430773072.post-79268833037037743762013-12-10T07:06:00.000-07:002013-12-10T07:06:03.810-07:00Christmas LetterWe have told our children that this year we are going non-electronic for Christmas gifts. Basically no video games. When I got home from my volleyball game the other night a note was waiting for me in the hallway from my 11-year old.
Melissahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05785606622208818419noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5089085714430773072.post-55494282022737140352013-11-23T08:29:00.004-07:002013-11-26T11:21:56.293-07:00A Pretty CakeI have to post a picture of one of my best cakes! and simplest.
My baby girl turned 10! She wanted a Furby cake. or maybe Hunger Games (she was Katniss for Halloween). I still want her to like ponies and princesses. But she is growing up!
I had considered a Furby cake but seemed too hard for my state of mind. When Brennen was 2 I made a carousel cake for him Melissahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05785606622208818419noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5089085714430773072.post-44443969381153444632013-11-11T12:23:00.001-07:002013-11-13T20:58:18.431-07:00Think. Click. Succeed!It had been a challenging autumn with my hubby gone. It would be for anyone. But throw in sending off a missionary (so many emotions), my difficult 11 year old (who just started middle school which is change equals hard for him plus his dad being gone-more change) and my battle with depression/anxiety into the mix and life was very overwhelming for me at times to say the least. It Melissahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05785606622208818419noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5089085714430773072.post-89045033200742008362013-11-05T11:41:00.000-07:002013-11-13T10:05:40.872-07:00WallpaperWhen I hear the word "wallpaper" I think of bedroom walls with decorated paper on them. You can tell what generation I am from. I don't think my kids even know what that kind of wallpaper is (we don't currently have any on walls in our house).
But they know about wallpaper on computers and phones. My 7 year-old had my phone the other day and asked if he could change my Melissahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05785606622208818419noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5089085714430773072.post-87142125437702649912013-10-31T20:05:00.000-06:002013-11-13T10:03:20.791-07:00My Music ManBrennen was on the front page of the paper last week with his school choir pictured during their concert.
(well I can't upload the photo here because it is private or copywritted and I am not very good at all this computer stuff anyway. I need B's help. or I need to take a photo of the newspaper)
And he name was mentioned in the article:
"At the end of Melissahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05785606622208818419noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5089085714430773072.post-63926078981718670612013-10-28T21:38:00.000-06:002013-11-13T10:04:39.737-07:00I'm So Glad When Daddy Comes Home......Glad as I can be!
Our daddy has returned home at last! Hooray. He has been in Utah training for his new business for the past month and got home this past Saturday night. Which means I have been a "single" parent. Wow! It was harder than I thought. I sure salute all those single parents out there. And I don't even have a job.
One of the hardest things about him Melissahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05785606622208818419noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5089085714430773072.post-91502414692076200392013-10-02T13:38:00.002-06:002013-11-13T10:05:15.057-07:00New Adventures
Scott had his last day working as controller at the college on Sept 13. He is now training and learning how to be a freight broker, as he bought a freight business to run with his brother. Somebody very creative who he worked with at the college made the following going away gift.
notes on mailing labels on a freight box --very fun.
And since his last Melissahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05785606622208818419noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5089085714430773072.post-37980820310235843292013-09-06T12:54:00.001-06:002013-11-13T10:07:32.436-07:00Summer Wrap UpSchool has started and I have the house to myself again. It's pretty quiet.
Three different schools this year--
Brennen 11th grade
Andy 6th grade
Janessa 4th grade
Cameron 2nd grade
Here is a recap of our summer: (more pics later)
A family vacation to Washington DC for a week to see Melissahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05785606622208818419noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5089085714430773072.post-12880178143997253402013-05-27T09:00:00.002-06:002013-11-13T10:07:53.985-07:00Think Happy Thoughts
Last year I went to Time Out for Women and saw Hilary Weeks. She gave a talk about positive thoughts and how using a clicker (counter) to keep track of every positive thought leads you to be happier and more productive and all that good stuff. She has also made a website billionclicks.org where people all over are logging in their clicks to see if we can reach one billion happy Melissahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05785606622208818419noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5089085714430773072.post-1542007409156230072013-05-06T11:32:00.001-06:002013-11-13T10:08:03.055-07:00 A "Ta Da" MomentI read a great article a while ago about "moments of awesome." We aren't perfect and make mistakes but once in a while we have moments of awesome and we need to celebrate and feel good about those moments instead of feeling bad that we have shortcomings.
Well, I don't know how awesome it was, but I did have a "Ta-Da moment" yesterday. I actually remembered before 7:30 this morning Melissahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05785606622208818419noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5089085714430773072.post-8722120294335435112013-05-02T09:18:00.003-06:002013-11-13T10:08:45.237-07:00A New and Improved MonthToday is the second day of May and ALL my kids are in school for two days in a row. Which is almost a record as of late.
April was sick month at my house. It actually started the last of March. Everyone in the house got sick at one time or another except Dustin. He says its cuz he stays in the basement and the rest of us have bedrooms upstairs. But only 2 people Melissahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05785606622208818419noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5089085714430773072.post-8157059488768605312013-04-28T19:29:00.001-06:002013-11-13T10:11:39.280-07:00Well, I Really Did TryFirst--
The irony:
I ended my last post with "I hope I can stay up to the challenge of being a mother to my children." Not 5 minutes after I posted that, my youngest came into the kitchen and lost his cookies all over the floor. I could not believe that I just just wrote those words and a challenge came right to me. All my kids were in bed asleep when I was blogging so I wasn't Melissahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05785606622208818419noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5089085714430773072.post-44070318797923624862013-04-21T23:20:00.000-06:002013-11-13T10:11:21.760-07:00Forever FamilyIt was 10 years ago last Friday on April 19th that we went to the temple where Andy was sealed to our family for time and all eternity. His older brothers, who were in kindergarten and 3rd grade at the time, were able to dress in white and witness the sealing. It was such a special day. I told Cameron that he and Janessa watched us from heaven. Andy was a chubby red-headed 14 Melissahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05785606622208818419noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5089085714430773072.post-19243048494311257142013-03-26T21:24:00.000-06:002013-11-13T10:10:12.178-07:002 years in Sendai JapanMy boy is leaving the country for 2 years to serve the Lord. It is what most LDS moms hope and dream and prepare their baby boys for from day one, yet when it becomes reality it is a little shocking and hard to believe.
Dustin received his call almost 2 weeks ago. He was visiting some buddies in Utah and going to 2 mission "farewells" when it came in the mail. But he didn't Melissahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05785606622208818419noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5089085714430773072.post-80665664986265033492013-03-17T16:47:00.000-06:002013-11-13T10:10:12.185-07:00Candy Bars and LegosAmazing things happened at my house the last few weeks. My kids kept their bedrooms clean! For two whole weeks! and counting...
Why? because I posted a sign that said "Calling All Berkleys. CLEAN BEDROOM CONTEST! If your room is the cleanest all week, including making your bed, you will get a king-sized candy bar on Saturday."
Of course I didn't win. My bedroom is Melissahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05785606622208818419noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5089085714430773072.post-48942136450169559262013-02-07T21:27:00.002-07:002013-11-13T10:10:12.181-07:00I Am NOT Smarter Than a 5th GraderI had been going in to Andy's math class--5th grade--to help out a bit and to see what he was doing so that I could help him at home better. The class has been learning fractions. I know how to do fractions. I know what the numerator is and the denominator is. I can simplify, add, multiply, and I think divide them. I do have a hard time drawing pictures of them sometimes Melissahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05785606622208818419noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5089085714430773072.post-8790227717884768192013-02-05T08:03:00.001-07:002013-11-13T20:59:03.013-07:00My Sad Little Man"My pants are falling down and I can't find my shoes." My six year old said sadly as he came into the kitchen the other morning. And to me that moment was so cute and precious for some reason. I really enjoy him.
He is my little detail man and usually ready for school before anyone. He wakes up, gets dressed with shoes and socks and comes out of his room dragging his Melissahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05785606622208818419noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5089085714430773072.post-55612287369760674332013-02-02T12:06:00.000-07:002013-11-13T10:13:13.470-07:00All At OnceLike an ad says: "Life comes at you fast..."
We got carpet! New carpet in most of our house--4 bedrooms, the living room and hallway. When we moved in there was only carpet in 3 rooms of the house. The rest was mostly hardwood. A year and a half ago we put some carpet in our downstairs which is just one big room and had really old tile that you used to see in Melissahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05785606622208818419noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5089085714430773072.post-60218475517606424422013-01-20T17:40:00.002-07:002013-11-13T10:15:42.865-07:00My Sister's MountainMy son gave me a Hilary Weeks CD for Christmas, and the words to the song Beautiful Heartbreak were continually going through my head the past few weeks.
"I had it all mapped out in front of me,
Knew just where I wanted to go;
But life decided to change my plans,
And I found Melissahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05785606622208818419noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5089085714430773072.post-55100863508029893842013-01-15T09:59:00.001-07:002013-11-13T10:15:28.849-07:00Nap Time?We were supposed to be getting carpet installed today. In the living room, hallway, and 4 bedrooms. However, we found out yesterday that it is back-ordered. Which I suppose is okay but I wonder if the store was going to call and tell me that. I called yesterday morning to ask some questions and that is when I learned that it won't be installed until next week.
So I didn't have Melissahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05785606622208818419noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5089085714430773072.post-21594265517424445012013-01-05T22:12:00.001-07:002013-11-13T10:14:33.908-07:00Post Holiday RamblingsWe had a very nice uneventful Holiday season, thank goodness! (because last year's season was too eventful with stomach flu, lice, and a totaled family car).
I was a little bummed that the kids didn't get out of school until Friday the 21st. and it wasn't even a half day. There just seems to be fun things to do with the kids before Christmas like frosting cookies, crafting etc.Melissahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05785606622208818419noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5089085714430773072.post-31610343040094791952012-12-21T08:54:00.003-07:002013-11-13T10:09:19.825-07:00"I said my words"I thought it was time for some more Andy on my blog. He is funny with words, mixing things up sometimes and just saying things in an odd/funny way.
1. A few weeks ago we had personal kid talks, where each of our kids gets to talk to Scott and I about whatever they want and we can see how they are doing etc. (Usually this happens when we are worried about one or more of the kidsMelissahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05785606622208818419noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5089085714430773072.post-59631911341330973992012-12-03T18:05:00.002-07:002013-11-13T10:18:23.295-07:00Christmas Time--already?Amazing that a year has passed and it is Christmas time again! We were very busy last week with holiday stuff.
Tuesday--pack meeting at the nursing home where we sang Christmas Carols and handed out ornaments the boys had made.
Thursday--Christmas parade. I was not going to go this year. J & A were invited to be on the gymnastics float, but I didn't tell them. Its Melissahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05785606622208818419noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5089085714430773072.post-7233632156770038792012-11-28T21:00:00.000-07:002013-11-13T10:13:38.255-07:00Swimming It is 8:00 p.m. I am worn out and ready for bed. And not because I cleaned house or spent too much time with the kids. Its because I went swimming--lap swimming you could say. It is tiring. This is the first time I have gone swimming for two days in a row. And I played a 3-game volleyball match last night. I think that may be way over my exercise limit Melissahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05785606622208818419noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5089085714430773072.post-21915925569368743922012-11-27T12:25:00.004-07:002012-11-27T19:45:10.660-07:00First Lost ToothThis is my last "first lost tooth." Too soon we will see the last of the tooth fairy at our house.
I took this picture to send to Cameron's doctor since it has been six weeks since his last laser treatment. She likes pictures since we don't see her between treatments. So she not only got a pic of his face but also of his proud hole in his teeth. I thought it was too Melissahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05785606622208818419noreply@blogger.com0