Tradition

When I was growing up we had a tradition that I have kept up with my family. My grandma and grandpa would get all of us grandkids pj's for Christmas. And we would open them Christmas eve so we could wear them to bed that night. So Derick and I have kept this up. Our little Angel Dakota gets the kids PJ's every year and we open them on Christmas Eve!

Christmas Eve

This year for Christmas Eve we went bowling at the Casino in Camp Verde. Derick had to work so it was just the kids, grandpa Randy, Nana Janel and me. I love taking the kids bowling it is so much fun to see them get so excited that the ball rolled down the lane. They don't care if it even hits any pins!

Here is Grandpa Randy and his little twin Kyton just waiting for their turn to bowl!

Brock, he is getting very good at this game and does care if the ball hits any pins or not. We tried talking him into not using the bummper pads but he did anyway.

Kayda would roll her ball the turn around everytime before the ball even got down the lane. What a little goof ball.

Brock would help Mckya roll her ball (that way it would make it down the lane). Mckya of course would dance all the way up to the lane, after she threw the ball, and while she was waiting. Poor girl I think she thinks that whenever there is any music on she has to dance. But it sure is SUPER CUTE to watch her enjoy every minute of life!

After bowling we drove around to look at lights but nobody really did lights this year. Bummer.

Girls day

Friday December 23rd, The girls and I went and got pedicures! It was so fun to take the little ones, they got to sit in their own chairs, soak their feet, and get the whole pedicure! Massage and paint. We all got snowflakes painted on our toes!

Mckya picked the color brown and got a white snow flake with gold sparkles. It turned out very cute!

Kayda did the purple , with white and sliver snowflake!

I love sitting there and releaxing having someone rub my legs ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh. Oh I got a dark reddish purpleish with a sliver snowflake, and Janel got kinda of the same color with a white snowflake. It was good to have a girls (plus Kyton) day. Derick had to work (poor guy) and Brock went with Grandpa Randy to learn some very useful plumbing tricks! I am so GLAD that my dad and stepmom were able to come and vist with us.

I would like to send a HUGE thank you out to my dad and Janel for all the hard work and wonderful gifts you gave me while you were here. The little things such as laundry, going through the kids clothes, organizing the rooms, helped me more than you know. It helped make my life a little easier! Thanks guys!

One thing us Fringers are very good at is sleeping...

Pictures are worth a 1000 words...

True Best Friends!

Mckya and her friend Miley are just so cute together! They were playing hide and seek and this is where they hid together, in a drawer! They both fit and they just cuddled up right next to each other! Later that night they would just sit and talk with each other all night. Its a good thing my best friend has a daughter for my little gal too!

Christmas parade

This post is almost a week late but better late than never right! Saturday December 10th was our city's Christmas Parade. Derick had to work so the kids and I bundled up good and headed out.

We went to a friends house\hotel and got the perfect seats. Their hotel is right on main street and we had the curb to ourselves! (well with their family as well!) It was so cold and it started to rain on top of it! Really rain and then snow! The few days a year that it snows in Cottonwood and it was during the parade! 

For those looking at this pictures, yes that is my bathroom mat you see the kids seating on! I thought that would work better to sit on then my trying to haul chairs and blankets. Plus the mat has the rubbery bottom already that made it nice and dry to sit on. So I give you all permission to copy me in the future! 

Its dinner time!

I have got these kids trained! I am sitting on the couch with my little man while the kids make chicken noodle soup! They are cutting up all the veggies that they want in the soup. Then we dump them in a pot with some chicken and yummy stuff Derick made all ready and we got dinner!

Some highlights of my job!

So at work there was this baby girl that would not settle down. And for some odd reason she would only stop crying when I had her. Well I was running around doing my job and I needed to go into the OR to do my midnight duties and clean a few instruments. So the little gal got all dressed up with me and off we went! All the nurses were laughing at me and said how they just love how I think! Hey I am a mom of 5 you gotta do what you gotta do!

Lifetime buddies

Last night I woke up to a whispering noise. As I rolled over in bed I saw Mckya talking to her baby brother. He was awake too, just staring at her smiling. She was just telling him stories, but she was whispering so I rolled back over and fell asleep to her stories! And when I woke again this am this is what I found! I love these two!

Update on my weight loss\gain

Well as I promised I am updating you on my biggest loser race. I have decided that I am going to gain 10% of my body weight instead of lose it. This is SOOOOO much easier! And I know that I can win. I was losing weight real good there at the begning. I then start to stay at one weight then I got it plus some back. I have notice a few things with my body that were a sign that my thyroid might be acting up again. At work one night I ordered a blood test on myself (with permission from my Midwife) to test my TSH level. (this test to see how well your thyroid is working or not working,) The normal range for this test is 0 to 4. You want your number to be in between these numbers. I am already on a high dose to keep my level normal. Well my result came back, so I printed them, layed them on the desk at work. My midwife, and the dr. that backs her, are there with a patient and we are all busy trying to avoid a c-section. After the delivery we come out to the station and sit down to chart. By this time I have forgotten that I printed my result and layed them on the desk. Well Dr. French sits in my chair (stinker he does things like this just to tease me). He sees my results and asked me how I was able to get lab to print such a result. He knows how much medicine I am currently on already ,since we had talked about it earlier that night. He was shocked that I was still standing, when he read my results. Like I said before normal limits for your TSH are 0 to 4. I am taking 50mcg already (most people are on 12.5mcg) so I should be good right?......... well my level is 100.0!! Yes that is 25x's higher than it should be. So no wonder I feel like crap, and can't lose the weight, am tired all the time, have no energy, have a weight gain, and get irritable easy! So him and my mid wife came up with a dose to try and to have me retest in 3 weeks. See here I was thinking it was all caused from 4 kids, full time job, and school. Nope!


Oh and my current weight is.........turn your head and close your eyes so I can tell you!

Kyton is growing up

My baby is growing up too fast!!! I can't handle it! Kyton is 4 months old now, he is smiling and starting to laugh. He is also finding his hands, he hasn't mastered reaching for things yet but that will be here sooner than I want. Oh and he has almost got to the point of rolling over. When Brock did these things I was so excited. Don't get me wrong I am happy Kyton is reaching his mile marks but sad too. I want him to stay a baby. That way I don't have to do the whole pregnant thing again to have another one! - am starting to understand why that one lady has 19 kids....

SWEEETTTTT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

So this post I did from my phone!!! Pretty cool!

We spent lunch at daddy's work!

Last week the kids and I had the Saturday off and nothing planed. (yeah you read that right I said nothing planed!) So I loaded the kids up and took them to Derick's work for lunch! There are moments in my life that I forget that I have 4 children under the age of 8. Derick works at a 5 star resort in Sedona. So why would I even attempt to take 4 young kids to this place for lunch? Like I have mentioned eariler I do not think I have enough stress in my life and I love to liv'n it up a bit every now and then.

I was wrong the kids were very well behaved and we recieved many complents on how well behave our children were. Derick had all the gals from work in love with all 4 of the kids by the time we left. Because this was a nice resturant that we ate at, the kids got their chocolate milk served in wine glasses for fun. The girls thought this was the coolest thing ever! I do have to admit I thought it was a cute and fun thing they did for us.

If you are wondering, yes we did have to pay for our meal. We got 25% off and it still cost us $60.00 for lunch....ugh but sometimes spending that much is fun. It makes you feel rich. Then you get home and eat mac and cheese for dinner and back to the real life it is!

Ballet, Grandmas Sue and Aunit Nini

So I know that this post is late. But I forgot my camera when we went to the ballet and Nicki would not give me the pictures of Kayda till after she posted them first. Well the little stinker still has done neither. So you will get the pictures from my phone.
My mom and sister drove down for the weekend to come see Kayda's dance. Friday Nicki and I went out for our sister time, that was LONG over due. We went to my favorite Nail and Spa place, we got pedicures done. I splurged and got both of us hot stone massages! SO WORTH IT!!!!


Satuday night we went to Kayda's dance. And I was worried about Kayda being shy and not willing to go up on stage. Well was I wrong. She LOVED it! She kept smiling and waving at us. And after the curtain closed on her scence she peek out the side and blew kisses to the whole crowd...

Never a dull moment in my house hold.

Here we go!!!

Kayda is in ballet and has her first performance this saturday and sunday!! This is her costume she is a table flower in Beauty and the Beast! Look how beautiful she is!! Mama and Papa are so proud!

A word to the un-wise man

The most important relationship in the world is that between a husband and his wife. Ok that being said the second most important relationship is that between to girl-friends.

My best friend Jenni and I are close, we have shared early marriages, being pregnant, child birth, divorce of our parents, and learning how to me a mom and wife together. We are always running between jobs, kids activities, housework, and errands. But once a week we make time for us. Now like I mentioned above there are a few things that we don't share (because they are between husband and wife) but other than those few things WE SHARE EVERYTHING!

Jenni and I have learned a few tricks to get what we want, and every now and then (like once in a blue moon) we will slip and be caught in one of our tricks by our husbands. But this is very, vert rare. And we learn from it and it NEVER happens again.

So here is my advice for you men out there. When you and your guy friend try to be sneaky, make sure that your wife is not best friends with his wife. (or know of each other in anyway to be matter of fact) because you will never, never get away with it!

(I wrote this post for men, but since I believe there are only a handful of them that will read this, it is more for the humor to us women!)

A peek into the mind of a child...

The best part of being a mother is that I often get to see into the mind of a child. (and not because I am ringing their necks causing their head to pop open)

Brock, "mom I can hear the ocean when I put these rolls to my ears." Now we have often said he is a lot like his aunt Nicki. This is a great example of Nicki. Enough said.

Kayda my dear sweet girl. Did you know that the seeds on your hamburger bun are real? Kayda informed me at dinner the other night that you can plant these and they will grow hamburgers!

Now if you lay ALL of your blankets from your room out in a line starting from your room to the living room you get a very long train track. Mckya very smart little gal.

Now for my sweet little man Kyton. He his thinking that he has the most beautiful women in the world as his mother and wants to know how he got so lucky. Ok so maybe not but a mom can hope right? On a good note, Derick has told me before that in the morning when I have fallen asleep from a nights work Kyton will be laying next to me wide awake but holding very still staring and smiling at me. He has been caught doing this more than once and for long periods of time before waking me for food.

So there you go, a peek into a child's mind. Very simple in ways and logical in others. (expect for the whole roll thing)

Big brother loves to give rides

Brock is such a good big brother look how he takes his little sisters for a ride. He does it with out being asked by his mother!

I am sitting here freezing watching them ride and I keep asking are you done yet? Its cold!

Brock is getting a dirt bike for Christmas. He does not know this yet and since he does not read my blog it is safe to post! He has been wanting a dirt bike for over a year now. So we will see how well he does. He would love to race the bike.

FALL IS HERE!!

Here we are at Grandpa Coco's! It is 56 degrees outside but feels like 30! It's cold and we love it! The older kids are helping grandpa out by raking his leaves! I think they just wanted to jump and make a bigger mess out of them.

Kayda took her job serious! She got her rake out and went to town!
Here is my little man all bundled up! Grandpa has got him and he is cooing and smiling! He his so fun to play with now.

And where is Mckya in all this hard work? Well she takes after her anut Nicki and is asleep on the couch!

Biggest Loser Race!

Well as I mentioned earlier I have joined the Biggest Loser Race that my friend Jenni has started on facebook. October 31, 2011 was the starting date. We weighed ourselves, sent Jenni a $25 check. From here we will do our best to loose 10% of our body weight, if we loose this weight Jenni will give us back the $25, if we don't, it goes into the pot. Now, whoever looses the most weight wins the pot! (So Jenni when you read this.... WATCH OUT because it looks like I will be getting myself a new outfit!) We have till January 1, 2012 (yeah all through the hoildays) to loose this weight. I am going to post for you my weight every week, this way if I see it online it will help me stay moviated to loose it all! My starting weight was 152lbs (ugh I know....) We will weigh ourselves every monday and send it in to Jenni. That way we can't cheat. (dang I am good at cheating too :) )

Now how am I going to loose this weight??? Well I have started to do a 30 minute walk everyday with the kids. (it has only been 3 days and I have lost a few pounds!) But I am going to need a TON of help on eatting right. I love food and I love to cook food. So when I am done posting this I will do my best to find some good meals online to make. I really hope I can do it. I would like to get my energy back and to not have this stuff hanging around, uninvited on my tummy.

If you have any tips, suggestion, or just want to tell me to stick with it I would love all your input! But please remember to be harsh, and to tell the truth. Oh and I have 5 other mouths to feed so I need ideas on good meals for all of us!

End of Brock's football season

It is a late post but better late than never right?! Brock's team never won a game this season so our season ended early. (They were all new players, playing teams that had 3 years on them) Next year the Marauders will kick butt, most of the kids will be playing again and on the same team. But his last game was against the Flagstaff Gaints on October 15th. There are some pictures below. Brock played Quater back this year and he did WONDERFUL! We had an end of the year party last Saturday and the kids got these really cool tropheys!
The LED light changes colors from blue to green to red and back to blue. His name, team name, and year are all engraved in the glass as well as the picture of the football and player.

These pictures are hard to see because I took them with my phones. Brock is number 54, and almost the shortest on the team. I think he is second shortest! Brock had lots of fun playing and made lots of friends that have already spent the night a few times and I can foresee many more sleepless sleep overs to come!

Another cool side note is that Derick was one of the coaches and coached with his old team mates from high school. So Derick also reconnected with a few pals and I see many more fight nights, and X-box buddies over. Good thing that I know how to cook a dang good meal for all these men! (well boys)

A day in the life of me!

As I sit here waiting for the laundry to be done so I can finish folding them, I decided I would blog a little about myself for a change. I am going to give you a glimpse into a day of my life, so sit down, buckle up and enjoy the read!

To start my day I wake at 545am to make sure Derick is up and getting ready for work. I feed Kyton, lay in bed thinking of excuses to stay in bed all day. I come up with many, but 7 o'clock rolls around and I am up getting the kids ready. Breakfast, dressed, and off to school. Now this is not as easy at it sounds. I fight with Brock to get him awake. Then comes Kayda, this is a whole war in its self! I pick out clothes for her to wear and she cry's that she doesn't like them. We go back to her closet and look for more. In the mean time I am reminding Brock that clean under is a must everyday and to get his shoes on. Finally 730 rolls around and Brock is off on the bus on his way to school. Back to Kayda, breakfast war has started. Oh boy, finally I grab Kya and Kyton and throw (well nicely place) them in the car so we can get Kayda to school. Once a t school it is another war to get her off my leg and in the classroom. Alright now I am home.

Its's time to feed Kyton! Now Mckya is a wake and I am helping her to the bathroom. Then we do the breakfast war again. My mornings are the best because after breakfast we turn Mickey Mouse on and we are good. I usually try to catch a nap now for when I work that night. At about 1130 I am getting lunch, Mckya is easy with this one. Anything that I am eating she will eat. Now this is a joy for a mother. TO ALWAYS SHARE HER FOOD, I can't remember the last meal I had where I did not have to give a bite to some cute little mouth. After lunch we jump in the shower all 3 of us. Why? Well I have tried to shower myself but then I get Mckya bringing Kyton to me by carrying his neck! So if they come in with me I get them cleaned and myself! Now for those of you wondering this takes talent that over the years I have learned, washing your hair with one hand while holding a soapy, slimy, wiggly baby!

Now its time to get Kayda. Now on different days we have different activities to attend. So we are out running around till about 5. I am then rushing to get dinner made, homework done, and get ready for work. We eat then off I go for a peaceful night (mental eye roll here) at work. I love my job, but there are many nights where if I don't pee my pants (from lack of a break) I am one LUCKY girl! And if I get a lunch we are liv'n it up! Home at 6 am just in time to pass Derick in the drive way. And my day starts over!

Don't get me wrong there are days that are different, I attempt to go shopping with 4 kids, run my errands, clean the house, etc. Now those days are fun! *sigh*

Other jobs that I have that are not listed are .... account manger, house maid, cook, taxi driver, zombie killer, make-up artist, princess dresser, poop cleaner, dog groomer, gardner, wet nurse, nail artist, hostess, ramp builder, wife, and my favorite MOMMY!

I do get my mommy time, so no need to call in the S.W.A.T. team. I get one day a week to go to lunch with my best friends Jenni and\or Heather. We try our best to make it just us but of course we usually have at least one child with us. I also get to do pedicures once every 6 weeks. And lets not forget the wonderful nights of having friends over for dinner. I love to have people over. I really do.

I have started to go back to school to finally get my Nursing degree. Why? Well I thought I had too much time on my hands and needed more to do! (mental eye roll again) And I have joined the Biggest Loser battle with Jenni to try and lose some of this baby fat left over.

So there is a small peek into a simple day of my life. I would not change a single thing about it!

(this is a picture where I am again doing more than one thing. Shaving my legs,

washing my hair, listing to Brock read, and relaxing, yes I said relaxing)