Vanessa turns 2

Vanessa is totally getting jipped this year but I don't think she cares too much. We made cupcakes and are going to share them after the older kids get home from school. My mom and Shamra both gave her books for her birthday. She absolutely loves being read to. This last week my niece Shamee has been back in town and has come over every day and read to the kids. It is really nice. Sunday we are having dinner at my moms and have a real cake for her. Next year I will have a bigger party for her. Parties can be pretty expensive so I have this idea to put a dollar amount on every party. Say $150. So after all expenses: cake, pinata, soda, candy and gifts are paid for the balance goes into their savings account. So if they don't get a party then that much more goes into their account. $150 seems like a lot but if you are used to doing parties or giving a Nintendo DS as a gift it doesn't stretch that far. Back to Vanessa. My 2 most favorite things about her are...1.She is absolutely adorable and I just want to squeeze her all the time. Some of the things she says are hilarious. As much as I hate to hear about farts I cannot help but laugh when she walks into a room and states. Eewwww! Stinky!! Daddy parted.

Xavier's birthday

6 years old. On Sunday the 7th, we had a party with some of Derek's friends and their kids. We set up the water slide. I was afraid it was going to be too cold but the kids didn't care. It was nice to just kick back and not worry about entertaining much. Everyone had lunch, cake and ice cream then we had a pinata. I think that the kids all had fun. Then on the Friday the 12, his actual birthday, we had another cake with some of his cousins, Gramma Carlene, and Aunt Shamra. For a couple weeks leading up to his birthday Derek would say to Xavier "I want a DS" because that is what he wanted for his birthday. I am not sure why but now Vanessa calls Xavier DS. That is the way she pronounces his name. It is quite cute. He did get his DS from Derek as well as a new SpongeBob game from Mima, some clothes, and some serious cash. I know that when I was six I was lucky to end up with $6.00. I think he may have pulled in a good $60.00. And he never spends money. He puts it in his little bank and never thinks twice. I did take him to the store so he could get another game, Super Mario Bros. I am not one for playing video games but Derek has caught me a few times with that game. After putting the kids to bed I tried it out. Mario and Tetris are the only games I ever played when I was younger. Over an hour passed before I put it down. I have played it a few other times but it is almost impossible because Xavier, Eli and Vanessa all try to sit on my lap while I play so they can watch the 2 inch screen. Then try to tell me how to play and offer to "pass this part" for me. But now I will end with my 6 favorite things about Xavier

1. He is unbelievably protective of Vanessa. He gets mad at anyone who deems a threat to her. I overheard him telling his cousin. Don't take that away from my baby sister. He always helps her and hugs her.

2. He tries very hard to get things done right. When I ask him to do something like clean his room he does a very good job not just shove everything in the toy box. And often does it without putting up a big whine show before hand. He goes to bed without a fight too.

3.He sticks his tongue out when he is concentrating really hard and snaps his fingers while he runs.

4.He tells me he loves me all the time and that I am beautiful.

5. He is absolutely gorgeous. His eyes are so dark and intense. As his mother I dread his teenage years.

6.I love how shy he is but also how he is starting to really come out of his shell. Friends tell me how sweet he is and that they are surprised when now he actually speaks to them.

technical difficulties

If you haven't run a backup disk on your computer please do so. And make an extra copy of any pictures you have stored on your computer. I know there are lots of places you can upload them to. My notebook that is only just over a year old has died on me. I have to send it out to hp for repairs which will wipe out my hard drive. I had been thinking that I needed to save my pictures on a backup disk but didn't. I have some on a disk and many still stored in my camera but there could be a few months of pics lost. Since I have no super computer friends it will cost me $100. to get a backup made from my hard drive. Makes me so mad. I will be blogging but may have to add the pictures later. When I can upload them to my own files on my own computer.

Other than that things are going well. The kids like school. Xavier does say that he doesn't feel well every time I tell him to get his socks and shoes on. But he has a new friend, Mark, in his class who he sits with on the bus. I don't know who he is but Xavier knows where his house is so I said we can stop by and meet his parents so they can have some play dates some time. He and Eli started soccer last week. Derek is coaching their team. Their first game isn't until next week but Derek said they are fun to watch and pretty good.

Money, money, money.

Yeah, I have none. I so understand why the prophets talk about staying out of debt. We don't have much other than the house but it is enough to be annoying. I have bought a few things on credit figuring how much I will make and how long it will take to pay it off. Don't count your chickens before they hatch. Derek's work schedule and pay schedule has been all thrown off because he did National Guard for a month. Now Genie is randomly closing for next week. I no longer have Ava b/c her mom is on maternity leave and Cael has been home sick. School started so Carter and Byron aren't here for full days so I don't charge them as much. So my pay has decreased quite a bit. Anyway my prayers for winning the lottery have not produced much. I probably need to buy a ticket but think of all the other people praying for winnings reminds me of the movie Bruce Almighty. But my prayers have been answered in other ways. Derek's pay came in one lump sum for the month instead of every two weeks so we had all the bills here at the same time. I pay a few online and write checks for all the others. The mail lady comes but only takes half the outgoing mail from the mailbox. I think little of it thinking I will put it in the mail again tomorrow. Derek goes out and buys all the rock and sprinkler parts. BUT, when they deliver the parts they brought all parts for the front and back yard. We asked only for the front. So we are charged about $300 too much. Had those checks gone out we could have had a problem. Most of them aren't due until the end of the month so I can hold onto them until we figure out what parts go back for a refund or get paid again. Still slightly stressed, I got a refund from the dentist. Turns out the insurance kicked in more than estimated so I got back part of my share paid. Sweet. Anyway it has been a week since then and I have been paid by a few other parents so we are back to norm. But it sure would be nice to not have a credit card payment. But at the same time it sure is nice to have appliances that were purchased with this credit card. Live and Learn. We are pretty much cash only now. Except emergencies which do come up. But as soon as we get reimbursed from the bank on our builders loan credit will be paid and we hope to build up our savings. I am just glad Derek and I aren't to worried about keeping up with all the worldly things.

Why?

I hate most questions that start with Why. Half the time I don't know the answer and if I do no one believes me or continues on to why that is. Even when I do give them an answer they don't really care why it is whatever it is. I know, I know, this is nothing new to anyone. But I find myself asking myself why my kids expect so much. Yes, they think the world revolves around them and no, they care very little about what I am doing when they interrupt. This all comes about because my kids ask me to do strange things for them at strange times. I am taking a shower and Eli comes in the bathroom to tell me he is thirsty and cannot reach a cup. And what, I can? I am mowing the lawn and Xavier brings me his cup of frozen Gatorade for me to chop for him. It's not like I am sitting around doing nothing. Some days I feel like that is how I spend my time. I cannot start anything because someone will all too soon interrupt me to do something for them. This is why I haven't scrapbooked in over a year. Poor Vanessa. Last child with no baby album. I do have all the pictures and supplies to get it together and should do it before I forget what I can write about. But too many want to help crop and glue.

Vanessa wants to "Tinkle in the toilet" as we are calling it. Why do we call it tinkling Xavier wants to know. Because that it the sound it makes when she goes. Every time she sits on the potty she has been able to go but not every time she has to go does she sit on the potty. I hate potty training. It is more like I am being trained. They want to use the toilet at the worst time. Like when your cart is full in line at Walmart. We aren't at that stage yet but I feel I should take her every time she asks. But today as I am helping her in the bathroom I start feeling a bit claustrophobic. Could it be because there are 6 kids in the bathroom. WHY? Why do they move in flocks except when I need them to? Why don't they all move inside when I need them to or into the car when we need to leave? Why do they herd to the table when I go to clean up the kitchen? They just ate, I am trying to wipe the counters and they all sit like they are waiting to be served. Why do they tattle tale? Haven't they realized that nothing ever happens when they do? Tattling only occurs when no one gets hurt. He said, she said. "He called me stupid." "Well, are you stupid?" "No." "Then who cares what they say, it's not true."

OK enough I will get back. The beautiful sleeping angels are about to wake up and I like to look at them a bit while they are still sleeping and waking up with their groggy eyes. It helps me remember who they really are. Children of a Heavenly Father who has entrusted them with me. Who believes that I am capable of raising them and answering the many why questions of life. Even if I make up the answer now and again.

When it becomes about winning and losing

Alexandra is starting up in her second season of soccer. Derek is going to coach the boys this year and we were excited that she got on the Wombats team. I played soccer in high school with the coach and she loves soccer and knows a lot about it so she has a lot of experience. Over the summer Alexandra has practiced with her and gone to 2 tournaments. She has improved greatly. She is a natural athlete. The kids and parents have encouraged bumping during the games but Derek and I have been teaching Alexandra to play fair. It is OK to be aggressive and go shoulder to shoulder against another player but never to push or elbow. In practice the other evening her team played against a boys team that was practicing on the neighboring field. The coach was saying "we hate boys" and other silly things. The players were talking about pushing in the back. Alexandra came home bummed out. She explained that she had a friend on the other team and didn't know why they were supposed to hate them or play unfair. I told her the coach was just talking nonsense. She just wanted to win. Alexandra wanted to know why it was such a big deal to win. I had no answer. I ended up telling her some people think it is more fun if you win. Her response "we didn't win any games last year and I still had fun." So at what point is it about winning and losing? Is it the "losers" who think it is just for fun? And the "winners" who think it is all about the score? I think it is whatever we teach them. I told her that as long as she is having fun and is improving then it doesn't matter. She is only 8 and I'd hate for her to worry about the score or think that if they lose then the game isn't fun.