House of Holes

Simple Things

2012-02-09T12:07:00.000-08:00

Earlier this week Sam's teacher came up to talk to me after school and passed on a compliment from the Vice Principal about my kids. She said my kids were as beautiful on the inside as they were on the outside :) Then they were saying how we have so many kids, yet there are some who only have 1 child and they don't know what to do with them. They wondered how we did it. Well, at this point I felt the Spirit welling up inside me and I had to tell her, "It's because we're Mormon and we live it!" I know I am nowhere near to being a perfect mom, and my kids are anything but perfect themselves, but I am so grateful for the gospel that teaches us to do our best, pick ourselves up when we make mistakes and never give up. Through and with Christ all things are possible!

When I stand back I realize how blessed we really are, and I can't help but feel grateful for all the little things that are so big to me.... for example... I am SOOO excited that last month I was under budget in EVERY spending category! I don't think I have ever done this before and I cannot begin to tell you how good that felt. The cash thing is totally working!

Another little thing that is huge to me is our "Page a Day". For about 4 years now I started reading a page a day out of the Book of Mormon with the kids. As schools and schedules have changed we've had to adjust our reading times, and what works now is as soon as all their breakfast is served and they start eating, I start reading. I give a brief review of where we're at and we stop and talk about new words and concepts. We're almost through the Book of Mormon for the 2nd time (obviously we've missed lots of days in those 4 years ;) and I love getting a small slice of gospel pie each day with them. I never get my breakfast warm and there are always a few "pass the syrup" interruptions, but it has worked. They are getting a little older though, and 3 of them can read on their own, so it's time to step it up another notch and I think we're going to start the 6am pj readings on the couch next week. Should be good.

The next thing I'm trying to figure out is how to get them to keep their rooms clean! Screaming is not working, reminding them a million times is not working, the whole "go pick up 10 things" prodding is not making enough of a dent so I think it's time to start the Gunny Bag. I'm not quite sure how to approach it though... specific times of the day it comes, 5 minute warning. I don't know, so give me your ideas of what you would try or what's worked for you! I would so appreciate it.

Lastly today I have to share my little lemon bar miracle. I'm working on getting the kids into the magnet schools in our area (like a charter they have to test into) and I've gone to one of them a couple times to check on things and I told them I'd bring treats the next time I came. So a couple of weeks ago, completely out of the blue, I felt the words "lemon bars to Vial". (Vial is the school). Weird, but ok, so I wrote it on my menu board and the next Sunday I made lemon bars. Which, by the way, the kids hated, but that's ok, more for me. The next day I took a small box of them into Vial and handed them to one of the secretaries and the other secretary said to her, "Oh, lemon bars, your favorite!" No kidding, lemon bars ended up being her favorite! I don't know why it mattered, and by no means does it affect the outcome for my children, but apparently God wanted her to know that she was love and He wanted me to learn to trust and listen. I was so overwhelmed and happy and grateful! Now to her I'll be the lemon bar lady, and I'm ok with that.

So budgets and cooking - I can credit staying within my food budget last month because I shopped from my menu. First I looked at my leftovers, figured what I could re-make them into, then checked out my pantry, then made my shopping list. It worked great, now this month I'm going to step it up by adding a bit of ad-shopping and simple couponing. But I thought I'd share with you my menu idea I look at when I'm trying to remember what to make. So here's the list of dinners that we like and I can refer to when planning my menu:

Menu Ideas

Chicken Basics:
Season-All Baked
Chicken Cordon Bleu
Ritz Chicken
Parmesan Chicken
Chicken & Rice
BBQ Chicken
Hawaiian Haystacks
Hawaiian Chicken
Broccoli Casserole
Chicken Pillows

Beefy Basics:
Stroganoff
Hamburgers
Meatballs (Pasta/Sub)
Meatloaf
BBQ Casserole
Pot Roast

Ham Basics:
Ham Fried Rice
Ham Roll/Strombolli
Bean Soup/Lentils
Hawaiian Chicken
Chicken Cordon Bleu
Chef Salad
Ham & Funeral Potatoes

Mexican:
Chili Plus
Hard/Soft Tacos
Taco Salad
Taco Soup
Enchiladas/Cass
Calavacita
Migas/Mexi-Rice
Tostadas
Chicken Tacos
Quinoa & Bk Beans

Soup/Salad:
Beefy Veg. Soup
Taco Soup
Baked Potato Soup
Lentils & Rice
Chowder Clam/Pot/Corn
Chicken & Rice Soup
Chicken Noodle Soup
Minestrone
Thai Salad
Strwberry Summer Salad
Chef Salad
Oriental Chicken Salad
Spinach/Pasta Salad

Italian:
Alfredo
Gnocci
Pasta & Red Sauce
Lasagna
Leftover Pasta Bake
Tortellini
Pizza
Chicken Parmesan

Asian:
Chicken Curry
Sweet & Sour Chicken
Ham/Chicken Fried Rice
Stir Fry
Thai Salad
Beef & Broccoli
Teriyaki Chicken

Veg to Remember:
Brussel Sprouts

Balance

2012-02-07T12:57:00.000-08:00

I find myself over the last couple of days spinning again with all the errands, the clutter, trying to work in business and maybe find some pleasure and I'm not doing so good at it all. Today was a deep clean and re-group day and my kitchen and floors are shiny and I feel so much better. I'm so grateful for all our blessings. Life is good :)

A couple of weeks ago Ben texted from work about a great bike trail, so here's a pic as we took a break on the way back from our biking outing. We had such a good time... and yes, Emily is missing in the pic, only because she was strapped to my front ;)

She's growing so big! Almost 6 months but happy as can be.

I'm feeling my age... Ben entered his first Science Fair this year with a flower dying experiment. It was a lot of fun to help him with. We did all the different colors and even split one of the flowers into 4 different colors... awesome.

Money, money, money by the pound :)

2012-01-20T11:28:00.000-08:00

So I'm nearly finished reading The Total Money Makeover and I'm kind of sad to be almost done. I found myself really enjoying the bits in the morning and evening that got my mind thinking and helped me feel so motivated to be better with our money. As I was reading it though, I did realize how the scriptures should hold that sort of a place in my heart as well. So I started to read a little from my church magazine before I broke out the money book and now I'm doubly benefiting.

I've started to realize how I've been slowly rationalizing our way down to hell (aka financial bondage). I've read about spiritual bondage but I'd never thought about how satan's played his part on me when it's come to finances. I've believed his lies about "Oh, a little spending won't hurt" and "we'll never be out of debt so we might as well enjoy what we can" and so on. I'm starting to realize that every little bit counts and it WILL make a difference. I'm coming up with our game plan and excited about the goals we're working on. Meanwhile, it's Jan 20th and I still have about half of my monthly cash budget left! So for once, I'm right on track. It may even be the first month I won't go over on my budget.... that would be incredible. Even better, I'm not feeling strangled.

One of the questions the book poses is, is 5 years of sacrifice worth it to change your financial destiny for the rest of your life? (aka, being debt free and in the process of building wealth) It got me thinking about what I've learned from the gospel as well and on to my next new mantra.... Sacrifice brings blessings! I know it's not magic that makes it happen, but I've seen it as we've paid our tithing and it feels magical. When times are really tight and we choose to pay our tithing blessings are poured out. Somehow the numbers become more than they were. So even though our debt is so large, I'm putting faith in the fact that Sacrifice Brings Blessings, and trusting that God will help us find a way!

January Ramblings

2012-01-09T10:34:00.000-08:00

I used to fight routines like crazy. I felt constricted by them, but over the last couple years they've become my lifesaver. I don't stick to them exactly but I use them as a general guide to keep me on track. Last year my theme was getting my home in order. I wanted it to look nice and run smoothly all the time, not just when guests come ;) I still have a long way to go, but I'm getting so much better at it. Really I have to give credit to my friend for repeatedly pushing me towards FlyLady.net. Wow, the baby steps from Fly Lady makes it like a game and breaks it down into small steps so it's easy and fun to plan, clean and de-clutter. My mantra through the whole thing was "Maintain and Add a Little". When I'd feel behind and overwhelmed I'd tell that to myself over and over and I'd have a little more hope.

Now that we're all moved in and Christmas is cleaned up and put away I've been feeling a new burst of energy and a new theme coming on. This year is time to tackle the finances. Ben's graduated to a big boy job now, so it's time to face our student loans head on. There are two parts to that. First of all the know-how... a.k.a. knowing what order and how much we'll need to pay while still planning and saving for the future. 20 years from now I don't want our only financial accomplishment to be that we're finally back to zero! Secondly the means to do so. Ben loves his job, but he definitely did not choose it because of its amazing earning potential. From the very beginning we knew his happiness in a career would be more important than being rich.

So the way I see it, we have a couple of options; either spend less or earn more. With so many young children my job has been to work on the spending less portion. So Tori told me about a book she read in her high school finance class, The Richest Man in Babylon. I thought it sounded cool, so I picked it up from the library along with Dave Ramsey's Total Money Makeover. I finished the first already and am a quarter of the way through the next and I love it! What I liked so far:

Save 10% of your income (this is repeated over and over again). So you can have "a couple of gold coins to rub against one another."
Live on only 70% of your income
Use the remaining 20% to put toward your debts
Put your savings to work so that it earns and its earnings earn
Finances are 80% behavior and 20% know-how
Debt is not necessary, and it is possible to have all the luxuries and be debt-free.

I would STRONGLY recommend both of these books! Wow, I'm looking at finances in a whole new light. I'm also realizing all the lies that have become acceptable about debt and financing. As well as all the bad information and advice that gets passed around even by myself. You hear things enough and you figure they're true, whether they are or not... scary.

So this year's mantra is "No Time Like the Present!" I'm working on the know-how, refining my budget and going to the "Cash Method" of paying for things. So in order to make it a little more FUNctional, I made these cute envelopes:

I made them by taking a regular envelope, sealing it shut, and cutting off the two sides just below the width of the bills. They were easy to label and fit in my wallet so I don't fall back to my card.

This morning someone mentioned that when you have a plan and it's what God wants, He helps make it happen. Well managing our money would only take care of half the problem, and I knew one key to this being successful was for me to supplement our income and my goal was to start work in January. I hadn't decided what it would be yet, but in the last 3 weeks I've had 3 different opportunities come up where I could earn some money. One of those was a woman wanting to hire me to decorate and help furnish her home. I'm really excited and kind of nervous too. I'm so grateful I have a skill that can help others and provide for our family, but I'm nervous about being able to balance. Before I get too deep I'm trying to make a plan so that I can have the right kind of focus towards work and keep my family and home first priority.

I'm excited about the prospects of my business starting again, but I also know I want to do things a little different this time. I want to offer more of the whole package, while still specializing in window treatments, but I don't want to sew my own. I know that here in Dallas I'll have every resource available to me, I'm just not sure where they are or how exactly I'll find them. I just feel so blessed to have this fall into my lap. Word of mouth is the only way I've gotten business before and it's been the best and I know this is the beginning. It will snowball out from here and I just need to make sure I have the plan in place so I don't get trapped into it taking over my life.

So these are the things going on in my brain these days. Family, Home, Kids School, Finances, Work. It's good to be alive and it's nice to know that God is watching over us. We may have approached this the stupid way, but it was right for us and we're being blessed because of it. "My strength is as the strength of ten because my heart is pure." -- Tennyson

Ben's Birthday and New Years Eve

2012-01-06T12:54:00.001-08:00

Ben turns 10... finally BEN 10!

Our New Year's Eve shindig... having a big family is soooo much fun, it's a party everyday, but to make the night special we made sure to have the spattering of yummy food. Tori and Blu came by and joined us later for games until midnight. We were the only ones in our neighborhood outside banging pots and pans. Hopefully we didn't give any old people heart attacks :)While us girls played games the boys played video games... little Ben was inadvertently teaching Ryan that while playing video games one must jump up and down uncontrollably ;) You wonder why little Ben's screen name is jitters?

Christmas 2011

2012-01-06T12:44:00.000-08:00

We were blessed to have someone do the 12 days of Christmas for us at the beginning of the month, and then Christmas Eve someone Secret Santa'd us leaving some great presents for all of us, including the American Girl dolls for Alaura and Sam. It was their favorite present for sure. I've never actually seen theses dolls in person before this, but they are really well made, you can style their hair without it getting yucky and the size and weight are everything you want in a doll. I think we may need to get more of these for the other girls some day.

December 2011

2012-01-06T12:35:00.000-08:00

Visiting a mini-train display at the North Park Mall in Dallas... umm, scary.... we were walking past stores like Gucci and Coach... "don't let the kids breathe on them". And I didn't realize how sheltered we've kept our kids, the younger ones had no idea how to maneuver an escalator :)The week before Christmas we got an awesome rain storm on the cusp of a warm front so we rolled up our pant legs and played in the gutter... it was so much fun. I even got in, and the fact that I let them do it made me "the best mom in the world!"

The older kids helped me out with an enrichment activity by being a live nativity.
I broke down and we made ravioli to have for Christmas Eve dinner.

Dad practicing the balancing act with Emily who is now 4 months old!

Life in Dallas

2012-01-06T12:29:00.000-08:00

It's so amazing living in/by such a large city... and I love it! This is 10 minutes from our house. It's also super weird not having any mountains around.

The Dallas Zoo
The kids lineup... Emily's already growing so much!
Tally's first awards ceremony at her Pre-K school with her new Bestie Afton.
Ben's new scout group. It's good to have such a great network already.

Halloween 2011

2012-01-06T12:12:00.000-08:00

Pa drove down to drop Tori off to stay at our house while she goes to culinary school Halloween... no new costumes this year, good thing we had a stock pile. Ryan's wearing an outfit handed down from Great Grandma and Grandpa de Hoyos (I think).

Our New House - Part II

2012-01-06T11:52:00.000-08:00

The Dining Room... only 2 of the houses we looked at had eating areas big enough for our table... that helped narrow it down a bit :)

The Kitchen - At first it was hard getting used to such a small kitchen, but now I love it! It's so much easier to keep clean.
The kitchen didn't have any pantry and the garage was converted to our master bedroom so we put the deep freeze in the kitchen and made a make shift pantry out of our IKEA shelves and it works great. Looking from the dining room into the kitchen.

The Boy's Room:

The boy's room and the girl's room closets were back to back, so going off what Pa did in Nick and Cassie's rooms we made a secret passageway between the rooms. They have a lot of fun with it. Ryan occasionally tries to sneak out it during nap time so we have to "lock" the closet door with a chair.... good times :)
The Girl's Room

Our New House - Part I

2012-01-06T10:30:00.000-08:00

One of the biggest blessings with the new job came a very generous new boss. Ben's new boss made it possible for us to get into our own home, which we didn't think would be possible for us for another 10 years. To rent anything similar or even less would have been at least 50% more expensive. This home has been well loved and well taken care of and after 3 months I finally am unpacked and in order enough to get pics up. It's good enough for now with plenty of redecorating and remodeling projects in the future.

In all honesty, the yard is what did it for us! It is big and beautiful and landscaped well, now we're working on a fence :)
The study

The TV Room
Our adorable shutters... I love the vintage charm to them!

October 2011

2012-01-06T10:15:00.000-08:00

While Nana was here we ventured out to the Dallas Temple where we found a last minute blessing dress for Emily.

Tally turned 5!

Our first family photo with all 7 kids, in front of our new church building in Dallas the day of Tally's birthday and Emily's blessing.

Fall 2011

2012-01-06T07:31:00.001-08:00

The new lineup!
Packing up.

Summer 2011

2012-01-06T06:59:00.000-08:00

This summer we began the extra activities. Knowing that our time in the boonies was coming to an end we decided to let the girls take horse-riding lessons. Even though the pic is a pony they actually did ride the full-size horses and loved it. Ben and Tally want to take soccer, but timing for that has been difficult, hopefully that will come soon.

I was on a sort of bed-rest this summer, so we didn't get out much, but we tried to hit the pool every now and then! We're going to miss this pool... mom & tot times were the best discovery ever... we virtually had the whole pool to ourselves!

Back to school! The kids were really excited, especially Tally starting Kindergarten.
Before:After: Emily Elizabeth de Hoyos... our 5th child to be 6 lbs 13 oz. Born August 17 at way too early in the morning! Don't let the smile fool you, this one was not a fun delivery, so glad it was over and that I don't ever have to do that again! After weekly shots and 9 months trying to keep her in, we were induced in order to have her before dad had to take off to a new job in Texas. Even still, 7 kids, no epidurals... boo-yah!

May 2011

2012-01-06T06:02:00.000-08:00

Highlights of this month was Alaura's Baptism where we were lucky enough to have Nana, Cassie, Grandma Seamons and Gma Mari and Noel come! The kids had so much fun. As Alaura was getting dressed in her white dress after her baptism she said she felt just like a princess! She's such a fun, beautiful girl. We're so happy to have her in our family. It was great having the visitors. We did some great thrift shopping, yard sale-ing and had some amazing breakfast in PV at the Backburner.

Easter 2011

2011-05-03T12:23:00.001-07:00

We had such a fun Easter... nice and quiet at home by ourselves. We missed being around family, but with the kids getting older it's more and more fun to hang out with them. Earlier in the week we got together with Roy & Stefani and colored our eggs and this is what they looked like before Egg Wars :) The grand champion this year was little Ben and so proud of it!

In the morning the kids woke up and were really confused because there were no baskets on the table.. instead the Easter Bunny left this....

I will definitely admit that I like matching on holidays... someday the kids will get really sick of it, but until then I'll be lovin' it. I had some hand-me-down purple fabric, so we went to town on girl's dresses. It ended up being not too bad and when they beg to wear it that makes it all worth it. I loved the pattern.... I used Simplicity 2377... no zippers or buttons :)

Spring time is here!

2011-04-21T09:28:00.000-07:00

The weather is getting so nice and we are loving it! Here's a super-fast update on what we've been doing:

For FHE this week we decorated egg-shaped cookies from my fave Lofthouse Cookie recipe, so yummy! The kids loved mixing the colors into the frosting! And you can just imagine all the piles of sprinkles they had on top of them.

Meanwhile Ryan is getting SO big, still the happiest kid around, and he loves hanging out in the pantry. He is such a monkey, I keep finding him stuck after climbing up all sorts of places :) I had to take the ladder off of Alaura's bunk-bed because he figured out how to climb that. He's not walking yet, but will stand and take a couple steps if we make him.

We went out exploring another part of AZ this last month, dragging Roy and Stefani along with us and their two cute kiddos. We drove through Jerome (without anyone getting too car sick) to Cottonwood where we visited Dead Horse Ranch State Park. It was alright, maybe not on our must-come-back-to list, but still fun. After hiking we got the most amazing BBQ at Hog Wild BBQ, and I'd say that was totally worth the trip!

At the kids school they had spirit week and the kids totally got into it. Superhero day wasn't Ben's things, but the girls took their spin on it being princesses. The other days were Twin day, Mix and Match day, Crazy Hair Day, and of course, PJ day.

Ben had his pinewood derby... :( didn't win any races but had fun, next year we hear the key is to really smooth out those pins on the wheels, we'll be running for 1st!

Samantha had her 6th birthday... the cake requests are always exciting, but since it's going to be eaten in a matter of minutes I refuse to get complicated... so we resort to a quick-draw method. This time she wanted a ballerina. She also got a small bike with training wheels. I broke down and went for a 12" wheeled one so she could fit it. I have hope that we'll get her riding without the trainers come summer.

We had to say farewell to our Phoenix friends this last month, Beau and Chris both got heli jobs up in Alaska and are moving on in their careers. I'm sure we'll see many more friends go for the same reasons. Most pilots use flight instruction as a step-stool rather than a career destination like us, but we're so excited for them and will miss them and our fondue nights a lot.

We braved the thousands of people and the hour long line to make it into Luke Days Airshow in Glendale. Ben (dad) got to fly a heli down the day before and stay there for the weekend and we wanted to join him. It was SO much fun. I would definitely do it again :)

Anabelle has now turned 3. She has so much personality and is usually really sweet. Ben (dad) and I took her shopping for her birthday gift and it was so cute to see what she picked out. Her favorite was the Pinkalicious unicorn from the kids book series. I think it's supposed to be called Goldilicious, but she liked Pinkalicious better.

Seriously Slackin, but not really :)

2011-02-21T10:42:00.000-08:00

So my blog has been seriously slacking, but life definitely has not been. Hard to even comprehend all that's gone on since my last post, August, yikes. Ben got promoted to Manager over the flight line, we found out we're expecting #7 (woo hoo), I got a new calling at church (boo hoo).. they took me from Primary and made me 2nd counselor over Relief Society, but at least that means I get to do fun activities for the women now :) We've had tons of holidays since then, maybe I'll get around to post pics if we're lucky, and I've been crafting away. I'll have to update Olive Oily to show that fun stuff. Life is good and moving quickly!

Backtracking to Halloween 2010... we LOVE Halloween, any ideas for next year's theme?Christmas PJs

The whole family at Christmas 2010
Our trip last weekend to check out the Verde River.. come summer we'll have to come back swimming here, there were some great spots... anyone wanna join us?

One more First

2010-08-13T11:57:00.000-07:00

This week we had our first set of stitches! Poor Anabelle and our tile floor did not get along. So I was trying to stay calm while I was freaking out about this deep cut she now had. A friend met me at the hospital to take the other kids. Anabelle was so calm and collected... all until the aid came in and they had to put her arms straight jacket style and wrap her like a burrito. I'm just hoping she doesn't get a big nasty scar from it :( Vitamin E here we come.

Sorry to the squeamish... this picture is really for Nate, because he'll think it's cool :)

Back to School... and then there were 3!

2010-08-13T11:41:00.000-07:00

3 at school, 3 at home, yet even with only 3 at the store with me I still get asked if they are all mine and told that I have my hands full :) It's so nice to have a change though. I've been craving schedules and routines!

The lineup, minus Ryan... Tally was crying when we tried to tell her that just because she has a backpack doesn't mean she gets to go to school too :)

All decked out in their new backpacks and ready to go!

First day of Kindergarten... she may have been all smiles before, but it took a little convincing to get her to get in line. Here she comes!
Less than thrilled... but when I picked her up after school she was all smiles.

End of Summer

2010-08-13T10:56:00.000-07:00

You know it's been a good summer when there's been no time to blog! We have played so hard, worked so hard (at least Ben has :), visited family and friends. It's been so good... we came back from vacation and put the kids to work.... 6 hours of weeding the first day, my momma would be proud! Can't let them get too spoiled, at least we're trying not to. I'm so thankful to not be moving again! I think this is only our 2nd time being over a year in a house... knock on wood. Life is good, not much more to say.

One of our AMAZING AZ sunsets... one thing the desert does really well!

Kids and cousins playing at the Discovery park in PG, Utah.

So it's become a tradition for all the de Hoyos married couples (oh and Tori & Blu too) to go out for sushi when we all get together. Not Ben's fave, but it's actually one of the types of foods he can eat out and not cause him pain (no dairy no gluten... fun). So this place was the Shabu Shabu House... kind of a hot pot place but a little different. Yummy and good times!

Visiting Tooele and the chickens... the kids even got little tractor rides at Travis' stompin' grounds. I'm still a little bummed though, because we were within eye-sight of the salt flats, which I've never been too, and we didn't have enough time to go see them.

Meanwhile Ryan is growing like our weeds... 7 months and 16 pounds... he better slow down or we're going to have to get a new car sooner than we thought... when he goes front facing we're in trouble.
And we have a thumb sucker... it's cute now but I am not liking the upcoming battles.

We LOVE Summer

2010-06-25T10:17:00.000-07:00

So far we kicked off summer with a camping trip by Lynx Lake with the Clicks... forts, swings and hundreds of ladybugs!

We've had amazing weather, the heat has stayed at bay and we've been enjoying our neighborhood.
Before dad's work got crazy we took a day trip to Fossil Creek... it was SO much fun! Crystal clear spring water, we could see the fish and tadpoles, which Anabelle was terrified of! She wouldn't step foot in the water without screaming. But the other kids swam and played and we didn't want to leave. Apparently there's a waterfall a couple miles up the trail, we didn't make it that far, maybe next time!
Scout Day Camp... Ben's first year going and he had a blast! Ryan and I got to join him for day 1... he was actually really good at the archery... first time ever shooting and he got 3 out of 5 near the target.

School is almost out and I CAN'T WAIT!

2010-05-20T10:12:00.000-07:00

This has been such a crazy year I just feel like I've been spinning the whole time... moving, early baby, long car rides to everywhere, kids gone to school from 7 to 5, no time to take a breath, or rather, I just haven't been on top of things enough to make things work how I want. I'd say that things will settle down next year, but I'd be fooling myself. You know that feeling of running down a hill and then you lose your stride and are about to fall on your face, that's how I'm feeling. But summer brings a new start, less taxi-ing and a chance to do a slow and steady routine... kids doing jobs (and if I'm lucky, without complaining), time for scriptures, and avoiding the desire to just stick them in front of the TV all day. Here comes fun, here comes camping, here comes visiting friends and family and I can't wait!
So as school's winding down here's what we've been up to:

Tally helping with Dinner

Poor Ryan, with all these girls, he's bound to be surrounded by pink.

Alaura's 7th Birthday. We did a craft party with some friends.
(Note Alaura & Sammie finally let me cut their hair... 4 inches)

Great Grandma Seamons and Cindy came to visit.
Little girls' crazy hair bubble blowing.

Alaura's Mater tooth she finally let me pull out.
Dad and Ben leaving for the Fathers and Sons campout last weekend.
Dad and his baby boy.
Anabelle, loves Ryan!

I'm getting lost

2010-04-30T11:36:00.001-07:00

When I got to my blog and realize that I haven't posted in almost two months I realize how lost I am... lost in life that is. Sometimes the world seems to just spin around me in a whirlwind of kids, dishes, cooking, driving, bills and I actually have been having quite a bit of fun too. So here's what I missed filling you in on :)

In March we were SO lucky to have Jared & Cindy come to visit... I want them to come back... we had so much fun! The kids were in heaven, the weather was beautiful and we had an adventurous and relaxing few days! Mya is just adorable, and already she was such a little mother to Ryan... she couldn't give him enough kisses!
For Easter we got together with the Click's and camped out at their house just about all day. We hardly even noticed there were any kids because they were playing so well. We showed them egg wars on their trampoline... LOVE egg wars!

Apparently we were having too much fun to take pictures, because this is all I got when we had a visit from Wendy, Melissa, Oriana and Tori! We had a blast, but SOOO missed the other girls! We found major cool stuff at our favorite thrift store... it's become a hilarious tradition.
Meanwhile Ryan is just growing like a weed... can you believe that the small outfit is the one he came home from the hospital in, and he's busting out of the 0-3 month jumper he's wearing! I am sooo happy to announce he's been sleeping 6 hours at a time in the night... I'm actually getting some rest :)
Our handsome little man... SO happy to have him!

Ryan's Blessing

2010-03-08T08:14:00.000-08:00

Yesterday we had Ryan's baby blessing. He got to wear the same suit as big brother! I couldn't believe it, but a lady at church (who we hardly know) made this blanket for him... it's exactly what I wanted for his blessing.

He's making a funny face in this picture, but in the other ones he was sad or yawning.

Dad and his new boy... I'm one lucky wife and mom.

I think this may be our first complete family picture :)

We had a great day and a few friends and family were able to attend. We even got snow... although all our Phoenix friends were ready to kill us, not to mention frozen, but we lived :)

What's been going on :)

2010-02-15T09:27:00.001-08:00

Ryan already a month old! He's still sleeping almost all day, and seems to still be very mellow-tempered. Looks like he really is Sammie's twin :)

So the last couple months have been so crazy... here's a look back in pictures:

January 2nd Ben was baptized... it was perfect. The spirit was so strong and it was such a priceless experience for me. I'm so happy to be a mother!

Jan 3rd we drove home from Utah.
Jan 4th I went into labor and was flown by helicopter to Phoenix... spent 4 days drugged up and corded to a bed, and Ryan decided it was time to be born. 7 weeks early; 5 lb. 1 oz. 18 1/4" long. He was healthy and beautiful, minus the initial puffiness :)

12 days later he and I got to come back home to the family so excited to see their new brother.

His First Bath

The 6 kid line up! I can't believe how many we have, but we're loving it!

It's unreal how small he is, and yet how they'll grow so big someday!

January 26th: Very big deal.... Ben won 2nd place in the 1st-2nd grade spelling bee at his school. They had to use 4th grade level words to get them out... Ben told me after that he had to spell words that he'd never even spelled before! I was sooo proud of him. He spelled: play, running, every, camera, true, could, urgent, guard, and terrible... the one he missed was towel (toule).

February 14th, Valentines Day, probably one of the girls' favorite days of the year:
Now we're almost back into the swing of things... it's looking like it will be a great year! We feel very lucky and very loved!

Surprise... Baby #6

2010-01-11T18:51:00.000-08:00

We had an awesome Christmas and New Years, which I'll have to blog about later, and came home to have a nice, slow, cleaning, nesting, preparing month of January to surprise... going into labor in like less than 12 hours from walking in the door. Apparently my belly size determined when it was time rather than my due date :) So Monday morning, at 33 weeks along, they had to stop my labor as best they could, fly me to Phoenix, now my 3rd time in a helicopter (luckily Ben was flying the other 2 times), and then spent 4 days in bed, drugged up until our little Ryan Jacob decided to make his debut. Born 4:39 am on January 8th, 2010... weighing 5 lb. 1 oz and 18 1/4" long with dark brown hair that looks like it might actually stay dark! He's doing well, may be in the hospital for another couple weeks before we can head back up to Prescott area, but we feel really blessed that he's doing so well and grateful for all the help from friends, family, my mom and the ward in taking care of the kids and meals and support! We love you all!

I'm having issues with photos here so see them on my facebook page

Merry Christmas!!!

2009-12-24T09:26:00.000-08:00

Wanted to wish everyone a Merry Christmas!!! It's been a crazy year but we feel so blessed to have such wonderful family and friends, a roof over our heads, food on the table, a job that Ben loves and a new baby boy on the way! We hope your days are Merry and hope to see you all soon.... Love, us!

Fall Baking

2009-11-05T09:23:00.001-08:00

Fall means holiday baking and thinking about gifts! Every year my family does ravioli with Thanksgiving and Christmas, it's just not the same without it. The recipe comes from my great-grandfather who was born in Italy. There was no written recipe, he just knew how much to put in, so the year before he died, my aunt sat down as he poured spices into his hand, she measured and wrote it down. It's a labor of love, and this is only my second time trying it on my own, and it is so rewarding. I think I ended up with over 12 dozen, I even had to pull off a gluten-free one for my hubby, we'll see how they turn out come Thanksgiving, meanwhile, until then I get to admire them in my freezer! Someday the kids will get to help out a little more, but for this year they just got to play in the flour and make it snow! Fun to clean up, let me tell you.

Last year at Wendy's awesome family and neighbors brought over some yummy treats, so I tried making some of them too... Tomatillo Salsa turned out great, but I wasn't too thrilled with the recipe I found for Jalepeno Jelly... guess I have to really hunt down Debby's recipe :) Meanwhile, anyone else have one they tried and love?

Aren't they so pretty? I love seeing the nice clean, jarred foods :) Call me grandma, but it brings back so many memories!

Happy Halloween

2009-11-05T08:58:00.001-08:00

For me an important part of each holiday is fun/good food!!! Yay, so for Halloween we started the day off with Pumpkin Pancakes :) Banana eyes, raisin nose, and of course, chocolate chip smiles.

With all of our sickness we didn't get around to carving pumpkins until the day of, and somehow mom and dad seem to end up doing all the work, that's why we only did 3 this year.

Our creepy, fun dinner... eyeball soup, monster bites and zombie toes. Tally wasn't too excited about it, we had to un-disguise the food before she'd eat it. We'd watched all the Indiana Jones movies recently, so the eyeball soup was a little too creepy for her.

Our dressed up gang... the whole run of princesses... Sleeping Beauty, Jasmine, Belle, Cinderella, and their brave protector, Superman! Thanks to trunk-or-treats I don't think we need to buy any easter candy, because it probably will last us that long!

Fall Fun

2009-11-05T08:32:00.000-08:00

A couple Saturdays ago, before we all got the flu, we got together with some friends and went to a pumpkin patch and another of the local lakes. We found a few turning leaves!

Tally's 3rd Birthday

2009-11-05T08:28:00.001-08:00

Tally had the funnest birthday ever... seriously who wouldn't give to be 3 again! Everything was so exciting. She got a huge butterfly baloon, presents all day, and even a package from Uncle Brian. She wanted her favorite color, green, cake, and mommy was a "best friend" all day long because of how excited she was about everything she got. We even got lucky enough to have Wendy and sisters Penny and Cindy come by for dinner... good timing. After dinner we did a fire in our new fire-pit dad made and it was the end to a perfect day. Now she can't wait until it's her birthday again, too bad it has to end.

Kids Chore Chart

2009-10-22T08:55:00.001-07:00

I LOVE the world of blogging... I ran across this today and thought I'd pass it along. Cute and free and easy. You can fill in your own chores and print out for your kids:

Just click here if you want to make one yourself!

Open House

2009-09-23T11:12:00.000-07:00

Here you go Andrea (and anyone else who wanted a peak), the pics of our new house :)

Small towns are Awesome

2009-09-08T10:35:00.000-07:00

I lived in a really small town for a good amount of my growing up and it was so much fun... so being here in Chino Valley, AZ I'm loving the small town feel and events. On Saturday we had a window in the rain just long enough to enjoy the town parade and activities. They had a blow-up bouncy castle and waterslide that probably went up about 10 or 12 feet. Sammie was content to just watch, but Tally was all for it... she went down the waterslide 3 times. It was hilarious.

Another set of Firsts and a Birthday

2009-09-08T10:08:00.000-07:00

Ben & Alaura's 1st Day of School... 2nd and 1st graders now

They've always wanted to ride the bus,
so they're thrilled with their van rides to and from school!

Alaura lost her 1st tooth and a couple days later her 2nd

Anabelle had her 1st day in church Nursery...
they turned her into a Nephite... so cute!
Her funny face is because she's saying "cheese"

Squirt turned 31... we nearly set off the fire alarm :)

We've finally landed again :)

2009-09-08T09:26:00.001-07:00

After a few months of limbo, Ben got hired at Guidance Helicopters in Prescott, AZ, so we got to stay in the area. We rented a house in Chino Valley and moved in the first week of August. Wendy and Cassie came down to give us a hand, and boy was it useful and fun having them around! Chino has grown on me really quickly, I don't even mind the tarantulas, although the centipedes and wolf spiders I could do without :)Sunsets from our front porch... lots of the neighbors have horses and goats,

the kids love seeing them every time we drive anywhere.

Our back yard on a misty morning

The weeds we moved in to and the surprise Saturday morning
help from some church-members cleaning them up :)

Burning some of our leftover weeds in the back

One of the biggest perks of the house is the swing set!

Cassie set up Alaura & Sam's new pink and purple room

Can we say "Canasta"... little Ben is hooked on it

The Canasta King with his licorice Cigar, he was sooo slap-happy

We love Summer

2009-06-26T10:38:00.000-07:00

By far the best part about summer is going to the pool! Our friend's town has the cutest pool with a waterslide. Ben and Alaura remembered enough of their doggy-paddling from last year to get the A-ok from the lifeguard to get to slide. They just have to be able to get out on their own. Even with it a little cool and breazy, they love it!

When we don't make it to the pool the kids slip-n-slide and splash in the baby pool.

May Meanderings

2009-06-26T10:09:00.001-07:00

From AZ to Utah and Back Again:

We're still in limbo, but back all together in AZ. Our family and friends have been so generous and kind to us. It's unsettling not to know what's going on in our future, but it's nice to know there are people looking out for you. I think if they could, my kids would let Jessica adopt them! Tally loves to help out, it's hilarious. Baby and dog in tow, here we go... looking back.

Teddy Bear Picnic

School's Getting Out: Ben's Field Day & Alaura's K Graduation

Family Night to Thanksgiving Point

Visiting Grandma & Grandpa's Cabin

Summer fun with Cousins and Cool Yards

Alaura's 6th Birthday

A Wedding

New Family Pics

2009-05-07T16:38:00.000-07:00

Ben's best friend and best man married this amazingly talented girl, Cindy, and while Ben came out for his sister's wedding we had our family pics taken again. They turned out really good! I was so excited :) So anybody in Utah, I can get you her number!

Wow, where have I been?

2009-05-07T15:32:00.001-07:00

So the kids and I came to Utah for a couple months to cut back expenses and visit family before Oriana's wedding and we've been soooo busy. It's so nice having family around to visit. My parents made the kids' rooms so cute with sports theme for Ben and princesses and Tinkerbell for the girls. The weather has been typical Utah... snow one day, hot the next. Glad the nicer weather seems here to stay now.

Tally and Tyler just hangin' out!

We miss Ben (dad) so much.... so since the kids had spring break, we dragged Cassie along and braved the drive for a mini vacation at the Beaty's for Easter. The kids were in heaven with their awesome yard, fire pit, Justice the dog, and the new sand box. We dragged dad around and had a great time.

The St. George Narrows

Granite Dells

Easter

Hiking around Granite Lake, Prescott, AZ.

Here Comes General Conference

2009-03-30T19:55:00.000-07:00

Although it might seem like 2 full days of church, General Conference is awesome... who doesn't love watching church on tv, right? Anyway, last fall I found this cute packet to help your kids get involved. Here's the link for it again this year: http://theideadoor.com/General%20Confrence/2009AprilConferencePacket.pdf Hope it helps your kids enjoy :)

Weekend in Phoenix

2009-02-20T07:21:00.001-08:00

After such a cold week, a warmer weekend in Phoenix was really welcomed. Mark & Angela invited us down Friday and Saturday and the kids had so much fun with their cousins. Who knew Tally would like Chinese Buffet's so well... she kept eating and eating. She'd point to Ben's or my plate and say, "I wan' that!" Little Ben and Joseph played XBox for hours, non-stop. The girls watched movies and played kitchen. Grapefruit bowling in the backyard... wow, we miss grass. They all had such a good time.

Snow Day in AZ!

2009-02-20T07:06:00.000-08:00

Our warm January turned into a very cold February, but at least we got snow! It didn't look like it was coming down very hard, but in the morning we woke to a few inches, and with school canceled, of course, the kids had so much fun playing in the snow!

The view of the trail just behind our back fence.

Ben & Alaura discovered the icicles!

Sammie loving the snowballs!

So sad, Anabelle discovering what happens when you crawl into the snow with your face down :( Once the cold was wiped off she had a great time.
Tally thinking she was ready to go outside!

Woops! and other Funnies!

2009-01-29T12:47:00.000-08:00

And after the tears this morning, this is what he did? I feel horrible!

I think SOME of the food made it into her mouth!
I guess dinner wasn't that appealing.
Is it just me, or doesn't she totally look like the step-mom off of Pete's Dragon?
Thoughts swirling!

Is it really still January?

2009-01-28T11:25:00.000-08:00

Anabelle says 'hello'... she looks so grown up :)

I love snow... sledding, skiing, watching it fall...
the snuggly blanket and hot cocoa that follow.
But with days like we've been having, I don't miss it too much :) We've been having weather in the low 60's... beautiful. So we've had some fun outside.

Girls playing together (not fighting for a few minutes... miracle)!

Our boys... they've got to stick together.

We had a play date with the B Boys... Dylan and Nolan came over and the kids had so much fun!

Christmas in Utah 2008

2009-01-08T09:34:00.000-08:00

Laughing, talking, sewing, puking
Weddings, presents, stockings, cooking
Two full weeks of fun-packed bliss
These are the things (minus puking) we'll miss!

Kids all decked out for Christmas Sunday!

This picture pretty much sums up the Wedding...
totally fun chaos :)

Christmas Eve PJ's

Sledding at 'The Bowl', before the ramp gone bad :)
P.S. More pics on my Facebook

It snowed!!!

2009-01-08T09:29:00.001-08:00

Spending last winter in Phoenix was so weird for the kids... they really missed the snow. So when they woke up to this on the ground they were SO excited! It required a 7 am trip out to play followed by some hot cocoa. The hilarious thing was that school was delayed because of the snow! Ha... you'd never see that happen in Utah.

UHI Prescott Christmas Party

2009-01-08T09:18:00.000-08:00

Bling-folded dune buggies on a timed race.... awesome :)

The Prescott Guys: Eric, John, Danny, Ben, Chris

The Prescott Girls: Stacie, Jessica, Tara, Shauna, Angela

Thanksgiving 2008

2009-01-08T08:55:00.001-08:00

Thanksgiving is my favorite holdiay, but it just isn't Thanksgiving without a ton of amazing food, pretty table settings, and a big crowd, so we convinced Ben's family to drive down and join us. Wish it would never end!

The place settings that go on and on and on....

It's good to have a full table!

Our day at Watson Lake. The kids, the rocks, the water. We only gave Pa a couple heart attacks with the kids jumping around the high rocks :)

Who doesn't love Rock Band? The best game EVER!

And top off the trip with a private heli tour of the Prescott Valley area! It's great being married to a pilot!

Thanksgiving is Coming

2008-11-25T09:55:00.000-08:00

I'm on the verge of turkey thawing, pie baking, table setting and house cleaning for our guests who will be here tomorrow! Can it be that close already? Yay! We somehow convinced Ben's family they should come down and visit us for Thanksgiving, and we're so excited. To get in the mood, my friend Cyndi sent out this email. Just had to post it for any who wanted a good thanksgiving laugh:
THE GOOD NAPKINS

Ahhhhh The joys of having Girls. My mother taught me to read when I was four years old (her first mistake). One day, I was in the bathroom and noticed one of the cabinet doors was ajar I read the box in the cabinet. I then asked my mother why she was keeping ''napkins' in the bathroom. Didn't they belong in the kitchen? Not wanting to burden me with unnecessary facts, she told me that those were for 'special occasions' (her second mistake).

Now fast forward a few months . . . It's Thanksgiving Day, and my folks are leaving to pick up my uncle and his wife for dinner. Mom had assignments for all of us while they were gone. Mine was to set the table (her third mistake).

When they returned, my uncle came in first and immediately burst into laughter. Next came his wife, who gasped, then, began giggling. Next came my father, who roared with laughter. Then came Mom, who almost died of embarrassment when she saw each place setting on the table with a 'special occasion' Kotex napkin at each plate, with the fork carefully arranged on top. I had even tucked the little tail in so they didn't hang off the edge!! My mother asked me why I used these and, of course, my response sent the other adults into further fits of laughter.'But, Mom, you said they were for special occasions!!!'

Halloween 2008

2008-11-10T07:49:00.000-08:00

Batman (Ben), Pegasus (Samantha), Pumpkin (Anabelle), Rapunzel (Alaura), Spider Girl (Talia)

We did a quick trip to a few of the neighbors, then hit the ward Trunk-or-Treat and ended up at a party at the Beaty's where we rocked out to Rock Band, played by the fire and had a great time getting a sugar high and running around with friends. Ben & I dressed up as James Bond and Penny, but since we didn't get any pictures you'll just have to use your imagination :)

Thoughts

2008-11-10T06:10:00.000-08:00

"...we each have moments of inspiration and revelation. We must sink them deep into the chambers of our souls. As we do, we prepare our spiritual home storage for moments of personal difficulty. Jesus said, 'Settle this in your hearts, that ye will do the things which I shall teach, and command you.'"

--Elder Neil L. Anderson from the talk You Know Enough.

Budget "A Ha"

2008-11-01T22:24:00.000-07:00

How to budget on a flexible income? Ya, that's been my question for a long time, but I think I've finally come up with the solution. How to pay the bills, keep priorities straight, and not feel like I can't spend any money on fun things. I think this budget plan might work... the trial phase is coming this month. If you're like me, I keep it simple... once the bills are paid and savings set aside the rest of the money goes into one big lump where everything an anything comes out of. I tend to run out of money, find good deals or need more groceries and then lean on the credit card crutch with a balance that just keeps expanding. Well I hit my wall and had to come up with a system that would work... so after my long-winded intro, here it is:

Take INCOME

pay % for TITHING (best investment you'll ever make)

transfer % for TAXES (since we don't get it taken out) to savings account

deposit amount for FIXED EXPENSES into bank account
(fuel, utilities, insurance, car payment, you know... and make sure to have some personal savings automatically transfered to a savings account... treat it like a bill and only use it for pre-determined purposes)

The remaining money gets pulled out in CASH and divided into ENVELOPES with specific categories based on PERCENTAGES
(these catagories are ones that un-fixed spending occurs on a regular basis... analyze past spending and figure or guess what percentage of the total is spent on each respective category)

Put this money in ENVELOPES and keep a balance ledger of the spending... only buy with cash... divide it into weekly amounts to pace your spending.

So, here's an example:
Income = 2000
Taxes & Tithing = 400
Fixed Spending = 1000
Remaining = 600 pulled out in cash

Envelopes
Food 50% = 300
Non-Food Groceries 10% = 60
Christmas 10% = 60
Clothes 10% = 60
Entertainment 10% = 60
Fun Money His/Hers 10% = 60

Pumpkins and Falling Leaves

2008-10-28T20:01:00.000-07:00

Tonight we took grandma to Lynx Lake and discovered that fall actually does come to a few of the trees in this corner of Arizona. After being in Phoenix last year, it was so nice to see some sort of seasons again!

Last night for FHE was pumpkin carving. Ben did a fun treasure hunt to the pumpkins that the kids were so excited about. They handled the guts pretty well.