29, 4 kids, and a minivan

Okay Jenny, I don't really know how to do this but here goes nothing. You all will have to excuse the bad picture. I was taking it of myself at the end of the day when all my makeup is off and the hair is done for the day. I took like 90 pictures and just kept saying, this must be bad lighting, there is no way I look that old!!! But is probably only comes as a shock to me!But really, I am okay with turning 29. 25 was really hard for me. I could finally rent a car at 25, the only barrier beyond that is the senior citizens discount at age 65 (and I am all over that!) So being old is old hat to me now! I am feel like my life is even better than I imagined it would be at 29. I wouldn't botox a single crows eye or smile line on my aging face! I want the world to know that God gave me a ton of reasons to smile about in my 29 years.







Things that make me happy!

1. My husband and children of course (and everything that goes with them)
2. Staying in touch with great friends!
3. Sales or getting a great deal on anything!
4. Hoover steam-vac
5. sappy old Cary Grant or Audry Hepburn movies
6. The smell of Laudry detergent
7. Chocolate or carmel or both
8. Winning austin at a game
9. Baby blues comics or funny greeting cards
10. Suprises (except when my mom doesnt tell me she is coming into town and shows up at the doorstep when my house is a mess. NOT a good suprise!)

Recap of my Birthday
Well, now that the day is over and the kids are all tucked in bed and looking so sweet and cute todays events seem almost comical so I will give you a quick recap of today's events. Austin is on call today which means he left at 5:30 this morning and will get home tomorrow morning at 10:00 a.m. to sleep for a few hours before going back in at 5:30 p.m. So, on my own today, the kids ALL woke up to my delight 45 min earlier than usual. After beginning the sunday rituals of dressing and doing everyones hair I hear a huge crash in the kids bathroom. I run in to find that one of my children was trying to be a Gecko and climb the bathroom wall, using the towel rack as a support, ripping the entire rack off of the wall to the floor and leaving a huge hole in my wall. After a long exhausting effort to get everyone to church (still dressed and with hair still in tack) We sit down in the pew and instantly the kids start fighting. During the sacrament one child decides to dip her fingers in the sacrament cups and swirl them as I am helping her sisters with theirs. Then I feel something warm and wet on my lap. Yep, the baby shot right out the side of her diaper all over my skirt (which didn't hide it well) Of course today I didn't grab an extra outfit for the baby. But there is no time to go home because primary is starting soon. So the baby only has a dress top, no socks, no tights, no shoes! Then one daughter decides to show her underpants to one and all and when asked to put her dress down she gets mad at me and flips her dress up above her belly button! Need I say I was embarrassed! That same child showed her underpants all during primary, the other wouldn't stay in her seat, I was carrying a baby the entire time and now I have no left arm, someone asked me if I was having a happy birthday and I broke down in tears, when we got home we ate some mac and cheese and the kids fought until they fell asleep! Anyway, I'm sure you get the picture. So I have decided what I want for my 30th birthday, To stay in bed!!! On the good side though, Emma madsen (Mike's wife) brought over a cake yesterday to wish me happy birthday and it is to die for good. So I am currently erasing any bad memories of today with chocolate! Bless Emma!

Random wishes: A new guitar, to go to Israel, twins, a panini maker, to learn to play the violin.

News on the Men's Blog

Trent posted that Karie had her baby. Check out the men's blog for more information.

Karie - if you're out there - congratulations and good luck with everything. I'm so glad that Amelia is here safely!

-Ann

It's STRAIGHT through for us!!

I hate to post twice in a row, but I am breathing a huge sigh of relief over here!

Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh.

We just found out this morning that we're going straight through residency and James will NOT HAVE TO DO A TOUR OF DUTY FIRST!! That means no possibility of deployment until at the earliest, 2011!!! YEAH!

HUGE weight off my shoulders. We don't have to move again in 6 months and I can settle in to life here in CA.. I so love it here! Just thought I'd share :)

I'll be the first!

So I remember I wanted us to post a picture of our kids on Halloween and Easter, and then ourselves on our birthdays? It looks like I'll be the first to do the latter.

A few thoughts:

I am 28 years old. Its been quite a while since I've actually felt totally comfortable telling people my age. I think I like the sound of 28. I could be 28. I AM 28. Its a good - ambiguous number. It's old enough to have 3 kids and be doing what we're doing. I don't have a lot of regrets. I'm pretty happy with my life! Not a lot of people can say that, so I am counting myself quite fortunate. I have a lot of friends, a lot of responsibilities, a lot of stress, but a lot of help from above too.

So - my 2 greatest strengths:
1- Keeping my household running - all of us fed, clothed, bills paid, laundry kept up and dishes done (but that is where the cleaning pretty much ends).
2- I don't like grudges or secrets or silence. I really believe in talking things out. I like to think one of my strengths is that I help keep the lines of communication open in my immediate and extended families. .My extended family (mom, dad, siblings) is an American family - totally disfunctional! My parents have been divorced for 12 years, my siblings are all over the place making all kinds of mistakes. I'm the oldest of 5 and when "something is going down" they all come to me - even my mom and my dad. Sometimes it is debilitatingly stressful - but I do it. Out of the 7 of us, only myself and one brother are "un-medicated." I guess they figure I have a clear head ;)

My 2 greatest weaknesses:
1- I yell at my kids too much. I take my stress out on them sometimes. Especially when I haven't gotten out of the house in a while.
2- I am so totally scatterbrained. I can't keep on task for very long. I can't make a complete sentence most of the time!! It sucks. In today's world there's probably some more technical or medical term for what I am, but I like scatterbrained. It sounds pretty innocent.

Ok - now think this one is important:
What I'd REALLY REALLY like for my birthday:
1- A surprise.
2- A maid.

I don't think James ever reads this. Do your husbands? I think I'm pretty safe ;) Here's a recent family photo.. just for fun :)



K- that's it! Joni its your turn next week!!!!! Get ready!!!!

Christmas shopping

I'm so glad to hear that you guys are safe, Joni. I also feel like the Lord is watching over all of us and protecting us in so many ways. Speaking of Christmas shopping - do you guys have any recommendations for the kids. I have been looking at all the award winner lists for toys and I don't see much I'm crazy about. I just want something the kids will actually play with. What do your kids LOVE? Have you found any new toys for this year that look great? Any great ideas for the husbands? What do you get for someone that lives at the hospital and sometimes sleeps at home? I feel like Damon doesn't have any free time to use anything I might possibly give him.

Thanks in advance for all of your help,

Ann

We are all safe!

Thanks for everyones concern! We are all at home tonight watching the news as well and absolutely shocked that this is happening in little omaha! We thought that we moved away from big city crime. I haven't checked with any other midwestern students yet though. I just heard about this myself. I will let you all know if anyone we know was involved. Pretty scary though! The guy lives in Bellevue, where we live, and it could have just as easily happened while we were out and about here in town. I just feel very blessed and I know that the Lord is watching out for all of us. Moments like this make me very thankful for the power of prayer and that as we kneel as a family and ask for safety we really are protected and guided. Anyway, sorry to go on, thanks again for the posts and concerns.
Joni

Joni! are you there?

Sorry to change the subject from Rachel's great news, but I had just saw the news that there was a mall shooting in Omaha, NE and I immediately thought of Joni, her sweet girls, and the other Midwestern students there. Being that it's Christmas shopping, I hope you guys were nowhere near and everything is ok!!! Let us know!!

We're seeing PINK!!

We just went to the doctor today and found out that we will be having another little GIRL. We are all thrilled-especially Ally, she can't wait to have a sister. It's always so much fun to add a new baby to the family and we are very excited (even though May still seems SO far away!).