POOOOO ON YOU INSURANCE COMPANIES!!!

ugh!!!!! ranting on the phone, crying and holding back as much as i can on the foul language!!!! WHY i ask you WHY do i get a phone call less than 24 hours prior to my daughter's surgery, that there's a problem with the pre-authorization(and they tell me it takes at LEAST 48 hours to fix it) and, WHY i ask you WHY is everyone pointing the finger at everyone else for dropping the ball on this?!!!!! AHHHHHHH!!!!!! I NEED CHOCOLATE, I NEED TO SCREAM, AND I SWEAR IF I HAVE TO TALK TO ANOTHER CUSTOMER SERVICE WHO EVER SO LAMELY TELLS ME " well i don't know what to tell you" I'M GOING TO REACH THROUGH THE PHONE AND STRANGLE THEM!!! i need to go for a run in my pasture.
Okay so apparently my ranting at anyone that i could get a phone # for was in my favor, after everyone saying it was someone elses fault and that no one could do anything and with me saying someone HAS to do something (with calling every hour on the hour for at least 4 hours to the same three people the primary doctor's office, the specialist's office, and the insurance company) it's done! we're authorized AGAIN, and my little girl can get her tubes put it! pretty sure katie screaming in the background had a little to do with it too! :)

one thing is for sure...

the girl gets attention, she's probably going to be a spoiled princess, and it's not going to be my doing!

the boys cannot get enough of her, they love and adore her and pay soooo much attention to her that i'm a little scared as to what she's going to assume the world outside these four walls is suppose to be like. i fear for her future boyfriends and husband, not just for the scrutiny the boys are going give him (especially my husband), but the expectaions she's going to have of them, i mean her brothers and daddy think the world revolves around her so will anyone ever measure up?

good nights sleep, new apron, kids occupied...

so i got such a great night's sleep, i think i got like 9 hours, katie slept through the night, (a first! in a loooooooooooooooong time) a friend gave me a new apron (plain white, and i can't wait to put adorable pockets on it!!!) and the kids are excited and have all kinds of plans to play all day long with pokemon and little green soldiers, sooooo my sewing machine is in full speed mode, ipod is a booming with my music (one earphone on so i can hear if i'm needed),diet dr. pepper in hand, gorgeous weather (in the 50's) so we'll do a picnic lunch i think, all in all great day...i won't even let the goat get me in a bad mood (he's in the nieghbor's yard, and i'm just leaving him there, don't care!) kyle just told me that ryan called him a stupid head, "tell him you are not" "okay!" see problem solved...everything can roll off of me today! cause i have a date with finishing my table runners, baby doll quilt and sugar cookies, and the kids and i will have a picnic, i'm going to rent the bee movie and we'll eat popcorn. and then i'll get my dumb goat back in my yard.

bleh...

been a little under the weather today, but i did manage to make a few things which will go on etsy this weekend so that's exciting...headache, bloated, testy, in need of some chocolate, and a chick flick, bleh...going to bed. hopefully i will wake up in a better mood.

quotable quotes

been saving some of these to just put them together:

**"mom! katie looks like a flower!"-kyle (i made her a new bow, i think it's his way of saying it might be a little too big)

**"logan broke up with me."-ryan (he and his best little bud i guess had a little scuffle, nate and i had to explain to ryan you usually don't break up with someone unless they are a girl if you are boy, and then i quickly added that he was not to have any girlfriends for a loooooong time)

**"don't worry, i saw this on america's funniest home videos and it worked!"-nate (yeah i stopped that one real quick)

oooooh yeeeah...

off to the left you will see my husbands old pinewood derby car that 20 somewhat years ago brought home a few medals. off the the right you will see nate's pinewood derby car that well, lets just hope it does allright. but tonights the night! wish us luck!!!!

um... thank you blogging?

right when i took this picture nate looks at me and asks "are you going to put that on the computer and blog it?" "um i think i just might..." "okay"
i went to the bedroom because after they were freaking out about the dinosaur poster and it's positioning, i went back to the kitchen to clean up dinner, and told them to clean up their room, they did, but it was super quiet so i went to go check on them, and sure enough this is what i saw... are you kidding me? then this morning as i was doing my quick looks of blogs i turn around and... are you kidding me?! ryan is unloading my dishwasher, unasked unmotivated for a prize...nothing! i actually say it out loud "are you kidding me?" and ryan looks up and says "no, i'm doing your dishes for you." so i run and get my camera...and he asks "are you going to put that in the computer and blog?" "um i think i will..."
who are these children? and where did you come from? and better question asked can you sew? i would really like to say that my parenting is just that good, but i know better, because even though my children do do wonderful things here and there and i could take full responsibility for it, i also would have to take full responsibility for the hitting and yelling and not listening that they do too, so i 'll just say they do what they do because....of blogging? or is the token system just that good? hmmm. now if taking pictures to blog about or the token system would help katie's crankiness due to ear infections, we would be golden! but i think we wont hold our breaths and just get the tubes put in her ears! (april 1st is the big day!)

how do i do it you ask?

many have this idea that i'm all put together, well here's the deal: it's easy, i'm on speed, a.d.d. meds, anti-depressants, have perfect children with a nanny and my house never gets used, i have a personal trainer and a gourmet cook and a personal stylist...oh no wait that's hollywood. you may think that i have it all put together but let me give you a little heads up. i'm frazzled half the time i'm awake, i wish drugs that enhanced your performance as a mom would be legal and not addictive because i would be one of the first in line to get it, i apparently fake my way through a clean house look, because i prioritize exactly everything i absolutely have to do in order for it to look decent no matter what. so i have read many many many books that say the same darn thing, if your house is organized then it hides the dirtiness, cause a house that has clean floors and counters but there's a lot of crap all over the place hides the fact that you just worked your butt off cleaning the areas that are without clutter. ANYWAYS, have a home where there is a place for everything makes cleaning so much easier, and it looks clean EVEN WHEN ITS NOT! get this if you have everything where it goes people are too mesmerized that they don't notice the yucky floors, and with four kids and loved one gone for a year, trust me sometimes the floors don't get clean, OH unless you have a dog, those things are AWESOME for cleaning up after dinner! highly recommend that! as for the cute outfits and such i don't have much of a wardrobe due to my minimalist idea of if i'm not wearing it then why should it be in my closet? so if you see me on a regular basis you would start to see that i wear a lot of the same thing over and over, but i LOVE everything that is in my wardrobe. the hair and makeup secret is get an easy haircut i currently am sporting a cross between posh and katie holmes look, and the big secret is with makeup, i always forget to take it off at night sooooo, presto! instant makeup every day, just make sure you apply after showers. oh and showers, yeah i like those but sometimes i have to wear a hat to hide the greasy look. hmm lets see any other secrets on how to fake looking all together?...oh yeah when people ask how you are doing as you are at the grocery line (even when you have all kids with you and they are tearing up the joint) you answer "good, thanks" now all this will only fake people out who don't really know you, but it's okay, the people that really know you and know the truth about you (that you are just like everyone else and have really hard days that make you cry and eat a lot of chocolate, or that you wish you could take back that nasty remark that came out so quickly without thinking when you were just trying to figure out your finances online and your child just wanted to ask you for something to drink) and after knowing all those things they still like you (and maybe more?), you can call them a true friend! and as to how to raise yiour kids, i've come to the conclusion that through prayer we can be guided and it's been the same every time i get on my knees "just love them" now if you don't mind i have to get back to my kids who are currently having a crisis over where their dinosaur poster is going to go in their room, everyone is in tears and screaming, oh well so much for faking it all the time!

i'm not the sappy kind of girl

but this needs honorable mention. my j.i. joe husband sent me roses for our 10 year anniversary which was on friday, along with it he sent me via email "oh how i love thee" and listed out a whole list of things that he loves about me, some of them were hysterical and others were just plain tear makers, so jake thank you, words don't even come close, but i love you. glad we have forever. please be safe.

"this was the best easter EVER!"

as quoted by my boys, and i have to agree. the only thing we missed was having jake home. but to compensate we did soooo much that the kids loved it!

we got to see brand new baby lambs at our friends grandma's house where we did the FIRST easter egg hunt. we then got to spend time with friends while picnicking and laughing, and an all around good time. which led to the "egg rolling". never heard of this but everyone knows about it except me ofcourse and our family, and as we walk to the sand dunes every ones all a chatter, and you can feel the excitement...should of clued in right there it couldnt of been just about egg rolling, sure enough they roll eggs down the dirty sand and then to my surprise, they start chucking the hundreds of eggs at each other. and we were not spared. but thankfully i had katie and kyle to hide behind until someone saw my tactic and decided to smear egg yolks all in my hair. all in all AWESOME TIME! as we all walked back to the picnic i explain "next year you all better watch out, cause my husband will be home and he'll be able to hold the baby!" told jake that and he said, "what baby? she'll be 2 and 1/2." SWEET! that means we can both chuck eggs! but the best part was i think seeing my kids enjoy easter and when we talked about the meaning of easter, nate is really starting to show me what kind of person he's going to be, that kid has unwavering faith, and surprises me every day. everything from statements like "i love the easter bunny because he and santa clause take presents and food to the poor" and also how he blows me away with his dealing with the bullies at school "mom they are still all my friends, because that's what Jesus did, he was friends with everyone." it breaks my heart what these boys say to my kid, but it makes me so humbled how my child reacts. i need to keep learning from him and i need to have that trust in the Lord.

hope you had a wonderful easter, ours was great!

I'M BACK!

almost three full days without internet! SOMEBODY SHOOT ME! but thankfully its up again. i feel like i need to spend 5 hours online just to read everyones blogs, and update mine, and check up on news and email! yikes! i guess tonight after the kids go to bed!

meet katie's dollie

here's the black apple doll that i made for katie, but i love it so much that i'm having a hard time knowing that it's going to be "loved" and it's going to be destroyed. soooo i'm thinking of making another one, so she'll have one as decoration and another to love! i'm pathetic...

"jerry" this one's for you (arrrrg)

i got to go to walmart the other day with out the boys. it was just me and katie, and so i had a rather somewhat pleasant experience UNTIL i got to the checkout line. hmmm...hi my name is vanessa and this is my story on how i would love to break up with walmart, but i can't.
got up to the checkout line, and i thought "SCORE!" the lanes all had only 2 people WOW. must be my lucky day, oh no no, no not so much, read on...i picked a lane because the lady in lane 3 had like 5 more items than the lady in lane 4 (kicking myself STILL!). i look at my watch, 5:30, good, half an hour till i need to be at the hospital for katie. so i sit there, and i sit there, and then i start to cue in the the lady that had 5 more items was done getting her stuff put in bags and was paying with her debit card. ooookay, i look at my lane, lady in front of me still reading the tabloids, lady at check out talking to ladies in the front, guess it was a mother and daughter, and they were reliving the experience of what a horrible person the younger of the two's mother in law was. i guess she never gives any presents to her son, and the only thing she's ever given to him was when he was born, a onesie...A ONESIE!!! looking over to the other lane...another guy (who would of been me had i chosen wisely) was getting his stuff scanned...okay ladies saying goodbye to "jerry" my checkout lady. at this point i start putting my stuff on the counter, at a veeeery slooooooow speed, all due to the fact that the woman was scanning things at such a slow rate, all i could do was hear the"beep" of the next checkout lady and how fast and efficient she was. at this point i look and i really want to be over in the next lane (look at my watch, oh my, 5:45!) i hate to be late, and i have NEVER been late to a doctors appointment, i'm the one who always makes it at least 10 minutes early. now i'm starting to HATE jerry. okay hates kind of harsh. but it gets to that point, read on...jerry looks at every single item in the nice lady reading the tabloids load. i'm starting to sweat, all my stuff finally gets on the counter, and i am PAINFULLY aware that the checkout #4 lady has yet again efficiently gotten everyone through, and she had a little bit of a lull, and was looking at a book. me twitching, i start contemplating to put everything back into my cart and going to efficient lady, but my "jerry" was done ringing up and it was now my turn! (YEAH!) 5:49, oh dear goodness. jerry starts checking out my stuff literally...she looks at it as she sloooowly scans it. i restrain with all my power not to jump over there myself and start checking things out 3x's as fast, i just sit there and twitch, and start looking around...i must look like i'm on something...someone approaches "hey jerry!" OH NO! WALK WAY SHE DOESNT NEED DISTRACTIONS!!! she PUTS down my item and and looks and smiles "hi bob!" don't know if that's his name dont care, starting to loath jerry for giving me so much anxiety. resumes checking me out, finally its all done my amount is given and i'm all done, all she has to do is give me my receipt, another lady approaches "hey jerry how are ya?" OH HE__ NO! in the MIDDLE of reaching for my receipt, she stops, and i would of left but her hand was on my last bag in the middle of giving it to me. i start to laugh out loud, yes i'm going crazy and it's because of jerry and my inability to be late anywhere. and i start to think "thanks jerry i get to blog about you!" after her and willomeena (not real name) finish their debate whether suzy was being sincere when she invited jerry over to her girls night, they say goodbyes i get my receipt and i'm pretty sure i need a shot of something to ease me! look at my watch and it's 5:56. why didn't i say something to her? i couldn't i don't know why, i'm not shy, but she was a nice lady, just a little too laid back to be my checker that day. so as much i feel like i'm in a horrible relationship with walmart and would love to break up with it, but i can't, for there are no other fish in the sea at this point. oh and i got to my appointment 2 minutes late, and my world didn't end.

haven't completely given up on stitchery

i've been so busy making stuff for the gifford house and etsy that i really havnt been working on my stitchery, but here and there i've been able to do it, and well here's my new pattern that will be in quilt stores for 4th of july. still have to make a few more for the other stores but this one will be at pine needles (probably soon) so if you are inthe west jordan area, check it out my stitchery name is....TADA...... "made by me" been doing it for 5 years now. and so yes some of the patterns i am so proud to call my own, and some, well not so much. but i think this one turned out pretty cute. so yeah that's me, "made by me", "uptownjane", and "country chick", "v", "vanessa", "nessa"and so forth...i must be a schizophrenic wannabe i'm up to like 4 personalities.

playdates and rugs

this i violet, isnt she cute? anyways apparently my daughter trying to beat up her daughter isnt enough to make her not want us around, so we had another play date for the girls. and they seem to get closer and closer to actually maybe liking each other
this is the rug in violet's room, which sara (her mom) is going to TRY to teach me how to do. hey felicia you want to come and learn too?
and i couldn't resist taking a picture of her ever so cute antique stove. actually the whole house has the old doors and the old windows on it and it's soooo cute! it used to be her husband's grandfather's house

so off to the ear specialist i go. katie has so many ear infections that they think the tubes will help. lets hope so, because the only time she doesn't have an ear infection is when she's on antibiotics, and that makes for a very cranky katie and a very tired mommy. wish us luck! oh and felicia thank you soo much for taking on my boys for the afternoon, 6 boys under the same roof, not too many people would volunteer for that, you are my hero!

anticipation, excileration, and deprivation

today was a super busy day for me, first off the anticipation of finishing up jake's dissertation copying and getting it back to the college so that it can be bound and made into a book. well five books i guess. i had to make (perfect requirements for submission) 5 copies so that they would go to all the right places and people. but it's D.O.N.E. done! and what weight off my shoulders that is to have it done! now jake will get his PhD. come april. what a road! and it ended today! so yeah! now off to finish doing my taxes without jake's help AGAIN cause he's gone from home AGAIN during tax season! i would say it was on purpose but i'm pretty sure that it's not. second, i got to provo during the departments lunch hour so i had a little time to spare, and i was going to do hit and runs of all my wonderful friends (knock on door say hi give a hug and run!) but i thought i would hit the provo town mall for the little bit of time i had to spare, and save the next time i have a little more time, to actually say hello to all you fabulous ladies! (just know that i had you on my mind!) while at the provo town mall, i came to realize that i have not been in a mall in such a long time and all i have been accustomed to is target when i go up to salt lake city. now don't get me wrong no way am i going to diss my favorite store! but OH MY GOODNESS!!! a mall is WONDERFUL!!! now i know most of you live by a mall and one that is much better than the provo mall, but to me it was pure bliss!!! i've been for the past year lucky to get to the walmart 45 minutes away once a week (not in snowy season!) and that is where i've been outfitting myself and my family for the past year. i stepped inside the mall and my eyes just lit up with all the possibilities! i even had to take kyle to the restroom in dillards and i got to pass by the cutest china by kate spade, I DIDNT EVEN KNOW EXISTED for it had not been for my martha stewart living magazine, and here i was IN PERSON looking at it! it was so lovely, i just kept looking and looking and looking as i quickly passed by bedding, china, clothes, shoes, and accessories! anyways after the bathroom i found my new found love Down east basics...does everyone know about this store? this is the first i've heard of it! AND I Love love love love love lovelovelove love it!!! i got this shirt and i bought the necklace at claires right around the corner from this wonderful store.
and to make my day even more perfect, as i was done with my fast times at provo, i was on my way home, with my cute finds (at not bad prices! the wonders of lots of stores under one roof and competing for my love and money) i stopped at my favorite junk food and got me my favorite meal. (here you can be grossed out but i don't care!) a big mac and diet coke. as i drive away so excited to take my first bite, i get on the freeway, and start enjoying my meal. then i go to take a swig of my wonderful diet coke, but bleh...that's gross, what....i take another sip..."EWWWW, GROSS!!!" not diet coke, REGULAR coke! YUCK! i look in my rear view mirror, miles and miles away is mcdonnalds, no way can i turn around, i have to pick up the boys, i have to make it back to the highway to loa before it gets too late because it will be closed if i get there too late. ugh. sadness. as the trip continues i completely realize how deprived we are from having so many nice malls, and just everything a real town can offer. as i get closer to home i get to drive in this wonderful scene:

no one believes me when i tell them we get pretty close to a white out everyday on our way out of town, hence why during the winter months i try not to go to walmart unless i absolutely have to. this isnt even the worse it's ever been, but it gives you an idea. the clouds are high and the sky may be blue, but the winds are fierce, and the snow doesnt melt as quickly as it does in lower elevations, so hence the road gets shut down in and out of town as the night goes on, because too many accidents could happen. so up until this trip up to provo, with the warm weather of 47 degrees (that's warm to me right now!) and the grass starting to turn a little bit of green, and the lovely malls and stores, and the conveniences of life up there, i've been pretty okay being out in the middle of nowhere, but now i'm feeling very deprived. and well i guess that means i need to head up to provo more often, so lady friends of provo and surrounding areas, just realize as the weather gets a little better, i will be a coming up to the area!

like mother like daughter

so i was on the phone the other day with my mom and i was trying to laugh off the fact that my daughter is a tyrant. we had a couple of play dates with another little girl, violet. she's adorable, but the first time we got together katie almost scratched her eyes out! and she (in her own little katie language) bossed her around and took things away from her and so on. finally after an hour or so i guess violet had had enough of it and pushed katie. katie was appalled! she looked at me and started to cry. all i could think was "you deserved that"! but i do have to say we had another play date with her, and the girls scowled at each other for about 5 minutes, and then they were laughing and actually giving things back and forth! is this a girl thing?

anyways, on the phone with my mom it went a little like this:
me: yeah it's okay now that she scowls at everyone i mean she's young enough that people make comments that she's cute and what a look!, but what happens when she's a really mean girl at like 6 or 7 or something!

mom: well you were exactly the same way till you were 4 or 5, then you just became shy and wouldnt leave my legs, but you turned out okay.

me:wait what? i used to give dirty looks too?

mom: oh yeah, all the time to kids to adults anyone you didn't know

me: oh my gosh. i had no idea. jake was right! it IS my fault that she's like that (he's a jokester before you get offended by him for me!)

you have to understand, most of you know me on a face to face basis and know that i like to be around as many people as often as i can, i'm the "where's the next party" kind of girl. so to hear that i was anything but, gives me hope that katie will be okay and not a total mean girl and recluse!
i guess another thing we have in common is the love of fabric, this is courtesy of katie while i was working on something, i guess she opened my closet and went to town! but you can bet a million bucks that whenever there is fabric laying around she's got a few pieces in her hands

changes...

moving things around (bonnie did i do better?)

a little cluttered, but i still think i like it, i think i like the cluttered style! (okay i took down the wreath cause it was too cluttered...looks better!)

okay so after that picture of katies room a couple of posts back i realized i hated the layout of her room, so i moved things around...do you think it looks better? i'm still have to paint her dresser white (and distress it) and then i think if i put a light cream on the walls or tan i think her room will be a little closer to what i envision...oh and that little bit of fabric on the table instead of the quilt i think (well once i sew it into a little table topper) will make the room cuter. also a friend of mine is going to show me how to crochet a rug out of fabric, and it'll be round so i think i'll put in under her little table in the middle of the room so the table doesn't look like its floating in the middle! what do you think? do you like? i think i do!

OH! and i think i might be getting my armior (what is the right spelling for that anyways?!) i'm trying to barter with a gal here in town who bought a hotel and changed it to her house ( i know! it's huge!!!) but with it came a ton of armior (there's that word again!) and i have a car seat ( you know those rediculously expensive ones that are high end) that is still in the box and i think she's wanted to barter with me! wooooohoooooo!!!!!

no, no, nooooooooo!!!!!

oh no what happen to my spring?!!!! this california girl NEEDS WARMTH NOW!!!!! >:( (um and a tan and a pedicure!)

my befores and afters

i don't know if i like these two rooms yet, i'm still trying to figure out what i like and don't like!

okay so here's some more paint jobs that the prior owner thought would be such a great idea. hmmm, must of been on some pretty good drugs to make this look good! but here's my dilemma, i hate hate hate my tv where it is, and i hate hate hate ever seeing a tv in a room, but i dont' watch tv till after 10pm and that's when i'm in my room, any suggestions as to how to hide it? i know an armior (sp?) would be the best choice but, the whole money thing....do i just deal with it? it's really ugly! i'll take more pics of my bedroom i just can't seem to upload more than 4 at a time! and that's still painfully slow!

my babies last year

i was going through my pictures and found these! these are my all time favorite pictures! i took them last summer, and well with spring comming soon it just reminds me that we will be going outside soon and it makes me sooo happy! i'm going to do my before and afters later today! i just have to find the time to do it!

happy makers

.....so as i was walking back from the store, i noticed GREEN stuff in my front garden and went to look closer and this is what i saw! SPRING was growing in my front garden! so of course i HAD to take a picture and then i thought i have to make another "happy maker" list! so here we go:

1. katie is on her second day of antibiotics and that means a happier baby at night

2. i finished doing jake's copies of his dissertation (with his VERY specific detailed instructions, stressful to do anything for that man because he's one of the most dot your i's and cross your t's guy i know! but it's done!)

3. went walking this morning

4.today is my deep cleaning day so that means my house is the cleanest on Tuesdays (i love the smell of pine sol!)

5. had an awesome talk with jake last night! love you!!

6.another week is behind us (only 50 more to go)

7.my kids like me (and i like them back) :)

8.spring seems to be peeking around the corner (we are always about a month behind though because of the altitude)

9. it seems like a while since we've had any snow cover the ground

10. made my plans to visit california (beach and pool here we come!)

11. still wearing my flip flops!

12. no major bumps or scrapes, all in all we are doing just fine, missing jake but doing just fine.

a note from alyssa's mom

this is posted at carepages.com and when you sign in it's under "alyssasjourney" but i thought i would post it cause so many of the prayers were from you guys too. all i have to say is that this little girl and her family is going through A LOT.

1 March 09, 2008 at 04:39 PM MDT
Dear Family and Friends, We wanted to begin this web page to let you all know how Alyssa is doing and to keep in touch with you better. Alyssa was diagnosed with cancer called neuroblastoma. She has a solid mass tumor in the back part of her abdominal cavity that goes from her pelvis up to the middle of her chest. This cancer grows from the adrenal gland on top of her right kidney and follows the sympathetic nerves up her spinal column. We have gone through the staging process, which tells the tumor's make-up and what its cells are behaving like. It also tells how far advanced it is and where all it has spread in Alyssa's little body. The results have told us that she is in Stage IV and is High-Risk. It also is into her bone marrow as well as a little bit of bone disease. This being the case, we have to fight it pretty aggressively. But three days are behind us. We hope to finish two more days of the chemo and depending on how she's doing at that point, we'll get to bring her home and take care of her while her blood builds back up. Neuroblastoma, being from the adrenal gland, has caused Alyssa to have extremely high blood pressure, as well as no appetite. Her blood pressures have been as high as 150's over 119 and one time it was 163 over 119. Not good pressure at all, but we have monitored it well and she has had to have as much as three blood pressure medications. However we cheered today, because they just took her pressure and it was 118 over 69! We were so excited. She also had to have a blood transfusion yesterday, March 8. That may have contributed to the lowered blood pressure. We are so amazed and humbled and grateful to all of you for your prayers, phone calls, gifts, cards encouraging words and financial generosity. We thank you for putting Alyssa's name on the prayer rolls in as many as five different temples. We also are grateful for that which has been done to help our other kids through this hard time in their lives. We have certainly felt the strength of so much faith and prayer exercised in our behalf. We are so blessed to have you all encircling us during this stunning (for lack of words to describe it!) thing that has come into our lives. We express gratitude and testimony for the gospel of Jesus Christ and the complete anchor it is for us through this. We know Heavenly Father loves Alyssa and is aware of what we are going through. We know that our Savior knows what we are feeling. We trust Alyssa to be in Their hands and exert all of our faith and constant prayers for Their hand in her treatment and healing. Please accept our heartfelt thanks for all you do, for the goodness in your own lives and your care and concern for us. Hopefully this will help keep in touch and that it will be helpful to you to know how Alyssa's doing. We love you all, Love, the Chappells

my before and after

well i promised bonnie that i would do a before and after, so here it is, don't you looooove the blue? would you be soooo jealous if i told you the inside was that color too? i'll do before and afters of some of the inside another day, i'm definitely still working on things, ( i need my friend brooke to come over here and do her magic with bead board, what do you think brooke, you and kate up to a trip up to the country?) mainly we've just primed the walls with white, where most people are painting their walls a different color we were just going to plain white! when i post the pictures you'll see why!!!

as for the house it's not my dream house but it will do, it provides a roof over our heads and a place for us to call home. i keep envisioning all the things i want to do to it, but i have to remember all in due time, and this isn't our "forever" house. so i can just wait and do with what i got...

I'm so highspeed

okay well most of you already know all about labels, but i'm just so cool that i'm just figureing it out, so instead of all my quotes being on the side, i'm going to make a "label" with them and just add them as time keeps going...the latest one is the one that ryan did this morning!

"A party pooper is someone who goes to a party and needs to go poop."-Ryan
-"You may now call me 'master of puzzles'"-Ryan
-"You messed with the bull, NOW you get the horns!"- Nate (have no idea where that came from)
-"A man's got to do what a man's got to do."-Ryan when kyle asked him why he did something.
-"I don't need the spirit in the house, because I have the spirit IN me now."-Nate
-"That's the way Jose!"-Kyle (he was trying to say "no way Jose"
-"Remember no blood, no call."-Jake when leaving the babysitter with "instructions"
-"Mom, first off it wasn't me, and second, it was an accident"-Ryan
-"Dad, that looks really good, can I have some?" -Ryan....Jake's response (and I'm not joking) "No, you don't want any of this, it tastes like poo." (that got lots of laughs around the table, all ofcourse except me, and I wonder where my kids get it from?!)
-"Katie just told me she needs you to stop what you are doing and help her" -Jake (realize the girl has a vocabulary of 3 words that only her fam understands and one of them is "da" which means dad and dog)
-"What doesn't kill you, just makes you stronger, or that more insane, and I hear doctors have great drugs for that."-Vanessa (when asked how she is going to survive this next year
-"Mom, you're a female, cause girls are females, and boys are fems (pronounced FEAM)"- Ryan
-"OOOH, you mean if I don't do that I WON'T get in trouble."-Nate (Which then Jake's response was: "Wait, HOLY CRAP! VANESSA!!! I think Nate's getting it!!!")
-"Dear Heavenly Father, please help Nate get a clue and not get in trouble in school anymore..."-Ryan
-"No, you are not allowed to say 'stupid'...unless you are talking about the goats."-Jake to the boys
-"You can have him! His name is Billy and we don't like him"-Felicia (another move in like ourselves, found out first hand that goats can be...fun) and now we have two goats
-"You gonna slaughter that goat?"-Nate's classmate Lucas asked Jake this when we bought Daisy from his dad
-"I did not know that people actually say "Git-er done" but they DO!"-Vanessa
-"While you were gone, your goat got IN AND ON my CAR!!! I now hate your goats."-Julie (next door nieghbor long time friend and a now a hater of goats, welcome to the club!)
-"I've realized, under no circumstance, does swearing at the goat help the situation."-Vanessa
-"Oh, I have Santa's direct line, dont make me use it!"-Jake
-"Mom why is it so easy for me to be good?"-Ryan
-"I wasn't thinking anything."-Nate (usually the answer to "What were you thinking?!"
-"THAT was not on purpose!"-Nate
-"Whoa! You fall me down!"-Kyle (you made me fall)
-"Don't worry I can fix that!"-Nate

i knew going in...

i guess where i made the mistake was when i was so optimistic thinking that THIS time it was going to be different. hello, my name is vanessa and welcome to what i like to call "my personal hell...walmart with all my kids"...

as i turn off the car, i turn to my children and say "okay recite the rules" they list them "no running, no yelling..." and the most important one "always one hand on the cart." okay off we go. i should of known though that it wasnt going to be that easy. nate had had 3 bad days in a row at school. and why would walmart be any different? "look mom i'm controlling myself!" were his famous last words as we approached the blasted box store. as i look at him i'm remembering the last few days, everything from almost breaking my favorite (and one of my only glass things around our house) yellow ware bowl, by "accidentally" chucking a stuffed animal at full speed in the kitchen, and dumping my freshly made tapioca down the sink "cause it looked weird", going into the back yard with toilet paper in hand proceed to poop, and wipe himself and when asked "why?" his answer is "buck does it" (okay that was a few months ago, but that memory flooded back) and sooooo many other little things i all of a sudden got this dark cloud come over me and the headache began. i can't tell at this point if it's just that the backpack with katie in it that is pressing on the wrong pressure points or if it's just anxiety flooding over my body, but the headache begins...as i load everyone up onto the cart, i already hear my first "wow, you've got your hands full" of the day, i smile and think "you have nooo idea lady." we turn the first corner and "poof" nate and ryan disappear. "what the..." that didnt' take long. "nathan and ryan, back over here or you don't get to spend your tokens like promised!" "poof" back, okay as i ignore all the stares of adults and children alike (i guess not too many people put their child in a backpack unless they are hiking? i'm a trend setter you just wait and see, after people see me the trend will be "leave home without them") okay back to it, we make it through some isles but not before we have to pass the toy section, that's an experience i always look forward to, let me tell you. i start smelling something rancid, "what is that?" i smell my hands then i look at kyle who smiles back and i go in to smell him "not you" "not me!" he chimes in, dang it lost the other two again! "yes they are all mine" to the question off in the corner. "i have to go peeee!" kyle yells. okay, "NATHAN AND RYAN! TOKENS" "poof" back. after the bathrooms, i get that smell again, "WHAT, is that? you two stop fighting." head to the grocery section "stop touching everything guys!" "yes i do have my hands full" smile...headache getting worse. for some reason i touch my hair, it's goopy, of course, "katie did you spit up in mommy's hair?" the smell has now been identified...okay whatever. keep trudging along. lets just say the next half hour doesnt change much until we get to the can section, i don't know what happened all i know is was looking at green beans and all of a sudden i turn around just in time to see the section of canned mushrooms in slow motion mind you start falling, first one by one then a whole mess of them and guess who's underneath them, yup nate. "oh crap" i run dust nate off, i look to see if he's okay "wow, that was a bad idea" (george castanza's dad "serenity now!" in my head over and over and over) *sigh* "lets pick it up" "mom i dropped my cat!" kyle..."hold on kyle" me. "okay nate one hand on the cart" "okay, i promise not to do that again!" lets hope so. we make it to the check out (they put the candy there just to make tired moms like myself cave in at the last moment but my thing is they put it there so i'm just going to let my kids make a mess of it and they can deal with it cause i don't have a problem saying "no" a million times) with a hundred "i dropped my cats" and another hundred "no you can't have that's" another "yes i have my hands full" and a "oops sorry ryan" when i ran him over with the cart, i finally get to my car. load everyone up, and off to KMART i go so the kids can spend their tokens on pokemon stuff. (our walmart doesnt carry any). that actually goes pretty well except that i look down at my cart when i load everyone up and realize that i have two things i didn't pay for in there, of course.... so i go back pay the $6 worth of things that i almost stole, and finally start the car. i know what can help the situation MCDONNALDS! so i get in the drive through and as i sit there, someone off to my left honks the horn, i look over but don't see anything, but when i look forward i see three teenagers giving me dirty looks, they thought i had honked at them! as i see their lips moving at me and hand gestures flying all over the place i say "no, no, no, that wasn't me!" oh whatever. i get my extra larges of everything, start wolfing, go to burger king cause my kids wont touch mcdonnalds for some reason, and then go to get gas, as i stand there, i see a cute little 20 something bouncing back and forth from one car to another, i stare, then look down at myself, with spit up running down onto my shirt from my hair, ketchup (nice) i didn't notice before on my jeans, i hang up the pump and look into my car with the boys all staring and making goofy faces and laughing. *sigh* smile...need an aspirin, drive the 45 minutes home, brush teeth, say prayers, put kids to bed in their clothes, tomorrow is another day, the boys have big plans to play pokemon cards and with toys, as i unload the groceries i come across one plastic lemon...hmmm interesting. the boys keep talking about their plans and they slowly get quieter and quieter, all is quiet and *sigh* i'm going to bed, to await the adventure of tomorrow!

Alyssa's quilt

here's the matching pillow i finished it last night! it actually looks like her! (fabrics all picked out by felicia)

well here it is the quilt for alyssa. i really have to say that felicia is amazing as a quilter (she has her own buisness as a machine quilter). we started it and finished the top yesturday and she finished it today, i'm making a little stitchery pillow (with ribbon) with coordinating fabric so that it can hang off the hospital bed or on her door it will say little princess. we're so excited to get to give this to her, she's the most adorable little girl! there is also a huge county garage sale and all money made will be donated to the family. i tell you ladies, this area is in the middle of nowhere but they sure do take care of eachother! thank you for the prayers!

your prayers are needed

everywhere we have lived there have been special women that have come into my life, most of you are a product of that, and some are wonderful women i've never met face to face, but from the bottom of my heart THANK YOU for your friendships they mean the WORLD to me. being the special women that i know you are i need to ask for a special request. your prayers for this wonderful little girl not yet two years old. her mom is a wonderful woman just like all of you, she loves her children and her youngest Alissa, has just been diagnosed with cancer. they cannot operate on her tumor because it has grown around her spine and one of her intestines, she's going to go through kemo (sp?), and they hope this will help shrink the tumor. another wonderful woman and myself are making a quilt for her today, so i'll be gone for a while, doing that, we hope to have it for her when her aunt goes up to primary childrens on friday. please keep alissa and her family in your prayers, i'll be getting her blog and post it as soon as i can. i'm sure the family wont mind all the prayers out there. really makes me count my wonderful blessings of waking up to the same ol same ol of our house, and makes me really think of what an amazing little girl (and family!) this is to of taken on this huge thing in such an early stage in her life.

D.I. find & sugar cookies

so i found this cute little "cake" platter (it's katie size) and i painted it to match her kitchen (although i ran out of paint hence the shotty job) but i had to take a picture of the sugar cookies inside the cake platter. i'm still going to make a cute stand for it (so that it's off the surface) and i used the wrong kind of fabric for the cookies (i didn't have felt so i used flannel...not as good as felt!) but i wanted to see how they looked and i love em! so when i get felt i'm going to make a whole batch of em and sell them at the country chick boutique and i'm going to make them for the gifford house that opens for the season on march 15th! ahhh! not enough time! still working on my bags...well not really, but i bought the fabric! i think i'll just take it all in stride and not worry about deadlines, that way i don't stress out about it and i still enjoy my kids, and try to keep up with the laundry! i used to love doing laundry, but i think it was around kid 3 that it became a monster of a job! i try to do as fly lady says and do a load a day, and it's nice to do it on a regular basis, only thing is the folding! i feel like i can do it in my sleep, heck if i did it in my sleep then i wouldnt have a permanent basket sitting there with rotating needed to be folded clothes!

happy makers

1. it's been a week, woohoo! only 51 more to go!

2. i got to wear flip-flops again!

3. stopped by the school to drop off ryan and kyle, got stopped by one of nate's teachers who said he's having another great day!

4. i get to hang out with a great friend while our kids play today

5. i got motivated and made a patch quilt pillow for my room today

6. bought some more scrapbook paper (don't know why cause i don't have anything to do with it, but i love it anyway)

7. drank my last diet coke and diet dr. pepper yesturday, and i'm not buying anymore (a little scared about this one but i'm going to get healthy!)

8. read our scriptures said prayers this morning, and as nate was leaving the boys told him they loved him and he said he loved them too.

9.the birds are actually chirping outside!

10. katie woke up happy

11. katies taking a nap and the boys are all in school and the only sound is me typing

12. i got inspired and made katie felt sugar cookies and the frosting is pink fabric that has polka dots (oh so cute)

13. there seems to be a undertone of peace in our house

14. did i mention the sun is out?

15. there's so many more happy makers, but i'm just happy that i have so many!

so you want to know about the token system...

well one of the benefits of being married to a marriage and family therapist is that he's got a lot of training in conduct disorders, and such...soo when we were having major issues with nate at school (wouldnt do any work, i mean absolutely nothing at school, homework was a fight, i was usually in tears by the end of it, and he actually had his teacher in tears a few times) he introduced me and his teacher to the token system. after 2 and half months of doing it, nate comes home with his daily report with "excellent" more often than not, but it was a bumpy road to get to this point. here are some of the things that we do:

**EVERYTHING costs tokens: tv, computer, toys, chocolate milk, extra time up, (playing with friends is not something that costs for nate cause he's struggling in this area), buying new toys.

*1/2 hour of tv watching costs 5 tokens, also goes for the computer. if they want an hour it costs 10 tokens...

*15 minutes extra after bedtime (my kids go to bed between 7 and 7:45, kyle at 7, ryan at 7:30, and nate at 7:45) they pay 5 tokens for each 15 minutes extra, but can only ask up to 30 minutes, maximum of 10 tokens.

*chocolate milk costs 5 tokens, apple juice does too (milk and water are free)

*for every 100 tokens they save up they can go and buy a $10 toy. or 10 tokens will get you a $1 toy and so forth.

*if i have to clean up their room it will cost them 10 tokens each. (this one encourages them to work together)

*cookies, sweets, or snacks (not including fruit) cost 3 tokens.

theres more but i think you get the point...

HOW TO EARN TOKENS:

*if nate comes home with an excellent report (all 1's on his daily report that jake made up for the teacher to fill out) he instantly earns 20 tokens (this took about a month to even happen once)

-for ryan its 10, (he's in kindergarten and it's half day so he only gets half)

-for kyle its 5

*if they finish all their food and clean up their plate and put it in the sink= 2 tokens

*if they clean up their room WITHOUT me telling them= 3 tokens

*if they do what is asked of them the FIRST time = 2 tokens

*randomly i give out tokens for nice behavior, or nicely playing with each other, being kind, being helpful, playing quietly, and so forth. i do it randomly because this enforces the good behavior all the time, not just when they want tokens.

now here's the disclaimer: it was HELL the first 2 weeks. kids were complaining that they didn't have to "pay" for everything. but i stuck to it, and now almost going onto our third month of this, we go days without watching tv...yeah you read it right, DAYS WITHOUT TV. i thought i was going to go mad at first, i kept asking the kids if they wanted to pay for tv, or something...but they started to realize that they wanted some things more than others, and for them playing nicely without having to pay for it was better than wasting 5 tokens for half an hour of tv. and now when the tv is on, it sounds "wrong" or something.

now i also have to add that nate was the hardest on me with the system, he just rebelled, said he didnt care that he didnt have tokens, and would just still give me a hard time. he didnt really have much to loose because he wasnt earning anything. but when he noticed that his brothers were able to eat a cookie or ask for chocolate milk, and play with their beloved "star wars troopers" (they cost 10 tokens, but if they all have an excellent day they don't have to pay for it, and they get their max tokens for the school day) after about 3 weeks he would have a "good" day here and there, and now we actually have an average of 3 to 4 excellent days so they've been happily playing with their most favorite toys! okay this is getting long so if you have any more questions just let me know.

watching someone else kids and blogging don't mix

gave my kids and the extra kids some lunch...cleaned up lunch, put katie down for a nap and told the kids to go into the boy's room to find a few toys to play with. went to the computer uploaded my new barrette pictures to my country chick blog, went to go check on the kids and found this... wow...matter of minutes! maybe my kids don't do this cause they know if i have to clean up their room they owe me 10 tokens, and tokens around the house are gold! soooo, they are pretty good at playing with stuff (and not EVERYTHING at once) and when i say they have 5 minutes to clean up, they do and it usually takes less than two! the extra kids are cute, but oh my!

easy like sunday morning

so again we had a pretty good sunday, not too bad, i even felt good enough to leave the boys with the young woman that sat next to us (to entertain the boys ) while i went up to give my testimony, it was refreshing, it's been so long since i went up there, but i needed to, had to thank the ward for all their help they gave us when we were sick a few weeks ago, and ofcourse let my kids know how much i love them and love Heavenly Father...
so now it's after church and these are some pictures of the day... kyle with bread over his ears so he doesn't have to hear katie crying, (cause i put her down so i could make dinner)

nate reading his cubscout book, he loves that stuff!

ryan cuddleing with all of their stuffed animals

okay so i was telling my mom about the little "rummble" that happened yesturday and she kind of freaked out that i thought it was funny that "katie was being violent" i then explained "NOOO, you've got it all wrong! she just PUT her head on his back and pushed, that is her rendition of head butting!" so before i make my daughter out to be a tyrant i guess i should explain my last post...she DIDN'T really head butt kyle, she just pushed him with her head and kyle being the tender soul that he is, took it to heart and started bawling, that's all she's not that awful! just a little...colorful! here she's playing mommy and putting her baby down for a nap

okay had to do one more of kyle. kyle just being his cute little self