Toby's Graduation

I am so proud of Toby for working hard and graduating from high school. It was a great day to celebrate with family. I know that whatever he chooses to do in life he will do well at it.

CONGRATULATIONS TOBIAS!

Kansas City Temple Ground Breaking

At the last minute our Branch President called and asked if we wanted to go to the ground breaking for the Kansas City Temple. After talking to James we decided that we would only go if our whole family could go. Needless to say it all worked out and we enjoyed a cold windy day in Kansas City. I don't know what I was thinking but I wasn't expecting all the dirt. I didn't realize that they had already prepared the ground and that it was all dirt. We met our friend Mark and Nicole Dodd there. I had a picture of Mark holding Adalyn but I couldn't get it to the bottom of the page. And I am not starting over.

In the middle of this picture you can see a man facing you. He is signing to some people what is being said. The speakers were on the top of the hill and you can't see them very well, but it was great just being there.

After all was done, everyone that wanted to was invited to dig up some dirt. Each child did it on their own and then we did it as a family. As you can see my hair the wind was blowing like crazy.

Here are my boys with dad. I think they look so handsome in their suits. Each Stake President will be given a shovel after it is all done. There is a plaque on each shovel telling about the event and the date. That was neat.

I am so thankful for the temple in my life. I am grateful for the knowledge that through ordinances in the temple my family can be together forever. I can't wait to take my children to the temple to do baptisms. I am grateful for a Heavenly Father who loves us and has given us ways to return to him.

Little James' birthday

In February we celebrated James eleventh birthday. We were able to go skating and have fun in Joplin. James went camping with his dad and the scouts so he could earn his Arrow of Light for Cub Scouts. So for his birthday he got a new backpack for camping. He was really excited.

He later learned that because there is no eleven year old scout person he gets to go with the older scouts. This has made him want this year to go by fast so that he could go every week, (he can't go the second week of the month because of combined activities, and he is not old enough).

James is a wonderful young man. He likes to take things apart and fix them. He loves to fish, and really wants to hunt. We just need to get him into the hunter education program. James is an excellent baseball player. He is a typical boy in that I have to ask him to do things more than once. But I can deal with that most days. He will try anything that someone challenges him to do. He is a great big brother. I love his smile, it is contagious. What a special person he is, and I am grateful to call him my son.

Pigs

We took our pigs to the butcher in February. They were big. We figured that one pig weighed about 309 and the other pig about 270 I think. It has been awhile. It was fun trying to get them in the trailer. We had a guy up the road from us come and take them to town. He backed up his trailer and we tried to get them to go in. It took everyone to get the silly pigs into the trailer. At one time Carl was on top of one. I wish that I had taken pictures of this, but I too was helping.

We sold one half of the big pig, and one half of the little pig. We have a lot of pork in the freezer but we have enjoyed eating it. We might do it again sometime. We will see. It was a great experience for all of us.

Isaiah turns five

I realized that I never wrote about Isaiah's birthday. I can't believe that he has turned five this year. Where has the time gone. For his dinner he asked for salmon. So we ate salmon and broccoli and rice. Then we ate cake.

Isaiah is a wonderful boy. He loves playing with his brothers and sisters. He loves to give his momma and Adalyn kisses and hugs. I will never pass that up. Isaiah will let you know when he gets frustrated. And when Isaiah gets tired, he will go lay down or go to bed. Sometimes I wonder where he is and I will find him sleeping on my bed.

I am grateful that Isaiah is part of our family. He is a special boy and I am thankful to my Heavenly Father for allowing him to come to our family.

Busy, Busy, Busy

Oh I have to apologize for not writing. I just realized that I have written only ten times this year. Can we say slacker? No I am not a slacker, I have been busy around here. But I hope that things are slowing down now, but I doubt it, I will be able to write more. There are some things that we have done that I want to write about like:
Kansas City Temple ground breaking
and of course baseball
End of school

Hopefully I will get to these soon.

Indy Car Race

Last Wednesday James called and asked what our weekend plans were. When he asks me this, I wonder what he has up his sleeve. After I told him nothing he said that he was given four tickets to the Indy car race in Kansas City. I told him that the boys would love to go. I found a sitter for the three younger ones. An uncle with no job is a great babysitter. We left early Saturday and headed for the race track. We put it in the GPS and off we went. It seems as though the GPS takes us different ways every time we go somewhere. The race track is next to Nebraska Furniture Mart, and so we have been there before. All of a sudden the GPS has us turn off the highway and onto some small road. We are driving in the country, and James asks me if I am sure I put the racetrack in the GPS correctly. Of course I did. We drove by a Boy Scout Camp, a Cub Scout Camp and seen some beautiful country. We did end up coming out on the back side of the track. We drove right into the parking area.

We parked and walked through the gate. We had great seats. We were right off the finish line in pretty close to the top. We sat under the cover of the box seats. I was glad that we took our ear protection. It was so loud we couldn't even hear each other talk.

The boys had fun timing the cars as they would make a lap. It took Danica Patrick about 26 seconds to do one lap. I don't think that I could do that. I wouldn't have time to think about what I was doing. There were a few wrecks at the end but nothing serious.

After the race we watched the trucks do their qualifying rounds. They were to race the next day. James Jr.'s favorite part was watching the remote control cars race in the front.

I have to say I enjoyed the race, but I don't think that I would ever pay to go to a race. But if I were to get free tickets again I would go.

We then went across to the mall and ate dinner and walked around. Oh and Cold Stone. I like getting ice cream from there. I know it is expensive, but it is a nice treat once in awhile.

Our 7th Street Walk

When we picked up our Suburban from getting an engine overhaul Larry said to bring it back in after 1,000 miles so that he can make sure that everything is alright. Due to a funeral and other things going on Friday we were unable to take it in. Guess what I got to do with five children yesterday?

I took the the Suburban to Joplin to have Larry look it over. He told us this would be about a two hour process. I had taken the stroller and planned on walking around. Well Larry's shop is on 7th street in Joplin between Murphy Blvd. and Rangeline.

We strapped Adalyn into the stroller and we walked to May's Drugstore and looked around. We walked down to Murphy Blvd. to cross the street and go to D.A.V. I have to say we got some cute clothes for the girls. Then we walked to Sportsman Park to see if Kristina was working. If she was we were going to eat lunch. But she wasn't, so we walked down the the Mexican place. I talked the children into walking to Petsmart to see the animals. While there, Larry called and informed me that the Suburban was done. So we hike back to Larry's to get the Suburban. I asked him how far it was between the two streets and they guessed about a little over one mile. After running a few more errands in town I drove down 7th Street from Rangeline to Murphy Blvd. and realized that we had walked three miles.

My children are troopers. Everyone of them, except Adalyn, walked the three miles. Yes we did stop here and there, but not once did they complain.

They are trying to walk, run a half marathon before June 12th, and so we were able to mark that distance off their papers.

I am grateful that the Suburban checked out fine, and I was really grateful to get into the Suburban and drive to the next place that we had to go.

Baseball Season

I knew that this would be coming. With having five children ages one to eleven, it was bound to happen. I have four children playing baseball/tee ball this year. Last year James and Carl played at the same time. So this year I am really looking forward to watching them play one after the other. For Haylea and Isaiah I am hoping that they play one after the other. I just found out that there are two boy tee ball teams, which means that one team would follow the girls and the other would end up going to a different place. If this is the case James and I will be going in different directions on Saturday mornings for two months.

Isaiah and Haylea have started practices. I have to remind myself that they have to start somewhere. Isaiah is doing really good. His coach used him as an example two times at the last practice. Haylea has a lot to learn. Ok, maybe not a lot but she needs to work on a few things. We can just say that she is definitely a girl. She does get out there and do what she is asked to do though.

James and Carl start practice this week. I am sure that they will do fine. James moved up to the eleven-twelve year old and Carl is in the nine-ten group. This is a busy time of year for us, but we enjoy spending time together, and supporting the one playing, and we enjoy baseball.

I will let you know how they do throughout the season.

Wind, Wind, Go Away

I know that I live in Kansas so if you read this post don't hold it against me. Please don't tell me, "Well you do live in the country." The city is the same way right now.

I am tired of the wind. The wind has blown now for a week. I don't just mean some little breeze. I feel as though we are going to blow away. Just the other day, our grill was picked up from the west side of the house, carried over the fence and landed in the yard. We are lucky it didn't hit the propane tank.

The howling of the wind drives me batty. I really just want it to stop. Today we couldn't open the back door without it slamming shut. As soon as we open the car doors they go flying open from the wind.

The wind has blown from the south, and today it blows from the west. I thought that we were going to have a good day. I went out to plant our garden and the wind picked up.

I JUST WANT THE WIND TO CALM DOWN. I don't mind a little breeze, but when it is 15-20 miles an hour all day and night, I am going crazy.

The Orange Cat Named Tom

I have felt overwhelmed that I missed posting things on here, I have procrastinated writing anything. I am going to let that go. I might post later about Isaiah and James birthday. Things have been really crazy around here. We are now down to one car and I am thinking it will be awhile. School is going good. The boys are going for their state assessments next week. I was worried about how they would do but after having them practice I am not feeling so worried. Ok, enough about the reasons why I haven't been posting.

Here is what I wanted to post about:

On Monday a cat appeared in our yard. All the children went out to play and this cat decided that it wanted to be friendly to the children. It is a beautiful orange cat. It looks as though it needs to eat, but at this point I am unwilling to feed it. I called James at work and made him ask the landlord if she brought an orange cat out recently. She said that she hadn't. The children tried to call it Sunny because we didn't know if it was a boy or a girl, and it was orange.

They decided that the cat didn't come when they called. When their father told them it was a tom cat, they decided to name him Tom. How original is that? We are practical around here. They wanted to name it Kitty, but I told them that I had a cat named Kitty that lived to be over twenty.

Yesterday as they were out playing in the yard they would yell "TOM" and every time I would think that they were yelling "MOM". I would look and see what was wrong and then realize what they were doing.

The great part is when Adalyn decided to go out and play by herself. She would stay on the back steps and play. Tom was lounging on the stairs when she went out. I think Adalyn has a love hate relationship with the cat. If she touches the cat at her will she is fine. If Tom tries to touch her when he wants she is not fine with that. Tom would try and get her to pet him and she would have nothing to do with him. When he would lay on a step in the sun she would sit a few feet away and watch him. This went on for about thirty minutes. As I sat and watched I realized that my baby is not a baby anymore. She is growing up. I was kind of emotional. I need to mention that I have been emotional lately, and no I am not pregnant. As I stood there and watch her be independent from the others and do her own thing I realized that she is able to really do things on her own and is learning that she isn't so reliable on her parents or siblings. I am grateful for her getting older and wanting to be independent, but there is something tugging at my heart at the same time.

Ok, enough of me blabbing about children growing up, I know that happens. I guess eventually I will have to get some food for Tom the cat. I think that he will be sticking around for awhile. I told the children that he could stay as long as he is outside. And they have to wash their hands when they come in from playing with him because some of us are allergic to cats.
So I guess you can say we have a new addition to our family.

Bread

I made the best bread today. I started it this morning while we were doing school. I put the yeast in the water, and five minutes later I added the sugar. I went back to help the boys and I looked up and the yeast was falling out of the measuring cup onto the counter. This has never happened before. I got a bowl and dumped the yeast water into it so that I could add the other ingredients.

After mixing the wet stuff together I mixed it with the flour. I let it raise, and it doubled in size by the time I had to go get Isaiah, so I punched it down and covered it back up and went and got Isaiah. When I came home I finished the bread.

This is the best bread I have made so far. It was lighter than the others that I have made. James thinks that my bread is to heavy when I make it. I can't wait for him to try this bread. I am glad that I haven't given up on my bread making. The children love to eat my homemade bread with honey on it. I hope to have my bread making mastered before to long, but if it takes me awhile I don't mind.

Car problems to start the year off

I think it was about three weeks ago today, we drove the boys to the church for scouts. James said how it smelled like gas. He soon realized that we had a gas leak. So we didn't drive the Suburban anymore. My mom and Darlad allowed us to use their Excursion while our car is down. So that Friday James and I went to Wal-Mart to replace a front tire that he was afraid would blow. On Saturday we got everyone ready to make the two hour trip to get the Excursion. When James went out to start the van, at about 11:00 a.m., he saw that the van had a flat tire in the back. It takes about thirty minutes to get the tired air up. We head to Joplin to go to Sam's Club to get it fixed. We get to the west side of Joplin and the tire is flat. We go to Casey's to use their free air. Their air is frozen. We drive across the road to another station and they do not have air. James called his dad, and Steve comes and rescues us. They have an air compressor. After about five minutes we were on our way again.

We arrive at Sam's. I take the children in and James parks the car. We learn that Sam's can't fix the tire today. Their air compressor is frozen. I forgot to tell you that this is when the weather was the coldest ever. My wonderful husband didn't leave until things were taken care of. He arranges for us to go to Wal-Mart and have our tire fixed. So off to Wal-Mart we go.

The nice people at Wal-Mart told us it would be about an hour and a half. We decide to go eat lunch at Wendy's, so we walk down the hill and have lunch. Our time was not up so we went to Academy Sports and looked around. I told James that I would walk up the hill, and get the van and come back and get him and the kids.

When I got back to Wal-Mart the nice man tells me that the hole is in the sidewall and they cannot fix it. I call James and tell him, and him and the children head up the hill. Long story short, James and the boys go to Sam's and get a new tire, and bring the new tire back so that the men at Wal-Mart can put it back on.

We wanted to be home for dinner. We spent over five hours getting our tire fixed. Guess what, we didn't make it home for dinner. My mom was so kind to make us dinner. We got to Cassville around 7:00 p.m. We visited for awhile and had dinner. Our suppose to be short trip to Cassville ended up being all day and we got home about 12:00 a.m.

The next week we went and got the trailer from Steve so we could get our Suburban to his shop. Thanks to Steve, THANK YOU STEVE, our Suburban is now fixed. I don't understand all that was wrong and it is wrong of me to even attempt to tell you something that I don't know the slightest bit about, so I won't. I am sure that in the near future we will have to drive the Excursion back to Cassville to return it when we get our Suburban. I am just grateful that it wasn't as bad as we first thought it would be. And I am thankful for all of you that have helped in our time of need. THANK YOU FROM THE HUGHLETTS

Turkey Fryer

James has been wanting a fryer to fry turkeys in for awhile now. He finally bought one that was on sale. Last week he came home from work with a turkey. He asked what I wanted to do with it and I told him we should fry it. So in the refrigerator it went. Last night he finally got around to frying it. He also fried a chicken.
The turkey was good. It cooked a few minutes too long but it was moist. The chicken wasn't done the first time he took it out. He put it in and cooked it a few minutes longer and out came a pretty fried chicken. I will cut it up and use it for something. We had a good experience with the first frying at the Hughlett House.
I am excited to try it again.

Progresso Soup Deal

I love getting a great deal. Well I scored one last week on Progresso Soup. I had just printed off three coupons for $1.10 off three cans of soup. Well guess what, our local Country Mart had them on sale for $1.00, only a select few. They no longer take internet coupons, so off to Wal-Mart we went with our coupons and ad in hand. James and the boys picked out 10 cans of soup. When we went to check out the CSM let us do this one time. Because it had select varieties on the ad they will only match the ones in the picture. So our cans of soup went from $1.50 a can to $1.00 a can. Then with our coupons they went down even more. The cashier only scanned two coupons in the end so we paid $7.80 for 10 cans of soup. We saved $7.20. That means that we paid $0.78 per can. If we would have had our other coupon we would have paid $0.67 per can. I think we did great on this one.
I am trying to keep track of how much we save using coupons and ad matching this year. I don't know how long it will last but I will try and keep you posted on some of our great deals that we get.

It is COLD

It has been cold here for a few days. Ok, maybe two weeks. The snow from Christmas has not melted. Tomorrow the high is only going to be about 4 degrees. We spent two days putting up plastic on the windows on the west, north, and east sides of the house. We have cut boards and plastic and took our time covering up the windows. I am grateful for this. It has truly helped with the cold drafts.
The children have enjoyed sledding. They put a board up from the cellar to the ground and put snow on it. I don't have to take them to town. They sled as far as they can. One might end up in the rose bush. I haven't heard yet. I had to call James and Carl in today. They went out to change the pigs and chickens water and decided to stay out and sled. Their cheeks were cold. They don't realize how cold it really is outside.
I have decided that I don't mind the snow. I don't mind because it feels as though our life has slowed down a little. At night as we drive down the road you can look out over the fields and see the field. Sometimes you can see deer. The other day when we were driving to town the kids and I saw an eagle in a field. We were excited. I tried to get James to turn around.
During this weather I have realized my appreciation to the pioneers. I can't imagine moving in the bitter cold and dealing with their trials. I am grateful that I don't have to do that. I am glad that I have a warm home, and a car that I can drive where I need to go.

Update

I wanted to blog about the train trip that we took. I have put it off, and put it off and now we are into the new year. So I will update and not do individual posts.

Train Ride:
Part of our Christmas gift from my mom was a train ride. We boarded in Seligman MO, and went to Rogers AR. For those that know Isaiah loves trains. We had so much fun. We did get some great pictures that I wanted to post but I never got around to it. On the way down Mrs. Clause sat with us and the children drilled her with questions. On the way back from Rogers the children got a goody bag with an apple and some other snacks and a juice.

Christmas:
This year we went to the Hughlett's on Christmas Eve. We enjoyed visiting there for a couple of hours. Grandma and Grandpa gave the children blankets. We spent Christmas at mom's house this year. We got to her house before the bad weather came. We were blessed with a white Christmas. It was beautiful. We stayed up until 4:00 a.m. getting everything done, and visiting. Adalyn was up until 1:00. When the children woke up they were really excited. This year the idea was that everyone would make something for another person. It was really hard coming up with something to make. But when all was said and done it turned out wonderful. We got to talk to Devin. He is doing really good. We all talked for a few minutes and passed the phone. He sounded really happy. I really enjoyed the simplicity of this Christmas.

New Years:
We stayed home and did nothing this year. Well I really can't say that. We went to Joplin and filled up our Suburban, got the last of the Wendy's frosties, and did some shopping. We were home by 11:00 p.m. and stayed up to watch the ball fall. The older I get the less I care about it. I was glad to spend the day with my family.

Adalyn is sick:
Adalyn has a respiratory infection. The poor child is miserable. She is wheezing and wants to be held all the time. I took her to Urgent Care today and the doctor gave her a script to help her get better. A few more days of breathing treatments and medicine and she should be doing better.

Christmas break:
I have enjoyed the time with my family, but as usual I am ready to get back to a routine. We have enjoyed our time together, and were able to do some fun things. We have played some games, and gone to Joplin., and slept in. We went sledding, played in the snow and spent time inside do to the cold weather. We have enjoyed James cooking, hot chocolate, and Christmas candy. But like I said I am ready to get back to a routine. The children have things to do that do not include playing games on the computer or watching a movie. It will be along time until the next break and I am sure that I will be ready for that one.