hooray for derek! (seriously)

so i'm not one to get all mushy and cheesy (on my blog anyways!!!), but today i have to. derek is taking a final right now, and i'm so proud of him. he's worked so hard and he's been very successful and i'm just so proud of him, and thankful. i haven't done a very good job of showing it. i've been feeling sorry for myself the past couple of days....or weeks!! i've just been being very pessimistic. so this morning i woke up and decided to have a new attitude. i've been kinda ornery with derek too...how mean is that when it's finals time?! anyways...when derek first started school he decided he wasn't going to study on sundays. so even though he had a final this morning he didn't study at all yesterday. instead we went to church, he went home teaching, and then to a priesthood training meeting. i know he will get the grades he wants, because every time we've sacrificed just the tiniest little bit we always get blessed SO MUCH. so anyway, i just wanted to public praise derek for doing so well in school, and thank him for sticking to his goal of not studying on sundays. i also need to thank Heavenly Father for always taking such good care of us. He's never failed us...even when we didn't necessarily deserve His help.

Thanksgiving 2008 pictures

top: mom, dad, kristina, angie bottom: katelyn, elea, derek, annie, alexis, jeff, samantha, duke (we miss thomas!) (not too shabby for setting the camera timer and making a run for it!!)

pictures say more than words...

the past couple of days have been very trying. i really don't want my blog to become a way for me to talk trash about my kids (it may be too late for that!!!) so i'm posting this picture and i'll let you try to figure out what happened. i'll give you a hint...SAMANTHA! oh, and i'm pretty sure the words "DON'T TOUCH THAT" have been spoken, yelled, and screamed 1,000,000,000 times. oh, and the things that weren't broken are now back in their safe little boxes in my storage room. and they won't be coming out again until alexis is 4 years old.
just so you know...this is just one of the things my sweet samantha has done. picture the worst kid you've ever seen...now picture me dragging that child through walmart. and then picture me making her a fruit smoothie...her taking one sip and saying, "i don't want it," while dropping the whole cup on the floor. ya, fruit smoothie bomb EXPLODING all over my kitchen. up the blinds, all over the wall, under the table, ON THE CEILING. ok, so much for not ranting and raving. oh well...some how i feel a little bit better. maybe it's because i know alot of you are laughing your heads off at me!!! i'm glad i could bring a smile to your face.

Thanksgiving 2008

about 2 months ago (actually, probably longer) kristina and jeff made plans to go to KY for thanksgiving. my parents really wanted us to come too. but, we're going to utah for jace's wedding and christmas and we couldn't afford both trips. plus, derek's finals are getting closer and closer, and thanksgiving break isn't very long. so, we decided to stay in omaha. well, last monday derek asked me if i wanted to go to KY!! i was so shocked...it totally came out of know where. that's kind of how derek works...very spontaneous. he made me promise not to tell anyone...so i couldn't give my mom the heads up or anything! i spend all day packing and cleaning the house and then tuesday morning we loaded up the van and headed off on a 12 hour drive. it was tons of fun. my parents and jeff and kristina were so surprised. the weather was perfect so the girls got to spend lots of time up on my dad's property feeding and riding the horses, and hunting for golf balls. (the property is next door to a golf course...and apparently alot of really bad golfers go there because tons of balls end up off the course and on my dad's side of the fence!!!) anyway...it was really nice being with family for thanksgiving. on wednesday i made cinnamon rolls with my mom and kristina...it's tradition. it was good, except i think i single handedly ate them all!! anyway, i felt really guilty ditching my best buddies in omaha, but they were very understanding. (i was SUPPOSED to cook the turkey!!) i didn't take too many pictures with my camera, so i'm waiting on my dad to email me some. when he does i'll post them.

random sunday pics!

every chance katelyn gets she holds alexis. i had the babe in her swing while i was getting dinner made and katelyn snatched her up. annie always asks and i say, "no...she's happy in her swing." katelyn's figured out not to ask!!!

annie and sam wanted to jump in the pic too. i can't believe i have 4 kids...4 GIRLS! it still surprises me sometimes!!

i love this outfit on alexis. it's hard to see in these pics, but her eyes are so blue. this outfit looks so cute on her.

samantha is so crazy! sometimes i start to lose it because of her. i've been feeling like she is the most naughty out of all my kids, but i think i've just forgotten what 2 year olds are like. i was reading my journal from when annie was 2. it was about the same time of year and annie got into the fridge and broke some eggs. while i cleaned up that mess she got into the white-out and painted my desk with it. while i cleaned up that mess she got into the dishwasher soap and while i cleaned up that mess she broke a couple of my christmas tree ornaments. so, i'm pretty sure samantha is a typical 2 year old...maybe a tad more stubborn and "free spirited"!!!

holy klutz

apparently derek and i are too old and fat to do any sort of physical activity that requires more than running in a straight line!! derek went to play basketball saturday morning and came home with a sprained ankle! what are the odds we'd both do that in the same month?!?! he's much tougher than me though i have to admit.

kung fu panda

the girls had a movie/dinner party with the goates boys the other night. like katelyn's kung fu pose?! kung fu panda is one of our favs...it cracks me up!!!

Amazing Gas Prices

this pic is a few weeks old...i just never got around to posting it. now gas is $1.63 here...and still dropping. it's amazing. i never thought i'd see these prices again. it only costs $30 to fill my van instead of $65!!!

TAGGED: Survey Says...

8 Shows I like to watch...
1. The Amazing Race
2. Grey's Anatomy
3. Heroes
4. Law & Order (regular and SVU)
5. Survivor
6. Bones
7. Biggest Loser
8. The Shield

8 Restaurants I Like...
1. Texas Roadhouse
2. Wendy's
3. Red Lobster
4. Olive Garden
5. IHOP
6. Panda Express (they don't have this in omaha...so sad.)
7. PF Changs
8. Ted's

8 Things that happened yesterday...
1. Used my new vacuum...i never new vacuuming could be so fun!
2. Fed Alexis.
3. Worked out.
4. Changed Alexis's diaper.
5. Figured out what Samantha wanted.
6. Talked to Kristina.
7. Made homemade chicken noodle soup.
8. Went to Katelyn's soccer practice.

8 I things I'm looking forward to...
1. Thanksgiving
2. Visiting fam and friends in December.
3. Twilight Movie on Saturday.
4. When Derek's done with school and The Bar.
5. The Spring. (how sad...it's not december yet and i'm already sick of winter!)
6. Ma & Pa visiting in December.
7. Bunko on Friday night.
8. Reaching my goal weight.

8 things on my wish list...
1. Jeff to have a teaching job IN OMAHA.
2. Samantha learning how to speak English.
3. Mommy Makeover (tummy tuck, boobie lift!)
4. All my laundry done and put away.
5. A hot tub.
6. My ankle to be normal again.
7. A night of uninterupted sleep...just 6 hours that's all i ask. heck, i'll even take 4 at this point. whatever, i'll take 2.
8. A house that doesn't have stairs.

I tag. . .
1. Christina
2. Ruth
3. Allie
4. Shauna
5. Megs
6. DD
7. Teri
8. Sabry

ryan...this is for you.

ryan is one of derek's best friends and i found out that he is getting bugged that all of his friends' wives only blog about what their kids are up to. apparently he wants to hear about his buddies too, and i guess that's fair. derek is part of our "posse"!!! i wish derek would do his own posts, but that's not going to happen so here's an update on derek....

derek is still really busy with work and school. he's working at a law firm as a clerk, but he basically does everything a lawyer does. he got his senior certification, which means he can present in court if his co-council is an actual lawyer. ok, so i may not be explaining this totally correct, but you get the drift. yesterday he and a buddy of his flew to denver to watch the byu vs. air force game. after the game he flew home and we watched UFC 91 with some of our friends. on monday nights derek plays intramural dodge ball. that's basically derek's life in a nutshell. the nights he gets home late the girls get really bugged because they hate when i put them to bed. the whole time they keep asking me when derek's going to get home. he has a routine, which includes singing, that they won't let me do. anyway, ryan, if there's anything else you want to know just ask!!!!!

what the heck!

a few days ago katelyn told me she really wanted to cut her hair short. she's been growing it out for 2 years, so i asked her why. she said, "i don't know...i just do." i said, "you've wanted it long forever, and now it finally is...plus your daddy will never fo gor that." she knew that was true, so she didn't even argue. (that should have been my first warning sign something was up.) last night annie had a homework project that including gluing and cutting. we sat at the table and got to work. after katelyn was done with her homework she got up from the table and went into the family room to watch TV...or so i thought. i was still helping annie out when derek got home. he walked into the bathroom and said, "what's all this hair in the garbage can?" katelyn said she cut her doll's hair, which is totally believable, and that was that. after dinner the girls went up stairs to shower, and then derek went up to put them to bed and i left to go work out. this morning katelyn told me she wanted to do her own hair. she just brushed it and wanted it hanging down, and there was one part that was kinda "bed head" on top so i was fixing it for her. she kept pulling all of her hair to the side and telling me she wanted it like that. when she wouldn't stop doing that i took a better look and saw this...she instantly started bawling. she was terrified that i was going to seriously hurt her i think. i couldn't even be mad. i was trying really hard not to laugh actually. she had to apologize to her dad for lying about the hair in the garbage can, and she had to go to school with her home grown hair cut. but when she got home i took her to get it cut (which she paid for with her own $). i guess it's time to let her decide how she wants her hair. i feel bad i didn't listen to her when she first asked me she wanted it cut, but being a girl myself...i know what haircut remorse feels like and i didn't want her to go through that. she's been growing it for so long, and i really don't think she realizes how long it's going to take if she wants it long again. as for right now she loves her new haircut, and that's what matters. (i drove her out to derek's work after her hair cut and she was fighting back the tears the whole time because she was afraid derek wasn't going to like it. when he saw her he told her how much he likes it and after that she was sold!) i am very sad her long beautiful hair is gone though...i have to admit that. (maybe that's how derek felt when i cut my hair...ouch. sorry derek!) oh, last week katelyn had her hair trimmed by my friend, teri. when she was there teri told her about "locks of love". this morning i started to tell katelyn about it and she said, "i know mom. you give them your hair and they make wigs for sick kids." this is why katelyn's hair is SO short. it has to be 10 inches to donate, and kate really wanted to donate hers so teri had to cut it this short.BEFORE

easy saturday morning

sami loves having her pic taken, but she won't smile normal...she's psycho!!katelyn or annie took this pic. alexis will smile for them so easily. she cries if sami comes around...not too sure why?! ;)

alexis is 15 lbs...she now out weighs pretty much every baby born 3 months before her! ha ha

the girls played with this box all morning. katelyn wrote on the box and then they climbed in for a pic. can you read what she wrote? ("goig to kanthky" ---"going to kentucky")

week 9

i had an epiphany earlier today. when i'm pregnant i don't lose one hair off of my head. i have really thick hair, and usually i shed like a dog, but not when i'm pregnant. a few weeks after the baby is born i lose all the hair i saved up while pregnant. (sorry if this is gross, but i have to explain my epiphany!!) it hadn't happened yet. alexis is 9 1/2 weeks old and i kinda just figured i wasn't going to lose so much hair this time. well, today in the shower it happened. the reason this is a big deal is because i have been so hard on myself about losing weight etc. when my hair started falling out i realized i just barely had a baby. i want results NOW. i don't want it to take a long time. this is not a good way to think because it makes it very easy to get discouraged. so, i took a deep breath, and i'm going to give myself a little slack. today we're going to get me a really good ankle brace, and some new running shoes. so monday i'll be all ready to go. anyway, my weight stayed the same this week. i'm trying to figure out how many calories to eat to lose weight, but keep producing enough breastmilk. it's a very tricky thing!



56 - 0 = 56

new callings........

when we moved in september we only moved across the street, but it feels like we moved 100 miles away. it's silly how i hardly see my old neighbors when i didn't move far at all. another thing that makes it feel so far is that we're in a different ward and a different stake. you know what switching wards means...yup. new callings. derek and i each had a really bad feeling about the callings we were going to get. the #1 calling derek never wanted was to be scout master. he didn't do and/or like scouts growing up (except for the camp outs). he never earned a merit badge or anything. and come on...now he has ALL GIRLS! well, he got called to be the scout master! ha ha a friend of mine moved out of the ward last week and she was the primary chorister. i KNEW i was going to take her place...and i was right. at first i was totally freaking out about it, but i think i'll be ok. lucky for my my sis-in-law, mother-in-law, and good friend (yes, i'm talking about you dd) have all been in my shoes, so hopefully i'll get good ideas from them.

oh, and our new bishop was not trying to get on our good side. after giving us the dreaded callings he asked us to speak in sacrement meeting! ha ha

week 8 (didn't post week 7)

i'm down 2 lbs. i would usually be excited about this, but it took 2 weeks. ggggrrrrrrr....

58 - 2 = 56

it's been really hard not being able to run. i hate it. my ankle feels alot better, so this week i'm going to get on the treadmill and walk every morning. my goal is to get up at 6am so i can walk and shower before my kids get up. the weather has been beautiful here too, so as long as the weather's nice i'm going to take the little girls for a walk in the botanical gardens everyday too. hopefully by next week my ankle will for good enough for me to run on it.

halloween is not a good holiday. i love dressing my kids up and taking them trick or treating, but their huge bags full of candy are not helpful. i need to muster up some serious self-control...i don't think my kids would appreciate me throwing their halloween loot away!

Halloween 2008

ok, so these pictures are in no specific order!! i just had to post this one...she has such blue eyes!! annie's not very happy about this...she really wanted to be the only one with blue eyes...she still tries to tell people that alexis's eyes are hazel!on thursday i had my hair cut and colored. oh, and i had my eyebrows colored and waxed too!! i LOVE the cut. i like the color too...i'm just still trying to get used to it. (if you can't tell, it's alot more brown than usual.)

annie wanted to be tinkerbell this year. we did a homegrown version, because i refused to spend $30+ on an official tinkerbell costume. so i asked kristina to made her tutu, and we found her some way cute fairy wings. i loved it...i think annie looked so cute!

our tradition is to have pizza on halloween. we had the evers and goates over for pizza and then we all went trick or treating together. this is my fabulous friend, allie, slicing up the pizza for the kids!!! (there used to be a pic here, but allie made me delete it off!!! apparently she doesn't allowed prego pics of herself!)

jack-o-lantern, hannah montana, monkey, belle, skeleton, vampire, lion, tinkerbell, batman (AKA: alexis, katelyn, creighton, samantha, ben, alex, amelia, annie, jackson)originally i had planned on sami being a witch for halloween, but she was having none of that. she loved getting all dressed up with makeup and stuff.alexis just chilled in the stroller while we trick or treated. this is the first time she sat up in the stroller, and she really liked it!!it was fun to have kate dress up like hannah montana, because she didn't even need a wig!!this is annie with 2 of her good little friends. (of course the boy is alex! he he he)

The Future Mr. & Mrs. Goates

annie and alex became friends when we moved to omaha. (alex's dad and derek are in the same class at school. alex's mom and i have become best of friends.) their friendship has grown into something "more". they are in love and not affraid to show it!! they really are best friends. when annie lost her first tooth she had to run over to alex's house right away and show him. alex always talks about someday he and annie will get married after he gets home from his mission to canada! on saturdays another one of my friends teaches a little cooking class at her house. i'm a retard and have forgotten every time. this past saturday the kids learned how to make spaghetti. when we got home from running errands that afternoon, and the girls had missed the class, alex came running over and told annie she had forgotten the class. derek started joking with alex and said, "way to go alex, you forgot to remind annie about the cooking class...now when you guys are married she won't know how to make spaghetti." without missing a beat alex said, "that's ok...i learned how to make it." AREN'T THEY CUTE?!?!
P.S. they were not coached to pose like this...they did it all on their own!!

day in the life of a cripple

so today has been pretty boring. it's really cold and off and on rainy so the kids have been inside all day. luckily derek is such a good sport and is going to take kate, ann, and sam to HIGH SCHOOL MUSICAL 3!!! he so awesome...i don't know many dads who would take their daughters to a movie like that without mom. he went and bought the tickets early during lunch. the lady at the theater told him that he should come back at 5:30pm to get a good seat for the 7:30pm movie!! anyway, the girls are super excited. i'm really hoping sami doesn't have a potty accident while they're gone.

anyway, here's an updated pic of my ankle. i can walk on it ok...but it starts hurting after awhile, so i've been trying to get some things done in between putting it up.
another exciting thing about today...
a few weeks ago my really good friend had a family emergency and she packed up and left town really fast. anyway, we live far from our families, and so we've had to adopt our friends as our family out here. when my friend was hurting so much i realized how much i really care about her and my other friends here, and how luck i am to have such great friends. anyway, she is coming home today, and i'm really excited to have her back.

Jewlery Give Away

http://rhbdesigns.blogspot.com/

check out this blog. she doing a giveaway of some jewelry she makes. it is SO cute.

my week so far

first of all i have decided to weigh in on saturday morning. i take sunday off, so i feel like monday isn't that accurate. and saturday is after a week of working out!! so from now i will be posting my weight loss on saturdays.

sunday i finally put a headband on alexis. it the first time she's "had her hair done". i have to admit...it looked pretty cute.

we have a reward/punishment system set up in our house for katelyn and annie. i bought a bunch of those rocks you put in a fish tank, or in a hurricane lamp etc, and i got each girl a jar. whenever they do something helpful on their own, or if asked they do it without whinning they get X amount on rocks. it works really well. they girls both make their beds every morning and help out with chores around the house without TOO much complaining. anyway, when they get their jar filled to the top they get something. 2 times ago they earned new razon scooters. the reward is usually something really good because it takes them a long time to fill up the jars. oh, if they are really bad the jar gets totally dumped out. example...i told annie it was time to come inside and she stood on the porch (where all the neighbors could see her) and yelled, no screamed, "NO, you're so mean, nobody else has to come inside. i hate you." ya, that was a time annie's jar was about an inch from the top and i dumped the whole thing out. she hasn't done that again!! anyway, the reason i'm telling you all about this is #1 a friend asked me to post a picture of the jars. #2 the girls both filled their jars last week and they wanted MP3 players. monday night i was up until 1am putting music on the MP3 players for them.

earlier on monday i went to the church to play ultimate frisbee with some of my friends. holy cow that is a killer work out. and it's SO FUN. my plan is to play that monday, wednesday, and friday. well, it was my plan...unfortunately on wednesday i went to play and seriously 30 seconds into the game i jumped up to catch the frisbee and when i came down i landed on another girls foot and SPRAINED MY STINKIN' ANKLE. holy cow that hurt...it was SO painful, but i didn't say one swear word!!! i tried so hard to be tough...i got a little teary eyed when i started thinking about my girls though. i was feeling overwhelmed thinking about all the things i need to do, but couldn't without being able to walk. like take sami potty, and carry the baby. i have such a great friend here who brought me home, got me situated, changed alexis's diaper, took sami to her house and fed her lunch, and then luckily derek was able to come home from work. he is so fabulous. i seriously only got off the couch 2 times the whole day, and derek took care of everything. he did make me put my foot in a bucket of ice water 3 times every 4 hours. that doesn't feel good at all, but it totally helps with the swelling. now today i can sorta walk on it. i look seriously handicapped, but at least i can get around. derek had to go to work today, so i had to be able to walk. luckily katelyn and annie don't have school today or tomorrow. usually i wouldn't be excited about that, but they are such good helpers so it's been really nice. and they feel bad their mom's hurt, so they're being really good! i'm pretty annoyed about this whole situation, because working out is out the window now for a couple weeks. i'm going to have to be so good about what i eat. sheesh!

sami found this box in the store room, and it seriously kept her entertained for hours. if i would've know she would play with it for so long i would have given her a box forever ago!!

PICTURES

alexis and samantha are my little buddies. the past few weeks have been a little trying. nursing a baby and potty training do not go hand in hand. especially when you're trying to potty train samantha. BUT...we have made leaps and bounds. she hasn't pooped her pants for 2 days, and she only had one accident today (she was here with derek... ha ha ha totally joking honey!) we went running around town yesterday and today, and she did great. and she's sleeping through the night in underwear too. i called my mom the other day freaking out because i wanted to put sam back in diapers...i'm so glad she talked me out of it. anyway, she can be so sweat too..i mean, just look at her. what a cute, funny little kid!! and alexis is an angel. she has slept through the night every night for a week now...AMAZING! some nights she doesn't go to sleep until midnight, but midnight until 7:30am is sleeping through the night if you ask me. tonight she went to sleep at 9pm, so i'm curious to see if she wakes up in the middle of the night or not. oh, and she's been smiling alot more. anyway, i love my little baby girls.

annie went to a princess birthday party, and while she was there she got her hair done. i thought it looked so pretty. i need to learn how to do it like this.