A MUST MENTION...

I must mention that on Sunday my boy said the scripture in Primary. I wasn't there to witness it but Sister Jolley saw me in the hall and said "Ashton said the scripture today with NO help, that is the first time I have seen that in Primary from any of the children." OH, make mommy so proud!!! We practiced and practiced and I told him that he knows it and he can do it all by himself. I totally thought that he would get nervous and want help when he got up there. "If ye love me, keep my commandments." He needed help on John 14:15 but that's ok, this is one proud mommy!!! :)
Sierra wanted to make mommy proud too after hearing Ashton's story so she told me that in Primary a girl was sad because she didn't get picked to go help Sister Friendly and Sierra made her feel better, GOOD GIRL! Yes, that makes mommy proud too! :)

That's nice!

Today I was at the store with my Ashton just getting milk and he wanted to get a ghost (white) pumpkin for his sister and in front of us there was a mom with 3 boys all around Ashton's age. I can't say they were all hers but they seemed very well behaved. There was no checker next to us and one of them was going to touch something in that check out area, I didn't see what. This is what she said to them, "DON'T touch, I will BEAT the living tar out of you!"
That's nice!

113

The hottest day EVER in LA!

24 hours

WE DID IT! The Young Women and leaders read the Book of Mormon in 24 hours. We started at 5 on Friday evening and ended at 5 on Sat. evening. We had to skip a few chapters to make it and will have to read those on our own but it was a great experience, IT WAS HARD! But a great experience! Different readers came throughout the 24 hours and that mixed it up and made it more interesting. My mom and Chris and even Shane came in the wee hours of the am. Nate came the next day as Jesus and read in 3rd Nephi Ch. 11 when Christ came and spoke, I narrated. I only got about 20 minutes of sleep in the whole 24 hours. :)



It was powerful looking at the room full of girls with their scriptures open. At about 4:30 pm on Sat. the Bishop came and the tone of the room changed. The Spirit came and it was my favorite part. After Moroni (Stan Edwards) came and read Ch. 10. The Bishop asked each of us to say a prayer and ask Heavenly Father if this book is true. POWERFUL! Then Sister Edwards bore her testimony of the Book of Mormon and then the Bishop bore his testimony of the Book of Mormon. The spirit was so STRONG! We sang the Spirit of God and then prayed. The last few hours were hard but I loved spending the time with the girls and reading the Book of Mormon.

No more...

Well, there we have it, my daughter has one by one learned that all the fairy tale, magical creatures are not real. Yesterday she asked me, "mom how come the note from Santa looked just like your writing?"
Mom: um, I wrote it.
Si: WHY?
Mom: because I'm santa.
Si: WHAT?!
Mom: I'm so so sorry!
Si: (Disappointed) It's okay.
Later she was in bed and she asked again, "you really are santa."
Mom: yep
Si: Then who was that at Vincenzo's, he even had a drivers license that said Santa? and Grandpa's friend likes to say that he is Santa.
Mom: Well, some people who look like Santa like to pretend that they are Santa.
Si: (tears) I just feel like there is no magic in the world anymore!
Mom: There is still magic and miracles. and this fact doesn't change the fact that there will still be presents and a stocking full of goodies Christmas morning.
Si: Will I still get money under my pillow when I lose a tooth?
Mom: Yes. You know the truth but nothing changes. You still get all the goodies! :)
I was so sad for her, I remember when I asked my mom if Santa was real and she shook her head no. I was crushed.
My baby girl is truly growing up!

Like Jello.

Tonight I had an In Home Massage from April Lawler. My good husband bought me a massage for Christmas and I'm just now using it. IT WAS WONDERFUL!!! She put the perfect amount of pressure and it was wonderful being in my own home, in my own surroundings. I put my jammies on when I was done at 7pm. :)

Still celebrating...

At Party City they put some magic stuff on the little balloons and told me that they would last 24 hours...

Look at them they are still floating! I'm impressed. Most importantly look at my very handsome kindergartner, he is wearing his new shirt from Grandma and Grandpa.

Right after school today Ashton was in heaven, he first needed to dig for dinosaur bones...



and then he just played and played with all his new toys, WHAT FUN!

8:59 pm

I had my arms wrapped around this sweet baby at this time 6 years ago. I can't believe it has been 6 years. Tonight we were reading in his baby book and watching the clock and at 8:59 we grabbed our baby boy and kissed him and held him and said "Happy Birthday!"
He is my boy and I simply adore him. He is so full of sweetness! His big sister has adored him since birth too. So glad that I recorded this, we read in his baby book tonight that she said to me "Mommy thanks for bringing my baby home from the hospital!" When we would go to family's house and everyone would be holding him and it was time to go she would make sure that he was coming with us. :)
This morning he requested a breakfast quesadilla and that is exactly what he got. While I was cooking he went out to the trampoline to jump before school. He was joined by Sierra and then Blake as soon as he got here.
Last night we made chocolate chip zucchini muffins to take to school for his birthday treat. He helped me peel the giant zucchini
and then he grated it in the food processor. I made Ashton a giant one and put it in the middle of all the smaller ones for his class.
After school Carla bought him Golden Spoon. After we got Sierra we made mac and cheese, his favorite!
And then we partied!!!!
Ashton loves the jungle theme...we have gone on safari's in our neighborhood. We had the hats, sticky tree frogs, snakes and lizards, we even had the decor...

Grammy is so fun and jumped with the kids on the trampoline...

Ashton also loves hotwheels and monster trucks...he requested a monster truck cake. When he got home from school he had balloons everywhere including a giant hotwheels balloon and HE WAS SO SO EXCITED!!!
Ashton was up for a friend's party this year but he just wanted his family...so even Grandma was wearing a party safari hat. :)


When the party was winding down the kids went on a snake and lizard hunt. We turned out all the lights and gave the kids each a flashlight. Sierra had hidden all the little critters earlier and they got to hunt and find them and then put them in a bowl. Afterwards we told scary safari stories in the dark with our flashlights.

and then, Ashton finally ate his dinner so he could have a piece of his birthday cake. :)

We played Ashton's Favorites too...
Favorite color...blue
Fav sport...baseball
Fav TV show...Battle Force 5
Fav Primary song..."I love to see the Temple"
Fav toy...Hotwheels and Monster trucks
Fav food...mac and cheese
Fav thing to do at school...play with legos
Fav dinosaur...T-rex and Spinosaurus
Happy Birthday to my boy!!!! Hope all your wishes come true!

"The BEST Sunday EVER!"

"Grampy built me a trampoline!" This morning Grampy and Shane came over and brought with them the parts of a trampoline. My kids had no idea that this was coming and were wondering why Grampy and Shane and Daddy were building a giant circle in the backyard. Ashton asked and Grampy said that it was a train track. "Mom why is Grampy building a train track in the backyard?"
mom: because you like trains, right?
Ash: OH Yeah!
Then Grampy said it's just a giant circle.
Sierra came in and said, "mom Grampy is building a giant circle and Ashton's wants to use it as a racetrack."
I was so pleased that my children were finding such pleasure and joy in a giant metal circle, and using their imagination. I finally spilled the beans and told her.
mom: Sierra, it's a trampoline!
Sierra: WHAT?!

So there we have it, Ashton's birthday is tomorrow and Grammy and Grampy got him a trampoline! :)
and they are out there jumping every chance they get! :)

What do Daddy's have to do with making babies?

This has been a burning question for months now from our very observant daughter. She has watched as mommy and daddy have gone from doctor's appt. to doctor's appt. to try to bring another baby into this world and she wonders what daddy's role is. And I would just say, "soon, I will sit with you and tell you very soon." Well, today was the day. I pulled up diagrams of the male and female reproductive organs on the computer. We sat and looked at all the parts and the medical terms for each one. She has a children's book that talks about how babies are made but never gets to the punch line. So she has heard the word sperm before. So as we are looking at the diagrams she says, "yeah but how does the sperm get in there, is it just POOF!" Well, the punch line came and she started laughing. "Wait, it just goes in there? You mean you just stick it in there!" More laughing amongst the both of us and then she says, "EWWWWW!"
The sweetest, tender, most bonding moment was at the end when I got emotional telling her the importance of waiting until marriage. Until she finds someone that she is so in love with and then it is so magical and beautiful. Making a baby! I was emotional, she got emotional and even came and sat on my lap as we talked some more about how perfect Heavenly Father made our bodies so that we could bring his children to earth.
Most important, I hope I am building a trusting relationship with my little girl that she knows and will always remember that she can come and talk to me about anything!

My kids are ready...

for Halloween!

LIFE IS CR.A.ZY! Can't even get into it all but we are still here and grateful when we can make it to school with no tears...and make it through a day of babysitting and at least get the dishes done even if there is still popcorn all over the floor. :)

Tonight we celebrated...

TORI!!!

We had a yummy salmon dinner that Trina made and succeeded because it was SO delish! and chocolate cake for dessert that Tori made herself!:) The children put on a show for her choreographed by Sierra as Tori sat center stage and then they also sang Happy Birthday! It was so cute!
Tori has a passion for reading, cooking, creating, hugging and kissing grandbabies, serving her Heavenly Father, she is a go getter and very organized!
HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!! Today is your day to...SPARKLE! :)

WHAT A CRAZY DAY!!! Such a blessing that I didn't have to do dinner too. Worked at the kids school in Ashton's classroom and valet for the am drop off. Got in a lot of volunteer hours...yay! Went to Sprouts for the first time and LOVED IT! Got my hair done and LOVED IT too! I love to just sit there...it is so wonderful!

Grandma's Party!

Yesterday was Grandma's birthday! Tonight we partied :)! We had a really yummy dinner with really tender delicious steak, my oven roasted potatoes, salad and sauteed veggies. For dessert, brownies with strawberries and whipped cream! mmmm...

Janelle is wonderful!!! She is one of those grandmas that makes a child feel so loved, she is so interested in the details of their lives. She is wise, loving, FUN, ready for anything, she is a great family historian, she loves her family, and she loves her Savior! I am grateful for you Janelle!! Love you tons!
Happy Birthday! :)
And Ashton was the Sacrament Meeting Reverence child, so cute!!! He also gave a talk today and did such a great job! He spoke loud and clear right into the microphone. Good job buddy, mommy and daddy are proud!

Today we served...

along with several of our fellow Santa Clarita residents. This morning was the 2010 River Rally. We cleaned up the Santa Clara river. Jake was going to go with his cubscouts and our family joined him. We just told our kids that we were going to the River Rally and as we got closer and they saw there was no river Sierra said, "oh I thought we were going to float in a boat."
We got to pick up trash...lots of trash...




and a mattress...

and lots of tires...


and when we were done we got some shaved ice and Sierra said,"I never knew doing service could taste so good!"


Tonight Sierra lost ANOTHER tooth...

and we watched "Tooth Fairy!" :)

New arrival...

Luke Harris Mendenhall! 7lbs. 10oz. Such a cutie!!!! Will post a picture soon.

What's new?

OUR BACKPACKS! :)

We're tired...

We had such a fun, busy Labor Day weekend...Jake's sister Jenn was in town with her family so it was party party starting Friday night with Strawberry Shortcake and Sierra and Kate's sleepover, Saturday swimming and burrito bar, Sunday Jenn's homemade cinnamon rolls and another Sierra and Kate sleepover, Monday breakfast of Champions :) at the ward breakfast (Ashton and I rode bikes to the park and back home, that was the highlight, FUN FUN!)BBQ and swimming at Nana and Papa's for lunch and then swimming and BBQ at Grammy's for dinner.
Today back to school and oh man it was not very good. Sierra was fine and then the mean girl just approached her to ask her if she felt ok today and Sierra started crying, then the mean girl proceeded to rub her back (huh?) Anyway, got her to class in tears but handling it. Then back down to Ashton in his class and I found him in tears. He cried, but trying to be brave. I sat with him while his class passed the ball and said good morning to each other and then told the class what "they did this weekend". Ashton told his class that he "played with his cousins". Then I needed to leave and he cried. I quickly got out of there because I felt like sticking around wasn't helping and I teared up too. I knew this day would come when it was really sad for me. :( His teacher told me when I picked him up that he only cried for 30 sec. to 1 min. and then he was fine the rest of the day. :)
I just have to remind myself "things will get better!"
Sierra ended up having a great day and we even put in an application for her to be in the new lds movie...here is one of her headshots. :)

She started CAC swimming today too!
In 'n Out for dinner
Mutual (Camp activity, slide show)with kids because Jake had a softball practice
She fell asleep so so fast tonight! :)

Hip Hip Horray! It's FRIDAY!

and it's a long weekend! Our family needs it! Here's to spending some quality time!

Here's to hoping...going back to school on Tuesday goes smoothly!

anxiety

I just love this sweet girl! She has been having a HARD time with starting school. Yesterday I was home babysitting and I got a phone call from the nurse at school saying Sierra was not feeling well, she had a headache and a stomachache. I brought her home and she cried most of the day. She has cried on and off for 4 days straight. She is having anxiety over a girl at school that is mean. Yesterday she received a note from a boy in the class next door that said "I think you are cute and fun!" His friend told her the day before that this boy liked her, a crush! She completely stressed out and it resulted in me getting a phone call that she was sick, she is so stressed that it is making her sick. We talked ALL.DAY.LONG! I was giving her tons of advice, emailing her teacher to let her know what's going on, giving her lots of hugs and we were reading the scriptures and reading quotes from Sister Marjorie Pay Hinckley. The greatest one I found is, "The only way to get through life is to laugh your way through it, You either have to laugh or cry. I prefer to laugh. Crying gives me a headache."
This morning we got to school and we talked with her teacher. She wanted me to stay until this boy got to school. I did and she was over blowing her nose and I was standing by her desk. He was looking for her, he kept peaking over, trying to look around me to find her. Yeah, if I was her age I'd be a little freaked out too. I took Sierra to her teacher and told her that he is looking for Sierra and she is freaking out. Her teacher said "he's looking for her? Sierra you can stay with me. Here you want to help me pass these out?" What a great teacher, being so willing to help Sierra deal with this. Can't stop thinking about her! Hope today is a better day!

Progress?

My Ashton has had a bad habit. For weeks he would not sleep in his own bed. Right when we would put him down he would immediately get up and follow us around until we would say he could go in our room and lay on the floor by our bed and go to sleep. We wanted to break him of this habit...we made a sticker chart with 10 squares on it and if he could at least fall asleep in his bed he would get a sticker and after all the squares were filled he would get a hotwheels.

Well, he has been falling asleep in his bed and he did earn his hotwheels. However, he only makes it a couple of hours in his bed and then he is up searching for me or he just comes in our room and falls asleep on the floor next to our bed. Last night we were still up and he came out to the family room and layed in my lap cradled like my baby and fell asleep cuddling with his mommy and I didn't mind, I loved cuddling with my big kindergartner.
At least he is falling asleep in his bed, PROGRESS!