Vacuum Woes

My kids love to look back at past blog posts and remember the good old days. They especially like to see posts where they are mentioned or shown in pictures. I would venture to guess that if I didn't post about them for a while, they would be come sad and depressed. Maybe they would hide in their rooms and refuse to eat. But would they stop working all together? I don't have the answers to these intriguing questions because I am a good mother who blogs about each of her kids.......

HOWEVER

I have not blogged about my vacuum in some time now, and alas.....it has become quite depressed and decided that dirt is not worth sucking up any more. So I decided that maybe a good blog post about a great vacuum would do the trick. (when your desperate, your desperate, what can I say) Here it is. I would like to call it......

If You Give a Brenda a Vacuum

If you give a Brenda a vacuum, she will be super happy and vacuum her whole house.

If she vacuums her whole house and realizes that she got an entire canister full of dirt in one day she will realize that she should be vacuuming more often.

If she realizes that she should be vacuuming more often, she probably will (yes I would, stop thinking such negative things)

If she starts to vacuum more often she will start having to replace filters and belts more.

If she starts having to change filters and belts more, she will get lazy and try to make them last as long as possible before changing them.

If she starts waiting as long as she can before changing them, the vacuum will start to clog more often.

If the vacuum starts to clog more often she will get frustrated and try to convince her husband to buy her a new vacuum.

If she tries to convince her husband to buy a new vacuum, he will try to do a lot of research online and find the best vacuum for the best price, so she will probably just skip asking him and buy one the next time she is at the store.

If she buys one the next time she is at the store (hopefully today!) She will get really excited and vacuum her whole house.

AND.....

If she vacuums her whole house......

She will realize that she got an entire canister of dirt in one day and realize that she needs to start vacuuming more often.

A Whole Heap'n of Stuff

So I know I fell of the blogging planet a while back and accidentally missed a bunch of birthdays and holidays. So I thought I would play a little catch up....

WAIT!!

Don't skip this post just because I am including Thanksgiving through New Years!

I know you are thinking what I would be thinking...TONS of pictures, but really there are not that many. You see, I didn't take many pictures 1st because I suck at taking a lot of great pictures at these things because I am too busy worrying about other little non important things like baking, wrapping, and handling my kids. And 2nd because I thought my camera was broken. I put in 3 sets of "new" batteries and my camera would still not turn on. It was then that I realized that my kids were putting old used batteries back into the battery bucket. So YEA! my camera is not broken, and AH DARN! I didn't get many pictures of the holidays.

We start with Thanksgiving, which was also Trevor's birthday.

When asked what kind of cake Trevor wanted for his birthday, he said he wanted a "Math" cake (what can I say, the kid takes after his nerdy mother) so we made cupcakes that could be arranged into math problems where the answers were always 9.....clever...I know.....like I said he takes after me.

Because it was a holiday also, we let him open a present every few hours instead of all at once. I only got my camera out for the first one, which was a pogo stick.

Did I mention we were at my parents house for Thanksgiving? We were. Here is the one picture I took. (you might notice the absence of my pregnant "little" belly in all these pictures, just know that was completely on purpose)

Now on to Christmas, for which my parents came to my house. Here we are at our Christmas Eve dinner, which was FANTASTIC and will be a tradition now for sure.

After dinner we had a talent show, here is a little peak at the fun we had.

OK that wasn't part of the talent show, that was just a bonus performance. Here is the real thing:

Christmas PJ's (the first year I did not make them, and probably the last, I kind of missed it)

About to break down the paper wall with their cousins and grandparents. (this is where the pictures stop on Christmas Day......I am always way to excited to watch the kids open their presents that I don't take any pictures. Oh well.)

And last but not least.....Nathan's birthday.

Nathan did not want a math cake, but his cake fits his personality just as well with a Yoshi cake (he wanted Bowser, but I said NO)

And that about does it. I didn't take any pictures of New Years at my Brothers house, so you get off free with that one. Now I am caught up and can move forward. Hope everyone had a great holiday season!

Being a Truly Authentic Mom

Alright.....

So a month ago recently a friend of mine tagged me in a really fun post about being a true authentic mom. I was surprised to see that she tagged me as someone she thought was a true authentic mom and here is what she wrote about me:

Brenda D.- Brenda is expecting her fifth child (another boy!) and does such a great job with the four she already has. She is the most laid back, easy-going mom I know. She doesn't get upset or worked up about the little things that don't matter, shrugging or laughing them off. She has raised her kids strong in the gospel and makes sure they are surrounded by good influences.

So in order to maintain our good relationship as friends I thought I had better hurry and reply to this tag so that she doesn't realize that I am just a big slacker. I am supposed to pick 5 things about myself that make me a true authentic mom so here it is.

1. I always notice the little things.

You know like are their nails clipped, are they wearing the same clothes as yesterday, do they have white socks on with their Sunday shoes, is their church dress zipped up in the back, or how often are they changing their under ware.

Unfortunately........

I usually notice them a little to late. I don't notice the nails until AFTER piano lessons where their teacher just looked directly at their hands for 30 minutes. I don't notice that they have been wearing the same clothes until at least the 3rd day in a row. The white socks and zipped up church dress I don't notice until we are walking into the chapel (luckily my friend caught Kaylee right before she walked in and zipped her up for me) and I don't catch the under ware until laundry day when they have a weeks worth of laundry and 1-2 pair of under ware. But at least I notice right? (that was a picture of Ashton, I had told him he couldn't go outside until he was dressed, and this is how he came back)

2. I am willing to take them all with me where ever I need to go.

This might sound like a strange one to you (any of you who have fewer kids than me anyway) But I really get strange looks and comments when I have all my kids around me. I don't think of my family being that big, but just the other day Bryan noticed that most of our friends (at least the ones who sent Christmas cards) only have 2 kids. Which made me look around and I realized that when I am at Walmart (true authentic moms shop there by the way), or any store, or McDonalds (not that a true authentic mom would let their kids eat there), I am almost always the only person there with more than 2 kids. I am lucky that I have pretty good kids and I enjoy taking them with me places. My older ones are starting to get old enough to help out with the younger ones and the younger ones (with the exception of Ashton who screamed all night at pack meeting last night "NO I don't want to be quiet!") are fairly well behaved.

3. I am teaching my kids the value of hard work.

I wish I could say that I was doing this for the benefit of the kids, but truth be told it is SO much easier to clean my house if I can just scoot around on the floor and say "here pick this up" or "go put this away" Otherwise I would have to walk around and pick things up myself, and trust me it is not pretty to watch my pregnant self try to bend over and pick stuff up off the floor.

4. I have mad cooking skills.

Don't get me wrong, some people I know have some mad cooking skills and can whip up an extremely fancy meal in no time that tastes delicious and is healthy for you. My mad cooking skills are more like.....I get mad when I cook. For some reason meal time is a grumpy time for me. My kids run around the house with an unlimited amount of energy which is tolerable until one of them gets hurt and thinks it was intentional, even though the one that hurt them insists that it was an accident, and then the one that hurt them apologises but the one that got hurt doesn't really think they are sorry (and I can't blame them after hearing the way that the other one said they were sorry) and so I tell them to go do their homework or practice the piano but then they both want to sit in the same spot to do their homework and can't believe that the other person wont move and on and on and on. And keep in mind, this is only the pre-dinner theatrics, the real show usually doesn't come until half way through dinner when all the kids think it is

really funny to get Ashton to throw his food across the room. But to my defence, my kids always usually sometimes occasionally get 3 square meals a day.

5. I do actually try my hardest.

I understand that being a mother is the most important thing I can do right now. I pray all the time that I will be a good mom, and that my kids will grow up with an understanding of the gospel of Jesus Christ and that our home can be a refuge from the world. I do my best to keep evil out of the door and the spirit inside. I am far from perfect, but I believe that if I am trying to do my best that the Savior will fill in the rest.

As I sat and tried to figure out my goals for the new year I was coming up empty until we were reading as a family in the Book of Mormon in Alma 7: 23-24 which reads:

23 And now I would that ye should be humble and be submissive and gentle; easy to be entreated; full of patience and long-suffering; being temperate in all things; being diligent in keeping the commandments of God at all times; asking for whatsoever things ye stand in need, both spiritual and temporal; always returning thanks unto God for whatsoever things ye do receive.

24 And see that ye have faith, hope, and charity, and then ye will always abound in good works.

I knew that this would be my goal for this year. I think it is harder than keeping a clean house or losing weight or even staying on a good budget. But the rewards are greater than I can fully realize. I am grateful that I have been blessed with 4 wonderful kids and one more on the way and that I have the chance to be a mother.

Thanks for tagging me, it is nice to hear sometimes that people think you are doing a good job. I am supposed to tag 5 people and say why they are true authentic moms so here you go.

My older sister Charlotte: She has 6 kids.....enough said. But if I had to go on, I would mention that she does more traditions with her kids than anyone I know and is willing to give up things that she wants in order to make her kids happy.

My younger sister Kim: She has 2 super cute boys that are growing up to be true gentlemen. She can saves tons of money every year by cutting coupons and working the ads and as far as I know keeps a spotless house, not to mention she is the primary president in her ward.

My youngest sister Tami:(private blog) She is expecting baby number 3 right now and is willing to do what the Lord wants even when it is not easy. She gives up hours of her day to take her daughter to a special preschool for the hearing impaired and always looks like she is having fun playing with her kids.

My SIL Andrea:(private blog) She is truly amazing. Her kids always smell so nice. This blows me away because no matter how hard I try my kids never smell nice. She is also very patient and loving towards her kids and is teaching them to be respectful and sweet.

My Mother: (private blog that hasn't been more neglected than my little blog) How else did I learn any of the few motherly skills that I do have if I didn't have one of the best examples in the world. My mom always gave the most of herself to her kids, and still does. She has always been there when I needed her and has taught me how to trust the Lord no matter the circumstances. Thanks Mom.

Well there you go. That's it.

Davis Baby #5

Well,

it's official

the word is in

and Davis baby #5 is........

A BOY!

Shocked? I have to admit, so were we (and we did have a few tears from our lone little girl) but once the shock wore off we got super excited. We have 10 fingers and 10 toes, and tons of other stuff that I really couldn't make out. But here are a few sneak peak pictures that we got.

Time to Stop and Think

Yesterday I was able to attend the Veterans Day assembly at my kids school. In years past I have not attended figuring it was just another assembly for the kids. This year however the 3rd grade cub scouts were doing the flag ceremony and Trevor was going to be the leader and wanted us to come watch. The morning of the assembly we got ready and I grabbed the video camera with intentions of capturing Trevor's great job on tape and fulfilling my motherly responsibility to watch him. I had no idea how meaningful the assembly would be to me personally.

As we sat down and the program started, the audience arose as applause and patriotic music filled the air, and then the Veterans started to file in. Theses were men and women who were relatives of the students and had been invited to be guests of honor at the assembly. As soon as they started coming in the realization hit me that my freedoms were granted and are still protected by real people, people that were walking into the room at that very moment. People that were not only willing to sacrifice being at home with their own families, but willing to sacrifice their own lives if necessary in order for me to be free. Although I had always known this to be true it hit me how easy it is to watch the news, read history books and say that I am grateful for their sacrifice, but not really realize that it is real.

As the program commenced each Veteran introduced themselves and I had to stop and reflect about the people in my life who have served, Grandpa's, Uncles, Cousins, and Friends. I felt a deep sense of gratitude for those that I know and love that chose to serve our great country. Toward the end of the program they had a video/slide show presentation and the children recited the Declaration of Independence, the Bill of Rights, and the Pledge of Allegiance. They also sang patriotic songs while the video played. Many of the songs as well as the Pledge of Allegiance mentioned God, and I realized that our country is great because God has made us great through his grace.

I am so incredibly grateful to live in a country where I am free.

I am so incredibly grateful to live in a district where my children can freely say the Pledge of Allegiance and sing songs that mention God.

I am so incredibly grateful that because of our free nation the true gospel of Jesus Christ has been restored to the Earth, and that I have knowledge of it.

and

I am so incredibly grateful for those men and women who have served, in any capacity, our country to grant me the freedoms I so often take for granted.

(and in case you were wondering.....Trevor did great! The video's are not the best, but here is what I got.)

Two, going on Eight

Happy Birthday Ashton!!

I can't believe my baby is already 2 years old. In some ways he still feels like a baby (we really have to shake the habit of calling him baby before the new baby comes) and in other ways he acts like he is eight and on the same level as my older kids.

We had a hard time deciding what to do on his cake. His birthday is so close to Halloween that I thought we might do a spider cake because here is one of his favorite songs: (we tried several takes to get him to sing Itsy-Bitsy Spider, but this was the best we could do)

But in the end we went with "Chonk-Chonk" otherwise known as Chain-Chomp from the Mario Wii games. Most 2 year olds won't know who Mario is let alone Chain-Chomp, but like I said, Ashton is kind of 2 going on 8.

He enjoyed most all of his presents (once his siblings let him see them),

but his favorite has been the basketball hoop. Anything will work for a game of hoops.

Ashton has opened a whole new world of 2 year old for us, he is the first of our kids to not only color on walls, but couches, tables, chairs, floors, books and anything else that is in front of him when a crayon is in his hands, but he also enjoys playing with our i-pod touch. (we have to watch him close though because if it runs out of battery while he is playing then he hides the dumb thing anywhere from under couch cushions, to behind bedroom doors....mine is currently missing and there is a reward for anyone who finds it)

Crazy as he is we love him tons and can't wait to see what the next year brings.

Happy Halloween

Ahhh, Halloween is over, and I, that is um...the kids....have enough candy to satisfy those sugar cravings for a while. Here is a peak at our costumes this year:

Ashton the Giraffe

Nathan the Monster

Kaylee the Tinkerbell

Trevor the Optimus Prime

Bryan the "Where the Wild Things Are" Monster

Now go eat some chocolate!