Ben Franklin

Here is Jacob's Ben Franklin puppet. We found the pattern to make it on the internet. I am amazed it came out so well. Jacob cut out all the patterns and Steve and I helped with assembly...Steve and I could totally do 6th grade again!!!

Jacob's report is done...yipee! Only 3 or so weeks of griping and 1 week of total melt downs every time we mentioned the report! He was not pleased that we made him redo everything two or three times. Hopefully we have learned a few lessons here. His Wii privilages are being reinstated today. Well... until the next report is due!!!!

Doug's Mobile

Doesn't this make you want to read the Silver Chair by C.S. Lewis. ???? He has his oral report today and has to present his mobile... This is one of my favorite books. The kids have come to love The Chronicals of Narnia...

hurry up...Hurry up...HURRY UP!!!

Perhaps I am rushing the children too much before church???Hmmm...

Derby Day!!!

Lining up the cars!

The cool cars!

Doug's First Place Ribbon!

It was so exciting. He had a great time and so did the other boys. They spent the rest of the night just racing down the track and having fun.

tou·ché

Well...it started like this...we had been to a few places this evening with people smoking outside each place of buisness...workers...

We all get in the car and Steve says, "I'm convinced that only people with low paying jobs smoke!!!"

Curtis says (without skipping a beat) "Why don't you smoke then Dad?"

tou·ché

Doug's 10!

Douglas is so much fun. He had a great birthday. He wanted an I dog...? I guess all it does is play your mp3 player out loud and dance...Oh well it was what he wanted! Douglas is often shy around a crowd but we enjoy him a lot when we are home and he can be himself. He has a very funny sense of humor. He enjoys being silly and making us laugh. He is always sweet and caring...very very rarely looses his temper. He always does what he is asked to do without much complaint.(except practice piano) He is just a really good boy. He often gets looked past because he can be quiet, and in this house...if you want attention you better be louder than the rest! We always try and find a quiet time to sit and talk about the day. Sometimes it is after "bed time" but a few minutes of one on one time is worth it to us both. I can't believe he is 10 years old already!

Guilty as Charged...

1. I have convinced my youngest that I know EVERYTHING!

2. I have been known to say, "You can't have candy for breakfast...you need to eat your sugar cereal first!"

3. Fend for Yourself...seems to be what we have for dinner when Daddy is working evenings.

4. My boys only sleep with a fitted sheets and comforters. Top Sheets are too much hassle!

5. Toys "dissapear" all the time around here!

6. Have convinced kids to use their money to take the family out to dinner!

7. Have built an entire addition on our house so I didn't have to go to the basement to do the laundry.

8. Bought the kids a real vacuum instead of the toy one that they wanted...so my floors would be cleaner.

9. When the kids were small we vacuumed enough cheerios each day to feed a third world country.

10. I make my kids use their towel more that once...GASP!

Sometimes a picture is worth more...

This is a picture I posted in both of our bathrooms...I have been soooo frustrated with saying..."Did you brush your teeth....Did you brush your teeth...Did you brush your teeth????" Each time sending them upstairs or to the bathroom to do it and each time they return and "forgot" Then the phrase....as stated below. So Therefore...I went for the more direct approach...Let's show them what happens when they don't brush. This is by far not the worst picture of teeth out there on the internet...but it was the only one that I could almost stomach at 8 am. I am saving the really gross pictures if this doesn't work! I hope I made my point...I didn't have much trouble getting them to brush last night or this morning... I love parenting with humor! P.S. Douglas was really really grossed out. It said it made him sick to look at it! I said "Good"

OOOOHHHHH Baby!

Steve's Dad found this picture of him in his wallet. The first one was when Steve was 16, in the second pic he was 21. Dad should clean out his wallet more often, seems as how Steve is going on 42. I just cracked up because Steve has always told me about his hair when he was that age but I had never seen proof...You know he must have carried a pick in his back pocket....

Too Much Computer Time????

After plugging the toliet...Curtis brought me this and said, "Mom, you need to reboot the toliet."

How to tell when dinner was a complete disaster?

Dinner tonight. Let's just say I had good intentions...And let's also come clean and tell you this isn't the only things the dog got...there was also plates and pans...

I was trying to make baked potatoes and cheese sauce and bacon for a topping. Like a cool meal at the potato bar...

Only my potatoes were kinda yucky...so I cut them up and peeled them so I could get the bad spots out...then I cooked them in the microwave...they were done but also a bit dehydrated....

NO Fear! I made cheese sauce that came out yummy...and the bacon...well it burned (only a little)

The lesson I learned...is that some children will eat virtually anything covered in cheese sauce and some won't... Oh and Lucy the dog does love my cooking!

Sometimes I KNOW he loves me...

People tend to think about love in different ways. Especially towards Valentines Day we think of chocolate, flowers and gifts. Most of the time those things are nice...but I usually would be waiting a LONG LONG time to get those from Steve. He isn't the buying gifts type...But he often shows me he loves me...in non mushy ways. Today he got up early and shoveled out the van so I could go to church to exercise with some sisters. That was the best. He knows me well enough to know that I really need to make friends and I need to exercise and feel better about myself. I was all excited to go yesterday only to realize I was snowed in and it was almost bed time. No way was I going out to shovel and Steve was very tired...so I thought I would just have to skip it today. He called me early to tell me that he got up and shoveled me out...it was the sweetest thing. So I won't expect a dozen long stem roses or anything...but sometimes I get wonderful surprises...so I know he loves me.

OK Enough MUSH!

What a difference a day makes...

Here is Curtis after antibiotics. He spiked a fever yesterday afternoon and started breathing really fast and his heart was racing...and was really out of it...I called the doctor and they said take him to the ER NOW. So off we went...He has a double ear infection...So they gave him antibiotics and presto he is like a new kid...Much better today...

But here is Maggie...Time for round two...

P.S. Anyone inclined to prayer...say one or two for my Dad. He is in the hospital with an irregular heart beat and they are trying to figure out what is going on. He is is NC and mom is in Virginia. Say one or two for my Mom too.

Curtis and the Blah's

Curtis improving!

After all this kicked in to his system...

His disposition hasn't changed though...still GRUMPY! After a warm shower...where he SCREAMED the whole time that he hated showers, hated bubbles, hated wash cloths, hated soap, hated hot water and hated cold water...

He announced his head hurt...and so did MINE!

Hope he gets better soon!

Let there be light...and no house fires!

We feel very blessed...we were able to afford a new electric panel. It was a fluke that we found our old panel...melted...behind the main service. So we found a great electrician and had it replaced...He also added a light or two in the basement and stairwell when you come into the house. That has been great. It was always so dark and it was hard to see going down the stairs to the basement. So now the whole house is safer! Yeah. We just have some patching to do...oh well...add it to the honey do list.

I'm convinced...they are trying to make me crazy...

Anyone out there? Do you have this problem? I clean out one area of the dining room...and amazingly it takes about a day for more junk to pile up there. I guess that is where the kids and hubby think it is a good spot to store their book bags and church bags.

I have been trying to think of a magic solution...apparently it is too much trouble to keep their bookbags in the basement with the coats and shoes...Oh yeah see the shoes in the pic? Because and I quote..."Geeeeeeeeeezzzzzzzeeeee Maaaa...we have HOMEWOooooorK!" Translation...they would have to walk up and down the stairs to get their homework...It doesn't matter that they walk up and down the stairs without any problem to go and play the Wii, or watch movies...or play with toys...hmmmm?

I am honestly trying to figure out a "solution" to this problem...It has tormented me...it kept me awake between 7:00 and 7:15 this morning...

I am considering just chucking them down the stairs when homework is done. What do you think?

NY Weather finally found us...

Well we have lived here for 17 months and the NY weather has found us. Of course you see the picture of the van...we do have 4 count them 4 garages but Steve decided not to put the van away yesterday after getting groceries...so for old time sake we got to shovel out the van. It was up to 8 inches a few hours ago and it is still snowing. We will see how much we get tonight. It is suppose to keep snowing. They have a snow advisory until 1 am. I don't think we will be going to church tomorrow. Steve called off work today because of the snow and driving conditions.

We had fun playing in the snow and drinking hot cocoa...and watching a movie...now have to figure out what to eat for dinner. Good thing Steve got groceries yesterday...

Something Kindof Nice Happening

Something kind of nice has been happening around here. Maggie and I are having fun together. I know there is a time in child development where each sex favors one parent over the other. Well...all my boys have always been so into Mom, but Maggie was definately Daddy's girl. Jacob has started to morph into Steve and Doug is no longer wanting Mom hovering like he used to. So I have been feeling a bit put out...BUT my shining star girl who always liked Dad best...is now coming over to the other side.. :) She has been very helpful and wants to learn how to cook with me and is interested in doing the things that I do. It is so cool. Only having boys things always went the other way. Dad was the cool one...Mom was just always there. Now Maggie is more interested in girl things. It is really fun.

While we both wish we had more girls in the house...I think we will just be really close...we have lots more time to talk and do stuff together. It's kindof nice.

Eternally Happy

Hi everyone...for those of you who just get the blog via email...I am writing to tell you that I changed the www. address

Now you can access it from www.eternallyhappy.blogspot.com

Hope this doesn't cause confusion...you should keep getting the blog emailed to you as usual...Now the only difference is I'm open to the public...

Yes Mom it will be ok. I took my name off of everything!

Well that is all for now.

Here's the Christmas Pictures...

Here are some pictures of Christmas morning. The kids had a great time. Curtis wanted Dinosaurs so we had to make sure Santa remembered them.

Rock Band was their big gift and they we all have had fun with that toy. We found out if you sing for approximately 12 hours straight...you hurt yourself.

Christmas Day

Well Maybe next week I will get around to downloading pictures. It has been very busy here with all the kids on break. I wish I would have taken more pictures on Christmas morning...but I was enjoying it too much to try and snap tons of pictures.

The kids had a great time and it was the first year that it was more than controlled chaos...The kids took turns and watched each other open gifts. It was so nice. I never ever thought we would see the day when Christmas wasn't an arguement or free for all. :) It was never horrible but our persistance for order, I guess has paid off.

Oh Sometimes I get glimpses of the future. Most of the time I say to myself..."Am I making any difference here?" "Do they even listen?" I guess slowly over time and with lots of patience they are learning...Why is parenting so hard sometimes?

Jacob said the other night he couldn't rest because I was in his dreams...telling him to brush his teeth and to take the dog outside. I guess it is sinking in to his psyche! Maybe things do stick after you have heard them a MILLION times.

Miss you all.

cool huh

this is jacob agan saying i did that on the side of the screen:) you have to go to the site to see it... it's really cool

Curtis at Church!

Here is the picture of Curtis' class in church. Aren't they the cutest! Curtis was very proud to be Joseph.

Random Pictures

Kids using their imagination... These are their battle bot creations.

Picture of the basement...Steve got the insulation up and it makes a huge difference...Oh yeah and I had to take a picture to document the fact that the punching bag we got them last Christmas got hung up BEFORE this Christmas.

Dipping pretzels in Chocolate and nuts. Yum!

Oh by the way...for those of you who got Jacob's post...no I have no idea what any of that means or what in the world he was doing or trying to communicate. Maybe he doesn't realize the average age of my blogging audience. I am also not familiar with 12 year old speak. I guess I will learn soon.

Yo, Peace Out!

Things left undone...

I was looking through my pictures today and realized that I never finished taking the kids "school" pictures. They cost a fortune and then times 4 kids...yikes...so I vowed to take them myself. Well since Maggie is the most compliant when it comes to picture taking I did hers first. It would be almost good if she didn't have a branch sticking out of her head. (and the penguin on her shirt) I quit there and totally forgot about doing the boys pictures. Maybe I will try and get some "Spring" pictures of the kids. It's on my to do list!

hi this is jacob, im trying to put this cool 3d text on. if it crashes our computer i could be in a lot of trouble............ ok so it won't work try cool thing ''B''..... no go, running out of cool stuff =( next add stick figure no the stinking blogger wont allow any thing no cool programs or tricks i'm off

Sorry No video

I have tried and tried to get Doug's Concert on the blog. It just won't upload....so if you want to see it you will have to come over to my house and I will show you on my computer. :) Since you all won't come over...I can tell you that Douglas was Amazing...and the cutest...knew all the words and movements and was the star! (Well maybe not)

We have been making cookies for Maggie's cookie exchange and Curtis had his Christmas party at preschool. He got to sit on Santa's lap...Santa asked him what he wanted for Christmas...and Curtis said..."Santa, I already told you at church!" I thought his teacher was going to crack up! He did tell Santa at the church party what he wanted!

Well that is about all that is happening. Tomorrow is the last day of school for the kids and I am going to try and plan somethings that we can do before Christmas to keep the kids busy...I am not sure what that will be yet...

Miss you all, this time of year especially!

Julie

Doug's Christmas Concert

Hopefully you can get this video of Doug's Chorus Concert. He doesn't really like to sing too much. You might be able to tell by the video...if it ever downloads! Aaarrgh! I have been waiting a half and hour so far...and I can't do anything else on the computer until it is done. So I guess I get to blog more...wish I had something to say...but I don't...other than I am tired and I am going to bed and if doesn't finish in the next 30 seconds...I wish you a goodnight...Promise to try again tomorrow. Sweet Dreams.

Sorry there was no words!

Like all things I am trying to do too much at once and accidentaly hit publish post before I was actually done...It's a mothers life...trying to get Jacob out the door, make sure he has everything, find out his shoe size, find a pencil...remember that I was finding out his shoe size...ask him again..."what's your shoe size oh yeah and who are you?" The dog keeps nudging my hand when I am trying to work the mouse on the computer...Mental note...next time get shorter dog...Oh yeah and try and download pictures and blog at the same time...

Well those random pictures I already sent...are of Curt's 5th Birthday. Now I know they are out of order and apparently I have blogging issues of trying how to figure out what order to put them in...they always seem to come out backwards than I wanted...much like me trying to make a double sided copy on a copy machine... I just can't get it right...even after multiple tries...I was never good at those spacial tests they gave us in school...

Anywho...Do you like the gift that Steve picked? Like we need more punching around here? That is what you get when you literally stop at the walmart on the way home from work on the way to the birthday party...oh they were on sale so that makes it all OK! :) By the way if you are not familiar with HULK Hands...they say stuff like..."YOUR MAKING ME ANGRY...AND YOU DON'T WANT TO SEE ME ANGRY!" They also grunt and make smashing noises. Lovely Lovely gift. I am sure it will help all my children with their anger management skills. :)

Well our Birthday spree is over...now on to Christmas. I am glad we don't have to eat birthday cake at Christmas...

Love you all,

Julie

Curtis is Five!!!

More Basement updates

Here are some updated basement pictures. Steve filled in the stairs so they aren't so scary. He also is working on insulating the walls to make it warmer. The cubby thingy we got at a going out of business sale. They work perfectly for dvd's and toys etc. I am sure they will look better when construction is done and they aren't used as a place to set junk...

First Trip to the Temple

29 Else what shall they do which are baptized for the dead, if the dead rise not at all? why are they then baptized for the dead?
(New Testament 1 Corinthians 15:29)

The youth of the church who are worthy...at age 12 can go and do baptisms for the dead. Heavenly father loves us all even those who have never ever had the opportunity to learn about him or about Jesus Christ. This is a way that all can hear of him and be baptised even when they did not have the opportunity when they were still here on the Earth. It was a great day! Heavenly Father will leave no one behind. We are all his children.

Early Merry Christmas

Here is some pictures of our early Christmas! The kids were very excited. I don't know how I am going to get exctited about Thanksgiving #2 and Christmas #2 this year. We did it all in two days.

Maggie's Birthday!

News Flash....Maggie Rohal is now 7 years old! She was very excited about turning 7 this year. She is the youngest kid in her class, but seems to be holding her own. In Ohio you aren't allowed to start school unless you are 5 years old. She started when she was 4 and then turned 5 in Kindergarten. She is doing well with school and having fun at home. She is learning a lot in Primary at church, she is working on learning the articles of faith. We are proud of her.

Blowing Bubbles

I bet you thought you would see lovely pictures of the children frolicing in the backyard blowing bubbles right? Well sorry...but I had to tell this little story instead...

First let me begin by saying that my mother is coming...and I can't have her see the house in its glory...so therefore I think I have done laundry for about 3 days straight now. I hate to admit that but none the less it is true. The laundry detergent is in my way when I am trying to fold 10 million pounds of clothes on a little itty bitty table. So I moved it to over by the sink. Then I was rinsing it out because soap always gets stuck in the bottom of the cup. Well after doing this and repeating (I don't know) 10 or so loads a day...I forgot to move the cup...

We went to bed. Steve woke up. It was dark. He didn't have his glasses on. You know what happened...

He got a drink! A big ol' drink of soapy water. I cannot be sure what happened next...but I heard lots of mumbling and a distinct...WHERE IS THE WATER CUP! He actually didn't react too badly...I don't think he was pleased with my laundry efforts at that point. Although I am sure he was happy he had clean clothes this morning!

By the way...take a look at that mirror in the picture...Mom is coming today...and yes the laundry is almost done...but as you can see I still have some cleaning to do...YUCK!

Have a great day!

Jacob is 12!!!!

Can you all believe that my little Jacob is 12 !? I can't!

I Love Pretending!

Today is one of the first Saturdays in a long long time when we don't have to go anywhere or do anything! Yippee! That give the kids time to play and just hang out and use their imagination. Here is what I woke up to this morning...it has been edited a bit because I can't write that fast...but you'll get the idea!

Curtis: "You know I can change into a freeze dude!"

Maggie: "OK You can get frozen on the ship"

C: Maggie - I'm on Pluto and I got freezed!"

M: I have hot powers so if you ever get frozen I can help you"

C: Maggie just to tell you...I have one teensy bit of fire and one big chunk of ice... Maggie want to switch powers?"

M: No

C: I could be 1/2 fire and 1/2 ice...This hand fire and this hand ice...

M: OK

C: If I have enough fire power I could melt this like the sun

M: (no response)

C: Uh oh we are crashing into Mars!!!! Fire up the booster! That part is a giant missle!

M: Even though you are an alien you seem pretty nice...

Douglas: I'm frozen..First species known to mankind

M: Do you need a hot pack?

M: I can turn my whole body on fire?

D: I Don't want to see that!

C: A little help here...BAd guys are coming!

M: You will have to change your power if you can't control it!!!

D: I can help you with your ship.

C: I changed you to ice...Maggie quick start a fire...

C: ARF ARF ARF---Oh I forgot I was a puppy ARF ARF ARF ARF ARF ARF ARF ARF ARF....

M: I found a little alien...He's frozen... Quick get a hot pack...He'll be alright.

C: ARF



I love lazy days...