Splash Park

Here is a video of the kids the first time we went to the splash park.

There goes the neighborhood

The idea of a great summer kept me going during the crazy winter. I knew it would be hot and nice and that my kids could go out and play and that they would have so many great adventures. Then we had two different families move in to our complex. A single mother and her 3 teenage daughters move in above us. And then a his, hers, ours, family moved in right across from us. No big deal. We had a couple of issues with the girls above us playing music super loud late at night waking up our kids, but we sorted that out. I never in a million years thought that moving to mormonville rexburg, living in Student housing, we would run into the type of people that have moved in. I am to the point where I don't want my children playing outside when the other kids out, or when the moms are out smoking. That is right our non smoking complex. It makes me so mad. Ok I guess I should give you a warning this blog is going to be a lot of venting. This post might be more for my benefit more then anything. Anyways this is what I deal with on a daily basis. Let me just start off with both of these families are super poor, and the kids are paying the price cause the parents choose to spend their limited money on cigarettes and drinks rather then stuff they need. Most days the parents leave their kids home alone and when they leave they lock the doors. There is a 6 year old and a 8 year old that I really think shouldn't be left alone at all. So with that said I am the only adult around most days. And with the kids being locked out you, guessed it, They all use my bathroom, my house. On a daily basis I am asked for food, drinks, and water and granola bars aren't good enough for them, band aids, sunscreen, and what ever else comes up. Its to the point if someone gets hurt they come running to my door even if their parents are home. I have to force them to go to their parents. Now I think for the most part I am a caring, nice person. I understand when families are having trying times and I want to help, I really do, but the problem is that my kids are suffering. These kids that are around all the time are naughty, potty mouth, ungrateful, liars. They are so mean to my kids who are sharing all their toys, bikes, and food. I know that the problem is that they have parents who don't care if they do that, but I do. I don't want my kids hearing OMG all the time or all the swear words. The lying problem comes into play because if I am not outside with the kids I have every window open. My apartment is maybe 10 feet from the big play area. If my kids are outside my front door is left open. So basically I can always hear them if I can't see them. So most times I hear what is going on. So every day I get the older kids coming and knocking on my open door, or yelling my name to tattle on my kids about things that my kids didn't do, like Jakob won't let me ride his bike. Well I know its cause Jakob's riding it when they want it and Jakob doesn't get off and give it to them. So when I say no Jakob is riding it, they start telling me all the crazy lies to make me think that Jakob wasn't riding it. Its just ridiculous, it makes me wonder if their parents believe these stories. One time our neighbor boy came and told me that Alexa, my 2 year old, was calling everybody the B word. Now as a mother you usually have a good feel of what your kids know, after all you are in charge of what they are hearing, watching, etc. So I knew Alexa had no idea what the b- word is. So I told the kid that, I also told him the only way she would know that word is if he said it to her and she repeated it. As soon as I said that I knew it was true and asked him if that was what happened. He told me that Alexa wasn't letting him ride her bike so he was mad. This boy is 6, Alexa bike is one of those toddler bike that you sit on and push with your feet, he is not allowed to ride it. After all was said and done I asked the boy where he had heard that word, after all he is only 6, he said his dad says it to his mom all the time. So very sad. I watch my kids get yelled at, hit, pushed, the other kids tell them they are not their friends if they can't ride their bikes. I mean its horrible, but what do I do? If I lock my kids in the house, to keep them away then they think they are being punished. If I don't feed the neighborhood kids who will. Oh the other thing is that one of the families got their cellphone turned off for not paying the bills, so the mom is over constantly wanting to use our cellphone. Or if the upstairs mom is gone the teenagers are down wanting to use my phone to call their mom to ask if they can do stuff. I just don't know what to do anymore. We are looking for another place to live, but nothing so far. So where is the line. How nice and compassionate do I need to be to these people. Where do I draw the line, how do I handle the kids, Is it my place to get mad at these other kids?
On a positive note, I have been so very proud of my kids. To see my kids stand up for them selves, to make the right choices, makes me feel so good. Just today the kids were all saying what they were saving their money for. They all said toys and clothes. Jakob said " a mission". The other kids didn't know what that was and Jakob told them he was going to be a missionary in china ( he thinks he going to the great wall ). Then he went on to tell them about his dad serving in japan and how all his uncles have gone on missions. The kids all thought that was cool. This whole thing has been such a testimony to me about how important it is to be home with my kids and to be on top of their every move. How important it is to teach your kids manners, and even simple things like don't through your wrappers on the ground. Also what a difference it makes in kids if they know someone is watching and listening, monitoring what is going on. Well thanks for letting me vent, if you have any suggestions please let me know.

Stain Removal???

So I am wondering what your tricks are to getting stains out. Do you have a favorite product? I have been dealing with Popsicle stains, chocolate milk stains, and makeup stains (thanks go to Alexa for those), and grass stains. If you have any ideas let me know, I need all the help I can get. And if any of you want to send a maid my way, I'll love you forever!!

Whirl Wind....

Yep that is what it was, it was a whirl wind trip to Seattle for my youngest sister April's graduation. My brother, his fiance, and I left Friday night to drive to Boise, we stayed at Natalie's (the fiance) parents house for the night. Which was so much fun, I loved her family and they threw Jordan a fun little birthday party. That next morning we got up bright at early to head to the airport to fly to Seattle. We got into Seattle at 8:20 am the graduation was at 3. We were able to do a big family breakfast, Which included my all my grandparents, and the Grahams of course. That so fun!! Then we were off to Aprils graduation. I still cant believe that she is done that my parents are done with kids in high school, its just weird. We are so excited for April to come here for school, I am so excited to have almost all siblings here soon, it will be so nice. And yes Laura I really am going to find out what electricians are making here cause you might as well move here too, then mom and dad can buy a second house here and we can be one big Happy family, in rexburg. Oh well a girl can dream!!
I also want to tell my husband how thankful I am to him for letting me run off on fathers day weekend. I love you babe. Even though we celebrated Fathers Day on Thursday, I hope the kids were nice to you and you had a good day. I sure appreciate the nice break and hopefully we can some day take a break together, wouldn't that be nice.

Here are just a few fun pictures of the weekend, I didn't take very many but here are few.

April and my dad

The girls!!( you cant tell which girls are the Moon Girls, we all are squinters!!

Me and Laura just having fun!!

This last weekend was so crazy and such a fast trip but i had a blast and loved every minute of it. well maybe not having our luggage not make it on our plane and having to wait hours for the next one to come in, and then driving back to Rexburg in the middle of the night and not getting back to home 3pm . All of that I could of done with out but you know what it was still fun and all worth it!!

I Can't Wait!!!!!

All I have to say is that December can't get here soon enough. And if you haven't read these books, stop what you are doing and go to the store or library, or even call your neighbor, or visiting teacher cause they are bound to have them. You will love them I promise!!

I'm a Proud Big Sister!!!

Let me just start out by saying , I feel old, All of my younger siblings are having major things going on in their lives and I am so happy for them but it also makes me realize just how old I am getting. Here is a picture of me and my siblings its kind of random but its all I got!!

I'll start with my youngest sister April. She is graduating high school in 2 weeks and I just can't believe it. I am so proud of her and I can't wait for her to get here and to start college and the next step in her life. Way to go Apes!!! I love you


Next up is my Brother Jordan, He has found the perfect girl and they are getting married in august. I/we love Natalie. And we are so excited to have her in our family and for them to start their life together. It has been fun to be here while their relationship has developed and to see things fall into place. We love you guys!!!
My brother Brian Joined the National Guard and he has just finished boot camp, where he was one of the top of his class , and he received the Sniper award. Basically the best shot. He is now at firefighting training. I am so proud of him, I wish I could of been at his graduation from boot camp. I hear it was amazing. But nonetheless I am so proud of him and can't wait to see what Heavenly Father has in store for him. We love you Brian.
Next of course is my sister Laura. I bet you thought I would leave you out, but no way. She also has a big summer coming up, her and Ben are in charge of youth conference for their whole stake. I also know that she is surviving 2 kids, one of which is climbing, chasing, getting into things little boy. On top of all of that she is in the relief society presidency. Man oh man I don't think I could handle it all, but she is and she seems to be doing a very good job. I wish I were closer and your kids could camp out at my house for the next month. Anyways good luck , and I love you.

I don't think I could write about all my siblings and then not say anything about my parents. I don't know how they do it all but they do. And they are always so on the ball. My mom always does such a nice job at everything. And my both my mom and dad are the best support to us all. I love you guys. Thanks for all you do for us.

Thankful

We, our family, have a lot to be thankful for lately. The Lord has once again taken care of us. Colin got a new job. His last job was ok, it did the job while it needed to. But this job is so much better. He now works for the city, which is of course is a government job so we get all the benefits. That is right we have full health and dental benefits ( what a relief, no more byu insurance, that was a joke). Plus he doubled his pay check which is such a bonus!! I am just so thankful for a husband who is willing to do what ever it takes to take care of his family. My husband is so smart and so good at what he does, that I never doubt if we will have a job or money. He also just makes going to school look like a breeze. I hope all of my kids get his smarts. I am just so thankful that we will be able to do this school thing without having to rely on government assistance, I have heard way to many nightmares. I am thankful for all the perks we have all ready seen with this job ( cell phone,you know in case the mayor needs help with his computer or the fire department or the police department. And early sign up for swimming lessons and then finding out we only have to pay 10 instead of 50). I once heard a quote "the harder you work, the luckier you get". Well Colin has always been such a hard worker, so he deserves all the perks they can give him. I am just so thankful to Heavenly Father for always taking care of us. Things just always seem to fall into place for us. And of course I am so grateful for my Husband, who takes care of us no matter what. And that he is so good at what he does that he was the 1 picked out of 40 applicants. You Rock Babe. I've known that since the moment I met you, but it seems that on a daily basis the rest of he world finds out how good you are too!! And one more thing that I am thankful for, for the first time since we have moved here, Rexburg doesn't seem so horrible. I think we could actually enjoy living here!!

P.S. Sorry if you thought I was bragging, but what is a proud wife/ mother to do? Brag, its my right!

Our Adventures...

The last couple of weeks have been crazy. Colin had finals, and then we took off to Utah for a week to see our new niece Allison be blessed. She was so cute. And it was fun to be around a baby again. The kids all loved her and wanted as much time with her as they could.


They also had some fun times with their cousins and grandma and grandpa bowler.


We came home Wednesday evening and my parents and grandparents came in to town on Friday for a short visit. That was a lot of fun, and good to see my parents for me at least. On Saturday the kids all woke up saying that they didn't feel good. Conner said his stomach hurt. But later in the day we decided to look down their throats since one of their cousins had strep throat while we were in Utah. Sure enough Jakob throat was covered with white spots, and Conner's throat was red. everything in Rexburg was closed by then except the ER. Which we don't have insurance coverage for. So Saturday night was a rough one for Conner, he was up crying most of the night. Sunday morning we were off to urgent care and sure enough both boys had severe cases of strep throat. Poor guys. Jakob just looked horrible but he handled him self well. Conner on the other hand was struggling. He hurt so much he wouldn't swallow his own spit. Let alone the antibiotics. So after hours of crying, and struggling we finally enlisted the help of my dad and grandpa for a blessing. After Colin said the blessing, it was amazing the transformation. He drank some milk spiked with his medicine, and about 20 Popsicles. And he was up dancing before long. Oh the power of the priesthood!!
Now things are settling down. Family is gone ( but we miss them) me and the kids haven't left the house in a while (we don't need to spread this nasty bug around). Now I am loaded with my bottle of bleach spray trying to sanitize my house so that Alexa me and Colin have a fighting chance of not getting it. I just pray that all of our company doesn't get it cause I would just feel awful.

My new obsession

My new obsession is bows. I started out with ordering some from some stores, but then I decided that I wanted to try and make them.



This is where I am keeping my supplies for now.
And here are just some of the bows I have made so far. I really do love doing this, it is fun to play around and see what you can create, Alexa is getting to the point where she has enough so now I have been making some for my neices. I hope they want some cause well I am having to much fun being creative!!

Jakob Says....

The other day I was folding laundry and I asked Jakob to put his shirts away in his drawer. He told me "NO", I asked " Why not?" He said because I was in charge of that stuff. I said "oh really, what else am I in charge of?" He says "everything around here". So then I asked " what is daddy in charge of then?" He thought for just a second then replied " playing video games". I tried to no laugh, cause sometimes I can see how he would think that, since Jakob is obsessed with the Wii, but he always needs help and I say I don't know, go ask daddy, or wait till daddy gets home. So I explained to Jakob that Daddy is in charge of working to make money for our family, and going to school so that he can get a better job some day. He seemed to understand that. And lets hope that he will remember it so that when he is a daddy, he will in charge of more then just video games!!

Lovin It!!!

About a month ago we got a new jogging stroller. We love it. The kids love it. It has been so nice to get out of the house and go for walks. I love the stroller because it has a place where you can plug in your ipod and it has speakers so that the kids can hear the music and rock out with me. It has been a great purchuse, and I am excited for the summer and to see all the adventure we can take this new stroller on. Here are some pictures of the kids bundled up to go for walks
All bundled up and ready to go!

Jakob leading the way on his bike



Jakob took this picture, I guess I am to tall to get my head in the picture from his level!!

Easter!!

We had a good Easter, my brother and his girlfriend came over for dinner. It was a nice relaxing day. We didn't do any easter egg dying, we intended to, had all the stuff to do it just never seemed to find the time oh well. Next year. I thought I would post a few pictures of the kids in their Easter clothes.

Finding their Easter baskets

# 3, The purse cake!!

I was trying to decide what cake to do for Alexa for her birthday, then I remembered a birthday party Jakob went to where she had a purse cake. So I decide to try one. I think it turned out good. It could of been better if I had used fondant all over instead of butter cream, but I wanted people to actually want to eat the cake as well as thinking it looked nice so most of the cake is butter cream with some fondant add ons. Here is how it turned out.Everything on the cake is edible, even the nail polish and the lipstick( fondant painted with food coloring) except for the wire that is holding the fondant beads for the handle. Colin has been such a big help with all the cakes, he has been the cake shaper guy, on this one he was the wire guy. And last but certainly not least, he has been the taste tester to tell me if the frosting needs anything else, or if the cake is good!! Thanks babe. I love you! Here are a few pictures of Alexa enjoying her birthday. Enjoy

opening presents

blowing out candles!!

Our little bug!!

Dear Alexa,

You comming into our family was a little unexpected, But we realize now that is was the perfect time!! I was so excited to have a girl. But it has been so much better then I could of imagined. Having you watch me everyday, it makes me want to be a better person, a better example for you. I see you mimic my every move, from putting on makeup, to how I sit. I am in love with the fact that you love musicals, and I can't wait till you are older and we can get tickets to go see all the shows. I love that you love to wear dresses. I love that you love bows in your hair. I love to see that special bond you have with daddy, he loves you so much. I love how you are small in stature but not in attitude. Grandma Moon just smiles and tell me that it just payback, I guess I deserve it. I love how you are so sweet with your brothers, and also how you terrorize them just for fun, its pay back really. I love how you love to snuggle me, and your little crooked smile you get when you are pretending to be shy. I think it so cute how you love your one blanket, and how much of a little mother you are to your dolls. I am so thankful to have another girl in this house full of silly boys and I think between the 2 of us we can handle anything they throw at us. I love you so much my little bug. I can't wait to see what the world holds for you. I can't believe you are 2. Happy Birthday Alexa, may all your dreams come true!!

Alexa with our neighbor



Easter dress!!

This is for Grandma's and Grandpa's

Both Grandma and Grandpa Bowler and Grandma and Grandpa Moon, and even great Grandpa Moon really spoiled my kids this year. Both G&G Bowler and great grandpa moon sent money. So each of my kids ended up having $45 to spend. Great grandpa even sent the kids a little something with the money. he sent each of the boys a planet hero figure, which the boys hadn't heard of but now are obsessed with, and that is what they spent their money on. He sent alexa a princess book that plays music and she love to listen to it all the time. Well Colin found out that Toys R us was haing a buy one get one free on all fisher price stuff, which of course is who make planet heros. So we took the kids to toys r us. We had previously signed the kids up for the birhtday club so when we got there they go to get ballons and a birthday crown. Then the real fun began. The kids were in heaven. We soon found out that transformer stuff was buy 2 get one free. Alexa found the makeup sets fast and wanted them all. So we had our cart loaded. Here are some pictures once we were home and the kids were waiting nicely ( yeah right) for us to open thier purchuses.
Grandma and Grandpa Moon sent a fun present, a set of 8 kids aprons that they can decorate themselves, chef hats, and a pot and pan set for each of them. They loved it and they had tons of fun decortating them and wearing them while we made pizza . They seem to need to wear theirs when ever I bake.
Thank you to everyone who spoiled my kids this month. They loved it. The night that we took the kids to toys r us I was putting the boys to bed and jakob said to me " this was the best day of my life"! So thank you for making the best day of their lives happen.