Rollerblading Follies

Last night I went over to a gal in our ward's house to rub her feet...she's pregnant....and while there my phone kept ringing and I finally answered to find a not so calm Aaron on the other end telling me to come home right now because Matthew broke his arm. I apologized to my friend and left to go home...I found Matthew sitting at the kitchen table with an icepack on his arm. We went to the emergency room and found that he has a buckle fracture on his radius and ulna...I'm sure you can see from the picture of the xray where the fracture is. Matthew had a fight with the pavement while rollerblading and the pavement won. He has a scrape on his cheek too. He will go get a cast on sometime this week...he was very brave and thought the whole experience was kinda cool. This is the second broken bone in our family...the first being Zack's broken ankle..from what else...rollerskating!Matthew in the van...on the way to the emergency room

Matthew smiling through the teeth chattering. He couldn't stop shaking but told us he actually liked it because he doesn't do it very often...

Just getting back from xray

I'm not sure how well you can see it but his arm is a bit crooked.

Feeding the Geese and Ducks

Yesterday we went to Pioneers Park to feed the Geese. We went to the bakery outlet and got a whole bag of bread (6 loaves) for a buck! It was bread they were going to throw away....anyway, we had a really good time. Zack missed out because he was working. It was a beautiful day.

The trick candles weren't so tricky

Yesterday we celebrated Josh's birthday. As it was Sunday we just had a celebration at home. He requested cheesecake so that's what he got. He was so proud of himself because he blew out the "trick" candles on the first try.....I guess they didn't trick him. Joe was having a fit in the picture I took of all the kids. Anyway, it was a nice birthday. I think Aaron and I are taking him out to lunch and movie later today...that's our tradition...birthday parties with friends every four years and the other years, a date with mom and dad.

Another Birthday Boy

My little Joshy is not so little anymore....man time flies. Josh will be 14 tomorrow. He was the sweetest baby..just so full of love and smiles. He loved his mommy and didn't really discover how fun his dad was until he was about a year old. He talked early (full sentences by 18 months) and walked early (took his first steps just before he was 9 months). He has always been into computers, from the time his Grandad got our family one when he was just four years old. He also LOVES video games!! Out of all of my kids he is the messiest one..by far! This picture of him with ice cream all over his mouth was taken when he was around 8 years old!! I think he still gets ice cream all over his face when he eats it. One of his weaknesses is that he is always trying to be the dad...I wonder how many times we have said "Josh, you're not the dad."....He has this strange NEED to be the enforcer of rules. I remember when he was younger he got so upset because I let Matthew play a game for ages 5 and up when he was only 4! Someone call the rule police! He is the child I would always find in the bathroom making "potions" with anything he could find in there. He is a friend to all and I'm often told by other kid's moms that he is a very nice and good boy. He loves baseball and is an awesome catcher. He is extremely smart but very lazy! That boy gets good grades but for the life of me I don't know how...he is never studying. He often comes home to tell me he did his homework on the bus. He has been the biggest help with the little ones. He loves babies and he'll even change diapers and give baths. He's just a good kid and I love him so much. Happy Birthday Josh.

Trick candles + 10 year old boy = FUN!

Matthew is turning 10

Matthew is turning 10 tomorrow!! He has always been such an active kid....when he was so little I'm sure many people remember how many times he would run from me, I'm sure more than one person witnessed me running down the street after him!...he was always such a wanderer. I can remember Judith and Julie bringing him to my door on two separate occasions after they found him outside sitting on Aaron's motorcycle wearing only a diaper. I had no idea he was even outside!! We found out he could get the sliding glass door open, luckily they sell child locks for them. As he has grown up he continues to always want to be on the run. He loves to ripstick and has even warn out a set of wheels since Christmas! He loves to build things too. He loves bionicles, legos and knex. The other day he came with me to Joe and Hannah's gymnastics class and one of the kid's grandmas was there and she told me she had a very nice conversation with him....he loves to talk and will talk to anyone who would like to listen. He loves our animals, especially Molly. He loves to take her on walks and she loves to take him on walks too...He is such a loving boy and I'm just so glad he's in our family. Happy happy birthday Matthew!!

Feeling Loved Tag

Tagged by Julie

I think that everyone needs to feel loved,

so I am doing this tag. Here are the rules:

1. As a comment on my blog, leave a memory that you and I have together. It doesn't matter of you know me a little or a lot, anything you remember. If we are only blogging friends, write about a post that is most memorable. If you don't have a blog, or don't know how to sign in, please comment as anonymous.

2. Next, repost these instructions on your blog, and see how many people leave a memory about you. It's actually pretty funny to see the responses. If you leave a memory about me, I'll be sure to write one about you, either on your blog or in my comment box.

3. If the memory happens to involve my husband, please include him.

4.If you can't say something nice, don't say nothin' at all. :)

OK, let's see what you've got.

Girlfriends

I have always had a love for friends. My friends have helped me through some tremendous trials and they have been there for the good times. From my earliest memories I have loved having friends. My earliest memory is of playing with friends in the laundry room of the apartments we lived in when I was a preschooler. As a teen I had two girlfriends who meant the world to me. One of them, Katie, has gone on to Heaven and I miss her every day. Shelly and I have drifted apart, I still think of her so often and miss her so much. My sister Jenny and I have become so close and I just feel so bad that when we were young I didn't appreciate her like I do now. I have a friend in my wonderful sister in law, Michelle...without her I don't know if I could handle being married to a "Schafer Brother". I have my cousin, Christine, who is my cousin by marriage and by love. I have a little group of friends from my ChaddsFord days, Alison, Nikki, Danelle, Christine and Michelle, we still get together for a once a year Christmas ornament exchange...I love them like sisters! I have such wonderful memories of my early married days, living in Balmoral with so many wonderful women to call friend! Remember all of our fun GNO's? Lia's sleepover....kidnapping Bonnie.....all the meals at Chili's...and the laughing until we were almost peeing in Jacque's van!! those were such fun days!! I have my most wonderful friend Rebekah who is my email buddy...she has been my lifesaver during these years away from home. I struggled in St George...I've always made friends easily...but not there. I'm happy to say that in the end I did make some friends there. Michelle is so sweet and is always thinking of me. My lovely friends at Dixie Regional are so dear to my heart. Now I am making new friends. As I look back I feel so blessed for all of the wonderful women who have impacted my life....thank Heaven for girlfriends!! Without them, I don't know where I'd be.

Conversations

Today on the way to church Megan was helping Joe draw pictures for the talk he was giving in Primary. Here is the conversation that occurred.

Megan: Mom, how do you spell baptism?

Mom: B-A-P-T-I-S-M

Matthew: PEEEEE? I thought it was spelled with a T-H.

Mom: So all this time you thought you were Bathtised?

Matthew: Yeah...you go in a big bath but you have clothes on.

Growing Up

Megan shaved her legs for the first time today. I remember the first time I shaved my legs. I asked my mom if I could and she said yes and I was so excited. I had been telling Megan that she could start shaving hers when she turned 12. She is two months away from being 12 and I let her. She told me that her girlfriend laughed at how the hair looked when it was wet when they went swimming. So, this morning I gave her a lesson on how to do it without cutting herself and she emerged from the bathroom with no cuts! She had a few patches of hair where she missed but all in all she did a good job. Next we tackle her eyebrows with some wax!

Trials of Faith

After my grandma died in November 06. I began to doubt my faith. I really thought I would still be able to feel her spirit and I just didn't. I tried and tried and I just didn't. It was the hardest time of my life and that's saying a lot considering my wild teenage years. I still went to church but I just felt kind of dead inside. During this hard time I got this wild idea that I wanted a tattoo...I debated this in my head for almost a year and I finally gave in and got one. To say now that I regret it is partly true. But, now that it's there it is a reminder to me that my testimony is fragile and I must continually feed it....It has been hard and I continue to struggle to this day but I heard somewhere that you have to "fake it, til you make it". I know in my heart that I'm where I need to be. I know Heavenly Father loves me even when I'm a dink. Each Sunday I go to church and I feel my faith growing again. I miss my grandma more than words can say....I think of her everyday and I still get teary eyed sometimes. I have to believe that I will get to be with her again someday and she will tell me stories of what she's been doing and learning. In the meantime I will continue to miss her and I will honor her memory by being the best person I can be.

My tattoo is on my foot...it's a small blue butterfly.

5 and 10

I've been tagged by my friend Julie...so here it goes


10 Years Ago- I was extremely pregnant with Matthew. On July 17th we had a big birthday party for Josh (he was turning 4 on July 27th). I did the party early so we wouldn't have to worry about having a baby on the party day (my due date was July 30). Well I remember doing so much running up and down the basement stairs on the day of the party that I was so sore the next day and I could hardly even walk...I prayed and prayed I wouldn't have the baby that day (I don't think I would of been able to open my legs to let him out!!). I didn't have him the next day, but I did have him 10 days early on the 20th.


5 Years Ago- I was pregnant with Joe...we were all mourning the loss of our beloved dog Zoe. She died July 3rd. We were still in the townhouses but were thinking about selling. I was substituting at the elementary school and Aaron was working for Rumbi.


5 Months Ago- We were getting used to our new home in Lincoln. The weather was so dreary and I was missing my family. The kids were making new friends and finding their places.



My List of 5 Things To Do Tomorrow-

1-laundry

2-get ready for my Uppercase Living party

3-maybe go VT if I can get a hold of my sisters

4-take Zack to work (he has a job at Cold Stone)

5-laundry



5 Bad Habits- (only 5??)

1-procrastination

2-being inconsistent with my kids

3-eating when I'm stressed

4-popping my knuckles

5-watching too much TV



5 Places I've Lived- (again, only 5?)

1-La Palma, CA

2-La Mesa, CA

3-Midvale, UT

4-St. George, UT (twice, once when a teen and also last year)

5-Lincoln, NE



5 Things People Don't Know About Me-

This one is hard...I'm not much of a secret keeper about myself...I think I'm an open book.

1-I wanted to go on a mission but my Bishop told me I would miss my marriage window. (I'm still not convinced that's true!)

2-I was a nanny for three children who lost their mom to cancer.

3-I often feel like I'm annoying to other people because I talk too much.

4-I think feet are beautiful.

5-I have a tattoo.



Now, I tag Alison, Michelle S., Stephanie and Stacie.

Fifteen Years

So, Lia and Michelle have tagged the Balmoral gals to write about the past 15 years...I thought...Do I even want to think back on all that stuff? It's not been the easiest time ever, but I suppose life is like that. It has it's good, it's bad, and it's ugly.
So, 10 bullet marks to go through the past 15 years.....

*Kids...you know that had to be number one! 15 years ago we had a little 4 month old baby with a wisp of red hair. Our little Zackers! The following July found us with another cute guy with brown hair this time...Joshy. 2 years after that here came our precious little girl, Megan. Another 2 years went by and we had our Matthew, or Chewy (the nickname he picked up after Megan couldn't say his name and called him "Matchoo".) When Matthew was around 3 we decided to try for another girl, though a boy would of been good too. After three miscarriages in a row we both felt like we needed to be done having kids. This was such a hard time for me and I really wanted another baby but struggled with the feeling that we were not supposed to have another. Just when I felt good about not having more kids...we were expecting what I was just sure was a sister for Megan...she had been praying and praying for a sister! Imagine my surprise at the ultra sound when we were told it was a boy. Poor Megan cried and cried. But we all enjoyed Joseph so much, we forgave him for being a boy. LOL. He was just so much fun and the kids loved having him around so much! Two years later we welcomed our little Hannah into our lives. She is a miracle! After a very scary entrance into the world (emergency C section) and a week in the NICU we brought her home on Christmas Eve 2005. Now we are complete and we are NOT HAVING ANYMORE KIDS. Living with six kids is like living in the circus. There is never a dull moment. I love being a mom and it's what I always wanted to do. It's not always fun. The whole teenager thing is giving me a run for my money. But I love all of them so much and I'd do anything for them.

*Jobs...let's see 15 years ago I was working at FHP as a receptionist. After that I worked as an apartment manager at Chadds Ford Apartments. Then I worked at an attorney's office as a collector (not my favorite job, I didn't collect much, I always felt bad for the debtors). I worked as a night time data entry person for about 3-4 weeks, maybe...I could not stay awake! I would get to work and sit down and immediately start to fall asleep while I was typing. It was the most horrible feeling! Finally one night I came home and Aaron had a big sign taped to the wall at the top of the stairs that said "life is short, quit your job"....so I did, that is the only time I've ever walked in and handed someone my name badge and walked out...I could not bare one more night of it...For a long time after that I stayed home with the kids. I worked for one summer at Aaron's Aunt's daycare. Then Aaron lost his job and I went to work for Six Continents (Holiday Inn) making reservations. Then I stayed home again with the kids and started to sub occasionally at the kids school (loved that job!!). I also worked as a custodian at the kids school. I worked at Kohl's for a while and liked it there. In St. George I worked in the kitchen at Dixie Regional Hospital..I met some of the nicest people while working there, I really liked it. Now I'm staying home with the kids.

*Cars-...wow! Do I have to count all the weird cars Aaron has had? 15 years ago we had my dad's old work truck..it was a Ford Ranger the color was "peptobismol tan" as my sister in law Michelle would say. The funniest thing I remember about that truck was when Aaron took it to a car wash (it had one of those big tool racks on the back) and he came home with a crushed windshield because the bar thingy with the brush on it came up over the hood and got stuck on the tool rack and started to slam down onto the top of the truck. Even though Aaron was not laughing my sister Jenny and I thought it was hysterical! After that we had a VW fox...that was the dumbest car we ever bought! Well..maybe some of Aaron's cars were the dumbest cars we ever bought..ha ha....anyway, we had the fox and then Aaron got an orange VW bus...once I had my friend Alison in that bus with me and it stopped right on State Street..it was so embarrassing and I think some guy helped us push it off the road. After the fox we got a mini van...a gray Dodge Caravan. Then Aaron traded his orange bus (loaf of bread) for an awful turquoise Corvair. He also had a motorcycle around that same time. Later he sold the Corvair and my dad gave him a Geo Tracker. After the tracker he had a Cadillac that was as big as a boat!! We had another Dodge Caravan...a newer one. My mom gave us, yes gave us, a brand spankin' new Honda Odyssey for Christmas in 2006. It is sooooo nice and I love it! It has GPS and a DVD player, it's a beautiful midnight blue...it's so nice to have a vehicle that is so reliable...it's the first new car we've ever had. Aaron had my grandma's CRV it was gold and he thought it looked too much like a woman's car, so he traded it in for a black 1998 Mercedes, which is what he is driving right now. He also has a motorcycle.

*Homes or places where we hung our hats- 15 years ago we lived in a small, and I do mean small, apartment right off State Street in Sandy. We moved rather quickly from there to a bigger apartment in Midvale (Chadds Ford). After that we lived in Aaron's parents basement...fun fun! Then we lived at Balmoral Townhomes in West Valley. That was such a golden time!! I have many, many friends I still keep in contact from those years. It was also a very hard time in our life...Aaron lost his job 3 times while we lived there and we ended up having to short sell our home. We moved to Magna where we had the nicest ward. After Magna we lived in two different houses in St George, Utah and then we moved here to Lincoln, Nebraska.

*Church Callings- 15 years ago I don't think I had a calling. We moved to Midvale where I was called to be a Primary teacher for the 4-5 year olds. Then I was called to be in the Primary Presidency, then the nursery. In the Balmoral Ward my calling was RS teacher (my favorite calling of all time!, really, I mean it!). Then I was Visiting Teaching Coordinator. I was a Gospel Doctrine Teacher. I've also been a co scout leader. When we moved to Magna my first calling was as the Ward Chorister and Choir Director...now mind you I had no idea whatsoever how to lead the music!! I could not read music either...what a SCARY calling!!! Fortunately the Bishop realized what a disaster I was and called me to be in the RS presidency...I was actually happy and relieved! In St George I don't think I had a calling the whole time I was there, other than visiting teacher...weird, huh? Right now I am the Enrichment Leader. I'm not a very organized person so it's not the easiest but I like it.

* Music...15 years ago I believe I was very into country music. As a teen I HATED country music, but my good friend Shelly loved "yee haw" music, as she called it and I started to like it around the time I was 20 or so. The Country thing went on for years...then I started to like the top 40 stuff that my kids were listening to. I still like country and I also really love to listen to all the old 70's and 80's rock I listened to when I was younger. I also like a lot of what my kids like...except Megan who really likes the hip hop crap...I can only listen to that for a couple songs before I am changing the station. Another thing...I LOVE loud music and I think my hearing has suffered for this love of mine...I may need some hearing aides here in a couple years.

*Fitness.....15 years ago I was not fit. I had a four month old baby and spent the next five years after that either breast feeding or pregnant...basically. When Matthew was around 2 I remember Lia, Jacque and I decided we were going to go to the new Fitness Center in West Valley and get fit! Around this time Mindy Pratt let me read her copy of Body For Life. I did get fit and I got smaller than I'd been since I got married! I felt good too....but for whatever reason I was not able to keep up the change. I'm such an emotional eater! Also having Lia for a workout partner was so motivational and I've never been able to duplicate that. Since then my weight has yoyo'd along with my fitness level. Right now I'm back on track with only the occasional treat instead of 2-3 days of gorging and 4-5 days of eating healthy. I've lost 19 lbs...but seem to be at a plateau...but I'm not giving up. I'm up to being able to run for 30 minutes without stopping and plan to increase that time little by little. My next step will be joining a gym and getting back into lifting weights...

*organization...15 years ago I was not organized and I'm still not organized...*sigh*

*Pets..hmm...15 years ago..no pets. When we lived in Balmoral we had a dog named Razzle Dazzle for a very short time. I just couldn't keep up with a dog and 4 kids! Razzle would run out the door as soon as a kid opened it and he'd come home covered in poop, this is when I discovered how prone to violence I could be. So, my dear cousin took him and he still lives there to this day. Thank you Christine! Then we got Zipper, the cat. We had our sweet Zoe, an Australian Cattle Dog, for four years before her life was cut short after being hit by a car...we still miss her so much. She was such a good girl and she loved our kids and was so protective of them. We have her picture up on our fireplace. After Zoe the kids really wanted another dog and we tried but we could not replace her. We had Moop (a dog) for a very short while, we ended up selling her to a very nice family. We had Sofie (another dog) but I just could not give her enough attention while I was working full time. She also needed surgery on her eyes so we gave her to the humane society where she found a good home shortly after her surgery. We didn't have a pet for a long time after that. Then when we moved here we got a dog..our beagle, Molly. And now we have Velcro.

*Dreams..my dreams 15 years ago were to have a happy family with lots of kids. Today I have lots of kids...the happy part is not always there. It's hard! The kids fight with each other and they fight with me! I really don't mean to be negative here. We have many blessing for which I am truly grateful. I guess life is just so much harder than I imagined it would be. In 15 years I really hope we are settled somewhere and own a house. I also look forward to being a grandma, but that can wait several more years. Aaron still wants to move up in his work (Sofa Mart), which means at least a couple more moves in our future. The Draper store is supposed to open at the end of the year so my dream right now is that he will be able to get that store!! But for now I will continue to try and make our lives better and happy here.

The Best of Friends

Zack loves animals..always has. He especially loves cats and really wanted one. We had a cat for years named Zipper (named by Zack). Zipper loved to be outside and his favorite thing was to leave little headless mice on our doorstep...oh what a treat! When we moved to Magna, Zipper went to live with my inlaws where he lives happily to this day. Zack found out about a woman who had some kitties and he begged and we told him he would be in charge of litter box duties and such....he agreed. We went out to pick a kitty right before he left for the High Adventure. He and Megan picked him..he's a sweet little guy. Zack named him Velcro in honor of Zipper. We weren't sure how Molly would handle having a cat around....so far they are the best of friends...it's very cute to watch them play and "fight". When we leave and put Molly in her crate we always come home to find Velcro sleeping right behind the crate to keep Molly company. He's very good natured and tolerates the kids..he's just a cutie. I don't consider myself a cat person but have to admit that it is nice for Molly to have a friend. I don't think they know they aren't supposed to get along.

Velcro decided right from the get go that the top of this chair was the best place in the house.