Count Your Blessings...

I have been meaning to go to Wal Mart for almost 3 weeks now. I have several things I need to get that I can only get from there. I've been babysitting almost everyday the past couple of weeks and I just wasn't going to take extra kids with me. Kory went to Safford this morning so I've been telling the kids since last week that we would go to Wal Mart this morning when daddy was gone. My kids love going to Wal Mart and playing with there toys.

The kids were so excited. I loaded everybody up, started the van, looked through my rear view mirror and saw my back window. It didn't registar at first but I new something wasn't quite right. I got out to go investigate and this is what I discovered.

Due to the rain we received yesterday when we got home from church we parked on the road so the van wouldn't get stuck in all the mud. I didn't find a rock or a ball or anything that could have broken the window. I'm assuming the strongs winds we had last night blew a tree branch into the back window???

I called our insurance company this morning and lucky for us we have 100% window coverage and a zero deductible. While talking to them I also mentioned the little chip we had in our windshield, that happened almost 2 years ago, (which I didn't mention). I was told that a new back window and a chip repair would be done tommorrow and to expect a phone call from a local repair shop. When the repair shop called he mentioned the chip and said because the van is an 02' he'll just replace the windshield and claim it was un repairable. I won't complain. I am most definetely counting my blessings this morning. This isn't going to cost us anything, it will be fixed tommorrow and he is coming to me.

Game Night

Friday night we invited 3 other couples over to play games. One couple got a babysitter. I think we were all a little envious of them. They were the only ones not having to chase kids around. We played several rounds of Uno Attack. The first round we followed the rules and the game lasted about 20 minutes. The following 3-4 games we followed most of the rules but said you could play doubles and play it out of turn. The games were lucky to last 5 minutes with 8 players.
You have to play Catch Phrase when you've got this many people together. This is a game that splits the players into 2 teams (women vs. men usually). The men won the 1st round. The women the 2nd. And the tie breaker was the MEN.

That night we also played Egyptian Rat Killer. This is a card game that Kory's family plays all the time together. I don't get the name but it is a fun game.

We had lots and lots of popcorn and cookies to go around. Thankyou all who came and participated. We had a great time and hope you did to. Till next time...

Master Closet

2 saturdays ago Kory decided to start working on our master closet. I helped him take everything out and went in search of my camera. When I found it he had already taken the shelve down so this is the only before pict. I have. You can see though where the shelve was. This shelve ran along along 3 walls with a hanging rod underneath. The 1st week we moved in one of those rods snapped in half.

Not having a garage everything that would normally be placed in there found its way to our closet. This is what our bedroom looked like after everything was taken out of the closet. We also had a pile on the other side of the bed that's been there since we moved in and another pile of stacked containers/boxes in another corner.
Last thursday Kory brought home the boxes with the face frames on and installed them that night. Friday he brough home the shelves that go inside the boxes. Saturday he finished installing the rods and the shelving that goes on the very top. And then last night (monday)he installed our built in dresser drawers.

All thats left is to buy the drawer fronts in a few weeks when we've got a little extra money. But for now it's done. Our bedroom almost looks empty without all the boxes ligning each wall and stuffed into each corner. Our closet isn't very big so I had a hard time taking a good picture of everything but you can see what a difference we have. Before we couldn't fit everything in there and now we can amazingly. In fact we have one shelf and one drawer that is empty. I'm sure it won't take to long for something to go there. Everything is organized. Most of everything has it's own place. My birthday was last friday and this was one of my gifts. My other gift is a belly dancing class that starts on Feb. 16 for 6 weeks.

Little Miss Piggy

Emily is almost 16months old. She is so much fun. She can often be heard saying mama and dada. She is finally starting to pick up on the sign language that we have been working with her on for so long it seems. She can sign thirsty, more, eat, cheese (her favorite), milk, cold, apple, candy, finished, shoes and ball all on a regular basis. We are still working on socks, cereal, crackers, dirty, juice, doll, thankyou, outside and tired.

I am so glad she has learned these signs that she uses daily. She is completely weened now and it seems this girl is always hungry. Instead of both of us getting frusturated not knowing what she wants, she uses some of her signs and we can usually figure it out quickly. Even daddy's getting the hang of it again. She is always signing eat cheese or eat apple. Sunday after church, not 20 minutes after she had eaten 2 bowls of rice, several green beans and 1/2 a cucumber she started signing she wanted to eat an apple. After eating 1/2 the apple by herself she came up to me and started whining. I asked her what she wanted and she signed, eat -more- apple. This was the 1st time she used 3 signs consecutively. It was almost a complete sentence. WOW! We need to teach her the sign for please.

This morning at breakfast she was chowing down on a bowl of fruit loops. When I was done with my cereal I left my bowl on the table and started to empty the dishwaher. She put some of her cereal in my bowl and was eating out of both bowls using both spoons. Hunter wasn't quite done with his cereal when he decided to use the bathroom. When he came back she had pulled his bowl towards her and was eating his Kellog's Mini Wheats that look like they had been super-sized.
After she tasted the mini wheats she refused to finish her fruit loops.

After Emily ate 3 of these super-sized mini wheats after she had finished off Hunter's cereal, I thought she'd be done. Maddie was feeling a little left out so she filled her empty bowl with Honey Combs and gave it to Emily. I didn't think Miss Piggy could eat anything else but she finished that bowl off too.

We're Back...

Kory needed to finish his sister's job in Utah. So for the past week we've been hanging out there. It was great to see the kids be able to play with their cousins for several days. They all got along great and had a really good time. For New Year's Eve we went over to the church. Several tables were set up with different board games, a movie was playing in a different room and their was lots and lots of dancing. Maddie loved the dancing part. Her and I were out on the dance floor for most of the night. Around midnight breakfast of pancakes, eggs, bacon and sausage was served. Following the early morning breakfast we went back to Grandma's and went to bed.

Tuesday late afternoon we loaded up 7 kids and 4 adults into Uncle Dustin's truck and headed up to the feed yard to go tubing. Uncle Kevin and 5 of his kids were already there having a wonderful time. My little family finally made it to the top of the hill for our turn. There was one huge tractor tube available so Kory thought it would be fun for all 5 of us to go down together. We all climbed on, Uncle Dustin gave us a push and down the hill we went. After what seemed like just a few seconds I realized we were headed towards a patch of dirt that was no longer covered by snow. The next thing I knew I was laying on my stomach, face in the dirt and I could here my 3 children screaming. I couldn't move. Grandpa Heaton (Kory's dad) was by my side and helped me turn over on my back. I still couldn't move. I have never had the wind knocked out of me before. What a feeling that is. In just a few short seconds it seemed all the grand kids were hovering around us and all I could make out was there was blood on the ground and Hunter was pretty beat up. With help we were loaded into a truck and rushed back to Grandma's to assess the damage. The very short trip back to grandma's Maddie kept saying, "Mommy you have blood on your face and so does Hunter"over and over. Grandma took Emily who thankfully didn't have a scratch on her. Kory (whom also wasn't hurt) washed Hunter and Maddies face, while this Mommy was laying on the floor trying to keep consciousness. When I tried sitting up I very quickly became lightheaded and nautious. I was put on the couch and was checked several times to make sure I didn't have a concussion. My entire body was throbbing, and my head felt like it was on fire. It was a horrible feeling to hear my children crying and asking for me and not being able to do a dang thing about it. After a couple hours of Daddy and their grandparents consoling them they were playing with Grandpa once again. Hunter by far looked the worse. He had a nice gash on his forehead with several scratches and cuts all over the right side of his face and 2 fat lips. Maddie had a skinned chin. Mommy ended up with 3 Goose Eggs on her forehead and what looks like road rash, a bloody nose, and a very sore body.

Grandma Heaton took this picture a few hours after the mishap.
2 days later this is what the kids still look like.

Maddies chin looks a lot better. She no longer complains it hurts until she bumps it.

Hunter's face is still very tender. He cried this morning while changing his shirt. He keeps asking when all his owies are going to be gone.

Mommy is down to one goose egg, my skinned forehead is almost healed. It looks very similar to Maddie's chin. I'm hoping by Sunday it'll be healed completely. The right side of my face is still very very tender. It doesn't look swollen anymore but it still feels like it's swollen. My back is very sore. It hurts to carry or pick up anything and I feel very stiff. But we are ALIVE with no stiches needed, or broken bones. It could have been much much worse.

After a lot of talking about our accident and how fun tubing really can be we were able to convince the kids to go to Grandpa's pond that is frozen over. We had several small sleds for them to be pushed around on the ice with. They had a blast. After an hour at the pond we went up to the feed yard again. The kids were brave enough to go down the same hill as the day before but this time with no mishaps. They only went once but they did go. Kory kept saying we had to try to replace their negative experience with a positive one. I was to big of a chicken and did not go down. Maybe next year??? We then went back to the pond and by themselves they went down the small sloped bank onto the ice. They had fun and that was what we were hoping for.

What a way to start off the new year.

It's Christmas

I made the kids matching pajama bottoms and bought matching t-shirts. I tried and tried and tried to get a pict. of the 3 of them. Its hard to believe but this was the best. My baby has developed camera phobia. She sees the camera and she starts screaming.
hunter was quite surprised that Santa brought him a pirate ship.
Santa brought Madelyn a Cinderella and Snow White polly pocketts and a princess purse to keep all the little pieces in.
Santa brought Emily this worm she can pull around. The worm makes funny faces when its being pulled. It also holds three balls that spin around when its on the move. Its quite distracting to her. She doesn't pull it far before she stops and start playing with it.

We invited some friends over for a big dinner. Afterwards the kids played with the new toys, the daddy's played the WII, and the mommies chatted.

Kory took the weekend and monday off. We've had him to ourselves for 5 days. The kids our missing him already this morning. Christmas is one of my favorite holidays. After the many hours of planning, shopping, baking, and all the many other preperations it's hard to see it end in one day. Yesterday was a great day and the kids our already asking when we can do it again.

Christmas Eve

Christmas Eve afternoon we invited some friends and we all went bowling. We had the adults on one lane and the kids on the other. We were at the bowling alley about 1:30. Only one other family was there. It was like having the place to ourselves. It was great. Both Maddie and Hunter were too funny to watch.


This was the worse game Kory has ever played. Hunter was so excited to learn that he had more points then his Daddy (thanks to bumper pads). Later that night we went to a different friends house for an evening of fondue. Yum Yum. I forgot my camera so I don't have any picts.

The Nativity

Preschool was peforming the Nativity for their families and tonight was the big performance. The kids have been practicing for 2 weeks now. I think all the kids were on a high tonight with excitement. Not one of them could sit still. Maddie played "Mary". Hunter played the Inn Keeper. His wrap kept falling down so he just yanked it off in the middle of their little production.
Amber was our "Princess Shephard" and Jolie was our "Angel".
Bryant played "Joshep" and Jaxen was the "Wiseman".
Good Job Hunter and Maddie.

Heaton Look-alike Meter

MyHeritage: Family tree - Genealogy - Celebrity - Collage - Morph

Heaton Look-alike Meter

MyHeritage: Family tree - Genealogy - Celebrity - Collage - Morph

Heaton Look-alike Meter

MyHeritage: Celebrity Collage - Vintage pics

Ward Christmas Party

Tonight was our ward Christmas party. With Kory being out of town I really didn't feel like taking the kids by myself, but I knew Santa was going to be there and this would be there only opportunity to see him. They've been talking about what they were going to ask from him for several days now.

Maddie was really good. She hopped right up on his lap, looked right at him and said "thankyou, I want a big barbie like Aunt Hanna". I was standing to close to Santa for Emily's comfort. She was crying and trying to climb over my shoulder. This is the first year Maddie would even get close to Santa and this is the only picture I got. Hunter wasn't to sure of Santa. He was right behind Maddie but let several other kids go ahead of him. He just stood there and watched. I had to hold his hand and walk him up to Santa. Santa just bent over, picked him up and placed him on his knee. This is what Hunter does lately when he gets nervous. He starts pulling at his cheeks. It makes him look so funny. But he did talk to Santa while pinching his cheeks the entire time, he asked for a Spiderman.
Maddie's been saying for weeks now that she wanted a Princess Polly Pocket and Hunter wanted a Pirate Ship. I know Santa already has his gift for each of them. Hopefully they wont be to disapointed when they don't get the Barbie and Spiderman that was asked for tonight.
After Santa the kids decorated their own sugar cookies and ate them while watching Frosty The Snowman.
With a cookie in hand Emily finally let me put her down.
After the sugar cookies Maddie and Hunter put together a foam Snowman.
We all had a good time. The kids want to go back to the church again tommorrow and talk to Santa. I told them Santa has to go home now. He has to go to work, finish making all the toys. Maddie said "Santa can't work tommorrow. It's church day and we don't work on church day. He has to go to church just like me." What to say to that??? I told her she was right Santa will go to church tommorrow just like her but he goes to church in the north pole.

Hunter's Nativity Pictures

This afternoon I've been working on putting together a Nativity Scene for me to use during my Nursery Class this week. Hunter decided to draw his own. Josheph and Mary around Baby Jesus in a stable.
This is Mary and Josheph around Baby Jesus. I thought he had also drawn sheep (copying my pict. but he says they are the stable doors. The doors have to be shut to keep baby Jesus and all the animals nice and warm.

Sleeping through the night

Emily is 14mo. old and still does not sleep through the night. For a few weeks now I have been able to pat her back for a few minutes and she'll go back to sleep. Between 11pm and 5am this occurs about 3 times. This morning I rolled over and realized it was 6am and I hadn't gotten up once and neither had Kory. As Kory was getting ready for work I asked him to go check on her just to make sure she was still breathing. Kory came back chuckling. He told me I needed to go look at the girls. This is what he had discovered. Maybe she did wake up but this would be why I didn't hear her during the night.

Gingerbread Houses

For Family Home Evening last night we invited some friends over to make gingerbread houses with us. The girls waited so patiently as the 2 daddy's became the architect's. Once the houses were ready to decorate the kids took over.

Besides the houses we also had gingerbread men.
After about an hour of decorating these are the finished products.

Last year was our first year decorating little houses. The kids have been asking to do it again for a few days now. I think decorating gingerbread houses has now become one of our family traditions.

Snow

Yes, it does snow in Prescott Valley, Arizona. It doesn't happen too often and when it does we're lucky if it sticks for more then 12 hours. The kids however look forward to it every year. I told the kids it might snow last weekend but it didn't. Since then in every prayer Hunter gives he says something like this "and yesterday remember when mommy said it might snow but it didn't. Please help her make it snow today..." Hunter's prayer was answered saturday night.

Emily wasn't quite sure what to do with it. Once she got the hang of it she did like it.
After playing for little while with no coats/gloves the kids came inside for some homemade chicken noodle soup. YUM!
By sunday morning the snow was gone except for on the tree branches and peoples rooftops. Despite snowing on our way to church, during church and after church it just didn't stick. (Only 3 more Sundays of chuch being at 2:00 YEAH!!!) Supposedly we are expecting rain/snow through wed. the kids are hoping to be able to build a snow man. I don't think we'll be able to in our front yard but maybe we'll have to run up to the mountain and try there.