Teenage Troubles...will they ever go away??

Emma in the subway with Flat Stanley, boy did they have fun this week!

Emma after braces are put on :) it hasn't even been a week and she has broken a wire!

Emma with Flat Stanley before the braces!

Hey people out there...I will take a couple of minutes to write. Scott and I are having to deal with another speed bump in the parenting department of life. Why don't kids get it??? I always remember "getting it" when my parents were lecturing me as a 15 year old (ha,ha)!!! I don't know what to do to get through to my two lovely girls. One hates school and doesn't think that it is worth the effort to do any school work, she doesn't seem to care if she even graduates. She is a wonderful person otherwise and has great qualities, she is very caring about other people and is kind to her sister and brother as well as to her parents for that matter. I love to be with her she is fun and interesting and we have a great time together. She just doesn't like school and we can't seem to motivate her with anything! I thought she would get it by now? I am at a loss I am not sure what to do. The younger one on the other hand is getting obsessed with vampires and seems to becoming a little dark. We have a little worry that she is going Emo on us and she is only 11! I am not so sure I will make it through my girls teenage years. Any advise out there?

My Life!!

Hello my fans! I just wanted to touch bases with myself and the rest of you that follow the exciting adventures of my life!!

It has taken a month but I am finally over my flu and most of all the cough that came along with that. I am feeling great and healthy and feel so blessed to have a body that is able to give service to others especially I am able to take care of my family!! I have been on the other end of the spectrum and been in need of help in order to just take care of myself let alone my families needs, it feels so wonderful to be able to do for myself as well as others.

Emma got her braces on this week and she looks rather cute in them I think. I will have to down load a picture soon so you can all see. She has the camera today because she is taking Flat Stanley with her to school and then the mall today. Hannah sent Flat Stanley to her and so she has had fun doing things with him and taking pictures of all her adventures with him. He even got his own braces on! Emma is looking forward to summer and school getting over. I think it is a good thing she made it through 9th grade (that is a hard grade to get through, so many new changes in life). I am looking forward to her 10th grade year, so many great things to look forward to....turning 16 driving and dating!! Emma will be 15 in another week!!! She is growing into a wonderful young woman, I just love her!

Elle seems to be dealing with what 12 year old girls deal with (friend issues) just like I did at that age. It seems that girls that age just don't know how to be nice 24/7. But I have faith she will also get through this stage just like the rest of us girls did. Hopefully I am teaching her how to handle herself when she finds herself in a situation of meanness and can influence her friends to be kind. Elle is still working hard as a paper carrier and loves making money and now that winter is over and the weather is nice once again I haven't heard any complaints.

Both the girls are doing well with piano and seem to be getting better. They don't enjoy it much (do many kids their age enjoy it?) but they are starting to prepare for a piano recital. I talked the piano teacher into doing the recital the week that my parents will be here for Tanners graduation I am so happy they will get to attend the girls recital.

It is getting more real to me that Tanner will be graduating and moving on with his life. We put the down payment on his dorm room a couple of weeks ago. My baby really is going to move away from me!!!!!!!!!! I packed his last school lunch he needed to take on a school field trip yesterday (when he was in elementary and the first couple of years in high school I use to write him little notes on his napkins) I wrote him a note on a napkin and started to cry thinking it was going to be the last one I would be writing him. He got home from school and I asked him how he liked it and he said he didn't even know he had one because he threw his napkin away! All that crying and he just threw it away!! I thought is was so sad that it was funny!! I will have many more chances to write him little notes on napkins...one day he is just going to get napkin notes in the mail from his mom and he will think I am weird (not that he doesn't think that anyway) but I just realized that it is okay that he is growing up it is natural and something I have been teaching and training him to do his whole life. I still will have lots of chances to show him how much I love him and to do special things for him.

Well we are almost done with foster care licensing!! It has almost taken us a year to finish this process. Now I think Scott is having some reservations about it. I understand his feelings because I feel the same way. It is scary to think about taking kids into our home and having our whole life turned upside down because we are not sure what we are getting ourselves into. I just know that I have always had a desire to do this and so we will need to work through our fears and not be afraid to say no to a placement if it doesn't feel right to us. I am sure my blogs will start to deal with what our family is going through with foster care in the future.

Well I must go...I will post pictures soon!

My Dogs Stink!

Elle with Bandit in Utah.

Tanner loved monkeys as a child so I couldn't resist getting him one last monkey bag.

Emma's all time favorite snack...Cheez-It she can't get enough of them!

Caiden getting tired at the end of a long night.

Caiden was enjoying the girls counting all their money in the the buff. I think Emma has whopping $11 in change thanks to a few pennies from her rich younger sister!

Caiden loves to explore the kitchen...who can blame him?

Heather and Kelly enjoyed FHE.

Scott had to stop himself from falling over onto Caiden.

We all felt our muscles in our legs stretch as we did Tanners object lesson on choosing right from wrong.

Tanner didn't stretch very far.

Emma did a great job of being on both sides of right and wrong...

How do you like the title of the blog? I am not actually going to write anything about my dogs because the title says it all! I do wish they would stop playing by me and trying to bite each other because when they do that their breath becomes unbearably stinky and they are like two little kids that won't stop horse playing.

Well life is going great and I am starting to get excited for this summer. I think more because of the change of weather and being able to go outside with out suffering from a major case of frost bite then because of any great family trip we have planned because we don't. This is the summer of saving money...between getting both girls into braces with is costing thousands of dollars up front and sending Tanner to a far away tropical place in the fall we are buckling down and saving. I guess it is a good thing that Tanner is graduating and that means that family will be coming to us this summer instead of feeling the pressure to go to them.

We had our FHE last night and as usually we had a great time. I have included some pictures from our adventures hope you enjoy them....talk to you all later have a great week!

Spring Break!

Grandpa with sweet Ava. This is one cousin we don't know very well :(

Grandma was bossing someone around, probably Grandpa!

Me and my little sissy! I hope Kate never got sick!!

Elle's beautiful tips turned blond after she told her Grandpa they would be purple!

Our favorite little person was Talon! He just loved Emma!

Waiting at the airport was a great place to do some people watching!

Well hello everyone! I am finally feeling better and inspired to write a little bit in my blog. The girls and I were off to Utah for spring break. Tanner felt like he had better things to do then spend another week in Utah with all those little cousins jumping all over him. I understand and frankly am surprised it took him this long to say no to another Utah trip. So it was the girls and I that got up at 4:30 am so we could make the shuttle to the airport in time to get on a plane as standby passengers! This is the first time we have flown that way which was interesting. I am so grateful that my cousin was able to give us a few buddy passes to allow us to fly so much more cheaply but as it is cheap to fly that way it is also a gamble if you will actually get on the flight you want let alone any flight at all! I wasn't feeling the best that morning and not sure if it was just stress or if I was actually sick I took a chance and the girls and I ended up not getting on the flight we were booked on. We ended up waiting until a 1:00 pm flight and barely got on that one we took the last available seat! After spending 7 hours at the airport we finally were taking off! We got into Utah later in the afternoon and soon found ourselves in Grandma's brand new beautiful home in Granstville. It seemed very strange to us not to drive up to Oakley. I still felt pretty yucky but I was pressing forward trying to do my best. The next day I was able to visit with Katie and see the baby (cute as can be) all day. But by the end of that day I was feeling worse. The next day I did the girls hair Elle was very happy to finally get her tips done. I took a trip into SLC with my Mom and Dad to get some things at the distribution center and Deseret Book but by the end of the night I was not feeling well at all. I wasn't able to hold off the flu any longer and my body and mind finally succumbed. I was flat out sick and miserable for the next four days I stayed in my jammies and either laid in bed or on the couch with my mom and dad taking care of me. I didn't even get to see Allison (soooo sad ) and that cute little pooch of hers. I guess if I look at the bright side of things I was with those that love me and took very good care of me. Whenever I am here and am sick all I do is whine and cry that I want my dad well this time I got my wish!! It was a bummer that I was sick and it wasn't the best break for the girls but at least I was sick at mom and dads!

Well it looks like Tanner has decided upon BYU Hawaii!! I am going to have to start saving my money to go to Hawaii for Christmas next year! He was a little disappointed that he didn't get into George Washington or George Town but I think he is excited to see more of the world and have an experience like no other. He will be done with school in 2 months and I just can't believe it! Where has all the time gone? Emma will be 15 in another month and I can't believe she is so grown up and responsible! I have even seen a difference in her attitude about school lately she is just growing into a beautiful young lady inside and out. Elle on the other hand is just as bubbly and crazy as ever and keeps me on my toes! She is always laughing at something usually at other people's pain! If only she would put as much energy into cleaning her room as she does talking to her friends on line!

While I was in Utah my mom found out that she had a stroke a couple of years ago (it is a long story)and so the dr. ordered some tests...she has since been told that she is very fortunate that she has not had a more major stroke at an earlier age because she has a hole in her heart that has been their since birth. She is going into the hospital tomorrow to have a procedure to close the hole in her heart and hopefully she will be fine after this. You never know when it is your time to go and I feel very blessed to have had the chance to see my mom last week and give her a hug and tell her I love her in person. I think we take our lives and just living for granted and it shouldn't take a medical emergency to realize how fragile life is but most the time this is what it takes to bring us to a realization that we are only here for a short time and we should make the most out of every single day by giving the ones we love the best of ourselves and not letting the small stuff get in the way of living and loving unconditionally. I love both my mom and dad so much and feel very blessed to have had them for parents.

Well I am going to go finish some of my deep cleaning....it feels so good to de-clutter and throw things out after all they are just things! So Scott don't worry if you can't find that lamp that has been in storage for 3 years someone else is getting good use of it!