December Dance Recital

Mia's Dance Recital was on December 11th. We had a lot of fun with her hair-do this time. She was supposed to wear it in a high bun, so we decided to check out all the "hair blogs" out there and wanted to try this cute one out. It turned out really fun, in spite of her being in terrible pain from all the bobby pins. :)

One of Mia's favorite things about dance recital day is that she gets to wear make-up! She's such a pretty little dancer.

Big cheeser!

A pose for or two for the camera from the little Sugarplum fairy...

And THIS is how Emme felt about the dance recital.

A quick pic of the finale' number.

Mia with her Daddy, who gave her flowers after the performance.

Great dancing, tiny dancer! We love you!

Keeler Rocks

Well after an eventful night full of pain, I finally begged my wife to take me in to the ER. Kidney stone #4 (or 5? maybe) has gone from the kidney to the bladder. Plus they gave me pain medication after the 3rd hour. Usually it is done right away. So basically 3 hours of straight labor pain. NO BREAKS! Only I get nothing out of it.

Now we just wait to see if the new stone will pass out of me or I will pass out with it. Now I have surpassed every woman with 3 or 4 kids. OUCH! Wow talk about a whiner.

I am...and so I post.

I am mentally, physically and emotionally exhausted. Spent. Ready for Christmas break. SO ready. My exhaustion is coming from all directions. Kids (5 of them to be exact), work, Christmas, out-of-control messy house, laundry, etc. You name it, it's draining me. So much that I can't sleep. And so I post.

Can I tell you how much I love these kids? Every single one of them. They are all so very different, yet they each have qualities that endear me to them. One of them asked me this week if I had to make a choice and could only keep one of them, who I would keep? Can you imagine? I could never choose. EVER. I thought about it for a long time.

Some people give us a hard time about having so many kids. "With the economy, how will you support them all?"

So you tell me, who should I have left out? YOU pick one.

Is it a lot of work to have these crazies? Absolutely.
Are there some days that I think "What was I THINKING?" For sure.
Do I ever dream about days filled with doing things JUST for me? I'd be lying if I said no.
BUT, would I trade these guys for anything? Not on your life.
Each one of them makes up such a crucial part of my life. I am sure that my Heavenly Father sent each and every one of them to me for a specific reason. If I ever lose one, there will be a hole in my heart that nothing can ever fill in. NOTHING. My very favorite parts of my day involve them. And one day, all too soon, they will be gone.
For that...I can wait.

The best decision of my life!

14 years ago today I made the absolute best decision of my life. (Well, I actually made the decision WAY before that, but you know...) This video tribute is for the love of my life. Thanks for taking such great care of me, babe. I love you. XOXO

Emme - 6 months

Miss Emmeline has been with us for a whole half of a year! I'm so sad that she is growing up so fast...

Our little Cabbage Patch Doll just gets cuter (and rounder) by the day.

She pulls some of the best faces.

And has the best body. EVER.

And you know what else? Her dad doesn't like her one bit. In fact, nobody in this house does. She's very neglected, as you can clearly see.

And this is her 99.9% of the time. She is the happiest baby ever! She is SO nice even though she is always getting carted around from place to place. With all the taxi-ing I do, she spends a great deal of her days in the car, but she doesn't seem to mind.
Here are her stats and our favorite things about her right now:

Weight: 19 lbs. 7 oz.
Height: 28 inches

*starting to sit up (with support)
*loves to gurgle, babble and "visit" with others
*is a MAJOR cat-napper during the day but sleeps through the night
*loves attention
*holds and plays with toys, but is reluctant to hold her own bottle
*shows no interest in rolling over (yet!)
*is trying REALLY hard to grow some hair :)
*is much happier WITHOUT a headband, hat or socks on
*loves to grab her toes while lying on her back

We love you, little blondie!

My "Night-Life"

Things get crazy around this house around 4:00 in the afternoon after all the kids get home from school, kids are going all different directions, and I'm trying to get dinner on the table. Here is the kind of "Night-Life" I live:

4:00 Take Dallin to Musical Theatre and Mia to dance class

4:10 Help Jax and Noah with homework while holding the babe and listening to Jaxon struggle with focusing. He wants to tell me all about Austin Collie and the Colts and is much more interested in knowing why Michael Vick spent time in prison than completing his two pages of homework.

"Mom?"
"What?"
"What does 'sacked' mean?"
"Focus, Jaxon."
"OK, but what does 'sacked' mean?"
"It means somebody missed their block and the quarterback was tackled before he passed or ran the ball."
"Oh. So it just means tackled?"
"Basically. Now focus."
"So it's not a bad word?"
"No."
"Cool."

Whatever. EESH. Boys. Boys ask TONS of questions that I never know how to answer.

Hold Noah on my lap at the computer and help him with his spelling. He smells like the dog. Ewwwww. Bath for him tonight.

4:45 Homework completed. Check and answer e-mail for work.

5:00 Pick Mia up from dance class

5:10 Watch Jax and Kirt throwing and kicking the football. Jaxon's interest in football has really peaked since he played flag football this year. Today he informed me that Austin Collie played for "The BYU" and Michael Vick played for "The Virginia Tech". Is that true? I don't even know. Smile. Love his enthusiasm.

5:30 I ask everyone to help me with a 10-minute pick up. Moans. Groans. OK. They agree to help. We can do a lot in 10 minutes.

"Why do we always do this when Dallin's gone?"
"We don't."
"Yes we do! He never has to clean up!"
"Really? Hmmm. Bummer."

Not dealing with the whining. Hate it.

5:45 Warm dinner up. Ask Noah to set the table.

"It's Dallin's dish night!"
"I know, but Dallin's not here."
"But it's HIS turn!"
"OK, do you want to wait until he gets home to eat dinner?"
"No. What are we having for dinner anyway?" I HATE THAT QUESTION.
"Mashed potatoes with beef tip gravy, peas, and yogurt."
Hold my breath.
"YAY! Mashed potatoes!"
WHEW.
Noah sets the table with no more complaints.

5:55 Feed Emme cereal and pears. She loves it. I love her. Mia spills a glass of water at the bar.

"Don't worry Mom! I'm cleaning it up!"

She really is mommy's little helper.

6:00 Dinner. This is one of my favorite parts of the day! We always try to eat together as a family and I try not to scold anyone at the dinner table. I want them to feel positive about eating dinner together. At the end of dinner, I give instructions for the rest of the night.

"As soon as you're finished eating, put your plate in the sink and Mia and Noah I want you in the tub. You need to wash your hair. Jaxon, you're practicing piano, and Dallin you're doing dishes. Got it?"

"Got it."

"Jax, how long since you showered?"
"I don't know."
"That's bad. You should be showering every day."
"OK."
"Do you have deoderant? You should be wearing that every day too."
"Yeah, but I forget to use it."
"How about if you brush your teeth and then put it on every morning? Can you remember to do that?"
"I'll try."
"Thanks, bud."

Kirt tells him that he's a stinky 4th grade boy and that one stinky 4th grade boy might not stink that bad, but a whole room of them after recess is REALLY stinky. Hopefully that helps.

Good.

6:30 Noah, Mia and Emme in the tub. My knees ache. My back hurts. Kirt takes over. I am SO grateful.

6:45 Emme out of tub. Dry her, lotion her, get her in jammies. Lay her in the bouncer and fold laundry. Phone rings. It's an MK customer I haven't talked to in forever. I take her order and chat with her for a few minutes.

7:00 Come back upstairs. Kirt asks if I want to wash the kids' hair. I tell him no, but that I want HIM to wash it. Thank you, honey. I love you.

"Mom?"
"What?"
"How long are you going to nurse Emme?"
"I don't know. Maybe until she's one."
"Wow. That's a long time."
"Yeah. It is. That's what the doctors say is best for them though."
"Lucky."
"Why?"
"You don't have to fast."
"Oh. Yeah. You're right."

In the background, I hear Jaxon ask Kirt:

"Dad, what's puberty?" (HA!)
"A change that your body goes through when you get older."

WHY is he so good at that? I'm glad he is. :)

7:30 Family scripture study while I'm sitting on the floor rolling Mia's hair in sponge curlers. Jaxon holds Emme and nobody pays attention. Par for the course.

7:45 Family prayers

7:50 Jaxon and Dallin read. Mia and Noah to bed. I nurse the baby and put her to bed.

8:15 Dallin comes into my room.

"Hey bud, what's up?"
"I have something in my ear."
"Oh, what is it?"
"I don't know."

I look. Wax. Lots of it. Ewwwww.

"Get a q-tip and clean your ears out."
"OK."

It takes him about 40 q-tips to get his ears clean. (OK, I'm exaggerating, but it was gross.)

"Dallin, are you wearing deoderant every day?"
"Well, I was, but then the twisty, turny thingy broke."
"So what have you been using?"
"Irish Spring."
"I mean after you shower."
"Irish Spring."

Awesome. Really?

"DALLIN. There's a TON of deodorant in the drawer in my bathroom. Take one down to your room. If you ran out of toilet paper, would you use a towel?"
"No! Sick!"
"What would you do?"
"Go to the storage room and get more."
"OK, well soap and deodorant have different jobs, just like towels and toilet paper do. So, you need to have the right tool for the job, RIGHT?"
"Yeah. "
"Cool. Love you. G'night."

8:45 Peace and quiet. Ahhh. Oh, how I love them. I'm so thankful for the opportunity to have these little spirits in my home. They bring so much joy, laughter, fun and excitement. You know what I love the very most? Looking in on them after they are asleep. :) I do it every night and it's my favorite part of the day. I can love and kiss them and they don't even fight me. At least for now...

Are you tired from reading this? WHEW. I'm pooped.

Mia Mentality

As we were driving in the car the other day, Mia and I had this conversation.

Mia: Mom?

Me: Yeah?

Mia: What is that place for? (pointing to the cemetery)

Me: After someone dies and their spirit goes to live with Heavenly Father, we bury their body in the ground to rest until Jesus comes back and we are resurrected.

Mia: Oh. (Long pause.) Why didn't we bury Luke and Duke there?

Me: Well, the cemetery is really just for people. Not pets. That's why we buried Luke and Duke in our backyard.

Mia: Oh. (Long pause again.) I kinda wish I was a dog.

Me: What? Why?

Mia: Cuz' I'd rather be buried by Luke and Duke than by a bunch of people I don't know.

LOL!!! Love her.

One more spooktacular pic!

My brother Jake, his wife Crystal, and their kids, Harlie and Schaeffer came up to visit for Halloween. Here's a pic of all the kids at Grandma Smith's house just before trick-or-treating. (Notice that Dallin is missing because he chose to go play Rock Band at the new YM President's house instead of trick-or-treating. *sniff* Proof that he's growing up!)

Spooky Dinner and more Halloween fun...

I just have to start with a face like this! Ah, she's SO photogenic! Can I tell you how much I love her? Nope. There are no words.

This was my attempt at a "Spooky Dinner". We had mummy dogs, bones with blood sauce (breadsticks with marinara sauce), witch fingers (fresh, raw green beans), goblin hearts (ravioli) and vampire bites (apple wedges with almond slivers for teeth). The kids were impressed with how everything looked, but eating it all was another story. Of course. (And obviously Noah wanted to be in this picture.)

Kids showing off their vampire bites.

Doesn't Mia look thrilled? She was grossed out. She said, "Do I have to eat these things?" Such the girl. She was OK once I told her what everything "really" was. :)

Those are some pretty spooky faces! Wouldn't you say?

Here are pictures from the Halloween parade and choir performance at the school on Friday:

Mr. Keeler! No costume this year??? Many kids (and parents!) were disappointed...

Noah and his "creepy" teacher! (His words, not mine.) What a great sport, Mrs. Bennett! One of the girls in Noah's class actually started crying when she saw her teacher! She was pretty scary.

Such a good looking Sith!

Jaxon sang in the choir. He did such a "spoo-rific" job!

Happy Halloween, everyone! And now, "Bring on the PIE!" (Right, KIM? ;))

Halloween Dress up!

I failed to get a picture of all the little goblins together this year, so here they are individually:

The pretty kitty

The cutest cowgirl

The knight in shining armor

The Jedi and The Sith
(Can you tell which is which?)

Worst enemies (Too TRUE! Haha.)

CAMERA: FOUND!!!

Just thought you should know. Pics coming soon. :) WAHOO!

Looking back...

I'm not really a sentimental person, but sometimes while I'm looking back through old pictures of my kids (when they were REALLY young) I can't help but fall in love with them all over again.

In honor of Halloween I found these old pics that I just couldn't resist posting. They were taken in 2006, back before I was a part of the blogging world. :)

Noah, age 2 1/2

Mia, 17 months

I guess I was so focused on these little ones this year that I didn't even take any of Dallin and Jaxon. Well, at least I couldn't find any in the file. Is that possible? (Grandma and Grandpa Keeler were on their mission, so I couldn't steal pics from them!) Hmmm...I win "Mother of the Year Award" once again. Hey. After you've birthed 4 kids in 7 years, we'll chat.

The truth, the WHOLE truth, and nothing but the truth!

OK, I confess. I've been avoiding it for over a month now, but I've looked everywhere. My camera grew legs and RAN away! I'm sure of it. There's no other logical explanation. I'm very sad, but at least there weren't really any pictures on it. So for the last couple posts and this one too, my pics have come from the phone on my camera. Poor quality, but better than nothing! I WILL find the camera this weekend. *sigh* It has to be in one of these piles...

This little cutie is growing like a weed! OK, more like a flower. :)

You KNOW you wish YOU had cheeks like these.

Mmmmm...

Miss mush face. She had rice cereal for the first time today and LOVED it! What? She needed a little more food...can't you tell she's starving to death? ;)

Her new thing is to suck that bottom lip in to make that cute face. Love her to pieces! She's really slobbery but still no signs of teeth. Oh yeah, and did I mention she sleeps through the night? Yeah. I love her.

Ruby Red Grapefruit

Meet the newest member of the family:

RUBY
She answers to many names. Just plain Ruby, Ruby Red,
Ruby Tuesday, Ruby River, Ruby Roo... We have lots of nicknames for her. She is very sweet and cuddly and loves the kids to hold her.

She is also trouble. Pure and simple. It's a good thing she's cute. It makes up for the trouble. She loves socks. As if I didn't already have a problem keeping them matched! I hate socks! Now I hate them even more because she drags them off to her favorite spots and chews them up. What was I thinking? Really?

Mia just hasn't been the same since Duke died. She was crying herself to sleep at night, moping around, breaking down every time she saw another dog (especially a pug). SO, I caved. The things I do for my kids! I knew I couldn't get a pug, because the wound was still too fresh. So I got the next best thing: a puggle. She's a mix between a pug and a beagle and she is CUUUUUTE.

Just to see you smile....I'd do anything....that you wanted me to....
and now she is happy. AND she has a playmate, so I get A LOT more done after she gets home from school!

4 months young

Sweet Emmeline just turned 4 months young! Here are a few things we love about her:

*She weighed in at a hefty 15 1/2 lbs. :)
*She is 24 1/2 inches long.
*She was a trooper when she had her shots. She only cried for a minute!
*She inherited the "sweaty" gene. She has the sweatiest little hands and feet.
*She is the HAPPIEST baby. EVER.
*She loves men. Especially her daddy. She giggles for him and him only.
*She loves to be sitting up and facing out. She doesn't want to miss any of the action! She has started sitting up in the Bumbo and absolutely loves it.
*She is most definitely a "binky baby".
*She does NOT like to have a wet diaper. (Who does?)
*She is the love of our lives and has every single one of us wrapped around her little finger!

WE LOVE YOU, LITTLE EMME!
(Pics below were taken on her blessing day: July 4, 2010.)

Random thoughts

So, I STINK at keeping my blogging committment. *sigh* My intentions really are good...but you know the road to $#@% is paved with those, right? Yeah, I know. So for now, I have random, constant thoughts running through my head. That's what you're going to get tonight. My random thoughts. Then, I'm going to sleep. So enjoy.

• I can't believe I was pulled over as a suspected DUI while driving to SLC this weekend. With the whole fam in tow. Yes. A blog post is coming with details included. SHEESH.
  
• My bed is full of laundry. Clean laundry. My house is being taken over by laundry. Dirty laundry. It's amazing that one little body can add so MUCH laundry. I hate laundry.
• I miss my dogs. Terribly. And so does Mia. She even cried herself to sleep two nights last week over it.
  
• A 17 year old kid got up in sacrament meeting today (we were in another ward visiting) and talked about the movie "The Last Exorcist". Great, huh? SERIOUSLY. Talk about the Spirit disappearing quick...
  
• I'm worried about Jaxon. His birthday is in August and he just started 4th grade. I'm wishing I had started him in school when he was six, not five. It's starting to catch up to him. I'm thinking about fighting to hold him back. (Opinions, anyone?)
• I love listening to BYU TV. The devotional talks help get me through my day.
• I love my new cell phone. It's a Samsung Reality with a touch screen. It's not top of the line, but it's perfect for me.
• I'm tired. No, I'm beyond tired. I'm exhausted. I seriously wonder if I can do this. Do what? My life. I'm having a really hard time balancing my jobs as wife, mom, teacher, taxi driver, RS teacher, organist, housekeeper, etc...
• I go to bed too late. I never go to bed before midnight. I know that contributes to my exhaustion. I need to go to bed at least an hour earlier.
• My house is a STINKING MESS. Period. If you come over, I may not let you in the door.
  
• September is a killer month for me as far as work is concerned. I have to talk to each student (I have 75) and create an Individualized Learning Plan for each of them. I also have to administer a reading test to all my K-2 students (I have 46). Because of this, I'm taking Emme and Mia to a sitter twice a week through the month of Sept.
  
• I have serious guilt about the previous rant even though my good friend Heather is my babysitter and she's fabulous.
• I really need to get in to the Dr. and have my carpal tunnel checked out, but there's no time for that until October.
• I'm worried that there might be typos in this post but I'm WAY too tired to worry about it, so I'm posting it and going to bed. G'night!
• P.S. I need to register and pre-pay for my 15 year class reunion. That makes me feel old!
  

With all those things on my mind, who has time to think about blogging?????

Giggles

Tuggin' at the heart strings...

*SIGH* Where do I begin? It has only been about 4 short months since our dog Luke died. Yesterday we came home from church, once again, to find our other dog, Duke had passed away. A "Old Dan and Little Ann" saga? Not this time. Duke was doing just fine without Luke around. In fact, I think he kinda liked all the attention.

Pugs are super special. Because of their little smashed faces, they have a really hard time cooling down in the heat. Therefore, Duke isn't allowed to be left outside in the afternoon in July and August. It's just plain too hot for him. We put him out in the morning for a couple hours and bring him in at lunch time until it cools back down. In a rush to get everyone ready for church and out the door, Duke was left outside.

*SIGH* What's worse? I had the thought come into my head to have someone let him in while I was doing Mia's hair, but simply thought, "I'll do it in a minute." How many times do I have to learn that lesson? And at such a high cost...especially for my kids. And my husband. Duke was Kirt's dog.

My poor, POOR kids. My sweet, tender-hearted hubby. They're heartbroken. I'm heartbroken. I'm sorry, my babies. I know sorry isn't enough this time, but I'm at a loss for words. I'm truly sorry.

Over the years I've ignored plenty of promptings. On purpose? Never. Why do I do that? "I'll do it in a minute." NO! Do it RIGHT NOW!! What am I supposed to learn from this lesson? I'm not sure yet. Was it to follow promptings right away? Maybe. I'm not sure I'll ever know.

For those of you that know us well, you know that our dogs were members of our family. Kirt and I loved them as our own kids, and the kids loved them as siblings. We'll miss you Duke. We'll miss you a lot.

I guess there's one good thing about this...

they're together again.