Monte's One Year Old!!

Warning: This post may make you severely nauseous...

Today was Monte's 1st Birthday and we just had to celebrate.

I made him a party hat. Doesn't he look excited to be wearing it?! Actually, this look is his "These people are SO weird" look.

I also made Monte some tasty tuna treats for his special day. They actually didn't go over very well. What cat doesn't like Tuna? Then again, Monte isn't a normal cat...he likes being in water.

The kids got Monte a few new toys too. This one, a bird on a string, seems to be the favorite.
As you can see, Monte really is part of the family. The kids call me his mom and Ben even calls him his brother. We love our little kitty cat!

Here We Go Again

Dance has officially gotten underway and this family is so excited!! Their teacher made sure that Emma and Eva were put with the same group of girls as previous years which we are so thankful for. They have made some great friendships over the years. This year is a little tricky. Emma and Eva's classes are back to back which makes for four straight hours of dance which makes for one long day. Eva is new to ballet this year and is loving every minute of it.

I am so happy to have girls that love to dance. Dance was not something that I was interested in as a girl and looking back I wish I would have been a little more receptive to it. My only memory of dance class was my mom pushing me into a ballet class and quickly closing the door behind me. I had been crying to my mom, begging and pleading for her to take me home but she "paid for the class so I was going". A girl in my class asked me if I had the chicken pox because my face was all blotchy from crying. Like my mom, I decided I would try to put my girls in dance and fortunately they love it and they now have 10 years of dancing experience between the two of them. (Mom, thanks for trying - your efforts finally paid off!)

Our newest dancing princess...

Ella has been waiting her whole life to be able to dance like her big sisters and finally her time had come. We were counting down the days and I was so excited to be able to see her do her thing. I was especially excited because this would be the first year that I could actually watch one of my girls because I don't have any babies distracting the dancers. All through the lesson Ella kept looking back at me, almost like she was bothered that I was there. And sure enough on the drive home Ella said to me, "Mom, next time you can wait for me outside, OK?" So that is what I have been doing, waiting outside because that is what she wants, although my heart follows her in. I guess I really don't care if I have to wait outside. The only thing that matters to me is that she loves it. Every day Ella asks me how many more days until tap. She is definately in her element.

What An Imagination!

A few months ago Ella started talking about a new girl that she met in baby church (nursery). Her name is Kylee and they always seem to have fun together. She would tell me so many cute things about Kylee and her little brother, Breck. I also heard about Kylee's dog and cat, and that Kylee's room is all purple because that is Kylee's favorite color. I thought I would find out who this Kylee girl is so they could play together during the week. Well, it turns out that there is no Kylee in Ella's baby church and that in fact Kylee is Ella's imaginary friend. Since then she has introduced me to Abby, Kaisha, Froney, Tahlie...I can't remember the names of all the new friends she has. And the things she thinks up about them are hilarious, like how Abby and some of the others live in Tennessee next door to the "dirt man". Every conversation we have involves these friends and I have loved it...until recently. Today Ella really wanted to go play with her imaginary friend, Kaypree. I tried to explain to Ella that I didn't know where Kaypree lived so she couldn't go over there. Of course, Ella responded by telling me that she knows right where Kaypree lives and she would show me. I was at a loss for words. What do you say to that? I thought that this idea would fade but it didn't. Ella kept on insisting that she play at Kaypree's house. So, I decided I would humor her and play along. We got in the car and I let Ella tell me where Kaypree's house is. We came to Kaypree's supposed house and she was totally ready to get out of the car and go up to the door. I had to tell her that I didn't think this was really Kaypree's house and I drove a sad, defeated Ella home. I never thought it would get to this point. What do I do now? Do I keep playing along or am I making things worse? Ella and all of her imaginary friends are so cute and always welcome in our home, that is until she almost walks into a strangers house ready to play with Kaypree.

My Fast Race Car

Ben started soccer once again a few weeks ago and is loving it.

His team name is the Race Cars and they are as fast as Lightning McQueen!

Leave those other teams in the dust, Ben.

Goooooo Race Cars!!!!!

A Roller Coaster Of Emotions

For the past few years I have had a reoccurring dream where I am on a roller coaster that goes out of control and I fall out of my seat thinking that I am plummeting to my death only to be scooped up by the seat on the way down as it continues its course. More on that dream in a minute.

These past few weeks have been quite a roller coaster of emotions for me.

First: We put our dream home up for sale. Lee's job hasn't been going well lately so we thought that we should try to find something a little more affordable to help ease his burden. It has actually been a blessing. It has helped us realize that a dream home doesn't have to be big and fancy and expensive. Any home where we, as a family, can be together and thrive is our new definition of a dream home. The only thing is that people in this area are not really looking for homes like ours right now so it may take a few months...or years... to sell it. During that time Lee's job may pick up and we would be OK financially to stay put. This plays a little with our emotions. Are we staying or are we going? It is a weird position to be in. We are just continually praying that whatever the outcome, it will be in accordance to Heavenly Father's will.

Second: Shortly after we put our house up for sale Ben got his mysterious illness which I won't get into. (Refer to past posts if you do not know what I am talking about.) But during this time I was on my knees more than ever praying to Heavenly Father to help Ben get better and also for the strength for him (and me) to endure it. It was the worst (and longest) week and a half of our lives. But thankfully, we were able to endure it and Ben recovered. Now he is as happy and cute as ever.

Third: Shortly after that, and ever since, I had been convinced that I was pregnant. Not because we planned for it to happen. It was just one time that...well you know what I mean. I didn't tell anyone but Lee, but I just knew that Heavenly Father would take any chance He could get to send one more spirit down. The next day I started seriously stressing. How can we make this work? I gave away everything! I thought I was done. It would be starting all over. I had just finished the "baby chapter" in our little life's book. Well to make matters worse, Ella totally out of the blue asked if "there was just four of us" meaning kids. I said yes. Then she asked me if I had a baby in my tummy. Then a few days later she said, "Mom, can you do this- Hee Hee Hee, Hoo Hoo Hoo?" She was breathing as if she were in a Lamaze class. Why in the world would she say things like this to me? So I decided I would pray once again for Heavenly Father's will to be done. If He thought I could handle it than I would make it work. I began preparing like I was pregnant and tried to make the most of it. I started thinking of who I could call for their old baby clothes. I even started thinking of names for the baby. Well, as of today, I am not pregnant. And I have to say that I am a little sad. Why am I sad when I didn't want this to happen in the first place? So what do I do now? I have no idea!

Never before has this reoccurring dream of mine been so close to reality. This roller coaster we call life sometimes gets so crazy it throws us for a loop. We may fall so far that we don't see how we can make it work out. But then our loving Heavenly Father is always there to scoop us back up. The biggest thing that I have learned from our most recent set of trials is that if we can submit ourselves to the will of the Father we will never truly fall off our roller coaster. How lucky are we to have a Father who knows all, who knows what's best for us? If He thinks I need to go through certain things to learn and grow in order to secure my salvation, then I choose to go through them. Are we not all just lumps of coal who need to endure Heavenly Father's refiners fire in order to become His "diamonds"?

SpongeBen Squarepants

This morning as I was making Ella a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, Ben asked where jelly comes from. As I explained it to him he had a confused expression on his face and then replied, "I thought it came from the jellyfish in the sea."

I think he has been watching a little too much Spongebob!

Christian the Lion

I saw this video on another blog and fell in love with it. I just had to put it on mine. If you are like me you will need some tissue...

Serious Withdrawals

I am having total Olympics withdrawals. I cannot stand turning on the TV and not hearing the voice of Bob Costas. I haven't even watched much TV at all since the Olympics because it seems so boring now, so pointless. I need them back!!

Like most of the world, whenever I think of the 2008 Beijing Olympics, I will immediately think of this man, Michael Phelps. He truly is a man born to swim. And I loved every minute of when he was in the water. I think I will miss him and his amazing performances the most.

These two gals, Misty May Treanor and Kerri Walsh also blew my mind. My eyes were glued to the TV whenever they were on and it wasn't only because they looked so hot in their bathing suits. Cute little fact: I remember Kerri Walsh's husband, Casey Jennings, from my days in the HB singles ward.

There was so much more about the Olympics that I loved, like the girls gymnastics and just about every other sport. And of course who can forget the opening ceremonies? If anybody out there ever figures out a way to rewind time please let me know because I really need my Olympics back.

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One other thing that I am having serious withdrawals over is SUMMER. The first thing that I think about when I think of this summer is Cherry Hill.

Cherry Hill is the local water park that we get season passes to every summer. It is our saving grace, our home away from home.
My kids think that we go there just for them but little do they know, I have an even bigger love affair with the sun than they do.
Cherry Hill is now closed for the season until next summer. And with the kids going back to school I just don't know what to do with my time. I haven't been able to get into the swing of normal life yet. Gone are the days of Cherry Hill during the day and the Beijing Olympics ALL night. I am just not ready to let it go. Where's that rewind button when I need it?

My Question Of The Day

Why is it that people only "drop in" when my house is a wreck?

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I try to keep my house clean so that when people (friends, family, total strangers who want to walk through my house just because they saw it and think it's cute who, by the way, deserve their own blog entry in and of themselves) do stop by I am not embarrassed. But then nobody does... until it gets messy. How does that happen over and over again?

Peek-A-Boo

Ella has only been going to pre-school for a week and she already knows how to read? Miss Bridgette must be a great teacher!

Ella is so proud of herself that she can "read". Good job, Gal!

P.S. - Ben is doing great!! He may even be able to make it to his first "real" day of Kindergarten tomorrow. His little baby cousin, Sadie, came down with Staph Scalded Skin when they stayed with us a while back. I have no idea if he got Staph from her although I really doubt it because he was never around her. We still do not even know if it was Staph at all. We may never know what it was that Ben came down with. I am just SO glad that he is almost better. I remember a time a few months back when Ben was saying his nightly prayers with Lee. This is how it went.

"Dear Heavenly Father. Thank you for making us. In the name of Jesus Christ, Amen."

I am so glad that Heavenly Father made us too, Ben. I don't know what I would do without my little guy and my three beautiful girls, and of course my amazing husband. No matter what we may have to go through in this life, as long as we have each other, we can get through anything!