She's Baaaaaaaaaaack

Those of you who have been reading my blog for a while may remember Ella's imaginary friends Kylee and Kaypree and the many others that frequented our home. Click here if you have no idea what I am talking about. Well, shortly after I posted all about them they seemed to disappear. Maybe they moved to Tennessee to be near Abby. All I know is that Ella just stopped talking about them one day. Well, guess what?! They're back! Actually let me clarify. Kaisha (pronounced K-eye-shuh) is back. Kaisha is Kylee and Kaypree's friend who didn't get much attention before but Ella is REALLY making up for that now. Every other sentence has Kaisha in it. Kaisha this. Kaisha that.

There are some good reasons why I love having Kaisha around. She is always available to play, her and Ella get along magically and she invites Ella to lots of really fun parties.

There are also some reasons why I do not enjoy having Kaisha around. Here are some examples of what I hear on a daily basis:

"Mom, see that car in front of us, going faster than us? That's Kaisha's moms car."

or

"Wow, Kaisha has that same umbrella only it's not just black. It's pink and sparkly."

or

"Well, Kaisha is allowed to ride her bike without her helmet."

or

"Kaisha is older than you, Ben. She's seven."

or

"Kaisha's mom lets her have fruit loops for dinner every night."

and on

and on

and on

and on...

Notice how Kaisha always seems to one up us with everything. And quite frankly, I am getting a little annoyed with Kaisha.

Back to reality: Is Ella too young to have an inferiority complex? How else do you describe her Kaisha-isms?

Or maybe it's just that Ella feels like she never gets to do what all of her older siblings get to do?

Whatever it is, I hope Kaisha moves to Tennessee real soon.

The Week Without TV, Computer & Video Games

I know that most of you have had many sleepless nights wondering how our TV turnoff week has been. (ha ha) Although it did not last the full 7 days I am happy to say it was a success.

I am so impressed with my children. I had an idea to keep a journal to write down all the negative feelings/issues that came up as a result of not watching TV, not going on the computer, and not playing video games. I thought that maybe this would help me address them properly.

Well, I did not write down one word. There never was an issue. My kids were so on board with this idea they were actually being examples to me. I never heard one complaint the whole 5 days we participated.

We played more together as a family which was great. We talked more too. And most importantly all of their Webkinz were still happy and thriving.

Some may think that we quit two days early. I see it as having five days of total success. The week went so well that when the weekend came I decided to let the kids decide if they wanted to continue the challenge for the last two days. They decided they wanted to watch TV, so I let them.

I think I had a slightly harder time than my kids. I learned that I am definitely a Blogger over a Facebooker. I did not miss FB but I really missed checking every one's blogs and posting on my own. My blog is truly my journal and to have that taken away was tough.

Even not being able to watch TV was tougher than I thought it was going to be for me. That is my way of winding down at the end of a long day. I will usually watch one show about four nights a week before bed and not being able to even do that was hard. I am so thankful for my DVR that so graciously recorded my shows for me to catch up on this week. What would I have done without it?

These are some things I learned/remembered this week:

Silence is peaceful.
TV controls me more than I thought.
I am a competitive game player even with my kids.
Spending quality time with my children is vitally important.
I LOVE to read.
Cutting out less important things makes time for more important things.
The term "Everything In Moderation" doesn't only apply to food.

With the success of this past week I have decided to implement this challenge more often, maybe every quarter? I encourage everyone to try it. The results may surprise you.

It's That Time Of Year Again...

Well folks, TV Turnoff Week starts in just a few hours. How do you feel about that? We usually participate about four out of the seven days...we meaning the kids. (I never took it upon myself to be included in this.) Honestly I think if it were just the TV we were foregoing for a week we would be OK. But taking out video games AND computer stuff as well as the TV has me a little worried.

Nevertheless, we have all committed to going one whole week without any of it.

This includes me too for the first time. I am excited. I want to show the kids there is more to life than their electronic delights.

I also want to show myself that I can do it. Now, for me this will mean no blogging, no Facebook, No Biggest Loser, and what will definately be the hardest part of the week...not being able to see Adam Lamberts performance on American Idol.

Hard, yes.

But not impossible.

Wish me luck. I will be keeping a journal so that come a week from now, I can blog all about it.

Trouser Debacle

Take a good look at this picture. Do you see a pattern?

That's right, holes in the same leg of every pair of pants. I am lucky if Ben has a pair of pants longer than a week before they get a hole in them. In fact I should just add a new pair of pants to my ongoing weekly grocery list. What to do. I could tell him to stop playing so hard. But isn't that pretty much the same thing as telling him to stop having fun? Does anyone out there feel my frustration?

Easter Oh Nine

Elder Holland's conference talk on the Atonement has been on my mind this Easter season. I am so thankful for his words and for him helping us get into the proper spirit for Easter.

There are some traditions that aren't quite as meaningful as remembering why we celebrate Easter, but they are fun nonetheless. I love to get new outfits for the kids. On Easter morning, after checking the loot the Easter Bunny left, I got them all dolled up for church and off we went, pausing for a quick photo opp on the way out.

One funny side note: It takes a while to curl three girls' heads of hair and I think Ben was getting a little bored. So to pass the time he decided to take on the alter ego, Underwear Man. He launched his underwear at us as we were trying to get ready.

After a great morning of remembering what the true meaning of Easter is all about, Lee had to finish up a few things at church so I decided to quickly take the kids over to the park for a few pictures...

As soon as Lee finished his bishopric duties we changed and were off to Grammies and Papa Rex's for their famous Easter egg hunt and feast. Every year the amount of eggs being hidden increases. I think this year we surpassed 300 eggs! Thank goodness Ryan and Cheryl and the kids were there to help find them all. And as always I took a million pictures. These are some of my faves...

Beau

Livia

Tess

Tess

Beau and Ben

This picture is definately telling a story. Ella is so happy with her finds that she is oblivious that Livia is being attacked by a wasp in the background. Thankfully no stings.

Tayli and Emma

I thought Ryan looked super macho holding this Easter basket. I just had to snap a photo.

We had such a nice time this Easter! We had great food, family and fun. What more could we have asked for?

New Look

For the past few months Emma and Eva have been begging me to give them a "New Look" in their room. They have been wanting something older looking, yet fun. They also have been wanting to share my old Queen size bed. I thought repainting and getting an inexpensive new comforter for my old bed would be a cheap way to give them a new look. This is their room "Before"...

And this is their room "After"...

Well it is not perfect. Painting polka dots was a lot harder than I thought, but the girls love it and so do I. I think I fulfilled their wish for an older, yet fun look. I love seeing their smiling faces when they enter their new room. The only bummer is that when we went to bring up the headboard and footboard the frame was missing, nowhere to be found. So for now they will have to sleep frameless. We also just need to add some pictures on the wall and the girls will have the santuary of their dreams.

Gen Con

It has a been a tradition in our home for quite some time for the kids to make a little tent/fort to watch General Conference in. I liken it to the days of King Benjamin when people gathered and pitched their tents to listen to the prophet.

In their little tent they work on all the activities I print off the Internet to keep them busy while they watch. After I am done printing all the activities I think to myself that this will for sure keep them busy for hours.
It usually lasts for about 10 minutes. (It takes me about twice that just to print everything off). What I wish I could say is that my kids sit quietly and listen to all sessions but that is just not the case. We usually end up listening to at least one session in the car while on a drive for a change of scenery. What helps your kiddies during General Conference? I would LOVE to know. And is there really such a thing as a family where young kids actually sit and reverently watch?

By the way, wasn't it great?! The best conference yet.

I say that every year.

One more thing, I have to also add that I am very proud of Emma. She watched more of Conference than the rest of the kids. When asked what she remembered most about Conference, she said that she heard the speakers talk mostly about Temples and Faith. I think that is what I would have said myself. Emma was a very good example to her younger siblings.

The Easter Bunny

For as long as I can remember Eva has never been one for eating meat. She'll have some occasional chicken nuggets or chicken when I make it but we're talking a few bites and then she moves on to the rice or veggies. When we have taco salad the only thing she puts in her bowl is lettuce and tomatoes. And lately her sandwich of choice has been lettuce in between two pieces of bread.

I am starting to wonder if Eva is the Easter Bunny in disguise...

Criminals & Heroes

This is Lee. I guess I'm a guest writer on Lara's blog.

I wanted to write about an incident we had today in our neighborhood.

A couple of bad guys led the good guys (local police) on a high speed chase that started a couple of cities away but ended up right in our own neighborhood! The elementary school Emma and Eva were at went into lock down. Many mom's were frantic because the first calls from the school didn't explain much. All anyone knew was that there were 2 men on the loose in the neighborhood and they were armed.

To make a very long story short, all turned out ok. BUT it only turned out ok because one of our neighbors is a real life hero. He happened to be on the scene as a police officer but thought he would simply be back up to the back up.

To make another long story short, he and another officer happened to find one of these dumb criminals lying under a car. They held him at gun point and got him on the ground to be cuffed, but as they were going to cuff him he jumped up and decided to fight. They threatened to shoot him but he didn't care. (He was high on something and CRAZY!)

Because these two officers are usually not in the field, they were dressed in suits and only had a handgun - no billy club, or taser, or any other weapon. As they fought with this very big and strong guy, who tried many times to get their guns, they took shots to the face and at one point they fell to the ground, right on our guys ribs.

To make another long story short, everything ended up well, with the bad guys behind bars, but it is humbling to know that our very own wonderful neighbor was right in the thick of it, placing his very life on the line, to protect and serve!

I (Lara) wanted Lee to write this because he heard about it first hand, nothing exaggerated.

Now I would like to add a little from a mother's perspective: Today something happened that I hope no one ever has to go through. Not knowing what is going on with your children and not being able to get to them is the scariest feeling I have ever felt. To see my children's sweet faces coming out of the school safe and sound was indescribable. I am so impressed with the way things were handled at the school. The teachers and faculty were amazing and words cannot describe the emotions I feel toward these officers that kept us all safe today.

I already have a special place in my heart for police officers. My brother is one and a very good one at that. Just like Lee said, they lay their lives on the line for our safety every day. Because of what happened today we've got some new heroes at this house and it is an honor to be able to call one of them our neighbor and friend.

हैप्पी अप्रैल फूल्स डे एवेर्य्बोद्य!!

हवे अ फूं डे!