Ukus. Coaching and ears . . .

The very name can cause incessant panic and wide spread itching to occur simultaneously. I was around it once. In Hawaii. When I was a teacher. One day a cute little girl came to class missing her beautiful thick black hair. Her mother had shaved her head- and all of her sister's head's. She then pierced their ears herself using a needle and a potato so that one would not mistake her for a boy. I called CPS on them several times for various reasons. They didn't do a thing until two years later. Sigh . . . I digress. That is not the real story.

It would not have been on my top 20 lists of fears. I hadn't conceived of it yet to add it to my list. Especially not for my four year old. The one who doesn't go to school. At all. Yet I was brushing her hair back one afternoon and I saw it. A bug. Almost the same color as her strawberry hair. I thought. That is strange. Then I brushed her hair back some more and though I had never actually seen a live specimen before. I knew instantly what it was. It makes my gorge rise a bit in my throat now just to relive the event. Lice. How in the @#** did my four year old girl get lice? Kai went to the school to have Cambria's head checked. Luckily her hair is more like brown cement than fluffy strands of silky hair. I put so much styling product in her hair to control the curl that whatever lice tried to make her head their home probably died on impact. You could hold onto her hair in a hurricane.

Long story short . . . one of the neighbors who frequents our house had lice but not the decency to tell us. As soon as I found out that Kiera had lice I was weak with shame thing of how to tell all the kids that she plays with that we had a problem and they should keep themselves alert. If only the same courtesy could have been afforded to me.

I do not wish lice on any of you. I think it should require a quarantine. I did 21 loads of laundry ( oh yeah and my dryer broke half way between those loads- luckily we have a handy man friend because this wasn't the time for broken dryers). Vacuumed twice a day for two weeks (including every bed and every couch.) We still have a few pillows and toys stuffed in black plastic trash bags. It was a nightmare. One that drained me emotionally and physically. I do not wish lice on any of you. Ever.

In other less disgusting News . . .
Coach Davis and Coach Davis are now in the business of soccer. Kai and I have the opportunity to coach our little girls' soccer team. It has been so much fun to renew my old romance with the sport. Soccer is in my soul. So far Malachi has the best ball handling skills out of the three of our children. It makes me sad as I realize I never taught my girls how to kick. The soccer field never saw such comedy before. We won our first game 4-1. It was so exciting! To keep it real though, we lost our next game 1-6. Only time will tell where our coaching journey will take us.

Kai really make the BEST cookies. I think that is why I am not a skinny mini anymore (okay so I was never a skinny mini- but I had a nice figure at one point:)). He could give old Betty and Aunt Nestle a run for their money. This really has nothing to do with anything else. I just like this picture because my kids really like to congregate together and it makes me really happy.

In our most exciting news . . . My mother would be ashamed, but

The girls got their ears pierced. Cambria had been asking for about 6 months. We tried it with Cambria once but it only resulted in 30 minutes of sitting in the "piercing" chair crying because although she really wanted her ears pierced, she didn't want it to hurt.

"If you want to get your ears pierced you may want to hug your mom and hold onto her while you do it because it does really hurt. But it won't hurt forever" Cambria Davis

Cambria cried and Kiera didn't. It is a point that both of them will make sure to tell you. When Cambria cried I knew I had to be strong for her. When Kiera didn't cry it made me want to cry because I knew it hurt and she was trying to be so tough. It did leave her speechless for about 5 minutes which for Kiera is highly unusual.

I wish I got Kiera's smile when she saw her earring in the mirror for the first time. It was a look of pure joy. She has a hard time smiling on demand.:)

They have been so excited about the new jewelry in their ears and can't wait until they can change them out the week of Christmas. So don't be surprised if when they see you they let you in on the good news. Be happy for them (mom:).

I tried it myself . . .

It is hard to take your family picture and be in it at the same time . . .
There are some more great ones . . .make sure you see them here.
I want to take your picture too!

Spread the Word!

Don't miss out this time and dress warmly. I think we are supposed to have a cold weekend. Thank you.

Get Driving Directions here.

Time Out For Women

I was supposed to attend with my mother, grandmother, aunt and cousin. As it turned out I went alone. That fact seemed to be rubbed in many times when people could not believe I wasn't saving the seat next to me. Not quite as much fun this way. I tried to call dozens of people. Most were already going, some never got back to me. It really should have been a shared experience. As my tone may hint, I was a little bummed to be without family or friends. The Friday night event was amazing though and I was glad that I had shown up anyway. We heard from Kenneth Cope, Hillary Weeks, Chieko Okazaki and Carolyn Rasmus.

Sister Okazaki was so funny. I had been privileged enough to meet her in Hawaii and though she would never remember me I felt a connection to her. She turned 82 on October 21 and this is how she started her talk.
"I have five boyfriends that I spend my time with now days. I wake up in the morning with Will Power and then I go and visit John. After awhile Charlie Horse come to call and he takes up a lot of my concentration. Then "Arthur Ritus" pays me a visit, but he doesn't like to stay in one place for very long so he takes me from joint to joint. By the time he leaves I am so glad to go to bed with Ben Gay."

- "Life is like a roll of toilet paper. the closer you get to the end the faster it goes. Make sure to live joyfully."

Two very important principles of the gospel are Free Agency and Love.

God will not override of agency even to bless us or he would cease to be God. Overriding agency was Satan's plan . Satan chose to walk away from God and become The Deceiver and the Adversary. This was his agency.

Establish a pattern of prayer and make your home a library of learning. Make sure that your children know that prayer is an ongoing conversation with the Lord.

Hillary Weeks was absolutely amazing. She is beautiful and absolutely hilarious. She commanded the crowd and if no one else was there, the conference would have been worth the price of admission. She sang some beautiful songs and shared such a sweet testimony all with the gift of humor.

She said:
-Prayers are always answered. Sometimes exactly as we predict, sometimes in ways we could never have expected and sometimes with a 'no.'"

-God knows us. He knows our names. He could walk in to this room and call any one of us by name. He cares enough to know us by name and her cares enough to know all the details of our lives.

Carolyn Rasmus is someone I had never heard of. She gave a beautiful talk about God's love and mercy for us. I took the most notes on her talk.

She said that when the old testament was being translated from Hebrew to English the scholars came across a word that had no translation in English because it was so complex with multiple meanings.So the translators invented a word to encompass the entirety of it's meaning: at - one, meaning to bring everything together: atone

She said the power of the atonement can make a difference in our lives. It can increase of faith and dispel our fears.

There was really so much more, but alas . . . you really had to be there to appreciate it all. If TOFW comes to a town near you grab your loved ones and go. It is worth every penny.

Just when you thought it was safe . . .

you have to look at one last Halloween post!
Kiera was really trying to get into character for her costume, Sleeping Beauty. She fell asleep while I was brushing her hair. My children NEVER just fall asleep so it was pretty funny.
Kiera thought the pumpkin smelled disgusting. She has quite a nose on her! She is very sensitive to smells.

Me finishing Kiera's pumpkin. She did all the "freckles." They were little holes poked all over the pumpkins face.

Cambria was the only kid who did her whole pumpkin by herself.

I love my Grandma so much. I am so glad that we could spend time with her. We got to eat a couple of dinners together and take a shopping trip and spend Halloween night with her.

Bubba had so much fun stacking blocks at Grammy's house. WE had so much fun in CA for Halloween. We are so glad that Nevada became a state on Oct. 31St so that we could get every Friday before Halloween off. It was very thoughtful of them. We were glad to see friends and wish we could have spent more time with them.

Next post: What is scarier than Freddy, Jason and Chucky all rolled together . . .? Something you better hope you never have to deal with.

Unprepared

I was quickly approaching the end of my rope. I had already turned off my emotions in order to think rationally and calmly, but I wouldn't be able to hold for much longer. Malachi's hands are red and largely swollen and the two different doctors I had just spent and hour and a half with were medically stumped. They had no diagnosis. Malachi is in misery. He is unable to grasp a spoon or hold a bottle and to top it all off we lost his woo (pacifier) last night and he could really benefit from it's comfort right now.

I had gone to Walmart to buy a new woo, and to get some more Slimfast. I headed to the 20 items or less express lane with my four year old sitting so nicely in the basket of the shopping cart and my two year old in my arms resting his head on my shoulder and crying softly. I waited in line patiently for someone to check out who had way more than 20 items, my total came to $11.03. I slid my credit card. It was declined. Whoops. I wrote a check. It was declined (I had expected the credit card failure but not the check.) I stood helpless and embarrassed trying to sift through my mind as quickly as possible for options. I had decided I would just come back with cash. I hadn't realized it before though I had made small talk with him, but an angel was in line directly behind me. Of course he was in disguise. He wouldn't openly flaunt his angelic likeness. Instead he wore a faded baseball cap over his graying hair and a red t-shirt. His face was kind. His tone was gentle. He asked the cashier how much it was. He said he'd just pay for it too. I quickly declined letting him know that I would return shortly with cash to pay. The cashier told me "There really are nice people." I could have handled more bad news or disappointment, but what I was not prepared for was kindness. My eyes began to swim as I thanked him. He said he had four daughters and sometimes things just happen.

I wrote a check out to him. In the section labeled for: I wrote "being my hero." How do you repay an angel. You can't really unless you pay it forward.

If you know a Frank Larsen, give him a hug for me. His kindness came at a time when it was least expected. He paid for a stranger and he will never know how it touched my heart. Tonight his name will hang on a leaf cut out of construction paper. I will tape it to a picture of a tree we cut out and hung on our wall. It is our Tree of Thanks. Each night after dinner we hang a leaf with something we are thankful for. Tonight I will hang his name. Frank Larsen.

I love Photography!

So I may be an amateur, but one thing is for sure . . .I love taking pictures. I have loved photography from an early age and now I ask myself how did I never take a class? Not in college, not in high school. Where were my priorities? Someday I promise myself to pursue this interest though it will most likely be when all my kiddos are in school. Someday I promise to take a photography course.


This is Matthew.
To see more, click here.

Want me to take your portraits? I ain't a pro, but I'll do a mini shoot for you for $25 that includes a CD. It'll be great. I'll get practice and you'll get pictures to send out in your Christmas card.

I have lots more to say involvng:

A.) Halloween

B.) Lice

Trust me . . .you don't want to miss it.

The Agony of Defeat

When you want something so bad, it seems like you can will yourself to get it. You can taste sweet victory in your mouth, so when that taste turns into the sour taste of defeat, life can be hard to deal with. Especially when you are six.
To the desert dwellers it seemed unbearably cold. The thermostat tapped out at 53 degrees. Spectators were swathed in blankets and jackets and hats. Nothing seemed to cut the chill.

Today was the day for the annual Pumpkin Run. Each grade level raced and the first 20 or so to cross the finish line won pumpkins. Cambria won a pumpkin last year.

Unfortunately this year she followed some bad advice given to her by her mother. "Just follow Spike the Bull Dog. He'll lead you to the finish line.

Spike was on the opposite side of the field from Cambria. So instead of running in a straight line, She zig zagged through the crowed of runners trying to claim a spot behind the Bull Dog. This is what lost her the race. Instead of running to the finish line- she was trying to find the dog. I am sure there is a lesson in that somewhere. Cambria is in the orange sweater.

The Agony.

The comfort.

This little guy came in thrid place in his group. We love him. He offerede to give his pumpkin to Cambria. Isn't that sweet? Who says chivalry is dead?

Birthday, new bed and Halloween Party for FHE

Thank you for all the birthday wishes and cards, phone calls,blog comments and the surprise birthday party! It really made for a special day. I am thankful for family and friends who make my life happy! The night of my birthday we had a super craft night for RS. I was so excited to spend the night painting and gluing and Kai was so excited because he got to go to the high school football game. I still have to finish up a few things but then I will take pictures and post the things I made:)

My mom sent me these pretty flowers.

started this tradition on my 18 birthday when I lived in Hawaii.

They are the perfect Fall bouquet!

On Saturday (the day after my birthday)I was fooled into attending a surprise birthday party for myself. I think the mastermind behind the party was my friend Dee Dee. There was food and cake and flowers and most importantly good friends. We don't really have family around here that we spend much time with. Many of our friends have filled that role for us and we feel blessed to have such wonderful people in our lives.

The day of my birthday, I had help making a yummy birthday cake. Kai mixed it all up and I frosted it.

Malachi has learned how to climb out of his crib. This is a first for me since I usually remove my babies from their cribs before they climb out. I usually need a crib for a new baby- not this time!Kai went to check on him the other night and this is what he found. I tried to buy a bed rail at Walmart but they didn't have any:(

Last night for FHE we attended a Halloween Party! There were so many people there and they had a few fun activities for the kids to play. It was a great night! I had a witch, Princess Aurora and Curious George.

Malachi and Abigail

Kiera, Maverick and Savannah

Fun Family!

Fun Kids!

Fun Adults

Fun Legs!

Fun Cannon!

She couldn't find her witch's broom so she tried out the cannon!

Love that chubby face!

Sleeping Beauty missing her bed.

Happy Halloween!