March of Dimes

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=glse_zAiYAE

I saw this You Tube video today and was touched. I am so thankful and blessed to have 3 children who have come very easily and very healthy. My heart goes out to all the women who experience problems/complications with their pregnancies and birth. March of Dimes is usually one of the charities I often give to, but I have to be honest that I sometimes get annoyed because I get something almost every two weeks from them. (I end up giving the address label stickers to my kids to play with). I guess it helps to see this video and realize how much of a difference this charity makes. If you have any extra change, send it their way!

I think I can, I think I can....

I apologize for not updating my blog more! The days just keep getting crazier. Working everyday is starting to throw me for a loop. The hours are great, but I'm used to having a day to do errands, you know, grocery shopping, laundry, cleaning the house. I'm trying to fit all that into my mornings and it's getting a bit hectic. This week in review thus far:

• Monday morning-went to the store to buy a b-day present for Ashtyn's friend (her party was that afternoon); visiting teachers came


• Tuesday morning-went visiting teaching to 3 ladies (yes, the end of the month must be coming); attended my first Primary presidency meeting. Did I mention I was called this Sunday as the Primary Secretary-the busiest secretary out of any organization in the church. Remember a few blogs ago when I said Primary is a divine calling NOT FOR ME! I guess someone with connections must have read my blog!


• Wednesday morning- the Primary Secretary came this morning to train me. Now along with work I have weekly meetings and 1-2 hours of computer work for primary each week and bishopric meetings every other Sunday. Bring it on!


• I've had to do all of this before 11:00 each day to get back home, get the kids fed, and Ashtyn off to school before the baby-sitter comes and I leave for work.

Wow! I'm exhausted. I forgot to mention the meeting with the architect Tuesday morning to design our house plans and the no sleep Monday night staying up to go over all of the details of the house plans.

I also opened up my Parenting magazine for a quick read before bed and saw their need for freelance writers. !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! It has always been my dream to write for this magazine. Seriously! My degree is in professional writing; I have 3 kids for experience on the subject matter; I have already written a couple of articles for my sample writing packet; I work as an editor both of novels and technical documents; and let's face it, I'm dang funny and they'd love me so much, they'd turn me into a regular column each month. It is meant to be, I swear!

Wish me luck the rest of the week! My butt is going to be glued to the computer chair (and some to the couch late at night since I'm DVR'ing all of the season premiers). Let's pray my kids still want me after this crazy week!

My kids will never do that!

WARNING!
Let me first apologize to any men out there who happen to come across this. I know how much you love anything to do with this subject.

I know all of you mothers out there, and pre-mothers also, have gone through the "my child will never do that" series:

• My child will never have a binky past 1, especially in church.
• My child will never look like a rag-muffin in public.
• My child will never have a snotty nose or dirty face.
• My child will never act like that....do that....
• My child will never wear clothes that don't match.
• My child will never have diaper rash because I'll always change their diaper right when it's wet.
• Blah, blah, blah, blah

Of course I was one of those girls who always said this whenever I witnessed another child doing something or looking like something I didn't approve of for my future children. Of course I would have perfect, clean, well-behaved, put-together children. Don't we all think that? Let me just tell you, expectations are meant to be broken.

For the most part, my children are the sweet, pure, well-behaved, beautiful children that I always dreamed of. But....I can't leave for church without knowing I have two binkys (one backup); I once let my daughter go to the store in her raggy, dress-up Snow White dress; one of my kids always has a runny nose; my 5 year-old-daughter ended up changing the poopy baby the other day because I was on the phone and she was sick of smelling her sister; and the worst of all, I came into the bathroom the other day to find the scene in the above picture. Didn't I just get something like that on my email and was so thankful my children would never do something like that?

Oh, and did I mention, their timing was perfect as the inevitable day for Mommy was fast approaching and I had just purchased that box the day before. Back to Wal-Mart for the embarrasing "lone box of tampons in the shopping cart". Hey, at least it wasn't a pregancy test, huh!

No time to Chat

Just a quick hello to everyone. I don't have a lot of time to blog this week. My husband has been in Santa Fe for three days and I'm crazy enough to have an open house this weekend. Yes, our house is for sale! So with work, kid care, and house cleaning to it's best, I don't think I've even sat down to take a break the last few days. I'll have to count these few minutes! Remind me to post about our exciting "tampon incidence" that I swore my kids would never do. In the meantime, if you know of anyone who wants to move to Idaho Falls and is looking in the $450,00-$500,00 range, send them my way. I'm getting sick of always keeping it clean!!!

Here's our lovely Hassman home soon to go to the first bidder:

Ridin' the Bull

I was talked into riding the bull at the fair this year. I actually did quite well and didn't fall off 'til the very end. For those who haven't experienced this rush, I advise you to "work-out" your wrist before. It kills! This picture brings up one question: Who looks meaner, Me or the Bull?

Fair Fantastic!

We went to the Eastern Idaho State Fair in Blackfoot last week. It was tons of fun as usual. The kids loved all the animals, especially the goats and bunnies. We were all amazed at the 765 lb. pig, even though the smell was awful. The parents loved all the yummy food and fun booths. Ashtyn even got to be on t.v. when the weatherman asked her to help him on the news. She stood so straight and still the whole time trying to look grown up. It was a great night with Grandma and Grandpa, great-grandpa and grandma, and Cameron, Katie, and the boys. Until next year...

Perfect Pair

Since I started work and Ashtyn started school, we've been missing out on our afternoons together. So on Monday, the two of us went to the salon to spend some quality time together. Ashtyn got her first pedicure! She was a little ticklish but absolutely loved the pink sparkly polish and flower design. She also got her fingernails painted while Mommy got her toes done. It was so cute to be there with her at such a big girl, grownup moment.

Girls are so fun!

Not so divine of a Sunday

Now that we've established my husband being gone this weekend, what did I do you ask? Absolutely nothing! I did brave church by myself with the three little ones. I tried to get a cute picture of them in their matching dresses, but Avery was not having it. As was the rest of the day. Did I mention it was the first Sunday switching to 9:00 a.m. with Sacrament last? Getting up and getting the girls ready on time was a feat in itself. I had to wake the two little ones up at 8:30, shove some breakfast in, slap a dress on, and run a comb through their hair. After dropping Jordyn off (screaming) in nursery, I made my way to primary (with Avery) to sit with my class who thought they didn't have a teacher. Oh, and by the way, the teacher of the other CTR class just went in to labor this morning (6 weeks early), "can you take her class, too?" Sure, why not? So I had 14 kids in class, with Avery who was an absolute terror(she apparently doesn't like to hold still or be quiet in church), and tried to get through a lesson on the sacrament, which turned into a lesson on "Didn't Jesus know wine was bad?". AAAHHH!!!! Primary is definitely a divine calling NOT FOR ME. I then had to make it through sacrament with three tired kids who had already had enough of the chapel (yes, primary is in the chapel because our ward is made up of kids) and had already eaten the snacks-I understand it was fast sunday but throw me a frickin' bone. Everything's ok 'cause I can go home and take a nap, right? Yeah right! Jordy came in about six times, every five minutes:

• "Mommy, I'm poopy."
• "Mommy, I need a snack."
• "Mommy, can you open my fruit snacks."
• "Mommy, my little feets hurt."
• "Mommy, I fell off the couch."
• "Mommy, Avery is awake."

Awesome! Jim comes home later than he originally thinks, and when he calls to tell me, I can hear my brother in the background, "You better be naked and ready to ----." Whatever spiritual uplift, though it be small, I managed to get on this wonderful Sunday was just completely diminished. Hope you all had a great one!

My husband left me for my brother

Ok-so instead of camping or doing something fun with the WHOLE family like every other family did this Labor Day weekend, my husband left us alone to go camping/scouting with my brother. Somehow my brother always gets in the way of family time. Jim always teases me that he's gonna leave me for my brother. And what's with scouting anyway? Like the elk and deer are going to be in the same place the actual week of "the hunt". I think it's just another excuse to get out. I'm going to start "scouting" stores before their sales to see if I can fill my tag.

I'm sure the boys got some great male bonding time (whatever that entails-I don't want to know). Actually, they were pretending they were the dude from Man vs. Wild and tried to start a fire with just sticks for 2 1/2 hours. They also didn't take much food because they would just eat the fish they were going to catch. Or at least a nice snake!



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Tdlh4zlhjY

Hair Trauma

Did I mention I've had to do all of this the last few days with crappy hair? I think my 1-year-old managed to throw away my flat-iron without me noticing (we've searched the entire house and with her history of throwing away her binky, stuffed animals, my keys, my hair brush, her toothbrush, tupperware, books, and countless other items that I find throughout the day, this seems like the best explanation.) Thanks little one!

No turning back

First let me apologize beforehand if this entry is quite lengthy. There is simply no other way to explain.

I've been meaning to get back to the last sentence of my previous blog. You know, the one about starting work. First of all, I've never worked a day since my first child was born. I've been with my kids all day, every day for their whole lives. I love being able to stay home with my kids and watch them grow up (it happens so fast). But, as every mother knows, sometimes I just need a little break away from them so I don't go crazy. I've been thinking the last couple of months that maybe I should get a part-time job just so I can change up my days a little bit and interract with other adults. Well, before I knew it, a great opportunity came up last week. My husband let me know of a technical writer/editor position opening up at Scientech, an engineering company
based in I.F. that builds operating systems for nuclear reactors around the world. (What the ?)



I don't know anything about nuclear reactors, engineering, operating systems, and anything else in the technical field. How in the heck was I going to write manuals and documents explaining stuff I had no clue about. But....my degree is in professional writing/editing and I have some editing experience so Jim prodded me to go for it. To make a long story short, I submitted my resume'; they called me the next day (Friday) at 9:30, wanted an interview at 10:30(I hadn't even showered and it was my daughter's first week of Kindergarten); and hired me at 11:30.

OKAY!!! So now I have a job, need a baby-sitter, am going camping in like three hours, have our house on the market and must keep it clean for unexpected showings, and start full-time on Monday morning. What just happened to my freedom of being lazy all day, every day if I want. Yes, they want me 40 hours this first week to train ("and I've never had to leave my kids all day?" RIGHT-I cried the first morning trying to leave). The first day by noon I was thinking "what the heck did I get myself into" and wanted to bag the whole thing as I sat crying in my car, eating lunch alone and missing my kids. Did I mention that my husband, who found me the job in the first place and pushed me to get it, was out of town my first two days. Aahhh!!! But today went much better and I feel way more confident in my abilities and a little more familiar with their computer programs and systems. We'll see how the next few days go. After this week, I only have to work 20 hours a week, which is perfect because I get to set my own hours. The pay is amazing and I still can spend all morning with my kids, take my daughter to kindergarten on my way, and be gone while my other two are taking their afternoon nap. I found a great baby-sitter who will come to my house, and her first day (today) went great. The kids love her! Yes people, I realize I am trying to justify becoming a working mom, but the situation couldn't be any more perfect for me. Oh, except that I still don't know much about nuclear reactors.

Into the woods...

We went camping the last couple of days with our little family. It was a lot of fun, and of course I forgot my camera. I'm such an idiot! We took a 16-mile 4-wheeler ride up in the mountains and after surviving quite a rough, steep trail(with all of us on one 4-wheeler) we found a beautiful little lake at the bottom of the trail. The surroundings were amazing, and I was reminded how awesome nature really is. We saw lot's of butterflys, dragon flys, chipmunks, a grouse, and even a doe with her fawn along the trail. The kids loved it! It was a fun trip and we even got some swimming in(kid's favorite), and some smore eating in(my favorite). We wanted to get in one more trip before the cold settles in and the busy schedules take over. Did I mention I start work on Monday morning.....aahhhhhh!!!!

Boring boob tube

I don't know about any of you, but I can't wait for all of the fall premiers to start. For some reason, I get sucked into all of them and if it weren't for DVR, my poor children would be watching a lot of shows they shouldn't. Good thing summer t.v. has nothing to offer(except for Curtis on "Take Home Chef") so I can be a good mom half of the year. Good luck waiting for all of you fellow primetime junkies!

1st Day of School

I always hear of these Moms who cry uncontrollably and can't let their children go on the first day of school. Well, Ashytn's first day of kindergarten was today, and I sent her off with all smiles and a hallelujah. Not that I'm cold and uncaring, but knowing how excited she was made it easier to let her go. She's been counting down the days for the last month, and we've been playing at her school playground pretending she's at recess. Ashtyn is the easiest child who will adjust to anything. She has the sweetest disposition and loves everything. Her teacher told me today how Ashtyn tried to comfort a little boy in her class who was crying by sitting by him and rubbing his back. She was born a nurturer. I know I am playing the proud mom, but it is so nice to have such a caring, easy-going child. I need to enjoy her all I can because I can't say the same for her two younger sisters.

Bear Scare

I went to a retreat with some women from my ward to a cabin in Island Park this weekend. It was so much fun to get away. The pransker in me came out and suggested an idea to scare all of the girls. I rode up with a friend from the ward who also has a cabin just down the street from the one we stayed in. I've stayed at my friend's cabin a few times and inside they have a full bear mount. We snuck out and brought the bear back (with a little help from some guys who were staying at her cabin) and placed it (quietly) outside one of the windows. We went inside and a few minutes later, the guys started growling near the open window. The girls started freaking out and when they looked up and saw a bear at the window (claws up, mouth open) everyone started screaming and scrambling across the room. A couple of the girls actually got scratches and rug burns from the other ladies climbing over them. It was pretty hilarious! By the way, there have actually been three real bear sightings on the island in the past week. I couldn't have picked a better scare!

In Memory

Just a few pictures I have since my Grandpa moved here two years ago from California. It was so nice to have him close his last couple of years and let my children get to know their great-grandpa. This last week has been hectic with all of the family in town for his funeral. It was so nice to see all of my aunts, uncles, and cousins. The funeral was so nice and everything turned out just right. We had military rights for Grandpa at the cemetery. It was so touching to see those elderly men (knowing there are not many left) showing respect for their fellow comrade.

Grandpa wanted me to give his life sketch, and I was honored to do so yet dumbfounded why he'd want me. I can only think that he heard me speak at my college graduation a few years ago and was so unimpressed that he wanted to give me a second chance at public speaking, or he was so impressed that he wanted a scholar (ha, ha) to speak at his funeral. Whatever reason, I was touched. Now that things have calmed down and the company has left my house, I'll try to be a more frequent blogger to all of you who can't get through their day without knowing what I've been up to (I only wish I was that popular). Anyways, a hard week to get through but one that brought family together to share in our love for a very dear grandfather.

What a day

I managed to be quite productive today without even a plan to start with this morning. I can only be lazy for too long. My crossed-off list today:

1. Bathed all three(wait, 4) girls
2. Washed and folded(that's the hard part) six loads of laundry
3. Cleaned out the kitty litter box(thank goodness for the canal by our house)
4. Changed all three girl's bedding(thus contributing to the laundry)
5. Baked banana bread and cookies as "thankyou's" for the neighbors(minus a few from the baker's taste-test)
6. Loaded and unloaded the dishwasher(twice)
7. Went to Home Depot for a new sprinkler head(those dang "honey-do's")
8. Vacuumed the entire downstairs and furniture(thanks Tillie for all the cat hair)

(Notice there is no mention of going to the gym-I've been on a two-week excercise hiatus. It's been kind of nice to sleep-in!)

I know this doesn't seem like a lot to all you Martha's out there, but for me(who has not one ounce of Martha blood in her), it's quite the accomplishment. Now for today....

In Honor

What a great man. President Faust has always been one of my favorites because of his quiet, gentle, caring nature. Maybe his path crossed my Grandpa's en route to eternity.

Met with Glory

"When you are born, you cry, and the world rejoices. When you die, you rejoice, and the world cries." Tibetan Buddhist saying


My Grandpa passed away tonight. He's been wanting to go home for some time. I know he was met with love and open arms from a very proud and loving Heavenly Father. I was so blessed to have the chance to see him yesterday and tonight only 15 minutes before he died. I was able to tell him I love him and sit by his bed and hold his hand. I know he knew I was there. I will cherish those last moments with him when he was so close to his Savior. I love you, Grandpa.

This could just be my last post

My husband and I are headed to Lagoon for his annual company party. The kids are staying at Grandma's and we are totally going to live it up with our Thelma's lemonade and theme-park churros. Can you drink and ride? We are so excited to ride the new Wicked roller coaster (yes the one pictured heading straight down and upside down). Are we crazy? I'm somewhat of a thrill-seeker, but as I'm climbing onto the ride, the many images of "rides-gone-wrong" enter the back of my mind. Like the little girl whose feet were ripped off on a ride at a theme-park a few weeks ago. Or the several pictures of dangling bodies hanging from rides trying not to fall to their death. Wish me luck! And check the news this weekend for any mishaps! It could just be me!