Newsflash:

Parenting is no walk in the park. It's a never ending grueling trek through rough terrain. Of course there is beautiful scenery along the way, but this morning I just wasn't seeing it.

By the time I dropped the kids off to school at 9:00 I was thinking, "Woo-hoo, they're finally gone!" It was a horrible morning that began bad and got worse. I completely lost my temper and took it out on my poor innocent children. I hope they don't remember the times I loose it, but I know it's inevitable. Dear children, Forgive me. I love you. Sincerely, Your Mother

This reminded me of the other day when the kids were playing and Jonas was the dad. Clara and Nora were his daughters and he kept telling them to do something. They just kept jumping around and laughing. I could tell he was getting very frustrated and finally he yelled, "Fine then! I'm not your dad anymore!" He then came to me and said, "Being a parent is exhausting. I was only pretending it for a little while and I'm so tired!" Amen brother.

Tenacity

I was on the computer this morning and Nora came and asked me to do her hair. I told her to wait a minute and I would. Five minutes later, repeat scenario. Five more minutes, repeat again. I know, what a bad mom. The next time she came in she was equipped with mousse, hairspray, brush, comb, spray bottle, and ponies. Way to take matters into your own hands, girl! Needless to say, I stopped what I was doing to do her hair.

The hairdo.

Valley of Fire

Trey told me that if he passed his test on Friday we could do whatever I wanted the rest of the weekend. Yipee, he passed! First stop- Costco, followed by In-N-Out Burger, a visit to the pet store, and Nielsen's Frozen Custard. On Saturday morning we played tennis and then packed a lunch and headed to Valley of Fire for a day hike. When we got home we had pizza for dinner and snuggled up to watch a movie. Sunday we went to church and then came home and everyone (aah yes, silence) had naps. Woke up, ate Sunday dinner and then played games. Lovely, just lovely!

Jonas showing his sisters some brotherly love by choking them.

Clara showing off her toothless grin. We were driving home the other day and she said, "Mom, I just pulled my tooth." Hmm, kids are so different. We have to pull Jonas' when it's either a)hanging by a thread or b) when he's asleep.

There were the coolest arches and holes in the rocks. Every time we would come upon a new one the kids would have to go check it out and then ask me to take a picture of them in it.

Amazing scenery! The desert can be so beautiful.

Best seat in the house!

Update...

Nevada has been... hard. Out of all the times we've moved, (10 moves in 9 years of marriage) this has been my hardest.

Yes, even harder than living in Anjungri, Korea. I didn't know the language, we didn't have a car the first year and when we got one it was a complete lemon, I had my first child in an outdated and old fashioned hospital, our village reeked of Kimchi and fish, ajuma (landlady) took Jonas to a Korean bathhouse and I came home and he was gone, I had to wheel our dirty clothes in a large suitcase across the village to the laundromat, every time I would ride the bus to tutor English I had a Korean stalker who thought I was "a Russia girl" (aka juicy girl, if ya get my drift), church was in Korean and in a different town, the lady above our tiny little apartment would switch off our hot water mid shower, the guy below us had a dog that barked at all hours and liked to get into the trash and eat Jonas' dirty diapers and strew them all over the court yard, Ajuma made me eat Dok, and we woke everyday to the sounds of our landlady and her brother/husband??? arguing in Korean. Aaahh, good times.

Even harder than when we lived in San Angelo, TX. We literally lived on the wrong side of the tracks, in a blue shack (when I say shack, I mean shack), we heard gun shots at night, our landlord gave me free snow cones which I later came to find she mixed the syrup in a big metal barrel in her backyard, our dog ate our car, our only entertainment was the arcade at the mall, the missionaries got a little too friendly with me, we had an investation of termites come flying out our walls inside our house right into my face, our only furniture was a mattress on the floor (which Mike bought for us) and a card table with two folding chairs, and my dad almost killed us by running off the side of the road. Aaahh, good times.

Weird, I know. Trey seems to think I rise to the occasion when placed in a hard situation and make the most of it. Hmm, maybe he's right. There's nothing terribly wrong here, it's just... hard. Anyway, here are some photos from the past six months. Enjoy.

Balloon fun. What they chose fits them perfectly. Jonas- an octopus, Clara- a princess crown, Nora- didn't care as long as it was purple.Visit to Santa. Nora said she would take a picture with him if she didn't have to touch him.
We LOVE Costco! It rocks!
Getting out of the city to the mountains. Refreshing Mt. Charleston day trip.
The boys. Jonas is a great hiker and never seems to tire. When we were going up the trail people would always say to us, "wow, you've got your hands full!". On the way home Jonas was like, "Those people were crazy, we didn't even have anything in our hands!".

More updates...

Trey had to study so I took the four kids to a Pioneer Days Celebration. It was crazy, but I had so much fun with them! You can't tell by their faces that they had fun too, they're just busy watching the parade.
Every Friday at "The District" they have free outdoor movies. We took advantage of the warm summer nights and watched many movies there. We even let the kids ride the carousel one (it's a rip off) time.
Downtown, after eating breakfast at a yummy diner with the Foutz'. These two can be the best of buds sometimes.
Day trip to Mt. Charleston. The kids did awesome and we hiked up to a waterfall.
The Pumpkin Patch train ride in the parking lot of a casino! October and we were roasting out there!

More updates...

Atticus- six months old.
Jonas and Clara first day of Marlan J. Walker International School. It's a dual language program so they are learning Spanish.
Clara receiving her soccer trophy. Her and Jonas both play and I hope they both improve next season. :-)
Clara and Nora at Valley of Fire State Park.
The entire Foutz clan came for Thanksgiving and we had so much fun with them!!

Update...

I like to get away from the city as often as possible. A day trip to Valley of Fire State Park.
We took Jonas to "Shark Reef" for his 7th B-day. He loves animals.
Halloween: A brave knight, his fair maiden, and the two dragons he had to slay.

During the summer months we would check out a new yogurt/ custard/ ice cream place every Friday night thanks to the generosity of Grandma Livvy. It's so HOT here, it was always a great treat. Our favorite- Yogurtland!!! Yum!

Jonas' skeleton pumpkin. The girls had cool ones too, but they were even more rotted and weren't recognizable. The mask was from sweet Aunt Vicky and Summer, they hooked us up with Halloween goodies!

Well, I've decided that posting these pictures was exactly what I needed to realize it's not so bad here after all. Besides being totally stressed about Pharmacy school, being poor because of Pharmacy school, and only seeing Trey on the weekends because of Pharmacy school... it will all be worth it. The weekdays are yuck, but we sure enjoy family time on the weekends and all the free entertainment available to us!

Flower Power

Clara and Nora had a combined Flower Birthday party on Friday. We ate Frito Pie and then had mini strawberry shortcakes for dessert. Each of the girls got little flower headbands, but Clara was the only one that wanted to wear hers.

I hope your wishes come true!
Cutey Clara eating her dessert.
Nora didn't touch a bite of her dinner and I usually wouldn't let her have dessert if she didn't eat, but anything goes at your Birthday party, right? After dessert the girls decorated flower pots and they each got a little flower to plant. They also decorated buckets to put their pinata candy in.
Clara giving it a good whack.
Nora's ever so gentle nudge.
These are the darling baby dolls my friend Ruth made for the girls. Clara named hers Pretty Cute. First name Pretty. Last name Cute.
The party girls. It was all family at the party except for Ruth and her fam. This is Lily and Meg (sisters) and they are the same age as Clara and Nora and they are all the best of friends. We're going to be so sad to leave them. The girls planted flowers in flower pots and decorated little buckets with flower stickers to collect their candy in. Their "real" Birthday's aren't until next week so we'll have even more celebrating to do. Yay!

Sick-O

Trey and I went to Nevada this past week to try and find a place to live when we move. It was extremely overwhelming and I am trying to be optimistic and have faith that everything will work out. I think we are going to like living in Nevada. It was hotter than hades there, but it has the possibility of being really great. Trey's school is in Henderson, which is about 30 minutes from "the strip" in Las Vegas and 30 minutes the opposite way to Lake Mead. In-between Henderson and Lake Mead is Boulder City, where Trey's aunt and uncle live. That's where I really want to live. It's smaller, quieter, nicer... and more expensive. Darn! Hopefully it will work out though. Being in the Military and having moved so many times, I now know that wherever we go will be the best for us and I need to have faith in Heavenly Father.

While we were gone we took Nora and Atticus with us and Cindy volunteered to watch Jonas and Clara so it would be easier. While she was at work during the day grandma Livvy watched the kids. Grandmas are the BEST! On the last day of our trip Clara was in the car with grandpa and she started telling him she didn't feel well. His hearing isn't the best these days and he didn't hear her, but he did see her throw up a little on herself (but she wasn't done yet). When they got to the house she threw up a tiny bit more on the floor (not done yet). When Grandma bent over to clean the mess off the floor she threw up the rest of the contents from her tummy all over grandma (okay. now she's done.) Poor grandma! Her head and clothes were covered in vomit. Even her glasses were filled to the brim! Ooooh... gross! All I can say is... sorry and we love you! It's a good thing Clara was her great-granddaughter or she might have been in trouble for that one!

I need your honest opinion!

Okay.  So, I bought this crocheted yarn piece at a Thriftstore the other day because when I saw it I thought, "Oooh... nice!  The colors will match the girls room PERFECTLY!  Retro bright yarn... I love it!"  So I bought it for $3.00 and brought it home.  When my husband saw it he said, "Oooh... what's that thing?!"

And I responded, "It's for the girls room, don't you just love it?"

Husband looks at me, raises his eyebrows and says, "Are you serious?"

With great pride I say, "Yeah!  I found this beauty at the Thriftstore.  Isn't it great?!"

Husband laughs and says,"Not only do I not like it, I hate it."

I gasp and say, "Really?! You hate it?  Wow, not only do I like it, I LOVE it!"

And then he goes on to tell me all the reasons why he detests it. And all the while I am fighting back tears.  Okay, not really.  But seriously, is it that bad?