Teeples Trails

LOVE

2012-02-15T14:28:00.001-08:00

It has been years since Matt and I have been home for Valentine's Day. That's not a sad thing, we've spent them all in Aspen while someone else watched our kids. But this year we didn't go to Aspen (soooo sad), so I decided to make the best of it and have a LOVE dinner with the kids. I set the table and cooked while Kate and Parker were still at school and Maggie and Will had naps. Parker rolled his eyes at me about all the heart shaped food, placemats etc. He told me I was a little extreme. The girls loved it and I think Parker secretly did too. Will was just glad that there was chocolate on the table. We had Lasagna, Death Bread, Red Grapes and Salad. And heart shaped brownies for dessert.

As we sat and ate we each took a turn saying something that we love about each person at the table. A few things that were mentioned...Mom is loved because she takes care of everyone and cooks. Dad is loved because he plays business (wrestling with the kids). Kate is loved because she is so nice. Parker is loved because he is always teaching us things we didn't know. Maggie is loved because she draws us all such great pictures. Will is loved because he makes us laugh. It was interesting to hear what each child had to say about each other. Kate and Parker were very thoughtful about what they said. It was really great to remind each other that there are specific things we like about one another. As a parent I rarely, if ever hear my kids tell one another something nice about the other, so this was a good change. I felt really grateful to spend the night with them.

If the Aspen trip is forever over, this will be a new family tradition.

Christmas Outfits

2012-01-21T22:26:00.000-08:00

I really like it when Christmas falls on a Sunday.

Who Was I Kidding...Oh Myself

2012-01-21T21:04:00.000-08:00

Yes, I was kidding myself. You see I look at lots and lots of home decor blogs, pinterest, before and afters, DIY craft blogs, etc. and I theoretically think it would be fun to do that, but really I don't have time. So I'm scratching the "house made pretty" blog idea from my to do list, so I can actually accomplish some of my more pressing to do items. I guess that's one way to accomplish something, right?

In the last four weeks we have been SUPER busy. We were very busy before that too (well at least Matt was). Obviously we celebrated Christmas. It was great. The kids loved it. We stayed in Vegas and celebrated with Matt's family. I have a picture or a hundred somewhere that I will hopefully post a little bit later.

The day after Christmas we started the big move...oh my was that an undertaking. With Christmas shopping, the kids being out of school and having a really helpful two year old I wasn't as packed or prepared as I should have been. Plus I think I might be a somewhat organized hoarder. We started the move on Monday and we got the last things out of our house on Wednesday. Matt did lots of little fix up projects on the old house on Thursday and it was painted on Friday. The really great people who are renting from us moved in on Saturday. It was a whirlwind to say the least.

The new house is great. There were still quite a few things to finish up in it in the first few weeks that we lived here (the first week we had one working sink in the whole house and it was in the master bathroom). As of today all of the sinks in the house are now working. We have blinds up, (almost everywhere). The house functions. Not everything is unpacked (1/2 of the three car garage is still in boxes) and we need to purchase quite a bit of new furniture. But we are getting comfortable here.

My favorite part is the kitchen. Everything has a place, it's so great and I am so happy with how it is turning out. There are some paint touch ups that need to happen and new barstools to be bought, I haven't decided on the backsplash, but overall it is more than I hoped it would be. Here are a few before and afters....

So Excited

2011-11-28T17:38:00.000-08:00

We are getting a new house!

It will be big enough to not feel cramped, but not too big. The backyard is large (and full of dirt and weeds right now).

It's going to be awesome...it's not so awesome right now. But it is getting better every day.

Matt is working his tail off making it everything I want it to be.

I've been picking paint colors (10 sampled so far, haven't decided yet), kitchen cabinets, bathroom vanities, floors, doors, trims etc. It's been really fun. Well, not the paint, that has been annoying. I can't seem to get it right. I want a bluish grey greenish color for the entire house. I have picked the trim color...it matches our cabinets, that was easy.

I'm planning on starting a separate blog about it (housemadepretty.blogspot.com)...but haven't done that yet because....

I am addicted to Pinterest....LOVE it. I've gotten tons of ideas on things to do to our house (which means more projects for Matt :0) I love having an incredible carpenter husband.

This month is going to be BUSY!

True Love

2011-11-01T17:23:00.000-07:00

she is positive she is his favorite

Halloween Parade

2011-11-01T17:10:00.000-07:00

Batterman had their annual Halloween parade again this year. Parker's costume was a hit with parents, teachers and kids. Papa came and walked the parade with the kids and then helped in Parker's class at his party.

Going to the parade at the elementary school every year reminds me of the parades we had at Howard Wood. I remember how great I thought they were, marching around to the Monster Mash. The principal yelling over the microphone, the disorganized rambunctious kids, the parents taking pictures, the crackly music playing, it's still the same. I think the costumes were better when I was a kid, there weren't a lot of duplicates. There was one class yesterday that had at least 5 Grim Reapers. And there were some moms who were dressed as slutty bees, nurses, witches, etc. And walked around in the parade...what? Although that does add to the entertainment level. ;)

Halloween 2011

2011-11-01T16:58:00.000-07:00

Every year I try to come up with something for the kids to be that kind of coordinates, and every year they shoot me down. It happened again this year. Will was a dinosaur, Maggie was an angel, Parker was a LEGO man, and Kate was a bee. The one good thing about this....EVERYONE was pleased with their own costume. So losing the coordination battle was worth it. Matt and Parker worked on making his costume for weeks. And I made Maggie and Kate's costumes. Will was the only child we bought a pre-made costume for. I just couldn't get enough creative juices flowing for one more.

We had friends and family over for dinner and went trick-or-treating as a big clan. It was lots of fun.

Kate...the actress

2011-10-12T10:29:00.000-07:00

First Day of School 2011

7th Grade

Kate has a part in her fall school play, The Knights of the Rad Table. The performances will be at Faiss Middle School on Thursday, December 1 at 6:30 pm and Friday, December 2 at 6:30 pm.

Catch Up....Again

2011-08-22T20:37:00.000-07:00

It seems like I am always playing catch up with this blog. So much has happened since my last post. Just normal stuff, but lots of it.

Our 13 year anniversary - we went to dinner at the Chart House and to the Country Music impersonator show. I can't remember the actual name. It was pretty good, but a little uncomfortable. I always think it's weird to watch someone pretend to be someone else. Especially when that someone else is still living.

River Trips - The first week there we spent with Honey and Papa, Bridget, Paige, Claire, Chelsea, Andrew & Juliet. Kate became a very proficient slalom skier. Matt & Ruben both bare footed and Parker skied on two. He tried and tried to slalom, but couldn't quite get it. William was thoroughly entertained by his cousins. The second week we went Noelle, Anna and Miller came.

Parker's 9th Birthday - He spent the day with his Dad. First on a helicopter ride over the Hoover Damn and Lake Mead. Then a movie with Dad & Talon. After the movie we had family over to the house for dinner and dessert. He was very happy with his day.

Heber Vacation - we spent almost three weeks in Heber this year. The first week Melinda and Carole came to spend with us. The last two weeks Honey and Papa came and we spent lost of time with Noelle, Bridget, Beth, Marci & Emily and their kids. Matt came up for the last few days and to drive home with us. Love, love, love Heber!

Will's 2nd Birthday - two years already! He is a very funny kid and his eyebrows keep us entertained. He is saying a lot of words. He is a total boy. He loves anything that has wheels. Right now his favorites are trash trucks and choo choo trains. He scrunches his little lips up into and pucker and says choo choo. It's adorable. And when he hears the trash truck outside our house he gets really excited and we have to take him out to look at it. The garbage men must think we are crazy out there waving at them.

River Trip - We went to the Parker strip with Matt's family for our third and final river trip of the summer. We had a good time. The kids and Dad's jumped from the cliffs. Kate was the only kid who jumped from the highest one. She regretted it though, she had huge bruises down the back of her thighs from landing a little wonky. William LOVED the boat, but didn't like being in the water until our last day there. Maggie is more of a lay around and play in the sand & water type of kid. She really doesn't have any desire to do anything behind the boat other than tube. Parker and Kate do it all. They love to knee board, jimmy jam, tube, ski etc. Anything that can be done behind the boat they are willing to try.

Our summer has been happy and busy. I'm both dreading and impatiently anticipating the start of school. This was our first "real" summer and it's been great.

12

2011-06-24T13:09:00.000-07:00

Kate turned 12 on June 9th. I can't believe she is in YW's now at church and no longer in primary with me. I cried when the bishop called her to the podium and had the members raise their hands in support of her going into Young Women's. She is a great kid. She plays with her younger siblings, she laughs often, she's easy to get along with and just a happy kid in general. She is a good example to all of us. Matt and I feel lucky that Heavenly Father chose us to raise her.

We had three separate celebrations for her birthday. A friend party where we painted pillowcases and tied ribbons on flip flops, a family party at a restaurant in Needles on our way to the river, and an extended family party at the Teeples that she shared with Father's day celebrations. We celebrated for weeks.

She also got her hair cut off the day before her actual birthday. She donated it to Locks of Love.

Mommy Conversations

2011-06-16T17:42:00.000-07:00

The other day while Maggie was in the bath we had this conversation:

Maggie: "Mom, when I get big I'm going to get milk in my boobs."

Me: "Well yes, but you will have to have a baby to get milk in your boobs."

Maggie: "How do you have a baby?"

Me: "Well, the baby grows in your belly and then comes from a special hole that only Mom's have."

Maggie thinks for a few moments, she was disgusted. I love that I can see the wheels spinning in her head.

Maggie: "Did I come from the orphanage?"

Me: "No, you grew in my belly."

Maggie: "Well, I'm getting MY babies from the orphanage."

Me: "Okay, that's fine with me, but you won't get milk in your boobs if you don't have a baby that grows in your belly."

Maggie: "That's okay, I don't want milk."

She is such a crack up. And I'm so glad she is mine. Maybe I gave her too much information.

Easter Weekend

2011-04-26T11:31:00.000-07:00

Saturday: Egg Dyeing and swimming at the Bergen's

Saturday night: Dinner and a movie with just the adults.

Sunday: Family pictures (too gross of me to post), Church at Honey & Papa's ward, Easter egg hunt and dinner at Honey & Papa's house.

fyi: Matt and the rest of the men made fun of Will's outfit. Matt asked me why he was wearing a dress. Which it wasn't. It's a bubble, totally different.

Night Away

2011-03-28T10:39:00.000-07:00

It had been three years since Matt and I had gone away with no kids. Last time was San Francisco for four days. Our trip this weekend was short...28 hours to be exact, but it was great. We farmed out the kids and made a quick trick to Fontana for the NASCAR race. Spent the night in a hotel close to the racetrack, went to dinner and a movie and the race on Sunday. It was nice to just be together with no interruptions. And the car ride was bliss with no children.

Stepping on Lego's, etc.

2011-03-15T22:45:00.000-07:00

Love LEGO's, hate them in the middle of the night when they dig into my foot. I want to throw every single LEGO away, but can't stomach it since they seem to cost about $.50 for each little one.

Updates...

Will- 19 months old. Into EVERYTHING. Still throws things at me often. My favorite chucking incident was a pair of scissors last Sunday when I told him he couldn't have them because they are ouchie. He showed me. Luckily they only hit my leg and I was wearing pants. His favorite toy is the swiffer. I hide it and he finds it. He goes around pretending to "swiff" things. It's funny. He loves his dad the best. It's great. Every girl should have a fourth child who favors their husband. I have always been under the impression that the youngest children in a family grow up the fastest. But Will seems to be just the opposite. He wants to sit on my lap all day long, and on his dad's all night long. He would sleep touching both of us if we would let him. He carries his blanket around like Linus and almost always has his pacifier in his mouth. He talks a little bit, but I think Matt and I are the only ones who can understand him.

Maggie- 4 going on 14. She loves make-up and all things smelly. As in perfume, bathroom spray, lotion. She always has a concoction of smells going on. She is loving preschool and reading I See Sam books. All clothes bug her in some way or another. Especially her socks. I often have to walk away as she writhes on the floor complaining about the line in her socks not being right. She will sit and color for hours and has discovered the joys of my iPad. She got her hair cut off and feels especially beautiful. This kid has a great self esteem.

Parker-His primary teacher asked me this week if he has some sort of ADHD. I laughed. She doesn't have children so doesn't quite get the behavior of 8 year old boys. They are a bit nuts. Well at least mine is. When I think about it, it makes me laugh. As I am dealing with him, I sometimes scream. :-) He outsmarts me daily. Instead of watching cartoons or dumb Disney shows he turns on the Discovery channel or some sort of Mythbuster's show. He loves to learn and is daily telling me things I don't know. A couple weeks ago we had Juliette's birthday party at our house. He hid upstairs most of the time and after everyone left he yelled down, "Did all the chaos leave?" He is more and more like his dad everyday. He started baseball this last week and is really excited for it.

Kate-is getting the swing of middle school. She has discovered that girl's are often mean, intentionally and unintentionally. She has found a group of friends that she seems happy with. She is taking piano lessons from a fabulous lady in our last ward. I remember being a kid and my mom forcing us to practice. With Kate it is the complete opposite. She asks to practice immediately when she gets home from school. I find it kind of weird, but a good weird.

Matt- came down with this fu man choo the other day. My response, "Oh, hell no." I told him he was cut off til it was shaved off. He thinks he is pretty funny. I'm sure my face was priceless when I first saw it. He is the cub committee chair and also Parker's baseball coach. I signed him up for that without mentioning it to him, which didn't go over well...:-) But he is doing it and Parker is ecstatic to have him coach. He is busy with work, kids, keeping me happy. Well that's a full time job in and of itself. NASCAR has started again and he and I are both thrilled. We got to go to the races here and our favorite driver won. And we are planning on going to CA in a couple of weeks for the race.

Me-today I got to have a root canal. Isn't that lucky? I've had tooth pain for a good six months now. I thought it was sinus pain...nope. I have been at the dentist or endodontist every day this week. And get to go back again tomorrow. Hopefully the headaches will stop now. I've been working, picking up after William, losing a bit of weight, running the family taxi service and crafting a little bit. I've also been reading a lot and not sleeping too much. Is it just me or does sleep seem overrated when all the kids are in bed and the house is quiet? I haven't been taking pictures. I need to work on that.

Catch Up Through Pictures

2011-02-03T20:37:00.000-08:00

All the events below are deserving of their own post, but I don't have that much spare time. Life just seems to speed by. With illness, we've had both the stomach flu (read gross throw up messes), and the other type of cold-like flu, things have been chaotic around here.

Parker

Kate

Will

Maggie

Christmas Morning

December 25, 2010

Christmas PJ's

December 24, 2010

Live Nativity

December 24, 2011

Disneyland

December 23, 2010

(see the evidence of miserable Will from my previous post)

Maggie's first dance recital.

December 17, 2010

Will's first haircut.

December 13, 2010

Gingerbread houses at Aunt Jennifer's. And welcoming home Honey & Papa from their mission.

December 11 & 12, 2011

Decorating the Christmas tree.

November 30, 2010

Picking out our Christmas tree.

November 29, 2010

Birthday breakfast on the special plate.

Happy 4th Birthday, Maggie!

November 26, 2010

Happy Again

2011-01-08T12:55:00.001-08:00

William is finally back to his normal smiley, feisty self.

It started at the end of November. He wasn't sleeping well, he cried/screamed/hit me/threw things at me all of the time. And he ONLY wanted to be with his Dad. No joke, he would yell if Matt even tried to hand him off to me. I took him to the Dr., hoping he would give me some diagnosis that could be cured with medicine. He didn't. He basically told me that Will was just teething, going through a phase and would probably snap out of it. I wasn't exactly thrilled. To be honest I wanted them to tell me something was wrong other than he was just bratty. Maybe an easily medicated ear infection....? I didn't think that was too much to ask.

So we went through all of last month with a very unhappy William. Christmas in California was great, other than Will. It was on the verge of being embarrassing with how awful he was. I wasn't able to get a whole lot done in December other than Christmas, working and holding Will. And I didn't do anything well. William and my semi-sanity was priority.

On December 30 I decided to take him back to the Dr. He was coughing by then and I thought, what the heck, at least if I take him in and there is nothing wrong with him I can let him scream through the night and not feel horribly guilty. I was relieved to be told that the Dr. thought he had the flu, a bad viral ear infection and was on his way to having croup. But because he didn't have any fevers he was pretty sure he didn't have anything bacterial to give him antibiotic for. I happily bought the $60 tamiflu and $10 steroid. After 5 days of the expensive medication he was still not better. So I called the Dr. Apparently the flu tests they took came back negative and he prescribed an antibiotic. One day later we were blessed with a smiling William.

I'm at so happy to have him back. I was convinced that he was just a horrible child and I was not looking forward to the next couple of years. He no longer follows me around yelling at me, he will actually sit next to me or let me hold him if his Dad is in the room, (although he definitely prefers Matt) and he isn't hitting me as often. Which what exactly am I supposed to do about the hitting? We've never had this problem before.

I feel bad that he was in pain that long. Poor kid.

So now I might find time to catch up on this blog.

Maggie's B'day Theme

2010-11-08T20:33:00.000-08:00

Last night we were talking with Margaret about her upcoming birthday party. We were trying to come up with a theme for her friend birthday party and Maggie says, "Well, I think I'll have an ass party." Matt said, "What?" And she responded, "Well, it's kind of like a donkey."

We have no idea where this came from, but I have found myself laughing throughout the day as I have thought about it. She's a funny kid.

I think we have decided on a Toy Story 3 party instead. I'm not sure if any of her little friends would enjoy an "ass" party. Whatever that is.

Halloween 2010

2010-11-06T13:35:00.000-07:00

We had a great Halloween weekend. We started it in St. George on Saturday night with trick or treating with all the grandkids on my side of the family. The little girls, Maggie, Anna, Paige, Juliette, Claire and Kate were mermaids, (compliments of Chelsea's superb sewing skills) Parker was the headless horseman, Cami was a butterfly and Andrew was a pirate (but if you ask Paige, he was her Prince Eric). The baby boy's were lobsters. Jen's neighborhood is like a movie set when it comes to Halloween. One street was blocked off, their was kettle corn being freshly popped, complimentary water bottles, fresh donuts and the houses were decorated fantastically. It was a lot of fun. Kate and Parker went off on their own with cousins and the rest of us trick or treated with the littler ones. Three year olds are the perfect age for trick or treating. They love it, but they don't mind if they don't stay out for hours. It's great. The three little mermaids were funny with each other. Pretending they were under the sea. And having conversations about their sea friend, Fish and Chips. Hilarious. William understood the concept of trick or treating pretty soon after we started. He was in his stroller the entire time, but Matt would take him up to the door, the person would give him candy and he would promptly dig it out of his bucket. He had a sucker in his mouth the entire night.

On Halloween night we went to Melinda and Peter's for dinner and trick or treating in a neighborhood near their house. Our weekend was busy, but lots of fun for the kids.

The GAP, cont.

2010-10-13T12:47:00.000-07:00

I sent GAP the post I wrote the other day and I guess I created a stir.

First off, I know the entire situation was partly my fault. I knew that the stroller was a display item and I wasn't supposed to use it. I was just trying to to make the best out of a very chaotic situation.

So here is what happened. Yesterday I got an email from corporate apologizing for the employee's rudeness. Today I received an email from the store manager asking if he could call and talk about what happened. I emailed him my number and he quickly responded with a phone call. He had actually witnessed what happened with the sales associate and asked me if I was a woman with two children who was wearing glasses. I guess after she yelled at me in front of all the customers in line, he went up to her and told her that her response was inappropriate and shouldn't have occurred the way it did. We chatted for awhile, he asked if they could compensate me somehow and I told him I was fine and would continue to shop at GAP. They didn't need to give me any type of gift card or coupon to make it up to me. Like I said, it was partly my fault for not being prepared. He said that it was only his third day as the store manager at that store and mine wasn't the only instance of an employee being rude to a customer. And that they were having a special employee meeting today to address the situation. I sure hope he didn't get in trouble for my complaint, he didn't do it. He was very nice. About 10 minutes ago I got an email from the district manager making sure that I was happy with how things were handled. I assured him that I am perfectly fine, do not hold a grudge and that I would continue to spend my money at their store.

Moral of this story...the Gap takes complaints seriously and tries to make amends in any way possible. I am impressed.

The GAP

2010-10-11T14:15:00.000-07:00

I like to shop at the GAP. It's not too fancy, but not downright cheap either...although today it was downright cheap. If you used your GAP silver card, you got 45% off your entire purchase. Deal, right? And if you paid with cash you got 40% off. So Maggie, Will and I went after art class today. Wow was it crowded. I didn't have a stroller and William screamed at me most of the time because I wouldn't let him down to destroy all the displays. So while I was in baby gap I saw their stroller on display and decided it needed a test ride. I put Will in it, the stuff I was going to purchase on top and my bag of stuff that I needed to exchange on the handle bar (they wouldn't hold it for me behind the counter while I shopped because of "liability" issues). I start pushing the stroller (thinking that I am so smart to use theirs) and the lady behind the counter yells at me, "mam, mam you can't use that, it is for sale." I quickly looked back at her and said, "Yes, I know, I'm trying it out to see if I like it." She rolled her eyes and continued helping the 12 people that were in line. I used the stroller for a few more minutes, not nearly as long as I would have liked to, and then got Will out and hefted him and the clothes around for the remainder of my shopping trip.

I was pretty annoyed. This is the lady who is always working when I shop. She knows my kids names (sad, I know) and also knows that I actually buy things there at the regular prices. I am not a sale only kind of gal. It's not like I was going to walk out of the store with the stroller, I simply wanted to borrow it. And I'm pretty sure that I spend enough money there to justify the loan of a stroller for 15 minutes, so I could spend even more money at their store.

Moral of the story, sometimes a discount isn't worth the hassle. Be prepared. Why was my stroller not in my car? (another story for another time) And the GAP needs to work on their customer service a little bit.

LOVE Him

2010-10-07T10:15:00.001-07:00

will 14 months

he says:

mama

dada

puppy

pumpkin (pupin)

ball

kay

ba ba

(he says this a lot, especially when we are in the car)

he loves:

throwing balls (and lots of other things)

his blanket

peek-a-boo

to point, either with his own finger or the pointer stick he is holding above

dad

mom

grandpa bruce

i love that:

he squeezes between the cabinets and me and stretches out his arms so i will pick him up

he sleeps all night and until about 8:30 every morning

he likes the car

he loves to wrestle

his personality:

he's stubborn

but happy

he throws tantrums, throws things and yells when he doesn't get his way

he doesn't cry when he wakes up in the morning or from his naps,

mostly just yells for someone to come and get him

when he gets excited he stomps his feet like he is marching.

he likes to dance, which also includes stomping his feet

NASCAR

2010-09-26T23:14:00.000-07:00

Getty Images

I haven't posted about NASCAR lately...

Matt and I went to the Camping World Truck Series race on Saturday night. It was a lot of fun. I swear WT activities/sports are the best. And the people watching doesn't get any better. I like to think that I don't fit the NASCAR fan stereotype. But if I do, I don't really care. It's fun. Matt and I have been to quite a few races in all the different NASCAR series and the people at each race are so different. And the difference between going to a race in the South and one in the West is like night and day. At this race if you were over 60 and a female you weren't required to wear a bra, or so it seemed. The people are almost more interesting than the race. Almost.

We are down to the last 8 races of the season in the Sprint Cup series. Our favorite, Carl Edwards is doing well. He's not leading the points, but he still has a chance at the championship. We don't like Denny Hamlin, Kevin Harvick, Kyle Busch or Brad Keselowski. We always kind of hope they wreck out of the race.

Rambling

2010-09-24T19:41:00.001-07:00

Life has been busy...

I'm Kate's soccer coach this season, don't laugh. Okay laugh, it's pretty funny. I get my arthritic body out there, stretch, kind of run and kick the ball around with the girls. Other than the chaotic scheduling, so that I don't have to take all the kids to practice or games with me, it is pretty fun. And I get to spend time with just Kate, which is great.

Speaking of Kate she is loving middle school. Her day starts early, 7:40. Her dad takes her to school every morning and I pick her up when school is out. I went to her school open house with her last week and her school and teachers seem nice. We've made a deal with her that if she gets straight A's first semester, she gets to have a cell phone. I know, we are way behind the other kids her age. We've been putting off the inevitable. I hope she gets all A's. I will feel better if she has a phone and can contact me if any of those scary kids she goes to school with bother her.

Scary kids. Middle schoolers are scary. Well, most of them. Is it only the mother's that notice that? I'm pretty sure Kate doesn't. And 8th grade boys. Do you remember 8th grade boys. I do!

It's weird to only have one child in elementary school. Parker's best friend moved away over the summer and he seems to be adjusting to school without him okay. He is really liking third grade. He got into the GATE program and is really happy about it. The first day of school he came home with a letter asking me for permission to test him for the program. He and I talked about what it was and he was hoping he would get in. No joke, he checked the mail every day for the results to his test. I was really worried that he might not get in and be VERY disappointed. Luckily that didn't happen. He started the program this week and they built boats out of tape and straws and learned about water displacement. He gets to go to GATE for an hour and a half twice a week. I think it will be really good for Parker. He seems to be a bit bored in school and can use the extra challenge. As well as we told him that they don't allow children who misbehave to be in the program. So, no behavior issues so far.

Margaret started preschool and LOVES it. She is learning to write her letters and even has homework, which makes her feel very grown up. She also has art class on Monday and dance class on Thursday and Friday. We keep busy with all of that. She is quite a handful these days with whining and being stubborn. She is also a chatterbox. And if she isn't talking she is singing. I called my parents the other day just so she could have someone else to talk to. Sometimes my ears hurt. She still makes me laugh all of the time.

William is so adorable and so busy. He gets into everything. I had an epiphany the other day. I never knew why it seemed that the baby of all families is kind of spoiled and a bit entitled (please don't take offense if you are the baby of your family, this is a generalization). We were at Sam's and Will was yelling at me for not giving him the box of crackers I had put in the cart. Maggie tried to give him each item she could reach until she got him to stop yelling. So here was my epiphany, the baby of the family is spoiled by the older siblings, not the parents. If Will is unhappy and I ignore his plea for something, someone else gets it for him. He has three siblings who are at his beck and call at almost all times and can't stand to hear him cry/scream/yell. No wonder he is spoiled and yells at me when he doesn't get his way. He is not easily distracted either. When he wants something, he knows it and sticks to his guns until he gets it. Luckily he is cute and gives great open mouth kisses :)

I started working a bit from home. A good friend of ours has a business and I am doing the scheduling for his crews. And I will start doing the billing in the near future. I like having a job and working (at something other than being a mom), so I think this will be great for me. And since most of my friends have moved away, it helps to keep me busy.

We are counting down the days until Honey and Papa come home from their mission. We can't wait.

Parker's Baptism

2010-09-24T14:01:00.000-07:00

On Septemeber 11, 2010 Parker was baptized. It was a great day. His cousin Maren and him are three months apart. We had Parker wait a couple of months to be baptized so we could have a family baptism. His Grandma Carole gave the talk on baptism and Kate gave the talk on the Holy Ghost. I thought it was great that out of all the people he could choose from to give the talk, he picked his sister. During the talks and his confirmation I noticed that Parker was paying very close attention to what was being said. Both he and Maren bore their testimonies after their confirmations. It was a special day for him and our family. After the baptism and confirmation we had a big party at the Teeples' home.

Firsts (Almost)

2010-09-01T12:34:00.001-07:00

Almost his first unassisted steps

First Day of Preschool

Second Day of 3rd Grade (we didn't have time the first morning)

First Day of Middle School (6th grade)

Summer Vacations

2010-08-31T15:51:00.000-07:00

From August 6th to the 28th we vacationed as much as possible.

We went to Heber, Utah for 10 days

Parker, Nick, Kate

Maggie after Seven Peaks (i forgot the camera that day)

Scera Pool

Maggie, Porter, Kate, Seth, Parker, Anna

we had a bunch more cousins there, but I didn't break out the camera until the very end

our favorite front porch

Juliette, Claire, Will, Miller

call us crazy, but we took all of these kids bowling

Miller, Kate, Owen, Parker, Will, Porter, Seth, Andrew

Maggie, Anna, Lily, Paige, Jack, Isabel (Juliette not pictured)

Kate and Parker did a fine job helping all the kids

We went to the Colorado River

(i forgot my camera, so we made do with Kate's)

Teeples Grandchildren

Evan, Bentley, Amelia, Parker, Luke, Maren, Kyra, Will, Kate, Maggie

One Year

2010-08-08T00:18:00.001-07:00

The time has flown since Will was born. He is a great baby and continually has us laughing and smiling. He thinks it is especially funny to bang his head against things right now. He is taking lots of steps (his record thus far is 10 in a row), but is still crawling most of the time. He likes to eat, play with his siblings and he LOVES balloons and balls.

He can say:

ball

baby

da da

ma ma

ba ba

captain (he gets the c and the n part)

kate, said kay

hey

He has two, almost three teeth and he weighs 18.7 pounds.

For his party we had a beach ball theme with lots of balloons and balls for him to play with. Chelsea made him an adorable cake that he really took to. He was funny poking his one finger into it again and again. He even wanted to share it with Grandpa Bruce.

He is such a happy baby and I feel lucky to be his mom.

Awards, a Princess and Graduation

2010-08-08T00:05:00.000-07:00

This last week was busy with end of the school year celebrations. Parker was on the A-B honor roll and received an award. He and Talon have been the best of friends this year. Maggie went to a birthday party for her friend Jurnee. They dressed up as princesses and she and Jurnee both happened to pick Snow White. Kate finished fifth grade on Thursday and received awards for A-B honor roll and Most Improved. Her teacher, Mr. Shaw told us that he has never had a student who improved more than Kate did this year. Middle school here we come :(

Birthday Boy

2010-08-05T15:57:00.000-07:00

Talon, Jack, Luke, Parker, Daniel

Ashton, Drew, Jason

Parker turned eight in July and we had two celebrations. One with family and another with his friends from church and school. His friend party was all about legos. The boys built their own lego cars and raced them on a track that Matt built. It was funny to watch them cheer their cars on. They were all pretty competitive with one another and really wanted to win. We raced them in heats and the winner of the final race got a prize. They also built towers, played a lego guessing game and had cupcakes. Talon got to spend the night, which made the day that much better for Parker. I was surprised by how smoothly the day went with all those boys running around. I'm pretty sure everyone had good time and I know that Parker did.

River 2010

2010-07-25T20:24:00.000-07:00

Our first vacation for the summer was a trip to the River. We had a lot of fun and missed Honey and Papa immensely. (Note to Papa:I have more pictures to add, but I'm having some pixel difficulty.) I will add them when I get it figured out. Kate skied on one ski behind the boat for the first time. Parker tried it as well, but I didn't get any decent pictures of it. Maggie went on the horseshoe and William ate his first Oreo. He loved it.

Schedule...

2010-07-16T10:31:00.000-07:00

I need to get on one.

The house is a disaster.

Something always hurts.

Maggie only has her hair done 50% of the time.

The laundry is overflowing (I swear it multiplies like rabbits).

Time to kick my rear end in gear. Neutral has not been a good place for all involved.

4th

2010-07-04T23:52:00.001-07:00

We had our July 4th celebration at Grandma and Grandpa Teeples house tonight. We played minute to win it games, the kids swam in a little pool, we ate dinner and celebrated Matt's 36th birthday. Which is actually tomorrow. We made the kids semi-matching shirts for the day. They turned out pretty cute and were really easy. We all had a great time. And Happy Birthday to my great husband. He really is a gem.

Little Miss Naughty

2010-06-30T12:29:00.001-07:00

bitty baby after trying to get the marker off

she now looks like the doll in Toy Story 3

bangs

watercolors

(iphone picture)

it happened, she officially became a three year old

In the past two weeks Maggie:

gave Bitty Baby permanent black marker eye shadow, fingernails, lipstick, ears and some knee decor. (i tried my best to get it off)

painted her face, legs and bedroom floor with watercolors.

got caught in the act of cutting up doll clothes.

put full foundation makeup on her face. (she actually did a pretty good job)

ate three otter pops for breakfast this morning without my knowledge.

CUT HER OWN HAIR!!! She now has bangs.

she is a naughty little rugrat. and oh how I love her.

Kate the Great

2010-06-10T17:22:00.000-07:00

Kate turned 11 yesterday. We had a big family party with lots of food and strawberry shortcake for dessert. Thanks to everyone who came and helped Kate have a special day.

I can't believe she is eleven. It seems such a short time ago that she was three and I wondered if she would become a child that I would like (of course I have always loved her). I know, maybe I shouldn't admit it, but Kate as a three year old was difficult. And many many days I wasn't her biggest fan. Thankfully, she has become such a nice young women. Helpful, patient with her siblings, happy, obedient and just an overall joy to have in our family. We're lucky that Heavenly Father chose us to raise her.

Loving California

2010-06-10T16:13:00.001-07:00

Anna, Maggie, Paige and Kate

William didn't mind the sand one bit. I was surprised.

But, he didn't love the water.

Parker worked on digging this hole almost the entire time we were there.

Sandy grilled cheese and fries, yum.

Anna, Maggie, Kate, Will, Parker, Claire, Paige, Miller

The Aquarium has seals named Miller and Parker (funny, right?)

Over Memorial Day weekend we went to CA to visit Grandma and Grandpa. Bridget, Paige and Claire, Noelle, Anna and Miller all came too. We had a great time. Albeit a little bit crazy with 6 children three and under. Grandma and Grandpa Miller were great sports to put up with all of us. I guess we didn't give them much choice. ;) Our two big outings for the weekend were the Long Beach Aquarium and Torrance Beach. We had a great time and the kids played really well together. I got to stay for the remainder of the week with Noelle and Bridget and their kids and Maggie and Will. Matt took our big kids home so they could go to school. We laughed a ton and had great visits with some good friends and Grandma and Grandpa. Grandpa was especially hysterical the entire time we were there. He even went on a coke run every morning and got me my current favorite Coke Zero. I can't wait to go back.

note: the picture onslaught is especially for Honey and Papa

Camping...

2010-05-25T19:06:00.001-07:00

lake mead

9 month old baby

boat

16 hours spent outdoors (mercifully shortened from an intended 48)

60 mile an hour winds...

as much fun as you can imagine in those conditions

definitely a memory made

A Letter to Will

2010-05-06T09:38:00.000-07:00

Dear Will,

You will be nine months old tomorrow. The time could not have gone any faster.

You are adorable, but could you please sleep more? Getting up at midnight, 1:40 am, 5:00 am and then for the day at 6:30 just doesn't work for me. And napping, you could be A LOT better at it. Just so you know, thirty minutes does not constitute a morning nap. I know you want to play and unload every basket and bookshelf in the house, but I could use a break from following you around and picking up your messes.

Thank you for your happy personality. Thank you for your cheerful response when your Dad and I come to get you out of your bed at all hours of the day and night. It makes it somewhat bearable.

I love your growl and that you do it on command, I growl, you growl, etc. I would love it if you would say MaMa a little more often and not always DaDa. But I understand, he is pretty great. You are no longer an army man. Full on crawling is your style now. And I have to say I am glad. It's much easier to wipe dirty knees, then change your clothes multiple times a day. Thank you for that. You don't know how to manipulate stairs yet, so please stop going up them and falling off backwards. Too soon, you will be big and be able to do it, so just hold on for now and stay small a little bit longer. THANK YOU for taking the bottle and being happy about it. And I'm so glad you like food. Getting a few teeth might help with eating, but that's okay, you gum things pretty well. Your favorites are bananas, graham crackers, apple slices, oatmeal and noodles. I must warn you to be nicer to Captain. He won't always put up with you climbing over him, pulling his beard and legs and pinching his skin. You have a little bit longer that you can get away with it, but he will put you in your place at some point. And please don't play with Captain's toys or chewing bone. It drives him crazy and it's pretty disgusting.

I could kiss your cheeks incessantly. They are the best. Other people notice as well. A couple of weeks ago we were in the Target parking lot and a lady stopped her car behind ours. She rolled down the passenger side window to yell to me how cute you are. It's nice to know that it's not just my biased opinion that you are one of the cutest babies around.

I'm lucky to be your mom. I love your sweet little content spirit.

Love,

Mom

She Makes Me Laugh

2010-04-21T10:41:00.001-07:00

Me and Maggie's talk after church on Sunday:

Maggie (very serious):Mom, some bad guys they got Jesus and they killed him.

Me: I know.

Maggie: And then, he came back to life....what the heck?

Yesterday:

Maggie: Thayne's dog died.

Me: Yes he did.

Maggie: Will he come back to life?

Me: I don't know.

I guess her lesson on the resurrection on Sunday really made an impact on her. It is funny to watch her as the gears in her brain try to wrap her head around such an astonishing thing. I'm glad she is learning about Jesus at such a young age. And I have to say I am impressed with her Sunbeams teacher. She is obviously good at holding Maggie's attention.

Babies R Us

2010-04-17T20:10:00.000-07:00

Juliette, William, Claire

Bridget, Ben and their kids came thru town yesterday and we got this picture of 3 of the 4 babies in the family. Hopefully we will get one with Miller soon.

Parker Update

2010-04-17T20:01:00.001-07:00

Last week Parker wore his first suit to church. He was very excited about it. He will be eight in July and baptized shortly thereafter, so we thought it was time for him to have a suit.

Matt got a new suit too.. aren't they handsome?

Sometimes Parker is the best at taking pictures...

Parker is playing baseball this season. He is doing pretty well. His team is 3-1-1. He had four base hits today at his game. He thinks being an outfielder is boring.

Army Man

2010-04-17T19:47:00.000-07:00

About a week ago Will started to army crawl. He has gotten really good in the last couple of days and has started to get into a little mischief. He can open the door under the TV and get to the toys and today he got in the dog food and water.

...Like a Witch

2010-04-10T16:11:00.000-07:00

Today Parker's chore (which was assigned by his dad), was to pick up the dog poop in the backyard. Needless to say he had a full on, flapping his wings (lots of you have seen this in action) meltdown. After assigning Parker to this job, Matt went out front to park the boat and left me to oversee that Parker accomplished his task. NICE.

It was a battle, but he got it done. Gagging (I'm not kidding), screaming, crying, having to have the timer set so that he had a limit to how long he could go on with his fit and getting the chore done. With the threat that if he didn't get it done it would be his chore for the entire week. And with multiple attempts at getting into the house, which he was locked out of. In one of his many rants he screamed, "My mom is so mean....she is like a witch."

8 Months

2010-04-07T19:37:00.000-07:00

Time has gone by way too fast. William is 8 months old today. After his bath tonight I remembered that I hadn't taken a picture of him today. So he is in his snuggly pj's and ready to hit the sack. I love the smell of a clean baby.

right now Will loves:

watching his siblings

caterpillaring around the carpet

eating (both regular food and nursing)

peek-a-boo

He is an amazingly good baby. He has just started noticing when I leave a room and will cry a bit when I am out of his view, especially if he is hungry or tired. He really hates it when I wipe his nose. I have had several people ask me if he cries. Of course he cries, he is a baby. But not very much or very often and I am so grateful. Don't you just want to bite his cheeks?

Easter Sunday

2010-04-05T15:26:00.001-07:00

We spent Easter afternoon at Grandma and Grandpa Teeples. They always do a good job with the egg hunt and dinner. Most of the egg hunts our kids remember have had some eggs with money in them. At the end of the egg hunt the money gets put in a pool and divided equally (we call it the Obama plan for easter eggs). But this year things got changed up a bit and the kids each got silver dollars from Grandfather and a gift (mostly clothes) from Grandma and Grandpa as well.

Coloring Easter Eggs

2010-04-05T15:20:00.000-07:00

THE BEST EVER

2010-03-29T23:42:00.001-07:00

If you haven't met them....you are missing out.

If you are not related to them... I feel sorry for you.

If you have never had one of Grandma's Sunday dinners...you should try to get an invite.

I really have the BEST grandparents ever. They have no rivals. And I am very lucky.

We got to spend an extended weekend with them in CA and we had a great time. Our kids love to go there, play in their fort, swim in their pool and eat Grandma's great cooking.

I feel very blessed that my grandparents have always been such a big part of my life. Their home feels like home to me and I know that I am always loved there.

Sitting Up

2010-03-29T10:25:00.001-07:00

Will mastered the art of sitting up at the beginning of this month. He has figured out how to lay down without falling flat on his face (most of the time) and he rolls around to get what he wants. In the last couple of days he has been scooting by pushing with his tippy toes and doing a sort of army crawl with his arms. He kind of looks like he is going to do a push up.

Bathing Babies

2010-03-29T10:12:00.001-07:00

Maggie at home in her bunny towel

William in Grandma and Grandpa Miller's sink in CA

Noelle and Steve's sink in UT

The next few posts are for Honey and Papa. They requested more pictures of the kids...so here you go. ENJOY

Conversations I Wish I Didn't Have to Have

2010-03-09T10:18:00.001-08:00

Kate and I were alone in the car a couple of weeks ago and a commercial for Chippendale's came on the radio. Living in Vegas this type of radio commercial is normal (Thunder From Down Under comes to mind). I sort of gloss over them and don't even think about it when they are on. I forget that my kids ARE listening.

This was me and Kate's conversation:

Kate: Mom, what is Chippendale's?

Me: Ummmm (wondering if I should answer this question honestly), it's a place that women go to watch men dance around in their underwear.

Kate: Why?

Me: I'm not sure Kate, I have never understood why women would want to watch that.

Kate: Uh, ya.

Me: It's sounds really embarrassing to me.

Kate: Me too, and weird.

I will now turn of all commercials that have to do with anything of this sort

7 Months

2010-03-06T13:33:00.000-08:00

Parker likes to play with Will and make him laugh...please ignore the laundry and dog noises.

NASCAR Weekend

2010-03-01T09:23:00.001-08:00

Don't be jealous, but this last weekend the NASCAR race was in Las Vegas. Matt and I went all three days and had a lot of fun. Jen and Mike as well as Bryan and Aaron came to the Saturday Nationwide race with us.We got to meet Carl Edwards (our favorite driver) and he signed our hats and sweatshirt and told us how cute Will is. In general, I am not star struck. Mostly I don't care about celebrities. I find their lives a little interesting, but also think that most are vain, selfish dimwits. But not Carl (aka: He's So Cute, in our house), we waited for an hour to get him to sign our stuff. I'm laughing at myself as I write this. I have never asked or waited for an autograph in my life. It's kind of embarrassing. In Vegas they have what is called the Neon Garage. It's hard to explain how the Neon Garage works, but basically all the drivers, crews and their cars are in an aquarium and you can watch them work from the opposite side of the glass. It's pretty cool. We took Will with us and he got lots of attention. We saw a random performance by Kid Rock in the Neon Garage as well.

NASCAR races are interesting. The people watching is phenomenal. We've been to a few different races and the people are different at each track. North Carolina definitely had the most unique people to see. Sonoma, CA was a completely different group of people. Vegas is kind of a cross between the two. It's pretty amazing to go to a sporting event where 150,000 people attend. Getting out of the parking lot afterward is NOT amazing. It's downright annoying. It took us over two and a half hours to get home last night. It was worth it though. It is really fun for Matt and I to have something to do that we both really enjoy.

And yes, I know most of you who will read this will not understand how we could possibly enjoy cars going around and around. But it is oh so much more than that and it's just downright fun.

Kiddos

2010-02-24T13:58:00.000-08:00

December 23, 2009

Maggie Sue

2010-02-16T11:28:00.001-08:00

Margaret, aka: Maggie, Maggie Sue, Suess

and today I was instructed by her to only address her as Mom

6 Months...plus 9 days

2010-02-16T11:16:00.000-08:00

I'm a little late with this due to vacation.

Right now William loves:

yelling (not crying, just noise to get attention)

being held

smiling

his bumbo (which he learned to pop himself out of)

rolling everywhere

waving

his siblings

his daddy

his fingers

his pacifier

pulling hair

smacking whatever I am trying to drink when I am holding him

Right now William does not love:

taking long naps

sleeping for more than three hours at a time at night

being put down when he is the least bit tired or hungry

getting dressed

his swing

Snowmass Vacation 2010

2010-02-10T09:02:00.000-08:00

Everyone but me (just how I like it :)

Teeples

McEuen Clan

Grandma & Grandpa

Parker

Kate

William & Matt

The annual trip to Snowmass, CO continues. I think Grandma said they have been coming here for 35 years. We started off the week at the Aspen Branch. It is always fun and interesting to go there. Then to the Weinerstube for lunch. Monday the kids started ski school, this is Parker's first year. His first day was a bit scary for him, but he caught on great his second day and moved up a couple of levels. Kate is loving it as usual and Matt is having a blast. Will and I are in the condo with Grandma during the days and I am glad to have this time with her. With nursing Will and my arthritis acting up, I decided not to try to ski this year. Hopefully I will be able to next year. Every day after skiing everyone hits the hot tub and swimming pool. Will had his first dip in the pool and seemed to like it. He didn't like it when Matt tried to take him in the hot tub. Last night was El Cantina for dinner, which was great. Skiing, swimming, family and eating are what this trip is about. It's the best.

Cousins

2010-02-05T17:59:00.001-08:00

One of the great things about having sisters is that they have provided cousins for my kids. There are so many great things about sisters, it's hard it imagine not having them. For Chelsea's shower last night, Jen (with two of her girls, Allie and Cami), Noelle and Bridget all came to town. Bridget came the day before and brought Paige and Claire with her. Maggie and Paige had a blast playing together and Will and Claire mostly just stared at one another, except for when Will was trying to eat her hand.

Showered

2010-02-05T17:46:00.000-08:00

Chelsea's baby shower was last night and it turned out great. As a surprise for Chelsea, all the Cahow girl's were in attendance. (why didn't I get a picture of that?) We missed our mom, but we had a great time.

Let It Rain

2010-01-21T15:23:00.000-08:00

When I came downstairs this morning the sliding door was open and Maggie was outside with this hideous umbrella and her lovely pink cowboy boots. She was having a great time in the rain.

Sunshine...not so much

2010-01-16T09:20:00.000-08:00

All my children have been sick this week. Parker came down with strep throat a week ago. He is better from that but has been infected with whatever it is that Kate, Maggie and Will have. Coughing, loss of happiness and an inability to control their emotions are the symptoms. I took the picture above with my phone last night, just so I could remember the happy moments before I put Maggie to bed at 6:15.

Parker

2010-01-11T10:02:00.001-08:00

Parker is a whiz at Legos. He loves them.

My Mom mentioned to me that I needed to put a picture of Parker on the blog and make sure I posted about how much I love him. And I do, so I thought I would take her advice. You see, Parker and I are quite often at odds. I'm hoping it is a stage that will pass, but I have a feeling this is going to be our relationship for quite a bit longer. He is stubborn, I am stubborn. He doesn't like to be told what to do and neither do I. I mostly understand his frustration. But I am pretty sure that he doesn't understand mine. I love him just the same.

Five Things I Love About Parker

1. His heartfelt prayers.

2. His willingness to try and get Will to stop fussing. He really doesn't like William to be unhappy.

3. He loves to share his testimony in Sacrament meeting.

4. When he puts his mind to it, he can be the most helpful child.

5. His giggle, it is infectious.

5 Months

2010-01-06T16:47:00.000-08:00

I love this kid!

SUNbeam

2010-01-06T10:43:00.000-08:00

Maggie went to Sunbeams for the first time last Sunday. She loved it. She sat on her cute teacher's lap for most of sharing and singing time and thought it was great.

She truly is our SUNBEAM.

A Visit From Santa

2010-01-04T16:03:00.001-08:00

And what a day it was. The kids didn't get everything they asked for, but Santa tried his best.

Kate - Nano, rollerblades and lite brite replacement sheets

Parker - legos, battleship, ds games and more legos

Maggie - Boo Doll (this was a tough one for Santa to find), animal playdoh and a doll house

Will - he was so easy and didn't ask for anything, so he got a few chew toys and a leapster dog that learned his name

Naughty or Nice?

2010-01-02T15:52:00.000-08:00

We weren't sure if Parker was going to be on the naughty or nice list this year. It was a close call. A couple of days before the big day I was talking to the kids in the car and telling them that Santa was going to deliver all their gifts to the Teeples and we were going to be spending the night there. Parker was in the back of the car and in my rearview mirror I could see his face turn from happy to sad. He started to cry and told me he wanted to have Christmas at home. We talked about it for a minute and I couldn't figure out what his problem was. He was really upset. Finally he said,"I don't want to open presents at Grandma and Grandpa's because it will be embarrassing if I only get coal for Christmas." Turns out that Matt got a text from Santa that same day that said that Parker was on the borderline and needed to make sure to behave for the next couple of days.

Gingerbread Houses

2010-01-02T15:08:00.000-08:00

This tradition started years ago with Diana (Lovey Lovey) West. My mom used to make all the gingerbread houses and Diana would come over and make the frosting while we would decorate our houses. The tradition has continued and expanded to include in-laws, etc. This year we decorated our houses at the Teeples (everyone was in charge of making their own gingerbread). It is always a great time. And a big mess. The kids finished theirs pretty quickly and Grandpa and Eddie took them to the park, while the rest of the adults worked on their masterpieces. After we were done Grandfather (that is what Bruce likes to be called) got out his guitar and we sang Christmas songs.

Matt's Treehouse

Amber's House

At the end of the evening after everything was cleaned up Maggie realized that she hadn't made a house. Unbeknownst to me she ate her gingerbread pieces the morning of the event and therefore couldn't put her house together. So she held mine for the picture.

4 Months

2009-12-17T18:27:00.000-08:00

Will was four months old on the 7th. He is a very rewarding baby. He smiles when you talk to him, he loves his jumper and he giggles when you tickle him. He is a fairly easy baby and I am so grateful. I love to kiss his chubby little cheeks.

Everyone told me that our third child would throw me for a loop. They were wrong. My adjustment with Maggie was pretty easy. Parker was 4 1/2 and very self sufficient. This has been by far my most difficult transition. The laundry is never caught up on, I don't get out of my pajamas until 10:00 most mornings, I can't seem to keep the house clean and I am exhausted. I'm not sure if it is my age, arthritis or just having a fourth child that has done this to me...probably a combination of all of them?

I know that this will pass. Our kids will grow up and I will miss them. So for now some of my chores will have to wait. And the projects I want to do will have be put on the back burner, because I don't want to miss the short time our kids are little.

Three

2009-12-17T16:13:00.001-08:00

Margaret turned 3 on Thanksgiving day this year. We were in Heber and had pumpkin pie and birthday cake for dessert. All she really wanted for her birthday was a cash register and pretend money. She was very funny about it.

Maggie is the child in our house who always makes us smile and laugh. She is a like a little bit of feisty sunshine wherever she goes. I'm so glad she's ours.

MTC

2009-12-09T10:10:00.000-08:00

My parents entered the MTC on Monday. They are there for a week and then off to South Carolina. I have to say that selfishly I am sad they they are going to be gone for a year. William will change so much in that time and they won't be here to see it. I know it will be okay and their will be other blessings for their service, but it still makes me sad. BUT, I am happy for them. It will be a great adventure for them and I know that they will be great missionaries. The people of South Carolina are lucky to have them. Ruben went through quite the physical transformation to go on their mission, and my kids got to help in that process.

Will: 14 Weeks

2009-11-12T11:47:00.000-08:00

Will likes: watching his siblings, the swing, the bumbo

Will loves: standing up and balancing while holding onto someone's hands, being swaddled, his monkey mobile, being talked to.

I love: that he smiles when I get him out of his bed, the high pitched squeak he makes when he wants to be wrapped up and go to sleep, the baby noises he makes when I talk to him, that he is almost always content, his solid little body and chubby cheeks.

Halloween

2009-11-11T16:52:00.000-08:00

We spent Halloween in St. George this year . The kids have a lot of fun with their cousins and my sister lives in a great neighborhood for trick or treating. My kids started deciding on their costumes months ahead of time. I have never convinced them that having a matching theme for all of them would be cool. Thus we have a baby (matching with her cousin Cami), Wolverine, and Little Red Riding Hood. Maggie talked for months about how she was going to be Little Red and Papa was going to be the Big Bad Wolf. So Papa played along and made himself a costume. He is such an awesome Grandpa.

California

2009-11-11T10:49:00.000-08:00

I wish we could have stayed longer. Actually, I would stay forever if I could.

We went to CA for a quick trip. Matt replaced flooring in part of my grandparent's home while the kids played, swam, played and swam some more. I got to visit with Grandma and a couple of my best friends. It was great. I decided that on this trip we would forgo our normal Disneyland adventure and go to some of the places that my mom took me when I was a kid. We wanted to go to the LA Children's museum, but it was closed. So we went to the LA Zoo and to Phillipe's for lunch. TT, John and Kira met us at the zoo, it was great to see them. The LA Zoo is the perfect size. We looked at everything in about four hours and the kids thought it was awesome. The zoo was even better than usual because the reptile house was closed. I hate that place. Phillipe's is exactly the same as I remember it and the food was delicious. The kids were very interested in the sawdust on the floor. The kids built a fort behind my grandparent's house and played back there a lot. They had some unwanted visitors show up at the fort and Parker threatened them with his pocket knife (which he didn't actually have on him) ...isn't that nice? Papa was there for the first couple days of our visit. He took the kids to the fire station to visit Nick and to the beach. He took food for the birds...Kate and Parker thought that was fun, Maggie did not.

A Handmade Affair

2009-11-04T11:36:00.000-08:00

So I am going to be selling wire trees in this upcoming craft show. If you are in town and can stop by that would be great. You can check out what will be there at this website.

Heels

2009-10-20T08:17:00.001-07:00

At what age should a girl get her first pair of heels? Kate is begging and pouting. We took the kids shoe shopping last night and Kate no longer fits into children size shoes. Her feet (6 1/2) are almost as big as mine.

She's 10 1/2, she hasn't asked to get her ears pierced. She quit asking for a cell phone. She doesn't want to wear a bikini. So do I give on the heels? She has actually conceded to wedges. So we won't be going for the four inchers pictured above. But still I am reluctant to start on this journey.

What do you think?

Will's Blessing cont.

2009-10-16T10:33:00.000-07:00

Kids are Funny

2009-10-15T14:10:00.000-07:00

Maggie: Dad, smell my finger, smell my finger!!

Matt: Okay....Yuck Maggie, that smells disgusting.

Maggie: (laughing) I know, I stuck it by my bum.

This morning Kate was bawling as she was getting ready for school...the reason...we were out of milk.

Will's Blessing

2009-10-14T11:24:00.000-07:00

On October 11, 2009 we blessed William. I feel very blessed and fortunate to have such a great family. Matt did a good job on Will's blessing. I don't remember the exact words Matt said but I do remember that as I sat there listening to the blessing I felt an overwhelming gratitude to my Heavenly Father for entrusting us with Will. I also felt so thankful for the men in our family and for their willingness and ability to stand in the circle and bless Will. William is so lucky to have so many worthy men to look up to.

In the blessing circle: Matthew B Teeples, Marvin E Miller, Ruben Garnica, Scott McEuen, Bruce M Teeples, Peter Andersen, John Emmett, Jason McEuen, Ben Reed, Eddie Pickup, Bryan Johnson, Bishop Brian Beal, Torry Watson and Adam Hawkins.

BYU Football

2009-10-14T10:55:00.000-07:00

Since my family is huge on BYU football, we scheduled Will's blessing for the same weekend as the BYU/UNLV game. We had lots of people in town and it was a great weekend. Thanks to everyone who was able to come.

The Battle of the Hair

2009-10-01T09:21:00.000-07:00

Have you ever seen a cowlick like this? Is there a surgical procedure to fix these? Plastic surgery maybe? This is one of the FOUR cowlicks Maggie has on her head. It is by far the worst of the multitude. All our other kids have one nice and neat cowlick on the back of their heads. And Maggie got all the additional cowlicks. Lucky girl. I shouldn't be surprised, since I have five mixing it up on my head. But I feel for her. She is going to battle this amazing area of hair growth for her entire life.

Will

2009-09-29T11:19:00.000-07:00

I know I'm biased, but he is adorable.

His little square face with his chubby cheeks.

They are perfect for kissing.

To Comment or Not to Comment

2009-09-27T22:48:00.000-07:00

I'm wondering...When and on who's posts is it appropriate to comment? I love comments, the more the merrier. But do other people find it annoying when people comment on their posts. Or do you have to know someone really well to comment? I know I often want to comment, but don't. And I also look at blogs of people I knew ages ago and who I know know me, but I haven't talked to in quite some time. I'm curious, what do you think is appropriate comment etiquette? So leave a comment, I'd like to know what you think.

# of times the word comment was used in above paragraph = 7

Maggie-ism's

2009-09-16T22:34:00.001-07:00

Maggie has come up with some real doozies lately.

Tonight we came home and Captain had chewed a diaper (I know, disgusting) and Maggie says to me:

"Last year when I was a puppy, did I chew dirty diapers?"

I had know idea she used to be a dog. I tried to explain to her that she has never been a puppy, but she was pretty set that she had.

Andrew was coming over to play today and she says to me:

"Andrew is not a good share person."

I responded, "You are right, but neither are you."

And she says, "I know, I'm not."

Like she is perfectly okay with not being good at sharing.

I had a full sugar, full caffeine soda today (still trying to get rid of this headache), and I left it on the counter downstairs. When I came back down Maggie had drank the entire thing. All of it, not one sip left. I told her that she shouldn't drink my soda without asking and that she shouldn't drink that kind of soda because it is not for kids. And she says to me:

"It's okay mom, cause I a grown up."

Maggie is also very concerned over smells. She unfortunately got my sense of smell, which is very keen, and she mentions how bad things smell quite often.

I love it when she smells something horrible and says to me, "It smells like you." NICE

When my mom was here Maggie was sitting on her lap reading books with her. Maggie literally leapt off my mom's lap and onto mine (a couch away) and looks at my mom with the most disgusted look on her face and says, "I'm not reading with you, you smell." My mom and I both started to laugh. Captain was sitting on the floor in front of my mom and was apparently having some sort of digestive problems. Maggie's reaction was hysterical.

We can't go into any public bathroom without some comment from Maggie. And if she smells anything foul she asks, "Who pooped?"

My mom and Ruben have both been rudely reminded by Maggie that they have morning breath. On more than one occasion she has gotten into bed with them and proceeded to put her hand in front of their face and tell them, "Your nose smells." I guess that is where she thinks the stink comes from.

The best thing about all of these comments is the look on her face when she makes them. I wish I could get it on camera. It is like you or someone or something has done the most awful thing by making a smell. She scrunches up her nose, gets the most high and mighty look that she can muster and proceeds to be very rude. It cracks me up.

I promise I tell her that it isn't nice to tell people that they smell. But a little part of me smiles when she pipes up about a stench. Because most of the time I am thinking the same thing.

Company

2009-09-12T21:43:00.001-07:00

Mom, Chelsea, Bridget, Noelle

Maggie, Paige, Anna

Maggie, Paige, Anna, Andrew

Shortly after I got home from the hospital (the second time) Noelle and Bridget came to visit. The four two year olds, Andrew (Chelsea's), Maggie, Paige (Bridget's) and Anna (Noelle's) are quite the foursome. There is never a dull moment when they are around. The crazy thing is we are doing the same thing again. All three of these sister's are pregnant again and we will have four babies within 7 months of each other all over again. We love our cousin friends. And I love my sisters. Jen included, even though she isn't contributing to the baby boom. I can't imagine why she didn't come for the weekend as well? Could it have been the four two year olds? Possibly.

Four Weeks

2009-09-04T11:26:00.001-07:00

It seems impossible that Will is four weeks old. The time has flown by, yet some moments have stood still. I am more in love with him every day. And can't believe that we ever considered our family complete without him. I am trying to enjoy and appreciate every moment of his babyhood. Even the every other hour feedings some nights. I know it won't last and he will grow up, so I want to hold him as much as possible while he is still so small.

He is getting more alert with every day and has started to grasp my shirt while he nurses or lays on my shoulder. If I lay him on the bed, he cranks his head toward the window to look out. He will take a pacifier every once in a while. He definitely doesn't like it as much as his siblings did. He is very grunty, his cradle is now in the loft so that I can sleep at night and only hear his louder grunts. He doesn't cry very much and when he does, it isn't very loud. It's more like a complaint than a cry. Every so often I think he is actually smiling and not just gassy. I can see a glimpse of what his grin will look like. He loves to be held...and I am so glad.

All Together

2009-08-29T16:40:00.000-07:00

Last night I laid Will on the bed for a little kicking time and all the kids climbed up there with him. Kate and Parker had their Halloween costume catalogs and Maggie had her talking book. They were on the bed for quite some time and it dawned on me that I hadn't taken any pictures of all the kids together. So I broke out the camera, took some candids and then made them pose. The outfits aren't great, the kids weren't neatly put together and coordinated, but this is our real life. Messy, colorful and mostly happy.

This Picture is Not Her Norm

2009-08-25T20:26:00.000-07:00

Maggie seems to like William just fine. In fact she likes to hold him, talks to him when he is in his swing or on the bed. And even tries to get as close as possible to stepping on his head while he lays on his blanket on the floor. It's dangerous having a two year old sister. But mostly what Maggie does these days is cry and complain. Something is wrong, she is sure of it, but she doesn't know what.

I do.

His name is Will. He has stolen her thunder and I don't think she is a fan. We have never experienced a two year old and a newborn. So if you have, and you have some words of wisdom, please share. It's a good thing she's cute.

First Day of School 2009

2009-08-25T16:36:00.000-07:00

School started again yesterday and it was a happy day at our house. With all the craziness that has gone on around here in the last couple of weeks, it will be nice to be back to a routine. Kate was very excited about being the oldest at the school - 5th grade, I can't believe it - and Parker was just happy to go back and see his friends.

This Week...

2009-08-21T13:11:00.000-07:00

I spent most of my time here

It started the week after I had Will. I got a headache on Wednesday the 12th that never went away. I didn't have to do much with my parents here and Carole and Brooke's help, so I could deal with the headache.

I am not talking run of the mill headache here, or child induced headache, or sleep deprivation headache. I am talking waking up in the morning crying type of headache. Don't try to do anything headache because you will regret it. And please no noise headache. I was miserable and I am sure the postpartum hormones didn't help anything.

So the horrible headache continued. I assumed it would go away and my parents went home. I figured I could handle things, even with the headache. Tuesday (18th) morning comes and it has been almost a week with this headache, so I called my ob's office and made an appointment. It was a good thing I did. I got to my appointment that day and my blood pressure was skyrocketing. My inital bp read was 165 over 105. Thirty minutes later it was 196 over 112. My doctor sent me immediately to the emergency room, where they were extremely quick with getting me back to a bed (you know you are in trouble when the emergency room is quick with anything). I had a CT, I spoke with the emergency room doctor and my ob and they thought that I probably had pre eclempsia and in a very rare occurrence it didn't present until after I gave birth (lucky me). They were worried that I would have a stroke or seizure due to the high bp (it was still in the 170's) so they started me on medication. We then got the results from the CT which they thought showed blood on my brain probably caused by the high bp. The hospital I initatially went to doesn't do nuerological problems, so I was transferred by ambulance (I didn't even get the flashing lights and sirens) to the hospital in the picture above. Can't wait to see the bill. I had many tests including a MRI, a MRV another CT and lots of blood drawn. I stayed in the ICU, where I didn't really feel like I fit in. I could talk, walk, eat and use the bathroom on my own and I think I was the only patient in the ICU who could do these things. I even got to leave the ICU to nurse Will when Matt or my parents would bring him to me. It was too dangerous to bring him in my room with all the infections in the ICU. I missed him terribly.

I stayed in the hospital where they "practiced medicine" on me and I got all sorts of different answers to what might be wrong with me. What I think happened may or may not be the case, but here it is. I think I did have postpartum pre-eclempsia. This caused the high blood pressure and the headache. I didn't have a brain hemorrhage. The nuerologist and the neuro surgeon(why are these two separate people? and no my doctors did not look like McDreamy,) both seemed to agree that I have some weird sort of plaque spots on my brain which they don't know the cause of. This will of course require follow ups with the neurologist to figure it out. It could be a multitude of things consisting of : the Rheumeatoid arthristis that I have had for seven years, I could have been born with these spots and they are nothing to worry about, some other sort of autoimmune disorder which could be mulitple sclerosis ( I sure hope not), but the doctor did mention it several times. So we will see about that.

I got out of the hospital last night and I am happy to be home. I am still not feeling like myself, but I am sure that is due to the multitude of narcotics I was given in my three day stay. My headache is mostly gone, I'm on blood pressure medicine and my parents are back to watch over us.

My nurses at the hospital were great and made an unpleasant circumstance a little more bearable.

And I have to mention what a wonderful family I have. Bruce and Carole, Melinda and Peter, of course Matt, Chelsea, my parents and my great friend Brooke all took over and helped with the kids while I was at the hospital. I received lots of phone calls from concerned family and friends and I know that many prayers were said in my behalf and I am very appreciative of that. I have never before been so aware of how fragile life is. I am thankful to have gotten through this and have a heightened perspective on how lucky I am. And I sure hope that a week like this will never be repeated.

Baby Love

2009-08-13T12:00:00.001-07:00

I am lucky. I again (at least so far) have a very good baby. He eats well, sleeps pretty well (except for last night when he wanted to nurse every 1.5 hours) and is very relaxed and happy. I was anxious before he was born that I wouldn't love him as much as the others, but I do and I am so glad he is ours.

William Paul Teeples

2009-08-09T18:57:00.001-07:00

William Paul Teeples

08/07/09

4:46 am

7 lb 11 oz

19 inches

Hormonal Glimpses

2009-07-31T08:08:00.000-07:00

My conversation with Kate about 10 minutes ago...

Kate - Mom, I need some pants to wear to school.

Me - If there are none in your drawer they are all dirty.

Kate - Well I need some pants.

Me - What would you like me to do? Why don't you just wear a dress?

Kate - (with tears streaming down her face) But none of them match my nails!

Countdown

2009-07-30T12:25:00.000-07:00

15 days to due date

3 cm dilated

50% effaced

Induction date scheduled : August 6 (hopefully it doesn't come to this)

SO SO SO ready to meet him

7

2009-07-17T12:18:00.001-07:00

Parker turned seven this week and we had a birthday celebration. He picked scones and fresh fruit for breakfast, he took a treat to school for his classmates and requested spaghetti and meatballs for dinner. He had a Monsters vs. Aliens themed family birthday party (although he did have his best buddy Talon there, unbeknownst to me he had invited him) at Grandma and Grandpa's house. In all I think the day was a success. He seemed happy with it.

35 Things I Love About Matt

2009-07-17T11:55:00.001-07:00

Matt turned 35 on the 5th of July. He is such a good sport and was camping in Idaho at our family reunion for his birthday. Not exactly a perfect birthday setting.

35 things I love and appreciate about Matt (in no particular order):

1. Great, great Dad to our kids.

2. He rubs my back.

3. He mows the lawn.

4. He bathes the dog.

5. And picks up after him.

6. He loves NASCAR even more than me.

7. He will cook dinner if I am not feeling up to it.

8. He sometimes helps with the laundry.

9. He makes me laugh.

10. He loves our kids.

11. He is more patient than me.

12. He can fix ANYTHING.

13. He watches Bachelorette with me without complaining.

14. He is understanding of my many aches and pains.

15. He loves my family.

16. He's a giver not a taker.

17. He takes the kids swimming and I don't even have to go.

18. He taught Parker how to tie his shoes.

19. He is daring enough to barefoot.

20. He changes diapers.

21. And helps potty train the kids.

22. He cleans up throw up in the middle of the night.

23. He also cleans up wet beds.

24. He takes me on dates.

25. He will see girly movies just to make me happy.

26. He doesn't leave dirty clothes on the floor.

27. He is very even tempered.

28. He works hard.

29. He keeps the garage clean.

30. He usually lets me name the kids :).

31. He honors his priesthood.

32. He never hangs up the phone without telling me he loves me.

33. He likes California almost as much as me.

34. He will travel for holidays.

35. He makes me a better person.

Pregnancy Humor?

2009-07-17T09:51:00.001-07:00

If you know me at all you know I am not a small pregnant person. Yes, of course I am still short, 5'3" on a really good day with great shoes, but I get round, very round while pregnant. Which I am sure makes me look even shorter. Why do people have to comment? What is it about an obviously pregnant person that makes people want to pipe up and say something?

My favorite comment from this pregnancy...it was two weeks ago. 6 weeks before my due date:

"When are you due?" some stranger asks.

"The middle of August," I respond

"Oh, I thought you were going to say, any day now," she pipes back.

Really did she have to add that? I had to laugh. Some people really don't think before they speak...and I am often one of them. So I have to have some understanding.

I now tell people any day. I figure if I don't know them, what does it matter what I tell them.

This is the best story though and it happened with my last pregnancy. I was on the elevator going up to my dr. appointment and there was an Asian lady on it with me.

Now you have to read this with an asian accent.

her, looking cross eyed at my belly: Oh, when you due...

me: Three weeks...

her: Oh, you very big...

me: well yes, this is my third baby and I think I am a bit bigger than with the first two...

her: oh, maybe you eat too much this time...

It is not as if I am blind to the fact that my stomach sticks out really far. I realize I am not a petite little pregnant person. And it is okay with me. I'm pregnant, there is a baby in there and where else is he supposed to go but out. People are funny.

Emotional Roller Coaster

2009-07-14T14:43:00.000-07:00

Today we went for monitoring and an amniocentesis to see if the baby's lungs are developed enough to have him by c-section tomorrow morning. Well it turns out that he miraculously unwound all the cord from his neck and he is doing well. So no amnio and no c-section (I was really anxious about both). Now just the waiting game.

This pregnancy has been full of emotional ups and downs and lots of anxiety. Hopefully this will be the last of pregnancy troubles for me and this little guy and he will arrive in a timely manner with no health issues. We're tired (literally) of all the drama.

it's all in a name

2009-07-08T16:43:00.000-07:00

So it looks like baby boy Teeples is going to be arriving sooner than expected. I had an ultrasound yesterday and he has wound the cord around his neck two times for sure, but most likely three. We are worried but hopeful that everything will turn out well. With all the other complications I have had this pregnancy the doctors seem to agree that they will most likely (this could change on a weekly basis) induce me at 37 weeks. That means I have two weeks and one day to get everything ready. And if they postpone the induction I will just be ahead of the game...right? We are pretty sure that we have his name nailed down, but I'm wondering which name you like?

William (Will)

Wyatt

Miller - Matt says no to this one, but I haven't given up yet.

No matter what name we choose, his middle name will be Paul...

While In Utah....

2009-07-08T16:06:00.000-07:00

we played in Heber with lots of cousins

we admired Grandma Miller's amazing flowers

we visited Matt's grandpa Paul

we went to the Oquirrh Mountain temple open house

we went to Seven Peaks

we had a great time and can't wait to do it again next summer

Noelle's Landing

2009-06-23T16:38:00.000-07:00

Here is the video I promised...

Colorado River

2009-06-17T13:25:00.000-07:00

We had our first river trip of the summer and it was a lot of fun.

Kate skiied on the boom with the rope for the first time.

Noelle the skiier.

Who got a little to close to shore when she let go and went flying face first in the mud. Video to be posted at a later date.

Matt dropping his ski and barefooting.

Successful ski drop.

And he's done.

The pied piper with the baby's.

Parker decided to finger paint with oil based paint. He wasn't happy about the removal.

Isn't he skilled?

Andrew, Anna and Maggie were so cute all weekend.

Pictures

2009-06-17T13:08:00.000-07:00

My cute friend Brittney took pictures of the kids for me a couple of weeks ago. She did and great job. Just a sample of my favorites.