~Eight is Great~

Lexi got baptized! :) What a special day! Jahde baptized her (you're awesome Jahde!). And Dave confirmed her a member of the church (You're awesome too, honey :). Sadly, I didn't hear much of the confirmation, because when I told DJ to please keep quiet so dad could give Lexi a blessing, he said 'that's just stupid' over and over. Not my favorite moment! I wish I had thought to bring duct tape with me! DJ is typically a good boy,not perfect, gets into things more than any of my children ever have, but obedient and kind, this was not characteristic of him and seriously made me crazy! --begin random veer-- I have been known to say "I'll spank you so hard your mother will cry", it makes me laugh!--end random veer-- Anyway, Lexi has been looking forward to this day for months! Originally she was going to be baptized on her birthday and had said "getting baptized on my birthday is the best present I will get"....she's a sweetie! Since I'm only a step-mom, I don't get to be a part of things as much as I'd like, or even get to spend the time that I would like..... so I'm going to post something for Lexi here, and hopefully she'll have access to it her whole life :)
Lexi,
I am so proud of you and the decision you have made to be baptized a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. Being a member of this church can be the very best blessing in your life. It gives you opportunities beyond measure. You have the chance to be with your family for all of eternity......that's a long time! Having the gospel in my life, and knowing I have a Heavenly Father who loves me, has really carried me through some hard times in my life. I am so grateful. I know that if you do what is right, you will be blessed. Life wont always be easy, but there are lots of people around you to help you, who love you very much. And most importantly, Heavenly Father loves you, and is always there for you, always ready to give you peace, comfort and guidance in your life. The gift of the Holy Ghost really is an amazing gift! Take time to listen. Take time to pray. You are a special daughter of God. You have a talent and beauty that can, and will, touch the lives of others. You are such a joy to be around... so happy and full of life. You are loving and kind. You help make our house a home. Dad and I love you so much. I am so happy to be your mom and be a part of your life, and I will always be here for you.





Please don't make fun of this cake! It really isn't my best haha..... and I cut the 'dog poop' on the coconut grass lawn out of the picture too! lol I had these great ideas in my head, but once I put it all together, it was BLAH! Lexi loves dogs..... so a doggy dish, itty bitty edible doggy bones.... in the backyard coconut grass, with a cute little chocolate rock path through the grass..... and who owns a dog and doesn't have dog poop in their backyard at some point and time, right? lol OK fine, I'll add a pic of the poop! (make sure and compliment Brandon on his poop decor skills lol) But don't say I didn't warn you about this lame and crappy concoction! (pun intended)

~we love cousins~

Top to bottom, left to right:
Brandon, Kyle,
Annabelle, Lexi, Ethan, Toby, Benny,
Lily, DJ, Jeffrey, Kimi, Dallan, Gracie, William, Abel:)


My sweet sister Kristin and her family (who we very rarely get to see) stopped in for a visit on their way through - moving from Minot, ND to New Mexico. It was so great to see them!!!

Dave and Nikki and their kids came to say hello to the Schlenske's, so we took the photo op! Jahde wasn't with us that weekend, cuz he had a hot date :) so he's missing in these photos...... so is Hannah, Isaac, Gideon, Miriam, Andrew, Lucy, Rachel, Joshua (David and Susan's) Porter, Bradford and Darcee's pregnant tummy :) and Kianna, KC, and Corbin (Kirk and Cherrie's). We love all of our cousins!!! I wish I knew how to photoshop them all into the picture........although it's a wee bit crowded haha

It's amazing how big our family has gotten. It all started out so slow!!!

And I just have to post this sweet note that I found. Toby wrote it, obviously back in early December. It's so sweet! I had him go leave it on our neighbors porch(months later, but better late than never right?), so had to get a picture for my memory :) Dave was in China and it wouldn't stop snowing... I spent many hours outside shoveling, but already had a LOT on my plate (Dave gone, mom and dad totalled our suburban etc...) and one morning, when I was getting ready to go shovel, saw our kind neighbor helping out! So nice!!! Our home teacher ended up helping too. I was/am very grateful!

~eggselent~

We had the awesome opportunity to meet David Archuleta! I was so much more excited than the kids lol We were provided this great opportunity through the Little Hero's Foundation, that works closely with Children with Cancer Christmas Foundation. We are very grateful.... THANK YOU! David A. is a cute kid and excellent musician. I'm still pathetically giddy about meeting him lol



And you see how happy we are about Easter?! :)





We had a great easter! We got to have an easter egg hunt with our cute cousins on Saturday, and then our own little hunt on Sunday. Dave missed out on the festivities, as he was flying home from China (again). The kids and I made him a little nest out of rice krispies and candy eggs, so that he got a 'taste' of Easter.
We also decorated some boiled eggs. I stayed away from the dye..... I honestly couldn't even think about that with my sweet DJ in the house :) So this was our fun, decorative Easter moment :)

(You guessed wrong... if you decided who decorated which eggs :)

p.s. Lexi's birthday pics and our cousin-fun-extravaganza pics coming soon :)

~Bazooka??~

First, the funny........ Miss Lily wanted to watch the video of when she was young playing the bazooka!? Yeah, she was so cute and little and did such a good job playing the bazooka!? (Oh, and watch Lily when she starts bouncing to the beat... sooo funny! :)

If you can't figure out what the bazooka is... email me lol

Next...... I had a crazy day yesterday. I posted it on facebook, mostly for some sympathy :). But it was rotten! I took the kids to the eye doctor and found out that Kyle's eyes are just getting worse and worse....really bad, and he needs new glasses. Toby is colorblind and will be needing glasses soon. Then on our way home, we got rearended by a car that thought the light was green, but it wasn't. She hit us really hard. Toby's head flew back and hit pretty hard and he started to cry. Lily and DJ were already shocked, so upon hearing a cry, both started crying as well. The lady that hit us was sooo scared. She really felt bad. I didn't report the accident, even though I probably should have, but I was in hurry to get to SLC and still make it back in time to sub in a volleyball game. And would have made it, had it not been horrible traffic and a hail storm! Yeah, a hail storm in April. Anyway, I am not taking care of myself the way I should while Dave's been in China..... no exercise and very little sleep, so I can't cope the way I should (and typically do). BUT, despite my bad day, it didn't really feel that bad. I know that sounds weird, but I have been through so much worse, that these trivial things are annoying, but not overwhelming. My cousin said jokingly "It could have been worse" (right Andrea :) but that's the truth. I have definitely learned my lesson to never utter the words 'well it can't get any worse', because by golly it can.... it really, seriously, literally, totally can! Anyway, my day was stupid, and it left a sour taste in my mouth, but I finished it off playing volleyball with some great people and then walked outside to see the most beautiful snowfall everrrrrrr. Yeah, most people are annoyed to have snowfall in April, but it was gorgeous! Those little snowflakes served as a reminder to me of the beauty of God's creations. It somehow reminded me how blessed I really am. I drove home from vb in silence, with a prayer in my heart.
And despite my recognition and pondering, I was grumpy today again. :) But I know that I am loved and watched over by my Heavenly Father, and I know he'll help me, even on the days that 'can't get any worse'. :)

The weather has been beautiful the past few days here! Dave is in China (again!) and each one of the kids has been sick at least once, if not twice, or three times (strep ughhhh) in the last month, so the kids and I have spent countless hours outside and we are really enjoying it! I miss Dave, but it's nice to not feel that wifely duty/obligation to make a pretty meal and have the floor picked up by 5 :) We spent the afternoon Saturday at the park. We took a picnic lunch, fed the ducks, and played! Sunday we went for a couple of bike rides.


Tonight we sketched all of the Spongebob characters with sidewalk chalk (Plankton was eeeeeasy lol), and found a dead bird ..... DJ thought it was just a feather, and you should have seen his face when an entire bird came up out of the woodchips!!! And I really need to get Lily's description on video of 'the bird flying with his head turned sideways, he didn't see the house and crrrrrack, broke his neck' lol. We also spent many fun hours on bikes, scooters, and longboards. The kids and a couple of neighbors were sitting on the longboards and coasting down the driveway, into, and across the road --don't worry, we always had someone on car patrol. :) Kyle helped the younger ones, and made sure everyone was being safe (love how helpful and good with kids he is!). All of the kids were so brave, going off of the bumpy driveway onto the pavement. I was nervous just watching them!! So, I finally tried it myself, but chickened out and slowed myself down with my feet right before the bump..... the neighbor got a kick outa that lol. And Toby had been trying to get more control of his longboard by turning after he entered the road. After a successful run, he happily pushed his longboard in front of him in a proud manner.....hit a crack in the sidewalk....and practically impaled himself with his longboard!!! He seriously hit so hard! He stepped back dazed and confused, and obviously in pain. After a few breaths, he was ready to ride again! I would have been out of commission for at least a month!

~lightyears of catching up~

Wow, I am behind! Toby turned 7 on January 24th, then I turned, ummmmm 29, and then Kyle turned 12 on February 12th. My boys are so grown up! One more year and Toby will be baptized!!!
We had a bit of a Star Wars theme for Toby's birthday. Toby was beyond excited about his birthday present! He has been begging for either AT-TE or the Clone Turbo Tank for star wars for months now! He really wanted one or the other for Christmas, but we just couldn't pay that much for something. Then right after Christmas, it went on sale.... HALF OFF! I called Marc (his dad) and explained the situation and that we wanted to split the half off cost with him........but he decided to just go ahead and buy it for him :) so we gave Toby the clone troopers to go with it! I have a video of him on youtube opening his present and jumping around and screaming.. quite funny lol (there's a link to my youtube site if you're at all interested :)



We also celebrated Toby's birthday by going to a Grizzley's Hockey game with the Leukemia Lymphoma Society! They had invited us to join them and have Toby stand in a survivors tunnel for the hockey team to enter through, but when they found out it was his birthday, they asked if he wanted to drop the puck! He was so excited and really had a great time! Our good friends, the Kimmings, went to the game with us, as did my dear friend Claire, who is running a marathon for LLS team in training.




Kyle is now 12....a deacon..... and passed the sacrament for the first time on Sunday!!!!! He makes his momma proud! He also got a really cool gift from Marc, an Arizona Cardinals football, signed by a whole bunch of the team. :) His cake.... well, I couldn't decide what to do lol He loves cows and unicorns, so I combined the two lol. He and I went with his good friend Bailey and Bailey's mom to the movie The Lightening Thief....it opened on his birthday :) <
Kyle and Bailey made it to district with their science fair project How Does Light Affect Fish Behavior?. They placed in district, and will now be going on to state at BYU.
Look at these kids! Aren't they the cutest kids ever? (besides your own of course lol) I love being a mom and I love my kids!

Lily's 5th Birthday!!!

My sweet baby girl turned 5! Lily is such a beautiful princess! She truly blesses our home. I love to hear her sing and play the piano. I love to see the awesome pictures she draws. I love her laugh and her smile. I love her hugs. I love the intelligence, spirit, and love that she embodies. She is a fabulous sister, caring friend, star student and wonderful daughter!!! We love you Lily!!!>
Anna, Lily and Sydney Pie. :) Such cute and sweet girls.



Ok this is just plain 'blog material' as Dave would say :)
Toby is a picky eater.....ever since chemo ruined a normal appetite and caused cravings galore!
So after many choices of what to eat for dinner, all sounding horrible, Toby made his own dinner............

A tortilla filled with broken up chips, spaghetti, pepperoni, salami, green beans, and home-made salsa.

He ate the whole thing LOL