H is for Haylie.

Haylie is in Pre-K this year and loves it. She has wonderful teachers who love her and encourage her. They have been reviewing their letters and today's letter happened to be H. So with Anthony's permission, their teachers gave Haylie a special treat. She is the only child who's name starts with the letter H...so as the kids are coming out of class I see sad little faces and one beaming face. Haylie got her HAIR done. The teachers had made her all sparkly and purple with hair spray. She was all glittery and happy! She will never let me wash her hair now!

Easter 2009

This year has only just begun and already I have been met with the disappointing fact that I can not accomplish everything I want to do. I really wanted to have all of my yard work done and a garden planted, but thanks to Mother Nature those things will have to wait. I also wanted to have Easter dresses made for the girls. I even have a pattern and material all picked out...but....I have dropped the ball on that one too. No time...no energy...no motivation? I don't know what gets in my way, preventing me from doing these things....I think I get in the way of me!

Any how, I figured since things were not going according to plan...then I just won't plan. So Sunday morning comes. We get up...eat breakfast and have a nice relaxing morning watching a movie with the kids. Yes we skipped church. Stake Conference on Easter Sunday, plus the fact that Tui makes it impossible to actually sit and listen, made it more appealing to stay home today! We decided to have an Easter lesson at home instead.

After lunch, the kids went to the park with Anthony while I played Easter bunny. Then I went to the park and excitedly told the kids that I just saw a huge rabbit hopping away from our house. Sydney looked at me in her suspicious little way and asked if I was telling the truth. I didn't answer her in complete truth, but I don't think she cared...she ran home to go start looking for eggs. Then it was time to put our Easter lesson to work. We dug up some of our wild tiger lilies and potted them. we took them to a couple of older ladies in the neighborhood that we have sort of adopted as grandmas. They are always so sweet to my kids, so we wanted to show them we love them.

As we were getting back home, Anthony was waiting for us with silly string. It was fun to see the girls try to get daddy. That stuff is smelly but fun! After a full day of Easter fun, I made a wonderful dinner. Ham, sweet potatoes, mashed potatoes, green bean casserole, corn bread muffins, creamed corn, and marshmallow jello. Ahhh. I love Easter. I would have loved it more if we had the girls in pretty dresses...but oh well....there is always next year.

Peeps & Poops
I am so excited! Tui went pee today for the first time in the potty. He was a bit confused as to what was going on down there but he was proud of himself non the less! So he got his potty treats and then said he had to go potty again. I almost dismissed it as a cry for more potty treats....but I don't want to discourage him, so we went again. This time it was poops. Actually, he has been going poop in the potty for about 4 months....just not consistently. He loves to sit on the potty...so maybe I will get through this.

Tui's Words....

Now that Tui's vocabulary has improved, some of his words are changing and I wanted to jot down some of the things he says and does so I could remember what he used to say when he asks me 5 years down the road.

pib-bow ( pillow)

bankie ( blanket)

lie-king ( lightning Mcqueen)

Nem-a-nee ( emily from Thomas and friends)

Shake-a-da-bootie ( shake the bootie)

No Faiw mommy...go time out......

smewll me ( smell me....he loves to smell things!)

he calls pancakes and waffles toast...because they go in the toaster

no likey...go tell daddy ( he tells on me all the time!)

he licks everything...the mirror, his shoes...my arm....you name it he'll lick it.

He can count to 20 by himself.

mark-set-go( he loves to run!)

I diddit (so proud of himself!)

I hewlp ( he thinks he is helping, but...)

his favorite place to go is to Walmart to look at the fish.

There are so many more, but I will try to be better at recording them as they happen. I will miss this time in his life!

Sheriff Krista.

O.k......so I am serious about finding out if the police department has undercover cops who just drive around catching people doing STUPID stuff? Cuz I want to sign up!!! I don't know about any of you, but I must attract bad drivers. Especially at a particular stop light.

It is a 2 lane road. As you sit at the stop light the left lane can ONLY TURN LEFT. The right lane has the OPTION of turning left or to go straight or to turn right. Fairly straight forward. A completely normal intersection and it is well labeled....road signs ahead of time and paint on the road is clearly viable. So why then do people in the LEFT lane insist on going STRAIGHT and running into people in the Right lane who are allowed to turn left also??????

As I was in the right lane ( turning left), I even had my blinker on, A small black 4 door Toyota...licence plate.......( will keep private), starts to go straight while I was turning left. I am in a much larger van so don't even think about it lady!!! Well she just didn't want to give in....but neither did I. If it were not for the fact that I had kids in the car with me, I would have let her hit me and then I could have called the real cops. As it were, I let her sneak in front of me while I proceeded to honk my horn at her and tail her all the way into the gas station parking lot she pulled into. This little Asian woman got out and tried to give me some excuse like " my friend was talking to me and she told me to go fast and get in front so I could go straight". What a bunch of Crapolla! Which by the way is what is now in the woman's pants after the lecture I gave her!

Lovin the Green!

My favorite color is green, so it is no surprise that I also love St. Patrick's day. First thing this morning I told the kids to get dressed....oh and be sure to wear something green so the leprechauns won't pinch you. The looks on the girls faces were priceless! They asked all kinds of questions about leprechauns and why we can't see them and why they pinch us if we aren't wearing green. Oh the wonderful little lies I come up with.

After satisfying their curiosity, they went off to get dressed. Not 2 minutes passed when Haylie's unmistakable whinny voice cried out that she couldn't find anything with green in it. I told her to keep looking...she had to have something. I went in to help her look and the poor thing was almost in tears....she really was worried that she would be followed by little mean leprechauns all day. So, after searching and not finding a single piece of green clothing, I told her that I had the perfect thing. We sat down at the table and made a " Lucky" GREEN bracelet. She beaded it all by herself ( sorry no picture ). Then all was well....she felt safe again. Sydney made one too.

After we were all safe from the pinching leprechauns, we had a breakfast of green oatmeal with green sprinkles on it. Looked nasty!

Dinner was a whole lot better than breakfast! We went over to a friends house for dinner to share our GREEN meal. I made green fettuccine Alfredo and green garlic toast with a side of broccoli and peas and a yummy green marshmallow salad. Jeremy...the master grilling machine made our chicken for us....not green...I don't think any of us would have been able to stomach that! Then to wash it all down, green Kool aid.

I love Green!

My Little Chef.

I have been trying really hard to let the girls do more of the things I usually do because "it is just easier if I do it."

Haylie especially is excited about helping out in the kitchen. She is the typical second child who is usually happy to sit back and watch others do the work. So when she asks to help...I can't send her away.

Sunday she asked me if she could help make dinner. I was planning on making meatloaf which requires a lot of hands on stuff.....touching the raw meat and what not. It is not every ones favorite feeling. But she was all for it. She said she wanted to do it all by herself. And she did. All I did was put all the ingredients into the bowl. She did all the mixing and moulding and put the loaf into the dish and then I put it in the oven.

It turned out delicious....but Haylie wouldn't know because she decided she didn't want to eat it. Go figure.

Experiment.
I posted this note on facebook, but also wanted to post it to my blog. I find that as time goes on, I have less and less patience for the idiotic and demeaning intentions of people who think they have power over us. I would love to show these power hungry idiots what kind of power we have...unfortunately I can not do it alone. But I hope that by letting my voice be heard, others will follow suit and have their voice be heard as well.

I have been pondering lately on how many of my friends on facebook and around the world would be willing to help me with a little experiment.As most of us saw this past summer, gas prices rose to over $5.00 in some states and provinces. As a result we became more conscious of how much gas we were using. Many people stopped driving cars and only rode public transportation or a bike. Some helped efforts by car pooling. The oil companies obviously saw a decline in gas purchases. Prices dropped. Cause and effect. Supply and demand.

The same concept can be applied to anything...we see it in theaters. If you hear a bad review of a movie, less people go to see it and the movie does poorly at the box office. Less copies of the movie are made and in the long run the makers of the movie learn what people really want. So what does that say about our society? Which movies do the best in theater? Which books are best sellers? Unfortunately some of the best producing movies are ones that have very degrading and immoral content. How sad that a country full of moms and dads, grandparents, hard working level headed individuals, and even the future of this nation....our young teenagers, give into watching disgusting material that does absolutely nothing to improve their lives.

Which brings me to my request. I am sending this to all of my friends on facebook because I know you. I have known many of you for years. I know that you are good people with good hearts. I hope that you can see my intent is not to anger anyone, but that you can see the disappointment and the frustration I feel because of a television program. HBO has always pushed the limits when it comes to producing material for their station. Much of it is disturbing and inappropriate...not just for teens...but for everyone. The show " Big Love" is inaccurate to say the least and now they have crossed a line. I don't know how many of you are religious, or how many of you are not. I want you to think of something that you hold dear...that is special to you and that you do not want people taking advantage of or breaking. Kind of like when you were a kid and had a favorite toy that you didn't want ruined....or what about for women. Giving birth is a special time that should be cherished amongst family and friends. How would you like that special moment, or that special place invaded by complete strangers who were there for the sole purpose of destroying that moment for you. They want to mock you and hurt you and without your friends and family they would succeed.

I am not asking you to agree with my religious beliefs or to listen to me preach to you. If you want to know the truth about my religious views you can go to our church website. ( www.lds.org.)No, all I am asking is that you help me to lower the ratings of this show by boycotting it. Don't watch it....how hard can that be. There has got to be something better on or a good book you've been meaning to read. How bad could it be to experiment with me on this one thing. if you want to do this, please pass this note onto your friends and lets see how good people around the world can affect a nation for GOOD. Again, you know me....I have never pushed my beliefs on anyone in my whole life. But this hurts me. Please, my friends, stand by me as good friends do.Thank you all!----Krista Bullock Nai

Light Keepers.

Every year in march we celebrate the organization of the Relief Society. It is a group of women in our Church who have dedicated their time, their energy, their talents and their love to strengthening other women . We serve each other in different capacities and we serve the community and our families. We share a love of our Father in heaven and a love of our Savior, who is the light of the world. Jesus Christ has given us a little piece of himself....a light. It is our divine privilege and responsibility to " Let our lights so shine..." so that others may see it and have a desire to follow that light.

This year we had a wonderful evening full of inspirational music written by Jenny Phillips. One of her songs was preformed by the newly formed women's choir. It was called " Hold your Torches High" They did a marvelous job. It was so beautiful. Thank you all for participating!

We also had some uplifting Quotes and narration read to us to help us see that no matter what circumstances we are in, we can still shine our lights and be an example of Christ. Thank you to all who helped out with that.

My favorite part of the evening was the flashlight demonstration at the end of the program. Each sister was handed a flashlight and then the lights in the gym were all turned off. As another beautiful song was being played we each turned our lights on one at at time and focused our lights on a picture of the Savior. I explained that one little light may be enough for me to see my way on a bumpy and treacherous path. But someone in the distance would not be able to find their way to me in the dark, with just my one little light. Together as we shine our lights the way becomes more clear and many more will see our lights shining and want to know that light and feel it's warmth for themselves. We need to be like a lighthouse in the night....shining for all to see. And you know what....It doesn't take much to do that. Every time you talk to someone, with a smile on your face or a kind remark. Every time we have the opportunity to give aid to someone in need, even holding a door open. I am amazed at how my whole day can be brightened when I lend a helping hand and I get a smile in return. That feeling that two strangers share, for that brief moment, is what a Christ like love feels like. As we try to live our lives the way the Savior lived His, we will literally glow with His light.

The last part of the evening was the dinner. We had 3 different kinds of soup. Zuppa ( the Olive Garden soup), creamy chicken and rice soup, and a chicken noodle soup, all of which were delicious. (I will be posting my zuppa recipe soon.) we also had salad and bread sticks. The Desert was an amazing cake made by my amazingly talented friend, Charity. She made an enormous cake in the shape of a lighthouse. How cool is that!

I am so grateful to be the Relief Society Enrichment leader. It has given me so many opportunities to grow and to get to know my fellow sisters. I am also very grateful for the sisters who serve with me. They are such a strength and joy to work with. Thank you again for all who helped and especially to all who attended...you are the ones who made the night so special.

The Case of the Missing Mummies.

Sydney Nai, 8 years old, was having a birthday party when all of a sudden the phone rang. To her surprise it was " Martha... ( who was really Stacy)the curator at the museum. She knows that Sydney loves to solve mysteries and boy did she have a big mystery on her hands. She was working late when she noticed the mummies were not in their cases. So, Martha ( Stacy) called Sydney to ask if her and her friends could help track down the mummies. Some were hesitant ( chickens =) but they were all eager to solve the case.

First they had to follow the " Glowing" foot prints....a concoction I made that reacts to black lights. Then they had to follow numerous clues and decipher codes to find the final clue. We were led to a warehouse where there was a trail of " Mummy Dust" ( flour) leading to some tall boxes. A secret spell awakened the mummies and they popped out of their box.

Then it was home for cake and ice cream. Yummy! I am so glad all the kids had so much fun on their Mystery adventure. We will have to do it again soon ( after the snow is gone for good! It was freezing!)

Mothers all around the world
can give a big " Amen" to my next statement/ complaint.
Why is it we..the main caregiver can be healthy when it doesn't really matter, but as soon as a special event comes up....WHAM ...we get sick. I am around sick kids all the time. Kids who attend school bring home who knows how many germs. I am constantly surrounded by the little bugs ( the germs, I mean...not the kids). I am not a germaphobe. I am a firm believer that you have to be exposed to germs in order for your body to be able to recognize them and fight them off. But seriously...why now do I get sick. It is Sydney's 8th birthday....a pretty special one for her. We have big plans...birthday party ( which I will blog about later) and a baptism. In our church, children get baptized at 8 years old. It is a pretty big milestone. I guess it won't matter if I am sick that day....I would have been using a bunch of tissues anyhow. I am a bawl baby when it comes to my kids growing up. So go away cold....I have plans!

True Love???
There are times when I ask my self if I really am in love. Sometimes I can be so mad at Anthony...and yet I can not help wanting to be near him...to touch him....to feel his touch. I have tried to stay mad at him but it is useless! I love this man. That is my lot in life....to be driven in sane by a man that can make me mad and make me love him all at the same time. No wonder I am bonkers!

Man, I miss this game!
At one point in my life, basketball was easy as pie. Running up and down the court was continuous and fast paced. I somehow had the strength and lung capacity to be able to do this for a good hour. I remember the rush it gave me to make a 3 point shot or to do a layup only to have to book it back down to the other end of the court to play defense. Yes...I used to love this game. I think it runs in my blood. My dad gave me a love for this game. He is better than I am though. In fact, he still plays from time to time and he is well into his 60's. YaY DADDY!

Alas, my years of basketball playing have come and gone. I have not played in 9 years. 9 YEARS!!! That was until this week. I was asked by some good friends, who are our youth supervisors at church, to come and play ball with the youth. I was thrilled to do this! It seems that the teenagers of this generation do not have the exposure or desire to be involved in sports. At the very least there are less youth playing sports than there were when I was a youth.

I decided to keep the game simple because there were not very many of them that had played basketball before. There are some fun games you can play with a basketball that do not involve the full intensity of a real basketball game. We decided to play " Bump". Those of you who grew up American, you would know this game as " Lightning". It is an extremely faced paced game that involves mostly shooting the ball from the free throw line. I won't explain the game in full...that would take too long.

I said I had not played ball in a while...meaning that it is o.k. to assume that I am out of shape. It is the sad, sad truth! But, I hope the youth learned the lesson of not judging a book by it's cover. This old lady still has some juice left in her. Running was not an issue...the game is only played at one end of the court ( thank goodness!). It sure felt good to shoot the ball and get that same rush out of making a clean shot " Swoosh"! Man I love this game! I definitely need to play more! So to my good friends.....thanks for asking me to help with the youth activity!

It's about Time!

How many times do we say to a friend.... hey, we SHOULD go this, or that. Always thinking that something would be a good idea, but never getting around to doing it. I kick myself because there are things I could have seen and places I could have gone when I lived closer to them. For example, living in Pennsylvania, we only lived a short 2 or 3 hour drive from Gettysburg and other historical places. Hershey, PA...hello....chocolate central, and I never went. And now we live at least a good 15 hour drive from those places. Why didn't I go? Was I really too busy? Or was it just not that important to me?

These are the same questions I have been asking myself about where I live now. Only a 3 hour drive away is a place so beautiful, so calming and peaceful, that I feel right at home there. And yet it has been 5 years since I have experienced the wonderful feelings of that place. If I feel so at home there, why then wouldn't I go back more? Too busy? Not a priority? Shame on me!!!

Thanks to some wonderful friends who did not say " we SHOULD go", but instead said " I am going. Come with me!", I was able to again feel that warmth and the desire I have to visit this wonderful place, Nauvoo.

This is the Nauvoo Temple. It is a sacred place where we can feel close to our Father in Heaven and feel of His love for us. It was such a beautiful day! The sun warmed my face as the peace in the Temple, away from the things of this world, warmed my heart. Thank you to my good friends who shared this day with me!

Addictions

My Son is addicted. I have to admit I had my addictions as a kid too. Remember those smelly markers...you know...the old school ones that smelled like grape, root beer, strawberries, etc. I used to sniff them at school and come home with marker under my nose. My mom would as me if I was smelling markers at school and I would innocently say no. Silly me trying to lie to my mommy.

Well Tui has his own addictions. He loves his Blanket! It goes everywhere with him. It was made by his great great grandma. What he loves more than his blanket is a "Fresh" smelling blanket. He will spray febreeze all over the thing and then he will hold it in the same hand he is sucking his thumb with. He takes a deep breath and.....ahhhhh.....heaven!

Snow Week!

I guess I should be used to bad winter weather, considering I grew up in Canada. But this Iowa weather is ridiculous! It is not so much the snow accumulation. That is the easy part. The ice gets to be annoying ( not to mention hazardous)...but more than the snow and the ice this winter, it is the deep freeze we have had to deal with that irritates me. In Canada it was not uncommon to have a -40 CELSIUS day. That is about a -25 degree F here. Schools have been closing this winter because of the dangerously low temps of -45 FAHRENHEIT!!!!! That is just crazy!!!

We got lucky one day and had a break in the cold. It was actually warm enough to let the kids go out and play....and me shovel the driveway. Time to invest in a snow blower I think!

What's with the poses?

For the Love of Thomas!

I am sure there are many little boys out there who love Thomas the Train Engine as much as Tui. I personally am getting a little tired of all the Thomas stuff around my house. I guess I can't complain too much. Tui is very organized with his trains and cars. He always knows where they are and lately he insists on lining them up along the wall or the couch. He loves to sit and look at them...and Heaven help the person who messes up his trains! Hands off people!!!

I Love Duct Tape!

Please tell me I am not the only mother who has had to resort to using duct tape to keep her kids diaper on. Tui has become very talented at wiggling out of any outfit I put on him. At night he takes his footie pj's off and then his diaper. What comes next is not pretty! I end up doing laundry in the middle of the night. Plus we have the issue of modesty around guests. I babysit a little girl the same age as Tui and she is a very smart girl. The other day we had our first anatomy class. Tui decided he would strip while I was doing dishes in the kitchen. 2 minutes people and the kid was in his birthday suit. The only way I knew something was going on was the laughter of the little girl and the repetition of " Tui funny bum...Tui funny bum."

So as a last resort I duct taped his diaper to him. It worked wonders! Then at night I also duct taped his PJ's on him...just under his arms so that he couldn't get the zipper down. Am I a mean mommy.....I don't think so. I am just doing this for my own sanity!

Sink or swim?

It seems lately, that we are all in the same boat. Sometimes I wonder if the economy is really as bad as they say it is. This week has shown great evidence that it is, although I do not understand how it got that way. All over the country, and other countries as well, people are loosing their jobs...their means of providing for their families and the security of the benefits that come from a job ( health care, 401k, etc.). I know i am guilty of blowing things out of proportion sometimes...usually thinking of the worst case scenario. What if Anthony looses his job....what if I have to go back to work...what if things are so bad that neither one of us will be able to find work. It will be like living in the past when people actually had to live off the land. I want to know how, in a country advanced as ours, did we get ourselves into this sinking boat?

Like I said before, this week has made it obvious that there are changes happening that we have no control over. Anthony was given the difficult task of laying off two of his employees. It would have been easier to do if they were not doing their jobs well, but these were good guys who worked hard. Most importantly they were his friends. Unfortunately the company that Anthony works for is feeling the crunch, like many other companies nation wide. All of this has made us look at our own future. How long will it be until the company decides to close the store completely?????

There are so many what if's and unanswered questions. The future is uncertain....there is no doubt in that. We can not see where our future lies or where our choices may lead us. BUT....we do know that if we STRIVE to live our lives in accordance with the laws and commandments of our Heavenly Father, we will be blessed! Immediately? In some instances, yes...in some, no.

Ether 12:6 "And now, I Moroni, would speak some what concerning these things; I would show unto the world that Faith is things which are hoped for and not seen; wherefore, dispute not because ye see not, for ye receive no witness until after the trial of your faith."

I learned a couple of things from this scripture. One...dispute not because ye see not. All I have been doing is disputing...what will we do...how are we going to pay for this or that...where will we work...we should do this or that. Why am I trying to figure this out on my own? Someone slap me!

Second....only after I have tried my faith....only after I have proven that I will do as I am asked, knowing full well that I must struggle and go through these tough times...only then will I receive a witness. A witness of His blessings. I know that the Lord will not give us trials that are too difficult for us to bear. So I need to do my part. The Lord has made his promise, so now I need to keep mine. Improve on the things that will ensure my families safety. Scriptures, family prayer, fulfilling my calling, being a good missionary, giving of all I have as did the widow in the Parable of the widow's mite. These things may be hard to do in a stressful time, but they will be for my benefit.

So I choose to swim. I will tread water, barely keeping my head above water....but I will not sink!

I am so grateful for my wonderful Visiting teachers and Home teachers and all the others in my life who are an example to me and who give me a boost when I feel like I can not tread water any longer. I am so grateful to a loving Heavenly Father who has not left us alone and who loves us.

I Wish I had a Crystal Ball!

Sometimes I wish I could go back in time. There are so many things I wish I could do over again. Not that I would change anything I had done. I cherish the good and bad times in my life. The memories I share with people throughout my life time are irreplaceable and one of a kind. I miss the people in my past and kick myself for not being a better friend and keeping in touch better.

But, that is not why I wish I could go back in time. If I could have that chance, I would simply choose to do more. Take the missed opportunities I had. Snatch up all the missed experiences I should have had....say I love you more....say what was on my mind right then and there instead of waiting 10 years to say things I should have back then.

And if I could go back in time, I would want a crystal ball to show me that 5 years down the road I should go back to school, instead of waiting ten years. There is a possibility that there will be some big changes in my near future, and I just wish I had a crystal ball to show me what to do.