Haylie's Graduation Party

Haylie was in Pre-K this year. I was worried about her because she wanted nothing to do with learning at home. She didn't even like to color...what girl doesn't like to color? But, she had wonderful teachers who encouraged her to open up and to have fun learning and she really had a wonderful year.

At the picnic, she sang songs that they had learned and she was able to say goodbye to her teachers and friends. I am so proud of how hard she worked and how well she played with her class mates ( even the boys).

The whole gang doing " Muscle Man"

Addy with the snorkel Sydney and her sling shot.

This is Tui's " Muscle Man" impersonation.

Haylie with her snorkel mask.

Fun In The Sun

Summer is sneaking up on us and the kids are getting restless...Time to pull out the pool.

Pool time is much more fun with friends.

Catching Up
I am now in the process of trying to catch up on everything I have put off since my computer crashed. There has been so much happening, so please bear with me. For some reason my computer is still not right...there are little things not working right. One of them is my blog page. I have to work backwards...when I upload a picture, it goes right to the top of my page and won't allow me to move it...so all of my pictures will now be at the top of my post.

Baptism Day

so, Sydney is now 8. She has been looking forward to being baptised for a long time. In our church, we believe that in order to understand the difference between right and wrong and to be able to act on that knowledge, you must be a certain age. At the age of 8, children can recognize when they must make a choice. We let them choose to be baptised and to follow Christ's example. Sydney made that choice and we are so proud of her for always trying to be Christ-like in all of her actions. She was also very happy to be able to share her baptism day with her special friend Jayden. It has been so wonderful to see these two grow up together and now to be baptized together. We love you Sydney!

School's out

It is tradition for all the teachers to come out and wave good-bye and sing to the kids on the last day of school. " Na-na-na-na....Na-na-na-na...hey, hey, hey....good-bye"

Syd and her teacher

Best buds...Syd and Ali

Haylie and her school friends
School's Out!

Sydney and Haylie had an amazing year. Sydney was in second grade but in a 3rd grade class. She was not only able to learn the 3rd grade curriculum, but surpassed all of our expectations. She finished the year at a 6th grade reading/writing level and a 4th grade math level. She is such a hard worker and loves to excel. She also got several awards for physical education this year.

I was a bit worried about Haylie at the beginning of the year.

She was so stubborn and not eager to learn. But she had wonderful

teachers that encouraged her and helped her to open up. She also has surpassed

our expectations. She is even starting to read and can't wait for Kindergarten next year.

ANIMAL DEATH TRAP

Yup .....that is what my house is. I have been so lucky ( heavy on the sarcasm) to have found several dead animals over the past few months. First was a burrow filled with frozen baby bunnies at the beginning of spring. Then a few weeks later I had to put ant killer all over our lawn. I told the kids they could not play on the lawn for a day or two. I guess I should have told the animals also. I had to clean up a rather bloated chipmunk that had gotten into the poison.

Next were 2 dead birds...who knows why they fell on my deck.....it must be a thing like the Bermuda triangle. I have also found the skeletal remains of a squirrel in my garden...just laying there as if it died yesterday.

This morning was our latest dead animal sighting....on not only our front sidewalk, but also our back sidewalk, was a lovely arrangement of chipmunk guts. Actually the guts must have been the good part because all that was left for us to enjoy were the heads, tails and a whole bunch of fur.

So...if you have pets or pests you would like to get rid of....feel free to send them to my house.

I know I have not posted anything in a while....my computer crashed for a while. I do apologize that this disgusting post is my first one since I have been back. I promise that there will be more pleasant ones to come.

Too Stressed to Think Straight!

I don't want anyone to take this post the wrong way. I am by no means complaining....This post is meant for me to look back on and laugh at.

The next couple of months are very busy for us. Our schedule is planned as such....

This week: pick one room a day and deep clean it. We are going on vacation next week to Pennsylvania, so it would be nice to come home to a clean hose. Also in preparation for our vacation I am washing cloths and making lists and buying things that we need for that. I also have to take the car in to the shop to make sure it is ok to drive...cross my fingers and hope there is nothing immediately wrong! To top all that off I am having a garage sale the week after we get back...that means that I also need to have the garage cleaned out and all garage sale items together and marked so that I do not have to stress about doing all that when we get back.

By the way.....

If anyone wants to come to the garage sale it is

June 25th, 26th and 27th

and everything is $1 or less

( with the exclusion of a few larger items)

Well, now that I have advertised ( he-he)....I can get back to the craziness. Part of the reason I need to get all this done is because I also have my parents coming down to visit from Canada for the 4th of July and the following week. I am so excited! But I also need to get tons done before they come. I need to paint my living room wood work as well as the entire kitchen, yet one more reason the house has to be clean this week....I will definitely not have time to do it after the garage sale.

I find that my plans are falling apart. I have cleaned and prepped 3 out of the 8 rooms I had planned to clean this week. Part of the reason is that I am still running a daycare...not that the kids are trouble or hard to handle. They are sweet children, who all get along really well! But...kids are time consuming. Another time consuming aspect is that it is the end of the school year....award assemblies, class parties and picnics....they all interrupt my cleaning efforts. And to top this all off...Anthony is away this week at a managers training meeting. The only ray of sunshine is that the kids will be able to help me more once school is done. Yay...Slaves!!

So, here is the funny part. This is softball season. Sydney is playing AA ball and is really starting to show progress. I think she will have more fun when she figures out how everything fits together and it is not just learning the basics any more. I have volunteered to help coach, which for now has not been a problem. So, last night at softball, Tui was playing on the big metal bleachers and kept falling or hitting his head and I of course comforted him every time...but it was getting rather bothersome to deal with the extremely tired and grumpy boy. At the end of practice, I picked up Tui, put him on my hip and continued to talk to the coach...working out vacation plans, then I rounded up Sydney and Haylie, got our bags and was ready to go. As we were about to leave, I noticed Sydney and Haylie walking ahead of me, but no Tui...I looked around frantically because we were almost the last ones there and I couldn't see Tui any where. He likes to wander off and hide, so I started getting really worried. I started walking faster...looking behind the bleachers...the port-o-potty...the bushes. I was running around in circles yelling Tui's name. I turned to look at Sydney and she had a look of confusion on her face as she asked me what I was doing. I said " I can't find Tui...Help me find him!!!"

She said " O.K." and pointed right to him. Where was he???? Right where I left him.....on my hip. Thank goodness no one else was around! That was the most absent minded thing I have ever done!

Will I ever have a fully functional brain again? Probably not, but it makes for one entertaining life!

Nature Lover

I am not one that minds bugs....as long as they are not in my house. Tui hates them...freaks out whenever he sees an ant or a bee. Sydney is not afraid of them...but not always willing to pick up any bug she sees. Haylie......she is a bug lover!

We were at Walmart shopping for groceries....we usually get fresh produce from Fareway or farmers markets, but I was in a hurry and didn't want to make 2 or more stops. So I was in the mood for corn on the cob. As I was peeling the corn, I came across a caterpillar that had made a home in my corn. Immediately I tossed the entire ear of corn into the trash can. You would have thought I had committed murder the way Haylie's face looked. She said that a caterpillar is a part of nature and that we shouldn't kill it. She then insisted that I fish the corn out of the trash so we could pick up the catterpillar and put it outside on a tree. So here I am in Walmart digging in the trash...once the poor creature was found, Haylie gently picked it up and carried it out the door....in SLOW MOTION, so we wouldn't scare the poor thing. As we placed it on the tree, the caterpillar peed on Haylie. She was not pleased that after rescuing a part of nature, she was repaid by getting peed on. I explained to her that peeing is also a part of nature...so if you are going to play with bugs...you are most likely going to get peed on.

In the Car....

Tui has started singing along with whatever I have on the radio or, most of the time, children's music. I love that he sings. Maybe he will be like his daddy!? Sometimes I even catch him singing at home...it is usually just one word over and over and then at the end of the song he sings " Oh Ya"

So in the car today, he was talking and laughing with Haylie and another little girl. One of them had let a little toot out and then the potty words started. Tui then started singing " poop, poop, poop, poop, poop.......oh ya" At this point I had asked him at least 10 times not to say poop anymore. I said " Tui...No more potty words". So what does he do....he starts singing again but this time with different words....." potty, potty, potty, potty....oh ya" ! He thinks he is so smart!

May 4th, 2009

One of my favorite lines in this movie is when Mr. Kimball ( aka. Arnold) is sitting in his class room talking to the kids and getting very frustrated. He says...." I have a head ache". A small boy then blurts out " It could be a tumor". Arnold's immediate response is " It's not a tumor....it's not!"

Well after some nail biting and nervous anticipation, I can quote that line....." It's not a tumor...it's not!"

For the last couple of months, Anthony has had a constant head ache which does not go away or lesson in pain with medication. He has been feeling fatigued and just not up to doing much of anything. We had x-rays taken to see if the bone structure in his head and neck were fine.....after all, he has had football injuries. Those showed nothing, so we went to the Dr. and explained the symptoms. He suggested a Cat scan to rule out the possibility of a tumor or other serious problems in his head. So for 3 days we have been waiting for the results. We are very thankful it is not a tumor, but now we are back to square one trying to figure out what is causing this.

I would like to thank all of our family members and friends who have said so many prayers for us and who continue to support us! I have a testimony that through our prayers, others needs are met. When Heavenly Father knows that we care, He will prove our love for one another by answering prayers! So thank you for your love!

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!)