Tooooooomorrow!

Josh comes home tomorrow!!! I'm a little excited. :)We have been apart for longer but it is so different now that we have four kids. Some days went exrtremely slow and other flew by. I'm a little sentimental right now. Josh and I will be celebrating our 8th Anniversary in August. My, how time flies. I can honestly say that each year keeps getting better and better. I'm excited to watch our family grow. Josh is an excellent father and husband. He is my best friend, my better half. He encourages me to be the best that I can be. So the countdown continues...1 day, 7 hours, 4 minutes and counting...

Culver's and Mushrooms...

I love Culvers and I hate mushrooms. But today, the roles were somewhat switched. I was feeling lazy and we needed to get out of the house so I decided to take the kids to Culvers for lunch (drive through, of course!) (i'm not that crazy!). So, I ordered a chicken sandwich and kids meals and headed home. I got the kids situated with their lunches and then I sat down to eat mine. I took it out of the bag and I was like, man, this is a rather small sandwich. So I opened it up, did a double take, and I said out loud, "What the?" They forgot the top half of the bun. I was a little ticked at first, but luckily Caleb didn't eat the butt of the loaf of bread so I just used that. I thought it was funny and took a picture. It was just as tasty!

Now, mushrooms. I can't stand the taste or the smell and they don't look that appealing either. Blech! But I saw this mushroom growing by our tree stump and thought, that is one pretty mushroom. You can't tell from this picture, but it was like a lily with a long stem...(i can just hear the crickets...not that interesting, i know).

So that was my semi-uneventful day. Although my brother Jim mowed for me today. It looks fabulous! Thanks Jimmy!

There is a green hill far away...

I'm having a rough day. Prepare yourself for some venting. I'm surrounded by four kids 5 and under. I don't really have someone here to talk to. :) Since I was in high school I yearned to find a green hill like the one above. A place where I could just lay down on my back, watch the white fluffy clouds pass and ponder. And I don't know if my siblings remember, but at family home evenings when we were little, my favorite song was, "There is a Green Hill Far Away." I remember when it was my turn to pick out the song, everybody else would groan, because that's the one I would always pick. Today, I'm wanting to find a green hill and just be by myself. Is that selfish? I have a lot on my plate right now and my arms are getting tired. :) Josh has been gone for two weeks and we have one week to go. This has proven to be a challenge for me. Josh gone, four small kids, a house for sale and all the other small things like a grouchy neighbor, rain almost everyday (this two bedroom house is getting awfully cramped), can't sleep at night (so i'm tired all day), aaaaaand Eli. I feel like I'm starting to shut down. I try to remember my previous post and have faith that this trial is good for me, but enough is enough. :) I think I have enough experience to last me for a while, don't ya think?

I'm trying to post a video...testing, testing....This is Caleb's Preschool Recognition. You may want to push pause on my music to hear Caleb's singing talents! :)

Crazy Kids

As I was cleaning the house yesterday, which is something I do all-day-every-day because our house is on the market,  Caleb asked me why I was cleaning. Apparently he has noticed that I have been doing that a lot lately. I said, "We need to keep the house clean, so when people come to look at the house, they'll want to buy it." He went to the window and said, "People come to buy house?" And since we haven't had that many showings I said, "I hope so!" About 15 minutes later, he came up to me and asked for some paper and a pencil and said that he was going to write and draw. He sat on the couch for a while with my clipboard in hand and was writing away, flipping papers and looked like he was a business man. After a while he brought me a stack of paper with little scribbles on them and said, "Here mom, for the people so they'll come!" I have no idea where he got the idea, but he wrote letters so people would come look at our house. And ever since we had this conversation, he's been asking me about every 30 minutes if we can move to "wagawoo" (we're still working on Ls and Ts).

Here are some pictures of his hard work.

I took these pictures a while ago when we were playing outside.

And here's an updated picture of Lizzy!

a-ba-dee, a-ba-dee, that's all folks!

What a week!

ugh. Sitting here, trying to remember what happened this week and it all seems like a blur. I know I had two showings and injured my toe but I can't seem to remember what else happened.

Nothing came of the showings. One was an older gentleman who looked at the house because we had a walk-in shower. But he didn't know it was downstairs...that probably wouldn't have worked out very well. The other showing was a single lady. She loved the house, but it was too big. She didn't want a basement. Oh well, I'm just going to keep saying my prayers. My prayers are getting quite repetitive. Please sell, please sell, please sell. :) So we are going to lower the price, but unfortunately we won't make much money off of it. I'm also praying that we can get approved for a reasonable loan so we can get a nice sized house for four wild kids.

Day before yesterday, before one of the showings, I was outside cleaning up the yard and making it look tidy and I was moving a pretty heavy rock. I was in a hurry (mistake #1) and I wasn't wearing any shoes (mistake #2). I didn't lift the rock high enough and the rock skimmed right over my big toe, ripping off my toenail. Holy smokes, I can't believe I did that! So my wonderful brother Jim, who works for South East Iowa Ambulance came over after he got off work and fixed me up. The next day it was starting to heal and still a little painful. But then this morning, I was feeding Lizzy and I wasn't paying attention to Eli who was backing up away from the t.v. and he stepped with his heel right on my big toe....I think the only other time I have screamed that loud was during childbirth. Oh my.

I just looked at my calendar and I just remembered my sweet little Caleb had his Preschool Recognition program at Pierce Elementary. It was so good! He has come so far. When he was three we started to get a little worried about his speech development. So we had him evaluated and they determined that he had a 'severe' speech delay. They said the average word count for a three year old was about 250-300 words. Caleb had, maybe, 30. So he went into preschool early to work with a speech pathologist and work on social skills (more like conversation and verbal interaction.) So last year at the preschool recognition, Caleb wanted nothing to do with it. He would sit in the back and face the wall. But this year was a total turn around. Front and center, singing all the words!! It was amazing! I love that kid.

This is Caleb and his preschool teacher, Mrs. Seim.

Once I figure out how to upload video, I'll post his singing talents!

Well, I have one week down and two to go before Josh get home. I hope they go faster than this one!

Just things

With everything going on right now, house for sale, getting ready to move, Josh in California, and me trying to manage four children and the house, I am a little overwhelmed. I was flipping through my scriptures this evening looking for some insight and I found this scripture that helped me put my experiences in perspective. It's in Doctrine and Covenants 122:7. It's when Joseph Smith was in Liberty Jail and in section 121 he asks, "O God, where art thou?" I have been wondering the same thing myself. When you do everything your supposed to, pay tithing, read your scriptures, pray, go to church , etc, you would think (or hope) that things would work out. I have felt that I'm left to deal with this on my own. This scripture offered some comfort:

And if thou shouldst be cast into the pit, or into the hands of murderers, and the sentence of death passed upon thee; if thou be cast into the deep; if the billowing surge conspire against thee; if fierce winds become thine enemy; if the heavens gather blackness, and all the elements combine to hedge up the way; and above all, if the very jaws of hell shall gape open the mouth wide after thee, know thou, my son, that all these things shall give thee experience, and shall be for thy good....Fear not what man can do, for God shall be with you forever and ever.                                                                                                                   D&C 122:7

All experiences, good and bad, are essential. My faith is being tested and I have found renewed hope in my Heavenly Father's plan for me and my family (watching us, I bet he gets a good chuckle every now and then :). Everything happens in His time, not mine. Although, I am grateful that I'm not being chased by the jaws of hell. Joseph Smith's faith is incredible and something I will strive for.

So, here I am.

So, here I am. Just ME. Mary E. I decided to start a blog because I need a hobby. I like reading other blogs and thought, hey, why don't I start one just for the heck of it. I can share photos and video, and it's prettier than facebook. :) Like I said in 'About Me,' I am a mother of four beautiful children. Caleb, Elijah, Abigail and Elizabeth. They are my world. I am married to a fabulous guy, Joshua. We have been married almost 8 years and every day gets better and better. I am also an army wife. Josh has been in the Army Reserves for 8 1/2 years and we have 3 1/2 more to go. That's if he doesn't re-enlist to make a full 20 years. Hey, retirement beneits from the military are not too shabby. We also have our house for sale. We are hoping to move to Waterloo this summer because that is where Josh works. I can't wait to move. My whole life is on hold now. Most of our belongings are in boxes. Potty training will start after we move. Caleb will start kindergarten after we move. We would be saving about $500 a month after we move. Yikes, it seems like everything would be so great if we could just sell our house! So if you know anyone who is looking for a cute 2 bedroom/2 bath with a huge fenced in back yard in Cedar Rapids, please send them our way. :)

Well, most of this blog will contain my experiences as a mom, a wife and the manager of a household. There have been many experiences from the past that I will try to catch up on, because my family is hilarious.

So far, so good. :)