March fun!

Addyson loved the bunny and did not want
to give it up when it was time to put it back!
She responded with a "NO!"

Addyson in the rocking chairs at
Cracker Barrel.

McKayla and Addyson playing in the water.

Samantha at the park. She thinks that she
is too old to play but she got involved for
a little while.

Addyson loved the swing.

Samantha on the way to the park.

McKayla on the way to the park.


I am really trying to update this more often so here goes....

One of my goals for this summer is to be more active outside with the girls. I want to go to the park more, swim more and have picnics. Just have more fun together and give them more memoies. That is very important to me. I want them to grow up and say "I remember when..."

I know that I have lots of those moments as an adult so I want to share that with them.

Now on to the other things that are on my mind. I am going to get my butt in gear and exercise more. I have not done well at all. I have a membership to the Summit so now it is time to use it. I waste my Saturdays and Sundays being lazy and I am going to start getting up and taking a shower and get moving. Addyson was taking a nap at around 10 am and she still does at times but normally she is not ready at that time anymore unless she gets up really early. Today she slept in until 9:00 and my other girls are still asleep and i is 9:30! That is so nice because I still get up early and I am able to have a little time to myself. No one standing over my shoulder or trying to sit in my lap while I am on the computer. That is nice! I am sad that my children are getting so big. Samantha is turning into a teen-ager faster than I want her too. Then it will be McKayla's turn. I still debate everyday if I want to have one more child. I really do but I know that financially it will be hard. I am just going to leave that up to God. The way that I see it is, if I am meant to have another child then when I decide that I am going to try it will either happen or it wont. I love my little family as it is but I can't help but want another baby. I love being a mom. That is just the way that God made women. That is what the bible says, We are supposed to get married and make reproduce! Not in those exact words but it is in there.

another one of my goals is to get debt free. We don't have that much debt but the debt that we have I want to pay it off! The borrower is slave to the lender. As I say that I know that I want to go back to school and finish my bachelors degree. So there is more debt! Kelly and Matt know all about that right? I wish that Mike would get back into school as well but I don't think that is something that he really wants to do. We have talked about it but that is about it.

So there is my update for today... hope that you all enjoyed reading it. Jennfer

Get a job!

You may wonder why I would have this man's photo on my blog but what you are looking at is a mug shot of David Stokes. On Thursday morning at 4:00 a.m. Mike and I woke to banging on our front door. I get to the door and saw a Temple police officer standing there. As I regained my composure I opened the door and he asked the stupidest question... " Are these your two vehicles?" as he pointed to the two that were obviously in my driveway. I said "yes" and he said "Please came outside we caught a man breaking into cars. We want you to check and see if there is anything missing."

When Mike and I walked up to his car it was obvious that he had gone through his car. The glove box was open and everything that was in it was strewn all over the floor and seat. He also tried to get his radio but I think that the police officer pulled up right as he was trying to get that out. He did not get anything and thank gosh Mike had his golf clubs in the garage. He would have been devastated if those were taken. I would have been as well because then he would have wanted to buy a whole new set and those cost a pretty penny! So here is the story that the KWTX posted.

"An alert Temple police officer is credited with catching a suspect in a series of vehicle break-ins early Thursday morning.

Officer Paul Bench was on patrol around 3:45 a.m. Thursday in the 100 block of Cheyenne in Temple when he spotted a man crouched down behind a vehicle.

When Bench approached, the man ran, police said.

Bench caught him a shirt time later, police said.

Meanwhile, other officers in the area discovered several vehicles that had been broken into.

Property taken in the burglaries was recovered.
David Stokes, 23 of Temple was taken to the Bell County Jail.

He is facing charges that include evading arrest and three misdemeanor counts of burglary of a motor vehicle."

AND TO TOP THIS ALL OFF WITH WHIP CREAM AND A CHERRY!!!

HE LIVES ON OUR BLOCK!!!

I just wish that people like him would just get a job! I know times are tough! The economy sucks and blaa blaa blaa but what makes this guy or any other criminal out there think that the people they are robbing are any better off than they are. I am sure that this guy is probably a drug addict you can just look at the picture and tell that, but man I just don't get it. Mike and I feel so violated! There has been a lot of theft in our area and I am sure that it was probably him. I am glad that they caught him but now because I am sure that after he ran out of things to take from cars our houses would have been next. Only thing that I hate is he is probably just going to get a slap on the wrist from our oh so trusty judicial system we have in place!

Samantha's Birthday

Here are some pictures and a
video of Samantha's 11th birthday
party. We went to Hanks Town and
had a lot of fun!

Putting the Christmas tree up

I really struggle with trying to have the same kinds of traditions that my mom use the have for Stacey and I on the night that we would put up our Christmas tree. I remember having so much fun! She would turn the Christmas music on and make all kinds of goodies. Every year I say I am going to do that but all that happens is we get in a rush and I randomly pull all the Christmas stuff out and announce that we are putting the tree up tonight. Mike's mom always just put their tree up and never involved her children. Therefor I really have to pull Mike into the fun. I love traditions and I want to make sure that my girls all have fond memories of the things that we did together as a family. I am going to do better this year.

As you can see we did have fun putting the tree up!

McKayla got to put the star on .

Addyson wasn't too sure if she should throw the ornaments
or put them on the tree. Throwing them was much more
fun. I found ornaments all over the house.


Mike helping the girls get the hooks on.


Samantha putting an ornament on.



Addyson putting her ornament on.

McKayla putting her ornament on.

The finished product

Family fun

Yesterday we went to the Temple parade. Other than freezing our toes and noses off we had a lot of fun. We got out there at about 6 p.m. and had a picnic. The parade started at 6:30 but we were at the end so we had a while to wait. Addyson was not too happy about the wait so we walked down to the bridge and watched the trains for a while. The whole time she was saying "Choo choo" it was so cute. She wants to be so independent so it makes for outings like that a little trying. I gave her to Mike and she just started crying but once the parade started she was really having a lot of fun. She was dancing to the music and clapping! I have to say, Mike was great. Usually he does not do well when we do things like this but he was calm the whole time and he actually had fun himself.

Another event that we had was Addyson's first hair cut. She thought that the hair dresser was really hurting her. She was crying and did not enjoy the hair cut at all.

Tonight we had our family Tuesday no TV night. We had a lot of fun just running around the house playing with each other. we started with dinner all together at the table which is something that we do anyway and the we also sat down and read a book that the girls bought this weekend. It is called Twilight. Each of us took a turn reading so that was nice. Mike said tonight that he really enjoyed the no TV night. The girls did not fight once! That is always nice and the house was not full of a loud TV but it was full of laughing and playing! I love it!

Addyson crying because she was getting her

hair cut!

The finished product! She is beautiful!

McKayla and me

Mike and his brother Patrick

McKayla enjoying the parade with Addyson

Samantha and Celestina

Addyson and mommy

Addyson not happy that her daddy has a hold on her

Here are the pictures.

Only at our house!




Samantha and I.

Addyson and McKayla during Halloween

McKayla being crazy

Peace!

Weekend fun!

Our weekend filled with laughter and saddness all rolled into two days! I am always amazed at how fast the weekend flies by and also at how much we squeeze into those two days. Friday night I went to my mom's house to make sure that she was okay. I am convinced that she is just fine just a little freaked out because she did not have a fix while my dad was home. I think that she was really ready for him to leave so that she could tear the house apart looking for more pills. I also just do not think that she is ever going to get better. That is very sad. My mom could very well not be here for my girls to graduate high school and that is so sad. Both her and my dad have always been a huge part of my families life. No matter what was going on I always made sure that I called her just about everyday and I always made sure that my girls spent plenty of time with her. Now I only call to make sure that she woke up that day. She cannot carry on a conversation that is worth making the effort to have so I usually just spend about a minute or two on the phone with her. Man that sounds so mean but literally that is how it feels. I did not hear from her on Sunday and around 12 noon I thought that I better call to make sure that she answers the phone. All I could think of is what if she is dead and no one knows it. I hate that feeling but I feel that any day she just may not be here. I am not sure if the rest of my family feels that way but I know I do. I hate it. I feel like I am too young to have to babysit my mom. This is something that I thought I would have to do after my children were in college or starting families of their own. But here I sit with the burden of making sure that my mom just eats something and does not just drink a shake. She seems to be determined that is all the food that she needs. She is never going to get better! She does not want to do what it takes to do so. She only takes her medicine correctly after we catch her taking it all wrong. She is still taking pills that she should not and I know that is just out of my hands. No one can make her stop killing herself. She cries to my dad that she does not want to die but yet continues on doing the things that are going to kill her. I now know that all I can do is live my life and take car of my family. She is an adult and can make her own decisions. We as her family have to either live with those decisions and take her as she is or withdraw ourselves from the situation. I do not hold a lick of hope that she is going to get or stay clean and I am never going to set myself up for disappointment again. Why should I when I have a family of my own that needs me.

Anyway, after leaving her house I picked up Samantha's friend Isela and took her to our house to stay the night. The girls had a lot of fun. Isela stayed all weekend. I will post some videos that they made outside on the trampoline. Viewer beware they might cause motion sickness! They also took some great pictures. Sunday was Mike's birthday so we went his mother's house which is always great fun. I am glad to have at least a normal mother-in-law. I am also glad that she stepped up in being there more for the girls when my mom stopped being able to have the girls over at her house. Below are videos and pictures. Enjoy!