I am Really Not With It!

You Know, I never wanted to be the kind of mom that lets things go, but I find that I am so overwhelmed some days that I let things slide. Writing on my blog would have to be the top of my list of sliding. I feel so guilty when I don't write, but feel that FHE, Church, Scripture study, callings, seminary, primary, high grades for each of the four kids in school, sports, scouts, meals, achievement, well things are getting a little nuts around here.

We are busy, but wanted to post to let you all know what is going on! Both Andrew and David are in Football again and Brianna and Mikayla are trying their hand at Cheerleading this year. It has been A LOT of work, but they are so happy. Mikayla, Andrew and I get up every morning and go running at 5:30 a.m. This is during the time when Wayne teaches Seminary! This has been very good for my old body and sore muscles and great for the kids.

I am tutoring two days a week and keeping busy during the school day with our two littlest ones at home. Gabrielle and Amelia are good friends and play together really well.

Wayne is working hard at his new job with Roma/Vistar and campaigning in the evenings for Mike Anderson, (Running for House of Rep. Republican - side)

Finally Home!

We just returned from a long vacation from the northwest. We, me and the kids, went to Idaho to be with Grandpa and Grandma Hawkes. Wayne stayed in Texas. We missed him, but not the Texas weather! We mostly played around G & G's house and swam in their pool! We did take a few turns around the valley to the Sanddunes, canoeing, and zoo, but mostly just relaxed with nowhere to go. It was a very nice change of pace compared to the busy hectic lifestyle of Dallas!

While we were gone, we had a few major changes to our lives. We sold our pizza store, brought on two business partners with us at The Bow Wow Wash and Wayne got a new job. Needless to say, our family lifestyle changed quite dramatically in the last month! It was an amazing experience. The Lord is always mindful of us. Wayne and I have been patiently learning faith over the past 9 months or so and things happened all at once! We should never doubt that the Lord loves us so much, but teaches us a great many things along the way that stretches us to our full capacity!

Hope you enjoy the pictures!

I took the Challenge! Which Jane Austen heroine are you?

Take the Quiz here!

Happenings in a paragraph!

It has been some time since my last blog. I guess I've been busy enough that I fail in many endeavors. On a brighter note, Mikayla made Honor Choir at her school and then went on to make All-city choir. Andrew has been in his first PineWood Derby and got fourth place. Not bad for a first year scout. He is planning on attending twilight camp and getting lots of belt loops and arrow points while there. Maybe they made Twilight camp name after Twilight. I am really a pathetic fan! How droll my life must sound to outsiders. Brianna, the tomboy, had such a compassionate heart, gave a bunch of her pairs of socks to a girl in her class that had no socks and Brianna was so praised by the act of compassion that the principal even wrote a letter to us thanking us for raising such a sweet girl. The next day Brianna ended up visiting the principal's office for punching a boy in the face. Talk about bi-polar, even though she isn't, she can be very extreme. She is a perfect example of Dr. Jeckyle and Mr. Hyde. David is just David and thinks that boys rule the world. Gabby is now potty-trained and "No Binkies" trained. She was Very unhappy with her Dad about this binkie move, but she seems to be more grown up for the loss off binkies. Mia is just Mia. SWEET AS PIE and my little piece of heaven. Wayne stays busy between the Pizza store and the Bow Wow Wash. He works so hard! I am staying busy with the kids and am in charge of the children's choir for Stake Conference coming up in three weeks! We are excited about that !

Miss Mikayla and her artwork

Time has gone quickly as of late. We had spring break and my parents came out to spend time with us. The kids loved it and we were able to spend time fixing things up around the house! Wayne worked both the Bow Wow Wash all day until 8 p.m. and then went to work at the Pizza Store each night until close. This lasted for a week and he was completely exhausted each night. Bless his heart! I think I saw him at the house a time or two!

Mikayla and her talent in art is beginning to show! Her artwork done with the art teacher at Pirrung Elementary was selected to be placed at show at the Professional Building in the City of Mesquite. We attended a reception in her honor and I was very amazed to see something so abstract come from little Mikayla! It was Very Good! Then, within a week of that reception, she was notified that her Reflections art piece placed as Third in the District. This is amazing simply because there are something like 32 elementary schools in the district. She loves art and loves to write, Maybe she'll be an illustrator/author! She definitely has the talent for it!

Included are two pictures of Mikayla's B-Ball team at playoffs. They went in undefeated, but lost to a team from inner-city Dallas. I have never seen girls play so mean! Yikes!

Twliight Saga

Have you ever been into something so much that it emcompasses your thoughts in Everything you do? You analize it against all else. Well, that would be me as of late. My mom introduced me to the book Twilight about three weeks ago and sent me the three books out by Stephenie Meyer. It is a series of books about a human girl, Bella and a vampire, Edward. The author graduated from BYU, is a member of the church and the books are Great! If you haven't read them, you should! It is a fun read and I never imagined that vampires could be so cool. I am more the Jane Austen type reader, but I have now broadened my scope! The last and final book comes out August 2nd and I am finding it very difficult to wait that long, so I started over again with book 1 and will see what a missed the first time I read through them. The movie, based up the first book, will come out in December! It will be a great year for movies with Harry Potter #6, Twilight and don't forget about Indiana Jones in May. Holy Cow! I don't normally get so excited, but how fun to look forward to!

Political Junkies!

Could politics becoming too much of a topic in our family? Andrew informed Wayne on the way home from church yesterday that he would not be voting for Mike Anderson as state representative and would be voting for Thomas Latham. This statement surprised Wayne. I don't know why? Andrew is always Mr. Analytical and on the In with what is going on. Andrew's comments still surprise me too! Wayne and Andrew got into a big discussion on these two representatives and in the end, Andrew got frustrated with Wayne trying to be positive with both candidates. His statement ended with, "Well, I can't vote for another ten years anyway so I am not going to worry about it anymore!

Tuesday, March 4th, is election day! Thank Goodness! I am tired of election mail and phone calls with all this mess! I won't even comment on John McCain. I just end up hanging up the phone during the surveys because I just can't bring myself to state that I will vote for John McCain or Huckabee. Filling in a dot will be a lot easier than hearing my voice state that I can vote for anyone, but Mitt! What a blow this has been and not been easy for me to get over! It's been weeks and I am still depressed over it! When will it end? Probably oh, NEVER!