Update!

Steve starts his new job this morning and I am so excited for him. So excited that I am up at 3:30 this morning. Okay, not really but I really can't sleep for some reason. I'm sure the reason has nothing to do with the fact that I have 3 other people sleeping in my bed right now. Where am I suppose to fit in? This has become a weekly or almost nightly occurrence. What am I going to do?

Merry Christmas!

This year I will take advantage of email and blogs to write my Christmas letter. As many of you already know, I have been enrolled in classes this past semester. I won't deny that it has been extremely busy but I have always loved being in school and learning. This past semester has not been the exception. I thoroughly enjoyed being back in school. I started my college career with hopes of being an Accountant. After many years of taking classes and taking off to take care of my babies, I have fallen in love with science and hopes of being in the medical field. Maybe it was all that time I spent in the hospital that I wanted to be back, but on the giving end rather than the receiving end. Steve and the kids have been so very supportive and do so much to help out around the house. That doesn't mean that my house is always clean and toys are always picked up. It just means that they are doing everything they can to keep the house under some control. :-) Steve and I were disappointed this year at the loss of a large plumbing job that Steve and his dad were suppose to complete. Then the Monday after Thanksgiving, Steve was told he wasn't going to be the fifth grade teacher anymore. Due to all of his observations being given proficient or better, we were stunned. We assume it may have something to do with him having a side job and they probably didn't like that. :-/ Anyway, we are back to job hunting. We have a few leads but they can't come fast enough for sure. On a brighter note, the kids are doing great.
T.C. and A.J. love school and are both straight A students. They have both enjoyed hiking this summer and the best part is stopping on the trail to put our feet in the river. They love riding on Papa's 4-wheeler, watching movies and playing basketball at the Y. T.C.'s favorite movie this year was Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows and A.J. loved Avatar: The Last Air Bender.
Dakota started preschool this year and her teachers love and adore her. I've been told that she is the perfect child. My jaw drops as the teacher tells me this and I picture my house with honey poured all over everything or the time she dumped hot sauce all over her room. I'm thankful that those stages don't last forever.
Jaxon has become a little man this year. It is hard to believe that my baby has turned 2. He is quiet but his vocabulary has grown tremendously. Jaxon loves hot wheels and has to have a ball in his hand at all times.
We are very grateful to have such wonderful friends and such a great family. We have been blessed by your examples in our life and hope that this letter finds everyone happy and healthy. We love you all and have a Merry Christmas and a great 2011!

Love, Steve, Beth, T.C., A.J., Dakota, and Jaxon

A Mother's Work is Never Done!

I don't understand. I have spent the last semester going to school full-time. Most people know what that requires. Especially with 4 kids. I have been homework free for 2 days this week already and do you think my house looks any cleaner? Heck NO! In fact, it seems more chaotic. It is 8:45 and I had to scream at the top of my lungs to get the kids to stop getting out of bed. They are in bed every night by 7:30 but now that mom is home, they are pushing the limits for sure. Now, I have to run off to finish laundry. UGH! Finish... yeah right, more like, keep doing laundry.

AJ

TC

Dakota

Going away party for the Archibald family.

Playing in the kiddie pool!

Summer 2010!

I know this post should have been before my last post, but oh, well! This summer flew by, with so much going on. TC and AJ stayed busy with baseball practices and games. They had fun but we kind of wish they had been in a more competitive league. I think it got boring for them to not keep score. Yes, both of my boys are competitive. Steve stayed busy with work, which kept me busy with the kids. Needless to say, the summer was busy.

Thanks to my niece and her husband, driving to Colorado, we were able to make a trip to Tennessee. I wasn't about to drive across the country with four children by myself. I was tempted, but Steve asked me where the kids would go, when I had to use the restroom. That made up my mind fairly quick. Jared and Bekah came in on July 26th and we headed for Tennessee the next day. We decided that night to just keep driving straight through. Jared toughed that part of the drive out. I think I would have fallen asleep, but he did well. I arrived at my parents house the next morning around 7 am. I think they were quite surprised to see us at the front door so early.

Our time in Chattanooga was fun and went by way too fast. I loved seeing all the greenery that the South has to offer. Although being outside was extremely hot with the 100+ degree weather and 100% humidity. I think my makeup melted off of my face within minutes of being outside. It was wonderful to be there for Jessica's reception. I consider Jess as one of my own nieces even though she is actually my sister-n-laws niece. Our families have always been so close. I also enjoyed seeing friends and family while I was there.

When we arrived back to Colorado I somehow talked Bekah into taking some family pictures for us. Bekah minored in photography and she takes great pictures. So, I am glad she could do that for us. The kids loved smiling for her and Jared, anyway.

Now that we are all back in school, life is busy but as you can see, it always is. That is why I might as well finish school, too! It has been two weeks and I am loving my classes. I'm excited to be in the classroom again!!!!

First Day of School for so many!

Well, I am a little late posting this but it is better late than never. Right? Steve's first day of school as fifth grade teacher at James Irwin Elementary Charter School was August 11th, along with AJ's first day of Kindergarten and TC's first day of fourth grade. How exciting to have them all at the same school together. Dakota started her first day of preschool on Tuesday and I, yes, I started back to school on Monday. I am very excited to be back in school and think that it will be a great semester.

Enjoying what I have and being grateful.

Okay, so I have a confession to make. Please don't judge me. One of the reasons that I absolutely love Colorado is that we just don't have very many bugs. I love that! I hated growing up worrying about where the spider would be lurking...under the bed, under the couch, in the dark laundry room. Anyway, I have dealt with bugs enough in my life to know that I don't like them. We never had bugs in our house except the occasional spider but who doesn't get that. Anyway, about 4 weeks ago, Jaxon, who sleeps on the bottom bunk, woke up with spots all over his arms, ankles, and face. I took him to sacrament but decided it would be best to bring him home in case he had something that was contagious. The next morning there were more spots. I had heard of one of my preschoolers having the chicken pox and thought right away that was what Jaxon had. So I called the doctor and took him in. She looked at his spots and told me that he was getting bitten by bugs. She gave me a prescription and off I went. I kept wondering where he would be getting into bugs. I had not seen any bugs in our house except the occasional ant, that we would spray around the house for. Could he have gotten into a nest of bugs or fire ants outside in the backyard? So I just kept giving him the medicine and the red spots would get smaller but never went away completely. TC started getting spots on his arms at this point. When we went to Steve's parents house for the weekend all the spots went away. When we got back home, the following day, Jaxon had these red spots again. So I examined his bed and saw little spots of blood on his sheets. I took a closer look at the baseboard and saw, what I thought were chiggers. Very tiny bugs crawling along the baseboard. Steve and I started looking through the entire bunk bed. You know the ones with the attached chest of drawers and a nice desk on the other end. Yeah, the entire bunk bed was infested with bedbugs. I thought bedbugs was just something made up. I would always tell my kids, "Goodnight and don't let the bedbugs bite." GROSS! They actually did! So we sprayed the bunk bed down with a bug spray that was killing them on contact. The deeper into the bed we got, we realized that these bugs were coming out of cracks that were glued. The bed was made up of over 300 pieces of wood. How in the world would I ever get rid of all of them. Not only were they crawling all over it by now, but when we were unscrewing the bed, we could see tiny eggs everywhere. At this point we felt the best thing we could do would be to take the whole bunk bed to the dump. Yes, we threw away a $700.00 bunk bed, desk, chest, and shelves, along with 2 mattresses. We have since bombed the house to make sure there are no more friendly critters here. After this nightmare, I have come to realize a few things. #1 - There is always someone who has it worse than you do. I so wanted to just die, because I hate bugs that much. #2 - I came to appreciate the scripture in 3 Nephi 13:20. "But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither bedbug (J/K it really says moth) nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal." I just kept thinking of how nice that bed was but I had to throw it away. We still do not know where in the heck we would have gotten bedbugs but apparently they are growing in number in the United States again, so beware. I will be itching for an entire month now because I can't stand the thought of what I just endured. We are bug free as far as I can see as I get down on my hands and knees everyday to check with flashlight in hand, for any signs of these creatures of the night.

Easter pictures were taken, too! YAY!

I did take pictures!

I forgot that I had someone take pictures for me at TC's birthday party. I guess I am not a total loser! LOL!

Too Much Going On!

I can't believe that I don't keep up on my blog like I should. I will update what has gone on in the past month.

- TC turned 9 on the 12th of April. It was a great day. He enjoyed his day with a few close friends.

- Last weekend we went to Buena Vista and stayed with Steve's parents. We enjoyed our time by riding 4 wheelers, bike rides, going on walks, and just talking.

- Easter came and went fast. We enjoyed conference and eating our goodies from the Easter Bunny. I am having to work out twice as hard now, to make up for that.

I would post pictures but I have been so bad about remembering my camera. I wish that I could say that I am the best mother of 4 little children but I would have to admit that I am lacking at the moment. They are getting the best of me and I have to cut back in the areas that aren't as important to me....like blogging. SORRY!

10 Confessions about myself!

Somehow I didn't get the memo that I was tagged to do this. I will try to be fast since my kids should be in bed right now. Okay, they are in bed!

1. I feel like I have done this so many times that everyone already knows everything about me.
2. I am loving my nursing classes right now. So very interesting.
3. I love music and dancing. I have dance parties with my kids when Steve is away for work.:-)
4. My favorite TV show is still Criminal Minds. I love trying to figure out why people think the way that they do. It is very interesting to me.
5. I love a super clean house but since other people live with me, I have not been able to keep it that way. Darn it!
6. I love Colorado Springs. I have everything I need within a short drive except my family. Time for a few families to move out west! :-P
7. I long for the day that Stacy London will give me a $5000 makeover on my wardrobe!
8. I love going to the gym. Exercise is the biggest stress reliever and it just feels good. I love having sore muscles, too. I know that last one was weird but I do love it.
9. I love being outside....camping, hiking, running, walking, being one with nature! I even love just being outside watching my kids play. The sun feels soooooo good! I can't wait until it comes back out again!
10. I hate wasting time. I feel like there is always something productive to be doing.

Dakota's Birthday!

Jaxon, TC, Max, Ella, Zack, AJ, Abby, and Dakota!

Dakota in her new bed.

Dakota's Cinderella cake.

Princesses Dakota, Abby, and Ella.

A Day In the Life of Beth!

Things that are going on around here:
- Redecorated my living room and bedroom.
- Set up Dakota's new bunk bed....pictures to come.
- Still working out at the Y. Hooray for free babysitting.
- Reading The Lions of Lucerne.
- Trying to get back into my couponing.
- Starting my CNA classes on February 15th.
- Running back and forth between preschool and school to pick up and drop off TC and AJ.
- Doctor told me today that I am healthy.
- I am also the Activity Day leader for the 8 - 11 year old girls. It is so much fun.
- I also get to teach AJ's primary class for 3 more weeks.

What more could I ask for? Life is good. Sometimes I feel overwhelmed with the amount of work that my family seems to throw at me but lately Steve has worked really hard to help alleviate some of the pressures. He is washing my laundry faster than I can get it put away and I love it!