Weekly Wrap Up

The weekly wrap up

1. Taylor took 2 naps this week!

2. Only 8 days till we leave for Las Vegas & Disneyland

3. Tye is only one badge away from becoming a Wolf Scout, or maybe Bear, I can't remember which.

4. Got my Young Women Calendar done for the year.

5. Wes got a new 09 Ford 250 Diesel Truck from work.

6. Tate lost a tooth, the Tooth fairy brought $3.00 - I use to get a quarter! (I use to get a dime every time I cleaned the toilet, I was totally ripped off)

7. Wes & I attended the Diary Association of Wisconsin Conference.

8. Uno and Sorry are the games of the week.

9. It has been below 0 for 20 days in a row.

10. I booked a Dog Sled Adventure trip for our family in February.

11. Started Planning Taylor's first Birthday Party, were having a Tea Party when we go to Vegas.

12. Went to Great Harvest Bread and picked up my favorite Cinnamon Pecan. Yummy!!!

13. Bought my kids valentines for their friends & classmates.

14. Just had to move the cat from in front of my screen, she's hiding from Taylor.

15. Found out that kids have to be in car seats until they are 8 years old, went and bought 3 new car seats for Tate.

16. I can't figure out how to load video's on this Blogg, but have some great clips to show you when I do.

17. Am having fun seeing all my old friends from High School on Facebook.

18. A lot of my friends are having babies, or adopting babies, and I'm jealous.

19. I washed my Denali today and my doors froze shut so Taylor & I couldn't get out at Target, I had to crawl into the back seat and use her door to pry mine open. Nice....

20. I signed Taylor up for Pre-school and have to decide where to send the boys next year.

21. Sat down and wrote out a budget, I am going to try and save more and spend less.

22. I buy 6 gallons of milk at a time, this week I added 2 chocolate, and yes it will be gone in less than a week. Usually a gallon a day with my kids.

23. Found a cute outfit to wear with my cowboy boots.

24. Went shopping and found some FABULOUS deals - Old Navy was taking 75% off all their clearance, I loaded up, 3 bags, and only spent $58.00!!

25. Took Tye and 6 other little boys to the movies and out to lunch.

26. Cleaned out my kids closets and gave 4 trash sacks of clothes away.

27. Cooked homemade Chili for the first time this winter.

And that about sums it up. Hope everyone had a great week - I am so happy it's Friday!

Saying Sorry

I don't know why our kids have such a tough time saying sorry when they do something wrong. (Although their father could stand a lesson or two in this department) Never the less, when they argue, or do something wrong and I tell them that they have to say sorry - it's immediate tears. I don't understand, it's two simple words and yet they think I'm punishing them for life. When Tye has to say it...he pops this attitude and says - Sorry, but he's not. Taylor says it, but immediately runs to her room, slams the door and cries. Tate is the worst. When you tell him he's got to say sorry, he'll go in his room and pout for about 15 minutes, and then he'll come out and barely whisper, under his breath....."I'm sorry" in this gruffy voice. He has to seriously prepare to say it, it's kind of funny, kind of sad. (Just another thing I'm probably failing at, teaching my kids how to say sorry.) Unfortunately, Tate is trying to take the easy road, when he needs to say sorry he's started this habit where he'll go in his room and draw you a picture instead. Wes got mad at him for some reason and I told Tate he needed to tell Dad sorry, instead 30 minutes later he came out his room with this picture. It's Tate & Wes throwing snowballs, Tate & Wes riding horses. (I think it's funny how he wrote Wes instead of Dad, but it's cute.) I said to him, does this mean your sorry. He said "Can't you read?" I said "Yes", he said - "Didn't you read the heart?"I said "Yes I see a heart," he said "Well, that means I love him again" - not once, did a sorry come out of his mouth.

What'a a Mom to do?

I hate this....

I hate that.....She loves this.....

He loves that....

What's a mom to do.....

I'm alive & well

Three facts about my day.....

1. Tye pulled out a slinky and folded it in half to look like a Bum and was moving it up and down up and down, up and down. Taylor went up to it, started moving it back and forth, back and forth, back and forth, and then said "It's Mommies Bum." Nice huh....

2. Tate was totally mad at me because I couldn't find Bubble Gum Ice cream at the store. He finally decided on Mint Chip but told me I had to take out all the brown pieces (chocolate). I tried to pick the main pieces out but when he eventually found one he asked me...."Can you do anything right?"

3. My back seriously went out of place on Sunday, so last night I started a bath. Bubbles, baby oil - the relaxing kind. The phone rang and afterwards I walked back into the bathroom and it TOTALLY STUNK...I mean STUNK...I was livid. I found the culprit and said "We have 3 other toilets in this house, why do you always have to stink up mine." The answer: At least I flushed. Needless to say no bath.....

I tell myself we are a normal family, but there are moments. We've been super busy lately, but what's new. We're alive & well. Dentist Appts., Scouts, Working (the cold weather caused so many problems on the ranch), doing our taxes, mutual, getting ready for a overnighter with all the young women, basketball, feeding the missionaries...you name it. It feels like my days run into weeks. The nice thing is that it's been Sunny, which I love and over 15 degrees 2 days in a row. In fact last night Wes & the boys played a game of football in the snow. Tate got caught a few times in the drifts (his poor little legs) but it feels like Summer compared to what we just went through. Only two weeks until Sunny Las Vegas.....here we come.

I heard this song on the radio (Alive by Kenny Chesney) and loved it...It's so true, today's just one of those days that I'm alive and well.....I have nothing fabulous to report, nothing bad, a few funny comments from my kids, but just happy to be alive...& well!

Cold Days...

I can't even explain what 42 below zero feels like...I'm not even stepping outside to test it out. I do know that when school is canceled, it's not a blessing. It's 1:30 and I don't even want to remember my morning, all I do know is that I'm just going to survive, and worry about tornado I have to clean up tomorrow.

We started out o.k....Wes told the kids they couldn't spend all day playing video games, they had to read books first. They got out some books, but instead of reading I overheard Tye telling Tate what kind of seals killer whales could swallow whole. They were all obsessed with all the animals a killer whale could eat.....at least they were attempting to read and not obsessed with attacking each other which happens very often in this household.

Tate started eating snacks...oh about 6:20 this morning. At 8:30 I finally told him no more snacks until he eats something healthy, he said fine, fix me a sandwich. A few minutes later he was back to eating the entire box of vanilla wafers, but I THOUGHT he had eaten his sandwich. At 10:06 I found this under his dresser...nice!

Around 10:30 after I cleaned up the play dough mess, put batteries in the Wii Remotes, loaded their marshmallow guns 6 times, found the remote to the TV, built a fort in the stair closet, did the dishes, played battleship and chutes & ladders, looked at the laundry pile (but then walked away), had two phone calls with my boss while I locked myself in the bathroom, attempted to balance my checkbook, swept the floor 4 times and made cream of wheat and 11 pieces of toast I called my friend to see if her kids could come play...

Lucky for me, she was thrilled. I have honestly blown threw a pantry full of snacks and have a serious mess to clean up - (look at the picture below) but I haven't heard my name in 33 minutes, totally worth cleaning up the mess.


I know I picked the song 9 to 5 to add to this blog, but the reality is, being a mother is no 9 to 5 job....more like 24/7.

What would you think...

If you saw this in your kitchen what would you think????
I was cleaning the house when I found it. Since I am married to a true cowboy and have kids, the reason this piece of leather tied to my kitchen chair has endless possibilites. I started to untie it and all hell broke loose.....Tate came around the corner, (pretending to ride his horse - he does this often) and immediatly tears welled up in his eyes. "What are you Doing?" he yelled, I was a little surprised and said, "Taking this off the kitchen chair.." He, through tears asked - "Do you know what you are doing?" I answered again..."Uh, taking this off the kitchen chair?" He sat down, tears falling and said...."I've been training that crazy old horse all day, he's tied up because he's not obeying, now you've ruined him."



What do you say, sorry buddy, next time I'll know there's an old crazy horse tied up in my kitchen.....Honestly. Tate's imagination is real and vivid and it seems like I'm never going to get this whole "Mother" role figured out, but how I love this little cowboy!

What can I say...

I recently asked Taylor to clean her room. She walked out about 5 minutes later and said..."I'm done...it's all tean." I said, "That's didn't take you very long, are you sure?" With her hands on her hips, she rolled her eyes, and said "Geez Mama, tome with me."

I said, Taylor you didn't even touch your closet. She said, "I know I don't want to step on my clothes, but I put Care Bear back on her chair."

I said "It looks like all you did was put everything on your bed." She said, "It's O.k., I'll sleep with you tonight."

I looked at the horse and said, "Why is the blanket on the horse?" Taylor: "Him was cold."



Mom: "How come your Church Dress is on your kitchen?" Taylor, "Because you told me to get it out of your kitchen."

I finally looked at her Dirty underwear and asked her why she put them in the bucket with her dishes. She said "They all have to be washed, silly."

What can I say.......

California Dreamin

Our computer is about to Crash so I spent last night saving all of our pictures....These pictures are from our trip to CA in October - needless to say I can't wait to go back - I bought plane tickets for one last trip, we leave in 4 weeks!!!!! I know I won't be able to really enjoy the ocean, but the sunshine will be fabulous!!!!!

Looking at Life

Late last night I arrived home from Nebraska. I am so glad that I was able to attend my grandmothers funeral, it was a whirlwind of a trip, but I am so grateful for everything I learned. I really stopped and evaluated my life, what I'm doing right, and what I'm doing wrong. So many things I want to change about myself, evaluating what's really important, how many things I take for granted. I spent many moments being humbled, many moments thinking about how I would like to be remembered, many moments thinking about life after death. I came home with a new resolution, yell less, love more and cherish every moment of this earthly life.

Celebrating Emma

On January 1, 2008 My grandmother, Emma Matzner Rathje, died. We had just celebrated her 100th Birthday in August. I am so happy that my children were able to know her and that I was able to have her as my grandmother, I love her dearly. I know she is in Heaven rejoicing, reuniting with her husband and children. However, it still doesn't take the pain away, and my heart is hurting.

I am so happy that for Christmas I decided to make a Book called "Celebrating Emma"that captured all the moments of her on that day (Her 100th Birthday Party). It really turned out Beautiful. The book arrived Dec 31, she was able to spend the night looking at the pictures and remembering that day. She fell into a coma later that night and died the next morning. How grateful I am that I finished the book, and that she spent her last night on this earth enjoying it.

Celebrating New Year's

I've never been Big on Celebrating New Year's (I usually can't stay awake!) But this year we have had a few fun days. On New Year's eve I took the kids and their friends bowling and then that night got together with 4 other families from the ward and played games all night. I wasn't thrilled about playing more games, but with Adults it's so much fun.

On New Years Day we Checked into the Tundra Lodge, it's a fabulous resort with a great Indoor Waterpark...My favorite is the Lazy River, Wes loves the hot tub, Tye loves everything, Taylor the Kids pool & slides and Tate the obstacle course. (I love it to because it wears him out!)

It's always fun to get away, just relax and spend time together. I hope everyone had a Great New years - I personally can't believe it's 2009 - I still remember when it was 1998!

The not so fun thigns about Christmas....

There are a list of things that are not fun about Christmas....Please tell me if anyone can relate....

1. The amount of Trash that we consume, it's unbelievable, we seriously filled an entire dumpster at the ranch full of our Christmas trash, boxes, wrapping paper...it's out of this world.
2. The energy it takes to take down Christmas. When I put up my decorations and trees I have Christmas music, the kids are helping, we talk about how excited we all are, lovely dovey times etc....today as I took down 2 (TWO) trees, no one in sight, no music, no helping hands....it's just not the same.
3. My house is tornado zone. I'm not even going to apologize, it is what it is. I do have relief in sight, my housekeeper is coming Monday.
4. Having my kids home from school is a Love/Hate relationship. I love having them home, but it is so much work.....I have heard my name 15348 times today. I can feel my blood pressure rising, the messes they can dream up are out of this world, and the food they can consume is out of control.
5. No more board games. We didn't have very many board games before Christmas, everyone seemed to know that because we got over 17 new ones for Christmas. I am considering donating all of them to the Goodwill. By 7:20 yesterday morning, I had already played 2 games of operation, a couple rounds of uno, 1 battleship and a round of Life, Chutes & ladders and Tate was begging me to play another game of Horseopoly....I'm a pretty good mom, I tried really hard, but I am seriously hoping a small house fire destroys are game closet.
6. I finally started throwing away left overs. I have cooked so many big meals and I have little containers of this and that left over....I can't take it. Let's just say our Dog was LOVING me this morning.
7. I've gained weight...I spent 5 months losing 24 lbs when we moved to Arizona, It took me two weeks to gain it all back. I don't know why I feel that Christmas times allows me to put more junk in my trunk, but it's always the case. I'm not going to even address the weight issue today.
8. Trying to find room in my kids's closets for all the new stuff Santa brought is a joke. I carried everything in their rooms to try and make one room in our house livable, and there's no room....it's pathetic. I have made the GRAVE mistake of cleaning out their closets when they are home, never again, so that project has to wait until they are back in school. Taylor's is the worst!
9. Has anyone ever ran into the problem of "Santas" toys breaking. This year Tye almost had a nervous breakdown when his spygear broke. He was so mad, saying "This is cheap, the elves don't know how to make toys, how come I got a broken old spy crap" I tried to explain to him that I was going to take it back and get a new one. He looked at me, totally serious and said "Yea right Mom, are you going to fly up to the North Pole right now and get me a new one...." I felt like saying "don't under estimate your mom, you little turkey, I can be pretty clever!"