I haven't blogged for a while, but since I don't have a journal and I can't quit thinking about some things, I decided I would blog.
Our best friends, Tiffany and Rhett, live in Texas. They have been through a few hurricanes. They have been evacuated, had some damage at their home, and just been inconvenienced and frustrated before. Then Hurricane Ike surprised them with all the damage they are now dealing with. If I went by what I have heard on the news I would have never known anything happened to Bridge City, Texas. Well, Bridge City was under 4 feet of water and more in some places. Which is more than enough water to ruin everything in your home and in some peoples case, the whole home! They now are basically starting from scratch with their home other than before you can start to rebuild, you have to do all the clean-up. There is also all the time put into making sure you get rid of all the mold. Since it is so humid there, that is tricky and very time consuming!
Everything inside the house is ruined. What few things they have tried to save, have ended up moldy and ruined on the front lawn for lack of any way to wash or get to all of them in time.
Tiff has only the clothes she evacuated with, but like the unselfish mother she is, she took more things for her kids than for herself.
They have a big family here in Utah, but no one in Texas to help them. We have no idea how to help them! Some of their fam is going out soon, but the house is just sitting drying out. They do have alot of clean-up outside, and lots of shopping to do(if the insurance pays soon)!
They need everything! They are like newlyweds just starting out, but with two kids!
What is so amazing about them, is they still can find the things that they have been blessed to have through all of this! She will be telling me all the things that keep going wrong(to me, nothing is going right for them)but then she will be able to name some blessing they have had too.
I always have looked up to them for all they have been through, and how well they handle their trials. They have had more than thier share of trials, and now this!
I can't quit thinking and praying for them. I know they will make it through this, and I definitely can learn alot from them. I just wish we could do more than send them a gift card to Walmart! It is so frustrating!
I talk to her and I know I don't say the things I should say. I can't seem to express to her how proud I am of her and Rhett! What a great example they have been to us. How much I miss them and wish we were closer so we could do something! That I wish we just had lots of $ to give them to help out with all they are needing.
I am grateful though that they are safe and healthy! I just have to remember that!

FIRST DAY OF SCHOOL!!!!!

I am usually sad to send my kids back to school. Not this year!! I am sick of being a ref for all the arguments, listening to how bored they are, cleaning up after them every 10 minutes, and being asked if we can go swimming(and get crypto, thankfully we didn't)!
I was as excited for them to wear their new clothes as they were since the boys hardly ever combed their hair or wore anything nice for 3 months!
I took a couple of the mandatory photo's that I think everyone does before Tanner and Saebra went to school, but didn't get TJ, the cool 8th grader before he left. So his was taken after school and he obvioulsy wasn't very cooperative. He still looks cute though.
They were all pretty excited to see friends and go back. Saebra was the only one that admitted it. Everyday she would squeal and yell "I am so excited!" I remember when I felt that way about school. I hope she stays that way a long time!

Saebra's birthday!

Our little Sarbra Sue Loubie Pooh(only one of the many nicknames she has) is 6! Here are some pics of her family b-day party. We haven't done a friend one yet. I am trying to get out of that by just taking her and a friend somewhere!
Some of my favorite things about Saebra are,
she is so loving. She loves to be held! Even though she is as tall as an eight year old so it cant be that comfortable, she likes to be held and snuggled!
She has a beautiful smile! She smiles most of the time!
She tries very hard at everything she does! She is so smart! Saebra is the sweetest little girl!
She loves to look her best! She has had an opinion on what to wear and how to do her hair since she was 2! That is no joke either!
She is a real princess too! I read her a book about how we are all princes and princesses because we are children of a King. She has never forgotten it and loves that book! She also expects us to treat her like royalty, and we usually do!
We love her!

This is all the emotion we get!

TJ's birthday

I have a teenager!!! TJ turned 13 on Tues. I can't believe he is that old, which makes me kind of old!
We had family over after we went to his baseball game. TJ doesn't show alot of emotion, ever! If you don't know him very well you would think he didn't care too much for anything he got. He really did. He loved it all and told everyone thanks a ton of times. He just hardly lets a big grin cross his face, but when he does,he can't stop giggling or smiling.
He got lots of money, a new skateboard, a bigger amp for his guitar(with headphones for me). It is getting harder for our family to figure out what to get him. You can't just go to any store and find him anything. There are particular things now he wants. He has always been kind of that way though. I am just glad he is such a pleasant resposible kid!
He always obeys and tries to please. He has always been so responsible!!! We are always amazed at how on top of everything he tries to be. He is great in school, and never gets in trouble there or at home. He is the perfect example to his younger bro and sis!!! I need to remember to tell him these things more. I think I just forget how he needs to hear them, and hear how proud I am of him! Sometimes I just take it for granted, that he is as great as he is. He has to know it, but he needs to hear it too. So, I hope you read this T. You will probably be embarrassed, but oh well! We love you and are proud of you! Happy Birthday!

Here are some pictures from Tanner's b-day. He got a ripstick for his birthday and he is already pretty good at it. Don't look too close at the writing because it ran all over the place. It definitely is not a professional job(its not a Cammee Cake!). I needed little ball-players,but couldn't find any. Oh well.

pictures

TANNER BOY

This is my Tanner Boy. He is our entertainer, actor, and the sweetest 10 year old ever! This is him doing his turkey dance after TJ shot his first turkey. He makes everyone laugh, and tries to include everyone. Even the smallest kids. He gets excited to see his baby cousins as much as he does the ones closer to his age.
It was his 10th b-day on Tues the 6th. We had everyone over for pizza and cake and icecream. Our families are very supportive, so pretty much everyone was there. They all have to come back again on May 20 for TJ's and then two weeks later for Saebra's on June 3rd.(I obviously can only get pregnant for one month out of the year.) He loves baseball so I made him a baseball field cake and baseball cupcakes. Abbie found a pic in a magazine for me. He thought it was cool, but Tanner would think anything for him was cool! He is the easiest kid to please! He even takes time to read and look at the cards. He even acts as happy about the card as he is the present!
I just wanted to tell him Happy Birthday, and we think you are great! We LOVE You!

What we do for our kids!

I cant believe what we do for our kids! TJ has a turkey tag. Yes, he is old enough to hunt, and I dont get much say in this area! It is spring break and Titus has to work, so TJ asked me to take him hunting today. My two least fav things invovled, guns and hunting. I did it anyway. So we are up Payson canyon. There is a gun next to me. Tanner and Saebra are in the back seat of my old little Geo Prizm(Titus took the truck with the turkey call and the binoculars!)and I start to think, what if he really gets a turkey?! I have on flip-flops and a nice white shirt. I dont have a tarp or blanket to put it on in my tiny trunk. Why am I doing this? Because we do things we really don't like for our kids, right, or am I just stupid?
Well, he didn't get one. Lucky for me, not for TJ though. We did see one on someone elses property,so we sat and waited for it hoping it would cross the road so he could shoot it(I hate that)! Not that I am totally against hunting. I was raised with it. My fam eats what they kill(except for some of the smaller birds), and my kids learn gun safety before they get near a real gun! Titus is very strict with them on all of that! I just hate guns! I hate how easily someone could get hurt. My sisters all took a concealed weapons class. I would never consider having one. I would never be able to protect my family with one because I would be too nervous holding one to use it wisely. They did learn alot in the class, and make some great arguments of why it would be beneficial to them to have the permit. Not for me! I am glad Titus can. I trust completely that he would be safe. I know this is very controversial, but I am glad my husband could protect my family if needed.

Last night was Saebra's 2nd soccer game. She has improved! She made a goal!!! Does it matter that it was not her game? Yes, I took her to the wrong field. I was wondering why no one looked familiar. I could see her coaches vehicle there, but she wasn't there. She was on another field. The guy coaching told me the real coach was with her daughter so he was filling in. So I thought he was talking about Saebra's coach. I guess he was filling in for another team, not Saebra's. No one said anything about it not being her team,so I just figured the kids I did know on her team weren't there. Stupid mother!! Well, her goal still counted, even if she was playing for the wrong team on the wrong field. We didn' know it was the wrong field until the next day when some kids on her team told her she was at the wrong field. I can still be ditzy at times I guess. Here are a few pictures from that game. She is like a foot taller than everyone else her age. Modeling career maybe?

I just read through my post from earlier and saw lots of mistakes. I dont know how to go back and change them. I should start checking them before I post them. Oh well.
I forgot to mention that this book reminded me of a book I read a while back called A THOUSAND SPLENDID SUNS by Khaled Hosseini(also wrote Kite Runner). It is set in the present time and the women are treated alot like in the 800's in Afghanistan. Read it if you haven't. We definitely are blessed living where and when we do.

Pope Joan

My latest book that I thought was worth writing about is Pope Joan by Donna Woolfolk Cross. I really enjoyed it, but was frustrated alot! It takes place in the 800's. Not the 1800's, the 800's. The main character is a Catholic girl who wants to learn, and have some of the privileges men did. I knew women have been mistreated in the past but had no idea how terrible it was for them! Someone could rape you and it was treated like a theft. Nothing that serious. If you were coloni, you could be killed for fighting a man for trying trying to rape you! Your husband had every right to beat you it just depended on what size of club he hit you with! You couldnt learn to read or write, it would you hamper your childbearing abilities. They really didnt believe we were capable to learn or understand the things a man could. Joan in this book decides to pretend to be a man so she can go to the schola. She eventually becomes the pope. This is part of the catholic church history they deny. There is more proof that she existed than there is that King Arthur did.
I understood why she didnt want to be a girl, but the deciet of it all frustrated me where she was supposed to be a religious leader.
Read it and tell me what you think,and if you believe she existed.

I usually love Sundays! I have a whole new Ensign I wanted to read, but never got more than one article read. I did that right before I went to bed. We spent all of our Sunday after we went to church scrubbing from ceiling to floor in our house. The reason we has to do this on a Sunday happened the night before.
Titus and I went to dinner w/friends and left TJ tending for us and our friends little boy. We usually just get down the road and Tanner calls. This time he waited until we had been seated. He called to asked me how long you cook popcorn. I told him to just hit the popcorn button and 2. He calls back later and says he burnt the popcorn. He didnt tell me how bad. I just told him to throw it away outside.
When we got home about an hour later, we could smell it from the driveway. You can imagine how bad inside smelled! They said it was so bad they could hardly breathe. The little kids were freaking out. I cant believe the smoke detectors didnt go off(we need to check them). TJ said they tried to clear all the smoke out, it didnt work. So, we opened doors and windows, turned on fans, and I started wiping down the microwave and cabinets by the microwave. We decided it probably would be fine. We went to bed, but hardly slept because of the smell. I was so worried about my furniture and our clothes smelling forever. Tanner kept having nightmares that there was a fire,so he slept on the floor in our room.
The smell was horrible. We went to church, and when we got home Titus said something had to be done. We were going to call the insurance and see what we should do, but Titus got on-line to see how to get rid of the damage. Thank goodness for my family and his! Ashlee and Abbie willingly came over and helped us scrub everything down. Alys offered but Kinley was sick. Robby and Steph asked of they could do anything, but we told them we were okay. Titus' parents brought us some dinner. I love having family around!
It smells alot better, and my house is dang clean! The smell isnt completely gone, and I need a new micro. I dont know what happened with the popcorn. He says he only cooked if for 3 mins. He is very traumatized!
So, I only got to read one article and we worked our butts off! Not the type of Sunday we like to have. We appreciated the help though!

soccer lessons needed

Last night was Saebra's first soccer game. I thought I worked with her enough and Tanner worked alot with her. We didn't. The coach had her throw the ball in from the sideline, and then she just stood there and watched cheering instead of going back out on the field. She also kept standing hunched over on the back field like she was waiting for a softball to be hit to her. Maybe she thought that was the standard sports stance from watching me play softball and her bros playing baseball. Then she just kept chasing this other girl around instead of the ball. It was great! I am not a mom that can sit quietly at any kind of game, so I hope the other parents can get used to me, or they better sit somewhere else! It is a good thing she likes to practice. I have some cute pics of her I'll get on here.

still not much to say

I haven't posted for a while because I really dont have all that much to say. I thought maybe I would start doing a book review, since I read alot. I usually have quite a bit to say about books, if I liked it. I have become a huge nerd!
My latest fav is called THE BOXMAKERS SON by Donald Smurthwait? It was one of my all time favorites! It makes you feel good. I passed it on to my mom, and she loved it too. She called me @ 8:30 in the morning when she finished it so we could talk about it. We laughed and cried about it. Read it if you can. I would like some suggestions if anyone has any.
I have been trying to find my camera cord so I can put the cutest pic of my kids in their new Sunday Easter clothes, but I cant find it. I love Easter! I love what we are celebrating, and how I focus more on the great gift of the atonement and the miracle of the resurrection. I know I need to think of that more. It is always a great weekend,and I get so excited about good weather and my flowers beginning to come up. I cant wait to plant more too!
My kids are great! We just had SEPs and they are so smart! I dont know where that came from. I did well until I discovered a social life. I dont think Titus turned any work in EVER! Our kids are very responsible, even our kindergartener. I am so grateful for them! Well, I need to go play soccer with Saebra. It is her first game tomorrow. I am sure there will be plenty of fun stories about that. You know how 5 year olds play!

I am feeling really grateful today,and thought I needed to say it. Although I am extemely sad about losing Pres. Hinckley, I am so glad that I had so many opportunities to see him and hear a true prophet of God speak. That is what I always looked forward to in conference, and any other time he was on tv or at womens conference. I also remember when he was coming to Salem for our stake priesthood meeting. The stake center is right behind my house. There were people lining the sidewalk waiting for him. My family just stood on our back porch waiting. When he finally came, I couldnt help not crying knowing that a prophet of God was that close to my house, and in the church I go to every Sunday. I loved him, just like I am sure so many others did. I pray my kids will always remember him, and his sense of humor, but especially his testimony and love of Jesus Christ. I am so happy for him and Sister Hinckley, that they are finally together again.
I know the church will be in good hands with Pres. Monson and the rest of the leaders, but I will always miss President Hinckley!

basketball

Last night we went to TJ's church basketball game. They did really well! I was watching the coach of our team with the boys,and I thought how weird, the boys are really old enough for him to be prepping them for hs ball possibly college. My boy is finally old enough(not that I have wanted them to grow-up fast)that I can see what he will probably be like as a high school kid and even an adult! How did this happen? After the game, the coach, who has adult children who most of them were really into basketball, came up to us and told Titus all potential TJ has. I just cant believe he past the funny games where all the kids are in one big group trying to get the ball. No one is under the basket. They are all in eachothers faces, screaming at eachother to pass them the ball. Those games are funny. Now TJ's games can be intense @ church and @ league.
Tanner's are still sometimes like the funny ones. Especially when he tries to block like he would in football. He is intense and aggressive. I love to watch them!
I certainly am feeling old though. It use to be me on the court, now it is my kids. I have forgotten all the rules anyway. I still love to play softball. I just try to do things I did in my teenage body. It doesnt feel as good now.
Gotta rush to kindergarten

first blog

Hey everyone! I am doing this on my own computer, and I even have an email account! It took me five tries to get on my email, then it took me even more tries to get on here. I couldnt remember everything. Not that there is that much to remember,but I am very new at this. I am not sure yet how I feet about having the internet. As soon as we got it we had probs. I would lie awake at night worried about all the things available to us. I worry about what we have brought into our home. I hope we have good enough blocks or filters (whatever).
I will try not to think about it too much. So, what about the Bills fam? We are all great! Titus is working for himself(electrical). It slow right now. We are hoping it picks up soon.
I do the same thing almost everyday. Kids,cleaning, workout, hangout with my sisters, and I love to read! I dont know how moms do it all when they have to leave home to work, and do everything else.
T.J. is doing great in school, and is playing basketball. They also hunt as much as they can. It is so weird to have a kid in Jr High. It has been fun though. He has an interesting sense of humor.
Tanner is our clown. He thinks it is his job to make everyone laugh. So much so he has forgotten that if he doesn't do as well as he usually does there will be no hunting. He still does really well. He also is playing basketball. He just passed his hunters safety tests. Now he can hunt birds.
I dont like the idea of my 9 year old carrying a gun. Well, I dont like the idea of my 12 yr old and 35 yr old carrying one either!
Saebra is our spoiled princess. She is so girly girly. I love it, but I hate it too. I should have known when she was 2 and crying about how she wanted her hair done and what she wanted to wear that I was going to be in trouble. She is now learning to read, and she takes gymnastics. She is alot of fun.
Well, I have nothing else to say for now. I might put some pics on someday.(when Abbie will do it for me)