What do you do on a rainy day with kids and a strange town?

Saturday was a wonderful day. It ended a lot differently than what I originally planned. I woke up to get ready to go to an air show at the Columbia airport with my little brother Mike. It was sooooo dark outside for being 7:30 am. It had been raining already and it originally said the rain wouldn't be here til later in the day. So, after saying goodbye to Justin and Brandon as they were on their way to fish and camp and see friends, we decided to go ahead and meet up and we were on our way to Jeff city. Sure enough it rained all day. The show was cancelled, so now we had to get creative with the kids with what to do. So, this is what we did...... First, we went to the mall and played on the toys forever! Then we went to eat lunch. Next, we went and looked at cards in a grocery store and watched Hayden and Alyssa push each other up and down the aisle in a car cart. They were laughing so hard and having such a good time. We went shopping and had Hayden model clothes for us (He soaked his clothes and I didn't have spares so he got new ones) and he thought it was so fun. He is a bit of a show off. We went to Petco and Hayden begged to pet every dog we saw. He only pet 4 out of the 7. We then went into Barnes and Noble. They always love it there. Hayden goes straight for the train set and Alyssa straight to the tables with the books. It was so sweet to watch Alyssa with the books. She would move from one spot to another and would just sit anywhere with the book she found to look at. She would actually make up stories to go with the pictures she saw and went through the whole book. I love to see her love for reading.I hope she can stick to it. Hayden could play with those trains all day if I let him.I love Barnes and Noble. It has something for everyone. It was getting close to dinner, the rain had stopped, so we decided to get pizza and find a park for the kids to play at. We eventually found a beautiful park called Riverside park, because it was right along side the Missouri River. There was a lookout point and you could see all of the big boats going up it and the amtrak trains going by. The toys were great because it had this raised platform that made all of the water run under it, so nothing was wet except the grass. Exactly what we were looking for after all of that rain. So the whole day was mostly geared around keeping the kids occupied and happy but, it was just great because it was so carefree and relaxing I didn't feel rushed to have to be somewhere or worry about anything, and they were so good the entire time! I don't know that I had to get after them once the entire day. That is a miracle. Thanks for hanging out Mike it was great! I took tons of pictures on my phone because Justin has the camera, so as soon as he gets home with it I can post pictures with this.

nailpolish and my boys

I should really be in bed asleep but really just want to post this. I will have a lot of catching up to do after this weekend. Yesterday, which was Friday, was Brandon's school picnic at the state park. I am so glad he was able to do this because it was rained out the day before and the week before his field day was rained out also and wasn't rescheduled. bummer. He came home in such a good mood and very wore out and a tiny bit burnt. We were in the drive way talking about his day while he was practicing casting his fishing pole, which is another story, when I noticed his different colored finger nails! I asked him about it and he just replied that one of his friends (who is a girl) painted his fingernails. He thought it was pretty cool. I know Justin saw it first and had a good talk with him I am sure. But I also made sure he knew he wasn't allowed to do this again and most importantly that nail polish is for girls! I hope he listened. It's not something I thought I needed to explain to him. I thought, I am sure I have told him this before. Who knows. I did laugh though. I know I once put mascara on a guy friend and he put up a fight but then begged never to tell anyone ever! That is probably worse than nail polish. I had an amazingly fun day with two of my kiddo's and little brother Mike even though our original plans were ruined. I will have to post about this tommorow though. And I am up so late because Justin and Brandon are camping at the farm in Kansas. I never go to bed early when Justin is not here to coax me to. It is just him being here and going to bed himself without saying a word and I will follow close behind that gets me to bed. I rarely am in bed first. He is always waiting for me. but, also I just really don't like going to bed after he is asleep. I feel like there is a void or something and I don't go to sleep easily. I hope two of my boys are being safe and are having a blast! I can't wait to see all of the pictures of the fish Brandon's been catching! And he told me on the phone tonight "I learned how to drive a tractor! A real tractor Mom!" Can't wait to hear the rest of all of the stories.

Weekend with the whole Family

It was really fun to have our entire family together this past weekend. This does not happen very often as we get older and are all going our seperate ways. This picture above is all 17 of us. We would like to welcome our new addition as a Hastings... Kirstyn- Matt's wife.
Saturday some went to Nauvoo and others went to the zoo. Sunday was busy with family pictures and then stake conference and Mike was ordained an elder. That night, Matt with Justin's help, grilled some great food and then with the kids to bed we had the rest of the evening to talk and share all of our unknown or just forgotten childhood memories with everyone. Just before we all were together in one room we were all kind of doing our own things trying to figure out who was doing what next. Then, the power went out. It just pulled us all together in one place. I love how things just happen.
Monday was nice to just relax and let everyone play. I enjoyed a nice walk with dad. It was good to spend time with him because we never seam to get much time alone together or even to just talk on the phone.
We are all excited for Mike to be doing his "final touchups" before he puts in his mission papers. We will have a lot of changes happen in the next year within the family. I love you all and I am thankful for the time we had together.


Heather and the kids. You can tell the kids are not interested in this picture at all.

My little bro's that aren't so little anymore. They are all so different. We were joking about how they don't really look like brothers. But they are all cute. Love you guys! The number one thing the kids love to do is dress up. Here's Brandon being a cowboy. pretty creative with that cover on his face. I am sure it is a doll's top.
Ha. I caught Liz dressing up with the kids too! nice.
Brandon reading to grandpa.

On Saturday we went to the St. louis zoo. I don't think we even got half way through it. I don't have good pictures because we didn't see much. It was just too crazy busy. It took us an hour to park once we actually got there because soooo many people all had the same idea. I will have to post other pics later.
Alyssa was so tired at the end of the zoo she couldn't hold out any longer. It was a loooonnng hike back to the car though with her on my back.
This is a bearded dragon. Brandon thinks it's a baby dragon.

Becca, Matt, Isabel and Alex

a little behind

I had been meaning to type about mothers day but I just never got around to it. I had a wonderful day. The kids and my Hubby gave me wonderful cards and I love how my oldest is able to really write now. I got to see Alyssa sing with the primary for the first time with Brandon too. I also got to give Alyssa's talk for her in primary. Poor girl thought she was supposed to say the prayer and everyone started to giggle and then she permanently hid her face in me. Then Justin grilled a yummy dinner for us. I really had a good day. I am so thankful I am able to be a mother to three beautiful and wonderful children who give me many moments to learn and grow.

I had read something from this book , The Teachings of Ezra Taft Benson, about God-given roles of a mother, that I would like to share. These are ten specific ways mothers may spend effective time with their children.

1st, take time to always be at the crossroads when your children are coming or going.
2nd, mothers, take time to be a real friend to your children. Listen, really listen, Talk,laugh, joke, sing, play, cry with them, hug them, and honestly praise them.
3rd, take time to read to your children, starting from the cradle read to you sons and daughters. you will plant a love for good literature and a real love for the scriptures.
4th, take time to pray with your children. Family and personal prayers.
5th, take time to have a meaningful weekly home evening.
6th, be together at mealtimes as often as possible.
7th, take time daily to read scriptures together as a family. Individual reading is important but family scripture reading is vital. I promise you the Book of Mormon will change the lives of your family.
8th, take times to do things as a family. family outings and support in activities.
9th, mothers, take time to teach your children in the home. Mother's, you are your children's best teacher.
10th, and finally, mothers, take the time to truly love your children. A mother's unqualified love approaches Christlike love.

I of course summed it all down quite a bit, but it goes on and talks a little about each thing in detail in the book. It is all good reminders that I know I have heard before but it is good to hear it or read it to remind me of what I need to be doing as a mother.




Mother's Day weekend
This past weekend we had a fun time with Becca and the girls and Mike finally came to visit! Hayden loved Isabel so much this time he couldn't stay away from her. They are sweet. It is so fun to see the cousins play together and become closer to each other every time.

My two wore out boys. Aren't they cute? He loves his daddy.

Fire and Pain

This is my sister Liz, Monday morning Liz was driving to work and got a call that her work caught fire in the early morning and nothing was left. She worked at dig my pics, a photo and video archiving company. they had so many boxes of peoples photo's in there that are all gone. So many of them are irreplaceable and date way back. It's really sad. They were able to go in and retrieve the server and are trying to get under the collapsed ceiling to see if any computers salvageable. So, Now my sister is out of a job, and this poor couple who had started this company about 5 years ago has to start over or who knows... They say they might not. http://www.digmypics.com/ This sight is the company page and has all of the info and pictures. This is my brother Dan. He has skated since he was about ... I will say 12-14 yrs old. because I really don't remember. He hates being fussed over so he probably won't like this but he'll get over it. He has had his share of nasty injuries in the past 10 years. With his most recent one he hurt his knee pretty good. It's really not even his worst injury but, he doesn't even know what's wrong yet. I hope you feel better Dan, and figure out what's wrong! I was just thinking that I feel so grateful to have our church and know the power of prayer and know that we will receive answers we need when we ask, if we are patient and in God's time, and that our Heavenly Father is always there for us.

Here's to my Dad

HAPPY BIRTHDAY DAD!!!!! Today is my dads birthday. I don't know if he wants me to say how old so I won't. I just want him to know how awesome he is and that I love him! I hope you've had a great day!! You're the best!
A few things I love about my dad.... He has a great smile. I love to hear him laugh. He is a good listener. He is so patient. He has always looked out for me even when or if I didn't want him to. He taught me to read, ride a bike, and probably many other things. But, those two stick out the most because they were great memories. Thanks dad!

Grandma Time

This past week we had so much fun when Justin's Mom came to visit! Wednesday we went to a park and played with other kids with her and then went home and tried out the naps but failed... Later on Mom had the young women over so, Dad took the kids and her to get icecream, I wish I had pictures from that. The kids are always cute with their cones.
Thursday we took the scenic route down to the dam. It is so pretty right now. I have never seen the river so high as it is when the all of the water is flowing out. We then drove to the kids favorite park nearby but thankfully Alyssa slept through it because everything was completely covered in yellow pollen! It was bad, It made it really hard to play on the toys anywhere.
Friday we got Brandon out of school and went to Ha Ha Tonka state park http://www.livelakeozarks.com/ozarks/parks/haha.htm to see the castle and walk along the water on the trails. That was so fun to see all of the plants in bloom, the cliff swallows fly over the water, tons and tons of turtles sitting in the sun, and we all watched a mink. I had never seen a live mink before.
That night we were able to get a babysitter and all three go out to dinner at a new wonderful place. Well, It's not new it has been around for around 35 yrs. so it is kind of old for a restraunt but it was great. The best part I loved was picking up the kids and Hayden was so happy! He only cried for 5 minutes! I was amazed. They were all so happy and kept begging to go back and play.

Saying Goodbye. It was kind of a short visit but it was nice to have Grandma here we all had a good time. The kids love having people come to see us.

Our Hero

It started Thursday night, I heard that horrible sound of a cat fight out our back window. I went out to look at what the noise was. I then saw a cat up in a tree and a squirrel beneath it. So I automatically thought that's all it was. But, then I saw something higher up moving. I was a second little cat. So as curious as I was I went out to see if I could help it with a can of tuna and cat food. It didn't budge. I even threw the tuna up to it and it stayed still. It was not coming down. By then it was just barely light enough to see. I figured if it really wanted down it would be gone in the morning. Well, the next morning it was still there! It had been pouring and thundering and lightning since really early morning. I showed Justin and he was then determined to get it down.
Now, this isn't our cat, I recognized it from our neighbor a street over.
Justin went and got his ladder to access the situation. He realized then his ladder was about 12 feet too short. So he then went and got a second ladder, it was smaller but it did help. He used bungee cords to wrap the ladders to the tree.

He climbed up and could barely reach it, the kitten then reached for him and it came down. You can barely see the black spot above Justin's arm reaching up. The cat was as high as 23 to 25 feet!
Here he is coming down
The cat was so wet from all of the rain.

We tried to give it food and water but it only wanted to go back out probably to go home. So Justin drove it home. It's all kind of funny. Just a little cat that we didn't even know. It's a good thing it was in our tree I guess or it probably would have just gone unnoticed. I told you there is always something going on with some animal around our house.