Update

Good Morning, all you early morning blog checkers! Haven't put anything in for a while, and I'm leaving this week for girls camp so I thought I would post a tid-bit before I go. Max has finished school (thanks to Ms. Josie doing double days for a week instead of 2x per week until Aug) and Marshall only has 2 weeks left! Max did exceptionally well, especially considering where he came from only 6 months ago. His confidence has been renewed and he is ready to start 4th grade - what a difference the right teacher makes! Max will be doing the K-12 Charter School, through Nevada Virtual Academy. It is a charter school (paid for by the school disctirct) that he does at home with me, on the computer. We are so excited! Marshall is enrolled with Odyssey Charter school, same concept, only a teacher comes out 1x per week to check on his progress. (K-12 is only offered for 4-8th grade, which is why they are using 2 different schools.) Simon just got his Kindergarten assignment and he will be on track 5 A.M with Ms. Pereira. You can't even imagine how excited this kid is to going to school. A little sad that my "baby" is going to be leaving me now, but how can I not be as thrilled as he is.

Jeff is going to be crazy busy at work this week, which turns out to be a really good thing considering the rest of us will be gone. Max and Simon will be with their grandma and grandpa in Paragonah, Utah, and Marshall is spending the week with Kate and Zach (he is sure he is getting the better end, being able to stay with Lincoln and Reagan and McKinley for a full week. Yesterday he said to me "Mom, now McKinley will be happy every morning because I will be there!") I am so lucky to have such great family around so that I can take the week and spend it with the Young Women. I am so excited about it, I can hardly sleep! We are camping Mt. Charleston at a campground called Camp Stimpson. We went up Saturday to set up tents and I was really impressed. Not that bad, with the exception that is quite a walk to the bathrooms. Thanks to Zach and Kate that won't be a problem, because they are letting me use their hunting blind and portable toilet that I can set up right next to my tent! Thanks again guys! I leave tomorrow, Tuesday, at 6:30am and will be back before noon on Saturday. I am mostly sad about missing mine and Jeff's 12 year anniversary on Thursday! Kate took the kids on Friday night so we could go to dinner to celebrate, but I still wish I could be here with my hubby! Sorry Jeff!

That is about all the news for now. Oh, on Saturday my friend Becky and her family, Rob, Noah(5), Sydney(3), Sawyer(2) and Jade(8 weeks) stopped by on their way through to St. George. It was SOOOOO GREAT to see them. The last time I saw them was 8 1/2 years ago. I was flying home to NY with Max, (maybe 4-6 months old) and had a 3 hour layover in Detroit. She came and picked us up. Crazy, almost 9 years later we meet up again. She looks fantastic! Their kids are cute as can be! I kept trying to get my kids to go play with the other ones, but all they wanted to do was sit around little Jade and watch her and talk to her. It was so cute. They only stayed about 2 hours and the time went by way too fast, but I am so glad that they stopped. All night (on my anniversary date with Jeff) I couldn't stop talking about how great their family is and how much fun she and Rob are and how I thought they would get along so well! I miss my Cali-Crew friends! I'll try and dig up some old pics so you all know who I am referring. Not all of them have a family blog - come on girls, get with the program! There is Michelle (Pfaller) Call, Carrie (Wanacott) Dyer, Becky (Callister) Thompson, Heather (Shaddy) Nelson, Megan (McCausland) ? can't remember her new last name-sorry, Korie (Rogers) Ebmeyer, and Amy (can't remember maiden name) Clark. Great girlfriends! I love and miss you all!

Time is flying and I have way too much to do today. Thanks for getting updated on our family. I will post more about Max and his condition when I get back. He has another appointment next week...we'll see what happens!

Love, Rachelle

Up in Smoke!

Sunday morning and we are all running around getting ready for church. I am upstairs in my room finishing Marshall and Simon's hair and Max is downstairs eating frozen waffles for breakfast. Soon Max is upstairs with me, ready to get dressed. He asks me if I smelled something burning. I said I did and that it was probably the crumbs that were in the bottom of toaster buring. He accepted what I said and went to get dressed. 5 minutes later I met him in the hall to ask him if he was ready to have his hair done. I still smelled the burning smell, only it was getting stronger. I happen to look into the boys bathroom and my eye caught a towl that was thrown up onto the vanity lights. (I wonder which of my little munchkins did it?)
(the lights after I removed the towel)
Black was coming through the towl and it began to smoke. I grabbed the ironing water bottle and make a feeble attempt to spray the towl, after I turned off the lights, of course. I yelled for Marshall to get me the broom, which I used to lift the towl and put it into the toilet. The bathroom was filled with smoke and it was starting to come out into the upstairs. Holy cow did that smoke burn! Eyes, nose and mouth! I couldn't imagine being in a house that was really on fire. It was horrible. Here I am, covering my eyes with a towl over my nose and mouth, with a broom in my hand. After I got the towl into the toilet, I opened the window and put a box fan in there to clear the smoke. It smelled horrible! The smelled permiated every room, our hair and our clothes. Here is it 8:30 and we are ready to walk out the door to church. I spray on some febreeze and extra perfume and off to church we go. I know our hair and clothes smelled horrible but I wasn't about to change all 3 of us. Somehow I feel really lucky that I wasn't totally on time. Had we left 5 minutes earlier, we would have come home to a house of ashes, I'm sure. Fun little things we get to experience when we have boys!
(The towel that could have been the end of our house.)

4th of July in St. George

Kids watching the fireworks from the back of the van. It was really great, and lasted almost 20 minutes.



Eventually they all ended up outside, careful to not get too close to the guardrail where there was a steep drop off down a big hill.

Bowling Blast

My infamous 134!!! Hard to believe that I am so proud of that score but I totally am! It is so hard for me to hit 100, must have been the new velcro shoes at this state of the art alley(J/K)!

Me and Noelle and the boys!

This is how Simon would watch his ball go down the lane. Crazy kid!

Then and Now

Jeff and his friend Ben in Guatemala (on their mission)and then last weekend, together for the 4th of July!

"A Daily Scoop"

My friend told me about this amazing blog of one of her friends. I finally went on and I am so glad I did. Here is a mother, just like the rest of us, who has been through unthinkable trials and is willing to share her story and feelings with the world (It all begins on her June 14th post).  She is so inspirational and even though I don't personally know her, I love her and her family. I hope you find some time to enjoy it like I do.

Breaking Dawn

Interview with Stephanie Meyers on Breaking Dawn.

Shout Out!

A little shout out and thank you to my very sweet and thoughtful sister-in-law, Zelma. She brought them over while I was at pack meeting with all my kids. When we got home, the kids rushed in the house and then back out to the garage saying "Mom, there is a huge thing of flowers on the table, did Dad give them to you?" As much as I wanted them be from him, I knew better than to think that Jeff would spend money on something that would be dead in a week. So it made much more sense when he told me that they were from Zelma. She is always so great about celebrating any occation, even the announcement of being pregnant. Thanks Zel! You are the best!

Before and After

A few months ago Jeff and I decided that our white trash yard had to go,  after much neglect for the past 3 years and a very limited budget.  This is what I came up with.  It was fun to get as much done as I could, before Jeff got home from work every day so he could see the dramatic transformation.  I know on the pictures it doesn't look like much, but believe me, it looks much better. 










I still have some work left to do still.  The area around the tree is supposed to be a mound.  It will be 2-3 feet taller with topsoil, and then I'll plant ground cover type plants all over.  It already makes such a difference.

Before and After #2

This is the side walk leading up to the front door. Pretty scarce before and the pink rock from my neighbor's yard kept falling down into mine. I put a huge dry river bed in with river rock to hold her rock and my rock in place. The plants I put here are pineapple guava. They supposedly grow up to 6 feet wide and 15 feet tall. I strategically placed them in front of all the windows. They can't grow fast enough.

Before and After #3

This is the entry way to our house. As you can see there was NOTHING there before. A few of the plants didn't take, but overall, I think it looks much better. It will take a few years for the plants to really fill in the space, just seeing a little bit of green is so much better than just rock! Eventually I would like to have 2 large pots on either side of the archway, as well as a hanging water feature to fill up the big, blank wall.

Week 10 - A little more human like.

It is amazing to me and the boys, how much the baby changes and grows in just 4 weeks!


These are 2 pictures taken at my week 10 appointment. The baby was going crazy, kicking and waving. So weird that I can't feel it moving at all when I see it moving everywhere on the ultrasound. I think it liked the diet coke I drank on the way over to the doctor(it is the only thing that burns the bad taste from my mouth).

6 Weeks- Looking like a dinosaur!

This is an image I found on the internet.  Below is the ultrasound from my 6 week appointment.

Cute Blog to Check Out

You have to check out this blog.  I got it off my friends blog and thought she had some adorable stuff for babies  (hint, hint).  Just the name "fingers and toes" is cute enough!

News...news...news!

Well, today was the day.  Revelation day.  That is what Jeff called it.  The day we reveal to our kids (which means the news will travel very fast) that we are pregnant! (Sorry Brit.  I hate to be another one to add to your "list".)  10 weeks.  Not that far along, I know, but it will be very hard to keep it hush for much longer seeing how my belly is already bulging out of all my clothes.  I'm sure some of you had your suspicions as to why my clothes are a little snug, or why my workouts have been few and far between...well, actually non-exist ant!  I have been not only tired, but very sick.  Not enough to ever throw-up, just enough to taste it and feel it in the back of my throat ALL THE TIME!  Jeff has been so great and understanding at me not cooking, hardly at all.  He is so happy.  I feel like I have waited forever for this to happen again.  5 years this August since Simon was born.  Crazy!  It was in January of 2005 when I started to feel ready for another one.  Due to one reason or another (insurance, last year of law school, moving, taking the bar, starting a new job, insurance again, Max's health issues) we put it off for 3 1/2 years.  The last year has definitely been the longest in waiting but now that it is here and I am sick, I'm glad we waited until we did.  The boys are totally thrilled and I spent part of the day on the Internet with them showing them the stages of the baby in my tummy.  Right now it is the size of a date, only not shrivelled, 1 1/2 inches.  Simon asked me the other day when he could have a baby sister.  Today when I asked him what he thought it would be, he said another boy.  Boy or girl, I really don't care.  It would be a nice change to have another girl on my side and very fun for me to dress her and do her hair, but boys are easy for me.  Either way, we are pretty much starting all over.  Practically a new generation of children.  That's right, if I have it my way our total will be 5.  One at a time.  Thinking of doing this sick thing all over again makes me, well, sick, because I am.  Trying to embrace and love every minute of it, which at times is very difficult.   I am very grateful  to be a mother and even more so to be able to do it again, hopefully with fewer mistakes and more patience.  Although Jeff likes to remind me often that I'm "no spring chicken anymore," I am looking forward to having another one a little later in life than the others.  I hope to enjoy it more and be more relaxed about things.  Easier said than done, I know.  So to all of you who keep wondering if we are going to have anymore and when, the mystery is finally solved.  Love to all of you from the woman with the fast growing womb.....Rachelle