February

Well February has come and gone. February for me is always a time of reflection on the life's miracles...it is Haylee's Birthday & Mikaydi's. Both beautiful girls & both sweetly remind me that miracles happen everyday. 14 years ago Haylee was born & she shows me everyday what a blessing & miracle she is in our lives. She works so hard & is doing so well at over coming her disabilities--she is amazing! Then 6 years ago Mikaydi came & proved once again how miracles happen everyday. She quit breathing in my arms & after the life flight crew told me I probably wouldn't see her alive again--I was numb...or at least I thought at the time. What was really happening & what I know for a fact today is that in our darkest hours our Savior carries us through. He wraps us with warmth & peace & we realize we will be ok. Thankfully for our family we were blessed!! Hugely!! After 2 weeks in the ICU she pulled through & made a full recovery. On Mikaydi's birthday I am always so thankful I got to keep her & I really can't imagine life without her wonderful personality. Wow--2012 it is true life goes by so fast.

Mikaydi this fall / Mikaydi in Spokane ICU

Haylee 2 years ago / Haylee this year

. Haylee turned 14...yes 14! We are talking about dances & highschool coming up & make up & (sometimes) boys. I can't believe how much she has changed in the last couple of years--its both scary & amazingly wonderful. She has gained such a confidence in herself--wow with all she has to deal with she absolutely amazes me!

Happy Birthday Frans...

Frans turns 9 today! Wow time really does fly by. Frans is such a fun boy to have in our family. He is so full of joy & life you can't help but smile at him. He played football for the first time this year and just loved it...then again Frans loves everthing even if he isn't the best one out there. I have a feeling that this attitude is going to take Frans very far in life. Frans' team was the Connell Eagles and he played on the line as he is one of the bigger kids.



Frans got his wolf badge in September. He loves cub scouts and has a great time with all the other boys. He is always excited to pass off things and earn new beltloops & badges. I hope this continues as he gets into Boy Scouts and works toward his eagle.











Frans is always joking around with his siblings and playing pranks. He has grown 4.5 inches since June this year. We hope he will be tall but you never really know.



Frans and Bode are best friends. Frans always is asking for Bode to come over to our house. They pretty much have been this way since Kindergarten.

Even when Bode accidently cut Frans & he got 4 stitches...Frans still said Bode was his best friend. I am glad Frans has such a good friend. Occationally Frans and Bode get into a little mischief but I guess that is to be expected Boys will be boys I guess. These two boys will be fun to watch grow up together & see how they turn out. Happy Birthday Frans--we love you!

Molly gets glasses!

Molly got glasses last monday, she absolutely had to have these glasses...good thing our insurance paid for most of them. They are purple & pink & have a diamond heart on the side. Molly was so excited. I will give her another month or so before she doesn't think they are so great. The eye dr thinks she may stuggle with her vision...apparently taking after me with my terrible eyesight. He said it was genetic...great. She is pretty cute in them & having a great year so far in first grade. Molly definitely keeps us & her brothers on our toes!

"I did it!"

Haylee did a Trek this year with our Stake & the Pasco Stake (which used to be our stake until we split). I have to admit that we (ok me) were really worried about sending Haylee. Most of you know that she has some learning disabilities and with that some physical limitations. We asked Haylee if she really wanted to go before hand & she told us yes. We then started having her walk 2 miles everyday (begining at the end of June). Then I found out that they would be doing about 7 miles a day for 3 days. I began to get worried again. After much thought we decided to go ahead and send her on the Trek. Her "ma" called the night before the trek & I cannot thank her enough for calming my fears. Oh, how very glad I am that Haylee went! She had to come back one night early as my grandpa passed & I wanted her to go to the funeral. When she got home--dirty from head to toe & quite frankly a mess--she said, "I did it! I did it!" "No one had to pick me up and take me back to camp! I walked the whole way." As I think of the very good lesson Haylee & I learned from this tears come to my eyes. Yes, she did it! And through Jesus Christ we can make it back to our Father in Heaven & say, "I did it! I did it!"

Haylee & her Trek "ma"--I cannot thank her enough for being there for her.

Mikaydi is in KINDERGARTEN!!

Today is Mikaydi's first day of Kindergarten & she was so excited. Owen (in 6th) was like "Oh, man if only she knew what homework is really like...she wouldn't ever want to go." I had to laugh what a typical kid response. Owen was excited to help her on to the bus though. Molly was very excited Mikaydi gets to go as well. I can't believe my baby girl is going to school...time seems to be flying. I only have one more at home & Jax thinks its great. He has been lying around in his underwear all morning watching his movies. In a day or two I expect he will be bored of that and looking for me to start playing with him. Mikaydi is so excited to be able to ride the bus with her syblings--in fact she did not want me to take her today. She wanted to ride the bus with "Molly". All I can do is hope that I have taught her everything she needs to know from "Momma School" & she can be a good student & friend & example.

New School Year 2011-2012

Frans, Molly, Owen....Frans 3rd grade, Molly 1st, Owen 6th...Mikaydi starts kinder next week. Everyone is so excited for school to start. Frans & Molly the most excited. Owen excited to be a 6th grader not excited for homework...neither am I to tell the truth. I am a mom that HATES homework. For some reason I have to sit right next to each child (with the exception of Frans) and make sure they do it. When you have 5 kids in school that is a lot of time. Jeepers--that is a depressing thought. On the good side I get to have all my kids in school & I get to entertain Jax all day (Oh, wait is that supposed to be a good thing?) ! It is amazing how life keeps progressing and moving forward--if we are ready or not!

Here is Haylee on her first day of 8th Grade.

She is panicked because she is late...

Apparently, this year will be like last year...no matter what time I wake her she is always late. Ahhh teenagers! Haylee has decided she really like boys...after the guys camping next to us this summer showed an interest in her. Wow--big difference in how they care about appearance when they are interested in boys. In February she will be 14 and gets to go to dances (really are we really talking about that already?) Well I know it is a good thing for her but a tiny part of me is scared out of my ever living mind!! Who knows what else this year will bring?

Update

The closer we get to August the closer the summer comes to an end. We have been so busy this year. I can't seem to keep up with everything that has been going on. Right now I am working cherry harvest & working at the library & kind of sleeping during the day. The only slow day is Sundays--which is a nice break from the grind. The nice thing is that Cherry's only last around 2 weeks & I get a nice big check at the end to (of course) pay for school supplies and our AC being fixed. Yes our AC was broke for awhile...actually now that its so cool in the house I don't think it ever worked right since we've been living here. The kids are good though--surviving the insanity of mom working so much. Haylee is getting ready to go on her Trek & I am glad that we aren't going as a family this time (I don't think I've got it in me). Jax turned 3 on June 30th I was going to post pictures but somehow I have no idea what happened to them and I don't have time to look right now so I will try to post those later. The biggest problem at our house right now? Jax keeps beating up Molly & Mikaydi--seriously those girls need to learn to defend themselves. I am not saying we should just have an all out brawl but Jax is quite a bit younger than they are & probably wouldn't hit them if they should him he'd get hurt back. If anyone missed Owen, Frans, and Molly's talent show videos they are on my facebook page & youtube. They were also in the paper--a picture of Owen playing the guitar & a nice article about how Frans's enlargerator machine (and I quote) "brought down the house." It was fun to have them in the paper. So as bugs bunny always said, "th-th-thats all folks" (it was bugs bunny right?--I am way too sleep deprived!)

Looking for...

Ok so Owen and Frans both want to do the talent show in their school this year and I think, "Great I have to come up with something for them to do." (I know bad mom moment) Anyway I was looking on Youtube and on the net for ideas. So far not much that I can think of...I was thinking maybe of doing the "Dance Evolution" (if you have not seen it just Youtube it--FUNNY) and asking to see if any 5th graders want to do it with Owen (it would be a little much for Frans). Am I crazy?? Or do any of you out there have any ideas on what we could do that would be fun and not boring? Owen will be playing his guitar, but thought it might be fun for him to do the other too. I am looking for your opinion so please post!! Thanks!

Mikaydi's Birthday Party

Mikaydi is turning 5 this week! I can't believe it. She invited four of her friends over to help her celebrate. She was so cute and had such a good time. She is ready to go to kindergarten, she says "I am five now so I get to go to kindergarten with Molly, right?" Of course I had to explain to her that she had to wait til September to go to school. Mikaydi is growing up to be such a sweet and kind girl. She is always helpful and loves to play with her siblings. Her and Owen still share the very blonde hair, and blue eyes. I just can't believe how much she has grown up and changed this year. I also can't believe that 4 years and 50 weeks ago we almost lost her and she was life flighted to Sacred Heart in Spokane--it seems like just yesterday. How blessed we are to have been able to keep her with us. HAPPY BIRTHDAY MIKAYDI!

Trying out Couponing

Okay so I keep hearing about how people get these amazing deals by couponing so for 2011 I am trying it out. I have to say it is awesome! It is great how you can really get so much with out spending a lot. I am trying to get my year supply in "household" items this year completely by couponing. Hopefully I will remember to occationally take a snapshot and post a blog about my finds. Yesterday (Saturday) I got what you see pictured here, which includes, 20 Axe deoderants, 16 bars of dial soap, and 3 dial body wash--and I spent a whopping $12 out of pocket and recieved $25 in register rewards (I get to take that amount off my next purchase). Isn't that AMAZING?!!

Mikaydi's Goes to Preschool

Mikaydi started preschool on Wednesday. Her teacher is Mrs. Gray and she is so excited to be going to school (I think she like's being away from Jax too). She is hoping her friend Kali will be going too, but we don't know yet. Being without Molly has thrown her for a loop--she isn't used to being boss. It is nice to see how much Molly and Mikaydi love each other and how excited they are to see each other at the end of the day. I am amazed at how fast my kids are growing up.

Molly Starts Kindergarten!

I feel kind of bad for Molly--she has these two older brothers that won't quit teasing her. She wanted to take a picture (just like Haylee Owen and Frans did earlier) and they couldn't stop with the bunny ears...she was almost in tears. Once we got over the teasing boys she is here waiting for the bus--so excited and nervous. She had to sleep with her shoes in her bed, so she didn't lose them! She was very cute and Dad even came by to watch her get on the bus, that made all the difference. Dads are the best!

School/Football Begins

Frans 2nd Grader!!
His goals for this year: Get baptized, have Bode over to spend the night, get his AR prizes (advanced reader)
Haylee 7th Grader Her goals for this year: Wear make up everyday, play volleyball, make friends, have a social life (go figure) :)
Owen 5th Grader His goals for this year: Play Football, wrestle, and baseball. Learn to rock the guitar for talent show (in the spring), play trumpet in band. (Obviously this kid has some Hokanson musical talent--and Yorgesen athletics)

Owen's first Football game he is number 12. He is working hard to catch up to the other players that have been playing for 2 or 3 years. (Of course its all my fault I wouldn't let him play when he was 8!)

And I thought the Summer was busy...

The summer just flew by and I really thought, "man the summer is so busy it will be nice when school gets in." Well let me just tell you what we have going on right now...Owen--Football, piano, guitar, band, scouts, school. Frans--soccer, piano Haylee--Jr. High, volleyball, young womens. Molly--school, soccer. Mike--work, scouts, domestic water Me--work, kids, house
Okay how did I think the summer was busy?? I am not sure how I am going to be everywhere all at once this fall--too bad I am not Mrs. Incredible!

Reptile Man @ BC Library

Had so much fun with the kids watching the reptile man. Molly was so excited about touching everything it was funny--she even told her friend Preston "hold my hand if your scared, I'll protect you." Such a fun thing to do at the library--in a couple of weeks they will be having the WSU Raptors and I think that is with different kinds of birds and stuff.

Update...

Okay so here is an update on everything that has been going on. Owen, Molly and Frans are all done with baseball. Owen is pretty sad about that but oh, well. If you will notice the pictures of Molly in T-ball--my daughter the dandylion smeller! I finally put her on 3rd base and all she does is sit down. :) Frans got a mosquito bite and it swelled his whole eye. We bought more repellent. Haylee went to her jr. high orientation and talk about excitement we almost couldn't contain it ("did you see how many boys there are?"). Haylee is definitly noticing boys but Mike makes sure to tell her how disgusting boys are. (Lucky for us mainly we talk about Edward or Jacob). The whole crying because "my shirt I want to wear isn't cleaned" is about to drive me insane but I am hanging in there. Jax still isn't talking too much but really why should he when he's got 5 siblings to bend to his every need? He is definitely the king around here. Molly is all registered for Kinder and she doesn't understand why she can't bring her blanket. I asked her well does Haylee carry a blanket to school? Her reply, "Haylee doesn't NEED her blanket like I DO!" I guess she's a little nervous about school. Mikaydi is loving having Dana around because she doesn't boss her around and they play really well together. She is always asking if Dana is coming today--too bad they are moving at the end of the week to Vegas.

Owen Gets Contacts

Owen has contacts now. Sorry I have two of the same pictures but I cannot figure out how to delete it so oh, well. Owen has finally joined the ranks of contact wears. He told me last night before he went to bed: "I'm a contactor now!" He is loving it. I think it make him feel more grown up. I am happy to report it only took him 30 minutes to get them in this morning. Haylee tried to get contacts but was unable to put them in so she gets one more chance next week to tried to put them in (in front of the contact lady) or she won't get them for a couple more years. Many people might ask why get Owen contacts at age 10 1/2...well he will need them for football in the fall and he doesn't like wearing glasses while he has a helmet on for baseball this spring. I will tell you what he needs to see in order to have any change to hit a baseball. Mikaydi came up to me today and said, "I can touch my eyeball!" Then she proceeded to touch her eye. Molly says that she wants to be like Owen--"he's so cool!" It has been a fun experience to watch. Congrats Owen!

Jax, Poop, Molly and Mikaydi's Room

Okay if the title doesn't scare you--well you should be scared to read the following it is not for the faint of heart. I was gone on Jan 22 to mom's house to scrapbook for Friday and Saturday. Just know that I did not go to sleep until 4 am. I got home on Saturday at 2:30 pm. Mike was in bed--sick (he says). I knew it was going to be bad but nothing could of prepared me for what was waiting at home. I walk in and the dinning room floor has cereal (I mean like a whole bad) all over the floor, dishes piled everywhere...just imagine the biggest mess you've ever seen and triple it. Not to mention it smelled like fish through out the house (I can't stand the smell of fish). Even though I am tired I roll up my sleeves and dive into cleaning the kitchen all the while talking calmly to my children encouraging them to clean the rest of the house while I am cleaning the kitchen (Okay you know and I know that it wasn't quite like that). I pinesol'ed the kitchen and soon had it smelling like lemons instead of fish. As I was finishing the kitchen I told Owen to go and help Molly and Mikaydi pick up their room. Owen says, "uhmm, well what about the poop?" WHAT?!! I tell him to clean up the poop spot and move on. A few minutes later Molly and Mikaydi are playing in the dining room and I tell Molly to get in her room and pick up all the toys. She says, "Well theres like kind of a lot of poop around." I decide that maybe I should take a look. Let's just say Jax had his diaper off probably for awhile. There was poop on the bed, poop on the floor, poop on the bouncey horse and I think you get the picture. I asked Haylee and Owen what happened and they told me: "Well Jax kept taking his diaper off so we just let him." Are you kidding me? It was not like Molly's room was even closed to being clean in fact it was just as big a mess as the rest of the house. I got the pinesol and scrubbed and scrubbed and scrubbed down the girls' room. Completely disinfected--so I guess it has come to the stage where poop is the new play-doh. All Jax does is give you his cute smile and pulls his diaper off--cute is definitely deceiving!

Mikaydi Sleeping

Okay just a quick funny...Mikaydi likes to crawl into my bed in the morning (mostly because she is cold). A lot of the time I will get in with her (after the kids have gone on the bus) and never fail every morning she falls back to sleep. The thing is when you sleep with Mikaydi she has some serious leg moving going on. She throws her legs around like little feelers (you know feeling around for stuff) and once she feels your body, with her feet, then she sucks herself close to your own body. She pushes her little bum into your side and wiggles til she gets comfortable. The thing is its generally the most uncomfortable thing for you though. Oh, if she weren't so cute I couldn't handle it.

New Floors

First of all I can never figure out how to get pictures on to the blog the way I want so if it seems like my pictures all in weird order then its because I am retarted. Here is the new office flooring. It makes it alot nicer for moving around in our chair. The kids actually helped out a ton--really they weren't always in the way. Mike thinks the must be union workers though because they kept asking for a break...it was funny. It was nice that the project got finished so quickly. Not a big space but I think Mike learned alot by doing this. Now maybe I can scrapbook more...