If you want to know how old I am, ask my kids.

I have thought about not writing this post, but because I haven't posted in forever I figure I should post something. I have no intention of writing a birthday blog post about myself but instead I will show you what my family gave me for my birthday.

First, do you know how excited you used to get when opening your presents? The thrill of discovering what was inside the box, bag, paper, or under the sheet. Yes the sheet. You know for the gift that was way to big to be wrapped in paper or those times when there was no paper. Well I have to say that my excitement pales in comparison to Torans. She was so funny. I was opening the present and she was crawling out of her skin with excitement. I went slower to drag out that excitement. It was more fun to watch her than to open the clock for my wall that I have wanted for months and months and could never justify buying. She was a hoot to watch. And the clock looks totally awesome.

Next, my super mom box. I made a super dad box for Dan for father's day (big hit) filled with his fav snacks and such. We renamed and labeled everything so it has super hero like. You know, sunflower seeds were x-ray vision drops, bottle of root beer was super hero juice, beef jerky for times when there is nothing to eat at the fortress of solitude, and so on. Well I got my own super mom version for my birthday. P.S. I love the stamp, artwork by Toran.

My favorite are the bars of invisibility, to sneak out unnoticed. Man can you imagine how much we could make if we could actually market that? I'd be rich!

The x - ray vision drops for finding the fib in half the time. Could have used those years ago. I also (already) enjoyed the sanity in a bottle - diet coke. Ya that was tasty.

But as awesome as all of that is, the cake topper is "a night alone away from the fortress of solitude". What mom doesn't want that? A whole night to myself, what to do, what to do. Sleep, watch TV, flip the channels, eat veggies with out rude comments or the kids wanting them. Hmmm, the possibilities. Happy birthday to me!

Double Digits!!



Tessa's new birthday dress

Around here turning eight is a pretty big deal. It is the age of accountability and it comes with the first big decision in ones life. Whether or not to be baptized a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. That is a great choice that has to be made. But after that comes the digit jump. Going from single digits to double digits. At the age of ten one adds a digit to there age it is the only time until one turns 100 that a digit is added, and who really whats to turn 100? Not me, that's for sure. For Tessa however this June marks her digit jump, she turns 10. How does one celebrate a digit jump you may ask? Well, we had our first piano lesson, went swimming with friends, had a BBQ with those same friends and of course had cake (pineapple & toasted coconut cake) and sherbet.

 Oh, she also opened a few gifts.

Not  a bad day over all. Some of you may be wondering why we would start piano lessons on her birthday, well she really wanted to, that's why. She has been begging for some time now to start and I finally saved enough to pay for her and two of her sisters to take lessons. I can honestly say if I never hear "Mary had a little lamb" again, it will be to soon. I look forward to the day when music rings through the house and it is not a nursery rhythm. Tessa loves having her birthday in the summer. Unlike her sibling whose birthdays occur in the cold months, she is free to run crazy (and she is good at it) through the yard, the sprinkler, the neighborhood, the woods, the fields and dells. She loves the freedom of outside, the wind in her hair as she rides her bike in the middle of the street. The sun in her face as she paints or designs some new outfit or dress. And by dress I mean a formal ball gown. She is in the middle of designing a tooth dress for the orthodontist. Who is not female, but will display the final design in the office. Tessa can often be found with a book in her hands and her nose firmly planted between the pages. I think the only thing she does faster than talking is reading. She is finishing the first book of Harry Potter and has already read many other books this summer. She is loving the reading program we started at home. Around the world in 80 days. There are 25 different settings or characters and you need to find a book that matches the setting of character or has that scene in the book. She is having a blast. I think she may go around the world two or three times before the summer is out. This is the first summer that I have decided to take the summer off from school. Usually we keep some sort of school schedule even if it is lighter, but this year we are just playing. What I have found so amazing is how much all of the girls want things to do. And with this new freedom Tessa is crafting, biking, swimming, reading, singing, memorizing scriptures, writing talks for primary (with conference talk research), nature walks and notebooks, bug classification and of course the ever popular mall walk (not my favorite). This girl is just not happy if she is not doing something that she is learning from or teaching something to someone else. She can talk a mile a minute about nothing at all. No really, if she runs out of something to say on any one topic she will continue to talk about how she has nothing to say, until some other thought pops into her head and she starts again. There are times when you hope she will just fall asleep and stop. She is a very social butterfly and make instant friends wherever she goes. She loves forming clubs and planning parties and play dates, she  is great at making sure everyone is involved and included. This is truly a gift given by God. She is a ray of non stop sunshine. She is happy and happy to be a live. She loves to dance and sing through life and is a joy (most of the time) to have in our family.

To choose or not to choose that is the question.

Your choices affect other people. A simple statement that can take a child awhile to understand and grasp. We are each subject to the consequences, good or bad, of our own choices. However, we are also subject at times to the consequences of others choices and others are subject to the consequences of our choices. So, we should really think and consider what it is we are choosing, it may be that someone else has to live with it. The problem comes when the child never grasps this concept and is no longer a child but an adult. An adult who thinks the universe was created for just them. An adult who just really doesn't care what an inconvenience it is to you or anyone else. These people make my head hurt.  What does one do when faced with a person who can't or won't see that they are negatively affecting others? And you can not run away from them. Boy do I have a headache today.

Kali's baptism



picture taken by Tessa morning of baptism

                                             Kali was baptized on May 21, 2011 by her dad.

She was confirmed a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of latter day Saint and received the gift of the Holy Ghost by her Papa Jubitz.

We had a great day celebrating her willingness to make and keep sacred covenants with her Heavenly Father. The whole day centered around Kali. Sister Jonna Barnaby told the story of the three bears in relation to the promises she was making in baptism.

 The first bear is "bear His name" when we are baptised we take upon ourselves His name and we become a christian or follower of Christ.

The second is "bear your testimony" we promise to share with others the truth and joy of the gospel of Christ.

 The third is "bear one another's burdens" we promise to help others in need. We promise to comfort the sick and lonely, lend a hand of help in work, give to those who cannot get for themselves. Sounds like a lot for an eight year old. Kali however, is already doing these very things. Probably better than I am. She is kind and conciderate, she is compassionate, thoughtful, and generally hard working (exept while I write this and I have had to ask her many times to get the vacuuming done.). She loves to teach others what she knows, she loves small children, she is gentle and patient with them and doesn't get easily flustered. "They are just being a baby, that's what they do". She will one day be a great mom. I think most of my kids would be great in the nursey at church or in primary in general. Probably because their mom is most comfortable there and has on more than one occassion brought them along to help, or because our house is in a fairly constant state of a nursery like setting. I think for all of us it has something to do with the ease at which one can feel the spirit around these very innocent children.

 Kali now is the proud owner of three white bears with sashes to help her remember the promises she has made. Anique spoke about the Holy Ghost with a princess twist. Of course that is also very Kali. She spoke about tresures untold and used Ariel's cavern to reprsent the tresures of earth and how none of these things bring us lasting joy, it is the tresures of the spirit that we should set our hearts on. She also spoke about Aurora, or Brier Rose, or Sleeping Beauty as most of us know her. Anique talked about how Aurora was always a princess and she just didn't know it. But when she learned of her divine nature she had the responsiblity to act the part and do that which was required of her. It went over big in Kali world and made perfect sense to a little princess in training. After all of the baptizing and confirming we went to the gym that we had set up like a garden party and we ate. Kali wanted a garden salad party, so that is what she got. We made rose topiaries and added latterns with fake tee lights for the table center pieces. We had over 20 something differant kinds of salads, rolls and of course costco cake. It was the perfect in pink ending to a great day for Kali. I will add pictures of the gym later. I have to find them first. Sorry.



Kali turns 8



Kali on her 8th birthday

 I totally meant to do this weeks ago, but Dan inserted himself to center stage. I am now able to sit for a minute and think about Kali. Kali turned 8 last month and that is a big deal around here. At eight Kali is now able to decide if she will be baptized a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter day Saints. She has achieved the age of accountability. She knows right from wrong and is able to make good decisions. She has also had the opportunity to practice the repentance processes and if tradition holds true she will receive many more opportunities to continue to practice the process of repentance. Kali will enter the waters of baptism on Saturday May 21. She will then enter into the first of many covenants that she will make with her Heavenly Father through out her life. She will promise to keep the commandments, take upon herself the name of Christ and always remember Him. Not something that I succeed at everyday, yet. I marvel at her desire to please her Heavenly Father and her desire to be a help to others. She often thinks of others first and

wants them to be happy. She has an amazing knowledge of her Divine nature. She just knows she isn't from here and that there is something much greater than this. She loves being a princess and innately knows that she is a daughter of a King. Kali has grown into her delicate princess manor, she tries so hard to be that prim and proper English princess. Not that she always succeeds mind you, but she tries. She loves everything feminine. Flowing floral dresses, roses, pink, tea parties, updo's, tiara's, high heals, lip gloss, hair clips and the list goes on. She loves being a girly girl. That is something that is frowned on all to often these days and yet she has in her the desire to be a young lady in every sense of the word. She loves to create things, to craft, cook, read, sew, jump rope, dress up, paint her nails and play restaurant. She loves to nurture others, especially babies. She loves to teach others whatever it is she knows. She is loving activity days (a group of girls ages 8 - 11) at church and is excited to do whatever they have planned. Maybe they could have a clean your bedroom activity, just sayn'.



Her Easter hat.





No she is not excited about new heals or purple crocs.




Summer reading, if it lasts that long.



New scriptures with her name.



She does love her chocolate.



I'm sorry you said what?

It's the phone call you never want to get. The middle of the night "is this Mrs. De Voe" call. The call that comes an hour after they are suppose to be home. The "your husband has been in a serious accident and you need to get to the hospital" call. So you make sure kids are taken care of, call your best friend to drive to some hospital you have never heard of and then find your way to the emergency department only to be told you want the trauma department. When did they add that? Finally you figure out where you are suppose to go and you proceed to wait and pace for three hours. You were told that the doctors are working on him and it will be awhile. WHAT!! What kind of news is that? When you finally do see him after 3 hours he is all jokes and funnies. While I begin to load the darts into my eyes and shoot them across the room. This is not a time for jokes, I have been up all night pacing a hospital floor. Some have asked to see pictures, well this is a family blog and I don't think it appropriate to post those. If you really want to see them you will need to submit a written request in triplicate and we will get back to you just as soon as we can. I believe it is enough to say that Dan was very blessed to walk away with the few injuries he has. He is a walking (ok, hobbling) miracle. God kept him in His hand. However, not being able to do any work until he is cleared may prove to be fatal. Just sayn'. For your information, when you scalp yourself, you lose feeling on your head. Makes sense right, but Dan keeps checking. Nope still can't feel that. Well duh, you scalped yourself.

It's starting to look like a kitchen

Good friends are necessary. Good friends who know how to hang kitchen cabinets are priceless!! Thank

 you Brett for helping us out with this fun little project.

Now I have to pick out a sink, counter tops, door pulls, back splash, flooring, I'm sure I am forgetting something. Oh and I need to spend some time in the dining room.

Sorry that picture is so blurry. Maybe it helps hide some of the mess a little. Ok, maybe not. Isn't it funny how you forget just how much chaos is made when you take on a major home improvement project? I am excited to see it all pulled together someday soon. That will be a very good day.