The Crazy Crandalls!!

We believe in miracles!

2011-04-19T10:31:00.000-07:00

As you all know (from our last post) we WERE going through a divorce. Eric and I did not take care of our precious relationship and we let everything and everyone come between us. Through many miracles and alot of prayers we are back together and we are happier than ever. I am so grateful to my Heavenly and his watchful care. I have been taught so much in these last few months. My testimony has grown. We are both very different people now. I know that people can change. I know that love is a very strong bond. I know that the marriage covenant is something that is very precious and should be first and foremost. I am thankful to have my wonderful husband back. He is such a good man and I will not take him for granted again. We call this our "second" marriage and so we are in the planning stages for our "second honeymoon!" :)

What's happening in 2011?

2011-01-06T02:15:00.000-08:00

We are going through a divorce after 18 plus years of marriage. What else is there to say???

We will start a new more upbeat blog soon! Thanks everyone!

We're still alive :)

2010-09-06T16:53:00.000-07:00

For those of you who thought we dropped off the face of the planet, we have not. :) We have been SUPER busy and too lazy to blog anything....hehe. Mandy turned 11, our cousin Maddie came to visit from Texas, school started, the boys started wearing white shirts & ties to church, the Bailey twins passed away, our Uncle Fred passed away, our refrigerator caught fire out in the garage and filled the house with smoke, and we bought THE COOLEST GAME EVER called Kill Dr. Lucky!!!! (Come over & play!!!) Fun, FUN,FUN!!! Here's some pictures to back up my story:

Blanding, Utah :)

2010-07-08T15:51:00.000-07:00

Pictures from our trip to Blanding, Utah for the 4th of July :) (notice the picture of the temperature reading in the car)

(in case you can't read it, the temperature was 68 degrees (Fahrenheit) when we left Blanding! It was 117 in Mesa...

We caught him! ;) (just kidding! it's a reflection on a cup or something--he's not actually smoking :P)

Lunch Conversation

2010-07-07T09:39:00.000-07:00

Yesterday, (my 5yr. old) Anna was sitting at the kitchen table with her friend Chelsea. She turned to Chelsea and said, "It is a good thing that you are not a dog. I am glad that I am not a fox because if we were we could not be friends for much longer - we would have to be enemies." I loved it! I guess that she had watched Disney's Fox and the Hound lately. I love when my kids come up with randomness!

Inspiring Quotes...

2010-06-29T15:04:00.000-07:00

I found two quotes that were written just for me for this time in my life. I wanted to share them with all of you....

"The thing that is really hard, and really amazing, is giving up on being perfect and beginning the work of becoming yourself."

"Patience - the ability to put our desires on hold for a time. Patience is a rare virtue. We want what we want and we want it now. Therefore, the very idea of patience may seem unpleasant and at times bitter. Nevertheless, without patience we cannot please God, we cannot become perfect. Indeed, patience is a purifying process that refines understanding, deepens happiness, focuses action, and offers hope for peace."
Dieter F. Uchtdorf (April 2010)

2010-06-18T06:24:00.001-07:00

June = Summer Workshops at MCC. I love my job! I am so busy this month but I am so grateful for all of this work. I work with great people and awesome kids and I get to do what I love - play the piano. I want to thank all of the people who make it possible for me to be gone so much...my parents, my sweet daughter Erika, Eric's mom and sisters, and a couple of really good friends...you are all so wonderful. I also want to thank my very patient kids. For these last two weeks I leave the house at 9:00 a.m. and I do not return until after 10:00 p.m. so sometimes if they are asleep when I leave I don't get to see them until the next day. I hope they all still love me when this ends.

Miracle #5487... Joseph is walking!

2010-05-30T22:10:00.000-07:00

Those of you that have known us over the years and/or have followed our blog know that the youngest in our family, Joseph Robison Crandall [affectionately known as Jofuss] was born with clubbed feet. (Meaning they were totally turned in and funky lookin' when he was born.)

He went from:

To casts for the first few weeks...

To braces for a long time...

To one cast & one brace for a while...

To braces at night and during nap times...

To braces, but not the bar between...

To playing the piano...erm, I mean: to being able to climb up on stuff :)

(And after a LONG time) To being able to WALK! :)

So there you have it, Ladies and Gentlemen, Jofuss is walking & getting better every day! :) He's almost 18 months old and doesn't let ANYTHING stop him. He's a sweet little boy. :)

(Now, obviously, this post was only a short summary of the procedures he had to go through to get to this point... :P)

The Miracles Just Keep Coming!

2010-05-10T15:44:00.000-07:00

So I announced last week that we are moving. That statement is very true and we are right in the middle of it now! Our house is still bubbling over with sewer water in all of the drains. I was doing ok with this until Sat. I was running to every one's house and doing laundry. All of us were showering and using Erika's bathroom and that was going ok. I tried to do dishes on Friday and I saw black water start to come up and that about did me in. I opened the dishwasher and saw all of the "clean" dishes were covered in fore mentioned water and that was almost the last straw.

On Sat. my sweet daughter Erika took all of our laundry over to Grandma Crandall's and spent most of the day doing laundry and helping her with her garage sale. (What other 16 year old would do that all day?) When I got home from work I was hit with the horrible sewer water smell and I told Eric that we needed to get a hotel until we were able to move into our new rental house. We started looking and figuring out that we would have to get 2 rooms for all of us and it would be a lot of money. I was feeling very overwhelmed and stressed and on top of that I had to work that night leaving Eric to figure all of this out while taking care of all of the younger kids! Right before work we met with our landlords and signed papers and gave them our rent check and deposit money. We were telling him our dilemma and after I left he offered Eric the chance to move in early to make like much easier! What a miracle - right at our breaking point we were saved AGAIN! I forgot to mention an "early in the day" miracle. I kept trying to call Eric on his cell phone and it was not working. He figured out that he could call out but no one could call him so he was out of luck. About an hour later somehow our landlord got through on Eric's cell phone and that was how they set up the meeting time. Until Eric had his phone fixed later in the day no other calls came through!

Long story short we are in our new house with the bare minimum supplies. I need to paint all of the kids' rooms so we have not moved any bedroom furniture over yet but we have mattresses and blankets so we are comfortable enough. I will hopefully start painting tomorrow if we can decide on a color and theme.

We said our goodbyes to the 12th ward yesterday. My heart was full . We have been in this ward for 8 1/2 years. We love so many people. Our kids have grown up in this ward. So many people have helped us so much and we will miss being a part of this ward.

Next Sunday we will meet our new ward family and I am nervous!!! I am not a brave person. I usually do not start conversations and I am very self-conscious. I have heard that we are next to the biggest family in the ward and I am sure that my kids will be among the nosiest too. Wish us luck! I need my kids to make new friends and feel comfortable so we will do all we can to help and serve in this new ward and area.

Any words of wisdom and advice on how to make this transition easier for all of us?

2010-05-04T22:35:00.000-07:00

We are MOVING!

We got word today that we were accepted into a beautiful rental home and we could not be happier. We have been looking for a long time and nothing ever felt right. Eric had a whole different list of needs and wants than I did and we could not find a good compromise until today! I have spent so many hours on the computer looking up rentals and then calling our realtor and asking her to set up a time that we could see the house. We would go and see a house and one of us would not like it or something about it. It felt so good to agree on this house!

Last week my friend Shelice called and told me about a house on her street and it sounded interesting. As she told me details of people in the area and how many kids there were and as the list went on I got more and more excited. She told me where to go to see it and so I drove right over there and saw it and fell in love. I immediately called the number on the sign and the lady that answered said that they already had a contract on the house and I told her that I really wanted it and we had the money ready and we were ready to move at any time etc. She said that she would take my number and if anything fell through then she would call and tell me. She said that I would know either way on Sat. Well Sat. came and went and no word so I was a little down. We did spend a little time on Sunday just driving through other neighborhoods and nothing seemed right. I was talking to my friend that night and another call came on the other line and it was the lady with the house. I switched over to talk to her and she said that the renters had not worked out and asked if we were still interested? I could hardly breathe. We set up a meeting for this morning and the rest is history! I do have to mention that the reason for our fast Sunday was for help on the matter of finding the right house at the right time. I got that call Sunday night! Does Heavenly Father know what we need or what? I am so thankful!

We will miss all of our friends over here but we are not that far away. (Val Vista and Adobe) We moved in our house at the end of 2001 with 2 children. We now will be moving out half way through 2010 with 6 children and a lot more stuff and lots of good memories.

We will post pictures as soon as I get my phone camera to work or I can find the charger for my other camera.

2010-04-30T11:12:00.000-07:00

They have my number!

We were in the car on Sunday going to Grandma's house and I overhear Anna talking to Emma. I do not remember what Emma is asking for but this is the answer I hear from Anna, "Emma if you keep asking and get louder and louder Mom will give in and give you whatever you want!"
What do you say after a comment like that?

Happy Mother's Day

2010-04-27T08:46:00.000-07:00

I have a confession. I do not love Mother's Day. I think it should be named "day of guilt". Everytime they have talks in church about great mother's it reminds me of all the things I do not do or the things I do wrong. As my kids are growing older I do love the little gifts and cards.

This year I have been thinking about all of the examples of great mothers that surround me and I am thankful for them. I want to do a little shout out to a few of them. There are so many that it would take days to name them so if you do not see your name know that you are still loved and admired.

I will start with my own mother, Grace Halliday. She has taught and continues to teach me everyday. We always had a clean house. She taught us to follow through with whatever we were working on. She is very supportive. She has a strong testimony. The list goes on and on. I love you Mom.

Next is Eric's Mom...Melody Crandall. I don't even know where to start. I love her with all of my heart and she is such a good example and has taught me so much over these last 18 years. I am so lucky to have such a great Mother-in-law.

These ladies are examples to me in many areas. Some are working moms who have jobs outside the home but still seem to have it all together. Some are women who have many trials but never complain. All of them are talented. Thanks to all of you who have touched my life in some way. I know I left many names off of the list and I did not mean to these are just the ones that I remembered this morning......
Joanne Thomas, Jenn West, Jenny Denton, Tammy Clayton, Allyson VanPatten, Kristin Coppee, Lori Towne, Koi Truschke, Christi Clark, Tiffany Matthews, Julie Fischbeck, Michele Tyler, Sicely Bradshaw, Marilyn Roberts, Laurel Crandall, Emily Hughes, Amy Jo Halliday, Andrea Gunnell, Lori Crandall, Pam Crandall, Sara Crandall, Eva Carpenter, Ashley Young, Nicole Hunt, April Bethea, Haley Esky, Rani Halliday, Lynda Peterson, Lisa Brown, Dana Rodgers, Candice Lyman, Berta Whitney, Dawna Stradling, Leanne Carroll, Cynthia Halliday, Sheri Heywood, Kelleen Cardon, Pat Porter, Laurel Johnson, Jenica Ballard, Cathy Hauan.

Thank you and I hope all of you
have a wonderful Mother's Day,
you deserve it!

2010-04-09T18:59:00.000-07:00

We feel very loved!
I love the saying..."God does watch over and us and he knows our needs but it is ususally through another person(s) that he answers our prayers." This is so true!

As many of you know Anna is in the hospital right now. I took her to the ER on Wed. night with a high fever and complaints of a stomach ache. I talked to my friend and she convinced me to bring Anna in. We got here about 10:45 p.m. and we finally saw a doctor at 2:45 a.m. They did all kinds of tests and it was decided that she needed to be admitted to the hospital because her kindeys were infected and she had a major UTI! This was about 5:30 a.m. I texted my good friend and told her and she was standing ready to help with whatever I needed. I called my parents and Eric's parents and they also were ready to help. Erika posted it on Facebook and as soon as I walked in the door at home another good friend called and asked if she could watch my boys all day! I had so many texts and phone calls. I came back to the hospital to be with Anna. Anna did not feel good at all on Thursday and was mostly in her bed asleep. She had some visitors and they all came at the same time while she was asleep so she missed all of them. Everyone that came brought a gift for her so when she woke up she could not believe her eyes! When Eric came back to be with her she asked him what he brought her and he said, "a big hug!" She turned and said, "Boring!" How do you teach a 5 year old to be polite even to her dad? lol!

I just want to thank everyone! We feel so blessed and loved. Anna is much better and we are planning to go home tomorrow!

2010-03-29T23:06:00.000-07:00

We need help!

We are looking for a home to rent. We need at least 4 bedrooms.
The most impotant thing we are looking for is...a neighborhood that has kids for our kids to play with. A ward that has some youth and primary kids the same age as our kids! Please let us know if you see anything that looks interesting! Please tell us how to find a good rental. What websites? Who to contact? Any help will be welcomed and appreciated! We don't have a firm date on when we are moving we just know that it is coming soon!

A Bunny Wedding.

2010-03-17T13:09:00.000-07:00

"I doubt it will even last a month," said Erika when she heard of Autumn the rabbit's adoption into the Crandall family. 29 days later (2 days short of being an exact month since her arrival), she died. Whoops.

Nevertheless, we got 2 new rabbits. Billy & Lilly. The girls thought it was love at first sight. (No one even considered that the rabbits may both be boys or both be girls or that they may be brother & sister) BUT on Sunday, March 14, Billy & Lilly Rabbit were married complete with wedding outfits, flowers, a grand humming-orchestra, a reception, & guests. Here are the pictures to commemorate their wedding.......

Random turtle rushing to the wedding (he didn't want to miss this).

Anna with the bunnies before they took the plunge :)

Billy styling his handsome neck-tie.

Lilly in her beautiful 90's style scrunchie.

The happy couple. :)

Our Trip to the Dentist

2010-03-16T05:14:00.000-07:00

Yesterday we had a very successful trip to the dentist! Anna has been very scared to sit in the chair and let them work on her. She does ok for cleaning but when it come to anything else she freaks out big time. She had told me yesterday morning that she was not going to be scared and she was right! She actually fell asleep and they were able to fix cavities on both sides of her mouth! She was such a brave girl!
When we got in the car she said, "Billy is such a hunk!" I was confused because I did not know who she was talking about and why such a random comment after having such a long dental visit.???? I turned around and asked her what she meant and she said that she was talking about our new boy pet bunny! I said, "what does hunk mean to you?" She said, " It means that someone is more handsome than handsome." I asked, "Is Daddy a hunk?" She immediately said,"Yes he is a super hunk!" I love my kids!

Disneyland Trip!!!!!!! Whoo hoo!!!!!!!

2010-03-07T19:46:00.000-08:00

I am Erika's Mom

2010-02-20T13:53:00.001-08:00

(Sorry this is so long. Pictures are at the bottom!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!)

As most of you know we had a BIG day this last week. Back in October Erika dreamed of putting on a benefit concert. Last Thursday her dream came true. She has been working on this project for 4 months and it turned out really well. She first decided that she wanted to have the money go to the Bailey Twins. Emma and Taylor are 3 yr.old conjoined twins. They share one heart and one liver so eventually they are going to need surgery to separate them. Erika had met them and their family at a fundraiser last February and she fell in love with them.

Next she had to find a place to have the concert. She checked into renting a church but the costs were HUGE so that was out. She asked Mesa High and they said that she could have it for $800.00. It was a lot of money but at least we had a place. A few days later they got a hold of her and told her that they were going to DONATE the use of the auditoriu

m and everything that went with it!!! What a MIRACLE!

Step number 3 was to find performers. She knew that she wanted Linsey and Tyler Maxson so she asked them and they said YES! We were just joking around one day and said how great it would be if we could get someone like the Duttons to come. We told her Aunt Emily about this dream and she said that she knew someone who knew someone and pretty soon we had the Duttons on board!!!! I don't remember how she got the groups Witness and Urban Quartet and Shelice Millett but we were so excited to have such a great line up!

Erika started to have planning meetings in November. She would have everyone meet at her Grandpa's office and they would start talking about what it would take to put on this HUGE of a service project. A very valuable person she persuaded to be on her committee was her Aunt Emily. Emily lives in the Bailey's ward and so she was always in contact with Mandy Bailey and Emily had worked on other fund raising projects for them. The first couple of meetings were a little disappointing in that not many people showed. As time went by she recruited more and more people and on the night of the concert I believe that she had right around 50 volunteers from Mesa High, Westwood, Poston, and friends. She had students and adults.

Part of getting ready for the concert was fundraising to help pay for supplies and fliers. The first fundraiser was at Chick-fil-a. We had so much support that night. They raised $150.00! The next one was at Jamba Juice. We had a few problems on that one but still managed to get $50.00. In January we had an afternoon at Bounce-U. The last one was the day of the concert and that one was at Nielsen's Frozen Custard. We were able to raise enough money to get all of the supplies we needed and had some left over. Also Erika had decided to do a silent auction and a raffle at the concert so she and some of her committee started collecting donations. We had some awesome stuff....gym memberships, haircuts, an estate planning session with a lawyer, zoo memberships, photography sessions and many others. Businesses are so kind and generous.

Emily set up a pay-pal account on the computer so we started selling tickets online. Ticket sales went kind of slow but we had people donating money. My mom was very diligent in telling everyone she knew and helped to sell quite a few tickets and get many donations. We picked a busy night but I do not think that there is ever a night that is not busy.

The day of the concert started out with Erika having to take a math test at 7:00 a.m. After the test she was excused from school all day by the administration. The Dutton's showed up at 8:00 a.m. and started to set up all of their equipment. They were there almost all day and they were so helpful to the rest of the groups. Erika came home around 2:00 to get ready and she was just beaming because she was seeing her DREAM come TRUE and everything was working out. She had TONS of help from people at Mesa High during the day. Emily was there all day with her coaching her and helping wherever she was needed. I showed up at 4:00 with pizza to feed all of the volunteers. I could not believe my eyes! There were tables everywhere with signs and balloons. Inside the auditorium were all kinds of people setting up and running sound checks. This was a huge event. I left to come home and get ready. I also need to mentio here that I have the BEST visiting teacher ever! Hayley came over and watched all of my younger kids so I would not have to worry about them during the concert and she even brought dinner! Thanks Hayley!!!! When I got back there even more tables were set up and Erika was running around like crazy making sure that everyone had what they needed. Linsey and Tyler came and we did our sound check. The Dutton's let me play their keyboard! I had to stand up and I have never stood up to play for someone so that was a new experience.

When the concert started we had a pretty good sized crowd!!! We were so nervous that we would not have very many people but they came and we think we had 400-450 people! So Witness was first and they were up there for about 25 minutes. Linsey and Tyler and I were next. They sang The Prayer, Linsey sang Vanilla Ice Cream, Tyler sang Coming Out of My Shell, and then they ended with Stud and a Babe. The audience loved them! Shelice sang her "Mom" song next and then act 1 ended with Urban Quartet. During intermission I had so many people stop me and tell me how much they were enjoying the concert and they could not believe that a 16 year old girl put all of this together! I also had many people stop and tell me how much they love Erika and what an example she is to everyone. My heart was very full that night. I was introduced as "Erika's Mom" and I loved it! (A funny side note of the night was I had some of my sisters-in-law come up and tell me that they had no idea that I played the piano like that! I think it is funny because I have been in this family for a LONG time and I have played the piano for a LONG time!) Act 2 - THE DUTTON'S!!!! A lot of people have never heard of the Duttons and they wondered why I got so excited whenever I talked about them??? They are the most talented family ever! They put on an amazing show. They all play all kinds of string instruments and they all dance and sing. They even had their kids in the show. Their part of the show was about 40 minutes and the audience LOVED them! I wish that they would have had more time. It was an AMAZING night and I am so glad that everything went so smoothly. I will forever grateful to Mesa High and all of the many many people that helped and made it such a success! Everyone keeps asking Erika if she will do it again? She just says give me some time and then we will see! To everyone that came THANK YOU! FYI... we think that the total money raised is right around $5000.00! We hope that those little girls can get the medical help they need! We love you Bailey Family!

The awesome banner that some MHS volunteers made!

Emma & Taylor:the celebrities of the night :)

Aunt Laurel & I :)

Dr. McGettigan, me, and Ms. Bertolet....

The "Duttons that matter" and I :) From left to right: Amy, Benjamin, Timothy, & Johnathan.

I love these guys! Me with Amy & Ben :) (He found this cord and figured out that it fit around his head. Thus the inspiration for this picture was born. :P)

My friends and I (Jenna, Richard, & Kristin). They go to WW and I go to MHS, but we're still close :)

The girls and I :) They're actually not as heavy or hard to hold as I thought they would be :)

The whole Bailey family and I :)

Ben, John, and I :) They are SO COOL!

2010-02-14T06:11:00.000-08:00

I love....

1. when my kids laugh with each other
2. a baby's first smile and giggle
3. folded laundry
4. a clean kitchen
5. a "just because" phone call from my husband
6. family get togethers
7. a good news text
8. hearing a talented bass voice singing (low)
9. chocolate
10. a clean car inside and out
11. Disneyland with my family
12. learning and perfecting a new song on the piano
13. a child's prayer
14. report cards
15. oranges
16. how excited my kids get with Grandparents come over
17. how excited my kids get when I come home
18. comments on FB and my blog
19. recognizing and receiving miracles
20. so many things there is not enough room to list them all! :)
I am very blessed.

Holy Cow!

2010-02-11T16:24:00.000-08:00

No one should have to work under these conditions!!!!

Let me set the stage for you. I am a mother of 6 wonderful children ages 16 down to 1. I am also a piano teacher to a few students. At 3:45 my first student comes for his lesson. He sits down on the bench and immediately 2 of my children come running in fighting about something! I settle that and the someone is knocking at the carport door so I go and answer it and it is a customer needing change for the pop machine. As I bring in the dollar my 3 yr.old sons sees it and that reminds him that we have ice cream in the machines and he wants some and he wants it NOW! He starts to throw a HUGE tantrum and I take him to the back bedroom to let him settle down. In comes my 10 yr. old to ask if she and her friends can go down to the school playground by themselves! Hello!!! You know the answer to that! She is not happy with me. Please remember that there is this cute little piano student still waiting patiently for me to hear his song. The phone rings and it is my husband telling me that my oldest daughter shouldn't drive her car very far (and she has already left!) Back to the 30 minute piano lesson. We get through one song uninterrupted!!! Then enters my baby crying and crying so I put him down for a too late in the day nap but I am desperate. The lesson ends.

Mandy comes in with all of her friends again and says that they are bored! I give them the normal chore options but they do not go for any of those. Meanwhile lesson #2 shows up and we try to start. Anna comes in crying because she found an empty candy wrapper and that means that someone had candy and she did not get any. She will not quit yelling until I can offer her something else just as good! What is that I hear? another knock on the door from another customer! The phone rings at the same time and I quickly hang up. I forgot to mention that the whole time I have four 10 year old girls running through the house screaming and playing chase all the while leaving all of the doors open so that my Jakey has perfect access to the front yard not to mention the street! Oh yea I am supposed to be teaching piano!!! No such luck! The girls come in a second time whining that there is still nothing to do and they want to make lemonade and sell it! I said, "You have to be kidding me!" They got the hint. Then I hear Mandy offering everyone some Orange Juice so I intercept that conversation and offer them the opportunity to bake cookies and drink WATER!!!! Meanwhile I have listened to a couple of songs and also broke up a fight with the friends and Anna. Phone rings again and it is someone asking me for an opinion and I hung up again!!!!

Student #3! Now it is the Crandall sisters against Mandy and her friends. All they do is fight and yell and everyone is hungry! Jospeh has been awakened by all of the noise and he is not happy! I get two more phone calls! Now I hear loud crying and screaming so I have to go and see what in the world???? Anna again. I try to put Joseph down but he will have none of that. My student is very patient and wait until I am at least in the room before he plays his songs. Then we look out the window and we see Jakey waving to passing cars from the front yard. I have had it. I just bow my head and I say I give up! I do get to listen to the rest of the songs and make new assignments just in time for another fight to start. I say good-bye to my student and then go outside and as soon I step outside all of the kids run up and say, "Are you done teaching?" I just laugh and say "Yes!" Then of course they want me to take them to the park and get them something to eat and they all want to complain about someone else. I just go back inside and shut the door and type this post!

Needless to say there are going to be some changes in my home before next week. First of all the phones will be off the hook and a sign on the door to customers saying please do not disturb. Most importantly all of the kids will have assignments to do while I am teaching. I cannot have another day like this and keep any kind of sanity. It is not fair to my students. I do apologize to those 3 brave souls today. Thanks for putting up with the craziness!!!

Do YOU know what this is?

2010-02-07T20:03:00.000-08:00

This is a pile of jeans. This pile of jeans is on its way to Deseret Industries. Why is this pile of jeans on its way to Deseret Industries you may ask? This pile of jeans is on its way to Deseret Industries because they are too big. Never to be worn by my mom again. She says, "Twenty five pounds gone. One million more to go." (She doesn't really have a million pounds to lose. She's just silly :D Silly Mom.) Whoo hoo!

Happy birthday!

2010-02-05T17:48:00.000-08:00

Happy birthday to Jofuss (12/18/09), ME (Erika--1/26/2010), and Jakey (1/30/2010). Jofuss turned 1, I turned 16, and Jake turned 3. Whoo hoo! The end. :) Leave your comments!

(We've been really busy lately) :P

2010-01-27T10:21:00.000-08:00

What a week and we are only at Wednesday!
As you know from my last post Joseph had his tendon release surgery first thing Monday morning. What you didn't know is that while we were waiting we got a phone call from Eric's sister Emily telling us that Grandma Johnson had just passed away. We had just visited her the day before and said our goodbyes. I told my husband about the news and all he said was that he was so happy that he got to hold her hand and say goodbye. He was/is very close to his Johnson grandparents and has so many fond memories I know that it has been hard on him to see them go. The rest of the day was spent at work and that night we all went to the mall.
Tuesday - Erika's Big Day! She turned 16! I am still trying to believe that my oldest is now old enough to drive and to date. She is such a wonderful person. She is so talented. Erika has the most giving heart of anyone I know. She puts everyone's needs in front of her own. She is very organized and smart. I feel very BLESSED to have her be in our family. I am so grateful that she is the oldest because she is such a great example for her sisters and brothers and parents. Tuesday was busy for all of us so we had her b-day dinner on Sunday and she will have her party later. She had planned a planning meeting for the benefit concert on her b-day so she stayed after school and got ready for that. She came home around 6:30 and I got to see her for 5 minutes and then I headed to work.
I also wanted to talk about Anna because on Tuesday she came to me after school and said that she is no longer going to have any accidents in her panties. She will never wear a pull-up again and she will always be dry! She is 5 and we have begged for years for her to do this. She has always said that she can't. She would have accidents in her pants and then ask me to clean her up and most of the time I would complain and tell her that I did not want to and then she would turn to me and say, "remember I serve you and you serve me?" - how could I resist???? Anyways we are very happy that she has made this decision and I will have to report on how it goes!!!
Wednesday morning I was too tired to get out of bed because we went to bed very late. I did hear some noices at 5:15 a.m. so I got up to see what was happening. I found Mandy making a bed for Jakey on the couch and then going to the kitchen and getting bowls of cereal for her and her brother! What a sweet girl! At 9:00 Joseph and I went to the Dr. and they put fiberglass on his cast so it will last the 4 weeks!
The rest of this week is a little overwhelming with all that must be done. We have our regular schedules and then a b-day party, funeral, getting a driver's license, meetings every night, and not to mention our Jakey turns 3 on Sat.! I would rather be busy than sitting around doing nothing but this is a little over the top! Here we go! Wish us luck!

Really right now????

2010-01-25T11:00:00.000-08:00

This morning we (Eric and I) took Joseph to the surgery center at Banner Desert. He was going to have his left tendon released again. We checked in at 6:30 a.m. They called us back to pre-op about 7:15. Joseph sat on my lap for about 2.4 seconds and then he wanted down. I took him into the play room and let him crawl around and play with the toys. Dr. Hrasky came in and asked how he was doing and checked him and then he said that the anastegiologist (sp???) would be in soon. I put Joseph back down and he went back to playing. I looked over at him and he was chewing on something so I put my finger in and did not feel anything so I put him back down. A couple of minutes later I could see another Dr. enter and it looked like she was looking for us so I walked back to the room holding Joseph. I turned him around so she could see him and she started listening to his heart and he spit a shiny new penny out of his mouth! I was horrified! I did not know what to say. She just looked at me and said, "Is that all you fed him today?" I felt so stupid but at least she did not make a big deal out of it. I could not believe the timing! His surgery went well and he woke up right after and he was very hungry. When the Dr. came in and checked him again he asked that I keep him laying down for the day and to elevate his foot as much as possible! I looked at him and said, "really? A 13 month old?" He just said to do my best. Joseph was down and out of my arms crawling and standing as soon as he could. (so much for the elevating!) I am so thankful for Joseph and what a sweet boy he is and how he just takes everything in stride. I am thankful that there are doctors out there that can help him to walk. I am also thankful for a Heavenly Father who watches over us and helps us constantly.

2010-01-12T00:21:00.000-08:00

Small Miracles

So today while I was shopping with my Mom Anna's school called and said that Anna was in the office and she had a fever of 104 and she just was not feeling good. I told them I would be right there to get her. I called Eric because he was closer and he went and picked her up. She came home and pretty much slept the rest of the day.

At 6:00 p.m. she and I leave to take her into Twilight Pediatrics because she is burning up and shaky and she hurts everywhere so off we go. We get in the door at 6:25 and we are out the door at 6:55! (miracle #1) That never happens, we usually have to wait much longer than that. The Dr. just says that she has the flu and that she should just take it easy and drink lots of liquid. (miracle #2) . When we get home I drop her off and I head to Walgreens to pick a prescription for Emma. I see the drive-thru lane and there are lots of cars so I decide to go in and save my gas. I go to the pharmacy and there is no line and I am done in 5 minutes! (miracle #3) As I was walking out I check on the price of Diet 7-up because that is Anna's favorite and I do not get it but I see some Popsicles and they are priced at $2.00. I was happy for that price so I went to check out and they end up being $1.29! (#4) I head to Basha's because I had promised Anna that I would get some of her favorite sherbet and they had it on sale. I went right to the ice cream aisle and the sherbet was on the top shelf. I could see where it should be and so I stood on my tip toes and could barely see that there was one left and it was in the very back. I tried to reach it but I could just barely get my fingertips on it but could not get it to come forward! I looked around for a store employee but did not find one. Then I thought maybe just find something to make my arm longer. I used a Keebler Ready Crust but I could hear it cracking as I lifted it up so that would not work. By now my arm was super sticky and I was ready to give up. I decided to go and do the rest of my shopping. I went to the bread aisle and wanted their .88 cent bread and got the very last loaf. (#5) I decided to try one more time to get the sherbet and I kind of said a prayer in my head to inspire me on how to get this ice cream ( I did not want to face Anna empty handed!) As I was coming down the aisle I noticed a display of ice cream scoopers...Perfect! I picked one up, used to it to drag the sherbet forward, and it worked!!!! (#6) I felt like I had just won the lottery or something. I headed home and was so happy to show Anna that I got her sherbet. The miracles don't stop there. As I got home my good friend Jenn West called and said that she could help me get Mandy's stitches out and that she would come to my house to do it! (#7) She came over the stitches came right out and Mandy felt so relieved. After she left Erika came out of her room and reported that her DVD burner on her computer had worked for her after not working for months!!! (#8) I forgot to mention that my Mom and Dad came over to watch my kids and while they were here they got the kids to do their homework, fold and put away all of the laundry and get ready for bed! (#9)

I am so thankful for big and small miracles and for a Heavenly Father who knows us so perfectly that He can make them happen for us when we need them. I am also thankful for family and friends.

2010-01-04T10:24:00.000-08:00

THANK YOU!!!

I just want to say thank you to so many people in my life that care so much about me and my family. I love all of you and I appreciate what you do. Thanks for caring and for being such wonderful examples. I would love to name names but that would take forever. If you are reading this you are one of those awesome people! Please let me (us) know if there is ever anything we can do for you.

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!

Havasu Havok (Part 2)

2010-01-02T21:55:00.001-08:00

Four hours passed...then we saw it. This sign:

Whatha? "Dad, the Meteor Crater? I thought you said that was near Winslow...?"
Dad: "Well, it is."

Me: "Oh. So...and how far is Winslow from Havasu?"

Dad: "Eh, I don't know... Like 2 or 3 hours. Why?"
Me: "Well, it's almost 4:00pm... What are we doing?"
Dad: "We're going to see the Meteor Crater. I'm 40 years old, have lived in Arizona my entire life, and STILL have not seen it, so I figured, 'ah heck, we're on the road anyways, might as well see it!' Why not? Do you not want to go?"
Me: "Not really... But ah heck. Two or three hours isn't too bad. How long could it take to see a big hole in the ground?" (famous last words)

$54 later, here we were: looking at the "big hole in the ground." :) Here's some pictures :)

Pop-sicle Joseph :)

Curious Jakey :)

Mandy the Monkey :)

Half of the big, happy family :)

Emma and the "hole" :)

Best question of the CENTURY: (Anna) "Mom, where is the hole? I don't see it..." *with dead serious expression on her face* :)

"Oh. There it is." :)

After spending an hour in the freezing cold, looking at the big hole in the ground and the small museum to accompany it, we retreated to the motor-home to eat some hot nachos and warm up a bit. The tickets that we bought to get in also gave us a discount on gas at the gas station just down the road, so we took advantage of it and filled up. Then we continued onward.

About another hour passed. Dad was driving, I was the "navigator-ator" (supposedly), Mom and the rest of the kids were in back. It was now about 7:30. Dad and I started hearing this strange noise that seemed to be coming from the front passenger side, but paid no mind to it for the first few miles. We figured, "Eh, something probably just got stuck. It's fine." When all was quiet, we figured, "Ope. It must've fallen off. Hurray." We drove about 20 miles with the strange noise and then it was just gone....until. Until it got LOUDER. This time we had had it! We couldn't stand it any longer so we pulled over and got out to figure it out. It was about 18 degrees outside and there was about 4 inches of snow (SNOW!?!) on the ground.
I hopped out and saw a small, plastic thing laying just in front of the wheel. It looked like some sort of Gameboy or GPS thing. We figured, "That's what was making the noise? Really? That's lame," but just as I was getting in, I checked my phone and the light from my phone shone on the tire. That's when we noticed the tire was TOTALLY blown. The entire outside rubber was completely off the wheel, but somehow still stuck on. (It was a MIRACLE! We had been doing about 70-80mph for the past hour.) "So THAT'S what's been making that sound!" Already-long-story-made-short, half an hour, several ingenious ideas from Dad, and 4 frozen hands later, the spare tire was put on and we continued our journey.

To be continued.......

Havasu Havok (Part 1)

2009-12-29T09:10:00.000-08:00

Monday. Insanity breaks out. People running, screaming, packing faster than the speed of light (the light has been really slow lately), desperately trying to get on the road while it was still "morning." Finally, at 11:02am, Dad pulled out of the driveway. "WAIT!" shrieked Mom, "Let's say a travel prayer before we leave!"
"Good idea," said Dad, "I'll say it. Kids, fold your arms."
"Fold 'em!" yelled Jake, "Ki-et!"
After the prayer was said, we pulled out of the driveway. Drove past Field, Poston, Sunrise Preschool, and into the "wild blue yonder." Barbie was on, the boys were buckled, the girls were settled, Mom was the navigator-ator, and Dad was the driver (as usual).
We drove for about an hour and found ourselves surrounded by forest, snow, more forest, and more snow. Oh ya, and there was snow too. ;) Emma and Anna cried, "please let us play in the snow! Pleeeeeeeeeeeeeease!"
"Maybe later," replied Dad, "we got to keep going."
We drove about another hour and the dreaded questions began, "Are we there yet?" "How much longer?"
"Twenty minutes"
And the peasants...rejoiced! (name the TV show)
Twenty minutes later, we pulled into a icy, cold parking lot next to a dumpy, old trailer called the 'Burro'--we were at Wendy's.
After eating lunch, we loaded back up in the motor home. I asked Dad how much longer it would be and he replied by saying it would be about 4 more hours. FOUR HOURS?!?!
"Yep, we're taking the scenic tour. If we just went straight to Havasu, it would only take about 3 hours and there wouldn't be any snow to look at."

"Hmm." Got me there. Scenic tour it was. :) Four hours to go.

To be continued..........

2009-12-27T21:13:00.000-08:00

Last Minute Switcheroo!
So Christmas Eve day was going by quite smoothly and everything was going according to schedule. I wasn't feeling good about Mandy's "Santa" gift so I went to Target to get her a new scooter to match Emma and Anna's. When I got home they were outside with Eric working on some old bikes. Eric was pumping up the tires and then Mandy and Emma were washing them so they looked like new! Well because we are lame and busy parents our kids do not know how to ride bikes! (I know I should not confess such sins but for the sake of the story I must) Mandy is 10 and Emma is 7. They have not cared about these abandoned bikes at all for years. Well today they cared. Emma got on Mandy's old bike without training wheels and had Eric hold on the bike seat for about 5 minutes and then she was riding by herself up and down the street. Mandy got Erika's old mountain bike and she tried to get on but had a little trouble so we asked Emma if we could let her try her old bike.??? Mandy got on and rode by herself right away. Now she was ready for the bigger bike. I held on to the seat so she could get on and then off she went! This was an exciting day! They had found new freedom! I was so happy for them but sad for my master plan of giving them all new scooters! They would not be excited and probably not ride them now that they had these bikes. I pulled Eric aside (at 4:00 p.m.) and asked what we should do??? We needed to go to the store and get new "Santa" gifts and we needed to hurry. So at 4:30 we headed to Walmart. Mandy had only put Lego's and Webkinz on her Santa list and Emma had only put a real dog or a Zhu Zhu so we did not know what to get them??? We finally found new gifts and headed for home.
Christmas morning all of the Santa gifts were set out on the couch with the stockings and a little note for all of the kids. They all seemed excited to get the gifts and then open gifts from us and other family members. After it was all done Emma came up to me and said, "how come I did not get anything from Santa?" "I was good this year and yet he gave me nothing!" I pointed out to her that he had given her 2 barbies and a Webkinz and she said she remembered getting those gifts but they were not on her list so why did Santa bring them? You cannot win!!!!

SANTA!!! (OH. MY. GOSH! I know him... :D )

2009-12-17T14:32:00.001-08:00

Just like Buddy the Elf, we saw SANTA!!!! That jolly old fat man came to Field Elementary School (and Mesa High and the 12th ward and the Wal-mart entrances and Sam's Club...he's a busy guy nowadays) and allowed small children to sit upon his knee and beg for presents too expensive for their parents' pockets.

Here they are! What they're thinking:

Mandy: Hurry and take the DANG picture, Mom! I feel pretty lame sitting here!
Emma: That doughnut was gooooooood... I wonder if I can have some popcorn when we get home...?
Anna:Something smells....Santa?
Jakey: WHO is this dude and WHAT does he want from me? Those cookoos are MINE! :)

2009-12-17T14:27:00.000-08:00

So...we pretty much have the BEST Aunts EVER! Our amazing aunt Rani made the CUTEST pillow cases for all of us (the kids--this is Erika, by the way :) for Christmas! We is eggsited :) Here's some pictures of them (and us). Heehee

Fun fun for us! Whoo hoo! Thanks, Aunt Rani! :)

Christmas Pillows

2009-12-17T14:20:00.000-08:00

So...we pretty much have the BEST Aunt(s) EVER! Our amazing aunt Rani made the CUTEST pillow cases for all of us (the kids--this is Erika, by the way :) for Christmas! We is eggsited :) Here's some pictures of them (and us). Heehee

2009-12-02T22:31:00.001-08:00

Eye Shadow?

This morning around 6:00 I, (Jenn) was helping Emma and she looked at me and had a weird look on her face and then said, " Mom, why are you wearing purple eye shadow below your eyes?" I laughed and she could not understand why so I explained that it was not eye shadow! I have been working late every night and during the day most days and then we also have a sick baby at our house so need I say more?

Jofuss's feet unveiled!

2009-11-26T21:11:00.000-08:00

For those of you who are avid Crandall fans/stalkers/followers/etc., we have the pictures of Joseph's NEW, IMPROVED feet!!!

BEFORE:

AFTER:

TA-DA!!!!!! He's such a good little boy!!! I love that little brudder!!! (--Erika)

2009-11-16T22:40:00.000-08:00

GREAT NEWS!!!!!
Joseph graduated today! He can now be brace-free all day (except for nap and night time)!!! His feet are looking great and hopefully he will be walking soon. He is a very patient baby and has been so good at wearing all of the casts and braces. I will post pictures of his cute little feet soon so all of you can see the miracle that has happened over the last 11 months. I am so grateful for modern technology and for doctors that know what they are doing and care about their patients! I am also thankful for a loving Heavenly Father who watched over this whole process and helped those little feet turn. We are so blessed!

"This Should Keep Us All Thinking"--Very Cool.

2009-11-08T16:58:00.001-08:00

Halloween!

2009-11-01T21:14:00.000-08:00

Keep in mind: Erika is #1, Emma is #2, Anna is #3, Mandy is #4, and Jakey is #5.

Five little pumpkins sitting on a gate,

The first one said,

"Oh my, it's getting late."

The second one said,

"But we don't care."

The third one said,

"I see witches in the air."

The fourth one said,

"Let's run, and run, and run."

The fifth one said,

"Get ready for some fun."

Then whoosh went the wind,

and out went the lights,

And five little pumpkins rolled out of sight!

Here are some pictures from our Halloween!

Group photo! ^_^

Anna was Dorothy! (Very last minute due to costume malfunctions...Good thing Erika is a pack-rat and kept her costume from almost 9 years ago! Hehe...)

Jofuss was a handsome biker-dude, but he fell asleep just before we left to go T-O-T so he stayed home...

To infinity and beyond! Jakey was BUZZ!

Getting ready to FLY! (or fall...with style. :P)

2009-10-25T21:00:00.001-07:00

Sundays #4&#5
Questions and more answers....

What is your favorite thing that Heavenly Father and Jesus created for you?
Emma: grass, trees and flowers
Anna: clothes for Webkinz
Erika: family and friends
Eric: mountains
Mandy: Jakey and Joseph

Name 3 things that you are thankful for that start with the letter "S".
Mandy: showers, shows, songs
Emma: sisters. singing, shows
Erika: school, service, sleeping

When do you think a person gets old?
Emma: they die! 90 years old?
Mandy: when they have grey hair
Eric: when you are older than 25
Erika: you are only as old as you think!

Share a moment when you were proud of someone in your family.
Emma: Joseph because I am proud that he stands up!
Mandy: proud of my Mom for giving birth to all of my siblings and me.
Erika: My mom because she won an Arizoni Award
Eric: My 5yr. old Mandy for climbing to the top of a 30 ft. light pole. Erika for driving her Bug (car). Anna becuase she can sit through Sacrament Meeting. Emma because she has learned to read.

Thank your parents for 3 things they have given you.
Erika: my bug, my brothers, wonderful education
Mandy: life, Webkinz, Legos
Emma: Webkinz, love and birth

If you could create a new holiday what would it be and what colors would you use?
Emma: a family day - we could serve other families and especially the poor ones.
The colors would be red, yellow and blue.
Erika: No Cussing Week! Colors: green and blue.
Mandy: Celebration of the Gorillas. Colors: black, yellow, green and brown.

What is the best part of your day?
Emma: coming home from school
Mandy: going to bed
Erika: going to bed.

We cannot get Anna to participate very often. We have had a good time doing this activity and we will continue until we are out of questions. This is helping me to learn about my children. I love it!

October [not-so] Break!

2009-10-16T09:00:00.000-07:00

For those of you who like to rest during October break, know: we don't believe in it at our house. It's against our religion :P We've been as busy as bees around here, running like wild chickens without heads. Whoo hoo!

2009-10-11T20:36:00.000-07:00

Sundays #2&#3
More questions and answers...

If you had $20.00 what would you buy?
Emma - a souvenir at Disneyland
Anna - a new barbie
Erika - a slave - is that possible?
Mandy - Webkinz

What is the nicest thing that anyone has ever done for you?
Erika - my 15th birthday from the Poston staff and teachers
Anna - I don't know?
Mandy - Can you help me with this one?
Emma - there is nothing that anyone has ever done for me
(Holy cow we need to have more lessons on gratitude and recognizing blessings)

What would you miss hearing the most if you didn't have ears?
Erika - too many things. Mom saying,"It's time to go to Disneyland."
Emma - music and songs
Mandy - music and Joseph talking
Anna - music
(Do you sense a theme?)

What makes you the happiest right now?
Emma - a soda
Mandy - Webkinz
Erika - my 2 very handsome brothers
Anna - playing on the computer

If you could have one super power for one day what would it be?
Emma - making my teacher let us lay down all day and do no work!
Mandy - fly and super strength
Erika - make time stop or go faster

These question and answers are always eye-opening and enlightening. Stay tuned for more fun next week....

You don't have to tell me!!!

2009-10-06T23:42:00.000-07:00

I know that I write a lot about my daughter Anna but she does a lot that needs to be written down so that when she has children of her own I can show her documentation that she did the same thing.
Sunday night I was in her room and I said the nightly prayer. I asked Heavenly Father to please bless Anna that she will know how much we love her and how thankful we are that she is part of our family. After the prayer she looked at me and then pointed to her head and said, " Mom, I have a big smart brain and I know that you love me and I know that you love having me in your family, you do not need to keep telling me. You always tell me and I already know so stop saying that!!!" What could I say?

The Newest Trekkie.

2009-10-04T21:49:00.000-07:00

Jofuss. A sweet, cute, wonderful, innocent boy. With hair. (Very cute, light, and fluffy hair, I might add.) Like so:

Awwwwwwwww....... How sweet :D Unfortunately, we haven't learned from the past. We left Mom home. Unsupervised. With scissors. Need I say more? No. One picture is worth a thousand words, so they say. May I present to you: soon to be president of the Trekkies, Joseph Robison Crandall:

His hair is straight (somewhat) and his ears are pointy. "Beam me up, Scottie!" :)

Written for your enjoyment by Erika Crandall, Concerned sister and President of the Jofuss fan club.

May I also add that THIS post is #100 for us :D Whoo hoo! #100!

Happy Birthday, Emma!

2009-10-04T21:11:00.000-07:00

Whoo hoo! Tis the season for rejoicing! October 1st was Emma's 7th birthday! ("and the peasants rejoice"--name that show!)Awwwwwwwwwww...CUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUTE! Yes, that is Mandy & Emma, wearing their wittle tu-tus and getting ready to dance around the living room :)

Here's Emma warming up for the big "recital" coming up. Anna now wears that little leotard DAILY. (I guess you would call it a family heir loom now :P haha)

We sold them to the gypsy pioneers. This is her new choice of clothing. (Gotcha! This was just at a ward party, Sister Peterson dressed up all the children as Pioneers. Silly you for believing me :D )

Happy Birthday, Emma!!!!

2009-09-28T11:19:00.000-07:00

An Eye-Opening Sunday Night.
Last night I decided that I wanted to start a new tradition on Sundays. I want to sit with my 4 oldest kids and ask them questions and then write down their answers and see how they change through the years.

Sunday Night #1...
Who's example can we follow to live happily?
Erika - "The Cox Family, either Cox family that we know."
Mandy - "The Movie Enchanted."
Emma - "Jesus Christ."
Anna - "Dolphins."

What are some of the blessings you have been given?
Mandy - "ummmm? I can't think of anything. (After a few minutes) My house, food (not counting school food), Jakey. Joseph, books, (after prompting from someone) My very kind older sister Erika.
Emma - "food!" I said, "that's it?" She said, "Yep!" Then she said, "Mommy, books, movies, Heavenly Father, church, amazing older sister Erika."
Erika - "my family, my education, our house, my friends, church leaders, my aunts and uncles and technology."
Anna - "my ponies and dolls"

I asked quite a few other questions and they really made me stop and think. My kids need to be taught more. They need to count their blessings and recognize all of their blessings. I think this will be a good tradition and it will help me to see what they are in need of and be able to help them more specifically. I love all of my children and I want them to be happy and I want them to know that they are special children of Heavenly Father and he loves them and blesses them.

2009-09-18T09:21:00.000-07:00

MEC!!!

Eric and I went to a parent-teacher conference this morning for Anna. I got a call from the teacher saying that she especially wanted to talk to me so of course I was a little nervous.

Anna attends the Montessori Education Center at the end of our street. She gets up everyday and is so happy to go - it has been heaven sent. I now know why we did not move away from this house. Her teacher, Miss Emilie, could not say enough good things about Anna. She is very well behaved, polite, patient, kind and of course smart. I had told the teacher at the beginning that Anna has autism and so I was not sure how she would do.??? Miss Emilie does not agree that Anna has anything wrong with her. She loves her so much. When I went to education night and saw how Montessori works I was in tears because I knew that this was the perfect set-up for Anna and it is!!!! I feel so blessed to live in this country where there are choices and where we have such amazing teachers and resources to help us.

Happy Birthday song! (see post below for explanation)

2009-09-13T00:22:00.001-07:00

Happy Birthday, Mom!!! (Jenn)

2009-09-13T00:08:00.000-07:00

Tomorrow (I haven't gone to bed yet, therefore it is still Saturday), September 13th is my mom's birthday!!! (Or as you say, "Jenn's Birthday") I'd say how young she is, but she may not be too happy about that :P She and my dad (Eric) went "out of town" for the night (they went to Scottsdale, so not that far out of town) and will be back Sunday to celebrate with us, but for the time being, we are watching M*A*S*H, trying to keep Jakey in bed, trying to stop Anna from using her pants as her own little port-a-pottie, and keep Joseph asleep. Whoo hoo. I say "we" as in my Grandma Crandall, my Halliday Grandparents, my aunt Laurel, and me (Erika) I actually got invited to my friends' birthday party tonight, so they all stepped in & watched the littlest kids so I could go! (I actually had a social life--yay!) I found this cute little birthday song on Youtube, so I'll post it here. Feel free to memorize it & sing it to someone on their birthday! Hahaha

2009-09-10T09:01:00.000-07:00

Labor Day!
We had a great Labor Day weekend. Saturday we had a big Crandall party at Kevin and Lori's house and everyone was there except for Eva and her family and Jonny. There was way too much yummy food and lots of swimmingand visitng. It was so good to see everyone. We got to keep Christi's daughter Nikki with us for the weekend and she is such a good girl and good example for my girls. On Sunday night I called Christi and asked if maybe she wanted Emma and Nikki to spend the night with her at grandma's and she offered to take Anna instead! Anna was so excited to spend time with her best friend Britton. I guess they slept all night and just got along perfectly.

The next morning Christi called and said that she was coming over to help Eric clean up our back yard. You do not understand, our back yard looks like the junk yard. We have way too much stuff back there and the weeds are everywhere and it has been so hot that we have just ignored it. So Christi came over and she dragged some junk out of the yard and put it in Eric's truck. Then she pulled weeds in the front yard. After that she helped Eric fill up the vending machines in our garage. Then she came in and helped Emma and Nikki clean up Emma's room. I was gone during this time taking Erika somewhere. When I got home she offered to help me paint my dining room. We went to Walmart and got some paint and she bought some flowers for the kids to plant in the back yard! When we got home she taped off the dining room and she painted it for me while I cleaned the rest of the house. Then she went out and planted flowers with the kids. Holy Cow! She is Wonder Woman! I owe her big. She is always so sweet to us and has helped us many times. I hope that sometime I can go to her house in Yuma and help her. Thank you so much Christi!!!!

( a little side note...I painted my kitchen on Tuesday and when my kids came home from school they all asked who had done the painting! They thought that Christi had come back. )

2009-08-31T10:31:00.001-07:00

MONDAY!!!!!
I thought that this morning would go smoothly because all of my school kids woke up early so we had plenty of time to get ready. WRONG!!! The getting ready part did go pretty well and then it came to the saying goodbye part. Emma is always the first one to go because her bus comes first. I always see her go out the front door. She would not leave, she would not even look at the street. She said that she did not want to go to school and she would not go! I told her that she had to and that was that. She stood there crying and refusing to go and I did not know what to do? I let her back inside and told her that I would take her just today. Mandy was the next one to leave and she left in quite a good mood. (thank goodness!) Then Anna got her backpack on and came and found me and said, "looks like only one of your girls love school and that is me!" I could not believe those words coming out of her mouth but I know that they are true because she never complains about going and wants to go as soon as possible every day! Well back to Emma. I did drive her but she would not get out of the van when we got to Franklin so I took her out and we went to the front office and got a tardy slip. Then she would not walk so I went and took the boys out of the car and told her that I would walk with her. She cried all the way there and said that she did not want her class to see her like this and I told her too bad! We got to her class room and she would not quit crying so I thought I would stick my head in and ask the teacher to come outside for a minute. I stuck my head in and the class was gone! That was a miracle. Emma went right in and hugged her teacher and she hugged her back and then she felt much better. I hope she has a good day. I am such a mean mom!

$4.00

2009-08-22T16:38:00.000-07:00

Emma came home from school all excited on Thursday. We had found a lost library book over the summer and she had taken it back to her school library. The librarian told her that she would send our refund through the mail ( we had paid for the book at the end of last year). She told me what the librarian had said and she said that we should go and check the mailbox immediately! She said, "Mom, now we won't be poor!" I said, "Emma it is only $4.00". Then she said, "Yes, but the money will give us a boost!" I love my children and their excitement!

Hehehe

2009-08-17T21:38:00.000-07:00

School has started. Guess who is excited... (besides Mom) ERIKA!!!! (me) I am BEYOND happy to be in school again!! I love having a daily routine & knowing what I'm doing that day! Here are some pictures from the Crandall's first day of school! (There's no picture of me because I was too darn excited & the camera just couldn't keep up with me :P)

2009-08-07T00:26:00.000-07:00

Happy Birthday Mandy (part 2)

I wanted to write down a few thoughts about Mandy for her 10th Birthday. We waited a long time for Mandy. After we had Erika we had a hard time getting pregnant again. We went to a lot of doctors and they all told us the same thing that we were done having our own children and that we should look into other methods including adoption. Needless to say we were sad at this news. For some reason we never gave up. In March of 1998 we went to Disney World and Erika threw a coin into the pond surrounding It's a Small World and she wished for sisters. In December of 1998 I was feeling funny and I realized that I should get a pregnancy test and it actually came out positive!!! I had always wanted to announce a pregnancy around Christmas time especially on Christmas morning. I had to keep the news to myself for a little over a week but it was worth it, the looks on everyone's faces on Christmas Eve and Morning were priceless!

Mandy was born August 5, 1999. Rani had taken me walking at Scottsdale Mall to see if we could hurry the labor up. Amy Jo came over to practice that night and I was in quite a bit of back pain. That day I had picked up a big box of apricots and so I just thought maybe I had strained my back, NOPE! Mom Crandall came and picked me up and took me to the hospital where they let me check in but I had to keep walking. Mom walked with me for a long time and then Eric came on his lunch break at midnight and took over. Mom went home and Mandy was born about 30 minutes later. Our miracle baby was here! She came out not breathing and I was starting to panic. I told Eric to go over and give her a blessing. He asked me what her name was and I was in such a panic I told him to use whatever name he wanted but just get over there!! He did give her a short blessing and then I heard the most wonderful cry ever. I was so happy, she was ok, she was perfect! Our wait for over 5 years for a baby was over. Erika had the sister she had wished for.

Mandy is a sweet girl. She is determined and strong willed. She is very talented in music and dance. She loves to read. She loves her little brothers and they love her right back. She has a very caring heart. She loves the monkey bars at school and she loves to climb anything. She loves to go to Disneyland ( a true Crandall ). She is a good big sister and is found quite often playing with them and helping them. I, as her mother, love her very much and I am so grateful that she joined our family. I am so glad that Heavenly Father chose to send her to us. I look forward to watching her grow and mature.
Happy Birthday Mandy.

Happy Birthday, Mandy!

2009-08-05T22:23:00.000-07:00

Anyone remember this wee little baby?

How about this little girl on the sweet, wittle pony??

Still don't? Well her name is Mandy. Today is her birthday. Happy birthday! (she turned 10).

Yay.

And yes, her arm is broken. You are not mistaken. The doctors were so sweet & wanted to give her a present, but this was the best they could do. (Plus, she conveniently injured herself Sunday trying to do a back-bend...smooth.)

--Written by *drum roll, please* Erika!!! Duh-duh-duh!! (my dramatic theme :P)

2009-07-24T22:20:00.000-07:00

We are on the home stretch!!!

This week Erika has been at Girl's Camp. We have missed her and we are so glad that she is coming home TOMORROW! I must brag a little about my other kids who have picked up the slack and really been my good helpers all week. My Mandy has been a lifesaver. She has been right by me and always asks what else I need her to do. On Wednesday night her cousin asked her to spend the night (and she loves to be over there) but she said no because she knew that I needed her at home! In the mornings she will entertain Jakey and Joseph so I can get the day started. Also on Wednesday we went to Makutu's Island and Mandy watched Jakey the whole time we were there and never complained. She also made 2 homemade dolls for her sisters tonight by herself. Emma has also been a really good helper. Today I made an attempt to make homemade bread for pioneer day and she was right there in the kitchen asking to help and she was a big help. Then tonight for dinner she was right there when it was getting ready asking what else she could do. Anna has even been a better listener at times.
I am so glad to be a mother and I am so thankful for such great kids!!!

2009-07-18T13:11:00.001-07:00

Joseph's 6 month Dr. visit a month late.

Joseph is a little off on his well-baby check-ups so we just had his 6 month check up and he is 7 months old today.
He weight is 17 pounds.
He is 29 1/2 inches tall = Practically Perfect in Every Way!

He is such a good baby. We all love him around here. He is such a trooper with having to wear his leg braces all of the time. He knows how to sit up and scoot all over the floor and he is starting to get up on his knees to crawl. He does not like baby food but will tolerate baby cereal. He loves ice cream. He loves to be in the bath and he loves to go swimming.

Really...? These men were Boy Scouts??

2009-07-15T20:05:00.000-07:00

We've had a BE-A-UT-I-FUL time in Utah and Colorado!!! Currently, we're in Blanding, Utah, but were in Colorado at a family ranch the past two days.

Yesterday (our last day), Dad (Eric), Poppie, Uncle Spencer, and a few other guys got together to build a fire for s'mores. Contrary to all their Boy Scout training (using sticks, flint & steel, etc. to build a fire), these "former boy scouts" decided they'd build a fire using grass (green), sticks (green/damp), paper plates, and...gasoline. Spencer thought of this "brilliant" idea--using gas--so he went & got a plastic cup of gas, used some, then set it down on a near-by chair. Dad (Eric) then got the "brilliant" idea that they needed more, so he reached back for the cup. Little did he know/remember: the gas had eaten through the cup, causing small holes in the container. When he picked up the cup, the gas started leaking out the sides and the bottom of the cup dropped out, causing the gasoline to cover his hands, Spencer's shoe, and the surrounding grass (I doubt any got on the fire).

Just then, the box of matches less than a foot from the fire (ya, they really did participate in BSA--you can tell...?) caught fire so Dad grabbed it and started to try to extinguish the fire with his hands. In the process of doing so, his HANDS burst into flames so his next project was getting those taken care of. He finally got them out but not before the box of matches was cooled off--it started his hands on fire AGAIN! (Amazingly enough, his hands are just fine--just the gas burned, it didn't get to his hands.) THEN Spencer's shoe spontaneously combusted so he started jumping around to try & get it out. Of course it was on the top of his shoe, so he whipped it off and stomped on it with the other shoe. Meanwhile, the surrounding grass was on fire and spreading rapidly. (Smooth, guys) So then all three of the guys began stomping around trying to get it out before we burned down the 50 year old ranch & the women brought out buckets of water to help. FINALLY they--the "Boy scouts" as they claim to be--got it under control.

Who knew 10 years of boy scout training would go to waste :P Just kidding. :) They did fine; it was just REALLY scary to watch...

*By the way, sorry we didn't have any pictures, I (Erika) was too stunned watching my dad's hands catch fire & my mom was inside taking care of Yoseseph.*

2009-07-10T14:43:00.000-07:00

The Sippy Cup

Today I went and bought two new sippy cups for my 2-yr. old Jakey. When I got home I opened them for him and Anna saw me and came and asked, " Mom, when I grow up and am a teenager like Jakey can you buy me some sippy cups?" I loved it!

Emma's Workshop

2009-07-07T23:20:00.000-07:00

You saw her sister. Now, I give to you: Emma Crandall. Child...prodigy...? Sure. Pictures:!!

Good job, Emma. :)

(For your gee-whiz file: this post was written by Big sister--Erika. Not her mom. :D)

Flowers vs. Flours

2009-07-07T23:11:00.000-07:00

I have always told my husband that I do not like or appreciate live flower bouquets so he has given up and now he brings me useful "flours".

Here's a bit of Irony...

2009-07-07T22:50:00.000-07:00

Well here's a switch for ya! Anna Banana--the one who causes 99.9% of all messes, disasters, and/or fights at our house--was filled with compassion at the sight of her grandpa's "booboo" from hitting his head on a shelf. She immediately whipped out the tissues, wet them, and applied them to his head (as shown below). If you're ever in trouble and can't find a doctor, Dr. Anna is ready. (I--Erika--am ready for her to be ready to help you. *kidding*)

The finished product:

Good ol' Poppie; he's a trooper. I don't know how well I'd let a little autistic 4 year old that close to my eye with wet tissues then walk outside and go home with it on... :)

A lesson learned from Jack and the Beanstalk....

2009-07-03T00:24:00.000-07:00

Tonight I was trying to tell Anna a bedtime story but as usual I kept falling asleep as I was telling it and she would wake me up and tell me the next line. I did not last very long into the story when she said, "Mom, Jack had to sell the cow because he did not have a daddy that went out and earned a living for his family." I don't remember ever wording the story that way??? She is four-years-old and I thought that was pretty good! She is a smart one.

While we are on the subject of Anna I have another funny story...
Last night my Mom and Dad were over babysitting and they decided that all of them would go out and trim the bushes in the front yard. They let all of the kids have a turn with "Grandma's special clippers" and they thought that was great! As they were cleaning up they were looking for the clippers and no one had seen them. My mom says they are her favorite pair and she was not going to give up until they were found. They asked all of the girls and no one would own up to where they were. My Dad had to go through all of the clippings again and still no luck. Well finally he had an idea to ask Anna if she had buried them and she promptly told him that she had. He asked her if she remembered where and she said, "of course I remember because I planted a flower on top!" They were all laughing by now and then she said, " I buried them because I was tired of working!" That's my girl.

June!!!

2009-06-30T06:32:00.000-07:00

It is June 30 and I cannot believe that the month is at an end! Many of you know that June is my busiest month of the year and I have survived it one more time. I should say that WE have survived it, my family is the best and very supportive.

I have worked at Mesa Community College for many years and I believe that this was my 8th year of doing the Summer Musical Workshops - I love doing it!

For the first two weeks of June Mandy went to work with me. This was her first year of being in the older kid's workshop and she did great!!! The next two weeks Emma went with me in the mornings so she could be in the younger kid's workshop. She also did great!!!

My parents offered to help with babysitting and boy did they babysit! They were here everyday form at least 12:30 - 6:00 p.m. and some nights they would stay until 10:30! What a relief to know that my kids were in such good hands. Erika was also a HUGE help but she was so busy doing volunteer work everywhere that she was not home as much. (She earned over 200 service hours this month). Eric could not help at all because he also works about 70 hours a week so he was never home. Eric's Mom was also very helpful and took the kids on some fun outings. I do not know what I would do without family. Thanks to all who helped me and also thanks to my awesome kids who were very patient.

Some other events that happened in June...
Joseph turned 6 months and got his first tooth.
Eric and I had our 17th wedding anniversary.
We dedided that we are not moving.

Happy 6 month birthday, Joseseph!

2009-06-21T22:07:00.000-07:00

Benember when wee lil Joseseph was born? Ya, so...he's old now. He turned 6 months old this past Thursday, June 18th. Where did the 6 months go?!?!?!? Anyways...we tried our best to capture his handsome looks on camera, but the pictures just don't do him justice :( sorry, brudda...

He's such a smiley kid, we just love him to death! :)

Go Mandy!!!!!!!!!!

2009-06-14T22:48:00.000-07:00

Mandy finished her first "big kids" workshop with a BANG!

"She's a child prodigy born to do musical theatre!" --Arizona Tribune

"Truly an inspiration to us all...she's better than me!" --Vanessa Hudgins

"I give up; Mandy is a much better singer/dancer/actor/dramatist than I could ever be!" --Miley Cyrus/Hannah Montana (yes, they are the same person; get over it, people!)

K, so obviously they didn't say that; I just made it up as I thought of what to write for this post, but Mandy did do really well :) Except for the fact that she looked kinda constipated and stared directly into the bright stage lights while not smiling one teensy weensy bit, she was AWESOME! (coming from a big sister who has done this show for 5 years, you know she must have done at least A-O-K) Here's some backstage photos :)

Good job, Mandy! (Just remember to smile a little bit and relax...maybe that constipated look will go away...) :) just kidding :)

Based on a "shoe" story...

2009-06-03T22:14:00.000-07:00

It's summertime, right? We all agree? At our house, we're busy, tired, usually brain-dead, and already NOT in touch with the latest fashion trends. Mom (Jenn) is a victim of SVBL too. It finally got to her--she wore TWO DIFFERENT types of shoes to work (out in public) without even noticing! :)

She noticed AFTER she got to work and hoped that no one would notice it...haha. Linz noticed though :) SOOOOOOO... Mom & Jennica went to Fiesta Mall and bought these lovely, MATCHING shoes at Payless :)

Don't worry, World. We won't let her do it again :) I'm sure she and the rest of us will notice it BEFORE she leaves the house :) Until then, keep smiling and try out this new fashion trend--who knows, maybe it will catch on someday!!!! :P

2009-05-20T15:05:00.000-07:00

A Night to Remember!

Last night Poston had their Annual Awards Assembly. We showed up early because Erika's teacher had told her to sit near the front of the auditorium. As usual the place was packed. We knew that she would get the normal 4.0 award and this year also the 4.0 award for three years in a row and we were very excited for those. She also knew that she had earned a certificate for her hours of service. When she got called up on stage Mr. Bisanz read off everyone's hours that they had earned over the year and there were quite a few students up there. They all had to get 150 or more hours to come up. Erika had set a goal to get 500 hours at the beginning of the year and she did it! Mr. Bisanz teased her and asked her if it maybe was a type-o on his list or did she really do 504 hours of service ?!!! She probably did more but those were the ones that were recorded. Anyways as the rest of the students were leaving he asked her to stay and he presented her the Helping Hand Service Award. I was so happy for her because I KNOW how hard she worked to earn that. The ceremony went on and she went up to get her 4.0 awards. Then came the top 20. They read all of the names and hers was not there and then they said that she was named the (drum roll please :))....
Most Outstanding 9th Grade Girl !!!!!! I was crying down in the audience(tears of joy). She has worked so hard all 3 years at Poston and I am so happy for her! She and I were smiling all night. Everyone got to see her achievements for the school year but not too many know of how hard she works at home too. She is always in a good mood and is always willing to help me or anyone at home. I appreciate the young woman that she is and I know she will accomplish great things in her life and I look forward to watching her.

Congratulations Erika!!!

2009-05-16T19:58:00.001-07:00

details, details, details...

Eric's new job. He is going to be the night foreman at a very high tech machine shop. He was a machinist before he got into vending so it has been a few years. The last few weeks he has sent out his resume over the internet to numerous companies with no word back. Somehow he got an address for this company and he went and personally handed them a resume. The called him a few days later asking for an interview. After the first interview they wanted another one, this was on Thursday. They told him that he would probably have to quit UPS and that made us sick. They said that they have a benefit package and so he would not need UPS. Well UPS has the best health benefits of any company anywhere so we are very spoiled. I told him that we cannot give up UPS because Joseph is in the middle of his care and I do not want to change Doctors. Anyways he talked to them and they understood and said that he can try to work both jobs and see how he does. They called him first thing Friday morning and said they want to hire him!!!! He will be working 3:30 p.m. to 3:30 a.m. at the machine shop and then 4:00 a.m. to 7:00 a.m. at UPS. That is about 72 hours a week! He will be a very busy man, we will never see him except on the weekends. We are going to miss him and it will make my work schedule alot harder but we are grateful for this job and we will do whatever we need to do to make it work. It is a really good thing that we are not moving because there is no way that he would have time to move us and fix up two houses and learn a new job! We are thankful that the Lord watches over us so closely and that He knows what we need.

2009-05-15T14:33:00.000-07:00

Tithing Blessings!

I have a firm testimony of tithing

and the blessings that it brings.

Eric got a new really good job !!!!!!

2009-05-14T23:46:00.000-07:00

Crazy Busy Day!

We had a very busy day today and no one was home very much today. But we had something very exciting happen... Anna lost her 1st tooth!!!
She is 4 and so I think that she is my youngest child to loose a tooth. She has no idea where and when she lost it... so no tooth fairy I guess. (I will post a picture as soon as Erika can help me understand my new camera.)

2009-05-10T22:19:00.000-07:00

The Final Word

We are not moving. At first I was way sad and disappointed but as I thought about it (while watching the new Star Trek movie) I had a peaceful feeling. It was like Heavenly Father was telling me that he is trying to "save" my husband from a total breakdown. If we were to move Eric would have to fix up our house for renters, the new house so we could move in and as of right now he is unemployed so he would have to job hunt on top of all of that! The loan totally fell apart with some new regulations so we are done trying. We loved that house and we would have loved having more room but we are thinking that maybe we can enclose our patio and that would create the extra space we need. Erika will probably still go to Mesa High even though we will have to drive every day, we will see. I am still glad that we got a POD and cleaned out the girls' rooms so they can get a much needed face lift. I know that the Lord loves us and He knows what is best and if we do our part He will take care of us and we just have to trust Him.

2009-05-08T12:36:00.000-07:00

A Good News Emergency!!!

Mandy came in the door yesterday yelling, " Mom emergency emergency, good news!" I was in a back bedroom so I hurried out and she handed me her paper that told her that she had been chosen to sing in the school talent show! She was so happy. At the auditions there had been lots of kids and the teachers told them that they were only going to pick very few of them. Two other girls sang the same song as Mandy so she didn't think that she would make it, but she did!!! We are so happy for her and we know that she will do a GREAT job.

2009-05-08T12:29:00.000-07:00

A Target Combo

Today we went to Target( Me, my mom, Anna, Jakey and Joseph). I had promised Anna that she could get an ICEE and popcorn. When we got in the store we went right over and ordered. The lady that helped us said that it would be cheaper to get the combo instead of 2 separate things so I said ok. We got our order and we went to fill up the cups. After I filled up Anna's cup she promptly started putting popcorn in with her ICEE. I asked her why and she said, "the lady said that it was supposed to be a combo!" I just hugged her and laughed. She is way too smart. She didn't understand why I was laughing so I explained it too her. I know I say this alot, but I LOVE my kids!

2009-05-05T11:58:00.001-07:00

Light Bulb Moment!

Emma came in the door after school yesterday and said," Mom I just realized that recess is not a subject!" I love my 6 yr. old!

2009-05-01T12:22:00.000-07:00

He isn't THAT Big

Every time I take Joseph out everyone always comments on how big he is and they always guess that he is older than he is. I took him for his 4 month check-up (2weeks late) and here are his stats:
Weight: 15 lbs. 4 oz 50%
Height: 26 in. 75%
Head: 17 in. 70%

Perfect in every way! He cried for about a minute after his shots. He is doing great with his braces. He smiles at you and he thinks that you are talking to him and will talk back to you every time you look his way. He is rolling over. We are going to start solid foods this week. We are just so happy that he is part of our family.

2009-04-28T12:35:00.000-07:00

Really???
1. Emma is home sick today.
2. Jakey got sick after he woke up.
3. Anna's lab results came back - not great news.
4. I have a huge day tomorrow full of rehearsals and driving all over to get to those rehearsals.
5. I am supposed to be packing and cleaning.
6. Joseph got his braces tightened and is not happy about it. (can you blame him)
7. End of the school year so Erika is gone alot!
8. Eric is still working on getting our new house.
9. Eric is still looking for a job.
10. I am still trying to teach piano while our house is a mess from packing and my kids are sick and I don't want to spread germs to the students.
11. Playing the musical Sweeney Todd this summer and it is the hardest music I have ever had to learn. (when do I have time to practice???)
12. Trying to find babysitters for sick kids. (ha ha not as easy as it sounds)
13. Playing for a show on Thursday at the Herberger Theater.
14. Sleep??????

I know that I am extremely blessed and I do count my blessings. I just think that my Heavenly Father must love me alot to send all of these "experiences" at once.

2009-04-21T12:20:00.000-07:00

Thanks Joseph!!!

Joseph slept through the night for the 1st time last night 11:30 - 7:00! This is a huge accomplishment for anyone at our house. (We won't talk about how Jakey did last night)

2009-04-18T13:59:00.000-07:00

MOVING!!!!
I am a little reluctant to say this but it look like we are really moving!!!! We got the contract this morning and our closing date is set for May18. This house is bigger than the one we are in. It is over by Mesa High School so Erika will go there next year. Eric and the kids have been to the new ward quite a bit and seem to enjoy it. I will miss the 12th ward but I am ready to have some kids that are the same age as my kids. We will be a little closer to my parents. Emma will be closer to Franklin. This house has an office off of the master bedroom and that is the whole reason I want to move there. Right now all of our paper work and bills sit on our kitchen table so I am ready for Eric to have a place to work. We are way excited!

2009-04-18T07:22:00.000-07:00

Our Night Time Routine (Don't worry this is family friendly)
Usually Eric goes to bed around 8:30 - 9:00 and sometimes Emma goes with him to our bed. I am in the rocking chair trying to get Joseph to go to sleep. Anna is walking around saying how hungry she is and Jakey is demanding to see "Bob" (Sponge Bob). At about 10:00 I will sometimes have Joseph asleep so I will lay him on the couch and then go and find Jakey who is usually in Mandy's room watching a movie with her. Anna is still up and saying that she is still hungry. Erika keeps popping out of her room seeing if there is anything she can do between all of her homework. 11:00 Anna is winding down but is now thirsty. Joseph is waking up from his "nap" and I beg Jakey to go and lay down by his dad. Erika comes out again and offers to rock Joseph and Mandy has gone to bed by now. Jakey is still going strong. After telling Anna to go to bed she will finally go and lay by Eric and fall asleep. So now (midnight) Eric has 2 kids in his bed and I am asleep in the rocking chair and Jakey is watching Bob while laying on the couch. 2:00 a.m. I put Joseph down and move Jakey to my bed with Eric. Eric gets up and goes to work at 3:30 a.m. Anna will usually wake up and want another drink. I will then scoot kids over so there is room for me to lay down. This is short lived because Joseph will wake up at 4:00 and want a bottle. I will get up and feed him and we will fall asleep in the rocking chair until 6:00 when everyone else needs to get up. Emma will get up the first time you ask and she goes and gets in the bath. This will usually wake Jakey up and he wakes Joseph up. Nothing can wake up Anna so she sleeps in until 8:30. All in all a restful night.???? We need a bed time routine because I need more sleep! Just thought I would share one more reason why our blog title is so appropriate!

2009-04-13T14:46:00.000-07:00

Mixed Emotions
I was released from being our ward's choir director yesterday. I have had that calling for 3 1/2 years and I have grown to love it! I have learned so much and met so many wonderful people. The power of music is amazing to me. So many Sundays the talks have matched the special number even if we hadn't planned it that way. Yesterday on Easter was so special. We sang:
"He is Risen", "This is the Christ", and "I Know That My Redeemer Lives". The talks were each on a different aspect of the Savior's life and each song that followed the talk just fit perfectly! We had so many people up in the choir loft it was humbling. Thanks to all of you who came up and sang - you sounded beautiful. Thanks to all of the members who came every Sunday the last few years and supported the ward choir. A BIG thanks to the awesome accompanists who put up with me and did so well. Also thanks to the Bishopric for being so helpful and letting us sing so often. Finally thanks to my wonderful family for being so supportive and helpful and letting me be gone so much - I love you.
Music has made my testimony grow because my heart listens to music and I can remember something so much better if it is associated with music.

2009-04-06T23:09:00.000-07:00

Nice People
How come I am so blessed to have so many nice people in my life? Today a sweet friend dropped by and gave me a very generous and kind present. She is always a great example and she has done so many kind things for me and my family. Thank you! We love you!

Spring Break

2009-04-06T09:45:00.000-07:00

Spring break this year was actually fun-filled and action PACKED!!!! These pictures are REALLY out of order, but I'm too lazy to switch them around, so just have fun looking at them in the order they are :) --Erika) at the zoo...

three-headed sister!!! RUN FOR YOUR LIVES!!!!! (Erika warns you)

Joseseph and Padre at the park about to sneeze...

The three little girls on the tire swing...

Jakey on the dinosaur (very scary dinosaur, I might add).

A day in the life of Jakey

2009-04-06T09:31:00.000-07:00

Jakey Brudder leads an interesting life--nothing is ever boring with him around... For example, the day he decided we needed new flooring and covered the dining area in quarters, nickels, and dimes from the change bucket...

This is Anna cleaning up the new flooring.Jakey also decided that couch cusions were overrated...

Then he decided the tape dispenser had TOO MUCH tape in it... Thanks, Jakey.

But then he saw that Joseph lay starving on the couch, so he stepped up to the plate and tried to feed him...

After his looooooooong day, he decided it is nap time and sacks out on the couch (but first must perform his version of the "worm")... Good night, Jacoby Brudder.*Notice that he has three different shirts throughout this post. He also has to have a change of clothes quite frequently... Oh Jakey, what would we do without you????

Facebook!

2009-03-29T22:22:00.000-07:00

As some of you have figured out, both of us (Erika and my mom--Jenn) have a facebook! If you don't have one, I suggest you get one! It can get very addicting, but oh so much fun! Add us as your friends and search for everyone else you know and you'll be amazed at just how many people you know have facebooks also :) Happy facebooking!

2009-03-24T14:05:00.000-07:00

Thank you Tylenol!
Yesterday Joseph had his surgery on his heels. My Mom came over at 6:00 a.m. and we left for the hospital. Joseph had to start fasting at 3:00 a.m. so I was scared that he would be really fussy but he was an angel and did not make a peep. On the way to the hospital my Mom called and said that we were supposed to be there at 5:30 so we were almost an hour late! Eric dropped us off and we went to the registration desk. We still had to sit and wait so I was glad that we were not there at 5:30 to wait even more. They took us into pre-op and Joseph was still really calm and just slept on my shoulder. As the different doctors came and talked to us I got more nervous ( I did not want my baby to be "put" to sleep but it was the safest way.) They took him into the operating room at about 7:35 and said that they would come out and talk to us in an hour. We went to the waiting room and I tried to read but kept falling asleep. At 8:40 the nurse told us that we could come and see him. As soon as I walked into post-op I could hear him screaming! So they handed him to me but I could not calm him down. I tried to feed him a bottle and he would have nothing to do with it. I tried to breast feed and he would calm down for a minute and then continue screaming. Finally they gave him a Tylenol suppository and he calmed down a little and took a little nap. When he woke up he was still screaming so I handed him to Eric and the screaming continued. They said that they could not let us go until they knew he would eat and be ok. We tried for 2 hours and he just kept on crying so finally we got a different nurse and she asked me if I felt comfortable taking him home and I said Yes so off we went.
When we got home my Mom had done tons of laundry for me and Anna and Jakey were playing together so nice. Eric went off to work and my mom stayed and helped me until Anna went to school. Joseph pretty much screamed all day and did not start eating until late afternoon. My friend Kristin called and offered to bring dinner in and I was so grateful. Other people had offered but I did not think it would be a big deal so I said no but it was so appreciated. Thanks Kristin! Anyways long story short, it is Tuesday afternoon and I have slept maybe 3-4 hours in the last 2 days so I am ready for some sleep sometime. Joseph as long as he has Tylenol in him he is pretty happy and eats really well so we will continue the Tylenol until he is back to his normal happy self. He has his biggest casts ever and they will be on for 3 weeks and then he we will wear his braces. What a brave little baby - we love him.

2009-03-18T18:11:00.000-07:00

Empty Timeshare!
We reserved a 2 bedroom timeshare in Oceanside California starting tomorrow and we cannot go. It is a nice resort. The room sleeps six and has a full kitchen. It is located near Legoland. The reservation is Thursday night through Sunday night. We are asking $200.00 obo. Please someone use it so it won't stand empty at such a beautiful time of year. Go and have some fun and then blog about it when you get home! :)

2009-03-17T23:28:00.000-07:00

Spring Break...
So we sent Erika off to Texas on Friday, I had one show on Friday and 2 on Saturday and then I promised the rest of my kids that our Spring Break would officially start on Monday!

Monday morning I got up early and wrote down a whole bunch of low budget ideas on construction paper and then we put them on the wall. Things like: go to the park, go to the library, ping-pong pinball, coin toss, you get the idea. I think that there are about 40 pieces of paper up there and they are determined to do all of them. On Monday I had to take Joseph to get his 2 month shots and he was not a happy boy but only cried for a minute and then slept the rest of the day until he had to get new casts that afternoon (poor guy). I went to Walmart and purchased quite a few art supplies for my girls and then went home to find them cleaning and helping their grandma. They played Moon Sand and clay for quite a while and then they wanted to do something different. By the time I got home from the casting I was so tired and could not move and right then Eric showed up and took all of the kids to the park! They were so happy.:) As I stayed at home I got the idea to go to Fountain Hills and show the kids the fountain. We picked up a pizza on the way out and headed to F.H. We got there about 5:45 so we ate pizza and then at 6:00 the fountain went off and they all loved it! Jacob loved the 2 playgrounds and ran constantly back and forth. There was a disk swing (related to the tire swing) there and all 3 of my girls LOVED it. Mandy loved to push everyone as high as she could and then hop on. We all had a really good time. When we came home they picked a game from the wall and we played it and had such a good time. Then we made another one after that and we all laughed until it hurt. It felt so good to spend so much time with my kids and just have time to laugh and relax!

Tuesday morning came and I had to drop the kids off at Grandma's again so I could pick up the braces for Joseph. On our way home we all went to Michael's to get some more craft supplies. Not the best outing ever. Anna wanted to buy everything and Joseph was tired and cranky so we were all exhausted when we got home. The kids went straight to the fort to paint their new flower pots and bird houses and they had such a good time. They came in only long enough to have lunch then right back out. I went to get a hair cut and when I came back they wanted to play in the sprinkler and I could not think of a good reason to not let them so that's what they did! That lasted a while and when they were dry they came in and got dressed and we went to the library. We had such a good outing, no yelling and no one getting in trouble! We are going to do some serious reading here in the next few days. Emma wanted to play the computers so I went around and picked out some books for her. I got books that she could easily finish in one sitting so she can turn in some book lists for school but she did not want those kind of books. She wanted " real" books so she asked the librarian about real books about states and they went and found some and she did not put them down the rest of the day! Who knew? Mandy has already read 3 out of the 4 books that she checked out so we may have to make another trip later in the week! After the library we dropped Mandy off at Trevor's house and the rest of us went to Sam's for dinner. I love eating there because it only costs us $8.00 for all of us. After Sam's we finally went to the airport and picked up Erika!!!! We are so glad that she is home again. She had such a good time and said that she could have stood a few more days...maybe next time. All in all we are having a wonderful spring break and I love spending time with my kids. Hopefully we will get all of our activities done but even if we don't hopefully we are making some memories that will last a long time.

2009-03-17T23:13:00.000-07:00

Holy Cow!

I picked up Joseph's braces today for his legs and I cannot believe that he has to wear them full time until he is 3! His surgery is scheduled for Monday morning and then he will have casts for 3 weeks and then these braces. First of all I saw what they cost my insurance - Holy Cow! Then when I look at them and imagine how it will be to hold him and dress him etc it seems kind of sad. A sweet lady in our ward brought us a really cute excersaucer and as I thought about it there is no way that he will be able to go in it. I still count my blessings that his feet are getting fixed and that he is a healthy and happy baby boy and that he is part of our family. Has anyone been through this and can you offer some happy thoughts on the matter and words of advice?? Thanks.

2009-03-13T05:45:00.000-07:00

What was I thinking?
My right hand is leaving for a few days. Erika gets to go to Houston today for 4 days. She is such a hard worker and she does so much for us around here so we decided that she needed to have some time off and go and visit her cousins in Texas. She is flying by herself. She is so excited that she gets to go. She is NOT allowed to take any homework with her, I want her to go and relax and then she can do homework when she gets home on Tuesday. I am excited for her to go but I will be so very happy when the four days are over and she is home again. Have fun Erika. Thanks Spencer and Rani for letting her come!

Cast-less

2009-03-13T05:35:00.000-07:00

A gift from the Dr.
On Wednesday I took Joseph in to have his casts put back on. When the Dr.'s assistant looked at him she saw that both of his "big" toes were infected with ingrown nails so she was going to cast and leave his toes out. Then I asked her about making the casts a little lower so he could have his shots next week. She thought about it for a few minutes and said, " let's just leave the casts off for a few days." I was so happy for him! So now Joseph is cast-less until Monday! I make sure he has outfits on that let his legs out so he can feel the fresh air and it seems like he is so much happier and he kicks so much more. :) We all love snuggling him because he is so much lighter ( we love snuggling him anytime casts or no casts). Anyways on Monday he will have his shots and then that afternoon he will probably get his casts back on and then have surgery Tues. or Thurs. next week.

2009-03-12T09:54:00.000-07:00

Surprise!!
I was just sitting and nursing Joseph yesterday around 5:15 p.m. when there came a knock at the door. Erika was in the rocking chair and she practically threw her books on the floor and just kept saying, "oh my gosh!" A cute blond girl came in the room and then her mother followed and I figured out that it was our good friends the Browns! We have not seen them forever. Emily had just finished a softball game at Poston so they stopped to say hi. Erika and Emily were best friends in Elementary school. Their family moved pretty far east so we do not see them ever. Lisa is my hero, she has 9 children and she is such an amazing mother. She always has a positive attitude and good advice. We had a good visit and Erika and I were smiling the rest of the day. Thanks for stopping by!

No Whooping Cough!(?)

2009-03-03T12:01:00.000-08:00

I am assuming that Joseph does not have Whooping Cough! The Dr. never called us back and he is not coughing anymore so we are thinking that he just has a cold or something. Joseph's surgery has been pushed back to whenever he is healthy for 2 weeks in a row. The good part about this is with all of the extra casts he will get now he may end up not needing surgery!

Thanks Anna!

2009-03-03T10:56:00.000-08:00

I won't say what inspired this but I just want to say that...

I LOVE MY FAMILY!

(especially my 4-yr old Anna who cheers me up at just the right time.:))
I am thankful to be a mother to the best 6 kids ever!

Whooping Cough????

2009-02-25T21:41:00.000-08:00

I took Joseph to the Dr. today because he has been coughing since Friday and he is supposed to have his surgery on Monday so I need him healthy. Anyways we are visiting with the Dr. and he asks me what kind of cough it is and gives me 2 examples. I pick the first one and he gets a panic look on his face and asks me if I am sure and I say yes and then he says that that means that Joseph may have whooping cough! Then he leaves the room and comes back in and sticks something in my baby's nose and says that I need to go straight to a lab and get some blood drawn. He also says that Joseph and I need to stay home for the next five days and there is no way that he is healthy enough to have surgery on Monday. He says that hopefully the blood test will tell us that it is a virus but either way the surgery needed to be rescheduled. So Joseph and I left and we went to the lab and he was such a good boy! I called both my Mom and my Mother-in-law and they both said that they do not think that it is whooping cough so we are going to hope that they are right. I will let you know the results of the blood test when we get them.

I have to give a little follow-up story to my "Victory" post. Anna never did get used to taking the pills and in the meantime Emma got one of the sores so she had to take the same medicine and she tried both the liquid and the pills and she decided that she would go with the liquid and she was a trooper and even reminded me everyday to give it to her. Well, last night Anna decided that if Emma could do it so could she so she suddenly wanted to take the liquid! She stood by the counter, opened her mouth and took the liquid! I could not believe my eyes! She was so proud of herself. I then explained to her that her 10 days were up and she did not need the medicine anymore and she said ok. Hopefully she will be this easy next time she has to take something and we do not ever have to go through holding her down ever again! I love my kids!

Pathetic and Overwhelmed

2009-02-24T08:12:00.000-08:00

This is how I feel all the time. I am not just saying this to have you say"Oh poor Jenn" I am saying this to get your advice and helpful hints. You would think by the time one has 6 children that that person would have life figured out...NOT! It seems like I am ALWAYS in a hurry and I can never just sit and relax. I am always telling my kids to hurry and I feel bad. The mornings are always stressful and no matter how much laying out of clothes I do the night before we are still in a panic in the last 5 minutes before the bus comes. What is wrong with me? My house is always a mess even though I clean everyday and put stuff away...I don't get it.??? I love being a mother but I feel like my kids could do so much better with someone else that has it all together. What do all of you do because I know all of you have it all together so please share your secrets so my stress level will go down soon and I can enjoy the journey.

Post

2009-02-22T12:11:00.000-08:00

We were desperate for a post because we haven't posted anything in a while, but our lives are pretty much boring, and we have nothing interesting to post. So there ya go. This is our post. And this is the end. Thank you.

--Erika

2009-02-16T20:13:00.000-08:00

Victory!
Anna has lots of scratch spots on her and we constantly trying new things to help her. Well now she has to take a prescription and she does not want to or like to so you can imagine the fight we go through! Sunday morning Eric and I tried to get her to take 2 tsp. and you would think that we were trying to kill her by the amount of screaming and crying! I think we got a little bit in but both of us had it on us and she had it all the way down her neck. We tried to put it into some ice cream but she would not eat it. Sunday night came and Eric's sister was over and I knew that she would have some idea how to win the battle. She got a towel and then talked Anna into coming and sitting on her lap. Well as soon as Anna figured out what we wanted she wanted to run! It took 4 adults to hold her down and I still don't think that she got that much. Monday morning came and I was scared and not wanting to deal with it. I talked to the same sister and she suggested to get the scrip. in pill form and see if Anna would swallow it. I called the Dr. office and they called in the new scrip. and Eric picked it up. I fixed Anna some nachos and I cut the pill in half and hid it under the cheese on the chip and she ate both halves!!! Victory! We will see what I can come up with tomorrow.

Update

2009-02-11T07:42:00.001-08:00

Here's an update on the littest bro's legs. The picture directly below is after his 3rd set of casts. Below that is a picture of him after his 4th set.

After his 4th set of casts, this is what Joseseph's legs look like. ^

You just have to see this!

2009-02-11T07:37:00.001-08:00

I found this picture on facebook and just fell in love with it (love at first sight :D)!!! hope you love it too!!

2009-02-10T11:22:00.000-08:00

Out of the mouths of babes...
Anna ( my 4yr old) came up to me on Sunday and said, "When I grow up and have kids, my kids will obey me." If any of you know Anna you know that she gives us a run for our money and keeps us on our toes every day so for her to say this was pretty funny. I would like to keep a list of everything she does so when she does have children I can get this list out and show her some of the things she did so when her kids do the same things she will know why! Her latest act was cutting her hair to her scalp while in her room. She kept all of it in her lunch box so she could show me. She is also in love with water and 9 times out of 10 we will go in her room and she will have watered her carpet or her bed or some of her toys.
We love you Anna! Thanks for the excitement.

2009-02-07T22:02:00.000-08:00

What would I do without my family?? Nothing!
The last 2 days have been very busy for me because I traveled to Tucson to accompany 10 students in a singing competition (NATS) Interesting side note, I did not want to accompany this year because I have such a young baby but I realized that I have been playing for NATS for 23 years and I have only missed one time so I must keep my record going. Anyways back to the post...last Sunday I was talking to my mother-in-law and telling her that I was going to Tucson and she said that she would invite herself and drive me down there and we would stay with her daughter and her family so I was very excited because I love to go anywhere with her and I am a horrible long distance driver. So we (I, Joseph, Anna, Jacob and my mother-in-law) left yesterday around 9:30 a.m. Our first stop was MCC so I could play for one more lesson before we performed. While I was there she took care of the kids and fed them. Then we got on the road and when we got to Tucson she dropped Joseph and I off at the Uof A and she went on with my other 2 kids to Laurel's house. Then she came back for me around 4:30 and we went back to Laurel's. My kids were having such a good time there and they made us feel so welcome. They fixed a delicious dinner and then I had to go back to the music building for 4 more auditions. Joseph went with me again and was an angel baby. The last audition I played for gave me some grey hairs as she was all over the music but we stayed together and she even made finals. At 9:00 I walked across the street to where Mom was waiting and we went back to Laurel's. She was so kind and had bathed my kids and put their pj's on and even had Jakey in bed already. I think that Anna and Joseph and I finally got to sleep around 11:00.
This morning we got up and they made us homemade waffles with homemade syrup - delicious! Meanwhile back at home my Mom and Dad had picked up Mandy and Emma and let them have a sleep over while Eric and Erika stayed home and enjoyed the peace and quiet. When they came home they all pitched in and got the house all cleaned up and laundry done. Erika had even cleaned some cupboards! Back to Tucson. We had to leave around 9:30 and Laurel said that it was fine to leave Anna and Jakey again so Mom went and dropped Joseph and I off. No one could believe that I was playing for so many people after I had had a baby 7 weeks ago. I just said that I am a die hard and can't stay away. After my first audition I had to go and play some finals and then again Mom came and picked me up. She had packed my car and brought my 2 kids and even filled up my gas tank. She is a wonderful woman and I hope to be like her when I grow up. When anyone would ask me where I was staying while in Tucson I would explain and they would say how lucky I was and I realize they were right! Thank you Laurel and Bill for letting us stay at Hotel Oliver ( Anna talked about how much fun she had all day). Thanks Joanne and Sicely for letting my older kids come over. Thanks Mom Crandall for everything I could not have survived without you. Thanks Mom and Dad Halliday for taking my kids and also for all of your support this last week with my crazy schedule. Thanks to my sweet husband and kids for being so understanding and patient with my crazy hours and lack of being home much - I love you. I am very blessed to have such great friends and family. :)