Beware

Last fall, John and I found this on our front porch. It is a sign Jack made that says:

no cats

my mom is allergic to them

Emily is Magically Healed

This picture is super tiny because Emily hates it. It's sad. She had to be braced while they waited for the doctor to check her spine. She was so sad. It was sad.

She face planted and rolled. And rolled. And rolled.

After the blood in her mouth had been cleaned up.

Around 1 am. After the surgery to put her teeth back in place. She was delirious and kept trying to get up to "see if she could walk". She asked little John about the birds and insisted on showing him the neck brace. She was entertaining. Little John slept in the front room on cushions with her that night.

Her friends in the ward, Melissa and Riley, heart attacked her door. It was very sweet.

This is Allie. She was with Emily when they crashed and she brought Emily these flowers. The second Emily crashed, Allie scootered home AS. FAST. AS. SHE. COULD. She couldn't talk and cried most of the day because she felt so bad and worried it was her fault for suggesting they ride scooters. No blame at all for that sweet girl. Or for Emily. It is just one of those things that happens growing up. (By the way....Emily is back on the scooter.)

Sweet moment.

A miracle has occurred in Emily's life. One week ago, she looked like the above.And now she looks like this. That lip! It's amazing. One week ago, we thought Emily would be getting two fake teeth in front. We thought she had a broken arm, and we thought it would be a very long healing process.

John's mom saw the pictures of Emily, burst into tears and said an amazing prayer for quick and complete healing of everything. I admit, I giggled a little and thought "cute mom". Boy have I learned a lesson. I believe Emily's healing occurred so quickly mostly in part due to John's mom's faith and prayers. I just feel it.

She has had SO many prayers from SO many people. We believe in prayer!!!! Thank you to EVERYONE who has shown your faith in Emily's behalf.

The sores on the rest of Emily's body are bright red (you can see a small one on her colar bone) but the one on her face can barely be seen and her lip went right down. We knew Emily needed a blessing as well and her dad gave her one with help from Grandpa H. She was blessed that if it was the Lord's will for her to sing at Stake Conference (I'll get to that in a minute), that she would be healed enough to do so. Saturday came along and we felt she was able to sing and on Sunday she stood in the regional center in front of the entire stake and sang solo, several lines in two different parts of the song "If The Savior Stood Beside Me" and it was BEAUTIFUL. She made people cry. Her voice was sweet and clear and beautiful.

I know a miracle occured in Emily's life. I know she didn't have a broken arm and was healed so quickly because of FAITH and PRAYER. I feel it. I know it. And it's a wonderful feeling to be reminded, again, of a loving Heavenly Father.

Home Beauty

"Homes that have a spirit of refinement and beauty will bless the lives of your children forever."

-Ezra Taft Benson

More than 10 years ago, this quote was handed out on a cute little scrapbooked paper at a Relief Society something. I still have it and was on my fridge for many years. The thought has stuck with me all these years. Funny for someone who just can't figure it out and stay on top of cleaning....and doesn't enjoy cleaning.

But I'm determined and one day I hope my home will have that spirit of refinement and beauty and my children will be blessed because of it.

It came from this talk

and I highly recommend taking the time to read it.

Sam and Buzz

Sam got a Buzz Lightyear kite for his birthday and we've had some great wind for flying kites. That is the kite way up in the sky behind him and it works great. (unlike the airplanes. They are horrible. Don't buy them.) Cute Jack is having fun with it too.

Always so happy.

Grandma and Grandpa came to visit and give Jack his birthday present.

I LOVE this picture of the kids with them. Emily was at the neighbors.

Lucky kids to have these two as grandparents.

Ouch Sam

Thomas, Jack, and Sam put on aprons, put wipes in the pockets of the aprons and were cleaning the bar stools. Isn't that nice of them?!!

One of the benches tipped over on Sam's foot. While I was at the dr. with Leah the next day, the dr. stuck a needle in it and lots of blood came out. About a week later, it was really, really black. Sam hit his toe on something and blood sprayed. It was so full of blood and pressure and was just waiting to burst. It was kind of cool. But I like that kind of stuff. It is now finally starting to heal.

Jack is 7

Jack got this ball for his birthday. All 6 kids were sitting in it and Emily and her friend played games in it. It's huge. It is now half flat in the backyard. It was fun while it lasted and hopefully it will be fun again.
Jack wanted the Better than Cake cake for his birthday. I didn't have toffee to put on top so it doesn't look so great but it was tasty.
John and I took him to Texas Roadhouse with Grandma and Leah. He was SO embarassed to get on the saddle. He finally agreed if he could get off before they yelled Happy Birthday to him.

He got off and sat here shyly.

Then we made him get his picture with grandma and Leah.

It was so great to have an evening with just him. I love this tradition. It's great to get one on one time with the kids.

Jack at Farmington Bay looking for Eagles.

Jack LOVES Leah. He is so cute and sweet with her.

I can't figure out if that is tonsils or what but it looks like fangs.

I think she could have gotten a better picture. This is funny. He's cute no matter what though.

Jack is the very top left corner. This is at the 1st grade patriotic program.

Jack told us day after day after day that we needed to do his american project. We kept putting him off not realizing we were putting him off until it was almost too late.

The day of the patriotic program he called me and told me he needed his america project of the eagle or statue of liberty or bell or something. (He had been wanting to do the eagle). I was heartbroken that we kept putting him off and in the end, I threw together his project and took it to school and asked what he thought. Thank goodness we had gone to look for eagles, he had seen eagles, and we'd talked about eagles so it wasn't too hard to put together. Cute kid. Big mom fail....but then I came back strong. kind of.

Jack wrote to Bruce on his mission and Bruce sent this picture back to Jack.

We sure are lucky to have Jack. His blue eyes are gorgeous. They have a yellow ring around the pupil. He is a spit fire. He is super sweet and loving and has the cutest smile and laugh. He is super skinny. You can see every little rib and bone on his body. He adores Thomas more than anything. He loves that Thomas saved him from drowning a few years ago. He is super smart....like ridiculously smart. Too smart for his own good sometimes. He struggles with patience. He struggles to cope and we are at a loss most of the time. He gets sad sometimes because he is "different" than his brothers. Hopefully he says that just because of his blue eyes....He is the only blue eye in our family. We walk on egg shells quite often. He does his homework without any help and really fast and loves to do it. He is obedient and just thinks that's how it's suppose to be. Unless he's throwing a fit. He is a big helper in our home. He has white blonde hair and it's beautiful. He loves to play with Sam and is so kind and cute with him. He talks in a sweet voice to Sam and Leah all the time. He needs Leah fixes. He just needs to hold her, love her, kiss her, or hug her sometimes.

John, the dad, says: He is a happy kid. He is smart and unique but fits in perfect with our family. He knows what he likes or wants and sticks to it. (This is where we struggle. :) One minute he'll be driving us crazy and the next minute he'll be entertaining us with his humor and personality. He really is a character and a hard one to figure out sometimes but HE IS SO GREAT! I love my Jack.

Jack is excited that he is going to be baptized next year.

I sure love my Jack. He is a special kid. Truly a blessing to us. And I am a lucky mom to get to raise him.

We love you so much Jack. HAPPY 7TH BIRTHDAY!!

Ode

Ode with little John. Oh, little John is so cute.

Emily, cousin Julia, and Ode.
Aaron and Ode
Isn't this a beautiful picture.
I LOVE it. Ode and a bunch of the family in Canada in 2004.

Ode is Uncle Aaron's dog. Uncle Aaron passed away just over three years ago. He is Leslie's husband. Ode was his buddy and went with the family to Canada. Ode passed away last week. I think he was 16 years old. All of the grandkids know and love Ode. I think they all think of uncle Aaron when they see Ode. He was a special dog. Not only for Leslie, little Aaron, and the Harkness family but I believe for all of the Higginson family, especially the grandkids. He was a wonderful tie to Aaron and we will miss seeing him.
But what a wonderful reunion it must be in heaven.

15

6 large bags of clothes and blankets to a friend.

5 more bags (or equivalent to) in my car headed to the DI.

Brings the total to 15 bags down.

25 to go.

And A LOT more rooms/cupboards/closets to go.

I'm not sure I can keep going.

I hate cleaning.

But I LOVE to get rid of things.

Emily

This is Emily at about 11 months old. Leah looks so much like her but Leah has dark hair. My mom found this picture on her computer at work and sent it to me. They grow too fast.

TOO fast!!!

Leah and Ellie

I was given this elephant when I was little and I named her Ellie after my grandma J. Last year I saw the dress Leah has on at Costco and it reminded me of this elephant. Also at the time we thought we would be naming her Ellie. Leah is finally wearing the dress so I got out Ellie the elephant to get a picture together.

I sure love this little girl. And the elephant.

Green

She was two months from being born at this time last year. That means she is one in two months. WHAT?!!!

Laura's mom made her the leg warmers.

This is where John and I were for St. Paddy's Day last year. My mom was at home with our kids celebrating with the traditions I grew up with.

Our milk was magically green this morning, as it is every year on St. Patrick's Day....funny how that happens.

The corn beef and cabbage and potatoes and carrots are ready to go. And I thought green chocolate chip cookies might be fun this year. And there just might be gold chocolate coins left by the little leprachaun that comes around this time of year.

My mom caught a leprachaun. It's in a clear dish at her house. I'll have to take a picture. She's always done such cute and fun things for us. I am grateful for that.

4

And here is is. The problem with having it so unorganized for so long is the accumulation of cake mixes that I couldn't see so I didn't know I had. (20 of them. Yep.)

May not look that clean but it is organized and we've got a pretty good food supply right here.

Now I am excited to see what meals I can come up with now that I can see all my food.

FOUR big bags today.

All from the pantry.

Two to the garbage.

Two to recycle.

Organized.

There is a floor.

Feels good.

40 days update

I am falling behind.

*I cleaned out my hot pad drawer. Washed them all. Got rid of 3.

*Got rid of 23 items from my closet. Hung everything else up.

*Cleared out all of Leah's stuff....again.

*Cleaned the cabinets above my washer and dryer. Cleaned the laundry bathroom.

*Cleaned out the dishes cabinet in the kitchen. Decided the medicine cabinet needs a day to itself. Haven't done it yet.

*I have not done any big project yet and I need to get on that. I feel like my house is getting worse, not better. That is not a good feeling.

*Guess I'll go find something to do right now so I feel like I've done something.

HOW ARE YOU DOING?

Emily visits the ER

At 3:00 today, I received a phone call from a lady giving me an address and telling me I needed to come pick up my daughter. Two streets over, Emily and her friend, Alli, were racing their scooters down the street. Emily started to feel out of control so she planted her foot on the ground and she flew, face planted, and rolled. She got banged up pretty good. She had sores on her left foot, left knee, left hand and arm, left breast, neck, right arm and hand, right shoulder, right side of her back, and worst of all, her face. The poor girl was miserable.
I put her in the car, went home to get the 4 little kids, tried to call the dentist but couldn't get a hold of him, tried to find our dentist neighbor, dropped off the 4 kids to John at basketball practice, tried to find our old neighbor who is a doctor and when all of that failed, I went to the ER. She had several xrays, a splint was put on her right arm because her wrist is at least sprained. We go back in two days to have it checked again. Mom and Dad H. took Leah, Little John watched the boys at home, and 6 1/2 hours later, the oral surgeon showed up and at 9:30 John headed to Ogden to the dr.'s office. Emily was put out for a 20 minute surgery to get her teeth put back in place and get 3 stitches on her lip. A baby tooth was knocked out and two permanent teeth were knocked WAY out of place.
In the car earlier today, Thomas said we needed to say a prayer and he said it. It was very sweet. When John took Leah to his parents house, he showed them pictures of Emily and John's mom started crying then said a prayer.
Emily was so scared and has said all day she wishes she could turn back time. She is worried about how 'ugly' she looks but all day I just couldn't stop thinking how beautiful she is.
She was with her friend Allie when it happened and Allie has been so worried and has cried a lot. She thinks it is her fault because she suggested they ride scooters.
When Emily heard all this after midnight, she got teary eyed and said "Allie is a good friend." Also, with tears in her eyes, she said "it feels good to know so many people care".
I have not questioned why this had to happen but from the instant I picked her up from the road I've wondered what is going to be learned and by who. Because every trial usually affects more than one person and there is always something to learn.
We've already seen some great things. The love Emily feels from others. The needing to understand 'beauty within'. Little John has taken her under his wing and we're hoping a new and better friendship will start from this. etc. etc.
She had visits from many people on Sunday and is home again on Monday. Her top lip is still huge. We laid her on the kitchen counter yesterday and I gave her a great head massage and washed her hair in the sink. That is the most heavenly thing for me.
When she got home SAturday night, she was so loopy. She kept trying to stand up because she wanted to see if she could walk. Then she couldn't stop talking about the neck brace and kept wanting to get up to go get it for John. But every time she got up she tip over. Little John was loving it. He slept in the front room on a big cushion with her. They were up until about 2:30 while Emily talked about the birds and all kinds of strange things and John laughed and loved it.

I know these thoughts are random but I am writing as I remember them.

When John got back from the hospital after dropping off Leah to his mom, he said that his mom bawled when she saw the pictures of Emily. I couldn't get a hold of my mom and realized I am so use to her comfort and I was craving it. Because I couldn't find her, I wanted to call John's mom but didn't because I didn't really NEED her, I just wanted the comfort. Anyway, when John was at her house, she prayed that there would be nothing broken, the teeth would go back in and be just fine, and many other things. When John told me this, I kind of laughed and said "that would be nice" but thinking it wasn't all going to be just perfect.

I was wrong. Her teeth went back in and now the four front teeth are straight. They were super crooked before. Her arm isn't broken and it should be....it was swollen and she couldn't move it at all. All her wounds were cleaned up and are healing. Her prayer was answered and it was a great lesson to me. Anything can happen. Don't doubt. Have more faith.

When we were getting ready to leave the hospital, John's parents brought Leah down and John's mom came into the room Emily and I were in. I was SO HAPPY to see her. It was refreshing and comforting and she was so sweet to Emily. She always has wonderful words to share and I am so grateful for her. I stayed home with the rest of the kids and watched House Hunters while John took Emily to Ogden to get her teeth back in place.

On Sunday, Allie brought her flowers, Carla came to visit, the Reynolds brought her cookies and cute cards from the kids, the white grandma brought a cute duck stuffed animal, some sweats, and candy for everyone to share, Karey and her kids came to visit, Nairn and Maria both called and texted to check on her, Suzy sent some bread that she made extra soft for Emily, and there were many other calls, emails, texts, and concerns at church and work from people who love us and love Emily. Even the lady who found Emily and helped her and called me, called yesterday to check on her. We are so grateful for her and her husband and even their bishop who came out to help her.

John taught the high priests about service yesterday and Emily's accident fit in perfect with things we have learned and how we have been served. We are very grateful and feel very loved.

For Lent

"Pray daily to see others how the Savior sees them -

what makes them lovable in His eyes."

Along with not eating sugar, THIS LADY, is doing the above for Lent.

I like it.

Leah - 9 months

Leah is 9 1/2 months.

16 1/2 lbs. and 28 1/2 inches.

70% on Height

15% on Weight

She has been inconsistent.

She's just finished being sick though so it may all change drastically here soon.

She is completely adored by the 7 of us who are lucky enough to live with her.

Piano Recital

Thomas took this picture while we were driving so it's a little blurry. Brenda and Natalie made all the kids a "grand piano" out of candy. It was really cute.

John, Emily, Thomas, Jack, and Samuel had a piano recital. They've got the best teachers anyone could ever ask for. John and Thomas' teacher is Brenda and Jack's teacher is Natalie.

Emily doesn't take lessons but Brenda got her a recital song and helped her learn it so she could be in the recital. Sam doesn't take lessons either but when he saw that all the other kids were playing, he thought he should too. So he hopped up to the piano and played a song....made up on the spot. It was very sweet.

The kids are doing great at piano and they are excited to start new songs to prepare for the next recital.

Sam and JoJo

Sam and JoJo are great friends. They play for 2 hours every Monday and Thursday. Joseph's mom, Meilani, offered to watch Sam so I could go help in Thomas' class on Monday mornings. Then I started watching Joseph on Thursdays while Meilani took their other daughter to a class. It's never long enough so we just stretched it out to 2 hour play times and it is wonderful for those cute boys. They both have older siblings in school and it can get pretty boring and they both watch a lot of tv so it's been great! And they get along really well. As soon as Monday is done, he insists every day is Thursday. When Thursday is done, he is ready for Monday.

Twew Wuv

Obviously my husband completely supports me in my determination to declutter. I'm sure he's willing to do anything to make it as pleasant as possible....in hopes of it actually happening.

Happy Kids

I LOVE when my kids get along. We were singing our song at Family Night and it was FUN!!

Love it when that happens.

In the sun he melted......small, small, small.

He's missing an arm but he's still going strong.

Master List

I think I need these on my counter before I get started.

1 Laundry room

2 Black dresser

3 Master Closet

4 Master bedroom

5 master bedroom

6 master bedroom

7 master bath

8 Little boys room

9 John's room

10 Girl's room

11 Kids bathroom

12 Front room

Kitchen:

13 pantry

14 desk

15 fridge/freezer

16 cupboards/drawers

17 Family room: desk and shelf

18 Garage

19 garage

20 garage

21 Game room

22 Play room

23 Short storage

24 Cold storage

25 Bookshelf in game room

26 Green room

27 green room

28 green room

29 green room

30 blue room

31 blue room

32 blue room

33 blue room

34 garage

35 garage

36 under kitchen sink

37

38

39

40

These will not be done in any particular order and it will be tweaked as I go.

I am so excited to get started!