Heritage...

I have been spending all of the few precious moments I have to myself, on blogging. I took it upon myself to get a blog started for the private school that my kids attend in Garland. I think that it is a pretty amazing place, and I think others really need to see how wonderful it truly is. Check us out a www.heritagefoundationschool.blogspot.com !! It is still in the early stages of develpement, but I hope by Christmas to have it in full swing. I invite you to follow the blog and leave comments too! Hopefully I can get the website updated as well www.heritagefoundationschool.org GOOD TIMES!!!!!

Family Foto Shoot

At last.....we broke down and had a little family photo shoot. I think the results speak for themselves! My sis Laura is the photographer extraordinaire. She brought us to this very exclusive area (AKA TRENTON) and we found some really great spots to take pictures right across the street from my Mothers house!! Clarissa is very photogenic!

I love this picture of my CRAZY boys! Tomas and Sam

JAMES!!!!!!

I LOVE this picture...it shows their true personalities...

This is how we are most days!!!

Cool barn!

Me and my Sissa!!!

I wish you could see James in this picture...

. We are a happy family......most of the time!!!!!!!!!!

Fall

No, pictures yet...don't ask!

So onto the post. If you really give a hoot about what I've been up to lately, then obviously you will read on....but I warn you....It might get slightly boring, and dare I say, serious! Okay, not serious, because its Anna, and the day I write a completely serious blog is the day that rats fly.

Okay, I really think I've lost something of great importance to me...I have completely lost my mind! not that I really have ever used it to it's full potential in the past...but I'd still like it back regardless. So here's my life:

Monday....wake up at 6:30 (try to get somewhat ready and awake in 10 minutes so I can arise the rest of the household, make lunch and find socks for Thomas and Sam) 6:40...2 older kids up and ready in 30 minutes (so they can practice violin and cello before school. 7:00 the 2 little girls I am watching arrive and join us in the festivities of the morning. 7:00 again....I wake up Thomas while James waits about 10 minutes to wake up...he usually is disturbed by all of the string instruments in the house. 7:55...by this time I have fed all children...dressed all children...have all children in mini van....pick up neighbor boy....and off to school....we race the bus because if we get stuck behind it, we are LATE for school. 8:15....school starts for my three oldest kids. 8:20 to 11:30....entertain 3 small children while doing various household chores. 11:00 early lunch for my babysitting girls. 11:30 pick up Thomas 12:00 drop off Miriam at Kindergarten 12:10....eat lunch AGAIN and 1:00... practice violin with Thomas (James takes a nap somewhere in here) 1:30 Lilly naps 1:30 to 3:00....I play a never ending round of chess with Thomas(he is 4 years old) 3:10 All kids are home...Some will go to music or dance lessons after this 3:45 Lilly goes home 4:00 I make a dinner of meats or pasta or cereal (only if I haven't taken the aforementioned children to their various lessons.) 4:30...Rick is home, and we eat! 7:00 scriptures and bedtime 7:30....kids are NEVER asleep by this time, but I wish they were 8:00....Some of the kids might be asleep. 9:00 All kids are asleep and I have CRASHED!

Tuesday.....repeat Mondays routine, but add in an early morning Cello lesson and teaching dance in the afternoon! Oh Geesh

Wednesday....repeat Monday....Clarissa has dance this day

Thursday....repeat Monday.....I get to attend my Principals of Freedom class this night! It's my favorite night!

Friday....repeat Monday, but no school for my kiddos! Friday is a good day! Thomas and Clarissa have violin in the afternoon!

As you can plainly see.....I have lost my mind, if you find it, please let me know!

Still no pictures...

So, I still have no pictures to share. You would think that I would just take the initiative and get them on the computer, but for some odd reason I can't bring myself to do it. Rick is the official "down loader of the pictures guy" at our house and I'm just on willing to take on one more task here at the Palfreyman homestead. While Rick was away this past year (traveling the world) I did my fair share of duties....Mom duties (ya know, basic mom stuff), Dad duties (ya know, like getting the tires rotated, cleaning out the mouse trap...like 20 times, killing INSANELY huge spiders, shoveling the 1/4 mile driveway when it snowed so hard that even the jeep couldn't get down the hill...not up...but DOWN, took care of the 2 horse-dogs in the backyard, sold 4 puppies.....there are so, so, so many other things, I can't take it all in right now), Girl Camp duties (that was just FUN, so maybe I can't count that duty), Sisterly duties (this consists of making fun of lame movies a.k.a. anything Twilight), Churchly duties (...4 kids...sacrament meeting...me alone....enough said..) Daughterly duties (I just love my mom so much, and I think daughterly is a funny word....so it is included).

So, as you can see, the pictures will have to wait.

Music is my LIFE!!

It's been a while....

Whenever I take a month or two off my blog, you can most defiantly rest assured that life is SO CRAZY! I want to post pics from all of the summer fun we have been having (D.C. trip, bear lake, family reunions...) but since I got a new camera back in June, I haven't spent the 10 minutes it might take me to figure out how to download them onto the computer....lazy you might say, well, maybe!

So back to music....my life is completely taken over by string instruments....I often sit back and wonder how this all happened....ya know, my quest on becoming a Suzuki mom! It's not a title to be taken lightly. As a Suzuki mom you are required to take lessons yourself, sit in at every lesson your child has (and take detailed notes)...while your other children are reeking havoc in the music teachers house. In addition to weekly lessons, you are required to practice with your children AT LEAST 5 days a week, and they have a group lesson once a month on top of it all (note taking require here also). I have done this quite valiantly for Clarissa (for 3 1/2 years), and Sam (for almost 2 years), and now Thomas is to join the ranks....officially...as a Suzuki violin student in the studio of Diane Austin! (we were on a 2 year waiting list! YIKES!) So, I am making it official, I have left the ranks of a somewhat normal person and have become a COMPLETE CRAZY MOTHER!!! If you want to see my children play there beloved instruments, they will participating in a celebration concert at the Conference Center on October 17th and 7:00 p.m....tickets are $8.00. I expect all grandparents to attend....Aunts, Uncles, and cousins are optional.

Weeding is the worst!

Since yesterdays post was quite short and sweet, I thought that maybe today I would enlighten the world on why weeding is the worst. I actually don't mind weeding. It's the spiders and other such creatures that get to me. Latley, I have been feeling much better (Thanks to Dr. Young!) and so I've been doing A LOT of weeding this past week. Yesterday was no exception. I got my gear on (gloves, hat, sunglasses) and set out to weed by my humongus driveway. But it wasn't until about 2 hours later that I realized why this is a bad pasttime...TICKS! Yes, you heard me right....TICKS! I can hardly spell the word without chills running down my spine!!!! I got in the shower last night and BAM....found a tick on the back of my shoulder...EW EW EW EW EW EW EW....luckily Dr. Rick was home (that's my hubs, he's not really a dr. but he might as well be) so he could pry the blood sucker off my flesh. Of all the years living in Utah and comming across these beastly insects, I have NEVER actually had one in my skin! EW EW EW EW EW! I am still totally grossed out by the idea. I may never weed again. There are also snakes and black widow spiders at my house.......I need to move!

June....it's practically over

Ricker's World comes to and end!

So, many of you may, or may not be aware that my husband...Rick....has been traveling the world these past 9 months for his job. You may or may not also be aware that Rick lives in an alternate universe that we affectionately call "Ricker's World". It's a magical place where everything seems bend in accordance to Rick's will. I'm not even kidding. Where else could one take a trip every month away from the crazy wife and kids. And on each and every one of these get-a-ways, you are able to do so many things that you love. Like...shoot guns of various shapes and sizes, ride in tanks, eat a lot of great food at someone else's expenses...the list goes on and on. I will not include a full diary of this travels, it will only make you jealous. So here are a few pictures from his last, but certainly not least, trip....BELGIUM AND GERMANY! A Castle

Shooting guns

happy to be shooting guns

having a date with Zev.....he is my replacement date because I had to stay home with the kiddos, but I heard it was very romantic!

Rick.... doing what a Ricker does best

In a tank, shooting guns

Serious Rick

You lucky man you!

This part was not so lucky. He had to get stitches in the middle of the night in Kuwait. Smacked his head on a locker....OUCH!

So there is the short version of the last 9 months. All I can say is, I made it!!!! But with only much help from THE BEST mother-in-law a girl could as for! Thanks Neta for treating me like your own daughter! I am truly blessed to be a part of your family!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Cool Cat, Terrific Trains, Merry Mother's Day, and Awesome Opera!

I love our cat. Our cat is one cool cat. So cool it doesn't even have a name. We got her fixed, so I suppose we will keep her. One fine Saturday in April, we found our aforementioned cat sleeping in the ice cream bucket we use for her water. And here she is....Cat (our 4th since we moved here 5 1/2 years ago. We go through cats like ice cream.)


Spring break...Ricker is traveling the world....what's a mom to do with 4 board-to-death kids. Train Museum! I was skeptical at first...I thought it was going to be lame, but lame or not, we were going. But it turned out to be a fantastic day!

Thomas on the train.
Clarissa and Sam enjoying their time on the caboose.

James is not feeling well....or someone spiked his bottle?

Trains are cool too, maybe as cool as our cat!

I LOVE THESE KIDS!!!

Below are some Mother's Day extravaganza pics. Notice that James in quite unimpressed over his plate from Kuwait....I'm glad that was his mothers day present and not mine!!

I got some pretty sweet gifts...marble chess set, chacos, a letter of love from my lover dover (aka Rick), kids hand prints in clay, more lovely letters, marble goblets from Kuwait (very cool!)

It's Opera time for Rissa in Tre-mon-ton! Clarissa was cast as knight in her school Opera. At first she was a little put out that she was not a princess, but when she discovered that the reason for her knighthood was due to the fact that they needed her loud and always in-tune singing voice to carry those knights through the finale....she accepted with a smile...as shown below.

Clarissa is second from the left.

Clarissa in the middle!

We have a good life...

Crazy Mayzy

The month on May (so far) has been challenging on many levels...

Level 1....my husband spent a week in Kuwait where he only called me once! I did not like this week so much. I think that if you are going to spend a week sleeping in tents with the military in the middle of a desert.....you should be able to call home more than once, but that's just me.

Level 2....Clarissa has spent the past 2 months getting her song ready for mother's day sacrament meeting. She played in a string quartet "Love One Another" and played beautifully as 1 violin....the hard part is that I get INSANELY nervous before she performs. I don't know why. She always does so well....just a mom thing I guess!?!

Level 3....Sam is preparing for his recital (cello) which is next week! Again....I get so nervous! I can't help myself.

Level 4...Rick is leaving AGAIN! He is preparing for a 2 week trip to Europe, mostly Belgium and Germany. have any of you ever spent so much time alone with 4 small children? I am in panic mode right now!

Level 5...I am getting a series of ultrasounds to figure out what the heck is wrong with me! My thyroid is not producing enough of the hormone it is suppose to produce, my iron is so low that I might need injections, and, well other things I'd rather not mention! HOLY MOLY!

Level 6...Meetings for church and Clarissa's school span the entire month.

I seriously do not have a clue how this is all going to happen, but I will make it through....somehow! If you need anything from Anna, please do not ask until June! My life is a little full at the moment.

Ducky Fun James Wames!!

I just had to share some naked pictures of James in the tubby, just chewing away on his duckies!

I love this one....it looks like another duck is perched on his head! haha

James....you are so STINKIN cute baby!

Quick

Quickly....here is another update...

Laura's (my sis) baby...well almost 2-year-old is THE CUTEST little girl ever. Oh Mae Mae! We've been babysitting her lately! SO FUN!!

Sam has glassed now too????!!!!!

Clarissa is performing in an opera tonight. Her school class wrote this wonderful piece of musical madness! It's all about princesses and knights, dragons, and wizards....it should be pretty funny! Clarissa is a knight (because of lack of boys in her class). I will post pictures later!

Thomas and James...still my handsome little guys.

Rick is preparing for a trip to Kuwait (SP??) I am NOT excited for him to be there :(

I am good...

Time for Toast...I mean post...

I suppose that it is time for me to update the world on the Palfreyman Family happenings....here goes nothing!



not much going on here.



Well, there has been some excitement, but it mostly stems from the fact that Rick's world traveling will be coming to and end soon. June is the magical month where Rick and I are taking ALL four of the kids to Washington D.C. for his big graduation from the Executive Leadership Training....blah blah....all I know is that he will be DONE!!!! Yay for Ricker!!! But mostly.... Yay for me and my sanity!



Okay now an update on the kids....

Clarissa continues strong on the fiddle! She performs every chance she gets....school is a blessing beyond compare, she is so happy!!!! She entered the ever popular 4-eyes club 2 weeks ago...and very proud of it! She looks more like me with her "lavender" spectacles!



Sam....well, Sam is always busy inventing whatever his clever little mind can think up! Last week he was perfecting his sun-dials...today, he was building robots!?! He his OBSESSED with planets, the moon, the sun....he was quite put out when he heard that Pluto is no longer a planet! He wants me to tell him how many days it takes Jupiter to rotate around the sun....and can't believe it when I tell him i have NO idea. His latest obsession has been all about BLACK HOLES....we watch a lot of NOVA at our house!



Thomas....still is the cutest 4 year old I know! Take that all you other 4 years olds reading this blog! Thomas is our designated chicken guy. He takes 99% of the responsibility for the chickens. Sometimes I forget that he is only 4. He has a fair amount of chores everyday like vacuuming the kitchen, emptying the dishwasher, chicken duties, making his bed, playing with James, the list goes on and on and on and on and on.......



James...crawling, drooling, eating various objects on the floor, trying to walk (at 8 months)!! Sure beats Thomas....he was 17 months when he finally decided to walk!



Anna, yes I am one of the kids! Just trying to make it through each day with my temper in check....a skill I dare anyone of you to acquire...quite difficult, especially with 4 kids! I have been de-junking, organizing and D.I.-ing the house...just in case Rick moves us halfway around the world...we shall see!



Till next time...

Ahhhh...the peace of mind a clear colon brings!

I'm not gonna lie....I was quite nervous for the colonoscopy yesterday. The past three days were fraught with peril that I have never known....and when I say peril, I really mean hunger! That was the worst part of the ordeal....I was so nutrient deprived when I arrived at the hospital yesterday that I could hardly answer the receptionist when she asked me my birth date! So despite a little loopyness on my part....the whole thing was a picece of cake...oooohhh cake sounds really good! So back to life with food....food is good.

Slacking?

It's been sometime since I have even a milli-second to myself.....and even less time to blog about it. So its been like, what? 3 weeks? Just goes to show that my time is not my own anymore! It has shifted to less selfish matters, like re-filling the toilet paper cupboard in the bathrooms, patently sitting by Thomas for a good 3 hours while he finished his dinner, mopping the kitchen floor again and again.....and again, making sure that everyone is where they need to be when they need to be there, attempting to answers Sam's "deep thought questions" like ,"how does the refrigerator keep the food cold", "what are animals like on other worlds", "Can we make a volcano mom?", and my personal fav "can I be an inventor AND a scientist when I grow up?". So as anyone can see....life is full...but in the best way possible. So to catch up on the happenings of the past few weeks, here are some photo's for your viewing pleasure!















Rick took the kiddos...yes all 4 of them, on an "adventure" hike last Wednesday. Everyone did great...even little Thomas with his notorious "pig legs" kept up with dad! (Thomas has really short legs...takes after his mother...poor guy!)

Sam herding the dogs around...yes we now have TWO horse dogs! WHAT? you may be asking yourself....I really don't know how it happened. Sometime after James was born...its all a blur really!

Notice the Barren wasteland we like to call HOME! There are a lot of sage brush...and in the spring a few sego lillys, ticks, ants, cow pies...not much to look at...but we like it....most of the time

James Wames ALERT!!! Oh geesh, Rick and I make cute babies!!

Since all of the rest of the kids have an instrument....we decided to make the piano James' instrument of choice. He's already jammin on the baby version every chance he gets....we've just gotta do something about his drooling problem....notice his shirt is completely soaked??

And last, but definately not least....here is Ricks arm turned sideways...because I'm too lazy to go back and rotate the picture! Anyway, this past Monday was allergy testing day! Come to find out, Rick is allergic to EVERYTHING!! (well at least everything that they test for) LUCKY GUY!

Well, that about wraps up my life lately....getting the colon check this next week...that otta be exciting.

Mr. Darcy anyone?

I'm writing this for Laura. Her and I share the same obsession....we are addicted to Jane Austen...in any form....book or movie. About every 6 months or so I have to read a Jane Austen book and watch at least 3 to 4 of the movies. I guess my 6 months are up because I have started my bi-yearly tradition again. The past 2 days I completed the new Emma...totally great (thanks BBC for making such fatastic movies for me to enjoy)!! And I am talking about the 6 hour versions.....oh yea! Springtime + Mr. Darcy + Mr Knightly = Awesomness!

March 8th....where does the time go?

So, I was thinking to myself yesterday, "Self, your 4th child is almost 8 months old! What do you think about that?" and I replied to myself, "Holy crap! How did this happen?" Yes my baby is really growing despite my protests. He also decided it was a good idea to start sucking his thumb at 7 months old...who does that? I mean really James, what are you trying to do to me? Thomas at 4 and 1/2 is still a full-time thumb sucker....I thought I was free and clear with the baby!?! WHATEVER!

So this week was super busy. Clarissa competed in her 3rd violin competition...forgot my camera! She was great! Her accompanist was amazed by her flying fingers! She also made my mother cry....it wasn't a bad cry....grandma was just so darn proud. So Clarissa is LOVING her new school, Heritage Foundation School. She started there in December, so she has only been there 3 months, but the difference it totally amazing!! I just want to remember some of the things she has been learning...not to brag...just for documents sake.
1. Greek mythology...she LOVES this...they read the Odyssey together too
2. Helen Keller
3. Multiplication and division, time, money, adding and subtracting in the thousands, many story problems
4. Yoga
5. Art....Vincent Van Gogh
6. Alexander the Great
7. 70 Rules to the English Language
8. Wrote an opera with her class that they are going to perform in April
9. Music class...they actually learn all about the many composers and music theory. She gets to play her violin all the time at school!
10. Studying the Old Testament this year
11. Reading her 2 new favorite books, The Little House in the Big Woods, and Sarah, Plain and Tall.
12. Science Fair...she did an experiment on Why and how Soap Works. Everyone enjoyed her experiment. You take warm whole milk...and a few drops of 4 different colors of food coloring...take a q-tip with dish soap on one end....place it in the milk and watch the colors MOVE! Very cool!
13. Took a field trip to see the last Rocker Booster at Thiokol
14. Roman history & Roman numerals
15. Memorizing the Declaration of Independence

That's all I can think of now. She goes to a little private school down the road from our house. I'm not sure how we are going to pay for it next year...but I will do whatever it takes to keep her there (might be working weekends at the maverick..or something!) Hopefully Sam can go there too. They give out scholarships and they have a little private funding, so maybe it will work out.

No School for Sam today...him and Thomas are conducting various science experiments in the backyard. I better go make sure they don't light the house on fire!

scary blogs

So today, as I casually surfed the blogging world, I forgot to turn off my computer speakers, as to avoid listening to the surprise music that starts unexpectedly when you click on someone else's blog. My kids had turned up the speakers all the way last night, so you can imagine my surprise as I clicked on a blog and....ta-da......some crazy rascal flatts song started screeching through my house!! It jumped started my heart, and aside from a little uncomfortableness from being forced to listen to country music, I am doing fine....thanks for asking. Next time I WILL NOT forget to turn off the speakers....unless you have some better music for my listening pleasure!

I lost my chickens :(

If your wondering at all why I haven't written anything for a while...it's because....becasue...I can hardly say it...I lost 4 chickens quite recently to a wild beastly animal (of what kind, I know not)! I am mourning the loss, because these chickens not only made eggs for my breakfast...they always liked to cheer me up on a bad day by playing a mean game of "bagel rugby" ( just imagine a game of rugby, only with chickens...and bagels....you get the picture)! This all happened while Rick was away on business....so it was up to me to suck it up and take care of the "mess". Then to top it all off....my mouse traps in the house caught 2 mice yesterday....of which I debated calling my neighbor to dispose of. But I persevered once again, put on my hair-coloring gloves and went to town unloading the mouse traps....I am growing up!!! (wipe a tear). So needless to say, my life has been full this past couple of weeks....full in a way I NEVER want to repeat again. So there you have it....hopefully the spring brings less snow, and much less of whatever killed my chickens...thank you.

Sammy's Suzuki

This first picture has nothing to do with the post...it just makes me laugh!! ha ha

Sam warming up!

~Silly Sam Smile!~

Another silly Sam smile!

Serious Sam getting ready to play...he promptly made his program into an airplane...so much for keeping it forever!!

For the past 3 years, our home has been filled with the melodious screechings of our Clarissa on her violin. Since that has gone over so well, I decided that Sam should take up the cello...it's screeching on much lower notes...nicer to the ears. Anyway, on Saturday, Sam graduated from his Twinkes, French Folk Song, and, Allegro. (Twinkles consists of learning 6 different rhythem variations to the song Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star.)

I just want to say that Sam ROCKED on his Cello (litteraly rocked his stool so hard on stage I thought he was going to tip over and send the other 30 kids that were playing with him flying! We had a talk about that after!). I'm am so so so so so proud of him. Both of us have worked so hard the past year....I feel like I'm a twinkle graduate my self. Now, its time to finish book one! At this rate he might catch up to his sister before long! GO SAM GO!

Seriously though..I can't believe that my kids are actually playing these instruments. We practice very hard all week. Some days I wonder what the heck I'm doing this for, and then other days, I realize that my kids are really doing well and enjoying the world of music.

Valentine...or not to Valentine...hmmm?

So Valentines Days is upon us. What does this mean? I'll tell you what it means in our house. It mean another holiday of sugar-hyped kids yelling at me, "MOM, can I eat the 5 lds of chocolate and candy that I got at school today? Please, please, please mom? What did YOU get me mom? Do we have more candy mom?" In which I reply," No, I do not have anymore candy children, but just wait another week, then the stores will have all of their Easter candy out so we can go through this madness all over again." I think I am going to start celebrating holidays with our favorite meats. Like the fourth of July Salisbury Steak, and the Easter Black Forest Ham. But I think my personal fav would be the St. Patrick's Day Cornish Game Hen....just an idea.

Valentines also marks "Rickers least favorite holiday". In Feb. we are still comming off the craziness of Christmas, then in Jan. it's my birthday. and by Feb. poor ricker just doesn't have anymore to give....who can blame him?

So instead of celebrating with the traditional traditions of Valentines Day...I'm going to honor it by cooking up a big crock pot of Sweet Pork...HAPPY SWEET PORK DAY RICK!!! I think it will go over well with everyone!

What a sleepy joe

It is currently 9:33A.M. Utah time....this is what Thomas is doing right now! He went to bed at 8 last night. So his current total sleeping time Is (drum roll please)...13hours and 33 minutes!!!! (he did climb into bed with me around 5:30...but still...that is AMAZING!) And yes...he is wearing cow jams.

Sam's Sledding

I want everyone to know that my son Sam is crazy!!! If you didn't already know that, then you will after you see his display of sweet sledding skills. Yes, that is Sam flying through the air with the greatest of ease. He has no concern for his personal well-being at all. But one cannot deny his incredible form as he catapults himself through the wild blue yonder! Rick's form is just as equally awesome.

Clarissa and I need some work :(

Thomas had some pretty good moments...

Here is Sam...again...I think this was his 50th take off that day!

Ahh....the joys of sledding!!!!