My mom

I've been really debating whether I should post this or not, but since this is my journal this is something that I need to write about. During Thanksgiving my mom called me telling me that she was having pains in her legs and having a hard time breathing. They had done a ct scan on her lungs and they found a mass that they were going to biopsy in the coming weeks. She then called me back and told me that they found a tumor in her leg that they were pretty sure was cancerous. After a long month of waiting for small town doctors to get her in she was in so much pain that my dad had to take her to the hospital. While there they finally took a bone scan of her whole body and a biopsy of her lungs. Today she was able to meet with an oncologist and get some results. She was diagnosed with stage four cancer. It's in her lungs, outside her stomach, in her legs, and throughout her bones. We have started a blog for her if you'd like to read more details. It is normanatividad.blogspot.com For those of you who know her please remember her in your prayers.

Whose the Culprit?

Was it the one year old...the three year old...or the five year old? I wish I could say it was the younger two, but no it was the five year old who knew better. Naughty!!! Of course he got to clean it up so hopefully he will think twice before he does it again.

family pictures oh joy!

I'm still alive!

Wow it's been awhile since I posted. I am still alive, don't worry:) To all of those who commented and left advice for my grumpy children, THANKS! It was just one of those days. I'm glad to update that the children are still grumpy, but i've come to terms with it for the moment! We are truckin along. As for the reason for not posting I've been sewing (attempting anyway) I know, getting all domestic! I made my children some pajamas for Christmas and they turned out half way decent. I'll post pictures later.

I also have been busy reading. With all the hype of twilight I decided to read it again before the movie came out last weekend. BAD IDEA!!! I was one of those giddy little teenagers who waited in line for 4 hours to see the beloved "TWILIGHT"at midnight. It might have been because i was tired or because of the stinkin teenagers behind me that kept dropping the "f" bomb, or the fact that I reread twilight the day before that made my experience not so great. I think all of them combined maybe? I don't know, but it was quite depressing:( I knew it wasn't going to be as good as the book, but reading it the day before was a huge mistake cause i knew exactly what they changed, what they left out, what they were feeling, etc... Needless to say I am going to go see it again when it's not crowded, when I'm more coherent, and when there is no disrespectful teenagers in sight! And then I have a feeling I might just love it! Hopefully!!!

Excuse me while a vent...

Could I seriously wake up one morning and the kids be happy. Could I ask for something so simple? I have the grumpiest kids in the morning and it is wearing me down to the point were I think I'm going to explode! I've tried everything from being super duppy happy when they wake up, making favorite breakfast's, hugging them as soon as they walk out there bedroom door, to not putting up with it and fighting with them all morning. Is it ever going to get better? Am I ever going to hear the words, "Wow mom thanks so much for getting up and making me breakfast and helping me get ready for school". Nope...every morning it's, "I'm cold, my hot chocolate is to hot, the pancakes are to big, I want the blue cup, where's my toast, I hate that jacket, your mean" which follows with a morning of me very angry and frustated and them standing in the corner most of the morning. I'm at the end of my rope here. Any good suggestions from any of you professional moms out there. Will it ever get better? With that said I just want to tell my mom how sorry I am for times when I was like this! I'm sorry for being grumpy when you'd ask us to pull weeds or even complaining when you fed us oatmeal in the morning. I'm sorry for not wanting to do my chores and for secretly saying that you were mean (cause I was way to scared to say it to your face:)) Gosh I just realized that if I'm barely saying that now, that I've got a long road ahead of me:( AHHHHH someone put me out of my misery NOW!!!

Everyone's a Lobo

Logan and Cortney invited us to a Lobo football game with them last saturday and it was super fun! We had a great time. I think I caught myself watching the cheerleaders and dancers most the night or having really good conversation with Cortney:) The Lobo's ended up losing 10-13 to Utah. Overall it was a fun game to watch. All of you who know UNM know that Everyone's a Lobo, woof woof woof!!!

Party McCain Palin Style

My awesome good friends threw a costume party for my b-day today. The theme was to dress up as couples. I came up with McCain/Palin, but todd wanted to be a white trash couple. Course I won:) It turned out really cute. There was some awesome costumes and great company. Audrey again came through with a super cute cake. She totally needs to start her own company (hint, hint)! The girls' amazing! I wish again that I would have taken more pics of everyones costumes. Anyway thanks to all who made my b-day perfect. Oh by the way, my wonderful husband surprised me by having a driver in a black lincoln(i think) type car come pick me up and take me to La Bella where I was pampered from a full body swedish massage, facial, and pedicure and then finished up with a lunch at red lobster. It was my favorite birthday by far (he was making up for the last 6 years:)) Can everyday be my b-day? Can we do it all again tomorrow?!?

The Haunted Mansion Cake! (told ya it was good!)

McCain and Palin with our Hippie friends Cortney and Logan

Trunk or Treat Time

We love trunk or treat! It's one night(okay we do it halloween night too) that we get to pig out on candy and not eat any dinner and then be super sick with tummy aches! But it's all worth it right. This year Traekon was peter pan, Kenzi was Belle, and Ashton was squirt off of finding nemo. Some how I managed to not get a picture of them all together. Figures! I could possibly be the worst picture taker in the world:(

Super Star!

Traekon had is primary program today and was asked to sing a solo acapella. I've been prepping him for about a month in fear that he would get up to the pulpit and freeze. We practiced and practiced even though I knew he knew the words as well as saying his own name. I've been telling him that the presidency picked him cause he was the best little singer(which to me is not a lie:) It's pretty scary singing a solo, but acapella too? That takes guts. He was the closing song and as he walked up to the microphone I could see the look of terror on his face. I thought "oh no, he's not going to do it and I'm going to have to go up and sing with him" quickly I wispered in his ear ( I had to sit up there to help children be reverent) that we would make his favorite cookies when we got home if he did good. He stood up there like a champ and sang his little heart out! I had a sister in my ward tell me later that half way through the song he closed his eyes. She said it was like he was going to his happy place. I'm sure he was freaked out about all the people staring at him! I wish that I would have invited more family to come and witness the "tug at the heart" song that was performed so perfectly this morning! He was the perfect ending to a perfect program. It's little tender mercy moments like these that keep me going everyday! GOOD JOB Traekon!

Ashton's Ear Tubes

Poor little Ashton has had ear infections every other month since he was born. So enough was enough! We got him an appointment with the ENT and they made us go and get an audiogram first. They tested him and said that he could hear almost as well as someone under water. After meeting with the ENT he scheduled an appointment for tubes. YOO HOO! He has never been a good sleeper so I'm hoping that the tubes will help. His surgery was yesterday. The actual procedure is 10 minutes max, but of course we had to sit there for 2 hours. Supposedly they were going to keep us an hour in the recovery room but after 1o minutes of ashton screaming they let us go:) Pays to cry! Anyway everything went great and the little stinker even slept throught the night. Hopefully it stays that way for my sake! Yea for ear tubes!!!!

Wise Cash's

We bought a piece of land back in the spring and thought we'd be building on it the next month. Of course we thought we were back in Thatcher and that we'd get everything approved and ready to go withing weeks...things didn't go quite as easy as that. We finally got everything approved after 6 months and were so excited to get started. HA! We didn't think to remember that we live on top of a hill that is pretty close to an old volcano:( Yep our piece of land is one big ROCK. Super hard Lava rock to be exact. We really wanted a basement instead of an upstairs so determined little Todd got to work! It took about a month to get it all busted out. 75 loads of rock later we(okay not we, but todd and his crew) finally have it level to pour. Wow! But hey the wise men built his house upon a rock, right!?!

Before

After
(That's a wall of rock!)

Hair show junkies!

This past weekend I was able to go to a hair show in Phoenix with my in-laws (mom cash, April, and Kamron). It was great fun! I totally stole these pictures from April's blog. She did such a great job telling what we did that I'm going to direct you to her blog if you want better details:) Seriously though, what could be better then shopping, eating, hanging out with people you love, and getting some awesome bargain deals! Nothing!!! Thanks girls for all the memories and good laughs. When you check out April's blog make sure you read about our thrift store extravaganza cause it's totally awesome. Hopefully I'll have some great pictures to post real soon of the whole funny story:)!!!

Doing what we girls do best...EATING!!

General Conference

I am so grateful for parents who instilled a love of general conference in me. It is always so neat to hear the leaders of our church teaching and testifying of our Savior. I have never met President Monson or even seen him in person, but I know just from watching him on my tv that he is our Prophet. That he was called by our Heavenly Father to lead us. It's amazing to me the feelings of love and reverence I have for him. I felt like he was talking to me when he spoke about having "joy in the journey". Lately I feel like I'm just hanging on, surviving maybe... but definitely not feeling joy at the same time. It really made me reflect on what I have set as my top prioirity (a clean house) and what I really need to have at the top! President Monson mentioned that there may be toys scattered all over the floor and laundry piling over, but those years will go by way to fast. So today I'm making a pledge to myself to not worry so much about the beds unmade, the dirty unorganized cupboards, the never ending laundry and focusing more on enjoying my three precious children who want nothing more but to feel my love. I'm going to put down my scrub brush more often and read a book, play a game, or color. That can't be to hard, right?!? It isn't so thats what I'm going to do starting today! JOY IN THE JOURNEY!!

Busy little bee!

Ashton loves to color with the kids, but me...I don't like it so much when he does cause it ends up lookin like the pictures above. Yep, he bit the tip off the marker. His favorite is eating the crayons and biting off the erasers of the pencils. All you wise mothers out there are thinking well don't let him color. You try keeping a year and half year old from climbing up the bar stools that he's been climbing since 10 months. He will find a way up no matter what! Believe me I've tried everything. He's just to crazy busy for his own good!

Soccer

Traekon is half way through his soccer season and has turned out to be quite a good little player. I don't want to sound like that really annoying mother who brags about her children all the time, but darn that kid can run! He might just be my track star. Todd really wants him to be good at basketball, so naturally the solution is to move back to the gila valley so that he can do it all! Only in a small town can you accomplish that. Not to mention he could play soccer for alot cheaper there. I spent a fortune on that cute little uniform he is going to wear for two months:( Oh well...at least he's having fun and not sitting around watching tv right!

Kenzi starts school! (Okay like a month ago)

Kenzi started school! It was like a month ago, but better late then never right. She loves it! She got to go on her first field trip yesterday to an airport that smaller planes fly in and out of. Of course I forgot the camera so I'll just tell about it without the pictures to back it up. She got to sit in a little four seater airplane, but sitting was just not enough. She really wanted to go up in the airplane. She was pretty burnt when she didn't actually get to leave the ground! For the most part she had a pretty good time.

family prayer

Kids say the darndest things! It was Kenzi's turn to say family prayers last night and this is what was said...."Please help me to teach daddy to listen to mommy". Wow I couldn't have said it any better:) ! It was great. I couldn't help but giggle (while todd is kicking me)! He thought for sure I had told her to say that, but nope she's a girl she knows whats up! To FUNNY!!!!

Sneaky Little Girl!

I had a bunch of kids at my house last night and with the whirlwind of kids I lost track of Kenzi. Don't worry she found her way back to me though and this is what she looked like. Guess I'm going to have to hide the makeup bag now. Bummer!

Slave Drivers

Yeah...We like to start them out young!

Princess Ashton?!

Ashton absolutely loves his big sisters princess shoes! He wears them around the house all day. He especially loves the sound it makes on the kitchen floor. He keeps us laughing!

What daddy does best!

I realized the other day that I don't have Todd in many of the things I blog, so this post is dedicated just for him! This is what our daddy does best:) I guess you better be good at what you have to do all day right?!? Todd is a fuel broker and absolutely loves it. So basically he sales fuel to people all day requiring him to be on the phone all day. He is also working with his brother Kory with construction so he's a pretty busy guy. All the other wives are pretty jealous because he gets things done around the house. He loves to start projects around the house to make it look great and does a fabulous job of it! He's an awesome husband and daddy. We love him very much!!!

Kindergarten Here We Come!

The day finally arrived! Traekon started kindergarten today(hallelujah) I mean...sniff, sniff! NOT there was no tears in this mothers eyes! Don't get me wrong, I love my traekon bug, but he was so ready to go and after this summer I have been ready for him to go too. I thought it would be hard, but it was great to see another step forward in his life. We have been counting down the days for probably a month now! Everyday has been "who is coming over", "who's house am i going to", "i'm bored", "when are we going to do something fun".... Hence the reason why i'm excited for him to go. It is pretty crazy that I have a kindergartner though! We sat down with him and had a good talk about always choosing the right, being a good example, and being nice to everyone even if they are different then you speech. Then Todd gave him a blessing which was great(thank goodness for the priesthood)! I think I was able to get all the tears out last night. I know that he will do awesome. Watch out kindergarten cause here we come!

5 bags of supplies for kindergarten...who knew?!?!

A very happy mommy!

Already makin friends

8 Facts

1. I just finished reading the last book of the twilight series and loved, loved, loved it!....which brings me to my next fact...

2. I totally want to be a VAMPIRE!! Those of you who are twilight fans know what i'm talking about.

3. I love vanilla pepsi from pima freeze!

4. I could eat out everyday if i didn't feel bad about spending the money or didn't worry about the nutritional content.

5. I love bubble gum ice cream minus the bubble gum.

6. I'm really bad at remembering peoples birthdays that are not in my immediate family. (sorry extended family and friends!)

7. I'm a social bug. I hate sitting at home doing nothing.

8. I can not for the life of me stay awake when todd is driving! Drives him nuts. I feel bad about it and try really hard to stay awake, but it is literally impossible for me!

I tag those of you who would like to join the fun and give it a try!

Lake Fun!

The building of the ramp! Doesn't that look real safe?!? I still can't believe that none of them got hurt. Boys will be boys i guess!

This is there bike run
Aaron doing a 360

Todd backflippin

Aaron heel clicking

So we kept catching ashton drinking the lake water...totally gross! I don't know what his deal is but if there is any type of puddle anywhere his k9 instincts come out and he's instantly on his hands and knees lapping up the water like a little puppy. I know nasty! We couldn't keep him from doing it. I knew for sure he was going to get some sort of parasite, but we got lucky. After we loaded the jet ski's this is what lehua captured ashton doing. If you can't tell he is drinking the water that is dripping off the trailer!

Busted!

Playing in the sand is always a favorite for the kids! Kenzi was so content to just lay there buried. To bad ashton didn't like it much cause it was a good little babysitter!

Lehua's hubby Aaron said he had to get a shot of what the natividad girls do best when we all get together! It's sad but true. Lehua may be the skinniest but man that girl can down the food! Her and Kanani got all the natividad genes...and me (don't get me wrong, i love my McBride blood) I inherited the not so skinny McBride gene..grrrrr!!!!!! And no, I did not eat all of those muffins!!