Why I love this girl

She already knows that the shoes make the outfit!!!

So this isn't a thankful post...just wanted to jot this cute thing down before I forgot!
My sister, Nicole, is fostering this cute baby boy named Taedin. He is super cute and in talking to the kids about him we made mention of the fact that he was half black/half white. I stated it that way because I wasn't sure if his mom was white and dad was black or visa versa. Anyway, Chloe and I were going to babysit him this morning while Nicole went to PT. So before Taedin came Chloe said, "Even if Taedin isn't cute we are going to like him anyway, right?" I was thinking, "Where is this coming from?" But I was glad that she was thinking about the fact that she would like him regardless of what he looked like. So Taedin gets to our house and Chloe falls in love with him and is playing really cute with him. Pretty soon I saw her pull up his shirt to look at his back. I was a little confused and then she said, "Mom, you said he was half black and half white but really he is just brown all over!" Apparently Chloe was thinking quite literally but had decided she would love him regardless of if he was "half black and half white." Next time I will need to be more specific with her! Too funny!

I am so not good at posting every day. It seems like there is always something that pulls me in another direction. Oh well....I am trying!
I am grateful for jobs today. It seems that so many people we know have been laid off or had their income reduced. Although my numbers are down this year I am grateful that I have enough students this year to continue to make money each month. I am grateful for Trent's job and can't be grateful enough that he works for such a large company who can withstand the recession. I am grateful for the knowledge I have that if we pay our tithing we will be blessed. I know that times can still be hard and we still might have financial struggles but I am grateful that we can be assured that we will be taken care of.
I am grateful for each of my children. I am grateful for Annabelle's expanded vocabulary. It seems like every day she is saying more and more. I am grateful that because she can verbalize what she wants a little more she is happier and not quite so grouchy.
I am grateful for my "helper" Chloe. She is such a great helper to me at school. Some might call it bossy...but she is great about taking charge and helping out. I am grateful that she is there to help me in the morning.
I am grateful for life and MY trials. I am grateful for a patient and loving Father in Heaven who knows what I need and how to help me achieve what he has in store for me.

I knew it couldn't last long...alas I have failed my task of posting something grateful everyday in the first week! Oh well...I am back today.
Today I am grateful for my wonderful parents of my great school kids. We had parent teacher conferences today and I loved talking to each of them. I seriously have the best support in them. I am grateful for the chance I get to know them and their sweet children. I have enjoyed many wonderful friendships that have started with parents of students in my class.
I am grateful for Coleman. He is such a sweet and loving kid. He is always thinking of others and is so kind. Earlier this week I was kinda stressing about what needed to get done this week. Coleman just said, "Mom, do you need me to massage your back?" and proceeded to give me a great back massage/back scratch. What 9 year old boy does that for his mom? Mine does!
I am grateful for warm weather....and sad that it is coming to an end! But with that said, I am grateful for snuggly blankets and hot chocolate that will help us through the day tomorrow!

Two days in a row!! Look at me!!!! I am grateful today that I remembered/had the time to post again today! I am grateful for sleeping babies (which is why I get to post in the middle of the day!!) I am grateful for my dad. We did not always see eye to eye while I was growing up...In fact I really didn't like him much to be honest. He was always so uptight and grouchy....I just didn't like being around him. That all changed when he retired. My dad is now the "mom" I always wanted. We have weekly lunch dates and today was our weekly lunch date. I love when I pulled up next to my dad's car both Chloe and Annabelle started shrieking for their "papa." I am grateful that they love him so much. I am grateful that our relationship has changed and grown into what it is today. I am grateful for his help in my life. Whether it is to come rescue me from a car that wont start to bringing me something when I am sick....I am forever grateful for our relationship. I love you "Papa!" Actually....we all do!!

Call me a slacker....I know. I am a terrible blogger. I didn't even get pictures of my kids on Halloween to post. In my defense, Jayden is of the age that dressing up was not such a big deal. Chloe looked through all of our old Halloween costumes and decided to be the same poodle she was last year. Last year Chloe and Annabelle had matching poodle outfits and Chloe wanted them to be matching again this year. I figured Annabelle didn't care...so what the heck!! I guess I could just post some from last year for them.....Ha ha. Coleman actually had a pretty cool costume this year. Unfortunately for him the Monday before Halloween he came down with the flu. He was out all week...even missed his school Halloween party I planned! We thought he was better for trick or treating. He started to go with some neighborhood friends and started coughing so hard he threw up. After half a block he came home, winded and complaining he couldn't breathe. We gave him a few puffs of Trent's inhaler and took him to the doctor to find out he had pnuemonia....Needless to say not a very productive Halloween!
To get ready for the upcoming Thanksgiving/Christmas season I thought I would try to post a few things I am grateful for each day. (Try is the key word there!!!)
Today.....I am grateful for my family. I am grateful that each day Annabelle learns new things and new words. These past few weeks she puts anything to her ear and pretends its a phone. Cds, cars, even a tootbrush have been used. She is ever the jabermouth now and we love watching her grow. I am grateful for a patient family who puts up with my mood swings and nagging. I am far from perfect in any way shape or form but my family puts up with my weaknesses and helps me grow each day. I love them all for that!
I could go on and on about my family but maybe I will take one family member a day...Don't want to use all my thankfulness in one day!!

It's Fall!

Last Sunday we took a drive to see the leaves changing colors. It was the perfect fall day. First we drove up East Canyon. It was BEAUTIFUL! The view from the top was amazing. We took a little hike and then decided we wanted to see more of our beautiful mountains.







After we drove down East Canyon we went to East Millcreek. Although the leaves weren't quite so pretty, there was more places to stop and enjoy our beautiful mountains and the fresh air.

Although we are not ready for snow... Fall is a great time of year!

No pictures to go along with this post but yesterday was Jayden's first soccer game with Evergreen's soccer team. She was able to score 1 goal and had several assists. Too bad we missed it. Jayden didn't think she was going to get to play so she told me not to come. When I found out not only had she played but she scored I was kinda peeved. I guess the lesson learned is that we need to come to all her games regardless of if she thinks she is playing or not! While I am posting about Jayden I might as well tell you what else is going on with that busy girl!
Jayden plays on two soccer teams (school and a rec team) dances two days a week with a studio and also at school, goes to young womens, and hangs out with friends. It is miraculous but we do get to see her occasionally too. Although she didn't make dance company this year she was voted to be a chorographer for advanced dance. She has been busy chorographing an awesome dance for the fall rectital.
Coleman has recently discovered The Lightening Theif series. He read the first one in a few days and finished the seccond one in only one day. He is still doing kung fu with a belt test in a few short weeks. He is also busy with scouts and is excited for basketball season to start.
Chloe loves kindergarten! She is a little obsessed with the principal's office. She is constantly telling me things she will get sent to the principal's office for. No matter that the principal is actually quite nice and grandmotherly but apparently she has watched too much tv that tells her the principal's office is a bad thing.
Annabelle is doing better. Two trips to the drs office since our release from the hospital has not found anything new yet. White blood cell count is still higher than it should be and she is still tired with a low grade fever and not feeling great but way better than before.
Influenza has hit our house with myself, Chloe, Jayden, and possibly Annabelle sick. Fortunately Chloe Annabelle and I are on our way to feeling better. Let's hope that Jayden gets better in a few days and that no one else gets it!!

We knew it would have to happen at some point in time but I don't think a parent is ever prepared for what we just went through. Brace yourselves, this will be a long post. Annabelle has had rotten luck with her kidneys for about a year now. She had her first UTI when she was 5 months old and has had more UTIs than I can count now. (At least 8 that I can think of.) Her signs are always the same. High fever, lethargic and wants to be held constantly. I always know when she gets a fever she will have a UTI. On Sunday August 14 I noticed that Annabelle had a low grade fever. I figured she was getting some teeth and didn't really think about it. She had been pretty whiney lately but I just chalked it up to being a youngest child and almost 2. Each day I noticed her fever was getting a little higher but it didn't really concern me that much. Once it reached 102 i figured we better go to get the urine sample. Went to the dr and they didn't want to do the catheter. We put the bad on and waited....and waited....and waited. 2 1/2 hours later they were getting ready to leave and still Annabelle wouldn't pee in the bag. They sent us to Primary's and I decided there was no way I was going to go there at 9:30 at night. I decided to go to Kids Care who will do a cath. So on we went. Her intial urine came back postive for UTI so we got the antibiotic and went on our merry way. Next day rolls around and still Annabelle is not feeling good. By this point in time her fever is varying between 102-104 and she is needing to be held 24/7 no exaggeration. Thursday comes and goes and still no sign of improvement. We go back to the dr. on Friday who looked at her urine culture and sees that no growth is happening with the culture. By this point in time her fever is hovering around 105. She is a sick little girl. She had stopped eating or drinking and was terribly upset all the time. Nothing would soothe her and she was just miserable. The dr looked at her and said, "I can run a whole bunch of tests here but if I find anything unusual I will have to send her to primarys and they will run the same tests all over again. Lets save some time and tears and send you up now." So on we went to the ER. The resident who came in to see us was a joke. First she thought that it was "just a virus". Fever for 5 days now and just a virus. Then she looked in her mouth and said, "Oh it looks like she is cutting teeth, I think we have found the source of the fever." Um really? 105 fever with teething? Finally they do a CBC which shows her white blood cell count to be over 20000. (Extremely high for a small child) They do a CT scan of her neck and find swollen lymph nodes. The resident comes back and says oh it looks like she has tonsilitis. Switches antibiotics and sends us home after 8 hours. Says to follow up with our dr the next day. So we do. Even after the switch of anti biotics she is still worse. (i know hard to believe) By this point in time she is really no more than a bump on a log. She is hardly moving and sleeping pretty much non stop. Fever is 105 and just generally she is miserable. Not eating or drinking at all. The dr looks at her and questions why the ER didn't admit her. He tells us that this is the kind of thing he sends kids to the hospital for...not the other way around! He sends us back up, hoping they will admit us this time.
Fortunately for us they do. They do some more blood work hook her to some iv fluids and anti biotics and start asking us questions. They originally thought she had something called Kawasaki Disease. In a nutshell it causes heart disease in young children if not caught in time. It felt like we were in a rush against the clock. After some more blood work and lots of prayers we found out that she did not have all the markers necissary for the diagnosis. By this point in time she was starting to respond to the antibiotics. Her fever had broken and she was starting to act a little better. She was still not eating or drinking but was starting to smile (we hadn't seen that for over a week.) and be awake for longer periods of time. By day 5 in the hospital they decided that she wasn't going to eat or drink normally at the hospital. The threat of a feeding tube loomed over us but fortunately the drs took pity on her and let her come home. We still don't know what made our baby girl so sick but we are grateful for antibiotics and the availablility we have to them. Thank heavens it was only a nasty infection that caused all this drama and not something more life threatening. We are glad to have our sweet Annabelle back. She is still a little tired but no more fevers and she is back (almost) to her normal self.

I couldn't bring myself to bring up my camera until after she was responding to the anti biotics. She was hooked up to too many machines and ivs and I didn't want to remember her that way!

This picture is on the day we left. She still has her iv in (but not hooked up) but other than that she was free to run around. She loved the play room and by this day she didn't want to stay in her room. If we even came close to the door she would start to freak out. She knew drs and nurses would poke her and mess with her in there!

So I am just oing to post what I can right now. Later I might post about our summer...but for now I thought I would get the first day of school pictures up! This year our first day of school was a bit different. After an awful lot of thinking it was decided that Trent was going to stay up at the hospital with Annabelle and I would sleep at home with the kids and get them off to school on time. It was a little weird but everyone got up on time and was excited to start the new year. Jayden was glad not to be a "sevie" anymore. Coleman was excited to be in the same class with a lot of his friends and Chloe spent the first day doing an assessment with her teacher, Mrs. Neely. She was very excited to be going to school with the kids too although she doesn't really start until next week.

Jayden with her lunch and the much stressed about first day of school outfit...




What do you do to get ready for school? Play nintendo dsi of course!

Chloe ready to meet her new teacher. She is SO excited to go to kindergarten.

All three kids ready for school....just one missing :(

Just Coleman and Jayden.

I am a terrible blogger I know! I want to blog about a ton of stuff that has happened recently but I have yet to get the camera hooked up to the computer. Lame excuse I know but its the truth! One of these days soon I will post what we have been up to this summer!

A few of my favorite pictures....

Annabelle is in love with necterines. I think she eats 2 or 3 each day. I am happy to see that she likes something healthy because her other favorite foods are cheetos, chocolate, goldfish, and diet coke.
So we were out late one night and Chloe fell asleep on the way home. I had her sit on the potty before we put her in bed. I left the bathroom and then came back to find this....She was full on asleep!!!
So you can't see this one so well but I love this picture for a few reasons. First, her hair is sticking up all over! Second, this is her favorite car! It belongs to our sweet neighbors who let her borrow it frequently. I need to get her one! Last but not least, she is folding her arms. Something she does randomly all day long. I love this girl!!

Happy Birthday Coleman! I can't believe that Coleman is 9 now! We are trying to teach Coleman the value of a dollar. (Trying is the key word there...it's not working out so well.) So this year we gave Coleman a dollar amount of what we were going to spend and let him figure out how he wanted to spend it. He decided that he wanted to buy a DSi. (We have already had two DS and lost them both but whatever....) He was very patient when it didn't come in the mail on his actual birthday. But was very excited when it came yesterday. I don't think he has put it down except for to sleep. (Although I did catch him trying to sneak it into bed...) Some things I love about Coleman are:
* He is always thinking of others.
* He loves to cuddle.
* He is always trying to figure out how things work.
* He loves to be different. I think thats why he loves his mohawk so much...
* He is very tender hearted.
* Things roll off his back quickly.
* He is determined. Some people call it stubborn...I call it determination.
* He makes us laugh.

Coleman thinks very differently than I do. I have had to struggle to understand what is going on inside that head of his sometimes. But he is the kindest boy I know and I think that my stuggle to understand him as helped me to love him more and more each day! We love you Coleman. Happy Birthday a few days late!

Once again I have been a total slacker. I keep thinking I am waiting to upload pictures so I will post when I upload. Then time slips away from me and I don't do it. So I figured I would post a few things that have been happening and post the pictures later.
Our sassy Chloe....what can I say about her? Oh man we are in for it with her! She is going to give us a run for our money. Last week our cute neighbor told us that he saw Chloe walking down the street in a baseball hat. Here is the conversation that followed:
"Hi Chloe."
In a deep(er) voice: "I'm not Chloe. I am her brother Zach."
"Where's Chloe?"
"Oh she got in trouble, she's in time out."
So if you see "Zach" you will know that Chloe is probably in big trouble!

Same sassy pants had a friend over and wasn't sharing very well. I had her come upstairs so I could give her the talk. I said, "Chloe, look at me." And went in on my schpell about how the guest gets to chose what we do and ya da da. I finished my lecture and Chloe says, "I didn't even look at you...I looked at the ceiling! And turned and walked off! I tell you...we are in for it with her!!!

We had some sad news in our family these past few weeks. Our beloved dog, Duke has left us. After several years of trying to get his allergies under control we were forced with the decision to either take him to get allergy testing and shots or put him down. We had tried special shampoos, special diets, and many a trip to the vet all to no avail. Sadly we opted for the humane society with the hope that someone could help him to get better. Cute Coleman said, "I wish they had dog fax...you know like carfax for dogs?" We wished they had that too!!!

Do not mess with a sleeping child!

Do you think it is time for a diaper change?

Chocolate anyone?

Serious chocolate fiend!!!

Chloe's birthday

Chloe will always remember her 5th birthday....just not for the reasons I would hope. She will always remember that her mom didn't take enough pictures, didn't make the day quite as special as it should have been. Alas the birthday celebrations were crippled by a mom who had to rely heavily on everyone else to make it happen. Sorry Chloe, next year will be better I promise!
Here are the few pictures of the birthday party. Chloe decided that she wanted a make over party. She wanted to have a nail salon, make up station, and hair styling. For party favors we found some cute purses and filled them with mirrors, lip gloss, and nail polish for all 15 girls.

Chloe with her birthday friends:

The new bike. Funny story #1. All of Chloe's presents (with the exception of the bike) were wrapped by Trent's chair. Chloe walked past... then turned back around when it dawned on her that those were HER presents. "Mom, you forgot to wrap one!!" Hmmm... I wonder why?


One of Chloe's favorite presents was her own bottle of perfume! She has been saving her money for her own bottle of perfume. By the day's end...half the bottle was gone. Needless to say she loved it!


Funny story #2. There is a yummy snow cone place by our house called Surf Shack. Sadly every September we say goodbye to Surf Shack goodness and anxiously await its summer arrival. This year Surf Shack opened early (May 15th). We could hardly wait and talked about it often with our friends. One such friend, Tabi, loves Surf Shack too and gave Chloe aSurf Shack gift certificate for her birthday present. This picture was taken upon opening the gift certificate. She was a little excited about it!

If it ain't broke....but it is

May 14 was a momentous day in the Moss household. First and foremost Chloe turned 5 years old. I can't believe that all 31 pounds of her is that old! She would have preferred to jump from 4 to 14 but alas that could not happen. She was very excited to wake up and find her very own 2 wheeler as well as some other fun presents. Unfortunately that bike had to be taken back and a new one purchased but she was still excited to see it sitting in the front room when she awoke.
After a yummy breakfast and taking the kids to school we came back home to get ready for the day. We were planning on taking the bike back to Toys R Us and getting a new one, picking up one of Chloe's best friends and then going to lunch with my dad and sister. After getting the bike and Annabelle in the car I ran inside to get something else from inside. ( I don't even remember what it was now.) I was hustling down the front stairs when suddenly I was on the ground! I apparently forgot how to walk down the stairs. After sitting on the stairs for a minute I thought I was okay. We hobbled to Toys R Us, picked up Tabi, and met my dad at Chili's. By the time we got to Chili's I was in severe pain. We figured it was time to go get an x ray and low and behold I broke my foot in 3 places. One of the breaks is borderline for needing surgery. They will re x ray it in 4 weeks to find out for sure. I am supposed to be completely non weight bearing for that wohle 4 weeks. What great way to start our summer!!!! Everyone (especially Trent) has been AWESOME about picking up the slack. We have even had people bringing us dinner for the past week! Maybe I could break the other one too.....I could get used to all this pampering!

Last but not least I thought I would share our final San Diego story. Our flight did not leave until 4:00. We got up and got packed and headed south to the airport. We wanted to find someplace to eat lunch and then go to the temple but we ended up finding the temple first. We didn't have a map and I wasn't sure what was right around the temple and I didn't want to get lost. We decided to head down the i-5 and see what we could find. Pretty soon we came upon Old Town. I thought, "Oh this will be fun. We can walk around for a minute and get some great mexican food." The kids thought, "Mexican? We don't want Mexican!!" We were all a little beyond hungry and were just looking for some place to eat. Burger King, Wendy's, McDonald's were top on the list of kids choices. Chipotle was on the adults list but we settled on IHOP. We sat down, ordered our food, and then I happened to look out the window. Larry Flint's Hustler Club logo was staring right back at me. Good thing it was one o'clock in the afternoon....WRONG! Not more than 5 minutes later two "hoochie mammas" came walking out of the club carrying signs that read "Tax relief inside. Get your extention here." (It was April 15.) Chloe was completely amazed by the "real life barbie doll" who was standing in front of our window! Coleman kept looking over at her. We were trying to get everyone to hurry and eat so we could get out of there. After the 3rd time I told Coleman just not to look over. "But I am just trying to read the sign, mom." I am sure that if I ever find a play boy he will tell me "I am just reading the articles, mom."

Last Vacation post

Just a few random pictures from San Diego. The kids liked to dance in Sherrie's living room. They were dancing to the soundtrack of Mamma Mia in these pictures.



Annabelle is a chocoholic....
Jayden was way excited to go to In n Out burger, although it wasn't all it was cracked up to be...
At the airport...Chloe could be considered carryon! Why did we buy her a ticket again?
Jayden and Sherrie looking for sea shells...
Chloe in my sunglasses....
Chloe found this bear at Sherries. She carried it around with her every where she went for a few days. I was very greatful we didn't lose it!
Annabelle trying to wake up Trent...
Annabelle trying to put on my sunglasses...

Trent and Coleman outside of the San Diego temple...
Our family outside of the temple...
Sweet Annabelle giving Sherrie a kiss... (She is very stingy with those kisses.)
Giving daddy loves...

Sea World

Sea world was fun. We saw the Shamu show and much to Coleman's dismay did not get very wet, even though we were sitting in the "soak zone". We touched star fish, saw dolphins, and went on a few rides. The high light of everyone's day was definately Dine with Shamu. (Yes we did fork out THAT much money to eat dinner at Sea World.) It was really cool to be that close to a killer whale.







After the dinner some sea gulls wanted to clean up. They were waiting very patiently on the ledge for us to leave. Cheap help I guess!
While I was desperately trying to get some good pictures of the whale, Annabelle was desperately trying to get my dessert. Fortunately (or unfortunately) we were both successful!

Easter Fun

I started to realize that if I posted all the pictures I wanted....I would be posting about this trip for the next 5 months. It might not seem like it but I am trying to be selective in my pictures to post.
Easter was a great day in San Diego. It was the first day that it was sunny all day long. We started the morning by having an easter egg hunt for the kids. Sherrie has an awesome yard for hiding eggs...some were hidden so well we almost didn't find them!
Jayden being a dork finding her eggs....
Coleman with his easter goodies. Some of the eggs that were hidden had clues that led to a few little easter goodies.
Chloe with some of her Easter goodies....
The girls in their easter dresses....
Chloe looking for her eggs....
Coleman looking for his eggs....

Annabelle (aka awesome bedhed) and Trent looking for eggs....
After the easter egg hunt we went to the beach with Travis. Sherrie stayed home to cook a yummy Easter dinner. Thanks Sherrie and Travis for helping us feel at home!