Sunday, April 28, 2013

7 year old boy...




1. What is your favorite color? Blue. No... I meant my favorite color is purple (?)
2. What is your favorite toy? Little Stat
3. What is your favorite fruit?Apples
4. What is your favorite tv show? Joseph, King of Dreams
5. What is your favorite thing to eat for lunch? Ramen Noodles
6. What is your favorite outfit? My football shirt
7. What is your favorite game? Skylanders and The Second Dimension 
8. What is your favorite snack? Crackers
9. What is your favorite animal? Scorpions and pythons 
10. What is your favorite song? Gethsemane 
11. What is your favorite book? Wacky Wednesday
12. Who is your best friend? Jalen
13. What is your favorite cereal? Captain Crunch
14. What is your favorite thing to do outside? ride bikes and jump on the tramp
15. What is your favorite drink? Apple Juice
16. What is your favorite holiday? Christmas
17. What do you like to take to bed with you at night? Little Stat and fishy blankey
18. What is your favorite thing to eat for breakfast? cereal 
19. What do you want for dinner on your birthday? Pizza

20. What do you want to be when you grow up? A person who writes all the buildings. (an architect) 

Tuesday, April 16, 2013

Just wait...

I read an article awhile back about parenting/ motherhood. Wish I could remember the link but I can't. It was basically a mother reflecting on the "just wait" moments that you heard about in motherhood. So many of them are negative. "Just until you prefect newborn it 6 months and teething" "just wait till your 2 year old is 3 and won't stop talking" and so many more "just waits". She pointed out that it is the sweet "just waits" that are exciting. "Just wait until your baby says mama" "just wait until your big 5 year old goes to kinder and holds your hand because he is scared and only wants you".

The article was great. It got me thinking about motherhood things. Here are few in random order:

  • I always try to make it a point to not belittle new moms or moms with one child. Just because one mom has three kids doesn't mean that the mom with one child isn't overwhelmed, stress or tired. I look back on myself as a mother to one and remember sitting in groups of mom with multiple children. They would say the "just wait" things or tell me how easy it was with one. It wasn't! There is a reason babies come by themselves (most of the time). 1 or 10, motherhood is hard. I wish all mom's could remember the adjustment it is for a new mom.
  • I am learning one of the biggest secrets of motherhood is going to bed at the same time every night and waking up at the same time every morning. Both of those preferably early.  If I go to bed early I wake up well rested and ready to take on world. If I get up before my kids then I have a little quiet time to prep for the day. Even if that time is only 20 minuets it helps! I have time to squeeze in a shower. Read my scriptures and pray with out little hands and voices getting in the way.
  • Have a routine! This is huge. I am not sure how anyone could go through the day with out having a small set schedule or routine. My kids know that I get ready in the morning, once I'm done, its make beds, get dressed, then downstairs for breakfast. Naps, quiet time and bed time are always the same time. Piper is to easy to put to bed these days because she knows her routine. I am very flexible with our schedule. I'm not going to make other rearrange their lives to fit my schedule but we stick to it as much as possible. It really makes a difference.
  • Just do it! This applies to so much for me. It is easy for me to let the house work slide and for me to think "I'll just to it tomorrow". I've taken on a new attitude the last little bit. It is to just do it. Pick up the room before we leave it, just do one load of laundry a day, just put the dish in the dishwasher instead of on the counter, just take the small extra effort to keep things together now so I don't have to do it later. It has been great. I will admit that it has taken some getting used to. I have forced myself many nights to just do the dishes. In the morning I am so glad to wake up to a clean kitchen. Just doing things when they need to be done has freed up a bunch of time for me. I have had more free time to play with the kids. I used to rush and tire myself out during Pipers nap to catch up on things I had been putting off. For the last week, things have been caught up on and I have had the time to read a book with Laine on the couch and even take nap. Its been great! 
  • I have had people comment on how full my hands are when I have all my kids with me at a store. I always say "I wouldn't have it any other way". Most of the time they look a little surprised at my answer. That is the honest truth. I love what I am doing right now. Sure, putting the 4 year old to bed for the 10th time tonight gets old, but this is what I want to do with my life. I never feel like what I am doing is worthless. There is so much bad going on in the world. So many ask how or why or what is wrong with people. The answer stems from what is going wrong in peoples homes. Stronger homes will make a stronger society.  

I might get in trouble...

for posting about this but I am going to anyway.

Last summer our tahoe decided it was on its last leg. Rather than sink a bunch of money into it to keep it going we decided to buy a new car. We bought a brand new Chevy Traverse. We figured it was a good choice. It had good gas mileage and had a 3rd row. It was the base model, all wheel drive. Well fast forward to this last January we started doing the Dave Ramsey program. We wanted out of that car! It was a big payment for a car that ultimately we decided was too small for us. We couldn't put our camping stuff in the back. My stroller didn't fit and I had to stuff my groceries in it. 

I called all over trying to trade, sell or "give it back". We were upside down in it. (don't buy a new car) Everyone we went to said we would need to come up with lots of $ to get out of it. So we went back to the dealer bought it from and explained that we weren't happy with the car. We wanted something bigger. After some negotiating we come away with a car we feel like is the car we will drive for years and years. As many have said, "we are officially mormons now", we bought a 2009 suburban and we love it! It may not have been Dave Ramsey approved purchase ;) but we are very happy to have it. Bode went with me when I traded in the old car. He got in and said "it has tv's in it, lets take it". The downside it the gas mileage. We are just readjusting to making less trips around town. 


There is so much space. I'm in love!

Monday, April 15, 2013

Very appropriate...




We moved to Surprise 5+ years ago thinking we would be here a few months and then move to Peoria when Jeremiah finished the academy. Well its been 5 years and we are still here. We have longed to buy a house to call home for so long. Last month after waiting for so long it finally looked like it might be our turn to buy a house again. We had a contract to buy a home in a neighborhood we love. It was in the town we wanted and it was closer to family. We were excited. It was short lived though. Somehow the paperwork from our fiasco of a house ordeal in Pinetop still wasn't over. I'm not going to go into great detail here, but the dates were wrong. So we have 2 different closing dates on the house we had up there. So instead of us being able to buy the house we were under contract to buy we have to wait another year to buy. It was really disappointing. Even more disappointing is that home prices are rising really fast again.  I was pretty upset about it for a few weeks. I felt cheated by a crappy realtor who talked us into a buyer who ended up really screwing us over. It has taken us 3 years to recover and for it to be so close but so far is hard to swallow.

Last week in General Conference, Elder Stanley G. Ellis gave a great talk that was meant just for me ;) One thing that stuck out so much was this quote.


 "One thing we have often been taught is to bloom where we are planted. Yet sometimes we are tempted to migrate to some new area, thinking our children will have more friends and therefore better youth programs.
Brothers and sisters, do we really think the critical factor in the salvation of our children is the neighborhood where we live? The apostles and prophets have often taught that what happens inside the home is far more important than what our children encounter outside. How we raise our children is more important than where we raise them."

We live in a good neighborhood. We have great friends and a loving ward. I guess really, we could find those things anywhere. It doesn't matter where our house will be in the end, it really matter what we do in our house. What we are teaching our children. Sure, one day I will be able to paint cabinets, paint walls, landscape a back yard and do what we want because it is our house. But it is so much more important to have happiness in our home. So we will keep blooming here, where we are planted.




Sunday, April 14, 2013

Sweet girls...


I am so glad these two have each other.
They may fight like crazy someday  but they will be the best of friends in the end.

Pink tails...

It has been a year since Laine took the scissors to her pig tails. Her hair has finally grown enough to start doing cute things to it again. She was so very excited to have "pink tails" in her hair. Love this girl!

Thursday, April 11, 2013

Daddy's girl...

or at least daddy is trying very hard to make her a daddy's girl. The real truth is that she is a big mama's girl. With Bode and Laine from a vary early age daddy was always the best! They wanted him over me in nearly every situation. Piper like me. I kinda like it. Because of my calling I can't have Piper with me at church. So she roams the halls with Jeremiah. She is just about 18 months old and very busy so he doesn't really get to go to class that often. If she sees me in the hall she comes running. She calls for me "Mameee! Mameee". It is so very cute.

Even though Piper loves he mama, daddy is trying very hard to turn the tide. He watches her while I do preschool. At least once a week he puts her in the bike chair and they ride to Fry's to get a doughnut. She loves her daddy. Can't you tell?

Tuesday, April 9, 2013

College years...

*Did you attend college or a trade school of some sort?

I went to Eastern Arizona College on a full ride scholarship to play volleyball. It is a small junior college in the small town of Thatcher, Arizona. 


*How did you choose what you wanted to be when you grew up?
I chose a long, long time ago that I wanted to be a mother. I always knew that a career would not be my first priority. That being said, I still am not 100% sure what I want to "be" outside of my home. I am still interested in being an elementary teacher. I have an associate degree in general studies. Now I just have to figure out what I really want to do "when I grow up".


*What did you think was the hardest thing about your chosen profession at that time?  Did it turn out that way?

Time will tell I guess.


*What dumb things did you do during those years?

I dated a few dumb boys that's for sure. I am just a homebody. I had some good roommates and we just had fun. 


*What good things did you do?


I went to class everyday. Made it early to practice everyday. Kept good grades. The best good thing I did was keep my standards high. I lived in the dorms for a few semesters. I kinda got lumped into the bad dorm girl thing. I felt others looked down on some of the dorm girls. No matter how I felt people looked at me I went to church, read my scriptures and prayed. 

*Did you live on your own?  How well prepared were you for that?
I lived in the dorms and then in a house the second year. I could cook, clean, and do my laundry. Had no idea how to take care of my money. Other than that I think I did ok. I'm still alive to tell the tale.

*What life lessons did you learn?
In between my freshman and sophomore year of college I wanted an adventure. I felt like I had left home for good the previous August and didn't want to go back. Not that I wasn't welcome, I just felt like I needed to something different. On the off chance that something might come of it, I wrote the Teller House, a bed and breakfast in Silverton, Colorado. I told them I wanted a summer job, I need a place to stay and my resume. They gave me a job and at the end of the school year I packed up my car and with my parents, drove up there and stayed for the summer. It was good for me. Likely I ended up having a great friend come up and work with me. It would have been a looong boring summer without her. I don't know if it was a life lesson but I felt like it was my own adventure and then I was ready for the life that I knew Heavenly Father wanted me to have.   

*What choices did you make that affect where you are now?
The biggest choice I made while in college was to marry my husband.  :) He was a good choice.

Monday, April 8, 2013

Growing up, teenage years...

*What activities did you participate in?  
In junior high I played softball, basketball, volleyball and ran track.
Softball-I played catcher, 1st base and occasionally pitched. Softball was never my favorite. It was just something to do. I was pretty good at it. I got MVP both years. It was the only sport I ever quit. Between my 8th and 9th grade year I played the usual summer softball, like I had since I was 5. That year they picked teams because it was a bit more like a club team. There were 2 teams. I got put the b team. The first day of practice I remember actually teaching girls how to throw a ball. While on the other field there were all the girls actually playing ball. The team I was on, well, sucked! They couldn't even hit the ball. I when to the car and told my dad. He told me I didn't have to play anymore. I was really glad her supported my decision to quit. It was unfair of the coaches to put me on the cruddy team when I had earned the right to play on the better team. I had already made up my mind that I would run track in high school. Softball and track were at the same time so I got shafted. I didn't pick up a ball until my senior year of high school when I went to prom with a baseball player. We had a home run derby on our day date. They were all going to show us up. All the girl took their turn at the plate then it was my turn. I hit my first ball over the fence lol The looks on everyone's faces was priceless. They didn't know I could do that, neither did I.

Basketball-
I played basketball in junior high as well. Our team was horrible. Pretty sure we didn't win one game. Our coaches tried but we just were plain horrible. I got MVP my 8th grade year. My older sister blew out her knee playing basketball. I think that turned me off to playing that sport. My parents didn't push basketball on Lee or me after Jill's knees. I did play in one summer tourney my junior year. I score a basket and ran up and down the court pretty fast. Other than that, basketball was not my sport.

Track an Field-
In 4th grade you could try out for the track team. I did and made the 400 meter race. I ran that race from 4th-6th grade. The elementary kids never got to try our for much other than the open races. In 7th grade I ran the 100 meter in PE. Mrs. Farar screamed and called Mr. Medlock (these where the 2 track coaches) I had ran a 13.8 in PE. So when track season came around that year I ran the 100, 200, 400 and 4x100. I would have to get out my ribbons but I did well in 7th and 8th grade. Placed in every race I ran.

In junor high I was running faster than the girls on the high school team. Once the season got going and I made friend with the older girls the told me they heard that I was talking crap about all the high school girls and that I would kick their butts in any race. They said that once they knew me then knew I probably never said any of it and it was true that I could beat them all even if I never said it.

I ran the 100, 200, 4x100, 4x400 and sometimes did the long jump. I ran and got MVP 9th, 10th and 11th grade. My senior year I didn't get to run track. I started but had dislocated my knee cap in volleyball and was in a lot of pain. I wish I had been able to run that year. I went to state every year and placed in my personal races. Again I could pull out my medals but that seems like to much work right now. I was good at track. I never really loved it. I have looked back and thought that if I would have just put some more effort into track I could have been so much better. 

Volleyball-
My absolute favorite! Softball, basketball and track came easy to me. Volleyball was a challenge. I wasn't very good on junior high but made the team both years. I made the freshman team in 9th grade and play JV a few games in the end of the season. 9th grade was fun. We had a great coach that taught the basics well and pushed us to try new things. We had a better record that year then the varsity team. I played club volleyball in the winter on the 16's team. The more I played the more I loved it.

I played varsity the next three years. 10th and 11th grade I played front row and very little back row. My senior year I was a captain and played all the way around. High school volleyball deserves its whole on blog. I loved it! I loved my teammates and my coach. We were a competitive team and my senior year we won the region. I was the 3A East player of the year my senior year.

*How did you learn how to drive?  What kind of car did you have?
My parents taught me to drive. Along with some help from my older brother and sister on occasion. It wasn't easy. I don't think I was a fast learner. Not the whole driving part but the learning to drive a manual car was the hard part. I drove a little white Toyota 4x4. It was my older sister and I loved it!

*Who were your friends?  
I never felt like I had one friend, just lots of groups of friends. I didn't quite fit in with any one group so I just bounced around. I didn't really go out too much. I was and am a homebody. Sports and school kept me busy.

*Did you have a girl/boy friend?  Talk about him/her (if your spouse is okay with it!).
I had a couple boyfriends and lots of crushes. Typical teenage stuff. I didn't date until I was 16.  I went to homecoming with Daniel Rawlings junior year and no one my senior year. Went with a group of friends. I when to 3 proms. Went with Nathan Sherwood, Kevin Huggins and Corey Jarman. I also when to the girl ask guy dances too. 

*What did you like/dislike about school?
I liked my team friendships. I liked my teachers. I disliked feeling like I didn't fit in anywhere. I disliked math and science. Those two subjects give me anxiety. 

*What was your first paid job? 
I always babysat kids, but my first real payroll job was working at Subway. I was the shift manager and had key to open the store. I then worked at like a maintenance worker at the Country Club Rec Center then I was a nanny for a family. 

*What were your chores at home?
By the time I was in high school it was just Lee and I at home. We did the chores our parents told us to do. I do remember that we had a night each week that we had to do the dishes.

Sunday, April 7, 2013

Growing up, early years....




*Where did you grow up?  Describe it.
I grew up in Pinetop, Arizona. It a beautiful place full of pine trees. Not too big not too small. Lots of good people. It has 4 seasons. Fall is always my favorite. The aspen trees always put on a show. In the winter I loved snow days! Listening to the radio hoping that they at least made and hour delay or that they would call school off for the day. The spring was windy. Summers were green and so much fun. We lived on a loop across the street from the park. The neighborhood kids spent many days on bikes going to the park.

*What was your earliest memory?

I don't think I have a very good memory. I do remember when my dad told up my mom was pregnant with Lee. My mom was sick in bed and he told us not to bother her because she was sick and going to have a baby.

I also remember driving in the passenger seat of my dads big brown chevy coming back from Eager. He was trying to teach me to blow bubbles with pink bubble gum.

Probably one early memory was rolling down the hill of the white church in the middle of Show Low. I think I was in nursery. The Pinetop church was being built so we went to the Show Low church. I remember rolling down the hill and eating the pink waffle cookies.

*What games did you play as a child?

We played cops and robbers, cowboys and indians, pioneers, orphans and the Olympics to name a few. We made huge blanket forts in the apple trees. We rode our bikes to the park to catch frogs and crawdads. There were lots of kids in our neighborhood and there was always lots of fun to be had!



*Where did you go to school?

I went to Blue Ridge elementary, middle, junior high and high school. 


*Who were your friends?

I think my little group of friends changed each year with my the class I was in. I had lots of church friends and school friends. Karli Flake, Cade Woolley, The Goff kids, Julie Nichols, Tara and Kendra Askeroth, Tiffany Ross. It was a small town and there were lots of friend ships.

*Who were your teachers?
K-Mrs. Penrod, Only for half a year, my mom took me out half way through

K-Mrs. Reinhold I loved her. She was the picture of a kindergarten teacher.

1st-Mrs. Sumner Hated her. She did not like me at all. I remember always being grouped with who I thought were the bad kids. 


2nd- Mrs. Taylor I really liker her. Going out of 1st grade they had me in the bottom reading level (aka the bad kids) So that's where I got lumped into when we split up into reading groups. I remember she told me, "Heidi, you read so well! You don't belong in this group." She moved me up 2 levels into the first reading group. I think that gave me confidence. Or at least the confidence my little tender 2nd grade heart needed.

3rd- Mrs. Walhin I liked her a lot. We also had a student teacher that year. I love to read and Mrs. Walhin would give me books much higher than my reading level. This is when I started the Little House series.

4th- Mr. Babbit He was an awesome teacher one of my favorites. I think it was his first year teaching out of college. He made everything fun. He had nick names for everyone. Mine was Flenders because I thought I would sign my  name in fancy cursive. I was not good at cursive so when I did it Heidi looked like Flenders. I send him a graduations  announcement he wrote me back a congratulatory letter and addressed it to Flenders.

5th- Mrs. Cox Again, an awesome teacher, she was another favorite. She was fun and cool. I remember wanting to be just like her. I enjoyed going to school everyday with her.

6th-Mrs. Thomas and Mrs. Van In 6th grade we switch classes in the afternoon. Mrs. Thomas was my home room. I loved her. She wasn't into all the fancy teaching things. She just taught us and kept my wanting more. She was an encouraging teacher. Mrs. Van was fun. I can remember her laugh. 

 
*What were your chores? 

Like I mentioned in the post before, Our chores were ever changing. We did what we were told. I do remember my mom having lots of chores wheels. 

Your birth and family...


*What is your full name and how did you get that name?  Do you have any nicknames?

Heidi Elyse Merrill was my name until I took my husbands last name. So my full name is Heidi Elyse Joncas. My mom said she always like the name Heidi, even though her mother didn't. There was a girl named Heidi Houghso (sp) in my mom's town. My grandma didn't like her. Thought she was odd. My mom like it and named me Heidi anyway. 

I've been called "Eddie-ide-Odie" "Heidi-Loo-Whoo" and "Heidi-Ho"

*What are your parent's full names?
Patrica Lou (Brewer) Merrill and David Alden Merrill

*What is the date of your birth?  Where were you born?  What are some of the circumstances (when your mom went in to labor, how long, her doctor, your dad fainting, etc.) of your birth? (I'm letting my mom write this part)

*What are your sibling's full names? 
Peter Cole Merrill
Sarah Jill Papa
Timothy Reed Merrill
October Lee Brooks
*How was your relationship with your siblings and parents?



I think we all had a good relationship growing up. We played, laughed and talked. I can't remember any specific moments but some of my favorite times were family vacations. All of us in the car, staying at koa's. We would all swim together. There aren't huge gaps in ages between all of us except Lee. Pete, Jill and Tim always seemed to go together. Lee and I always were together. On our vacations we all went together. I have good memories of us doing chores on Saturday mornings, Family Home Evenings, scripture reading in the morning, sitting on the porch on Sunday afternoons and eating popcorn while watching America's Funniest Video's on Sunday evenings.  

*What are some lessons you learned from you parents?
Hmmm... well to name a few. I learned to work hard. I think my parents taught me to have a no nonsense attitude. If something needs to be done, just do it. They taught me that my family and faith come first. They taught be how to fish, go camping and also to have manners. They taught us to help others.

*How did you help in your home?  

We all were expected to do our part. We did everything from doing the dishes, weeding the garden, mowing the lawn, vacuuming, laundry, making beds, so painting the house. 



This is me...


My sisters, mom and I are doing a challenge together. We can earn 10 points a day by doing 10 different things. One of the points can be earned by journal writing. So in an effort to get my full 10 points I am going to use the questions from the "This is me challenge" to keep on track with my journal writing. If you click on the picture it will take you to the "the is me challenge".   





Thursday, April 4, 2013

Sleeping angels...


More like sick angels.

We have spent the last week fighting a not so fun stomach bug.

Bode is always the first to fall. He lost all that yummy easter candy in one long night.

Piper was next. She threw up on dad 3 times.

Laine is holding strong. She rarely gets sick like the other two.







Easter....


Jeremiah was lucky enough to actually get Easter Sunday off. It was wonderful to have him home on the actual holiday and not have to move things around. We got to enjoy the whole day together.

Saturday night the kids were anxiously waiting for the easter bunny to arrive. Our easter bunny doesn't hid eggs to find. He does however bring magic jelly seeds to plant in the yard and yummy suckers grow over night. Well I kept telling them that the easter bunny would not come unless they clean their rooms. It took them a while to really get that the easter bunny was pretty serious about needing clean rooms. Sure enough right after they finished vacuuming they checked the front door and there they were!  Contrary to the looks on their faces in this picture, they were pretty darn happy to see those magic seeds.


The seeds bloomed and brought yummy suckers. They also found their baskets throughout the house and tore into them in no time!










All dressed in their spiffy new Easter outfits.
They only last so long when it comes to taking pictures.


Jeremiah spoke in church that day. He gave an awesome talk. I am so grateful for him. After church we relaxed, watch Wreck it Ralph then decorated some eggs.




In the late afternoon we went up to Steve and Rena's for dinner and a hunt with cousins. The kids were so happy to finally hunt down some eggs! Bode found the golden egg that was hidden in the house. He was SO excited!! He bought a set of legos with his find.







Once Piper figured out that there was candy in the eggs her hunt was over.





Tuesday, April 2, 2013

I can't stop...

taking pictures of this girl!!
She is just the cutest.


This particular day she played with the big kids in the backyard after nap time. She thought she was so grown up. She just waddled her little self everywhere they went. I wanted to take a picture of how dirty she was so I pulled out my phone. She saw it, came to me and just stood there like, "here I am!". Love her.
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