Sami's World

Some things I keep forgetting to mention, or maybe I have and have just forgotten…..

Alix has lost both her front teeth. She lost them about five days apart right before Halloween. She looks pretty cute and talks with such a lisp it’s hard to understand her sometimes!! People keep asking her who stole her two front teeth. It’s pretty cute.

Afton took a pretty major spill last week. She was on the front porch and took a spill off the side face first into a bed of rocks. The initial fall seemed to leave a couple of scratches, but as time went on her black eye got blacker and blacker. The poor kid looks like she has been in a fight!!

Last week on Wednesday we went to visit with our friends who used to live in the house we live in now, The Adams-Hart’s. They live on six acres and the kids were free to run. What fun they had!! They got their “hiking” gear together and set out on an “adventure”. They were gone for about 2 hours and were pretty tired and hot when they got back, but boy did they have fun! Jaime collected acorns of various sizes and she gave them all faces and glued them to a paper and made an acorn family. It was pretty cute. They went on lots of trails and went swining on a tree swing and looked for berries at “blackberry bog”. The kids were exhausted but it was good and when we finally went home, they all fell asleep, except Jaime of course!!

So far I’ve had two primary presidency meetings. They have been very productive and short, I like that. We have a long way to go and will probably meet every week for the rest of this year, but hopefully we’ll be in a routine at that point and only have to meet once a month.

Scott did another all night fishing trip. He also had a fun day at work. He’ll have to tell you all about those adventures.

Jaime has learned to play some simple primary songs on the piano and it’s been nice to have the house filled with gospel music. It’s been wonderful.

Milo is Milo and there isn’t much to report on him. The most I can say is that he is a boy and all that entails! We love him so much.

Niah celebrated her third birthday, although I’m pretty sure she just turned 5 or 6!! She is such a good girl. We took brownies to nursery on Sunday to help celebrate Niah’s birthday. That went over really well. The kids and leaders loved them. Niah seemed to have picked up something and wasn’t feeling too well on Sunday afternoon and layed around most of the day. We thought we’d give her some medicine right before bed to help her sleep better. The only thing it did was wake her up. She didn’t go to bed till 10 pm!! Monday, her birthday, she still was a little lathargic but seemed happy and ready to celebrate her birthday. Whenever we asked her what she wanted for her dinner she kept saying ‘candles and cake’. I finally convinced her we had to eat dinner first and she chose McDonalds (perhaps we should have just eaten the cake!!). The kids had a great time. We went to a playplace and they enjoyed that. We came home and did cake and presents. The kids got to bed late but it was worth it. Jaime and Alix really wanted to give Niah a present. So each girl went through her “special” things and choose out a few gifts to give. It was an awesome thing to watch. Niah getting really excited about getting the things her sisters usually have and Jaime and Alix’s joy in seeing their sister happy. It’s what family is all about.

Guess that is the news. Hope you all are well and have a great Thanksgiving. We love you all.

Scott has called me to repentance!! :0) He informed me last night that I had not made an entry since the 4 of November. I guess I better head the councel of my husband and write an entry……

Tuesday November 6 was the Stake Roadshow. We volunteered our van as a way to get kids/props from one building to another. They took us up on our offer and the busy day began. I took Scott to the shuttle in the morning with the assurance he would call me when he was ready to come home. He called about 11:00 and said to come get him at noon (becuase of the roadshow he would not be able to take the shuttle home and be in time for roadshow and I needed the car to take and pick up kids from school, so this was the only solution). When I arrived to pick him up he said we could go to the main cafe and he’d get me some lunch. So as I drove up to drop him off, I realized I was dropping him in a “shuttle zone” and had a few “Googlers” try and get in the van. Opps!! The same thing happened 5 minutes later when I circled around to pick him up again! It was worth it though, the food was AWESOME. We got home and Scott locked himself in the room and did work from home. Jaime and Alix’s teacher came to make sure my children are recieving a proper education. We passed with flying colors. I then had to go get my daycare kids from school. We did homework and chores and then we got all the kids ready to go and headed out. We figured it’d be easiest to grab some burgers, so we did and then headed to the church. I dropped Scott and the kids off at one place and took Jaime to the starting place. They did a great job and I don’t think the audience stopped laughing the whole time. We quickly gathered everyone up and headed to the next building. They got the same response and we were sure we were the best! When it came to handing out awards we got a courtesy award. I was told later it was because we broke all the rules! We went over time 3 minutes, we only had 1 youth (the whole skit was suppose to be only youth) and we didn’t stick to the theme. Oh well, we were still the best! We got home pretty late but it was a fun night and everyone had a great time, especially Jaime.

Wednesday we had an Enrichment meeting. We were having a Thanksgiving dinner. Each sister brought their favorite dish that they make at Thanksgiving. I made the turkey and stuffing, my favorite part. It came out perfect and was GONE. It was such a nice evening and I really enjoyed sitting and talking with all the wonderful women in my ward.

Thursday was Milo’s dentist appointment. He has no cavities and his teeth are healthy and strong. Yay! We went to Jaime’s dance class in the evening and then came home and enjoyed a night free of business.

Friday, Saturday,Sunday and Monday were EASY days. Nothing planned and nothing done! We did the usual chores and such, but really, it was a very relaxing four days.

That brings us to yesterday, Tuesday November 13. Milo had an eye appointment in Oakland. So we spent the morning doing as much school as possible. I dropped off the two little kids and the rest of us headed to Oakland. Milo had been complaining of his eyes hurting and the doctor said he wanted to see him if he ever started doing this. So I took him in. He said he is having a little more difficulty with his eyes but things are still OK. The doctor said he’s “getting a little impatient with his colegues” about when they are going to do the face surgery. For the first time he mentioned that he will definitly have to do eye surgery in about 3 years. That’s the first time he’s actually commited to having to do it. Milo is pretty blind in his left eye, but doing glasses before the surgery would be pretty silly. So he will reevalute a few months after surgery and decide about glasses then. After that appointment we went home and grab the little ones. We played for a few minutes and then did an errand and then came home. I made a quick dinner, we picked up Scott and then I headed out for the cannery. The young women had taken on the assignment and we met at the church. They piled into the van and we headed to Santa Clara. It was a great time. The girls LOVED it and were glad they had come. I always enjoy the cannery. We canned 200 cans of sugar in 1 hour. It was awesome! As soon as I got home, we emptied the van and then went to bed. While I was gone, Jaime went to achievment days and reported that she had a great time.

Some other news……

The other day the kids were telling eachother jokes. Alix says, ‘why did the chicken cross the road?’ Milo says ‘why’ Alix says ‘to get hit by a car’. They both just crack up laughing. Then Milo says ‘why did daddy cross the road?’ Alix says ‘why’ Milo says ‘so he could get hit by a car’. Again they both start cracking up. Think what you will, all I could do is laugh.

I got a new calling on Sunday. I am still the Provident Living Leader till they find a new one, but my new current calling is 1st councler in the Primary presidency. I’m very excited about the calling. I’m working with two women, one old enough to be my mom and the other one old enough to be my grandma. They are amazing women and I can’t wait to see what the next year will hold for the three of us. I’m going to miss going to R.S. every week but being with the kids will be worth it. They are amazing.

Niah continues to amaze us. The nursery leaders stopped me on Sunday to tell me she had to break up kissing between Niah and a little boy. We already know that Niah and Logan LOVE eachother, but we didn’t realize it had gone this far….. She is going to be our next dancer. She’s already got most of Jaime’s dance moves down to a science. I’m very impressed at her abilities. That is the way Jaime was at this age.

Alix continues to be ‘left out’. We can’t find anything she really wants to do or is interested in. She is struggling in piano and has decided maybe she should wait till she is 7. I was glad she decided that. It makes things easier for all of us. But now she has no extra cirricular activities. I’m not sure what to do for her.

Afton is getting bigger each day. She is trying so hard to use words and communicate. She won’t self feed herself, but that’s mostly my fault. I don’t want to clean up the mess. So I’m bound to feeding her myself. At least I don’t have to feed anyone else. All the other kids have that down. She is still my skinny minney. She is still in 9-12 month clothes. I guess that’s “normal” I’m just used to my big kids.

We love you all and are so grateful for you all. Especially at this time when we think about thanks so much, we can’t help but think of how you all have blessed our lives greatly. Thank you for all your love and support. We love you and miss you all a lot.

There really aren’t too many “adventures” to add. Just a couple of really funny ones, at least I think!!

On Halloween day, I was making some homemade mac and cheese for the homeless shelter lunch. The corrdinator brings the ingredients and receipe over and we just make it and deliver it. This reciepe was a bit involved and was turning into a disaster with 5 kids also wanting my attention. I finally decided to put them to work. I had Jaime stirring stuff in the kitchen and Alix reading to the little ones. I put Afton in the high chair with food. Ok, control. The next thing I know Jaime is making gagging sounds. ‘whats wrong?’ I ask. ‘You are putting tomatoes on that mac and cheese’ she says. ‘Yes I am’. Jaime ends with ‘I sure do feel sorry for those homeless people, having to eat mac and cheese with tomatoes on top!!’. I just couldn’t stop laughing!!

*warning…..long story, but worth it, I think*
On Thursday, November 1, we went to Jaime’s dance class. As soon as it was over we crossed the parking lot to get into the car. Just then a truck pulls into the parking lot followed by a police officer. Of course the truck pulls in one parking stall after me and the cop pulls up behind my car, making a T. Right behind my car, if he wasn’t careful he may have hit my car. **Tangent** There are two kinds of people in this world that scare me to death. Not sure why, but absolutely scare me. Police officers, and black women (perhaps from my Sacramento days). Whatever the reason, I’m scared. **Back to story** The police man and I make eye contact. Ok, he knows I’m there, he sees me with my kids and he sees we are getting in the van. This must be a routine traffic stop, they will be gone in a few minutes. I’ll just let him do his job, I’ll get my kids in the car and all will be fine. So, I rearrange some car seats (we’ve been wanting to do this), took Milo and Niah to the bathroom, put everyone in their car seats and even gave them all snacks. Cop still hasn’t moved, but he’s writting a ticket, this is a good sign. I get in my seat and call Scott. Tell him what’s going on and let him know I might be slightly late to pick him up. He asked ‘why don’t you go and ask him to move?’. The real reason??? I’m petrified that he might arrest me. What I try to convince myself of….I don’t want to obstruct justice. So I sit there a few minutes longer and decide to just go ask him to move. I look out the window and see the officer getting the guy out of his truck. Then I look in my rear view mirror and notice another officer has shown up. Then they start searching the guy and he starts to undress. Ok, this is getting out of hand. Lucky for us there were some cheerleaders practicing and so I instructed my children to watch the cheerleaders, not the cops. I call Scott back, inform him that if I were to ask them to move now, two officers and a half naked guy would have to move. It was too late for me, I was in for the long haul. I devised a plan with the kids that if we went out the one door and headed straight for the cheerleaders, they could play on the grass instead of sit in the car. At this point we were 30 minutes into this ordeal. We made it safely to the grass and the kids started playing like nothing was wrong. I on the other hand kept trying to get the courage up to go ask if they could all move so I could leave. Now they had the passenger guy out of the car and was searching him too, no clothes came off though. A couple of times I started to walk over to the “scene”, would make eye contact with one of the officers and turn around and walk away. I finally thougt of calling my friend who is a police officer and ask them if they would arrest me for asking them to move. As I quickly related the situation she said ‘go tell them to move’. I again explained what that would ential. Again she said ‘go tell them to move! you have children with you and a husband that needs to be picked up, go tell them to move’. With the confidence of a police friend I rounded the corner one last time to ask them to move and saw the two guys get back in their truck and drive away. Whao, all that and they just ended up driving away. I called to the kids and they all ran over to the van. As I started to load the kids I caught one of the officers attention and asked how much longer they would be. They kindly smiled and said they were sorry and they moved right away. Boy, I wish I did not have a fear of police officers. I could have left 45 minutes earlier and would not have made Scott wait in the dark at the shuttle stop. My poor kids didn’t see a very good example either. I’ll do better next time…….

Anyway, also this night I had a “girls night out”. A cute sister in the ward is from Peru. She doesn’t have any family here and is pregnant with number one. Her husband is pretty clueless too, so Jen and I told her that we would take her out and help her register for some essentials and then later this month we are going to have a baby shower for her. Anyway, I was late picking her up too, but in the end we had a great time. It was fun to impart knowledge upon an unknowing soul, but it also helped me to remember how much time you have when it’s your first and all those “nessesary” items you have become less “necessary” the more kids you have. Anyway, we shopped and scanned for over two hours and we were all beat by the time we were done. I’m sure she appreciated it. It was hard to tell because of the lanugage barrier, but we had a good time anyway.

Friday we had an early appointment in Pleasanton and then an Enrichment activity right after and then some friends came over for lunch. So by 1 in the afternoon we were all beat! We just relaxed and played for the rest of the day. It was nice. After Scott got home and we put all the kiddos to bed, he and Jaime went on a daddy daughter date. That was fun for them. I stayed home and watched a movie.

Saturday was spent doing chores. We had quite a few to do since the week had been busy and we had neglected our daily chores. But we got done in enough time for Scott to go to the park with the kids. We had the sister missionaries over for dinner and that was fun too. Then Scott and Milo went to Joey’s house to watch some boxing and eat some good food. Scott didn’t get home till 11. I thought he was crazy! But then he ended up staying up later because he got interested in a book. Crazy man!

Sunday has been nice. Since we got the extra hour, the kids woke up happier and we didn’t have the “rush” out the door like we usually do. We even got there in enough time to set up the chairs in Scott’s classroom. Chruch services went well. Jaime had her final roadshow practice. I stayed with her and Scott took the little ones home. I ended up filling in for someone who could not be there. It was kinda fun. The skit seems to be good and will get lots of laughs, I’m sure. Jaime knows her part very well and will do a great job. We walked home together and we both enjoyed that very much. We had quiet time and then we went on a family walk since the weather is so nice here. We had dinner and then played family games till bed time. There are two kids left who need to go to bed and then I think Scott and I will retire. With such a late night last night, we need to recharge!

We love you all and hope things are well for you.