Happy Halloween!

Boy, have we been having a fun school year! Sorry I haven't put up a real blog lately, but we have been very busy.

School started out just great for everyone! All the kids enjoy school, as well as their days off. Somehow we found time to go with the Durham family both apple-picking and to the beach. Mike lost his first three teeth and Abby two more.

Mike and Aidan have had a full soccer season, their last games are on Saturday. Mike is on the Raptors and Aidan's on the Rockets. Both are having a great time! Aidan used Silly Putty as hair product and had to have his head shaved. He looks cute and tough.

Abigail hurt her foot at the beach. :( We were walking the tidepools and she sliced open the bottom of her foot. 4 stitches and two weeks on crutches later, she has minimal scarring and is walking fine! She never complained once but did milk it for attention a little bit. ;)

Jed and I moved some things around in our living room, and got a new couch. We're thrilled with how it looks and when we're all done I'll post photos. We also had a grand time at the ward talent show playing Rock Band with Julia and Dean Harmon. We dressed up as rockers and projected the game for the audience, and sang two songs. Jed's one hot drummer! And yes, he did wear a fauxhawk.

We had a great time at the ward Trunk-or-Treat. We took an eyeball for our ugly cake contest and the kids went as the Chipmunks. Darth Mommy even made an appearance! We will be skipping trick-or-treating again this year. Our family has had a tradition the last few years of going in our costumes for dinner at Rainforest Cafe. They give free kids meals to kids in costume, and it's usually just us and one or two other families. I mean, who goes to the mall on Halloween, right? We get the place to ourselves!

The next couple months will bring even more excitement as Jed's Birthday, Thanksgiving, Jed's big business trip, and our California Christmas are all forthcoming! Hope all is well with everyone.

Rewards

A mommy's joy is never done,
she loves each snaggle-toothed smile.
She's lucky each child will stick around
and love her for such a long while.

Each kid tells her just what he thinks of all things
and every thought is so droll,
And he asks her why and makes her think too
with every question and poll.

A mommy sees every millimeter of growth
in each little spirit so small,
Each moment amazing and of infinite worth
as they grow up so great big and tall.

A mommy can see how the little brains work
and how the personalities are made,
and while each moment slips on and is lost
the memories will never fade.

No one hears "Let us dance!" or "I love you!"
as much as a mom, and the kids say
"Thanks for the food!" and "Thanks for my stuff!"
And give her a million and one hugs every day.

She recieves many gifts such as leaves and bugs
and feathers and drawings by the score.
Mom never can say she doesn't have anything to do,
and her life is never a bore.

And while many a complaint piles up in her mind
and she might once in a while explode,
It's not very hard to see a million miracles
and thus easily slip out of that mode.

So a mom gets the most blessings all piling up
more than her husband or kids will ever know.
For there's no job more important or hobby more fun
than helping the littlest souls grow.

Rant

A mommy's work is never done.
She's got homework too.
She's got to take care of everyone,
and do all the right things too.

A mommy has to clean the house
and dishes and laundry and kids,
And find everything from socks to keys
to shoes and tupperware lids.

A mom wipes up noses and bums and small faces
and takes the bugs and the rocks back outside.
And she's got to stop kids who are off to the races
and find the ones who like to hide.

A mom can't complain if there's only one car
cause at least there's a car at all,
But she has to wait in the work lot for hours
If during the day she wants to go to the mall.

If a mommy takes time to do things for herself
she can't take much more than a minute.
Cause the work can't be left no matter what
even when there is just no fun in it.

Mommy can't cry or be angry or mean
because she sets the tone for them all,
and she has to be good and try her darn best
for the impressionable spirits of the small.

And if Legos bruise her tired feet
or her head aches from cries that are shrill,
She has to get up at the crack of dawn
to make it to the bus stop still.

A mom doesn't want to be pessimistic or down
but sometimes she must let it out,
So she'll complain just this once and let you all know.
And then she'll smile and let go of her pout.

Tagged! Natalie's ABC's

Cass tagged me and it looked like fun. ;)

A - ADVOCATE FOR: Adoption, Kids, Family love

B - BEST FEATURE: My eyes

C - COULD DO WITHOUT: Winter cold/snow

D - DREAMS & DESIRES: To own and run a Bed and Breakfast with Jed when we're retired.

E - ESSENTIAL ITEMS: Family time, Friends, Dairy products, body pillow.

F - FAVORITE PAST TIME: Reading, Creating art, playing video games

G - GOOD AT: Showy talents. Not good at essential stuff.

H - HAVE NEVER TRIED: Skiing.

I - IF I HAD A MILLION DOLLARS: I'd divide it up and use some, save some, give some away.

J - JUNKIE FOR: Time with Jed.

K - KINDRED SPIRIT: Linda Dobbins

L - LITTLE KNOWN FACT: What don't people know about me? I'm not mysterious at all.

M - MEMORABLE MOMENT: Standing in the Celestial Room with Jed, family members old and new and friends old and new the night before my wedding. It was like dying painlessly and going to Heaven.

N - NEVER AGAIN WILL I: Make the mistakes I made in High School and College. There are too many new mistakes to try.

O - OCCASIONAL INDULGENCE: My indulgences are never occasional, but habitual.

P - PROFESSION: Maid, nanny, hairdresser, teacher, choir director, entertainer, chef, life guard, chauffeur, coach, spiritual advisor, fashion consultant, art beta, writer, photographer, artist, blogger, and Paladin. Which is another way of saying Mommy.

Q - QUOTE: A candle loses nothing of its light by lighting another candle.

R - REASON TO SMILE: I have every important thing I ever wanted.

S - SORRY ABOUT: Being unreliable.

T - TAG SOME FRIENDS: Far, Tory, Allie

U - UNINTERESTED IN: Wrestling. Car racing. Politics, until recently.

V - VERY SCARED OF: Fire, Live electricity, hot stuff

W - WORST HABIT: Leaving my contacts in for days.

X - X MARKS MY IDEAL VACATION SPOT: Hawaii with Jed

Y - YUMMIEST DESSERT: Cheesecake. Tres Leches Cheesecake.

Z - ZODIAC SIGN: Aquarius

Fantastic Family Weekend!

We just came back from Idaho! It was so awesome to see everyone; siblings, in-laws, nieces, nephews and parents. In the picture to the left is (l-r) Eric and Michelle Alberdi, Nan and Jed Kelsey, Mom and Dad Kelsey, Natalie Kelsey, Beau and Season Kelsey, and Cassondra and Jake Kelsey and their girls. :D We didn't get a photo with Autumn and Cory Rodriguez and Jen Kelsey and James Sommers, unfortunately, but hopefully next time we'll get one. (Autumn was a very cute pregnant gal! Looking forward to photos in November, Autumn!) Here's a picture of all the little cousins: This is Aidan Kelsey, Stockton Alberdi, Michael Kelsey, Loren Kelsey, Abby Kelsey, Brielle Kelsey, Allena Kelsey, and Brooklyn Kelsey. They all had tons of fun, especially the girls. They played non-stop, mostly dress-up, and we had a big party for Abigail's birthday. Season's parents loaned us their pony for all the kids (and Cassondra!) to ride.

We did some majorly fun stuff while we were out there, too. Some of our activities included shooting (yes, Darth Mommy with an assault rifle is a VERY scary thing.) , flying, canoeing,
and going to the dedication of the new Twin Falls Idaho Temple.

That was a simply amazing experience. The choir was heavenly and it was so comforting being in the temple with so many family members. We even got to see President Monson! He looked so healthy and happy. As he was leaving, we saw him speaking in Samoan to a Samoan family outside the temple. I was able to snap a few pictures of him but nothing without other people in the shot. It is so amazing to have a living prophet on the earth in these confusing and troubling times. He really gives wonderful direction and peace to the Church and us individually.

Here are some more fun family photos:

Abby and Grandma Kay with baby Faith. Faith gets called Faith by her father and Ella by her mother, which leaves the rest of us confused but gives the baby a ton of nicknames to choose from. I decided to call her Baby Faith Ellabellabeans. It made her laugh.

Here's Season, Michelle, Cassondra, me, and Natalie. Natalie better get married soon so we don't keep having the same name. ;) Right now we keep it straight by me being Nan and her being Nat.
Three men and a grumpy lady. Here's the handsome Kelsey Brothers, Jed Jake and Beau. And of course Brielle, who was upset to be leaving (who can blame her?! We were all sad to leave.) Lets be honest, though. I did get the best looking brother. And the one with the most hair.


Poster children for the NRA. Yes, all three of them (Austen, Jed and Nat) are aiming for the same clay pigeon. I have to say, I was impressed with everyone's aim. No one but the pigeons were blown to bits. Aidan's aim could use some work. He also needs more muscles before he can hold the rifle on his own.



This is some weird version of the Idaho Tailless Squirrel. At least, Jed said it was a squirrel. I think it's an alien. Where's the rifles when you need them?!
Goofy girls Abigail, Allena, and Brielle. What lovely little princesses! :D And so well behaved.

After we left our family (reluctantly) and arrived safely in Massachusetts (also reluctantly) I went through with my plan to get my hair cut to donate to Locks of Love. Following the good example of my beautiful daughter and sister-in-law Cassondra, I got 12 inches cut yesterday. And for fun, put in some blonde streaks as well. What do you think?



Hope you enjoyed our photo blog from our trip! If you think that was a lot of pictures....let me just tell you, I nearly filled a 4 gig memory card. ;) Betcha just can't wait til the Christmas one, huh?

Late Happy Anniversary. :)

8 great years!

Back from Camp!

I can't believe camp is already over! This year was, as my girls would say, "Intense!" We had rain nearly every day, culminating in a spectacular storm on Thursday that spawned a tornado only ten miles away from us. I was a little extraneous as the camp Waterfront Director as we only had good enough weather for water activities early in the morning and on Friday. Luckily for us, Friday was glorious and sunny and 85F. Our intrepid Polar Bear Swimmers got up every morning at 6am to swim and kayak and enjoy the soft misty morning. Polar Bear Swim is my favorite because we don't really get that many girls, and we can see the loons and herons without scaring them off. We finish with hot chocolate, which this year was pink because my best friend brought me back some Princess Aurora hot chocolate from Disney World.



If you look carefully in the photo, you can see the babies and one parent of the loon family we watched out on the lake. Loons are fascinating and can dive for long periods of time. Often the babies would disappear underwater, and come up again yards and yards away. It was quite amazing. Their call is beautiful and haunting, and gave a lovely soundtrack to the glorious sunsets Tuesday and Friday nights. The lake has quite a lovely ecosystem, and many unfamiliar plants and bugs. I really like water lilies and the lotus flowers that floated on the lake were particularly lovely.

I want to share with you my greatest accomplishment this week (maybe of the whole year!) It will astonish anyone who knows me well....I started and maintained a campfire! I actually lit 8 or ten regular size matches and got a little fire started. It didn't go very well at first because all our kindling was wet and very difficult to light. I did get help from some of the priesthood brethren that were there and they got it going well, then I was able to maintain it. It was a small fire and it took a lot of care to keep it going in the rain, but I was pretty excited that I was able to take care of it without having a panic attack. ;)

My second proud accomplishment was today at our church Linger Longer. We had a chili cookoff in honor of Pioneer Day, with a blind judging panel (meaning, they didn't know whose chili was whose). I had worried mine wouldn't be that great since I didn't get it into the crockpot until 1am. I guess the addition of a pound of cheese pleased the judges, because I got first place! :D I was pretty excited. All the chili was great and we had some wonderful cornbread and desserts.

In all it's been a wonderful July. It looks like my mom and Jed survived the kids and each other relatively unscathed. We had Jed's company picnic yesterday and a mostly restful day today. We gave Mom her first Webkinz (a little black bear) as a thank you for her willingness to have the kids all week and we get to keep her for one more week, until August 5th. Then it's a little rest and recovery and we're on to Idaho! :D We're beside ourselves with excitement to see the cousins and our siblings and in-laws. Love you all and hope your summer is going as well!