Guess who's back?

So maybe, just maybe I'm going to start blogging again. I am always up for adding a few more things to my plate. All is well in the Frehner household. Kids are fabulous. Dominic is in first grade and is super smart. He recently received an award for most "AR" points in first grade. We love, love, love his sweet teacher, Miss Mcdermott. She challenges him and is so good to him. I hope he will continue to have awesome teachers!
Jade is a spunky and sassy five year old. She is in gymnastics and pre school. She is our social butterfly. She loves to listen and dance to music and loves all things girly. I think we might be in trouble with her cuteness:) She is kind and helpful. We like to stick together in this house full of boys!
Hudson is my wild child. He love to play outside in his underwear and bare feet. He loves to water the rocks if he has to go potty;) He is so difficult and stubborn in some ways, and so loving and adorable almost always. He has a real sweet spot in my heart:)
Lincoln has got to be the world's most easy-going baby. He is so good. He eats well, sleeps well and is just a happy kid. I can't believe he will be 1 in a couple of weeks. Love that kid! Wish he would stay little. He thinks he should be walking. He climbs up on furniture like he is  so big. He makes it to the top of the stairs and nearly gives grandma Wendy a heart attack!
Me…I am keeping busy doing my little photography thing and serving in the RS presidency. Brad recently started a new job at an accounting firm. He is super busy right now, but we are hoping that slows down a bit soon. We miss our Daddy!

I'm often up at 2:30 a.m.

Why? I'm not really sure. Lots of nights I work on pictures, sometimes (not often enough) I clean, other times I think I just enjoy having a little quiet time to do pretty much nothing. I'm kind of an insomniac. Tonight, my two youngest were sharing in my sleeplessness. I had the opportunity to volunteer for four hours tonight at the Cub Scout Day Camp (and yes, I realize all blessing from doing so are now cancelled because I'm announcing it to the world instead of serving quietly…working on that…see a few posts below…) Anywho…kids were at my mom's until Brad picked them up. Then they fell asleep on the way home, then they proceeded to take a three hour power nap at 6 p.m. Which means they were wide awake at 9:00 til little Roonie finally fell asleep at 1:06. Did I mention I herded cub scouts around and took pictures of 400 of them tonight?

Okay, no more griping. I have be insanely busy with pictures. Which is awesome! Love, love, love being able to get out of the house, have a little spending money and meet very cool people.

As for all the happenings of summer…we are enjoying it. I took two trips to Utah with the kids (by myself…) not because Brad doesn't enjoy "vacationing" in the fabulous state of Utah with his hot wife and 3 toddlers, but because he just got a new job. He is working at Station Casinos again.

Okay, here's the good part… some pictures.

Crap. I hate that I can't tell when I'm uploading pictures. Dominic loved participating in Sawyer's pack meeting while we were in Utah. He wanted to know when he was going to get to be in scouts. I'm sure the 50 foot slip 'n slide had NOTHING to do with it.
Me and the babes waiting to ride TRAX after going to Temple Square. Either Lori and I are the blondest people to to and figure out that dang thing, or it's not very user friendly…don't answer that.
Family reunion in Cedar! We loved swimming at the pool. By we, I mean Brad and the kids. Not sure how my suit didn't get packed. Brad wore them out in the pool, then I drove them to PG to hang with Lori and co. for a few days.
Thought with all the pictures I take of other people, I should try to squeeze in a few of my own kiddos. Love them. Seriously, looking at these guys makes me want to be a better person.
This stinker turn 2 in July! He cracks me up and when he doesn't have his dang "saaassy" in his mouth, the boy can carry on quite the conversation. My favorite thing as of late, is when he wants something from JAde or D and yells at them and says, "SHARE." Clear as a bell. Pretty darn funny.

5, Really?

Dominic turned 5 today. Last night he had a "Mario and Luigi" party…yeah, no decorations for those. Nintendo apparently is pretty darn stingy with their copyrights…so I had to improvise. I just wish that I didn't have quite so many irons in the fire, as usual, and perhaps my improvisation skills would have been better!

However, he's 5, and although he loved his party, the tiny details that I get a little OCD about, mean little to D…he was just thrilled to pieces that his cousins and friends were there!

We ate pizza, had a "Yoshi Egg Hunt" and smacked the crap out of a piñata! And then had cake…yes, the cake.

I'm a little embarrassed to even blog about my stupidity of the Mario cake. Every other year I make a cake (6 hours making Elmo on his second birthday…check) or cupcakes (4 dozen worm cupcakes on his 3rd bday…check) (oh wait, those got obliterated by the cooler and I had to by nasty, greasy Food 4 Less ones…)

Anyway, I couldn't for the life of me find any Mario anything cake. I knew my time was super limited before the party…so I wanted to purchase his cake. Finally, after scouring the internet for ideas and going to every grocery store…a nice lady at Smith's came to my rescue. She could make a Mario cake. Done. All I had to do was buy the little figurines to go on top. She assured me I could find them at Toys 'R Us. Okay, no problem. The cake came to $25…not $3.00, like homemade cupcakes, but I'll take it.

So, Brad goes to get the little Mario guys to go on the cake…I knew they would be pricey. In my head I had $15 for some reason…$26.99! WTH!!!! I want stock in these plastic guys that couldn't cost more than 5 cents to make. (I think I might be the only one crazy/dumb enough to purchase them.)

So long story short…these five little plastic figurines cost more than a sheet cake that fed 50 people!

Other than that small oopsie, it was a great party…great day…for a great kid.

Tonight we celebrated by going to the park as a family and having some McDonald's. (DD requested spaghetti, but I had no sauce and was too beat to go to the store and then make dinner…Mom of the year right here.)

Brad showing the kids how to roll down the hill. I thought it was the coolest thing…so did the kids. Good thing they have one fun parent, right!

DD got a camera from Grandma and Grandpa Sheila (as he calls them). Makes my little heart happy to see him snapping away all day long.

A beautiful day

Playing duck, duck…goose!

Serious snacking going on…

My boy needs a haircut…bad.

I remember when my sister's kids that are 15 months apart went through this phase where people thought they were twins. Hudson always seemed soo much smaller than my other kids…but he is catching up big time.

I have the kids do "races" every time we go to the park. It tires them out very nicely:) I join in on some of them too, but since I had my big camera today I sat out.

Trying to get five kids under five to get in the same picture is darn near impossible.

Cute girl in piggies:)

Roonie doing his "excited face." Pretty darn cute in person…the face and the kid:)

I love this picture:)

I know that in just a few short months doing anything outside will be completely unbearable. So when the temperature is PERFECT, like it was today, I try to take full advantage. Plus, I'm a firm believer in taking my kids out in the sunshine. It's good for them. It's good for me. I'm less cranky when I get an hour of pure detox time in it. Today, we went to Hailey Hendricks park by my mom and dad's house. No swings (plus for me because Dominic can't try to wedge his huge self into baby swings) but plenty of toddler play! We were the only ones there too!

On the way home we rocked the mini-van out to Taylor Swift. All five kids were be-bopping to the music. Then Dominic wanted to "rock out" to his primary music. So I turned on and Lukey and Dominic were belting out the words…so cute!

The perfect Saturday…

I always have lofty visions of the perfect Saturday. It consists of perfect weather (we had it), going on an outing (yeah for the carousel!), getting pictures (got some!) and going out to eat (check!)

Love my little kiddos and their sweetness. Jade was scared to ride the carousel so Dominic held her hand the entire time. Such a good big brother. Poor Hudson crashed right before we got there. He has a nice nap while on the carousel. Then we went to eat at a little chicken place. We ate outside. It was a perfect day for me. :)

Getting my Martha on:)

I've been in the crafty mood lately. I made these little goodies for Dominic's teachers for Valentine's day. He has two teacher and two assistants. Hope they enjoy the shabby-chic-homemade-look:)

They were super easy and cheap! The little blocks are left over from my Dad cutting me a billion at Christmas to make some ornaments for my Mom…the picture frames were on clearance at Target for $1.74 or something. I got the vinyl but still have a ton of that left.

Maybe someday I'll decorate my own house instead of just giving away everything cute I make!

All about me:)

I am kind of digging this updating my blog thing. It's so much more substantial than facebook. Tonight I am going to write a little bit about myself. I went to an Enrichment meeting tonight and a very dear Sister gave a "fireside" type lesson. It was pretty cool…probably mostly because it counted as some alone time for me. (Love that my hubby knows that is an important thing and never gripes when I need it!)

Anyway…she is a marriage and family therapist. She is just interesting. She taught us this technique that gets both sides of your brain working together to cope, deal, etc. with situations. So, I struggle with Dominic in the morning, and I am going to try it to see if it helps.

It was also on self-esteem and self-worth, so I've decide to post about myself tonight:)

Okay, on to some ramblings about myself…

1. I love food. I just ate some red peppers and dip and it was just about the best thing I every put into my mouth. I enjoy cooking when I have a clean kitchen and hope to one day have a bigger kitchen with more counter space. But mostly, I love food. All types, everything. I love home cooked meals as well as eating out. Lately, I like to only go to dine sans children. Not that my kids are bad, just too much money and anxiety with the whole family.

I like healthy food and unhealthy food…I don't discriminate:) I would rather run ten miles than deny myself food or whole food groups for that matter. I don't think I would be a successful dieter. EVER. I try to develop the mantra of making better food choices…

2. I joke around about having adult ADD, but seriously, I think I have it. I like to bounce from project to project and keep things new and fresh. I start something and sometimes never finish, or finish right away. It's kind of a problem:)

3. I am perfectly happy being a wife and mother. I think it took working really hard for what seemed like many years to fully appreciate my divine role in life. I think if I would have gotten married and had kids first, before working full time I might have had a grass is greener attitude, but when I worked, my job was stressful to me. It was in sales. My "bosses" wanted to see performance and money. I worked with many wonderful people, but I also worked with people that were pretty slimy. There is not a day goes by that I don't sincerely thank Heavenly Father for being able to stay home with my kids. I still have dreams and border-line panic attacks about working.

4. I am fiercely loyal. I don't do well when people speak ill or find fault with people or ideas that I hold dear. That can be an admirable quality, but it's also caused me to get myself worked up over things that I should let go of. The closer the person or idea, the greater it affects me:)

(Speaking of fiercely loyal and work, today I was helping in DD's classroom and some girl comes in to take his yearbook make-up picture. I immediately was on edge because I knew they weren't printing their yearbook through the company I used to work for. I wanted to join the PTA just so I could take over and make a good looking yearbook and print it with Herff Jones… I've got problems, I know!)

5. I'm not a fan of negative people. I sometimes get physically ill because of contentious people.

6. I am not a morning person. My kids are all really good sleepers. I am so grateful for that.

7. I try to keep an eternal perspective on things. I am not always great at it, but I try.

8. Brad and I have a very different sense of humor. He has one, and I don't:)

9. I think Brad has character. I admire that so much in him. I used to be an avid listener to Dr. Laura. I really liked her show. At first I thought she was super harsh and almost rude to people. But the more I listened, the more I understood whet she was saying. She wanted people to develop character. Brad has that. It's being who you are no matter who is watching. It is not being worried about other people, but doing right because it's right and having those conviction no matter what. I love that Brad helps people because it's his personality. And he does so quietly. He is kind even if people are a little annoying. I'm pretty sure that's why he's my hubby, because I have a lot to learn in that department. He is calm, and I need that.

10. I like to shop. I could spend hours at Ross, Marshall's, Home Goods, Kohls, anywhere. Just looking. It's so relaxing to me. I love looking at things. I love it even more when I am with my sister(s) and/or sister-in-law(s). I don't even really have to buy stuff. I just love to shop.

11. I really wish I had someone I could call up during the day and hang out or be crazy with me and drag all our kids to Target to shop, or go to the park, or library or come over and craft, etc. I have friends, but I get too nervous to call people up to do dumb things spontaneously. I loved when my sister lived here and would call me to go to Kohls at 8:00 p.m. It is one of my fondest memories!

12. I used to and might still do have a little complex about being okay at a lot of things but not being really good and a few things…dumb and confusing, I know. I don't feel like elaborating right now…

13. I am trying to enjoy little moments more. Today, my sweet little Jade told me she wanted to be a mommy when she grows up. She wants five babies and to push them in a stroller…love it! Today Dominic and I were playing Super Mario Brothers, I kept overreacting and getting all ticked (jokingly) when I died…I think he was getting a kick out of it. And Hudson, love his cute little way he bobs his head to music and dances.

Okay…wrote enough about myself for a few years:) I'm sure many of my thoughts are pretty universal to mothers/women/sisters/girls. :)

Okay, to have my face this big scared me a little, so I moved the pic to the bottom of the post:)

So I was reading some older blog posts of mine the other day and decided that if nothing else, I love reading about my kids and their cute little quirks and mannerisms at the time. With my Adult ADD I have a hard time focusing on one thing…so sometimes my scrapbooking is really great, and sometimes it seriously lacks:)

So update on the kiddos -

Dominic

For Chirstmas, DD got a Wii. Life hasn't quite been the same! He loves to play SuperMario Brothers. I thought he would never love anything as much as Diego…but it appears he has traded in Baby Jaguar and Rescue Pack for Mario and Luigi.

He is in the pre-k program at the school he is zoned for kindergarten. He has two really sweet, yet firm teachers that have been teaching for like 25 years. I have helped a few times and am extremely impressed with their structure and patience! The classroom runs like clockwork! They encourage imaginative play and everything is about vocabulary and the children communicating effectively with one another. I think it is pretty awesome. I can see tremendous growth in Dominic. It was pretty cool in his "parent-teacher conference" back in Dec. his teacher showed me examples of things he knew/wrote etc. in September vs. what he was doing now. It was wonderful to see the progress. I, of course, think he is one smart little guy, but it's nice to hear other people think he is smart too.

He loves to play with his cousin Lukey. Yesterday we went to Sara and Mike's for dinner. Luke wasn't home yet. Dominic sat looking out the window watching for Luke. He often saves treats and things he gets to share them with Luke.

He also has this neat little bond with Hudson. He is very protective and good to him. I hope that is always the case and they are always super close.

Dominic has also gotten in habit of wanting to share his testimony of fast Sunday. I am in that place where I am torn because I want it to be appropriate, but I also want him to have confidence and always have the desire to share his testimony. So we are 2 for 2 so far in 2011…which means I go up there with him, which means I bear my testimony too. So I suppose he is gently pushing me to be a better person.

Jade

Jade is one funny little girl! First of all, she is completely girly-girl! In fact, I just went through her clothes today and got rid of almost everything that wasn't dress. She loves dresses and that's what she wants to wear. Every. Single. Day. Not just dresses, fancy ones that spin and twirl like Taylor Swift. Speaking of Taylor Swift, she has a nit of an obsession with her too. Loves her music and knows all the words to pretty much every song. She also loves make-up. She asks me to put it on her every day when I'm doing mine. She isn't satisfied just just some shimmer on her cheeks either. She wants mascara and eyeshadow and base. Oh my…did I mention she's 3! I love that when I tell her she is cute or beautiful she giggles and says, "I know." I hope she always thinks she is beautiful. The world would have a lot less problems if more girls believed they were beautiful:)

Jade has shown an interest in the computer. She loves to get on PBSkids and NickJr. She likes to play with barbies and babies and loves to play outside too. She got a kitchen for Christmas and likes playing house with it.

She is a very verbal kid! I can't remember when she didn't talk! But a while ago she started talking in this "baby voice." It was driving me nuts! I can't even explain it, but it was like another language. Then one day I heard her talking to Brad. They were both talking like that. It kind of cracked me up and made me furious all at the same time. Now we all say "Dadoos" as kind of a joke. Funny enough, when we were all joking around about it instead of me getting angry with her, she stopped doing the "baby voice." Isn't that how parenting goes? The things you think are SUCH A BIG DEAL at the time turn out to be nothing.

Jade also loves to help clean if she's helping me. Leaving her alone to clean something up in her room, not as much. But supervised, she can be a huge help. She was loading the washer for me today, wiping down chairs and putting away clothes. I'll take all the help I can get, thank you:)

We love our little Jade. It is such a different experience her being a girl. She is definitely more emotional. When Jade gets in trouble, I can just spat her on the bum, not even hard, and she loses it. Whereas Dominic can seriously gets spanked until my hand is throbbing and laugh. Proof that you have to tailor your discipline to each child.

Hudson

Okay, what can I say about this little guy and his infectious smile and laugh? He is talking up storm. I'm sure what he says isn't clear to everyone, but to me, the toddler whisperer, it is pretty darn clear:) I have to say, the funniest is when he farts, laughs and says "far-t" TMI, I know, but pretty stinkin' funny:)

He eats all the time. He loves foods. All kinds of food. Today he ate an entire pumello. What's a pumello you ask? It's a big grapefruit looking thing only not as sour, more sweet. He loves them. I can't section them off fast enough. He also loves his chocolate milk. There are days when I think it might be cheaper and more convenient to have a dairy cow in my backyard. I don't think I noticed the increase in food that much with just two kids, but three seems like I am at the store every other day replacing the staples…milk, bread and eggs:)

Hudson has got this nickname, "Roonie." It started as Buster, then Buster-roonie, now affectionately shorten to just Roonie.

He loves music. The other day when he woke up he has two pacifiers in his hands and was singing, "Sa-she, sa-she, na, na, na." It was pretty cute. He love to dance and bob his big ol head to any music.

They poor little guy went from having like 4 teeth to every single tooth coming in at the same time! His little gums are so swollen right now in the back. I feel bad for him because he will take my finger and stick it in his mouth and try to bite as hard as he can.

He still has his cute little dimples…he is daring and has no fear. He falls down, cries, and gets back up and is trying to climb something again! He is the "climber" in nursery. He is always on top of the tables. I have to put all my chairs on top of the table or he is climbing up on it every chance he gets!

Okay, that should do it for some documentation:) As for me and Brad… we are loving having Brad home more often since he passed all of his CPA exams! We are very excited that HUGE weight has been lifted off our shoulders! His bosses are signing off on his hours and his stuff goes before the board in March. YEAH! We are hoping for some new opportunities soon.

He has been able to relax somewhat, watch a little TV, spend time with me and the kids, go to FHE, and work out again. He also managed to beat Super Mario Brothers after one week. Dominic was so proud:)

Me, I have been attempting to keep our house cleaner. I have been trying to dedicate every Monday to laundry. I usually do every speck of laundry and whatever else I can get done. Today it was steam mopping floors and cleaning the kids' drawers out. My house is by no means clean, but much better than it has been.

I also have been busy with photography stuff. This past fall was super busy, but we are super grateful because we were able to have extra Christmas money. I love it. I also love crafting in general. I got a sewing machine for my birthday and finally took it out of the box on Saturday! I made Jade a little dress. I am excited to learn more and take on more projects!

Fun Halloween banner

I made this cute little Halloween banner the other night. It was so simple.

Cut some tags from my cricut, used some paper fan things left over from Hudson's b-day party, cut out letters from my cricut on the super cute glitter paper from Target. Hung over my "spooky" fireplace. (The thing really is spooky in more ways than one…) That's it.

15 months already?

Buster is 15 months old today! He is turning into a little stinker too. A dang cute stinker with his big 'ol dimples and gorgeous blue eyes. He is really moving. He looks pretty funny walking on those twiggy legs of his, but he is getting more and more comfortable doing it everyday. But being in no hurry to walk has not stopped him from climbing on things. He climbs on everything. Most are dangerous, the rocks, the "lunchroom" table, chairs in nursery, etc. He thinks it is especially funny to climb on things, look for my and wave his finger up at down (like he is saying, naughty, naughty, naughty.)

In the last couple of days he has taken to chucking things as hard as he can. Tonight it was water bottles. Earlier at the library, it was books. Sure hope he is going to use his amazing skills as a baseball player or something:)

He loves balls. I mean seriously, the kid would be happy with a room filled with balls. I have found him a several times laying under the changing table surrounded by his bouncy balls. Do I have a picture of it, no.

He loves the bath, he loves to eat and he is finally starting to become a good sleeper. He loves his brother and sister. He waves to everyone and says something that sounds like bye-bye to me. He is such a sweetheart.

And with his continued love of food, he is chunkin' up and and just might grow into that dome of his;) Love. This. Kid.

Today's edition of gratitude

Two posts in a row: WORLD RECORD!

Today I was grateful for naps. (Although I wish I could count myself as one of the nappies…)

Jade was having a rough day. She had a meltdown at my friend Janine's, she had a poo and pee accident resulting in two cold showers. She was basically a mess. So after the second cold shower, to bed she went. Nestled in her crib with her "pacifier blanket" and pillow sweet sleep brought peace to the house and peace to my little girl having a rough day. She woke up refreshed and in a much better mood. I was too.

General Conference

I was inspired by the talks given today and yesterday by our great church leaders. I look forward to rereading them in the Ensign online so I can fill in the gaps I missed taking Jade to the potty, making sippy cups, cleaning up, etc.

In a world with so much turmoil and sadness, immorality and filth, political opposition, greed, pride and selfishness, how comforting it is to listen to men and women who radiate and preach such hope, love and comfort. It gives me hope that there are good people all over who want a good world for their children to grow up in, and that makes me happy.

It's like the most t.v. I've watched in a long time:)

I was especially happy to see Dominic listen to a few talks while filling out his little word bingo card from primary. He carefully listened and check marked gospel words during a few talks. (Hey, he's 4…a three-talk attention span is nothing short of a miracle in my book!)

Well I want to be more grateful. Too many times I catch myself wishing, wanting and aspiring for more. That is okay sometimes. but I also recognized that I need to be grateful for the present. So I am going to strive to be grateful. And unlike my normal ADD self that has a tendency to do a million things at once…that's it. I am going to be more grateful. I think that alone will help many more things fall into place. And since everyone has basically left blogging for facebook…I'm pretty sure I can post my gratefulness as I please:)

And I'm going to list, because that's how I roll:

1. I am grateful for the gospel. It's a scary thing in life to not have a foundation. One that answers all the important questions. I have that. I know who I am, where I came from and where I am going.

2. I am grateful for my family. With every rear I wipe, and cry I quiet, I know I am needed and loved. I have a loving, compassionate, funny-as-heck husband that treats me well and loves and provides for our children. I know that he is working towards our eternal marriage just as much as I am. And that feels good.

Okay…those are the big ones for tonight. The two that are always mentioned in my prayers. There are many more, obvious ones. And some not so obvious. But here's to being grateful! I hope if you are reading this…you will find some things to be more grateful for…