I think I can hear angels singing...

Real quick...just a minute ago we were getting ready to go to a birthday party. Jacob says, "Mom, I really like listening and doing what I'm told." I said, "why is that?" "Well because you don't yell at me as much and I get more privileges and I can choose to do more stuff." Hello!!! Can I just say that hearing him say that was music to my ears. Hopefully his new philosophy on life will last!

By the way, I didn't shower today until 3 pm!

Just a quick note...

I'm online and I thought I would just share that it is 1:04 pm and I have not showered yet. Do you know how happy this makes me? This used to be a common occasion but has not happened in a long time, I love it!

Silent Auction

Last night the youth and scouts of the ward put on a silent auction/spaghetti dinner. We had so much fun! One of the silent auction items was: 4 Dallas Mavericks (basketball for those of you who don't know who the Mavs are), 1 platinum parking pass, and dinner for 4 at the Platinum Club. The value of the package is $800!!! Kevin decided that we wanted them. The problem was that he had bid on a lot of other items. Luckily he began to be outbid and all was well. The bid on the Mav tickets kept increasing. So my friend Robin Edward came over to me and said we want the tickets too, there are 4 so lets bid higher and we'll split the cost. OK! After being outbid a few times we won the tickets with a bid of $130, which is only $65 dollars for us. We are so excited, it should be a fun date night with the Edward's. I don't think I could go to a real auction. Just waiting by the auction sheet to see if we would win, ready with pencil in hand to up our bid if anyone dared (he he he) to outbid us, it was all very exciting! Anyway, to the people of the ward who put this all together you guys did a great job!

P.S. Thanks Wendy and Hilary we too are now addicted to Webkinz, we love it!

Peterson Happenings

What's Your True Color?

My Result: Green

You're green, the color of growth and vigor. Good-hearted and giving, you have a knack for finding and bringing out the best in people. Green is the most down-to-earth color in the spectrum — reliable and trustworthy. People know they can count on you to be around in times of need, since your concern for people is genuine and sincere. You take pride in being a good friend. For you, success is measured in terms of personal achievement and growth, not by status or position. Rare as emeralds, greens are wonderful, natural people. It truly is your color!

What are you?
http://web.tickle.com/jumpto?test=colorogt&c=50652

What's new this week?

Jacob has his first loose tooth, well actually 2 now. I was beginning to wonder if he was ever going to loose a tooth. I told him to keep playing with them so they will fall out. The two that are loose are his bottom middle ones. If they both fall out at the same time it will be funny to listen to him talk. I just pray that he has Kev's teeth and not mine. I had braces and all kinds of problems with my teeth.

I am staying busy this week at work. I am in charge of teacher appreciation at the school so I have been putting an order together of gifts for the teachers and staff. I have also been calling all around town asking for donations from restaurants and stores. I am putting on a Easter egg hunt for them in March and then teacher appreciation week is in May. Hopefully both events will be a success.

I am also, with my counselors, putting together a primary activity. We want to involve the parents too, it will be a big undertaking but I think it will be a great activity. It is gong to be themed after The Friend magazine. Can I just say how much I LOVE my calling. I may have said this before on my blog. I love the children and I love the people I get to serve with. We just had our Great To Be 8 celebration on Sunday and it was awesome. I did a lot of crying on Sunday. Some days are just like that. It all started when I walked into the nursery and Brother and Sister Fisher had all of the kids sitting reverently in the chairs listening to a lesson, I started to cry, they were all just so cute! Then I had to speak in sacrament. I started crying during the sacrament hymn and I pretty much did not stop until after my talk was done. That is pretty typical of me though.

Here in TX they have companies that are going around trying to get you to sign a oil and gas lease on your land. They offer a signing bonus of about $1000 up front. Luckily when they came around I had talked to some people before about it and I knew not to sign. I went to a community meeting last night with neighborhoods close to mine. We are all coming together to get a fair offer, much more then $1000. Well my purpose in telling you this is they asked for a representative from each street. Guess who is their street rep? Basically nobody else from my street would do it so it's me and Kev going door to door to inform everyone. The more we get the better deal we will have. There are about 4 or 5 other neighborhoods with ours. We went door to door this afternoon and met a few people. Can I just say there are a few homes on my street that stink when you go to the front door. I would hate to know what they smell like on the inside. We did enjoy meeting some of our neighbors though, and the weather was beautiful.

Is this considered my journal, sure why not?
I love what Hilary said her blog was to her somewhere between a journal and a scrapbook. I guess there is a website out there that will print and bind your blog together for you, what a great idea! I am not a good journal writer and I know I need to be, so I feel like this is a good starting point. Maybe I will have it printed and bound once a year and have a journal.

Blah, blah, blah, I think I have gone on long enough for the day. I hope everyone who reads this is doing well! I love you all!!!

No more painting for a long time!

All the painting I wanted to do is done. It only took a year to get everything painted they way we wanted it! Here is our bedroom. (Thanks mom for the amazing quilt and shower curtain!) Next thing on the list is to change all of the brass in our house to brushed nickel, we've done a few things but we still have a lot to do. I love having a house and getting to do whatever I want to it, we're having so much fun.

ABC Tag

Thanks Hil for the tag, here it goes...

A- Attached or single: Attached for eternity!

B- Best Friend(s): Kevin & all members of the Girls Camp "Click" (you know who you are!) and Jess too!

C-Cake or Pie: Cake with ice cream

D- Day of Choice: Any day Kevin is off of work and Sundays.

E- Essential Item: Cell phone and eye brow pencil.

F- Favorite Color: Yellow

G- Gummi Bears or Worms: Bears

H- Hometown: Redlands, CA

I- Indulgence(s): Ben and Jerry's Half Baked ice cream

J- January or July: Ahhh...that is hard, I'm going to go with July.

K-Kids: 2 - Jacob and Breanna

L-Life is incomplete without: my family and the Gospel

M- Marriage Date: July 10, 1999

N- Number of Siblings: 9 (Vinny, BJ, Serene, Kathleen, Toli, Natasha, Derrick, Ala, and Olya)

O- Oranges or Apples: Gala Apples

P- Phobias or Fears: Not being able to have more children.

Q- Quote(s): When life is too hard to stand, kneel.

R- Reason To Smile: My wonderful family!!!

S- Season: Fall, it is my favorite but summer is a close second.

T- Tag Six: Tara, Torrie, Wendy, Stacie, Mom, and Megan

U- Unknown Fact About Me: I used to bite my toenails when I was a child, ewwwww!

V- Vegetarian or Oppressor of Animal: Oppressor of Animal!

W- Worst Habit: Picking my nose and eating it (JUST KIDDING!!!)

X- X-Rays or Ultrasounds: Ultrasounds (as long as it is not a vaginal one, those are not so fun)

Y- Your Favorite Food: Ice Cream

Z: Zodiac: Scorpio (November 16th)

Kids Say The Darndest Things

This morning on the way to school Jacob was explaining to me that the people he had drawn on his hand the day before were dying. This was because the pen mark was almost gone. He asked me for a pen, I didn't have one. I told him all I have is a mechanical pencil and it won't work, it won't show up on your hand. He begged and pleaded with me, like usual. I told him that the conversation was over and he said "I want a lawyer." A what??? I laughed so hard! He is always using big words in the wrong context but this time he kind of got it right. I told him that he can't have a lawyer and then he asked what do they do anyway. I told him that they defend people. Later that day I was telling his teacher about it and wondering where he came up with this. I guess yesterday in class they were talking about Abraham Lincoln and somewhere along the lines they talked about lawyers. I just thought that I would share our funny moment today. Jacob is always making us laugh!

I hate paying bills!

Ok I'm sitting here blogging rather then paying my bills. It's not even that I have to hand over most of our money to so many people it's that I hate the process of doing it. I used to be really good and I would have my checkbook balanced almost daily. Well then work happened and now I have a pile of 20+ receipts that I have really no desire to go through. I also have a stack of mail to go through. Well now that I have complained long enough I should quit complaining and be thankful that we have money to pay the bills, right?

Finally some kind of answer.

When I went to the doctor on Jan. 21st they took like 7 or 8 viles of blood. Last week I got a postcard from the doctor saying everything was fine, I thought that meant for all the tests. Well my doctor's nurse called me today to inform me that I have polycystic ovarian syndrome or disease (PCOS). This makes so much sense to me! I looked it up online and I have about 7 of the 15 symptoms. I really did not want anything to be wrong with me, but it is nice to finally have an answer to why I have so many problems "down there," (as my English friend calls it my nether region, sorry for the tmi :) Basically right now I just have to keep working on losing the extra baby weight and the extra weight from eating whatever I wanted for the last year. I go and see my doctor on June 23rd so hopefully by that time we can figure out exactly what we need to do to get pregnant again. Right now I'm not too much thinking about getting pregnant, that will do me no good. If it happens it happens. The fact that we ever got pregnant with Breanna is an absolute miracle with me having PCOS and with Kevin's brain tumor which effects his hormones. She definitly was and is a blessing in our lives.

My sister Serene wrote this for me...

After Breanna died Serene wrote this beautiful poem for me. She is so talented. Those of you who live here have read it but many of you never have so here it is. (You may want to get a tissue before you start.)

A Child Once Loved, Never Lost

Two bright eyes that never saw the light,
Full of hope for this journey on earth.
Two tiny hands not exposed to touch,
Not stained by life to portray their worth.

One would say what a loss there has been,
And it's true; a precious life we have lost.
But the child was too perfect for life here with us,
And for this her family paid the cost.

Her mother was the tool she needed,
To gain a body, fulfill the law.
Because of you she has succeeded,
To do the work our God foresaw.

The child's two eyes now view the heavens,
Searching and doing our God's great works.
Soon two hands will reach from two arms,
Welcoming you who provided her birth.

When finally together in heaven you'll be,
And to her sweet mother she'll softly say:
"Thank you for life and all of your love.
It's your love that helped me succeed up above.
To you I will never be lost."

Pinewood Derby

The Badger

Jacob decided to name his car "The Badger." This came after he was watching a show about badgers on Animal Planet. He designed the car and picked out the colors. He told Kevin exactly how he wanted it. He did not participate in the actual races. The younger kids raced afterwards. He had so much fun though. His car came in first 3 times and in second a few times. When we got home he proudly displayed his car in his bedroom. He can't wait until he is 8 so that he can be a cub scout and participate in the real derby. He tells me that he wants to earn badges for his uniform. We had a lot of fun this morning. I love seeing Jacob get so excited!

I Love Blogging!

I remember when I first started hearing the word blog. I had no clue what a blog was. I am having so much fun working on my blog! Just in the last 2 days I have added a slide show and music. Anyway, I'm having fun doing it. Yeah tomorrow is Friday! I have to go to the church and help decorate for the pine wood derby and then on Saturday be there at 7:45 am to help with the derby. I am taking care of the weigh in table. This is Jacob's first pine wood derby so he is really excited. He doesn't actually get to compete yet because he is just a Tiger Cub but they are going to have an extra track set up for Tigers and siblings. He designed his car, I'll have to post pictures later.

I Have The BEST Friends In The World!!!

Last night Courtney, Hilary, and I went for our yearly pedicures. Last year we went on Jan. 18th because that was the date of my scheduled C-Section with Breanna. So this year they wanted to take me again. So sweet! The day started of with Court bringing me donuts and juice to school :). They were super yummy. We had so much fun getting the pedicures that we decided that we should go once in the summer together. We also decided that we need a girls weekend to Hot Springs, Arkansas to go to the bath houses and get massages, pedicures, and manicures. Sounds like a plan to me!!! That then developed into a couples weekend. So this summer it sounds like we are going (no kids) to Arkansas for a few days, that will be so much fun!!! I truly have the best friends in the world and feel so blessed to have them, I love you guys!!!
I posted a few things on Craigslist today and I am hoping they sell. I already have plans for the money (I want to finish my bathroom with paint, window treatment, new towels and rugs). Hopefully since it is Saturday somebody will buy it! I'm looking forward to today, we have no plans. That has not happened in a long time. Maybe I'll head over to my mom's to "help" her make a scripture bag for Jacob. Let's be honest I'll watch her make it after I have picked out the fabric. It's finally cold here and I love it! I just wish I could find my matching hat and scarf I think I will have Kev look in the attic it has to be there because I can't find it anywhere in the house. Well everyone have a great weekend, stay warm!

Jacob Tells Us Something We Don't Know...

So after family home evening on Monday we were talking and Jacob mentioned that we are going to have 3 more children in our family. Kev and I were like what??? He said ya we are going to have 3 babies, 2 girls and 1 boy. Kevin said maybe he knows something we don't. Then Jacob said I heard mom talking about it. Oh darn, I thought he was telling us something that we didn't know. Nope he has just heard me talking about wanting triplets. I figure why not... with us not getting pregnant very easily I figure 3 in one shot would be fun, ok maybe just 2. Anyway, it was funny to hear him say that, it confirmed to me that he is always listening to what we say. I go and see my doctor on Monday I think we are ready to try again. I'm so scared but I think I always will be. I'm going to just tell Dr. Greve to pump me up with fertility medication and see what happens, he he he. Well it's time to read books and then watch American Idol. Oh ya, if you're wondering why my blog looks different every time you look at it, I'm trying different templates out.

So, So, So

My last three blogs started with "so" because of this I will try not to use "so" so much! Well this was my first week of subbing in OCS. I did take off yesterday which was nice. Kevin and I spent the day together. His mom came out to spend the afternoon with us. My mom, my mother-in-law, Kevin, Jacob, and I went out to Breanna's grave. My dad, Cheryl, and Derrick had flowers delivered which were so beautiful. Courtney had taken flowers up the day before and brought us breakfast yesterday. The Allen's brought a beautiful card and a pink rose. I did pretty good yesterday until someone would ask me how I was and then I would start to cry. Yesterday was just one of those days that we had to get past. I can't believe it has been a year, time really does go so fast. Thank you to all who called, came by, sent emails, or just had us in your thoughts I love you all! We have the best friends and family.

When I was talking to Hilary on the phone she asked me how school was today. The day and week were pretty good. It did end with one child peeing their pants in their seat (a 5th grader). The other kids were so grossed out, luckily the janitor came quickly to clean it up and clean the carpet. Oh the joys of teaching! I really do love it though.

Life is constantly staying busy, which at this time in my life I think is good. I was called to be the Primary President in March so this is the first start of a new year for us. There is soooo much to do with the beginning of a new year in primary. I love it though! A lot of the primary kids got up to bear their testimony on Sunday and it just melted my heart. Then Jacob decided that for the first time he wanted to go up as well. He said mom I can do it myself. I walked up with him and he told me again mom I can do it. So up he went and of course I started to ball. It was a really neat experience. I love seeing him learn about the gospel. I can't believe that in a little over a year he will be getting baptized, that really makes me feel old.

Being on the PTA board keeps me busy too. I am the person who does Teacher Appreciation, I love it. The teachers are so appreciative of all we do. I am thankful that Jacob is at such a great school with great teachers.

Ok, I think I have blabbed on enough. I hope everyone has a great weekend!

So a last week Jacob decided that he wanted to make a "Triple Goober Berry Sunrise." This was an ice cream concoction that Patrick and Sponge Bob ate at the Goofy Goober place. Anyway, here is what our version looks like.
Jacob ate some of it, but after a while he got kind of sick and could not finish it. Do you think we might watch a little too much Sponge Bob?

So here is all the hard work that went into Jacob's room. I don't think the pictures do it justice. It took ALL day, but Kev and I had fun and Jacob loves it, so that is all that matters!

My cute mom in Jacob's swinging chair.

The Painting Is Complete!!!

So it took Kevin and I all day to paint Jacob's room. Never paint with red. We did the bottom third of the room red. First you prime, then paint, then paint again. And in between you have to let it all dry. I like just painting one color and finishing a room in a couple of hours. It looks great though, I'll post pictures when we get the furniture back in place. We still have to buy and put up the chair railing, that is for another day though. It's so fun doing stuff to our house, I love it! The AP at Jacob's school asked if I would like to take a full time sub job for OCS (on campus suspension). I decided it would be a good idea and I said yes after talking it over with Kev. So I start Monday and will do it until the end of the year. I'm excited for the income, it will definitely help us. All I have to do is sit in a room with the kids that are in trouble, usually just a couple, and make sure they do their work. On days when there are no kids in OCS I will help out around the school with whatever is needed, like tutoring. I'm excited, it will be a little boring, but I can read and work on stuff that I bring with me. I will be just down the hall from Jacob's class. He loves when I'm at his school. I'm looking forward to it, it should be great!

Happy New Year!

I can't believe Christmas has come and gone. This year has just flown by. That's probably a good thing! I'm looking forward to the new year and new goals. 2007 started off really hard for us but there were many blessings that came as well. I can't believe that in a week it will be a year since we lost Breanna. I'm hoping that Jan. 10th won't be hard for us, but it probably will. I still think about her every day and I truly feel blessed to be her mom. I know that she is happy and safe. Jacob drew a picture about her and we hung it in the kitchen. It's really cute. Christmas was amazing. It was so nice to spend it relaxing in our own home. Last year we moved in on Dec. 23rd so it was a little chaotic. I loved decorating for Christmas. It's all taken down now and I've had fun spending my Christmas money doing some decorating around the house. We painted our bedroom and my mom is almost done with our quilt. I can't wait to see it all together. We will be painting Jacob's room tomorrow. He is really excited to have his room done. I'll have to post pictures once everything is complete. The weather is pretty nice. It got down into the 20's last night but is supposed to warm up into the 50's today. We are going to go on a family bike ride today so that should be fun. I hope all is well with everyone. Have a Happy New Year!!!

Jacob's bike that Santa brought!

Another stuffed animal! Jacob loves stuffed
animals. His bed is loaded with them.

I love the look on his face in this one,
what is it...

A Transformer! Bumblebee! That was
not easy to find!!!

The drum set that Grandma Quinn,
Grandma Peterson, and Aunt
Olya got Jacob for Christmas.