Funny things....

So I was trying to remember all the funny things my kids say. And I have to write this down. It is too good not to. We were at our Felkins family reunion and OakLeigh was talking to her cousin Justin. She told him that if she was in her human form she would eat him...WHERE IS SHE FROM? LITERALLY? HAHA Well then one Sunday we were in my parent's New Mexico sacrament meeting. OakLeigh was sitting in between Alex and Ella. During a quiet moment (of course) OakLeigh looks to the girls and tells them that if they ever step on a dead bird, the guts would squish between their toes! And the sad thing about that comment is, is that she has proof....So we were on our way to Four Corners to get some pictures. OakLeigh was in the car with my mom and again Alex and Ella. And my mom was being told all these funny things she said. And my mom says, "oh Oakie where did you come from?" And Oaks innocent and very serious reply was, "well one day my mom was digging a hole. And then she saw some hair in the hole. So she pulled it up and it was me!" Gotta love that girl. There really is NO OTHER like her on this earth. We are always told that she is going to give us a run for our money. Little do people know she is already giving us a run! But as ornery as she is, she has the sweetest spirit and the most love to give. At any given moment of the day she will stop playing horses long enough to hug me or her daddy and tell us that she loves us this much! (As she stretches her arms as wide as she can...) And when she gives you a kiss she will tell you it is a forever kiss. What a sweet, ornery little cuss that I wouldn't trade for the world! Then I have my Weylon. He is one hard working kid. He asked me the other day if he could help me clean house. I of course said, "heck ya" and told him he could mop the kitchen floor. It was pretty bad since we just moved into this house, and boxes and feet being drug across....and not to mention that the house has been empty for several years and had collected a LOT of dirt to it. Well he got the towel wet like I showed him and he mopped that floor better than I ever would have done it! Give that boy a job and he will do it at 120%. He will out work most teenage boys I know! But he can also whine more than any other 2 year old I know! (And the bad part is is he is 6!) But if he has a schedule and structure he does so good! Thats why I am so glad for school to start soon! He needs that schedule. He needs to have that structure that school can give him! Summer is great and I love my kids home, but they need school! I NEED SCHOOL! :) So one lesson Weylon learned tonight, if you are trying to learn how to break dance and get to kicky with your feet, you WILL in fact, give yourself a bloody nose! Poor kid. And that nose bled for a good hour. I hope it isn't broken. But I saw that foot fly up and saw it connect. I knew it would be bleeding! Now for our sweet little Memphis Miracle. He really is a light to our family. Anyone can be pissy and grumpy and he can walk in with his little smile and light up your world! He still won't talk other than he says, 'no no, momma, daddy, and whutts dat?" He will point at anything and yell "whutts dat?' It is so cute. OakLeigh was playing cowgirl a couple weeks ago. And she swung her rope and actually roped Memphis. She didn't know it did, but it went around his neck. But before I could jump up to rescue she took off and he FLIPPED. I thought for sure she hurt his neck. It did have rope burn but nothing serious. But he cried off and on all night long. And the next morning he wouldn't walk. And if you put pressure on his left leg he would scream. Well this went on for 2 more days and I decided to take him to the clinic for x-rays. Which was an awful experience. He screamed in that room and they made me stay in the hall. I cried out there for him...but the xrays didn't show any kind of break. But he is still limping. He wouldn't walk for almost 2 weeks. But thankfully he started to this week. NO MORE ROPING KIDS OAKLEIGH! :) And the oldest Savanna. She really is the greatest big sister. She is the most wonderful help to me ever. She will be the first to give love to someone who has been hurt. She will be the first to give hugs and kisses to her sweet Memphis boy. She plays with Weylon and OakLeigh even when she would rather watch tv or read a book. She has a heart of gold. She has been given a gift from her Father in Heaven of the most kind, caring, sensitive spirit. She always looks out for the underdog. She is so smart. She is already living a life and sharing her testimony in a way I wish I could. If it is her turn for family prayer, she puts a lot of thought into it. And always remembers to pray for someone who has been sick, or sad in some way. When I am in a bad mood (and sadly taking it out on everyone else) she will go in her room and say a prayer for me. And then come and tell me, and of course my heart will soften. Who can resist such sweet innocence and faith? The funny thing about Savanna is that she is the one who the word DRAMA was made for. She is full of it! She had a small mosquito bite and was scratching it. It turned into a small rash. She immediately thought she must surely have a horrible disease. And it took me a good 4 hours to convince her that it was a bite and only red because she wouldn't leave it alone! I love my children with all my heart. They are my world. I don't know how my life could ever be full without them. They and Brandon make me want to do better. They make me want to be better. I am forever in debt to my Heavenly Father for the trust and faith he has in me to be there mother.

SUMMER FUN 2012

WOW! I Can't believe my summer is coming to a close already! We have had a wonderful summer and so much going on! We had the Felkins family reunion in July in Lovell at Ryan and Amber's home. We all met on the 4th of July at Yellow Tail Lake just out of Lovell Wyoming. It was a great time!~ I love being with my parents and all my brothers and their families. All together we have 23 grandkids....and my kids were LOVING it. They had a ball. The older kids are such a great help and my OakLeigh latched onto Spencer and Justin and followed them everywhere they would let her. We had so much fun. Ryan and Amber went to a lot of planning for us. We had themes for each day. The first day was a fall theme of back to school. We had a Christmas theme which was everyones favorite. We spent that day at the church. We had a Christmas tree and every one drew names and we had to pick out a dollar store gift. It was AWESOME to see how much thought each person put into their gift even if it was from the dollar store. The best was when OakLeigh opened the gift from Hannity. She got her a princess puzzle. OakLeigh was so excited she ran right to her and gave her the biggest hug. It was priceless! It was fun to see what everyone could come up with. We also had a home cooked Christmas meal that day. With turkey, mashed potatoes and gravy, hot buttery rolls, green bean casserole.....and to top it off we got banana splits and a great Christmas video that Ryan had made. It was a wonderful day. The last day of the reunion we celebrated Easter and even had an Easter egg hunt for the little kids. It was nice to celebrate the reunion like this since we all live so far apart and rarely get to spend the holidays together. We also had a game night of the Price is Right. It was hilarious! I made it to bidders row but never got off of it. Thank you Ryan and Amber for all your hard work you went through for us to all have such an amazing time! Right after the reunion we drove Brandon home and left him there and mom drove with me back to New Mexico. It was a great trip! Savanna and Weylon rode with Pa and OakLeigh and Memphis with Nana and me. It was a good trip. We had so much fun at Nana and Pa's. They put up the swimming pool! Thankfully! As you all know NEW MEXICO IS HOT! Especially compared to Big Piney. We swam every day sometimes all day long. They also built a swing set and play house. My kids were in heaven! We also got to go to Albuquerque shopping for school clothes. That was fun but a LONG drive and by the time we were done shopping and home - I don't think my mom or I would have ever taken my kids all together again... It was fun to get to go to Granny's and spend some time with her and Jo. We got to have a great bbq at Wes and Jenny's and even got to see Uncle Jim! I LOVE UNCLE JIM! He reminds me so much of Popo. I love being around him. And Wes had Katie get out a horse and let OakLeigh fulfill a huge dream of hers. She got to ride! She is my horse girl. And you couldn't wipe that smile off her face if you tried. It was also great because a week before we came home Kel and Sara's family came. Savanna and Jackson hit it off. They were inseparable. It was so funny because they would walk around the house singing the same songs, laughing at the same jokes and watching the same movies. They even slept in the same bed. Weylon and Molly and OakLeigh had fun together. But my hooked at the hip Memphis didn't let anyone get to close until about the last 2 days. Alex and Ella and Lauren were a huge help to me. My kids LOVE them. In fact OakLeigh still cries at night for Alex. Alex let her sleep in the camper with her every night and she cuddled and loved on her. She will make such a wonderful mom someday! And of course it just wouldn't be the same if Kel wasn't making fun of me or if everyone didn't sit around and tell funny Erin stories. They are lucky I can laugh at myself as much as they can laugh at me! On the 2nd to last day we went to Four Corners and got pictures of all the kids in all 4 states. It was great but HOT! So then we left there and went to the rec center pool in Cortez. The kids had a great time! All except for Alex. She happened to slip and fall on the water slide stairs and really hurt her little elbow. So she and Nana left while we all swam. It was a great time! Another good thing we got to do was go spend the day with Grandma for her birthday. I am really glad we got to go since she was home alone that day. I took the kids to the store and Weylon and Savanna really looked long and hard before they picked out a gift for her. Weylon picked out a coffee mug. "Since grandma drinks coffee she will love this," Weylon said. And Savanna picked out a glass plate. It was clear. She thought "old ladies love clear glass mom". HAHA. We took her a cake and bought her Strawberry ice cream...(her favorite). I think that by the time we left several hours later she was pooped out! We also went to the beauty college in Farmington and all of us girls got pedicures. Savanna was LOVING this. She has wanted to always do that. OakLeigh had the giggles. They girls and Weylon also got haircuts. I went later on - WITHOUT KIDS--- and got my hair chopped off! Its the shortest it has been in YEARS! We had such a wonderful time and I hope my mom and dad know how much it meant to us to spend the month with them! And Brandon, what a good sport. He was stuck at home in our DISGUSTING rental home trying to endure being alone in that place was hard on him. I felt bad every day for him. But we came home and loaded up and moved a few days later! We are now in the best home we can find here and we are so happy! Goodbye and good riddance to that dump! I feel bad for anyone who rents that place. But I will say that we were thankful to find even that to live in when we moved here so that our family could stay together. After Brandon's accident we knew it was the best thing to do to keep our family together. So as awful as that house was, I am thankful for it for that reason! And now that we are moved into our new home, I even UNPACKED! Something I didn't do much of in that other house. I lived out of a box for the most part. It was that bad! Now school starts in 2 weeks and we will be starting a new chapter in our lives. Savanna will be going into 4th grade and Weylon into 1st grade! My little OakLeigh will be OakLeigh. She is hard to describe. There is no other like her. And my little Memphis is as spoiled as ever. We all love on him - and he knows he can get away with anything anytime. I will be doing daycare soon but only 3 kids. I don't want to do more than that. It will be refreshing to have a small load! And I will say that this break I have had from daycare since we moved here has been a wonderful break for me and much needed time for us to help our family adjust. Here are some pictures. Enjoy! Oh and I just got called as the Relief Society secretary. I was excited! Its the first town we ever moved to that I was NOT put right into the nursery or primary! This will be good for me!

This is Savanna getting her pedicure but before the haircut!

Here is Nana and OakLeigh getting a pedicure!

My little Memphis is getting tubes put in his ears just before the vacation.

Swimming at Nana and Pa's house!

More swimming at Nana and Pa's house!

Weylon the Pirate and OakLeigh as Rapunzel!

Here is Savanna and Memphis going for a horse ride!

Here is my horse girl! OakLeigh was so excited!

Weylon my cowboy!

Savanna riding by herself!

We were at the 24th of July parade! It was a great parade!

Adeltha flooded her yard! Mud swims are the best!

More flood swimming!

Mud and water! Good combination!

Who can resist taking a naked booty picture! Especially when they are such cute cheeks!

Here is Jackson and OakLeigh at 4 corners!

Again at the 24th of July celebrations! They had a lot of water fun which I LOVED! It cooled me off greatly!

A train ride at the 24th of July days!

Here is my haircut! I love it. I just wish I knew how to do it cute! Shortest I have ever had it in over 20 years!

Savanna, Molly, Weylon and Jack at 4 corners!

Savanna had to have her picture touching the 4 corners plate!

Alex, Ella, Lauren, Molly, Jack, Savanna, Weylon, Oaks, Memphis 4 corners

Alex, Ella, Lauren, Jack and Molly

Mitchell clan sweating it out!

All about Savanna!

I missed posting Savanna's birthday. So I am dedicating this post to our oldest sweet 9 year old! Savanna LOVES to read. So she got a kindle for her birthday. She read all day long...she also LOVES gum. She got a big thing of gum that had 200 pieces of gum and I think it was gone in 2 or maybe 3 days! Savanna is the sweetest most caring child you will ever know. She has a heart of gold. Sure she has her moments (she is a girl, we are made for drama I am pretty sure of)...But she will be the one the other kids go to when mommy is being mean. She comforts them and loves on them. She will always make sure they are ok. If I seem sad she will do something for me or just smile and hug me. Same for her daddy. She is such a blessing in our family. Here are a few pictures of her special day!~

Blast from the Past

So when we were at Ryan and Amber's house in Lovell for Maddie's baptism, mom brought a huge thing of all these old pictuers. I took all these to scan and walla, here they are. Its a blast from the past for some of us! Makes me miss the old times with all my cousins, aunts and uncles, grandparents....Miss being a kid again! Good times!

This first beautiful baby is ME! I am 6 weeks old. Then Betsy and Seth...and of course Nano and Papo.

Daylene, Erin and Natalie. We were at a Clawson family reunion. Momo and Papa. Natalie, Erin, Papa, Daye, Alan, Momo, Tyler, Julia, Bryce

Kileigh at a clogging competition, look at those LONG legs! Erin and Lexi and OT at the Manti temple.

Oh what a day!

Well what a day! And its only 9:37 AM! What the heck! So Savanna wakes up with a weird rash all over her body. She had it the other day and I took her to the doctor...Along with the rest of the kids. We have all been fighting a bad cold and cough. Well doc says its just a rash. It went away. But today was terrible. She ends up having fifths disease. No big deal. But Savanna is going through a few things right now. Everything is so DRAMATIC! SHE HAS A RASH..Which translates to Savanna, she is on her death bed! So anyways, she gets to celebrate her summer birthday with her class today. She she asked me to make pink cupcakes with pink frosting. Which I did. Last night after everyone went to bed. I was up until midnight because we live in such a great place and the stinking oven kept tripping off. Anyways, she was so excited. They turned out pretty darn cute. And Yummy! Because of course I had to sample one last night. It was midnight, I had the munchies. HAHA....Well we go to get in the car this morning to go to school and Savanna has both pans in her hands and TRIPS OVER THIN AIR~...It was in slow motion. The rubber made tote falls and splat. She looks at me and starts screaming NO NO NO! And throws the GLASS dish INTO THE AIR. Once she realizes that she did that she screams even louder and starts flailing her arms in the air. And my glass dish shatters to the ground. All cupcakes are ruined. Savanna's little heart is broken. But she feels worse for me cause she knows I stayed up late making them. So she falls to the ground crying how sorry she was. All I could do was hug her and tell her it was ok. (Because if anyone understands such grace...or the lack of grace...it is her momma!~) So the only store open in Big Piney at 800am is a gas station type store. Two boxes of cake mix and 2 tubs of frosting cost me $16.00! Sheesh! But I love my girl and so I am in the process of making MORE PINK CUPCAKES right now. So while I am making the cupcake mix up Memphis decides he can reach the table top. And he is standing up to it on his little tiny tippy toes and walking along it and grabs a pan of eggs from breakfast. He pulls it off the table. And sits in it. Eats a few bites, takes the bacon out of the pan and gives it all to Krypto (our superdog :). Pictures will follow because it was cute. So needless to say, I have a huge mess to clean up inside and still need to find a broom clean up the glass outside. But that will have to wait until Memphis is napping. We have been loving Big Piney. Savanna had a super hard time with the move. She has met with a counselor a few times and is doing WONDERFULLY now! Other than a few anxiety attacks here and there. She has been able to make it through a few weeks of school now with NO TEARS! YAY! I feel terrible as a mother that her pain is caused because we moved. But I know after prayers, Heavenly Father confirmed to us that this is were we need to be. It was a difficult move because we all had such great friends in Rozet/Moorcroft/Gillette areas. But when its right its right. And our house we live in now is a total mess. It has so many problems. The electrical is dangerous. The water machine actually got electrocuted. Thank goodness I could see the blue spark literally wrapping itself around the cord and jumped back. And thank heaven the kids were not by it. But it took the water bottle off the top! Brandon, MR. Fix it, is in the process of re-wiring ALL the electrical outlets. We found a home we can move into in August. We are praying that it works out. We went and looked at it last night. It is BEAUTIFUL!~ It is a 3000 sq ft home. There are 5 bedrooms, 3 bathrooms, family room and a living room, and a sitting room as you first walk in the house. It sits on 2 acres. And its would be amazing to live in! So we are praying that it will work out. I can live in this 'great' house we are stuck in now until August if I know there is an end to it! :) And as Savanna tells me, 'mom you should be thankful you even have a house to live in right now. As bad as you hate it, you should be thankful you are not in the streets." She is a wise child. I am thankful we are together here. I couldn't be a single parent in Rozet while Brandon worked up here. It would have been so hard on me and the kids. Especially after his accident. So I am thankful for this house, even though I could complain about it all day and night! :)

HAPPY 1ST BIRTHDAY MEMPHIS TREYNE!

One year ago today my sweet Memphis Treyne Mitchell was born!

I can't believe my baby is 1 year old today! He is growing way too fast! He doesn't feel too good tonight so he didn't want anything to do with his cake or ice cream. But happy birthday my sweet boy! I love you!!!