Memorial Day~

(This was taken of my brother at the local "Tea Party"... but I love that he is holding our flag so proudly...)

Memorial Day is fast approaching and I was reflecting on what we have done to celebrate it. I am staring at our trailer parked out front, which I will be loading all day long. Many celebrate it with the first major camping trip of the season. Sort of a summer-kick-off. We load up and head to the coast to camp and spend time together as a family. I don't think I have ever talked to my kiddos about the holiday and what it means to our country. This is going to change this year. My kiddos need to understand that these freedoms we enjoy don't come free. Many have paid and do pay the price for us to live in this country and enjoy all that we have.

Thank you soldiers (past and present), thank you families of soldiers and thank you to all that have died in the line of duty ~ protecting all that we hold dear.

Happy Memorial Day!

We will not forget...

Two years now but still hurts like yesterday~~~

Our last family picture before baby Onica was taken to Oklahoma...

(this is just a few hours before she left~hence the black circles below mine and Lance's eyes)
My little 'sweetness' ~ I love her so much.
For the last couple weeks with this "anniversary" looming into view I have been having panic attacks again wondering if she is happy, healthy and doing well. I wake up bawling and poor Lance doesn't know what to do to help calm me down.
(I'll 'worry' about her forever)

My favorite picture of Onica with Lance...


Fan-C was the little momma.
She loved to help take care of baby Onica.
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So this sweet bundle was taken two years ago. She is 2 1/2 years old now... but she will always be that sweet little nine month old they took from my arms.
My brain and heart are stuck ~ it is as if I lost a baby but there is no grave to visit...
I love you Onica Lynne ~ always!

Warning: Incoming TANK

This duckling is definitely giving me a run for my money. He is a very busy little man. Case in point, this picture is how his "photo shoot" went. I got maybe two pictures where he is just standing still.

My outlook on the Tank has shifted. We got news that he is probably going to require open-heart surgery at his wee age of 5 years old. He has a tear in his heart that they think just happened. They asked if he has fallen or crashed his bike or ran into anything lately... ummmm... all of the above! He is always in destruction mode... somehow he has torn a good size hole in his heart (probably just tore a murmur that was already there). He is sleeping a lot longer than most kiddos his age. He can't run very far and he won't ride his bike ~ he gets tired in one lap. So he drives his wheels...

I know that he drives me crazy ~ on a daily basis, but I don't want anything to happen to this one man wrecking ball. If you all could keep the Tank in your prayers ~ Thanks!

So the REALLY scary part is that he can't do much in his current state and that state is CRAZY. What is he going to be like when he is 100% again... pray for me too. :o)

The Zoo Crew's Spring Pics...

Fan-C is getting so tall that she now has to sit to fit with her siblings...

They are getting so big... craziness.

The Tank is starting school and Fan-C will now be gone for full days...

What will Tiny-T and I do with our one-on-one time?!? :o)

Spring ~ glorious Spring

To say that the weather is fabulous is a HUGE understatement. It is just gorgeous and I love the sun being out. We are soaking up some much needed Vitamin D. My kiddos are tired and filthy after running around outside and I love it. So much better than them sitting inside wanting to watch movies all day long. The rule is that when it is nice and sunny there is NO TV. The crew takes off outside and play until they are beyond tired.

I want this weather to just stay, no more rain... we've done our time.

Off to go and enjoy this weather~~~ Happy Sunday!

Easter Eggs and Precious Memories Don't Go Together~~~(well, maybe)

So every year I boil up eggs and prepare dye in their little flimsy plastic cups and then proceed to give the zoo crew a tutorial on where the dye goes and how to lower the eggs slowly... yadda yadda yadda. Then they drop the eggs into flimsy plastic cups from like a foot in the air so they keep their hands out of the dye, per their mother's tutorial, which sends dye flying in all directions and then let's just say... precious memories GONE!

2009 proved to move along this same STAINING path. I got the eggs boiled and cooled. Prepared the die ~ 10 cups worth so that there could be two ducklings on each set of color and we could just speed up the pain. Tutorial takes place, egg plopping commences and then the weeping, wailing and gnashing of teeth (all from Mommaduck) arrive. Just like clockwork.

The ducklings finish the dying and I put the eggs away to dry. Luckily for me and with the reminder from facebook friends, I have a healthy supply of Mr. Clean Magic Erasers. With all the stains now removed and after telling Fan-C for the tenth time that the leftover dye is not something we can 'save for next year', my house is dye-free once again.

Guilt washes over me and I come up with a plan to save the ducklings scraps of 'precious memories' and let them set up a picnic in the living room with a movie. The Tank wasn't convinced that this was on the up and up. He kept questioning me whether he could really eat in the living room, even after I handed him the popcorn and sandwiches. But, the movie worked. Everyone was cheerful once again and I was grateful to have the crew out of the kitchen and inquiring a million times when they could see their eggs again.

"Happy Easter!"

Look at the Tank's face, "Are you sure this is okay?!?"

Movie ends and the egg inquiring resumes. I pull out stickers from my file and let them decorate their eggs. No mess, no stains, no limitations...

if you want 100 paw prints on your egg, Go for it!

Precious Memories ARRIVE!


Fan-C with her cousin (I babysit her daily)

The girl's all concentrating on their egg art.
Best thing I did the whole day, cut the egg carton's in half so that everyone had their OWN six eggs to work with right in front of them. No territory wars!!!!
Ahhhhh, precious memories.

Easter is coming....er gone!

My Easter post and the saving grace of

Mr. Magic Eraser is on it's way...

(Just needing to find a second to get it on here~~~)

A bit of TEA ~ April 15th...

Lance and I went to the Lane County Tea Party held in Springfield.

We saw a lot of people and had a fun time standing up for our core beliefs.

This is my 'tea bag' poster that I held. I have more pictures from the event, I just haven't had a second to download them... they are coming. It felt so great to be standing out there in a very liberal county and let our voices be heard that we want to get back to the basics. The founding fathers had it right...

I Hope They Call Me On A Mission...

The primary kids were all "Called to Serve" during sharing time on Sunday. They got to choose where they were going to serve.

Tiny-T (with the help of her awesome Sunbeam teacher) chose El Paso, TX (where her daddy served, of course).

Fan-C chose Africa. She has been telling me this for about a year.

The primary presidency came over to tell me where the Tank was going to serve. He chose the ZOO. Hey, there is a HUGE surprise. So, they called him to the San Diego South ZOO Mission. He thought that would work just fine. :o)

post #100: Twilight~~~~

March 21st at midnight!

I've been rereading the series and am well into book #4 (again).

I am so excited~~~

Lance always asks what is happening to Bella and Edward like they are friends that we hang out with.

Just wait, less than three weeks and we WILL be hanging out with them... (via the DVD player)!

My Semi-Annual Run In With a 'Vampire'...

I had to go in this morning and have my semi-annual blood work done to make sure that my meds are doing their jobs. The tech was really nice and I know they have to do their job... but I KNOW which arm will give blood. My right arm has great veins but it won't let the blood flow... so I have always used my left and tell them that the left is the giving one. But without fail, the techs are just SURE that THEY will be the miracle worker who can make my right arm give. I had to put my foot down and tell her that I didn't have time for her to be a hero. Just stick me with the needle, take my blood and get on with it. I wish that doctors, nurses and other techs would trust the patient.

I really do KNOW my body better than you do and since I have given you no reason to doubt my integrity... just trust me.

It probably doesn't help that I have to go fasting to these appointments and I don't do well with this... I tend to get really cranky... more than usual ;o)

I'm gonna marry...

I got to teach the cute little Sunbeams yesterday. The entire class consists of my daughter, Tiny-T and one other little cute girl. Yeah, really tough, I know! We were talking about how each of them have an earthly daddy and a Heavenly Father too. While in the middle of our short lesson, Lance stuck his head in to 'check on us'. After he left, Tiny-T turns to her classmate and says, "I'm gonna marry my Daddy when I'm bigger." This child ADORES her daddy. The sun rises and sets with her daddy. She loves to sit with him, stand by him, hold his hand, help him outside, walk with him, make sure he is watching when she rides her bike and she HAS to eat dinner next to him every night. She always gives him hugs and kisses at night with an extra kiss on each of his cheeks. The only time I have seen her daddy trumped is when her Papa (Grandpa Lillie) is around. I told Lance to relish this and to never do anything that would make this little girlie not want to marry him someday. If Tiny-T finds a man half as wonderful as her daddy she will be one lucky woman!

But, you said....

While growing up, I remember my mother telling me that she hoped I got a kid just like me ~ something about 'pay-back'. I was a GREAT teenager... so hopefully that part will come true. But, my mother said I was HORRIBLE at nine years old. Fan-C is just very smart and ahead of the game on so many levels and I think she is heading into that world of the 'nine~isms' even at the age of six.
She asks TONS of questions and very eager to learn and willing to try ANYTHING (that can be good and bad). She posses one feature that I had and I remember my mother telling me drove her nuts... she is constantly saying, "But, you said... (fill in the blank)!" No, she doesn't just SAY this phrase she is always whining when she pulls out this phrase. Ugh... I don't like any conversation with her that begins with this phrase. She remembers EVERYTHING. I'm having to remind Lance that you can't just tell her something to 'pacify' her, she will never forget and trust me you are gonna have to 'pay up' one day.
Now, I do use her steel trap brain to my advantage sometimes too. She will try to conveniently forget all the things that don't quite fit with her ideal world and it takes her momma who posses the same 'gift' to help bring it back to her remembrance. I love her so much... she is a great gal and I am proud to be her momma. Remember that Fan-C~~~~

Ummm, Momma the crocodile misses me...

So, the Tank walks up to me and starts chatting about how much fun he had at the zoo last time (Fall 2007) and reviewing all the animals that he saw. I was half listening to him. When he starts his animal discussions they can be very lengthy and I just tune him out and say "Yeah, uh huh, and cool" in the appropriate pauses. So at a pause I say, "Uh huh" and he yells "(Fan-C) we are going to the zoo!!!!" This pulls me out of my zone and I immediately call him back over and ask why he is yelling out such a thing... he tells me that I just agreed to take them this Saturday. Ummmmm, my 'only-half-listen-fill-in-response' method did not work for me here. I tell him that we can't go this Saturday and explain that I didn't know what I was agreeing to and he just pulls out his sad puppy dog face and says, "Ummmm, momma... the crocodile misses me." Sheesh, how can I disappoint the Tank and the crocodile... I tell him that a zoo trip will be in our near future... which he then starts trying to nail down an exact date. Heaven help me... this child is gonna ask every day until we go... I better pull out the calendar and just schedule a date.

My favorite things about the beach....

#1 Being at the beach... I LOVE to be at the ocean and hear the roar of the waves and feel the wind on my face... you can scream and no one can hear you and yet it is the most PEACEFUL place for me (aside from the temple)



#2 Watching my husband with his children. Wrestling, teaching them to ride their bikes, running in the waves (pic below of Lance and Tank running waves... ), teaching them how to set up camp, reading them books, having the kiddos all want to pile on his lap...

#3 Lance wants to take me to Hawaii... someday. He lived there in his youth and then went to BYU-Hawaii before his mission. He has been with family since and he LOVES it. Why is this one of my favorite, since I am afraid to fly over the ocean and we could NEVER afford this any 'decade' soon? Because he loves it and wants to share it with his best friend, me. I know he loves me and Hawaii has happy memories for him that he wants to share with his love...



#4 I can walk on the beach for hours... put me on a track or walking down the block and ugh, I'm done really quick. But, put me on the beach and let me stroll... I love it.

All this talk of the beach makes me want to head over to the coast... maybe we will.

Milestone for our niece...

My niece Camryn just got baptized at the beginning of this year.

Eight years has flown by so fast and she has grown up to become a beautiful young lady. I remember the day she was born and now she is the oldest of four children...

Congratulations Cammy~~~~~

Here is her gorgeous white dress...

I wanna Rock!!!!

The Tank wants to be a rockstar!

New Year's Eve was spent at Shawn and Stephanie's house and they pulled out RockBand. We don't have any video games or Wii's or band equipment games, so my kids were very intrigued. The Tank just walked over and grabbed the guitar first and then took his turn with the sticks. He was really excited.
Stephanie (his Auntie) is standing so close so that she can do the bass drum pedal on the floor. The Tank is too short to man the drums and the pedal at the same time.

Rock on Tank man... Rock on!

Now, he wants that for Christmas... oh sheesh... the new lists have begun.

"I wanna be a dentist~~~~" sang in my best 'Little Shop of Horrors' voice...

Fan-C lost her first tooth.

Yep, she is six and finally has crossed

over to the Tooth-Fairy cycle.

Here is the problem. About six weeks ago she started complaining that her mouth hurt. I looked and didn't see anything and then like two days later a tooth was coming in... BEHIND all her other teeth. I freaked and went to get her to the dentist and the big snow of 2008 hit. Snow, ice and all the kids in tow.... not going to the dentist. Then my sister-in-law (dental hygienist) said that the dentist would just tell her to get the baby tooth out... soon. I told Fan-C to push on it with her tongue. She wouldn't. So, tonight I told Fan-C that I wanted to look in her mouth. I got my finger nail in between her teeth and just flicked it with my thumb nail and bam... it fell forward. I just grabbed it and out it came. She is flipping out and screaming because she can taste her own blood. I show her the tooth and she says, "The tooth fairy better leave me like $800 dollars. Cuz that hurt!" I told her the Tooth Fairy is dealing with a slumping economy and not to get her hopes up quite that high.

Here is the pic of the tooth that has grown in behind the hole that it should have been growing into... *sigh* I so wanted to avoid the orthodontist with my kiddos...

(fleck of color on the back teeth is from her vitamin)

The tiny tooth... I really can't wait to do that again. (hence the title of this post) I told Lance after I pulled it that I got such a rush, I should have been a dentist or maxillofacial dentist/ surgeon ...

Happy New Year...

Lance and Abran

We had a great New Year's gathering at Shawn and Stephanie's home.

Our youngest watched movies the whole night.

We got to visit with family before they returned to Texas and to ring in the New Year's together.

We send out our New Year's wish for you all....

May this be your best year yet!

To prosperity, posterity & love...

Stanley Christmas

Stanley Family Christmas 2008

This was the year to have everyone here in Oregon for Christmas. Even Santa makes a special appearance to see all the grand kids and to hear the final requests. He came to town to see the Stanley kids on December 23rd. We all go to Grandpa and Grandma's house and have pizza and then the big guy arrives...

Here are the Stanley MEN...

The Stanley WOMEN (along with one that we HOPE will join our ranks)

Santa's arrival... we all were singing, 'Santa Clause is Coming to Town'

Tiny-T was screaming when she was called up, but she calmed down and did put in her requests for 'brace-a-lets'... Santa is touching her, she's a wee bit stiff but calm. ;o)

The Tank was so amped to have the big guy here and he wanted his Barn...

Fan-C is our love bug. She asked for 'Cupcake Maker' and wanted to remind Santa that he needed to give the reindeer all the carrots this year. Last year he only took a couple, she leaves out NINE , one for each reindeer. He promised he would take them all and he did.

This is our oldest, Abran. Yep, even he got to sit on Santa's lap. It was great to see him for Christmas... he lives/works in Texas.

ALL the Stanley grand babies... Santa is buried under little ones in the middle.

Here is Grandpa and Grandma Stanley... the leader of all these wonderful people.

It was a Merry Christmas...