14 Years

Today is our 14th wedding anniversary! Is that really possible??? What a year this has been for us, and I can say without a doubt that we have only grown stronger through our trials. I am married to the man I was meant to be with, one who loves and supports me through all of life's ups and downs. Greg makes me laugh, helps me to remember what is truly important, and still loves me, despite my many weaknesses.

We were talking the other night, remembering that before we got married, we told each other "We know life won't be perfect, but we'll support each other through the hard times." You have no idea what that really means before you get married. In theory it sounds simple enough. But in reality, marriage is much more complicated. Thank goodness I married such a funny guy, that has helped me keep my sense of humor when I feel like screaming!
Enough rambling. I am the luckiest woman on earth to be married to my best friend, and I am looking forward to what the next year of this adventure brings for us. I love you , Greg!

Happy Holidays!

I don't think I've ever gone this long without posting. Sorry. For the first 10 days of the month I was not feeling the best. Then the busyness of the holidays descended and before I could catch my breath, it was over. I hope to have some pictures of the madness known as Christmas morning up soon. I got a new camera (thank you Santa!) and am still trying to figure it out. I am not that tech savvy, so it might be awhile.

We had a wonderful holiday season and hope you did too. More to come soon!

Look who's 4!

Seth turned 4 last Saturday! He was very happy to get his Trick Track, along with some other cool stuff. He wanted a Speed Racer party, so he had 5 friends over for an afternoon of fun. We had an obstacle course, as well as a race track on the table, drawn by Greg. The kids were so cute to watch. They had a ton of fun. I wish I had better pictures, out camera has been acting funny lately.

How we love our Seth. His infectious smile is hard to ignore. He brightens our days with his good humor and easy-going attitude. 'Chill' is the perfect way to describe our little man. He loves his brother and sisters so much, and he is definitely Daddy's little buddy. We are so blessed that he came to us.

Temples and Tombs

Hailey recently finished an extensive study of Egyptian history and culture. She did an in-depth report on mummification, and created a sarcophagus to go along with it, complete with a toilet paper wrapped Barbie. They also made death masks, as well as wrote their names in hieroglyphics.

They concluded the unit with a fun night called 'Temples and Tombs'. All of the student's projects were on display, and each of them dressed up in Egyptian costumes. (Luckily for me I have a neighbor that is an amazing seamstress, and she let Hailey borrow her daughter's costume.) They then presented their program, which consisted of each class singing a different song about Egypt and it's culture, and Hailey even had a speaking part. There are over 120 kids in 6th grade, and it was fun to see so many kids that Hailey has grown up with. These are her good friends Caitlin, Lisa and Sydney. She worked very hard on her report and projects, and I am so proud of her.

No news

I apologize for not posting about my doctor's appointments last week. I have been quite down and haven't wanted to whine to anyone. After all of the tests, they still can't find a reason why I am nauseous so much. They tested me for Celiac, and I'm not allergic to wheat. The doctor suggested I try a gluten free diet. I don't have any indicators that I'm allergic to it, but he said I might be sensitive to it. Gluten is in everything, so I told him I would think about it. If I am still feeling ill by the first of the year, I will seriously consider it. I don't really feel like it's that, but they are grasping at straws now. We've ruled out a lot of things that it ISN'T, which is good. I really felt hopeful that the Internist would have the answer. I have been trying to focus on having a good attitude lately, and I am hoping that will help me through the hard days. It's easy to give in to the hopelessness, but I don't want to. Pulling yourself out of your personal 'pit of despair' gets harder the more you don't resist.

Otherwise, life has been busy and insane around here. Would you expect otherwise, with all of these kids running around?

John Williams is the Man!

We've watched this so many times, we almost have it memorized.

Yawning and waiting

Life has been crazy here, as always. Anyone have any suggestions for helping an 18 month old sleep through the night? We're trying the 'cry it out' thing and it's not working. It's just making for a very tired and grumpy baby AND mom.
I have had an interesting few weeks. I saw my GI doctor and he basically threw up his hands and said he didn't know what else to do for me. Since my white blood cell count was high when I visited the ER, my lymph nodes were a little swollen, and my grandpa recently died of lymphoma, he wanted me to see an oncologist. Yeah, nothing cheers you up like being told you need to see a cancer doctor.
Later that week I went to see an Internist, and I felt so much better after talking to him. He didn't think I had cancer, but there were plenty of other possibilities he wanted to explore. Based on several things that have been happening thislast year, he thinks it could be: my thyroid, my pituitary, or my adrenal glands. I went and had 6 vials of blood drawn on Halloween (which my kids thought was very cool), and he scheduled a lot of tests.
Before the tests I met with the oncologist, who confirmed that I don't have cancer. A few days before the visit I had been reading online about lymphoma and started crying, worrying about being that sick. Greg told me to not think about it, so I did my best not to. After we got the all clear, Greg admitted that he had been freaking out!
After I voted early on Election Day, it was off to Provo for an ultrasound of my thyroid. From pictures I always imagined it at the back of my neck, but it's actually right where an Adam's Apple is on a man. Mine is swollen, so that's why he wanted it tested. Then it was up to American Fork for an MRI. There was no way I could handle being put down one of those long tubes, so they sent me to have an open one. Which means it's open where your arms are, but they still place brackets right on top of your face and then raise you up so that your head is very close to the machine. For someone that's claustrophobic like me, it was hard, no matter how they did it. But I am glad I didn't have to go down the dreaded tube. I really think I would have had an anxiety attack.

I have no idea what the results were. I hate the waiting game. But I feel optimistic, even if these tests don't give us an answer. My Internist already told me he won't stop until we figure what's going on. Hallelujah for that!!!

No Spooky Kids Here

Hope everyone had a great Halloween. We did! We had a cheerleader, Indiana Jones, a princess, a race car driver and a nurse, super excited for Friday. Getting five kids in costumes sure is an experience! Unless you want to feel like your head is going to explode, I wouldn't recommend it. It was my year to take the kids out while Greg handed out candy with Rachel. (Apparently she chewed through a Tootsie Roll wrapper when he wasn't looking!) It was drizzling a little, but much warmer than the last few years, thank goodness. It was a great Halloween. (And yes, I used to fit into that cheer uniform!)

On Thursday, Seth had a party at preschool. They went trick or treating to a few neighbors' and ate lots of treats. His teacher, Miss Cathie, was dressed as Dora, and she looked awesome! He loves her and going to school so much.

Sisters

Elise loves Rachel so much. It's the end of the world if she doesn't get to give her a kiss before naptime. Their baby pictures look so much alike it's freaky, though you can't see it so much in this picture. I hope that the four years difference between them will keep them from being total rivals, but I'm sure they'll bicker over clothes. What sisters that are close in age don't???

Pictures and Mom's Musings

Here are some pictures of Hailey opening her presents. She has a weird look on her face with the CD, but that is her acting all shocked and awed for the camera. I don't know where she gets the dramatic stuff from. Isn't her sign cool?

Kayla and Christie asked how I was feeling about her being in Young Women's now. (It's the youth organization for 12-18 year girls at church.) I guess I could give you the quick "I'm not old enough to have a daughter in YW!", but I've been trying to put into words how I'm feeling about her growing up, actually. In some ways it feels like yesterday they first placed her in my arms. But then again, I was reading through my journal entries from when I was pregnant with her, and it was definitely a long time ago. Motherhood was such an abstract thing back then. I had no idea what the real deal would be like.
I am excited for all of the fun things she will do in the next six years. Girls Camp, Youth Conference, all of the fun activities. YW is such an inspired program and she is going to learn so many incredible things. But this also means that I only have six years left with her. THAT completely freaks me out. I'm not even close to being the mom I want to be for her, and I haven't taught her nearly enough. I feel like time is slipping away from me. I know it's not possible to be the perfect mom, but I want to be the best I can. She deserves it; they all do. I pray each day that I can be a good example to her, and though I make a lot of mistakes, I have to have faith that it will be enough. Otherwise I'd sit and go crazy with worry. She is a sensitive soul and I mess up a lot. Thank goodness she will have a lot of youth leaders to help her along the way!
Bet you weren't expecting that when you asked, huh?

Hailey is 12!

On October 17th, my oldest baby turned 12. She asked for cinnamon rolls for breakfast, and all of the other kids had fun making signs to hang around the house. They sure love their older sister. We spent the rest of the day getting ready for her party that night. (That will be its own post.) She loved her new pj's and screamed when she opened the makeup I got her. She also got the new Jonas Brothers CD and I had a picture of the JoBros personalized to say "Hailey's Hangout" on it, to hang in her room. She was a very happy camper.

We are so blessed to have Hailey as our daughter. She is so kind and loving. She has such a pure spirit, with no guile in her. She truly is good. She has a calming nature and I am so thankful for all of the help she has been to me while I've been sick. It's been so fun to see her growing into a young woman. She sets such a good example for her younger siblings and I know she will continue to be. I love her so much and I hope she always feels that love.

P.S. She started wearing glasses last week!

A Frustrated Woman

I haven't posted in awhile, because I am tired of feeling like all I do is whine on here, so please forgive me for this. I have been quite sick for the last few weeks. It got so bad that I had to go to the ER last Wednesday. Luckily my in-laws helped us a lot that day. My white blood cell count was above 24,000 so they ran a CT of my torso. (They thought there might be a mass.) I had to drink another nasty solution to make me glow again, and once again they found nothing. After the stomach emptying study came back normal, I was very discouraged. I felt the same way after the CT. Not like I want them to find cancer or something, but I want some answers! This is not conducive to raising 5 kids, after all. I feel so bad for my children. I know I could be such a better mom if I wasn't constantly sick. This is so frustrating!!!

I will post happier things soon. We've had a lot going on, as usual.

Not-so-scary monsters

Elise's friend Alyssa came over yesterday after school and we decided to make Monster Cups. They had so much fun! It's really just vanilla pudding with green food coloring and oreo's crushed on top. They loved watching me 'paint' the inside of the cups with chocolate and were very happy that I made more smiley faces than scary ones. Of course I had to make a vampire one, too! Don't the girls look cute?

We've been BOO'd!

Every year during October our neighborhood BOO's one another. We'd never done it in Washington, so it was a fun new tradition to start when we moved back. If you've never heard of it, it's basically like a Secret Santa. We had a knock at the door and there was a box of treats for us, along with a BOO sign. We then have two days to BOO two other families. You hang the sign in your window so you don't get BOO'd twice. One year we were BOO'd two nights in a row, because I hadn't hung up the sign. So we did four families that year! I did a little bag with hot chocolate and marshmellows this year, since it's getting cold. I'm no Martha Stewart, but the kids had fun BOOing the two families we picked tonight. They always get so excited to ring the doorbell and run.

If you want to start this in your neighborhood, a cute poem comes with the sign, I'd be happy to email it to you.

Photo tag

Christie tagged me awhile ago, but it's taken me forever to get this all on one post. Blogger doesn't like me, I've decided. And Christie, you are in so much trouble next time I see you.

My Favorite Vacation: There are two and they were great for different reasons. Santa Barbara in '01, it was the first time we'd left the kids for a big trip and we loved it there. San Antonio in '05, with Greg's siblings and parents. Jeremy was graduating from law school and we all flew down and surprised him. We had a blast that trip!

My Favorite Color: Green. I love that it is so abundant in nature and it reminds me of Washington. I would never say "It's too green here." ;)

My current age: 35. Greg is going to love that the only picture I could find was an F35 jet. He has always wanted to be a pilot, but his eyes were too bad.

My Favorite Treat: Creme Brulee with fresh fruit or Tiramisu. Yes, it's soaked in coffee, I know. If I were not Mormon, I would have a Starbuck's in my hand 24/7.

Favorite Food: There is no way to pick just one, so I will give a few examples. Anything smothered in guacamole is automatically included; a good steak, especially with a mango chutney sauce, and grilled salmon. I have an amazing recipe for teriyaki salmon, if anyone wants it, you'll love it!

The Place I Want to Travel to Most: Paris. Greg went before his mission and vowed to take his wife there someday. I'm still waiting, hon.

My First Name: Kimberly. This is Kimberly Williams-Paisley. There were lots of Kim's but not many Kimberly's that weren't strippers.

My Middle Name: Michelle. This is Michelle Williams. No, I didn't watch Dawson's Creek.

My Last Name: Poulton. There is a city in England named Poulton-le-fylde, and this is the vicar's house behind the famous church, St. Chad's. I would love to visit there someday.

The Place I Grew Up: I lived most of my youth in So. California. This is Long Beach, where my grandparents lived. Their condo is right on the ocean and from their balcony I could see the Queen Mary. The other picture is of Lake Sammamish, which is 5 minutes from my house in Issaquah, where we moved when I was 15. I started crying when I saw this photo. I have so many good memories from there.

Where I Currently Live: Lehi, Utah. Not my first choice, but it's home. This is a photo of the famous Roller Mills, and the high school. If you have never been to Utah, then you might not know that 'Footloose' was filmed at the school. I think on every date I went on while at BYU that involved driving north, the guy would say "Did you know they filmed Footloose there?" as you see the school from the freeway. I laugh now that I live five minutes from those hallowed halls.

Something I Used to Love (and still do): Dancing. I just don't find the opportunity arises for a good pirouette anymore, though. I have been rocking out a lot with Hailey to the Jonas Brothers, but it's not the same thing. There's nothing like performing.

My Favorite Animal: An Eagle. They are so majestic and beautiful.

I will tag, but ONLY if you want, and ONLY if you are willing to put some time into it: Amy, Kylee, Keri, and Brooke. Hopefully Blogger is nicer to you than if has been to me.