The Neal Bunch

Cooking

2009-12-17T14:24:00.001-08:00

I just finished a great movie called "Julie and Julia", about a girl who decides to make her way through one of Julia Child's cookbooks, and blog about it. I absolutely loved it. It made me think a lot about cooking, imagine that.

I married a cook, I however am not a cook. My husband is very good about eating what I make, and trying to offer his "help" on certain things. I have to say I'm not as inviting to his critiquing as I should be. I do however take what he says and apply to my next meal (of course without his knowing). I love to cook though, and I've especially taken a fondness to trying out new exotic recipes. I've learned how to make an excellent Cheesy broccoli potato soup from scratch, learned to make some of the most tender, flavorful steak you'll ever have and I've been told I also make excellent Chicken Parmesan Fettucine (my absolute fave)! I've also noticed that I'm getting faster at it. My husband used to come in the kitchen 5 or 6 times while I was cooking and try to help me speed up, but I was not having that. I figured the only way for me to learn was to do it myself.

Sometimes my recipes are so exotic that the kids won't eat them. Sometimes I won't eat them myself, but it's so much fun to create something that we all love. For me, I've realized that if I can go into my kitchen and put together an amazing dinner without too many interruptions, no matter how long it takes, it's somewhat of a stress reliever. I've also come to the conclusion that I want my kiddos to all know how to cook, especially my boys. However, if we were all in the kitchen together I would have to pull all my hair out. I love the days with just two kids, dumping, stirring, and watching through the oven door everything we're making. I also love hearing the other children who didn't cook that night, telling the ones who did, how delicious their food is. I'm hoping that as they grow and continue to help me cook, even if we have to muddle our way through a recipe, that they'll take it all in, and someday I won't have to cook dinner at all, and better yet, they'll be able to feed themselves and their families when the time comes.

Just a few of my thoughts on cooking. Have a good one everyone! And a Happy Holidays!!

New Year's Resolutions already!!!

2009-12-09T12:47:00.000-08:00

So, I've decided to start to New Year's resolutions early! One- to lose weight before my 10 yr high school reunion this summer, and two - to blog at least once a week!

For resolution Numero uno, I don't know why, but I'm very nervous about my 10 yr high school reunion this summer. I've noticed, through FB and myspace, that alot of my classmates/friends have gotten a lot bigger, including myself! It's horrible how that works! I've also noticed that alot of us are determined to get skinnier by then as well. I have decided, now that I am completely clear to do all sorts of working out after my surgery, that it is time to quit giving excuses and get it done. I was doing very well before, had even lost 10 lbs, and then wham, I've gained it all back. I had the funniest conversation with my daughter, Angelynah (whose a little bean pole like her dad) about why I have two chins, instead of one. Kids are the best motivators I swear. Grrr...ah well, at least I'm healthy now and on my way!

As for resolution Number two. I realized today while looking at everyone's blogs, that the last time I blogged was on September 11th. Horrible! I have 8 kids, I'm sure there is something that happens at least once a week I can blog about. I wish I was an amazing writer like my mother, my aunt, my sister, or my amazing cousin, but I'm not. I am going to do better with it though this year!

The family here is well. We have been attending a "Strengthening Families" class for 7 weeks now that has taught me alot about my kiddos as they grow up into teenagers. I still am dreading the thought of having 6 teenage girls pretty much all at the same time. I think us parents and their brothers are in for it.

Dylan is doing well in school. He's taking up learning to play the violin. We attended his first concert last night, in which he played a solo. I have to admit I balled, watching my beautiful little (hahaha) redhead up there. It has been so neat to see him learn the notes and to hear him practicing in his room. What a beautiful instrument the violin is. I was amazed at his class, which has 23 violinist total, 1 cello, and 2 violas. That teacher definitely has a handful, but they all performed remarkably. He's turning into a major teenager with his mood swings and being upset at us all, all the time. He's eating me out of house and home, but he's an amazing kid!

TJ really surprised me at his parent/teacher conference. I figured he would just be doing horrible, and being a pest, but he's the exact opposite. I was so excited to see that he has passed all sections of his WASL in the exceeding area! His behavior has been good, a little chatty, but good, which was a huge relief to me! He's anxious for Christmas to come, loves his electric guitar, skateboard and xbox.

Angelynah and Haylee are growing up into tall lanky little ladies. They've become very motherly with their little sisters lately, and I'm starting to realize that they're almost at the age to go to the park (right across the st.) and what not by themselves, like their brothers do. It's a little harder for mom to let go of the girls, than it was for the boys. Hopefully, that doesn't sound horrible.

Izabellah and Ashlynne are also doing well in school. Izzy always struggles with her work, and I've realized it's because she gets frustrated when she can't perform the right way and so she just shuts down. Izabellah was found to be developmentally delayed and doesn't speak well. I have become very thankful to her resource room, speech, and 1st grade teacher. They're all very helpful and are always calling me tell me if there is anything I can help her with. Ashee is a force to reckon with! She's very stubborn and loud, but in a hillarious way. She wants to be in the crowd with her bigger sisters, but it just isn't happening. She's become an excellent reader. I had to take her to a different school awhile back to do a demonstration with her reading teacher. It was amazing because she went into this little room with a mirror, and I went around to the other side of the mirror to watch her with 10 other reading teachers. I couldn't believe how much reading she could actually do, and it was so nice to hear those teachers critiquing what she was doing. Also, it was hillarious to watch her making faces at the mirror when her teacher wasn't looking, not know that there were 10 others on the other side of the mirror.

Marcellah and Tater(Kaedynce) are so fun to have around all day long. Marcellah has been attending ECEAP (preschool), and it has done her an amazing amount of good. She also does not talk alot, and has a very hard time with strangers. Her behavior has been a big issue, but she seems to be coming around and somewhat settling down, thank goodness! My baby Tater will be 3 this fast approaching Christmas, and I'm still in shock. We've called her Tater most of her life and her little personality she's developed is now telling us that her name is "Kaedynce Jaime Neal" not Tater. Her dad's name is "tyRONEEEE" or "Daddy-O", and I am usually Jennie Neal, or "Mommy-O". LOL I have to say I'm glad she knows her name, after all the nicknames she's had her entire life.

As for Ty and I, we are here, holding on with both hands firmly, and just trying to keep up. Ty just received a promotion to manager of his salon, and is glad to hold the title of "First American" to become a manager (the salon is owned by a Russian family, who unfortunately caters to Russians, and now to Ty as well..lol). As for me, I stay home, in between running kids everywhere and errands. We are rarely bored that is for sure. I hope all of you are well. I love reading everyone's blogs, and seeing pics of the kids! Hope you all have excellent Holidays coming soon, and EVERYONE TRY TO STAY WARM!!

Remembering 9/11

2009-09-11T13:54:00.000-07:00

It has been 8 years since the Twin Towers were attacked and fell, and all those millions of people/families suffered and died. I just keep marveling at how fast the time has gone. I remember I was living in Ephrata, in my very first apartment. The cable guy had just come that morning to install our cable. I only had Dylan at the time. He came in telling us that he wanted to install it quickly because there was a major disaster going on. I remember once he got it installed how we all just sat there entranced in what was going on. I didn't want to believe it was real, but it was. I remember being told by someone that I had better go and gas up all the cars I could because gas was going to be outrageous the next day, because the war was about to start. It has always been amazing to me how some many people forgot all their woes and worries and pulled together to help anyone they could inside those towers and their families. If only we could act like that all the time, wouldn't it be a better place we live in. I can't say that I've always been generous in that way. I guess it depends on the situation, doesn't it? I always wonder what those men in the airplanes thought just before they crashed into the towers, or crashed the plane in Pennsylvania. Were they remorseful at all? Did they wonder about their family, or the families of the people inside the towers or in the planes they were in control of? Did they believe it was only them that would be saved, or would all the people they killed be saved too? I guess I just don't get how a person could look up and see that any minute now they were going to be dead, and they were going to take thousands of people with them, and how that could be considered something God would want. It just all seems fairly ridiculous to me but I will never ever forget 9/11, and those people and service workers and military, and just plain people! God Bless America, the home of the FREE!!!

Enough with the sad stuff! I wish I was better about updating my blog. I have 8 children, it's not like something doesn't happen around here that is worth blogging about! Maybe that's the problem, 8 kids leaves me with little time to blog anymore! I always sit here and wonder what it will be like when they're all grown up and in school all day. I'm sure I'll miss them, I mean I miss the ones that are gone now, but it is nice to have those hours to relax and have some quiet. Go to the store, go to the library, it is nice I must say. Then I realize that I am going to have 6 teenage girls all at the same time, and I relish in the fact that they are all still little for awhile longer. I cannot imagine all the issues, all that estrogen in one spot is going to cause. Should be interesting.

As for the Neal Bunch, the 6 oldest kids are in the full swing of school now. For the most part they all love their teachers. Every once in awhile I already here the "I don't want to go to school, it's so boring!" whine, but they have to go and they usually come home in good spirits.

Marcellah gets to start headstart/ECEAP this coming Monday. I'm so excited for her to have some other kids to play with, and a little instruction before she gets into Kinder. Her teachers are amazing and seem so excited to be with her. I'm hoping they can test her out a little more and see if they can get her to be a little more verbal, and a little less aggressive with some things. She gets frustrated so easily with things and hates sharing, little stinker.

Kaedynce will probably be a little lost without her big sister for a couple of hours each morning, but it will be nice to just have time with my baby girl. I cannot believe how much she talks lately. I'm very excited that she it potty trained now, but sad that I didn't get to have a hand in that as much as I would've liked. I do have to be grateful that my sister-in-law and husband are awesome and worked on that while I was in the hospital recovering from surgery.

As for Ty and I, we're still here. Ty's been so busy with work, and really looking forward to maybe some nice weather on one of his day off so he can go and fish. Seems like every day off he has, it's either windy or rainy. It's also very nice that he was finally able to get every other Sunday off to attend church. I wish it was every, but I figure that will come someday. Me, I'm still plugging away. I'm still sore, and my stomach inside is very tight, sore and achy, but I deal. I get winded easier than I used to, but I've learned that there are just somethings I can't do, and that I need to ask for help. I'm thankful to have the gift of prayer. I've really said a lot of those lately.

I hope everyone and your families are in good order. I love hearing from all of you, and appreciate all the support everyone gives! Have a good time y'all!

Update

2009-08-14T10:12:00.000-07:00

I figured I should blog a little update about how everything is going since the surgery. It's been almost two weeks. I'm amazed at how fast those two weeks have gone. I guess sitting around the entire time wishing the time would go faster must have worked! Yeah right!

I've been pretty good since the surgery. I've had to go in a few times a week to have my heart monitored and make sure that the loss of blood to it didn't so some damage. Thankfully, so far it's still strong and healthy. I have been kinda under the weather with flu like symptoms for the past few days. When I called the Dr he said it is most likely caused from him playing so much with my "beautiful bowel" that it is very, very bruised up. This bruising is causing me to have gas, and the gas pains hurt so bad!!! Also, my incisions inside do not like all that extra air and so it makes me sick to my stomach. It's kinda amazing how our bodies work. I also, when trying to move around and get out of my bed, I popped the corner of my incision open. Had to go into the ER and had 14 stitches applied to the outside to keep it closed.

In the long run, I have been very blessed and will get better eventually. My husband, and kids and have been so amazing, and helpful. I know my husband is probably exhausted with having to work and then take over all the household chores, plus feed and bathe the kids, but he's doing a great job. The kids have been really very good. They drive me crazy somedays 'cause they're tired of being in the house, but they usually calm down after awhile. They've got themselves into a routine. Every morning they get up brush their teeth and get dressed. The two big girls usually make cereal for everyone (unless dad is making something else), and the 3 little ones dust my bears, and knick-knacks (while mom sits and cringes)! Then they split up and go clean their rooms, they call it "military style". I'm not sure where that came from, but their rooms are usually very very clean, even with beds made! Then they come back together and clean up the kitchen, bathroom and living room. Then they go and play, they usually repeat the cleaning part after lunch and after dinner.

Hopefully, by next monday I will be released from bed rest. I know I won't be able to do as much as I was before, but at least I can clean my house up a little more, and maybe take the kids out to do something. I'm very thankful for the ward that we are in. They've been bringing dinners in for two weeks now. It's so funny to have to recount the whole ordeal everyday, but it's nice to see all of them. And thank you to all of you for your prayers, and support. The Neal Bunch very much appreciates it!

A Very, Very Close Call

2009-08-04T12:39:00.000-07:00

This is gonna be a hard post to write, especially without pictures to explain and especially since I am cock-eyed on the couch to keep my tummy safe. A lot of you may know that I have spent the last 4 days admitted to Deaconess Hospital. It was not the best place to visit, but the staff there and my stay there was amazing. I can honestly say that I am glad to be here right now writing this post, I shouldn't even be here.

Alright so here's the break down. Guys. it might get a little girly in some areas, just a warning. On Wednesday of last week I came became pretty violently ill. I started having menstrual cramps (or so I thought), bleeding (which I hadn't had a period since Kaedynce was born..almost 3 yrs, due to the fact I have a birth control device called an IUD implanted in my uterus )and chest pains all day. I made it through the entire day, but when Ty got home I could not function anymore. I laid on the couch and in my bed either clutching my stomach in pain or laying on it and squeezing my chest, for the rest of the night. When I woke up the next morning the pains were gone, but there was still a distant achiness in my stomach and chest. I again decided that my problems must have been cramps due to a period. Thursday morning, I get a text message that my two little girls, Haylee and Ashlynne (who had been visiting their dad for a week) had been exposed to the H1n1 virus or more commonly known as the swine flu. I was very worried about them and getting them out of that environment. I went about different options of getting them home without exposing too many people.

On Friday, I became very ill again, yet I had to go and get my little girls in Ritzville. I didn't think that they would become ill with the swine flu, but who knows, since they had been exposed. I decided that I would rather not expose all my other children. I have to say that I am so very thankful for my sister in law Susiy. She immediately called into work, even though she probably could've used those hours without asking me any questions. She took the kids for me and I headed off to Ritzville.

I finally got my girls and headed straight back to Spokane. The plan was to take the girls and myself into Urgent Care. I'm sure most of you can guess that the traffic on I-90 on Friday is never slow. It is a miracle all in itself that we got home safely with me having to puke every few miles and try to attempt to pull over. Not only that but I was blessed with the weakest bladder ever! So, in the midst of puking I had peed my pants at one point. My poor little girls rubbed my back and were such good listeners while all this was going on. We finally get back to Spokane and into the Urgent Care, mind you this is not the same thing as the ER, it's kinda like a walk in clinic. The place is packed! I'm walking in hunched over in pain, with puke on my shirt, and peed pants and the place has a 3 hr wait. What could I do? I couldn't drive anymore, and a lady had just come in to say that the ER was full to. I was doomed to wait. Anyways, long story short there, we all get checked out. Haylee and Ashlynne are fine, no swine flu for them. The dr does some blood tests on me, and a pelvic exam, assures me that my IUD is in place and not turned or something, and then comes to the conclusion that he "thinks" I either have a cyst on my ovary that has ruptured and will eventually go away on it's own, or my appendix needs to come out. He runs another blood test and is still not sure, but he's pretty certain it a cyst and sends me home. As I'm leaving he tells me that he forgot to run a pregnancy test, but since he has my blood he'll just do it anyway. We got to the clinic at exactly 2pm we left there at 8 pm! I went home took some medicine since he sent me home with nothing. As I'm driving home from getting the other kids from Susiy's house the dr calls me. He tells me I am pregnant. Ok, how does this happen with and IUD? IT doesn't!!! An IUD is only 99.9% effective, meaning I am the 1 in 1000 who had to get pregnant with it in, not very common at all. He advises me to go to the ER first thing in the morning to have an ultrasound done and make sure the pregnancy was in my uterus. Ok, no problem. I call Susiy tell her the "exciting" hahaha news, and she tells me to drop the kids back off in the morning.

The next morning I get up to pain again. I get the kids all up and we go and get Susiy and bring her back to the house. I strike off for the hospital. I didn't take Ty with me since I figured it would just be a dumb little ultrasound and they would take out my IUD and we'd have a baby. So, Ty took off for work, and I left for the hospital. I got into the ER at Deaconess Medical Center at 11 am on Saturday morning. I explain what the dr had told me the night before, and get all checked in. I have to say for being as big of a hospital as they are, they're absolutely amazing people there! My wait was no longer than maybe 10 mins and I was back and in a room. There were alot of tests run, blood tests, ultrasounds, internal ultrasounds (horrible by the way), all the while I wanted to just rip my chest off. By this point the pain was pretty much centralized to my chest, but they didn't want to give me pain meds and mask all the pain. Finally, the ER dr came back and said that I had an ectopic pregnancy. Which means, I was pregnant but the baby was tuck in my filopian tube and not in the uterus where it belonged, and it had not survived and ruptured. This alone is very very dangerous. A special gynocologist, Dr Miguel Burmea, was called in.

The gyno explained to me what was going on. I had called Ty, and he was on his way but it was going to be a few mins. The dr told me in no uncertain terms that I could die if we did not get into surgery as soon as possible. Heres the funny thing, well not really but kinda. I had called the missionaries earlier in the day to go and give Haylee and Ashlynne a blessing. I didn't figure I would need one until I got home. As soon as the gynocologist left me room, my home teacher, and his father in law walked into my room and gave me a beautiful blessing. Not to sound all sappy but there was an immediate feeling of peace for me. I hate surgery, I have being put to sleep, and the thought of possibly leaving all my babies, just kept ringing through me head. I also kept having this weird feeling about my ancestors, especially my Grandma Whitby being with me. I knew that they were all their cheering me on in some way or another. The other thing that happened was there was a horrible car accident somewhere in Spokane and all the victims were sent to Deaconess. I originally was suppost to have surgery at 2 pm. I didn't get into the OR until 8:30 pm.

The procedure was only suppost to take 30 mins. Basically, they go in with a camera through your belly button, and through an incision on the side, they find the mass/ pregnancy and they cut it out of your filopian tube. They leave the tube severed. No big deal. So they do all this, only problem is that for one the pregnancy had grown and had gotten into my ovary, first problem. The second was this, everyone knows what your aorta is, the big valve in your heart. Well apparently there is a valve that goes off that big valve into a woman's ovary, that's how important ovaries are. Well the pregnancy had ruptured that valve on me, and it was spurting out massive amounts of blood into my abdomen. I was opened up with a least a gallon of blood in my abdomen. The only reason I did not bleed to death or have a heart attack was that my bowel toppled over on top of my filopian tube, ovary, and this valve, reducing the spurt of blood to a trickle. When my dr moved my bowel with the camera it started to spurt again. I was opened from almost hip to hip in 35 seconds. The valve was stitched up, but my ovary and filopain tube were not salvageable. I now only have one ovary one filopain tube left, which I'm surprised to say supposedly will not harm my fertility, I was wishing they would have tied the other side while being in there. I have a huge hole in my stomach. I woke up to Ty crying telling me he was so glad I was ok. I asked what time it was and he told me midnight. My 30 mins surgery turned into 4 hrs. I found out that I had stitched inside my skin and staples outside.

The Dr came in the next morning and explained that I have got to be one of the toughest people he knows. He could not understand how I was still up and stable talking to him the night before. He also told me that I have a beautiful bowel and that he was in love with my bowel, good to know eh?

Anyways, I spent the past 3 days realizing how lucky I am to have all of you around. I hated putting all of you on alert and having your worry about me. I hated having to leave my babies here and hear that mommy was very sick. I hated not having my mom right next to me. I was so excited to see my sister and nieces when they came to visit and "helped" me walk around the hallway, and I was upset to hear that one of my other nieces was not having a good time. I'm so glad to be home, and to even be here at all. It's so amazing modern medicine and the power of those prayers I know everyone was sending out for me. I'm glad to have a family here on earth and my family that is already gone to be close to me, and help me through these hard times. Like my mom said, apparently I have 8 little missions and I'm not done with them yet. Thank you to all of you for your phone calls, and all the support I've had, I cannot tell you how much "The Neal Bunch" appreciated it!

Noses

2009-06-05T08:21:00.000-07:00

Gosh, I have not blogged for forever!!! My poor little Dylan/ Pickle has always had horrible nosebleeds. They've steadily gotten worse. Lasting for an hour and just gushing blood. I finally took him in for them and we, of course, were sent to a specialist. On his birthday, June 2nd, we went to see the specialist. She noticed inside the left side of his nose a huge bump! I mean huge...I'm not sure how he was still breathing out of that side! Also, there were alot of rips (fissures she called them) all through the middle part of his nose. He also had a huge ball of wax in his right ear. She also showed me the coolest scar of his eardrum...it was an exactly perfect 5 sided star! Anyways, she decided that what he had was a tumor and that it needed to be removed and a camera sent up so everything else could be checked out, also the ball of wax had to go. She didn't want to throw him into surgery that day because it was his birthday. SO, he was scheduled to go in Thursday morning.
I took him in yesterday at 9:30 am. First thing, he was embarrased because they put us in a curtained area, closed it and told him to take off all his clothes with me standing there! He turned bright red and asked me to turn around..lol poor guy! Then, of course, there was a scheduling problem and there was a lady scheduled before him. So, after we went through the traumatizing bit of the IV, we had to sit there for an hour and a half. I'm not sure how he evaded the IV when he got kicked by the horse a few summers ago, but apparently he had never had one. I don't think he understood the half of what was going on, especially when the anestheseologist was talking to him. Finally the time came for him to go back. It was all I could do not to cry when they took him, but I was pretty proud of myself, I held it in until he was turned around...lol. He was more worried about the gown showing is hiney. I went out to the waiting room and waited forever I swear! The dr finally came out and told me that he was done, the tumor was just the one and was nothing scary. She cauterized all four sides of his nose stitched him up and applied some sort of sponge so the air would stay off those areas. Then she removed the ball of wax out of his ear, which she showed me. I'm not sure how she got it out without widening his ear..it was huge!! I had to wait another half hour for Dyl to wake up and finally I got to go back and see him. He looked at me and started balling, saying he wanted to go home. I looked at the nurse and burst into tears and she asked me if they gave me some medicine too! Apparently, the anesthesia they gave him makes people cry. I finally get him calmed down and we have to wait another half hour to make sure he can eat and use the bathroom, etc. Again we are just into a curtained area, but this time he can't really stand...lol! He gives me a big grin and I explain that I will get him dressed with my eyes closed! I bet those nurses were standing just out the curtain laughing the butts off at all the giggling that was going on in that curtain. We finally got him dressed, released and sprung from that place. Anyways, long story short he's home, was feeling pretty good yesterday, but is hurtin pretty good today. His eyes are not black and blue but his nose is.
Other than all that drama. The Neal Bunch is doing great! The kids are busily awaiting summer, which mom is not excited for. We've also been able to work out with their other parents to be able to see them instead of giving up rights, for now at least. It has kind of been a blessing in disguise, because I get a little quality time of my own and sometimes with just my biological babies. The Neal kids mom is not always the most observant but she isn't too bad. I was a little irritated last weekend to find out that she had let TJ ride his bike from one side of Moses Lake to the other. He's only 8, pretty dangerous, but Ty handled that with her and she has promised it will not happen again, I guess we'll see. Ty's job is doing well, very busy place, which makes it very nice. I love my job at the nursing home but it really hasn't picked up the way I wanted it to. Oh well, I love the people I work with, even if I get to hear the same stories everyday and have to coax people out of their rooms. I hope everyone is well!!!

Family

2009-04-21T13:05:00.000-07:00

I have to say, these last few days have been very emotional confusing ones for me. A lot of you probably already know the story of my stepkids,
but for those of you who don't, it's a very long sad story.
I've since had to deal with CPS, child abuse, and the emotions of my poor babies when they didn't understand what was going on. Also, the emotions of a father who has to see his children being hurt and doesn't know how to deal with. What father would I suppose. All the while having the somewhat put my emotions on the back burner so I could be strong for them. I still don't understand why all this had to happen to them, but I do know all this happened to my family for a reason.
We finally did succeed FINALLY in getting my poor babies away from all this. It has been over two years since they have seen their "mother". However, awhile I back I made a decison that no matter what, she was still their mom. I wanted her to see how happy they are now and well they were doing. I started to text her and send her pictures of the highlights in their lives. Always getting a "thank you so much" back from her. It made me feel good that I had forgiven her and moved on. About 3 months ago, she started texting me that she needed to talk to me. I told her that I could not bring the kids with me to see her. That would just be to hard and my husband was completely against it. I was very curious as to what she would want to say to me. Was she gonna yell at me, tell me thank you, apologize, beat me up, what could she possibly want? I hadn't told Ty because I knew that he wouldn't want me to meet with her. She finally texted me that she was in Spokane and still needed to talk to me. I decided that it was time to work it all out and told Ty what was going on. To my surprise he told me I needed to meet with her and see what she had to say.
The day of the meeting arrived and my stomach did not let up all day long. I was so nervous. Horrible thoughts kept going through my head of what could happen. Ty got home and told me that he and his sister were going to come and just stay close, but out of sight in case anything happened. He assured me that he would be to me in 5 seconds if the meeting took a bad turn. It did alleviate some of my fears.
We met at the park and she told me that she wanted to sign her parental rights off. She realized that they were with who they needed to be with, and that it was to traumatizing to her and them for her to come and then have to leave. I don't completely agree with that statement but that's completely fine. She cried about the things she had done. Explained that she knew we were going to get them for good and was desperate to keep them. She told me that her boyfriend at the time had beat her endlessly, confirming all our fears from the beginning. It was actually a great visit. I have to admit my step was a little lighter walking back to the car. I had to find the "Neal SWAT" team that was out walking around the park keeping an eye on us.
I don't know how my family feels about me adopting my stepkids. I know my husband is excited and a little sad that their mom would do that. I know his family is excited that their mom finally realized that I'm what the kids needed and that I'm doing a good job. I do now for myself, that I love them very very much and I want them to be mine. I've had alot of mixed emotions and debated every possible bad angle that could happen from adopting them but it always seems to come back to me still wanting to adopt them. I don't think there is much that I can't handle considering all that I've already been through. Anyways, just wanted to let everyone know my "exciting to me" news! Hope everyone is well.

Birthday Parties are ridiculous!

2009-04-04T14:01:00.000-07:00

My oldest son Dylan has this little friend who lives down the block named Molly. She's a sweet, sweet little girl. She's apparently in his class at school and at church. She's become quite a frequent visitor in our home, even though her and Dylan have to hear "Dylan has a girlfriend!" from his sisters every few minutes. Of course to which he has to put the right and help them understand that it's ok to have friends that are girls and that they don't have to be your girlfriend.

So, anyways today is this little girls birthday party. She invited Dylan a couple of weeks ago. No big deal right? Well until his little brother decides that he should get to go, and then because his cousin is here for Spring Break she thinks she needs to go to. Poor guy. First he's ok with his cousin coming or at least he puts on that he is, but he's not cool with his brother going. Of course, the problem for me is the whole "blended family" thing. If I let Dylan and his cousin go, then TJ is left out and that's not fair, but if I make Dylan stay home completely that's not fair to Dylan at all. Big dilemma. So, yesterday I sat here all day trying to figure this out so it would be fair. I even called the parents and asked if TJ would be able to come. Of course, they had only gone shopping for a certain amount of kids and wouldn't have enough for TJ, great another problem. So, when all the kids g to bed I ask Ty what he thinks would be fair. He thinks for a moment, and then decides that since Molly is Dylan's friend and he was invited a long time ago, only Dylan gets to go to the party. Me? I'm jumping up and down inside with excitement for Dylan...lol...I know that's horrible of me, but he never goes anywhere alone! He has an amazing heart for his brothers and sisters, and just people in general. Anyways, I tell Dylan and he gets all excited.

So, we're cleaning up this morning, getting breakfast done and what not when there is a knock on the door. It's Molly on rollerskates..lol! She has come to let me know that one of her other friends is not going to be able to make it so everyone would be able to come! Great..now what? I look at Dylan and he gets a "ah man" look on his face and walks away. The other two get all excited, to which I explain to them that I have to think about it again! I go in and talk to Dylan, he was a little upset that he couldn't go by himself, but he knew that his brother and cousin should get to go too. He asks if he is cool with them going that maybe I could take him and Molly to the arcade next week. Of course I agree and he perked right up. I am so thankful for Dylan (don't get me wrong I'm thankful for all 8 of my kids I swear!). I can't imagine how hard things are for him sometimes though being the oldest of 8. He takes it in such stride though and he's such a good kid. He helps me out so much with everything, the girls, housework. The other night, after I had horrible day with the girls running crazy all day, I put them to bed and walked in to clean the kitchen and he was in there and the kitchen was completely spotless! Of course, I'm such a baby so I cried and hugged him. He said "Mom! I just cleaned the kitchen you don't need to cry!" Anyways, just wanted to tell everyone about my birthday party dilemma and about my amazing little 10 yr old redhead! Gosh I can't believe he's almost 11! Hope everyone is good!

Good News and Good Times!

2009-04-02T14:31:00.001-07:00

My husband has been a cook most of his life. He's worked for all types of restaurants, learned to cook all different types of food, learned almost every job there is in a restaurant, but has always returned to cooking. He's also always had a lot of problems with his right hand hurting. He's got a big scar up the middle where he sliced it open while chopping something and had to have surgery. Of course, it has to be the hand he uses everything for! He's also a barber, and that's what he's been doing for quite a few months now. The other night he came home from his third day of working 8am to 8pm. He was holding his hand and grimacing in pain. He immediately went for the Ibuprofen. I asked him what had happened and he just said his hand was starting to hurt. I always have to tell him how I really think he needs to go and see a dr, but he doesn't have insurance. He was up all that night frustrated because it hurt to badly to sleep. I've been checking into getting him some from the state, and they explained that since he was born in CA and not in WA they would have to verify he was a US citizen. For some reason that process would take them probably at the very least a year to figure that out. Even though all they had to do was request his birth certificate from CA. Anyways, to make this long blog short, I got a paper today (I applied for him 4 months ago) in the midst of his most severe bout with the pain, that he was accepted for medical! He should get his medical card in 3 to 5 days! I'm so excited and thankful that he'll finally be able to go in and see why it is always hurting him!

So, that is our good news for the week. It's been so long since I blogged. I always try to remind myself throughout the day that I need to blog, but by the time the "Neal 8" are sleeping, mom's ready for bed too. Last Friday, my sister and I were bored sitting at home with the kids so we decided to go for a hike. Of course, the minute we get everyone ready and head out the door it begins to sprinkle. We decided to go for a drive anyway. We drove way up north and down the river. We then went to look at a rock formation called the "bowl and pitcher" on the river. We found a bridge called the "swinging bridge" of course, raining or not, we had to get out and look. It's an amazing bridge that is only held up by cables and goes across some very intense rapids on the Spokane river. So, we walked across, we even did the scene from "Pirates of the Caribbean" where they go from one side to the other in the ball and make it rock! It actually worked. I can't say that it thrilled me or Kaedynce that much, but the rest of the kids thought it was amazing! Cold as we were and getting soaked we still went further up the mountain and had a great time! It was so nice to get out and see how beautiful the forest and it's wildlife really are. The last picture was on our drive...we named him "SpongeBob ROCKpants". We have so much to be thankful for lately. We miss mom and dad, but we know they're doing something very important, and they are such an amazing example to us. Grandma Sue will be home from CA on the 8th so that always gives us something to look forward to. I hope everyone is well!

?????

2009-03-09T23:08:00.000-07:00

I really wish my life was more exciting so I could blog more often. Then again I think it's hectic/perfect enough. It's very late...11pm. I sitting here at the computer trying to be supportive to my sister in law. She doesn't always make the best choices, and she currently has herself involved in a lesbian radio show ("Queens of Noise") every monday at 12 am. I know funny thing for me to be listening to, once again trying to be supportive of my family. There really is not a lot going on around here. We have finally gotten rid of the little flu bug that was roaming around my house. It all started with little Tater (Kaedynce), then Ashlynne, then Izabellah and then just when I thought I was good it got to Haylee, Angelynah and Marcellah. It's been a horrible couple of weeks of yukiness. I told Ty the other day (right after Marcy threw up on my living room floor..thank goodness for hardwood) I was tired to the girls being sick. TJ came in at dinner telling me that his stomach was being weird so I'm keeping my fingers crossed it doesn't hit my boys! Ty and I are well. He just got home from a day trip to his fave fishing spot "Rocky Ford" in Ephrata. That is our only regret about moving up here, he's pretty far from any good fishing spots. I mainly just work my one day up at the assisted living facility doing hair. The one day is so busy, but it's a blast to hear some of their amazing stories. I have one lady that the conversation just keeps repeating itself. She'll tell me that she has no money, ask how much the service is, I tell her it's already paid for, she asks who paid for it, then we start all over! Awww well, she's a beautiful woman and so much fun to be around. She's thinks her sons hung the moon so it's nice to get her on the subject of them it a person can. Anyways, we're all good around here. I'm hoping to have something happen so I have something good to write about next time. Anyways, everyone be safe!

Buddha

2009-02-19T09:26:00.000-08:00

I've got a little twist on the story of Buddha for you. On February 7th my husband, Ty and my step-son TJ were baptized. My mom was choosen to give the talk on the Holy Ghost. She was so nervous about her talk and apologized to me before the baptism about her "light". I couldn't figure out what she meant. The light I'm referring to is Buddha holding a ball of light (the one where you put your finger on and the light goes to it). I think it's the absolute coolest light ever. My mom related about how the Holy Ghost touches each person, if they are worthy and in tune for spirit to do so. Anyways, after the baptism I got to take Buddha home. I've guarded him with my life because I absolutely love him! Anyways the kids are always wanting to turn him on and "touch" the Holy Ghost. Long story short, I heard Haylee tell Angelynah this morning that she wanted to "touch" the Holy Ghost this morning so he would help her through the day at school and that she thought Angelynad should do the same, so maybe Anthony Burden would leave them alone. I thought it was pretty funny and very thoughtful of Haylee. I guess this boy chases them around endlessly on the playground. Apparently, he's very "icky" and he picks his boogers, and has cooties I am told. I thought it was a pretty funny thing to have the Holy Ghost help you with, but I guess we've all got out trials that we need help with. My fingers are crossed that hopefully Anthony Burden won't be at school today and the girls will feel even better about Buddha.

Everyone here is well. Ty's been very busy with work and church basketball. On Monday, Ty and I were called to serve in the activities commitee in our ward. Ty went up to the church for an interview, and half an hour later, Ty and the entire bishopric were all in my living room. My first thought was that something was very wrong, but no they just gave us our calling...lol. Never really had that happen to me. The kids are all doing well. Dylan is such a busy kid. He's involved in basketball and "drummers and dancers" at his school. He leaves most mornings by himself at 7 am for his activities. TJ is just busy with the XBOX. He always wants to play the dumb thing. The girls are still crazy as ever. They enjoy the XBOX as well, since I got the game "Disney Sing It" for them. Well, that is about it for us. I hope everyone else's families are well. Hopefully we'll get down to visit everyone soon. I sometimes miss being closer to family, but I definetely think we're in the right place for us. I love you all.

Our News

2009-02-16T10:16:00.000-08:00

I just wanted to give a quick "thank you" to my all of you, my family, and most importantly my Heavenly Father. I can't tell you all how excited I am to be able to write and tell you all that our families prayers have finally been answered. On February 7th, Ty and TJ were baptized! It was so amazing to me how many of the people in our ward were there. Then just yesterday, they were confirmed. I want to tell me mom and dad thank you especially for dealing with all of us and coming up two weekends in a row. I can't tell you how much that meant to us to have you there, and for dad to perform the blessings. It amazes but I have actually noticed somewhat of a change in both of them, but especially TJ. He's not such a little stinker. Although, being 8 is still helping him be completely obnoxious at times. I had to cry a little last night, when I was in my room reading and looked out and Ty was sitting reading the Book of Mormon. He's made a goal to start at the beginning and read it through. We had a funny conversation this morning about being sealed. He asked me "do you like actually walk down an aisle and what not?" I have to laugh, I told him I was sure that was not what happened, but then I realized I don't have a clue either. I was trying to explain about having our babies sealed to us and then having to wear garments. It was kind of a funny conversation. I realize it was kind of the blind leading the blind. Anyways, I just wanted to tell everyone our exciting news and also thank you all for your support and prayers. I guess we'll hopefully see everyone in a year at the temple!

Baptism

2009-02-05T13:01:00.000-08:00

Ty and TJ will be baptized this coming Sunday February 8th. I haven't figured out what time yet so I will have to let anyone who wants to come know later. I'm informally(i think that what a blog would be...lol) inviting anyone who would like to come. Pretty short notice I know. Sorry about that! Thanks again everyone for your prayers!

SMOKE WATCH 2009

2009-01-21T13:19:00.000-08:00

Just wanted to give everyone a little update from my last blog. My husband Ty, has really been trying hard not to smoke. He's had a deep desire to be baptize into our church. I can proudly say that it has almost been 3 weeks since Ty smoked a full cigarette. I mean he, for some reason, tried to smoke in the first week and a half and the patches made him extremely sick. I'm thinking like a nicotine overload maybe? Anyways, he has set a date for his baptism and I cannot believe how close it is getting. The date is February 7th. The bishop's goal for Ty is to maybe see if he can be baptized and then baptize TJ the same night. I guess we'll see what happens. Anyways, I just wanted to say "thank you" to everyone. I know that my prayers are being answered and I'm sure that you probably all helped with that as well. I cannot wait to see the progress my family is going to make from here on out. Everyone have a good one.

HAPPY 2009..CAN YOU BELIEVE IT??

2008-12-31T22:01:00.000-08:00

I've been sitting here for almost 2 hours now watching all the hulla-baloo in NY at Times Square. It's really amazing how many people go to that. Even with all those people, I still would love to go! Just to be able to experience that. The same thing with Mardi Gras. Anyways, I've been thinking about resolutions. I have one that has been on my mind for awhile, and that is to lose weight. I'm planning on going on the Sacred Heart Soup Diet. I've heard from quite a few that it works really well. Then as I sat and listened to some of the people on tv resolutions I got to thinking even more. I'm so proud of myself for my family and some of the progressions we've made, and also for being able to stick together even through the trials. One of my 5 yr old step-daughters, Izabellah, was determined to be developmentally delayed last year. When I first met her she did not talk at all. This year I have really worked on helping her talk, or at least figuring out why she wasn't talking. I'm proud to say that, we've finally gotten a diagnoses that she had a 40% hearing loss in both of her ears. We got her a little device installed onto her ear drum to hopefully help with her hearing. It makes me so happy to hear her tell me how much she loves me clearly, without having to ask her five times to repeat what she was saying. She's an amazingly smart little girl, and she comes up with the best little sayings.
I could name a few more accomplishments of our family, but that would take forever. I have a very good feeling that 2009 is going to bring us alot of good news and even more trials, but I know we'll be ok together. I also know, that my Heavenly Father has a great plan for my family. He wouldn't of put us together if it wasn't for a good reason. I'm hoping that my Ty is going to finally defeat his habit of smoking. It was so nice this morning when I left to go to the store to see him sitting through all the chaos in our house reading the Ensign. It makes me feel bad for not realizing what I had being a member of this amazing church. I know he's gonna kick this habit and I'm so excited for that day. I hope that 2009 will bring everyone something good and wonderful. I also hope that everyone can look back at 2008 as a good year as well. I wish you all a Happy New Year and I love you all!

2008-12-30T10:23:00.000-08:00

Alot of you may know that my husband has been investigating the church. I'm ashamed to say that we haven't gone as much as we should have since we moved to Spokane, because, for one I didn't know which ward we were in, and also, it's very hard to take 8 children and have a "good experience" at church. Alot of people tell me how great they are at church, and they are. It just makes mom very tired by the time we're done. Anyways, the other night a couple of missionaries showed up at our door. To our surprise it was the missionary from Moses Lake that had really developed a friendship with Ty. Ty has really missed him since he was transfered to Spokane. They hugged and cried and were just so happy to see each other again. I'm so thankful for this kid. He really knows how to talk to Ty and make him understand things, but also knows that sometimes Ty just needs them to listen. Alright, so, Ty is bound and determined to get ready for baptism again. Unfortunately for Ty he's got to quit smoking. The missionaries gave us a phone number to call that helps people quit smoking. Luckily for us they're going to send Ty the nicotine patches. Ty is convinced that they will work, so we're all hoping for the best. I'm hoping that you can all keep him in your prayers that this will work. Also, last night they came to read some more scripture with Ty and TJ loves when these guys come over. When I came into the room TJ was sitting in between the two missionaries with a Book of Mormon in his hand reading a scripture. He's an amazing reader when he needs to be. One of the Elders turned to him when he was done and asked him," TJ, do you believe in Christ, and Joseph Smith?" TJ looked at the Elder like he was crazy and said, "Of course I do, don't you?" At the end of the session the Elders gave TJ his very own Book of Mormon. He has carried it around all day long. He keeps telling me that he is supposed to read #19 before they come back on Saturday. He read Mosiah 3:19 and was telling me it was about the Holy Spirit. Anyways, the goal with the two baptisms is to hopefully get them both done by the end of February. Hopefully, grandma and grandpa will still be here. We wish you all well and hope you had a good Christmas.

Let it snow! Let it snow! Let it snow!

2008-12-18T19:55:00.000-08:00

I really do like snow. It's so pretty and just fun to have around. However, when it starts snowing on a Wednesday morning, traps you in traffic for over 4 hours, and then doesn't quit snowing until Thursday evening, and leaves 30+ inches, it's a little much. As I'm sure most of you have noticed from the news we've had us a little winter storm here in Spokane. Check out the pics it's crazy! Ty and I are crossing everything we got and saying our prayers that it is done(knock on wood). It did finally quit about a half hour ago. Unfortunately, the snow plows have not made it to our neighboorhood yet. They are on a "code red", which apparently means they have to plow until they have plowed the entire city, 24 hrs and all that jazz. We cannot get out so we're thanking our lucky stars that we were somewhat prepared and had enough food and also that we have a little market a couple blocks down. The boys and I had a great time putting on 3 layers of clothes, Ty's humongous (but waterproof) boots, hats and gloves to strike out to the markey. Unfortunately, they were out of bread, and almost out of milk. So, we ended up with snacks and that's about it. Anyways, we hope this is it and that they get everything cleared up at least a little bit so we can come home this next week for Christmas. Dylan's is also hoping that it's cleared a little bit by Tuesday so he can fly out to see his Grandma Hollie, dad and baby brother, Mark. He could not understand why they would cancel a flight for snow, hopefully not. I hope everyone has a good Christmas and a good New Year. Hopefully we'll see some of you very soon!

Thanksgiving

2008-12-01T11:28:00.001-08:00

So, I just wanted to post a little blog and tell my family that I had a blast this past Thanksgiving weekend. It was so good to see everyone and be able to spend some time with you all. A special thanks to Jeff and Steve for waiting for us. Sorry we were late, but it was awesome to see you. Anyways, from the rollerskating to just staying up late with you all, we had a blast. I wish you all happy holidays and a wonderful new year!

6 Quirks...hmmm...

2008-11-07T21:39:00.000-08:00

I've been thinking about this post for awhile. I'm still not sure if I've come up with 6 quirks but I've thought of a few. So, here we go...
1. I like my mom have to sleep on the side of the bed that is closest to the door. I don't know why. I do have a problem in my new house though. There's a door on both sides..lol. I guess it's not exactly a problem cause you would think I'd be able to sleep on either side but no...just the side with the door into the living room not the hallway.
2. I hate, hate, hate a wet bathroom floor. I somewhat remember my dad always telling us when we were little that the water would ruin the floor. I don't know if that carried on with me or if it's just the problem of always walking in there with my socks on and getting them all wet. I've tried the whole "it'll ruin the floor" line with my 6 little girls and it's still not working. Especially my "tater tot" (Kaedynce). She's realized that it's really fun to stand up and then jump back down causing a huge splash. Oh well...I guess you learn to choose your battles.
3. I cannot understand why some people think it's ok to stand right in front of the t.v. when there are tons of other people in the room. I mean I don't watch a lot of t.v. and when I do it's always cartoons, but when I do get to actually watch those cartoons I would like to see them.
4. Ok...so I hope this one doesn't offend anyone. I've been doing hair now for almost 4 years. I absolutely cannot stand when people come back to my chair with me, sit down and tell me I can do what i want with their hair, or I'll say "so what are we doing for you today?" and they'll say " I need a haircut." Really? 'Cause first off..if I can do what I want with your hair you're not going to have a whole lot left when I'm done and second you're in a salon normally (sorry but it's mostly bald men who tell me this) you're here for a haircut. No need to state the obvious.lol. Sorry for anyone who does that! That one was mean I am sorry!
5. I have a real issue with people who cannot put the toilet paper roll on the holder thing (not even sure what it's called at the moment). They always sit it on the counter right about the holder....what's that all about?
6. I get really onary(sp?) with people in a business that are rude on the phone when you call them. I mean you're a secretary, customer service is a big part of your job. People can be dumb sometimes but you gotta love them right?

Alright well those are my 6. Sorry some are probably mean but I guess that's how it goes today!

So, other than my quirks the Neal bunch is all good. We're finally getting settled into our new home and I'm getting excited to decorate it for the holidays. We are really appreciating the fireplace in this cold weather. The kids are good. We're just getting over a bout with Lice. I've never had to deal with that before and it was complete hell, but we did it. We've been completely "bug free" for a whole day. I'm still gonna check tomorrow and probably bleach everything again...lol. Anyways, I hope all is well with everyone else and their families. I hope everyone had a good Halloween!
5.

2008-10-24T22:50:00.000-07:00

OOOPPPSSS...published the last one without the pics! I also got a new pet with the house. Isn't he cute? His name is "Tuck".

2008-10-24T22:38:00.001-07:00

I think my luck is finally starting to change! Let me start at the beginning...Ty and I moved to Spokane in July. We were in somewhat of a hurry when we did move so we sort of took the first house that we found. Well, let me tell you, what a mistake that was! Our house was disgusting on the outside and ok but tiny on the inside. We could deal with that. Well then the neighbors introduced themselves and it all went downhill from there. They were up all night being loud..up and down the stairs, waking up the kids, weird people in and out... that sort of thing. We had so many problems with them, but also theft (bikes, my car radio), and we just noticed things that were a little off. Well, unfortunately for us we had put down $4500 for 6 months worth of rent there. We've fretted for a long time that we were stuck there with all this horrible stuff going on around us. Well, I called our landlord to complain about the sex offender that we discovered was living in the upstairs apartment. Didn't hear anything for awhile, then I get a call on the same number but from a different person. He told me that he was taking over and started to ask me questions about out neighbors. As we got to talking, I explained our concerns about the area and that we would love to move if they would refund our money. He told me that he had a house that he just moved out of and that we could go look at. I went out that night and was so excited. Long story short...we were able to use the money we had put down as a payment to get us into our new house. As you can see from the pics it needs alot of TLC but it's SOOOO much better, and alot bigger too. Anyways, we're very excited to see that this move was probably a good idea on our part since it looks like our luck is finally looking up.

Awww...I'm so proud!

2008-10-16T10:42:00.000-07:00

So....I have to start with this story a few days ago. Since moving to Spokane my poor husband Ty has somewhat had a bit of withdrawals. Not a bad kind, just from fly-fishing. He finally found a fly shop just up the road from us and has been a frequent visitor. He's become pretty good friends with the shop's owner. The owner has been telling him about some lakes to go try out and where are some good spots to catch fish. Well, I took him out awhile back to Amber Lake, up by Cheney. He loved it, but it's a hard lake to fish from the shores. You've got to have either a boat with an electric motor or a float tube, which he has a boat but not an electrical motor. Anyways, he got to talking to the owner of the shop about the issues he was having with the lake and the boat. The guy got all excited about this boat motor and asked Ty if he would be willing to trade supplies for the motor. He got a new rod, a new reel, a floating line(? apparently it's something good...lol) and a float tube all for his motor. His receipt's total was $634.00 for everything he was given for the motoe. Well, he went in yesterday to see if his float tube was in yet and decided to show the owner his flies. Now, let's go back for a minute. When Ty and I met all he did was regular fishing, his ex step-dad got him into fly fishing about a year ago. Since then Ty has taught himself how to tie some of the absolute most intricate little flies, and even better, he's taught all of our kids (except KaeD) how to do it too. When the owner saw his flies he was amazed and BOUGHT all of them. He gave Ty $75 for 4 dozen flies plus $32 credit for any other supplies he needs. He also wants Ty to keep bringing them to him! When he got home he was so excited. He's kind of wanted to make a website for awhile now to sell his flies and finally someone just bought them. I thought it was pretty neat. He's been tying flies ever since!

2008-10-13T21:28:00.000-07:00

Alright...so I realized tonight that I haven't blogged in a very long while. Since, I'm stuck staying up to get some peace and quite (and because I have to finish a load of laundry), I decided that now is the time.
I'm sitting here watching the show "Jon and Kate plus 8" and laughing at how much their home is just like mine. Although, I could not imagine having 6 toddlers at the same time, mine, I figure, are close enough. I definetely agree with their opening that says..." even though having (they say multiples) 8 kids rarely ever brings out the best in us this is our life and we're in it as a family"! I went grocery shopping this morning and of course could not get out of the house quick enough to not have at least 2 kids tagging along. I struggled to fill the cart (literally to the top) while juggling and dealing with the embarassment of having to discipline kids. I realized though that the kids are never really as bad at places as I think they are. They aren't bothering anyone unless they're wailing of course. I'm definetely coming to a realization that I need to relax and understand that my kids are normal and doing what all kids do. It has been hard let me tell you! However, I love my Neal bunch more than anything. Each one has such a special little personality and little quirks.
Anyways, enough of that! So...other than my kids the family is doing well. We moved to Spokane, WA the end of July and we're loving it. For awhile now Ty has been staying home with the kids and I've been managing a salon called Great Clips, which is a chain of salons across the country. I absolutely love cutting hair here. People are so much more friendlier here for the most part. I've even had the chance of doing a few local celebrities hair. Some of you may have seen or heard of Stephanie Vigil and also Tom Sherry. Ty is now starting into also working part time for Great Clips. It will be very nice for him to be able to get out and about and also be able to be home for the kids. I do have to say that marrying a chef has had it's advantages also. I envy my kids...on many occasions, after coming home from working a night or late afternoon shift, I've come home and the kids have had prime rib or some other amazing dinner. The worst part is I go looking for the leftovers and the kids have wolfed every single bit of it! Anyways, I feel like this entire blog has been my babbling but oh well! My family is well and we're loving Spokane. Not quite what we're used to but we're getting there. I am proud of myself that I can pretty much get around wherever I need to and deal with all the traffic.
I hope everyone else and their families are well! Anyone who comes through Spokane get ahold of us we love visitors! Have a good night everyone!

The horrible luck of the neal bunch!

2008-06-23T18:56:00.000-07:00

So...I just remembered that I have a blog and that I haven't posted anything in quite some time. So, since it's been a good/bad day all in one I figure maybe I can get some frustration out with blogging! I guess we'll see how it goes.
Anyways, we got our stimulus check awhile back and figured that maybe a trip to San Diego, CA would be nice so we could see the new baby. Well, the day before we leave our landlord comes over and wants to talk to both of us. He informs us that he's got a notice for us to leave. We of course ask for what reason and he says that there isn't a reason, only that he needs to sell our half of the duplex in order to pay off his side. OK no problem..thinking he would give us at least a couple of months notice to move. NO! He's decided that he would wait for school to end so "a move wouldn't impact our kids". He only decides to give us twenty days to move out! So, since we already had non-refundable plane tickets we still have to leave for San Diego (which was a total blast, and baby Jon Willam Neal III is absolutely adorable). While we're there however, I had a neighbor/ supposed friend hooked up to come in and feed our animals. She was told that if the dog (Jude/pitbull) wouldn't let her in. TO just leave him alone and that he should be fine. Of course, she doesn't listen! She decides that it would be ok to go and ask the landlord to help her get in. Why, when you know he's kicking your "friend" out would you go and do that? Especially, when you know the landlord already doesn't like the dumb dog? So, since the man sees that Jude is protecting the house (probably a little too much) he doesn't call me..oh no! He calls my dad! Like I'm a darn teenager. THANK YOU DAD, MOM and JULIRAE for working it out for me. I'm so so sorry for all the drama.
Anyways, long story short we get home from an amazing trip to more drama. The neighbor won't talk to us or our kids cause she thinks the kids are so horrible and she thinks that we shouldnt' be upset with her for doing what she did. I honestly have decided that she's bi-polar or something. On top of that, I've been looking and looking and looking for a house but there is absolutely nothing in Moses Lake for rent that is reasonable. A couple of huge companies are expanding and have hundreds of workers from all over the country renting all the houses around. I finally get a job working wth hair again with the possibility of managing the place. I fill all my paperwork out for management, get all excited for my two week trail and then the current manager decides that she can't really quit after 4 years and go anywhere else and make the same amount. So, she's changed her mind about leaving.
Ok I think that is enough venting for now. I guess just keep us in your prayers that we can find something/anything at this point. I've honestly decided that I have absolutely no good luck anymore.

This made me so mad!!!!!!

2008-05-20T20:16:00.000-07:00

Get this! Ty has been working in Odessa this past week. On Monday he went to work at 5 am. Around 5 pm, I get a call letting me know that he's obviously going to be working late. He gets home around 10:00pm. He tells me that they stopped at a little restaurant in Odessa around 8 pm for some dinner. Apparently, the guy who was in there cooking didn't know how to make the Chicken Cordon Bleu that was on the menu. My husband's says..."well I can make it..do you mind if I do?" The guy tells him he could and shows him where everything is. Ty goes into the kitchen, cooks up not only his plate, but his boss's and the other guy's they work with. They eat, and get ready to leave thinking that they would get SOMETHING off of their tab. Seems like a reasonable thought to me! NOPE!!! They had to pay complete full price. I guess that's just one example of small town politics. I couldn't believe it when he told me that!!!

2008-05-19T11:50:00.000-07:00

So, I promised I would blog about the hamster today! My daughter Haylee just turned 6 yrs old on the 10th of this month. Her dad and I were on a date night shopping for her, when he remembered that she wanted a hamster. We went to this disgusting pet shop (since it was the only one still open that late)! It smelled HORRIBLE inside & the owner is sooooo weird! Anyways, we found a cute little albino dwarf hamster! We got an entire cage, food, little house, the whole sha-bang! The next morning I bring him out and immediately all the girls are around him squealing with delight and arguing who should get to hold "Freddy" first. We get that all through with and finally get him set up in Haylee & Angelynah's room. Everything has gone pretty well so far..until one night. I had given all the girls baths and got them all settled into bed for the night. The "little" girls were in their beds finishing a cartoon, and I had decided to let the "big" girls hold the bird and the hamster as long as they stayed in their room and were quiet. Didn't hear a peep from them, so I figured all was good. A few minutes later they come racing out of the room. Angelynah was screaming "Haylee killed Freddy! Haylee killed Freddy!" I go running to meet them and Angelynah is holding the poor little hamster in her hands. He's laying on his side twitching a bit and not moving. Me being the person I am..like certain pets, but not twitching ones. I scream for my husband to get "Freddy" and look to my girls for an explanation. Haylee seemed very quiet all of a sudden so I looked to Angelynah. Angelynad explained to us that Haylee thought it would be funny to show Freddy how to fly so she had been throwing him in the air. Apparently, she threw him to hard and he hit the ceiling. Here's the funny thing though...as soon as he was in my husband's hands, he perked right up and started playing and running around. My thoughts....I think the hamster had had enough and just laid down and played "dead". My husband thinks that he was knocked out. At least this time he didn't have to perform CPR or mouth to mouth resuscitation on this pet (some of you have heard the story of Angel #1. We now have Angel #2. If you want to hear that story just let me know). They've been threatened that the door must stay open, and they have to ask before taking him out, when they want to hold Freddy from now on.
Then just yesterday Ashlynne was holding the hamster and I got sidetracked with cleaning..went to look at the hamster and he was nowhere to be found. I asked the kids where he was and they told me he was in Ashlynne's backpack. Ashlynne was carrying the poor thing, mind you he was all wrapped in a blanket like a baby, but she was carrying him in her backpack. He has since been moved into the living room where he can be kept a better eye on.

Hello fellow bloggers

2008-05-18T21:26:00.000-07:00

So....I'm not the best writer in the world. I was told by my sister though, how I needed to open a blog. I've thought about it for almost a week now. Wondering what I would write about. Then, as I was taking pictures of my little Kaedynce (or "Fat Fat, Kaeder Tater) trying to get a drink from the leaky hose faucet, I remembered that I have been blessed with 8 of the most rambunctious, beautiful children. Those children who constantly keep my on my toes, with new adventures, new "exciting" pets (R.I.P. "Beans" the frog), or regular pets (I'll write about the hamster tomorrow), or a new interesting question or activity that will get everyone going. So...this is my blog about my life with "The Neal Bunch!" I hope you'll enjoy it.