Boogers!

Kid Quote of the Week:

"Daddy, eat my booger." ~Carly

10 Minutes of Fame

A few weeks ago, the girls and I got our 10 minutes of fame. Too bad we were sweating and out of breath! Good Day Sacramento joined our Boot Camp on July 12, 2010. The video below has a few pieced together clips of the girls and I...if you look closely, you might even catch Ethan running across the field in the background.

(To view this video, watch "Boot Camp" on the DVD at the end of this book)

March 2010

Going back to the past via Facebook once again to catch up on March of 2010. Oh, and once again, I am not spell checking...takes too long because my friends can't spell and their names aren't in the dictionary...I, on the other hand, am a dictionary, so I don't need to check MY spelling...hehehe

PAST:

On March 2, 2010 at 9:02pm, I wrote:

"starting to re-think the whole "Big Girl" bed thing with Carly...Not enjoying the ups and downs she gives me..."

COMMENTS:
~Teresa Black: "that's why we put gates on the kids doors when they were adjusting to their new beds. No more putting them back to bed over and over and over again without having to close their doors."
~Rachael Poindexter Durling: "smart!"
~Jenna Sorenson: "it seems like she just barely got into her crib! she's growing up way too fast."
~Shirley Hale Braun: :I agree with Teresa! There are plenty of nights when we have to put the gate up, try to ignore Heidi as she stands by the gate and cries, and then carry her to her bed when she falls asleep next to the gate. Works for us." ~Heidi Menebroker Lettau: "Sometimes we still use a baby gate with Luci-June." ~Jennifer Durling Maness Nelson: "growing pains. Mommies get them too."
~Rachael Poindexter Durling: "I kept Ethan in his crib until he was like 3.5 years old and he broke it, so Carly has been in a portacrib her whole life. I didn't think she could climb out of it since it's so low, but I should have known better since the girl is trying to do front flips while jumping off the couch. Anyway, she learned how to so we decided to put the bunk beds down and guess who slept with me last night???? I think I need to invest in another baby gate...sigh..."
~Jenna Sorenson: "I have one you can borrow, but the little climber may be able to get over it."

PRESENT NOTES:

She quickly caught on and has been a good sleeper in her bed minus the occasional 3am visit I get from her asking for milk. It didn't take that long for her to start falling asleep on her own in her own big girl bed and once again, I am reminded that I no longer have a baby in the house. ___________________________________________________________

PAST:
On March 5, 2010 at 3:34pm, I wrote:

"is teaching Raya how to sew a straight line on the sewing machine...that's about all I can do...Hahahaha"

COMMENTS:
~Candice Nite: "Lol! Me too."
~Rachael Poindexter Durling: "I've done a lot only knowing how to sew a straight line..."
~Jennifer Thompson: "I can sew a button."
~Heather Miller: "That is so funny because about the same time I was wiping the dust off mine."
~Holly Graham Matua: "yes you can do so much with just a straight line....good works!!!"
~Jennifer Durling Maness Nelson: "Hey, but you're doing it!"
~Christine Brown Santos: "can you teach me? lol"
~Lelah Rothschild: "Send her this way! Abbie can show her more....she has her own machine!" _______________________________________________________________

PAST:
On March 7, 2010 at 1:19pm, I wrote:

"no more cribs, no more diapers...no more babies for the Durling's ...*sniff sniff*"

COMMENTS:
~Jennifer Durling Maness Nelson: "One of life's precious moments...:)"
~Brenda Della Casa: "Woman, you make me feel so behind the crowd!"
~Jeniffer Taylor Ketcherside: "awww I know how you feel my 2 year old is in a big boy bed and getting ready to potty train, almost makes me want another one ALMOST" ~Rachael Poindexter Durling: "don't worry Brenda...I started early! We are done having kids...it's kind of sad but it's also exciting to know we are onto the next stage of our lives...bitter sweet."
~Melissa Kriser Bowers: "definitely bittersweet!"
~Dorothy Fowler Gregersen: "Bring on the next stage.... Teenagers....yippeee..." ~Brandy Amos Greer: "good and bad at the same time. I understand"
~Kelly Townsend: "Never say never. Remember Denise Samuelson? They thought they were done and then there were two more. Snip snip anyone?"
~Sandy Nobes: "Dang! Wish I could say I started already...but...I'm kinda liking have started..uhmmm....do I make sense?"
~Heidi Hufstetler Wright: "the world would be a better overpopulated place if all the kiddo's were as great as rachael's! yay for your next stage (you can always go back... look at me! ) haha"

PRESENT NOTES:
Carly is amazing. She is a very determined little girl. She actually wanted to start potty training at 19 months old. I thought that she was crazy! I figured if she wanted to potty train so young, she could just do it by herself. She did okay, but it wasn't until March when we went full force with potty training and she has been so good ever since. She doesn't even wear pull-ups at night. I think she has had only a hand full of accidents, so she's doing great! It is bittersweet knowing that she's the last one. She's the baby. Every once in awhile I get a little sad when I see these little babies all around, but I'm also excited to go on to the next step in life. It's so weird. It wasn't long ago that I was attending all my friend's bridal showers, then baby showers. It's not going ot be long before I'm attending my friend's kids bridal showers and baby showers...Where ddoes the time go? __________________________________________________________

PAST:
On March 9, 2010 at 4:39pm, I wrote:

"Malia's performance poster for her school play"

COMMENTS:
~Heidi Menebroker Lettau: "How fun, did you design that?"
~Rachael Poindexter Durling: "Ya, I did them for all the students and they are all on the bulletin board in the cafeteria..."
~Heidi Menebroker Lettau: "Yay you!!!!"
~Jamie Thomas-Gandy: "Love it!"
~Yolanda Gonzalez: "She is so beautiful! What grade is she in? Yo"
~Kristi Goldrup: "you are soooo talented!!!!!"
~Rachael Poindexter Durling: "Thanks yolanda, she's in 2nd grade."
~Dorothy Fowler Gregersen: "Leave it to Rachael for perfection...great job...that school is lucky lucky lucky to have you..."
~Holly Graham Matua: "Wow...thats so Cool.....you and your photo talent..Love it!!!"

PRESENT NOTES:
I put a lot of work into Malia's school play. The above picture is what I created for each child for the "Starring" board. They were a big hit! I also was the co-director, stage design director, photographer, videographer, and sountrack recorder. It was a long three months since I was also working on the yearbook, but I enjoyed doing it and the end result was amazing! After the first performance, Malia's teacher grabbed me and took me aside so "no one else could hear" and told me that numerous teachers thought that she was destined for American Idol. I had parents of other students tell me that their child told them that Malia was the best and that she had the most beautiful voice. Because of this buzz Malia had created, the principal decided she wanted to come see her perform. She sat in the back and I was video taping it. While Malia was singing, out of the corner of my eye I saw the principal wipe her eye. I figured she had allergies or something, but later that day, Malia's teacher grabbed me again and told me that Malia's performance made the principal cry. She had the most beautiful voice and I got choked up while watching her, but I'm here mom, so that was one thing, but when you make a principal cry, that's just pure talent! Here's video one of her performance:

(to view this video, watch "Tico Video One" on the DVD at the end of this book)




I posted the both of the videos on facebook and got the following comments on them:

~Heidi Menebroker Lettau: Thanks for sharing this, I heard it was so good and Malia was fabulous from KR's teacher and class. She is an amazing singer Rachael.
~Christine Brown Santos: Great job Malia!
~Amy Ortiz Bodily: She was so good and I loved her costume!
~Jennifer Durling Maness Nelson: Her voice is so crisp, like a bell! It's beautiful!!
~Jennifer Nebeker: She is amazing!!!!!!!!!! Wow!
~Holly Graham Matua: Irie and moni loved watching Malia...I think Irie watched it 3 times.....She did Awsome....
~Jennifer Durling Maness Nelson: Okay, the singing is AWESOME! But so are the costumes....wow! Oh man, Malia. I'm gonna remember this every day. I should smile!!
~Marisa Vining Henrie: Wahoo, go Malia! Rach, she did such a good job and is sooo cute!
~Dorothy Fowler Gregersen: everything is fabulous...
~Hillary Loomis: She's great. I love the twirls in the background!!!

A quick synopsis of Tico and the Golden Wings: Tico was born with no wings. He had some friends that would help him survive by bringing him food to eat. One night while he made a wish to the wishing bird to have some wings. The Miracle Bird (Malia's part) made it happen. When he awoke the next morning, he had beautiful wings, 5 of them golden, and he could fly as high as the eagle. Unfortunatly, his friends weren't happy with his golden wings. They believed that he was stuck up and better than them. Tico was sad so the Miracle Bird (Malia's part) tells him to not wear a frown on his face (watch video below) After Tico becomes happy, he fly's around and finds different people to help with his golden feathers. Everytime he gives a feather away a regular feather grew in its place. At the end of the story, the friends are happy because Tico is now just like them and Tico is happy just to have wings. The moral of the story was that everyone is different and each person has different experiences and each have their own dreams. It was a great experience for both Malia and I.

(To see this video, watch "Tico Video 2" on the DCD at the end of this book)



Here are some photos of Malia from the play:

When Raya was in 2nd grade, she also had Mrs. Johnson and was able to perform in her own play called The Gingerbread Baby. She had one of the only few speaking parts as Mrs. Johnson's plays are actually musicals. While going through some old videos recently, I found this video montage that I did of Raya for her play. Here it is: I really enjoyed helping out Mrs. Johnson this school year. It was great to be able share this performing arts experience with Malia.

(To view this video, watch "Gingerbread Baby" on the DVD at the end of this book)


_______________________________________________________

PAST:
On March 19, 2010 at 4:20 pm, I wrote:

"watched a bunch of boys strip down into their underwear to swimming in an ice cold pool today...and the girls just laughed...and screamed!"

COMMENTS:
~Jamie Thomas-Gandy: lol... 2 of them were mine! hahhahahhahahah
~Dee Dee Dannan: That was hilarious!! YEAH!
~Tina Ortiz Barrera: benicio was the leader of the underwear pack...lol
~Jamie Thomas-Gandy: Ya, I knew my boys wouldn't do the underware thing, they are way too modest!!
~Jennifer Thompson: Hey! Were you at my house? I knew I couldn't trust Steve to be home alone for an entire week!
~Rachael Poindexter Durling: Hahaha...I don't have to go to your house to see Steve in his underwear...he checks the mail in them ;-)
~Jennifer Thompson: I know! *hangs head in shame*

PRESENT NOTES:
Cast party for Tico and the Golden Wings. DeeDee Dannan held it at her house and she has a pool, but it wasn't a pool party. Slowly the children started putting their feet in, then their legs, then they knelt over the pool and dunked their heads. All of a sudden the boys were in their underwear swimming. Elora (DeeDee's daughter) fortunately had a bunch of swim suites and the girls joined in. It was pretty funny and I'm sure there are photos somewhere of the event which I'm sure will be used for blackmail someday when the kids are older.
___________________________________________________

PAST:
On March 22, 2010 at 11:08pm, I wrote:

"sooooo people! I have some news..."

COMMENTS:
~Laura Cocanour Graham: What's that?
~Sonya Hannon: and....
~Jennifer Durling Maness Nelson: You're PREGNANT?????
~Heather McDowell West: ANTICIPATION!
~Jeniffer Taylor Ketcherside: lets hear it lady
~Heidi Hufstetler Wright: ???
~Alyssa Lower Cole: You're a tease :)
~Mary Hester: It's twins?
~Nancy Hale: ??
~Jeniffer Taylor Ketcherside: still waiting
~Jennifer Thompson: Do I know already? Am I going to be disappointed in the answer because it is old news to me?
~Gina Wood Jenkins: I'm WAAAAIIIITTTINNGG!
~Brenda Della Casa: Is it????
~Louise Gilbert Hulewsky: well this is totally suspenseful
~Rachael Poindexter Durling: It's funny how my status updates are generating a lot of comments lately...I am holding off on the news before I make sure i can tell...I will tell you this though...I'm not pregnant, nor will I ever be again, so don't even think about it ;-) In the meantime, enjoy the suspense ;-)
~Jo Peterson: You've set a date for the family reunion your planning...
~Holly Graham Matua: Ummmmmmmmmmmmmmm!!!! I have no clue!!!!! yes very suspenseful....give it up girl!!!!
~Rachael Poindexter Durling: Hahahaha JO!!!!! I'll just add that one to my list of things that I will "Hopefully" get done ;-)
~Jennifer Nebeker: boo
~Yolanda Gonzalez: What news?
~Patrick Durling: Don't tell anyone until we know for sure, OK?
~Jody Stout Jensen: poo poo Patrick. Spoil sport...
~Marisa Vining Henrie: Congrats because I THINK I know what it is! Yeah!

PRESENT NOTES:
Well, my news was that we put an offer in on a house and we got it! We've since then did a ton of construction on it and moved in. We are now working on the yard, but it's a daunting task for sure. I will have another post with pictures to show and details of that tormenting..err, I mean exciting time in another post, but as for now, you are one of the few that got to be in suspense for this facebook update and not have to wait a few weeks to find out what the "big news" was...lucky you!
___________________________________________________________

PAST:
On March 23, 2010, I wrote:

"I don't like those words (Rock Star) because I don't wear the right kind of pants...You gotta wear the right kind of trousers to be a rock star" ~Chris Martin"



COMMENTS:
~Michael Howton: It's true. Its all about the pants. ~Michael Howton
~Patrick Durling: That means Brandon Flowers is definitely a rock star.
~Jennifer Durling Maness Nelson: Parachute pants!!

PRESENT NOTES:
Chris Martin is the lead singer of Coldplay. Coldplay is my absolute FAVORITE band. I honestly didn't even know the guys name for a long time, but I loved their music. I still don't know any of the other band members name, but their music is amazing. I watched a small interview of Chris Martin and he said the above quote. It struck me that he seemed pretty humble about his fame. I don't know if he really is, but as long as he keeps making music, I don't care!
__________________________________________________________

PAST:
On March 24 2010 at 8:23a,. I wrote:

"cleaning day...I welcome you with open arms!"

COMMENTS:
~Heidi Menebroker Lettau: Would you welcome my house too please?
~Jeniffer Taylor Ketcherside: and a sore back have fun Rach
~Holly Graham Matua: Can I come and Help? wish it were that simple...clean and chat...that would be fun.....;)
~Heidi Menebroker Lettau: What a great idea Holly, cleaning parties! That could be the next big thing.
~Jeniffer Taylor Ketcherside: I agree to bad noone lives near me but a house cleaning party sounds fantastic
~Jennifer Durling Maness Nelson: Good attitude! You could, like, clean MY house with that attitude! :()
~Sandy Nobes: call me crazy...i like that kind of stuff! If I was off today..i would go! Haha
~Rachael Poindexter Durling: Okay, I'm down for a house cleaning party since it's taken me 2 hours to print 8 things...dang computers!
~Jennifer Nebeker: I'm doing the same! Well actually just dishes and laundry...
~Brenda Della Casa: Girl, do you ever rest!?
__________________________________________________________

PAST:
On March 24, 2010 at 1:54pm, I wrote:

"my son will be wearing pink underwear...darn laundry!!! At least he's too young to care!"

COMMENTS:
~Chris Buda Budenbender: Like father like son.
~Mary Hester: Buy a bottle of black dye . It works. :)
~Kelly Townsend: You are scaring him for life. HAHAHA

PRESENT NOTES:
Let's just say that doing the laundy isn't my strongest suit...obviously :)
____________________________________________________________

PAST:
On March 25, 2010 at 8:20pm, I wrote:

"it's awesome that Mrs. Johnson texts..."

COMMENTS:
~Nancy Hale: is she on fb too?? I'd love to recconect with her. :)
~Diane Pettigrew Davison: Man she didn't do that when she was my sons teacher :)
~Rachael Poindexter Durling: no, she's not on fb...yet ;-)
~Heidi Menebroker Lettau: I'm sad she won't be there next year. Do you know anything about the other second grade teachers?
~Rachael Poindexter Durling: I don't know too much except that Malia calls mrs. zollner evil...I don't know...I'm just sayin...hahahaha
~Heidi Menebroker Lettau: LOL, our neighbor has her and the sister (4th grade) doesn't like her, but the one in her class does. I'll have to look her up I am not sure who she is.
~Jamie Thomas-Gandy: I love it that she texts too!!! I text her often, all teachers should!!!!!!
~Dee Dee Dannan: it is cool! We may get her to start FBing when she retires :)

PRESENT NOTES:
Mrs. Johnson is now on facebook. The only thing is, is she didn't create her profile. Janice Ortiz did as a way to connect with all her past students so she could throw her a surprise retirement party. I'm not sure if she actually checks it, but when I went to her profile to grab this picture from her retirement party:

and here's another picture that I took from her retirement party:

It looked like there were people posting on it, so...maybe she does. She was an amazing teacher and I really feel like she became a friend and not just one of my kids teachers. Oh, and it's awesome when someone with gray hair texts...I mean, most gray haired ones wouldn't even touch a cell phone let alone text from one.
_______________________________________________________

PAST:

On March 27, 2010 at 5:47pm, I wrote:

"ATTENTION TICO AND THE GOLDEN WINGS PARENTS: There is an article in the Orangevale News today (last page) with our little birds (and humans) on it...go and check it out"

COMMENTS:

~Jamie Thomas-Gandy: Thanks Rachael, that was very cool! I will frame it!


PRESENT NOTES:
I wrote a nice letter about Mrs. Johnson and sent it along with the class photo that is in an above facebook status update to the Orangevale News. They printed it and featured the play. Mrs. Johnson was just thrilled to have it in the paper and said she would put it in her retirement book. I, on the other hand cannot remember where I put it since we moved, but I have a good idea. I will have to see if I can find it and add a picture of it to this post at a later date.
__________________________________________________________

PAST:
On March 30, 2010 at 8:40am, I wrote:

"You know you have 4 kids when your son asks Heavenly Father to bless that his sister won't pee on the table during his breakfast prayer..."

COMMENTS:
~Heidi Menebroker Lettau: LOL (Rachael side note: LOL means "Laugh Out Loud")
~Pawel Twardecki: Its about time she stops doing that lol
~Melanie Schelhorn: Thats very funny!
~Keri Schafer Walters: Now that is FUNNY!!!!!
~Jennifer Thompson: Gotta love Ethan!
~Jennifer Durling Maness Nelson: LOL!! How funny!
~Holly Graham Matua: What Tha........That is funni!!!!!!

PRESENT NOTES:
Ummmm, well....obviously we had an "incident" that involved a potty training accident. On a good note, we don't own that table anymore...phew!

The Mail Mam

It's time to change the Kid Quote of the Week so I am once again blogging the old one:

Ethan: "Hey Mom, it's the mail mam"
Me: "Oh, the mail man is here?"
Ethan: "No, the mail MAM, she's a lady!"

Private Stuff

Most of my kids didn't care if they ran around the house (or outside of the house for that matter) naked until well after they 3 years old. I thought Carly would be the same, however, today has marked a turn of events in that little girl's head.

While getting ready for the "waterfall park" as she likes to call it, she was naked as we were looking for her swimsuit. She kept covering her frontage and backage and to anyone that happened to look her way, she would say "Don't look at me!"

After brushing her teeth and telling her to go to the bathroom before bed tonight, she said "Mom, close the door, I don't want anyone to see my butt."

I wonder if she is really "aware" of her nakedness or if she's just mimicking her older sibling's actions. Whatever the reason for all this private stuff, there's one thing for sure...She's way cute doing it!

The Mommy Occupations

Being a dentist wasn't something I had mentioned as a child that I wanted to be when I grew up. "A Mother", on the other hand, is what frequented my mouth when I was asked that question.

When I decided to become a mom, I never really considered that a mother would have so many "other" occupations to go along with it. I have since learned that a mother can do just about any job!

Malia has been sporting a very expensive Palette Expander for about a month now. I get to turn the key every other day. It's crazy watching her mouth change. It's starting to become noticeable (at least to me anyway) and somewhat effective! By this, I mean, she has finally lost errr...I mean, I was able to extract a baby tooth that should have fallen out of her mouth about a year ago. Now we are just waiting for the other side to follow.

(To view this video, watch "Mommy Occupations" on the DVD at the end of this book)

Being a dentist wasn't something that I wanted to be when I grew up, but when you're a mom, you do just about everything!

Are Flip Flops a total Flop?

I recently had a quick discussion with someone regarding the wearing of flip flops to church. The girl was 7 months pregnant and wearing flip flops. She actually felt guilty for wearing them to a church baptism. When I served in the Young Women's program (girls ages 12-17) in our previous ward (church congregation), the President of the organization talked with girls about wearing flip flops to church and basically told them that she didn't think that it was "appropriate"...I was wearing flip flops that day.

Since then, I have not worn flip flops to church. I didn't want to stick out like a sore thumb, but since having that conversation with this particular lady, I have thought a lot about it. Here are my thoughts:

Flip flops are shoes for crying out loud! The Lord isn't going to judge a person because she or he are wearing flip flops to worship him in. Don't you think that the Lord would rather you be at church than at home because you had no "nice" shoes or you just wanted to wear flip flops? I don't think the Lord cares honestly, as long as you are there. It is true, we should wear our best to show respect for the Lord, but what if flip flops ARE our best? Are you going to judge that person...maybe you should walk a mile in their flip flops!

Ranting done ;-)