1st Impressions!!!

When you look at this little face sleeping so peacefully, your 1st impression would be that he is such a little angel. And before I go any further..... I will tell you that my identicals (aka the terrible twosome) are the sweetest little boys and have the biggest hearts, HOWEVER, they can be so mischieveous and create a lot of trouble.

Now these two faces are what I am used to seeing just before or after some sort of havic has been created. Today I finally found the ward we are supposed to attend. I decided it was finally time to get back to church. Since we were actually around this weekend it was the perfect timing.

I will admit that we skipped sacrament meeting as I have to ease myself and the ward into the "Kearl fun." Things went relatively smoothly. We found our classes and no one ran away when they saw us. I call that success!

Now after church, well that is a different story. We were headed to the van. Naturally the children dart out the door and straight into the parking lot at 100 mph. Of course ,this is not how we do things. We usually have partners and do not go out any door without holding hands and staying together. But they know that we are coming out of church and mom is not going to yell. And since she is in a dress with heals she can only run so fast. (How is it kids can figure this out, I don't wear dresses often and never heals... running shoes!)

Into the van go Cassie and Bryan. Good job. Hunter gets in the van but decides it would be much more fun to see what Tanner, Nathan and Jayson are doing. And..... as I keep getting told by people..... boys will be boys. (Come on this excuse can only go on for so long before even I don't believe it anymore.) Picture this.......a little brick wall that leads to a hill of tree leaves that have fallen to the ground. They are jumping in them, throwing them around and running from mom as fast as those legs will carry them. I am trying to count to ten as calmly as possible and scurry them back to the van. When all of the sudden I see Jayson and Nathan jumping on an old water drain cover. Okay, not bad one might think. (We now have an audience as people are checking out the "quads" and to see what all the commotion is about. ) Then what to my wondering eyes might appear......... Hundreds of very mad bees coming out of the drain as fast as they can. The boys start screaming like little girls, I am trying to grab the kids over the fence and into the van as fast as I can..... I have bees all over . I am trying to swat them off, get kids in the van and not swear in front of all the church people.

I managed to get the kids in the van and none of them got stung. However, we now have bees in the van that I am trying to shoo out the window and at the same time not let any more in! The kids are screaming at me that there is one in my hair, on my arm, stuck to my neck. Needless to say I did not fair as well and the children. Five stings to the neck later, the van is bee free. It is true what they say about a mother's love. But for the record, bee stings to the neck hurt!!!!!

So there you have it my friends, that is how we make a 1st impression. So tonight as I sit here with tyelnol, benedryl and pennies stuck to the neck........ I am trying to figure out what I did in my previous life to be blessed with five little boys that will...... as they say........ be boys. :>

Worn Out!!!

This would be Bryan. School here starts at 7:30 for the elementary. Which means that we start our day at about 6:15 each morning. It is a crazy time to start our days, but in order to get the six kids dressed, beds made, lunches finished, breakfast, teeth brushed and make it out the door no later than 7:07, we have to get up and get going. And yes, my kids are on a pretty tight schedule. In order to survive these mornings ,we have to be in bed asleep no later than 7:15. But by about Wednesday, the kids are tired and worn out, and how is the best way to show Mom how tired we are....... Yep, you guessed it..... plain old grouchiness. So on this particular day I decided time out was not going to work for me and I sent him into the guest bedroom to "melt down" out of sight. This is what I found five minutes later. Poor kid, just exhausted.

And yet for the record, I have to wake them up Monday through Friday but on Saturday morning they are wide awake. Are you kidding me?!?!?!?!?

However, since pictures speak a thousand words, I just thought I would share a couple of dinner time pictures with you!!! Clearly we have our second wind! Mom is counting to ten (at least ten times) and looking forward to the kids finishing their chores, bath time, story time, and finally bedtime!!!

I don't know about anyone else, but I am looking forward to the weekend!!! I need to sleep in, even if it is only for ten extra minutes. Have a great night my friends!!!

Yes, they did turn 6!!!

So the rumor is true. The quads did in fact turn 6 years old. It was also about a month ago that it happened. The week before their big birthday they lost their great Grandfather. What a lucky group of kids to be able to know and appreciate several great grandparents. Unfortunately, along with knowing them comes losing them. In the last two years they have lost three. I do think this was the hardest one yet because they are old enough to be aware and ask many questions. But the good news is that we were able to make it to Utah for the funeral and be back in time for our big Disneyland trip.

As you may know, each year around the quads birthday, Jay has a Test Pilot conference at Disneyland. Since it would be completely unreasonable to think that he should go alone we go with him to keep him in line. Each year we also solicit some new unsuspecting loved ones to go and "celebrate" birthdays. The truth is......... I cannot do Disneyland alone with six kids. :> This year Lauren and Phil joined us for the trip. (Thanks guys, we love you and are so glad that you made it!!!!! ) We loved having them come and join in the fun. Not sure they will ever come back though .........


Here are just a few pictures of the big day. I am working on a slide show that will show all the fun. (currently cannot get the picture disk to work, and cannot work on it when I am sitting around eating bon bons, come on) Since Lauren and Phil joined us (they love to take pictures) we have plenty of memories captured. And I have to say that this year was the most fun yet........ The kids are finally old enough that we did not have to worry so much and they loved the rides. Waiting in line is still a challenge but it is getting better. We also decided to purchase season passes as it was the better deal so we will be able to go back many times and have more fun.

Well friends, I will update soon with pictures and more tales of the adventure. In the meantime, have a great night!!!

Happy Birthday My Little Sweet Pea!!!

Who can believe that little Hunter is now 8 Years old. It seems like just yesterday we were living in North Carolina and I was ready to pop. And out popped this handsome little man. He is all grown up and loving life and school. His cake is Indiana Jones and the thinks it is the "bomb' in his words. I think that smile tells everything. He has a shark tooth necklace from Grandma Nese and Grandpa Bruce and they win good points.

And the best gift ever, came from ........... drum roll please......... not mommie, (I just knew I was going to win big points with the basketball standard since he has wanted one and begged....... nope the roller coaster from Lauren and Phil beat me out. Way to go you two!!! Wish you had been here to watch the joy and help him set it up. He loved it. Still just checked on him and he has perma grin. Way to to guys!!! The only thing better would have been to have you here to eat cake. Maybe next time. Love to you, Sleep well.

Out of the Darkness!!!

As you may remember almost a year ago we lost my dear brother in law to suicide. It has been a horrific year to try to deal with and understand why his young life was cut so short. If only we had known more...... I had never been so close to someone who had committed suicide and all of the sudden it was truly "rocking" our world. My heart still aches each time I stop and think about it all. My dear sister and her gorgeous little girls have picked up the pieces and honor their father everyday. She is doing a suicide walk in his honor this month and I hope that anyone that can find it in their heart will go to the following link and help to sponsor her team. Here is some more information about suicide and their walk. Please just take a moment and read the information you might help to save a life.

WALK TO SAVE LIVES... In the United States, a person dies by suicide every 16 minutes, claiming more than 32,000 lives each year. It is estimated that an attempt is made every minute; with close to one million people attempting suicide annually.By walking in the Out of the Darkness Community Walks to benefit the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention (AFSP), you will be walking with thousands of people nationwide to raise money for AFSP's vital research and education programs to prevent suicide and save lives, increase national awareness about depression and suicide, and assist survivors of suicide loss.WALK TO HONOR A LOVED ONE...Many of our participants walk in memory of a loved one lost to suicide. AFSP provides opportunities for survivors of suicide loss to get involved through a wide variety of educational, outreach, awareness, advocacy and fundraising programs. Each walk site has its own unique remembrance activity in which you can participate to honor a loved one.WALK TO RAISE AWARENESS... AFSP funds research aimed at improving our understanding of suicide and ways to prevent it as well as educational activities to increase awareness about prevention, warning signs and the psychiatric illnesses that can lead to suicide.

If you click on the following link it will take you right to her page (Elizabeth Shaw) and you can help support her walk. Elizabeth, Shelby, and Shaylee, we are so proud of you and would walk with you if we could. You make us all proud and we know this day will be bittersweet. Know that your guardian angels will be with you to keep you strong. We love you all very much!!!

http://afsp.donordrive.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=donorDrive.participant&eventID=844&participantID=52664

1st day of School!!

Okay, so I am only about a month behind. I really do not think that is bad if you look at all that has happened . :> So here you have it. My little monkey's all ready to start school. I hope that Sundown Elementary will survive. Tanner- 3rd grade, Hunter- 2nd grade, Cassie, Bryan, Nathan and Jayson- kindergarten. Not bad.

I know it is hard to tell in this picture but it was 6:15 am. We were residing on base because there were complications with the house. We were not able to close because it had not passed inspections yet. We had been homeless for about 10 days at this point, we only had 1 more night on base because they did not have room any longer. We had not figured we would need reservations longer because we were scheduled to close on the house on the 4th of August. With school starting on the 10th that would have given us plenty of time. But that is not the Kearl way..... Ever since marrying into the Kearl family, I have learned what the Kearl Factor is..... For those of you unfamiliar with it, as I catch up on our CA move you will see just exactly what I mean. Here is one story. Enjoy! Jay and left, he had to be back in AZ for a week, it was a 50 minute commute to school and the van battery died. I had to frantically search for someone to jump start the van at this ridiculous hour of the morning, I finally found some poor unsuspecting non English speaking workers. I begged them to help me. Finally we are on our way. Luckily we had started a little early so we were not horribly later. When I dropped the kids off Bryan was having a very hard time. As I have stated before this move was not the most smooth. He was so afraid that the van was not going to start and that I would not be at the bus stop to pick them up. He was afraid that once I drove away he would never see me again. It was killing me. Bryan's eyes do not hide anything. And when those little things filled with tears it was enough to break my heart. But he put on his brave little face and off he went. And yes, I was there early at the bus to pick them up.

Only 1 week into school 3 of the kids had detention. Now that is fun. I think that the school is just trying to make sure that the kids know the rules and abide by them. (or at least that is what I am telling myself to make me feel better about it :>) But if you are trying to guess which ones had detention, I would be willing to bet you are right. Hunter..... fiddling around during story time with his neighbor and fighting over a pencil, (double detention). Nathan and Jayson..... picking up and throwing wood chips on the playground. What can I say..... boys will be boys? Does that work?!?!!?

This is for Lauren and Phil!!!

I am so very far behind on blogging!!! This has been the craziest and most unorganized move we have had. For the record, Jay and I have been married for 12 years and this is our 11th move. I am just about done with this fun. :> Anyway, I will try to catch everyone up with our "adventure" as the days progress. For now..... This is the day we drove out of Tucson, AZ. Because of our continous breakdowns in the desert with over 100 degrees, Lauren and Phil thought it was fitting for the kids to be well equipped with their own little fans for the journey. So here is a picture of them with their great surprise. It was a hit and when we did break down we were actually able to use them. Now that is another story all together.

Sleep well our friends. We are going to. :>