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. :>

Animal Love is equal to the love of a child.

Meet a baby bird. We found him on our back porch last weekend. Unfortunately, he had a brother or sister that did not make it. We had to bury him. The kids were heart broken. A baby bird had died on thier watch. So I did what every other mother would do out there.......... Loaded everyone up in the van with the tiny little bird, some grass, and some seed and headed to the vets office in hopes of a "good "outcome. We drove the 20 minutes to the closest vet open on Saturday morning only to find out that they do not do anything with birds. I beggged........ I could not tell my little ones that we lost another bird, not now not in the middle of a move from AZ to CA. They were already so confused, and sad about losing their house, their friends, their schools, and now a bird. It was very traumatic. Luckily, they headed me in the right direction to a bird rescue. So another 20 minutes in we finally found her. She had a finch mother that would take it and teach it to fly and all would be happy. The kids were thrilled and happy. We were the heros. :> Now we got nothing done at the the house that we should have been doing. Packing, cleaning, etc...... but we did save a baby bird. Feels pretty good. If I do say so myself. :>

Next meet Sammy. She is our rabbit. We have had her for about a year. She was Tanner's pet but he was a little rough for her (tying her legs together and throwing her off the bunk beds), so she lived in the laundry room. I felt so bad for her living there and not getting interacation so I moved her to the front family room. Here she has free run of the downstairs. She likes to tease our guinea pig, Bolt, but she does love to be out of her cage. She is litter trained so it works out nicely. Yes, I have a bunny, that lounges in my house. What have a I turned into to, dog, guinea pig, and rabbi. Besides the six ......oops make that seven kids if jay is around. :> What do you do? We love them all. I have to say about the pets, they are easy to clean up and feed. They never talk back and they love unconditionally. Very forgiving, no matter what. You can snip at them and they just look at you like you have lost your mind but next minute they are right there in your lap looking for affection. So they never hold it against you. Interesting. Well my friends, it is well past my bed time and I do have a lot to do tomorrow. Have a great night!!!!!

Staying Cool!!

With all the heat here in Arizona, living in Rancho Sahuarita does have some benefits. It is a very family friendly community. At the clubhouse they have a water park. I am not a swimmer, nor do I actually enjoy the water.( I really don't know how to swim.) But, as the kids are getting older, and a little more manageable, we have discovered the water park is a great place for the kids. It allows them to burn off some of that pent up energy. We have been there several times and they love it. It also works as a great motivator to keep them in check during the day.

This crazy bucket dumps water on them about every 7 minutes. As weird as it sounds, they love it. A bell will ring to let them know when it is getting ready to dump and no matter where they are they will run to be under that very large bucket. And yet, it knocks them on their cute little butts every time. We have even been known to almost lose our shorts completely. Cute little plumbers crack!!! :> I just shake my head and laugh.

The best part for me or the added bonus is..... when we get home they head right to the shower and as soon as their little heads hit their pillows they are out. Not too bad, if I do say so myself. Sleep well, my friends, the kids are!!!!!

My little Rock Band!!!

Jay and I love to play rock band. I never thought I would say that. Very out of character I know.( it is a great way to relieve stress) But a year ago when I was in Utah , Adam convinced to me to try. He is amazing on the drums!!!! We played one night for what I thought was a mere hour or so and as it turns out it five hours had passed and it was nearly 1:00 in the morning. LOL. So for my birthday I got Rock Band. I try (and try is the key word there) to play the drums and Jay plays the guitar.

Well ...... now the kids have decided that they like to play too. They just rotate around and sing, play guitars or the drums. It is so funny to watch and see how much they get into it. Eye of the Tiger seems to be the favorite song. We have heard rumor that coming out this Christmas will be Lego Rock Band , so it will be a little more appropriate for the kids. I think this will make a great gift.

As for now, we are doing anything we can to help make this move and transition as easy as possible. And for a few minutes while they are playing Rock Band they forget that all of their toys, beds, and everything else around them are packed. They even seem to forget that they are living with boxes all around!!!

Kids are the best. They may be loud and messy but they have so much resiliency and courage. Sleep well our friends and play a little Rock Band!!!

Summer Monsoon Fun.

Make a Smilebox slideshow

For those of you not familiar with AZ summer, one of the highlights is the monsoon. Once the temperatures hit the triple digits we can get a lot of storms. We will get a lot of thunder and lightning but some days a lot of rain. The kids love the rain and sometimes we will let them play in it. This was one of those days. I was impressed because Daddy let them play in the pond as well. Which he had just cleaned out. But he reminded us that , "you are only kids once."

Here are a couple of pictures of the monsoon at night. The storms can be fun to watch and they do create some gorgeous sunsets. Enjoy and have a fabulous day, our friends.