It's All About The Shoes For 3rd Grade!

This year when it came to getting school supplies, all the girls cared about was having cute new shoes. I've learned from experience that when it comes to school supply shopping with 3 DIFFERENT girls, I must take them one at a time. Don't think you'll catch these girls wearing matching outfits anymore. Those days are long gone. (Sorry Grandma Margo)

We are a couple of weeks into school and I still can't believe I have 3rd graders. Can I really be that old? These girls were pretty cute and super excited to get back to school.


Just a little side note: When my sister in law Heather came earlier in the summer she looked at my door and said, "Ok, now that's why your girls look so small in front of your door in all your pictures, that door is huge!" Yes, we do have a really big door and I never thought it might look funny to people who see the pictures I take in front of the door.

End of Summer!

The last of our summer always includes a fun camping trip with friends. This year we had a great time at Downata Hot Springs. Our kids always have such a fabulous time...and the adults do too. Just a few pictures from the trip.

More Downata Pics!

Little Girls Boating

The girls had been begging us to take friends boating and we finally made it happen. We let the girls each pick a friend and it was really a lot of fun to watch these girls play in the water and go tubing. Friends seem to be pretty important lately to the triplets! It's all good, I remember those days!

Summer of Fun!

I love summer. I don't think I will ever forget the feeling of "Schools Out". Since I most likely will never truely have that feeling again, I can live it through my children, right? So, I wanted to make this summer a great one!

My goal this summer was to let my kids BE kids. I was done with structure and a million places to be all at the same time and the rush rush rush all the time. So that's what we have done. We didn't have any amazing trips around the world planned, just simple Neider fun. The triplets have grown up so much these last few months and it's making me so sad. They're asking more questions about real life important stuff, there friends are becoming more important than me and Donevan and they want more independence. Wow, can they really be starting 3rd grade? Now that the summer is winding down, I am so grateful for the simplicity of this summer. We spent a lot of quality time as a family together just enjoying one another without the stresses of scheduled stuff.

I had a much wiser woman tell me not to spend my days worrying about how clean and neat my house is while the time I could spend with my children is passing by. I have thought about that comment almost everyday this summer. So, my house hasn't been as tidy as I like it and at times I feel a bit overwhelmed because of the cludderness, but then I think about the wise words that I heard from someone that I really look upto and realize that these things don't matter. The precious time spent with my children is more important than a tidy house.

Our many camping trips this summer will always be dear to my heart. I never thought I would love camping as much as I do, but there is just something about being away from the stresses of the world and enjoying eachother that melts my heart. Sitting around the campfire and telling stories is so fun. I was lucky enough this summer to sit around the campfire and hear the love stories of some amazing friends of mine. I think that is awesome!

One really fun thing this summer has been to watch the friendships that my kids have with other kids in the neighborhood. I love that they all look after eachother and care for oneanother. The other day Brittany was riding her bike and got her shoelace stuck in her bike and fell over. She came home crying, but told me that a older neighbor boy came to her rescue. So sweet! Then for my teenage neighbor to call and tell me that my son was on the top of the camper. As scary as that was...I am so grateful for such a great kid like David who would step away from the typical teenage ego thing and care about DJ. I love this neighborhood and I love the friendships that we have developed even more so this summer. I love 2 little beautiful blond haired girls that are ringing my doorbell often named Gracie and Ella. They are my favorites! When I don't see them for a few days, I REALLY miss them. I want to have food in my cupboards that these picky eaters will eat and I want them to love to be at my house as much as I love to have them. We have had some fun dance parties together and I'm wondering what crazy stuff their parents know about me now! It's all in good fun.

I'm sad that summer has come to an end, but I think I can look back and be happy with the kind of chill summer that we've had. Now bring on college football!

Apology

Dear Blog,
I am really sorry that I have completely ignored you this summer. I have been so busy. But, school is starting in 1 week and hopefully I can get DJ and Emma on the same napping schedule so that I can have some down time during the day! I feel like I've been running around like a chicken with it's head cut off for the past 3 months. IT was all worth it, we had a fun summer. More details to come. I promise! Love you all...and I still love you blog. ~Christine

Way To Go Donevan!

On the morning of the 4th of July...7am...Donevan ran in his first race. He did so awesome and we are so proud of him.

My brother Gary was in town from Virginia and also ran the race. Gary is a fantastic runner and ran the 5K in a little over 24 mins. He did awesome and to think he was worried about the altitude.

Donevan's goal was to run the race in less than 30min. I was standing at the finish line watching the clock knowing how disappointed he would be if he didn't make it in less than 30min. So when the clock reached 29min, my heart was racing like crazy. Finally in the distance I could see him. The girls were cheering and holding up their signs. I got this awesome picture as he finished with the time in the background. He made his goal!

Proud as can be of their Daddy.

A Summer To Remember (June)

June was a fun and busy month for us. Since I am so behind with my blogging and have so many pictures to share, I thought I would just do a slideshow and share some of our hightlights of the month. We started off the summer with an awesome camping trip with friends(this was actually the end of May). We always have such a fun and relaxing time playing games, sitting around the campfire and watching the kids be kids.

My birthday this year was fabulous as always because my kids and hubby always make it so special. 31 seems to be treating me well.

Donevan took the girls on a couple of hikes. He also talked me into going on one. After seeing 2 snakes, I'm not sure I will be hiking again anytime soon. He's preparing to climb Mt. Borah in Aug. with some friends. It's the highest peak in Idaho.

Doevan and DJ went to their first fathers/sons campout. I'm sure DJ felt pretty special having his Dad all to himself. They had fun bonding!

We ended the month with an awesome Neider family reunion at Downata Hot Spring. We love that place and the cousins had so much fun swimming, playing and laughing together. We spent some great evenings around the campfire. We are so blessed to be apart of an awesome family. A few of the weekends hightlights included:

Hanging around the campfire and watching the smoke follow Jeanine
Boom Chica Boom- Neider sytle
Watching Caitley freak out after seeing her brother split his head open
Watching Donevan glue DJ's head back together
Grandpa Kenny's breakfast
Uncle Shawn's mega water balloon launcher
Grandma Margo's team Neider t-shirts
Steak and Lobster
Watching the kids pack around a stray cat...now a member of the Camille Neider family
Swimming Swimming and more Swimming
Water Slides Water Slides and more Water Slides
and tons more fun!

Well that pretty much does it for the month of June.

Who Could Be Mad At This Face?

YESTERDAY BY DINNER TIME.....DJ HAD???????????

~Turned on the hose outside and flooded a flowerbed

~Stuffed an entire roll of toilet paper in the toilet and clogged it

~Dumped a container of sticky apple juice on the kitchen floor

~Unloaded a dishwasher full of dirty dishes

~Took his diaper off and ran through the culdesac naked

And I'm sure there is so much more I am forgetting..............

But there is one thing for sure, I am in love with this little boy and he is soooo cute!

I can't wait to see what tomorrow brings!!!!!

Emma Jennifer Neider

doesn't get enough lovin' on my blog so I'm putting an end to that right now! This is the sweetest little girl that anyone could ever ask for. She is perfect in every way. I thought I would share a little bit about her. When I first got pregnant with her, I was sure she was going to be a boy. It just made sense to me that DJ would have a younger brother. My father in law had told me about a dream he had that was very vivid to him and it was DJ with his little brown eyed sister. I contemplated it for a moment, but thought there was no way it was going to be a girl and if it was a girl she would have blue eyes like her other 3 sisters. Well look what we got! A little brown eyed GIRL. We feel so blessed to have this little brown eyed baby girl in our home.

We named Emma Jennifer after Donevan's little sister Jennifer who died shortly after birth. I often think about what life would be like if Jennifer was here with us today. She would be close to my age and I know we would be best buddies. But now I think of Jennifer as our little angel in heaven taking care of my children before coming to us. Thank you Jennifer for being our guardian angel in so many ways!

Emma was my first baby that didn't have to be in the NICU and I was so excited about that. I got to have her in my room with me and enjoy some quiet moments alone with her. That was really special to me because I've never been able to have an immediate bond with any of my children because right after delivery the other 4 were whisked away to the NICU. So I remember looking into her eyes and feeling so overwhelmed with happiness and joy and thankfulness for this amazing gift from my Heavenly Father.

From the moment that we brought Emma home she was an angel. I woke up in the night with her for less than a week and then she was sleeping though the night. She rarely cries and she just smiles at everyone. When she's tired, we lay her in her bed and she goes right to sleep. After having family here I got a few comments about everyone forgetting she's even here because she's so good. We just love her fun personality. Now she wants to know what's going on in the room when she see's her siblings around. It's really cute to watch her move her head to be able to see what her sister or brother might be doing. Her and DJ already have a special bond. They are buddies. He is really sweet to her. The first few weeks she was home, whenever she would cry he would yell "Binky, Binky" Now when she is fussing, he tries to console her with a toy or blanket. It's pretty cute. He loves her a lot and I can't wait to watch them grow into best friends.

We love our Emmie so much and are happy to have her be our caboose!

BEST FRIENDS OR WHAT?

I tucked them each in their own beds tonight. Guess they pulled one over on us tonight.

I've got three little sneaky girls.

Love these girls!

Big Changes In 1 School Year

This is the last day of 2nd Grade!This was taken the first day of 2nd Grade!
These girls have changed so much in one school year. 2nd Grade was such a fun school year for them. They loved their teacher and learned so much. I can't believe how much better readers they are and the math that they are already learning is shocking! They continue to be as different as can be. They each want to start their own blogs this summer so watch out for those.

Some changes in Ashleigh include a continued desire to dress in the latest fashions. I now turn to her for advice on fashion. Every morning when she comes upstairs from school I am amazed at her accessorizing talents! She did such a great job this year cheerleading and doing ballet. She has also become an excellent babysitter. She changes diapers, puts the little ones to bed, makes bottles, sippy cups etc. She's also become more interested in boys this school year. This is pretty scary, especially for Dad. She is an excellent student, always striving to please others.

Caitley continues to be such a little mother to her baby brother and sister. She is always so aware of their needs and very protective of them. She cries when they get hurt, it's really cute. We finally got her front tooth out after wiggling it for a year. We had to have it pulled by the dentist, but it's finally out and definitely making her look older. Sometimes I wish they could keep their baby teeth forever. She has excelled in reading so much this year and is a natural at math. Don't know where she got that from, it wasn't from her parents. Since the day this girl was born she has always been a thinker. She continues to listen and ponder on every word that is said. I am always underestimating her knowledge of things that are going on around her. She's a lot smarter than I ever think she is.

Brittany is still her spunky self. She is the life of the party, always everyones best friend! Her love for animals has grown even more this year and still begs me everyday to get a pet. Her dreams came true last week when I allowed them to bring home their classroom tadpoles. I'm sorry to report that they didn't make it but a couple of days in our home before being overfed. Whoops! Brittany's crossbite was fixed this school year too! Thanks to 2 retainers. It would have only been one had one not been lost somewhere at school. It's all good, worth it in the end. She has an amazing smile now and perfect teeth! Brittany is an exceptional reader, often reading books on 5th and 6th grade levels in record times. Give this girl a book and you won't see her for hours. Take the book away and you can't get her to stop talking!

It's hard to believe I will have 3rd Graders next year. That happened overnight! I'm so proud of them and love them so much!

11 Years!

We celebrated our 11 year anniversary a few weeks ago. This is one of my favorite pictures of Donevan and I taken on our wedding day. It's hard to believe that was 11 years ago. As a child, I remember a saying that my mom had sitting on my Dad's dresser. It said, "I love you more today than yesterday, but not as much as tomorrow". If words could describe how I feel about Donevan those would be it. Everyday I love this man more and more and I am so lucky. I don't know how he balances his time between family, work, friends, and church but some how he has mastered it.

Here's just a few things we've been through together in 11 years

5 kids, 3 pregnancies (which equals 27 months of throwing up and Donevan taking care of me) 4 States (Utah, Virginia, Michigan, Idaho), 4 Babies in the NICU, 2 Houses, Many Apartments, Too many cars, Grad School, A life threatening infection, Graduations, Job Changes, Prayers Answered, Miracles, Testimonies Grown, Some tears, a lot of laughs, and much much more!

Thanks Donevan for being my prince charming. I'm so blessed to be with you for eternity!

My Latest Obsession!

My loyal readers know that I have been slacking on my posts lately. A lot of it is due to my 5 kids, but part of it is due to my latest obession. Couponing! My sister introduced me to this and I have been an addict ever since. Basically, it's the simple idea of buying when things are on sale and buying enough to last you until it goes on sale again. So you never pay full price for anything.
Plus you stack coupons with special store promotions and you end up paying rock bottom prices and sometimes even getting items for free. I have always been a bargain shopper and loved the feeling of getting a good deal. But, this gives me a bigger high than a good deal on a pair of shoes. Besides, I have 7 mouths to feed. That can be very expensive. My coupon obesession is time consuming, but I look at it as my part time job. If I take the amount of money I am saving and divide it by the time I am spending, I am pretty shocked at my hourly wage :) I wanted to share just a few of my great deals lately.


Total Items Purchased: 23
Total Savings: $58.08
TOTAL SPENT: $10.29
(All the BBQ sauce was free. The capri suns were .75 cents a box and the dressing was .25 cents each, shells and cheese were $1 a box)

This was my most exciting trip because of all the meat I got! (if you look closely there are 6 pkgs of boneless skinless chicken breasts, 6-1lb. pkgs of ground beef, 2 pkg bacon, a ham, 4 bags of cheese, 6 jars of spaghetti sauce, 6 jars of peanut butter and lots more!

Total Items Purchased: 97

Total Savings:$223.16

Total Spent:$149.52 (plus I am getting a rebate in the mail for the price of the ham $11)

A Sneak Peak At My Food Storage

I started my couponing in Jan. At that time, I had nothing on these shelves. Here is just a little bit of my progress in 4 months.

This is what goes on when Daddy is in charge!

That's Desitin and that's little sister Emma's Crib. This boy's journal is filling up everyday with some interesting stories. This isn't even the worst thing he's done this week. He drove our van into our garage door. No one was hurt, just a little damage to the door and white paint on the front end of my car. Yes, that's right readers...my 2 year old can drive.

Anti-Bullying Campaign

(ALL THE WINNERS)

The past few months I have been helping Donevan with a community anti-bullying campaign. We had a poster contest that 23 elem. schools in the area participated in and we ended up collecting over 1800 posters. This project took hours and hours of our time and it was completely worth it. Donevan and I both had a high after the success of it. We hosted a rally on Friday and awarded prizes for each grade level as well as three grand prize winners. (2 Wii's and an American Girl Doll with tons of accessories). We had a huge turn out and my 12 dozens cookies that I made wasn't nearly enough. Seeing how excited these students were and their success in winning was so rewarding. Among all the guests were the local news stations, the mayor, a state representative, a superintenant, and newpaper reporters. I am so proud of Donevan for bringing this all together. One parent commented on how she has done multiple community functions and never had so much media coverage. I think it all comes down to the kids and how important we all think our children are. They are our future!

Thanks to everyone who supported us in this project. My mother and father in law watched our kids many times so we could focus on this. Thanks to all our friends who came out to support us on Friday also. You guys are the best!

Here's a link to some news coverage and also the article printed in the local newspaper. I can't read the last line of the article without crying.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ms36ix7zRhY

Printed on: Friday, May 01, 2009
The No Bully Zone
An anti-bullying event will be held at 4 p.m. today at the Idaho Falls Public Library.
By HEATHER WELLS


Carrie Shull hopes her son will never stand by and watch someone get bullied.
Last year, several boys held down her son, 10-year-old Spencer, while others kicked him. Several of his peers watched the incident, Shull said, but her daughter was the only one who came to his rescue.
"I want kids to feel like they can stand up for other kids," Shull said.
Donevan Neider, a local licensed clinical social worker, is optimistic a campaign he spearheaded will do just that.
Prompted by this incident and others (Spencer was treated for depression by Neider shortly after the incident), Neider decided to start a campaign similar to the one American Girl LLC hosted this year. Anyone could attend an American Girl store event to learn the best ways to stand up to bullies.
Children could also enter a Stop the Bullying poster contest and sign an online pledge.
The campaign used one of the company's dolls, Chrissa Maxwell, as an example. A book and a movie have been made about the girl, who moved to a new school when the "Mean Bees" set out to make her life miserable.
The book and movie explain how Chrissa found the courage to speak out against her bullies.
Neider hopes his efforts yield similar results.
The majority of his clients have suffered from the effects of bullying -- adults and children alike.
Neider hopes the campaign will teach local children how to identify bullying, help stop the act and talk to others about it.
Elementary schools in Idaho Falls School District 91 and Bonneville Joint School District 93 were involved in the campaign. Neider posted signs all over the schools that illustrated a No Bullying Zone. Students could also sign a business card signifying that they took an anti-bullying pledge.
The campaign also involved a poster contest in which students illustrated their own ideas of what a No Bullying Zone means to them. Neider received roughly 1,800 posters and had Idaho Falls Mayor Jared Fuhriman, the two school district superintendents and two people from the community help judge the work.
Three grand prizes will be announced today at a No Bullying Zone event at the Idaho Falls Public Library, which starts at 4 p.m. A boy and two girls will take home the prizes, Neider said. The girls will get an American Girl doll and the boy will get a Nintendo Wii.
A handful of second-prize winners will also take home goodies, including an American Girl movie and a $25 gift certificate to Barnes & Noble.
Several class winners will also take home ice cream coupons.
Contributors helped with the prizes, Neider said, although he footed much of the bill.
"It was well worth it, especially after a mother called to thank me," Neider said. "Her son won one of the prizes, and he's been bullied before."
Shull is also appreciative of Neider's efforts.
"All those kids just stood around and watched Spencer get bullied," Shull said. "(Neider) is the best thing that's ever happened to our family."

Self Reflection

A few weekends ago our little family took a trip to the cabin. It was so relaxing and fun. I love being away from the everyday things in life that cloud my mind. (telephone, Internet, doorbell, errands, bills, laundry, chores, homework, etc.) The simplicity and beauty of nature helps me to reconnect with my inner self and reflect on my life. I did a lot of thinking and pondering while we were up there.

Having Emma and feeling that our family is complete right now has really got me doing a lot of self reflection too. My time as a mother while my kids are young is short. I want to enjoy every moment and cherish my time with them. Being a mom isn't easy and I want to do my very best. I have been given the blessing of raising these sweet children and for that I am so grateful. They are my priority and if that means giving up some of "me" time than oh well. There will be lots of "me" time when they're grown and gone. If that means giving up a tidy house than on well. The house will be tidy when they're grown and gone. Adjusting to 5 children has been one of my greatest challenges, but I think I am finally there. I am adjusted...it only took 5 months! But, there is so much more to accomplish after being adjusted.

My friends might say they have seen less of me, I'm not at every invite anymore or my phone calls are less frequent. And it's true! It was really getting to me that I couldn't juggle everything and I kept thinking to myself, "I'm missing out on so many things." Then it finally dawned on me that I'd really be missing out if I wasn't home with my little ones. So, for now this is my life and I love it. I'm going to cherish the sound of pitter patter feet running through the house and the little love notes the triplets leave me on my bedside at night. I'm going to cherish the sounds of little D learning to say "love you mama". I'm going to cherish hearing Emma giggle and enjoy every little milestone. If there is anything that I would want people to know about me it is that I love being a Mom and I love my family with all my heart, it's just that simple!

Bathing Beauty

My sun bathing partner for the day!

Wish You Were Here!

We made it to San Diego this morning! It's so beautiful here, we love it. Donevan has a business conference he was invited to attend and Emma and I are tagging along. We had no idea how nice this resort we are staying at would be. Our room is on the water. This is the view inside and outside our room. Brittany told Grandma Margo that "Daddy would be in meetings all day and Mommy and Emma would be stuck in the hotel room all day." I don't mind being stuck here at all. I wish we could have brought the girls. We are right across from Sea World. But, we are grateful for our little getaway and thanks to Grandma and Grandpa Neider for watching D and the triplets for us.

We landed around 11am and Donevan didn't have to attend the conference until the late afternoon so we took advantage of siteseeing San Diego a little bit. We drove to see the LDS Temple which is beautiful. We just enjoyed the sunshine and scenery. The palm trees here are so amazing. The smell of the beach is my FAVORITE thing ever.

We enjoyed lunch on the water at our resort. 2 more days of paradise. Tonight we are going to hit one of the 5 pools on the resort grounds and walk on the beach. Emma has been an angel!

Wish You Were Here!

Happy Birthday DJ!

When I look at this little guys brown eyes, my heart melts. I love him so much and I can't believe it's been 2 years since the day he was born. Wow, time flies. I know that he has such a special place in our hearts because we really didn't think we would be able to have any more children after my complications with the triplets. So, to have him is such a blessing. Then to top it all off, he's our only boy, so he is spoiled!!!! At one point a few months ago we walked in the room and Ashleigh had him wrapped in a blaket and was holding him, Caitley was feeding him and Brittany was rubbing his feet. Can you say spoiled!!! Now with a little sister too, we're sure he'll make a good husband one day.

His birthday party was really fun. We had Grandma Margo and Grandpa Kenny over and just had a little family party. He loves Handy Manny on the Disney Channel and is really into tools so he got some fun Manny toys and a new bike! He's been having fun banging up my cabinets and scratching my stainless fridge with it riding on the tile! :) I know he's going to get a lot of mileage on that in the cul-de-sac this summer.

I was reading in a parenting magazine the other day that everyone always talks about how bad the terrible two's are, but really it's the year between 1 and 2 that is so hard. I hope this is true. Boys are so different than girls and you don't understand it until you live it. DJ has so much energy and is curious about everything. I have my fingers crossed that the making messes stage is behind us. I can definietely see in the last few months how much he has grown up. He's talking in little sentences now and understanding right from wrong. DJ loves life and is so fun to be around. He makes everyone around him smile because he is always so happy. We love him so much and he brings us so much joy. Happy Birthday little D, we love ya! On to potty-training!!!