Wizard Weekly

ok since my mom isn't posting i am going to post. i am starting this thing all over again. now my absences of this series is like a year so long story short i went to school and had a blast (cant wait for 8Th grade), went to scout camp and had a blast, and just went on a week and a half trip from Idaho to Medford, Oregon to Seaside, Cal to La Jolla (it Spanish), to Cedar City, Utah and back to Boise. it was a pretty fun trip. and i hope my mom post something about it, every one cross your fingers. and that's about it. oh ya i almost forgot but i started karate in June and i am a yellow belt right now. i think that's about it see ya next time

I Posted!

I got all my "Week in the Life" photos - scroll down to see... Here are a few others that I like that I didn't post... I'm sad to see that I never got any pix of my girls! Bad mommy!

And so it Begins...

And they're off!

Uniforms this year - and I have to say he looks handsome!

The verdict? They love it. They are having so much fun! Aaron LOVES 7th grade, lockers, multiple teachers, and the whole bit. I must tell all you young mommies out there this:

You think sending them off to Kindergarten is bad? Think again!
I felt as if I was throwing him to the wolves when I sent him out the door Monday morning. The few memories one has of Kindergarten are good, happy times. But who has a fond memory of their first day of Junior High? OK, who has a fond memory of any day of Junior High? I don't!! So he left, and I cried. Yup, I cried. I've never cried when sending my kidelts off to kindergarten. I must be a mean mother. I look forward to them going to Kindergarten. But not this. I was more worried than he was. He wasn't worried at all. He was just plain excited. All morning I worried and I prayed. And as soon as I heard that front door open, I nearly knocked him over as I ran to him to hear the details (he's never quite had such a welcome!). I couldn't wait to hear every little detail. And he shared them with me! He loved it, and is excited about all of his classes and teachers. I felt so much better after hearing about his day. My prayer now is that the "Junior High" attitude doesn't break his spirit and ruin his enthusiasm for learning and for school. He's always loved school and learning... and I hope he can keep that fire alive!

The Yoder Baby Guessing Game!

Many times, when asked which sibling Logan looks the most like, I say - "You've seen one, you've seen them all." My kids just seem to look the same at the newborn stage. I decided to round up some pictures to see how they really do compare - side by side. I tried to find ones of the kids from the hospital, and another one of them at 2 months old. See if you can guess who is who!

First off though, you have to see a couple of pictures
from the past of Roman and me...

Pretty silly. I'm 1 in the top left picture, and 2 1/2 in the bottom left. I'm not sure how old Roman is in these pictures. I'm guessing 5 or 6 in the top right, and about 1 or 1 1/2 in the bottom right.

OK, back to business. In your comment, make your guess of who is who. In my header, my children are pictured in order starting with the top left, working down, and then back up on the right, working downwards. The order is: Aaron, Haley, Megan, Zack, Seth and Logan. Try to guess before you open the comment and see other people's comments! I'm pretty sure you can click on the picture and it will open in a new window in a larger format.

Here are my babies:

Now, here are the pictures of my babies around 2 months of age.
They are in a different order than the newborn picture collage.
Give it your best guess! I'm sure this is much easier!

I will reveal the correct answers next week... have fun! (It sure was fun for me!)

Wizard Weekly - by Aaron

Well welcome to week 2 of Wizard Weekly. This past week I've been thinking about a blog and so today I made one and its called A Harry Potter Fan Zone. I will have to invite you to my blog. Now these next few weeks I'm going to be having some fun. This Wednesday I get to go to a Boise Hawks game. Then this Saturday I'm going to do baptisms for the dead (my first time). Then a week later I'm going to the Twin Falls Temple open house with the youth from my ward, yeah! I get to go again. I'm so excited. So that's what is going to happen. Good bye.

Summertime Fun - The Yo Yo Way

Wizard Weekly

Hi and welcome to my part of the blog Wizard Weekly. Now I chose this because in Harry Potter there is a magazine called the Witch Weekly. So I'm doing the Wizard Weekly. This is about what's been going on in my week. Here we go, first off on Monday I was sick and I have been sick this whole week, but that did not stop me from going to the Twin Falls, Idaho Temple Open House. That was cool and my favourite part was the Celestial Room because it was so bright. Now next i just finished the Harry Potter series. It was so good I wanted to watch all the movies over and over!! Also on Thursday was my grandmas birthday and so we went to my cousins house to swim and have a BBQ that was so fun. That is it and I'll be writing next week. Bye!

Our Summer Vacation

With the price of gas, a newborn, and lack of funds, we took our only summer vacation today. That is right, I said TODAY - it was a day trip to Twin Falls.

We went to the Twin Falls Idaho Temple Open House! We left at about 10 this morning, stopped at IHOP for some lunch (or breakfast... if you're like me and will eat pancakes/french toast any time of day). Then we went over to the Open House. We left Seth with my sister for the day, so we were really able to enjoy the whole experience. It was fun to see the temple with my kids. They were floored when we told them they'd be able to go inside the temple and see what it looks like. And it was BEAUTIFUL of course! My favorite part of the whole tour was walking into the celestial room with my husband, children, and parents. I couldn't believe how bright and white it was. We only had about a minute to enjoy it - I wished I could have stayed longer. It was sweet to sit on the couch and enjoy the peace and beauty with my husband and five of my children.

After the tour (and refreshments of course - it is an LDS function!), we took a few pictures outside of the temple. The sad thing was that the kids were worn out and hot. So the shots I got of them aren't that great, and we didn't get one of our family - just the kids. Aaron was going to die because he needed to blow his nose, and I could barely talk Zack into getting into the picture. Oh well, I'm still happy that my Family is Forever!

After the Temple, we drove over to Shoshone Falls. Another beautiful site to see! Once again, everyone starting to get too tired and crabby (must have been the heat - it was about 95), to pose for a picture. So I just got some great shots of the falls all by themselves.
Lastly, we stopped at an understaffed DQ for ice cream and 20 minutes later (with our to go order) we headed home. We arrived back home at about 7:45. All said and done, it was a pretty cheap and easy vacation!

Book of Mormon Challenge to Myself and Anyone That Wants To Join Me!

" Have ye received his image in your countenances? Have ye experienced this mighty change in your heart?"
Alma 5:14

coun·te·nance Origin: 1250–1300; ME cuntenaunce behavior, bearing, self-control

Does my behavior reflect that I have experienced this mighty change of heart? No, I don't break the 10 Commandments, but I don't consistently do what I know I should be doing. (Does this sound familiar: "It's too hard to do all of that stuff." - see 1 Nephi 16:1)

That being said, it is time to submerge myself in the Book of Mormon. What better way to do this than to read it in 31 days! I decided I have a lot of time to *read* right now... There is no reason I can't add the Book of Mormon to my current reading selection. As I've mentioned before, I have the laptop set up next to the rocking chair so I am reading it on my computer (and surprisingly, it seems less overwhelming this way!). You can also download the audio as well. Here is the link.

I've challenged Aaron to join me (heck, if he can read a Harry Pooper book in 2 days, he could read the B of M in 31!). It comes to approximately 20 pages a day to read. Aaron timed himself reading just 5 pages last night. It only took 12 minutes for him. He is going to split that up through out the day and try to keep up with me. Here is the schedule!

1. Title page – “A Brief Explanation about The Book of Mormon”
2. 1 Nephi 1 - 11
3. 1 Nephi 12 - 17
4. 1 Nephi 18 - 2 Nephi 2
5. 2 Nephi 3 - 9
6. 2 Nephi 10 - 23
7. 2 Nephi 24 - 29
8. 2 Nephi 30 - Jacob 5
9. Jacob 6 - Mosiah 1
10. Mosiah 2 - 8
11. Mosiah 9 - 17
12. Mosiah 18 - 26
13. Mosiah 27 - Alma 3
14. Alma 4 - 9
15. Alma 10 - 15
16. Alma 16 - 22
17. Alma 23 - 30
18. Alma 31 - 36
19. Alma 37 - 43
20. Alma 44 - 50
21. Alma 51 - 57
22. Alma 58 - 63
23. Helaman 1 - 7
24. Helaman 8 - 14
25. Helaman 15 - 3 Nephi 6
26. 3 Nephi 7 - 14
27. 3 Nephi 15 - 22
28. 3 Nephi 23 - Mormon 2
29. Mormon 3 - Ether 2
30. Ether 3 - 12
31. Ether 13 - Moroni 10

Are you in??? Post a comment, and/or complete the poll! Be honest - if you can't handle it right now (heavens knows that's how I've been up until now), then just say it! I decided now is the time... things will start to get much busier in the coming months (football, preschool, school, OYF bookkeeping...). There is no time like the present!

Invite your friends and family to join you! Feel free to link to my blog...

I'm doing this publicly because I think I will be held more accountable if everyone knows I'm doing it. Don't want to fail on this one!

THE BEHAVIOR CHANGE BEGINS JULY 15TH!!!!

Frog Snorts School

Aaron started reading the Harry Potter series after school got out (I think he is on book 6 now). Last week he started teaching the little ones to say (and I'm sure I'm spelling this wrong) *EXPELIOMOUS!* This slowly evolved to Haley and her BFF Kira to make up this Harry Potteresque game that they titled "FROG SNORTS SCHOOL". They did a mild version of this Wednesday afternoon. After Kira left, Aaron and Haley started concocting elaborate ways of playing this - which included spray painting lines on the grass (in the back yard) to make different classrooms, typing up class schedules (see above), and making multiple wands out of sticks and good ol' duct tape. Thursday afternoon BFF came back and they began their playing...

Disclaimer: I am not up to par on all the Harry Pooper, oops, I mean POTTER, language... so I'm sure I've misspelled or butchered some of these names and words. Please forgive me and don't hold my ignorance against me!!!

I'll let the pictures do most of the talking now!

I just have to ask you to notice in this picture the cups.
Kira hunted down two dead rolly pollies for use during her *Potions* class.

Professor Winder (aka: Kira) teaches Potions Class to the studious student *Sara*

Professor Dumbledor (aka: Aaron) teaches *Isaac* about Transfiguration

Professor Rumple (aka: Haley) teaches the class about
Charms (I learned that this means "spells")

Haley and Kira

After Kira goes home, the kids call for reinforcements (enter cousins Jacob and Jordan!)
The teaching of *Caring for Magical Creatures* continues...

Thursday evening - 10:30 - they are FINALLY starting to fizzle out!

Friday afternoon the game continues - and we've added to the bunch! Ben becomes "Ron Weesley", Sami becomes "Kyley", Jacob continues to be Jacob, and Zack is determined to be "Harry Potter" (he even wrote on his forehead).

The kids, um, I mean *Professors* were excited to have additional students to teach.

It sure is fun when kids get away from the electronics and use their
IMAGINATION!!!

MY BIGGEST BABY...

...(that would be Aaron), is gone for the week to Scout Camp! This is his first time being away from home for more than one night! I don't know why I'm having a hard time with this, but I've been so worried and anxious about him leaving. It's worse than his first day of kindergarten! Maybe it's my crazy hormones. Although he seems to be the one who is most often in the middle of the chaos at home, and it was definitely quieter today with him away, I still miss the little booger!
Here he is last night, all packed and ready to go! They had to meet at the church at 4:30 this morning. Roman helped him pack his stuff up. A little tidbit on Roman. Roman is THE BEST packer in the whole wide world. Although, at times I do accuse him of over packing... OK - I always accuse him of over packing, he is indeed the ultimate packing man. Anyway, I just had to take a picture of this. Roman pulled out his trusty bungee cords and attached the foam mattress, and the sleeping bag to the duffel bag (notice how secure that pillow is to the duffel bag - it aint goin nowhere!). I am pretty certain that the whole kit-and-caboodle weighs twice as much as Aaron does. I have no idea how the kid is going to tote this around! At least I have the peace of mind knowing that if he gets his socks wet, he's got another 8 pair to choose from! Way to go dad!

WE SURVIVED THE FIRST TWO WEEKS!

We survived our first two weeks! He slept so much at the beginning, I had a hard time getting a shot of him with his eyes open. Now that he's awake more, we've had a few more opportunities, but then we've ran into crying issues... oh well! Once he got the day/night thing worked out, he started going longer between night time feedings. The longest was nearly 5 hours which was awesome. Roman or I usually take the late night feeding (anywhere from 10-midnight), I take the one in the middle of the night (because Roman sleeps thru it all and has a hard time getting up, and then getting back to sleep...), and then Roman takes the early morning feeding (anytime after 5a). This means I get to sleep in until 8 or 9. It's been working quite well! Until.... GROWTH SPURT! Yesterday Logan was awake more, fussy more, and wanted to eat more frequently. I thought for sure he'd have a good night since he was up so much more during the day. Roman and I watched a movie for our "at home" date night, and Logan ate at midnight... and then he stayed awake. It's all a blur now... but I was basically awake until about 4:45am with him. I think I got two 20 minute spans of sleep in that time frame. He either wanted to eat, or pooped as he was drifting off to sleep, or seemed to have a tummy ache, or wanted to be held, or woke when I put him down... Needless to say it was a long night. I didn't want to wake Roman though, because if he didn't get his solid block of sleep, then he'd be useless to me in the morning when the kids were up and at em. Luckily for me though, I had a great book I was reading, and I ended up finishing it during this time. It made it more bearable.

Here is the best part of it all though. Roman was going to take Aaron, Haley and Megan to the ward camp out. He didn't want to mess with Zack (who is having "I don't care if I pee/poop my pants" power struggles with us), or Seth (two year old - enough said). Well, the more I thought about it, the more I didn't want to be left at home with my 3 most difficult children. So, I asked him to stay home, and he willingly complied. Thank goodness, or else I would have been one crazy mama at 7:00 this morning when Seth came in the room!

We've had so many loved ones do nice things for us these past two weeks. Friends and family have taken my children for play dates, which has given me many hours of peace and quiet. We've had meals brought in - my visiting teacher (she is AMAZING and should be assigned to someone less active or something - I don't deserve her!) made dinner for us twice! Actually, she's brought dinner in a total of 4 times since last fall (She is an amazing cook as well!). Yesterday, she came over to my house and stayed with the kids for 2 hours and I got to go to lunch with my mom and sister! SIX KIDS!! SHE TOOK ON MY SIX KIDS! It was nice to leave the house - empty handed! So many thoughtful gifts and visitors - from something as simple as a Krispy Kreme doughnut to a full blown out meal, we've truly been blessed. The Priests Quorum even brought us cookies! My kids think I should give birth more often because of all the goodies and food that people have brought in to us.

Here are a few pix...

Logan - almost two weeks old...

Aaron snuggles Logan.

Logan patiently waits for photo shoot to end so he can get a diaper change.

Logan's favorite past time - snuggling with mom.

And then we have moments like this - which are occurring more frequently, much to the kids disappointment.

It is funny how you forget all the things that a newborn brings into your life. The night time waking and feedings, constantly changing diapers, the tears (sometimes for baby AND for mommy!), the "what do I do now" feeling, and all the time spent feeding your new little one. But I must say that it is all worth it. I spent the first week just staring at him, snuggling him, and listening to him breathe, and feeling his familiar wiggles, moves, and hiccups. Being the only one who can truly calm your baby is quite an amazing feeling! Aaron asked me why Logan would always stop fussing when I picked him up. I told him it is because Logan has had an extra 9 months with me. The whole process just amazes me, and I am so grateful to be a mommy! It is my favorite thing to do, and my favorite past time... even though there are moments (or sometimes days, or weeks, and even months), where a particular child isn't necessarily my favorite past time. All in all, I'm grateful for this calling I have, to be a mother to these six beautiful children. What a blessing they are to me, and how lucky I am to be a woman and a MOTHER!

HE'S HERE!!

Some of you know that I was bound and determined to have this little guy last Friday. Well, I had a few things to do first, so I did all the morning stuff, cut Zack and Seth's hair, gave them baths, and cleaned my bathroom. By 1:00, the three older kids were off playing with friends, so I took the boys over to my parents house so Seth could have a nap. At 1:30 I sent Roman a text message and asked him to come home, cuz we were going to the hospital! I still wasn't having any real consistent contractions, but as I mentioned earlier, the doc said if I went to the hospital at a 4 or 5, they probably wouldn't send me home.

So we get there around 2:20 and go up to Labor and Delivery triage. They bring me in and get me going on the monitor (in my little heart, I knew there wouldn't be much action on the monitor). We sat there for about 20 minutes and I think I had 3 contractions at the most. So the nurse sent me walkin (I was in "the gown" by the way - although she gave me second gown to wear the opposite direction - like a robe - so I'd have FULL COVERAGE on the backside!).

So off we went. First we went down the hall and visited my little sister, Carolee, who was working that day. She is a nurse in the NICU. So we got to visit with her for a minute (I wanted to keep moving!). Roman kept getting caught up with all the pictures/stories/news on the walls, so I was walking by myself at times - pacing back and forth to him. We went up to the 8th floor to the new mommy/baby unit. I walked by the window of babies (although only one was in the nursery at that time) and was even more determined to be holding my baby, rather than my belly, in a few hours! I refused to look at people in the eye - I didn't want the "oh, that poor miserable thing - she really wants to have that baby!" look.

Well, that was a very long hour. About 45 minutes into it I had to use the potty. I went back to triage and my nurse was talking on the phone to my doctor at that moment! After I used the restroom, the nurse told me that my doc said to send me home if I hadn't progressed. (GROWL!!!) I said, "That's not what he told me two days ago!! He's forgotten!" For some reason he was thinking I was set to be induced this coming Monday... At this point I was ready for a fight. There was no way I was going home today!! So I asked the nurse to unlock the stairwell (they leave it locked for security), and let me do the stairs!!! After 10 minutes of 3 flights up 5 flights down (and a short elevator ride), I was back in triage. She asked about my contractions in the past hour - I had no idea. All I knew was that my lower back was aching. So she put the monitor back on me and my doctor called again. While she talked to him, she checked me and I was at a...... FIVE!!! So doc asks if I want an epidural and tells the nurse to admit me. She leaves the room and I look at Roman and say "YES!" (you know, the way our little kids do - with the hand action and everything).

At 4:45 pm I get into my L&D room and get hooked up to an IV and she drew my blood, and she said in about 1 hour I could get the epidural (in my mind I was OK with this since I had zip-o pain!).

At 5:45 the doctor comes in to break my water and check me... holy cow - I was at an 8 and he said my cervix was "melting away - fast"!! Roman had just gone downstairs to get some dinner, so I called him and said - "hurry up!". At this point, I was still not feeling much of anything (how in the heck did that happen!?!?).

At 6:15 I got the epidural. I think at this point I felt one strong contraction. They are still around 5-7 minutes apart. An hour later, I was still at an 8 (7:15 pm). So at about 7:30 they hooked me up to pitocin. At 7:50 the nurse checked me and I was at a 9! At 8:05 (I had been feeling the *pressure* at this point) she checked me and I was at a 10 and ready to go! The nurse called the doctor, who said he'd be with us in 6 minutes (he was at home with his family). So we waited - fairly easily thanks to that epidural! Doctor arrived and got all ready and there we all were - I was literally "in the spot light" as we stared at each other waiting for the next contraction (they never did get super close!). Just as the nurse increased the pitocin level, the contraction started. Doctor said that baby was still up in the birth canal and it may take a few pushes. Time to push!! Suddenly I hear a "splash" - a whole ton of amniotic fluid burst out of me and sprayed everywhere - everyone said "Whoa!" and I thought the baby had landed on the floor! No worries - it was just his head that I delivered in half a push!! Doc said "Stop pushing!!" and was able to pull the shoulders out one by one and before I knew it, I was holding my little Logan!!

MY "BEFORE" PICTURE

MY "AFTER" PICTURE!!

Logan Joseph Yoder

7 pounds 12 oz

20" long

Born at 8:20 pm on June 6, 2008

"MY DADDY IS MY HERO!"

Here he is, all cleaned up and looking handsome as ever!

Roman brought the big three kids Saturday afternoon (after their race - more to come on that). Here we are with big Sis Haley!

Sunday after church Roman brought all five of the kids up to see Logan. Here are proud big brothers Zack and Aaron.

And another big sis Megan
And Seth - who is so excited to have a baby in the house!
Here I am with my SIX KIDS!!!!!!!!!!

WOOOO HOOOO!
WE MADE IT AND IT WAS WORTH IT!!!