I saw this on a blog and thought it was right on and so funny! Enjoy!

Tardy by Jana Mean Mom Matthews

Getting my three kids to school on time is my Mount Everest. I have, however, significant motivation to do the impossible: her name is Lorraine.Lorraine is the secretary at my daughter's elementary school. She wears sweater vests adorned with three-dimensional animals, but don't let her 1980s homemaker apparel fool you: Lorraine is as friendly as a jackal.Roughly once every three weeks, Mount Vesuvius erupts at my house at 8:50am in the form of a missing shoe, a temper tantrum, or the unexplained need to change one's clothes for the third time in one hour. On these mornings, I park my car in the school's fire lane and drag four children into the front office to do penance before St. Lorraine."May I sign in my daughter please?" I ask politely after waiting at the counter for what feels like a century. My three oldest children have already written their names on seventeen visitor badges and have attached them to their shirts.After Lorraine finishes her personal phone call/applying lipstick/rearranging her collection of angel figurines on her desk, she rises from her throne, heaves a loud sigh of disapproval, and hands me a tardy slip.Even though my kindergartner is only 2.5 minutes late for school, I'm still required to publicly confess that I don't have my act together by filling out the form, signing it, and listing a reason for her lateness. By this point in the school year, I have exhausted all of the standard excuses. Plus, Lorraine is starting to question their validity."You were really 'out of town' for five minutes?" she asked in February.Lorraine's growing suspicions that I have been less than forthright with her in the past have shamed me into telling the truth. While it used to take only a few seconds to fill out the tardy slip, now it takes me several minutes--and the front and back sides of the form--to describe my morning. Usually my epistles include the phrase "I'm going to count to five" followed at some point by “You’re not going to like this” and "against their will.""This is all avoidable," smirked Lorraine on Tuesday, "If you could get out the door five minutes earlier."I wanted to thank Lorraine profusely for coming up with a solution to my problem that I hadn't thought of myself, but I also didn't want to hold up the line. As I exited the building, I whispered words of encouragement to the handful of nervous mothers who were waiting for their turns to meet their maker.When I got home, I decided to do something nice for Lorraine in appreciation of the sensitivity and compassion she routinely shows parents who mornings are plagued with natural disasters and children who like power struggles. I missed the nominations for this year's faculty and staff recognition awards, so I had to settle for a candy poster.

I hope Lorraine likes my gift. The fact that I took all of the candies out of their packages--leaving only their wrappers—makes me worry that she won’t.

Much ado about nothing

I've logged in at least 3 times in the past week thinking I would write a new post. However I keep drawing a great big blank as what to write. There is always an endless supply of things going on that I could write about.
I mean I have six kids. They are always asking crazy questions and doing things that make me laugh.
But aside from the half dozen kiddos that follow me around and insist on calling me Mom we also live in what I refer to as "the money pit". The problem is as I've mentioned before my brain is peanut butter.
I can't remember any of the things I've made mental note to mention. How sad is that? I'm only 28! I would like to blame it on the serious lack of sleep for the last 10 years.
What do you think? I think I can pick from any number of excuses and they would all be valid.
I'm the Mom and I said so. I love that phrase. Oh don't get me wrong I hated it as a kid. But as a Mom I love the absolute authority that goes with that.
And that is the end. Goodbye

Week ??????

All right so I already lost track of how many weeks it's been since Mark left. Yes I could go back to the last post and count weeks from there but that takes time and effort something I'm a little short on these days. We went to the Dallas zoo on Saturday and it was a lot of fun. It was another beautiful Texas day (70 degrees)! Not bad for the beginning of February. Eat your heart out Oregon! Sorry I have to razz my Dad every chance I get. We have an on going competition about who's state is better even though deep down he knows it's mine! The kids were all on the honor roll again which is fabulous! I am so proud of all of them. They are such awesome little people. I enjoy watching them learn and grow. I've been really busy this last week or so training for my new career and gearing up to take the Texas State Health and Life insurance test. After the last 10 years of playing mommy I have reduced my once bright intellect to ooy gooey slow moving hard to retain peanut butter! Oh you laugh now but you know what I'm talking about! And if you don't watch out because it will happen to you too! The brain truly is a muscle and needs to be worked out to maintain it's alertness and ability to retain and learn new things. Unfortunately (and completely my fault) I have not worked mine out for a very long time and I feel it! Oh sure I keep up on current events and read for pleasure but I haven't really exercised my noggin. Wish me luck in preparing for this challenging exam and say a prayer for our solider who is still in a tent and has very limited communication with home and family. Later!

Week 2.....

Where do you begin? We had a hard week this week. Tuesday Darci and I left the kids with Ben (thank you Ben! Your awesome!) and went shopping in Austin for the twin boys they are expecting. We had a great day. We even took the time to have a nice relaxing dinner out before rushing back to the kids and Ben. We got a lot of really cute things for them. When we got home we found out that the police made a visit to our house! Apparently a window next door had been broken. They think the kids did it but when I looked at it I don't think it was possible. There are two trees and a 7 or 8 ft fence in the way. I'm a little miffed that my neighbor didn't talk to me about it. Instead she just called the police. I guess it's the day and age we live in. The week only got worse from there. Wednesday I went to Darci's to watch Libbi and Jessilyn (Jessilyn is the sweet 3 month old baby Darci watches for our friend)while she and Ben went to have an ultrasound. Shortly after beginning the ultrasound they were told that the twin boys she is carrying (Hunter David and Reece Matthew) had died! What a tragic end! She is 5months along and will have to give birth to them this week. After which she will have to bury them. We are all so heartbroken. She is doing very well. The first two days were really hard. Mom got here late Thursday night to be of comfort and support. Darci is feeling the effects of every ones prayers. They are definitely helping so keep them coming! We have been making funeral arrangements for the last couple of days. The boys will be buried in Idaho where the Fillmores have a Family cemetery. I hope to be able to go. But with 5 kids in school I don't know if I'll be able to. We thank you for all the well wishes and offers of help. Please Keep Darci and her family in your prayers. This ordeal isn't over yet. There are many more difficult times ahead as we are yet in the middle of this. Thank you once again for all that you have done or are willing to do!

It's that time again

Well......here we are again. Mark left Last Sunday for Iraq. It seems like we just did this. Oh ya we did. I think this time around is definitely harder on the kids. They have all had behavior problems this last week. But it is the first week of Daddy being gone so I'll go easy on them. Mark is stuck in limbo he isn't at his final destination point yet. He's pretty miserable. So far since he's been gone I had to take the dog to the vet to be put down (long story, not easy decision) ,went grocery shopping with 7 kids twice, returned 29 late library books with same 7 kids and took 4 kids to the dentist on the same visit! Whew that was a lot of fun. This is the short list there are lots of other fun things we did this week like...12 loads of laundry......12 loads of dishes......swept the floor 10 times........you get the idea. But truly this is all said in good humor the kids did awesome on all outings and are a big part of the cleaning. I also couldn't of done it with out the help of a very nice brother in law- Ben who came with me to the vet and the dentist. Darci would of come but she is prego w/twins! I plan to update a lot more frequently now that Mark is gone. This blog is a way we stay connected. When you have one or two phone calls a week for 15 to 20 mins for the whole family to talk It's difficult to fit in all that happened that week so I write it on this blog so he can read it and laugh at the absurdity of it all!
To Be Continued......

All I want 4 Christmas is my two front teeth!

I thought I would add some pictures of the Christmas decorating we've been doing enjoy!
I can't get the camera out for anything without Ariana running into the picture!

This is Me on a bike that was 15 or so feet in the air. None of the kids would do it!
this is Darci on the bike. She was in a skirt!
This is Mark on the bike. He leaned as far over as he could to see if it would tip!
Two hotties broadcasting the weather. (Ariana and Darci) Sadie and Darci

Halloween pictures finally!

What has the world come to?

Below is an article I read on Mormon Times. It is by
Thomas Sowell a senior fellow at the Hoover Institution at Stanford University.
I think it really makes a good point. I hope you take the time to read it.

The Right To Win

Among the many new "rights" being conjured out of thin air, a new one seems to be a "right" to win.

Americans have long had the right to put their candidates and their ideas to a vote. Now there seems to be a sense that your rights have been trampled on if you don't win.

Hillary Clinton's supporters were not merely disappointed, but outraged, when she lost the Democrats' nomination to Barack Obama. Some took it as a sign that, while racial barriers had come down, the "glass ceiling" holding down women was still in place.

Apparently, if you don't win, somebody has put up a barrier or a ceiling. The more obvious explanation of the nomination outcome was that Obama ran a better campaign than Hillary. There is not the slightest reason to doubt that she would have been the nominee if the votes in the primaries had come out her way.

See related column Affirmative Action and Gay 'Marriage'As the election approached, pundits warned that, if Obama lost, there would be riots in the ghetto. We will never know. But since when does any candidate have a right to win any office, much less the White House?

The worst of all the reactions from people who act as if they have a right to win have come from gay activists in the wake of voter rejection of so-called "gay marriage," which is to say, redefining what marriage has meant for centuries.

Blacks and Mormons have been the main targets of the gay activists' anger. Seventy percent of blacks voted against gay marriage in California, so racial epithets were hurled at blacks in Los Angeles -- not in black neighborhoods, by the way.

Blacks who just happened to be driving through Westwood, near UCLA, were accosted in their cars and, in addition to being denounced, were warned, "You better watch your back."

Even blacks who were carrying signs in favor of gay marriage were denounced with racial epithets.

In Michigan, an evangelical church service was invaded and disrupted by gay activists, who also set off a fire alarm, because evangelicals had dared to exercise their right to express their opinions at the polls.

In Oakland, California, a mob gathered outside a Mormon temple in such numbers that officials shut down a nearby freeway exit for more than three hours.

In their midst was a San Francisco Supervisor who said "The Mormon church has had to rely on our tolerance in the past, to be able to express their beliefs." He added, "This is a huge mistake for them. It looks like they've forgotten some lessons."

Apparently Mormons don't have the same rights as other Americans, at least not if they don't vote the way gay activists want them to vote.

There was another gay activist mob gathered outside a Mormon temple in Orange County, California.

In the past, gay activists have disrupted Catholic services and their "gay pride" parades in San Francisco have crudely mocked nuns.

While demanding tolerance from others, gay activists apparently feel no need to show any themselves.

How did we get to this kind of situation?

With all the various groups who act as if they have a right to win, we got to the present situation over the years, going back to the 1960s, where the idea started gaining acceptance that people who felt aggrieved don't have to follow the rules or even the law.

''No justice, no peace!" was a slogan that found resonance.

Like so many slogans, it sounds good if you don't stop and think -- and awful if you do.

Almost by definition, everybody thinks their cause is just. Does that mean that nobody has to obey the rules? That is called anarchy.

Nobody is in favor of anarchy. But some people want everybody else to obey the rules, while they don't have to.

What they want is not decisive, however. It is what other people are willing to tolerate that determines how far any group can go.

When the majority of the people become like sheep, who will tolerate intolerance rather than make a fuss, then there is no limit to how far any group will go.



--------------------------------------------------------------------------------


Thomas Sowell is a senior fellow at the Hoover Institution at Stanford University.

New Tires. yipee. (can you feel excitment?)

So because of a little incident that wasn't completely my fault we had to buy new tires for our rig. We didn't want the really cool 22's that came on it so we got new rims and tires instead of just new tires. It only cost about 100.00 more. At least the rig will have a smoother ride and the tires will last longer. we are going to sell the old rims on Craig's list to recoup the cost. So actually doing it this way is better. What do you think Dad are our cheapy rims fly?

A new Button on my blog

So I just added a new button to my blog. Its called c me read c jane. I first heard about this blog from a news article published in the Deseret news. Jane and her family are members that live in Utah. Jane's sister Stephanie and her husband Christian along with a flight instructor were in a private plane crash in August in Arizona. The flight instructor was killed, Christian has burns over 30% of his body and Stephani has burns over 80% of her body. This couple has 4 children. Their story has been picked up on the national news. When I read about them my heart went out to them and I wanted to hear more of their story. I have really enjoyed reading about this wonderful family and how they are dealing with tragedy. It has brought The Gospel of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints to national attention and really illustrates what we are all about -Faith and Family. This family is like so many others in the gospel. It makes me grateful for the gospel in our lives how it can lift you up and sustain you in your time of need. I hope you will read her blog and join with thousands of others in offering at least one prayer for this family.

Updating finally!

All right I guess I should finally update my blog. I lost interest in blogging over the summer (okay maybe before the summer) but I'm back and I'm really glad to post that SCHOOL HAS STARTED!!!! YIPEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!! We have 5 kids in school this year. Yes you read that right 5! Cloey is the newest Karcher kid to start school. Her birthday was on the first day of school! We brought cupcakes for her class and she got a special birthday crown from her teacher. She is in pre-k this year. Lilly is in Kindergarten. Skylar is in 1st grade. Sadie is in 3rd grade and Ariana is in 4th grade! Abbie is the only one I have at home during the day and she is loving it! She asks about the other kids occasionally but for the most part she thinks it should of been just her and mom all along! She truly is the "youngest" and takes full advantage of it. According to her she should be the center of attention at all times. Especially those times that are most inconvenient (like when I'm on the phone or in the shower or heaven forbid holding one of the other kids!) We are enjoying our quiet time during the day. Abbie's favorite thing to do is go and see her partner in crime Libbi. (Darci's youngest) They are quite the pair. You mess with one you mess with both. It's really funny to watch. They are the two youngest of a large crowed of kids when we all get together so they look out for each other. Even if it means taking down one of the big kids. They are there for each other and they fight dirty! We are busy remodeling as usual. We switched rooms last Sunday. We lost track of time and ended up missing church because of it. Actually if the truth be told it would help if I could tell time! I looked at the clock wrong and by the time I realized my mistake we were already 30min late and no one was any where near ready. But we got the rooms switched. Ariana, Sadie, Lilly, and Cloey are now in the master bedroom, Skylar is in Ariana and Sadies old room and Mark and I are in Skylars old room. It has worked out really well. Every one has a lot more space and there is room enough for all our stuff. Maybe some day I'll post some picts. Maybe.

Private Blog

So I decided to make this a private blog for a couple of reasons. Sorry for the inconvenience. I know the three people who actually read this won't mind. So now that it is private maybe I will post more. Probably not. But anyway y'all love me enough to log in to read my blog. So no whining! Just kidding (kind of) That means you Lamb!

Here are some Pictures from San Antonio

This is for you Steve!

I just added music to our Blog! How fun is that! The first song "Duke of Earl" I am dedicating to my older Brother Steve and the rest of the Lamb kids all grown up. We had so much fun with this song and a couple others on the play list dancing around the house and singing at the top of our lungs. Even now I dare you to listen to them not get up and dance. I know I can't resist! My kids probably think I'm crazy but it sure is fun! Enjoy!

Updating Finally!

Hey y'all!
I know I know I haven't posted in forever! But Here I am finally updating. So much has happened it will take forever to get caught up. I want to post some pictures from Sadies baptism and other recent events but who knows when that will happen! After 3 and a half years of begging pleading ad scheming Darci finally moved here! Yipeeeeeeeeeee! We are having so much fun it's ridiculous! We had the missionaries over last night and laughed so much they probably think we are crazy! We have started playing company again (a card game for those who don't know) and are teaching it to the next generation! Ariana played yesterday for the first time. It was so much fun! The first thing we schooled her on was the illustrious position of janitor and what her duties were. Of course we started out with the all important "Licka my boots" she didn't get it but we had a good laugh. In updating our blog some of our pictures got deleted and since it will take forever to download them all again I probably won't. I will try to be better in posting but I'll make no guarantees. When all the fam gets here this summer I'll be so busy having fun I doubt I'll get around to it.
I'll be seeing you soon!

Take me out to the ball game......

Take me out to the crowd! Skylar had his first game on Monday night! It was so much fun! He did really well. The boys have three tries to hit the ball the coach pitches if they don't succeed they get to hit it off a tee. Skylar whacked it a good one on the second pitch! He looks so cute in his uniform. He was assigned to second base this game and did a great job. This game was so much fun to watch! Every one gets a chance to hit and no one gets out. They don't even keep score. There was great sportsmanship on both teams. One little boy on the opposing team who was playing second helped the runner on his base by telling him it was time to run! He put his hand on his back and gently pushed while excitedly yelling "you get to run now!" I'm so glad Skylar has this opportunity! It's so funny to see the whole team run from where ever they are on the field to get the ball! It usually resulted in a pile up....and then one little hand would emerge triumphantly from somewhere near the bottom of the pile with the ball tightly clenched in his little hand....the excited little fellow flushed form the excitement then trots up to the coach and ceremoniously places it in his hand! It was LOL funny. Often times in the rush to get the ball the players on the field way lay the runner before he gets to first base..... not to tag him mind you but to jump on the ball. One little fellow hit the ball from the tee and then ran after it...he was so excited that he got the ball that it took a great deal of effort to get him to give it up and run! We are greatly looking forward to more games! Enjoy the pictures!

Our Trip to the Zoo

He's Home! He's Home! He's Home!

That's right after 14 long months our Solider is finally home! He got in at 4 am on Christmas morning! The kids were so surprised! It didn't last long though. The presents under the tree were calling their names! The kids are having fun picking on him and playing with him. Especially Abbie. She's such a teaser. Marks been eating allot of Taco Bell and sleeping as much as possible. Thanks to all who sent care packages packed with goodies we had to buy a whole new wardrobe for him! LOL Of course he says he didn't get bigger the clothes got smaller. He already went hunting. He was only home for 3 days before he couldn't resist. I thought we would have at least a month before it started but oh-well. I made him take Skylar. Next time I'm going to try to sneak in two kids! We went fishing yesterday. Actually the kids fished and we untangled lines and baited hooks. The dock where we went had some very friendly wild life. The ducks wouldn't leave us alone. They were only 5 or 6 inches from us. The big one tried to eat my toes! They kept swimming across the lines and getting them tangled up or wrapped around their legs. Cloey tried to "shoo" them away it was really cute. I'll post some more pics later.

A Nephite Christmas!

Our ward's Christmas Social was a Nephite Christmas. The kids all got to dress up like Lamanites/Nephites and for us Karcherites. It was alot of fun! I'm so glad we didn't have a Santa there! If you ask my kids if they believe in Santa they will say "No, we don't believe in Santa. We believe in Christ." (hopefully that's what they will say, I've been stressing this alot the last couple of years)I feel very strongly that Santa is "an incorrect tradition handed down from generation to generation" They talk alot about incorrect traditions in the scriptures. I too use to celebrate the birth of our Savior with Santa. But in recent years I have had some experiences that made me really ponder about where Santa fits in. I have always told the kids that I would never lie to them. Well when Ariana was 5 she asked me "Mom Is Santa really real? I want the real truth." I paused not sure if I should keep up the ruse or if I should tell her. I could see that she was in earnest so I said "No he's not real" She immediately started yelling and crying " you Lied! You said you would never Lie!" That was the first time I really paused and thought "What am I teaching my kids?" The next time came when a friend of another faith who doesn't respect religions other than her own made the comment when asked why she was celebrating Christmas when it wasn't part of her faith "Santa is no one's religion." Needles to say I stood there staring at her with my mouth agape and had to agree. And finally when I was pondering what to do about Santa I was reading the scriptures in one of the Nephi's I don't remember 1st 2nd third...? And it was talking about these incorrect traditions and it struck me so clearly that this was a incorrect tradition. Santa completely over shadows Christ. Is this a ploy by the adversary? I believe so. I've tried to figure out if I can have my cake and eat it too. That is can we have Santa and Christ in the same celebration? And the conclusion I have come to is NO we can't. It's confusing for the kids. Some have tried to make me feel bad about giving up Santa. They say it will ruin Christmas for the children. I disagree. I as a mother feel much better about my children being excited about Christ's birth and exclaiming "I can't wait only ___ # of day's until Christ's Birth! I would much rather hear that then "I can't wait for Santa to come give me stuff!" I know I am opening a whole can of worms here and I'm going to hear all sorts of arguments against this train of thought. I can just see some reading this with the quiet shake of the head as they can't believe I would dare cut Santa out of Christmas... but truth is where is Santa in CHRISTmas?. I'm still working the bugs out of the way in which we will celebrate Christmas. Where to draw the line so to say. But.... I'm hopeful. I think we can make this work. Eradicating Santa from our home completely will take time. But I'm on the right path.