Annual Mangum Halloween Party!

Every year the Mangum's throw a Halloween Party, we usually try to come up with a fun idea for all of us to dress up as, even if it means putting together a second costume for the kids for Halloween so they can be whatever they want. Past ideas have been In the Jungle the Lion Sleeps Tonight. Each kid was an animal and Sammy was the lion, Danny and I borrowed African clothes from Beth to be the Village. Another one was Danny and I went as Warren Jeffs and the first wife, I carried a baby doll as the second wife, also Disco Diva and Dude have been there. This year though it took us till the Friday before to figure out what we wanted, we had plenty of ideas but none that were good enough. Thanks to a conversation with Jennie, Dan and I decided to be Johnny and June Carter Cash. Then Danielle and I took off from there as far as the kids and decided that each kid could be a Cash song.

Of course with his firey red hair, Sammy was chosen to be the Ring of Fire. I bought him some red sweats and gelled his hair into a mohawk, then took an embroidery ring and put red, orange and yellow ribbon on it to look like fire. He wasn't too fond of wearing the ring but we still carried it around all night.

Danielle chose Folsum Prison Blues. In the movie the inmates wore blue shirts and demin pants, so that was pretty easy, then I took a sharpie and wrote Folsum Prison and her number on the shirt above the pocket. Kody was the easiest, A Boy Named Sue. He wore whatever clothes he wanted and we simply made him a name tag that states: Hi my name is Sue.

Lolo was one of the funnest costumes! I took a white long shirt and drew music notes all over it with different color sharpies, then added some blue leggings and crimped her hair, she was Get Rhythm! I printed C'mon get Rhythm on the collar of her shirt, she was adorable!!!

Of course then there was Johnny! Danny loves the movie Walk the Line and carried the Guitar Hero guitar, he had so much fun pretending to play and acting out Johnny's moves! I borrowed a black wig from a friend and wore a long black skirt. The party was so much fun and once we told them what we all were, everyone thought it was a fun idea. We look forward to next year and the next big idea!!!

Catching Up.

If you can't tell I am taking the next few days to play some catch up with all the pics and good times we've had over the last few months. A couple of days ago I was looking for a particular pic and discovered that I had not blogged half of the things that have gone on since May. So enjoy what is already on here and what is to come!

Just a cute little story that happened today. I discovered that one of the downfalls of having Sammy so late is that it is not just mom and dad that he will learn to play against each other. Since today was park day, Sammy usually falls asleep on the way home and sleeps till 2, so he doesn't really get a good lunch. Today he woke up as I was going to get Lolo from school at 2:30, when we got back Lolo discovered the fruit snacks that I bought, Sammy proceeded to have 2 bags and that was basically his lunch. It was almost 3:30 by then, since I had a stop on the way home from the school. Sammy went outside when Danny got home and played for awhile, when he came back in around 4:45 he decided he needed another bag of fruit snacks, I told him no, that dinner would be within the next hour or so and he didn't need any more fruit snacks. This caused Sammy to throw a pretty good fit, crying and pointing to the counter where they sat. I stuck to my guns and didn't give him one, even when he opened the dishwasher and brought me a clean plate and asked in his own language to put something on it. (Sammy's language constsists of noises and hand movements, kind of like charades.) He eventually gave up, Danielle got home shortly after he quit crying, I was in the bathroom when she came in. As I came out of my room Danielle was opening up a bag of fruit snacks with her adorable little brother anxiously waiting next to her. I said, "Fine I guess he can have one more." Danielle looks at me and apologizes, than tells me this: "Well, when I came in the door, Sammy came running up exclaiming Sissy and hugged my legs. He then followed me to my room where I put my backpack away, as soon as I had put everything away, Sammy started talking and pulling on my shorts. He then ran out of my room pointing and talking, when I didn't go fast enough he stopped and pulled on my shorts again. When we got to the kitchen he was frantically pointing at the counter and jabbering excitingly. I picked up everything on there and he kept shaking his head no, then I saw the box of fruit snacks and he nodded yes and smiled his cute little smile."

After all this Sammy comes running over to me waving the bag in the air, smiling and laughing. I just looked at him and told him he was a little turd! What a little snot to get his big sis to get what mom had already said no. Guess we will have to keep our eye on this one! Just to prove that mom is always right, about half way through the bag, he puked all over the kitchen floor. If I didn't have to smell it or clean it up, I would have thought that was sweet irony! I wonder what else he has gotten his bigger siblings to do for him???

Sunday Afternoons

After church on Sundays we come home and unwind. We just chill and let whatever happens happen. This was a typical Sunday afternoon in June (I know I'm a little behind on my pics) but everyone was having so much fun I decided to snap a few pics. Here we have Kody, Lolo and Sammy wrestling and enjoying each others company. They are so funny to watch, I do feel sorry for whoever is on the bottom! Trust me I have been there, when I say it is no fun to have the air squeezed out of your lungs as 3 or 4 kids jump on you! Today it happens to be Kody, not me or Danny. We truely lounge and let the kids go free, as you can see Sammy really gets into these days as he has dumped the single sock basket all over the living room. When he saw Lolo jump on Kody he decided to try to climb on top! This was the first day he actually made it!

Sunday is also known for it's naps! We usually use the afternoon to catch up on sleep we missed throughout the week. Since I didn't sleep on this Sunday I decided to get into to trouble. I decided to take a few pics with everyone! Including the big sleeping bear...guess the flash woke him up, although this is why I always tell him if he wants a good nap he should go to the bedroom! Too much going on in the rest of the house to get a good nap. hehehehehee

I had to take 4 with Sammy since he kept looking down when the camera would finally take the picture. That is the one thing that stinks about digital cameras, the delay from when you push the button and when it actually takest he pic!

Lolo and I pretended to sleep for our pic! We were making fun of daddy, lol.

Danielle decided she wanted burgers for dinner, and Kody is just a big ole dork! He loves to stick his tongue out at the last minute!

So Sundays always seem to be fun, we enjoy each other and goof around, catch up on sleep and irritate all we can! How are your Sunday afternoons?

Ever After

Over the summer Lolo participated in the Town of Chino Valley and the Academy of Performing Arts theater program. They did the cutest play called Ever After, it was set on a talk show, Monte, and went through a few of the princess fairy tales. It was a cute show. Lolo spent the first week of the program in Phoenix with Nana and missed the casting, so she ended up as a stage hand and then in the chorus for all songs and dances. She had a blast and made a ton of new friends. I am so proud of her for doing this, Lolo is really coming out of her shell and starting to do things on her own. She even got phone numbers for a few of the kids and is still texting them quite a bit. We couldn't take too many pics during the show, so I just snuck some during the final number and bows. It is so great to see Lolo trying new things on her own and
not needing one of the family to be there to hold her hand and push her to do it. The town and APA do this program every summer and I highly recommend if you live in the area getting your kids involved or just going to see the show. Diana Schmelzer, the owner of APA, is a good friend and the kids and I have all danced at her academy, she does such a neat job and always pulls off a good show! (Diana is in the blue and pink) Sorry Lolo I did not get these posted sooner!

She looks so grown up with make up and her hair done. I can't believe she is 9 and in the 4th grade already! I told her yesterday that I realized I did not have enough pics of her and would like to go somewhere and just take a ton! She said that is because she does not like to have her picture taken. Too bad cutie pie, mommy loves to take them!

"Who's the Youngest Now?"

Sammy and Lolo have a love/hate relationship! Each one of them know how to push the other's buttons. Whether it is normal sibling rivalry or the fact that Sammy knows he bumped Lolo from the "baby" position in the family, they work on each other on a regular basis.

One Sunday after church Sammy eyed Lolo lying on the floor watching TV, he thought this was a perfect time to antaganize her. Being a boy he decides to climb on her.

After being kicked off and not quite getting the reaction he would like he goes to just laying next to her, then ever so slowly sticking his foot out and touching her. We all remember how it felt to have a sibling "touch" or "breathe our air". Lolo finally pushes him and tells him to quit. All this does is egg the little monster on. He just smiles and goes back to ever so slowly extending his foot till it is touching her arm., again.

Lolo trys real hard to ignore, as her brother and sister had been instructed to do when she was the "little sister" doing the touching, but it just doesn't work. I love these pics, it shows that they love each other, why else would one or the other take so much time to make the other one scream? The other lesson here is for all you "little" siblings, eventually it comes back around. Lolo has loved her 9 years of being the cute little sister, now she is being usurped by another cute turd by the name of Sammy. My sister learned that lesson when Stetson and Danielle were born and mom and everyone turned thier attention to the grandkids. Someday someone cuter will come along and move you from your spot, be ready!

Bouncy Balls in the Kitchen.

One day this summer I heard laughing and "bouncy" sounds coming from the kitchen. As I walk in I notice that the kids have a small bouncy ball and are bouncing all around the kitchen. my first instinct was to yell and tell them to quit before they break something, however, as I looked around all 3 older kids were laughing and playing together. So, I watched for a little while laughing with them, when I felt it was getting out of control I started to say no more when Danielle laughed, "Just one more time!"

"Ok" I say. As she unleashed the ball by throwing it down as hard as she could is bounced all around the kitchen, eventually coming to rest in the utensil jar on the stove. I was just about to do the "See you could've broke that if it had tipped over" lecture when, cheers erupt as Danielle reaches in to pull out the bouncy ball! Lo and behold the ball stuck perfectly in the wire whisk. What an amazing trick! No way could she do that again, not that I let her try, I figured we would end on a fun note.

Clay turns 9!

Sunday was my nephew, Clayton's ninth birthday, we celebrated on Saturday with cake and ice cream at my sister, Jennie's house! Jennie's house is always fun, it is FULL of boys. It is always a good time when we are there. Clay couldn't wait to blow out the candles and dive into the cake.

Sammy loved it! Eventually he went to eating with both his hand and his fork! He was even caught running in later to grab whatever cake was lying on the table, so he could eat it.

Clay really got into his food. He started to cram as much as he possibly could in his mouth and then started putting frosting on his face! He is such a boy! As much as I love my nephews, sometimes I am glad they are Jennie's and not mine! These boys are great kids, but they are ALL boy, rowdy and full of it. I am glad to have a couple of girls to even things out, not that my kids are perfect, far from it. I love that Jennie moved up here not long after we did, so we could still see each other and the kids can play. Not that we do a ton together, between everyone's schedules and activities, but it's nice to have them close!

Sammy found some Capri Sun and basked in the boyness, my boys are wedged between girls and I think having them that way tones down the rowdiness a little, so Sammy loves to be around the twins and Clay to have some good boy time.

Danielle and Kody are definately the "older" kids now. The ones who act like fools and tease the littler kids. They had a blast, here they are waiting patiently for all the little kids to get their cake so they can have some too.

Mom and Danny enjoying the fun, this is right before Clay opened up his gifts. he got an iPod and numerous iPod cards along with good old fashioned cashola! Nana even got him a radio that the iPod plugs into so he can enjoy his tunes in his room. He was very excited! This was exactly what he wanted.

Instead of Clay getting birthday spankings, Danielle got a hold of Craig who is always fun to torment. Craig does not want to give hugs or kisses, he doesn't want to be acknowledged half of the time. So any chance we get to harass Craig is taken, he had squirmed his way onto the couch and Danielle took full advantage, she folded him in half and gave a few taps on his behind, despite always saying he doesn't like this he never gets down.

All in all it was a great day and I can barely believe that the Stephenson boys are getting so old. They will be a mighty force to be reckoned with as they get older and I can't wait to see what will happen next.

Last night we drove back in to Prescott, to Mile High Middle School, for the PUHS Superintendant's Awards. Clay was nominated by the 3rd grade team at Lincoln Elementary to recieve the October award for 3rd grade. We were so proud of him and cheered louder than any other kids family! He is getting way too big!

Park Day!

One of the fun things about being home again is taking Sammy to Park Day! Every Thursday morning a group of moms and little ones meet at the park to get the kids out of the house and the moms too! The kids run and play and swing and throw sand adn rocks. (they are only 1-3) lol.

Brandon Bunker is a quiet boy, however since we have park day and Kid's club together we have starting forming a bond and he has actually started talking to me a little. He also loves Sammy's cars and therefore has become a friend of Sammy. This last week they sat in the water puddles and played almost the whole time. They were so cute together.

They shared, which neither one of them were very good at, that is one of the reasons I love days like this. Sammy learns to share with others and how to play with someone other than his brother and sisters, who tends to just give him whatever he wants. I also enjoy talking with all the moms and helping each other with issues, from coupon training, to "woman" issues, to husbands, to tantrums, and everything else we need to get off our chests! This is just one more blessing of me losing my job. Getting to know the women in my ward again and watching Sammy grow and make friends!

The Big Dodo Flys the Coop.

Yesterday I attended the funeral of a man who touched my life greatly. He was a good friend of my grandparents, through community organizations and the fact they lived on the same road. Joe and his wife Gloria had two girls late in life, in fact they're first grandchild is only a few years younger than thier youngest daughter. Since Joe and Gloria lived on the same road as my grandparents I was able to spend alot of time with thier daughters and them. In fact their house was the farthest I could go on my bike. Joe was very active in our little community of Laveen, he was a member of the Lions club, summer ball, involved in school, and helped anywhere he could. Since, alot of my childhood was spent at my grandparents house, I was around the Villa family ALOT. Jennie and I, and Susanna and Valerie, the 2 younger daughters, were almost inseperable for years and years. We played at each others houses, ran around the neighborhood, went to the movies, we all even ended up going to the same high school. They were 2 of my best friends, I have few childhood memories without the Villa girls in them. We even had a few trips to the family cabin in Pinetop together, where the song, "Little Jennie Jennie, little henny penny" came from. We sang this so much that eventually Jennie broke down in tears and told on all three of the rest of us.

Joe Villa was the kind of man who helped anyone he could. He loved his family and friends, he believed in helping out the community in any way he could, he loved sports and enjoyed his kids being involved in all they could. Since Laveen had few choices, that meant we all played the same sports and he was one of my softball coaches for 2 or 3 summers in a row along with Susanna and Valerie. He believed in being and giving the best you could, as a coach he was able to teach us how to play but not fill us with the "must win" attitude. To this day, when a ground ball is hit to me I hear his voice in my head on how to catch it! "Caboose down or it's going to go right between your legs." As we went to high school, the girls and I all chose cheerleading as one of our sports, again he was always there to watch and film his girls. His girls played numerous other sports and he never missed one game. He even put in a tennis court at home when we were younger to help Susanna and Valerie with thier game and they both were great players in HS.

I can remeber Joe sitting in his recliner and telling us to behave, he loved to call Jennie and I Dodo birds and we loved being around him just to hear him say, "What's new Dodo?" He would tell us to always try hard and be the best we could be. The Villa's gave us a warm and friendly place to hang out and always welcomed us in thier house. We would go right around to the back door and into the screened patio, knock on the always open door, and get a warm greeting to "come on in Dodo." I'm not sure he will ever know the impact he had on my life, although maybe right now up in Heaven he is figuring it out. I loved when I had Danielle and came by for a visit, how he was so proud of the new "Little Dodo" in our lives. It wasn't just us girls that he was this way with, Joe made everyone he came in contact with feel like they were family. After the funeral I was out side the church talking with Susanna's ex-boyfriend from HS. When they were dating, Joe had given him an old car, this orange half VW bug half I don't know what, but he just gave it to Justin. Even after Susanna and Justin broke up, Joe told Justin to keep the car. Apparently Joe and Justin kept in contact over the years, when Justin got in an accident and the car was totalled, Joe called and told him he could use the old Dodge truck, Joe had until the insurance paid Justin for the car. When Justin was able to buy a new vehicle he took the rest of the money and put new tires on the truck for Joe. Joe was furious, he told Justin that he wanted the truck back in the same condition and he was not supposed to put new tires on it, he even told Justin he could no borrow anything ever again if he would not return it in the same condition. Justin just laughed, told him the tires were bald and he wanted to do something nice for Joe. Later a neighbor of Joe's was selling a car for $700 and knew that Justin's mom needed a car, so he told Justin about it and his mom bought the car, within 2 weeks the transmission went out. Somehow Joe found out and called Justin, he invited both him and his mother to dinner. At dinner, Joe said he went over and had a talk with the neighbor and told him how it was not right that they sold this car knowing it would have problems and that he sent a good friend over was their reference and that they should give some money back. At that point Joe handed Justin's mom $500. He ended by saying, "Don't worry I gave them a good tongue lashing!" Needless to say I was not the only one who's life he touched.

I have not kept in contact with the Villa's like I should, they left Laveen about 8 years ago, and since it was not convenient I did not stop by like I should have. I did always make sure I sent a Christmas card with a picture of my beautiful family of Dodos, though. I have always taken comfort in the fact that they would always be around. Isn't this how life goes, just knowing that Joe was on this earth helping people was comforting to me, but everyone has to return to our Heavenly Father at some point. I do rejoice that he lived a full life, he was a great example of friend, husband and father to all those around him. Why is it we always feel we go back at any time, that some people just seem invincible and that you will have plenty of time to reconnect at a later date. Please don't let that happen, let all those around you know how much you care for them and love them. I took great comfort from both of my old friends, when on two different occasions they each told me how Joe had a special place in his heart for the Robinson girls. And when I hugged Gloria she told me she missed me and how beautiful my kids were and how glad she was to see me.

I know that he is being embraced by Heavenly Father and Jesus and thanked for such a great life that he lived. I can not wait for one year to go by so I can talk with his one daughter who did join the church and get his work done in the Temple for him. I know it is the least I can do after he gave me such a great childhood! I love that I was able to grow up in a small town where we all looked out for each other. I know that after my grandparents passed away, Joe worked twice as hard to make Jennie and I a part of his family! Thank you Heavenly Father for this wonderful man and his influence in my life.

Our little testimony builder and miracle.

I was trying to be a good person and mother and watch conferance today. Danielle always enjoys watching it, and I love having it on in the house. Even if your not sitting and "watching" it you still absorb it and feel the spirit. So, I start sorting laundry during it and then prepare to paint the last wall in the living room. Right after the first speaker starts to talk, the power goes out. This was a universal problem for Chino Valley today. When it happened the first time, we weren't sure if it was just our neighborhood or what, so we discussed what to do, Danielle asked to go to the church. Now the whole point of watching conferance at home is that you don't have to get dressed or showered. Which was our case today, so I text a friend to find out if she had any electric or was at the church. Sure enough she was dark too. So then after 10 minutes and scrambling to make myself look presentable the power comes back on, as soon as the satellite reboots we get back to our watching and painting. Needless to say, a transformer blew and we had sporadic outages all day. We did get ready and go to the church for the potluck that the Paulden ward sponsered for all 3 wards in between sessions today, it was a good time and yes the church's power was down for a short time also.

It came time for the second session today and the power was going out every 30 min or so. Kody spent both sessions thus far in the extra room watching his skateboard channel and trying ignore us in the living room. Everytime we lost power you would hear GRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR! from the extra room. Then as the satellite rebooted, it has to go through 5 transponders and this takes anywhere from 5 to 10 minutes, Kody could be heard counting them, 2 2 2 2 2, 3 33 3. He was getting antsy to continue his skateboard shows. Finally at around 2:15 I had had enough. Being a little silly, and kinda serious I call for Kody.
"What?" he asks
"I need some priesthood power! Bless the TV or something to get this problem to stop!" I say.
Kody actually walks over to the TV and lays his hands on it. He thanks the Lord that we are able to have TV and watch conferance from home. He states how we are enjoying watching and asks that we have no more interuptions so that WE can ALL watch conferance and hear His word.
The power comes back on, and we all celebrate. I have to say that even though this started as a funny moment, I actually felt the spirit and knew that Kody was trying to help.

Kody then immediately runs back to his TV to continue the skateboard extravaganza, not 5 minutes go by before the power is off again. "GGGGGGGGGGGGGRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR!" comes from the extra room as Kody stomps out.
I ask him," What exactly did you ask for and thank Heavenly Father for?"
"That WE were ALL enjoying watching conferance and that WE would like no more interuptions." was his reply.
I say, "So, the Lord gave you what you wanted and what did you do with it?"
"I didn't watch and ignored what I asked for once I got it!" So he plants himself on the couch and immediatley power is restored. We then got to sit and watch the final 30 minutes of conferance uninteruppted. Danielle painted some high spots for me and gave Kody her notebook so she could shout the things she wanted written down from the talk. Kody enjoyed himself, at one point he askes "If I run to my room to get something do you think it will turn off? I will come right back?"
"I don't know," I reply, "run fast."
So he does and still no interupptions. Plus the power has been on the rest of the day with no problems! Kody taught us to make sure we are ready for what we ask for and not waste the miracles the Lord gives us. I loved that moment and watching my son learn a valuable lesson about prayer.