_Schneemann_

2012-01-22T16:21:00.000-08:00

These are some family pictures of my sister's kids. I LOVE the way they turned out!! I love my Nephew and Nieces soooo much; Kailey, Tyler, Megan, Emily and my brothers 3 kids Andrew, Ashley and Kate. They bring me sooo much joy and i love it when they are happy to see me when I go visit them in Salt Lake!!! (Photos by Christel Fuentes)

2012-01-05T17:34:00.000-08:00

Julia was baptized on November 5, 2011. It was wonderful day for our family. My mom was able to be there for the baptism and that made it even more special for Julia. She wore a beautiful white dress after she was baptized and she looked so pretty! We had several families from the Chula Vista 1st Ward come and a family from our new ward, the Bonita 1st Ward came as well. After the baptism I joked with Julia to just stand still and not move or say anything and she would still be perfect!

Julia the other day said, "I wish I could get baptized again!"

I said, "Why Julia, so you can be perfect again?"

She said, "No, because of the way I felt!"

Feeling the spirit testify that we are doing the right thing is such a warm peaceful feeling. I am grateful that Julia recognized the spirit and how it made her feel!! I am soo grateful for the Gospel and the blessing it is in my life and particularly in the lives of my children! The world is such a challenging place to guide our way through and how could we possibly ever do it without the Gospel and the guidance of the Holy Ghost!!

Meet my daughter-in-law...Ana Daniella Figueroa Schneemann

2012-01-05T16:49:00.000-08:00

This is my daughter-in-law, Dani. She is such a sweet girl! My girls love her sooo much- we all do. She and Patrick are very happy and are doing well. I am going to post more later about the wedding and show pictures. They are expecting a baby boy in April---my first grand child!

Spiderman, Spiderman, if you can't do it, NO one can!!

2012-01-03T22:33:00.000-08:00

We got Michael a spiderman costume around Halloween and he lived in it for several days!! He did NOT want to take it off! So Pat helped him scale our house wall...he LoVeD it!! Go spidey!!!

Patrick's 20th Birthday

2012-01-03T22:07:00.001-08:00

Patrick turned 20 on October 1. It's hard to believe that he is 20...time goes so quickly. I miss him being little! Patrick has such a beautiful heart and I love him sooo much.

We had a birthday party for him at a local pizza place...Dani made the arrangements and called all of Patrick's friends. He had about 20 friends show up. He had soooo much fun. It had been quite a while since he had seen some of his friends so he really loved it that they showed up! It meant a lot to him...he is sentimental like that. It made me happy to see him happy!

Daniel, Trevor (cousin) and Patrick on left and friends on the right.

Dani and Aubrey

Patrick in his Irish "20" hat that Dani made with some of his friends.

Some of the old gang...Chris, Stevie, ?, Brendan and Patrick.

Patrick's birthday cakes we made...in case you thought we got them from a bakery :)

Bonitafest 2011

2012-01-03T21:22:00.000-08:00

In September we have a fun tradition in Bonita called Bonitafest. It's a street fair with booths and fun things for the kids to do. But mostly, it's the first performance of the year for our show choir, The Music Machine. It is very exciting for the kids and exciting for the Bonita community to see what the year will bring for Music Machine. We look forward to it all summer!! This Bonitafest was Emily's last, as she is a senior and it was Daniel's first because he is a freshman. They did a great job and we are very excited to see how well they will do in the spring during the festival (competition) season!!

The "Triplets"-- Emily, Hannah and Emily

The whole group...Emily is left center and Daniel is on the left end.

Daniel on the top left.

Emily- left center.

She's back....

2012-01-03T03:14:00.000-08:00

I know...you're thinking, "She's back?? Has the world come to an end??" No, it hasn't...but I am actually going to start blogging again! I finally got my own laptop so I can blog when I want to!! So hopefully, since it has been over a year, you haven't completely given up on me and will periodically check in to see what the Schneemann's are up to. I have quite a bit to catch you up on... so here we go.

What would I do without my wonderful mother???

2010-12-07T00:15:00.001-08:00

A few months ago my mom came to visit me. I had asked her before she came if she could help me with a few projects while she was at my house and of course she siad she would. And if you know my mom, you know she is an organizing guru!! She loves to organize.....and she loves to help others organize.....thankfully!!

So, I had about 12 boxes of all of my crafting and scrap-booking stuff in my gargage and I wanted to organize it all in the upstairs desk area in my house. Well, that is right up my moms alley! She was more than willing to help me organize all that. That is fun organizing, right?!

So, we asessed all of the thngs that I had and headed off to my favorite store... Target. We went to look for containers to organize all my stuff. They had the cutest containers! It was acutally fun buying all of it, becasue it was going to look so nice when we were done! The containers were not only cute but they were on sale, so we got them for great prices too!!

So, the pictures below show the boxes that all of my stuff was in and then the finished project. I am sooo bad about remembering to take the "before" pictures, so I just got the boxes in the garage. But, you can get the idea of how much there was.

I am sooo blessed to have such a talented and giving mom!! We worked soooo hard the whole time she was here. I think she went home and it took her a week to recuperate from her San Diego "vacation"!!

What would I do withoout my wonderful mother??!

Vote for Aubrey Anne, Cuz I'll Take a Stand!!

2010-11-14T16:56:00.001-08:00

In September, our little miss Aubrey Anne wanted to run for 6th grade class President. She was excited to run and said that she would be able to handle it if she didn't win. So, she filled out the application got it signed by me and a couple of teachers and began her "campaign." She got to put up 3 posters and handed out little stickers to kids at the school asking them to vote for her. She also had to write a speech and give the speech to the 4th, 5th and 6th graders. My mom was in town so she got to come and hear Aubrey give her speech. Patrick and his girlfriend Dani also came to hear and support Aubrey! She looked so pretty the day she did her speech. We braided her hair and then put it in a bun. She looked so professional and grown up!!

Her slogan was, "Vote for Aubrey Anne, cuz I'll take a stand!" We all worked to come up with a slogan she would like and that would be catchy. Corey and Patrick ran for Vice President when they were at Allen and had funny "catchy" slogans too. Corey's slogan was, "Vote for Corey Snowman...cuz my enthusiasm will never melt away!" Patrick's slogan was, "Vote for Pat cuz that's where it's at; and if you don't what's up with dat??" Hahaha...are we witty and creative or what!!???

They had actual voting booths set up in the cafeteria, where each student took their turn to go in and vote. They also had boards up with each candidate and their picture on it so the students could recall who was running and for which office. I thought having actual voting booths up was such a great learning experience for the students!! Hopefully it got the kids excited about voting one day when they are 18!!

Well, I'm sad to say that she didn't win. She was disappointed but also really liked the girl that won. Over all it was a very good experience and it helped to build confidence in herself!

CVN wins the Pony World Series

2010-11-14T16:12:00.000-08:00

Last Spring Daniel was on the Chula Vista North Pony team. Pony is for 12-14 year olds. Basically, it is for the middle school age kids. It is very competitive and a lot of fun!! They had a great year; They won the Chula Vista District, Region and then went on to win the Pony World Series in Fullerton, Ca. It is a big deal...not as big as the Little League World Series, but a big deal!! The team got to be on the news, in the Union Tribune, were honored by the Chula Vista City Mayor and also by the San Diego Mayor.

There is a local newspaper called the Star News. It is a paper for the Chula Vista/ Bonita area. They did a big article in the paper about the Chula Vista North Pony team and unknown to us, Daniel was the player chosen to be on the cover of the paper. We were sooo surprised and what an exciting thing for Daniel. One other neat thing they got to do was go to a San Diego Padres game and do a meet and greet with some of the players. Daniel took an all-white Padres hat and got quite a few player autographs. Their accomplishment was announced and honored in a pre-game announcement and the boys and coaches got to be down on the field for it. The Padres gave tickets to all of the boys and their entire families for the game! It was a lot of fun!

When Patrick played for the Chula VIsta North Pony team they also got to go to the World Series. His team didn't win, they took third. But it was SO fun and also a great experience for Patrick. Daniel was one of 2 sets of brothers who had both gone to the Pony World Series. They even mentioned it in the Star Newspaper article. Who knows...maybe Michael will go when he plays for CVN...that would be really cool!!

Q-berty...

2010-11-13T21:03:00.000-08:00

As you know, I have a lot of girls in my house!

So, as you can also imagine, the topic of puberty has come up more than a couple of times...and that with going through puberty that girls get moody and grumpy.

Well, the other day Julia, who was 6 at the time, had been really grumpy and I had been upset with her for being so grumpy. She looked up at me and said in an upset crying voice...

"Mom, I have been really grumpy and moody lately...
I think I am going through Q-berty!!"

Hahaha...

Kids say the darnedest things!!

Family Pictures

2010-10-17T21:03:00.000-07:00

I can't believe that it has been almost 4 months since I have posted on my blog. I have several posts to do, but I will start with the family pictures that we just had taken in Utah. It was the first time in 11 years that all of us have been together in Utah. We had a friend of Shelly's who is doing photography come take pictures of us. She did such a great job...Thank you Christel Fuentes!! These are some of my favorites...

Patrick's Graduation...

2010-06-23T18:08:00.000-07:00

Patrick graduated from high school on June 4, 2010. It was a really nice day!! It was even better because Shelly, Ryan and the kids were able to come from Utah to go to the graduation. I am so glad Patrick is done with high school. Although I have been quite melancholy that I won't get to see him perform in Music Machine or on the football and baseball teams!! I will REALLY miss that. After graduation we all went to our favorite restaurant, Benihana's!! YUMMY!! It was really fun but crazy with all 16 of us there.

I'm proud of Patrick and I know that Patrick will be able to achieve whatever he works hard at!! He is a great leader and truly cares about others....He has such a BIG heart and that is my favorite thing about Patrick. Congratulations Patrick!! We love you sooooo much!!!!

By the way....Am I really OLD enough to have 2 high school graduates?????

strike a pose...

2010-06-23T18:05:00.000-07:00

Emily did Aubrey and Julia's make-up one night and then took some cute pictures of them. Of course Michael had to get in on the fun too!!

teenagers and their cameras!!!

2010-06-23T17:22:00.000-07:00

Emily and her 2 best friends, Hannah and Emily, take the funniest pictures. Of course it is very rare that there is just a "normal" picture...they have to be making some funny face or dressed in some weird fashion. I actually LOVE them because it shows soooo much of their personality. So here are just a FEW of the MANY crazy pictures I have of Emily, Hannah and Emily (Macy, my neice, and a couple of friends are also in a couple of them.)

Patrick's Senior Prom...

2010-05-15T18:40:00.000-07:00

I can't believe that Patrick is going to his senior prom tonight!! It has really hit me this week that Patrick is graduating!! I am really going to miss watching him play football, baseball, and perform in the show choir!!

Patrick went to Prom with his girlfriend, Dani. She is such a sweet girl and sooo pretty. Patrick REALLY likes her...I do too. You can't tell in the pictures but Dani was soo shy when we were taking the pictures...it was really sweet! Enjoy the pics!

Cousins!!

2010-05-04T09:41:00.000-07:00

Back in February Andrea gave me a bunch of Andrew's clothes for Michael that Andrew had out grown. One of the shirts she gave me is the one that Michael is wearing in his birthday pics. Andrew saw the picture and rememberred the shirt!!!....so here is a picture of Andrew in his shirt and the picture of Michael wearing Andrew's shirt!! Sooo cute...they even look a little alike sans Michael's chocolate cake!! Andrea....I cannot say THANK YOU enough for all of the clothes you gave me for Michael. They are what he wears everyday!!!!

Michael's 1st Birthday

2010-04-30T22:33:00.000-07:00

I am a bad mom...it is over a month ago that Michael turned one (March 7th)and I am just posting the pictures. We went to Chili's for dinner. ALL 9 of us, which doesn't seem to happen much any more. Everyone is soooo busy with their activities. So, it was really fun to be all together! Then for dessert they brought Michael the Chocolate Molten Lava cake....YUM!! He loved it! It was sooo cute to watch him eat that big dessert....with spoon and hands!! Michael is PURE joy for our family. I cannot imagine our family without Michael. He makes all of us soooo happy!! He is truly nothing but a blessing!! Happy Birthday sweet Michael!!

2nd Coming???

2010-04-05T10:51:00.000-07:00

Wow...yesterday was an Easter we will never forget! We were out at Mike and Dena's house (Pat's brother) and were having a really nice time! And then the earth started shaking!!! We heard this loud rumbling sound first. I thought -what is that sound??! Well, following the loud rumbling the whole house started shaking! It got stronger and stonger and the rumbling got louder!! In fact it continued to rumble even after the house eventually stopped shaking. My nephew Kelvin was standing by me in the kitchen and the clock on the kitchen wall fell and missed his head by about 3 inches and hit his foot.

It must have lasted for 30-35 seconds. I think it was the longest and hardest earth quake I have ever felt!! It ended up being a 7.2 and centered in Mexicali. Of course my sweet Aubrey who is my BIGGEST worrier was scared all afternoon. She kept asking, "Is the 2nd coming going to happen today??!!" Poor thing...she was pretty freaked out. Even MY heart was beating fast for 10 minutes afterward!! It was a REALLY decent shake!! NOT ready for the 2nd coming yet!! I need a lot more time to work on myself!!! I think I better get more serious about it...a lot of earthquakes and tsunami's lately!! Hhmmmm....

April Fools!!

2010-04-02T10:48:00.000-07:00

I had gone to my brother and sister-in-laws blog and they TOTALLY fooled me with the positive pregnancy stick picture!! So, I HAD to do the same thing to my friends and family! I didn't have any comments on my blog but I did fool a few people on Facebook!! Thanks Andrea...that was a good one!!

Seriously??!!?

2010-04-01T09:19:00.001-07:00

Curl-ia Julia!!

2010-03-18T23:23:00.000-07:00

Okay...so I know I am soooo biased but is Julia just soooo dang cute with her hair curled or what!!?? She got her bangs cut and then we curled her hair. I just love it curled...she liked it curled too!! I need to do it more often!!

A little bit of "Glee" !!!

2010-03-18T10:58:00.000-07:00

Here are some recent pictures of Patrick and Emily in their show choir group, The Music Machine. These pictures were taken at a National Competition in LA called FAME LA. Music Machine. They placed 2nd. It is soooo much fun! Being in Music Machine is a family tradition. Pat was in it...his brother Mike was in it...and his sister Helen was in the very first Music Machine in the 70's. My kids have been watching the group since they were little kids and hoping that they could some day be in it...and now they are. Corey was in it first, then Patrick made it and then Emily made it. LOVE it!!! SOooo much fun to watch my kids up there singing and dancing!!! Enjoy the pictures...

This is a picture of Patrick with his song partner, Hannah. She also happens to be Emily's best friend!!

This is a picture of the group on the stage. Patrick and Emily are in the center, 2nd row...Emily is on the right and Patrick is on the left.

You can see Patrick to the right of the blond girl in the front. Her name is Emily and she is also one of Emily's bff's!!

Isn't this a GREAT picture!!! I love it that Patrick and Emily are partners in one of the songs...I get a lot of pictures of them together!!

Aubrey's 11th Birthday...

2010-03-18T09:14:00.000-07:00

I can't believe how long it has been since I have posted on my blog. I used to be soo much better at it!! That darn Facebook has gotten m looking at that instead of blogging...SO I am going to get back on track and start blogging more often!

Aubrey turned 11 on February 19th. She had a simple birthday. We went to Chili's with 2 of her friends, Carly and Crystal, and then went to the mall. She had a nice day. Here are a few pictures...

My daughter and my neice...

2010-01-11T23:49:00.001-08:00

This is Emily and my neice Macy. Macy is Pat's brother's daughter. Emily and Macy are very close and really enjoy spending time together! These pictures were taken on Christmas day. They looked SOOO much alike when they were babies and toddlers!! They still look alike and have the EXACT same eye color. Macy is a sweet girl and we always look foward to Christmas break because she usually comes and spends some time with us at our home!! I love these pictures...they are both such beautiful young ladies!!

Winter in San Diego...

2010-01-11T00:44:00.001-08:00

We are truly blessed to live in such a beautiful part of the US!!! The weather here is pretty amazing in the winter!! (knock on wood!!ha) This week has been beautiful. In fact there were 2 days I considered turning on my AC!! I know...crazy, right!! Along with the great weather there have been amazing waves at the beaches here!! I mean like 10-15 ft waves!! So, of course Patrick had to go to the beach!! He such a lover of the outdoors!! I love that about him. He likes to keep the blind on his window up so he can see outside and enjoy the view!! He would be very happy living up on a mountain somewhere!!

These are some pictures of Patrick boogie boarding this last week. The waves were big and according to Patrick a lot of fun!! I have to admit...it scares me every time he goes!! I always pray that he will be safe!!

A light turned on...

2009-12-28T23:23:00.000-08:00

Julia received an award at school a couple of weeks ago. Her award was for fantastic improvement. She has improved sooo much in her reading in the last 2 months!! We have been reading words everywhere!! And I also think that a light has just turned on in her cute little head! I was really proud of her!!

Traditions of Christmas...

2009-11-30T11:10:00.000-08:00

Corey, Aubrey, Julia and Michael are all in the Christmas show, "Traditions of Christmas". It is the biggest Christmas show in San Diego. Corey, Aubrey and Julia were all in it last year, but Aubrey and Julia had very small parts. This year Corey is in the ensemble, but Aubrey and Julia have 3 different parts. They are really enjoying it!! It really makes my life crazy, but I guess it's worth it because they enjoy it so much. AND this year Michael is Baby Jesus. At the end of the show they do a live Nativity and Michael is Baby Jesus. The Nativity is really neat. They have sheeps, donkey's, even a real camel!!

I took a couple of pictures at rehearsal the other night of the Nativity. No one is in costunes, but "Mary" and "Joseph" are at the top of the picture holding "Baby Jesus"...Michael. It was neat to see him with them. I will take some pictures of all of the kids in costumes at a rehearsal in the next couple of days and I will post them.

Frank's Birthday and cute Michael...

2009-11-30T00:48:00.000-08:00

Tonight was Frank's birthday (Pat's dad). We had Pats brother Mike and his family and Pats sister Helen and her family (including her daughter-in-law and their 2 kids) over to our house to celebrate Frank's birthday. I really love my father-in-law!! He is so giving and loving! He has helped Pat and I many times over the years. His whole life is his grandchildren and his children. He would do anything for them. He has been a wonderful blessing to our family and I feel very fortunate to have a father-in-law like him. Love you Frank and Happy Birthday!

There are a few cute pictures of Michael that I added to this post. The one where he is wearing the glasses is so darn cute!! That was taken at Franks birthday party tonight. He was wearing his Uncle Mike's glasses (He was named after Mike, Pat's brother). Babies are soooo darling when they are sleeping and they are even more darling when they fall asleep in a funny position!! So these are a couple pictures of cute ways that Micahel has fallen asleep.
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Sream with Machine...

2009-11-22T17:27:00.000-08:00

Every year around Halloween, the show choir that Patrick and Emily are in, do a performance called "Scream with Machine". The seniors in the group write a script that all of the kids in the group act out with speaking and music. Each of the kids picks a person or character that they want to be and they dress in costume like that character. The seniors in the group write the script with those characters in it. The kids stay "in character" the whole show. It is called "Scream with Machine" because every once in a while they turn off all of the lights and all of the kids in Machine "scream" and everyone in the audience is supposed to "scream" with them. It is a really fun Halloween tradition!! The kids are really creative and the script is always funny. This year Patrick was "Kip" from Napoleon Dynamite and Emily was the "Yellow Fanta Girl". They looked cute and they did a good job.

Meet Kate...

2009-11-21T00:06:00.000-08:00

I am an aunt again!! My brother Steven and his wife Andrea had #3 last night at 1:50am! They already have cute 5 year old Ashley and energetic 3 year old Andrew. They are a sweet family and I am so happy for them! She is beautiful. They named her Kate Andrea Mathis. She weighed 7 lbs 3ozs. and she is 19 1/2 inches long. What an adorable addition to their family!! We love you guys...Congratulations!!

Julia's 6th Birthday

2009-11-20T00:50:00.000-08:00

Julia's birthday was on November 1 and she turned 6 years old. We were actually in Las Vegas for a baseball tournament for Daniel on Julia's birthday. We had the champioship game on her birthday...it actually was fun for her! All of the baseball families kept telling her happy birthday and she even got a gift from one of the families!! We were also in Vegas on Halloween, so the kids didn't get to go trick or treating either. So, instead of having a birthday cake, Aubrey, Julia and I bought some candy and made candy bags for each of the boys on the team and their siblings. Julia got to pass them out to everyone and she enjoyed that a lot. She also wore a little tiara on her head all day, so that made her feel special too. We got home on Sunday night (Julia's b-day) so we celebrated Julia's birthday as a family on Monday. I made her a cake and she also opened presents.

Julia is a very special little girl! She is sooo smart and witty!! She has great sense of humor and an extremely VIVID imagination!! She can be sassy...sassy in a cute way and sassy in a 'get in big trouble' way!! Julia makes us laugh every day with the funny and sassy things she says!! Sometimes I dont know wether to get mad at her or laugh at her...Sometimes I actually have to turn my head so she can't see me laugh! Here are a few funny things that have happened...some will make you laugh and some will leave you with your jaw hanging open...just like mine was...HA! Btw...I am sorry if some of these are not funny to you at all...some I have to write so that Pat and I and the kids will remember them!

1. Me: Julia, pick up your backpack.
Julia: No.
Me: Julia, Don't tell me no!!!
Julia: I just did!

2. Julia as Bon Qui Qui: Girl, I will cutch you!
(some of you may not know what this is...go to you tube and type in Bon Qui Qui...we think it is SUPER funny! We all imitate Bon Qui Qui and the way Julia does it is sooo funny!)

3. Julia: Mom, was is a twitty tister????

4. Julia: Mom, I am going to be a Hillay Billeh (Hilly Billy) for Halloween. Look, I can walk like one. (Julia proceeds to put her arms out in front of her...sticks her butt WAAAAY foward and walks while swinging her her arms. I wish I could show you a video of this because it is sooooo hilarious!!)

More to come as I remember them...

We are the Champions my friend...

2009-11-17T23:07:00.000-08:00

Daniel is to the right of the boy holding the plaque.

This is the Champioship picture for the travel team that Daniel plays on. The team is the San Diego Longhorns. They are a great team!!! This was taken at the Fall CLassic in Las Vegas over Halloween weekend. Their recored was 7-0!! Undefeated!! Daniel is a baseball fanatic. He lives, eats, sleeps, baseball!! We love his passion for the game and he is sooo fun to watch play!! He plays short stop and is a very talented player. He works really hard at being his best...there isn't a time of day that Daniel would say no to playing some baseball. He is always bugging Pat to take him off the T, do some ground work or to do BP with him!!

When Daniel was in elementary school he was playing baseball at our local Little League. One morning I went to give hime a hug good bye and his clothes felt unusually thick!! I asked him what he was wearing and he said, "Nothing!" So, I was persistant and made him show me. He had his ENTIRE little league unifrom on under his school clothes so that when he got home from school he could just take off his school clothes and he would be ready for his Little League game!! I came to find out that he had done this on more than a couple of occasions!!

When he was younger he could also be found sleeping with his new bat or glove!! I just love that about Daniel. I think his passion for the game may take him a long way in baseball...we will see!!!

EeeeeHeeehehehehe!!!

2009-11-17T09:31:00.000-08:00

In October, Corey, Emily, Aubrey, Julia, Michael and I took a trip to Utah to see my family. I love to go to Utah and I have actually gone 4 times in the last year!! It is really important to me that my kids get that fun time with their cousins!! I wish we lived closer to eachother so they could all be together more often, but we go as often as we can. October is always a really fun time to go to Utah. We went to Gardner Village one day and they decorate the whole village with witches in October. It was sooo fun...witches, caramel apples and fun things to look at (and WANT to buy!!) all added up to be a lot of fun!!! The witches were great!! One of the witches asked the kids if they had eaten thier frog, finger and spider stew like "good little witches"...LOVE it!!!

Emily's Birthday Dinner

2009-10-27T23:11:00.001-07:00

I am sooooo behind and haven't updated for a while....these are some pictures from Emily's 15th birthday dinner at Shogun Kobe. It is just like Benihana's and is sooo yummy!! Our cook was great and put on a great show!!! Emily took her best friend Hannah and her cousin Macy with her.....Corey, Jacob(Corey's boyfriend) and Patrick also came. We had a really nice dinner and I hope Emily had a great birthday!! She turned 15!! WOW!! Emily is such a wonderful girl and I am truly blessed to have her as my daughter!! Here are some things I love about Emily:

She is really fun to hang out with.

We laugh together a lot!!

She is tender-hearted.

She is beautiful inside and out!!

She has a cute style...and always looks cute!

She is generous.

She LOVES her family.

She has a testimony and really tries to CTR.

She is a fabulous dancer and singer!

She is smart, works hard and gets great grades!!

I don't have to bug her to do homework!

She really cares about her friends and is very loyal.

Frustrated...

2009-09-26T00:24:00.000-07:00

Can I just say how much I hate it when my computer breaks down!! The computer is really one of those items that when it breaks, you have to hire someone to fix it!! I think my lap top got a virus and it it is not working at all! The desktop won't even load. My father-in-law tried to fix it but, he couldn't...NOT a good sign as he is almost always able to fix our computers!! So we will take it to the Geek Patrol at Best Buy and see what they can do.

Amazing and SCARY how we rely so much on technology these days!! My Grandma wouldn't believe the amazing things we can do with computers, cell phones and everything else if she were still alive!! It is pretty incredible to live in 2009!!! Incredible and FRUSTRATING!!!

I am sooooo BUGGED!!

2009-09-18T16:13:00.000-07:00

Ok...so this is awful to share...but Aubrey and Julia had lice last week!! Aubrey, one night said, "my head is really itching me". I shuddered and said I would look at it the next morning. So I got her up early and sure enough, I found LICE!!!! Ahhhhhhh!!!!! Eggs and actual BUGS......holy crap!! So I freaked a little and immediately went to Rite Aid and bought furniture/bedding spray, metal combs (better than the plastic ones that come with it) and the lice conditioner. I sprayed all of the pillows, mattresses, my rocking chair, anything I thought they could live on!! YUCK!!! Then I shampood and put the lice conditioner on Aubrey and Julia's hair. I also did Michael, Pat, and Me!! I didn't think Julia had it, but I did find some eggs on her head. I'm assuming that they got it from someone at school....ewwww!!

Aubrey and Julia both came in my bed during the night, that night before to sleep!!! OH MY GOSH!!! My head was "itching" ALLLLLL day...I didn't have lice but, my paranoia sure felt like it! HA! Luckily, I found the lice the day before I had to do the big dinner for all 62 varsity football players! My mom reminded me that it could have been worse.....I could have found it the day of the dinner! THAT definitely would have been worse....cooking, killing lice, cooking, killing lice!!! GROSS!! My older children had this fun experience when they were younger; they got it from a neighbor, but it has been several years since then. It REALLY gives me the heebie jeebies!!!!!

We are currently lice free and I am TRULY thankful!! I am also thankful that they have a cream rinse/shampoo these days...if I would have had to shave their heads and put turpentine on them that would have been devastating!! So that is the bright side of lice!!

After I put the conditioner on I put a large ziplock bag on their heads...not in the directions mind you, but I thought I would really suffocate the little suckers.

Even with lice and a bag on her head Julia is cute! I wish I would have gotten a pictre of Aubrey too.....she also had a ziplock bag on her head!!

Beef Stroganoff...yummy!!

2009-09-10T23:15:00.000-07:00

I am sooo tired tonight!! I had the vasity football team dinner at our home tonight!! There were about 53 football players, 5 coaches and a few water girls. I made beef stroganoff, salad, rolls and 3 cakes. It was a lot of work, but Patrick said the boys really enjoyed the dinner, so that makes it all worth it!!

Corey, Emily, Hannah Pettijohn and Aubrey were such HUGE helpers for me today!! I would NOT have gotten everything done if they had not helped me. They washed and broke 16 heads of romaine lettuce, cut up carrots, broccoli, and cucmbers!! They loaded and unloaded the dishwasher, threw away trash....they just did anything I asked them to do!!! Corey helped make and completely decorated all 3 big cakes. She made footballs on them out of blue and yellow sprinkles!! And also put BVHS. They were sooooo cute!!

I am truly thankful for the wonderful helpers they were to me. They did so much and with a happy attitude!! They also helped me serve the food to all of the players. Although, I think for them, serving the cute players was the EASY part!!

I am glad it all worked out...I was BEYOND stressing that I wouldn't have enough food for them!! But, I ended up having enough and even a little salad and stroganoff left. It was fun to have them all here. It makes me feel good to know that they all left with full happy tummies!! Now they need to beat RBV tomorrow!! What polite and gracious football boys we have!! They all said thank you and many asked what they could do to help...they all ate outside and they were sooo quiet!! The neighbors wouldn't have even known that they were there except for the cars on our street!!

I love Patrick so much. I really hope he continues to heal from his surgery so that he can start playing quarterback!! He is ready to start playing!! I get so much joy from watching my children do the things that they love!! I am just surprised that I enjoy the sports side as much as I do!! It is a BLAST!!!

Making our house a home....

2009-09-07T12:16:00.001-07:00

While my mom was here a month or so ago, she and I did a few things to help make my house look more homey!! I really hadn't bought anything for my house since we moved in and it just didn't really feel like home yet. One of my favorite stores EVER is Taipan. There is a huge store in Salt Lake that I try to go visit when I am visiting my family, but it is hard to really bring anything home because there is NEVER any room in the car!! I was BEYOND excited when I found out that they were opening a store in Rancho Cucamonga, CA. It is about 2 hours from my house but WHO CARES!!! So, when my mom was here we hopped in the car and off we went to go to Taipan. I was like a kid in a candy store!! I had my money in my pocket that I could spend and just had to try not to double that amount!! HA! We found some really cute things...and my kids and even my HUSBAND noticed and said it made our house feel more like our home!! It was really nice to have my mom here to help me. It is SOOO fun to have someone else to bounce ideas off of and to give their opinion!! It was great to find some good deals to help with the cost.

So, after my mom left and went back to Salt Lake, I did a few more things. While my mom was here we had bought flowers for me to make an arrangement in this bluish/green metal double vase that I had purchased at Taipan. So I made the arrangement and grouped a few things together in my bedroom. I liked the way it turned out!! When you start doing projects to make your house look nice you REALLY get the bug to keep going!! I wish I had the BUDGET to go along with my IDEAS!! One of the things that just KILLS me is that I can't paint right now!! The walls need color soooo badly. Everything would look soooo much better with some more color on the walls!! Oh well...someday!!

This is a picture of my bedroom. Aren't the branches with the birds above the headboard cute! It looks really cute with the bedding and the pillow with the 2 love birds on it!! I got the vinyl branches and birds at Bed, Bath and Beyond. It was 19.99 and it came with all of the pieces that are on my wall. You have to peel the individual pieces off and apply them on the wall and decide how you want to create the branches. It is fun!! It helps to pull the room together.

I found some really pretty bathroom items to match my bedroom colors at Bed, Bath and Beyond on their clearance isle. It was 70% off!! Sooo pretty!!

This arrangement is on our bathroom counter. The flower arrangement was also 40% off at Michael's. I pulled out flowers that didn't match and put in flowers that I had bought with my mom. It ended up being really pretty and it was such a good price!

This is by the tub. I added towels and also used another flower arrangement from Michael's and added my own flowers! The picture tree was from Taipan and is soooo cute...now I just need to put real pictures in it instead of the "cute" store pictures!!

This is a close up of the arrangement that I made with the flowers that my mom and I bought at Shinodas and the metal vase from Taipan.

This is the arrangement with the flowers. The candle stick is the one from Taipan and I found the super cute clock at WALMART!!!...for 14.99!

Making our house a home continued...

2009-09-07T12:04:00.001-07:00

The frame used to be black and we painted it red. We got the flower arrangment at Michael's for 40% off and the candle was on sale too!

This is the antique dresser that was in my room with the baby's clothes in it. It is now in the guest bedroom.

Couch in the living room with a mirror over it that had been in the garage. The picture that was above it, is now the picture over the long counter top in the family room.

Making our house a home continued...

2009-09-07T11:31:00.000-07:00

Here are some pictures of what my mom and I did while she was here. This is the guest bedroom. We put the antique dresser and grandma's sewing machine in here to kind of have an 'antiquey'...grandma Folkman feel! Frank gave us the bed and we found the bedding at Walmart!

This is Patsy's table that she gave me and we put it in the empty dining room. That is the picture that I got at Taipan....I LOVE the picture!!

This is on top of the armoir in the EMPTY dining room. We moved some things from other places and also added the candle sticks that I got at Taipan. Have I mentioned that I LOVE Taipan!!

This is the corner of the long counter in the family room. That's the "family"plaque I got at Taipan and mom and I got the little flower thing for 40% off at Michaels.

Full view of the long counter in the family room. We switched this picture from the living room and put this picture here and then put the big picture that was here and put in on the wall by the stairs.

Always and Forever...

2009-09-02T11:45:00.001-07:00

I ended up having a really nice night for our 20th Anniversay. I had been irritated earlier in the day because Pat had to work ALL DAY and I hadn't gotten any flowers or card or anything!! Well, it was a Wednesday night and on Wednesdays Corey always goes to this local Hawaiian food/sushi place and does kareoke. Pat was still working at 6:30 pm, so I decided to go with Corey to do kareoke.

Well at about 7:30, Pat finally showed up from working in LA all day. He came and sat by me and we decided to do a song together. Well, a few minutes later they called Pats name. Corey pulled a chair up in the very front. Pat asked me to come sit in the chair and gave me a bouquet of roses and then said this..." 20 years ago today was the best day of my life because I married Hadley. I don't have much of a singing voice anymore, so I may make a fool of myself singing this song...(speaking much more loudly) but I am in love and I'M NOT AFRAID TO SAY IT!!!!" He then sang to me, "Always and Forever". It was the sweetest thing ever!!! Everyone there was waving their arms with a phone or lighter in their hands!! When he finished everyone stood up and yelled and cheered. Corey had several of the young adults there with her and we had some good friends, the Diaz family there also. He really made me feel special and LOVED.

We went out for dinner on Friday night for our anniversary and we took a couple of pictures and this is one of them. I am lucky to have a sweet husband who is not afraid to PUBLICLY proclaim his love for me!!

Sweet Aubrey Anne...

2009-09-02T11:37:00.000-07:00

I love this picture of Aubrey and me!! This was taken when Pat and I were leaving to go out to dinner for our anniversary. Aubrey is such a sweetheart!! She is probably...well, not probably...IS...the most negelected of all of our kids. She is more like the middle child. Poor thing!! I love her so much and am sooo proud of her...she is a special part of our family!! Aubrey...I love you and I am so honored to be your mom. What a special girl you are!!!!

2009-08-25T10:41:00.000-07:00

Today Pat and I are celebrating our 20th Anniversary. WOW has time gone by!! I always thought that couples who had been married for 20 years were OLD!! Are we OLD?? Am I old...I guess old is all relative to the age you are, right?! We have been married for 20 years, have 7 children and a very busy happy life!! I am so grateful to have a loving hardworking husband whos first priority is his family!! He is not perfect but neither am I and together we work hard to make eachother happy and to make a happy life together!

Here are some reasons that I love Pat:

1. He tells me he loves me EVERY day!! 4 or 5 times even!!
2. He can really make me laugh...he has a great sense of humor!!
3. He is very handsome!
4. He loves basball AND show choir!!
5. His family is always at the CENTER of his decisions.
6. He loves his children unconditionally.
7. He is not afraid to admit he is wrong.
8. He likes chick flicks!!
9. He is not afraid to cry.
10. He is very loving.
11. He is one of the hardest workers I know!
12. He is SUPER sexy!!
13. He loves Hawaii!!
14. He is kind and friendly to EVERYONE!!
15. He goes on walks with me.
16. He has a testimony.
17. He loves being a dad!
18. He is honest and faithful.
19. He tells me I'm beautiful...and not "you're cute!" (inside joke)
20. His favorite date is dinner and a movie...just like me!

Pat,
Happy Anniversary. I love you with all my heart and know we have wonderful things ahead of us in the next 20 years. Thank you for all you do for our family and for loving us soooo much!! You make me happy!!
Love, Hadley

my cute Irish boy...

2009-08-24T19:29:00.000-07:00

Michael is doing great! He had his check up 2 weeks ago and Dr. Fuji is very happy with how Michael is doing!! He weighs 15 lbs, which is in the 27th percentile. And his height is in the 75th percentile!! A typical Schneemann...always on the tall side. His neck stiffness was much better and his eye focus and ability to move them to look at things was MUCH better!! All of his blood work came back normal also. His Hematocrit was 33.9, which is in the normal range. I am soo glad he is doing so well. I was pretty worried there for a while!

These pictures of my cute Irish Michael in his "wee bit o' Irish" shirt are soooo dang cute. This shirt was given to him by my friend Amy Hunt and it is going to fit him for about ONE more day. I wish that Patsy (Pat's mom) was still alive to see Michael in this shirt. She would be sooo proud!! I miss her. O' Danny Boy by Bing Crosby was one of her favorite songs. So, this post is in honor of Patricia Ann Murphy Schneemann!! We love you Patsy!!!

a cute boy for corey...

2009-08-19T23:15:00.000-07:00

Ok...so it has been WAY too long since I have posted!! This is a picture of Corey and her "official" boyfriend, Jacob. They are really cute together. Jacob is such a nice boy and he is sooo sweet to Corey. Corey is really growing up! I am so grateful to have Corey as my daughter!! I don't tell her often enough, but I truly am!! Here are a few things that I love about Corey:

1. She has an absolutely amazing singing voice! I could listen to her all day.
2. Corey is always singing!! Sometimes I do get to listen to her almost all day!!
3. She has a GREAT sense of humor!!
4. Corey is a wonderful friend!!
5. She loves Taki's and Mexican candy! (a true San Diego girl)
6. She loves musicals!!
7. She loves to do make-up and is GOOD at it!!
8. She loves her siblings SOOOO much...they mean the world to her!!
9. She LOVES her baby brother Michael and plays with him all the time! She will be a great mom someday!!
10. Corey is generous and kind!
11. Corey is VERY loyal!!
12. She LOVES her cousins...they are some of her best friends!!
13. She loves movies!
14. She has taught herself to play numerous songs on the piano...just by hearing it!
15. Corey has a good heart...I couldn't ask for more!!!

Joelle's wedding

2009-08-03T10:10:00.001-07:00

In June, the girls and I went to Visalia, CA to go to my cousin Joelle's wedding. Joelle has 2 kids, Aidan and McKay. We LOVE to go visit her and we also love it when she comes to visit us! Joelle married Dave Collinwood. He is a really good guy. Joelle has deserved someone who loves her and treats her well for a long time and we are soooo happy that she and Dave found eachother!! We had a nice time at the wedding! We love Joelle's kids and my kids really enjoy playing with them. Joelle's sister, Lisa and her husband Greg also live in Visalia. She has 2 kids, Evan and Ashlynn. All of the kids enjoy being together!! Joelle and Lisa'a mom and dad, My Aunt Dorinda and Uncle Jim are also in Visalia. I love them all and wish we could be together more often!! They are really fun to be with!!

We actually went back to Visalia in July because during the wedding we really didn't get to spend a lot of time together. We had soooo much fun. Everytime we are together we have a big talent show and this visit was no different! The kids were super funny with their talents. Even the adults shared their talents. Probably one of our favorite parts of visiting with them is listening to the stories and songs that Aunt Dorinda shares with us. They are stories and songs from our ancestors who were cowboys. They are wonderful stories and my kids LOVE hearing them!!

Here are some pictures from the wedding. Joelle and Dave were married in the Fresno Temple and the reception was at friends home in Visalia.

First day of school...

2009-07-27T18:00:00.000-07:00

Today was the first day of school for all of the kids!! I was sooo not ready but the kids were actually pretty excited! Pat and I took Aubrey and Julia to school like we do every year. I was sad this morning not taking the "first day of school" pictures in front of the big tree at our old house!! This is the first year in 11 years that we are not at our house on Wrangler. :_(( Aubrey is starting 5th grade and Julia is starting 1st grade. It was weird not walking Daniel to his classroom! It is hard to believe that he is old enough to be at the middle school and starting 7th grade!! Patrick is a senior this year and Emily is a sophmore.

Time truly goes so quickly! I was telling Pat last night that in 5 years when Michael starts Kindergarten, Corey will just be home from a mission, Patrick will be in college and already have served his mission, Emily will be a sophmore in college, Daniel will be a senior in hich school, Aubrey will be a sophmore in high school, and Julia will be a 6th grader. WOW!! Our lives will be that different in just 5 years! 3 kids gone from home. I am trying to enjoy everyday! For now I will just try to keep up with everything! I know I will miss this craziness one day!!!

Jazz hands...

2009-07-26T00:21:00.000-07:00

I LOVE Show Choir!! I never knew how much fun show choir could be until my kids got involved in it! Our kids come from a long history of family being in show choirs at Bonita Vista High School. Pat's sister Helen, was in the very first Music Machine (the boys and girls group). Pat's brother Mike was also in the Music Machine and Pat was in Music Machine!! My kids have grown up hearing about Music Machine and wanting to be in it!! Every year our little town of Bonita has a big festival called the "Bonita Fest". Music Machine and Sound Unlimited (the all girls group) do a big performance there. My kids have always LOVED watching it! As little children they would watch and admire the kids in the groups.

If you don't know what "show choir" is I will give you a brief description...it is a group of boys and/or girls doing choreography while singing. Out show choirs travel all around Southern California to competitions, which are called "Festivals". At these festivals, each group performs their "set" to be critiqued by a panel of judges. A "set" is the group of songs that each choir sings. The costumes, singing, dancing, and even the stage decorations are amazing!! The sets are like mini-musicals. They are soooo fun to watch!!

Well, so far, 3 of 7 kids have been in or are in Music Machine or Sound Unlimited. We would love it if all 7 of them ended up being in show choir! Every year the groups go on tour somewhere and usually participate in a National competition. We have been to New York City, New York, Austria, the Czech Republic, Nashville Tennessee, and this last year we went to Florida! Both groups did really well!! Emily's group, Sound Unlimited took 1st. place in the Women's Division and Patrick's group, Music Machine took 2nd. place in the Mixed Division.....at a National Competition!!! Whaaahoooo!

These pictures are of Emily with Sound Unlimited doing their "set" for the competition in Florida! Emily really loved being in Sound Unlimited this last year!! She auditioned and was selected to be in Music Machine for her sophomore year. She is very excited to be in Machine but she will really miss being with all the girls in Sound!!

These are pictures of Patrick in Music Machine. I love that Patrick is such a well rounded kid!! He is an athlete who plays football and baseball, but is also in the show choir! I LOVE it!! Patrick has been working hard to learn the guitar. In the picture below he accompanied a friend who was performing. He also sang some harmony on the song. He has taught himself this song and many others!

By the way...the song "Purple Summer" that is playing on my playlist is one of the songs that Music Machine did in their set this year. It was my favorite song in their set...the harmonies in the song are really beautiful and the way they perfromed it was really touching!!

School awards...

2009-07-24T16:04:00.000-07:00

Ok, so I should have posted these pictures 5 weeks ago, but they were on my father-in-laws camera and I just got it yesterday. Aubrey and Julia both recieved an award at school. They were very excited and so happy that their big brother, Patrick got to be there! Pat and I were very happy for them!

Patrick, Aubrey and Julia with their awards.

Julia standing on stage with her classmated that also received awards.

Me and Aubrey.

Patrick and Aubrey.

Julia and her Principal, Miss Jones.

A fun all-star year!!!

2009-07-16T00:21:00.000-07:00

Well, Parkview beat us tonight! :_( But, we played a good game and the kids had a great time. Daniel had soooo much fun this year in Little League! All-Stars was the icing on the cake!! He enjoyed the kids he played with, he played well, and he had a lot of fun!! I have to say it makes me sad to think that Daniel is done with Little League. We have so many great memories over the last 12 years at SVLL!! First Patrick and then Daniel! If Michael plays ball, I guess we will be back there in 5 years!! Pat is hoping!!! Here are some pictures from the winning game against Parkview yesterday. The smile on our faces says it all!!!

who's on first...

2009-07-15T11:39:00.000-07:00

Baseball is so much fun. I know, we are a crazy baseball family...we can't help but love it!! We are in All-Stars right now with Daniel, and are having a blast!! Where we live we play Little League. There are 6 innings in a game and it is double elimination. We are 4-1. We played Eastlake first and the score was 8-0(Daniel had 1 home run). Second was Imperial Beach the score was 12-0 (Daniel had 2 home runs!). Our third was against Parkview and we lost 8-1. Parkview is a great team and they are hoping to go all the way to the Little League World Series in Williamsport, PA. Fourth was Lucky Waller and we won in the bottom of the 7th inning 4-3. The fifth game was again against Parkview!! We WON 10-7!!! OH MY GOSH!!!!!! That is so huge!! We played so well!!

The game ended in the bottom of the 6th. Parkview had rallied in the prior inning coming back from 10-3, to it now being 10-7. There was one out with a guy on 1st and a guy on 2nd. There is a guy up to bat with Luke, who is HUGE and a homerun hitter in the batters box. So the third batter hits a hard live drive...Daniel dives to his left, stoprs the ball. He then runs to 2nd, tags the base, and fires to first for the out and a game ending double play. Yeah Daniel!!! It is so fun to watch him play baseball!!!! He plays with his whole heart and then some!! So because we have each beat each other once, WE HAVE TO PLAYVIEW AGAIN!!! They are tough and they will have Luke their BIG pitcher tonight!! Anything is possible in Baseball...keep your fingers crossed for us!!!

Julia can't wait for the tooth fairy!!

2009-07-10T18:17:00.000-07:00

Julia lost her 2nd bottom tooth today!! It has been loose for a couple of weeks. This morning it was loose enough to pull, so she asked me to pull it out. She put it in a zip lock bag (I don't have one of those cute tooth fairy pillows) and has already put it under her pillow. At about 11:00 am she tells me she wishes it were dark outside so she could go to bed...I am thinking why would you want to go to bed now??? She never WANTS to go to bed...I was a little slow, so she said, "Mom, so the tooth fairy can come see me!" Get with it Mom...is what she should have said. After Julia had lost her first tooth Pat said to me, "Why is it that little kids look so darn cute when they loose a tooth but adults look soooo bad?!" hahaha...SOOO true!! Here's a couple pics of the 2-toothless girl!

boo hooo!!

2009-07-10T00:03:00.000-07:00

I am sooo sad because we lost our game tonight to Parkview! We lost 8-1. Daniel had a great defensive game but didn't hit as well as I was hoping!! No home-run this game!! Pat was disappointed, but handled it well. We have another game on Saturday. If we win we will go the the play-offs and we will have to beat Parkview twice to win district. That would be very tough to do, but weirder things have happened!! By the way...did I already mention that Pat is the manager?? He would sure love to win district!!

baseball, baseball, baseball...

2009-07-09T09:22:00.000-07:00

I lOVE baseball! Daniel was selected to be on his little league all-star baseball team...and the games have begun!! We have played 2 games and our third game is today. We won the first game 8-0 against Eastlake. Daniel hit a homerun!! Our second game was against Chula Vista American and we won 12-0...Daniel had 2 homeruns in that game!! His second homerun was a 3-run shot that was a walkoff!!! So in 2 games he has had 3 homeruns. He is having a blast and it is so fun to watch him play!! Our toughest game will be tonight against Parkview. They are really good...they think they will make it all the way to Williamsport PA for the Little League World Series. We will see about that! I would love to beat them tonight!! They are really good but, we are pretty good too!! I will let you know how we do!! Keep your fingers crossed for us!!!

Summer in San Diego at Belmont Park...

2009-06-23T22:40:00.000-07:00

On Monday I took Patrick, Emily, Aubrey, Julia, Michael and 3 friends to Belmont Park. It had been very cloudy and over cast here the last week, but Monday ended up being a beautiful day! It was the perfect day to go. The kids all got wrist bands so they could go on unlimited rides. They had a great time!! It originally was supposed to be a "special time" with Aubrey and I. A "special time" as we call it in our house, is one on one time betweeen one parent and one child. In this case is was supposed to be Me and Aubrey. Well, Aubrey decided that Julia could go on her "special time"and that way she could go on Julia's "special time". It was a 2 for 1 deal!! Anyway...long story short.....we ended up having most of my kids and 3 friends! I got some great pics of the kids...

A little case of the worries...(shocker!)

2009-06-19T21:39:00.000-07:00

I just can't help but continue to worry about Michael. We were worried for quite a while because it took him so long to smile and make eye contact with us. When a baby has such a lack of oxygen the way Michael did, you don't always know the repercussions of that for some time. He has finally started to make eye contact and smile and actually smiles a ton now. But, when I hold him up in front of me he constantly looks to the side...the right or the left but mainly to the right (my right as he looks at me). I try to get him to keep his head straight and all he wants to do is turn to the side. I am doing his neck exercises when I change his diaper...which he hates!! He screams when I do them, which is probably mostly because I am holding his head in one position and wont let him move it.

He is probably just a little behind because he had such a difficult start, but he just seems a little off to me. (He will love reading this when he is like 17 and just fine!!) I am most likely just paranoid. I am most definitely a worrier...BIG TIME...so, I will TRY not to worry about things until I have something to worry about! He will be going for all of these tests that the pediatrician has ordered within the next month, so we will see. Hopefully everything will be just fine!

By the way...you have probably noticed that I have been writing a lot more lately. I have decided to use my blog to update family and friends, but also as a journal. I don't write in my own journal nearly often enough and I enjoy doing it this way! So, hopefully I won't bore you too much and feel free to check in less often if I do!!

Missing my kids...

2009-06-19T21:32:00.001-07:00

I am missing my kids! It sure has been quiet around here this last week...(well, quiet relative to what it usually is) with Patrick and Daniel at Scout camp and Emily was also gone to Young Womens camp. Emily got home yesterday and I was glad. I really missed her. Patrick and Daniel come home tomorrow and I can't wait to hear how they did camping all week. It is the first time either of them have camped for this long!! At least their packs will be a lot lighter hiking out then they were hiking in. I'm sure Daniel will be really happy about that!! I will be happy to have them home safe! I am really grateful for the wonderful experiences that the church gives them though!! I am sure they learn so much while they are there...about themsleves, their testimonies and also about helping and serving others!! Those lessons are invaluable.

Emily's trip to Joshua Tree with the Pettijohn's

2009-06-19T00:02:00.000-07:00

In May, Emily went to Joshua Tree with her best friend Hannah and Hannah's dad, Patrick. They went rock climbing there for 4 days. Emily has gone with them before and it is quite an adventure. Some of the rocks are really scary...Emily was older this year than the last time she went, so she was able to climb rocks that were more difficult! There was one rock that she just couldn't do...it was TOO scary. Like, if you move the wrong way you fall 50 feet to your death kind of scary!! She had such a great time! It is really beautiful there and the sunset picture says it all!! I am SOOOO glad she came home safely!! I have to say, I have a tone of faith in Hannah's dad, Patrick. He is a good guy and we have become great friends with Patrick and his wife Susan. I knew he would keep Emily safe. Thanks, Pettijohn's, you're awesome!

Prom...

2009-06-18T17:52:00.000-07:00

Patrick went to Prom in early June. His friend Irlanda asked him to go with her. They had gone to another dance together last year and had fun, so I guess she thought she would ask him again! They had a good time and they looked nice together.

Off to the Kern River...

2009-06-18T00:34:00.000-07:00

In the car getting ready to go...you read that book Daniel!! Mom... that is the 3rd in the Fablehaven series that you gave him for Christmas!! He LOVES them!!

All of the boys and leaders who went on the camping trip.

Patrick and Daniel...I LOVE this picture!!

Patrick and Daniel left on Monday for 6 days on a Scouting backpacking trip with the boys and leaders from our ward. They are heading north 6 hours to hike down to the Kern River and then tent camp by it until Saturday. The hike down to the river is about 2 miles.

I have never had to pack that kind of backpack before and I was sooo stressed! Did I get the right food?? Did I get them enough food?? Did I get food they will like?? Holy Cow!!!! I took Patrick with me to pick everthing out but he wasn't totally sure either. He had never done this type of trip before! The packs ended up weighing about 50 lbs each! Daniel put his on the night before they left after one of the young mens leaders (THANK YOU Mike!!) came over on Sunday night and helped us pack the backpacks. When Daniel put his pack on, he almost fell over!! He wasn't looking foward to having to carry the pack 2 miles down to the river! In fact, he was pretty stressed about it!

I asked Patrick to keep an eye out for Daniel and help him!! Hopefully they both did fine. No news is good news, so they must all be doing well!! These pictures are really cute and I don't get a picture of just the 2 of them togther very often. It will be funny to compare these before pictures with the after pictures!!

Aubrey and Julia...

2009-06-18T00:09:00.000-07:00

I took these pictures of Aubrey and Julia at the Little League closing day ceremonies . I just love these pictures of them! The other girl in the pictures is their friend who's brother was on the same team as Daniel. They always make good friends every year with the siblings of the boys on the team. Aubrey and Julia go with Pat to the baseball field all the time... they LOVE it and Pat is always willing to let them go with him. We have decided to let Aubrey play softball next year. She wants to soooo badly...it is ALL she talks about these days!! It will be fun to go do something that is just focused on her. I think she needs that!! So, we'll add one more practice and game that we need to go to on the already long list of places to be!! GO Aubrey!!!

6th Grade Promotion and a farewell to Little League...

2009-06-13T22:22:00.000-07:00

New added news....Daniel was selected for the 12 year old

All-Star Team!!

Congratualations, Daniel.

Daniel and his teacher, Mrs. Webster

Pat, Corey, Me, Daniel and Aubrey

Daniel and his friend Declan

Daniel graduated from 6th grade on Wednesday from Allen Elementary School. It is hard to believe that he is 12 years old and is going to be in 7th grade next year!! Daniel had a fabulous teacher this year. She really helped Daniel to gain a love for reading. He has a book with him where ever he goes these days...I LOVE that!! He will really miss his teacher, I think she has been his favorite teacher of all time( in all of his 12 whole years!!! He had a great year and even received one of the Presidential Awards for Academic Excellence!! He worked really hard and it showed!!

On Saturday, Daniel was in his LAST Little League baseball game. AND it happened to also be the championship game! He played for the A's and our record was 21 wins 4 losses. We had the best record in the League. I must unforunately tell you that we lost the championship game 6-5... OH THE HEARTBREAK!! Although we lost to the Astros for the Championship, we still had the best season record. Daniel hit 10 homeruns and his average was about 650. What a great 12 year old year! I am very happy for him and am also very sad that he is no longer in Little League. We have been in that Little League for the last 12 years since Patrick was 5!!! We won't be there for 5 years until Michael is old enough to play. Daniel will play Pony next year, which will be a lot of fun!! Pat was the Manager for Daniel's team and I know Pat is going to miss being in Little League with Daniel. They have had a BLAST together!!

Daniel with his 1st Place trophy.

Pat, Coach John Flippen, Daniel, and Coach Flippen's 2 twin boys, Blake and Parker. We have known the Flippen's for years , but didn't know them very well. Daniel will be going to Middle School next year with Blake and Parker and the 3 of them have beocme best friends!! Pat and John had such a great time coaching together!! John, MaryLou and the boys have become our life long friends!!

Pat and Daniel

Team photo!! Go A's!

Corey singing on the local TV channel KUSI...

2009-06-11T15:57:00.000-07:00

Corey got the oppurtunity to sing on KUSI on Sunday morning...she was asked by vocal coach, LaTonya Lockett, to come and sing as an example of someone who has taken her vocal camps before. The video has some talking in it...so let it load and then fast foward to the part where Corey is singing, if you don't want to listen to the whole thing. She doesn't get to sing the whole song, they cut her off right before the chorus. BUMMER!! She sounds great and she had a great time being on TV!!! We are SO proud of you Corey!!

Corey starts singing at about 2:18 on the time line.

Here is the link:
http://www.kusi.com/home/47867592.html?video=YHI&t=a

New pictures of Michael...

2009-06-11T11:40:00.000-07:00

These are the most recent pictures of Michael. He is now smiling a ton and so cute I can't stand it!! At his well check appointment he weighed 11 lbs. 5 oz.. He is 24 3/4 inches long. That means in 3 months he has grown almost 6 inches in length! WOW~~ we sure love him and he seems to be doing great. His pediatrician is going to run some tests just to double check a few things; Ultrasound of his brain, have the opthomologist look at his eyes, red cell count, and they will have a nurses follow-up clinic follow him over the next year or 2 and make sure he is meeting all of his growth milestones! He is defiantely well loved by all!!

"What's that thing called after a wedding???"

2009-06-07T07:27:00.000-07:00

Friday was Julia's big graduation day from Kindergarten! It was such a cute program and Julia was very excited. They did sign language to the song, "What a Wonderful World". That was a special part of the program. Kindergarteners are so dang cute!! Julia kept saying..."And after the graduation we're having ummmmm a ummmm...what is that thing called after a wedding?" And I said, "A reception." and Julia said, "Yeah that, a reception, with cookies and lemonade!" Julia is sooo sassy and loving. It is going to be fun and quite a ride watching this darling independent girl grow up!!!

Memories of Grandma Folkman's jam...

2009-06-02T19:35:00.000-07:00

I have loved making jam since I was a child going to my Grandma Folkman's house in Jerome, ID. I have such wonderful memories of watching my Grandma make raspberry jam from the raspberry patch that she had in her back yard. I would often get raspberries in Jerome while I was there, and then take them home and make jam. I have had the bug to make some jam the last month!! This last weekend I went to Visalia, CA to my cousin Joelle's wedding. (We had sooo much fun, I am going to post pitures in the next day or so!) When we were leaving Visalia, there was a strawberry stand on the side of the road...so I bought 2 flats and came home to make jam!! My friend Trina came over on Monday and we made strawberry freezer jam. Yummy!! From the 2 flats, we made 26 three cup rounds and 6 three cup squares. So here are a couple pictures. Not all of them are there because Trina had already taken her share home and I had given a few away when I took the pictures. I wish you could all have some!!

2009-05-26T17:49:00.000-07:00

Here are a couple of recent pictures of Michael. He is definately bigger and looks older! He LOVES to watch the ceiling fan!!! He is completely taken with it!! When I need to get something done I lay him on the ottoman and let him look up at the fan and he is occupied and happy for a few minutes!! The other day Frank was holding him and he was looking at the fan, so Frank looked up at the fan and I snapped this picture. When I looked at the picture I immediately thought how much Michael looks like Frank!! This is a rare picture of Frank (Pat's dad) with one of his grandkids!!

Michael...He is a Blessing!!

2009-05-04T11:23:00.000-07:00

yesterday was michael's blessing day. pat did the blessing and it was beautiful. all day i kept thinking how truly blessed we are to have him with us. things could have turned out very differently and i am thankful for him every day!! we all love him so much...at church it is musical chairs for michael as corey, patrick. emily, daniel, aubrey, and julia pass him around to hold him. he is wearing his white blessing sweater outfit in the pictures...i was worried it would be too small but it was actually a little too big. he is growing though...he weighs about 9 lbs. when people see him they comment on how much bigger he is. i just love him!!!

"You are my sunshine!"

2009-04-23T00:05:00.000-07:00

Corey and I went to Babies R Us to get a couple of things and at the check out we saw these cute sunglasses. They were too big for Michael, but we decided to take his picture with them on. He looked so cute that I had to share this picture with you. Michael is doing great! He is just over 8 lbs. now! So, he is gaining weight which is wonderful...except for the fact that he is gaining from formula and not from breast milk. Little stinker...I really wish he would have stuck with the breast feeding! TOO much work...the bottle is so much easier!! It has been very sad and disappointing to me that he won't nurse, but as long as he is gaining weight and doing well that is what matters!!

My "big boy" Michael...

2009-04-03T23:20:00.000-07:00

I took Michael to the pediatrician today. He weighed 5 lbs. 12 oz. That means that he has gained 6 oz. in the last 7 days. Yeah!! The week prior he had only gained 2 oz. So, the pediatrician was happy with that. He will be a month old on April 7th. He looks a little bit bigger...he loves the formula supplements. He sleeps so well when he has the bottle of formula. He will sleep at night for 4-5 hours. So, night time is the perfect time to give him a bottle because he sleeps soooo well! We adore Michael and he is getting lots of love...he is definately not lacking in the attention department!!

A Michael Update

2009-03-27T18:57:00.000-07:00

I took Michael to the doctor today. His weight was 5 lbs. 6 oz. In a week he has only gained 2 oz. He really should be gaining about an ounce every day. So, they want me to supplement my breastfeeding with 3 bottles a day of either breast milk or formula. So, I started today by giving him a bottle of formula because I am out of the breast milk that I had previously pumped. I am going to try to pump so I can give him that instead of formula. They also checked his hematicrite and hemogloban levels and they were both fine, which is really good news!! So, we'll see if he gains weight next week at his appt. We are just loving Michael and enjoying him so much!! He is so cute and we all love holding him!!

Michael is home!!!

2009-03-17T19:34:00.001-07:00

This is Michael after the transfusion and feeling much better!!

This is Michael in the NICU.

Michael came home on Sunday afternoon! We are so glad to have him home with us. It is so much easier than having to run back and forth to the hospital. We only had to do it for 8 days, i really feel for families who have to do it for months!! Michael is so sweet and so little...his brothers and sisters love him and just want to hold him non stop!! Pat is most happy when he is holding Michael...What a blessing Michael is to our family!!!

Welcome MICHAEL KENNETH SCHNEEMANN

2009-03-14T23:18:00.000-07:00

This is kind of a long story so I will be as brief as I can...Things really started on Tuesday night the 3rd of March. As I was going to sleep on Tuesday night I was having a hard time getting my kick count of 10. I woke the next morning and could not feel the baby moving. I went to the triage at the hospital and they checked Michaels heart rate and it seemed to be ok. I hardly felt Michael moving the next 3 days. Friday I went back to the triage hoping that my doctor would induce me...she did!!! They got the pitocin going very gradually. I was ready to push at around 7:oo am. The baby was posterior (facing up) and therefore, took a little longer to enter the world. The doctor had to use the vacuum to get him out and his heart rate kept dropping really low.

Sweet Michael Kenneth Schneemann was born at 8:21 a.m. He weighed 5 lb. 5 oz. and was 19" long. He didn't really cry at all when he was born and had a hard time breathing. His APGAR's were 5 and 9 at 1 and 5 minutes. Which are not so great. We all could not get over how pale he was. I mean like vampire pale. It was scary!

At about 9:45 my nurse noticed how pale Micahel was and that he wasn't breathing that well. They took Michael to the nurses station and after about a half hour that charge nurse from the NICU came to my room to tell me that Miachel had been admitted.
After taking some blood tests they determined that Michael had lost 2/3 of his blood volume. Michael's hematocrit was a 15 (normal is 45 and up) and his hemoglobin was a 5. They weren't sure how it had happened but they were sure that they needed to fix it!!

They ended up doing a partial transfusion exchange. Two nurses sat at Michael's bedside with a unit of packed red blood cells. One nurse injected 10 ml of the new blood while the other nurse took out 10 ml of Michael's blood. A tech constantly monitored his vital signs. This process took over 4 hours for one unit.

After a couple of days of discussion, the doctors have finally decided that Michael had a fetomaternal hemorrhage. Basically, they think that a finger of the placenta broke off and his blood was gushing into my blood stream. They think that this happened around Tuesday night/Wednesday morning when I noticed that Michael's movement was so different.

It is miracle that Michael survived and that we had the outcome that we did... Had my doctor waited one more day to induce me or until the next Tuesday(my official induction date) he probably wouldn't have made it. His body somehow was compensating with the incredible blood loss and protected his vital organs. So far the testing has not shown any damage to any of his organs or systems. They did a CT of his brain, which was normal.

Since the transfusion, they have been working on his eating/feeding. He gets tired really easily so breastfeeding has been a challenge. They did move him to the step-down unit on Wednesday which is one step closer to going home. His hematocrit is up to 37 and his body is producing red blood cells. YEAH!!!

Heavenly Father truly does perform miracles and has a hand in our lives. Not only did he bless me and Michael but the doctors and nurses as well. The doctors have been amazed at the outcome that Micahel has had. I saw the blood that they took out of Michael... It was thin and watery. Once the blood had a chance to settle, the few red blood cells settled to the bottom and it truly hit home how few red blood cells he had.

To make things a little more challenging...on Wednesday my blood pressure was so high that they re-admitted me and I had to have an IV of Magnesium for a couple of days. If you have never had Magnesium before it makes you feel pretty awful!! Kind of like you have the flu...hot, achy, flushed, and dizzy. I am now on some blood pressure medicine and it seems to have my pressures in control. I am so happy to be home and not in the hospital. Being with my kids and Pat makes me happy and healthier.

Michael's doctor has told us that he should be able to go home either tomorrow or on Monday. He is such a sweetheart and just a little peanut too. Here are some pictures for you to enjoy!! We are soooo blessed!!!!

Another baby update...

2009-02-25T13:03:00.000-08:00

I went to my doctor today. All is about the same. My blood pressure was a little high but not off the charts. She checked my cervix...last appointment I was a finger tip dialated. Today I was a 2!! Less work later! Yeah!! She wants me down resting as much as possible. Did she say as much as "possible"?! I am trying, but it is a little tough around here! The kids have really been trying to help me though, so that has been wonderful. I'll continue to keep you updated!

A baby update...

2009-02-22T18:33:00.000-08:00

Well, at my appointment on Thursday my doctor told me they are going to induce me on March 10th, which is almost two weeks before my due date. My pre-eclampsia is starting to sneak up on me a bit and she wants to induce me to try to keep it a little more in control. She actually thinks I am probably going to go on my own sooner than that, but if not, it will be the 10th. That is only 16 days away!!! WOW!!! We are getting so excited to see him and hold him!! I will update the blog if anything happens before the 10th!!

a music note...the song that is playing on the blog is from the Broadway Musical, "Spring Awakening". The show choir that my son Patrick is in at the high school is doing this song in thier competition set this year. I love the harmonies in this song, they are really beautiful. I hope you enjoy it!

Pregnancy!!

2009-02-05T12:21:00.000-08:00

well, i am feeling like an old pregnant women these days. on monday afternoon i was sitting with the kids and all of a sudden my eyes went like cross-eyed. well...they felt like they were cross-eyed. i couldn't see straight and i could not get my eyes to work together!! SUPER SCARY!!! i thought i was having a stroke or something!! so after a few minutes of my eyes being that way, i told daniel to call 911. the paramedics came and my blood pressure was 152/96 so they thought that it was possibly my pre-eclampsia. but my pressure ended up being fine and really there were no other pre-eclampsia symptoms that were present. they admitted me for the night and ran a bunch of blood work and did a CT scan in the morning on tuesday. everything looks ok. thank goodness!! they don't know why my eyes did that!! frustrating to not have an answer for something that was soooo scary! but, right now everything looks ok, so i am really trying not to worry!

poor daniel, aubrey, and julia!! they were soooo worried and scared! not a fun thing to see your mom crying because she can't see straight and thinking she is having a stroke!! the firemen were really good to the kids. they took them outside and let them look around the fire truck and gave each of them a teddy bear while the paramedics were talking to me. and a funny note...when the paramedics were putting me on the gurny i all of a sudden thought... why hasn't emily come down stairs??!! so i had aubrey go up and get her. she had been listening to her music and didn't even know the fire truck and paramedics were there!! she came walking down stairs with aubrey to see the paramedics taking me outside to the ambulance!! she had no idea what was going on. sweet emily!!!

so...all is well. i will be 34 weeks on monday! time has gone by surprisingly quickly! my dr. said if i dont go on my own by 39 weeks, she will induce me. so at the most i have just over 5 weeks left! WOW!! pat is so excited he can hardly stand it. it's like i am pregnant for the very first time...he is so cute!! i really enjoy and appreciate his excitement!! i married a wonderful man!!

"Have we taught her enough???"

2009-01-21T20:02:00.000-08:00

Well, I have to say that it is a whole new experience dropping off your oldest child at college!! As you drive away you have this panic attack of "We haven't taught her nearly enough!!" You hope that she will be happy and responsible and not too home sick...(a little would be nice!)

I cried for a while in the car as we drove away and then cried for an hour when I finally got home in San Diego. There is defiately a big empty spot in our home without Corey here. I miss her singing around the house all the time so much I can't stand it. But, even through my selfishness, I KNOW that it is going to be a wonderful experience for her to be at school!! She will learn so much and will make some life long friends!! But, I do miss her and can't wait to see her when the baby is born!!

Corey...we are so proud of you and the beautiful young lady that you have become!! Go get em!!!!

Corey is off to school...

2009-01-15T00:23:00.000-08:00

Well, my oldest daughter Corey is leaving to go to school in Utah! It's hard to believe that she is leaving and won't be here for the next few months or so. I think this will be such a wonderful opportunity for Corey! I think she will make some great new friends and grow so much as a person! I am REALLY going to miss her! It's wierd to think that Pat and I are old enough to have a daughter who is going away to school! We had a little "going away" party for her at BJ's Restaurant. About 30 of Corey's family and friends showed up. Corey was really happy and had a nice time. Here are some pics to enjoy!! We will miss you Corey and love you soooo much!!!

More pics...

2009-01-15T00:22:00.000-08:00

Happy New Year !!! (pictures in post)

2008-12-30T20:55:00.000-08:00

we had a wonderful Christmas!! julia kept saying, "this is the best Christmas ever!!" it was definately the busiest Christmas ever!! somehow everything got done and the day was nice. we went to pat's brother's house this year. we had a nice turkey dinner (the schneemann's are not big ham eaters) and then the kids( all of the cousins) gave eachother their homemade gifts. that was sooo fun to watch each of them open their gift. the gifts were very creative and thoughtful! of course there were "takis", sour candy and mexican candy involved in the gift exchange. the kids love that stuff and it is sooo available here in san diego!! i don't know how they eat some of the candy (if you can call it candy!) for those of you who don't know what "takis" are, they are rolled corn chips with this hot red coating on them. mexican candy is a large variety of different things. many of them are mango with hot, salty, sugar stuff on it. some of it... i am not sure what it is. but they all love it!!!

corey, aubrey and julia are finally done with the "Traditions of Christmas" musical. in 18 days they had 22 performances. they really had a lot of fun and corey would have done 20 more performances if they had let them!! i hope you enjoy these pictures. corey has several costume changes in the pictures, but you should be able to tell who she is. aubrey is the "little mermaid" with the red wig. julia is a "baby doll" in the red dress and blond curly wig. of the 3 baby dolls, julia is on the right. they looked so cute! the show ended with a live nativity with goats, lambs, a white donkey and even a camel!!

i am really enjoying this week we have off. it is nice to not have so much to do. i took julia to see "Bedtime Stories" and it is a cute movie! patrick and daniel are leaving tonight to go to the desert, camping with mike (pat's brother) and their cousins. they are really excited to go. they get to do a lot of motorcycle and quad riding when they are there. hopefully they will return injury free! i always worry when they go!

i truly have had a lot to be grateful for this last year. as hard and crazy busy as things have been, we have been truly blessed in many ways. i am so thankful for family. the support that we are to eachother makes hard times not quite as difficult. we have, for the most part all been very healthy and i know what a blessing that is. we have a new baby on the way and as much of a surprise as that was to find out, it is a great blessing from our Heavenly Father. we are so excited and the kids can hardly wait for the baby to arrive! we are especially grateful for the Savior and His birth, life, and atonement. i hope and pray that this next year will bring all of you a healthy, happy and successful year. we are grateful for each of you and recognize the great strength you are to our family!!

Finally!

2008-12-15T17:05:00.001-08:00

I finally chnaged my background from Thanksgiving to Christmas. Gee it's only the 15th of December!! Life could not be more busy than it is right now. Corey, Aubrey and Julia have today off from performances for the "Traditions of Christmas." They then have performances for the next 8 days straight! Emily has a dance recital every day this week along with showchoir rehearsals and performances for her and Patrick. I am trying to enjoy the Christmas spirit...did I say I am trying!! I do LOVE to see all of my kids perform and the Christmas music is beautiful!! My mom was here for almost a week and she went home last night. :-(( It's always hard when she goes home and I can't believe that the next time I see her I will be holding brand new baby Michael!! Yes, we are definately going with the name Michael for the baby. I hope you are all having a safe, happy and healthy Christmas. We love you all!! PS...enjoy this song... it is one of my favorites!!

Our new house...

2008-11-25T10:36:00.000-08:00

well, i am finally posting some pictures of our new house. i have had some family and friends who don't live near by, bugging me to post them so they could see the house. so, here you go. we really love our new house and were starting to feel like it's home.

My cute NERDY daughter Emily...

2008-11-24T10:05:00.000-08:00

it was nerd day at the high school on friday and emily's nerd costume was great!! emily is so fun and always participates in the fun school activities. i wanted to share these pics of her because i thought they were so nerdy and cute!

one of the teachers at the school stopped emily in the hall and told her that her outfit was the best he had seen all day! so here is cute nerdy emily...

ps...emily is standing in front of our front door at our new house. i am going to finally post some pics of the house later today or tomorrow.

Ultrasound pictures of baby...

2008-11-12T12:23:00.000-08:00

i thought i would post these ultrasound pitures for you to see. They are both looking at the side view of the baby as he is looking up. The first one looks like he is sucking his thumb. the other you can see a view of his head and tummy! pat and the kids are soooo excited. they touch my tummy constantly to see if they can feel the baby kick. my neice colleen is always touching and rubbing my tummy when she sees me...she is so sweet!

we had a little scare a couple of weeks ago when i went in to see my new doctor and she found two large cysts (CPC's), one on each side of the baby's brain. i left dr. stanco's office in tears and called pat and told him that she had told me the baby might have trisomy 18. i also called my sister-in-law, andrea and bawled for 10 minutes and she started looking on the internet to see what she could find out. after talking to her and looking on the internet myself, i was much less worried. these cysts or CPC's as they call them, are actually quite common. dr stanco still wanted me to come the very next day and have a level 2 ultrasound and an amniocentisis.

so pat and i went to her office the next day and met with a genetic counselor and then had the ultrasound and amnio. the ultrasound looked great!! there were no other markers found that would lead them to believe that it was trisomy 18. the heart, liver, kidneys, and other organs looked perfect. i had the amnio anyway, which i was pretty nervous about. i had had an amnio once before and they numbed my tummy with a local anesthetic, but dr. stanco said, "here we go," and just stuck the 5 inch needle in my tummy. an amnio feels really odd, you can feel the needle pucture the amniotic sac. ewww!

we got the results back from the amnio and everything was negetive. no trisomy 18, no spina bifida or down syndrome. we were so relieved to know that he did not have trisomy 18!! my heart goes out to others who don't receive the good news that we did!

so, i am now almost 5 1/2 months (on sunday) and everything is looking great so far. i am feeling a lot better. no more nausea and very limited gagging these days.....hooray!!! i will keep you updated...maybe i'll even be brave enough to post a picture of me!!

we are thinking about naming the baby michael kenneth...(after pat's brother and my grandpa folkman, who's first name was kenneth.) what do you think??

Things I've Done...

2008-11-12T09:28:00.000-08:00

To participate just copy and paste in your own blog, and bold all of the things you have done. Happy discoveries!
1. Started your own blog
2. Slept under the stars
3. Played in a band
4. Visited Hawaii
5. Watched a meteor shower
6. Given more than you can afford to charity
7. Been to Disneyland
8. Climbed a mountain
9. Held a praying mantis
10. Sang a solo
11. Bungee jumped
12. Visited Paris
13. Watched a lightning storm at sea
14. Taught yourself an art from scratch
15. Adopted a child
16. Had food poisoning
17. Walked to the top of the Statue of Liberty
18. Grown your own vegetables
19. Seen the Mona Lisa in France
20. Slept on an overnight train
21. Had a pillow fight
22. Hitch hiked
23. Taken a sick day when you’re not ill
24. Built a snow fort
25. Held a lamb
26. Gone skinny dipping
27. Run a Marathon
28. Ridden in a gondola in Venice
29. Seen a total eclipse
30. Watched a sunrise or sunset
31. Hit a home run
32. Been on a cruise
33. Seen Niagara Falls in person
34. Visited the birthplace of your ancestors
35. Seen an Amish community
36. Taught yourself a new language
37. Had enough money to be truly satisfied
38. Seen the Leaning Tower of Pisa in person
39. Gone rock climbing
40. Seen Michelangelo’s David
41. Sung karaoke
42. Seen Old Faithful geyser erupt
43. Bought a stranger a meal at a restaurant
44. Visited Africa
45. Walked on a beach by moonlight
46. Been transported in an ambulance
47. Had your portrait painted
48. Gone deep sea fishing
49. Seen the Sistine Chapel in person
50. Been to the top of the Eiffel Tower in Paris
51. Gone scuba diving or snorkeling
52. Kissed in the rain
53. Played in the mud
54. Gone to a drive-in theater
55. Been in a movie
56. Visited the Great Wall of China
57. Started a business
58. Taken a martial arts class
59. Visited Russia
60. Served at a soup kitchen
61. Sold Girl Scout Cookies
62. Gone whale watching
63. Got flowers for no reason
64. Donated blood, platelets or plasma
65. Gone sky diving...NO WAY!! I am way too chicken!!
66. Visited a Nazi Concentration Camp
67. Bounced a check (not proud of this one!!)
68. Flown in a helicopter
69. Saved a favorite childhood toy
70. Visited the Lincoln Memorial
71. Eaten Caviar
72. Pieced a quilt
73. Stood in Times Square
74. Toured the Everglades
75. Been fired from a job
76. Seen the Changing of the Guards in London
77. Broken a bone (more thn 1!!)
78. Been on a speeding motorcycle
79. Seen the Grand Canyon in person
80. Published a book
81. Visited the Vatican
82. Bought a brand new car
83. Walked in Jerusalem (someday I will do this one!!)
84. Had your picture in the newspaper
85. Read the entire Bible
86. Visited the White House
87. Killed and prepared an animal for eating
88. Had chickenpox
89. Saved someone’s life
90. Sat on a jury
91. Met someone famous
92. Joined a book club
93. Lost a loved one
94. Had a baby
95. Seen the Alamo in person
96. Swam in the Great Salt Lake
97. Been involved in a law suit
98. Owned a cell phone
99. Been stung by a bee

A "leading role" for Corey...

2008-10-27T14:08:00.000-07:00

Corey auditioned for a leading role in the musical, "Traditions of Christmas." It is one of the biggest Christmas plays in San Diego. They perform the play at the East County Performing Arts Center, which is a huge venue! Anyway, she tried out a few weeks ago and had waited about two weeks to find out that she had been selected as one of the 6 female leads in the musical. There are 6 guys and 6 girls that make up the ensenmble and Corey is one of those girls. The girls and guys are paired up and do a ton of singing and dancing!! The ensemble has 12 costume changes!!! There are about 150 people in the musical all together, so it is a big production. What an honor for Corey!!! She is the youngest one in the ensenmble. There is a boy that is 19 and all of the other performers are 22 and older..... and Corey just turned 18 last Friday. I can't tell you how excited she was when she found out. I am so happy for her. She deserves it. She is a truly talented singer and performer. We can't wait to see her in December!! If anyone would like to go, give me a call and I can get you 2 for 1 tickets. They are regularly $35.00 a ticket.

Oh...and more fun...Aubrey and Julia went to the "Traditions of Christmas" auditions as well. They were only able to audition at the singing audtion and missed the dancing audtion. When Corey pulled up the cast list on the computer, Aubrey and Julia were cast as "Toys" in the musical!! How fun is that?! They both did well at the singing auditon. I couldn't believe how brave Julia was when she got up to sing in front of everyone! I thought they weren't going to make it becasue they missed the dancing audition. So, the 3 girls are in it, which is really a fun experience for them!!!

A funny story about Julia...

2008-10-26T10:57:00.000-07:00

I had to share this cute story about Julia with you. She says the funniest things sometimes and this was so sweet and sincere I wanted to tell you. A few nights ago Julia and I were saying her prayer. In her prayer she was saying "Bless my family to be happy and help us to have a good day at school tomorrow," and then she said this......."and bless you (you being Heavenly Father) and Jesus Christ to have a good time in Heaven!" It was so sincere. I need to start writing these things down more often because as time goes by I forget the cute things she says!

It's a BOY !!!

2008-10-17T09:28:00.000-07:00

i had an ultrasound last week and we are having a boy. MORE BASEBALL!!! we are sooo excited. my mom was here helping with the move so she got to go to the ultrasound with me. the ultrasound tech gave us a copy of the video and it is fun to watch! right after the ultrasound i sent a text message to corey, patrick, and emily and told them. my mom, pat , julia and i all went to the elementary school to tell daniel and aubrey. we went into the office and had them call daniel and aubrey out of class for just a minute to tell them. daniel came into the office first and i said, "guess what, it's a boy!!!" and we seriously thought daniel was going to pass out!! the office staff was asking him if he was ok...he had to sit down. it was so cute!!! daniel and aubrey were both really happy!!!

julia was really cute the other night. i was laying by her tucking her in for bed and she said, "i am glad the baby is a boy, mommy!" and i asked her why and she said, "because if it was a girl, all aubrey would want to do is play with the baby and not me!" i guess she is beginning to feel the crown slipping already!!!

we are all done with the move to our new house. we had a lot of help and it made such a difference! we had 6 missionaries, our bishop, and 2 good friends, danny quidang and patrick pettijohn to help us. we started at about 9:00 am and they were done by 3:00 pm. so it didn't take too long. i don't know what we would do without danny quidang. he is the hardest worker i know and he has been helping us for 3 months to get ready to move and then to get moved in...THANK YOU danny!!!

what would i have done without my mom during the 10 days she was here to help me. she helped me sooooooooo much. i couldn't have done the move without her. she is amazing and such a hard wotker!! mom, thank you so much for helping me. you made things so much easier for me and we got so much done. thank you thank you and i love you!!!

Moving...what a job!!!

2008-09-25T09:38:00.000-07:00

I have been so flaky lately about posting! Between feeling pretty awful and doing a HUGE garage sale and packing my house I have been a little busy! We are moving to our new house in 6 days! HOLY COW!!! We are excited and the kids are soooo thrilled to each get their own room! (Well, except Aubrey and Julia...the trouble with being the youngest of 7, I suppose!) Aubrey and Julia will be sharing a room as they do now. My mom is coming this Sunday to help with the final two days of packing (kitchen!) and then help me get things settled in the new house! I don't know what I would do without such a wonderful mother!! She loves to organize and there will be plenty of that in finding new places to put everything! Thanks, Mom!!!

We did a garage sale the last 2 weekends and it was pretty successful. We ended up selling about $1400.00 in all our junk that we have collected for 11 years! We still have a lot left so we are donating it the the high school and elementary school for the rummage sales that they are having. The same junk will look like new junk in a different location, right? Anyway the money has been put to much needed use!! It was hard work but worth it.

I will post pictures next week of the move and the house. If I survive it all!!!

First Day of School !!

2008-09-08T16:00:00.000-07:00

Wow...it's been a while since I last posted. I have been feeling pretty lousy with this pregnancy so, I guess that has shown in my lack of getting on my blog! I am feeling a little better during the daytime, for which I am soooo grateful! Night time is still very "gaggy". I do a lot of gagging these days, its pretty gross! But, I suppose that is better than throwing up.

These pictures are of the first day of school for the kids. Corey, Patrick and Emily are not in the pics. Corey started collage at Southwestern College a few weeks a go! It's hard to believe that she is in college. She is going to the same college where Pat and I met...WEIRD!! That could make me feel old!! Patrick was in Hawaii with the Varsity football team for the whole first week of school. They played against a Hawaiian team from a high school in Kona, Hawaii. Bonita (our school) beat the Kona team 38-3. The boys were very happy and Patrick had a fun time! Emily left for early morning seminary on the first day of school and it was dark outside when she left...we were going to take a picture when she got home, but you know how that goes. Anyway, Daniel started 6th grade, Aubrey started 4th grade, and Julia started Kindergarten.

I have really debated within myself wether or not to start Julia in Kindergarten! She is 4 and turns 5 on November 1st. She is sooooo attached to me and with the baby coming I thought it might be good for her to have something of her own. Socially she is ready and she seems so bright...I just hope I did the right thing. She is so young! I guess time will tell.

Things are crazy busy around here. We are moving to a different house on October 1st. On Patrick's 17th Birthday!! We have 3 more weeks to get everything packed so we are packing something every day! We are getting quite a bit done. It sure is nice to get everything so organized and sorted! We will still be in Bonita, just down the road from where we are now. It's a bigger house and we are excited about that!! I will post some pictures when we move!

YES, it's true.....Schneemann child #7 is on the way!!!

2008-08-15T15:13:00.001-07:00

Well, yes, it's true!! Child #7 is on the way! I am due March, 28, 2009. Here is the story: I woke up on a Tuesday morning about 3 weeks ago and realized that I still had not started my period I ALWAYS start on a Sunday night every 28 days (sorry if that is too much information for some of you!). So, given that it was a Tuesday I started to be a little concerned. I was thinking "There has got to be a reason for this!!" I was thinking maybe even pre-menopause (ok, I know 40 is a little early). But surely there was an explanation because it couldn't be that I was pregnant!

So, I called my sister telling her what I was thinking and told her I was on my way to Rite-Aid to buy a pregnancy test. I told her that if I was pregnant that Heavenly Father must have decided that since I was being stubborn he would have to intervene, because that would be the only way that I could be pregnant! So, I went home and took the test and of course that little blue line was there in all of about 10 seconds!! So, I told the kids I would be right back and I went out to the car and cried! I was shocked!! I called my sister and she said, "Hadley, what did you just say to me while you were walking in Rite-Aid?" So, I gathered myself together...(a HUGE thanks to my sister, what would I do without you Shelly!)...stopped crying and thought... ok, I can do this! I may be 41 when this baby is born, but I can do this.

We think that we are in charge of our lives sometimes, but then humility brings us back and we realize that our Heavenly Father has a plan for us and He is in charge. So, I have faith that He will help me. I'm trying to do all that I can do to help myself too!. Taking my vitamins, walking, and eating healthy. I do worry about my health toward the end of my pregnancy! I had pre-eclampsia with Aubrey and Julia and would really like to not have it again. So, I hope that doing all of these things will help.

Corey was in Hawaii on her senior trip at the time, so we called her and put her on speaker and told all of the kids! They all started screaming and yelling with excitement. Corey wanted to talk to Julia, so I gave Julia the phone and I heard Julia say, "Oh my gosh, I'm totally freaking out, I am so excited!!" We can always count on Julia to come up with a great one-liner!! My kids could not be more excited to have another brother or sister (the majority vote is for a boy) and Pat said he is as excited as he was when we found out we were expecting Corey! What a wonderful husband I have (Not that he wasn't in on the whole making of the baby!!) . Some husbands would be completely overwhelmed ...not Pat!!

I will keep you informed as we go and let you know how mom and baby are doing. I appreciate the support that many of you have given us already!! We are truly blessed in so many ways!

i love summer!!

2008-07-14T21:46:00.000-07:00

i love summer! it has been such a nice summer so far. i have REALLY enjoyed the down time from our regular crazy schedule!! i have tried to make it just simple and fun. we have spent quite a few days at the beach so far and plan to go a lot more before summer is over! patrick is LOVING surfing and is getting really good!! he has gone a lot! he tries to squeeze it in before or after football practice. by the way...he had such a great time at efy (see prior post for explanation). the experience was life changing for him!! he had so much fun that corey decided to go this last week to efy in santa barbara as well. we hadn't registered her ahead of time so we made a bunch of phone calls and finally got a hold of someone on sunday night. they ended up having room for her so we drove 4 hours to santa barbara on monday morning, dropped her off and then had a 4 hour drive home. she had a fabulous time as well...what a neat spiritual experience that they both had! i am sooo thankful they were able to go!!! corey ended up taking the train home on friday for only $38.00. it cost me $140.00 in gas when i drove her there on monday and drove home. gas prices...uuuuugh!!!

yesterday my cousin joelle, her son aidan and her boyfriend, dave came to our house to stay for a day and a half! i love it when she comes. we are so much alike and spend most of the time laughing!! as tradition calls for we have to make a yummy dessert and watch a scary movie...and we did both. we made pazookies (I don't know if i spelled that correctly but it's a yummy dessert they make at bj's restaurant) and we watched "the forgotten". it was fun and it was really nice to meet dave and to get to know him! today we went to the beach (west mission beach) and had a blast!! although the waves were lousy for patrick and nathan (patricks long time friend that went with us), they seemed to have more fun boogie boarding today! we were by the jetty and joelle, dave, julia, aubrey and i went over to look at the little tide pools and crabs on the rocks. we came home and had dinner and then went to see "journey to the center of the earth". what a fun movie, although we didn't get to see it in 3-d which would have made it even better! after the movie joelle, aidan and dave had to head back to visalia. darn it!! we both wished we could have had more time together because we enjoy being together so much. we are hoping to take a trip to visalia some time before the end of the year ( i promise joelle!! ) so, here are some pictures from today! enjoy!

south mission beach

2008-07-14T21:40:00.000-07:00

Happy 4th of July!!!

2008-07-05T20:02:00.001-07:00

happy 4th of july to everyone! we had such a fun day. we got up in the morning and got everything ready to go. on our way to the bay/park/beach we stopped and got in-n-out for lunch (in honor of you, steve!! lol). it was a quick and inexpensive way to have lunch. we brought water, soda, and snacks to have at the beach. we went to glorietta bay (in coronado) and found an area that was grassy and only about 20 feet from the beach. it was perfect!

mike and dena brought the boat over to where we were and anchored up. the kids could swim out to the boat...and they did! the kids jumped of the boat and it was a blast! mike and dena bought 2 really nice jet skiis just about a week ago and they brought them. we took rides on the jet skiis all over the bay. i was the official taxi driver as i was always wanting to give someone a ride around the bay...it was so much fun! mike (pat's brother) barbequed chicken on the boat. yummy!

at dark those who were on the beach went out to the boat and we all watched the fireworks together. they shot the fireworks off right in front of us over the bay. it was beautiful. listening to the moving patriotic music and being in such a beautiful place with fun family, really made me feel thankful to live in the united states. we are truly blessed for our freedoms and to live where we can worship our Father in Heaven as we want.

i have been watching some specials this week that they have had on pbs about our founding fathers. one in particular about benjamin franklin. these men were truly inspired. how beautifully they were able to articulate in the declaration of independence the freedoms that we needed and that our Father in Heaven wanted us to have. i am thankful to those men who were willing to put their lives on the line to give us separation and freedom. and to those soldiers who serve us all today, i am thankful for each of them and their willingness to put their lives on the line to maintain those freedoms. happy independence day!!!

julia's new hair cut!

2008-07-01T00:48:00.000-07:00

julia got a new hair style today! she has been wanting to get her hair cut for a long time, but i didn't want to cut her naturally wavy hair. it seems like when i cut my other girls hair when they were younger they lost their pretty curls! julia literally runs from me when i want to do her hair. so, i decided to make her life (and mine) easier and cut her hair. she loves it!!! it matches her sassy little personality too! what do you think?

daniel and patrick also got haircuts!

2008-06-30T18:39:00.000-07:00

daniel got his hair cut!! he looks great. he was ready for a cut. he feels like he lost half his hair (i think he did!). i hardly recognized him in his baseball cap at his all-star baseball game tonight. it will take a little while to get used to it. soooo much better for the warm summer though!

patrick also got a hair cut!!! (i don't have his picture). he left for efy (especially for youth) this morning for the week. if you don't know what efy is, it's a church camp for mormon youth ages 14-18. they have pretty strict guidelines for dress and appearance and patrick's hair was too long. patrick went wtih three other boys (dillon, blake and jeff). his roomate is dillon doria. he had to get up at 4:15 this morning. we met at dillon's house and then they went together to the train station. the 4 of them took the train to santa barbara and then took a ride in a taxi to the university of santa barbara where the youth conference is. patrick said the train ride was fun (there were cute girls on the train also going to efy!) all aong the way from san diego to santa barbara at the train stops, kids would get on the train that were headed to efy. there are about 400 kids attending this session. i'm sure they will have a great time and i hope patrick has some memorable spiritual experiences also!

my beautiful flower girls!

2008-06-30T18:28:00.000-07:00

on saturday pat's nephew, chris keeran got married. aubrey, julia and chris and rommyna's daughter alani (not pictured) were the flower girls. i curled their hair and it took a long time! aubrey thought i would never finish, but it was worth it because their hair was sooo pretty!

chris and rommyna got married at the immaculata, a catholic church. it is probably the most famous and beautiful catholic church in san diego. it is really something to see...the stained glass windows are pretty amazing!

the reception was a "sit-down" dinner. we had halibut with lobster sauce, mashed potatoes, and steamed vegis. yummy!! there was a dj and we were all dancing together...the adults, the cousins! it was really really fun!! rommyna was absolutely beautiful!

corey and emily graduate.....first- corey's graduation pictures

2008-06-15T19:08:00.000-07:00

what a fun and memorable week we had. my brother steven, his wife andrea, and their two kids ashley and andrew, got here on thursday, june 5th. corey's prom was on friday. my mom, my sister shelly, and her four kids, kailey tyler, megan, and emily mae arrived on sunday, june 8th. we had soooo much fun while they were here. we went to belmont park, fuddruckers (thanks frank!!), the beach, in n out, swimming at steve and andrea's hotel, and of course the necessary trip to lolitas! i loved every minute of it..being together like that is just the best!!!

on top of all of that and most exciting were the graduations of corey and emily. emily's middle school graduation was first on wednesday. she wore a pretty pink dress and she was so happy and excited!! it was really fun to have so much family there and cheering for her. after her graduation and to celebrate both graduates, we all went to shogun kobe; it is just like benihanas (maybe better!) and we had a fun and yummy dinner. we took up two tables of 10...of course our '5th daughter' olivia johnston had to come along!! (love you olivia!)

corey's high school graduation was on thursday. she was excited but nervous!! all of the seniors in sound unlimited and music machine sang the national anthem and they sounded beautiful. it made me cry! we took a ton of pictures of corey with her family and friends. that was fun!! to see all of them so happy and with the excitement of their futures ahead of them...you could really feel it! corey has two friends in paticular, devon and caitlin, that graduated with AMAZING honors. they inspire corey...thanks devon!!!!

it was a special week that i hope, especially corey, will treasure! thanks to my family for taking the time, energy, and money to come and celebrate with us! it truly would not have been the same without you here!!! we love you!!

emily's graduation

2008-06-15T19:00:00.000-07:00

___Schneemann___

Meet my daughter-in-law...Ana Daniella Figueroa Schneemann

Spiderman, Spiderman, if you can't do it, NO one can!!

Patrick's 20th Birthday

Bonitafest 2011

She's back....

What would I do without my wonderful mother???

Vote for Aubrey Anne, Cuz I'll Take a Stand!!

CVN wins the Pony World Series

Q-berty...

Family Pictures

Patrick's Graduation...

strike a pose...

teenagers and their cameras!!!

Patrick's Senior Prom...

Cousins!!

Michael's 1st Birthday

2nd Coming???

April Fools!!

Seriously??!!?

Curl-ia Julia!!

A little bit of "Glee" !!!

Aubrey's 11th Birthday...

My daughter and my neice...

Winter in San Diego...

A light turned on...

Traditions of Christmas...

Frank's Birthday and cute Michael...

Sream with Machine...

Meet Kate...

Julia's 6th Birthday

We are the Champions my friend...

EeeeeHeeehehehehe!!!

Emily's Birthday Dinner

Frustrated...

I am sooooo BUGGED!!

Beef Stroganoff...yummy!!

Making our house a home....

Making our house a home continued...

Making our house a home continued...

Always and Forever...

Sweet Aubrey Anne...

my cute Irish boy...

a cute boy for corey...

Joelle's wedding

First day of school...

Jazz hands...

School awards...

A fun all-star year!!!

who's on first...

Julia can't wait for the tooth fairy!!

boo hooo!!

baseball, baseball, baseball...

Summer in San Diego at Belmont Park...

A little case of the worries...(shocker!)

Missing my kids...

Emily's trip to Joshua Tree with the Pettijohn's

Prom...

Off to the Kern River...

Aubrey and Julia...

6th Grade Promotion and a farewell to Little League...

Corey singing on the local TV channel KUSI...

New pictures of Michael...

"What's that thing called after a wedding???"

Memories of Grandma Folkman's jam...

Michael...He is a Blessing!!

"You are my sunshine!"

My "big boy" Michael...

A Michael Update

Michael is home!!!

Welcome MICHAEL KENNETH SCHNEEMANN

Another baby update...

A baby update...

Pregnancy!!

"Have we taught her enough???"

Corey is off to school...

More pics...

Happy New Year !!! (pictures in post)

Finally!

Our new house...

_Schneemann_