I may be Stressed, but I have Music!

Well now, I'm getting very high tech here with my blog. Thanks to my wonderful niece Lindsay, you can now listen to some of my favorite songs while you read my blog.


I am trying to get ready for my crazy weekend. It is Jakes B-Day on Sat, he will be 4. So we are celebrating it on Friday because Sat, my daughters have play practice from 8:30-11:00am, I have 2 Baptisms one at 1:00 and the other at 3:00. In between I am supposed to be helping set up for our Ward Christmas party. At 4:00 I have rehearsal for the Music that will be sung that night and the Party is at 6:00pm, and oh yeah I think I signed up to bring food HELP!!!! The next day Sun we have my Families "Family Dinner" which I have to bring dessert for 20 people. I can't believe I'm saying this, but I can't wait until Monday!!

If you haven't heard from me by Tues send help.

Tag I'm It!!!!

My Niece Bobbi tagged me so here goes, 7 things you may not know about me...

1. I have NEVER been to a concert! I have been to ones in the park through the city but I have never been to a full flegged buy a ticket wait in line concert. My parents never let me go with my friends when they went to Oingo Boingo, Erasure and Depeche Mode, they brought me back cool t-shirts though. Now that I am 30 something I still have never been. How pathetic am I.

2. I am a "In the Closet" Barbie player. I love to sit and brush my kids Barbies hair and style it and dress them up. I collect the Princess Barbies. Unfortunately my girls are more into Bratz lately. Good thing their hair is just the same.

3. I have actually parasailed. I did it when I was in High School and we were at a family reunion at Lake Havasu. I went 350 ft. in the air and it was the neatest thing.

4. When It was my 16th b-day my friend Sean took me to the Ramona Glider port and we both went up in a glider. He didn't tell me about what we were doing until we got there and I forged my moms signature so I could go. When we got home we told her what we did and I thought she was going to kill Sean. Because of the last 2 things I have always wanted to go Skydiving.

5. I went to Disneyland on the due date of my daughter Makenzy and went on every ride I could think of that would put me into labor. I had a back pack that I put in front to cover up my belly, I was really small. I tried to go into labor because I had heard that if you delivered in the park you got lifetime passes. I did not go into labor and had to be induced 10 days later, and had her naturally, no drugs!!!

6. I finally had my FIRST ever pedicure this past June. I have this thing about people touching my feet, I am extremely ticklish and can't stand it. It wasn't as bad as I thought it would be and my heels have never been so soft.

7. I do not accept help very well. I love to help others and do service but when it comes down to helping me I have a really hard time asking and accepting.

Well there you are 7 things I hope you didn't already know about me. Kim, Kathy and Tiffany Tag your it!!!

I Love Winter!!!!!

Well winter is finally here in Southern California. I had to pull out the sweaters, coats and boots over the holiday week. It was soooo nice to curl up by the fire and read the day after Thanksgiving. Everyone ate leftovers and we just spent time as a family.


I love winter but I don't like the sniffles, sneezes and coughs that come with it for my kids. I have 2 boys that are just miserable! Believe it or not this is the first time they have smiled in 4 days!!! Thank goodness for children's Motrin Cough and cold formula, or we would all be miserable!


(OK help me, how do I post this picture right side up???)

We decided to go to Disneyland the Tuesday before Thanksgiving. We have not been back since Dave's last day of work in March. He worked there for 10 years, it was our second home. Our kids grew up with going to Disneyland almost every month of their lives. It has been a tradition of ours to go at least 2 times during the holiday season. We went and I really have missed going. I think secretly we all hope that he will go back there to work someday, we miss the perks. Jake finally was tall enough to go on Soaring over California. He LOVED IT!!!

My kids went back to school yesterday and are already counting down the days until Christmas break!!! The "Mad Rush" is on whether I'm ready or not!!!

Pictures...NOT!!!

Well I did attempt to take pictures but you could tell school was out because the park was packed! I could not get any pictures of my kids that didn't include and arm or a head of some other kid in them. So I put the camera away and just let them play.

On another note, I will be cooking a turkey this year for part of my husbands side of the family. I thought I got off this year but such is life. I'm a little stressed now but at least it's not for the whole group. I actually like the dinner part because I like to set a nice table and not do it buffet style. It's just the cooking and planning that stress me out. Tomorrow we might go to Disneyland so I will only have Wed to prepare.

Have a great Thanksgiving and don't eat too much!!! (yeah right)

Picture Day!!!

Well today I have decided it is picture day for my family. We are going to the park and Gosh Darn It, I WILL get some good pictures for the Christmas card even if we have to stay all day! I don't have the fancy camera but what I have should do the trick. I have this thing that every 5 years We have a family pix in the card and in between are pictures of the kids. Does that make sense? I figure Dave and I don't change much except for the occasional gray hair here and there. The kids change all the time. Their big change this year was that the girls each had at least 10 inches of hair cut off at the beginning of summer and donated it to "Locks of Love". They all looked great with their new short hair, and the cut was free. I've decided to add our dog Charlie in the pix this year. Good thing I don't have anything planned today, this could take a while!

Well I'm off, wish me luck!!!

Frazzled Melissa Gone...Happy Melissa back.

Well I took a day off to re-group, and now I'm back! I was feeling a little overwhelmed with life and 5 kids. So I had a good nights sleep (a full 8 hrs. thanks to Tylenol PM) and I can honestly say I love my kids again.

Today was the last day of school until after Thanksgiving and I am excited to be lazy for the next week. We are going to my parents for turkey day so I don't have to stress about people coming over. All I have to worry about is what to bring. With the way the weather has been we might just go to the beach next week. It has been in the mid 90's here. I loved about 2 weeks ago when it turned cold and we had a fire going, and now we are pulling out the shorts and flip flops again. What can I say, that's California for ya.

My hubby has just informed me that "I deserve a date tonight" so we are going to see a late movie. Have a great weekend!!!!

P.S. I'm back, we saw Bourne Ultimatum. I liked it but the filming was very confusing. The camera was constantly moving and switching angles, it almost gave me a headache. The story line was great though, and Jason Bourne aka Matt Damon is always nice to look at. I liked it, Dave kept on saying, "This is Gay!!!"(because of the camera). It is at the cheap theater so I really can't complain.

Calgon take me away!! Far Far away!

Well this blog is going to be short. I have a screaming baby and bath water that is getting cold. It was all I could do to not end up in the fetal position on the bathroom floor today. I can honestly say "I'm done!"
So I am off to rock my screaming son and try to get him to go to sleep, finish homework with my daughter, and then hope my bath water is still warm. Such is the life of a worn out mom.

Let's Get Ready to Rumble!

I have a 10 year old Makenzy, and a 7 year old Madeline, who most of the time get along great. Yesterday, that was a different story. We did not have school and I had to entertain 5 kids and a couple of friends. Let's just say the other kids were fine but Maddi and Kenzy could not get along AT ALL! It got to the point that Dave dragged both of them in from outside and literally dumped them in their room and told them he did not want to see them for the rest of the day. Apparently they were fighting (literally, punching eachother) over the banana chair in the front yard.

Now I grew up with sisters, but I don't remember fighting like that. Granted there was a age gap, but even with my sisters who are closer in age, they never fought like mine do. I keep hoping that one day they will realize the importance of a sister and the bond will start to form, but I've been going through this for about a year now, I'm tired!

Thank Goodness it's Saturday!!!

Well today was the day to recover from yesterday. After the heartbreaking news about Devon we decided to just be together as a family last night. The girls decided to have a slumber party down stairs, and they stayed up way too late.
We slept in as late as possible (which has been really hard since the time change) and we worked together around the house. That evening we went to a Primary Teacher Appreciation dinner that Me and My counselors put on for our teachers. We made some yummy chicken, green bean casserole and spinach salad. For dessert we had Gingerbread Trifle, which was to die for.

So now I'm home the house is quiet and I can relax and put my feet up.

Good night.

A very sad day...

As I was finishing up my last post, my cell rang and it was the school district calling to inform me that one of my daughters classmates had passed away. My daughter was close friends with this boy and she was having a hard time. This boy when he was 3 had a virus attack his body and left him a paraplegic. Because of the virus he was confined to a wheelchair that he controlled with his mouth. He was at school on Wed and then went home with the flu. Due to complications from the flu he passed away, he was 10 years old. My daughter is still sad, but she knows that he is in a better place and no longer needs his chair. On the ride home we talked about the "Good" memories she had of him. She said he always told the funniest jokes, and was always happy. She will miss when he would run over her toes with his chair. I told her that her toes will be grateful, she responded that her toes will miss him. I told her it was OK to be sad and that soon her sadness will be replaced with happy thoughts of him.

So here we were today, looking forward to the Fall Festival (which has been canceled) and now we are just sitting on the couch comforting each other. Oh how I wish as mom's we could take away the pain and sadness that our children face, and protect them from the ugliness of the world.

Devin, you are now free, and able to do all the things that children do. We will miss your sweet spirit, but we will be together again someday, be at peace.

Finally, The Fall Harvest!!!

Today my post will be short because we are finally having our schools Fall Harvest. It was postponed because of the fires. I kind of wished it was canceled all together. I am Membership Chair for my daughters schools PTA. (Oh my gosh have I become one of those moms???) Please Smack me upside the head if I do. Because I am on the PTA and my good friend is in charge of the festival I get to help. It will be fun and my kids will love it but I can't wait to be done with it.

On another note, November has arrived and the weather is finally cooling down, I am excited to have fires in the fireplace and hot chocolate. Thanksgiving is almost here and Christmas is just around the corner. Once this weekend is over I can relax and enjoy November and then start stressing all over when December starts :(

Enjoy the weather, and be thankful for what you have, and be mindful of those who have not.

My New Home!!

While my Van is in the shop I have been without a car and I have to say that it has been nice just staying home all week and being a homebody. My kids got rides to school and I enjoyed the quiet life at home. Well today my van is back and I am joining the rat race of being a taxi again. I literally was not home at all today!!! We decided this past summer that we were going to try and "Simplify" our hectic life. We chose not to do soccer and chose to participate in some of the programs the schools had to offer. (my kids go to a new visual and performing arts elementary school in the area) Well little did I know that I would be even more busy with those. How I long for the days of sitting at a park watching soccer and reading a book. Between 2 plays that all the girls are in(one for school and one for church) and choir and now guitar lessons that the school is giving for free to students (how can I pass that up) I live in my car!!! I didn't realize until I had the week off how much I was driving. So much for my "Simplify" idea. The kids do love what they are doing and are keeping up with their school work, so I really can't complain. Thank goodness for DVD players in the car or my boys would be miserable! Have a great evening and remember (my new motto) "Try to Simplify"

The "Real" Melissa H.

Well thanks to my dear friend Heidi, (because without her actually setting up this blog and writing my first post) you would not be here reading about me! I owe you another Pink Berry Heidi.

My name is Melissa Heisel and I am a mother of 5! count them 5 children. I am still in denial about this even though my youngest is 18mos old! My oldest is Samantha 13, Makenzy 10, Madeline 7, Jacob 3 and Benjamin 18 mos. My husband's name is David and we have been married for 15 years!
I am really excited to do this, but my daughter says I'd better not become a computer hog talking to everyone. I'm going to have to go to the bookstore and buy "Blogging for Idiots" so that I know what I am doing.

Thanks again Heidi, wish me luck!

My first Post!

I now have the world at my fingertips...A Blog!

I have arrived into the blogging world. I didn't think I would actually make it, but here I am. This will be a fun way to let friends and family know what we are up to.

Here's to some great fun!