With Six You Get Eggroll

Back In The Pasture.

2012-02-17T07:30:00.000-08:00

The goats earned being put back in the pasture for good today. Hi goats.
The reason is that they kept breaking through the gate Isaac had set up at the bottom of the deck. The deck has a bag of hay sitting on it. Too much of a temptation. After Isaac got the goats out back, he got the shop vac out. I wondered if he was planning to vacuum up the poop and hay. So I watched at the window.
He blew the poop and hay away. Just tidying up a bit.
So the deck and patio are somewhat clean now. There is lots of poop, I mean fertilizer, in the grass, too. But the grass will be ready for kids to go out and play in a matter of a couple months. And all the goats will remain in the pasture. Where they belong.

The Fifth Job.

2012-02-16T08:04:00.000-08:00

I figure I needed to get caught up on the Job posts. I don't know what happened there. Oh well. So let's get on to the next job.

I had just served a full time mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. And it was a Spanish speaking mission. So hey, I could use that on a resume. My sister Katie was to leave for her mission about 2 weeks after I got home. So we did some quick catching up and spent time together and she told me about the job she had just left. It was collecting for Discover Card. She put in a good word for me and told me who to talk to so I could get a job. I applied and they told me it would be a couple of months before they hired again. They would keep my application and call me. So I had to figure something out for the mean time. I was 23 years old, dirt poor and didn't have much of a wardrobe. So I went to Kindercare and got a quick job to fill the time and get some money.

At the end of June I got a call from Discover Card saying they wanted an interview. Yes! So I went in and was hired. My start date would be July 5. So I quit my other job and worked on a professional wardrobe and began training.

Our trainer's name was Kitty. Yep, like a cat. There were 3 or 4 men in the class and then me and another woman named Shelia. Shelia and I hit it off quickly and were friends for a very long time. In fact, she is the one who got me talking to Wife Beater guy's ex girlfriend about his violent history. The only person still there today is Shelia. She's a die hard.

In the training we were taught about the debt problems and what options we could give people to help and how to make money ourselves by helping them pay their delinquent bills. We read a lot, listened to actual collection calls being made, practiced a lot and, after a few weeks, we were ready to go out on the floor.

We were each assigned to teams we would be working on. We were all pretty well split up and that made us all especially nervous. One of the things our trainer did was to tell each of us what our strengths were and how those strengths would help us collect. For me she said this, “Jennie is going to kill with kindness.” Now one thing you must remember is that I am much crankier now than almost 20 years ago. So killing with kindness wasn't a stretch. There were some who didn't think I'd actually make it out on the floor because of my kindness. But I did okay.

I eventually worked my way up a little to other levels of delinquency. I did pretty well and earned great incentive each month. I also took Spanish calls after learning how to speak Collections in Spanish. I had an opportunity to be on a team of people who were trained to work with card members who were in the military. I learned quickly that asking for a delinquent military man's commanding officer was a great way to get a payment.

One of the things I heard every single day was “you can't get blood from a turnip” or “you can't get blood from a stone”. After getting this for a while I began asking the person if he was a turnip or a stone. Sometimes I got hung up on. Sometimes I got a huffy, sputtering response that ended in a hang up. So I gave up on that and began to just say “we aren't asking for blood ma'am” or even letting them know that they could get money by donating blood. Or plasma. Offering a side job of delivering pizza or getting a paper route were sometimes taken with gratitude. But more often than not, if you are in debt with one credit card, you are in debt with other creditors.

Many of the delinquent card holders were older people who got the applications in the mail and filled them out and sent them in. Then they bought groceries or medicine or dog food with the card. And because they are on a fixed income, the balance doesn't get paid. Others of the many delinquent card holders were in that very same predicament, but they were college students with no job. And the rest were people like you and me, with children and stuff and who lost a job or had a pay cut or who just got in over their heads.

Let's talk about cars. When I got home I drove my dad's hobby, the rotary engine Mazda RX7. It was a piece. Of HUD. I began work at 1:30 in the afternoon, so getting to work wasn't a problem. The problem was that I got off work at 10 pm. That meant a cold engine. With a cold engine I found this car had a noise problem. It would backfire. LOUDLY. So many nights I would leave the DC parking lot and backfire very loudly as I did so. Heads would turn. Every once in a while someone would duck. The next car I drove was a cute blue 4 door Geo Prism. With no guts. It took about 3 days to get to 60 mph. And that's with the A/C off. But it was quiet. Aahh. Peaceful. I paid my dad for use of the car but knew I'd need my very own transportation. So I saved for my very own car. After the wardrobe was furnished, of course.

My job supplied me with an income worthy of purchasing a car. After a couple years' work I had enough for a down payment, insurance and months of payments. I went with my sister Katie to look around. I wanted something quiet and fast. I fell in love with a lovely fast quiet green 4 door Pontiac Grand Am. I got in to test drive, put the A/C on high and went for an uphill road. It took that uphill like it was down hill. And with the A/C on! I bought it.

In that very fast Grand Am I got many a speeding ticket. But I loved that car. In fact, it's the one I drove until we bought the mini van after Sam was born. Now my love is a blue fast quiet and durable Dodge Durango. Fast. Quiet. What more could a girl want.

Okay. Back to the job. I was with Discover Card in Collections for just short of 5 years when I knew my whole life needed a shake up. I was 27, single, well dressed and bored. I had broken off recent datings with a polygamist and a wife beater. I knew I needed a change. My dad came to talk to me one night and said that there was an Allstate agent in Provo who was looking for an office manager who could speak Spanish and be in it for the long haul. He told him about me and said he'd pass the info along. I got the agent's card and planned to call. At about the same time, I knew I would be single for the rest of my life and was set apart to be a Temple Ordinance worker. I also was looking into moving to the Provo area and going back to school for a teaching degree. I gave my 2 weeks notice after being hired by Dave the Allstate agent.

Discover Card helped shape my post mission life. I learned how to work with people even though we would never be face to face. I also learned to work with people right in front of me. I overcame certain shyness and, though I killed with kindness, I grew a stronger backbone and desire to never be in any position to owe someone money while they profited from it. I gained compassion for those who suffer from bad financial choices but also gained a certainty that debt is a choice. I'm grateful for the friendships I gained while I worked there. Shelia. Natalee. Catherine. Christopher. Dave. Jana. And many more. Their life experiences and personalities and choices helped me determine how to live my life in a way that I wouldn't regret anything. But most of all, those almost 5 years make me glad I have the best job ever right now. Mom.

I Really Hate When The Alarm Goes Off.

2012-02-15T11:50:00.000-08:00

Do you get that yuck feeling in your gut when you hear the alarm? Is it just me? Even when it's on the TV or in someone else's house or just not time to have the alarm go off, I get the yuck feeling. Time to get up. Once I'm up I'm fine. It's just the jarring sound of the alarm. Or something.

Do your kids sing that I'm sexy I work out song? My daughter was singing it this week. She said the girls at school are singing it. I told her to stop. I don't like it. Then I had the TV on this morning and an M&Ms commercial had that song on it. M&Ms are harmless in my book, but now they've got that annoying song with it.

I recently lost a little bit of weight. Not enough for oohs and aahs, but I am loving the fact that I haven't worked out in over a week (until today) and didn't put any back on!! Plus I had pizza a couple of nights. And Olive Garden for my birthday. Woohoo.

I think the best exercise is Just Dance. It makes me sweat and I feel it in my muscles. Plus I can sing along. Great for breath control. You know, in case I ever spend mucho time under water or need to sing while running in place.

Speaking of sweat, you know, up in the previous paragraph, I know I've mentioned before that I sweat a lot. Like to the point of embarrassment. My Gyn told me to start taking Black Cohosh and see if that stabilizes my inner body temp control. I guess there isn't any control. So far I think it's helping. I don't sweat like I used to. July will help me know for sure, though.

In July we're going to Yellowstone. We are all excited! We hope we aren't so late in the year that we won't see animals. But if we don't have a run in with a wild moose or hungry bear I'll be more than happy.

My kids are hoping to get into the 4-H goat club in a couple of weeks. I am waiting for an informative phone call to see what the schedule is. I hope it will work into ours. If we get in, my kids will get to enter a goat or 2 in the fair this summer. Oh Joy!!

I went to Astro Camp on Monday with Isaac and some other 6th graders. I had to be a System Specialist. It was stressful but very cool. His class is in 7th place among all the school classes who go to the Astro Camp field trip. But still, it was stressful.

But so not as stressful and jarring as that darn alarm going off in the morning. Does it bother you? Or is it just me?

Mr. Roboto Is In The House.

2012-02-11T15:19:00.000-08:00

It came! It came! This has been an exciting week at our house. Isaac finally had all the necessary funds raised to pay his part for a Mind Storms Lego Robot set. It has taken a few months, but last Friday he did it. So the set was ordered on line and got in on Wednesday. He has been in robot hog heaven since. Here is just one small tidbit of what he's been doing. Honestly, the robot moves too fast for me to get a good picture.
We also have a couple of cousins staying with us this weekend. See Ruthie there? That's the perfect picture of the amount of energy in the house. Today we all went to the 4-H Fair and got to see lots of fun clubs that 4-H provides. We got information on the Goat club and hope to get all 3 kiddos registered for the beginning of the club meetings in just a few weeks.
With all this excitement I need a nap. And pizza for dinner.

Hey Grandpa... We are waiting for Isaac to get really awesome at all the fun and different things his robot can do. Then we'll come over so he can show it all off for you and Grandma!

Early Halloween.

2012-02-10T09:08:00.000-08:00

I know that the whole picture here is frightening. But what I wanted to show is the scary in my eye. A couple of days ago I had a migraine and threw up. My eye apparently couldn't handle it and popped a blood vessel. It's seeped from the top of my eyeball down to the bottom.
My children say I freak them out. I've had people ask me what happened with looks of dismay and fear on their faces. I try to thicken my eye liner, only to look more scary. It's an early Halloween. In my eye.

Under The Influence And A Thought For Thursday.

2012-02-09T13:19:00.000-08:00

Years ago I was serving as the Enrichment counselor in the Relief Society presidency in our ward. I worked with wonderful women in that presidency. One Sunday the president was conducting and was going through announcements and then said that I would give the Enrichment announcement. Only she forgot my name. It was funny and so I got up and said something to the effect of "we've only been working together for a year and she can't remember my name" ha ha ha. And then I announced.

When I got home from church the message light on the phone was blinking. So I clicked it on only to get a hang up. So I checked the caller ID and called the woman back. I was barely into my "what's up?" when she laid into me. She said I was so mean and that I didn't even see the president crying when I made the forgot my name comment. She accused me of being a Nazi bi---, oh yes, a Nazi bi---. She told me I had better apologize to the president in front of the entire Relief Society to redeem myself. I couldn't even respond before she hung up on me.

I got off and went to Daniel. I wondered why she was so angry with me. Later that day Daniel was on the computer and found an email from this woman. It went into detail about how completely awful I was and that I should be released from my calling.

Daniel left town the next morning. Thanks very much. So I called the RS president and asked her to come to my house please. She could tell I was upset and came right over. I apologized profusely to her for my comment and asked for her forgiveness. She was confused. She said she was laughing, not crying. Only she had a few cold sores on her mouth and when she laughed they broke open and so she had to cover her mouth and maybe that's what this woman saw and mistook it for crying. We talked for quite a while about what had happened once I got home the day before and when she left a while later I knew I hadn't offended her and that I really was a good person.

So as time went on, this woman went to the Bishop and told him that I needed to be released because I was so hard to work with. The Bishop had already spoken with the RS president and told this woman that there was no offense taken that day. That the relationship between the 2 of us was fine and that I was not going to be released.

So the anger in this woman bubbled for quite some time. She was released from her calling shortly thereafter so that I didn't have to work with her and the anger she had for me. I really struggled with this experience for a long time. I took the Nazi comment to heart and it effected the way I worked with the other women on my board. But then one day, about 2 weeks after the initial incident, the other counselor in our presidency came by my house. She knew I was still reeling and wanted to give some comfort. So we talked for a while and then she offered some advice that helped then and continues to influence my life now. So here's the influential comment and the thought for Thursday...

You can choose to be a duck or a porcupine. A duck lets all the water roll right off its back while the porcupine lets the water sit in between its quills and fester. It's better to be a duck.

I chose to be a duck at that point. I enjoyed the rest of the time I served in that calling. The word Nazi doesn't even come into play when I go through what or who I am. I am so grateful for that advice and the influence it has had in my life.

REMEMBER TO BE A DUCK

Older And Wiser?

2012-02-06T09:56:00.000-08:00

So yesterday was my 41st birthday. On Friday I received these beautiful flowers from Daniel. Starbursts and Iris s. Irises. Iris flowers. Saturday morning Daniel and I went to the temple then came home, had lunch and took the kids to see a movie. The Muppets. It was fun! And then Daniel and I went to dinner. Sunday, the real day, was just the usual. Church. Then we had a family get together with Daniel's family. It was a wonderful weekend.
I'm one year older. And wiser too? I guess that remains to be seen. Happy birthday to me.

So Put Your LIttle Hand In Mine...

2012-02-02T07:34:00.000-08:00

Happy Ground Hog Day!

...There Ain't No Hill Or Mountain We Can't Climb...

Babe.

Domo Arigato Mr. Roboto.

2012-01-29T19:40:00.000-08:00

Isaac is the family Mr. Roboto. He is in a 4-H robotics club. He looooves it. The only drawback is that they meet only once a month for 2 hours. But January began the challenge nights. So now he gets a second night for 2 hours. But it's all about the challenge. Last Friday Isaac participated in his first challenge night. He teamed up with Nathan. Here they are building and programming.
There are 4 challenges. So they basically need to build a robot that can accomplish each challenge and then program for each one and make simple changes in the robot itself. Here Isaac measuring the distance from the start spot to the bulls eye. With that measurement they can figure how many rotations the wheels will do and program that in.
Isaac and Nathan got the full point score for 3 out of 4 of the challenges. That fourth challenge, the placement challenge, was very vexing.
But they only lost 5 points on the placement challenge because they did get their robot to the other side of the board and then back. It just didn't get placed on the target. Dang it! Here they are lining it up.
After the challenges were over each of the boys got a certificate of participation. The 3 blue stickers are for the Movement, Sensor and Wildcard challenges. Each of which they got all possible points. The red is for the Placement challenge. Congratulations and well done boys!!
And here is most of their club who participated that night.
3 more challenge nights to go. Isaac is really into robotics and is extremely close to his goal to raise half the money for his own Mind Storms robotics set. Then I don't know if we'll ever see him again. The robot may take over for him.

Thursday Came And Went.

2012-01-27T12:58:00.000-08:00

By the time Thursday was done, I'd taken 2 kids to the dentist for cleanings. No cavities. Got them to school, cleaned up the house. Then I went to the dentist for my cleaning only to have the dentist, who tried to smooth out a filling that keeps catching on floss, chip the filling and take a whole chunk out. This was a filling that I had to have redone 6 months ago because it had fallen out. Soooo, I told him he owed me a lollipop, to which he only gave a small chuckle and said, "It will only take 40 minutes. I'm sorry!" Then raced back to the school in the pouring rain to pick up those 2 clean teethed kids because it was raining too much for them to ride scooters home. Got them home and dry. Got Ruthie to Activity Days and then dinner made lightening fast and then I went to Pack Meeting and then came home and crashed. Hard.

But during much of that day this boy....
Was up at Snow Basin with his dad for a ski field trip. Yay!! It rained and was cold and wet and miserable. But Sam had a blast...
And when Daniel emailed me all the ski pics from his phone to my laptop, he found all the pics he'd taken at Disneyland when he took the boys on the steam boat thing around Tom Sawyer's island. They had asked if they could see the room where they steer. So the captain invited them to actually steer the ship and blow the whistle for the whole trip.
And a fun picture of all the kids trying their skill at pulling the sword from the stone.
Fun fun. It's been a terribly busy week with lots more each day. I need a vacation. Disneyland sounds like fun...

Just Another Tuesday.

2012-01-24T19:42:00.000-08:00

Nothing more than just another Tuesday around here.
Ruthie wants a sister really bad.
Sam could eat pizza bagels all day.
Isaac wants to be an engineer and build robots.
Daniel is half way done with his home teaching.
I really want a bowl of M&Ms.

2012-01-23T15:56:00.000-08:00

GONG XI FA CAI!

Happy Chinese New Year

and

Welcome to the Year Of The

DRAGON!

Chinese New Year.

2012-01-21T13:02:00.000-08:00

Monday the 23rd is the first new moon of the year. That means it's... Chinese New Year on Monday!

I have already gone to my boys' classes to do my CNY presentations where I give them each a red envelope with a chocolate coin in it, a pair of chopsticks and a fortune cookie. It's one of my favorite things to do for CNY.
Monday I go to Ruthie's class. Tonight we will meet our good friends Kim and Jon and their daughters for dinner at a Chinese Buffet.
This is the year of the Dragon.

Under The Influence.

2012-01-19T11:07:00.000-08:00

Over the years, there have been many people who have come in and out of my life who have influenced me. I was brought back to an influence in my life that I had forgotten. So let's go back to 1987. I was a junior in high school. It would be my last year at this school in California before we moved to Utah that summer. I had signed up for a public speaking class. I think mostly because I was so shy that the thinking was this class could help me to break out of that shell. What happened was, I really really enjoyed that class. And here is the heavily eye lined me way back then. And I especially love the upturned collar.
The teacher in the class would give us an assignment of a topic or two that we would prepare a speech for. We did a couple of debates, too. She taught us to speak clearly and without saying "like" and "um" while doing so. Which is difficult if you spoke Valley Girl. Which I kinda did. And you may notice that I still say "like" a lot. Sheesh. It's ingrained in my speaking! There was a boy in the class who always sat behind me. When we had to do an "interview" of someone in the class and then introduce that person, we chose each other. We got all of our info down and then, like, chatted. I told him I would be moving to Utah that summer and that my dad was going to get a car for me when we got there. He was totally into the car thing and so we talked about my choice of car. Honda Prelude. A red one. He said I would look good in it. Well of course. I mean, look at the heavy liner and feathered hair!! He would have been sorely disappointed at the Dodge Omni I got.

One of the the rules in the class was that while someone was speaking, everyone had to listen. And be respectful and to really be fair to people. We were all there to support one another. I never felt like I was out of place there or that I should be overly embarrassed about speaking. We were all pretty well acquainted by now and learning about each other was fun and interesting. This was a fun class full of friends and support.

Then a choice of topics came up to speak on. Share an embarrassing moment or read a children's story. So the teacher gave an example speech about an embarrassing moment. She was a well blossomed woman and shared an experience involving those blossoms. She was taking an aerobics class and wore a regular bra. Which had, like, 5 clasps on the back. During the class she was jumping and running and stuff and then it happened. The clasps broke. We laughed hysterically, because she was too. She talked about going the rest of that class without her bra in working order. I chose to read Where The Wild Things Are for my speech. It's my favorite. But her story, as well as others told by students, and really just this one class, really helped me learn a great lesson.

We are all people. As women, we all have bra clasps and sometimes those clasps break at the most inopportune times. I can get up in front of people and actually entertain them and give meaningful information and not be looked at as a complete moron. When you really listen to each other, even though you don't all know each other, you can learn a lot.

This teacher was a great influence on my love of public speaking. I don't do it a lot, but when I have the opportunity to teach, speak, or anything else in front of others, I find a great sense of fulfillment and peace in it. Under the influence of public speaking!

I'm Famous!

2012-01-12T18:42:00.000-08:00

After school Sam said to me, "Guess what? I'm Famous!"

At school today they had an assembly. When they asked for volunteers to come up on the stage, Sam rose his hand. He was chosen. He was taught how to do a double spin in the air. He's been practicing all afternoon. He's too tired now for a picture.
It's tough being famous.

I Told You They Was Organized.

2012-01-11T07:12:00.000-08:00

Here's what I've been doing lately. Except for taking care of super sickos inflicted with a nasty-asty version of the stomach flu. Organizing. I planned 3 rooms to make a project of for the first few months of the new year.

The first was the play room. I made the play room many many moons ago. My kids were little and loved to go in and play make believe. Now that they're a bit older I wanted to update it just a tweek. It's not much really. Much of it is still the same...
Oooh. There is something new. It's a book shelf. With games.
This is the update. You see, these games were taking up a ton of space in my laundry room. I needed that space! So I took them out and put this together. So the new addition is the game shelves. So far it has produced much game playing. And it made for some much needed space for the second project.
The second project was the laundry room. Or "dump all your stuff in here" room. I just spent yesterday afternoon cleaning and organizing it. And it looks spectacular! I don't have pictures of the loveliness, but I made an executive decision while cleaning it all out. You see I have a lot of cook books. A LOT. And I love them. I have collected them as I have needed to expand my cooking horizon. But every time I get one, the inevitable happens...I find and use awesome recipes and then I type them out with my own variation or whatever, and then put it in my all consuming cook book. Wanna see it?
Here it is. Well, here is the open version. See? I just put everything in here.
And it's quite full and very well used. So the decision to get rid of the honkin' stack of cook books was necessary. But don't worry, I still have a sizeable stack of 'em in there.
So now my play room and laundry room are finished. Next project??? Drum roll please...

RUTHIE'S ROOM!

Someone Hit Me!!

2012-01-05T10:19:00.000-08:00

Well. Not me exactly. I wasn't in the car. Apparently no one was. But yesterday while outside playing at piano lessons, I noticed a dent in the Durango. I didn't think much of it though. But then I really looked at it. Closely. It is a nice round dent and there are those classic "marks" that are the norm when you are hit by another car. Because I know about hitting another car. Or another car hitting me. So I went through my day. Then my week. And it quite literally could have been weeks ago. Because I keep my car in the garage and then just get in and out without really looking at the smooth blue exterior. This was the first time my car was out in the sunshine with me actually there looking at it.
So I'm peeved. There was no note. No one waiting to tell me. I mean, look at it. It's not terrible. Daniel can knock out the dent, the paint wasn't scratched, and the marks will wash off. But my hope in humanity has diminished. Just kidding. I still have hope for humanity. But I did really think about what I would do if I ever hit someone's car in a parking lot. I did already have a plan..I would wait or go in and ask for the license plate to be paged or leave a note with my info. Now I know that I will for sure no questions asked make sure the owner of the other vehicle knows it was me. Had that been done in this case they would have been off the hook for the damage, but my respect for them would have been paramount!

And humanity would get a gold star for integrity.

One More Christmas Post.

2011-12-31T13:04:00.000-08:00

It's a bloggy day.

This is a tradition that began in 2002. Isaac was 2 and Samuel was 9 months old. I had gotten a plain red Christmas tree skirt. And I had some bottles of paint. Mwaaa haa haa. So I put their cute little paws in the paint and then onto the skirt. I had originally written it all with permanent marker, but you can't read it anymore. So I re-did the names and years with lavender paint.
These are all 3 kiddos' prints in 2005, Ruthie's first Christmas.
And here we are today. 2011. I think I can get a few more years of hand prints on it yet.
It's fun to look at it under the tree every year with their cute little hand prints. And it's fun to see how much they've grown.
You probably noticed a big question mark around 2007. I had just been called as the Primary president and Daniel had just been called as the Ward Clerk. I spent that week after Christmas praying and calling a presidency. So, um, like some carols, the hand prints were forgotten that year.

Oh Yeah.. I Almost Forgot.

2011-12-31T12:01:00.000-08:00

I just realized that there are some Christmas moments I haven't blogged. First, though, you know I must do a goat picture. This is a game that Mama Cass and Vegeta get into a lot. They both jump up on the tramp and butt each other. It's quite entertaining to watch.
Okay. Back to Christmas. We went to see Santa (aka Grandpa) on Christmas Eve afternoon. Ruthie was the first to sit on his lap.
Sam likes to wear his hat. And if you look closely, you can see he's wearing his gloves too. Silly Sam.
And Isaac brought up the rear. Santa gives each of the kids a sack filled with candy, and an orange and some tic tacs. Fun!
And here are the kids with Grandma. Isn't she beautiful?!
That night at Abbie and Poppy's Christmas Eve gala, many of the kids participated in the annual Nativity. Poppy reads it and each of the girls takes a turn to be Mary. Ruthie was an angel this year. And my boys? Well, they decided to participate as audience this year.
After the Nativity we played a gift game. Everyone brings a 3-5$ wrapped gift and I read a story that has lots of "left" and "right"s in it. We then pass the gifts to the left or right until the story ends. Then we open the gifts. And the kids get to open their gifts from Abbie and Poppy. They each get a pair of jammies. This year Abbie made the jammy bottoms. Aren't they cute?!
And Ruthie...
Abbie and Poppy gave each family a family picture puzzle. We've done ours 2 times now!
Since the trend is forgetting things, I forgot about the gift from Grandma and Grandpa. They gave each family one of these Awesome Possum Blossom waffle makers. You can make 2 big German waffles at the same time. We've been eating a LOT of waffles!
Merry Christmas. Next..... The New Year!

Have You Ever?

2011-12-31T11:51:00.000-08:00

Have you ever had to patch a fitted sheet?

Um. I have.

But then I got new sheets for Christmas.

I love new sheets.

Dinner Is A Sacred Thing.

2011-12-28T19:54:00.000-08:00

You know how as Relief Society sisters we band together to feed those around us? A baby is born. Dinner. A family member is sick. Dinner. A child has surgery. Dinner. A roof falls in. Dinner. It really is quite impressive when you think about it. When someone is in need, we feed.

When I was pregnant with Isaac I was terribly ill. Remember...pregnancy is my mortal enemy. And what happened? The sisters brought in meals. 3 nights a week we were fed by generous women in the ward. It was just Daniel and me and I wasn't eating much. Daniel was just as happy to make toast or go to Subway. I was so grateful for those meals. I was grateful for the meals that came when Isaac was born. When I was sicko pregnant with Sam and when Sam was born, I was grateful for those meals. I was grateful for the meals that came when we got home from China. I made sure thank you notes went out for every one.

I love making dinner for others. When an opportunity presents itself, well, make dinner. I've made it an art even. I have a few recipes that are used regularly. Not too spicy, not too bland, easy enough for kids to eat and interesting enough for adults. When delivering the dinner, use only disposable dishes. Foil ones work best to keep things hot. Then the family who has a new baby or a recovering surgery-ee or a grieving household, don't have to wash dishes and then return them. What a pain to have to keep track of what clear glass 9x13 baking dish, among the 5 in which wonderful casseroles have been delivered, belongs to whom. Never give a new mom, just home after giving birth, a dessert full of chocolate. Nursing babies don't like that. Nor do they like spices and onions and peppers. Keep it simple.

I offered to make dinner for a family who had a baby just before Christmas. What a great opportunity to share and provide a great meal for a nice family. I had Daniel bring some cinnamon bread over along with the offer. They accepted for the following night. So I planned and cooked and picked up some things from the store. As the meal cooked in the crock pot and cookies were baked, the house smelled yummy. Then at about dinner delivery time they called and said they were out of town and having dinner and how about dinner the next evening. Of course. So I served the dinner to my family and put the rest in the fridge. But then I had a thought. As left overs, the meal just wouldn't be as grand. So I decided to make a simpler, faster, non crock pot meal tonight. I had the salad, the bread, the veggies and the sauce made. All I needed was for the family to be home. So I watched. And watched. And finally around 8 pm they got home. So I put the water on to boil and got the other items out to heat up. Daniel went to tell them dinner would be there in half and hour. Then he came back in the house and said they already had dinner and that I don't need to make dinner for them anymore.

With that, dinner became a sacred thing. When I offer to make dinner I mean it. Gosh golly! I will have dinner ready and hot and delivered at 6 pm. Unless you ask for it earlier or later. But when you go to eating somewhere else while I am making you a splendid affair, well, you're messin' with a woman who holds dinner making and delivery up there with delivering a baby! Don't mess with dinner. It's sacred!

And Then It Was Christmas. 2011.

2011-12-27T19:48:00.000-08:00

It began Sunday morning with breakfast. Then Sacrament Meeting. Mom and Ruthie sang in the choir so we left a bit early. Wonderful talks and beautiful music. A snappy 10 year old Zach played O Holy Night on the piano. Holy Night Batman. Could'a ended there.

We came home, got our jammies back on, let Santa come and got on with it. This is the before...
And...the after...
The best part of Christmas morning was when the kids saw their journals. When I was a kid my parents would give us each a journal and write a special note inside. I love that. I wasn't the greatest journal keeper, but I still love those personal notes from my mom and dad. So this year I got each of the kids a "real" journal and wrote a special note. Then stopped in the middle of the mayhem. And then they read their notes...
And read their notes...

And got embarrased because mom started taking pictures while they read their notes...
And the award for funniest gift goes to mom for this gem....
We hope you had a wonderful Christmas!

Some Christmas Stuff.

2011-12-23T13:29:00.000-08:00

I thought I'd share a couple of pre-Christmas fun we've been having.

Every year my mom, Abbie, does a Christmas Cookie Party for the kids. The past couple of years she's been sending the cookie stuff home with each family to do when we can. We did ours a couple of weeks ago. Here they are...
Look at the frosting on his mouth. I love it!
Prettiest smile winner. See Daniel on the couch behind her? He was sick! Sick I tell ya!
Very much concentrated on the work at hand.
Thanks Abbie for a fun tradition.

We got to have Grandma and Grandpa over for Sunday dinner last Sunday. After we ate Grandpa got out Pick Up Sticks to play. Ruthie and Sam sat the longest and played over and over and did very well. Even for older kids, this is a great small motor skill game.
Thanks Grandma and Grandpa!

Last night we all got on the Front Runner and went to Salt Lake.
We told the kids they could take the DSs to keep them busy on the train. Prettiest smile winner again. And don't be bummed that there isn't a picture of me. I'm right there in the window.
We had dinner and then went FAST over to Temple Square. We walked in one entrance gate and each of the kids did the ooooh and aaaaah like I instructed them.
Then we high tailed it out another gate and ran to the Trax line and got to the Front Runner, which was already jammed packed, and stood in a little corner. We had loads of fun, even though we were rushed.

Tonight we get to go see a live Nativity. Tomorrow? Ohhh, tomorrow we get to go to see Santa at Grandma and Grandpa's house. Then we get to go to Abbie and Poppy's for dinner and gifts.

Merry Christmas Eve Eve!

Hello?

2011-12-21T14:12:00.000-08:00

I keep coming to this "new post" page. Then I just look at it. Then the timer goes off because the bread is done baking or something starts to burn or something spills or or or. Or maybe I have mono again. I can't get into the blog thing lately. My hips still hurt. Mostly from standing and dipping cinnamon bears in chocolate or sprinkling cinnamon on cinnamon bread dough or making candy cane bark or wrapping presents. My feet hurt. Speaking of wrapping presents, you can't see my tree skirt. I am putting everything under the tree this year. Well, except for the one Santa gift they each get. And what's in the stockings. Which were never hung by the chimney with care or anything else. We light the fire place and it gets too hot. So they are under my bed. But don't tell my little people that. My house is a mess. Especially my kitchen. I've baked several thousand loaves of cinnamon bread and have made many many pounds of candy cane bark. On the day I crushed candy canes the bottom of my socks were sticky. My floor is sticky. And cinnamony. And there's other stuff there too. But I'm not looking too closely. I did laundry today and will probably to it again on Friday so I don't have to do any on Saturday. Did you know that Saturday is Christmas Eve? Holy hotcakes! Are you ready? Believe it or not, I think I am. Except I need to make like 8 more loaves of cinnamon bread. But I'll wait until Friday to do that. I'm excrutiatingly tired. I haven't been sleeping and then Daniel told me I have been snoring and when I snore I wake myself up. So I just started wearing those nose strips again. Sexy!! I happen to know I don't have mono. I'd guess I was just really bored. But after all I've been doing lately and what more I still need to do and having spent much time at the school the last couple of days (and NO I will not be going to the dumb sing along!) I think it's something else. When I find out what I'll let you know.

In the meantime, have a.....

VERY MERRY CHRISTMAS!

My Hips Hurt.

2011-12-13T08:56:00.001-08:00

So last night I was in the midst of reading volume 9 of a 9 volume set of historical fiction. I'll stop right there and breathe for a sec. Because 9 volumes is a lot of reading. Okay. Ready. I was finishing a chapter where they were talking about northern California and Sutter's Fort. I then went back to my childhood growing up in northern California and really not appreciating the rich history there. There are missions all along the California coast line and many inland as well. I wish I could just go back and enjoy the history. Then my thoughts went to an old TV show Daniel and I have been watching called Psych. It's on Netflix and we stay up late every night watching 2 or 3 episodes and I'm truly exhausted. But the show is set in Santa Barbara, California. And in a recent episode they were at one of those historical missions. And then I thought about Santa Barbara being in my mission and I never got there. I served in 4 other places. 2 coastal and 2 inland. I like the coastal areas best. Not that I got to go to the coast because water is a missionary's enemy. But they were beautiful areas! Stopping now to think about the beauty of Oxnard and Santa Maria. Aaahhh. Okay. Ready. So then my thoughts go to when we drove through Rancho Cucamonga in So Cal where I lived many years ago. We got off the freeway there so we could get breakfast on our way home. As we drove through I realized I had no idea where we were. It has grown and changed so much. And I wanted so bad to drive through and find where I lived and where I worked so I could show the kids. But we got a late start and needed to go. But it really had changed and I really didn't recognize it at all. And then it occurred to me that it was 22 years ago that I moved there. 22 years. And so I got Daniel's attention and told him that I feel old and then went through all of what I just shared with you. And then, in some weird way, my hips started to hurt.

A Thought For Thursday.

2011-12-08T18:42:00.000-08:00

When I was in the Young Women program many years ago, there was always a spiritual thought before our Sunday meeting began. One Sunday I was asked to do the spiritual thought and had nothing! Absolutely nothing! So someone gave me this thought to share. I think it speaks for itself.

* * * * * * * * *

You have to have a really good memory to be a good liar.

*************

Mom's Maid Service.

2011-12-06T15:31:00.000-08:00

As a mom do you ever feel like a maid? And then feel you don't get paid enough to be a maid? I decided if I am going to be a maid, I needed to charge for my services. This whole motherhood thing isn't a cash cow, you know! So here's what I just laid out for my kiddos. It's called Mom's Maid Service. And for whatever they happen to leave out, not put away or clear or just plain don't do, I now will gladly do it. Only they will pay me for my services. Here is a list of my fees...
I even have a jingle...

I also wear the most ridiculous apron I own. That's how they know I'm out to make some cash. I dared them to keep me out of business. We'll see just how lucrative this business can be.

Lately...

2011-12-05T13:29:00.000-08:00

"Life seems nothing more than a quick succession of busy nothings."

(Fannie Price Mansfield Park)

She's Baaaack.

2011-11-26T14:22:00.000-08:00

This isn't "she", but it's funny. My kids always go out back and get on the trampoline. Vegeta wanted some of the action. So one day, after my kids came in the house, this kid jumped up onto the tramp. He does it regularly now. Silly goat.
Here "she" is! Cass is back and she's gettin' fat and she'll be a mama next Spring. So the words once coined by the Mamas and the Papas are fitting. No one's gettin' fat 'cept mama Cass.
Now we have all 3 of our goats back. Next March or April we'll see just how many more we have.

Cute Quips.

2011-11-23T19:53:00.000-08:00

I had put a collection of little boy halloween costumes into individual sacks and then all of them into a large garbage bag. I'm taking them to my mom's tomorrow to show to my sister in law so she can see if she wants them for her cute little Joshey. I put that bag in the laundry room so it would be easy to grab on our way out tomorrow.

I also got the trash completely full and took it out of the can and set the large trash bag in the laundry room so it would be easy to grab on our way out tomorrow.

I began getting things put together for tomorrow and noticed that both large trash bags were gone! GONE! I yelled to Daniel! Daniel! Did you take both trash bags out to the trash?? Yes. (Proud of the fact that he had taken it out!) I told him he took costumes out and needed to go get it out of the garbage and back in the laundry room. He rolled his eyes and got it. Then he pointed out that it looks like trash and he always takes out the trash when it sits in the laundry room. Point taken. But one bag was obviously not trash! It was costumes in little individual gracery bags inside the large trash bag. DUH! Not Trash!

We discussed this little tidbit for a while. Joshing each other and flirting with each other. Then Isaac came up with a brilliant idea...

"Why don't you put a "T" for Trash on the bags with trash in them and "NT" for Not Trash on the other bags. Then you'll always know which is trash."

Now that sounds like a solution to me!

With Grateful Heart.

2011-11-23T17:40:00.000-08:00

On this night before Thanksgiving I thought it necessary to share my gratitude. First, to my Heavenly Father for His eternal love for me. Second, for the blessing of my family who are a distinct reminder of how much Heavenly Father does love me.

Have a wonderful Thanksgiving!

Enjoy every moment of it.

Late Last Night.

2011-11-18T12:40:00.000-08:00

This is the surprised look of a boy out of bed when everyone else is in bed, including mom and dad, because we are tired, who is making himself a scrambled egg and got caught by his dad. By the way, when Isaac got home from school yesterday he had two certificates from the science fair. One was for participating. The second, well now the second only had his name on it because they didn't have my name available to them. "Excellent Display Board" I curtsied and took the applause graciously. I thanked my adoring public and will be hanging it on my wall. I just need to figure out how to get Isaac's name off and mine on! Thanks for your support.
(P.S. Isaac really did do a lot of work on his project. And he did a great job. The board was mine because I cut the paper and glued everything together and made sure this young son of mine got the work done. So he does deserve much credit and praise. But so do I!)

Science Fair Project...DONE!

2011-11-17T13:28:00.000-08:00

Breathe a sigh of relief. But first...Just a look at what's living on our deck lately. We now have a "poop deck" again. Cass will be home next week!
Science fair was today. Here is Isaac after getting his poster put together. I told him I better get a good grade for all my work on the poster. This look is usually the one I get when I talk like that. But it's the truth. What can I say?
And just to prove that dad was there... We really enjoyed walking through all the projects and looking at all the really cool things these kids did. Lots of really great ideas proven and reported.

I Like To Look For Rainbows...

2011-11-12T17:46:00.000-08:00

Today was a very beautiful day. This chicky pie was baptized.
And by her dad. Despite the rain that later turned to snow, all of our family on each side came.
Isn't she gorgeous? She was so excited and just a little bit nervous.
She was baptized with 2 of her sweet friends, Tally and Brooklyn. Aren't they all just divine? Can you see the glow? This is right after their confirmations. Tally's mom gave each of the girls flowers.
And with mom and dad. I think she looks like a princess. A very clean and pure princess.
We came home and had some lunch. Here is Ruthie with Abbie and Poppy.
And here is the pretty girl with Grandma and Grandpa.
And here she is with Meme, my Grandma. She brought Hummingbird cake. I got to keep the leftover cake. I'm a happy gal.
And here is the princess up close.
We are so proud of Ruthann and her decision to be baptized. She received a beautiful blessing when Daniel confirmed her a member of the church and gave her the gift of the Holy Ghost. All of my children have entered the path to return to their Heavenly Father and they each of the constant companionship of the Holy Ghost. My heart is filled with Joy!

A Thought For Thursday.

2011-11-10T07:58:00.000-08:00

The time change is still getting certain little people, and a certain bigger person, out of bed early. Early! Do you hear me? This morning my boys were flipping the channels on the satellite and stopped on a TBA. It happened to be one of those silly shows from the 80s. Remember Family Matters? Remember Steve Urkel? Yep. I hear Urkel's voice and cringe. I remember all too well. That laugh. That dumb humor. This morning's episode has Urkel at the dentist and on laughing gas and my boys are laughing hysterically. Like serious gut bustin' laugh out loud I'm gonna hurt someone because I'm laughing so hard. Laughing hysterically. Who knew? Funny boys.

On now to more serious things. The other day I had Ruthie's baptism dress hanging on my closet door while I removed tags and organized shoes, socks, headband, bracelet and slip. I looked at the dress, just overwhelmed by how beautiful it is and a thought occurred to me. Not too far from now (30 years at least!) we will have another beautiful white dress hanging there. I teared up a little at the thought of my baby girl one day wearing a wedding gown. Then Ruthie came in a I showed her the dress on the door and started to tell her about when we will have another dress hanging there. It will be white and beautiful and a little longer and... She cut me off in a flat voice and a roll of her eyes with "my wedding dress". I sniffed back the tears as she shot me another look of "please!" and so I sent her on her way. I did remind her as she ran off that she can't start dating until she's 30!! "I know mom."

Here is the gorgeous baptism dress she'll get to wear on Saturday! The picture doesn't even come close to the reality.
When gorgeous girl Ruthie is in the dress Saturday, the pictures will be way better!

Since February.

2011-11-09T08:03:00.000-08:00

So let me tell you what's been happening here since February. Not that it affects you. It doesn't. But it does affect me. So here it is. Since February I have steadily gained a couple of pounds. I have had pre-cancer stuff removed from my arms and legs. I thought I was having a heart attack. My hair has gained more gray. The wrinkles on my face are more noticeable. To me. You may have been able to see them just fine. But my contact prescription has gotten a bit stronger and so I can't see the stuff on my face. Like stray eye brows. Oh, and wrinkles. Sorry about the stray eyebrows. But I do see them when I choose to look closely. My back hurts more. I've grown far more cranky than I've ever been. I get heart burn easier. I need more sleep. I have a bad attitude and it affects my ability to get along swimmingly with certain things. I also lost a 5 year hope for another child.

But one thing I've noticed since February is that I am really happy about being 40. I turned 40 in February, in case you weren't aware. Now that you are, I am really happy about it. I love being 40. I love being in my 40's. I love being able to say “now that I'm 40” or “so now that I'm in my 40's”. And so I've been trying to put a finger on why I am loving it so much when there is so much of the undesirable going on. And I got it! I know why I love it so much.

You see, when I was 12 I was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes. And with that came years of being told and reminded and whispered to of the things that I couldn't do. Have babies. Be healthy. Live long. Seriously. I took the “you won't live long” to literally mean I wouldn't live past my 30's. If I even got to my 30's. I knew I would die in there somewhere. Why? Because that's what they told me. Back before my bad attitude had me question and then research things people told me. Anyway, I made it. I survived my 30's. I can easily say I did it. And now that I'm 40, or, in my 40's, I rejoice. I actually have great Joy in that. Weird? I guess. Just wait til I get to my 50's. Oh, it'll be grand!

Economics Fair.

2011-11-08T11:34:00.000-08:00

6th grade is killing me. To you parents of 6th graders, especially at our school here, does it seem there is a project of some kind or other every time your kid comes home from school?? A friend of mine who has one in high school now says that junior high is way easier than 6th grade. To be fair, they are learning. I mean, do you see all that homework and stuff? And do they understand that parents have to be directly involved in some of this stuff? You can't just send a 6th grader home to make or build 100 somethings for the economics fair telling them it's their project, mom can't help, and expect him to get to it. I have to purchase things. I have to help in the assembly line. It's only the beginning of second quarter and I'm beat. Ready for summer vacay. Okay. Done.

So let's look at the Economics Fair fairly. The assignment was to make or build 100 somethings to sell at school. Then the money they would bring in would be used through the year to pay for things such as field trips and parties and such. So Isaac takes in a few ideas and one was accepted. Jack O Lantern suckers. Easy. So we got all the stuff and cut stems and put a line together to put them together. We wrapped each sucker with orange napkins and wrapped and tied brown yarn around it. Then I hot glued a stem on top of each and then Isaac and his siblings drew faces on the things. 100. Did I tell you it had to be 100 things? The day of the fair I went in to check it out and see what everyone had done. I have to say I was disappointed. Some of those kids had only done something like stick a paper saying "witch's brew" on a soda can. C'mon. That's building or making something?! Here is my sweet boy. He did work hard. But he had a sore throat and couldn't yell over the ruckus around him. But he did sell a few.
They did turn out cute. He sold 36 of them. So guess what we handed out to all of our trick or treaters? Yep. 2 Jack O Lantern Suckers each. So now we just eat the rest of them whenever. There are so many. One mom spent waaaaay more for supplies than the recommended amount and did tons of work to help her son make these really cute steel wool spiders. But in the end he sold fewer items than Isaac. She asked if I wanted any spiders to decorate my house. I suggested a trade for some suckers. She suggested next time she'll just donate money and keep her kid out of it.
The bigger issue for me right now is the stupid science fair. Another teacher is having every student do it. The other teachers don't know what's involved with it so you have to either fend for yourself or go see that other teacher. I've done both. And it ain't pretty. By next Thursday I'll have pictures and a smile again. Until then I just remind myself that it's only 6th grade. It's not a Masters program. It's not do this or die. It's just 6th grade. Speaking of 6th grade. I had to retake my 6th grade yearbook picture. So I dolled up. I'll let the picture speak for itself...
Never mind. I must speak. I was the coolest person in the world with that head band on. My mom didn't like that I wore it in the picture. At least she didn't have to sweat a science project.

Birthday Craft.

2011-11-07T11:31:00.000-08:00

For Ruthann's birthday party we needed a craft idea. I found a cute idea on Family Fun (which I LOVE) and wanted so much for the girls to make these cute little compacts. It required little candy or mint tins though. I could not find a little tin anywhere. Well, except for big tins for chocolates and such for Christmas. While I was in Dilly Dally's, I was looking for little "things" to put into a compact, and hoped I would happen upon a little tin. Instead I found square soap boxes for vacation!! Your reaction might be "square is normal for soap boxes" Well, no, in fact you are wrong. Most soap boxes, now that I take many opportunities to study soap boxes, are rounded on top.

So. I bought 8 of them and all the cute "stuff" to go in them. Here is Ruthie's final result. We glued a square, okay, rectangle, of cute felt (I had many to choose from) onto the top of the lid.
Then we glued a small mirror into the inside of the lid. A girl must be able to see herself! We then added some essentials to our boxes.
Lotion, lip gloss, nail file, stickers-which the girls used to decorate the boxes inside and out. What is not in the picture is a small pack of gum and hair pins.
Last night Ruthie's mirror fell out. I hot glued it in. Then it fell out again and the felt on top fell off. So I hot glued the felt and used double sided tape on the mirror. Viola! Done. Ruthie brought hers to church yesterday in her bag. The lip gloss was needed, and so was the mirror. The nail file was used by a brother with a gnarly hang nail. Oh I am a genius!

O Happy Day!

2011-11-05T17:44:00.000-07:00

A red letter day if ever there were one. Ruthie is 8!! My baby! I can't believe she is getting so big. We celebrated on Friday night at Burrito Grande and she got the fried ice cream as her birthday treat. Isn't she beautiful!?
Today, the official day, we had a little party with some friends. If I had said she could invite 20 of her closest friends she would have come up with a list of 35 of her closest friends. We narrowed it all down to a group of 8. They played games, made and ate pizza, decorated cupcakes and made cute little boxes for their "stuff".
I've been begging my kids to stop growing and just stay young. I get a rousing round of "MOM! I can't stop. You know that!" Well. If I could stop it, I would.
Next week my baby will be baptized. Then she'll receive the gift of the Holy Ghost. Then all my children will have that special companion in their lives. What a blessing.
Happy Birthday Ruthann. We love you and are so thankful you are ours!

And It Ended With...

2011-11-04T11:31:00.000-07:00

First of all, I know it's been a long time. But. We've been sick. My baby is turning 8 tomorrow and I have been getting a party ready as well as planning a baptism. There is a 6th grade science fair project looming and the 4th graders have been weaving and needed help! And 2 children went on field trips on the same day. I chose to go to the outside freezing one. There was something about dressing up and begging for candy that had to be done. So is it any wonder that I forgot about Disneyland?! Mickey who? So I figure since I have all those other things to catch up on I would just go straight out on Disneyland and get it done. When you get to the end you will see how it ended. Cryptic. I know. So let's start here.

In line... Tuesday morning beams smoggy, foggy and chilly. We met at grandma and grandpa's room at 9:30 and then started to California Adventure. Now remember, all the pictures were taken Monday in Disneyland. So no C.A. pics. Darn. That's Aunt Nicole taking a picture.
Here are some cousins and Isaac in line for Space Mountain. We went into C.A. and saw Soarin' Over California. Super cool. We then went to see the Muppets in 3D. Fun, but got old real quick. At least for me. Daniel and the kids and many others enjoyed it in its total. We then went to the Tower of Terror. Um. Didn't like it one bit. We then went to see Aladdin. Wow! What a great show!
Here we are on Space Mountain. Note: For Halloween they have the Ghost Galaxy on Space Mountain. We are not big fans. But the ride was still very cool! After Aladdin we went to the California Screamin' roller coaster. BIG HIT! For everyone. Including grandpa.
Hey! It's grandma and grandpa. I think grandpa had a terrific time on the rides. Grandma preferred to stay off most of them. But she still had fun. And the kids loved sharing this whole adventure with them!
We loved Star Tours in Disneyland. After all the C.A. to-do we went back to the hotel and ate dinner and rested and got our sweatshirts and headed to Disneyland for Mickey's Halloween Party. Now this is a special event for which you must buy tickets in advance. I was told over and over and over by anyone who has been to this party that it is a must do!! So we did! I would recommend it if you wanted to go in the first place. If you are wishy washy on it, leave it. It cost our family $250 and was basically a great way to get TONS of candy. But as we walked to a particular "land" they were closing it all off for the fireworks. Then they were closing other areas down, not just for fireworks, but for a parade. So we couldn't do all we wanted to do and it was getting more and more cramped with people as they closed areas down. We still rode a few rides with grandma and uncle Steven, aunt Nicole and cousin Zack. We had fun. But we feel it important to not go back to Disneyland for Halloween again. But don't be sad!
I love the look on Ruthie's face! I don't know what's up with Isaac there. Must have snapped the picture as he blinked. We loved the Indiana Jones ride. Super great!
Wednesday was another cold start. It would be cold and foggy, and then by lunch time the sun would be so hot it bore a hole into your soul if you stood still long enough. Then as the sun went down it would cool off to a really nice temp. Wednesday our family went back into Disneyland to spend our last day. Everyone else would stay through Thursday, so they spent more time in C.A. Riding California Screamin' no doubt. We went to Fantasy Land. Oh joy. As we went on all the character rides the best response from Isaac was, "Can we please stop going on all the girl rides?!" Okay.
So we went back to ride everything we loved and thought we would love if we tried it. It's A Small World was loved by Ruthie and mom. Not so much by all the menfolk. I believe Isaac's word was "Annoying" regarding the song. I don't care. I have very strong memories of that ride from when I was a child.
This is the jungle cruise! We were really bummed that Pirates of the Caribbean was closed. It's the off season, so something will be closed. That is another of my favorite ride memories from childhood. When we met up with grandma and grandpa to ride the train around the park, grandpa told us about an experience he had had over at C.A. He had been sitting and then they all got up to go see Aladdin again. So he went in, sat down, enjoyed the show and then realized he didn't have his backpack. So he headed out to where he had been sitting outside to find many big burly security guards surrounding his backpack. He went up and told them it was his. They asked what was in it. Water, granola bars, etc. They gave it back to him but with a warning to never do it again! We were glad they didn't haul him off for questioning!
We rode the big Mark Twain Riverboat on Monday. Then on Wednesday all the menfolk wanted to go again. So Ruthie and I went window shopping and they got on the boat. Then I got a text from Isaac saying they were in the captain's quarters and steering the boat!! Wow! Here they are in the waiting area to get on the riverboat.
They got to steer and shake the captain's hand and ask all the questions they wanted. What a fun day! This here is one of the girl rides. But look at Isaac's face. Don't tell me he doesn't look like he's enjoying himself. This is a new ride and pretty fun. If you like that sort of thing.
Wednesday evening we all met for dinner at a restaurant called the Rain Forest Cafe. Fun atmosphere and good food. It was pricey, but fun. After dinner our family ran back to Disneyland to hit Splash Mountain one more time! Here we are in line for Star Tours. Our last ride of our fantastic stay.
Here is mom the pack mule. With all the candy from the Halloween party. It was a lot of candy. In fact, we still have much of it left.
The wrist bands from the Halloween party.
Our maps!
Oh! That's right. The key card to our hotel room. First of all, we were in a terrific hotel. We could watch the fireworks on Saturday and Sunday nights from the rooftop and could see lots of park, too. It was walking distance from a lot of eating spots and the park. We lost a second card when we got to our room and someone just set it somewhere. It was just gone. We didn't replace it. Then we got all the way home and Daniel took this key card out of his wallet. So we stripped the hotel of 3 key cards. They may not want to see us back again.
And that reminds me. The way this ends. It began as "This is a one time only trip! Enjoy it and don't complain!" It began to end on the drive home with, "I think we should come back in a couple of years" via Daniel, to ending with, "Let's just go back every couple of years". I agree. So do the kids. This will definitely happen again!

A Thought For Thursday.

2011-10-27T19:40:00.000-07:00

"Motherhood is near divinity. It is the highest, holiest service to be assumed by mankind. It places her who honors its holy calling and service next to the angels."

The Message of the First Presidency. October 1942

I think it is something we mothers need to be reminded of. Especially when we don't feel very angelic. We do hold the highest of callings!

On To The Mouse.

2011-10-26T10:48:00.000-07:00

My plan was to post everyday about the trip until it was done. We've got something brewing at our house, though. Isaac and Daniel have it grossly bad and I just can't get the energy to do anything. My body aches and my eyes keep tearing up. I can't sleep either. Anyhoo, I realize I need to get this done because other things are going on in our lives that need to be blogged. So here's the day we go to Disneyland!

We met at grandma and grandpa's room at 8:30 on Monday morning. Ready for action. Daniel finally sent 2 of our kiddos with 2 cousins reeling around the 2nd floor's walkway for a bit. They had some serious energy bubbling up. We all headed out to the sidewalk and snapped a picture of our kiddos with 2 cousins, Emma and Zach. Isaac is the serious one who wouldn't break forth into smiles for anything. The machinations of his mind are an enigma.
We all proceeded to cross the street to the magical world of Disney.
We got into the park without any problemos and began the pictures until we could gather together. Here is most of the group. Daniel, Aunt Nicole and a stranger were taking the pictures. See my gorgeous niece Jillynne next to me there on the end? She just got her mission call to California and will be speaking Spanish. She will be an awesome missionary.
Here's our quaint little group of groupies. You can't tell, but my mouth is clenched shut while I'm yelling at Daniel to hurry and take the picture. I think he was trying to figure out the setting it was on. Or something.
We spent the morning in Disneyland, mostly in Tomorrow Land. Hey! Here we are heading to Tomorrow Land.
We wanted to get on Space Mountain and do Star Tours and move on. But we began with Astro Blasters. Now this was a fun ride. Never go in thinking it's a dumb kid game ride. It's a fun everybody game ride. You rack up points while shooting at the little targets. Oh Fun!
Yes. Let's take a picture of Jennie's rear as she embarks on the ride. We need to discuss picture taking etiquette. And that's grandpa up there above my head getting on.
So the rest of the morning was filled with Star Tours, Space Mountain, a brief stand in line for Nemo's submarine thing until everyone decided they wanted to go on the Matterhorn. So we jumped out of line and headed to the Matterhorn. We eventually made our way over to California Adventure to pick up our lunches which we ordered in advance to reserve our spots for World of Color. How many children does it take to complain about cold fried chicken for a mom to begin force feeding her children? Oh I don't know. My children never complain. Especially about cold fried chicken. Or the fact that there isn't a microwave around.
After lunch we....well, I really don't remember. It's all a blur. We may have gone back to Disneyland. We may have stayed in California Adventure. Well, now that I think about it, I think we split up into a couple of groups. We left and went back to Disneyland and rode stuff. Lots of stuff. That evening we were in California Adventure for World Of Color. Oh my. Here is my family, cold and tired, waiting for the show.
By the time it began I had a few children who would have rather just gone back to the hotel. We hadn't been back all day and so we didn't get our sweatshirts. We were chilly. But then it started. All eyes on the water!
I wish we could have gotten pictures of the kids' faces. They loved it. Couldn't take their eyes off the water.
These pictures just in no way do it justice. It was an amazing show to watch. All water and lights and even some fire.
After the show Nicole said I was wet. How did I get so wet? But she was wet, too. She realized when she put her hands through her hair that she was also very wet. But it was worth it.
We got back to the hotel and were out like 5 lights. My plan was to let everyone sleep as long as they wanted before heading back. Even if everyone else went ahead of us. Well, everyone was tired. So the next day we began at 10 am in California Adventure.

This Is Only Once In A Life Time.

2011-10-24T07:27:00.000-07:00

We have to go back to the Friday before we began our trip to Disneyland. Why? Didn't you read it? We have to. Because I said so. Because it involves my thumb. My poor poor thumb. I went in for a Cortisone shot for the trigger finger. The surgeon gave me 2 options and expected me to choose one. NOW! The first was the Cortisone shot. Duh. Isn't that why I'm here?! But he said that because of my diabetes it may not work. So I may be in for the second option pretty quickly. The second option was this..."Surgery". He would go into my thumb with a needle and with that needle, cut the casing around the tendon to loosen it so the triggering would stop. Um. I opted for the shot. He said it's cheaper anyway and then if it doesn't help I needed to just come back and get the "surgery" done.

So he got the needle with the Cortisone and the big bandage and the cup with the alcohol and swipes in it. He dowsed my thumb with alcohol and then asked if I was ready. I asked if it would hurt. He stopped. Then he said it would sting. So I looked away and he shot me. Now at first it was just a sting. But that was just the initial sting of the needle going in. When he pushed that Cortisone in it quite literally felt like bubbles and rocks going up my thumb. Yup. Bubbles and rocks. I yelped and bit my lip and tried not to cry. The yelping brought out the dad in the surgeon. He tried to soothe me. Then he took the needle out and stuck the big bandage on it to stop the bleeding then said it would be numb for a while. I said I was going to Disneyland the next day and he said it wouldn't be numb that long.

So I left and began all the stuff I had planned that day so we would be ready to leave early the following morning. Have you ever pondered the importance of opposable thumbs? No? I have. Many times over. I have dropped things enough to know just how necessary they are. We are quite amazing creatures if you think about it. Oh, plus we can drive and cook and stuff. Way better to have opposable thumbs and be able to drive, etc, etc. Could you imagine being an elephant and the calluses on your hands? And no opposable thumbs to open a bag of chips. Amazing! I don't know how elephants do it.

As the numbness wore off I could feel the tenderness where he shot me. It was tender through the weekend. And my joint was still not bending. So I figured I'd just make the appointment for the "surgery" when we got home again. BUT!! And that's a big but! The pain and tenderness AND unbendableness was gone by Sunday. It still triggers a little but it doesn't cause excruciating pain! YAY! And as the week went on the triggering got better and more subtle. It still does it sometimes, but no pain and I don't drop stuff.

So Saturday morning began early. We needed to be to Daniel's folks' house by 7 am to meet everyone to start driving out. We chose the speed we would go and got on our way. Our mantra for the whole trip was "Once In A Life Time!" We won't ever come back so enjoy it and don't whine. The trip out was long and boring but the kids stayed busy with movies and their DS games. Daniel even surprised the kids with a couple of new DS games. We got into Anaheim while it was still light out, got checked into our hotel and were amazed we were actually there!

That night we all went to dinner at Denny's and then hit the sack. On Sunday morning we went to a nearby ward's 11 am Sacrament Meeting. You could tell this was normal for them because the man who gave the opening prayer prayed that all the visitors would enjoy their vacations and be safe and travel home safely, etc, etc. When they did ward business, they called a new Cub leader and said that with only 1 Cub Scout in the ward, they would be combining with Anaheim 2nd ward's 3 Cub Scouts to have a terrific program. Daniel and I just glanced at each other. At one time Alison and I had 17 boys in our Wolf Den. And that's only the 8 year olds!! After Sacrament Meeting, everyone else in our group decided to stay for the rest of the meetings and we decided to leave. Yes. That's just how it went. But we got to the car and began driving away and Daniel asked one of the kids about the hotel key card. That began a frantic search for the only key card we had brought to church with us. We went back to the church and searched the parking lot, the car, the halls and the chapel. No hotel key card. I calmly told the children they would have to stay in their Sunday clothes the rest of the trip and we would have to beg for food and since our tickets were in the safe in the room to which we had no key, we wouldn't be going to Disneyland. They were sad for about 2 seconds. They know me too well. And don't worry. This won't be the last lost key card. We lost a few key cards this trip. We got a new card and got changed and then went to walk around town. The kids loved this tree for some reason. So this is our first picture of our trip...
And Isaac...

While the rest of our family went to see the LA temple, we went to the hotel pool and took naps and stuff. Because we couldn't stand another moment in the car. But we were rested and ready to go on Monday morning. The plan was to meet at grandma and grandpa's room at 8:30 and head to Disneyland. To see this guy....

Now I will just tell you this just once. This thread of blogging is so my family has a record of our trip to Disneyland. It isn't necessarily for your entertainment. Although I think I can guarantee a few entertaining moments. But if you find it boring or anything similar, just remember, you've been warned. We only got one day's worth of pictures but I've got many days of story to tell. So stick with me. Or don't.

Cute Quips.

2011-10-22T19:28:00.000-07:00

First, a Cute Quip...

Isaac: "Sam. Have you ever blinked your eyes at night when you're in bed and when you opened your eyes it's morning?"

Sam: (Giggling) "Yeah! I just had that happen last night!"

That little exchange tickled my funny bone just right. Man, they make me laugh.

Second, my Cute family...
And I haven't had a chance to sit and really think and process the whole Disneyland trip to be able to blog it yet. I have been doing laundry for 2 straight days and finally have some milk and bread in the house again. I feel like I have jetlag. And it was only an hour time difference. But I can give you a little hint as to how it all went...

FUN!!

EXCITING!!

WE WANT TO GO BACK!!

4 DAY PASSES NEXT TIME!!

SCHOOL AND WORK ARE SUCH A BORE!!

Luckily no one broke into our home while we were away. So no one really got to enjoy the cleanliness while we were gone. Although I did enjoy it for a few moments right after we walked in the door.

Hmmm...

2011-10-14T12:52:00.000-07:00

So I'm just wondering. When your house looks terrific because you just spent hours each day cleaning it, do you ever look at it and think, "Wow! If someone breaks into my house I sure hope they take a moment to enjoy the cleanliness"?

No?

Okay then.

A Bit Of Boasting.

2011-10-12T09:23:00.000-07:00

I was going to boast about how few flies have been in my house and how I really only had one so far. We are so good about closing doors and no flies get in my house. I'm so lucky. No flies. Wa wa wa.

But last night I killed several. Then Daniel killed a couple. Now there are like 2 more that I could see as soon as I walked in the house this morning. And there's a fly in my car. Nasty thing.

So I was trying to think of something else to boast about. Hmmmm...

My house is almost clean. But not completely. So can't boast yet.

I get to put my feet up and relax. So not true. So much yet to do so no boasting.

I have crossed so many things off my To Do list it's insane. But there is still more...

I got a great night's sleep. Umm. For 3 mornings I have woken up before 6 am and can't get back to sleep and then I have to get up anyway because I have had to be to a doctor appointment or the school for the Book Fair or other such nonsense, ahem, stuff.

Here's one...Soon my house will be clean! My To Do list will be done. I will be able to sit and relax. In the car. And then we will be in Disneyland.

Ahh. Feels good to boast.

It's My Trigger Finger.

2011-10-06T12:52:00.000-07:00

Remember that crashed bottle of tomato juice? Um. I dropped it. I thought it was arthritis. I finally went to see a doctor because I can't bend my right thumb smaller joint. The pain is intense in my big thumb joint. I keep dropping things. I just chalked it up to arthritis cause it was easy to do. But guess what? It's my tendon. And it's called Trigger Finger. Isn't that fun?!
So I get to go in to the hand surgeon that did my carpal tunnel release surgeries. He'll inject steroids into it and hope that does the trick. Because we leave for Disneyland soon after! And no, my thumb is not swollen. I took a bad picture with my left hand. Which is my dumb hand. Okay?!

The Heat Is On.

2011-10-05T17:24:00.000-07:00

It's finally here. That official Fall weather. This is my most favorite time. This morning I opened the windows, as I usually do, when I got up. Usually it just causes a small breeze and the heat eventually gets to me and I turn the AC on. But today? Well today was special. When I opened the windows it chilled the house. We are no longer holding at 72 degrees as the house low temperature. We're down to 70. I eventually closed the windows and then just opened one back up. I love the sound and smell of rain. I love how quickly things cool down. I loved turning on the heat in the car after Cub Scouts today. I am looking forward to the sound, smell and feel of the house heat coming on for the first time. Tonight? Not sure yet.

A steady 70 degrees is fine with me.

Is your house heat on yet?

Saturday Is A Special Day.

2011-10-01T13:50:00.000-07:00

Today was the day. But first...we began with Laps For Lyndsay. Yay!!

When we got home Daniel said that next week is the deadline for Sam and Ruth to have their money ready to buy their DS systems for our upcoming trip to Disneyland. So they got right to work on today's jobs and then had a payday. They each had to raise $110 for the system and a game. And they reached their goal.
So off they went. Ruthie came home with a pink DS. Yay.

Sam came home with a silver DS with a "Guitar Hero" sticker on it. Cool.

Isaac got his previously purchased DS and they all sat, well, they are all sitting on the couches and playing. Daniel and I are anticipating a very quiet journey out to California.

Tomato Juice And Pretzels.

2011-09-29T08:25:00.000-07:00

I canned tomato juice last week. The jars have been sitting on my counter for that long. So yesterday I decided it was time to get them to food storage. When I got there I began to put them onto a shelf. Then it happened. They fell and one of the quart jars broke. Shattered actually. Tomato juice everywhere. I eventually got it cleaned up. But man it smelled tomato-y. Then last night I was walking along in the family room on this very rug and something crunched underneath. What could it possibly be? Um. That's a pretzel. Stashed under the rug. And I stepped on it and crushed it. Thank you. Bye.

Girl's Night Out.

2011-09-28T08:05:00.000-07:00

I invited Ruthann to go out to the Taste Of Home Show with me last night. We got dressed up, put some blush and eye shadow on Ruthie. Then with a little douse of body spray we were off.
We had fun going through our goodie bags and watching the cooking show. We got lots of new and fun recipes to try.

We ate nachos and popcorn.

And enjoyed each other's company.

Ruthie suggested we do another girl's night out before next year's show. Like dinner and a movie. Sounds good to me.

In The End There Was Joy.

2011-09-26T19:21:00.000-07:00

But first we had a great plan. We were to meet for dinner. My mom, my grandma, my aunt, my cousin, my sisters and sisters in law, aka:sisters. So we did. We met at Mimi's Cafe, for which only one sister had a camera and hasn't yet sent copies....Ahem Emilie!! It was so nice. Yummy. Then some had to bail to take care of kids or hubbies or whatever. Most of us went back to my mom's for dessert and then to watch the LDS Women's Conference rebroadcast at 8pm. That was the plan. And according to the plan, we had yummy dessert. Then some more bailed for the aforementioned reasons. We turned the TV on and....and....and....No rebroadcast. Say what?! It wasn't there. So the rest of us bailed.

I was so disappointed. Several of our Stakes, including mine, had tickets to go to the broadcast and so weren't showing the original in the Stake Centers. We decided to bail on getting tickets because there are a couple of really little babies who need mommies. Actually, only one little tiny baby needed his mommy. We chose the rebroadcast so we could all be together and enjoy it. But the rebroadcast, which has never failed me in all my married years, failed me. Drat.

On Sunday I helped the Sunbeam teacher with her little beams of light and asked her how the conference was. She suggested listening to President Uchtdorf's talk asap. I was already disappointed, but just knowing I missed President Uchtdorf?? Well. I was pretty bummed.

So after church I pulled the laptop into my room and began to watch the conference on LDS. org. Oh amazing. The RS General presidency spoke and did fantastic wonders with words. Then he spoke. President Uchtdorf, who is the second councilor to President Monson, spoke. And I saw the purpose in the plan being shifted the night before. I cried. He was speaking to me personally and when that happens, well, I feel it.

He spoke about the little forget me not flowers. He used the 5 petals the flower has to teach. Each petal represents something we should forget not...
1. Forget not to be patient with yourself. We are not expected to be perfect. Needed that.
2. Forget not the difference between good and foolish sacrifices. There is always something much better. Duh moment.
3. Forget not to be happy now! Now! Don't wait for the golden ticket, enjoy the chocolate now.
4. Forget not the "why" of the gospel. It is God's plan and we have such a great part in it.
5. Forget not that the Lord loves you. He loves me.

Go here to watch.

Now each of those spoke to me on a personal level. Things I need to be working on or that made me remember and be better. But the one I loved so much was number 3. Be happy Now! For gosh sakes. He shared the story of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and how so many lived just to get the golden tickets. That elusive goal of the golden ticket can keep us from enjoying what is right in front of us. Enjoy the Chocolate Now! I love that. And it reminded me of something very important. Joy. My Joy. I haven't done a Joy post in a while. And I am surrounded by it. The problem is, the golden ticket seems to cloud my vision. So I got myself some chocolate and enjoyed it. And now I am going to enjoy each moment of Joy in my life.

So be ready.

At the end of his talk, President Uchtdorf said this..."I do know now I was never forgotten. And I know something else and as an apostle of our master Jesus Christ, I proclaim with all the certainty and conviction of my heart and soul, neither are you. You are not forgotten! Sisters, wherever you are, whatever the circumstances may be, you are not forgotten. No matter how dark your days may seem, no matter how insignificant you may feel, no matter how overshadowed you think you may be, your Heavenly Father has not forgotten you. In fact, He loves you with an infinite love. Just think of it! You are known and remembered by the most majestic, powerful and glorious Being in the universe. You are loved by the King of infinite space and everlasting time. He who created and knows the stars knows you and your name. You are the daughters of His kingdom!"

I cannot even express how these simple words hit my heart. Because I have felt forgotten. Alone. And these are the words I will remember when I feel I may have been forgotten by God again. He knows me. He knows my name. And I am a daughter of His kingdom.

Joy.

White Water Rafting On The Snake.

2011-09-22T07:13:00.000-07:00

Here we are! Finally. This is our trip to the Snake in August. Part of our last hurrah before school began.

Here we're getting started. All my kids in the front. Daniel and me and Ken's wife (can't remember her name, darn) in the middle and Ken, Randy's son, driving on the back. We had just found out that the wife is Daniel's cousin's daughter. So we talked about that until the water got rough.
Here we are coming up on Lunch Counter. Lunch table? Something. Look at Daniel and the wife paddling! I sat in the middle on purpose. I did offer to paddle, but the wife was nice and did the whole ride. You can't see me because every time we hit white water, I'd grab onto the end kids' life jackets. If they fell out, at least I'd have had my hands on 'em first. Or something like that. Plus I just needed something to hold onto.

Ruthie and Sam had switched places. Look at the smiles. And look at Sam's face. Everytime they'd get splashed in the face, they took it as a Snake River insult.

And getting out of the Lunch Counter white water. I love that Ruthie had turned around and was waving to Randy. Bye!

So there you have it. Proof of our white water trip down the Snake. We hope to do it again next summer as a last hurrah again.

From The Drat Files.

2011-09-21T10:53:00.000-07:00

I can't see my eyebrows to pluck them. And I never think to ask my sister in law to also do my eyebrows when I go get my hair done. And the hair is still frumpless, thank you very much! So I sometimes, sometimes, take the little clippers that I use to clean up the boys' necks to just go down the middle of my eyebrows and just get rid of the fluff. I'm in the process over the past several years of thinning my brows. Not by choice, mind you. They just do it on their own. So this morning I took those clippers and went down the middle there and then moved my hand, with the clippers going, and got my eyelashes. If you look just above my pupil there in the eye on your left, you will see a very faint red mark just above my lash line and then NO LASHES right under it! I have a bald spot on my lash line.

I really hope they grow back.

And is it just me, or does my nose look really big?

See No Weevil.

2011-09-20T19:41:00.000-07:00

I don't have pictures. You may be pleased that I don't. Tonight's dinner was homemade mac and cheese. yummmm. I made. I served. I began to eat. So did the kiddos. Then I saw it. A whole and plump weevil. In my mac and cheese. So I ordered everyone to stop! Stop eating! Take your plates to the sink. I then went to the flour. No weevils. I went to the macaroni. Weevil flakes. You know. When weevils die they turn a bit flaky. Weird. So I ran down to the food storage and opened the big bucket of macaroni. Weevil flakes. Darn. All the macaroni is gone. I just made a box of regular mac and cheese. Not as impressive. But no weevils!

While we're talking about gross food... Last Saturday up at the Ranch I had all the lunch fixins out on the table. Peanut butter, honey, jam, ham, cheese, mustard, mayo and ketchup. Ketchup? It was requested. These are 2 of the sandwiches made....

Bread/honey/peanut butter/ ham/ketchup/bread

Bread/peanut butter/honey/cookie/Cheetos/bread

My children are strange.

But we saw no weevils at the Ranch!

A Day In The Life.

2011-09-19T12:09:00.000-07:00

First, I need to show you this. Ruthie wrote this at school. My favorite part is "Clearly, I know many thi[n]gs about goldfish." Don't argue with a girl who knows all that!
So you wanna know what's up with us? Well, now, let's see. I stopped blogging about a week and a half ago. Daniel has mentioned going back to A Day In The Life posts. I'm still thinking about it. Until I decide here's just a peek at our life minus the pictures...

9/9
Isaac had earned his Tenderfoot rank in Scouts and received it Friday night (the 9th). He is close to finishing up his Second Class and hopefully will have that and his First Class before he turns 12. Earlier that evening, though, I got that dreaded phone call from Daniel. On the side of the freeway. In a dead car. He was close enough to his folk's house so he called his dad and he towed him home. His car wouldn't start at all. So he had his nephew come out and blah blah blah. The part the sensor said was needed didn't make it start. So we had to make plans.

9/10
I took kids to the swimming pool where Isaac was taught the basics of the BSA swim check. We spent hours there. I came home to Daniel saying he'd take his car into the guy who fixed it all a few years ago. So he planned to be home the whole next week.

9/11
Daniel and I had our kids watch the footage of the Twin Towers and the Pentagon. We talked about what we were each doing that morning as we learned what happened and that we sat in front of the TV all day and every day for a long time. We talked about air travel coming to a complete stop and how our trip to China to get Ruthie a couple of years later would call for long lines and pat downs. I cried as we watched the Towers fall. I cried and my kids were glued to the TV as we watched the Ground Zero Memorial go from a plan on paper to a reality. We talked about going to New York one day so we can see that Memorial together. It was a somber day. Yet how blessed we are to live in a country with liberty and the protecting arm of the Lord.

9/12
Okay. I am not an official PTA member, but I support and sign up and help whenever I can. And I enjoy it. Monday night was the school carnival. And it was planned to be the one big money making function of the year. For the record...I HATE FUNDRAISERS! I hate the fact that they tell the kids in a big assembly that they HAVE to sell as much cookie dough/wrapping paper/candy bars as they possibly can just so they can go on a field trip. So the carnival was a winner in my mind. Never would the school make an easy $50 off me in any other venue. It was fun. I got to run one of the games and I love that many of the kids know me. And that many will actually call me "SISTER so and so" at school.

9/13
Oh, Daniel's car was being worked on. Friends came over to play after school. I made dinner for a family who just had a new baby. Cute baby! I went to a Relief Society thing. We made cute little books. Book of Mormon, Prophets and Joseph Smith along with Church History. There was an ABC one, but I didn't do it.

9/14
Piano lessons. Cub Scouts. Scouts. I'm tired just thinking about it.

9/15
I went to the Logan temple with Mandy, Alison and Judy. I'd never been to the Logan temple. It was beautiful and small. There was a large bus of people from Malad there, too. Crowded. Now that school is back in, Temple Thursday is back! Wanna come, just let us know.

9/16
My official post on the PTA is popcorn committee. I love going and doing the popcorn. I don't know why. They say it's the toughest spot to fill. Once a month and I get a little popcorn out of it. Daniel's car was fixed. He should get another several years out of it. We headed up to the Ranch to spend the night. We stayed up late and watched 17 Miracles. Seriously. You need to see it.

9/17
It had rained all night long at the Ranch. We were up all night long at the Ranch. So Saturday was a cranky day. We got to visit Cassidy (the goat) on our way home. She's getting fat. The Billy gets to go in at the end of the month. So we hope to have Cass back and pregnant in October. Then new kids in April or May.

9/18
Oops. We slept in. We were a little late for church. We did hear the Sacrament meeting talks though. They were wonderful. Grandma and Grandpa came for dinner and stayed to visit for a while. We love having them come over.

And today I have my house all to myself. Kids are at school. Daniel is at work. Laundry is getting done. Survivor has been watched. Diet pepper is being consumed. And now my blog has been updated.

Maybe I will go back to A Day In The Life. It means I need to take pictures for each day. It's not a bad thing, I suppose. I just have to do it. See ya.

Gotta See It.

2011-09-09T12:44:00.001-07:00

Last weekend Daniel and I took the kids to see

17 Miracles

Our Uncle Clark is in it and is even on the poster! Isaac leaned over to me during the movie and said, "We need to buy this and it can be a Sunday movie". Indeed we will. It is the story of the Willie and Martin handcart companies and the trials they faced in their journey west. But more than that, it's a story of Miracles. 17 of them actually. It's got humor. It's got romance (which made Ruthie giggle many times). It's got intensity. And really it's just an account of real people who experienced real and life saving miracles as they journeyed west to be free to practice their religion the way they were commanded and taught. It's a family movie and can be a great catapult to talking about pioneers and the early Saints. And of course, there are the Miracles!

You gotta see it!

My Brain Could Be A Super Computer.

2011-09-08T08:19:00.000-07:00

Many many years ago while I was living in So Cal with my grandparents, I remember sitting and watching the telly with Meme (grandma) and she snapped it off to talk. Now, there was the other time too, but I was just joking when I said it but she took me oh so seriously and snapped it off and I got the talk of a lifetime. Oh the therapy needed... But back to this other time. A commercial had just come on about feminine hygiene products. Large surf board type maxi pads. Which makes me recall that my aunt was pregnant at the time and thinking of names and the boy name she was thinking of was Max, Maximus, Maximillian, Maxi Pad. That's what it would turn into. Maxi Pad. So she had a girl. But my grandma was so incensed about feminine hygiene commercials, especially because men watch TV too. And so I didn't think about that at all until last night.

Daniel and I were watching a little telly. Do you just LOVE Landau Eugene Murphy Jr. ????? AND the Silhouettes!!!!! AND Team iLuminate?!?! And PopLyfe, which is a very awesome group but I told my kids that if the Silhouettes or Team iLuminate win AGT, we would take them to Vegas to see them. And then I told Daniel that if Landau wins, we would make it a just him and me trip to see him! And there's this commercial for TP. There is mama bear, a daddy bear and the baby bear, who can't keep his bum clean for anything!!! And they show the little pieces of TP stuck to the baby bear's bum and then talk about the TP that will cure that problem forever. At least they are using cartoon bears. Right?! I mean, c'mon! Do we really need to talk about clean bums? And now they have the same TP product commercial with women, who I assume are supposed to be moms, talking about dirty bums and that this TP will help you have a clean bum. Seriously?! Is nothing sacred?

And I don't care how thick, absorbent and white clothes wearing inducing feminine hygiene products claim to be. I still won't be caught dead wearing white, wearing a swim suit and jumping off a diving board or walking through a lovely field of daisies at certain moments of my life! Got it? And when it comes to clean bums. Well. I just don't know what to say. Sounds like a personal problem to me. Take a shower. Use soap. Wipe with TP. I just don't know what more this TP company thinks we need. Do we have to be bombarded each day with the bear family and now the mom brigade telling us to keep our bums clean?! The bums at our abode are clean thank you very much. And I use a completely different TP which I get at a certain large bulk store in bulk and it lasts such a long time because we can go through TP like crazy cakes here which means we all have clean bums. So you see, I have such need of therapy. Still.

As we were settling into bed last night, I ran my hand down my arm where my mole was removed. I rubbed the scab off. I wanted to puke. Really. Daniel was willing to help by turning on a light so I could look at it and make sure it was okay. NO! I can't look at it. My tummy hurt a little just thinking about it. And I looked at it this morning and it's okay. I didn't throw up. Thank goodness! But I get a slight headache when I look at it. At least our bums are clean.

And then the other night, while a couple of little people were talking in the hall, Sam yells out “SHUT UP! I'm saying my prayers!” I snort laughed and couldn't stop. At least he didn't say “Kneel down and pray dammit!” Which I have heard (and said) many times in my life. Sometimes I have just so much information going through my little head that I think “Hey! My brain could be a super computer”. That would be cool. Maybe it's an excellent thing I don't drink coffee. Or lattes. Or take stimulants. Could you imagine???!!! I don't think the world is ready for my brain abilities.

Whew!

So. How clean is your bum?

On With Phase 2.

2011-09-07T17:07:00.000-07:00

Sounds like a housing development. But this is Isaac's mouth. No housing. Today we began phase 2 at the orthodontist. More braces. Today the tops went on and in 7 weeks the bottoms will go on. Isn't he a cute metal mouth?!
They sent him home with all this fun stuff in a bag attached to balloons. When he got phase 1 braces off, they gave him a bag with root beer, popcorn and suckers. He'll have to wait about 18 months for that stuff.

Guess who wants braces now?

Hint: Sam and Ruthie

Called To Serve.

2011-09-04T14:11:00.000-07:00

After church I walked to the door to leave and there was Sam on the outside of the door waiting for me. He said, "Mom. I got called on a mission and I have to go to Germany."

He then told me that Isaac and Ruthie were called, too. They are going to Nebraska and New York. Then I got home and Ruthie said it was Oklahoma, not Nebraska. Whew!! I was worried.

Sam is nervous about Germany. The other two are excited about their assignments. I asked when they had to leave and what we needed to buy. They said they didn't know yet.

So far no one has come forward to say it isn't a real mission call. So I'm not saying anything either. Maybe they'll actually go serve now.

Frump Girl.

2011-09-02T12:20:00.000-07:00

I don't know how it happened. But it did. But I kinda know how it happened. It was gradual. But then again it just happened and there was nothing I could do about it. But really I chose not to do anything about it. Maybe I wanted it to happen. What am I talking about?? The Frumpage. Serious frumpage. Frump girl galore. After I turned 40 I wanted easy. No idea why or in what form. But I went to my natural curl on my head. And the frump happened. Although the frump really occurs more during the last 3 weeks or so before my next hair appointment. When the cut is fresh and the color is fresh it's just not so frumpy. But then the color fades and the curl grows out and the weather is hot and nasty and my hair goes frump. You can almost hear it. "Frump"

So last night Ruthie and I went in for our regular cut. The lady right before us was really into the hair. She then was really into my hair. She wanted to come back when I was done to see it. Or have Shelba take a picture so she could see it. Neither of which happened. But I panicked. What if she came back to see...just...frump girl...with new color...and fresher curls. So I told Shelba I was ready to un-frump. We still did the same color. But it's shorter and I think I might just go straight again. And then do curly when frump isn't a concern. Oh, and I had her give me thicker bangs. yay! Here's a peek...

PS. Don't look at the messy kitchen. Or the fact that I don't have lipstick on. Which is the other frump challenge. I began the daily sunscreen regime and decided to go without foundation. I liked the fact that no foundation didn't change the way my face looks just naturally. Which is why one uses foundation...to mess with the the natural on the face. But I think I'm agonna go back to foundation on special occasions. With sunscreen all the time I am getting a bit pale. Or something. And I'm 40. You know? I need a little coverage. Or a lot. Just depends on the day. Or the time of day. You know?

And then there's the fact that I cannot, for the life of me, park in a parking place, that has no cars on either side, in a normal and straight fashion. I ALWAYS park on a line. It began earlier this year at cub scouts, when I would be the first one to park. When I'd come out to go home, I would see how poorly I parked. Which made the other leaders park funny. But that's not all. I do it at the hospital, at Maverick, at the grocery store, on Sunday for church. All the time. Unless, of course, I park in between 2 cars. Which I really do try to avoid.

And I think I am officially cranky. Like old lady cranky. Little old lady who can't park straight cranky. It's been coming on so gradually that I hardly sensed it. Until I sensed I was cranky about something. And I LIKED it! Maybe I was trying hard to park straight. But cranky can be fun. And now? Well now I'm gonna look good cranky.

No more frump here.

At least until 3 weeks before my next hair appointment.

A Beautiful Butterfly.

2011-09-01T11:14:00.000-07:00

Yesterday we had a great opportunity to celebrate Lyndsay's life with her family. Her brother and mom passed out Monarch Butterflies for us to release. Just like we did a year before. Here is one of our butterflies before flying away.

On Tuesday I took Ruthie up to the cemetery to leave some flowers and be by ourselves. Ruthie asked if she could say a prayer. I never say no to such a request. She knelt down by Lyndsay's headstone with our flower and said a little prayer. I just stood back and cried. Then cursed myself for not bringing the camera. Dang! I brought the camera on Wednesday, but she didn't want to re-enact.

When more family and friends came, they brought glorious flower arrangements. Ruthie took a couple of pictures of them. Our little flower got drowned out fast! But we feel sure that Lyndsay liked our flower too.

More beautiful flowers. It was a beautiful day and a wonderful tribute to an incredible little girl. In looking back over the last year, I realized that one thing has been left behind at our house. Dress up. Lyndsay always played dress up with Ruthie at our house and at hers. When Lyndsay passed away, Ruthie just never played dress up again.

These two little girls have a lot of dress up to play later when they're together again. Oh yeah. AND! Lot's of tea parties to plan!

One Year.

2011-08-30T10:13:00.000-07:00

Every Spring for the past 9 years, I would have an overwhelming sense of “down”. Kinda depressed and just down. It didn't last long, just a few weeks, maybe a month. I finally, that first year, realized why. My brother Aaron died in the Spring 9 years ago. And even though I knew it was coming over the years, I still was surprised when I felt that sharp sting. But it isn't as painful a sting as it used to be.

Earlier this year when our dream of adding another child to our family was finished I had a conversation with my mom. Knowing what it was like to lose a child, she told me, that over time, the loss wouldn't be the first thing I think of when I wake up. At the time, I just thought it would take forever! But over this short time since, that sting has lessened and it isn't the foremost thought in my mind.

Over the past couple of weeks I have had a struggle of sorts. Was is that school was starting? Was it that summer fun was done? I began again to go through all the feelings I know of and could possibly be ignoring about the adoption. But I still couldn't place it exactly. Until Sunday night. Ruthie and I had already made a plan and executed part of that plan and knew what this week represented. But the sting was sharp all at once. It was one year ago, Monday, August 30, that Lyndsay came to the door as Ruthie was getting ready for bed. I told Lyndsay that Ruthie couldn't play, but to come back tomorrow after school! For sure she could play then. That night Lyndsay was swept away by Life Flight and swiftly returned to her Heavenly Father. Ruthie didn't get to play with Lyndsay again.

We miss Lyndsay. We hope the morning of the first resurrection comes swiftly. I know that only a year later, the sting is still sharp and isn't easily lessened. Time doesn't take the memories away. Time doesn't end the sting. Time doesn't heal all wounds. Time only gives us time to ponder and remember and look forward to a wonderful reunion. For 9 years I have looked forward to seeing my baby brother again. For 1 year I have looked forward to seeing our sweet Lyndsay again. And boy do I look forward to it!

Lyndsay, Aaron, Rebecca, Heidi, Opah, Grandpa, Grandma Shelba, Zenda...We love you. We miss you. Come back soon.

Goat Smorgasbord.

2011-08-29T12:22:00.000-07:00

It had been weeks, weeks I tell you, since the grass had been mowed. Hey! It's allows Daniel to do fun stuff with us. And the grass isn't going away. So there. So he got out that same Saturday of Poppy's Hike and the new garage door opener and mowed. It got dark just as he finished. But look at all that grass. One of the things the goats, Vegeta and Biscuit, LOVE is freshly cut grass. Or just grass. They tolerate the horse grass in their space. So Isaac and Ruthie and I got out there and began gathering grass as it got cut.
We added some leftover hay from the shed and some goat feed. A Goat Food Extravaganza! A Great Goat Smorgasbord. We layered it in the wagon and wheeled it back. Look at Isaac's foot. Our feet and hands were stained green for a day!

Do ya think the goats are hungry? Excited? They can hardly contain themselves.
They went right to it. And ate. And ate. And ate. And ate. There was so much in that wagon that it took a couple of days to get through it all.

Happy kids. Happy goats.

Poppy's Hike And A New Opener.

2011-08-24T10:15:00.000-07:00

First off...Every Single Child Survived The First Day Of School! Although when I told Isaac I was so relieved he didn't die he said, in all seriousness, that a kid in his class did die. What?! He puked in class. Oh nice. He said he was just nervous and threw up so his grandma had to come get him. I'm really hoping it was just nerves. Because, you know, I really don't want to deal with the tummy flu!

Anyhoo...Last Saturday was the annual Poppy's Hike. All the dads and boys go on a hike with Poppy. They usually get a hat and some treats. All the moms and girls hang out with Abbie and then meet all the boys at McDonald's for lunch. Here is the handsome group. Only one son didn't go. Too young and his daddy said his mommy wouldn't let him go.
All the group right before heading up. They went to the Rocky Mouth Trail. There was a waterfall and when many boys came back with soaked tennies, I asked Sam if he got wet. He said no way! He was wearing his new school tennies.

We didn't break the McDonald's this year. We usually do. So that's something.

When we got home, Daniel went to work to replace the garage door opener. Remember a couple of years ago when the big spring broke? Go here if you need a review. We only needed one part when that occurred but he had to get it with an entire garage door opener. Sooooooo. When the garage door opener stopped working last week, we were set. We had the opener and Daniel just need an hour to get it in. HAH!
He spent hours. Hours. In the hot garage in the heat of the day getting it in.

We finally set a fan on the car aimed up at him. He Aaahhhh all about that!

He finally got it in and now the entire neighborhood doesn't know when we open or close our garage door. It's so quiet!

It's The Most Wonderful Time...

2011-08-23T09:16:00.000-07:00

And I'm all alone. Alone. Alone. Alone. And my house was clean by 10 am. I am showered and blogging and it's only 11 am. Laundry is running, too. I'll take a nap Wednesday morning at 8:30 am.

We began our morning with school preparation. We have great teachers and classmates this year. We are all excited. Just look at the excitement on these cute faces...
Let's try that again... Looks like Ruthie is the really truly excited one. Isaac had written these cryptic words on the calendar about a week ago. "The day the kids DIE!" I told his new awesome teacher last night that he might die today. Just call me if he does. I'll come get him. So far, no call. He must be okay.

And......We're off!

This is......"THE MOST WONDERFUL TIME OF THE YEAR!"

The Hair Cut.

2011-08-22T14:33:00.000-07:00

First off. A WARNING!
DO NOT STEP ON A BEE! They sting. I sent Ruthie out for the mail. She got it. Then she jumped about 3 feet off the ground and started running. Then she fell on the grass. I was running to her after she jumped and got to her as she landed. She started screaming that she was stung. She was! I pulled the stinger out and got her into the house. And here is what is great. Isaac ran and got his Scout book and looked in the first aid section and read out loud what to do. Sam went right to action to make an ice pack. I got baking soda and water in a bowl. Working together we got Ruthie calmed and soothed. Her poor toe. PS. This picture is a contrived picture of what she felt earlier. Except she was in a lot of pain. And wasn't trying to hide a smile. That is great acting!
Now on to the hair part. I told the boys at the beginning of summer that they didn't have to get a haircut until school started. There was rejoicing all around. I did eventually have to pay Isaac $2 to trim around his ears and neck. But Sam was going for the Justin Bieber look. I mean look at the hair coming down the back of his neck. It was really starting to get embarrassing. But last Friday he told me he was ready for a haircut. I had taken before pictures of the HAIR but he apparently got my camera and deleted them. So we go with the swimming in Lava picture.

It was amazing! When he got out of the shower and came into the family room, dressed, of course, I didn't recognize him. I could see his ears. And his eyes!

Today is Back To School Night. Isaac finally relented and let me cut him this morning. Handsome boy. Just look at his neck!

I love freshly cut heads of hair. Next year I hope to keep my big mouth shut and not offer a summer of hair growth!

Make A Meal. From The Garden.

2011-08-21T15:57:00.000-07:00

I've been waiting so patiently. Then I was waiting not so patiently. But the many many many green balls on the plants in the garden are finally turning!
RED! Well, okay. So they're just orange. But I've gotten a couple of red ones out. And more are starting to turn. YAY! And with all that zucchini coming in I've got a great recipe to share with you!

TOMATO AND ZUCCHINI PASTA

Here's what you need:

8 oz linguine

2 medium tomatoes, chopped

1 medium onion, chopped

1 medium zucchini, sliced

1/4 cup parsley

1 Tbs olive oil

2 garlic cloves, chopped

1 tsp each:dried basil, dried oregano

1/8 tsp each:salt and pepper

1/4 cup fresh grated Parmesan cheese

Cook linguine (I used spaghetti), drain and keep warm. In a large skillet heat olive oil then add zucchini, onion and garlic. Stir fry for several minutes until zucchini is soft. Add tomatoes, parsley, basil. oregano, salt and pepper. Stir gently and remove from heat. Stir in pasta. Sprinkle Parmesan cheese over the top and serve.

Ruthie and I had been watching Chopped on Food Network. I began making this dish for dinner and she came in and started to make comments like: "Wow. Look at you go chopping those vegetables" "You really know your way around a kitchen" "Wouldn't you think adding something like [she points to an ingredient I already have out] this would enhance the dish?"

Then while she was eating she said things like: "Mmm. This really is a great dish. The ingredients really stand out" "How did you get the tomatoes to be so....Mmm" It went on for a while. I finally told her she can't watch Chopped anymore! But we really loved this recipe.

This recipe originally came from my sister Emilie.

My House Is A Mess.

2011-08-19T12:38:00.000-07:00

Hi. My name is Jennie and my house is a crazy mess. Because it's been summer and my kids have been home. And I can't think clearly when my house is a mess. I'm vacillating between cleaning my house or going back to bed next Tuesday at 8:30 am when my kids are finally back in school. Or exercising. Because I can't exercise when they're home. I don't know why. Just can't. But I think I'll wait on the exercise thing for a couple of weeks. Why? Because my house is a mess and I can't think clearly and I certainly can't exercise in a messy house. Do you still read my blog? I'm just wondering. No one comments much any more. And not too many really blog any more. But then someone will mention something I've blogged and then I know at least that person read my blog recently. Or not recently. I really can't think clearly. My house is a mess. And then there's the fact that I haven't had any chocolate recently. It's killing me. And makes it so I can't think clearly. Why? No idea. But it's chocolate. That should explain a lot. Plus did I mention my messy house? So it just makes me wonder what's the point of blogging if no one's really doing it anymore and no one really reads this. You know? But then I look at my blog books and think, oh yeah, great to blog. I don't have to scrapbook or keep a very tight journal. It's all right here when I blog and then get it made into books every Mother's Day. Thanks to my dear Daniel. So what do I do? I don't know. My house is really messy and I really need to clean it. But if I clean it right now it will just be messy by the time my date and I get home tonight. Because my kids don't care if it's messy. Actually I don't really think Daniel minds the mess. Except the shower. He really hates the black stuff that grows in the shower. So he gets this awesome stuff to clean it. Then he cleans it. I wish dirty dishes bothered him as much. Or a filthy floor. Or an unmade bed. Or. But my kids will be in school next Tuesday. So I'm trying to decide if I will clean the house or go back to bed at 8:30 am. Cause I'm tired. But my house is a crazy mess...

My New Scent.

2011-08-18T13:41:00.000-07:00

For years I wore body sprays. Loved them. Coconut Lime Verbena was a favorite. Then I moved to real perfume. Loved it. Beloved is my favorite. Now I'm on to a new scent giver. Because of this...
My new scent is SPF 70. Why? Severe Sun Damage. We'll refer to it as SSD. See that band aid? It's covering up a removed mole. Wanna See??

I just got the results from the biopsy and it's benign. Didn't think it would be anything different. But I've got 2 weeks of serious watching to help this heal. Isn't it pretty? Hey! I thought you wanted to see it!

Here's the real problem. I have many spots of pre cancer on my arms and legs. When the doc said he was gonna freeze them off I asked if it would hurt. He smiled and said, "Definitely not as much as it would hurt to remover real cancer!" Then he froze them all. I know it looks like a boil. By the time I got home they had all turned to big nasty blisters.

He also removed some little thingies from my face. All from the derned SSD. One conversation went like this...

Doc "You Are burned!!"

Me "No. My skin is always that..."

Doc "No you are burned. Look at that. Where have you been?"

Me "We were on a couple of rivers."

Doc "Which ones?"

Me "Lava and Snake"

Doc "We love Lava. Did you have fun? My kids love going up there. [LALALALALA. Continuous lovely talk] YOU ARE BURNED! Look at that!"

So my job now is to wear sunscreen EVERY DAY! I found the one he recommended to be a nice light scent and won't make my face greasy. I also have to go back every 6 months. My skin is a mess. It will take some dedicated daily sunscreen application and several visits to make sure my skin will last a long time more. I am grateful the pediatrition recommended taking my boys in to have their skin checked. Otherwise I would just keep going with Daniel always bugging me about getting it checked but never doing it. And I really love this Dermatologist! LOVE him! Very easy to work with. I would recommend you all get your skin checked. Better safe than sorry!

The Potatoes Are Coming In.

2011-08-17T20:34:00.000-07:00

On Sunday we had our first potato dig up. Look at these babies...

Mashed. Baked. Fried. Shredded. Scalloped.

You name it, we'll do it!

Yum.

The Last Hurrah!

2011-08-14T15:03:00.000-07:00

We just got back from summer's last hurrah. And boy was it fun. Here is where we ended. But I'll get to that in a bit. But isn't it pretty?!
We'll start here. With Daniel's bu.... Just kidding. We went to Lava Hot Springs. After getting camp set up we walked into town to explore. We found this cave.

We found it in the Sunken Gardens. These guys didn't want to go all the way in. Up there, Daniel was showing them how easy it was. But he got stuck and bumped his head. So these guys felt vindicated.

The Gardens were right above the Hot Pools. See 'em down there? We didn't go to the Hot Pools this time. I think we will definitely go next time.

A picture with some of the gang.

I finally caught Isaac and held him down for a picture. That's why we look so serious. "Stay!"

This tic tac toe game was on the other side from where we were. We eventually walked over to them.

The gang walking to the tic tac toe game.

A look at the other side. Where we just were. Isn't it just pretty?

This pleasant bench surrounded by flowers became a pretty picture spot. Aren't these guys cute?!

All because two people fell in love...

Okay. I'm over that!

Here is the river we went down many times. We rented a tube and rode down then walked up then rode down then walked up.... It went until we were too hungry to keep going.

And you'll notice I only have pictures of an empty river. No one was going down at the time. But more importantly, I WAS ON THE WATER!! Yessiree folks, I went down the river on the tube. And I had a marvelous time! So I didn't get any pictures of us going down.

After the river we had lunch then headed to the Olympic sized pool. Oh yeah. The kids were in heaven. I got over being in water very quickly and just spent the afternoon on a chair protecting our blanket. I tried to read, but mostly watched people. Especially the guy in the orange speedo. Oh, that was interesting.

At one point I looked up on the ladder leading to one of the slides and saw these people. Ruthie and Daniel rode all the slides and had a blast.

But mostly they all swam in the indoor pool. Hey! There I am. And you can see my swim shorts to know that I did, indeed, hit the water.

Isaac doesn't ever stay still enough to get a clear shot. But he had fun.

Hey Sam!

And there's Ruthie.

Now here I'm going to share something very disturbing with you. We had a lovely camp site. Lovely! But then this thing happened. A Train. See it? But it wasn't just one. It was one every 2 to 3 hours. Including through the night! Just oil the tracks! Pleeeeeeease! I wanted to put something on the tracks so they'd have to stop sending them through. Oh how I hate trains.

Okay. Back to more pleasant things. Here's our home away from home. We love this tent. We can stand up in it. Hi Ike!

And the chair set up. Hi guys!

This year we added the pup tent for whoever wanted to sleep in it. Ruthie spent the first night by herself. I didn't sleep because of the trains. Daniel didn't sleep because his little girl was "out there". Long night. The next night we all slept in the big tent.

Okay. Here comes some fun. Last week at work, a co worker, Randy, came to Daniel to invite him up to run the Snake River on Saturday. He said we'd be in Lava and couldn't. Hey, you're almost there. Come on up. So we packed up and headed close to Jackson to the Snake River.

And let me tell you. Again there are no pictures of us in the raft going down the white water! Why?

Because I went down, too. Oh yes, people. I went white water rafting! Randy said he got some shots of us at Lunch Counter. So when I get those I'll post 'em!

So that was our last hurrah! Hurrah! We've decided to do the same last hurrah every year. Lava and Snake River. We are now on our last week of summer vacay. It will be filled with school shopping and planning. And some more hurrahs! From me. Not the kids.

The Last Summer Catch Up.

2011-08-08T15:09:00.000-07:00

Finally. I will be able to finally say I'm done catching up on our summer. But then again, it's a blog. It IS catch up. I don't post something until after it happens. Catch up. Never mind.

We had a family reunion for my mom's family in July. One of the fun things we've always done with this side of the family is have a Wild Rumpus. Remember the book Where The Wild Things Are? They have a Wild Rumpus in the book and the king of the Wild Rumpus says, "Let the Wild Rumpus start!" So in years gone by we would bring silly things to wear and we'd all dress up and then parade around and then choose a king or queen of the Wild Rumpus. We would dance to Hey Ricky and be silly. Katie, my sister won one year when it was just our family, because she wore a diaper on her head. Unused, of course.

This year Meme wanted a Funny Hat Wild Rumpus. So we obliged.
Sam was a red bunny.
Sam made Daniel's hat and glasses from pipe cleaners.

Ruthie's hat was made out of a paper plate to which we glued very sparkly shapes from the Cricut. Then she added streamers to the back that night.

Isaac was having nothing to do with this "dumb" tradition.

The winners were my mom and her 2 sisters, Meg and Ruth. Meme crowned them. We cheered. We took our hats off. We had cake. We went home.

Late in June I got an invitation in the mail from our insurance guy to go to the opening of Harry Potter. Okay. Sure. So we got on the list for 2 free tickets and made a night of it. We each got a backpack thingy, a VIP pass on a lanyard, a $10 concession card and free entrance. We had dinner and popcorn and enjoyed the evening immensely.

One afternoon I came home to Isaac on the deck with Vegeta and an apple. Vegeta just ate it right out of his hand. He had already had Biscuit up there before we got home.

And with summer in swing come the zucchini. And when the zucchini get huge, which one or two a week are just gonna do, you make zucchini bread. It will be out of the oven soon and then I'll be busy for a while. Have a great Monday!

Summer Time Fun.

2011-08-04T08:16:00.000-07:00

This summer has been busy. Like, really busy. We seem to be going and going. Here is just a glimpse.

We got Lagoon season passes for Christmas and boy, has that been a winner! We go to Lagoon 2 or 3 times a week. The great thing is, we only have to be there a little while and don't have to wipe ourselves out. The kids love Lagoon A Beach. I just like a chair in the shade with a book and diet pepper. So we go to Lagoon A Beach when Daniel comes with us. This is Daniel on one of the slides.
Ruthie on the slide.

Sam just off the slide.

Isaac taking a leisurely float on the lazy river.

Then we hit the park. This is how the park goes. Mostly on days it's just me and the kids. One kid picks a ride. We ride. The next kid picks a ride. We ride. The last kid picks a ride. We ride. We decide if we are hungry for lunch. If we aren't, we pick in order and ride. If we are, we go eat the yummies we packed in. Then we begin the process over. Then we go home.

Definitely the best Christmas gift ever!

Hi!

On the days we stay home to chill, we have other things to keep us busy. This summer we got a pool and it has been great. Instead of calling it the swimming pool, we call it the fighting pool. Never fails. Always a fight. Keeps them healthy and centered. It's a character building exercise.

I'd say it kept them out of trouble. Except for all the fighting. But it has been a great investment. Easy access to water. And mom can stay in the air conditioned bedroom and read. And open the window to talk to yell when necessary.

And then there was the fireworks. The new Utah laws make fireworks accessible all month (July) long, thus making for long and noisy nights. All month long. I think I liked the two weekends only law. But we did do a lot of fireworks. All month long.

Our driveway and the cement slab in the back are fire marked. Another law change made aerials available to everyone. We did many of those.

So. We are now down to 2 1/2 weeks until school begins. I think I'm ready. Ruthie is ready. The boys? Well, the boys think school should be banned. Hah! Our next couple of weeks are still filled with fun.

I just hope to survive.

Did You See This?

2011-08-03T06:44:00.000-07:00

Last night the kids and I were lounging on the couch watching America's Got Talent. We're hooked. Sam looked out the back window and saw this.
So we went out to look at the spaceship that came to visit earth. We've never seen anything like these clouds. They were spectacular.

I watched the news later to see if any pictures came in. They did. Mostly from Layton. I like our perspective of the clouds better than Layton's. This is a mammatus cloud formation. Mammary clouds. Google it and get more info.

My Favorite Things.

2011-07-29T07:23:00.000-07:00

I simply remember my favorite things ..... And then I don't feel so bad! Aah. I like Julie Andrews. And I like The Sound Of Music. Here are a few of my favorites right now.

These guys. No need to explain. They just are.

Have you tried the new Mango Pineapple smoothie from Mcds? Holy Cats Batman. Good stuff. My new favorite treat! Try it. You'll like it.

I am a dryer sheet fanatic. I have used them since I was old enough to do laundry. But they get messy. You know, they end up all over the house and fly out of the trash because they are light and fluffy. Then I tried this. You stick it in the dryer.

And you don't have to remember to put a sheet in and you don't have to track the sheet down when you pull the clean clothes out. It's lovely. The packaging says it lasts 4 months. This is my second one in half the time. I guess I do a ton of laundry. Try it. You'll like it.

And finally, my blog books. This year I got one book. I guess the blog train has slowed a bit the last year. But I love it still.

Daniel put a quote from Time Bandits in the front. If you haven't seen Time Bandits. Do it. You'll like it.

As a surprise, Daniel did an extra this year. Once Upon A Time. It's our story that I blogged a couple of years ago. On the edge there is says, "The love story of Daniel and Jennie". I love it.

And of course, he put another Time Bandits quote on the inside. Funny guy!

The Ranch and The Other Tire Story.

2011-07-27T11:12:00.000-07:00

Hey! I'm on a roll. Here's another post already! We spent a weekend up at the Ranch with grandma and grandpa and aunt Mary Alice, uncle Richard and 2 of their kids, Austin and Audrey. We had loads of fun. One day it rained. And rained. See the rain?
Look at the grumpy girl. She didn't want to go for a ride with us in the Durango. We had new tires and could drive 2 mile road without thought. But we were disrupting 4 wheeler riding. But it had just rained buckets, so we were going somewhere else. Sam came too. Isaac got out of it.

Here's what happened to the new tires we'd just put on the Durango. Caked with mud. It had just rained buckets, remember? Duh. Driving on dirt roads that have just been rained buckets on turn to mud roads. Deep mud roads.

We sloshed and slushed and thought we were gonna die as we swished from one side of the road to the other. One side was mountain, the other? drop off. But we got some great pictures of the surrounding beauty as we sloshed and slushed along.

Beautiful flowers and stuff. Everything had just been washed from the rain and was clean and bright!

But the road wasn't. It was just deep mud. And so on we went.

It's really hard to tell how much mud was really there. My tires aren't that thick. There was like 3 inches of mud on each tire and caked under the truck. But, boy was it fun!

When we got to gravel road we enjoyed the scenery better. We also took potty breaks. But I didn't get pics of that. There were lots of cows and calves and sheep. We saw this deer, too. Did you know that the deer in the mountains of southern Idaho have one side of legs shorter than the other? It's so they can stand on the mountain side and eat. When Daniel told me that I believed him. Then I started thinking about when they wanted to turn and walk the other way... April Fool! Daniel laughed pretty heartily at my expense. Don't worry. I'm used to it. And I laugh plenty at him in turn!

I'm so glad I got so many pictures of the prettiness. But the only people pic is the one of Ruthie girl up there. Sheesh. It is pretty. But my kids are way cuter! When we got back to the Ranch Richard and Mary Alice and their kids and Isaac had gone 4 wheeling. When they came back they told us about the tracks on the road that looked like someone slid all the way through. That would be us. So glad we made such an impression!

We had a great time and got to ride 4 wheelers to our hearts' content. Eating great food, shooting guns and totally not sleeping. We slept really well when we got home and even missed Sacrament meeting. Yikes! We are so glad we have a fun place to go that even has a shower with hot water now! It's definitely a great family getaway.

Vehicle Woes and Heart Attacks.

2011-07-26T12:40:00.000-07:00

Where was I.....

Let's go back about a month. And let's talk tires. These are the new (expensive) tires on the Durango. It's needed new tires for a bit, but we just didn't get to it. Then Sam and I went to Pack Meeting last month. We parked, got out of the truck and Sam starts to tell me the tire is going flat. Whatever. So I walk around to the other side of the truck and, sure enough, air is seeping out of the back tire. Sssssssssssss.

So we went into Pack Meeting. I mean, what was I supposed to do? Daniel was on his way to us from work, so I would leave it to him. I had a few dads come and ask me if I wanted them to change it or drive it somewhere to get fixed. I thanked them and said Daniel would come and rescue us.

He did. He got it home and changed to the spare and the next day took it in for the inevitable. 4 new and expensive tires. My garage smelled like a tire store for weeks. They are really nice tires and they will come in handy at another time.
You see this?? Only Daniel's lonely and sad car in the garage. By itself. The kids and I go to see summer movies with my friend Kim and her girls. A few weeks ago we got out of the movie and into the truck and started out of the parking place. This weird noise began. So I pulled into another place and got out. My first thought was that the front bumper that I bumped another car with and had to have Daniel pull up with something to hold it there had fallen down and was hitting the tire. (Whew) The bumper was fine. But then Isaac saw all the fluid foaming out of the engine. And the trail of stuff we left behind us. I got back in to park better and realized what was leaking out. I couldn't steer. It was power steering fluid. I called Daniel and Kim mentioned the Napa auto store right there. Daniel suggested it was most likely a hose. But we went in and got the youngest and shyest of employees to help. He came out and put the stop leak in and then the steering fluid. I started the truck and all that new fluid came bubbling and gurgling out again. Bummer.

So Daniel left work and I made Kim go home and the kids and I went back into the theater to watch a movie until Daniel arrived. After looking for what the problem was (not a hose) he decided to drive it to get it fixed. This was Wednesday.

The next morning the car place called back and said it was a little part attached to a bigger part but they couldn't just replace the little part but had to replace the entire part (translation:expensive) and it would take some doing. Only they used better and more fitting vocabulary.

Meanwhile, I had a doctor appointment to get an EKG done because I'd had chest pains for a while. So Daniel stayed home so I could take his loverly vehicle and he could be with the kids, just in case. Just in case a what?? A heart attack on my part because as a diabetic I have to treat my heart "as if I've already had a heart attack" and any chest pain is something to sweat about. Anyway, the EKG was fine but I had to go into the hospital in a few days to do an exercise stress test (you know, the treadmill kind where they run you ragged and you sweat like a hose and then fall off the treadmill because you can't keep up) and the car place called and said it would take about a week to get the part to put in. Hell's bells.

So Daniel took a few more days off to help me and because we just didn't have enough vehicles to get things done and because we were a little bit worried about me. We decided on Friday to just go to Lagoon (because a ride on a roller coaster is awesome for a possible heart attack) but had to stop by the car place to grab our parking pass. Umm. The truck was gone. When Daniel went in they said it was done and they were getting the alignment done at another shop. Hip Hip Hooray. So we came back home and waited for the call to come get it. Then we went to Lagoon and then we enjoyed our weekend. Aahhhh. I love 2 vehicles in the garage. I had just tucked them in...

On Monday I went to the heart institute and it really wasn't that bad. I was only on the treadmill a total of 10 minutes and the cute nurse guy kept telling me that all I had to do was tell him to stop the tread mill and not just jump off. Hah! He also kept telling me what a fantastic job I was doing. Maybe because I was sweating but hadn't passed out? Hmm. The heart doc said it's not my heart. It's actually very healthy if you must know. It comes down to my chest wall being a bit inflamed and it's gone now. All's well.

I'd like to take this opportunity to thank my heart. It's awesome. I'd also like to thank the tire guys for the new ones and the other car fixing place for getting my Durango back in such a timely manner. That's all.

Birthdays.

2011-07-22T08:43:00.001-07:00

We have 2 summer birthdays that we celebrate. The first belongs to our nation. 235. Now that's what I call a birthday. We celebrate with my family with a BBQ. Then the fun stuff. My parents' neighbor makes homemade ice cream to share and my dad and brother in law provide and set off the fire works. We all sit in our camp chairs and eat ice cream and plug our ears for the loud ones.
This year, because firework laws have changed, we had a more spectacular display. I don't have pictures. But there was lots to look up for. Aren't they cute?!
The second birthday is our dad! He turned 41 this year. Still a young buck. His mom hoped he would come on the 4th. But he waited until shortly after midnight on the 6th. But still, we just say the country celebrates with him. He is awesome afterall!

Happy Birthday dear! We love you!

The Drat Files. Period.

2011-07-20T09:08:00.000-07:00

Some weeks ago there was a run of vandalism in our neighborhood. Some of our school's windows were broken. Some of our church's windows were broken. Trees were uprooted in our park and there was damage done to the restrooms at the park. Inside the house part of the neighborhood there was mailbox destruction. And then this... The nice tree in our front yard.

But this wasn't done by vandals. This was done by Mother Nature herself. Rats! The wind cracked our tree. Oh, and the our flag pole. So, no, we haven't gotten stagnant on our patriotism. The pole is just busted. And the tree is gone. Drat!
That weekend we went to a local demolition derby. We LOVE these things. Destruction. Noise. Dirt. Fire. You know. Just the normal stuff. But before this one even got started, the sun was beating down and we got cranky. It was flamin' hot and miserable. Our water got drinked really fast and so we left early. So. Yeah. Drat!

Even though there will be more drat to come, there is lots of fun coming!! Just you wait!

Oh Yeah. This Blog.

2011-07-18T14:38:00.000-07:00

I have neglected this poor blog. I'm not sorry, though. We've been having fun. Lots of it, too. So I figure the best way to catch this darn thing up is to start where my pictures start. And just go from there. But no guarantee on the timeliness. We still have lots of fun to take on.

Here is our garden. The backyard veggie kind. We have potatoes, tomatoes, carrots, corn, zucchini, pumpkins, watermelon, cucumbers, radishes, peppers and I don't know what else. All our fruit trees are gone. Sad. But the garden is growing now that the rain has stopped and the sun has been shining and hot. We are happy about that. I want to add that I have absolutely nothing to do with this garden. Until we get to eat it. Daniel is the gardener here.
Some months ago I said my goal was to beautify the front porch area. Whoo hoo. I think I've succeeded. The day lilies were each split up and replanted to spread the beauty. Look at 'em! They lived and grew. I love my day lilies. They are the longest grown flower at our house.

For mother's day Daniel got me a climbing rose. I inherited the obelisk from my mom this Spring. (The rose is in the obelisk) My brother Aaron built it. He also built the bench and bird houses you see in these pictures. I think those were built out of old fence planks from my parent's house. I'm so glad I have these fun things Aaron built before he died 9 years ago.

Now, I'm a firm believer that a spot of such immense beauty must have a dose of reality. My dose of reality came years ago when my kiddos were very young. I sent them out to the front porch with paint and brushes and pumpkins. I told them to paint the pumpkins (because carving was waaaay too messy for my liking at the time) and then I walked away. Like into the house and closed the door. And this is what I walked back out to. See the lovely paint? Some guy who was delivering something at my door some time later made a comment about how unseemly it is to have paint on the brick and gave some suggestions to get it the heck off. Or even rebrick. Well. It's still the heck on and I love it. It reminds me of a super fun afternoon my kiddos had out on the front porch painting pumpkins for Halloween. So there!

Okay. Back to the beauty. There are wild flowers growing in the front area here. I added some flower pots I kifed from the neighbors across the street who said I could take whatever I wanted as they were vacating the premises for time and all eternity. The pots spoke to me...

I planted some pretties in the 4 pots and now they are a beautiful addition. Ruthie helped pick out all the flowers we put in. Believe it or not, this was my first attempt at potted flowers. And I think I'm hooked. Especially since I have really nice pots!

This year Daniel added several lilies to the flower patch. These are the yellow. There were also pink and white lilies. I LOVE them. There are also some calla lilies (my all time faves!) but they aren't fully bloomed.

I think it's safe to say I have successfully beautified my front porch area. It's flowery and pretty. I like it. If you happen to notice all the weeds, you are more than welcome to come pull them out. I put those down as another dose of reality in my spot of beauty!

BLOG?

2011-07-16T09:55:00.000-07:00

WHAT BLOG?

Been busy.

Be back soon.

Promise.

Oh Happy Day!

2011-07-04T13:01:00.000-07:00

235 years ago we became an independant nation. Able to speak, write, believe, act and think according to our God given rights.

And I think that's something worth celebrating!
Enjoy your 4th of July with family, friends and fireworks.

And remember those who gave all to set the standard of liberties we enjoy.

And those who continue to fight and give all to guarantee we keep them!

The Day Ended With Fireworks.

2011-06-28T07:51:00.000-07:00

Last Saturday was our city's Heritage Days. We look forward to so many aspects of it every year. Here are a few of the highlights:
Saturday morning's car show. We saw lots and lots of very cool restored cars. Some from the 30's, some from the 50's and 60's and 70's. And even some very new ones. My kids were in heaven. We studied many an engine. Beautifully clean and sparkly engines.

Isaac was looking specifically for a 1967 Shelby. I've never heard of it. But Isaac was satisfied with many of the Ford 'Stangs.

That evening we went to the rodeo. Instead of getting there for the Mutton Bustin', which would have guaranteed seats up close, we got there after the main event began, thus seating us behind others who had already guaranteed an up close spot. We enjoyed pretzels and water (oh yeah, we know how to par-tay!) and the kids went up to the fence to watch.

I enjoy taking pictures and keeping identities private. Notice the skill in snapping the above shot with the fence rod neatly placed over the cowboy's face. I'm all about privacy. And of course, below you'll notice I got this cow gal's backside. I'm so good!

As the rodeo dwindled, the kids set out for other entertainment. There was this old minivan set aside for bashing. For just $2 you could beat on it for 1 minute. Sam won my last $2 and got to bash the van.

He made quite a few holes and dents. Daniel and I thought it might be a good idea to have something like that set up in the backyard for letting aggression fly and so forth.

We'll let you know if we come up with something...

He got to sign his name when he was finished. Ruthie snapped all the photos of him, so the guy told her to go put her name on it too. She was thrilled!

Sam in his Zombie Zone...

We set up our blanket and crap, I mean stuff, to get ready for the fire works. As young boys played football and kept crashing into people, and as teenagers (seen behind Ruthie) were running amok to show off, Ruthie chose to meditate. Isaac keeps hiding from the camera. And then when I finally have a good one, he goes in and deletes it. Isaac: if you hadn't deleted that awesome picture of you, you wouldn't be looking at this silly thang on my blog right now!

After 10 the fireworks finally began. After going to Hot Rockin' 4th last year, we decided that our city does way better fireworks! We thoroughly enjoyed theses!

Have an awesome day and don't forget to lay back and end the day to enjoy some fireworks.

Himnos En Espanol.

2011-06-25T13:32:00.000-07:00

I used to speak Spanish extremely well. In fact, I often would be asked what part of Mexico I was from. I could speak fast and roll my r's and actually be understood. I even used fancy verb tenses.

I don't speak Spanish anymore.

Okay. I have tried. I go slow. My r's are still fantastic. My verb tenses? Well, I could use more practice.

I got my Spanish Hymn book out a few weeks ago. My kiddos were intrigued. So I began singing Spanish Hymns to them every night while they're in bed. Usually Daniel sings Hymns in English before he reads to them.
The other night Sam was having a really hard time falling asleep. He finally asked if I would sing to him. I asked him what he wanted me to sing. Spanish Hymns.

So I did.

When I sing the Hymns in Spanish, I almost feel like a missionary again. I recognize all the words and phrases that we would use to teach the gospel. Singing Spanish Hymns to my kids is one of my favorite things. And a great source of Joy.

Summer Fun!

2011-06-24T07:52:00.000-07:00

So we made the trip up to get Vegeta. Our neighbor lent us his dog cage and we packed some snacks and left. The kiddos played with all the goats for a bit and then it was time to go. Here he is with Sam. He'd grown!
We got him up into the cage and locked him in. Have you ever been in a confined space with a goat?

Oreo didn't understand what was going on. "Whyyyyy are you taking hiiiiim?", she cried. "Don't taaaaake my baaaabbbbyyyyy..." We decided Oreo was in need of a day at the spa. We left some apples and goat feed for her.

By the time we got close to home the truck smelled. Really smelled. Bad. Stink. He had cried for a while then settled in.

He and Biscuit are friends. He is just a week older, but lots bigger. It will be interesting to see how they grow. They get along pretty well. Vegeta had bands around his horns and he was really sore. He didn't butt for a few days. Now I think he's ready for a good head butt.

Now on to other fun stuff. We got our garden in. Finally. Just too wet and cold. Now that the sun is out and it's hot stuff is growing. But so are the weeds. Rats!

We chose to get a pool this year. Nothing like going to your own backyard and swimming for a while. I went out one morning and didn't put sunscreen on because I wasn't going to be in long. I guess I was in too long. My shoulders were (are) fried. I haven't been burned like that since I went to Puerto Vallarta and fell asleep. In my swim suit. On a chair. On the beach. Very hot sun.

We spent a day at Lagoon-a-beach and then hit the rides. We are so happy with our Lagoon passes this year. They were definitely paid more than paid for in April!

We've had cousins over to play in the pool and on the tramp.

We've had a cookout on the grill.

We've planned our trip to Lava Hot Springs.

We've seen 4 of our summer movies.

We have a full calendar ahead!

Oh, and yesterday Sam took his zombie form. Here he is.

Our summer is fun. How's yours?

The Rules Of Summer Vacay.

2011-06-17T14:58:00.000-07:00

I have 3 kids. We've been on summer vacation for 3 weeks now. Besides the fact that we get bored easy, no one was brushing their teeth. Or eating breakfast. So I made some rules.

This is the initial rule list. Eating breakfast MUST happen by 9 am. Otherwise they are out of luck and are hungry until lunch time. And lunch happens when I say it happens. Mean mom. But we have clean teeth, full tummies and things are generally more tidy. Oh. I'm also making money off my kids' lack of following the rules!
I had to throw some limits up for every day. And some ideas for boredom. Sometimes we forget that there are fun things to do. I threw in the $5 for reading a grade level chapter book on a whim. My summers as a kid were filled with book reading. So I'm making my kids read. And it will help Ruthie and Sammy earn faster for their DS systems. My goal is for them to have money to buy before we travel to California for our Disneyland trip.

There are other things that should be on this particular list to do this summer. Then I realized last night that the Manti Pageant ends next week. We won't be going this year. One big highlight is Lagoon. We have been going once a week since it opened and I now feel we have earned the right to never have to go back. Ever. But it's fun and we only spend a couple of hours each time. We will be going to Lagoon-a-beach with Daniel next week. The movie deal this year still includes our wonderful friends Kim and Jessica. But they've been added to. Cute EmmaLi is here. She's new from China and we think she's a doll. If we make it to all 12 summer movies (think really cold theater with soda and popcorn when it's 100 degrees outside) we get 4 free movie tickets each! We are looking forward to Autumn movies.

I'll let you know when we do the KOA Kamping. We have a destination, just need to find the dates.

Tomorrow we will add Vegeta to our pasture. We are so excited!

What A Day.

2011-06-16T09:17:00.000-07:00

Being a Cub Scout Den Leader is fun and has some perks. Luckily I also have a Cub Scout. He happens to be a Bear, but we still get to share some fun things together as Dens. One such thing is Day Camp!!! Yay! We spent all day Wednesday up to Day Camp and had a blast. 20 of our boys came and they all had tons of fun.

We started with BB Gun shooting and then moved to Archery. Sam is in the hold position until the other boys are done shooting their arrows.
We did some Leave No Trace training and then got to do some leather working. Sam is pounding his leather to soften it.

We then moved on to a fun nature walk. There was so much water, but the boys were great about staying away and staying safe. We had lunch and then went to the water. Sam got to help paddle his boat. Look at that determination! After the water we went to the Trading Post to do some shopping and then did a fun obstacle course.

Sam and I were exhausted when we got home, but it was worth it! This is the last Cub Day Camp we get to participate in with our boys. Next year he'll be a Webelos and go to Webelos Camp and then it's on to Boy Scouts with Isaac.

One perk about 8-11 year old girls is they get to go to Day Camp, too. Look out next year...Ruthie will be shooting BB Guns and Arrows and paddling a boat. Just like her brothers!

And There Was Rejoicing All Around.

2011-06-13T19:16:00.000-07:00

Little Buscuit is lonely. She cries. I'm really sad when she cries. Then she escaped! But only into the yard. But still. The kids watched to see where she was getting out and blocked those places. Then she got sly. She jumped the white fence and trotted through the neighbor's yard and then jumped back through the white fence and into our yard. Silly goat. So we had to chain her up. Sniff sniff. The chain was heavy. She cried. But she stayed put. We knew we needed to get a friend. Cass won't be bred and back until September. Way too long for a little lonely goat. So we looked at a couple of options. One: Go back to where Biscuit came from and get another goat. Two: See if we could fanagle something with Unlce Lewis.

Hmmm.

Remember this little guy?? Vegeta! He'll be coming back to us to stay this Saturday!
He's bigger than that now. He was born a week before girlfriend, here. He's already been wethered (fancy farmer speak for He Cain't Make No Babies) So Biscuit won't be breeding before her time.

The kids want to go get him tonight. Umm. It's like a 3 hour tour. A 3 hour tour. Sorry. Got swept up in Gilligan's Island memories. But really, it will take about 3 hours all said and done. Saturday morning we will rise and shine and give God the glory, glory and go get Vegeta!

Pictures will be forthcoming. And the rejoicing can be expected to last for quite some time.

A Thought For Thursday.

2011-06-09T06:56:00.000-07:00

I saw this somewhere once and thought it was awesome.

******

Be the kind of

WOMAN

Who, when your feet hit the floor in the morning,

The Devil says,

OH NO, SHE'S UP.

********

Make A Meal.

2011-06-06T10:57:00.000-07:00

And it's even Monday! Today's meal is an easy and yummy one.

Ham And Cheese Stromboli

You'll need:

1 frozen loaf of bread dough (thawed)

8 oz thinly sliced ham

8 oz sliced Swiss cheese

4 oz shredded Cheddar cheese

4 oz shredded Colby cheese

8 slices precooked bacon

Garlic powder

Roll out thawed loaf dough to about 18x12 inches

Lay out cheese, ham and bacon up to 1 inch of each edge

Sprinkle with garlic powder

Roll up jelly roll style long ways

Place seam side down on a greased cookie sheet

Bake at 400 degrees for 20 minutes

Then cover loosely with foil and bake another 15-20 minutes

Let stand 10 minutes before slicing

Serve with raw or steamed veggies

ENJOY!!

GUESS WHAT?!

2011-06-03T20:23:00.000-07:00

When Daniel got home tonight he had the kids pull the long roots from a big nearby tree out of the ground that is our garden because the roots have been sucking the water out of our poor garden and so I got a quick picture of the pulling. And I got lonely for a goat. So I got on KSL and looked at some goats that went up yesterday right here in our neighborhood. And this is what happened. As the roots were being pulled.
I called and left a message for the gal to call me back. We knew her first name and know a family who lives nearby in which the hubby/dad is the brother to Daniel's brother's wife who has the same name as in the KSL ad. So our cousins are their cousins. When she called me back it was the right last name! Yahoo! I told her which goat we wanted...an 8 week old weaned doe. She started to sigh and I immediately said, "Oh, is she gone?" And she said NO! I was hoping for a really nice family to take her and I'm so glad you want her! Here she is.

We loaded the kiddos in the car and ran over to see all the goat kids. This kid is older than the rest because the billy got in the nanny pen and, well, the 9 year old daughter told her mom when she saw him in there that he was really calm. Sooooo, she kidded out weeks before the other nannies. This little one's sister got a new home a week ago and the human mama wanted a really nice home for this one. So we got her and took her home.

She's just smaller than Vegeta was when he left us. And she got right under the gate as the kiddos walked away. So now there are bricks there to keep her in. Poor baby. She needs a friend. She's making lots of noise out there. Sorry neighbors.

The kids went through dozens of names and finally one stuck. Her name is "Biscuit". And it fits. So if you missed coming to meet Vegeta and want to come visit us, give me a call and come see Biscuit. And us. We like visitors, too.

My kids will be up early!! We are happy we have a goat again. She is a cute kid!

And if you look closely you can see her Lady GaGa lashes! Could you just die?!

Mud And Curls.

2011-06-03T09:24:00.000-07:00

Yesterday the kiddos went crazy. Wild. Dirty. They went to play in the backyard and turned on the hose. Like we haven't had enough water! But they were out there for hours.

This one came in first. He got cold. They each had to take a shower and get clean.

When Ruthie got out of the shower I showed her these. They're rags. I also needed her hair wet. She got nervous. "What are you going to do to me?!" I assured her she would love it. It's what my mom did to me when I was her age.

Wrapping the hair up in rags and keeping those rags in over night...

Results in beautimous curls in the morning.

For a girl with bone straight hair, I think we've found a great answer for curls!

Oh. And they all cleaned up very nicely. Even the boys.

Holy Long Time No Write Batman!

2011-06-02T11:52:00.000-07:00

So it's like this. I haven't blogged in over a week. Does that make me a bad blogger? Um. No. I've been busy. Looky here. You'll see...

We needed new shoes. Stat. Stat means now! So we hightailed it over to the shoe store and replenished our footsies with new summer shoes. In case you can't see Sam's tennie there, it is in serious need of some duct tape to keep his toes in. Ruthie is showing off her new foot ware.

Why is it that kids can be so offended that their shoes are so worn out that we can't give them to DI?? I ask you! The last week of school was full of stuff. Kid school stuff. I already showed Isaac off in the 5th grade Wax Museum. Here is Sam in the 3rd grade reader's theater. The class offered 3 small readings. Sam was a Chicken Pig in his group's reading. He was an awesome Chicken Pig. "Cluck cluck here and a cluck cluck there..." Isaac finally had enough money save to buy his very own DS. We have paydays on Saturdays for our kids. Tithing is first, missionary fund is next, then comes the fun money. They can do whatever they want with it. Isaac saved for something. Then it occurred to him...DS. Now the other kids are saving frantically for their own. Somehow it just means more when you have to work hard for it! On Thursday there was the annual Field Day. I did popcorn. I have been on the PTA popcorn committee all year. It's so fun. It was a cold day, but fun to see all the kids and pass out popcorn.

Friday was the last day of school and the beginning of the family reunion up at the Ranch.

We got all our goods out and ready to load into the truck. Then we were off! Our first stop was in St John to see...

Uncle Lewis' goats.

Hello!!! It's Oreo and Blackjack!

And Cass!

Breeding doesn't happen until August. So we'll get Cass back in September.

As we drove away Sam called out, "Goodbye Cass. Have fun getting pregnant!" And of course, Vegeta.

He butted and played and wouldn't leave the side of the truck when we were ready to leave.

He was so happy to see the kids. My kids. He's getting big and Uncle Lewis even told us that the kids trained him well. Whenever he goes to see the goats and leaves his car door open, Vegeta jumps right in. Silly goat.

There was also a llama.

We stayed away from the llama.

We also found piggies.

Such cute piggies.

We came home in the rain on Saturday night and on Monday set up a new trampoline. The old one bit the dust. It was still cold and rainy on Monday. We did grill however. Poor wet Daniel.

We are in our first week of summer vacay and just when you think the weather is awesome, it gets cold and threatens rain. We are praying for those whose lively hoods are threatened by the rain and snow runoff. We are wet, but we are safe.
And maybe I'll blog a little more....

I Have It All.

2011-05-24T07:53:00.000-07:00

When my mom was my age she had a 20 year old daughter. 20 years later, my mom has a 40 year old daughter. Weird. My mom celebrated her 60th birthday last week. We threw a surprise party for her on Mother's day. Fun! Happy 60th mom!

I have asked Daniel on several occasions, "What if we'd met 10 years earlier? Do you think we would have had the same experience when we met?" He always gives me the same answer. "No". And I think it's because he knows what my next question will be. "If we had gotten married years earlier, do you think we would have been able to have more children?" And then he just looks at me with that look. I know, I know. It's not even worth thinking about. Even though he was so cute even then. I'd like to think I would have fallen just as hard. But with the experiences we had separately through the single years, we just wouldn't be the same people we are now. And I kinda like who we are.

So right now I'm 40 and I have an 11 year old, a 9 year old and a 7 year old.

And when I'm 60 I'll have.....
Doesn't matter. Right now I have Joy. Right now I have it all.

A Rave For A Fave.

2011-05-19T08:41:00.000-07:00

I love to read. And I love books. This post is about one of my favorite children's books.

The Story Of Ferdinand. Written by Munro Leaf. And the amazing drawings are by Robert Lawson.
This is a book from my childhood. My mom read this to us. I loved it.
It's about Ferdinand the bull. He loves to just sit under a cork tree and smell the flowers. This is one of my favorite pages to read. "His mother saw that he was not lonesome, and because she was an understanding mother, even though she was a cow, she let him just sit there and be happy." I love the "even though she was a cow" part!

The other bulls wanted to go to Madrid to fight in the bull fights. But not Ferdinand. One day he went to sit under his cork tree when something happened. He sat on a bumble bee. "Well, if you were a bumble bee and a bull sat on you what would you do? You would sting him. And that is just what this bee did to Ferdinand!" Ouch! I love Ferdinand's eyes.

And you'll just have to get the book to see what happens to Ferdinand the Bull. It's such a great story. I promise you'll love it.

And so will your kids.

Wax Museum.

2011-05-18T09:31:00.000-07:00

Have you ever been to a wax museum? No? Neither had I. Until today. I visited a superb showing of our nation's most influential people. Uncle Sam. Abraham Lincoln. Sacajawea. Thomas Jefferson. Martin Luther King Jr. Rosa Parks. Orville and Wilbur Wright. Dolly Madison. So many more. But the best figure I saw today was that of Sam Houston. Houston was a prominent figure in Congress and the Senate in the mid 1800's. He became the Governor of Texas and was always a great friend to the Cherokee Indians in Tennessee. But my favorite tidbit about Sam Houston is that he bore a striking resemblance to my very own Isaac!

He's not grumpy. They had to sit or stand very still. They were wax figures after all.

Sam and Ruthie have already begun planning who they will be in the 5th grade wax museum.

A Moment.

2011-05-16T19:35:00.000-07:00

I still have snot.

Isaac smacked the back of his head on the fire place mantel tonight. It left a rather deep dent. To be sure his skull was okay, I took him in to get it checked. The doctor felt it and looked him over and said he'd order a CT scan if I wanted. He was sure it wasn't cracked, but would go with what the mom wants to do. I decided, with all the info he gave, that we would just watch him through the night and keep him home tomorrow and keep an eye on him. If he pukes, gets dizzy, loses strength in his arms or legs or anything of that nature, my orders are to get him right to the ER for a CT scan.

When we got home Isaac asked his dad for a priesthood blessing. Daniel and I talked about whether he needed a healing blessing or a blessing of comfort-a father's blessing. We talked to Isaac and decided on a father's blessing. I love it when my kids get blessings. I am comforted.

We got Isaac medicated, teeth brushed, prayers said and covers on. I went to clean up the kitchen. As the water ran and dishes were being scraped, I began to hear a very sweet sound. I turned off the water and listened. Daniel, Sam and Ruthie were singing together. I Am A Child Of God. I went down the hall and saw Sam holding the Hymn book with Daniel standing next to him and Ruthie still in bed. All sweetly singing. I teared up a bit.

And I am comforted.

The Snot!

2011-05-16T16:21:00.000-07:00

It is a scientific fact that a gal with a snot filled head cannot blog.

At all.

I'm almost desnottified.

I have much to catch up on.

Soon...

I'm So Crafty!

2011-05-06T16:02:00.000-07:00

So Robert's craft store is leaving all of Northern Utah. As a result they are getting rid of stuff. My goal for a little while was to get all of Isaac's Cub Scout awards into something that he can keep and gaze at occasionally. So I thought of a shadow box. Fun!

So I went into Robert's hoping to get a good deal on a shadow box for Isaac and ended up with 2 shadow boxes, 1 for Isaac and 1 for when Sam turns 11. And got a great deal! 2 for 1. I just finished with Isaac's box. Sam's will need to wait a couple of years.
It has all his Cub awards...Bobcat, Wolf, Bear, Arrow Points, Webelos, Compass points, 3 years of Day Camp patches and my mother's pins, including my Arrow of Light pin. That badge is on his Boy Scout uniform. Oh, and his Conservation patch. I also put his name and years in Cub Scouts.
Yay me!