The Threat of Snow

 

 

 

 

The first winter we were here we really laughed at the over reaction to the threat of snow and even actual snow, since 2 inches of snow is a blizzard and shuts down the state for days. Now we still laugh but find ourselves thinking and acting and reacting like all the other North Carolinians. It has been really cold the last few days and it is supposed to snow late tonight into tomorrow morning. The weather people have not even given an approximate amount yet. All I have heard is a dusting to 3 inches depending on where we live. The snow is only supposed to last until about 10:00 and then become rain. Madsen and Sullivan have, or should I say HAD, dental appointments scheduled for tomorrow morning at 8:00. I changed them because I don't want to drive in the snow storm. And if the schools go to a 2 hour delay (which I believe is highly likely) that timing just won't work. The dental girl asked if I wanted to change them to 10:00 but then Madsen might as well stay home and Madsen can not afford to miss school right now. So, like a true Southerner I changed the appointments all together. Now Sullivan goes on Monday and Madsen goes on Wednesday when they are out of school so he won't miss anything at all.

Now I need to go to Wal-Mart to get my sisters Christmas present things and eggs to finish my ravioli and mouth wash for Declan to add flouride to his screwy tooth. I will then need to get to the post office to ship sister Christmas presents and get back home where it is safe and warm before the storm hits.

2 years down...

 

 

 

 

Happy birthday to my Waverly girl! She is the best ever unexpected blessing and surprise. I am not sure one little girl can be more loved than Waverly. She definitely made her mark in our home. She is so cute and silly and fun. She is the girliest little thing. She loves pink and purple and jewelry and sparkles. She dances to all music. She loves to make animal noises and play with animal toys. She is a cute little mommy to her "white baby". She likes shoes and bags. She likes to eat chocolate and swing on the swings. She teases her brothers a lot! She went through a naked phase, but that has mostly stopped, for now! She likes to swing her head to feel her hair flowing around. She loves her brothers but mostly her Daddy and her Mom. She just recently potty trained which is awesome! I can't find panties tiny enough for her little bum. She climbs out of her crib and knocks on the door until someone lets her out. We will be celebrating her tonight with fried chicken for dinner and chocolate carmel brownies for birthday treats and presents to open. We all love our baby girl who is not so much of a baby any more!

Leaves

 

 

 

 

Leaves falling while I am raking sound like rain.

Spider Bites

 

 

Yesterday afternoon, Waverly and I were outside on our driveway enjoying our lovely november weather when I was bitten by a spider! It hurt, I saw the culprit, stepped on it and then kind of freaked out! It was a brown spider which made me worry that it was a Brown Recluse, whose venom is more potent than a rattle snake I discovered! My toe swelled and turned red. I was talking to Sheila on the phone and did not know what to do! I was quite freaked out for a while. I googled spider bites and discovered that I needed to wash the site, ice it, elevate it, tie a bandage tightly to reduce flow of venom, and seek medical attention. It was bad timing. I decided to wait and see if I developed a pus filled blister, fever, nausea, headaches... Fortunately, nothing happened. The redness and swelling and pain went away. I had saved the squished spider in a baggy just in case I need to take it to the doctor with me! I have since thrown out the spider. Matt asked if I was bare foot, no, I had on flip flops and they are shoes, sort of.

Why I Love My Mom: by Sullivan

I found this paper the other day while I was cleaning out a drawer, Sullivan wrote it in 4th grade:

I love my mom for many different reasons. One of those reasons is because she gave birth to me and she loves me. I know that she loves me because she does tons of other stuff. She helps me with homework. Two nights ago I had to write a story about my ancestors.She gave me a big book full of information and she let me write from that. Another reason is that she cooks for us. She makes delicious meals. She hates going to the grocery store but she does it anyway. She does this because she loves us. She asks for our advice on what to cook so she knows we will like it. When she cooks it we offer to help her because that just shows that we love her just as much as she loves us. She always packs our lunches for school. She always puts really good stuff in it. Whenever we are sitting around she pulls out a game and asks if anyone wants to play. Everyone in my family comes running over to play and in the end we all have a great time. There is always laughter going around. Sometimes we play outside. This is why I love my mother.


This made me smile and giggle a little. It also kind of made me feel sad. I am not sure what he (they) would write if they were asked to do this same assignment today. I am afraid I am not being a very good mom and I need to do more and better. I think I just need to have more fun with them and help them to feel loved. I think I get to caught up in the busy-ness of our chaotic life and they get pushed along with the tide. I need to slow down, care a little less about the messes and schedule and enjoy my children. I know they will be all grown up and gone before I can blink.

Waverly's new habit

I would post a picture but I might get in trouble, so you just have to imagine her...
NAKED! I swear every time I turn around she is naked. I wrestle her kicking screaming cute softy chubby baby body back into diaper and clothes. Then in just a few minutes she comes to find me giggling and all naked. She is cute naked with her chubby thighs and squishy bum and belly that sticks out. But, she really should wear clothes, especially when the brothers are home. Today she even wanted to go outside and swing naked. It is cold and rainy, and she was naked! I have to admit I think it is cute and funny, so I give her a little naked time and then she is happy to wear her clothes for a little while.

On a completely different topic, Madsen has decided to try out for the wrestling team. So much for my easy winter sport season!

Here's Hoping

I just returned from voting this grand election day. Oh how I hope and pray that the silent majority will not be silent today and our voices will be heard and "they" will be forced to listen. I hope that there will be changes where changes are needed and we can elect leaders who actually care about this country and the people. I hope to see the results make me happy and all the network announcers and Dear Leader and Nancy shaking in their boots. I hope Nevada steps up and replaces Harry Reid. I hope North Carolina steps up and replaces Price and a few others.

No matter what the outcome, I am grateful for the opportunity to vote. I am grateful that I can peacefully walk into my polling place and cast my vote without any harassment or threat to my life. I am grateful to live in this country, that despite current leadership and problems, is still the promised land and the very best country on this earth. It is still the land of the free and the home of the brave.

Silver

 

Matt pulled out my first silver hair tonight. Actually, it was WHITE! I guess I will skip the silver and go straight to white. To be honest, I am surprised it has taken this long. My lovely mother has had grey/white hair as long as I can remember. We all thought we would be grey young like she was. Diana is pretty silver now too, but from a distance she sort of looks blonde, right Di? Tam has gone so dark that when her silver kicks in it will really show!

Matt told me that it was all down hill from here, before I know it I will be fat and bald. I think he has a case of mistaken identity. Most likely I will be skinny and have white hair. I just wonder how long it will take for the white to dominate. I overheard a conversation at church the other night when one lady said she thinks no one should ever let their hair go grey or white because they look old and awful. I told her that I would know what she thought of me in a few years when I am white! I do not plan to color my hair. I think natural is beautiful and I am proud to be aging. And, I think my mom is beautiful and if I turn out like her, that is okay with me!

Sleep over or late over

 

Sullivan brought home his second sleep over birthday party invitation of the year yesterday. The first time, we told him he could stay until 11:00pm because we had games early the next morning. He griped, but when the option was 11:00pm or none at all, he chose 11:00pm. This time, the games are not until 11:00 am so I do not have that same excuse. I still told him he could stay until 11:00pm. He was not happy with me. I will give him the same options. My boys think they are the only kids not allowed to sleep over. I know that is not true. I have problems with sleep overs.
Number 1. My kids stay up WAY too late and then are crabby jerks the next day.
Number 2. I think kids should sleep at their own homes.
Number 3. Although I think my kids are good and make good choices- sleep overs give way too much opportunity for bad stuff to happen. Even worse now with all the internet stuff and cable tv, along with kids.

Honestly, it amazes me that parents are still willing to host sleep overs with kids (parents) they do not know. It amazes me that parents are willing to send their children to sleep over at the house of people they do not know. Our policy has become they only sleep over at select church members homes and the one other family that we have known for 6 years. Insert whining and wailing and gnashing of teeth and lots of that is not fairs.

Declan keeps begging to have a sleep over with his church friend. Matt keeps telling him he can do it when we find a good weekend. I think there is never a good weekend!

Madsen has a group of friends that think everytime they get together, it needs to be a sleep over. They also think that any day off of school, holiday, weekend, should have a sleep over. It makes me batty! I know at least one of the other mothers involved in this group feels the same way I do, although she often has the kids at her house. The guys do not have shcool on friday, so at Scouts last night, these boys were making plans for sleeping over Thursday night and then being together all day Friday. Madsen asked if they can come to our house. Ugg! I have plans for Friday morning. I told him they can hang out Friday afternoon until it gets time for pasta party, high school football game, primary activity and Cannon's first football game.

I think I just added to my meanest mom on the east coast status.

Things Going Thru My Head Today...

1. I have a love/hate relationship with Sam's Club. Love that I can get so much stuff for such bargain prices. Hate unloading the cart to the car, the car to the house and then having to find a place for all of it. Oh, and the $237 I spent today...

2. I just confirmed my Stake President as a "friend" on Facebook, his request, not mine. Is that such a good idea? Now I have to be very careful about what I say! I know he is just using technology to check on the people in the stake. He is a good guy.

3. Someone in my neighborhood is selling a cool home gym weight system for $200. I would LOVE it! Where would I put it? The garage, of course! With all the other stuff waiting for a larger house.

4. See #3... if we get the machine I will have a treadmill, a stationary bike and a weight machine. My dream of a home gym is in the making! Now I just need a home big enough for the gym!

5. It is still hot outside. I like it. Stay warm, I would rather be warm than cold. I do look forward to fall weather, when I can turn off the A/C and not use the heat yet.

6. The leaves are starting to turn colors and fall from the trees. This makes for hours of raking and huge piles of leaves. My favorite outside job!

7.I wish Cadbury would make mini eggs all year long.

8. I listen to Dave Ramsey and hear all these people who are debt free. Paid everything off including the house in a few years. Some making less money than we do, some much more. I do believe we could do it, but do these people have 5 kids? I guess that is why he does baby steps. I have a plan to pay off Matt's car by next November at the latest, that will be 2.5 years early. Then do we put everything toward the darn student loan or savings?

9. How do I prepare a 30 minute lesson on 3 General Conference talks packed with good stuff?

And #10. I have 1 hour before the boys get home and the evening goes crazy! Better make some cookies and dinner and fold laundry!

Letting Go and Holding Tight

 

With Madsen in high school now and growing up and maturing, I feel a strange pulling away and holding tighter. I want to give him his space to learn and grow and do things on his own and for himself, but at the same time I want to be there with him and for him and to protect him from harms, both physical and emotional. I want to solve his problems for him but I know he needs to do it himself. There are so many lessons to be learned in the next few years that will be best learned by experience, his experience, not mine. I don't want him to have to face disappointment but I know that is part of life. I wish I could be a fly on the wall at school so I can see all that goes on in a day. I want him to be involved in all sorts of things at school. I want this to be a fun, good time in his life. It really is an almost physical, tangible feeling of him pulling and stretching away from me, but not too far. He makes sure I am an arms length away to catch him if he is about to fall. This just may be the most dificult pat of parenting I have faced yet!

Declan's Day

 

 

 

 

Declan recently celebrated his birthday! He is a good boy. He is smart and funny. He is an alien, according to my dad, so he has taken on that identity. He has special alien powers that come out occasionally. He is athletic and surprises coaches all the time because he is so small, they do not expect much from him. He is right handed but bats left handed. He loves his little sister. Sometimes I feel bad for him because he wants to be with the big brothers but is not quite big enough and they do not always treat him kindly. He has to put up with a lot and he is a tough kid. He is faithful and strong. I love that kid. I am not sure he knows how much he means to us. I try to tell him every day. He is a good example to the kids around him and the kids like him. We will be celebrating this weekend with friends this weekend.

Happy birthday, boy! We love you.

First day of School

We woke up early and got a move on it. The guys did a great job getting ready, if only it would be like this every day! They could sleep for another 20 minutes!

Madsen had to be ready by 6:50 so he was up first, even made his own lunch, much to his dismay. He rode with our neighbor boy. As he was ready to head out the door he looked like a scared little boy. I gave him a hug and told him to be of good courage. He had tears in his eyes. Oh how I hope it all went ok! I can't believe he is in high school!

The others were off with no problems. Buses came and went. Sully's was late, like he expected so I guess tomorrow he won't leave the house so early.

It has been so quiet at home today. Little Wave just does not make as much noise as all the brothers. She did miss them. She pointed at Cannon's blanket that he left on his kitchen chair, and said, "Boy?" Yes, my dear, all the boys are gone.

I kind of miss them in a weird way. Then again, not that much!

I hope they have a good year. I hope they make friends. I hope they learn. I hope they grow. I hope they do well in their classes. I hope they have fun.
I hope, I hope, I hope!

Disappointed Times Two!

This day had such promise! Lost Season 6 released on DVD and Mocking Jay out too! I woke up early so excited for what the day had to hold for me! What would I do first? Watch a couple of episodes of Lost or read the book? As it ends up, NEITHER!

Lost is not available in watch instantly so I had to put all the discs in my Netflix queue, and wait! Or should I just run down to Borders and buy it?

After that early morning disappointment I at least had the afternoon to look forward to the delivery of Mocking Jay. I pre-ordered and had it sent to the house. I guess that was a mistake because my mail came and no book! I should have had it sent to the store. I could have picked it up, along with a Lost season 6 DVD for $35!

What a bummer of a day.

My Cannon Boy

 

 

 

 

Cannon turned 6. I cannot put into words what that boy is or how he holds a special place in my heart. He was my baby for 4 years and I enjoyed him and spoiled him! He is my Momma's Boy. He is super smart, funny, a little crazy. He is a character and all that that implies. He makes me giggle and he drives me crazy. He has a stubborn streak a mile wide. He is slightly OCD and you never know what is going to set him off. He is solid. If ever a name fit a person, his fits him. He is growing up on me and sometimes it makes me sad, but mostly I love who he is becoming. He still likes to hold my hand and sit on my lap for prayers and snuggle.

Happy birthday, Cannon Boy! Oh how I love you!

Trip to Utah

We recently returned from our two week visit to Utah. It has been three years since we were last there and we now remember why! First it is really expensive to fly our family out there. It is fun and exhausting and worth it. We loved being with our family that we have not seen for so long. Waverly got to meet so many people for the first time. The kids were perfect travelers on the plane, all four planes!

We spent our first week in Fairview with my family. It was so much fun. I love Fairview. It is where I go in my head when I need a happy, peaceful place. Only good things happen there and it is the scene of so many memories. We hiked in Box Canyon, ran in the fun run, went to the kids rodeo, the mammoth parade, ate Sanpete Turkey, went on the mountain, watched fire works in the drive way. Enjoyed watching the kids have water balloon fights, opened the time capsule from 10 years ago, visited with all the cousins and aunts and uncles... is there anything better than the 24th of July in Fairview? The boys got to shoot guns with Grandpa. We spent a day in the desert seeing dinosaur footprints and Indian art on the rocks.

The kids had tons of fun with their cousins. It is fun to see them together. Sully and Lucy did all sorts of stuff together. Declan and Duncan also had many adventures. Cannon liked playing with Nicco, who he discovered is not much younger than him! Madsen seemed to hang back a bit this year. Maybe he was feeling too old for some stuff. I guess it is bound to happen!

I love being in that old house. The feel of it, the smell of it... I love the yard. I walked all around before I had to leave. Visions of Julys gone by... My grandparents on the patio, cousins playing games all over... water balloon fights... candy and more candy and most of all a family that loves.

We then headed north for a few days with Susan and George. We spent the first night eating out and seeing a movie. Then we spent 2 nights at Pine View lake camping. It was fun and relaxing, just what a vacation should be! Susan and George put in a lot of effort and we appreciated it. The kids enjoyed swimming in the lake with cousins, the fire at night and roasting marshmallows. They played games with the cousins and got very dirty! We stopped at the Dinosaur park in Ogden canyon on the way home. I took Madsen and Sully there when they were tiny. It has changed a bit. They all had a good time. Ben and Becky and their boys were there with us. It was nice to spend time with them and get to know Becky a bit better. They have cute kids! Cannon spent Saturday night at Ben and Becky's house and had a fun time with those cousins. We enjoyed our time there, it went by so quickly!

Then we headed to Doug and Brenda's on Sunday. All the brothers (not Chris) came up for Sunday dinner. Then we went to Tony's place and took some family pictures and visited for a while. On Monday we went to Temple Square to take pictures, then we ended up in Park City where we rode the Alpine Slide. That was fun. We stopped at Cumming's Chocolate for a treat. Yummy! I bought a pretty dress at the outlet mall, success at last! All of Brenda's kids came over for dinner that night. Tuesday we went to the copper mine. It was quite cool and impressive. One big hole! Diana and Duncan joined us since they live close by. Aunt Kathy came and provided a lovely picnic that we enjoyed at a park with a splash pad. The kids had tons of fun running all around. Wednesday we went to This is The Place State park. It was the first time for all of us. We were there for 4 hours! It was fun and interesting to learn a little more about the day to day life of the pioneers. It sure made me grateful for my lifestyle and house! And indoor plumbing! That evening we went to an Ogden Raptors baseball game. The crowd was as entertaining as the game! That was our final event as we headed home on Thursday.

We had a ton of fun visiting with everyone. Being around my family makes me miss them. Being in Utah makes me love North Carolina!

Thanks for all the fun everyone!

Pictures will come some time, I need Matt to move them to the computer for me!

Such a girl!

Waverly woke up crying this morning. That, in and of itself is nothing new. However, she has not stopped! She has been crying for 45 minutes now and the clock is still running. She ate breakfast, drank her milk, has played with some toys all while crying. I snuggled her. Still crying. She is very upset over something. It is kind of funny, but I hope it ends before church. Maybe a nice warm bath, a pedicure and some chocolate will make it all better!

phew!

The house is clean, the bags are packed, the boarding passes are printed! We are about to head west for a fun visit with the family. We have been looking forward to this for a very long time. I am ready to be done worrying about all the prep and just be on our way! My biggest fear now is Waverly getting sick on the plane. I bought dramamine and totally plan to drug her. Prayers for a vomit free plane ride! We borrowed portable DVD players from friends so the kids have movies to watch. They also have their game boys and ipods. Sure beats the old fashioned way of entertainment on a plane or car!

All my lists have been checked off so we are ready to go. See you soon!

First Date

Last night we had a family in our ward over for dessert, and last minute before we leave the state Home Teaching. They have 5 kids, 3 girls and 2 boys. Their oldest daughter just turned sixteen and had her first date. Guess who her first date was? Her father! What a sweet, fun tradition. That is their thing, the first date for each kid will be with the parent. He took her to dinner at a nice restaurant and then to a movie. We think this is such a neat idea that we are going to make it our first dates as well. So lucky me, I will get 4 first dates!

Observation and Question of the Week

 

 

Madsen and Sullivan have been away at Scout Camp this week. My house feels quite empty without them. Everything seems easy to do with only three kids, although I do find myself wanting to leave to go do something and remembering that I would have to take the 3 kids, so I stay home. There are a lot of things that can wait until Monday, when the bigs are back! But- the most interesting observation of the week is this: Declan and Cannon fight with each other. Declan and Cannon fight less when Madsen and Sullivan are gone. Madsen and Sullivan very rarely fight with each other, so why oh why do they cause the other two to fight?

Not so little any more

 

 

 

 

Today is Madsen's 14th birthday. He has grown into a nice, smart, good and fun young man. He is a joy to have around.He enjoys reading like few people I have ever known. The boy always has a book in his hand. I have to tell him to put books a way and do his work. I think the last several years (like 12) he has been given books for birthday presents. He likes theatre and had a great time being part of his middle school spring musical this year. He enjoys sports and is going to be trying some new ones in high school this year. He plans to run on the cross country team in the fall and wrestle in the winter. It will be fun to watch him discover and develop new talents. He is helpful at home and loves his little sister. It is hard for me to believe that he will be in high school in the fall. So many new adventures to be had! We do so love this boy and we are grateful to have him in our family.

Summer Cross Country

I just dropped Madsen off for his first summer run with the high school cross country team. He looked scared to death and I can not blame him! I can not think of many things that would scare me more than being dropped off with a group of strangers and being told to have fun. The coach seemed nice. He did not particularly look like a runner. I am anxious to hear if he runs with the kids. My cross country coach did every single work out with us. That may be a rare thing. There were a lot of kids. A couple of boys who looked young and scared like Madsen. Oh how I hope this will be a good experience for him. Not just today, but for the next four years. I hope he will make friends. This is part of why he is doing this. To meet kids before school starts and to be part of a team. After running they are going to the swimming and then having pancakes at the home of one of the girls, she just happens to be in our ward. It should be fun. I have butterflies in my tummy for him. I just hope he does not come home and tell me he hated it and does not ever want to go back.

A report back:

He did have a good time and met some nice boys. One older boy was particularly kind and asked him lots of stuff and made him feel comfortable. He said he ran by himself because he could not keep up with the others. The coach did not run, I belief Mr. Howard was a rare kind of coach! He is looking forward to running with the team again when we get back from vacation. I also imagine that when school starts there will be more kids. Overall- a good day! And, I think cross-country kids make good friends because they are not your stereotypical athlete, you know, dumb and arrogant! I think it will be good. And yes, cross country smells different in NC, but I have smelled it!

Waverly and shoes

Matt got a new video camera for father's day. Here is a little sample of Wave and the brothers. We just picked a video without checking which one it was. I guess you can see what goes on at my house! Really we were just trying to see how to get videos from the camera to this site! Now that I know how to do this little trick I just might post some videos!

Service Project

Madsen has 3 weeks left to complete his Deacon Duty To God program. He has one lingering service project that has to be done. He has been procrastinating this one for months now. I think he thought he would not really have to do it. I guess he does not have to do it, he just won't get the recognition. Some kids don't care about that, but Madsen would feel bad about it in about a month. Lucky for him, our neighbors have a huge pile of mulch in their yard they have been working on for over a month. I suggested he invite his friends over and move the mulch this week. Today is the day! It is supposed to be 99 degrees plus our lovely humidity today. Hopefully, there will be 6 Deacons doing the work. If they all show up, the work should go quickly and then they plan to jump in the pool. I really just hope they will be good workers and do what the neighbors want. I want the neighbors to be pleased and impressed that a group of 12-13 year old boys can do the job, willingly. Knowing how Madsen puts things off to the last minute, we should maybe get started on that Eagle project now! :)

One Down...

I taught Relief Society for the first time today. The topic was the life of Christ. Nothing like diving in head first with a simple subject! At least there was plenty of material to take up the 30 minutes I had. It went well. No one told me I did a bad job, several women told me I did a fabulous job and one even said she is so glad they get to hear from me 3 times a month. Mostly I think she is glad it is me, not her! I sure hope this gets easier with time. I was so nervous, worrying about doing a terrible job and disappointing the women. I was prepared to have hymn books and cheerios thrown at me. Next week is Teachings for Our Times, and the great topic of Guarding against lust and other worldly temptations, using Elder Holland's talk and President Monson's talk from the priesthood session. Should be an interesting topic. I do prefer to discuss this with adult women rather than the teenagers!

Sweet Release

I was released as a Primary teacher (finally) on Sunday! I have currently been teaching for 2 years. Prior to that I was in the Young Womens presidency and prior to that I was in Primary presidencies, twice. Overall, it has been about 10 years since I have been in Relief Society. This time I do not think I will miss Primary. I have had a couple of rough groups of kids. As individuals, they are all great, one class I even really liked the kids, but as classes they were difficult. Add that to having Matt in the Bishopric which makes Sundays long and hard at my house. Sundays have consisted of me battling kids on my own for hours. I am thrilled to no longer have to deal with other peoples children on Sunday, my 5 are enough!

So, I know you are all dying to know what my new calling is! I get to be THE Relief Society teacher! I am excited and nervous all at the same time. I have been saying for years that I want to have this calling. Teaching the women once or twice a month sounds great! Apparently, our stake is making some changes in the RS teaching and are doing away with multiple teachers, so I get to be the guinea pig teacher to see how it goes with one teacher teaching all 3 weeks. I really don't think it will be so bad, I mean, I have been teaching every week for the past many years! I know it will require more preparation than primary, but I imagine it will be more enjoyable prep and I will learn a lot more. And hopefully, the women will share their knowledge and experiences and thoughts with us so I am not up there giving a boring lecture each week. I am afraid that the sisters will get tired of me before I am tired of the calling. Hopefully, I will be up to the challenge and not embarrass myself.

I don't know if I am supposed to teach this week. That would be good to find out. I really hope not because Sullivan's soccer tournament is Saturday and Sunday and he is a key player on the team and they really have a chance to win. Judge me all you want, but I want, and plan, to go to the soccer games. The kids do not play on Sundays during the season. This is an exception to the rule at my house. I will probably go in a dress so if they lose the first game I can rush to the church and teach my lesson!

A little different

Last week I had to work so hard to get everything ready for my family before I left for my little beach trip. Matt left early this morning for a weekend trip to Utah to be with his family as his brother and wife are sealed. He packed his bag. I drove him to the airport. That is that. He did tell me he would leave me the money. I guess he did his part!

I do wish I could go out for this event too. But it is not possible. I am sure it will be a great day for the family and he will enjoy it. I will enjoy this long holiday weekend with the kids.

Heading to the Beach!

I am spending the weekend, ok, Thursday - Saturday, at the beach with 5 other ladies this weekend. I am really looking forward to it.I think the beach will be much more relaxing when I am not constantly worried about someone drowning! I have a good book ready for me! I am amazed at the huge amount of work it is to get ready for me to leave! It would be easier to get the whole family ready to leave without me! Packing my stuff is easy. Making sure everything at home is ready is huge! I had to arrange for Waverly all day Friday, Declan and Cannon to get home from school on Friday, notes to teachers about the change in transportation, lunch money, dinner plans for Thurs. since Cannon has soccer practice at 6:00... Thankfully, Madsen and Sully are old enough and responsible enough to take care of the sibs at home after school. I wrote lists! Lists of things they need to do Thursday and Friday and Saturday including Saturday job lists. Lists for the boys and lists for the dad.I even broke down and bought cell phones for Madsen and Sully so Matt can communicate with them on Saturday during the doubled up soccer game. That will be fun! My bags are packed and waiting, Waverly's bag is packed, dinner is ready for Madsen to put in the oven...

I am off to the beach!

2020

Yesterday during Sacrament meeting, Cannon asked me if we would all be dead in 2020. I told him I sure hoped not since it is only ten years away and he will only be 16. He said, "well, you will be old in 2020, you will be a grandma." My first reaction was I won't be that old and I won't be a grandma in ten years. Then I did the math: yes, I will be 45 (not that old) and I could be a grandma! Madsen will be 24, there is a chance that I could be a grandma in 2020.

Mulch ado about nothing!

Last week we had 15 cubic yards of mulch delivered to our house. It covers the drive way. We are spreading it all along the hill on the side of the house and all the garden beads and around the trees in the yard. Spreading mulch is a big job. I have done most of the work so far. I actually enjoy hard labor outside when I know it has an end and it beautifies my space. I am really glad that this is not my job that I do day in and day out. That would not be much fun. On Saturday, after a very successful day at the soccer fields (Cannon's team tied, but he looked like he knew what he was doing this time and did a good job; Declan's team won 2-1 in the final seconds; Sully's team beat the only undefeated team 2-1, he made a game saving save in goal in the last minutes of the game) we all joined in the mulch spreading fun. The boys were complaining and asking how much they had to do. I just pointed to the HUGE pile and said, all of it. So, we were all happily working with shovels when the neighbor boy who is Madsen and Sully's friend came over wanting to hang out with them. They told him they had to do mulch for a while and he said, " can I help?" What? A teen age boy volunteering to help with such a fun job? He went and got his shovel and got to work. The boys kept asking when they could stop. I told them Yash could stop whenever he wanted, but they could stop when I did. It was 95 degrees on Saturday. We were very sweaty. At one point Sully said something about how much better it is at Yash's house because he has his own flat screen tv and wii and computer in his room. Yash commented about how boring it is at his house and that the Wii and tv and computer get boring really fast. I told Sully he could move in with Yash. Yash said, "then I would not be so bored." I found it interesting that the boy who has everything my boys dream of, would rather be doing yucky yard work with his friends than playing on all his fun stuff.

At dinner I pointed out to the boys that Yash has all the electronic stuff in his room that they wish they had free access to, and what did he choose? They have each other and mulch to spread. Who has the happier home? Who is more blessed? They all agreed that it was them.

To the person who leaves comments in Chinese Characters!

Whoever you are, stop. There is no reason for you to be reading my blog. You are neither friend nor family, so I am sure anything I write here is of no real interest to you. You do not even leave a real comment. I never check your site, so if it is an attempt to get me, or those I love, trapped in some crap, it is not working. I delete every fake comment that is ever posted so no one sees it. There must be things more worthwhile than reading blogs about people you do not know and posting comments in a font or language that no one can read. Either you waste a huge amount of time, or you have nothing better to do, which makes your life pretty pathetic. Go read a book, or climb a mountain, paint a picture or clean up trash in your neighborhood. I can give you a long list of suggestions of things to do if you are bored. Just stay off my blog!

Father and Sons

 

 

 

 

Tonight is our wards annual Father/Son Priesthood commemorative camp out. This has long been a favorite weekend at our house. The boys love it. I love it. Matt loves it! Ok, the first statements are true, the last is maybe a stretch. Matt loves his boys and loves spending time with them. This night is not so relaxing for him, but that is ok, a small sacrifice for his kids. And, he does end up enjoying it. They will be camping at the home of a family in the ward this year with the Deacon's and their fathers and brothers. The HP Group was in charge of reserving the group camp site, which they did, unfortunately, they did not pay much attention and reserved it for JANUARY 7 not May 7, so no one camped in January, the money was spent, and when they checked into it recently, discovered the mistake! The family whose yard they will be in has 15 acres, so it is not like camping in my yard. Cannon is so excited. He has been counting down days all week and wanted to do his packing last night. This morning they asked if it would be a get home, get packed and get on the road day. Waiting for Dad to get home will be so hard!

I enjoy this night by myself. It is a rare thing. In years past I have gone to dinner and movies with other Moms of boys. One year I even went to dinner all by myself. Then I come home and watch a movie that no one else wants to watch and sometimes I do a big project uninterrupted. I am not quite sure what I will do tonight. Waverly is not a lot of fun at a restaurant or movie right now. I have a movie to watch at home. I will probably buy myself dinner and eat at home. I might work on a project, I might not. I might spend the evening alone, I might do something with friends. I will enjoy the quiet, clean house while it lasts.

It won't be too many years until Waverly and I get to have a fun Mother/Daughter night while the rest of them are off camping. I envision fun dinners and pedicures and shopping and girl movies and chocolate.

Turning off the Heat

 

It was hot yesterday. It was also the first day of humidity which makes the hot feels so much hotter. When we were going to bed last night the temperature in the house upstairs was 84 degrees. Remember, it is only now May and I try to hold off turning on the A/C as long as possible! I admit, 84 is pretty hot inside. The boys were complaining about it being hot so I told them to sleep in their undies, not under covers, with windows open and pretend they ar camping. Declan came down and said, "Mom, will you please turn of the heat! It is 84 upstairs and I think that is hot enough."

I decided to turn off the heat today. I hope they appreciate it!

random thought

Is it weird that I only eat yogurt with a plastic spoon? I can not stand the feel of yogurt texture on a metal spoon. Am I the only person with this particular oddity? I eat everything else with a regular spoon, unless I am at a picnic, of course. Normally, I do not like plastic spoons, the plastic bugs me, unless I am eating yogurt.

Do you really wonder where Cannon gets his OCD? Must be from Grandpa.

What is rich?

 

Yesterday as we drove by a house with a for sale sign on it Cannon asked if that was the house I want. I guess I talk about wanting a new house too much! Any way, he then asked how much houses cost and and then said, "if we had google-plex dollars, we could buy a house." Very true. What ever google-plex is, it sounds like a lot!

Here is the conversation that then happened between Cannon and Declan:

C: I have $88 so I am rich.
D:$88 is not rich.
C:$88 is rich to me!
D: well, $88 is not rich, $5,000 would be rich.

Made me giggle. I wish $5,000 was rich. Then I would feel like I had google-plex!