Knights in Shining Armor or a good excuse...

I took the boys to Goodwill to outfit them for the upcoming trek. They were happy to see the group of girls they like at the store. Waverly was also excited to see her girlfriends. She followed them all around. They were nice to her. The boys had fun for a few minutes shopping with the girls, trying to find the craziest clothes they could. Moments after walking in the door, they got messages from the girls that their car won't start. Madsen was very quick to reply that he could go rescue them. The driver-girl even told her dad that M and S could get to them faster than he could. So, off they went to rescue these damsels in distress. The boys might be happy for an opportunity to serve... or the opportunity to hang out with the girls a little longer.

Summer of Missionary Prep/Life Skills...

This is the last week of school and just like it does every year, the anxiety is building up. I do love having my kids home, the lack of schedule, sleeping in, swimming, family adventures... But I also struggle having the kids home, lack of schedule, sleeping in... It does not take long for the kids to complain of being bored, hot etc. Every summer I have great plans to adventure and learn with the kids. Every summer I fail and we end up watching way too much t.v., playing too many video games and pretty much accomplishing nothing. I am determined to not have that happen this time!So my mental planning is happening. I plan to have a job every day, many projects completed, artwork created, books read, games played, miles run, hours at the pool, and yes, naps! Last night I had the stroke of genius to have a summer of missionary/college/life prep. I have one year (holy crap) left with Madsen in my house. He needs to learn how to live without his mother. The other boys can learn with him. So, if you have any great suggestions on things to teach my boy in the final year before he leaves home, I would love to hear it! Meal planning and shopping and cooking are top on the list. Laundry, budgeting, time management, cleaning, changing flat tires (I know how now after last weeks adventure), sewing on buttons, tie a tie... the list can go on and on. Some of my big projects include building a fire pit, building our own patio furniture, building Wave's playhouse, painting bedrooms, artwork for my big wall, building raised garden beds, building shelves for closets. Big plans. How much will actually happen is yet to be seen! I really want Madsen to get a job so he can earn some dollars for that upcoming mission. Matt is taking 2 weeks off, one in June and one in July. We are planning to spend some time in Asheville and the mountains we have yet to explore. The big adventure will be a trip to Washington D.C. We have lived here for 9 years and have yet to make that trip. We will also hit Colonial Williamsburg and Water Country USA. The boys love the beach so we will have to take a weekend or maybe just a day trip to the coast. My next post just might be all about my summer failings.

Prom tonight

Tonight is the Prom. So far it has cost me $400. Yep, for a date. For my 16 year old. He will have to pay me back for the corsage ($50!!!) and the tickets, $80. He is excited and his date is a super good and cute girl in our ward. We picked up his tux last night and he got his hair cut. They are taking pictures at 5:00, dinner at 6:30, dance for a while, bowling and then heading to one boys house for food and fun. Maddie has a 1:00 curfew so I told Madsen that his curfew is however many minutes later it takes him to get home from dropping her off, which is about 7. I hope they have a fun time and that Maddie will still like Madsen at church on Sunday! I will post pictures when we have them. And, for the record, I am going to learn how to make corsages and boutonnieres over the summer. That way for the dances next year I can make them for any kid that wants me to and save them a ton of money.

Prom Phase 1= Asking The Girl

Madsen and some friends decided to go to the Apex Prom together. Two of the boys attend Panther Creek High so they had to ask Apex girls. All 4 boys had girls in mind. They wanted to ask them in creative ways so the planning started. The first boy used one of his t-shirts and wrote on it "wash me to reveal your date. Will you go to prom with..." then there were a bunch of boy names. All but one were written in washable marker. THE one was in Sharpie so it did not wash off. They left it in a wrapped box on her porch. Cute, she said yes. Madsen had all sorts of ideas. What he ended up doing was funny. He printed out "if you go to prom with me we can be M & M (they have matching initials) What do you say?" He put 1 word in Easter eggs filled with m&m's. Then he had a paper saying "follow the chalk line to bring me your answer." He painted YES on a water bottle and NO on the fire hydrant at the end of her drive way. They used side walk chalk to draw a line and he was up the street a bit with a big jar of m's for her. She brought him the water bottle. Fun idea, right? His Eagle project was the next day... he painted fire hydrants. The remaining boys asked their girls the next days. Now the asking is over and Madsen gets to go to Prom with the cutest girl in our ward! Phase 2 is all their planning. Dinner, cars, where to take pictures- houses and outdoors, after prom activity... he did get his tux rented today. Phase 3 may need to be the job he gets to pay for all this!

Perspective and Streaking

Back in high school when I weighed about 115 pounds, a girl on my basketball team said that she weighed 150. I was shocked! She did not look fat, but oh my goodness! 150 pounds? My head was screaming how obese that is. I could not imagine weighing that much. Fast forward 20 plus years and not only can imagine it, but I am it. And most shocking of all, I think I am the only person on the planet who thinks I am even a little bit fat. I guess back then I was just really skinny. My sisters and I are going to go streaking together. Before you all get sick to your stomachs at the mental picture this phrase just created, it is not what you think! It will be a consecutive days (streak) of running contest. We will see who is the best streaker. The big problem with this streak is that Tam is making us start counting today! It is FRIDAY! You can not start something on Friday! Make me crazy, I tell you! The only saving grace of starting this streak on Friday is that it is February 1, and who does not love the first of the month to start something? Oh, and it is not quite totally unbearable because I have been exercising 4-5 days a week for the last 4 weeks so I am not all the way starting something on a Friday. I am on day 19 of Jillian Micheals 30 day Shred program. I have not shredded that much. Oh well. Tomorrow will be my last day of work out 2. I am afraid of work out 3. But, if it does not kill me, it will make me stronger, right? So, today was day one and counting. Before I know it I will weigh 115 again. Yeah right.

The Guy In Her Brain

Waverly woke up at 4:30 this morning because "the guy in her brain was stomping so loud!" I have no idea what she is talking about. She has been bouncing off the walls and making me crazy ever since. And, she keeps talking about the stomping guy in her brain. She asks me if I can hear him going, "stomp, stomp, stomp" In the car she said, " does my brain have feet? Maybe it is my brain feet stomping." I don't know if I should be worried about this for any number of reasons...
Mostly I just hope the guy stops stomping in her brain so she will be normal and sleep! 

The Million Dollar Quartet

Matt and I recently attended the musical The Million Dollar Quartet. It is the story of one night in 1955, when the owner of Sun Records had Elvis Presley, Johnny Cash, Carl Perkins and Jerry Lee Lewis together at the studio. Sun Records was the label that started the careers for these four men. It was fun, well done and interesting. The actors were incredibly talented musicians. They were not faking the music. They sounded a lot like the famous men they were portraying. I would recommend going to see it if it comes to a city near you. Any way, we had 4 tickets so we invited a young couple in our ward to go with us. After the show, the young man with us said, "was that your generation of music?" What??? Did you miss the whole 1955 thing? How old do you think we are? Matt kind of laughed and said no, we are more of the '80's and 90's generation of music. So, I realize that we were teenagers in the decade that these people were born. We seem really old to them because we have teenage kids and have been married for a long time compared to their 2 years, but really?