Old Lady, Handsome Boy, Mr. Boogins & Sweet Baby Girl

Pleeeeaaaase can I have some???

2009-01-03T13:06:00.000-08:00

Mikey, dying to dig in!

Abbey's First Make-up Application...oh, and nail polish...

2009-01-03T13:03:00.000-08:00

Hey, that's my...toa.....ster.

2008-12-28T20:38:00.000-08:00

Hm. Science project? Nope, just Spencer's latest engineering project at home. As soon as he heard we were buying a toaster oven, he jumped right in there with "OH! Can I have the toaster?" So he's taken it completely apart to "see how it works". And to no doubt use parts to make something else.

Christmas Break Pics

2008-12-27T21:36:00.000-08:00

Maddy

Miss Abbey

Mikey

Beautiful Vicki!

Maddy and her beautiful jewelry!

Maddy the lush!

Abbey's toe socks.

Spencer's engineering thing of some sort.

Littlest Petshop Monopoly. The boys said, "Oh great, now we have to play it with her". Nice big brothers...

Playground Songs

2008-12-02T19:24:00.000-08:00

Do You Have Gas?

2008-11-29T17:33:00.000-08:00

We do, now that the prices went down!! Yahooooo...finally, more than a quarter tank at a time for our $20.00!!

I love a recycled piece of furniture!

2008-11-26T21:58:00.000-08:00

I have this old dresser I got from a friend of mine, who got it from her great aunt. We're talking old! Like 40's or so old. It was hidious when I inherited it. But I had a vision. When Abbey was born, Dad painted it white, with pink trim on the face of the drawers and on the knobs. I added new feet. Abbey has had it in her room ever since. Well, she got Spencer's old desk in her room yesterday, and that meant something had to come out of her room. A-ha! I decided to paint the old dresser black and use it in my entryway! I'm kicking myself for not taking a before shot...it was soooo cute!

The brown looking spot on the bottom of the drawer is just the light reflecting.

Here it is in full...it's really hard to see it...it's super cute, though! I love it!

What's more beautiful? The leaves or the children?

2008-11-20T09:08:00.000-08:00

Happy Birthday Julie!!

2008-11-18T18:01:00.000-08:00

On November 18, 1973 Julie was born...

That was 35 years ago today!!

We love you very much...have a good one!

Neal A. Maxwell

2008-11-17T08:16:00.000-08:00

Saw this on another blog and loved it...truely speaks to our time right now:

Make no mistake about it, brothers and sisters, in the months and years ahead, events are likely to require each member to decide whether or not he will follow the First Presidency. Members will find it more difficult to halt longer between two opinions. President Marion G. Romney said, many years ago, that he had 'never hesitated to follow the counsel of the Authorities of the Church even though it crossed my social, professional or political life.''This is hard doctrine, but it is particularly vital doctrine in a society which is becoming more wicked. In short, brothers and sisters, not being ashamed of the gospel of Jesus Christ includes not being ashamed of the prophets of Jesus Christ. . . Your discipleship may see the time when such religious convictions are discounted. . . . This new irreligious imperialism seeks to disallow certain opinions simply because those opinions grow out of religious convictions.'Resistance to abortion will be seen as primitive. Concern over the institution of the family will be viewed as untrendy and unenlightened.... Before the ultimate victory of the forces of righteousness, some skirmishes will be lost. Even in these, however, let us leave a record so that the choices are clear, letting others do as they will in the face of prophetic counsel. There will also be times, happily, when a minor defeat seems probable, but others will step forward, having been rallied to rightness by what we do. We will know the joy, on occasion, of having awakened a slumbering majority of the decent people of all races and creeds which was,till then, unconscious of itself. Jesus said that when the fig trees put forth their leaves, 'summer is nigh.' Thus warned that summer is upon us, let us not then complain of the heat.

~~Neal A. Maxwell, “A More Determined Discipleship,” Ensign, Feb 1979, 69–73. From an address delivered at Brigham Young University, 10 October 1978.

Two things Abbey loves...her Daddy's hat and a mirror

2008-11-13T21:54:00.001-08:00

I caught her in the bathroom standing on the toilet "dancing" and singing...holy cow, drama!

Self Confident or Snotty?

2008-11-13T09:35:00.001-08:00

Found this on the table this morning after Abbey left for school:

For those of you who are not proficient in "kid-spell", I will decode for you:

"I love it when I am pretty. I can be so cute I just have to look in the mirror every day. The end Mrs. May".

(Mrs. May is her teacher)

All I can say to this is "Oh my"!

My thoughts exaxtly...

2008-11-12T13:44:00.000-08:00

The 70's

2008-11-11T20:54:00.000-08:00

Since my scanner does not work, I've been taking pics of old pics with my camera so I can upload them to my computer. These are some of my favorite pics ever:

Me and Lisa

July 1972

Me age 11 or 12

My Mom and I at Borchard Park in Newbury Park, Ca.

Probably still 1971

Wish Us Luck...We Have A Teenager!

2008-11-10T08:32:00.000-08:00

Spencer turned 13 yesterday, Nov. 9th

THIRTEEN REASONS TO LOVE SPENCER:

His sense of humor

He is responsable

He cares about others

He has my need for ORDER

His laugh cracks me up!

He gets excellent grades

His pastey white body in a swimsuit...how could you not love that?

He is my firstborn

He has been able to sing on pitch since the day he could speak

His curly red hair...it's beautiful!

He stuck with track even when it got hard

He is on the fast track to getting his Eagle

In three years he can drive and I can use that to my advantage...errands, baby!!

"I miss Jesus"

2008-11-03T08:17:00.001-08:00

As you may know from a previous post of mine, I am not a perky, happy person when I first wake up. It takes me a little while to be totally awake and ready for kids, chatting, etc. For this reason, I try to get up before the kids to get my day started. So this morning I am soooo tired, and still not totally ready for kids when they came downstairs. I was looking at a blog and they just had to come over and look over my shoulder. Annoying sometimes. I'm getting ready to click on something and Bailey says, "Can we look at that"? As I'm about to say, "Go get ready for school" (because I am trying to do something by myself) I see that he's pointing at a video clip on the blog with a picture of the Savior on it. So, somewhat reluctantly, I click on it thinking, fine, they can watch it and then they'll go along their way. The music starts, and immediately I recognize the voice of the man singing...Kenneth Cope. His voice gets me every time! Love him! So we watch this video to this song and I'm thinking to myself, how thankful I am for kids who have a desire to learn about the Savior and for kids who enjoy and choose to listen to Gospel centered things. Just yesterday, they requested to watch the movie "The Work and the Glory". Anyway, then Abbey starts asking questions about Jesus, and we had a couple of little chats about some doctrine principles. At the end of the video, Bailey says, "I miss Jesus and Heavenly Father, don't you"? Wow.

Weakness

2008-10-30T21:50:00.000-07:00

Weakness.

The atonement doesn't cover only our sins, but our adverstiy. And that part is very broad. God does not turn up his nose or turn away from us because of our weaknesses, or our sickness or heartache. He sees in them the seeds of our sanctification, a way in which we can be more like His Son. Weaknesses are a key pattern to how the Lord works with us. He has told us often that He purposefully picks the weak things of the world to accomplish His work.

When Christ appears to the people in the Americas, at the temple Bountiful, he asks them to come forth and touch his wounds. Why his wounds? Usually we think to prove, as evidence, that He is who He says He is. But what about this--what if he wanted them to feel his weakness, his humaneness and scars, so that we might know that it's OK for us to be the same? " I think he calls us all to touch the woundedness in Him, and in ourselves, so that we can be one with Him. REAL INTIMACY COMES THROUGH SHARED WEAKNESSES, NOT STRENGTHS; OTHERWISE, HE'D HAVE US FEEL HIS BICEPS, NOT HIS WOUNDS."

Some people seem to be more open. More open to my pain, more open to feeling and hearing and experiencing it with me. While others turn away because it is "too hard for them." Do you know how much it means to have someone acknowledge your pain? Through an awakening of what this would mean in their own lives. It makes the pain so much less in vain. Does this mean we go around being negative and only speaking of our weaknesses? No. It's about honesty. And openness. It's about being real. Including celebrating our blessings. We may be making someone feel unnecessarily isolated because we choose not to share our weaknesses in appropriate ways.

We may be causing our fellow sisters or brothers to feel even MORE weak, when we turn away from their pain and show them only our "best selves". Do you agree with me? Take the example from this article about a Relief Society talent show, where women come and show their very best. Some may come away feeling diminished and alienated, like they don't measure up to other ladies in the ward. The activity of sharing strengths often produces feelings of personal insecurity and separation, if not downright competitiveness. (Church basketball with the men?)

But what about three or four of these same women in a Visiting Teaching moment...sharing some tender moments of the grief of losing a child, a failed marriage, a wayward teenager, a fractured testimony. Has this happened to you? You've wept a bit with your sisters and come away feeling a closer bond, feeling the wounds of a fellow sister, and had a connection, warmth, and uplift perhaps not possible from the talent show. Again, Terrence Smith says, "I think there was something about touching Jesus' woundedness that built a Zion culture in ways that touching His strengths would not have done."

--Personal thoughts from another blog... as well as quotes she gave from Dr. Terrence C. Smith

AHAHAHAHA!!

2008-10-29T07:48:00.000-07:00

A boy and his dog

2008-10-29T07:45:00.000-07:00

No, this is not one of my sons, but I'm sure it would be just as sweet if it were. :o)

Look how intense the dog looks? Way too cute!

Who Knew??

2008-10-28T16:52:00.000-07:00

WHO KNEW THIS???

Have you ever rented or borrowed a car and when arriving at the gas station wondered...mmm, which side is the gas filler cap? My normal solution was to stick my head out the window, strain my neck and look, try to see in the side mirrors or even get out of the car! Well ladies and gentlemen, I'm going to share with you my little secret so you will no longer look like Ace Ventura on your way to the gas station or put your neck at risk of discomfort or injury. If you look at your gas gauge, you will see a small icon of a gas pump? The handle of the gas pump will extend out on either the left or right side of the gas pump? If your tank is on the left, the handle will be on the left? If your tank is on the right, the handle will be on the right (see photo). It is that simple!

Don't feel dumb, just go out and share the world's best kept auto secret with your friends.

Foundation of our Country

2008-10-25T10:36:00.000-07:00

"It's been said, 'the right to swing your fist ends where my nose begins'.

Although the argument of redefining marriage is couched in happiness

or equal rights, it's really about gaining control; forcing all of us

to give up the very foundation of speech and religious freedoms on which

this country was founded."

--Taken from a video clip supporting Prop. 8

"I'm John Stossel (bonnie freebairn), and I say 'Give me a Break'"!

2008-10-23T10:12:00.000-07:00

Ok, I am so ticked off at my credit union! I found out the hard way this morning that my credit union, the one I thought was avoiding the "corporate America" way of dealing with customers, is worse than the "corporate America" banks. Now, perhaps I'm the dumby who doesnt' know if ALL banks pull this nasty little trick, but it's the first time I've had to deal with the fallout! Here's what happened...

I lost my debit card for our joint account over at "corporate America". I had to cancel both mine and Isaac's, since they have the exact same number. So, I deposited money into my credit union account, since I have a debit card for that, just until our new cards come in the mail in 7-10 days. Seems reasonable, right? One would think so. So, as of the 21st, (yes, two days ago) I had $73 in my account. Watching to be sure I know how much is left in there (as the rest of our money is in the "corporate America" account), I get gas. Only $10.05. Okay, so I do some other little things, $11.95, $7.56, $2.00 and then $9.05 in gas again. So I should have roughly $32 in there, right? Yeah, I thought so. This morning I wake up at about 5:45 thinking I should go check my account. Just a feeling. I go online and find that I am in the negative $107.56!! WHAT???? I must've forgotten to put something into Quicken, I think to myself. Oh no, no, it wasn't my mistake, it was "corporate America" at work in my credit union. Long story short, I double check everything and discover what must surely be an error. When I got $10 in gas with the $73 balance, somehow I got a $28.00 overdraft fee. Huh? For $10? Then, another one after the next $2.00 thing. How is that possible when right there in black and white my balance is $43.05 at this point?? Needless to say, all the little things also got fees. Yeah, so I should have a positive balance in my account, but instead I have 5 overdraft fees of $28 each, and a negative balance of $107. So I call. I talk to the first "customer care" lady, she explains to me that the gas station pre-authorized my card for $100.00. Okay, fine, but only $10.05 came through. "Oh, but that doesn't matter, the pre-authorization put you over your available balance". Huh, again?? I say, "So even though you see that it was only $10 I spent, you are going to overdraft me for a pre-auth amount"? We go round and round. I go round and round with 4 people total. All of them tell me it's all done automatically by computer, and no they cannot reverse the charges because it's been their policy since January to overdraft customers if the pre-auth is over the amount available. NICE!! Does this make any sense to anyone?? I just don't get it! The one guy told me I need to have a buffer of at least $100.00 at all times in case I get a pre-auth! Okay, I don't even mind the pre-auth...it doesn't effect my balance. The credit union kept saying "it's the gas stations that are pre-authorizing such high amounts". I said, "Yeah, but it's you guys who are charging me for something I did not use". Anyway, I kept telling them that clearly I was not trying to use money I did not have...it was $10.00. After I called higher and higher up the authority chain, the 5th person I spoke with reversed my charges, but DEFENDED THE POLICY to the death!

Future planning

2008-10-15T08:37:00.000-07:00

Abbey said two funny things just now:

First, she said, "I'm gonna get married as soon as I find a boy". Okay. Then she said, "I hope my daughter will have curly red hair just like her mother". Wow. She talks about being married and about being a mom all the time, but that's pretty dang forward!

Whose been an artist the longest?

2008-10-12T17:21:00.000-07:00

In our house, anything can be turned into a contest, er, a fight. How many peices of bacon did you eat? Three? I only had two! Or, I can eat four pancakes and you can only eat three. You get the picture. So today Abbey and Bailey are at the table drawing, and I hear this bit of a conversation:

Abbey: Is my drawing good, Bailey?
Bailey: Yes, but mine is better. (really, he said this very sweetly)
Abbey: That's not very nice Bailey.
Bailey: Well Abbey, I've been an artist longer.
Abbey: No you haven't. I've been drawing for two years.
Bailey: Well, I've been drawing for like, five years.
Abbey: Actually, I've drawing since I was five years old!
Bailey: Abbey, you're only six!
Abbey: So!?
Bailey: Well actually Abbey, I've been drawing since I was two. That's seven years.
Abbey: Well, I've been drawing since I was one years old.
Bailey: That's only five years and I've been drawing seven years.
Abbey: Well, Bailey, I started drawing when I was negative nine years old.
Bailey: Abbey! That would mean mom was pregnant with you and there's no crayons or colored pencils or paper in there.

Ahahahahaahahaha! This is one of the best ones I've heard yet!

Are we willing to battle for the Hearts, Minds & Souls of our Children??

2008-10-09T14:23:00.000-07:00

Please scroll down to the bottom of this page to view a very well done interview with a couple regarding Prop. 8. I didn't know the ramifications could be this severe. These parents are very concerned about thier children as well as others' children and our rights as parents to teach a moral code that is in line with our beliefs. They are extremely straightforward, yet very respectful, while at the same time demanding change. I believe they are being cautious about "bible bashing" for lack of a better term, but being very bold and I think that's the way it needs to be. Anyway, let me know what you think.

P.S. This would not fit on the side and it has to be in a "gadget" so I had to put it at the bottom.

Kisses Peanut Butter Blossoms

2008-10-07T14:40:00.000-07:00

Anyone remember these?? I can remember having them at Primary activities as a kid. I thought of them about 6 years ago but had no idea what they were called. I have asked so many people by now "do you remember those cookies that looked like mini peanut butter cookies, but they had a Hershey's Kiss in the middle"? No one seems to remember. Well... I happened to come across the recipe with a picture of them in a Rachael Ray magazine! Yay! I'm so excited to try and make them and see if they still taste good to me. I think they are adorable and that has always been part of the appeal to me. So, if they turn out to be gross, don't be surprised if I bring them to some sort of function anyway! Oh, we have a ward pot luck this Friday....

Perfect!

Where's Bailey?

2008-10-07T12:17:00.000-07:00

We had a really scary experience last Thursday, and I wanted to blog about it but honestly, every time I thought about doing that it brought tears to my eyes again. So it's taken this long...

This is the first year the kids have ridden the bus to school. Spencer walks, but Bailey and Abbey get to be "bus riders". The bus stop is right on our corner...three houses down from us. I spent the first few days going out in the mornings to wait with them to get on in the morning, to make sure what time and do the whole "stand HERE, not HERE...too close to the curb". And also to do the whole, "Someone comes by and offers you a ride to/from school and says your mom said it was ok. You do what"?? Abbey says, "do you have the password"? I say, "No, your mom said it's okay". She says, "No"! Good girl! So then I say, "what's the password guys"? With a resounding "ONE HOT MAMA" and alot of laughing, I knew they were prepared!

After school, I hear the bus, then I hear screaming, laughing, running kids. Abbey is always the first in the door, and the first thing out of my mouth is always, "Where's your brother"? Abbey always says, "He's coming", and in he comes about 30 seconds later. K, just a ritual to not only remind her to be aware, but to, I don't know, ease my guilt for not walking the 100 steps to the bus stop to make sure? Anyway, so last Thursday, same as usual, same ritual upon coming in the house. Thursday is cub scouts for Bailey, which starts at 4:30, and they come home at 4, so it's snack, change clothes, out the door. So at 4:15 I'm hollering up the stairs for Bailey...of course he's not answering. Hollering louder...okay, going up the stairs. Not in his room. Since he spends an exorbitant amount of time in the bathroom for a 9 year old, usually singing all the while, I check there. Nothing. Downstairs again.... "...if he's on that X-box, he's dead meat"... I'm thinking this to myself. Nope. Now I'm asking the other two where he is, Isaac had just walked in the door about 5 minutes earlier, and now we're starting to panic. "Abbey, where is Bailey"? Abbey says, "I don't know". Me, "Did he get off the bus"? Abbey, "I don't know". You can imaging the grilling she got trying to get details out of her. Now we're in FULL ON PANIC MODE!! I call the school, explain that my son may or may not have gotten off the bus, but if he did, he is nowhere to be found, it's been 20 minutes since the bus came". She wants name, teacher...bla, bla, bla..., I'm trying not to scream at her to FIND MY SON! She puts me on hold...comes back to tell me his teacher put him on the bus, so he did ride it home. More panic. I ask her to call the "bus barn" to find out if he got off the bus...I'm on hold way too long...hand the phone to Isaac and say, "Here, sit on hold, I'm calling the bus barn myself" and get on my cell phone. Thankfully, he had just missed his stop and the bus was coming back around to drop him off. All I could do was stand there, frozen, but shaking, and just stare! Staring at Isaac who is staring at me. In that moment we hear the bus, and I kid you not, not only are Isaac and I out the door, but Spencer and Abbey are out running as fast as they can. We come back in the house, and Bailey just starts bawling! Sits on the floor and cannot speak he is crying so hard. Silent crying, but oh my gosh. Finally get him talking, no, nothing happened to him on the bus by anyone else. He said he realized he missed the stop right as the bus was pulling away. We asked him if he went up to tell the bus driver, and he says, "We're not allowed to walk on the bus". So he spent the next 20 minutes scared out of his wits because he just thought "too bad, so sad, you missed your stop". He thought he would not have a way home and, I don't know, he'd have to spend the night in the bus?? We sat there on the floor together, and I tried so hard not to cry and show him how scared I was. Needless to say, he did not want to go to scouts. Did not want to leave the house. Every time I thought about it the next couple of days, and believe me it was ALOT, I would just start tearing up. I've thought about how far someone could have taken him in the 20 minutes I didn't know he wasn't home. What someone could have done in just those 20 minutes alone, not to mention.....

So I am the loser mom of the year. Bad, bad Mom. Do I think I should stand at the bus stop every day? No. But you bet I've made sure he's come in the door each time.

I am so thankful for the blessings in my life. I am so thankful that nothing happened to him and that it was just a "silly mistake". I was literally praying in my head and heart the entire time! Each morning I send them off to school, feeling assured that they've reached their destination, and that the school and it's teachers/staff will keep them safe. I never want to experience anything like that again in my life!! We've had alot of talks in Sacrament Meeting lately about family. About how no matter what happens in your life, it all comes back to family. Yes, it does. Losing one of my kids is the worst nightmare I can imagine. As a Mom I pray for their safety every day. Thankful does not even touch how I feel...

Redneck Fire Detector

2008-10-06T08:49:00.000-07:00

My friend says this was what they used in her husbands house growing up, because then they'd have dessert ready right after dinner. I think she was being sarcastic?? LOL

When I get one

2008-09-24T18:41:00.000-07:00

I'm driving Spencer to mutual and I have Abbey with us. Here is the chat in the van:

ABBEY: Mom, how do you know how to get to the church?
ME: Because we go there all the time.
ABBEY: I know, but how did you know how to get there all the time?
ME: I'm very smart.
ABBEY: I know. I don't know if I'm going to be able to find the church when I need to.
ME: thinking, hm...where's this conversation going...?
ABBEY: Well, I'll never be able to remember so I'll just have to have my husband drive me there; when I get one that is.

Aunt Julie Came To Town! :o)

2008-09-22T10:34:00.000-07:00

Julie, we had so much fun with you here, even though it was a short visit. The kids loved spending time with you and had a blast at the park! Thanks for coming, and let's do it again...and next time with Aunt Lisa, too!

And the fun begins...we're off to a good start!

What the heck is this, ladies??? Oh yeah, it's

just the typical Kingsford family portrait!!

(Me) And this used to be fun, why?? Apparently

I am older than I think.

Okay Vic, you're younger, maybe you'll have

better luck...

This is harder than it looks, folks!

The obligatory self portrait

Aunt Julie and Abbey didn't play right...they

were supposed to all be blowfish!

We are such a classy bunch, aren't we???

Abbey insisted we kiss each other for the pic :o)

Brandon, Bailey, Spencer, Abbey & Mikey

Jumping off the rock

Ike

2008-09-21T19:05:00.000-07:00

I got these in an email from my mother-in-law. Along the bottom of the email were comments people had written in. There was such diversity in those comments. It struck me how differently people look at this tragedy. Most of the comments mentioned included kind words of prayer and blessing, some were angry at God. The comment that got to me, though, was a man who wrote and asked that people "please leave God out of it". He wasn't rude, but it really struck me. People come to their own understanding of things in their own time. I believe strongly that God HAS to be a part of it. We need him to help us get through tragedies and trials, and we absolutely need to remember the blessings he gives. People can debate all day long as to whether or not this is "God's punishment" or if "God allowed this to happen so he must not love us". There is a saying I love, that applies to life, but interestingly enough could apply to this situation perfectly. It says, "Sometimes God calms the storm; sometimes he let’s the storm rage and calms the child". I know he loves us and I know that no matter the reasons for these things, he is waiting for us to go to him, and he is waiting for us to reach out and help one another. Serving each other and helping each other get through life's trials. Sometimes we don't have all the answers. But I have found, that no matter what the trial, we can feel his peace. We CHOOSE to either turn away from him or to turn toward him...he just waits patiently. I loved one women's comments, which I posted below these pics.

" "My heart aches for each of you as you recover from the mass destruction left by Hurricane Ike. Have faith in God, which got us through the devastation following Hurricane Katrina in Biloxi, MS. Reach out and help each other in even a small way, through this you will gain strength to face each tomorrow ahead. May God bless you and may each of us remember to reach out with help in any way we can. You are in our thoughts and prayers."

~Written by a woman in MS.~

Girl-Cheese-Sandwich

2008-09-20T11:26:00.000-07:00

So, Abbey asked for a

girl-cheese-sandwich. So I asked

her if the boys were aloud to have them

if they were not boy-cheese-sandwiches,

just to make sure I was understanding

her correctly. Yep...she told me, "Of

course they can, you make them for

them all the time"! So I go online to find a pic for

this post, and she goes, "Where's the boy ones"?

Grow Old With You

2008-09-19T09:42:00.001-07:00

Love this!!

For My Children

2008-09-17T22:55:00.000-07:00

Tonight I heard this song (lyrics below and the song is at the top of my playlist) while I was driving Spencer to Mutual. This is a great song...I have heard it a hundred times probably. I've always loved it, but for some reason it really caught my attention tonight. It made me think of my kids and how much I wish for their lives. We all want our kids to be happy, successful people, with rich and full lives. But I cannot, and maybe you can't either, begin to describe the deepest feelings I have for my children. The love I feel for them goes so deep inside to a place no one can touch. It goes beyond the worrying for them, and even beyond the joy I feel just watching them sometimes. It's just something I can't describe. I know they are loaned to us from a Heavenly Father who loves them much more than I can imagine...but that's just it...I can't comprehend that. It seems impossible to me that anyone can love them more than me, or their Dad. Sometimes I am so amazed that these beautiful spirits are a part of me. We have normal lives like anyone else. We have our good days and our not so good days. Our children give us grief sometimes. But in those quiet moments where it's just me, myself and my thoughts, I often think of them and just want to shed some tears! They do something to my soul that tells me there HAS to be something more than just us. I know there is...and it is just more proof to me. Some nights I can't make the tears stop flowing, while I'm telling Heavenly Father how very thankful I am that they are a part of my life. I feel so blessed to have them that sometimes I think my heart could just burst! Sometimes I get little flickers of how eternity must feel. Like when one of them says, "I love you mama", at just the right moment. Or when one of them just looks at me with a certain expression, and I feel like I've died and gone to Heaven. I honestly can barely remember life without them. Or at least I can't remember life being so full. Each one of them in their own way has parts of me and parts of Isaac in them...in the way they walk, the way they laugh, the way they view the world around them, their quirks and mannerism's, their personalities...so many different aspects I can pick out from either one of us. And yet, they are their own person. They are little people who trust us completely to lead and guide them. They look to us for acceptance, love, security, a warm smile, a hug and a kiss. So this song, to me, says just the very least of what I wish for them, but it says enough that it will be burned in my heart for years to come. I could not even sing along to it tonight because it made me so choked up. So, to my children, I dedicate this song...

***

"My Wish"

I hope the days come easy and the moments pass slow,

And each road leads you where you want to go,

And if you're faced with a choice, and you have to choose,

I hope you choose the one that means the most to you.

And if one door opens to another door closed,

I hope you keep on walkin' till you find the window,

If it's cold outside, show the world the warmth of your smile,

But more than anything, more than anything,

***

My wish, for you, is that this life becomes all that you want it to,

Your dreams stay big, and your worries stay small,

You never need to carry more than you can hold,

And while you're out there getting where you're getting to,

I hope you know somebody loves you, and wants the same things too,

Yeah, this, is my wish.

***

I hope you never look back, but ya never forget,

All the ones who love you, in the place you left,

I hope you always forgive, and you never regret,

And you help somebody every chance you get,

Oh, you find God's grace, in every mistake,

And you always give more than you take.

But more than anything, yeah, more than anything,

***

My wish, for you, is that this life becomes all that you want it to,

Your dreams stay big, and your worries stay small,

You never need to carry more than you can hold,

And while you're out there getting where you're getting to,

I hope you know somebody loves you, and wants the same things too,

Yeah, this, is my wish.

***

My wish, for you, is that this life becomes all that you want it to,

Your dreams stay big, and your worries stay small,

You never need to carry more than you can hold,

And while you're out there getting where you're getting to,

I hope you know somebody loves you, and wants the same things too,

Yeah, this, is my wish.

This is my wish

I hope you know somebody loves you

This is beautiful!!!

2008-08-30T11:22:00.000-07:00

This actually made me teary. First of all, I love this song. This girl is 12 and the look on Simons face is one of a kind for him. In the first shot of him when she starts singing, he looks dumbfounded! Then he's just mezmorized through the whole thing. Wait until you get to the end and her dad hugs her...wow!

Drinking Beer Doesn't Help

2008-08-26T15:00:00.000-07:00

Another gem from a friend of mine who knows how much I love redneck images. This one was titled "What does an idiot look like"? Hello! Spencer saw it and goes, "Well, they're drinking beer so that doesn't help"! LOLOLOLOLOL

Slip-N-Slide

2008-08-14T22:03:00.000-07:00

Remember the good 'ol days when we used to lay the Slip-N-Slide on the front lawn and either hook the hose to it or turn on the sprinklers? Doesn't this picture just scream summer? I remember playing on the Slip-N-Slide at the Mendoza's house and wishing it were about 3 times as long as it was. It was bright yellow and when you got to the end you just stopped, as you did a face plant into the grass. What fun memories. Well, today I got to re-live one of my favorite childhood memories...minus the face plant, thankfully. We had a Primary activity at the church this afternoon. When I got there with my kids and Vicki's, there were these two humongous yellow pieces of plastic laying down the side of the grassy hill and someone running a hose down them. At first I thought, "Wow, how cool, the kids are gonna have a blast!" And they did! And so did all of us adults! What a sight we must've been to behold. The kids played until we had lunch, then they did water balloons, and then straight back to the Slip-N-Slide. In the meantime, us adults are sneaking around trying to surprise eachother with a water balloon in the back, or face, or trying to dump water onto each other. It was 100 degrees today, so we didn't mind getting a little wet. Uh-huh...we were soaked!! Completely! The next thing I know, I find myself and 4 other ladies going head first down the Slip-N-Slide and straight into the muddy water at the bottom of the hill. How did this happen? An hour earlier I was trying desperately to avoid any child with any amount of water on themselves or in a cup. Once we got up off the ground, we noticed the looks on all the kids faces...they were delighted!! They were hystarical with laughter! Thier Mom's/Leaders soaking wet...clothes, hair, all of it! It made me think of how often we don't enjoy life like they do. The unabashedly, full-on, who cares how we look kind of fun. We had so much fun today...I want to say we adults had more fun than the kids. Not possible. Even today, nothing compares to the memories of childhood. When you're a kid, it's a first time experience with everything. My kids have never seen a Slip-N-Slide, I don't think. Watching them enjoy one of my favorite memories was priceless.

Lemon Heads

2008-08-08T17:09:00.000-07:00

K, we all remember doing this when we were kids. We usually used orange wedges, but hey, whatever blows your skirt up, right?? We were a Olive Garden for Laura's birthday dessert...cheesecake, of course...and these two were gutsy enough to use lemons...no sugar added...and neither one of them even flinched!

Abbey & Jackson

How old is your brain?

2008-08-08T15:26:00.000-07:00

Check out this site to tell you how old your brain is...and no cheating...the idea is to only do it once! LOL

Instructions:
1. Click start
2. Wait for 3,2,1
3. Memorize the numbers position from smallest to largest
4. Click the circles in that same order

You'll understand it once you get there...

http://flashfabrica.com/f_learning/brain/brain.html

Why go to church?

2008-08-08T09:49:00.001-07:00

Why go to Church? If you're spiritually alive, you're going to love this!
If you're spiritually dead, you won't want to read it.
If you're spiritually curious, there is still hope!

A Church goer wrote a letter to the editor of a newspaper and complained that it made no sense to go to church every Sunday. 'I've gone for 30 years now,' he wrote, 'and in that time I have heard something like 3,000 sermons. But for the life of me, I can't remember a single one of them. So, I think I'm wasting my time and the pastors are wasting theirs by giving sermons at all.'

This started a real controversy in the 'Letters to the Editor' column, much to the delight of the editor.
It went on for weeks until someone wrote this clincher:

'I've been married for 30 years now. In that time my wife has cooked some 32 ,000 meals. But, for the life of me, I cannot recall the e ntire menu for a single one of those meals. But I do know this.. They all nourished me and gave me the strength I needed to do my work. If my wife had not given me these meals, I would be physically dead today. Likewise, if I had not gone to church for nourishment, I would be spiritually dead today!' When you are DOWN to nothing.... God is UP to something! Faith sees the invisible, believes the incredible and receives the impossible!
Thank God for our physical AND our spiritual nourishment!

When Satan is knocking at your door, simply say, "Jesus, could you get that for me"?

Building Cathedrals

2008-08-06T09:46:00.001-07:00

I love this story...I've read it a few times and each time it gives me renewed faith in myself and my devine calling as a Mother...

It all began to make sense, the blank stares, the lack of response, the way one of the kids will walk into the room while I'm on the phone and ask to be taken to the store.

Inside I'm thinking, 'Can't you see I'm on the phone?'

Obviously, not.

No one can see if I'm on the phone, or cooking, or sweeping the floor, or even standing on my head in the corner, because no one can see me at all.

I'm invisible. The invisible Mom. Some days I am only a pair of hands, nothing more: Can you fix this? Can you tie this? Can you open this?

Some days I'm not a pair of hands; I'm not even a human being. I'm a clock to ask, 'What time is it?' I'm a satellite guide to answer, 'What number is the Disney Channel?' I'm a car to order, 'Right around 5:30, please.'

I was certain that these were the hands that once held books and the eyes that studied history and the mind that graduated sum a cum laude - but now they had disappeared into the peanut butter, never to be seen again. She's going; she's going; she is gone!

One night, a group of us were having dinner, celebrating the return of a friend from England ..

Janice had just gotten back from a fabulous trip, and she was going on and on about the hotel she stayed in.

I was sitting there, looking around at the others all put together so well. It was hard not to compare and feel sorry for myself.

I was feeling pretty pathetic, when Janice turned to me with a beautifully wrapped package, and said, 'I brought you this.'

It was a book on the great cathedrals of Europe .

I wasn't exactly sure why she'd given it to me until I read her inscription:

'To Charlotte , with admiration for the greatness of what you are building when no one sees.'
In the days ahead I would read - no, devour - the book. And I would discover what would become for me, four life-changing truths, after which I could pattern my work:

No one can say who built the great cathedrals - we have no record of their names.

These builders gave their whole lives for a work they would never see finished.

They made great sacrifices and expected no credit.

The passion of their building was fueled by their faith that the eyes of God saw everything.

A legendary story in the book told of a rich man who came to visit the cathedral while it was being built, and he saw a workman carving a tiny bird on the inside of a beam. He was puzzled and asked the man, 'Why are you spending so much time carving that bird into a beam that will be covered by the roof? No one will ever see it.' And the workman replied, 'Because God sees.'

I closed the book, feeling the missing piece fall into place.

It was almost as if I heard God whispering to me, 'I see you, Charlotte. I see the sacrifices you make every day, even when no one around you does. No act of kindness you've done, no sequin you've sewn on, no cupcake you've baked, is too small for me to notice and smile over. You are building a great cathedral, but you can't see right now what it will become.'

At times, my invisibility feels like an affliction. But it is not a disease that is erasing my life.

It is the cure for the disease of my own self-centeredness. It is the antidote to my strong, stubborn pride.

I keep the right perspective when I see myself as a great builder. As one of the people who show up at a job that they will never see finished, to work on something that their name will never be on.

The writer of the book went so far as to say that no cathedrals could ever be built in our lifetime because there are so few people willing to sacrifice to that degree.

When I really think about it, I don't want my son to tell the friend he's bringing home from college for Thanksgiving, 'My Mom gets up at 4 in the morning and bakes homemade pies, and then she hand bastes a turkey for three hours and presses all the linens for the table.' That would mean I'd built a shrine or a monument to myself. I just want him to want to come home. And then, if there is anything more to say to his friend, to add, 'you're gonna love it there.'

As mothers, we are building great cathedrals. We cannot be seen if we're doing it right.

And one day, it is very possible that the world will marvel, not only at what we have built, but at the beauty that has been added to the world by the sacrifices of invisible women.

What more is there to say?

2008-07-28T13:24:00.000-07:00

Thank goodness for Rednecks...

2008-07-23T13:15:00.000-07:00

If we did not have Rednecks, we would not have as much to make us laugh. I love these!!! Here's another one...

"What noise"??

2008-07-11T18:53:00.000-07:00

At 1:30 pm I am driving to my friend Patty's house. Halfway there the van decides to give me grief. I can barely get going from the light. I slowly gain speed, all the while the van is having a seizure, and then realize my speedomoter is not working, along with the RPM's, and the temp. gage. The check engine light is on, the oil light, the airbag light and the battery light. And the air conditioning is not getting cold. All random stuff. Patty's husband Mark suggests calling two men in our ward who know something about cars and have them look at it to see if it's related to the $1,500.00 in repairs we had done between December and February, the first of which was $500.00 the week before Christmas. Yes, you read correctly. Anyhow, when Mark gets home he gets into the van it's doing all the same things. Thank goodness for witnesses, because I was about to become the "woman who hears things" and the woman who "maybe thought the dash stuff wasn't working". Cause, you know, when stuff goes wrong, the guy who looks at it never gets to experience the same thing the woman who drives it does. It magically fixes itself every time. Am I right? You betcha. And this time is no different. So Patty drives me home after Mark suggests not driving it and having the guys come to thier house to check on it. They get there, and it happens...everything is just dandy. Yes, nothing going wrong, everything sounds great, they drive it to my house and it's just wonderful and lovely and "we don't know, must've been a fluke". Uh huh. Just to be sure, they tell me the other guy will come in the morning and hook up his deely-bobber to see what code it gives. I figure if we get the same code, I can take it back to the place that "fixed" it since it's all still under warranty. But nothing is happening. Whatever code it was has magically cleared itself. No check engine light or anything else. Again, must have been a fluke. "Are you sure the dash wasn't working"? K, do I have a sign that says "please ask me the same question 5 different ways and I promise to answer differently the 5th time"? He tells me cars do that sometimes. It's like a computer, he says. Sometimes it has a glitch and you just have to shut it down and reboot. I ask him, "If it was a fluke and you don't know what caused it, who's to say it won't do a fluke again"? He kinda chuckles and says in that "you're a woman tone", that it's fine. He tells me to take it for a long drive. Drive on the freeway, run some errands, get it warmed up and see what happens...but he's positive it's nothing. So I take him up on it. I drive about 15 miles to do an errand. I stop to drop something off and a friends house, I gas up, I drive the 15 miles. Runs like a dream. Until I get out of Best Buy and try to turn it on. Nada. No stammering to start, nothing. Just blank. No noise. Wonderful. I wait 5 minutes and try again. It starts, but again is having a seizure. A grand-mal one. I call Patty. She rescues me. Again. The van is in the Best Buy parking lot as I type waiting for Isaac and Mark to go out there later tonight and see if they can get it home. I bet you a million bucks it will purr the entire way!!!

To be continued, I'm sure...

A 9 year olds thoughts on sweating

2008-07-02T11:36:00.000-07:00

More Fun Photos From Pookie Grammas

2008-07-02T10:29:00.001-07:00

Annual Trip To Grammas...

2008-07-02T09:52:00.001-07:00

Each year the kids go to eastern Oregon to spend time with Pookie Gramma & Grampa Greg. They get to go for 3 weeks! They usually have a couple cousins from Utah there as well, so they all have a blast! There is so much work on the farm. It really is an all day thing. So many animals to feed each day, hay to move, watering, the list goes on and on. The weather does not stop the work. If it's 100 degrees out, you just get started earlier. Farm animals do not discriminate...they eat no matter the temperature! Needless to say, working the farm is not for wimps. It always amazes me how they go and work hard without complaint, when getting them to clean their rooms is an all day power struggle at times. Things that make you go hmmm. Well, whatever the reason, I'm glad they get to experience time alone with the grandparents to build relationships and just get spoiled to death...along with some responsibility. Spencer & Bailey removed fence posts one day. Abbey loves to feed the goats. Gramma has a dog named Jack (one of the dogs) that Abbey fell in love with 3 summers ago. She talks about Jack all year...she even named her stuffed dog Jack. She kept saying, "Oh, Jack is gonna be so excited to see me! He really misses me"! It's probably true. The kids will have these memories for a lifetime and then some! What a great experience for them each year. And we always end up with a ton of fantastic photos!!

My Turn On Earth

2008-06-18T19:18:00.000-07:00

Remember this? I have some of these songs on CD and my kids love them. Bailey especially loves the "War In Heaven" one with Satan and Jesus..."...To Me, To Me, To Me, To Me, To Mee-eeeeee". LOL

"Angel Lullaby" still makes me cry!!

You can order this on DVD now. Here's a link:

http://deseretbook.com/store/product?sku=5005857

Afflictions & Blessings

2008-06-15T20:55:00.001-07:00

Well, this is sort of going to be uplifting. Not so much at first, but it ends good...so hang in there with me. This will probably be long...sorry.

The town that Isaac grew up in, and where we lived for 4 years prior to coming up here, has been on fire since last Wednesday in the wee hours of the morning. There is a fire threat every year. With the HOT and dry conditions, it is a very real threat. There have been fires in years past, but not like this one. Perhaps way back in history, I don't know. Anyway, I got an email from my mother-in-law Friday morning with "Update on Paradise fire" in the subject. Needless to say, I didn't know about it until then. She said that Isaac's cousin, who is living with his Grandma, had to evacuate. Grandma and one of her other daughters were in Hawaii and could not be reached. So I went online and found all sorts of stuff. The photos I found were incredible! As we started hearing stories, and listening/reading online, we became aware of just how bad this was. As of Saturday morning, there was 23,000 acres burned, and 66 homes lost, and the fire was 20% contained, due to the winds dying down Friday night. Now, mind you, this is not a big town. Three wards. As of today, the loss was at 100+ homes. Isaac called one of our friends and he told us that one lady's house in our ward was totally gone. She raised kids and lost a husband in this house. She has been there probably 30 years or more. It was rumored that our good friends Del & Lillian lost their home, but could not be confirmed because no one could get a hold of them. As I was listening to a report online, it mentioned the name of the street another good friend lived on, but I missed what it said. I called her at her Mom's and found out they had lost their home. Oh wow. What do you feel and say? How do you comfort someone who has lost everything they own? Not to mention the home they built all by themselves? Well, you just do what she does...you have a good cry, and then you dig in and find a way to do what needs to be done. And most importantly, you thank Heavenly Father for your blessings.

Now, some background and the cool part of the story. This friend of mine, Cindy, has strength beyond belief. She and her husband Matt moved to Paradise eons ago. Probably 18 years ago. Matt is a contractor, he builds homes. The two of them bought some land, and began building thier home. In the meantime, they had 4 children. When thier third oldest was really little, I think about 2 years old, they found out she had some severe handicaps. Her name is Renee. She has been in and out of hospitals all her life. She spent several years having multiple seizures a night. Cindy takes care of her. All the kids and Matt help of course, but she does not have outside help. She does it all. Cindy's husband has been in and out of activity in the church as long as I've known them. He is a wonderful person. A good provider and and great dad. Cindy is a rock. I was able to work as the First Councelor when she was YW President and I learned a heck of alot from her. She is feminine, but she is a man-chick! lol That was our nick name for her. She can work the land. She can build. She can do whatever needs to be done. She can literally go 100 mph all day, and then go some more. Seriously, I have never seen anyone with so much energy and drive. Honestly. She has devoted her life to her husband and children, and to the Lord. She has prayed every day for her husband. Her children pray for him. He loves them and is a wonderful father. Well, they have had one trial after another through the years. Her son Robby is on a mission and is due to return home in 3 months. Thier second child, Stacey, is at BYU Idaho. She was home for the holidays and ended up in the hospital for over a week, and they almost lost her. They have thousands of dollars in medical bills. Now, over the years, they have built thier home and have never totally finished it. Either financial, medical or other reasons have caused them to put it on the back burner. Cindy doesn't complain. She has her moments like the rest of us, but she is not a complainer. They have had to make adjustments throughout the years for Renee, but never really ever been able to make it totally accesable for her or to Cindy & Matt as her caregivers. Renee will live with them for the rest of her life. So, about 3 months ago, she told her daughter Stacey that she was tired. She was frustrated and stopped saying her prayers for a few weeks. She said she felt like she had only ever given 95% over to the Lord. She felt like every time she tried to give more over to the Lord, something always happens. Always another trial. That is not the Cindy any of us know. So Stacey told her she needed to start again, but to give 100% to the Lord. Last night she told me that she desperately needed Matt to come around. She was too affraid to ask and give it 100% faith. Stacey told her to do it anyway. So she says to me that she got down on her knees and prayed and pleaded with the Lord and told him she knew he gave her the endless energy because she needed to care for Renee. She told him she was given patience and compassion so she could help her husband and be understanding. She told him all of the things she knew she was blessed with and why. And then she asked for what she needed. She says to me, "Bonnie, I prayed and gave my 100% and then my stinkin' house burns down"! And then she laughed! And then I laughed. We had a cry together on the phone and then she told me the whole story about how they drove over to see their house and make sure it was okay and found it burned to the ground. She told me that Matt just held her and told her it would be okay, because he really felt like it happened for a reason and that they would be fine. She described how that felt and how she knew he was being touched. Then she told me how they have decided the blessing in all of this is that they will be able to take the insurance money and rebuild...but this time they can build it exactly how they need it to be for Renee. They have never been able to afford that with all her medical bills over the years. Then she told me that Matt's boss, who is a Harley driving, long ponytail guy, was balling on the phone with Matt, and he told Matt he was bringing the whole crew up to rebuild their house. Oh my gosh! The goodness of others. I'm not kidding you, by the time I got off the phone with her, I could not be so sad. And she is not just "trying to be strong". She will find and see the blessing in anything. She is one of the happiest people I know. She has always been a source of inspiration to me. Her energy has driven all of us batty at some point...(sorry Cindy...but that's not new information lol)...but I honestly love her and have learned countless lessons from her. I have always believed that mother's of handicapped children are a special group. I believe Heavenly Father trusts them so much, that he sends them these spirits to care for. Every time she has felt helpless or unqualified, and has gotten on her knees, she has gotten that same reassurance. Well, this is the latest trial in her life, and it is a blessing also. I think that is the greatest lesson I have learned from Cindy.

1 Nephi 1:1 says, "...and having seen many afflictions in the course of my days...". If you look at the footnote for affliction, you will find the word Blessing. I discovered this on my mission and have referenced it countless times in my mind. Cindy lives that. So to Cindy, I pass along a scripture that was passed along to me many years ago: "I am mindful of you always in my prayers, continually praying unto the Father in the name of his Holy Child, Jesus, that he, through his infinite goodness and grace, will keep you through the endurance of faith on his name to the end".
-- Moroni 8:3

Kids' Rock by Tim Hawkins

2008-06-15T18:18:00.001-07:00

It's Cooper

2008-06-13T16:08:00.001-07:00

Ok, I don't know how many of you out there listen to Carry Underwood. For those who do, have you heard one of her new ones called "His last name" or "Don't know his last name" or something like that? If you don't know the song, here's a synopsis: A girl meets a guy while she's, oh shall we say...inebriated. Part of the chorus is "...and I don't even know his last name". Then she ends up marrying him in Vegas while, you guessed it, still inebriated. So the chorus to that verse says, "...and I don't even know my last name". Okay, so I'm listening to it in the car, and suddenly have the thought, "Oh, probably not a great message for Abbey". So during this last chorus, she says, "She doesn't know her last name"? I laughed and I go, "I know, isn't that silly"? She goes, "Yeah. I know my last name".

So today I turn on the radio and it's on that song at that same part, and from the back seat I hear, "It's Cooper". HUH??? Is she talking about the song or is she talking about something else? So I said, "What's Cooper"? She says, in a "duh Mom" tone, "Her last name". Ok. The end. Laugh.

So now we get home and it's stuck in my head so I sing it...dang it...and THEN she says, "They should tell her her last name is Cooper".

Watches & Retardables

2008-06-11T11:39:00.000-07:00

This is in reference to the original "Retardables" post from May. Apparently we say that way too much. This morning Abbey puts on her watch and says, "I wish this had retardables". Hm. I go, "You wish it had retardables"? She goes, "Noooo, I didn't say that, I said I wish this had rechargeables". The way she said it, I honestly don't think she realized that's what she called them. We're teaching her well! :o)

SUCCESS!!! (even more on crayons/dryers)

2008-06-11T10:13:00.001-07:00

Okay, I got all the crayon out of the clothes and out of the dryer!!! Yay!!!! I am happy mom again! After reading all of the many (and some really scary or strange) suggestions, I opted for the toothpaste one for the dryer. Well, low and behold, I do not have any in the house that is just plain old white with bleach...so onto the next one. Comet. Yeah, none of that either. So I tried Soft Scrub. That worked. But first I ran the dryer on hot for about 15 minutes. Then I just squirt some Soft Scrub on a wet rag and dipped my scrub brush into it, patted a bit off and went at it. At first it didn't look like it was working, but then all of a sudden it wasn't so pink anymore! It took about 10 minutes. Then I wiped it down with another wet rag. Right now I have three white rags (two wet, one dry) going in the dryer to see if anything gets on them.

For the clothes, I put a whole cupful of laundry detergent (the whole cap full which is at a "4"...I normally use it up to the "2" so that's twice as much as normal) into a bowl. I mixed in 6 oz. of baking soda (cause I didn't have the 8 oz the "recipe" called for) and put that into the washer with the HOT water. Also added a whole cup of Shout. Let it fill up and swish for a few minutes, then let it sit for an hour and then finished out the wash cycle. Voila!!!

How in the world did we ever survive without Google?? I wonder what the fate was of all the kids who had pre-google mommies who got crayon all over their clothes and dryers. Based on the sheer number of hits and panic stricken cries for help I read, I think this is a fairly common problem. And be certain that just because there is now Google, my son (who I won't throw under the bus on a public forum but who's name starts with a B) got a major talking to this morning. I think he learned his lesson when I told him the melted crayon was all over his "dog tag" necklace and it's in one big jumbled mess. Funny, this is the same kid who got it yesterday when I discovered WET clothes in the hamper. How did I discover this? By the smell of wet laundry sitting for 3 days, of course. That was yesterday. He got the speech about that yesterday. And even more funny than that? The real kicker is that the smelly load was the same load that got the crayon on it. Man, what is it with boys and laundry??

I've joined the club...(more on crayons/dryers)

2008-06-11T09:11:00.000-07:00

Okay, since misery loves company, I decided to join the "how to get crayon off of your dryer drum" club. This club is fantastic! Everyone is accepted; everyone has a thought/opinion/suggestion/idea and is willing to share; everyone "understands me"; all are welcome and none are turned away. The only drawback?? Everyone might just be full of
*&^%$%&*%$!! There are people in this club (sorry to talk smack about my fellow club members) who sware by a remedy and then someone else shoots it down! "...I tried such-and-such and it worked like a dream!" Then, "...I tried that too, and it didn't do anything; didn't work at all". What's a woman with 5 loads of laundry waiting for her supposed to do now? Well, blog about it, of course. And then get up and try one of the suggestions that uses something she already has in her house. I'm going for the toothpaste remedy. I'll let you know how it all works out.

Things I LOATHE tonight...

2008-06-10T22:45:00.001-07:00

Tonight I LOATHE dryers; tonight I LOATHE crayons, especially the red variety; tonight I LOATHE pockets in boys jeans that hide the red crayons from me; I might even be tempted to LOATHE the boy who put the red crayon into the jeans pocket so it could hide from me! Did I mention that all 4 of these things together make for a mess I hope none of you will ever have to experience? Good luck on that, by the way...I found plenty of other people who have suffered the same LOATHING on a website that was full of all sorts of suggestions for how to remove this mess. I first called my sister's house and talked to my brother-in-law. This happened to them a couple years ago. He Googled it and told me some of the suggestions. Then I just got curious and Googled it...wow, there's a whooooole lotta people who have experienced this kind of misery. I guess my child won't be alone when he gets to "children who left crayons in thier pockets heaven". Just kidding, of course. Grrr!

So here ya go folks...the link that said it all. All sorts of suggestions...I am going to try the cheapest one first...or should I try the one with the "ingredients" I have on hand? So many to choose from! Wish me luck.

http://www.thriftyfun.com/tf001203.tip.html

Funny Comment of The Day:

2008-06-10T22:41:00.000-07:00

Abbey drank her milk really fast and it must have been cold going down because she goes, "My heart just got a bunch of milk on it!"

Get Smart - First Season Theme - 1965

2008-06-09T21:40:00.001-07:00

Spencer was talking about a movie he wants to see. He's explaining it to me and it's a cop/investigation/spy movie from what I could tell by his description. As he's telling me, he mentions "Agent 99"...and I realized he was talking about "Get Smart"...but it's a new movie! So I told him it was based on a show we used to watch. He asked me, "Did they have something rather that did something rather..." -- you know, some sort of tech thing. I laughed and I go, "Well, the only high tech device they used then was the guy took off his shoe, held the bottom of the heal to his ear and talked into the toe part". You should have seen the look on his face! The new "Get Smart movie? 10 million dollars. The old "Get Smart" TV show? 5 million dollars. Spencer's expression? Priceless!!

Good People

2008-06-04T21:42:00.000-07:00

Today I have been thankful for blessings. Especially the blessing of good people in your life, even those you haven't seen/talked to in eons...like 20 years or more. My sister Lisa and I spent hours this morning looking on Facebook for people we know (sorry I just through you under the bus Lisa). It started because...well, I can't even remember what started it...but the next thing I know I'm clicking on photos of people I know and that brought more photos, more clicking...you get the picture. Lisa and I laughed as we went down memory lane a bit. But it also got me thinking later. Each of the people we found, whether we were good friends, someone we just remembered by name, or anywhere in between, I had specific memories of each one. Some I forgot I knew until I heard the name or saw the face. Even then I had a memory attached to them for some reason or another. It made me wonder what my name or face would make others think of. Nevermind, I don't want to know. lol These people were a part of our lives at some point, and the things happening then are a part of what shapes who we are today. That got me thinking about some of the adults we knew. Mostly the parents of these people. For instance, Brother Merrill was the Bishop when I was baptized. I remember going to thier house and having an interview and being really nervous. I don't know why, because in my memory, Bishop Merrill will forever be one of the kindest, nicest men I can think of. After he did my interview, he gave me a coloring book about baptism. I remember it clearly, and I can even picture the book like it was yesterday. That got me thinking about another experience I had as a kid and how that started to shape my testimony. Not all of my memories are serious, so many of them are so fun! So here's a shout-out to all of you who I have a memory of. Heavenly Father has blessed me with wonderful friends throughout my life. Exceptional examples. I watch my kids and I know what we teach them is sinking in somewhere, because I have vivid memories of things I learned from specific primary teachers, YW leaders, Sunday School teachers...even the music leaders in Primary.

So as I have found people I have also thought alot about the blessing friends are. And the blessing the Church is. It is a unifying force to all of us who are a part of it. Anywhere you go it is the same. It is a small world...especially in the Church. I am thankful for friends, past and present. I pray my children will be as blessed in thier lives as I have been in mine with good people. They are off to a great start...

You're a redneck if...

2008-06-04T09:19:00.000-07:00

K, this is funny!! Couldn't you guys totally see this in Bakersfield?? For those of you who are going, "huh?"...we went to high school there. Very sad, yes, but very true.

This is kinda interesting...I guess if I were really desperate to keep my Diet Coke cold for my guests, I may drag my washer onto the back deck so noone thought I was a loser for making them drink it warm at my birthday bash! Oh wait, they would think that anyway for using my WASHER as a cooler!!!

And how morfifying would it be to actually claim this as your wedding photo??? Makes one wonder if these folks look back and think, "What were we thinking"? Or if they look back and think, "Wow, we're HOT"!!! Sadly, my guess would be they went with thought #2.

How much does a kid value his life?

2008-06-02T20:44:00.001-07:00

So yesterday as we're getting ready for church, Bailey is in a mood. No large surprise there, but something occured to me that should have occured to me EONS ago...also not a large surprise by the way. Bailey is not a morning person. I am not either, so this should have come to me sooner. As my husband has so lovingly pointed out to me, I am not nice when I first get up. I am not totally awake, for one. I am usually still tired, for two. I do not like to talk to anyone upon first peeling myself from the mattress of my bed. So if you talk to me you will usually get a grunt in response, or maybe a snide remark. Neither of which I am proud to admit. This doesn't last long...maybe 30 minutes. If I get into the shower right away, it lasts as long as it takes to get dressed. Anyhoo, so Bailey is JUST LIKE ME. Poor kid, he didn't stand a chance I guess. Needless to point out, he is that same way in the mornings. Since we have church at 9am this year, he is not usually fun to be around while getting ready. My mom used to say Satan lived at our house on Sunday mornings. Sorry Mom...I totally get it now! Bailey was not cooperating so Isaac told him he had 5 minutes to get his clothes on, including socks/shoes and his tie. He then set the timer. So after listening to Bailey whine about it and then be rather mean in a rather rude tone to both his brother and sister, I go into his room and he is on the floor moaning. (remember, he is 9). I say, "Bailey". He looks up at me and says, "Whaaaaaaaaat"? I say, "How much do you value your life"? At this point he covers his eyes and lets out a "aaahooooooooh.." (not sure how to spell it, so just try it...go ahead...try it out loud and see how it sounds). So I list a few more things. "How much do you value computer time? How much do you value riding your bike? How much do you value your Star Wars toys? How much do you value TV time? How much do you value going swimming?..." On and on I go. After each new thing I list, I get more groaning, with some giggling. Then I said to him, "Okay, well, your choices and behaviors will show me how much you value those things". Blank stare from Bailey. "If I continue to hear you being rude to your sister or brother, I will start taking away those privilages". Blank stare from Bailey. Then I said, and I realize this is sooooo mean (wink, wink) "Dad gave you 5 minutes. You've managed to get your shirt and pants on. Now you will have 2 minutes to get the rest on". You would have thought I'd asked him grow his own cotton and then weave himself some clothing! How could I possibly expect him to get dressed in 2 minutes! This whole time I am not flinching. I am not mad. I am just gettin' down to business. He likes it better when he ruffles me, I think. Too bad. I just simply walk away. So everyone's ready to go and we needed to take two cars so Isaac and Spencer could go and collect fast offerings after church. So I suggest to him that he take the van and the two other kids and I will come in a few minutes with Bailey. Okay, settled, off they go. So I take Bailey into my room and I tell him, "I want to tell you a little secret". He's all ears and big eyes. So I say, "I hate mornings." He says in a little voice, "Me too". I say, "I know. But you know what I do when I feel like that?" He goes, "No, what"? I say, "I come in here to my room and I say a prayer and ask Heavenly Father for help. What do you think I ask him for exactly"? Man, this kid has me pegged!! He says, "You ask him to help you not to yell at us". I say, "Yeah, what else"? He says, "To be patient and to be happy". We talked about a few more things and then I said, "Here's one for you and one for me" and I tossed him a pillow to kneel on. Then I told him since it was his bad morning, it should be his prayer. So we kneel down and he starts to pray, "Dear Heavenly Father...". He started crying, which made me cry. He said the most sincere, honest, pleading prayer! He asked for help to be in a happy mood, to not feel frustrated, to be more patient, to be kind, to be a good boy and make good choices and to have a good Sunday. Wow. Then it was my turn. After we were done, he gave me a hug and told me he felt better already. So off to church we go. I asked his teacher after primary, "How was Bailey today"? She said, "Great! Another boy was trying to talk to him and he finally just told him to please not talk to him he was trying to listen and behave". I smiled and said he had had a rough morning and was glad he had a good day in class. When we got home and I told him what she said and told him that I was proud of him, he just smiled and said, "I know".

Hm, what should I write about today??

2008-06-02T20:29:00.001-07:00

Okay, my sister informed me today that I needed to blog something...so that she has something interesting to read! She reminded me that is has been almost a month since I posted a new blog. I ran out of excuses (reasons, really...and good ones) so now I am sitting here trying to think of something interesting. This is too much pressure!!! lol The truth is, I don't have much to say that is interesting right now. Why, you may ask? I really don't know. Sometimes in the dead of night I will wake up with something on my mind, and I will think to myself, "Oh, something good to blog about tomorrow". Apparently that is as far as it gets. I keep telling my husband (and anyone else that will either believe me or concur with me) that unless it's written down, I will NOT remember. Well, then I guess it's a good thing I have a blog...or I may not remember my life. Seriously, if it's not written down on a piece of paper & set on my counter for me to see a hundred times a day, good luck. It's althzeimers, I'm sure of it. (Side note: why does this spell check only highlight the misspelled words, and not actually give you the correct spelling for them?? K, just curious). Sometimes I get all excited and start reading other peoples blogs. Before I know it, I've looked at every link on thier blogs, which means I'm reading blogs of strangers, and then I'll get on with my day and remember later...'oh, I was gonna blog on my blog today. Oh well'.

Speedracer Rises From The Dust...

2008-05-08T21:12:00.000-07:00

In case you haven't heard, Speedracer is back! Finally some proof that I am not crazy...so many people don't remember this cartoon. Lisa and I were in the "blast from the past" mood today. She found an old song that made us laugh hysterically. And I thought of this cartoon. Then all of a sudden I happen to see an ad for this movie on Yahoo. I had no idea! So I googled it, and here ya go...

Retardables

2008-05-08T14:36:00.000-07:00

*Reusable power solution for high-tech devices
*Ideal for toys and games, digital cameras and audio devices

One would think that when purchasing rechargeable (to be interpreted as "retartable" in this case) batteries that claim to be ideal for something, in this case a digital camera, that the product would indeed be ideal for the use intended. Notice how happy these folks look with thier purchace. Clearly they are happy to have a battery that works well with the little boys toy. Well, what about the big boys toys? Like the digital camera I mentioned? Doesn't the marketing on the web site and the packaging label state that it will work? These batteries last just long enough to view and take about 10 pictures before they are no longer "strong enough" for the camera. I went to the website to make sure we bought the right thing, since we only had the young boy at the counter at Target and our own selves to rely on at the store. That's when I found this picture and the description of what these batteries are for. On the website, I also found a section called "Testimonials". Testimonials for batteries? Are they joking? Yeah, they must have been because no one has left a testimonial. Well, I'll be the first. Here's a testimonial for ya...Your batteries a worthless in digital cameras! There should be a warning label that says: Warning--may cause headaches. May cause frustration. May cause you to want to smash your camera on the ground. Probably won't work for anything that you buy from anywhere but the Dollar Store!

And then the punch line...

2008-05-05T21:56:00.000-07:00

It was a beautiful day today, so I took Bailey and Abbey to the park. While we were there Bailey met another boy around his age to ride bikes with. On the way home he says to me, "That was really fun Mom, thanks for taking us". I'm thinking what a sweet boy. What a nice thing, to appreciate family members. Then he tells me, "I really liked that kid, we actually have alot of things in common". I'm thinking, things in common?? What 8 and 9 year old boys are concerned with what they have in common? So I bite. I ask him, "Oh? What sorts of things"? He says, "Well, we both like to ride bikes"... (okay, that was obvious)...and then the punch line: "And both of our sisters are usually annoying".

How to spend your IRS Stimulus Check

2008-05-04T13:06:00.001-07:00

As you know, the Bush Administration said that most of us will get a check to stimulate the economy.

1) If we spend that money at Wal-Mart, all the money will go to China.
2) If we spend it on gasoline it will go to the Arabs.
3) If we purchase a computer it will go to India.
4) If we purchase fruits and vegetables it will go to Mexico, Honduras, and Guatemala.
5) If we purchase a good car it will go to Japan.
6) If we purchase useless junk it will go to Taiwan.

None of this will help the American economy.

We need to keep that money here in America!

The only way to do that is to spend it at yard sales, since those are the only businesses still in the US........................

My new best friends

2008-05-02T19:36:00.000-07:00

I will be on the lookout for foods with high protein for awhile....so let me introduce you to my new best friends! Split Pea Soup & Black Beans. Andersen's Split Pea Soup has been one of my favorite soups for as long as my brain will allow me to remember. It has 9 grams of protein per serving, only 130 calories, and the best part?? NO FAT!! How cool is that??? And Bush's Black Beans...I like the Seasoned Recipe one...has 6 grams of protein per serving, 100 calories, and NO FAT!! You can mix them with rice, split them half and half with taco meat, put them in a quesadilla (sp?)...endless possibilities!! And both of these are super filling!

Anyone remember this??

2008-05-01T22:15:00.001-07:00

"WHAT"?...Funny prayers

2008-05-01T12:53:00.000-07:00

This is so funny, I had to share. Probably a bit irreverant, but ya get that with kids sometimes. We take turns saying family prayer each night, and Abbey has been using big words and phrases the last few weeks. Well, she did something super funny a few weeks ago, then it stopped for awhile and now she is doing it again. I don't want to stop her or make her feel like it's not ok, it's just that it is so funny to me! And to her brothers and dad. She has been saying this one phrase alot: "...we're thankful for theeee oportuniteeeee to...". (to be said exactly how it's written LOL). Or, with a different fluctuation: "...we're thankful for theeee oportunity tooooo...". So the first time she says it like this, of course my eyes dart over to Isaac and we're both smiling. I notice the boys eyeing us, and Isaac lets out a teeny weeny giggle, which the boys heard but not Abbey. Then I can't help it and I start to giggle quietly, because she keeps saying it over and over just like that with everything we're thankful for. She stops praying and goes, "WHAT"? All out laughter at this point!! So we get back to business, and it starts all over again. I swear, no matter how hard we tried, which was litterally about 6 times, noone could stay serious long enough to get past the first "...theeeee". Isaac finally goes, "Ok, good enough"...and then we're all in hysterics! Maybe it's one of those "you had to be there" moments, but it will forever be burned into my memory as one of the best things I have ever heard. And one of the best memories of family prayer. Silly, but true. Now we are so used to it, it's not so distracting anymore. Good stuff!

Heartfelt prayers...

2008-05-01T12:51:00.000-07:00

I love it that kids think of all the small stuff to say in their prayers. Seemingly small, but really very important because they are thinking of what really matters to them...they are totally honest. Abbey was saying the prayer before I took her to school, and in her prayer she said, "Please bless Mikey to learn everything he needs to at pre-school today". I love it when they come out with this stuff! It is so sweet and thoughtful, and I know it's heartfelt.

Vans with Magic Doors, driver's licenses & your own car

2008-05-01T12:35:00.000-07:00

Oh my gosh, my kids make me laugh every day! This took place while I was driving Abbey to school today. As we're buckling up:
Abbey: I'm gonna have a van just like this, only red. And with the magic doors.
Me: What are magic doors?
Abbey: You know, the ones that open and shut all by themselves. You're silly!
A few minutes later while we're driving:
Abbey: How old do you need to be to get a driver's license?
Me: 16
Abbey: So when I'm 16 I can go to the place where you get the answers right to the questions and they will give me a driver's license?
Me: That's basically how it works, yeah...giggle.
Abbey: Sooo, do they have a car there to give me?
Me: No. They only give you the license.
Abbey: But don't they have a car for me to use for when I take the test?
Me: No honey, you have to bring your own.
Abbey: (under her breath) Oh my gosh....then, sigh
Abbey: (after a few seconds of watching the wheels turning in her head) Well, then we can use your car. You can actually drive me there! huge smile.

Maybe no one reading this is laughing like I did when it happened, but I think it's so dang funny!

My blog is possessed

2008-05-01T09:30:00.000-07:00

K, strange things are afoot on my blog. I have been trying to figure out how to get the little "leave a comment" icon at the bottom of my posts. I have spent way too much time (I'm embarrassed to say how much) trying to do this. Even my sister has tried to do it...she did it on hers, and apparently I am the only one who is not allowed to have this feature. One night I went on to my blog and low and behold, it was there...just magically appreared. So I IM my sister, she looks, and *POOF* it's gone! Seriously? Now I look like a crazy person! Then it would show up if you clicked on an individual post from the archive, then gone again. Whatever. So then it would work if you clicked on the date it was posted...but noone would know that so I had to put a little instructional thing above my archive letting people know that. Whatever. So this morning I get on here and there are little "envelope" icons at the end of each of my posts! What happened durring the night while I was sleeping?? Maybe I was a good girl yesterday and the magic blog fairy came and fixed my blog for me? I'm affraid I will jinx myself if I delete my little ditty about how to post a comment. Now watch, as soon as I post this, the little icon will go away!

P.S. Just checked, still there. For now...
P.S.S. Okay, I am so lame (huge surprise)!! The little envelope is to email me...not
to leave a comment! Dang it!

They couldn't place this on the TOP of the box?

2008-04-30T23:02:00.000-07:00

Check out #2...how is putting this on the bottom of the box helpful? I have never bought Ottor Pops in my entire life...hated them as a kid so never bought them...so clearly I would need instructions, right?? Vicki and I decided to split a box from Costco, and I had the job of seperating all the tubes. Easy enough, no big deal. Yeah, after I got purple juice squirt all over my kitchen (maybe a slight exageration) from trying to seperate them when not yet frozen. Apparently that is not the proper procedure. Kids, do not try that at home...the tubes just bend and split right open. I didn't discover the "directions" on the bottom of the box until I was looking for the nutrition label (just curious about the calories, that's all).

"I don't want to do the 400..."

2008-04-30T22:23:00.001-07:00

Yesterday Spencer had another track meet. Keep in mind, Washington (at least Vancouver) is having record lows for this time of year. Lowest temps in 30 years! So the day before that, it was sunny...might I even say warm? Well, just as we're pulling up to the school it starts to rain. Pour, actually. Spencer does two events, the hurdles and the 400. The hurdles are about a half hour into the meet and I swear the 400 is like 5 hours later! As we're standing there, it's just a terrential downpour, and I'm thinking about how cold I am and how my pant legs are getting wet. Then it hits me...all these kids are in shorts and tanks. AND the temp is cold! Not even warm with rain. So Spencer is soaked to the bones, hands red and hurting. We wrap him in Isaac's coat and rub him down basically for quite awhile. He starts saying he doesn't want to run the 400. Isaac has a way of very nicely and empathetically encouraging him and it always works. So of course Spencer does it and is soooo happy because he came in 5th instead of 6th and last like last week! He was thrilled!! Last week he started to cry...the kind you know they are fighting but can't hold it in any longer...and he said, "I lost. I came in last". I told him, dummy me thinking it would somehow make him feel like I can relate, "Yeah, after all my working out and eating really good I gained 4 pounds". Everyone laughed but him. At least I tried, right? Anyway, when he was coming down the last leg yesterday he looked like he was starting to cry and I just wanted to run out there and grab him and save him from feeling bad. I hate that when you want to protect your kids and make it better but you can't. Not only would I have looked like a moron, I would have humiliated him and besides, I can't fix every hurt for my kids. So on the way home, he says, "I can't believe I almost started to cry because I was sooo cold"! I had to smile to myself...he was cold, not upset at not winning! I am so happy he is enjoying track for the sport, not just for winning. He is the smallest kid on the team...skinniest and shortest, but he gives it his all and he is getting better each week. And he LOVES it.

How the heck do you...????

2008-04-25T22:00:00.000-07:00

Okay, I am obsessed with figuring something out. I see all sorts of blogs with pic's of products. From company logos to actual products. One lady had a picture of her favorite lipgloss...looked like it was clipped right out of a magazine. Does anyone know how to do this??? It's driving me crazy because I am not savvy and I want to be able to do that on my blog. Write about something, and be able to post a picture. I realize this is probably not up there with Global Warming (which is crap anyway) or who should be the next president (also crap...or crappy choices) but I still want to know. Any help would be greatly appreciated!! LOLOL

Not savvy, being old and collecting blogs

2008-04-25T09:36:00.000-07:00

K, I have a question. If I "collect" blogs like my dad collects bank accounts, does that make me old?? My answer would be yes. However, I don't intend to collect blogs, like my dad intends to collect bank accounts, as did his dad. My problem is that I am way too slow and not at all computer savvy. I have many friends with an array of blogs to choose from as they introduce me to new sites. Over the last few months, I have tried out...I lost count....let's just say several blogs. Now, with all the different web sites I use, from my bank to my cooking, I have way too many usernames and passwords to remember. So I try to use the same username and password for everything. Not safe? Too bad. I am surprised at how many sites already have "that username in use". So I have to fiddle with it to make it work and still be something I can remember. I resorted to making a list and printing it out. Unfortuanelly, I could not remember all of the sites at that time, so there are more out there everyone in the world but me has access too, becuase I don't remember where they are. See, I'm old. Anyhow, so as a consequence, I have numerous blogs, or personal space pages, (or whatever you want to call them) floating out there in cyberspace. I am too lazy to try to find them all and delete them and in fact kind of enjoy the fact that they are out there serving a purpose. The purpose??? That has been the quandry as of late. I have one on Bebo, only because one of my companions from New Zealand (she is from there) "doesn't do facebook". She got me onto Bebo. I feel a connection to her by having one there. Of course, that brings up Facebook. Got one there as well. So, part of the reason I am drawn to different sites, is becuase once I use one, and find another one I like better I switch. Not to mention, I am soooo not savvy on the computer and one little thing takes me an ETERNITY! Just the stress from that alone makes me age about a year every time. My favorite and the one I will use frequently is this one...Blogspot. I have figured out enough to get around and do something somewhat creative on it. Another good reason to stick to this one? I can stop collecting blogs. I can stop the aging process that comes with collecting in only the way old people do. I know I am getting old, I can embrace that, but seriously, do I need to be OLD, OLD??? Let's save that for my dad. Sorry, no offense, Dad. I wonder if my mom collects anything?

Oh Spencer...You crack me up!

2008-04-23T16:13:00.000-07:00

Can you figure out what's wrong with these pictures?? Look very closely. I'll give you a second...Okay, now I'll just tell ya. It was backwords day at school, so Spencer thought it would be really funny to go to school truely backwords. If you look closely, you will notice his face looks quite pale. Not so unusual for the "pasty white boy", you think? He took a picture of himself, printed it, enlarged it, and made a life sized mask. In the top and bottom photos, he is actually standing with his back to us, and his clothes on backwards. So when he walks it looks as if he is walking backwards with his head backwards. It was absolutely halarious!! Maybe you had to be there but oh my gosh did we laugh! We thought it was pretty darn clever! Isaac says he makes "nerd-dom look cool". Spencer loves that!

Spring Break

2008-04-23T10:44:00.003-07:00

We met up at Cottonwood Beach. It was a beautiful day!!

How cute is Maddy??

Hannah's loooong legs...

Buddies: Abbey and Mikey

"Do you think I enjoyed it"?

2008-04-23T09:40:00.000-07:00

This morning I made mine and Abbey's favorite breakfast: pancakes with chocolate chips, strawberry sauce and whip cream...the kind you make yourself from cream. Abbey asked me if she could have the rest of the whip cream out of the bowl. When I cleared the table I said, "Oh good, you finished it for me". She comes back with, "Do you think I enjoyed it"? And giggled her signature little giggle. I couldn't resist taking a picture. :o)

Judgment calls & lessons learned...

2008-04-22T16:01:00.000-07:00

We must make judgment calls almost daily. I believe there is a difference between those things and being judgmental of others. I'm not sure why, but this has been on my mind lately, so I thought I'd share an experience I had almost 20 years ago. It is a lesson I learned then, and keep re-learning. Why do I have to keep re-learning this lesson after such a powerful lesson was taught to me so long ago? I suppose it's not so much re-learning it, as it is continually having opportunities to be reminded of the lesson learned...I am often thankful for this experience I am going to share. I have only shared this with a handful of people over the years...partly because I am embarrassed by it, partly because I am far from perfect at this virtue and don't want to sound like I think I am, but mostly because it has had such a profound impact on me that I have kept it close to me personally as a constant reminder. To this day I feel some shame...but I think that is a good thing...

When I was 18 I went to Boston to work as a nanny. One night I went to a fireside with the mother of the family I worked for, and we sat in the back section in the gym. I had been in Boston for a couple of months and I was struggling with finding my own way. I was loving learning more about the gospel, but I was having a hard time with self esteem and being happy on my own...without familiar friends or family around. I was not in the best of moods the night of the fireside. As we got up to leave, my employer wanted to make her way to the front of the chapel to talk to someone, so I followed. I could see way up ahead a girl with long, straight blond hair, and was wishing I had that hair. Dumb, I know now, but when you're 18... So she turned around and the other side of her hair was shaved off. For those of you who lived in this era, that was the cool thing at the time. Shave a portion of the side or underneath your hair. So of course my thought was something like "Oh, she thinks she's cool. That is so lame. And of course eveyone is fawning over her...probably to make her feel excepted since she's a bit on the wilder side". Nice, huh? I am not at all proud of these thoughts. As we got up there my employer gave her a big hug and I just stood there probably scowling, because I know I wanted to just leave. Well, here's the lesson part: A woman approached the girl and asked how she was feeling, and I soon found out by listening in that the girl had cancer. She had had an operation in which her head was opened up. It was then that I noticed the huge scar running from the front of her ear to the back of her head. I wanted to crawl into a hole and die of shame! I was go glad noone could read my thoughts, but what I felt even more was shame and embarrasment that Heavenly Father knew what my attitude was and I wanted to get home and beg for forgivness! So I did. We never know peoples circumstances, currently or from thier history. There have been so many instances since this one that I have caught myself thinking "Okay, I don't know all of the situation...", and it is times like these that I am again thankful for a lesson learned. Even if it was learned the hard way. I believe there are very few situations in which once we know the entire "story" would we place the same judgment on that person or situation. I often think of the scripture that says, "With what ye judge, ye shall be judged" (paraphrazing if course). I don't claim to understand the full meaning of that, but it is enough to make me think. I hope I continue to remember that lesson taught to me so long ago, and I hope to learn equally well the other virtues that I need to work on.

Snow on the Oregon Coast in April??

2008-04-20T17:54:00.000-07:00

The view from our front windshield while driving home

Jackson & Abbey
My friend Laura and I went to the coast for a day and night...she took her son Jackson and I took Abbey. It was so much fun...but oh so cold!!! It was windy and it even hailed and snowed. We bundled up and still froze! Our hotel was right on the beach so of course we had to take the kids. They had a blast...because appartently children are immune to the coldness! LOL On Saturday we went up to Seaside (the touristy part of the coast) and spent about 4 hours going on rides, checking out the hugest candy store and just having fun. On our way back home Saturday afternoon, it actually snowed enough on part of our drive that from the photots you would think it was the middle of winter! All in all it was a great weekend getaway and I want to go again durring the summer to really enjoy the beach then!

Easter With The Cousins

2008-04-20T17:43:00.000-07:00

Yes, I know it's a bit late in coming, but I am finally posting these. The kids had a great time with thier cousins hunting for Easter eggs and candy. It was really cold and even started to rain!

Anyone up for working out and gaining weight???

2008-04-17T13:35:00.000-07:00

A scarey thing happened the other day...

I got on the scale and found that although I had been losing weight, I had gained 4 pounds! "How in the heck did I GAIN weight by excercizing and cutting calories so much"??? I was horrified! My clothes were fitting better, especailly around the waist, but I did notice in my favorite jeans...the ones which I always use to see if I can feel a difference...that the tops of my thighs heading into the bottom of my rear were a bit snug. Time to panic and time to wonder when the way I was feeling (which is GREAT by the way) was going to show!! So I went to my usual circuit training class and I was talking to one of the gals that works there and she laughed! She laughed at me...can you believe that?? When she was done laughing, she told me how that same thing happened to her 4 years ago when she started circuit training and weight bearing excercizes. Okay, so how did I go from walking and losing, to adding circuit training (thought that was a good thing) and gaining? It all made sense when she explained it to me. Doing all the walking is working the cardio (knew that) which burns fat. Doing the circuit training builds muscle (knew that). And since muscle weighs more than fat (about 3x more in fact), I was adding pounds with the muscle. Okay, makes sense, but still, when people start doing this stuff they LOSE WEIGHT, I thought. Okay, so building more muscle will enable me to burn fat quicker and after my body is over the initial shock of thinking I am not feeding it enough anymore, it will start to drop the fat. Turns out when you are doing weights also, you see an increase in your weight for about 8-12 weeks. Nice. Wish I had known that earlier! But the good news is that once that initial period is over, "you should see the fat melt away" she assured me. I'll believe it when I see it!

The kids at Burnt Bridge Creek March '08

2008-03-10T22:19:00.000-07:00

Miss Abbey

2008-03-10T22:11:00.000-07:00

5K Training Course

2008-01-22T13:21:00.001-08:00

I found this and decided to use it to get myself into better shape. One week in, and loving it!! I kinda cheated...I started with 20 minutes, but I will just do that for the first month. Maybe I'll even do a 5K someday. Yeah, am I kidding myself??

Update March 15...

I found a different training program than what I had originally put up. I am not posting it here, but basically I walk 5 days a week but vary the routine. Three days a week we have a group that does 30-45 minutes at 4 mph. It was hard at first, hurt my shins! But now it's pretty easy. Then 5 days a week I am still going to the gym and doing the treadmill for 30-40 minutes at 4 mph or 40-60 at 3 mph. Trying to build up my length of time, and alternating will also help me get into better shape. I have only lost 6 pounds in the last 8 weeks, but my clothes already fit better. I've lost a few inches, so that is good. I am trying to do my Pilates each night too. I really want a bike! I love biking, so hopefully sometime before summer I will do that...

Hannah is quite the cook!

2008-01-22T12:04:00.001-08:00

Chocolate Muffins

1 ¾ C. flour

1 C. sugar

½ C. unsweetened cocoa powder

2 t. baking powder

¼ t. baking soda

¼ t. salt

2 large eggs, lightly beaten

1 C. milk

½ C. butter, melted

½ C. chocolate chips

1. Preheat oven to 375, grease or line a 12 muffin pan.

2. combine flour, sugar, cocoa, baking powder, an soda and salt in medeium bowl. Whis to blend.

3. Add the eggs, milk, and melted butter. Stir just until blended. Stir in chocolate chips. Spoon into prepared pan. Cook 18 – 20 min. or until toothpick comes out clean.

Kids ask the darndest questions...

2008-01-22T10:30:00.000-08:00

Kids have a way of coming up with all sorts

of things to ask. Sometimes they are very profound

and sometimes they leave you stumped,

asking yourself "Ok, how do I answer this enough to

satisfy her need to know, without giving away too much

information"? The things that make you go "hmm". So I am on

the computer chatting with my sister Lisa this morning,

and Abbey asks one of her questions that she obviously has

thought out and determined what makes sense to her:

"Mommy, when you want to have a baby, do you go up to Heaven and get one and then come back"?

I thought it was so cute and so cut and dry for her, before

I even said anything I quickly told Lisa what she asked. We had a

hearty laugh when she came up with a quick-witted response. By then the moment had passed, and I got to avoid the whole topic.

Standard Kid Time

2008-01-21T15:45:00.000-08:00

Lately, everything to Abbey that has a time frame to it is either "a year ago" or "12 weeks ago".

So, here is a little tid-bit from this morning:

Abbey: "I love you, Mom".

Me: "I love you, too".

Abbey: "You make the goodest cinnamon rolls".

Me: "Thank you"!

Abbey: "I still loved you even when you didn't make any for a year".

Beautiful Idaho

2008-01-20T17:05:00.001-08:00

Some great photos Dad took in Idaho where they live.