~~sOmEwHeRe iN tImE~~

From enemies to buddies, just. like. that!

2011-03-31T10:01:00.001-06:00

Following in my sister's footsteps and reposting and oldy but goody. (Original post 9/2008.) Enjoy!

Why can siblings be so MEAN to each other? I am talking crazy mean! Pulling hair, scratching, biting, smacking, pushing, need I say more? Cause I can. My sisters might try to tell you I should already know cause I was a meanie myself, but I wasn't and so I just don't get it.
Naughty kid #1: Hey, that is mine, I had it first! MOM!
Naughty kid #2: Yeah but you put it down.
Naughty kid #1: So! That doesn't mean I was done! Now GIVE it back!
Yadda, yadda, yadda. I'll spare you the rest of the hub bub cause frankly it is no fun for anyone. Basically it comes to something like this...

...and I am left to figure out who the thing belongs to. Do I give it to the favorite kid (JK, I REALLY don't have a favorite kid, really) or do I take it and keep it for myself (especially if is like an Oreo or something), or do I just ignore it and let them fight it out? Do I really need advice on this? No, because I have learned a trick. I kind of came across it by accident one fight. It went a little something like this:
"...but mom! I had it first!" "No I did!" "No I did!" "Mom tell her to give it back!"
When ignoring it could go on no more and my blood was boiling hot, I might have pealed off the mask of the nice mom and put on the one of the mean mom. With stomping, growling and words that were not so gentle I might have said,
" Here! Give me that darn thing (except I probably didn't say darn) and get up to your beds right now! I have had enough of all this bickering. Go now! "
If you know me when I put my mean mom face on, you might can imagine the the shear terror on their faces as they run for their lives and for their rooms. Then if you were a fly on the wall in their room you might hear something like this.
"Mom is mean huh?" {sniff, sniff}
"Yeah she is really mean."
"I don't like her anymore, do you?"
"No, not really."
"I am bored. Want to play?"
"Yeah, what do you want to play?"
"I don't know, why don't you chose?"

And that is where I say... mission accomplished.
Disclaimer: With your newfound peace, it might be tempting to ~~forget about them in their rooms~~ leave them there ~~forever~~ a long while, but if you do, you will miss out on the beauty of children and their ever forgiving hearts. They don't really hate me. They still need food and and clean clothes and a bed to sleep in...

2010-11-04T14:37:00.002-06:00

Come see what's got my attention these days and then add it to your blog roll or whatever you use! :D

She's in the shower!

2010-04-25T21:15:00.004-06:00

I love calling my sister's house when she is in the shower. I am sure to be entertained by any one of her 4 boys who answer the phone. Here are a couple recent calls:

Sam

Me: Where's your mom?

Sam: She's in the shower.

Me: Okay, just have her call me when she gets out.

Sam: No, when you hear the shower turn off, you call back okay?

The second call:

Ammon

Ammon: She's in the shower.

Me: Well, just have her call me when she gets out.

Ammon: Ok, but Aunt Bonnie?

Me: Yes?

Ammon: Can I leave you a message?

Me: Sure!

Ammon: Okay, bye!

This is what his mom heard from the shower:

Ammon: Mom! Aunt Bonnie called. I left her a message.

If you are interested in this same entertainment, your best timing would be anywhere between 9:00 a.m and 4:00 p.m.

The faith of a child

2010-03-29T22:21:00.004-06:00

Warning: If you have a weak stomach, stop here.

Alexis has had 3 bloody noses in the last 2 days. I had been meaning to put some Vaseline inside her nose to help moisten the membranes up and hopefully help stop the bleeds. Today, when she was walking home from school (7 minutes away), she got another one.

I was outside working and it was still bleeding when she came to show me, but it was not bad. I figured it was almost over. I had her tip her head forward and after a few minutes I checked her and she was holding out a tissue with the biggest blood clot I had ever seen. It was as long as a pencil and even thicker. The blood was now dripping out of both nostrils at an alarming rate for a bloody nose. I had NEVER seen anything like it. She must have seen my concern because she started to shake and cry. I stood by her and helped to put pressure on the bridge of her nose (which I learned later from my SIL who is a EMT that is not the right way) and she saturated many more tissues. I even had her lay back even though I have heard that is wrong too. Another large clot came out and the blood was still flowing like a faucet. At this point we were probably 15 minutes into the nose bleed and I called Rob to come over so we could get her ready to take over to the ER if we couldn't get it under control. I am not one to panic easily, and something as simple as a nosebleed normally would never get me worked up, but I started to wonder if this was out of my hands. Rob had the thought to call his sister, Heather, and she told us to have her bend over without the pressure on her nose, which we did. As we switched out the tissue, there was a third large clot not much smaller than the other 2. Alexis said she felt like throwing up and was visibly distraught. Rob was as white as a ghost and had to walk away for a minute.

I was ready to load her into the car when she stopped shaking and crying and very matter of factly said, "Mom, I am going to pray." As I held the tissue to her nose, she closed her eyes and folded her arms. I am not sure what she said, but the most amazing calm came over both of us. When she was done, she very calmly sat down and said that she knew it would stop. I checked the bleeding again, and except for a few drips, I could tell that it was letting up. I took her into the house and had her sit down. She said she felt really tired, so I know she really lost a good amount of blood. We gave her some water and a protein drink and she ate an orange. She perked right back up and was on cloud nine.

I have dealt with many bloody noses in my life, but I have NEVER seen anything like that one. Today, I know that right there on that lawn, in the midst of panic and worry, God heard and answered a little girl's prayers. When Alexis stood there and folded her arms and closed her eyes in prayer, I felt like I was standing on holy ground. I just stood there and watched her and she seemed to glow. She was so calm. I know that if the veil could have been parted at that moment, I would have seen angels attending her. I just stood there in wondering awe at what had just tangibly and physically happened. I am not sure if I was more in awe of the healing that had just taken place or at the perfect faith of this very special spirit who was MY daughter. I am so grateful to have witnessed that miracle.

Tonight, I put some Vaseline in her nose. I was worried that doing so would cause it to bleed again. Nothing happened and I am hoping never to experience a nose bleed like that again.

Make Believe

2010-03-22T21:29:00.005-06:00

Most of you know, I have been doing a lot of family history so we can take those names to the temple to have their saving ordinances performed. It has been an amazing experience and many blessings have come to our family from it. I have seen the Lord's hand in this work. But that will make an excellent post for later.

Alexis and Brooklyn have loved sitting with me at the computer searching for ancestors. We type the names into the computer and add them to the temple list. Sometimes I am working with hundreds of names at a time. After I get them printed at the temple, the kids have fun helping me sort through them and get them in alphabetical order and put them in their proper place in the files. They usually never tire of helping with it.

The other night I found some cards that had been accidentally duplicated so I tore them in half and asked Brooklyn to throw them in the garbage for me. Instead of throwing them away, she asked if she could keep them and use them for pretend money. When I said no for the obvious reason of the mess I would find later, she persisted. "Please! mom. I just want to keep them soooo bad!"

"No Brooklyn. They will just end up on the floor later and make a big mess."

"No I promise! I won't leave them there. If I do then you can tell me to throw them away and I will! Puuuuhleeeeeez!"

"No."

"But mom! maybe I want to pretend to do temple work with them."

Melt. My. Heart.

You wouldn't believe how quick I was able to find some other cards to add to her "temple work."

The class bully

2010-03-21T20:13:00.007-06:00

Today we were visiting Rob's parent's ward because they were speaking in Sacrament meeting. They did a great job. So proud of them.

We were deciding whether we were going to stay for the rest of the meetings. Brooklyn was acting a bit scared to go to an unfamiliar primary class even though she would be going with her cousin Amira. Amira was doing all she could to convince Brooklyn to go with her, but she still hung tight to my skirt and said she was too scared. Then Amira said, "Well you don't have to worry. I am the meanest girl in there. There isn't anyone meaner than me."

I guess it pays to be friends with the class bully!

Miss Amira herself.
She cracks me up every time she opens her mouth!

One lash, 2 lash, 3 lash, 4!

2010-03-20T16:58:00.004-06:00

Jordan has some amazing lashes. Long and full. To die for.

Today I watched as she pulled one from off her cheek and cursed it for falling out of its place. I laughed at her and told her I knew from experience another would grow right where the other had fallen out. She didn't believe me and thinks she will soon be lashless. This made me think of a couple of funny lash stories from my youth.

1. One day I found an eyelash on my cheek and my friend told me I could make a wish on that eyelash. This was great news to me because I could have used a few wishes back then. So I made a wish. And then I kept a sharp eye out for any stray lashes. When I did find one, I immediately made a wish. Then the thought occurred to me, why wait for one to fall out, when I could just give them a little tug and help them along a little? So I reached up to pull one out, but there was not just one, there was a whole bunch. Wow how lucky was I? I made a bundle of wishes. This method of manually providing the lash for the wish proved much more lucrative than just waiting around... time. and. time. again. I grew out of that a long time ago, and thank goodness, as age is not providing them quite as abundantly as before.

2. One day in 5th grade I was bending down in my seat to grab an assignment from the storage bin under my chair, when what should I see, but a pair of scissors. Please don't ask what got into my brain at that very moment. To this day I could not tell you. But I took that pair of scissors and chopped off every eyelash in between eyelash 1 on the right side and eyelash 1,1825,325 on the the left with one big chop. There they all were in my hand! It was at THAT very moment that common sense slapped me in the face and I wondered HOW in the world I was going to sit up and face the class. The teacher had called us all up to the front of the class with our assignments and I could NOT bring my self to sit up and go up there. And there I sat, for who knows how long, bent over in my chair pretending to find that darn assignment. Finally, when I could not drag it out any longer, I asked to be excused to go to the bathroom. I raced out of the class and into the bathroom dreading the sight of the damage. Man, was I in trouble. I walked around with my head down for the rest of the day and if I remember right, my teacher even asked if I was feeling ill. Just a little bit.

Over the course of the regrowth, not ONE person said anything about it until MANY weeks later when I was riding somewhere with my mom and she looked over at me and asked incredulously, "Did you cut your eyelashes?!?!?!?" I think I was so caught off guard that she could even tell at this point, that I might have lied and said, "No! Why would I do something dumb like that?"

Yes folks, I still have eyelashes, and for all the wishes I ever made, the very best one that came true is being a mom to amazing kids who love me despite my common-senseless days.

Caution: Objects in the glasses may appear larger than they are not

2010-03-17T15:42:00.006-06:00

What an experience. To have everything you have ever believed to be right, seem wrong. When my eye doc, i.e. brother told me I could benefit from having more than 2 eyes, I was not too happy, but the promise that my 8+ hours in front of the computer each day would seem less grueling, I relented.

When I first tried the glasses on, I had to call the doc himself to make sure they made them right, because the world as I had known it, was no more. EVERYTHING was odd shaped and much bigger.

Alexis' homework page looked like it had been trimmed by a 1st grader. My computer screen looked like it had been run over. Everything that had once been square or rectangle was now trapezoid or screwywampus.

As I made dinner, there were multiple times that I reached to grab the pan that was NOT falling off the stove. When I opened the kitchen drawer, I quickly saved it from NOT falling on the floor.

When I drove the car, I felt like I was in a big king cab truck and when I drove past a pot hole, I held on for dear life as it seemed it would swallow me whole. When I drove under some tree branches, I ducked.

When I walked outside, I felt like I was on stilts, but the ground was still so close to me.

What was my most shocking discovery? That I miss plenty of eyebrows when I pluck.

What is my favorite part? Rob likes them. He really likes them.

All in all, it has been a real trip. Anyone observing me might have wondered if I was under the influence. It sure felt like it. I don't think I could have had more fun if I had joined one of those kind of parties (not that I would know what those kind of parties feel like, but I could imagine).

Thank goodness it is supposed to be short lived. I don't think I could take it anymore. Today, things are starting to seem normal again, but there are still things that trick me.

Today, I tried to look at my computer without my glasses and everything was blurry. I had to squint real hard to see what was there. Now I know what Doc was talking about when he said my brain was working overtime to see.

Thanks Paul!

Wanna play?

2010-03-12T20:19:00.006-07:00

Despite having an abundance of friends, Brooklyn was SOL today when trying to rope in a playmate. It did not help that every last sibling struck gold and was in their own little world with their very own friend. This only added salt to the wound.

There was weeping, there was wailing, there was gnashing of teeth.

What ever is a mom to do?

Not sure, but I'll tell you what NOT to do. Don't offer to be the friend she didn't have. Don't offer to play dolls with her, or doggies with her.
Don't tell her that you will be the momma dog and that your name will be Baxter and she can be the baby dog.
She will only howl louder and tell you all the reasons why that. won't. work!
including that you are too old and may get hurt.

You won't want to hear that.

You may, however, get lucky if you invite her on a mommy, daughter date to get the weekly groceries.

Exceeded my expectations

2010-03-11T22:10:00.005-07:00

I cannot even begin to describe the wonderful feelings that I had in the temple tonight. Aside from my wedding day, this was undeniably the best experience in the temple of my life. My husband was there, two of my children were there and without a doubt a host of others who came before us were there. We were there to do something for them that they could no longer do for themselves.

Back in October when Rob's parents gave us permission to move forward with the temple work for their parents, siblings and family, we knew it was going to be a special experience. And it has been. I have lost count of the names that have been submitted. Well over 500+. I have been taking my kids to do baptisms and our ward has stepped in to help with a lot of it as well. But I have been holding onto some names that are near and dear to us. There were 3 of Rob's grandparents and their parents and their parents, some aunts and uncles, etc. We set a date and asked the kids what temple they wanted to go to, suggesting many close to us that they had never been to, but they insisted the Manti Temple, the same one they go to with the youth in our ward. So I made the appointment on Tuesday for tonight. As with any other time something great is set to happen, the adversary tried his hardest to stop it. There were a few fleeting moments today when I was about to throw my hands in the air and declare surrender. But thank goodness I didn't, for once I set my mind to it and we were on our way, it proved to be an unforgettable night.

When we walked into the babtistry, there was another ward on their way out. And then there was just us. It was so quiet and peaceful. The temple workers we so kind and helpful. It was all about us. They kept asking us how we wanted to do each thing, insisting that they were there to serve us. Rob was so nervous because never in his whole life had he been to do baptisms for the dead and he was expected to do them all. And he did a wonderful job. I kept watching him as he did each name. He kept choking up and often had to compose himself as he spoke each name. I watched Jordan and I watched Brandon. How lucky they each were to stand in the place of these fine people, these people who I knew were there. And then I wondered, do these people know how lucky they are that Jordan and Brandon have kept themselves worthy to stand in their place and do this work for them. And I knew that they did know. These wonderful family members will forever reverence their names. They will forever be their guardian angels.

As we walked away from the temple tonight, we knew that we had just experienced a night never to forget. We knew that this temple and this night would forever hold a special place in our hearts.

Practice makes perfect.

2010-03-06T11:30:00.003-07:00

I used to make a pretty mean chocolate chip cookie. The kids loved them and Rob loved them. I loved that they loved them. Nothing is better than to please your family with fine food. When we had a hankering for something good, I would whip up a batch.

And then I got lazy.
Or I had to work too much and it got cut from my list of priorities.
The kids would ask
and Rob would ask
and I would say "not right now."
Then a marvelous thing started to happen. Jordan got desperate and she opened the cookbook and started cooking. She made cookies, and not just chocolate chip cookies either. She made brownies and cake and just about anything else we had ingredients for. She got really good at it and I sat back and relaxed.
Ahhhh.
I even let her enjoy all the compliments, for I knew the fulfillment that comes with satisfied customers.

Well it had been awhile and ~~I was missing the praise and adoration that came with a batch of cookies~~ the old feelings of "mommy in the kitchen whipping up a batch of cookies for the fam" started to kick in.
Yesterday, as I prepared my cooking area, the kid's surprise and excitement spurred me on. I pulled out my old recipe for my cookies and realized I did not have shortening.
Bummer.
I couldn't even remember the last time I had shortening. No wonder we didn't see these cookies being produced. Jordan worked with what she had.

Nevertheless, I needed to bake. Butter, as tricky as it is, would have to do.
Or not.
I pulled batch after batch of cookies from the oven that Flat Stanley would be proud of. While the family devoured them, I could not shake off my disappointment.
The admiration was absent.
The pity was there.
I had failed.
I should leave cooking to the teenager.

A spark of hope came and was dashed just as quickly with this one comment.

Brandon: Mom, you should make cookies more often. You used to make them so good. Now you haven't made them in so long you have forgotten how.

He was so brutally, though innocently honest.

I am going to the store today to get shortening.

St George fun

2010-02-24T21:42:00.012-07:00

Our little get-a-way

We stopped at a hotel in Beaver on the way down to St George...just for the fun of it.

I got to see an old friend from Cedar. I used to watch her little boy.
It was great to see them.

This is what we woke up to before we left Beaver. It did not let up until after New Harmony.

So we went on a little vacation. Our main goal was to ~~get out of the cold and snow~~ get our eyes checked since it had been 3 years for some, and 7 for others. So off to supposed-to-be-sunny-but-was-rainy St George. Our appointment was not until Monday morning so we filled the weekend with my 2 brothers and their families.

Here are some highlights of the trip:

Saturday afternoon, my brother Paul took Jordan, Brandon and Megan on a 2-hour mule ride. I cannot really say where they went, I'm not sure I dared to ask. I said long ago I would never go anywhere with 2 certain brothers unless I was on my own two feet. They seem to have 9 lives and someday they may reach that 9th life and I don't want to be with them when they do. The funny thing is, the more reluctant you are, the more of a challenge you become to them to show you ~~what a wimp you are~~ a good time. It took all my bravery to let my kids leave with Paul. As they were riding away, I hear him inform everyone that if they fell off, they would have to get back on because he was not waiting for them to walk out... He is fearless. I am not. My kids are not... anymore. Was there a story? Yes there was a story. This was an adventure with uncle Paul. There is always a story.

Megan loves horses. She dreamed of this day when she could go down and ride uncle Paul's mules. She wanted it more than anything. She has not ridden them much, so I was reluctant to let her go with them. I grinned and bared it. And watched them ride off into the sunset. They were excited. Poor naive children. The incident went something like this.

As they were in some rough terrain Paul hears Megan say, "um, I think my saddle is loose." He looks back and sees Megan in the saddle on the mule's neck. Alarmed, he tells her to SLOWLY get off. But it was too late. At that instant Megan slid right over the mule's head and onto the ground. The mule was all tangled up in the saddle and jumped around until it came loose from his head and front legs.

Megan lived and even got back on. Will she go again? She says yes, but not on that mountain. She has officially been declared part cowboy! Thanks Paul for another adventure! I love hearing about them especially when there is a happy ending.

On the farm.

Saturday night, we took the kids to see Tooth Fairy. Super funny.

Sunday, we went to brother Mike's house and had a great time hanging out with his family and eating dinner and playing games. I was wishing we could have seen more of them, but that was it.

Monday was our appointments. Off to the eye doctor we went. And man, can I just say, that is one cool eye doctor! I am not just saying that because he is my brother. His place is amazing! His staff is very patient. Believe me, we tested their patience and they held up to the lot of us.

I knew there were 2 or 3 who really needed glasses and a couple others who could benefit from them, but I was not prepared to be told we all needed glasses. Bummer. Can you say flabberglassted?

Like always, the good times went too fast. I was sad to see it come to an end. It was a blast being with family! I am sure we will be back for more adventure before you know it.

The End

2010-02-15T20:12:00.003-07:00

A great big kudos to each of my kids for their participation in reading and finishing the
Book of Mormon.

6:30 a.m. comes early to some who are sleeping and an interruption to others who are trying to get ready for school. After a many years of this routine, we reached the last page of the Book of Mormon for the 4th time today. I truly believe there is strength and power that comes from reading that book of scripture. I know it is one of the main ways we will be able to fortify our homes from Satan who is trying to enter through any avenue possible. My family is my most precious asset and I am so grateful for each of their efforts to be apart of our daily study.

The writing on the towel rack

2010-02-02T18:31:00.000-07:00

By Boo (AKA Brooklyn) I love you so much
or it could say
By Boo I love somwon
(It even has a cute little smiley face)

It didn't take much to figure out the culprit/mastermind/criminal/mischievous 6-year-old behind this graffiti.

Question is, how come I didn't come all unglued and fly off the handle when I saw it? I used to be so good at it. Am I losing my sanity... or finally getting it back? Please don't suggest it's because she is the baby of the house. I am soooo above that.

I knew Miss Brooklyn, who knows better, needed a what-not about it, but seriously, it was tough.

I am sure I can get it off with a little elbow grease and chemicals, but it brings a smile to my face when I see it. Sometimes I wish I could start all over with the patience I have now (which could still improve, I know).

Yeeeeehaaaaaw!

2010-01-30T18:51:00.002-07:00

Alexis came and asked me the other day if we were part cowboy. Hmmm. I could see her asking this if we had lived any part of the cowboy world. As of that moment we had never owned a horse or a cow of any kind. Hayeck, we didn't even have one pair o' cowboy boots or e'en a hat.

We still don't.

I had to know the reasoning behind this crazy question. So I asked.

Alexis: Well you know, I just thought that because Grandpa Gooch lived on a farm growing up and he always has a big garden and now he has chickens...

Me: Ohhhhh...(understanding dawning), you mean are we LITERALLY part cowboy! {Insert mental fit of laughter while keeping a straight face}

Alexis: Yeah, in school we were talking about cowboys and they asked us if any of us were cowboys and I raised my hand. Do you think I should have?

Me: Shure thang Miss Bessy Lou!

Now I know where the urge to build a little farm came from. It is thick in the blood.

Down on the farm...

2010-01-29T21:23:00.007-07:00

In the spirit of self reliance and teaching our kids how to work hard, we have started planning some fun spring projects. Rob has been Googling, mapping and listing the things he will need.

Project of most importance: Greenhouse. We are hoping to get this done ASAP so that we can start growing plants. We will grow what we need for our garden and let the kids tend and sell some plants to anyone else who wants them. Feel free to place an order...I am sure they would love to fill it.

Project 2: Chicken coop. We have really enjoyed fresh eggs from grandma's/pa's and Heather and Cody's house. I am sure the chickens will come in handy when the grasshoppers are out of control again this year.

Project 3: Nothing like home grown bacon. Never raised a pig before, but thought it would make for a great adventure. Who knows, maybe the kids can enter them into the fair. Rob assures me they will not stink and will not be racketous. Permission granted; 1 set of pens in the planning. I am sure if we had enough room for a cow and a horse, we would do that too...(but we wouldn't eat the horse).

Project 4: Rabbit cages: Shhhhhhh, don't tell the kids. If we can work it out, the Easter bunny will have a great surprise for them. We won't eat the bunnies either. If anyone knows a of a good place to buy any, please let me know.

Project 5: Grande garden. Can't wait for this. I love a big garden. When work was slow last harvest season, I took that opportunity to put up as much garden stuff as I could. What a great feeling of accomplishment!

Project 6: Potato pit. We have heard of burying an old refrigerator. Does anyone know if this would be considered disposing of one illegally?

Not sure if it will happen this season or not, but we want to get some fruit trees, berry bushes and grape vines established.

As of yet, these are just plans, but we are hoping to make them a reality. While I have dreams of it looking something like my sister's farm, I can settle for the humble little farm (if you can really call it that) we have planned. I am hoping when it is all said and done, we will still have neighbors who will claim us.

I just love the spring and I have the fever BAD. I wish I could just go to sleep like the bear I am in the winter and not wake up until spring.

Much needed night out

2010-01-28T21:36:00.004-07:00

Somehow I need to get back in the habit of taking pictures so I won't have an excuse not to blog about the Smith happenings.

Pictures or none, just wanted to post about our family night out. I can't even remember that last time we took the kids out to dinner. We keep thinking we need to do it and tonight we put everything on the back burner and went. I wasn't sure if we were going to have Jordan with us as it WAS the last wrestling match and she really wanted to go. To our great delight, she chose to come with us. We took them out for Chinese and had a wonderful time laughing and joking around. It just felt good.

After that, we drove them past the site for the new Payson temple. Even though the temple was not even there, we felt like we were already on holy ground. We each pictured that bright beautiful building standing against the dark sky and we smiled. We drove slowly away and could not take our eyes off the site.

Next, we stopped at Maverik and got a frozen yogurt and drove around our old neighborhood in Santaquin. We miss our neighbors there so much.

What a great night!

My current read:

2010-01-27T21:46:00.000-07:00

I took a break from fiction long enough to get some enlightenment on the Old Testament. If you are like me, you appreciate anything in Layman's terms. This is a super great companion to the Old Testament, which is being studied in Sunday School this year. This man knows how to make it not only easy to understand, but also entertaining.

What time did you say?

2010-01-26T21:38:00.002-07:00

I have this funny little quirk about myself. Whenever I happen to glance at the clock and it says:

I wish myself happy birthday.

Don't ask why.

My daughter, my friend

2010-01-24T21:00:00.001-07:00

If you had told me last year when I wondered if I would ever make it through these teenage years, that I would cherish them this year, I would have told you you were crazy.

I L-O-V-E my teenager.

I can't quite put my finger on it, but Jordan seems different. She seems genuinely happy. She can rise above those moments when everyone in the house is crabby and she can laugh at those moments. She can walk up to her brother who was just giving her a bad time and give him a hug. Her little sisters who vowed to never be like her, are looking at her with new eyes.

She RARELY gives me a bad time when asked to do something. She genuinely asks Rob and I questions and seems to trust us to tell her the truth. I have watched her blossom and grow by leaps and bounds spiritually. I can feel her testimony lend strength to mine as I watch her earnestly trying to keep up with her scripture study every day. I know her siblings see her doing those things and they too will do them because of her.

Rob used to tell me that we acted more like sisters than mother and daughter. I feel so bad that we spent so much time when she was little butting heads, because I feel like I missed out on so much of HER. She is amazing and I want her to know that she means the world to me. More times than not, when there is much contention in the home, she is the first one to give, and I find myself being humbled by her actions of peacemaking. I know Heavenly Father gave her to me so that I could teach her, and I hope that in some way I have been able to do that, but I also know He gave her to me to teach me and I want her to know that she has. I look up to her and her positive attitude. I aspire to be more like her.

How strange!

2010-01-18T11:40:00.003-07:00

We are celebrating King day the very best way we know how; cleaning the house from top to bottom. This doesn't happen very often because I am usually working when the kids are home. Today I wasn't. And they were home. And my house is clean. Thank you Martin. Thank you kids.

While Brooklyn was "going the extra mile" and cleaning out a drawer, I heard her exclaim, "Mom! I found something very strange."

Hmmm. What could that be? I kind of remembered seeing them when I was a kid.

When I told her it was an old cassette and that was the way we used to listen to music and stories, she was disappointed to know there was probably not a device left on earth to even check it out.

I wonder what things our kids are using these days that will be foreign to their kids someday.

A Brother Like That

2010-01-15T20:00:00.001-07:00

One night before Christmas, we were reading a Christmas story with the family. I was very touched by this story as the narrator told of his friend, Paul, who had received a new car from his brother as a pre-Christmas present:

On Christmas Eve, as Paul was leaving his office, a street urchin was walking around the shiny new car, admiring it.
"Is this your car mister?" he asked.
Paul nodded. "My brother gave it to me for Christmas."
The boy looked astounded. "You mean your brother gave it to you, and it didn't cost you anything? Gosh, I wish..."
He hesitated, and Paul knew what he was going to wish. He was going to wish he had a brother like that. But what the lad said jarred Paul all the way down to his heels.
"I wish," the boy went on, "that I could be a brother like that."

Indeed I have felt that very way on many occasions. As I reflect on all the people who have touched my life by their selflessness to me and my family, some even anonymously, I truly feel as this young boy did...I wish I could be, and I hope I can be, and I am trying to be:

a friend like that.
a wife like that.
a leader like that.
a mother like that.
a Secret Santa like that.
an aunt like that.
a daughter like that.
a neighbor like that.
a sister like that.
a blogger like that.
a visiting teacher like that.
a stranger like that.

No, you don't have to brush all your teeth, just the ones you want to keep

2010-01-14T09:16:00.007-07:00

I am trying to come to terms with the fact that my kids seem to have inherited cavity-prone teeth, and try as I might to warn them of this malady, some of them have not yet figured out that their pitiful attempts at brushing and flossing are not helping, and usually results in less than perfect checkups.

My sister came up with a great idea to ~~bribe her kids to take better care of their teeth~~ deny the dentist the great pleasure of sucking the life out of her pocketbook. She told her kids that if they have no new cavities at their next dentist appointment, she would give them each 20 bucks.

Liking that idea, I promised my kids the same thing. This way my kids get a reward for taking better care of their teeth and I have just saved myself an obscene amount of money that I can use to pay the next pocketbook sucker. (I really do love my dentist. He takes great care of us!)

Each night and morning when I send them off to brush their teeth, I remind them of our new motto, "20 buck for no cavities!" This has caused some excitement and I can see improvement in their efforts to be better brushers and flossers. The other night, however, Brooklyn was asking if I had money and I couldn't figure out why. I was only halfheartedly paying attention until the end of the conversation.

Brooklyn: Mom, do you have any money?

Me: Umm hmm.

Brooklyn: How much?

Me: Not much.

Brooklyn: Like not even 100 dollars?

Me: Probably not.

Brooklyn: Like 19 dollars or something?

Me: Yeah, something like that.

Brooklyn: Oh boy, guys. Don't anyone brush or floss your teeth tonight. Mom doesn't have enough money and she would have to give you 20 dollars. So. don't. do. it.

Way to protect the bank account kiddo!

I just wanted to crawl into her little mind and check out her child-like reasoning. I don't think she grasps the idea that money comes and money goes. Sometimes I wish my understanding of life could be so simple.

What's the difference?

2010-01-13T12:00:00.001-07:00

Sometimes I have to laugh at some of the differences in my marriage. Some are not so obvious while others are blatant and some are just plain expensive. Even as I sit here, there are two opposite forces eating up my power bill.

While he sleeps, he has a fan going. While I work, I have a heater blowing right on my legs.

I'll walk into my room and be hit with a force of cold that will save the polar ice caps from global warming. He'll walk into my office and start choking as the heat singes his lung hairs.

In the summer he lives for the winter. In the winter I live for anything but the winter.

His ideal job would be in a freezer somewhere, anywhere. My ideal job would be in a bakery where I could crawl into the oven with the buns and get all toasty warm. (Not really. No more bakery for me.)

I become more intolerant of the winter every year. If I do not have socks, blanket and heater on my legs, then the cold will set into my bones making me crave a nice 30-minute HOT shower. Nothing better than a great excuse for a longer shower right?

Rob says opposites are great for keeping the balance. I happen to agree. When I cuddle up close and put my ice cold toes on his HOT legs, everything is all better! ...AND he lets me.

What are some of your marital differences?

Count your blessings

2010-01-12T12:19:00.004-07:00

Brandon was trying to share the love last night, even if it was for his own benefit.

Brandon: Hey Megan, are you in need of blessings tonight?

Megan: I am not feeding your dogs.

That did not discourage him and many more techniques were tried. I have to say they were pretty persuasive, but Megan was not feeling the love.

As he put on his shoes and coat and readied himself to trudge out into the arctic cold night, to Megan he asked one last guilt-provoking question: "I wonder what blessings you could have had..." No bite.

Out of the mouth and into the archives

2010-01-11T19:35:00.005-07:00

Having 2 girls in Achievement Days can have it's drawbacks. Somehow Alexis always answers the phone when the call comes for the next gathering. She dutifully takes down the messages and passes the info onto Megan. When that call came tonight and Alexis conveyed the message, Megan wondered why they never asked for her when they called. "Oh well, it must be because I am almost in Young Women's."

True that. This very October in fact!

Bedtime Story

2010-01-10T20:30:00.000-07:00

Our current bedtime story of choice...

Alexis got it for Christmas. When I saw it in the bookstore, I could not resist. I remember sitting mesmerized with this story in grade school as my teacher read it each day. It is great to see my kids loving it as well.

Speaking of bedtime, if your household resembles mine, you must know there are nights where patience is a thing of the past, charity ~~never faileth~~ fails and bedtime cannot come soon enough. After the hundreth time of getting up for one more drink, or one more hug and kiss, the promise of a chore will usually keep my kiddos in their beds.

Restless kid 1: Buuuuuut MOOOOM! I am thirsty.

Mom: You already had a drink, 3 to be exact.

Restless kid 1: But it wasn't enough. PAAAALEAAAASE.

Mom: Go right ahead, but unload the dishwasher while you're up.

Sometimes they're desperate and sometimes they're not...

Keeping them in bed is usually not as difficult as getting them there. If you you despise this nightly ritual as much as me, I am hoping you will not judge me too harshly for some of my get-the-kids-to-bed techniques.

Bribery... "if you can be in bed with your teeth brushed and flossed, pottied, jammied, bedtime drink, hugs, kisses and prayers (makes me fatigued just writing about it, no wonder they fall to the ground in tears, kicking and thrashing about as if their world has just ended) in 15 minutes then we can read a chapter from our book... and for a bonus...if you can pull this feat off in 10 minutes, I will read until you beg me to stop!"

A good ole challenge...If that doesn't do the trick, you might hear me someone holler out, "last one in bed is a rotten egg!!!" The bedtime tantrum mentioned above has nothing on the rat race of all rate races that this one simple challenge generates as they each scurry down the hall, pushing, pulling and shoving to be the ones saved from THAT title, but hey, it works like a charm. Of course, then I have to lovingly pull the unfortunate rotten egg into my lap and love her and rock her and wipe her tears all the while trying to calm her poor little self, promising that she really isn't a rotten egg and that she beat dad so HE must be the real rotten egg. The sniffles then turn into giggles as the Rotten Egg's baby climbs down out of my lap and runs down the hall setting the record straight and hoping to be welcomed into the circle of victors.

The "hearing aid"...I am sure you have heard tales of the "hearing aid" used at the Gooche's house. It took on many forms, usually Dad's belt, or a wooden spoon, or a willow stick, but mostly anything close enough to grab. It was RARELY put to physical use. Usually it only took "hearing" the dreaded warning, before we were up and out of range of the lesson that object could teach. My kids must have inherited my fear of the thing because their hearing becomes all too keen with the mention of the "hearing aid."

To ease my own conscience, I have a fund set up in any of my children's names for their future psychotherapy needs. Feel free to donate to any or all.

It's all in the evidence

2010-01-08T07:45:00.006-07:00

With my absence from blogging, there has been many great stories left untold. Funny things, sad things and even spiritual enlightenment. As I was looking through my drafts, this funny story brought a smile to my face almost as as big as the first time, if that is possible.

Ever since 1st grade, Brandon has always had a thing for science. I am not sure if it is because his teacher was mastering in science and her classroom was right out of the rain forest. She was amazing. They were always involved in hunting for bugs, or growing a garden right in her own room, in which the students got to make a vegetable soup at the end of the year, or tending to the many various snakes and lizards (until one escaped into the school and was banished forever). She had an assortment of dead bugs and arachnids displayed in many ways. She had many dead animals she had preserved in small jars, one of them being a two-headed cat. She taught them to truly question the world around them. Brandon scored an A in that subject. He always wants to know why, how and if.

If you look closely on his left arm, you will see evidence of one of his latest curiosities. As he was walking past the bathroom one day, the hot curling iron sitting on the counter was certainly cause for much curiosity. Looking down at that hot iron with the heat setting all the way to 20, he thought to himself, "I wonder what 1 feels like?" Without wasting time, he quickly switched the setting to 1 and tested it the first place he thought of, right on the most delicate skin of his arm. Result? A nice 2-3rd degree burn. Lesson? The number 1 is NOT, I repeat, is NOT equal to 1 degrees.

This volunteer science experiment will go down in the books as tested, tried and true. Knowing I will never have to experience that for myself brings me immense relief. By what name shall this experiment go down in history?

Paper or plastic?

2010-01-07T12:29:00.007-07:00

Now that I am blogging again, I find myself walking around with blogs formulating in my head as if they owned the place. With work being completely out of jobs already today, I find myself needing to take a break to release the flow of blogarama from my brain. But first, I made myself get up and finish the housework from this morning. I was putting away dishes, so I could throw in the second load for the day. The first was done by Megan this morning and let me tell you...she is the Master Dish-Washer-Loader. When I tried to tell her so, she insisted that she doesn't want to be the Master because then she would be a target for the Head Dishwasher in the family. Psh! For real?!?! Tell me, would I ever really do that? Besides, I am sure if you asked Jordan, she already claims that title.

Nonetheless, we are a big family (by the world's standards) and we use a lot of dishes every day; 7 x 2-3= 14-21 plates, bowls, forks, spoons, cups (actually not cups, my kids probably use about 6 each). That does not count all the pans, bowls, serving utensils, etc. that are used for each meal. So yes, there are plenty of opportunities to fill the dishwasher every day. Is there really ever a time when all the dishes are done? Not often. Oh, they might look done, all put up in the dishwasher and skillfully hidden down in the sink and what not, but they. are. never. REALLY. done! This was the feat I was trying to accomplish today and imagine my surprise when I was putting away the last load of dishes only to find that there is just not enough room in my cupboards and drawers for them all. No wonder the last load always stays in the dishwasher.

Speaking of dishwashers, one hard lesson we have yet to learn is don't leave a partial load of unclean dishes in the dishwasher without starting it. I understand all about being energy efficient and saving the earth from too many half loads of dishes, but the dirty truth goes something like this:

Mom: Alexis, please set the table for dinner...

Alexis: Are we using plates or bowls?

Mom: Plates will do.

As we are eating, dad wonders about the uncleanness of his plate. The question is raised about where Alexis got the dishes. Why from the dishwasher of course!

Anonymous Head Dishwasher Loader: NO, NO, NO, NO! They were not clean!!!

Protests go up all around the kitchen! Somewhere across the table a child gags as she realizes she has been using glasses from said load of dishes all day! The rest of us are suddenly not hungry, except the almost thirteen-year-old teenage boy who does not concern himself with such worries. The dogs will not be getting his dinner.

All in all, this should not dissuade you from joining us for supper. We'll gladly pull out the paper just for you.

To blog or not to blog...that is the question

2010-01-06T11:08:00.008-07:00

Goodness me, it has been so long since I blogged, I scarcely remember how. Even now, as I am utilizing the posting service, that old familiar excitement is welling up inside of me. I am sure what few followers I had have long since given up on me and moseyed on to greener pastures, so if you are within the sound of my keyboard, please do not be alarmed. There is news and pictures (exciting and not) forthcoming from the Smith house. (Do I sound like I have been reading a few too many 18th century books for my own good?) (Or maybe I have spent too much time living among my ancestors from the 16th to the 20th century for the past 4 months.) On either account, ~~I have forgotten what manner of language to use in the 21st century~~ I have slacked and for that I am sorry. I have a faithful sister blogger who never fails to blog and was even contemplating giving it up. If she only knew that I follow her every word. So glad to hear she never gave it up.

To those of you who have wondered if I still have it in me...the answer is, I am not sure, but I am willing to give it another try. To facebook, I find you much easier/faster/convenient/friend concentrated/ecetera, ecetera, but apparently, you are just not detailed enough. So if I can do what I have never been able to do, ( ~~just get on here and post something without having to summon the creative gods to help me deliver that which is not naturally in my brain to deliver~~) and sit down and post our exciting life in less than 10 minutes, you may have hope for me. Over and out...

P.S. If you are lucky enough to follow me on Google Reader, you got bonus features from CLEAR last year that for some reason NEVER got posted. So never fear, I am not the second councilor in the RS again.

Packin' Heat

2009-08-21T11:15:00.004-06:00

Big surprise...I am back. Big crazy move and getting kids back to school. I have missed so many great posts because I have not had time to write them. But today, the house is clean and no kids to mess it up and there is no work... lucky you!

So I am thinking of a day, yesterday to be exact, when Brooklyn came running up into the yard with vegetables from anonymous neighbor's garden. "Hey dad! You have got to try this! It is sooooo good!"

Rob: Um, I am not eating that. That is a jalapeno. It is VERY hot.

Brooklyn: It's not hot! I promise. I already ate one.

Rob: No you didn't.

Brooklyn: Uh huh.

Rob: Well let me see then.

Me (in my mind): Just humor her already would ya?

Brooklyn giggling mischieviously: Hehehe okay!

She proceeds to very cautiously nibble at the end. Rob and I could not believe she was going this far with it.

Brooklyn (chewing the minute piece she had gotten off with her teeth): See? It is not hot.

Rob: You didn't eat enough.

Being the BRAVE kid she is (she will do almost anything) and REALLY wanting to pull off this joke, she takes a bigger bite. The heat finally hits and the tears immediately appear. She spits it out and starts to cry, but not for long. Rob and I busted out laughing and we had tears for an entirely different reason than her.

Rob not being one to pass up a good challenge (or should I say opportunity to humor the kids), takes the jalapeno that Brooklyn had brought to him and bites off half and chews it up. I am not even sure he realized the heat that thing could pack. He was up and out of his chair and to the hose and had it turned on before I could blink.

Brooklyn starts to laugh as the result was better than anything she could have hoped for and told him (now this is the good part): (Anonymous neighbor) told me to bring it to you and trick you to eat it! HEHEHEHEHE!

(Note to anonymous neighbor: Rob doesn't sleep until he gets even...LOL)

Well we all know that a good trick is not a good trick unless it backfires right? Brooklyn was still holding her jalapeno in her hand and asked what made them so hot. I told her that the seeds usually made it really hot. Next thing I know she swipes a few seeds out of the way and takes another BIG bite. Within a split second she spits it out and starts SCREAMING bloody murder. She runs to the hose (that Rob had abandoned for something more helpful in the house) and starts to drink. She didn't find that anymore helpful than Rob had and was still screaming so I took her into the house to get some milk. There was Rob still blowing steam out of his ears, nose and eyes while stuffing his face with anything he could get his hands on. The milk was not helping and Brooklyn was still hysterical so I was searching for something else. Rob pulled out a bowl and some ice cream for her and the wailing subsided considerably. By this time the other kids had come running to see what was up and insisted they wanted ice cream too.

Would they get some? Only if they wanted to earn it like Brooklyn. That's what I thought! Nada!

FYI, ice cream does help...very much.

So just how bad is he?

2009-05-30T15:30:00.003-06:00

My recently graduated kindergartner asked me if I wanted to know just how bad Satan is, and even though years of experience in this sad world has given me a glimpse of just how bad he is, curiosity got the best of me and I had to know.

Me: How bad is he?

Brooklyn: When his mom says "I will kick your butt if you get into that candy," he would just run away...AND... he would take the candy with him!

If only he was just. that. bad.

I wonder how many times his mom kicked his butt. Obviously not enough.

Arachnofools

2009-04-01T14:57:00.003-06:00

What do you get when you cross an arachnophobic with April Fools? The GREATEST fool EVER!

Poor Rob. He had no idea. Being April Fools, his wife (that's me) was searching frantically for something mean to do. Nothing was coming. The last minutes before he went to bed for the morning (the undesirable fate of a graveyard worker) were fleeting away fast. Just as he was saying goodnight and ascending the stairs to his bed, it came. Just. like. that. The words left Wife's lips as if they were there all the time.

Wife: Um hun? I kinda forgot to tell you that there is a black widow hiding somewhere in our room.

(A little background on Rob. He is deathly afraid of spiders. If there is a spider in the house, he makes someone else take care of it. If it is high on the ceiling and it can't easily be reached, then he might be forced to deal with it. )

Rob (very frantically): WHAT? Why did you have to tell me that? Now I wont be able to sleep until I find it.

Wife: I know. I am sorry. I saw it last night right before I went to bed. When I went to kill it, it got away. It ran into the closet.

Rob: How in the heck did you sleep last night?

Wife: It took me a while, but eventually sleep overtook me, as I am sure it will you too.

Rob: NO it won't! Now I am going to have to take everything out of that closet before I can go to sleep.

It only got better from there. As wife showed him exactly where the spider supposedly entered the closet, the shudder was visible. He couldn't even bring himself to start the hunt wondering if he was being hunted too. Wife was contemplating letting him take everything out of the closet before she called him a fool, but time was passing and she didn't have all morning.

Catching the smile on wife's face, he finally caught on.

Rob: You are sooooo EVIL!

After the laughing was over, the best line of all came next.

Rob: I am so relieved that it's just an April Fools that I am not even mad about being fooled!

Sweet dreams baby! I sure do love you.

Hope

2009-03-22T13:06:00.000-06:00

My mom emailed a video to me and I remembered seeing this version of it that shows more of this man's story. I love his passion for life and showing that we are all the same whether we look like it or not. We are all human and have the need to get back up each time we fall.

"Hope sustains us through despair. Hope teaches that there is reason to rejoice even when all seems dark around us." President Dieter F. Uchtdorf October 2008

The lady next to me

2009-03-21T00:00:00.007-06:00

Rob and I went to ~~a no-good movie~~ Knowing (with Nicolas Cage). I think the lady sitting next to me provided way more entertainment than did this movie. Don’t get me wrong it was very intense and had action and blood and gore, but a very poor plot.

Anyhoo, the plot is not the reason for the post. No, no, no. Like I mentioned, it was the dear lady next to me who probably had to go home and take her heart medication after it was all over.

Let me see if I can capture her character here for you before the story begins.

She was all alone if that says anything. She was a gramma lady (as Boo would say). She must live for movies. …And that is all I can come up with. (Totally flunked character building in English).

10 minutes into the movie I hear this:

Lady: Is this seat taken?

Me: ~~Yeah, it’s for my coat.~~ Oh no. Here let me move that for you.

Lady: Thanks, those other chairs are just way too hard.

She soon settled and the movie progressed. It got very intense as you will soon see.

Movie: Crash, boom, bang!

Lady: Whimper…

Me to myself: Did she just whimper? {Snicker}

Movie: More of the crash, boom, bang! and even some scary music.

Lady as much to herself as she was capable: Oh glory! NO!

Me: Mam? Are you okay?

Lady with a look of “please don’t interrupt me while I’m in the zone:” Oh, yeah… heh, heh.

By this time Rob was looking over my shoulder to see what all the commotion was and to if she was in fact going to be ok.

After much fidgeting, crossing and uncrossing her legs, shifting herself in her seat, whimpering repeatedly, and voicing her opinion out loud about the ~~no-good~~ long awaited conclusion and right before the aneurism (not really, but could have happened), the movie finally came to an end.

So if you are still bent on seeing this movie after my review, make sure you find a gramma lady who is all by herself, who knows how to become one with the movie and save her a seat next to you. You will NOT be disappointed.

P.S. I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE my followers, but it helps me to know of your following. So, if you have not already done so, just click right over there on my followers list, right where it says FOLLOW.

Cell What?

2009-03-16T06:37:00.006-06:00

I have a 14-year-old (yes, just today) who feels she has dinosaurs for parents. ROAAAAAR (in my best T-Rex voice).

She can't have a cell phone. To her credit she has stopped asking. I thought I was fine for another couple years until Brandon dares to ask. What I was NOT expecting was this...

Alexis (just barely eight): Mom, if I saved my money...

Me: Uh hum?

Alexis: ...until I got about 50 bucks...

Me (tuning my antennas a little): yep?

Alexis: ...could I go to the dollar store...

Me (50 bucks? yeah right!): And?

Alexis: ...and buy a cellphone?

Me: Um, let me think about it for a min...No.

Alexis: BUT I am the ONLY one in my class who doesn't have one. EVERYONE in second grade has one. AND...everyone in my class can get on the internet whenever they want too. Why can't I get on the internet when I want? Yadda, yadda, yadda.

ROAAAAAR!

Should I just give in already?

Out of the mouth and into the archives #4

2009-03-11T20:48:00.003-06:00

After pointing out some backward numbers to Brooklyn on her homework, she insisted that "the lady" at school told her to put them that way.

Mom: No, I really don't think she would tell you to put them that way, cause it is wrong.

Brooklyn: Oh well that's ok, she is just a gramma lady anyway...

BEYOND your imagination

2009-02-25T20:05:00.003-07:00

I apologize for all of the videos that take place of the posts that you love so much. Just one more I promise. If you know me, you know I love, love, love William Joseph. His music makes me want to break out in song as I ballerina around the living room. In my mind I am on a stage somewhere in London with the lights and smoky stuff and all the twirls and bows and tippy toe stuff, but to my poor kids they see this object that can barely keep its balance as it crashes into the furniture and there are terrible screeches coming from its mouth. When the music comes on they are truly subject to some inhumane treatment. But as I said, I love the ~~man~~ music. With songs like Piano Fantasy, Kashmir and Within he truly had my heart. Though with time, the music has faded and the dancing has stopped. I found after months of needing to express myself through these songs, I could finally contain myself, until now...

Ladies and Gentlemen, may I introduce to you ~~our newest ballerina who was discovered in her own living room~~ William Joseph's newest beloved song? It is BEYOND (click, you wont be sorry) your imagination...and please try to contain yourselves...

Now to the video. While this is not one of my favorites of his songs, watching him in action, makes me want to have a date with ~~the man~~ my piano for the evening. I could pretend I am in London...

UPDATE: Ok, sorry I did not know you had to sign up on that account to hear the music...but if it makes you feel better, the site is friendly.

2009-02-22T17:13:00.002-07:00

I remember when he gave this talk. I hope this message will live on forever. Very inspirational short clip.

Man Cold 101

2009-01-28T16:51:00.004-07:00

For the well being of all men everywhere.

Thanks Danessa.

Wherein Bonnie sings a solo

2009-01-25T19:54:00.006-07:00

I had kind of an embarrassing moment today. They called the choir up to sing in sacrament and I didn't go up because I am not in the choir. I remember watching everyone walking up there and listening to the pretty introduction. That is all I remembered until Rob nudged me ferociously telling me to stop singing. The choir was halfway through the first verse, and yes I had sung it all with them...from the audience. I am not quite sure, as all I can remember is how beautiful the music was, but Rob tells me I was raising the roof all. by. my. self.

Out of the mouth and into the archives #4

2009-01-25T18:00:00.008-07:00

Overhearing me telling Megan that I better not EVER catch her playing with her playdough ANYWHERE but up to the island, a few days later, Brooklyn very puzzled, inquired the following...

Brooklyn: Mom how come we can only play with play dough in China?

Mom: China? What are you talking about?

Brooklyn: Nooooo, I mean... you know... the river?

Mom: OHHHH. You mean how come we can only play with play dough up to the island?

Brooklyn: Yeah! That. How come?

Mom: Cause we don't have a table.

Out of the mouth and into the archives

2009-01-23T22:56:00.006-07:00

After pointing out some backward numbers to Brooklyn on her homework, she insisted that "the lady" told her to put them that way.

Mom: No, I really don't think she would tell you to put them that way, cause it is wrong.

Brooklyn: Oh well, that's ok, she is just a gramma lady anyway...

I love to see the temple

2009-01-13T09:18:00.007-07:00

Temples have really been on my mind a lot lately.

*Last Saturday our Relief Society went up to SLC to see the Joseph Smith movie and the power and majesty of the Temple towering over me as I walked around the streets and buildings surrounding it was so powerful. I ached to go inside. That is one of the most amazing places to be. It was truly an edifying day for me.

*A few Sundays ago, a sister in our ward spoke on temples in Sacrament Meeting. Then the Sunday before the SLC trip, our RS president gave a powerful lesson on temples in RS.

*A blog I follow for the Kansas City Temple did a little blip (great read) on the real estate surrounding a temple. She gave a suggestion for a FHE that we did last night (see below).

*And last but not least our family has the great opportunity to go through the Draper Temple open house on Saturday and I am ecstatic. My kids are ecstatic. The thought of being able to take my children inside a temple brings me great joy. I hope it will strengthen their testimony of temples as it did mine when I had the opportunity to go through the Manti Temple open house and dedication when I was young. In preparation for this day I did a FHE last night that I hope will also strengthen their testimonies.

I picked up some pics of the temple at the distribution center and bought some frames before hand. Before FHE I gathered a hammer and nails. In the FHE we talked about the building of temples and how even building a temple is a sacred thing. We talked about the effect the temple has on an area surrounding it, how the price of homes go up and most important how it has an effect on an individual who gets to see it daily from living close or driving by each day. We talked about the blessing we have of getting to see a handful of temples by driving a very short distance. Then I told them I wanted them to think of a way that we could wake up and see the temple each morning. As the answer came that I was looking for of putting a picture of the temple in our rooms, I told them I wanted them to be thinking of the perfect place for their temple as we would be "building" a temple in their room. It had to be somewhere special that would bring value to the other things in their room, a place they would be able to see it each day. We then put the pictures of the temple in the frames and each person went to their room and found their place. It was fun to see them rearrange things in their room to create the perfect place. Rob and I even put my temple picture up in our room. It took a little planning to find the perfect place, but what a great sight when I woke up this morning and saw that beautiful sight. I LOVE to see the temple.

In closing (since this turned more formal than I am used to :}) I want to share some things from D&C 109 that a great bishop once shared with me about the amazing spiritual blessings that come from attending the temple. This was revelation given to Joseph Smith as he was giving the dedicatory prayer for the Kirtland Temple. The whole thing was powerful, but these are a few promises that I picked out that really gave me some hope.

*13...That all people who shall enter upon the threshold of the Lord's house may feel thy power, and feel constrained to acknowledge that thou hast sanctified it, and that it is thy house, a place of thy holiness.

*22...That thy servants may go forth from this house armed with thy power, and that thy name may be upon them and thy glory be round about them and thine angels have charge over them.

*26: That no combination of wickedness shall have power to rise up and prevail over thy people upon whom thy name shall be in this house.

Now who couldn't use a little more power against the enemy. I find great comfort in those promises. I believe in God and I believe in His promises. I would also like to extend that promise to you. If you are able to go to the temple, do it often. If you aren't, do whatever it takes to go and be there. I promise that your life will be easier to manage and that you will find the strength to overcome any personal battles that threaten to destroy you. I love each of you so much!

Rock and a Hard Place

2009-01-12T09:43:00.003-07:00

Thanks for all of your congrats everyone. It was a real victory indeed. Now I have a decision to make. You remember that company I got on and tested for out of ~~anger~~ frustration at my company. It is a company that Abby's mom works for and she loves it. They have been really good to refer me to it. Well, the company is interested in taking the hiring process to the next step...normally I would be elated and I have given myself a pat on the back as it really is very hard to get on with any MT company with the amount of experience that I have. I didn't think I even had a chance. It is supposed to be a really good company that has oodles of work all the time (my only beef with my current company now is that the work is very sporadic and I am left working very odd hours, not a good thing for someone who likes a schedule). So, here is the dilemma...

I HATE CHANGE! I AM SCARED TO DEATH OF TRYING SOMETHING NEW AND MOST IMPORTANT WILL I BE SORRY?!?!!?

So here is the question for you...

A) Should I leave well enough alone?
B) Am I crazy not to take the new job? (I like to think that I have it in the bag if I want it, when really I still have more of the hiring process to go through. I think a vain part of me wants to know if I am good enough.)

While you chew on that here is a synopsis of my prayer last week after I tested and before I knew I was going to get the raise I asked for...

"...I have a problem, this is what I have done to try to make it better, this is what I would really like to see happen (staying with my current company after they give me a raise and magically produce much more work because I hate change and I am a scaredy cat), I am leaving it in your hands."

I am not used to my prayers being answered in the affirmative (for the past too long they seemed to be "no not now, not at all, no, no, no," and now I don't know what to do with myself when He says yes to both of them...

Why do I have to be such an agonizer? It really drives Rob crazy.

You raise me high!

2009-01-07T16:58:00.007-07:00

If you have been around me the last few days you probably have not been enjoying life! I have been a bear and rightly so. I got an email from work on Monday that put me in the dumps. Let me give some background...

November 2008: I get an email from some person I don't know welcoming me to the new company telling me to sign the info and work handbook and send it back. What? A few emails later I find out that my work just merged and that it was "going to be a good thing." We would be getting benefits and everyone would be up for review in January for a raise.

That was a very stressful thing for me. You would not have wanted to be around me those few days either. I don't handle change very well. My anxiety goes through the roof.

January 2009: I get an email from work with our new pay rates. This is what I read (in a nutshell as the real email is confidential):

You are getting a pay cut.

Um what?

I send an email back inquiring why. I waited ALL day for a response! I was even nice in the email. I was so mad I could not even work (it was my day off, but I had planned on working anyway). That is how dysfunctional I get. I could not stop wondering why; if I was just doing really bad work or if they were just trying to get rid of old employees so they could bring in their own. I was furious. I IM'd my supervisor and she could not tell me anything. She didn't know either. I get an email later that day and it was addressed to all the employees that says this (in a nutshell again):

In order for us to provide everyone the benefits, we are cutting pay across the board to help pay for them....

Now just let that digest for a minute...after I let it digest I turned into a Bonnie that not many of you know. And I sent an email that says this (in no nutshell at all. Please forgive me now for ruining your perfect image of me):

I have never heard of such a thing. That should be an added bonus and not something taken away from us. I will not be taking advantage of the insurance and would rather have my previous rate besides looking forward to rate increases that were supposedly supposed to happen. I was told that I would be up for a raise in January. I would ask you to reconsider my rate change due to my not taking insurance and I would still like to see the raise I am due for.

I was told just this week that it is easier to be mean when you are not doing it face to face and I am here to say that yes it is. If I had been face to face or even on the phone it might have been something more like this:

I do bow to you oh holy one. Whatever you want to do to me, you may...

I felt like a sinner pushing the send button on that email. I was so sure that I was not going to have a job after all that that I actually tested for another company yesterday. But I didn't care. I was MAD! Well I never heard anything back from work and was not counting on it until today. I got an email just a bit ago and this is what it said:

Bonnie, I did get you approved for the raise you were promised. I have attached the revised letter for you. Hope this works better for you.

And it does, very much so thank you...(this is where I might have sent that oh-holy-one-I-bow-to-you email).

Can't decide if I am more excited about the raise or the fact that I AM VICTORIOUS! I won't even think about how I could be the ruin of the company because now they will not be able to afford to pay their employees and give them benefits too. Ok, I am done. I will take all your congrats in the form of comments.

P. S. I am considering doing seminars on getting raises out of hopeless situations. Tell me what you think...

P.S.S. Danessa tell Dave to be ready. I have been schooling Rob, it is about time...

Me and Moses could have been great buddies.

2009-01-05T10:50:00.003-07:00

Do you remember how I did this post on time and how I didn't think I had enough of it? and then how I got called to the scouts and really wondered if my family was going to survive one more event that was going to take me away from them? Me too. And now I know that God must have a sense of humor because he took me out of scouts and put me as second counselor in the R.S. It was kind of funny, but I was not laughing.

Now if you are not familiar with that position, it requires conducting and public teaching. That is right. ME teaching a bunch of women. It has only happened once and if I recall, it was not such a great experience. You see, I am one who pictures myself getting up in front of everyone and in a sing-song way eloquently teaching the things of the spirit in such a way that laughter and tears flow in the audience and everyone leaves the class with a lightness to their step and nobody can wait until I teach again. I can see myself with confidence and determination as I try to instill into their hearts that they are daughters of God and that he loves them. You know those kind of teachers that I am talking about right. But instead when I get up I blubbler and boob and my mind goes blank! All those thoughts of sharing my deepest love and concern for them comes out in mumbo jumbo and they are all like WHAT? You know those kind too right?

As I accepted the call, I thought about Moses and I recalled that he too worried about the same thing. He was slow of speech. The words did not come easily for him.

Homemade Christmas

2009-01-02T17:50:00.002-07:00

The long awaited post. Sorry everyone...

Among the MANY other things the kids got this Christmas, here are the things that were the best part of Christmas this year, mainly because the kids put so much time into making them.

These bows are so fun and easy and thanks to Danessa (who happens to be a great new friend who was so good to help welcome me into the ward) we were able to make oodles of them. I think every little girl (and big girl)needs one in here hair, maybe that is why I can't help myself from giving them away.

This was one of my favorite projects. I kind of got carried away with these darling things. I now have a great supply of beads and things if anyone wants to come hang out and make some. (For future reference to my sisters who do photography, a pajama'd knee makes a great backdrop for just about anything.)

After taking 3 years of sewing and having a mother and sisters who make marvelous things with a sewing machine, this is all I dared attempt to make. I tell you they were FUN stuff. I might attempt something more daring next time.

These things were actually quite a surprise. My darling little man spent countless hours at his Grandpa Smiths to make these things. The shelf pictured above is mine and he made 3 others for each of his sisters. I have to say that I LOVE the coat hanger too. Somehow the coats stay more organized on it.

Jordan was a little more self reliant than the others and planned out these darling little projects. She scrap-booked journals for each person with darling little pens to match (not pictured above. In my quest to get pics of all these projects, there were things that I could not find, mainly the rest of the journals.) Didn't she do awesome?

I had fun doing these little tutus. I had seen them around and never thought I could make one. My kids love them and I am not sure why I don't have any pics of them in them.

Rob wanted in on the action too. He helped the little girls make something for Brandon as he probably would not have appreciated any jewelry or flowers that they were making. The above contraption if you have not ever seen one is a marshmallow gun made out of PVC pipe. They are quite fun and should be banned from any home unless they come from a homemade Christmas. The marshmallows are no fun to pick out from the carpet. They are found everywhere. They do make a great outdoor activity though.

This year was by far our favorite. It really got me wondering if next year we could really pull off a total and complete homemade Christmas.

Why I am so excited this year

2008-12-18T09:16:00.000-07:00

In years past it has been way too easy for me to get caught up in making sure all of my kids had everything on their list and went into panic mode when I started to wrap and realized that John had more than Jane and the rest of the clan (names have been changed to protect the spoiled) and had to run to the store to find more things to prevent the inevitable counseling they would need someday because I must not love them as much.

I was determined that this year would be a little different...much to my kid's dismay I declared that this Christmas would be a Homemade Christmas. The kids had to come up with gift ideas that had to be made from their own hands. It could not be something silly and it was to take a lot of thought and planning. I had heard of it being done before and balked at the idea myself as anyone who knows me knows that even though I came from one of the craftiest, made-everything-on-this-planet moms, I have the creativity of a hamster. So as each child came up with ideas I could see the excitement/creativity (even from me) start to flow. I spent more time in the craft stores than all my life combined (even all the times with mom as a kid) and wanted one of everything.

My questions of whether they were "getting it" were answered by these exclamations:

"I can't wait for Christmas so everyone can see it!"

"Oh, I just want to go give it to her RIGHT now!"

"Mom, when can we work on my gifts?" x10

"Mom, when can we work on my gifts?" x10

"Mom, when can we work on my gifts?" x10

"Mom, when can we work on my gifts?" x10

"Mom, when can we work on my gifts?" x10

"Wife, when can we work on my gifts?" x10

Etcerta.

Coming soon: A peek at the busy little elves...

The Reason for the Season

2008-12-16T10:07:00.003-07:00

This post is NOT about ground beef

2008-12-15T20:51:00.003-07:00

Can you please tell me how in the H-E-double toothpicks a cow can come from 3 different countries? Because we ARE still 3 different countries right? Am I right or am I wrong? I am very disturbed to say the least.

Side note: This is a real package purchased from the local grocery store, in my community, by me in the good ole U S of A.

The ordinary

2008-12-14T20:18:00.010-07:00

Wow the pressure is on to do a post. It can't be that by doing so I will have broken my record of blog silence or anything. But when life kind of gets busy, your creativity goes away and Heaven forbid I should just get on here and post something ordinary like,

* My Christmas tree that died already and we are wondering if it will be just as well to set a can of gasoline in our living room for the fire hazard that it is, or

* The 10 strands of lights that I put on the Christmas tree that probably shouldn't have all been hooked together as they ~~will~~ did blow out, or

* How Boo was sick the other day all throwing up and everything, but pulled through in record speed and has eaten me out of house and home since, or

* How I got snowed in last night when it was one of the only nights I had to get out and ~~finish~~ start my Christmas shopping, or

* When Lex gave me a note about me being the best mom and that I should not ever be a mom to other kids and I willingly agreed, or

* Why I am so thankful for my job even though it can really be stressful some days, or

* How Meg and Brand did the most awesome Christmas concert ever in school and they even sang, not one or two, but A LOT of songs about Jesus and they did not even get put in jail for it, or

* That Jord makes me laugh all the time but especially when she sings the wrong words in the hymn book at church and she nudges me ferociously to stop laughing ~~and directing even more attention her way~~ because it is so irreverent of me, or

* That I am more excited than EVER for Christmas because I am finally really "getting" it this year, or

* How I have plead with my dh to please shave his beard, because I have never been a beard lady, or

* How I got to go shopping with my mom last week and it was so fun. I loved it and I think for one time in my entire life, I out shopped her. She was begging ME to please be done, cause she was ready to go home, or

* That it is my dad's b-day again and if you want to read more about what an awesome dad/grandpa/friend/neighbor go here, or

if you want to know more, you can just call anytime...really.

So until I can get my brain more blog-directed, enjoy the ordinary.

I can do it, promise mom.

2008-11-14T10:34:00.010-07:00

Once upon a time there was a little girl named Boo. She was the bravest in the land. This brave soul has the honor of being the only child at home with mom while big brother and sisters are in school. Being that mom has to work in her office and the rest of the house is big and scary and spooky, Brave Boo must ~~cower~~ stay right by mom's side to protect her from anything that might come to get them. One of her favorite activities to do while mom works is to talk. Talk, talk, talk, talk and talk. She was even so cute as to talk about this one day while sitting next to mom in her kid-sized rocking chair:

BB: "Mom, if you and Sharon ever need to go anywhere, I can tend Ammon-Sam-Zeki-and-Ben all by myself. Really. I would not. even. be. scared. "

Now if you know the brother duo x2, Ammon, Sam, Zeki and Ben, you would know this is not an easy feat for anyone, especially Brave Boo.

M: "Now Brave Boo, are you sure you could do all that and not be scared?"

BB: "Oh, yes mom. If a monster knocked on the door, I would just kick him far out the door."

M: "Well then yes, I guess you are right. You could do all that and not be scared."

While the words were still fresh from her lips she informs mom that she needs to scoot her chair closer to her.

BB: "...and here, let me put my arm on yours too."

M: "Why?" (Mom just had to ask.)

BB: "I heard something upstairs."

Out of the mouth and into the archives #3

2008-11-11T20:26:00.005-07:00

Teacher shared Alexis's journal entry:

I am so grateful that my mom works so hard so we don't have to live in a box.

* Ingrain-into-my-kid's-heads-that-I-am-working
-for-one-reason-only -- check.

Cheecken a' La Accidante...

2008-11-02T19:04:00.002-07:00

...or in other words, how to make the most divine chicken and mashed potatoes evah! by mistake.

1. Be desperate enough to want something different and start looking for chicken recipes in any recipe book you can find.
2. See that there are recipes for Parmesan chicken and chicken with mushrooms and chicken with apples on them, and as tempting as they may sound, just ignore them.
3. Stop on the page that says fried chicken even though you have never been successful at making your own fried chicken.
4. Get yourself ready for the challenge as you will be attempting fried chicken AGAIN. Remember the saying? When at first you don't succeed...yes that is it. Try, try again! and again! and again! etc.
5. Notice that this recipe is a bit different than any you have tried before as it uses instant potato flakes as the coating. Hmmm. This could actually work!
6. Prepare your 7 boneless chicken breasts by cutting them into strips, getting any loose fat off of them and setting them aside.
7. Get a large bowel and poor some potato flakes in, about yea much. That is it. Decide that you want to add your own personal touch and put some Parmesan cheese in, some garlic powder in, part of a ranch packet in and some salt and pepper. Mix together well and set aside.
8. Pour some oil in the bottom of the frying pan, about 1/2 inch deep and heat. Start coating the chicken in the potato flakes and add to heated oil.
9. Realize after you have added about 10 strips to the pan it is already full and you really don't have all night to sit and fry up the other 50 strips. Finish coating them all and add them all at the same time.
10. Start stirring the strips around and wonder why the coating is falling off and turning into mashed potatoes.
11. Try not to panic as there is no time left to figure something else out for dinner. Giggle at the sure-to-come looks of disgust and protests from not only your kids but your spouse.
12. Don't be afraid to let the mashed potatoes brown up a bit on the bottom and scrape this off every once in a while so that more will get brown. This will start looking like just what it sounds like. Chicken mixed into mashed potatoes.
13. Finish cooking the chicken a la accident and carry it gracefully over to the table with head held high and set it among the curious faces.
14. Tell them it is a special dish that only the most elite have ever eaten.
15. Make them swear to secrecy that they will never divulge the secret recipe (as if they will ever know it!) before you give them some. Even the pickiest of eaters will be begging by now.
16. Serve, sit back and watch the shear amounts of pleasure as they fight for every last piece!, but even more than that, relish the requests for this to become a frequent fryer at your house.

High School Musical goes to jail

2008-10-30T08:56:00.005-06:00

With the new episode coming out, the old songs once again can be heard being bellered throughout the house from any one of my 4 girls. Some of the old rumors that were flying around about the stars have started circulating among the youngest of my girls once again. I have heard them on and off, here and there. 'Did you know that Gabriella sent nekkid pictures of herself to Troy and she had to go to jail!' With a little chiding from me, that kind of talk was usually quieted with "I don't think she would go to jail for something like that, but it is definitely not something she should have done!"

Not thinking of it again, I would go on with what I was doing. Who would have thunk that queries such as this could come from my 5-year-old: "Mom, if I just pretend to send a nekkid picture of me to Troy, would I have to go to jail?...

I am not sure what kind of reaction other moms would have with a question like that from their sweet little innocent, never-thought-of-such-a-thing-before, cute, kissable, little baby girl, but every mommy instinct I ever had stood on high alert! My blood began to boil and I did what any other mommy should do...

"Yes dear if you even pretend to send a nekkid picture to Troy, not only might you go to jail where there are all kinds of monsters and bears, where the fire alarms go off everyday and all you get to eat is spinach for breakfast, lunch and dinner, but your sisters would get to have all your toys and your brother will get to finish off all the food on your plate everyday."

I can now file this under, I-know-you-may-need-counseling-someday-for-this-
and-when-you-are-all-done-with-it-make-sure-you- look-up-Gabriella-and-see-how-her-counseling-is-going.

My question for you is this, and believe me I am among the most conservative of mothers when it comes to the content allowed into my home, where is the line? Without taking everything that is socially acceptable away, how much is too much. When Joe down the road and Jane up the street are going to see "it", and are wearing "it", and these "examples" are becoming idols talked about among the youngest of them all, I want to know, how do you live in this world but not of it? I know I have blogged about this kind of thing before and I might have joked a bit in this post about it, but when my 5-year-old asked me that question, it. scared. me. to. DEATH!

Out of the mouth and into the archives #2

2008-10-23T21:10:00.004-06:00

Megan: Jordan I know a good reason you and _____ would be prefect for each other.

Jordan: What would that be?

Megan: Cause he doesn't have a perfect face either.

If this wasn't so innocent she might have had to apologize. Not sure where the filter is between her brain and her mouth sometimes but we are all just glad Jordan has a sense of humor.

Now what is not perfect about this face?

AND...she turns a decade old.

2008-10-21T19:45:00.003-06:00

Our sweet little Megan has turned a year older. She brings so much joy and laughter. Here are a few things about Megan that you may not know.

~~~ She is the very middle child who is very low maintenance. This can often be to her disadvantage as life gets so busy and she does not get the attention she wants but doesn't know it. ~~~

~~~She never has to be asked twice to get a job done. She learned early the value of getting a task done quickly.~~~

~~~She often times has no filter between her brain and her mouth. This can make for some great entertainment or some awkward situations...~~~

~~~She is quick to tell anyone she meets that she is half tomboy. This is to her only brother's advantage. They get along so well.~~~

~~~She LOVES animals. Her favorite is horses. I hope she will forgive us someday for not being a horse family. One of my favorite memories is of her when she was about 3 years old. She was crouched down on the top of a fence waiting for the neighbors horse to come close enough as it was galloping around and around the corral. She just knew that eventually it was going to get close enough for her to jump on its back. Had I not been there to stop her, she would have done it, I am positive. She has no fear.~~~

On this special day, her siblings had something they wanted to say to her...

Jordan says: Thanx Megan for being one of the cutest, and bestest sisters in the world! You are so beautiful and growing up so FAST!! lol, well just know I am always here for ya and you can talk to me about anything!!

Brandon says: I think you are one of my favorite sisters. We have a lot of fun on the trampoline. I really love you. I hope you have a happy birthday!

Alexis says: I LOVE to play games with you especially when we both agree on the same one. We always like to play "what if."

Brooklyn says: I love it when you give me a ride home from school on your bike. You even SIT on the bar when I am high up on your seat. Thanks!

hApPy bIrThDaY mEgAn!

Who is to say that 2 wrongs don't make a right?

2008-10-20T10:06:00.007-06:00

After moving to a new ward it is not long before you are asked the infamous question, "what were your previous callings in your old ward?" When asked this question one Sunday evening by the visiting bishopric, I babbled off a list of callings and then with all the Nephiness I had, I let them know I was taught by a valiant mother that all callings were from God and that I should never turn one down. That being said, I let them know I was willing to serve where ever ~~except for primary, nursery, anything that would require public speaking and/or especially scouts~~ I was needed. I am sure they left my home thinking I was the best thing that came to their ward in a long time as they thought of all the callings nobody else wanted to do.

When it comes to scouts, I am LOST. Somehow my only son made it through each den, passed off all his requirements and made it out of cub scouts and into boy scouts while I rode an oblivious ride right along side of him. He always had amazing leaders who knew exactly what he needed. I thanked my lucky stars for them as I. was. clueless. When the call came, I almost panicked. I came this close to declining my first calling. Didn't they know that I can't tell bears from wolves and bobcats from tigers? "Sister Smith would you be willing to work as an assistant to the (I think he said Weblos, I am still not even sure) den leader for the scouts?"

Ok, to the point of the story. I, of course (did you doubt me?), accepted this calling and went to my first meeting with the boys. Off to the fire station we went to learn about first aid. Awe this is right down my alley, a field trip with 8-10 rowdy boys learning about blood and gore. I think I can handle this. As the boys piled into the cars, I wondered if they were going to like me (cause that is important to me you know). The ride started out quiet, nobody really knowing what to say. I finally asked them each their names and I heard some snickering from the back. The ~~ring leader~~ older boy in the front seat made some gestures to the boys in the back to follow his lead and he gave me what I knew was the wrong name. Following him, each of the other boys gave me a wrong name too. They thought they were pretty funny, BUT! I am way funnier! "Nice to meet each of you! I am Bertha Lou Magilicuty. We are going to have so much fun!" Even though I was driving I could not have missed the whites of their eyes for anything. They tried to suppress their smiles, but the giggles were not to be held onto. I tried to feign hurt feelings and when their giggles quickly cut off and they tried to be serious, I started giggling too.

Leader of the pack: "Um, those weren't really our names."

Me: "Mine either!" (We won't tell them that I wonder if it is sometimes.)

The laughter ensued until we reached the fire station. I made some great little buddies that day and had a lot of fun. As to whether I am going to like it or not? I don't really know. But I am where I am supposed to be. I am in this calling for a purpose that I may not know for years to come, but I am here... or as Nephi put it so eloquently, ... I will go and do the things which the Lord hath commanded, for I know that the Lord giveth no commandments unto the children of men, save he shall prepare a way for them that they may accomplish the thing which he commandeth them.

Hanna Montana Moments...brought to you by her greatest fans

2008-10-15T08:23:00.011-06:00

Alexis: Dad you want to hear this song I know?

Dad: Sure.

7-year-old Alexis (in her Hanna Montana way): If we were a movie, you would be the right guy and I would be the best friend that you would fall in love with. In the end we would be laughing, watching the sunset, fade to black, show the names, play the happy song...

Dad (a little dumbstruck): Um yeah. I know a song too. Wanna hear?

Alexis: Yeah!

Dad: Head shoulders, knees and toes, knees and toes, knees and toes... Oh and here is another one! John Jacob Jingleheimer Smith! His name is my name tooooo!

Mom (upstairs): Giggle, chortle, snort!

Alexis: That one IS funny dad! Much better than Hannah Montana huh?

Dad: Yep!

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

Brooklyn: Willow thinks Hannah Montana stinks. She doesn't stink huh mom? She probably smells REALLY good!

Mom: No, I don't think she stinks either. She probably doesn't even need deodorant yet...

Side note: I find it interesting that though we don't own any Hannah Montana "stuff" her "stuff" never fails to find its way into my kids heads...

Thank goodness for bad batteries

2008-10-10T23:35:00.005-06:00

Who's to say that nothing good can come from bad luck? Without that bad luck I might not have known...

Day one: Wal-Mart is too busy and will not help me if my battery goes dead and I am stuck in their parking lot. They will however suggest a ~~price gouging, wallet sucking,~~ toeing service that would be more than happy to help. By not falling for that, my dead battery also showed me that I do have a great father-in-law and sis-in-law who would pack up her kids and drive all the way to save me.

Day two: If that were all the bad battery could teach me I would be just fine, but no, it needed to teach me some more. I learned that when it is my turn to carpool and my car wont just turn on like it is supposed to, the other mom is more than happy to come and take the kids to school, and that is not all, no, no, no. My OTHER sister-in-law would come over with a battery charger and some cokes (not to drink) and we would clean the battery and try to hook up the battery charger, but no that would not be enough. ~~Rob~~ That battery wanted us to know that we DO indeed have to turn the battery charger on before it will cooperate.

Day three: I was done learning things but the battery was not done teaching me things. I learned that if I have just jumped off a battery, driving it a few blocks is not really enough time for it to charge and I should not turn the car off and expect it to start again. This will surely trap me in the school parking lot as I watch my oblivious already-saved-me-once-sis-in-law drive away. No amount of ~~cheer leading, dancing or karate chops,~~ jumping up and down and screaming was going to get her attention. I also learned that if this ever happens to you, you should hope that you didn't park in an impossible place to get to. You are not strong enough to move a dead car and wouldn't really want anyone watching you try. I did however get to learn how helpful the school's custodian could be. There was no need for me to reveal ~~the wonder woman in me~~ my strong muscles because he could just drive on the lawn to get to my car and jump it off.

I also learned that I do sorta take awhile to learn things, but I was finally done learning things from that battery. I was trying to give it all the chances I could to quit teaching me things but now I have a new battery and I am teaching it a thing or two. My family, friends and neighbors are all tired of showing me how much they care for me. Work or else!

P.S. I am afraid I can't let you leave my blog until I swear you to secrecy cause you see, we don't really want anyone to know we were at Wal-Mart as they are the ~~enemy~~ competition and Rob was there too and didn't dare ask ~~any of the 30 ladies who came out to help him~~ anyone to help him, thus the SIL came to save us but before she could get there Rob finally got brave and asked a man to help him and he did and I was ~~shopping~~ just window shopping that whole time and not even out there or I would have asked someone (really), but I just had to come clean with this because you all need to know that Wal-Mart really is as rude as all that and so you need to come to Maceys instead cause I KNOW they would help you if your battery ever decides to teach you something... {catching breath}.

I lived in Heaven a long time ago, it is true

2008-10-02T08:27:00.015-06:00

We have been learning about the Plan of Salvation...

... in FHE over the last few weeks and we learned an important truth in the first lesson that a lot of people in the world don't know and understand. It is on this day that I can reflect ~~way~~ back on a day 33 29 years ago when I left my place in Heaven and came to this earth to receive MY body. What a glorious day that was indeed for it was the only way for me to progress from one of Heavenly Father's spirit children and on my journey towards becoming like my Heavenly Father and striving for eternal exaltation with him. His perfect Plan included giving us a family here on earth with parents who could provide for us and teach us about Him and our Savior. I am grateful to know that he also gave us a way to be with that family forever and ever.

It is on this day that I would like to thank my mom and dad for giving me a body and an eternal family. I love you all so much!

Sept 2008 Missing sister Wendy

October 2007

Everyone likes to see funny pictures of Bonnie right? Today is the only day you have permission to laugh!

Helping with homework 101

2008-09-29T21:20:00.005-06:00

Today I had the opportunity to think back on all those times I wondered WHY we had to learn this stupid thing or that stupid thing in school. The teacher's answers always seemed to elude the truth and never seemed to suffice. Why didn't they just come right out and say it. Why not come clean and just say "the reason you are here learning this difficult stuff is because you will need to help your kids someday with all the homework they have and they will. need. your. wisdom. "

Why not just tell me that some day I might look at my kid like she was from a different planet when she tried to teach ME what she does know so that I could pretend I already know and try to teach her what I forgot.

Why didn't they just give me a clue that I would spend countless hours wallowing all over the floor in great despair as I tried not to pull out ~~my kid's~~ my hair.

If they would have just told me those things, I would have paid more attention and tried harder to remember the... stuff. Instead I filed it under "~~useless info~~ the teacher said I will need this someday, but I don't believe him" and now I am paying dearly.

"That is NOT how my teacher taught me to do it!"

"That is fine dear but please remember, they are teaching things ~~wrong~~ different these days. I would know. I learned this one time you know. This is how MY teacher taught me how to do it. "

"Why do we have to learn this stupid stuff anyway?!?!?"

And her teachers wonder why she is so confused.

But... they could have saved themselves a great headache if they would have just told me all this in the first place.

By the typing of keyboards, who remembers how to do integers and linagers (is that a word?) and so forth? Are/were you prepared for this?

P.S. If you need a great funny today, check this out.

Out of the mouth and into the archives

2008-09-26T22:18:00.002-06:00

Autumn: It is so hard to be righteous sometimes don't you think?
Megan: Yeah, it's especially hard for me. I have too many brothers and sisters.

Dear School Board,

2008-09-24T21:52:00.003-06:00

I hate early out day. Well let's see, that might have been a little harsh, maybe I should say, I loath early out day, or it happens to be an inconvenience for me especially when I have a kindi-gartener and it only comes once a week, or when it sneaks up on me (on a day like today) and my daughter still looks like this ...

...and I think I still have 45 minutes to get her ready and feed her lunch but really I only have five minutes. On a day like today she might have missed her lunch, but no big deal because it is early out day. She will be back sooner than I thought. I dislike early out day...

Sincerely,

a mother who loves her children dearly and loves every minute she gets to spend with them and loves to have a set schedule that she can expect their departure and their arrival to and from school. This mother does not like surprises on a day like today when the beloved children grace her with their presence before she was expecting them.

P.S. You don't really need a teacher prep day do you?

Encore: Here is another view of this very funny picture. When your kid hardly EVER takes a nap (like maybe oh, every three months if even that) and she ends up in the middle and ON top of all of her toys, it becomes a spectacle. I found her this way just when I needed to get her ready for school. Oh how I wanted to let her sleep. Not quite sure how she ended up with the Bob the Builder hat on. Can't figure out how that goes with the whole doll house theme or dolls, or whatever else she might have been playing with there. So go ahead... have fun with this picture. What caption would you give it? You can make fun of all the toys that are out of place, or that she is still in her nighty at near noon, I really don't care. I already have...

Got Fruit?

2008-09-21T21:24:00.002-06:00

Not too long ago there was a family from Mexico that moved into our neighborhood and within a week they had sent their kid out to all of the neighbors and invited them over for a Mexi-que so they could get to know everyone. My kids went over and got to try all kinds of great food they had never even seen or heard of before. Since they have moved in, there has been this "candy truck" that has drove past and stopped at their house for awhile. My kids kept running in to me with puppy dog eyes, desperation evident in their faces as well as absolute I-am-going-to-die crazy pleading for understanding that the "candy truck" was so close AGAIN and they really needed some money and since they didn't have any could I just hand them some. Knowing that they are definitely NOT deprived of candy I would reply in the negative and their puppy dog eyes would turn to devil eyes and their desperation would get more wild, "but moooom it is sooo close! Don't you understand!?!?" When that didn't work the tears would start and the stomping off to their room or out the doors came next.

First of all I have never heard of a "candy truck " and the one time I happened to be outside when it drove by in all its glory, I still did not get what kind of candy truck it really was.

During a particular "candy truck" episode I saw the familiar cycle start; puppy dog eyes, devil eyes, wet eyes, no eyes. It did not dawn on me what was happening until it was over. I had thought I heard Brandon running up to his room with a friend whispering and then back out the door as fast as he came in. At the time I was busy staving off the little ones during their puppy-dog-eye phase. After the ordeal was over and the little ones had run off with their weepings, wailings and gnashings of teeth, one of the older kids came running to tell me that Brandon had went to the "candy truck" with his money and he bought fruit flavoring. They were all giggling at him as he came to show me. He looked beaten at his own game.

"I couldn't read any of the labels on any of the 'candy' so I asked the Mexican man if I could just buy this. It looked good; just wasn't sure what it was. He kind of looked at me weird but sold it to me anyway. " Sure enough, this little bottle of fruit flavoring looked good enough to eat. It even had a cute little lid that opened so you could shake it right onto your fruit. It might have fooled me too as the English translation of "Fruit Flavoring" could only be found at the very bottom. After we got all our giggles out we set about to find some fruit in the house. Not having anything other than bananas, they became the hot item as the brave kids peeled, shook and tasted.

Moral of this story? If your kids come running to you wanting money for the "candy truck," save yourself, and them, the weeping, wailing and gnashing of teeth and tell them that it is not a candy truck at all, but maybe just a Mexican Schwans man who will sell them fruit flavoring if they want.

Blog book

2008-09-19T16:38:00.003-06:00

Remember NieNie? If you haven't heard her story, check it out. I won't go into details here as I am sure you have all heard by now. I am here now to beat myself up for not taking part in the blog book that is being put together to earn money for her family. It sounds really wonderful and there will be lots of funnies in it. So to make myself feel better, I will plead with you all to check out the project and submit your funnies for this book. I will be buying it, just not brave to submit myself. Here is the main rules for it.

His first, my first, our first

2008-09-08T09:23:00.003-06:00

We got an itch to take the fam for a day out. We weren't intending to end up on this trail that led to a... place. I hadn't been on this trail for over 14 years. Would we remember how to get there? After all it is a place that holds ~~hilarious~~ romantic memories for us and a place I have wanted to revisit. Never mind that we had the dog and four of our five kids with us, they were eager to see this place too. With flip flops, giggles and a twinkle in our eye we set out. It was an adventure indeed.

This is the first landmark I recognized.

We crossed the river ~~1852~~ countless times. This is where my flip flops came in handy.

Wild raspberries were not expected but cherished.

"Is this the place mom?" and "are we there yet?" ~~became the whine of choice~~ was asked at every turn.

Awe the cave! We are almost there.

I don't remember the moo cows. They could have been there though...

Rob: Hmmm. Did we pass it? I remember it being this way.

BonBon: Well I remember it being this way.

Anonymous kid: I am surprised you remembered anything at all...

Why?! Why do we have to turn back? We wanted to see it!

Anonymous kid #2: Yeah we wanted to see where you had your first (giggle, snicker)...

Anonymous kid #3: SMOOCH! (giggle, giggle, snort, snort!)

Anonymous kid #4: Ewe!

Peace is coming

2008-08-19T18:33:00.002-06:00

I was walking through the mall with Rob the other night and came across this picture. My heart caught in my chest and I had to stop and stare. It was beautiful. It was bigger than my own living room wall and I thought for a brief moment I would sell my only car for it. It is amazing. This little picture does not do it justice (clicking on it should make it bigger), but hopefully you can see the meaning a little bit. There is a lot of symbolism in it.

My friend Alexis did a post today that really touched me. She has a new blog set up to help us all remember what it really means to have patriotism. I truly believe that "Peace is Coming," as the picture above is appropriately titled.

Broken things

2008-08-16T22:46:00.006-06:00

Getting up and falling down. Getting up and falling down. Over and over again. Everyday I promise to do better, wondering why it is so hard. Yelling at him, not listening to her. Forgetting this and resenting that. Saying sorry, hoping for mercy, feeling broken inside. Getting up by taking His hand and somehow I catch His eyes. It is then that with certainty I know, He is okay with broken me. Falling down and getting up. Falling down and getting up. Over and over again.

Find a tissue and enjoy this video.

Ice Cream and Summer Days

2008-08-15T23:10:00.003-06:00

If you haven't been here, here, here, or here in the last few hours then listen up. If you love me, I NEED your help. ALL the help you can give. One of my most adorable nieces is a finalist in a photo contest. If she wins then the prize is $500 dollars that will pay for her trip to come to our family reunion. We want her here sooooo bad! Go here and vote. Make sure you vote for #9 and you can vote once per day, but hey if you have more than one computer...just sayin ya know. I don't think it is cheating. As long as you don't have more computers than household members. Which I don't but if I did I would ~~use them too~~ NOT use them. (clearing throat...) Anyway. Thanks for your help!

Is that not the picture of adorableness? Quick! Go spread the word to those who love you and owe you ~~their first born~~ a favor!

The keys that unlock the door

2008-07-21T22:15:00.001-06:00

These look a little like the keys I just got for my new house...

By their smells ye shall know them

2008-07-15T23:00:00.005-06:00

We used to have a tradition on Sunday morning. The girls would get all prettied up and then right before we left for church, they got to pick a smell-good lotion and put it on. This all changed when we moved into my parent's home and started attending their ward. In this ward there is a lady who is allergic to perfumes. She literally will faint at the smell of them. She has to sit by an exit so that she can leave the room if she needs to. The ward leaders have kindly asked each ward member not to wear any perfume, aftershave, not even to use dryer sheets with their Sunday attire etc. I would try really hard not to wear anything but there were times that I would need to cover up my not-so-fresh body odors as I may have missed my morning shower before church (not because I slept in) and I would put something on thinking to myself, "I hardly ever see her anyway. I will just make sure to steer clear of her." It never failed. When I broke the rule, I would be sure to run right into her. My biggest flub happened on a Sunday that was no different than any other. As we were walking into church I could see it, but I could not stop it. The meeting had already started (a Sunday that was no different than any other) and the kids were ~~running~~ walking very fast to the front of the chapel. I could see the antiperfume lady sitting in the row right in front of the row my kids chose. There was nothing I could do. I filed into the row, past the kids, practically brushing against her until I found myself a seat. I closed my eyes and prayed for a breeze to blow in from somewhere and keep my scents from drifting toward her nostrils. The Lord did not see fit to bail me out of this one as the breeze did not come fast enough. She gathered up all of her grandchildren with a ~~disgusted~~ nauseous look and moved to the other side of the chapel.

At one point I began to think she was over exaggerating until one Sunday I saw this poor woman spread eagle on the floor right outside of the sacrament meeting with a ~~distraught elder~~ good Samaritan trying to make her as respectable as possible all the while fanning the air around her until she would come to. From that day, I have not worn perfume to church. All of my kids have had to give up their one day that they got to pick a special lotion to wear on Sunday. It has taken awhile, but the ward building does not smell like Bath and Body anymore.

Chapter 2

This Sunday we slept in. I looked at the clock as I rolled over in bed and realized that the congregation was probably singing the opening hymn and that there would be no possible way we would make it. (Do ya think?!?) ANYWAY back to the story at hand. We never sleep in like that and felt kind of bad. As the kids were doing the no-church-this-week-dance, Rob had the brilliant idea that we should get ready and go to Susie's ward. I am not sure which girl it was but they shouted that "hey we can wear smell-goods again!" This brought great excitement for church, more than had been known in all the land before. So it was. As we were getting ready for church the first girl put this on:

The second ~~little piggy~~ girl put this on:

The third ~~little piggy cried weeee all the way home~~ put this on:

The fourth girl put this on:

I got to finally wear this:

(Dolce Gabbana Light Blue, if you could not tell)

There was no holding back. We sprayed a spray here and rubbed a too-much amount of lotion all over. Even the two men of the house joined in with their goods. As we all met out in the car to leave for church, I began to feel lightheaded. There was a multicolored cloud surrounding the car. It smelled like the ocean and oranges and limes and coconuts and spices and whatnot. The feeling was even more overwhelming as we walked into church and the cloud that was following us mixed in with the one that was already there waiting for us, for this was not a ward who practiced the no-smell-goods. I wondered if I might pass out...

The Great and Terrible.

2008-06-29T22:03:00.003-06:00

I will be back in a couple of ~~days~~ hours. Thanks Sharon!

P.S. Do not let me forget to tell a he-darn-larious tale about this book!

Personality test

2008-06-26T11:00:00.003-06:00

I took this personality test here. It seems to be quite accurate. I found it on this blog. You have GOT to go and check her out. Her post is SOOO funny. This lady cracks me up all the time. I will not even attempt to explain my personality like her. So here it is.

ISTJ - "Trustee". Decisiveness in practical affairs. Guardian of time- honored institutions. Dependable. 11.6% of total population.

I tied on one category so it gave me two.

ISFJ - "Conservator". Desires to be of service and to minister to individual needs - very loyal. 13.8% of total population.

Not Enough Time?

2008-06-22T19:13:00.002-06:00

"We will have to make some hard choices of how we use our time. But there should never be a conscious choice to let the spiritual become secondary as a pattern in our lives. Never....

"...When we put God's purposes first, He will give us miracles....

"Those apparent prison walls of 'not enough time' will begin to recede, even as you are called to do more." -President Henry B. Eyring

I am not sure if it is because the kids are out of school and I am struggling to keep up with everything as it is or what, but when I read this quote in the Ensign, it really made me stop and ask myself what I am doing to put God first. I had a really hard time answering that as it seems He got copied and pasted to the end of my list of things to do each day. I don't know how it happened. I used to be so good. Our family scripture study has become nonexistent and you can tell this by the contention that is running rampant in my home since we stopped. My personal prayers and study time might get done at midnight when I finally crawl into bed, if I can keep my eyes open. When they are asking for volunteers in RS for anything, my hand is cemented in my lap and has no intention of raising above my head. I haven't been visiting teaching in who knows how long. I have not been to the temple in ages. Aside from the spiritual, I have let my exercise routine fly out the door too. I have so many things to do each day that I cannot fathom adding anything else to it at this point. But when I read this promise from one of our church leaders, I cannot help but trust in that promise.

I read about an analogy someone presented in a relief society lesson. She had a glass jar, some walnuts and some sand. The sand represented the things that we have to do each day. The walnuts represented our daily duties to God. She asked how both of these things could possibly fit into the jar together. She illustrated by pouring the sand into the jar and filled it more than halfway full. Then she tried unsuccessfully to add the walnuts to the jar. They could not both fit at the same time. She tried the experiment again, this time adding the walnuts first. As she added the sand, it filled in all around the walnuts and this time each one fit perfectly.

As I reflected on this I realized that we cannot grasp God's ways. He knows what we don't. Where we can't do it, He can. If I add the walnuts to my jar first each day, then the rest of the things that I have to do will fall into place just fine.

I would like to know your thoughts on this. What do you do to put God first in your life?

Making your own header and background

2008-06-18T22:52:00.001-06:00

Now that I have fulfilled one of my bloglife dreams to make my own header and even found out how to make my own background to match, many of you have asked that I share my new found knowledge. Not sure if it is hard to guess or not but this it the first scrapbooking kind of thing I have ever done (awe that explains it). Being the amateur that I am, I will try to teach what I still do not understand. There are plenty of people out there who can do a better job than me and that is why I am turning to the experts to help with most of it. I am not very good at giving instructions so I have included my number below if you have questions. But be warned, it takes time. Did I say it takes time? Lots of it. (Hey I had fun with all of the traffic I got from my last post. Send your friends over again. I am sure they are going to want to see ~~me make a fool of myself again~~ this too!)

Materials needed:

One blog (more than that is simply too much).
Time.
Digital scrap booking pages, embellishments, or a whole kit would be ideal. See links below.
Photoshop and a minimal amount of knowledge of how to use it. I did not have this starting out and Google became my new BFF for awhile there. (There are ways to do this in paint. Not sure how but I am sure you can Google it).
Time.
Photobucket account.
Time .
Google, Google, Google.
~~Patient~~ Understanding husband.
Great ability to follow very hard directions.
Phone to call Bonnie when you are totally lost (this only happens about 1,362 times an hour. Not bad.) My number is 1-800-hehe-haha-goodluck!
Patient but otherwise occupied kids. The dog pen makes a good ~~enclosure for pesky children~~ place for bored kids to play. If DSS shows up do not point them to me. My kids were just keeping the dog ~~out of my hair too~~ from getting bored too.
More time.
Creativity (although it could be argued that I did just fine without it)

Follow these directions one at a time and as well as you can:

Start with the header. Click on this link and follow as closely as you can. After you save it as a JPEG, go to your layout and add it in place of your header. ~~Call me about~~ Google anything you do not understand.
Using the theme from your header, create your background by following this link and its instructions. Once again c~~all me about~~ Google anything you do not understand.
Create a photobucket account and upload your new background there. Follow the instructions in the #2 link on adding it to your template. After you add it to your blog, play around with the colors of your fonts by clicking this link for instructions.

Here are some links for cutesy stuff:

Shabby Princess my personal favorite. This one has some cute kits.

Free digital scrapbooking also a favorite.

Oh heck, just Google free scrapbooking stuff and you will find plenty.

For those of you who do not have photoshop yet, start downloading the things you like now and who knows you may find someone who will ~~make yours for you~~ let you use their photoshop.

Now that I have most certainly and thoroughly confused you, do you have any questions? I hope you picked up on my sincere desire to help you if you get lost. Really.

Now have I forgot anything...

Windows Live Writer

2008-06-16T12:32:00.006-06:00

So I was blurking last night and I found gold. Yes I did. I am so excited I can hardly wait to share it! You are all going to LOVE it! It will change how you do blogging forever. You are going to have to come over from the comfort of Google Reader to appreciate it and this is something you are definitely going to want all your friends to see. Go on. Go get them and bring them back with you. I'll wait...

Welcome, Um, hello. Does this thing work? I would like to extend a welcome to all my visitors. Just calm down. I will be explaining it all just as soon as we can get some order around here. Ok, gather around. That's it. Um, let's see. We need to save room right here on the front row for all of my faithful readers and commenters.

Ok then. So. This is for all you bloggers who are tired of the limits that blogger puts in its post-creator-thingy or whatever it is called. Shellbell, I recall you telling me that you have to create your posts sdrawkcab in order to put your pictures in the right order. Well, do that no more my fine sister.

By the raise of hands, does anyone here hate inserting pictures (five or less at a time) and having to drag them where you want them in your post? Yes, Pip. This should help your "computer/scanning/blogging illiteracy induced headache."

How about not having any cutsie fonts available? I've hated that! I like to play with cute fonts!

Here are some features of this new cool tool.

You can create your posts offline with the convenience of a word-like document and then post them.
You can insert pictures where your cursor is and it only takes seconds, not hours!
You can view your post in 4 different views! This means you can see how it will look before it is even published (unless you are private, I think). One of my favorite features.
You can get other cool plug-ins to go with it like, well I am not sure yet. I have not gone that far with it. But the option is there!

And all this will cost you...

...nothing except a nice thank-you comment. Thank you all for coming. Please come back soon. Have fun with this new tool and I expect to see lots more pictures and lots more posts. Go here to get the download. Good luck and let me know if you find any cool plug-ins.

(Now. How behind the times am I? I am probably the last to find such a cool thing and I didn't even know it. No, don't tell me. Just pretend I found it before you.)

Do you know?

2008-06-12T22:29:00.007-06:00

I have ALWAYS wondered how calm I would be in the heat of disaster. Would I be able to use my skillz of CPR and save a choking baby? Would I be able to lift a car off of a trapped child? If Rob fell over and became unresponsive would I be able to revive him? If there were a fire in my home would I be able to get everyone out of the house? If there were ever a fire ~~on my stove~~ would I be able to put it out before it spread?

I have had these thoughts often and I have thanked my lucky stars that I have not had to find out BUT still, I just wonder...

On another note...

If you go to cook some lunch on your stove and there is food in the unit, don't turn the unit on thinking that it will just burn off. And if you do anyway and it starts to really smoke up the house and you wonder why you didn't take my advice, don't try to fan the smoke away. And if you do fan the smoke away and that little fire starts in the unit, ask yourself if this is the moment you have been wondering about and if you are calm enough to take care of the impending disaster. You might also quickly ask yourself these other questions (yes there is time, somehow I just know): Is this the kind of fire that you aren't supposed to put water on or that you are? Isn't there a common household item that I can throw on it to smother it?

Then calmly walk over to the cupboard and try to look through everything while trying to remember what it is. Salt? No. Oil? He he! Snort! That was funny. (Oh yeah you have a fire to put out.) Corn starch? No. That would not be it. Corn starch is flammable. Not that I would know or anything. But... If you do put cornstarch on it and the flames get higher, a kid-size cup of water should do the trick. When it is all out, then you might remember that DUH it wasn't cornstarch. It is baking soda! (At least that is what I have heard. At this point you wouldn't know if it works as you don't have any fire left to try it on.)

As you clean up the awful mess that you made and you realize that the kids are all safe in the living room (and not outside under our if-there-is-ever-a-fire-in-the-house meeting place), then you will know. You got what it takes. You could be a firefighter. You could work as a paramedic, you CAN work in an ER. I wonder if they are in need of volunteer fire fighters.

My prayers will be extra long tonight as I ~~pray real hard that He will NEVER show me my strength through any harder trials than that~~ have much to be thankful for that we are all safe, my mom and dad's house will be here when they get back, and that NOW I KNOW.

Your Highness, I bow to you

2008-06-11T19:46:00.007-06:00

Dear Mark (and Steve and Michael):

I surrender. I bow to you. You are King. I sit here defeated even now as you call my house.

"Hi this is Mark... do you want to learn more about getting a satellite TV system for your home?"

Yes I do, thank you. I really didn't know what I have been thinking all this time, not having a satellite system in my home. I will take ~~four~~ ten of them. One for each corner of my house and the other 6 to be evenly distributed across the rest of the roof. I will take every package that Dish Network has to offer. I think we will really like the sports channels now (especially since baseball season is over for us and we will be going through withdrawals). Oh and can you please throw in 5 remotes with each system. We seem to lose those pretty fast. Did you say all this was for free? Oh that's ok, I don't want to burden you. I want to pay for all of it. I will pay anything for all of it.

Dear auto warranty people:

Yes I will renew my auto warranty because you are right, I do not want to be without it. My car is about to break down and I am going to need to switch out the transmission soon and I think the engine is on its last leg. And can you please send me a policy for my bike and for the buggy that I pull behind it? I know that every time you call you promise that this is my last chance but then you find it in your heart to give me chance after chance after chance to change my mind. I really value you for that. I have been unkind to you when you call and yet you are so forgiving.

Dear Las Vegas Vacation Authority:

You know that vacation you keep calling about? Did I say that I didn't want to take you up on it or that I did? I can't quite remember as I have not been thinking clearly lately. Silly me! I definitely think I am ready for that vacation now despite what I might have told you before.

This is one awesome team

2008-06-10T20:27:00.005-06:00

Rob was laughing as we dropped Brandon off for his last games saying "wouldn't it be the pits if we didn't have enough players show up to the playoffs and we had to forfeit?" Well he wasn't too far off the mark. As game time came around things were looking really bad. We were 2 players short of having a full field and one player short of not having a penalty every time the not-so-ninth batter got up to bat. To top it all off we were blessed with the same umpire who messed us up the game before. At this point we were just hoping to hang in there and not be trampled by the team who started the playoffs in last place. We were just hoping for 2nd place at best.

We got the home team advantage and started the game. It was so hard to see the outfield so empty. There was only three people in the outfield and no 2nd baseman, but I'll tell you, these boys were all over the place. We were able to hold the other team to 1 point while we got 3. This was an amazing feat considering that we were underfielded and we got an automatic out every time we got through the batting order. It ended up being a great game and we held onto 2nd place. The umpire came through for us too. He had been reminded before the game that he needed to be more fair and he did great.

In order to take 1st place we had to beat the D-Backs twice that same night. That meant that we would have to play three games with the handicap that we had. I will spare you the suspense from here. We played our little hearts out and for awhile we really had hope where there seemed to be none. We were able to hold them really well, but with the automatic out we just could not get the runs in. The final score of the game was 5-1. It was fun to see his coach move those little players all over the field as different players got up to bat. He knew exactly where they were going to hit it every time and most of the time those kids were able to get outs because of it. It was awesome and they did far better than I would have given them credit for.

We got 2nd place in the playoffs. WE. Did you hear that? I was on that team. At least some of the mothers wondered if I was. I was literally having anxiety attacks during those two games.

But here is the greatest highlight of all. Brandon is one of the youngest most inexperienced players on that team. He was lucky to get a hit here and there and he got on base about half of the time, he stopped some great balls that came into the outfield, and he got to play third base off and on. He had a great play that I highlighted before from third base but he was not really ever involved in getting a real out, until the last inning in the last game of the season...

He was playing on second base (never done that until this inning). There was 2 outs, a runner (the scary pitcher from the team and a great player) on 2nd, only one player to cover shortstop and third base. Now I don't rightly remember the play that sent the runner on second toward third, but the shortstop had the ball and started to chase him back to 2nd. As the runner got closer to 2nd the kid threw it to Brandon. They had him in a pickle. I was beside myself. My heart was ready to bust out of my chest. (It is beating a little fast even as I ~~speak~~ type now.) Brandon catches it and the runner turns and runs from him. Brandon chucks it to the shortstop and the shortstop starts to chase the runner BACK to 2nd. Oh have mercy! Please just tag the kid, but no. He throws it back to Brandon who catches it and is knocked down by the runner as he is sliding into the base, and Brandon swipes his mitt at the kid and tags him BEFORE he touches the base. I. was. ecstatic! I have never yelled so loud that my lungs have burned before in my life. I don't even think Jeremy's cow call had anything on me last night. He had a smile on his face that went from ear to ear despite the injury to his man parts that came from being knocked to the ground. There were no tears there.

Anyway, thanks for endearing with me. I am going to be sad to see it end. It was quite an entertaining season. Here are some pictures (from our cell phone as I somehow forgot the camera) of their trophy ceremony.

Don't quite know where the standing at attention comes from, but check out that same smile that never left his face.

Take a look at these 8 little men that pulled off such a great night of games.

I have so wanted to use this sometimes...

2008-06-09T08:05:00.003-06:00

9 to ?(5)

2008-06-07T15:43:00.008-06:00

Warning this story promises to deliver violence, language, gore, and tears.

Hey can you hear me? I have no voice. I'm sure it is not because I was yelling so loud last night in 40 degree weather at 10:30 at night or anything. I am sick. Yeah that is it. So listen closely as I recount the horrible night for you. If you come a little closer you might be able to hear better.

That's it. Just a little closer.

Ok. So. It was HORRIBLE. Did I already say that? With two teams eliminated and our team in second place, we were set to play the (cough) number one team. (I say that lightly.) These are the dreaded D-Backs; the team that barely beat us twice, tied us once and lost to us once (a much needed victory for us. Especially since that was the game where the catcher chased Brandon back to third base and AFTER Brandon was safe on the base, tackled him off and slammed him to the ground. Keep that in mind as I finish my story.) The kids have all been terrified of this team as they have a pretty fast pitcher that is hard to hit off. Their coaches are really nit picky about everything and always trying to challenge the umpire.

So, back to the horrible story at hand. The teams flipped a coin and we got last bats. Yeah! We started off and our boys were playing so awesome but we had one thing against us. It wasn't the other team, but the umpire. He was calling all kinds of bad calls. You know it is bad when BOTH teams are shaking their heads at almost every call he makes. After a handful of calls that were clearly wrong, (that cost us points) our coaches (who were handling it great up until this point) snapped as one of our players slid across home plate as the ball came flying in. The catcher fumbled the ball and dropped it. While it is still lying on the ground the umpire calls him out. Our main coach becomes understandably irate and goes over to challenge the umpire. The catcher reaches down, picks up the ball while they are arguing over whether he touched the base or not (how can you miss it when your whole body slides over it?) and touches the player(who thinks that he touched the base and was trying to validate that he did so). The umpire sees what he is looking for and calls out again! The crowed erupted in fury at the clear mistake and by this time our coach was in the umpire's face. He gets kicked out of the game, but before he could leave the field, the parents of Mean Catcher Boy told our coach that he was the worst coach they ever saw and that he didn't belong on the field. A yelling match ensued as mother of Poor Tackled Boy jumps up and tells Catcher Boy's mom to SHUT. UP! Mean Lady's attention turned to Hero Mom as she wants to know who just told her to shut up. That is when Hero-sister-in-law jumps in and tells Mean Lady that it was her and she needed to come over and take what was coming to her. Mother of Poor Tackled Boy was glad she did not feel the need to do so, even though her adrenalin was through the roof and she really wanted to put that mean mom (who's son is understandably mean too) in her place. Hero Mom was taken back to the night that she finally let loose on Tonya Taylor after years of being bullied by her. (That felt SOOO good.) After the game I found out that I was not the only Hero Mom there. There were others who had told her to shut up too. (She had been kind of mouthy all season and I think everyone was tired of her. But when she attacked our coach for no other reason than to raise the level of tension for our boys, then most of us couldn't take it anymore.) Thinking back now, Hero Mom feels a little bad that she lost control in front of her kids by slinking almost to the level of Really Mean Mom.

Things got really bad from there. Another of our coaches almost got kicked out and even though we still played so awesome, our moral was stomped out and we lost by 4 points. All the bad calls calculated would have put us ahead, but to no avail. My blood pressure has risen back up just by reliving it.

We were supposed to play today but we got rained out. On Monday we will play the third place team and after we eliminate them with no problemo, we will have to beat the D-Backs twice to take first place. Anyone want to come? Abby? (I did try your gum trick. I think it fell out while I was yelling. Any other ideas?)

Here are some highlights of the game:
1. Brandon gets up and faces the dreaded fast pitcher only to be pegged in the thigh and walked to first base. With his hitting record, that was his only chance of getting on base at this point. He could shake off the pain, but not the humiliation of not being able to hold back the tears that came with it.
2. Brandon gets up and faces a new pitcher. This one is not so scary, but what I didn't know at this point is that Brandon's only desire was to hit that ball out of the park. He wanted to be vindicated for being hit and for the injustices that were happening to his team. He hits the ball infield and gets out on first. The tears were flowing harder (as were many of our players at this point) as he walked back to the dugout.
3. Brandon plays third base (not something he got to do very often, but he loves it when he gets to). He stopped a grounder that came to him. It bounced up and hit him at the waist and so he did not have time to get it to first base. But he stopped it gosh darn it!
4. He gets up to bat for the last time in this game, to the same pitcher, with the same desire to hit it out of the park. He hits it on his first try (and as mentioned before his record of hitting the ball and getting on base was not so good) and it goes toward the second baseman, through him and into the outfield. He makes it to first base and is able to advance to second on an overthrow, a feat that has not been done before by him. He was on fire!

6-2

2008-06-05T22:34:00.003-06:00

I don't know if I can take all of this anxiety! We beat the other team 6-2 tonight and we go on to play the winners of the last game tonight (which will be the #1 team in the league). They are tough to beat but we have done it once plus we tied a game with them. I started off the game tonight by wishing the wrong player good luck when he got up to bat. Rob thought I had just jinxed the whole team. I tried to just be quiet but I couldn't. Tune in again for the lowdown tomorrow night. They play at 9:00 PM.

P.S. Thanks for all of your thoughts on my behalf yesterday. They canceled the game yesterday so I didn't have to miss it. I am so glad I didn't. But I did have a wonderful time at Megan's mother-daughter party. I felt like I was in Hawaii. We ate Hawaiian food and played lots of games. Pascaline Squires taught the girls some fun dances and they shook their booties at us.

2008-06-04T11:05:00.001-06:00

Here is a slew of posts. I think I am caught up to all of you. Enjoy and make sure you read them all.

Happy Birthday Boo!

2008-06-04T10:02:00.006-06:00

5 things that Boo wants to know today...

1. What does 5 years old look like?
2. How many more days until I am in Junior High?
3. You don't need a baby anymore mom. Can't you just have school now instead?
4. Will EVERYONE call me today?
5. WHY? CAN'T? I? HAVE? A? FRIEND? PARTY?!?!?!

Brooklyn started in on me a few months ago that she is not a baby anymore and she does not need to sit in a baby car seat anymore and did NOT need her booster at the dinner table anymore. We had to take the training wheels off of her bike and she is well on her way to freedom from them.

While she is in kindergarten this year she has informed me that I may not go anywhere while she is in school. I have to stay home and wait for her. She may need me.

The only thing she wanted for her birthday is "her" puppy back that we sold last week.

Oh, and a Barbie castle. One that is taller than her.

And a swimming pool, lots and lots of Polly Pockets, a new bike, a watch, new clothes, lots of candy AND her own bed.

She will be having chicken enchiladas for her birthday dinner and brownies with ice cream for her dessert. Anyone?

Oh yeah. Do you want to know what 5 years old looks like?

Hang on, that was before her bath...

Besides being taller today than yesterday, she can run faster, eat more, count higher, read more books and give better hugs.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY BOO!

Awe the summer nights!

2008-06-04T10:00:00.002-06:00

What do you get when you have lots of puppies, pillows and blankets...

and lots of friends and kittens...

and a great night outside?

Movie night out on the lawn!!!

A great heritage

2008-06-04T09:40:00.001-06:00

I was asked to write a letter to Jordan about heritage for Young Women's a couple of weeks ago. She gave me permission to share it with you.

Dear Jordan,

You have been blessed to be part of a very wonderful heritage, into a family who loves you very much. I want to share a story with you today that I may have told you before, but it is one that I want you to remember.

I have fond memories of my Grandma Platt. She loved to bake and she made wonderful things. We got to visit her often and she always had hot homemade bread with her homemade jam waiting every time. We spent many holidays at her home and we got to enjoy feasting on the traditions that were important to her. She was in a wheelchair for most of my life and she was in a lot of pain all of the time. I remember helping her clean out rooms that she could not do herself and I remember how good I felt that I could help her. She died shortly after I got married and I think of her often and try to imagine her pain-free and happy.

Through the years I have tried to be strong through the trials that have come my way. There was one night a few years back when I was particularly struggling with the weight of the world, I remember lying in bed and wondering how I could do what was required of me to continue on. I fell into a fitful sleep and into a dream. I remember standing at the entrance to the dead end street looking up to my grandmother’s house. She was sitting in her wheelchair in front of her house. I started to walk toward her and I could see her stand up out of her wheelchair and start to walk to me. As she did this, I noticed she was no longer old and aged; instead she was a beautiful young woman. She had the happiest smile on her face and I could see that she was laughing.

She started running to me and swept me up into her arms and while swinging me around and around, she gave me the biggest hug. She didn’t say anything to me, but at that moment I knew she was so happy. I knew that she was aware of my pain and wanted me to know that I too would be able to have that happiness someday if I could just hold on.

Heavenly Father knew that I needed that very special moment and I am so grateful to him for allowing me to partake of her love once more. I believe that if the veil could be lifted for just a moment, we would see many of our progenitors surrounding us and lifting us up each time we struggle. I find comfort knowing that those who cleared the path before us are now on that same path walking beside us, helping us, and bringing comfort when it is needed. I am grateful to have a testimony of forever families. The family unit was not meant to be just an earthly institution. It was meant to carry on for eternity and what a beautiful plan.

I also wanted to take this time to tell you how much I love you. I have often said that Heavenly Father must love me very much, because he sent me one of his most precious daughters to help me when times get tough. I truly find strength in your ability to choose to be happy even when everyone around you is not. I feel that you are one of my greatest blessings and I am grateful for the knowledge that this blessing WILL continue on into the next life. I know that if we can hang tight, we too will get to return to live with Him and be apart of a vast heritage that he blessed us with. I love and cherish you so much.

Love forever,

Mom

Baseball fever

2008-06-04T09:23:00.004-06:00

So I have been accused of being an embarrassing cheerleader. I don't think that I am. I really don't think that jumping up and down, yelling at the top of my lungs, accidentally sending congrats to a batter who just got a strike, stomping furiously on the metal benches to make as much noise as possible, hollering out the wrong name as I try to send good luck to the upcoming batter, distracting the catcher (on our own team) by telling him in my very loud voice that he is my hero, or running to the dugout after a close game (in which we finally won the number one team) to give all the players a hug, warrants the title of overexcited mom. AND the playoffs have not even started yet. Rob and Jordan are determined to stay in the car and watch those. Well I can go for that. I don't think my legs can take anymore jabs to the shin from an embarrassed daughter telling me to settle down, or my side cannot take the ever so subtle pinches from Rob who has to get up and walk away (with the excuse that his legs hurt) just to get away from me. What can I say? I am sick (with baseball fever).

Brandon's team is doing very well and is projected to be in the top two. He survived a frustrated catcher who chased him back to third base and tackled him with all his furry. How could anyone hurt innocent Brandon? Rob had to hold me back...
Jordan's team is well, lets just say they have had a taste of victory a few times. BUT they could take second place for the cheering section.
Megan's team really could be great someday. She made catcher the last few games and is in heaven. Finally some action.

The first round of playoffs for Brandon's team start tonight and the forecast does not look so good! Plus Megan's achievement day leaders scheduled an ever so untimely mother-daughter party for tonight. I think God must know that this cheerleader doesn't want to miss a game. Please join in desire with me that the rain will descend ever so hard (otherwise they will still play) so that they will HAVE to reschedule.

I really have been

2008-05-12T12:14:00.011-06:00

Since there have been many daunting tasks that have kept me away from blogging these days I decided to kill two birds with one stone. Talking on the phone seems to help my daily chores be a lot less painful so I am going to try blogging while I tackle a chore that seems to never get crossed off my ever growing list of things to do. Do you mind? My computer desk is a clutter magnet and I have had it on my list of things to do for the last couple of months. So come with me and together we can do it...(do I sound like Mr. Rogers yet, or even Barney?)

This little angel below

likes to help me with my list of things to do and I even tried to employ her to help me with the computer, but even she runs away at the site of this. ("Please mom, NO!, why do I always have to help you?)

I know this is really piggish of me to show you all my nastiness, and I admit this is the product of not scheduling my time (what little I have) more wisely, but I am really trying! I promise. (Oh yeah, if you are a robber then please be advised that none of this stuff (as evidenced by my later pictures) will be here after today. It will all be hauled off to some undisclosed location far away from here. AND if you try to come and call my bluff, I have a really mean dog who will TAKE. YOU. DOWN!

Hello little dust bunnies. How do you seem to multiply so plentifully and so quickly?!?!?

Now to the really pull-my-hair-out part! What to do with all of this STUFF?

I hope I can remember where everything went. I will be lost from here on out when I need something. Until now I always could find it right here...

(If the speakers are bothering you too, I am sorry. The cord was too short to center them just right. Sorry.)

Thanks for all of your help and support. I could feel it before you even sent it. Here is a small sample of the other things I got to cross off of my list recently.

What's on your list?

P.S. I know that I have been REALLY bad lately and I have not given you all the love and comments that you so rightly deserve, and I know that I don't deserve any from you but GIVE, GIVE.

Can't it still be April 22 just for me?

2008-04-27T20:54:00.003-06:00

I really didn't forget Brandon's birthday post. There were too many things that kept me away from doing it on that day. So for posterities sake, (and so he wont wonder why I love everyone else more than him) I am going to do one a little late...no need for belated comments from you (unless you don't want him to wonder some day why you don't love him as much as everyone else...)

11 things you MIGHT not know about Brandon:

1. He has been riding a 2 wheeler for 8+ years. That would make him not even 3 years old. He wasn't even out of diapers yet. (But he was out of those by 3!) That little feat would lead us to believe that he was a genius. That belief would soon be dispelled when he turned 4 and...
2. He had a hard time learning from his mistakes as a youngster. After replacing 3 windshields of various people's cars in our appartment complex, fixed the scratches on two, and over a thousand dollars later, his mom sure learned from her mistakes and had him on house arrest until he was 8. Then he was at the age of accountability and it was on his head.

3. Since he was the only boy in our family he is grateful for a little sister who is not into all the girly stuff. In fact she is the first one to tell everyone she meets that she is half Tom Boy. They have been the best of friends since she was old enough to play cars with him. There have been many times she has had to teach him how to be brave and tough. He is amazed by her. (Oh yeah, this is not about Megan.)

4. He is playing baseball for the first time this year. (Well second but we will not count T-ball...) He is doing really well and his team has won 3/4 games. He has a passion for it and if you can't find him, try checking out in the pasture. He will be there with his shadow playing catch or hitting balls.
5. He just earned his weeblos and arrow of light.
6. He is allergic to milk. It makes him cough all night, he will have asthma symptoms from it.
7. He hates to see anyone get into trouble. He will often ask to take their punishment. A little example...The other day Megan was mad at him and refused to do her chores before school. I told her that she would be grounded for the weekend if she did not get them done before it was time to leave. Brandon jumped right in and started to do them for her. Did she deserve it? NO. But he couldn't stand the thought of her being grounded...
8. He has the biggest heart of anyone I know. He is always the peacemaker in our house.
9. When he was little he declared that the only way he would go on a mission is if I could come with him.

10. His heart was broken as a young child when he had learned that his baby sister had fallen down the stairs. His older sister was expressing how she had wished that it was herself that had fallen and not Alexis. Brandon piped right in and agreed with her..."Me too Jordan. I wished it it was you and not her." Very sincere, but he wasn't about to volunteer himself.
11. Like above he does not think much before he speaks and often finds himself saying things that do not sit well with his older sister. One day while we were driving we were discussing how old Jordan was. The younger ones were trying to remember if she was 7 or 8. She was not thrilled with the conversation and smarted off to them. I tried to jump in and stop what would soon become a huge argument and gently reminded them that she was 8 and they should have remembered that because she had been baptized. I then turned to Jordan and told her that she could have been nicer and asked her "what are we going to do with you!?!?" Brandon came up with a brilliant idea and blurted out..."maybe we just need to dunk her again!"

Well I could go on and on but I will stop there. Hopefully you got to know him a little bit better. He is truly one great kid. (After we got it in to his head that it is not fun to get into trouble for breaking windshields and scratching cars with rocks, and a plethora of other naughty things.) I look forward to many more years of being his mom!

Happy Birthday boy!

My kids love this catchy tune and love to sing along!

2008-04-25T19:50:00.003-06:00

Bonnie Gilbert

2008-04-19T13:05:00.003-06:00

I think I need some plastic surgery now. This is actually quite a fun site to play around on. The kids had a blast! Who do you most resemble? Go ahead try it! It will make you feel cool!

Spring is Springing

2008-04-14T10:34:00.006-06:00

We couldn't help ourselves. We enjoyed our first nice day to its fullest Saturday. The kids listened when I said, "oh go fly a kite!"

But did not listened when I said, "stay away from the power lines!"

The husband quickly obeyed when I said, "burn it all!"

The plants and flowers obeyed when I said, "show yourselves!"

The hot dogs cooked and sizzled and smelled so yummy when I said, "feed us!"

Lucy did NOT listen when I said, "NO, NO!"

The roof did not listen when I said "hide yourself!"
Thus you get to see my other half while I tell the clothes to "hang themselves." They did not listen.

No there is no crack there!

Spiritual Feast

2008-04-07T21:02:00.007-06:00

After this weekend and the previous unforgettable (for many reasons) weekend, I feel like my cup is running over with the almost tangible love that my Heavenly Father has for me. There were so many delightful and informative things that I heard from our beloved prophet and church leaders but just as impressing are the things that I heard from the spirit.

I was telling my children after conference about the difference between feelings that come from Satan and the feelings that come from our Heavenly Father. The last couple of months have been a very hard adjustment as I have tried to juggle a full time job with being a full time mom and if you add that up there are not enough hours in the day to cover those two jobs. I was not being a good visiting teacher even though I encouraged others to be, I haven't been to the temple in many months and my house was falling apart. Things were really piling up and I felt bankrupt. Of course there were all the thoughts that came with that of guilt, despair, feelings of not being good enough and just wanting to give up everything. As I listened to conference, I had a whole different feeling. As I listened to the speakers talk I was gently reminded of the things that I needed to be doing. It was in no way the same feelings I had been experiencing. Instead I felt a resounding YES, you are right, I need to be doing those things! And I walked away with a great desire to do them. What a difference and mighty change of heart. I have truly feasted this weekend.

Last weekend I braved the unknown and went into the BIG city. As I have told before it was scary and unnerving. But I promised to tell you the second half. I was actually waiting for Jordan to tell it because she wanted to but never got to it.

As we got in and found our seat I was finally able to relax and look around at the beautiful conference center. I started to feel the spirit so strong. The meeting was so beautiful and Jordan and I both had tears through most of the meeting. That was worth the nightmare of getting there to see my daughter so touched; But how could she not be? The talks were all focused on Heavenly Father's love for us and I felt like I got to have His arms around me for just a moment. The choir was amazing; much more so than just watching it on TV. It came to an end all too soon and people were getting up to leave before the last song. The anxiety kicked in and I almost grabbed Jordan so we could make a mad dash, but for some reason I stayed there. It was a song for the audience to join in on and I could hardly sing. I felt like there were angels there singing with us, but as I did sing I almost felt like I was shouting out the words, because that is what I felt like doing. I had to look around and make sure that no one was giving me dirty looks for drowning out everyone else.

As we left we got to be a part of another event that I would have missed if I had run from it like I wanted to earlier. We were swept out the door by a SEA of beautiful young women and their mothers in dresses who had braved the trip to be here. That was another testimony to Jordan and I of the truthfulness of this gospel. It was a beautiful sight to behold. I tried to get pictures of it but I did not do it justice. We watched as people came out of the conference center and fill the streets. It reminded me of ants that filled any available space as they moved along. People in cars were taking pictures with their phones and someone from out of state stopped to ask what event this was. I felt so good inside as someone answered that we were coming from the General Conference. She didn't have a clue what they were talking about, but I bet she never forgot that sight. It was beautiful.

The 1-1/2 hour ride home was also priceless (after we got back on the freeway). Jordan and I got to have one of those heart to hearts were I got to explain many of life's mysteries to her. She shared many things with me and I cringed as I thought of what I would have missed out on if I had talked her into staying home.

I can crop. Can you?

2008-04-07T20:29:00.003-06:00

So I was given some cropping lessons and while I am not trying to make my cropping teacher look bad I am going to show off my skills but in a backwards kind of way. I took a great picture of my parent's house that I would like to share. You see they have not yet seen the new roof that was so generously redone for them while they have been away so...

I wanted to share that last. Here is the end result of my cropping. Not too bad eh?

And now the original.
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Come on you did not expect me to really show you the roof did ya?

Help and prayers for this little girl

2008-04-01T18:15:00.002-06:00

Go here for more info.

Country Folks! (In your best Nellie Olsen voice) Part One

2008-03-29T22:03:00.004-06:00

So I have been dreading this day since Jordan first alerted me of it. A day together in the city. Not in the nearby city but the BIG city; downtown part of the BIG city if you must. We were to go to the city together as mother and daughter to share in the special experience of the General Young Women's broadcast. Yes in the actual Conference Center itself. I have never been to a live session of conference and so despite the implications that I would have to drive up to and in the BIG city, I was a teensy bit excited (in a good way). Then as the event approached I started to have anxiety. How would I be able to get to where I am going? How will I find the Conference Center when I got to where I was supposed to park? (They gave us a purple parking pass with an address on it.) How would I find my way back to the freeway? You get the picture. I approached Rob with my problem and he kindly agreed to drive us and sit in the car and read while we went in. (OOOOOH how sweet!) So then I was ok.

Well there was one little problem with this new plan. I was winding down from a fun-filled week with my sisters who came from out of town and I just found out another would be here on said day. Needless to say I really didn't not want to leave. My sisters and I left early this morning to go shopping with the intentions to be back in time for Rob to get ready, but my sisters held me hostage. I had to beg and plead with Rob to forgive me for not getting back when I should have and he was not able to get ready in time. So to pay my penance I told him he did not have to come (hope it was worth it guys!) and that I would brave it on my own. I was even guilty for having one try at seeing if Jordan didn't really want to go anyway. She shot that right down and wondered if I had turned heathen on her. With a repentant heart, I map qwested the parking address and with Rob's reassurance that we would be fine, we left on our way. The ride up was quiet and uneventful. We got to SLC and off the freeway with one hour to spare. This was supposed to be a good thing because it meant we could tour the Conference Center since I had never been there before. But alas it could not be that easy right? NOTHING in the city is ever that easy right? The story takes an agonizing turn right here and there might or might not be some swears so I don't blame you if you want to stop reading now.

Ok, you asked for it. So I got off the freeway and found the right road to get on. That was good. As I am looking for the next road Jordan says, "hey look mom that lady has a purple parking pass too!" How could this POSSIBLY get any better? I slowed right down and got behind her to follow her. As she was taking me into unfamiliar territory Jordan points out that just because she has a purple parking pass like ours does not mean she has the same parking lot as us. Oh yeah. Um, how do I get back to where I was? I felt like Lucille Ball at that point. WAAAAAAAH! It took me fifteen minutes to go around the block through all kinds of mess and over some kind of tracks. There was a speeding train coming right at me. He was right on the road! When did they start driving on the road?

So I got back to square one and I was on the right west but I couldn't figure out how come there was no parking lot. Jordan looked at the ticket again and reminded me that there was another part to the address and that I needed to find S. Temple. She remembers seeing it on our little trip around the block and I didn't believe her so I went the way I wanted to go. As I came around the block for the third time Jordan points out the second part of the address. Finally, now where is that cursed parking lot? To make a long part of the story short I kept getting stuck in lanes that I wasn't supposed to be in, once again Jordan saved the day and found the parking lot we were supposed to be in but only after I got in the right hand turning lane that would have taken us around the block for the fourth time, I got flipped off (how rude!) when I sat in said lane for two light cycles while trying to worm my way back into the other lane, and after several attempts at finding the right entrance we got parked with 5 minutes to spare. By this time I was a little ragged and had a slew of swears on the edge of my tongue. As we got to the doors of the Conference Center, the man at the door asked us to deposit anything unworthy of entrance into his hand. I kindly obliged and handed over my swears without using even one!

The rest of the story is just as amazing but definitely less agonizing and I will have to wait until tomorrow to post the rest. Needless to say the experience was one of a lifetime. I would gladly do it all again and that is saying something! Thanks Jordan for saving us from sure death!

Happy Birthday Mom! Part Two

2008-03-26T09:29:00.008-06:00

Ok, so this is a little amateur. I had another one all done and ready to upload and couldn't get it to work. I will have to mail it to you.

Happy Birthday Mom! Part One

2008-03-25T21:23:00.006-06:00

Well today is a day that I have been waiting for. I have had something that I have wanted to clear up for awhile now and I think now is as good as ever. My mother has MANY talents. You name it she has tried it. This myriad of talents did not transfer to me one iota. One of her many talents was making porcelain dolls. She was really good at this and helped share this talent with others. As I look back on this part of her life, I have fond memories. This may be because I got to be her helper. She was very busy with this business and I was with her on many of her excursions whether it was teaching a class or shopping for supplies. I often heard others talk about this talent of hers with fondness and I was proud. I always remember how much it meant to her when she heard her own son compliment her and talk highly of her talent. So when I was put on the spot one day in young womens and asked what I would remember most about my mom, it is no wonder that the one thing that came to mind was that I would always remember her talents as a doll maker. I remember hoping that she would feel that same pride from me as I know she felt from her son. I later learned that this was a turning point for her as she was disappointed in my response. She wrapped up her business and she was done, just like that. I know that she has felt bad about this for a long time and I was hoping to use this time to tell her how badly I felt that she did not understand my true intentions. What I thought would be a noble compliment had hurt her feelings. I would like to take a few minutes to tell her now the things that I will always remember about her.

*** I will always remember her love for her Heavenly Father. She has ALWAYS had an unwavering testimony of her Savior and did strive daily to pass that on to us.
*** I will always remember her desire to treat our bodies like the temple that they are. She worked hard to teach healthy eating habits. I know just how hard she worked because I am now a mother and it is very hard and expensive to have healthy things available for my kids to eat.
*** I will always remember the many things that she sacrificed and is still sacrificing for her children.
*** I will always remember the times she said no and how much I despised that answer, but I am glad today that she said it when she did.
*** I will always remember the service that she gave to others. She was always valiant in her duties to God and her country.
*** I will always remember how she taught me to pray. I will never forget the time that she set this very important example to me. One day while we were coming home from SLC, we were coming around the point of the mountain and it was a blizzard. In front of us there was a multiple car pile up happening right before our eyes. As we came up on it we realized that we were going to be a part of it. As many well known swear words came to my mind, I heard from the other side of the car this most heartfelt prayer from my mother. She was praying for help. I was swearing. I will NEVER forget that moment, EVER. We escaped with our lives and our spirits thanks to my wonderful mother who used her faith to call for help. I am grateful that my mother had enough faith for both of us as I am sure God would have taken me home at that moment just to give me the spanking I deserved.
*** I will always remember that I was important to her. If I had a need, or a desire (like for a little bunny rabbit) she was quick to fill that need, sometimes in abundance (like the 4 pregnant rabbits that would bring me MANY little bunny rabbits).
*** I will always remember that it took growing up and moving out with a family of my own to finally see these many things (and many more that I have not covered) that I will always remember.

Thanks Mother Dear and happy birthday!
To be continued...

~*~sOmEwHeRe iN tImE~*~

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~~sOmEwHeRe iN tImE~~