Tag

I got tagged by Monica..

Let's just say, I sometimes have a hard time posting my own things, let alone tags, but since my kids are leaving me alone, I figured I would finish up my multiple posts with this fun one. Thanks Monica for giving me something else to think about. It is kind of fun to do a post just about me!

How to play this game. Post these rules on your blog; List 3 joys, 3 fears, 3 goals, 3 current obsessions/collections, 3 random surprising facts about yourself. Tag 5-6 people at the end of your post by leaving their names.

3 Joys:
1) My family--I don't know what I would do Craig and my kids and my mom, dad, & siblings--they're my reason for doing what I do every day.
2) My membership in the LDS chuch and the opportunities for growth and service it gives me
3)Running--but not just running, being able to run with (or talk running with) the best friends who constantly make me feel good about myself

3 Fears:
1) Spiders
2) Raising teenagers that hate me
3) Having one of my kids get cancer or some other horrible disease that I just have to watch them suffer through

Goals:
1) To run the St. George Marathon fast enough to qualify for Boston (I can't believe I just said that out loud--at least as close to out loud as it gets)
2) To declutter and keep a cleaner house
3) To enjoy my kids more

3 Current Obsessions/collections:
1) Running--big surprise huh?
2) Good books--thanks Laurie for making me remember how much I love to read
3) Blogging--or more appropriate checking out my favorite blogs

3 Random Facts:
1) I'm always tired. Mostly because I am a night person who happens to enjoy activities that are best completed in the early morning hours.
2) I have a small circular birthmark right next to my belly button.
3) I can still do the splits and a back flip--only it hurts a lot more now than it ever used to.

Okay--I tag: Jayne (because I miss hearing from you), Melodrama Mama(because I always like hearing what you have to say), Christine (because, I want to hear more about just you), Kristy (because maybe it will help you evaluate your quarter life crisis ;-) and Heather (because it would be rude to tag them and not you)

Kindred Spirits

Since I'm trying to get caught up on some of my blog thoughts, and since I just did a post about the cat, I figured that I would do a post about the cat/kittens experience we have had this summer because in a lot of ways, it has changed my feelings about our cat. We got our cat, Oreo, just over a year ago from Craig's brother Gordon.

I was never a huge fan of the whole cat idea to begin with. Our previous kitten, Cookie, had come to a rather horrible demise. To spare you the long version of the story, Craig had all the kids in the car and he ran over the cat--which didn't kill it, just injured it beyond the point of no return. So Craig had to finish the job--with his shotgun. It was one of the most traumatic events our kids have ever had to be part of and they still talk about it. After that, I was totally content to never have a cat again, but Craig was convinced that it was a good idea and when we went to our nephew's missionary farewell and discovered that their cat had just had kittens, I knew that I had just lost that fight.

We brought the cat home and I basically feigned indifference. She wasn't my responsibility, she wasn't my job and I wasn't going to worry about her. I made sure that the kids played with her and every once in a while I was nice enough to feed her and on rare occasions even pet her, but that was about it. Well, after having her for a few weeks, I told Craig that we should go get her neutered, but he kept telling me that he thought it would be a good experience for our cat to have one batch of kittens for our kids to take care of. Since I failed to act on my impulses, he won that fight too and this spring we discovered our cat was pregnant. It was actually really funny, our kids kept walking around saying things like "we know our cat is pregnant because she had giant nipples," or "hey, do you want to come see our cat's nipples," that and other things that were enough to mortify their mother.

Finally over Memorial Day weekend our kittens were born. Craig was so cute he stayed up 'till 2 a.m. to be with the cat and help her in any way she needed. I only stayed 'till about midnight and it was one of the weirdest things I have ever seen. I didn't see any of the babies delivered, but her contractions were so strong that they moved through her whole body. It was crazy. She ended up having three kittens, but smothered one while she was trying to clean it off (our kids still don't know this little fact so please don't mention it to them). Craig was even a little bit remorseful that he didn't save the last kitten-although we both know that there is not much he could have done. Memorial day morning our kids were so excited to hear about and then finally see the kittens and I was totally surprised by the way my emotions started changing about our cat. Throughout the whole pregnancy, I started liking her more, simply because I felt bad for her and that huge growing belly. (I'd been there and done that and knew it wasn't too much fun). But after the babies were born and I got to see just how protective she was of them, I felt a newfound appreciation for her. It was so interesting to see her very strong maternal instincts kick in. Our normally calm and sedate cat was on edge for the first week of the kittens lives. Every time the kids would come around she would stand at attention and growl--a sound I had never heard her make before . Every time she even heard Sarah, she would stand guard over her babies and not move a muscle until she knew that the danger had passed. There were a couple of times that I saw her place a protective paw around one of her kittens, just to make sure that it was safe and that she was there for them.

After the babies got a little older, my kids absolutely fell in love with them. They named them Socks and Marshmallow and it turns out that Craig was right--it was a great experience for them. They played with them almost every day and everyone, especially Sarah, loved them to pieces.

They were such good kittens and many tears were shed when it was time for them to go. Everyone was a little bit sad--myself included, but we know that both kittens went to homes with kids who should love them just as much, if not more than my kids. I will have to say that I did feel bad for Oreo as we sent her babies to be loved in new homes, I watched as she sulked around the house. I felt so bad for her knowing that we had taken her babies away from her and I knew just by the way she was acting that she was missing them horribly.

So strangely enough, this whole experience has made me reflect on motherhood and change my opionon of the cat quite a bit. It was all the little things combined into one that made me like our cat a whole lot more. In a way, we are now kindred spirits. I have seen the very basic instincts of every mother displayed in her actions and demeanor and I can totally relate to her. I have been through pregnancy and labor, I have wanted to protect my kids from the terrors of their world, and I have felt the saddness that watching a child grow up entails. And now I think I might sound a bit like a creepy cat lady who's got a few bolts loose, but really I think that this whole experience has made me appreciate two things more. First, the cat--I really do feel like I can relate to her more now and I do even like her more. (Although I do think I am just confusing her by my new attitude toward her). But secondly, and most important, I have realized just how much it means to me, and to any mother in the world, to have a kindred spirit. I am so grateful to all the mothers out there that are part of my life. I think as a mom, I need all the kindred spirits I can get. There is strength and saftey in numbers and I can't imagine being a mom without the many women in my life who are mothers that I can look up to and learn from. And while I know that it is strange for a cat to have brought on these thoughts, it is what it is and I can only be grateful to anyone and anything that can remind me just how amazing it is to be a mother. Lastly I am so grateful to all the mothers in my life, wether they are friends or family, good examples or bad, all of you make an impact on me and the kind of mother that I am. I can learn from each of you when times are good, and turn to the best of you when times are bad. So thank you for just being there and being you--you are all amazing and my life would not be complete without you.

Violated

Something happened at our house last week that I just can't stop thinking about. I figured that blogging is pretty therapeutic, so I'm opting to try to get it out of my system that way. On Saturday night we had a bajillion people in our cul-de-sac for a fun filled night. Our house always seems to draw kids to it because we have a lot of toys plus a cat in the backyard. However, I'm not really comfortable with people being in our space without my knowledge or supervision. So I kept shutting the garage and Craig, for convenience's sake, kept opening it. After the rain hit and we decided to camp out under the cover of our patio, Craig realized that our cat food dish was missing. He walked around looking for it and after asking all our kids and their friends if they had seen it, he still couldn't figure out where it was. Later that night, as we were saying good bye to the last of our friends who had stuck around, he heard a faint meowing sound. After a quick hunt of the garage, he found our cat--in the freezer. He quickly pulled her out and she was cold and shivering, but she is OK. Ever since this happened, I can't seem to shake the feeling that we have been totally violated. I can't believe that someone would come in to my house, uninvited and think it was a good idea to torture our cat. Now it's no secret that I have never been a huge fan of the cat, but still--I'm sick over the whole thing. I think I'm even more sick knowing that it was someone we know who did this. I am just so grateful that Craig heard the cat and that the story has a happy--if yet unsetteled ending. I just wish that things like this didn't happen to make me loose my faith in the people I'm supposed to love and trust.

Too much fun

This summer has been filled with more fun than I can even recall. I love the carefree days of summer where we toss our schedule to the wind and just do whatever we feel like. The downside to this carefree attitude however is that in going with the flow, I frequently forget to take pictures. I used to be so good about documenting our lives with pictures, but somehow I can't seem to manage everything that four kids entails and a camera. Somehow I feel that my pictures feed my blogging and that if I don't have pictures, I probably shouldn't blog. But I'm going to ignore that nagging sensation that a blog without pictures isn't worth it and plunging in head first. (And I do have a few pic's to add to my words.) Last week was a total blast. We have had so much fun with friends and family that I just have to stop and recall the fun before it fades away. So here is my quick recap of the weeks highlights:

I got to hang out with my good friend Stephanie for our "dinner date" on Monday and then I got to leave Ben there for her son Connor's birthday party. It was so fun for him to be the only one who got to stay. He felt so big and grown up and he really liked knowing it was just him that got to be part of the party.

Tuesday morning I got up bright and early and met my mom and sisters at the temple. It was really nice to be able to be there with some of the people who I love the most.:-)

Wednesday we went up to my mom's house for swimming and a sleepover with the cousins. I may have mentioned before but my sister and her 3 kids are here from back east and we want to get in every minute possible with them. Our kids are such great friends who have so much fun together and despite the distance that separates them, they can always pick up their friendships right where they left off. Of course my mom couldn't make it just be a normal run of the mill sleepover. She decided that it had to be a backyard camp out and so she and my sisters were great sports who slept outside with all my kids but Sarah. The kids stayed up way to late, but had a total blast and I got lucky enough to sleep in the comfy beds in my mom's basement without any kids bothering me. My sisters were also super nice(or beyond super nice) and watched my kids the morning of the 24th so that I could go and run a 10K with my brother. It was the first time I have ever been an unregistered runner in a race and I'll have to say I really liked it. I also loved having the chance to do something with just me and my brother. Because of kids and life, we hardly ever get a chance like that and I am so grateful to my mom and sisters for giving it to me. The only downside of the race was the early departure time. My brother picked me up at 5:30 a.m which meant that it was a day full of being tired for me--but it was worth it. I probably do need to apologize to everyone for my grumpy attitude and subsequent complaining due to the lack of sleep. I usually can keep my negativity at bay, unless I am sleepy or hungry and it turns out that on this day I was both. So my apologies go out to all that were affected by my bad attitude :-)

After the race, my mom, sisters, sister in law and all the kids went over to Pioneer Village to celebrate the 24th of July. It was actually a ton of fun. My kids are at such a great age where they really enjoy things like this and also where I don't have to keep my eye on them all the time. It was so fun to see their excitement about all the fun little activities they had going on that day. On of my favorites was watching the kids in the watermelon eating contest. It was so funny to watch Andrew and Nick totally going at their watermelon. I was also very impressed with their speed--they actually beat most of the teenagers in the contest. The only downside to that was that everyone felt sick after guzzling that much watermelon. Some of the other highlights of the day were the pony and train rides, the crafts, especially the little wooden boxes and all my kids are still talking about getting a shave from the local barber. We actually left earlier than my kids wanted to and we missed seeing a lot of what there was to offer. Thankfully Grandma got a pass so we're already planning our next trip.

After that it was off to grandma's for another afternoon of swimming and sno cones. My kids were so cute and Ben totally impressed me with his swimming skills. He has been working so hard on being able to swim underwater and for the first time ever he jumped off the diving board and swam to the side of the poo without any flotation devicesl. He was so proud of himself and I totally loved seeing him accomplish a goal. It was so cute. Most of my family stayed up at my mom's house for the evening so that they could watch fireworks from her lawn--which is one of my favorite ways to watch fireworks--but we decided that we would only ditch daddy for one night instead of two and we headed home for much needed showers and sleep.


Friday I was so pleased with my kids and their help around the house. We got our whole house cleaned and they were such troopers to do some of the bigger jobs that are usually left to me--like mopping and bathrooms--it was great. After the house was cleaned we had to get ready for our quick camping trip. After all the camp outs Craig has been on with the young men, he was ready for our family to go camping. And while I have to admit I was less than enthusiastic about the whole idea, we really did have a great time. We went to a campground that is only a 15 minute drive from our house (if that) and the kids had a blast. Sarah absolutely loved it, she just kept walking around saying "camping" the whole time. It was really sweet. Once again, the kids stayed up way too late, but it was worth it. I had to slip our of our tent bright and early for a fantastic long run with some wonderful friends. It was a totally crazy (and really hard) trail/road run, but it was so fun and it was worth the tired legs. Craig was such a good sport to take care of breakfast and the morning entertainment just so that I could be gone for several hours so that I could get my miles in. Once I got back though, it was full fledged mommyhood. We had to pack up everything before it got too hot and then the kids were dying to go on another bike ride. I was once again reminded that camping for one night really isn't worth it--but since that's all we have, I decided to take it! (At least I decided to take it after much convincing from Craig--he even called me a funbuster--which was all the goading I needed to change my attitude.)

Once it got to hot to play around up the canyon, we headed home for showers and naps. As I mentioned in my previous post, my whole family napped and it was heavenly! My house was so peaceful and quiet and I think that family napping hour is really something I could get used to.
The reason we made everyone nap was because that evening our ward held it's annual cul-de-sac of fire. The deal was that you could only stay up late for fireworks if you napped that afternoon. The sad thing is--due to the weather, fireworks had to be cancelled. However, we started out the night with a really fun (and lond) Primary bike parade and before the rain came there were lots of treats and a short stint of not so great karoake style singing. Shortly after the sun went down, the winds came and the rain started. It was raining harder than I have seen it in a long time and I felt bad for my kids who were really looking forward to the fireworks show. Instead of fireworks, we got the chance to take shelter in our backyard with some friends.
Even though the kids were all really disappointed about the lack of fireworks, they were great sports and found some very inventive ways to have fun in the rain. I can't complain too much because I really do love a good rain storm and it just makes me happy to smell the fresh air and I love feeling the rain on my face. It really was a fun night, even if it didn't quite turn out as planned.

All in all it was a really great week and I am grateful for a family that is full of life and that truly enjoys every minute of it. I'm especially grateful to Craig for the fun and life that he brings to our family. I used to be the fun one, but I think I'm just too tired of the daily grind right now to feel up to the extra work that things like nights at the park, trips up the canyon, and family camping trips create. Thankfully, he's not and he makes up for my shortcomings-I really am blessed to have him!

The Napping House

This is one of those books that all my kids love. My mom is a big fan of Don and Audrey Wood and she has most of their books.-we love all of their stories and the artwork is really great. The Napping House is a particular favorite. She loves reading this one to the grandkids and they in turn love having it read to them. I was reminded of it today because my house is the napping house. At this very moment I have four kids and one husband who are resting soundly on beds and sofa's.

It's heavenly.

We're all exhausted from a fun filled week and weekend. I think that perhaps I will share the stories that brought on sheer exhaustion, but not now. Now, I think I better join everyone else in the napping house. Sweet Dreams!

Friday Flashback

I almost forgot that I wanted to do the whole Friday flashback thing to preserve undocumented memories. (It counts as Friday Flashback if I started the post on a Friday--right?) Thankfully I was thinking that I wanted to blog something today and couldn't think about what until I remembered it was Friday--hence the flashback. After a quick trip to my files of backed up pictures, I found a great story to share. So without further adieu, I bring you the story of Ben's blessing day and the following week and a half.


It was the last Sunday in March 2004. We had 2:00 church which normally meant that we had a laid back morning around our house. However, this particular Sunday we were blessing Benjamin so we were getting all the last minute stuff ready for a baby blessing and the subsequent party afterward. I was changing some stuff I had hanging on our magnet board downstairs and needed Andrew to bring me something from the kitchen. When he was on his way downstairs, his feet carried him faster than his body and I listened in horror as I heard him tumble down the stairs. Now if you knew Andrew as a baby, you'd know that a fall down the stairs wasn't that abnormal, but I still always worried when I heard him tumble. Normally after a few tears and a couple kisses, everything was all better, but this time when he landed, I knew something was wrong. He yelped with a sound I had never heard before and he cried just differently enough from normal that I knew something had happened. Craig just thought he was scared, but I knew that something was wrong. After I snuggled him for a few minutes and had him calmed down enough to talk, we tried to look at his foot/ankle and the screaming started up all over again. I was certain that he had sprained his ankle and so I rushed to Insta Care with a hope that we could be in out and on our way before the baby blessing in a few hours and a half. When I got to the front desk, the woman there told me that the wait time to get back with the doctor was 2 hrs--which menat that there was no way I would be in and out of the office with a diagonosis before we had to be to Ben's blessing. Even when I gave her my sob story, she apologized and told me there was nothing she could do. So it was back home. We took a quick stop at my friend Carolyn's house--she's just one of those people you want to have around in a crisis or any other situation--she is my first aid guru and I have taken bleeding kids there to get bandaged more than once. She tenderly looked over his foot and wrapped it up for us and she thought that he had probably sprained his ankle. After Carolyn had at least settled my nevves, it was off to home to greet guests and get everyone dressed and ready for the blessing. Every time a new family member saw Andrew we had to retell the story which resulted in them trying to get him to move his foot or bear weight on his leg, all of which ended in screams of agony from Andrew. I really had to work hard not to blow up when asking multiple family members not to bug him about his ankle. At church he sat with my mom, and for the whole meeting she kept trying to get him to walk on his foot or even bear weight, but he simply would not do it. Everyone but me seemed to think it was more of a psychological injury than a physical one because Andrew wasn't acting like he was in pain at all. In fact, after the inital shock of the fall and subsequent injury had worn off, he was such a trooper. He didn't whine, he didn't complain and he was just his happy go lucky normal self--apart from the fact that he would not walk. He literally spent the whole day scooting around on the floor with his leg elevated in the air. After the blessing was over, we headed back home for the family party at our house. We had a lot of people from both mine and Craig's families there and the party didn't die down until about 6:00 p.m. My parents had stuck around and we decided it was finally time to take Andrew back to Insta Care. Since it was a nice day out, we loaded him and Madeline in the double stroller, strapped Ben into the Baby Bjorn and had a nice walk over to Insta Care. There was still a considerable wait, but we finally had time for it. Because it was later at night and we had four adults there and three kids, and it was getting close to bedtime, my mom and I left with Madeline and Ben while my dad and Craig stayed and hung out with Andrew for the remainder of the visit. My mom and I went home and put the other two kids down for the night and just as things were quieting down, my phone rang. It was my dad and we had a conversation that went something like this:

Dad: Well, I am just calling to inform you that Andrew didn't sprain his ankle.
Me: He didn't, I'm surprised, I was sure that that was what was wrong.
Dad: Well, you were wrong, he actually broke his leg!

I couldn't beleive it--I had so many emotions running through me as I heard the news, the primary one being guilt. Guilt because it was my errand that had caused him to fall down the stairs. Guilt because I had ignored a broken leg for almost a whole day. Guilt because I wasn't there with him at the doctor's office. But then that guilt was overshadowed by extreme love and tenderness--I was in awe of Andrew and the tough kid that he was. Except for when people tried to make him move his leg, he didn't complain. He literally was in pain all day long and he was such a trooper, I was really proud of him and the way he handled the whole thing. It turned out to be a tibial fracture and I about died when he came home with his leg wrapped up to his thigh. He came home looking exhausted and ready for bed and since he had been through the ringer that day, we made up a nice comfortable bed for him in our room so we could be there to help with anything he needed. The Insta Care doctor had perscribed crutches for him, but when we went to get them we found out that they don't make crutches that size. After many phone calls and an amazing stroke of luck, we ended up being able to find a walker for him, which was so cute. He was so cute on that tiny walker and it was so funny watching him learn to use it and subsuquently turn it into his own personal jungle gym.

The walker was actually a really good thing because he was actually terrified to put any weight on his foot and it helped alleviate some of the fear--that and it made my life quite a bit easier. Just as he was getting used to his soft wrapped cast it was time for the doctor to put on a plaster one that was thankfully much smaller--it only went to his knee. He picked a red one because he said it reminded him of the Utes. But the new cast provided a whole new set of obstacles for him because it reintroduced all his fears and anxiety about walking all over again. I was really surprised at how afraid he was to walk on his leg, because if you know my kids you know that there is not much that they are afraid of. We happened to take a trip to St. George the Saturday after all this had happened and it took a lot of coaxing and encouragement to help him feel brave enough to walk on his leg again. The only good picture of his cast I can find is from Easter morning two weeks after the break:

Back to the story. Just after Andrew started gaining confidence on his new cast, we went to Albertsons to see the Easter Bunny which resulted in a huge set back for us and any confidence that had been gained. The EB was just in the front entry of Albertsons and there was a small rolling stool that my mom sat Andrew on as we were waiting. Only he hadn't figured out how to balance the extra weight from his cast and as soon as my mom let go, he toppled over backwards and smacked his head into a display stand which resulted in a decent sized head gash that--you guessed it--sent us over to Insta Care. I felt like I was under the microscope that day. I can't tell you how many doctors and nurses came in to check out the story of my poor beat up son. I was convinced that I was going to be reported for child abuse and marched out of there in handcuffs. Thankfully they believed that my son is just accident prone and that I am not an abusive mother, because they let us go without getting the police involved. Walking out of those doors I remember thinking that I never wanted to go inside an Insta Care again. However my wish was in vain because I ended up there two more times that week. Once for Ben with an ear infection and once to get Andrew's staples out. It was crazy. In fact, Andrew's broken leg started our family on a downward medical spiral that to this day hasn't been rivaled. In the four short months from the end of March to mid-August that year Andrew had a broken leg and got staples in his head, Madeline got shingles (which caused a lot of pain--and subsequent parental guilt--and took several trips to the doctor to diagnois), Ben had multiple ear infections and a somewhat minor surgery, Craig and I both got strep for the first time, and I landed in the hospital one day with a kidney infection. It was a few moths that we still haven't forgotten and hope never to repeat.

TAG

I got tagged by Monica..

How to play this game. Post these rules on your blog; List 3 joys, 3 fears, 3 goals, 3 current obsessions/collections, 3 random surprising facts about yourself. Tag 5-6 people at the end of your post by leaving their names.

3 Joys:
1) My hubby & kids
2) Whenever I can be together with one (or BETTER all) of my 5 sisters.
3) Being a member of the LDS church

3 Fears:
1) Something bad happening to Jim or my girls.
2) My children one day regretting that they were adopted by us.
3) Getting in a car accident. I think about it virtually every time I get in a car. Yeah, not a peaceful way to live! =)

3 Goals:
1) To only eat sugar products on the weekend.
2) To improve my exercising record.
3) To organize my closet & pantry...again!

3 Current Obsessions/collections:
1) Chocolate Moose Tracks ice cream from Safeway--surprisingly the best EVER
2) The Internet. I CANNOT live without it & would chuck my TV & phone before my computer. Anything I want to know I find the answer to in minutes. Now if my girls want to do a craft or make a dish of something, they say, "Just look on the computer to tell us how."...since that is what I always do!
3) Taking photos of every breathing minute of my children's lives. Yes, it's excessive...but I cannot stop! =)

3 Random Facts:
1) I cannot function without lotion on my hands. Literally, it's weird but I feel like my fingers can't even work if they are not well hydrated. =)
2) I know it's OCD, but I wash my hands MANY times a day. I've wondered how often, but I'm guessing at least 25 times a day. I have a bottle of lotion at every sink so I can apply that immediately afterwards.
3) I generally don't enjoy talking on the phone, and I could easily go days without leaving my house.

Now reading back those random facts I think I sound REALLY weird--so weird that I would probably shy away from a person like me due to their 'strange' factor...so thanks for still being my friend! =)

Okay--I tag: Becca, Allison, Jessica F., Becky, Nicole, Niki

It was a day of waiting and truth

I love the title of this post--it was a direct quote from Andrew today and it just cracked me up! Here's the scoop. My kids have been participating in the summer reading program at the local library and today we decided to cash in on some of their rewards. So for lunch it was off to a local pizza joint where we not so smartly choose to eat when everyone took their lunch break. First it was waiting in line. Then it was waiting in line some more. Finally when we ordered our 3 personal cheese pizza's the girl working the register informed me that it would be 15-20 minutes before our pizza's would be ready. Thankfully, she was nice and let me in on the secret about my kids making their own pizza's. It was actually really fun--they brought the rolled dough out to our table with a little bowl that had the cheese and tomato sauce and my kids went to town. They thought it was so cool to be able to make their own pizza's at a restaurant. After seeing the mess on the table, I'm not so sure that I agree;-) When we were done, we took their masterpieces up to the counter where they informed us it would be another 10 minutes before the pizza's were actually cooked and could be consumed. In total, I think that we were there for an hour and a half and I was really impressed with how good my kids (OK most of my kids) behaved. After our pizza adventures, it was off to Barnes and Noble to pick up our free books from their summer reading program. Andrew and Madeline were so excited to get a free book, but Ben was quite jealous because he wasn't old enough for this particular incentive. Things were smoothed over when I told him he could still get a book though. We made it through the store in great time and didn't really spend that much money, and even better, they called a new cashier up to the front just as I was thinking I would have to stand around waiting yet again. I was excited to get to my car and be on my merry little way. However, once we were in the car, I looked at the receipt and realized that I had not been charged for one of the items we were purchasing. I was so tempted to just drive away and not worry about it, but instead I decided to lug all four kids back into the bookstore and wait in the line--that was much longer this time--so that I could buy the book that should have been purchased in the first place. After that I was certain we were in the clear. I had waited in enough lines, I had done my good deed for the day, it was just off to the bank and then home to get together with our friends. I was so excited when I pulled up to the bank and got the lane right by the window but then much to my chagrin, I had to sit and wait forever while the teller had to work through something with a lady in the other car. When it was finally my turn, I was thrilled to get things going and be on my way--but let's just say things didn't quite happen that way. After passing him my checks to be cashed, I wondered why he asked for ID--they don't typically make me do that for $28 dollars. Then I really wondered what he was doing as I watched him count out my money--it looked like he was going to give me a fist full of one dollar bills. However, when he handed me my envelope--my really thick envelope--I knew there was a problem. There on the outside of the envelope written written with a big red pen was this $2203.99 I about fell over as I opened the envelope that was chalk full of one hundred dollar bills. My kids were practically drooling in the back seat as I showed them my stash of cash. Again, I really wanted to just let the mistake slide, but I didn't think the PTA would appreciate me cashing a fraudulent 2100 dollar check on their account. That, and I didn't really feel a need to have a visit from the cops tonight. So rather than take another family vacation, I decided instead to wait yet again while they fixed the problem at the bank00thankfully this time I got to do it in my car and all the kid were quiet and content reading their new books!

Food for thought

So I started this whole blog thing as a way to keep in touch with friends and also found out that it is the best thing that has ever happened to me in the journal keeping arena. Somewhere along the way I accidentally let the two aspects merge into one and was worrying more about what the people reading my posts would think and what comments they would leave. I think I have been worrying more about what other people would think or about what I don't want them to read than I have been about recording my family's history and keeping track of those moments that just make us us. AS I was doing my California and St. George post's I had two thoughts almost simultaneously:
1. These are so long and boring--who wants to read them
2. Who cares if anyone else wants to read them--this is my blog, my journal and my way of remembering the details of our life.

I decided that thought #2 is the winner. So while I love all of you out there who care enough about our lives to check in on this silly little blog, I am no longer writing for you. This is not your blog, this is not your life, and these are not your memories. Feel free to skip any long and boring entries because I think I probably will keep them coming. And while I'm thinking about all this it puts into new light something I have always know about myself. I try so hard to please the "others" in my life--whoever they may be, that I frequently end up letting myself down or not taking care of myself the way I should. For now I will only aspire to change the blog aspect of this and maybe in the future, I can at least strive to find balance in other areas as well. But I know it will be an internal struggle because this really is one of my best and also one of my worst personal qualities and I don't know how to change the bad parts of it without getting rid of the good. And really, for the most part, I'm OK with that--it's just me--take it or leave it as you wish!

St. George

I thought I better hurry and post some pic's and memories of our St. George trip before I wait so long that I feel like a dork posting it. On the way home from California, my mom, sister and I-along with all our kids stopped in St. George for a 3 day continuation of our vacation. My parents have a home there and so we always have a place to stay that feels like home and makes a quick trip very feasible and affordable. (Did I mention that I have the coolest parents in the world who are beyond generous?) Anyway, since my sister and her clan live back east and rarely get to visit the St. George house, they really wanted to stop, and who I am to turn down an extended vacation. Usually when I go to St. George, it's the same old trip--but this time we didn't do any of the same old things, not because we didn't want to, just because it was too darn hot! The day we left the thermostat on my car read 111. So basically this trip consisted of one main thing--SWIMMING! We spent the majority of every day and the pool and I am thrilled to announce that no one suffered from a sunburn. Let me just say now that my kids are fish. All of them have spent at least one day a week in a pool since the time they were babies. With Andrew it was at my friend Jayne's house almost every day and also grandma's pool. With everyone else, we have swam our little hearts out at grandma's house, the St. George house, and 7 Peaks. But back to St. George. Andrew and Madeline are good enough swimmers that I trust them at the pool, but it is sometimes hard to juggle Ben and Sarah. Thankfully this trip, we replaced our lost life jacket for Ben and that made such a difference to him. After swimming around with it on on the first day there, his confidence was boosted enough to try some actual swimming without it on the next two. By the end of the trip, he could swim lengthwise across the pool all by himself and he was so proud of it. He was so cute when he wanted to practice swimming, he'd say "I'm going to swim underwater all by myself." (I'll post video tomorow.) He was so cute when he came up for air and then when he met his goals. I loved the look of satisfaction on his little face--it was priceless. But the best part of it all was that every time he accomplished whatever feat he was working on, he would always expect a giant hug for his reward. It was so sweet and innocent and I totally loved it. I was also so proud of him and the steps he took to conquer something so big!

Now on to Sarah--that girl is a hoot. Despite being a stinker the entire trip, she really was a blast and a half in the pool. Just out of curiosity, I decided to stick a pair of water wings on her and she ended up doing really well in them. By the end of the trip, she could float around in any section of the pool and after I taught her how to use her "swimming arms" she could even get herself moving in the right direction--even if she couldn't make it to her desired destination. But my favorite part of her swimming by far was the goggles, or as she called them, "glasses." Once we pulled those babies out, she wouldn't do anything at the pool without a pair on her. She looked cute but hillarious in the things and I couldn't help but chuckle every time I looked at her.
When we weren't swimming, we were inside the house enjoying the AC. We did get a kick out of painting everyone's toenails and the little girls fingernails. Sarah thought that it was the coolest thing ever and she is still walking around showing everyone her fingers and her toes and telling them "pretty" despite the fact that everything has nearly worn off.

The only major thing that we did besides swimming was go to Tuachan to see The Sound of Music. The kids really enjoyed the show and so did I (except for the fact that all of my kids had to go to the bathroom during the first half of the play.) I always love going to shows there. It is so beautiful and it is just a really fun environment to see a live play in. My kids also think it is the coolest thing ever. After the play we got to take some pictures with the cast and the kids loved meeting them as well.
Perhaps the funniest part of the night was when my sisters boys had a discussionabout the names of the ladies who work at the church and wear black and white. Her 4 year old thought they were nums but her 9 year old corrected him when he heard that and informed him that they were actually nim's! We all laughed about that one for quite a while. And one night while we were still laughing about it, my mom, sister and I were flipping channels and we came across this woman on TV:We've named her the pirate num-or nim--take your pick. She totally cracked us up. I know I should feel bad laughing at her, but it was so funny to see her on TV and to hear the sounds she would make and especially to see her hand gestures. She really was the pirate num and we had to take a picture. (She did have a good message about perservering through your trials though).

The trip was such a blast and I am so blessed to have a mom and sister who I have so much fun with and I love that our kids really are best buddies. I just wish they didn't have to go home so soon!


I really do have the best family in the world!

Not lucky

I have this amazing friend in my ward who, for her whole life has corrected her children when ever she hears them say they are lucky. She always inserts the word blessed in place of lucky because she says that luck really doesn't have anything to do with it. Thankfully I am friends with her daughter who passed along this valuable tidbit along to me one day when I mentioned how lucky another neighbor was to have avoided having her house catch fire one day. Ever since then, I feel a twinge of guilt every time I use the word lucky. I know that when push comes to shove, it's not about luck. I am so blessed to know that I am a daughter of my Heavenly Father and even more blessed to be able to recognize His hand and His constant guiding influence in my life. Everything I have comes from Him and I know that He loves me.

With that said, I want to mention how blessed I am to have been in the right place at the right time tonight. I happened to walk into Andrew and Ben's room after I had put them to bed and there was Andrew, kneeling on his bed saying his prayers. I got to witness him doing what he's supposed to do and see his giant spirit in a very tender moment. I am so amazed by that boy and how big his spirit is. He is so spiritually aware of things and I love seeing him in a gospel setting. He gets this look on his face and especially in his eyes that tells me I am teaching a very strong and noble spirit. I love talking about scriptures with him and seeing the depth in which he understands them and the desire he has to learn more. He is never more engaged than when we are talking about church related topics. To be honest, sometimes it scares me, because I feel inadequate to the task at hand. I really do believe that he has a bigger and stronger spirit than I ever will and I am certain that I will be looking up to him and his amazing spirit for a long time to come. And while I do feel scared sometimes, I am also grateful, because I get the blessing of being the mother to such an amazing little spirit that I get to watch grow and develop. I know that it is a big responsibility to raise a boy like that, but I'm sure that as long as I try my best, he will be able to make up the difference in the areas that I lack wisdom and knowledge and he will most likely teach and inspire me along the way.

So tonight, I just want to close this post by saying I am beyond blessed to have Andrew as my son and I'm grateful (and blessed) to have friends who help me remember that luck has nothing to do with it.

JUMP

While we were having our bonfire on the beach, I totally copied this idea from the people one fire over. The pictures were so fun I just had to post them-- even though the quality isn't that great. My favorites are the one of Madeline and Sarah's face in the one with Craig and the kids.







Too fun--I already miss the beach!

A Thousand Words....

We've all heard that a picture is worth 1,000 words, so I thought I would do my California/St. George trip post picture style with bits and pieces of commentary...

After two days of driving, a night in Primm, and a very large scaled grocery shopping spree, this was the reward...
Since it was Sunday, we opted to just head to the beach in clothes, and as you can see from Ben, it was an exercise in futility. The following day, we spent the entire day at the beach, and while I didn't have my camera, I did find some time to post about it. The beach really is my favorite place in the world and I could spend an entire month there and not get bored. After our first beach day, it was early to bed so that we could get up and going early (6 am) to make it to Disneyland in time to upgrade our tickets to park hoppers, and get a move on a fun filled yet exhausting day.

As you can see, Sarah continued to endorse her complete and total fear of mascots....

and of course, being the good parents we are, we exposed and exploited that fear! Thankfully we discovered that princesses are OK (she talked about holding Rella's hand for the rest of the trip).

The kids loved Disneyland and we were all thrilled to have our first visit to California Adventure--sadly, I was busy being mom there and we didn't end up with any pictures--I know my dad took some though, so I will maybe post them later. However, my favorite pictures of the day were the ones we took as we were leaving Disneyland--don't my kids all look like they have just been to the happiest place on earth?

After our Disney day was over there was plenty of shopping but mostly it was all about the beach. We hit four different beaches and while we enjoyed the same typical beach activities, we also had some great new experiences that are sure to be added to the agenda again for next year--a beach side bonfire at Corona del Mar and Fireworks at Laguna Beach.

Bonfire & S'mores at Corona del Mar

Craig and Ben had so much fun playing frisbee this night and Ben was so stinking cute whenever he would catch it!

Sarah's answer to the frisbee game was to fill a frisbee of her own up with sand, dump it on her head and say "pretty." Let's just say, it was "pretty" enough to need a shower that night.

Balboa Island

As per tradition, we took a trip (and a long walk) to Balboa for Balboa bars.

Fireworks at Laguna

The Best Sandcastle ever

Sea Creatures

This was the big crab and I forgot to take pictures of all the little sand crabs that kept everyone entertained for hours on end. We had buckets full of them and Sarah thought they were the greatest thing ever!

Other Creatures

After all, who wouldn't want to find a nice raccoon outside their hotel door?

And let's not forget all the family bonding time--we were together everywhere we went--and I do mean EVERYWHERE!

Finally let me just say that I am so blessed. In total, there were 15 members of my family on this trip and I am so lucky to be constantly surrounded by such amazing wonderful people. (And Sarah is quite happy to have a new best friend--good thing Matt's so warm and fuzzy!) They are all examples to me, and I love them all more than I could ever explain. I am so grateful to have sisters that are my best friends in the whole world and to have parents who are beyond generous and who make all of this possible. So a great big shout out to my family for being the best family in the world. And an even bigger shout out to my dad for making this all possible--I can't wait until next year!