Moose

I just had to write this one down. I think I am going to remember these funny things, but I don't. We took both vehicles to church on Sunday because we have benches out in the van and we do not all fit. James has been hauling some trash from the house and he is not quite done. It is a major pain to remove the benches, so he did not want to put them back in until he was done with his runs to the dump.

Heading home from church the girls decided there should be a boy and a girl vehicle. So that is what we did. James took the boys, and I took the girls. Amanda was sitting in the front seat. It was a little after 4:00 pm, and she told us all to look at the moon in the sky. Ashley did not quite hear her correctly, and thought she said moose in the sky. That is now our joke. We talk about the moose in the sky. I started joking with Amanda and said, maybe there is a moose in the front seat. She gave me her unique, Amanda is being teased look. Kerrie, the quick on her feet thinker comes back with a quick, "mom, why would you talk about yourself like that."

It was just one of those times when we were together laughing. I love moments like this. They make life joyful.

Christmas Photos

Here are some fun photos of our Christmas celebration.

Grandma Davis' Sugar Cookies

Here is the recipe to my Grandma's sugar cookies. They are the best. I don't actually roll them out, too much work. I just put them in balls, dipped a cup in sugar and squished them down. Then added frosting and sprinkles to make them festive. Enjoy.

4 C. flour
1/2 tsp. salt
1 tsp. soda
1 1/2 c. sugar
2 eggs 1 tsp. vanilla
1 1/2 c. shortening
1/2 c. sour milk (1/2 c. milk plus 1 tsp vinegar)

Sift together flour, salt, soda and sugar. In a large bowl, mix dry ingredients with shortening. Mix until it has the texture of cornmeal. Beat eggs slightly, add sour milk and vanilla. Pour into flour mixture and mix until combined. Refrigerate dough 2 to 3 hours. Roll out dough on floured board and cut into favorite shapes. Bake at 375 for 10 to 12 minutes. Edges of cookies will barely begin to brown when done. Makes 4 dozen.

Christmas Eve Day

Our day started bright and early. I was wide awake at 6:30 in the morning. I am never awake that early unless I have somewhere to be. Anyway, I could not go back to sleep, so I got up and started making my Grandma Davis' sugar cookies. They are the best. She was an amazing cook. Then the kids and I added these to the peanut butter blossoms we made last night. We made plates to take to the neighbors. We have to wait a few hours so it is not an unwelcome visit way to early in the morning.

One of the fun Christmas tradition we have happens on Christmas Eve. The kids get to open one gift. I am not as nice as my mom. She let us pick the gift we would open. My kids get a gift handed to them. It is always the new pj's. I decided this year to start a new tradition. They are going to get to open one more gift tonight. It is going to be a Christmas movie that we can watch together. Hopefully that will be a hit.

I hope everyone has a wonderful and merry Christmas!

For My Mom

Ashley played a solo in church a few months back. I promised my mom a video, so here it is.

The Big Snow

I do not like snow, well mostly I do not like it. The only time I like it is when it is a whopper and shuts down the whole world. Then we all stay snug and warm in the house and enjoy each other with no place to go and no one to see. My kids and hubby get out and shovel the snow and throw snowballs at each other and love doing it. They have accepted the fact that I do not like to be that cold, so I am excused from above activities.

We got a whopper starting on Friday night. It snowed somewhere around 20 inches.

Saturday was James' birthday. I feel really bad because I was very ill with a head cold. I pretty much stayed in bed all day feeling miserable. The kids came through with breakfast in bed. They made him a pretty awesome omelet. He already got his birthday present earlier, but I had to give him one on his birthday. The kids and I were at costco when we saw a book about the architecture of the Temples of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. It is awesome. It has a picture and facts of every temple we have. It is pretty cool. He wanted pie for his birthday instead of cake, so we had pumpkin pie. Well, my family had it, I do not like pumpkin pie but they all love it. I know it wasn't the best birthday he has ever had, but I hope he knows we love him very much. It was the smartest decision I ever made to marry him. He is a wonderful husband and father.

In The Chorus?

Last week, Nicolaas brought home a letter telling me what he needed to wear for the chorus concert. WHAT? I had no idea he was in the chorus. There is the big difference between this son and the rest of my children. He does not see the need to inform me of pretty much anything. We had a good laugh, and then went off to the concert to hear the chorus. They did a nice job, and I am very happy he is in the chorus. Little does he know that he is now stuck for the rest of his growing up years, in the chorus. I love when my kids decide to be involved in music, and pretty much tell them they can never quit until they leave my home.

Busy

This is always a busy time of year. I am finding myself longing to be home in warm pj's curled up in my big chair with a blanket, my dog and the tv remote control. I think a big reason for this is that it is cold. I don't like to be cold. It is a good thing I have kids and a calling to pull me out of my reclusive tendencies.

This week is the week for concerts. Last night was Kerrie's middle school orchestra concert. They did a great job. Tonight Kerrie will play again for the junior honor society induction ceremony. Then Saturday is the symphony concert. It is kind of bummer because it is the same night as the ward Christmas party, so we will miss that. Lastly, Ashley's high school orchestra concert is on Monday. PHEW!

I am almost done with the Christmas shopping. I just have a few more things to get. I have not wanted to do Christmas cards this year. We don't have a new family picture. I am feeling guilty about this, and should just do the cards. I do not think I am the only one, because I have only gotten two cards this year. Well, if you don't get a card from me, Merry Christmas! I know, that is lame.

SYTYCD Finale?

I love to watch So You Think You Can Dance. I enjoy the different dancers, and their amazing talent. This season has seemed a bit strange. First of all it switched from the summer to the fall. That meant we had two seasons right on top of each other. It felt a little wrong, but I have jumped right in and enjoyed the new season. Odd to me are the changes they have made. They have not had rotating judges this season. Just the same three judges every week. I had come to expect Nigel and Mary, but Adam has been on every week as well. Even though some of the guest judges were slightly annoying, I enjoyed the change. So, I have adjusted to that. Now the finale is upon us. What? Isn't the finale usually the last 4 dancers. Apparently it is going to be 6 dancers this season. I am not sure I am liking this so much. I looked forward to seeing all four dancers dance with each other. Are they still going to have all six dancers dance with each other? Do they have time for that? I guess they cut out some of it by having a girls dance and a boys dance. I have to tell you, some of my favorite dances have been the final two boys and the final two girls. Now it's three, and that seems weird. Maybe it won't make a difference, and I will just love it same as always.

Hey, people at Fox, stop changing my favorite show! Don't fix what was not broken. Just my opinion.

A Moment

Amanda was walking through our front room when Nathan started talking to her. I was in the dining room at the time and heard it all.

Nathan: "Excuse me Amanda, but I am having a moment here."

Amanda looked around in surprise, then saw Nathan under the Christmas tree.

I started laughing. Nathan peeked out at me and said:

Nathan: "Mom, do you want to come have a moment with me?"

Me: "I am pretty sure I do not fit under the Christmas tree Nathan, but you enjoy yourself."

What a character.

A Big Surprise

Yesterday was a pretty perfect day. It started with me in Arizona for a surprise birthday party for my mom. She is turning 80 in a few weeks, and we wanted to do something to celebrate her birthday. The most amazing part about this is she had no idea it was happening or that I was coming. I kept it a secret for many weeks, which for those that know me, know how hard this was. Julie and I came up to St. Johns together, and spent the day with Kirsten. She did our hair. Thanks Kirsty, you're the best. Then we all met at the stake center to await mom. It was so fun to see her face when she discovered what was going on. It was just a great moment. It is so fun to be together, enjoying one another and having fun. I am very blessed to be a part of such a wonderful, fun family. Here are some pictures of the party. My sister Ellen decorated the cake with some help from my neice Camille, and my sister Christine made the cakes. Very talented people.

Crazy

So, here I am again without a post for a very long time. Really no reason, just crazy busy, or maybe it is just crazy, not sure which. Well, if it is that I am crazy, would I know I was crazy? Probably not. The kids are all doing well. Everyone is immersed in their various activities.

One thing that has kept me pretty busy is Nathan is participating in a clinical trial. I have never been involved in one of these, but this one just seemed to jump out and grab us. I heard about it while surfing some forgotten website, and an announcement popped up with the trial details. I was interested and contacted the group. Turns out the study is in Virginia. Here is that crazy thing. Why in the world would I drive to Virginia, once a week? Well, the answer is, because it is helping my son. It has also been fun to have a little time with just him, where we do our own little thing. He is so cute about it, and I love the time we are spending together.

Ashley and Amanda are busy being high schoolers. That takes a lot of time. Of course we are still busy with viola stuff for Ash and Kerrie, and symphony.

Another big thing keeping me busy is my calling at church. I am loving working with the young women. It is fun to try to come up with creative things to do with them. This past week was particularly great because I was able to go to a training meeting with Elaine Dalton, who is the General Young Women's President for my church. She came from Utah to train us. She was just fantastic to listen to, and I learned so much from her experiences. Then she also talked to the girls on Sunday night. Wow, was that fantastic. I looked at my girls as they sat completely enthralled with everything she was saying. I knew they would love it. She stayed after the meeting and hugged all the young women that waited in line. She must have hugged girls for at least an hour. It is one of the truly amazing things that happens in our church. She is not paid to do this, she does it voluntarily, and with complete love and concern for the girls all over the world. It was so good to experience that with my daughters.

Last night we had a particularly fun activity at the church. We played glow in the dark dodge ball. I bought those glow in the dark bracelets at the dollar store. We cut them open and poured them on the girls clothing. We tried to glow the ball, but for whatever reason, that did not work. Anyway, it was very fun, and the girls seemed to have a good time. I also made hot chocolate, because we played outside and needed something to warm us up. Although the weather cooperated, and it was a pretty mild night. I feel like I am getting to know the girls a little better. They are truly remarkable and it is one of my greatest joys right now, to be involved in their lives.

Next week is going to be pretty busy. On Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday, I have parent teacher conferences. This is a good kind of busy. I love to get updates on my kids, and also find out ways to better help them. I think I have 27 conferences! Interspersed in the middle of those are three doctor/orthodontist appointments. After that comes a lovely break for Thanksgiving. It will be very different than the Thanksgivings of my youth, but I have become very comfortable with a small celebration. It feels good to be quiet with my family. That does not happen much. We have some fun things planned. Thursday we are doing the traditional meal. When we had our family meeting about the plans for this break, half wanted a traditional meal, and the other half wanted Mexican food. Wanting to please all parties, we are having two celebratory meals. Friday will be the Mexican food. That works out well, because it is our tradition to put up our Christmas tree the day after Thanksgiving. Having the food will make it a little more festive. I think these are good plans, and should make for a very fun time together.

Scouting Campout

Nicolaas is off on his very first scouting campout. It was a little hard to watch him head off like the big kid he is. After he left, Amanda said the house felt empty without him. I would not quite say that, but it is a little more empty. I told Nic I did not think I could stand to let him go. He said, "Mom, if you can't let me go on a little campout, how are you going to let me go to college?" Good question Nic, and I have absolutely no idea. I don't even want to think about that. I forgot to get a picture of him with all his gear, but he looked all official in his uniform. I hope he has a fun time.

Kerrie

Kerrie is such a funny girl. She makes me laugh almost every day. So, she has something very exciting coming up. She had to visit with our Bishop as part of the process. Last night, we headed to the church for her interview. After finishing up, we were walking to the van, and she said, "holding in the scream until we get in the van." I wish I could convey her tone of voice, because that just made it funnier. Things are never dull with Kerrie around. It is fun to be a part of her life, and get to experience her enthusiasm. What a girl!

Very Clever

I received this in an email from my sister and thought it was very clever. For those of you who read my blog, and are not members of my church this is compiled from lyrics of different hymns we sing at church.

Glancing through the hymnal last Sunday I noted that as sisters in Zion, we who are called to serve are all enlisted to go marching, marching forward because the world has need of willing men to all press on scattering sunshine. We wonder if we have done any good in the world today because we have been given much and want to do what is right, keep the commandments, press forward with the Saints, choose the right, and put our shoulders to the wheel going where He wants us to go. However, as the morning breaks high on the mountain top, truth reflects upon our senses, and while we still believe that sweet is the work, we also realize that we have work enough to do ere the sun goes down.

And thus we ask Thee ere we part, where can we turn for peace?

New Addition

I am so excited to have a new great nephew. Welcome little Hunter! He was born a few days ago to my nephew Jason and his wife, my niece, Liz. I just love little newborns, even when they look like wrinkled old men. This little guy is completely perfect. How does a first baby look this good? He weighed 7 pounds 13 ounces, and was 21 inches long.
Here is Liz, Jason and Hunter:

Hunter with my sister, Linda.

Words

Swear words have a gray history with me. My parents are known to let one slip every once in a while. My brothers in particular have taken this on in their lives, especially when they think it will be funny. Well, it must have skipped a generation with me and gone to some of my kids, because I have never sworn in my life (insert sarcastic tone here). Don't gasp, although it is rare for me, it has happened. Why am I admitting this in public? Well, something pretty funny happened.

Last night for Family Home Evening we decided to work on a Personal Progress experience. For those of you who read my blog and are not familiar with Personal Progress, it is a goal oriented program for the teenage girls in our church that help them make progress in spiritual areas of their lives. Now that I am working with the 14 and 15 year old girls in my ward, and also as a mom of teenage girls I am eligible to work on the program and earn my Personal Progress Recognition Award. Anyway, so we decided to work on Personal Progress. We each took turns reading verses in the scriptures about gospel topic. It was Ashley's turn. A little side note about Ash, is that she demands complete attention of everyone as she reads and if anyone is making noise she will stop reading until all are quiet again. Anyway, she stopped at a particularly good place, right before she was about to read the word hell. A child who shall remain nameless, says, "go ahead, say it." Then starts to giggle. I can't help but giggle with her, as I remember my childhood feeling like I was somehow doing something wrong if I was reading forbidden words out of the scriptures. Just a little bit of allowed naughtiness. Then my giggling child asks, "who goes to (whispered) hell?" I know what she is getting at, and I can't help but laugh more. This FHE was not dull, and hours later I am still giggling about it.

A Good One For Halloween Week

Bob Hill and his new wife Betty were vacationing in Europe... As it happens, near Transylvania . They were driving in a rental car along a rather deserted highway. It was late and raining very hard. Bob could barely see the road in front of the car. Suddenly the car skids out of control! Bob attempts to control the car, but to no avail! The car swerves and smashes into a tree.

Moments later, Bob shakes his head to clear the fog. Dazed, he looks over at the passenger seat and sees his wife unconscious, with her head bleeding! Despite the rain and unfamiliar countryside, Bob knows he has to get her medical assistance.
Bob carefully picks his wife up and begins trudging down the road. After a short while, he sees a light. He heads towards the light, which is coming from a large, old house. He approaches the door and knocks.
A minute passes. A small, hunched man opens the door. Bob immediately blurts, "Hello, my name is Bob Hill, and this is my wife Betty. We've been in a terrible accident, and my wife has been seriously hurt. Can I please use your phone?"

"I'm sorry," replied the hunchback, "but we don't have a phone. My master is a doctor; come in and I will get him!"
Bob brings his wife in.

An older man comes down the stairs. "I'm afraid my assistant may have misled you. I am not a medical doctor; I am a scientist.. However, it is many miles to the nearest clinic, and I have had a basic medical training. I will see what I can do. Igor, bring them down to the laboratory."

With that, Igor picks up Betty and carries her downstairs, with Bob following closely. Igor places Betty on a table in the lab. Bob collapses from exhaustion and his own injuries, so Igor places Bob on an adjoining table.

After a brief examination, Igor's master looks worried. "Things are serious, Igor. Prepare a transfusion." Igor and his master work feverishly, but to no avail. Bob and Betty Hill are no more.

The Hills' deaths upset Igor's master greatly. Wearily, he climbs the steps to his conservatory, which houses his grand piano. For it is here that he has always found solace. He begins to play, and a stirring, almost haunting melody fills the house.

Meanwhile, Igor is still in the lab tidying up. His eyes catch movement, and he notices the fingers on Betty's hand twitch, keeping time to the haunting piano music.. Stunned, he watches as Bob's arm begins to rise, marking the beat! He is further amazed as Betty and Bob both sit up straight!

Unable to contain himself, he dashes up the stairs to the conservatory.

He bursts in and shouts to his master:

"Master, Master! .....

The Hills are alive with the sound of music!"

(I am soooooo sorry......But you really should've seen that one coming)

The Life of a Mother

I wonder if anyone has actually tried to figure out approximately how many hours a mother spends each week running kids here and there. I am amazed by the amount of time and miles I put on my vehicle each week. I am sitting outside Ashley's symphony practice again, faced with the next three and a half hours with not enough to keep me occupied. I bring my computer, ipod and kindle every week and I try to be busy, but mostly I get to listen to a group of talented kids make beautiful music. I find it hard to not think about all the things I could be doing at this moment, and yet it is completely worth it. In fact, all the time I spend doing and going for my kids is worth it. I remember my sister saying how rich they would be if they did not have kids. It is true, but again completely worth it. I would not trade a single penny or a single minute for the experience I am having being the mom of six pretty terrific kids. Sometimes I look back and think I wish I had done certain things before having children, but then I can't really regret anything because my life would be different and I don't want different. Love and laughter and hugs and mess are a huge part of my life, and I love it all.

My Van

After about six weeks, I have a working van. The air conditioning compressor seized up, and unfortunately on my van, it is attached to the serpentine belt so even if we did not use the a/c, the engine would not work without it being fixed. Seriously annoying. Anyway, knowing that a/c replacement repairs are completely expensive, James decided he would try and fix it first. He found out about an auto center on base that allows you to rent a bay in a repair shop. You pay $3.50 for the bay and use of all their tools. They also have experts on hand to give advise when you need it. After about twenty hours of work, James did it. I am impressed that he even tried. I now have a van again, and we can stop begging rides off of anyone that would help. Thanks to everyone that helped us out. You should have heard my response when I found out it was fixed. As a friend pointed out, you really appreciate something after it is not available. James and I had only one vehicle for the first nine years of our marriage, and after being down to one again for six weeks I have no idea how we did it.

Thanks James!

My Daddy's Birthday

Yesterday was my dad's birthday. I talked to him on the phone to wish him a happy birthday. He told me a story that just made me laugh. He was walking in wal-mart, with his cane that he now has to use, when walking toward him was another man using a cane. When they got close to each other, the man asked my dad how old he was. My dad told him he was 81. Then my dad asked the man how old he was and the man answered he was 81 also and then he said isn't it heck? (only he used the other word). They just had this little moment of absolute understanding. After my dad told me this, he then said he has had a very good life.

The truth is, I have had a very good life and one big reason for that is my dad. I have very tender memories of growing up with him. Here are just a few of those.

My dad is a pretty big tease. I remember him telling me, "I like ugly girls, and there is no one uglier than you." Then he would chase me around until he caught me (I did not try very hard to get away) and rub my face with his whiskers.

Another vivid memory from my early years, is him cradling me in his arms and singing rock a bye baby in the treetop, in only a way my dad could do it. When he would get to the end of a phrase in the song, he would say it repeatedly while giving me a very good rock. I loved it, and I sang it to all of my kids in exactly the same way.

One year, I received a Chrisy doll for Christmas. I loved that doll. That next summer, some neighborhood friends were over playing with us. It was while my dad was irrigating the yard. One of the girls stuck my Chrissy doll in the irrigation water and ruined her hair. I was so angry, and I bit her. Well, when my dad found out, he picked me up and was going to make me go in the house and not be able to play any more. I remember feeling so abused and completely justified in what I had done, and dad wouldn't listen to me. So, I bit him too. This was not just any little bite. He has a scar on his shoulder from this bite. I am telling you, he was pretty mad, but instead of doing anything about it right that minute, he had the control to put me down and walk away from me without one word. As a parent, that is pretty impressive. I am not sure I could do that. I knew I was in major trouble because no one was talking to me. About an hour later, I got the spanking of my life, and boy did I deserve it.

I remember going out on photography trips with my dad. One in particular sticks out to me. He took me to the Petrified Forest. He would let me pick some of the things to have him photograph and he told me if Arizona Highways picked my picture, he would give me the money. On that trip, we stopped at the gift shop, and he bought me a beautiful turquoise bracelet.

Another very vivid memory is when my grandmother died. There were only three children left at home at this point, and he had us all come in on his bed. I watched him cry as he told us his mother has died. I think this was the first time I had ever seen him cry. She had suffered with strokes for about four years, so it was a blessing to have her go, but it was still hard for my dad to lose his mom.

In my teenage years, he was a pretty cool dad. I never had to fill up my own gas tank. He and mom provided me with a vehicle to drive, and every weekend, Dad would drive it to the gas station and fill it up for me. He never made any comments about the boys I chose to date until after I stopped dating them, then he had plenty to say. Like, "Boy am I glad you got rid of that one, he was annoying."

My very first date was to one of the school dances, I think it was homecoming. Anyway, mom was too busy to take me shopping for a dress, so the task fell to dad. We went into the mall and the very first dress I tried on, was the one we bought. It took us all of about 15 minutes to get the dress. To this day, he has never let mom forget how easy it was to pick out a dress when he was doing the shopping. When shopping with mom, it took hours, not that I am complaining I loved it almost as much as she did, it's just that dad could never understand why it took so long.

At the beginning of my freshman year, my dad was called to be the ward bishop. My brother Craig was 19 and getting ready for his mission in Massachusetts. We had to get up really early to drive down to Mesa. Dad woke us all up at 5 am and told us to come into the front room. We were a little groggy. Dad said he had some news. He then said, "your mother is pregnant." I remember just being completely confused. Craig said, "that's not possible is it?" Then dad told us he was going to be the new bishop.

I was very lucky to be the last child. For my senior year, I had my mom and dad all to myself. It was great. One of my favorite things from this time was Saturday mornings. My parents would still be in bed, and I could hear them talking. So, I would come in their room and climb in bed with them. I don't remember what we talked about, probably just life, but it always ended with a tickling match started by dad. I just remember a lot of laughter during these times.

As I have grown older, my respect and love for my dad have grown. He is an amazing father, and I count myself as one of the luckiest girls to have him as my dad. He is not an outwardly social person, although he is with his family. He is not a big talker, but when he does say something, nobody wants to miss it. I have been in rooms stuffed full of people and heard complete quiet when dad starts to talk. His life has been dedicated to service, and I am one of the recipients of that service.

When I asked him on the phone yesterday if he was having a good birthday, he said yes, and then he told me that he and mom had gone to the store and bought a big pizza for dinner and he was pretty happy about that pizza. Instead of a cake he wanted banana splits. I asked mom if she was going to light up the pizza with candles, but she did not think dad would appreciate having to blow out 81 candles.

Happy Birthday Dad! I love you.

What A Week!

This week has been just amazing. Wednesday, the flying in began. First to come in was Jenni. It was so great to be able to pick her up at the airport. Then came the Young Women in Excellence that evening. The girls did an amazing job of planning the entire evening. It was a smashing success. Ashley played a solo on her viola that night. I think I was more nervous than her. She was so poised and did a great job. After a little clean up and getting all my family home, I went to Corinne's house to pick up Jenni. It was so fun to sit and visit for a minite before heading back to the airport to pick up my sister Julie. It was so exciting to have her here. Cami called to say she was in and heading to her sister's house. We headed to my house to get settled for the night. All my girls kindly gave up their bedrooms for guests to sleep in. They settled into the basement with Bongo, and all were happy. After getting the kids off to school Thursday morning, we headed for a breakfast at Eggspectations. Yum! Then we headed to Costco to pick up some umbrella's. That evening we all headed to La Madeline for yummy food before the concert.

The So You Think You Can Dance concert was so much fun. This is the third year that I have been able to go with Cami, Corinne and Jenni.

It was a great concert. There was a row of teenage girls sitting in front of us that really made the concert more fun. They were in love with Jason, and every time he was on stage they were screaming. I thought they were going to faint when he kissed the girls as part of his dancing routines. This concert was super funny with my favorite being the dancers making fun of the Russian Folk dance, and the advertising of workout DVD's. It was seriously funny.

After the concert, Cami spent the night at my house. It was so fun to talk to Cami and Jenni way into the night.

Friday, after getting a late start, we headed down to DC to see Emily and her beautiful triplets. We got to hold each baby. I am in awe of Emily. She has her hands full with these little ones. I was tired after just watching all she goes through just to feed them. They are so sweet. We were going to head into DC and catch a Smithsonian or two, but after trying to figure out where to park, and eat and the time growing short, Jenni had a great idea. Her idea was to just pick a nice resturant and eat a lovely lunch. We headed to Cheesecake factory and enjoyed their amazing food. We sat and just leisurely ate for over an hour. Ending with a fabulous red velvet cake and cheesecake combo. Wow, was that amazing.

Friday night was a girls game night. Julie and I decided to head home and just watch a movie. Saturday, everyone headed home. It was a whirlwind trip, but so fun to be with everyone for a few days.

Today, Ashley played her solo again in Church. It took some guts to play by herself with about 300 people watching. She did a great job.

Blogging, What's That?

I am seriously acting like I forgot how to blog. I really didn't, I am just a little crazy right now. We had a wonderful visit from my sister and brother-in-law. That was such a treat to see them for a few days. They are on my dream trip. Just traveling around together, going where the wind blows them. It just sounds like so much fun, and it is great for us because the wind blew them our way. I should have taken some pictures with them here, but I only got one. It is kind of funny, but we were laughing because James and Spence were sitting on the couch with their computers, and I snapped a picture.

The other thing that happened that I have not blogged about is Nicolaas received his arrow of light and also his webelos badge. He worked hard for both of these things. I missed it because the young women were at a different building, but James took pictures. I appreciate so much the men and women that have worked with my boys in the scouting program.


We are getting ready for more visitors next week. It has been great to have people coming. Amanda and Ashley wanted to paint their room, so we have been doing that. It has been fun to work with them. They picked colors I would not have picked, but it is their room and they are happy with them. They decided they both wanted to pick a color. So two of the walls are blue, Ashley's choice. The other two walls will be green, Amanda's choice. I will put up pictures as soon as it is finished. We are half way done, and they have done a lot of the painting. I have helped with taping and trim, because that is difficult. We are working on figuring out how to make the corners look really sharp, because the tape is peeling the paint. I think we have it figured out, and will start today with the trim work on the final two walls. It will not be a perfect job, but as long as they are happy, we are good.

Another Good One

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Funny.

This is one of the funniest things I have seen in a long time. Let me just say, I do not watch Glee. It has some pretty disturbing content. However, this clip is clean, and hilarious. I could not stop laughing with tears running down my face. All I can say is that if football was played like this, I would definitely be a huge fan. Enjoy.

A Rare Experience

My girls and I had the wonderful and rare opportunity to listen to one of the leaders of our church, in person. We hear them twice a year at conference, but that is through a broadcast from Salt Lake City, Utah, and not in person. Elder Lynn G. Robbins of the Seventy, spoke to the youth ages 12-25 and their leaders. The words he had to say were so uplifting to the youth. It struck me that they were words so contrary to what the youth hear everywhere else. The world would have them believe that being sexually active before marriage is the norm. How wonderful it was to hear the truth, and to know that my girls were hearing the truth. He had warnings about the dangers of believing the world's view, and about experimenting with alcohol, smoking, pornography and other entrapments of Satan.

One thing he said in particular really struck me. I have known this my whole life, but have never thought about it quite the way he was presenting it. I think it is because it is something I did every Sunday from the ages of 12-18, and now am doing again with my daughters, as I serve in the Young Women program of my ward. He asked all the young women, and female leaders to stand and recite the young women theme. It was an amazing experience to hear hundreds of girls speak in unison. He then said how they were unique as an organization of young women their age in the world, to have such direction in their lives. I had never stopped to contemplate how this simple statement encompassed who I was as a young woman, and shaped who I am today, and continues to guide my life into the future. Here is the theme that we spoke in unison last night:

We are daughters of our Heavenly Father, who loves us, and we love Him. We will “stand as witnesses of God at all times and in all things, and in all places” (Mosiah 18:9) as we strive to live the Young Women values, which are:

Faith
Divine Nature
Individual Worth
Knowledge
Choice and Accountability
Good Works
Integrity and
Virtue

We believe as we come to accept and act upon these values,
we will be prepared to
strengthen home and family,
make and keep sacred covenants,
receive the ordinances of the temple,
and enjoy the blessings of exaltation.

If girls everywhere could know and understand, even just the very first line of this statement, how different would the world be? How would it change how they behave, and how they think about themselves? What power would they have if they only knew at the tender age of 12 that they are daughters of our Heavenly Father?

At one point in the evening, I watched as my tender hearted Kerrie wiped tears from her eyes. She leaned over to me and said, "we are so lucky." She is so right. What a blessing it was to be there last night.

Time

Time is a funny thing. I guess it is a sign of my age that I am even thinking about this. My dad has this philosophy that every year is shorter than the year before. I was confused when he first said this, but he explained. He said something like this: If you look at his life, this year is 1/81 of his entire life, where as mine is 1/38, and Ashley's is 1/15. See how each year becomes a smaller portion of your life?

When my mind turns in this direction, it spirals in all sorts of directions. Like the fact that I only have about nine more years of parenting children in my home. I have been parenting for over 16 years, so I am just about 2/3 of the way done with my job. In just a few short years, I will start sending my girls off into this great big world. Plans for their future, are very much on my short term radar.

It is strange for me to consider that out of my siblings, I am in the minority in the fact that I do not have a grandchild. In fact, there are only three out of the ten without a grandchild. Those seven siblings have at least two grandchildren each.

I don't know why I am thinking about this today. No reason really, just thinking too much. Well, no time like the present to enjoy every minute of it, and I am. I love the stage of life I am in. It has it's challenges, but everything in life does. The trick is to choose to be happy today.

Unfortunate

Every once in a while, I have an unfortunate experience that leaves me with regret. Two Saturday's ago, I was sitting in the hall outside the symphony, as they rehearsed. I was talking with one of the other mothers. Her son has some physical disabilities, and she was sharing with me that he struggles to make friends, and she was hopeful that he would make some in the symphony. She then began to relate his friend history. She talked about some of her friends who have sons, that got hooked into pyramid organizations, and when she would not join in or help them recruit, they dropped her as a friend. An unfortunate side effect of that was her son lost friends also. She then made the comment that they were like those Mormons, that as soon as they find out you will not join, you are no longer their friend. As you can imagine my heart hit the floor. It makes me so sad to hear stuff like this, because I know that this happens, but it is against everything I have ever been taught at my church.

So, you ask, what did I say? Believe me, this conversation went on in my head, do I say something, and if so, how do I handle this? I knew almost immediately that I had to say something. I found myself apologizing that she was ever hurt in this manner by a member of my church. I told her that we are not taught that at church, and that her friend had made a mistake. I also told her that I have friends that are not members, and that we are and always will be friends. To all of this she said that I was the exception. She said she admired our beliefs about family and service, but just did not feel the need to belong to any church. I know it was uncomfortable for her to find out I was a member after what she had said, but more than that, I was so sad that she ever had this experience and I wanted her to know that.

This always brings me back to myself. I question if I have offended others and left a bad impression. I am sure that I have. While I believe the teachings with everything that I am, I am not perfect in living them. I am fairly certain that the friend of this woman has or will at some point, regret the hurt, as I regret the hurt I have inflicted on others through my mistakes.

What is the lesson in all of this? I hope I learn to be more careful and thoughtful in my comments and actions. I hope this woman believes that Mormons are not taught to treat others the way she was treated. That we are taught to love and serve our fellow men. That many members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints spend their days quietly serving and giving to those around them in so many ways, and that we find great joy in doing so.

Pretty Great

Kerrie gave me one of the best birthday presents. She earned first chair in her school orchestra. I was really happy for her. She has been working so hard this summer, and it has paid off for her. Ashley also did a fantastic job this year. She is third chair, which is great for a sophomore. I am excited for both of them this year. It is pretty fun to see their progress with the viola. Ashley will audition for her chair position with the youth symphony in two weeks. She is working hard on that as well.

Ashley got me good for my birthday. I guess I should not be surprised. I tease her so much, that it is bound to come back to me. I love it though, and I have probably laughed more about it than anyone. Here is the conversation:

Me: Ashley, I am getting old.
Ashley: You're just now figuring that out?

Pretty good huh? Yesterday was a pretty crazy day for a birthday. I left my house at about 9 am and did not walk back in until around 8:30. I had a church meeting first, but the wonderful women I work with had prepared a brunch for me. That was great. Then for lunch my visiting teachers took me to Panera Breads. It was so fun to spend a few hours visiting with friends. I then had to go to Bethesda to pick up some music for Ashley, then off to viola lessons. We then picked up James from work and he dropped me off at the elementary school for back to school night.

We decided to really celebrate on Friday, when there is more time. A huge thanks to my friends that helped me celebrate yesterday.

Blessings

As promised, I am writing a blessing post. I find it very healing especially after a night like last night. It is silly of me to feel sorrow, because I am so completely blessed. So here is a list of some reasons why I love where I live.

* My family is thriving here
* My children are happy
* My husband likes his job
* I am happy here
* Our ward is good and we all have good friends
* We have a lovely home and the necessities of life
* There are opportunities for my kids here that they would not have somewhere else
* Our family is very close
* We have great opportunities to serve others
* We live in a great place where a lot of people come on vacation
* It is beautiful here
* Arizona and Utah are just a plane ride away
* We have met wonderful people that have blessed our family
* My children have all been raised here, and this is home

Happy and Content

If you were to ask me how I view my life, for the most part I would say I am happy and content. Content in the fact that there is not much about my life that I would change if given a fairy godmother with a magic wand. I am blessed in so many ways. Every once in a while, something comes along that rocks my boat a bit. When this happens, I usually have a good cry, then move on.

My boat is in choppy waters tonight. This weekend was a sibling reunion for my side of the family. I made it through the weekend, mostly avoiding thinking about it. In the back of my mind, I knew it was going on but kept it out of sight. I had to go and ruin that by calling my mom and sister. I should know to leave that sort of thing well enough alone. Although I was not the only one to miss the reunion, the majority of my siblings were together with my parents in a cabin in Utah. As I was listening to them talk about what fun they all had together, I tried to answer with enthusiasm for them, but man it stinks. I tried to keep my thoughts out of my own head, but just could not pull it off this time. After hanging up the phone, I immediately started my own special brand of therapy. I first raided the junk food aisle of target, then headed to Pei Wei for take out, followed up by a session of tears and a pity party. Sad, but true. It is the pity party that really gets me into trouble. I start thinking about the twelve years that we have lived 2000 miles from my family. This inevitably leads to trying to remember the last time we had my parents or siblings visit us. I wish I could say it was a conversation of months, or even a year, but we are talking about years. I logically understand that to expect more is unreasonable, but when the storm is raging on my sea, logic flies out the window, and I am just sad. I long to have extended family surrounding me and my children. I long to have my mother hear my daughters play in a concert. I miss the family gatherings, and just simply being together, talking, laughing and playing card games.

Tomorrow I will be happy for everyone that was able to be together, but tonight I just can't do anything but feel sorrow because I was not able to be there too. Tomorrow I will forget the sadness, and be happy and content again. Tomorrow I will be able to list the reasons why living where we do is a blessing.

First Day of 2009-10 School Year

I am a little late getting these posted, but here are the pictures from the first day of school. None of my kids were happy to pose for these pictures. They started to run out the door before I could take them, but stopped in their tracks when I informed them of the consequences of this decision.

Mom: You will pose for the pictures or I will come to school and have your principal announce over the PA system that you must come to the office to see your mother and pose for your back to school pictures.

Needless to say, they all chose to stay and pose for their pictures.

There go the high schoolers. Amanda started her Junior year, and Ashley started her Sophomore year. The last picture is of the poor dog watching his buddies leave him behind.





There go the middle schoolers. Kerrie started 8th grade, Kelsie started 7th grade, and Nicolaas started 6th grade.






Last to leave was my lone elementary schooler. Nathan started 4th grade.

The Life of a Cat

Our cat Tigger, has a rough life. He is required to hold down the top step on our staircase.

It's The Most Wonderful Time Of The Year

School Is About to Start

My kids have been milking every last minute of summer. They have been staying up so late, and enjoying no restrictions on tv and wii. That all comes to a stop on Monday morning. We got a little glimpse of school on Friday. Bright and early, we were at the middle school for 6th grade orientation. Nicolaas looked so grown up and completely ready for it all. He was not overwhelmed at all. I guess it is part of his personality, but it takes a lot to rile him. He pretty much goes with the flow. He is not worried about the lockers, or the switching classes or the hordes of people. He is going to one of the largest middle school in our county. There are over 750 kids going there this year. We will have a child in every grade there also, with Kelsie in 7th and Kerrie in 8th. Should be a fun year for them. Then in the afternoon Nathan and I went to his school to meet his teacher. When we saw the lists for 4th grade, his name was not on it. They had forgotten to put him in a class. So, After a little visit with the powers that be, he has a teacher. It was kind of sad, because he did not have a desk with his name on it. Oh well, it will all be fixed by Monday.

I have mixed feelings about the start of school. I enjoy summer because of the free time. There is no set schedule for things, and I like that. I like sleeping in, and not worrying about lunches. I am going to miss the freedom from homework. I am going to miss my kids during the day. I am going to miss my free Saturdays as well. Maryland Youth Symphony will start consuming my Saturdays in a few weeks. On the flip side, it will be nice to not have a million dishes to wash during the day. It will also be nice to have things stay clean for a few hours. It will be good to have the kids back learning and associating with friends.

Goodbye to the lovely summer of 2009 and hello to the new 2009-2010 school year.

A Death In The Family

I must take a moment to pause and mourn the death of a beloved family member. His name is "Mr. Hattie." Mr. Hattie has been a part of our family and memories for seven years. He has accompanied us on many history making events. If you look through our family photos, he is in every casual photo I have. He is the special friend and companion of my darling daughter Amanda. Rarely has he left her head. Only on Sunday's and at school. Mr. Hattie even slept on her head at night. He rode the bus in her backpack and was returned to his proper place as soon as possible. He had even become Amanda's identifying feature. Many kids she has babysat have asked their parents to have the girl with the blue hat babysit again. Mr. Hattie has finally disintegrated into ribbons of fabric. It has left a pall of sadness at this time. Mr. Hattie even endured into his utter illness to please Amanda. Finally, his time had come, and he has been put in a place of honor in Amanda's bedroom.

For the good news, let me introduce you to "Mr. Hattie Junior." That's right, we have a replacement. Junior is blue as well, but more of a denim color. He is now the constant companion of Amanda, and she has happily accepted him as a replacement. I am sure he will be with us for many years to come. We look forward to the many photos of him covering Amanda's hair, and eyes in family photos.

Side Effects

Modern medicine is amazing. It can do so many wonderful things, all the way from life saving, to life enhancing. It is the life enhancing one that is making things a little tricky at our house. With all the amazing things drugs can do, they come with their price. One of my daughters (I will not say who, for fear of my life) is taking acutane to be forever rid of acne. She has been on topical creams for months, which have improved the situation, but not to the satisfaction of the dermatologist. He suggested this nifty little pill, that she has to take once a day, and in six months time, poof, the acne will be gone. She has been on this medication for a little over one month. We are already seeing a difference on her face. More than that, we are seeing a difference in her mood. I am finally experiencing a real live teenager, with real live teenage attitude. It has given me a new perspective on what all the other moms go through. Wow, is it not fun. It is equally not fun for her. She does not like feeling the way she is feeling. I just keep telling her and myself, that in five months, she will go back to her normal happy self. I also keep reminding her that it is her medicine making her feel this way, and as long as she can recognize that, it will help her deal with it.

Even though she is struggling with this, I just cannot change who I am. I try to tease her out of her moods. I am getting a lot of eye rolls, and frustration from her. When we went in for her one month check up, the doc asked about any side effects. When I told him about her grumpy mood, he said, "now she has a teenage attitude to match her teenage acne." Man I laughed, but my daughter was not amused. Part of this whole process is a blood test every month as well. When the doc asked if he could take her blood, she said no, and he just stuck her, which made me laugh too. As you can imagine, I got the death stare. It will be worth it when this is over, and she will be happy with the results, and some day we will laugh together about this whole thing. For now, James and I will just laugh.

A Weird Mom

I find humor in very silly things. I love to do random things that have my kids looking at me like I have lost my mind. If they really knew the truth, they would know that these very random things keep me from losing my mind. Here are a few examples of my random behavior. Sometimes I will decide that I am only going to sing conversations. This particular one drives the kids crazy because if they want to talk to me, they have to sing the conversation. I pretend that I can not hear anything that is not sung to me. Other times I decide that no one is allowed to speak over a whisper. Today, I came up with a new one that got very funny responses from my kids. I just started yelling at them for no reason. They kept looking at me to see if I was serious, but the smile on my face was an absolute contradiction to the yelling. They actually started laughing with this one. The looks on their faces were pretty funny. I figure I can handle the stresses of everyday life one of two ways. I can cry a lot or laugh. I choose to laugh most days.

School Preparations

Caution: I am not in a good mood, so read at your own risk.

A few weeks ago I was in Target, and decided to take a look through the school supplies. There was a bunch of stuff on sale, so I bought what I thought would be on the school supply list. Yesterday, we got down to business with organizing school supplies. It is always a huge undertaking. I pulled out my label maker, and started organizing. Of course this can never happen without every child in the house "helping." It ended with me telling everyone to stop touching things and wait their turn. Then came the whining about when their turn would come, and inevitably the comment of "I'm last, that's not fair. Why am I always last?" This had an added element of fun when Nathan discovered that his 3 ring binder is not on the list of supplies. He was so mad, because he wants to use his cool new binder. I told him he could use it next year, but that was not comforting to him and he continued to complain. I'd finally had it, and told him it was not my fault his teacher did not have a binder on his list, and if he wanted to complain about it, he needed to talk to his teacher and not me. Then we discovered that Kerrie was not going to be using one big 3 ring binder (which I have already purchased), but she would need 7 one inch binders. What? Are you kidding me? What a pain for her to have to worry about 7 binders. I just want to know who's bright idea this was. She does not even have 7 classes. Where is the extra one going for? Can you tell this whole school supply thing puts me in a bad mood? After getting through everyone, we of course discovered there were many things I still need to buy. More paper, folders, marble notebooks, 5 subject notebooks, highlighters, rulers, protractors, compasses (which I refuse to buy three of, so until their actual teacher tells me they need it, I am not buying even one) red pens, more pencils (who would have thought that 50 pencils was not going to be enough), and get this, Nathan has to have two wide ruled notebooks with pockets (which I can guarantee will not be in the $.60 for four bin). I have only gotten basics for my high school kids because we do not actually get their list until the first day of school. So, I am sure I will be heading out more than once to the store to buy more stuff. Enough of this rant. I get in a grumpy mood every year around this time. I will get over it, and my kids will go merrily off to school with all their supplies, and I will forget about all of this until next August.

George Washington Rabbit

My nephew Mike has started a project to record stories of my mom and dad. He took video of one of my favorite childhood stories.



Here is another video of my dad telling a story from his youth.

Long Time Coming

Today was a long time coming, but well worth it. Maybe this picture will give you a clue.

Can you read what it says? It says "removal" That's right folks, Ashley had her braces removed today, and she looks so good. Here are her last moments with braces.



Then came this:


Ashley was real happy that I had my camera documenting all of this, especially the last picture of her getting the mold.

Finally they were off. She was so funny because before the doc polished her teeth, they had her brush them. When she got back I asked her what she thought, and she told me she did not want to look until her teeth were polished. What can I say, I love this girl. She sure paid with six years of treatment. We are both glad to see it end with a beautiful perfect smile. Enjoy the fun after pictures.



Do you see the water bottle in that last picture? When she opened it in the car, it was full of all the sticky and chewy candy she could not eat for the last six years. Wasn't that a pretty cool thing for the orthodontist to do for her? She was very happy to eat the junk on her way home.