Superpaige's Pad

The Trials of a Busy Mom

Category: Kids (Page 12 of 19)

What is this, a sports blog, now?

March 13, 2009 / / 4 Comments

I promise I am NOT a sports writer. But the games! The GAMES! They are so exciting. Megan had a game Wed night which was a total nail biter. I wasn’t there, but I hear it was excitement times two. Megan was playing against one of her soccer buddies, too, which made it interesting. Ryan told me the whole game recap, but really, it all comes down to the score. Megan’s team won by one point. On, and I owe her $6.

Then, since they won on Tues and Wed, they had another game on Thursday. We were all there, lending our support and our mad cheering skilz. We did have some annoying fans sitting by us, though. Fans for the other team. Can’t they sit on their own side? Really, we want to be free to cheer our heads off, without worrying about offending Tall girl‘s dad, who happens to be sitting right in front of us. And let’s avoid Mr. Yell at the ref whenever you don’t like the call. Anyway, the tension was high, even before the game started. This team was the team our girls lost to last week. They are bigger and older than our girls, and they are undefeated in the tournament. Two of my friends showed up with their video cameras, because as one mom put it, “If I’m filming, I don’t yell as much. I don’t want my yelling on tape, now do I?”

Even though our girls the Sparks started out slowly, they scored the first basket. It was pretty evenly matched this time, with a close score at the half, but I think we were still ahead. Megan threw a hail Mary right AFTER the buzzer that went IN! It was absolutely beautiful, but it didn’t count. I, of course got distracted making sure John hadn’t left the gym, and where the heck was Jenna, and yes, you can have some Swedish fish, here’s a few for you, and a few for you, and …What? What just happened? Why is that guy yelling at the ref? You get the picture. But it was a tense, tense game. The score was 20-22, and our girls were ahead with 30 seconds left. And we fouled them and stopped the clock for their tall girl to shoot a free throw. Oh, NO! Not a free throw! And it went IN, bringing the score to 21-22, with the ball down at their end. But our Sparks took that ball and didn’t let them score, so our girls BEAT them by only one point.

Whew! There was all kind of celebrating and screaming going on as we left the gym. And we get to go to another game….Tonight! Because we haven’t had enough basketball this week. No, really, because this is a double elimination tournament, and this other team has now lost one game, and our team has lost one game. So, tonight’s game will determine the champion.

Cole’s also got his concert tonight, so I guess I’ll go to Megan’s game for a while, and the skip out to go to Cole’s concert.

In other blogworthy news, I made my own whole wheat bread yesterday. Really! I’m baking bread. I never thought I would be making my own wheat bread. Up until a few years ago, I had this celiac thing going on, and eating gluten would make me break out in an itchy painful rash. Well, for some reason, that has gone away, and I can now eat wheat. When I was at the Bosch store a few weeks ago buying new beaters, I picked up their bread recipes. I even bought “vital wheat gluten” for the bread. Who would have thought I would buy EXTRA gluten to put in the bread? Well, yesterday was the day. I felt like the little red hen. I ground the wheat to make the flour, I mixed the flour and other ingredients to make the bread, I let the bread rise, and I baked the bread. And I have to say, that bread is pretty darn tasty! They aren’t the prettiest loaves in town, I’ll say that much. The tops all fell in a little, but hopefully I’ll get that worked out in future batches. But still, here I am, grinding wheat and making bread (and going to basketball games)! Who would have thought?

And lastly. Does anyone out there still watch ER? I’ve been an ER watcher from the very start. It was my show to watch on Thursday nights. Since the invention of the Tivos and the DVRs, I don’t always watch it on Thursday nights anymore, and sometimes, I’ll admit, I didn’t watch it at all. But this is the last season, and they are bringing back the original characters, and I have to watch. Last night’s episode was GREAT! You had John Carter needing a kidney, and then when they go to pick up the kidney and the heart in Seattle, who should we meet as the transplant doctors, but Carol Hathaway and Doug Ross?! (only click on that link if you don’t care about spoiling the ending) And Susan Surrandon played the grandmother of the organ donor kid. And then Peter Benton just happens to work at the hospital where John Carter is having his surgery! I think it’s great. These actors got their big break on ER, and it’s nice of them to come back and do a guest appearance. Plus, it’s always nice to see hunky George Clooney on any screen.

So, if you were an ER fan and you’ve given up on the show, now’s the time to watch again.

Sportylicious!

March 6, 2009 / / 2 Comments

Last night I went to a VERY exciting basketball game. Both Megan and Natalie have been playing basketball this season, and it’s been a good experience for them. They’ve had good teams with their friends, and good coaches.

Now this may come as a shock to you, but I am not sporty. At all. *Gasp!* Shocking, I know. When I was a kid, girls did not play sports. Did they? We played all kinds of torturous sports at gym in school. But those sports are dangerous. Remember Mary, and how she broke her arm playing kickball in…what was that? Third grade? Never run with your hands in your pockets was a lesson learned that day. Oh, yes, sports meant running, sweating, and danger. And I would not willingly play sports “just for fun”. Are you kidding? And soccer? Soccer wasn’t even a sport when I was a kid. And even if people did put their kids in soccer teams at the age of 3 like they do now, I don’t know if my parents would have had the money for such extras.

Oh, sure, I played Young Women sports, but not very willingly. I endured many a basketball, volleyball and softball game, but I pretty much just went so that our team would have enough people not to forfeit. There we were…Joni, Suzi, Carolyn, Liz, Penny, and me. Sometimes we would have a few of the older girls, but really, YW church ball belongs to the beehives. And I was never very confident in my sports skills, so these games were just a series of cringing, hoping that the ball would not end up with me. I lived in fear of letting my team down. As soon as I was old enough to have other things other things to do, I stopped going to those sports events.

Oh, and field day! The bad memories are just pouring back into my head now. Remember Stake field day? When the whole ward would gather for track and field events, and everyone had to run some sort of race, and we all got sunburns? How I wish I could have enjoyed events like that, instead of living in fear. FEAR, I tell you. Because I was overweight even as a kid, and had next to no self confidence when it came to anything athletic, the thought of running a RACE, even just a 50 yard dash, was pure torture. So I would sign up for things that were not so scary, like long jump or shot put, and maybe the tug of war. I’m so glad that I’m a grown up now, and I can just say No Thanks to these kinds of things if I do not want to do it.

ANYWAY, instead of regaling you with tales of my torturous sporting events when I was a kid, let me tell you how fun it is to watch MY kids playing sports. And they are actually enjoying it. And some of them are really good at it. Yes, I know you’ve heard all about Megan’s soccer and how much she loves it. But she’s actually really good at basketball, too! Her team is in the play-offs, now, and it’s double elimination. They kicked some serious butt at their game on Tuesday, and then last night they played their second game against this big, aggressive team. Our girls were a bit intimidated by the other team when they started, and the first half did not go our way. At the half, I think the score was 4 to 19. If you have ever been to a game with me, you know that I don’t really pay that much attention to the game. In fact, I’m usually the one with a book, or chatting with a friend, so it’s kind of a wonder that I knew the half time score! I even started out the game reprogramming phone numbers in my cell phone, adding the stupid 801 to all the numbers in my phone book. But I had to put the phone away after only a few minutes because it was just too exciting. There I sat, surrounded by 3 of my awesome friends, and we were all cheering our daughters on. Our daughters who were giving their hearts and their very best efforts to this game.

The second half, our girls came out, and really stepped up their game. They were shooting, stealing, and catching up. We, the moms on the sidelines, were screaming, cheering, and clapping until our hands hurt. I brought out the Altoids to soothe our sore throats. Because our girls were closing the gap. With one minute left, and our girls behind by 3, we’re screaming “Foul!” from the sidelines, so that the clock would be stopped for the free throws, and those girls gave it everything they had.

They did not win this game, but we couldn’t be prouder of them. They came back from behind to a score of 23 to 26. They played so well against this bigger team, and they stood their ground. My Megan, who is not quite 5 feet, was all over the court, stealing, guarding, and even shooting. She is not intimidated by those bigger girls, and will go head to head with the best of them.

As soon as the game was over, our sweet Brittney started crying. Not because they lost, but because she had pulled a muscle in her leg in track earlier in the afternoon, but had played through the pain the whole game. Once the game was over, she was allowed to break down and cry. These girls have given it their best! We are so proud of them!

They play again on Saturday, and I’m hoping I can get a decent picture then. I may just have to get a faster camera so I can become a sports photographer. You think?

piano wars

February 26, 2009 / / 6 Comments

me: Get your piano books, it’s almost time to go to piano lessons.
her (laying on the floor): I’m not going to piano.
me: Yes, you are. Get your books, please.
her: Why do I have to go to piano? I already went this week! I’m not going!
me (trying to stay calm and not end up in a shouting match with her): You did Not go this week, you switched lessons with your brother. If you do not go and get your books and get ready, you will get to pay for your own lesson, and there will be no soccer tomorrow.
her (begrudgingly getting up off the floor): Why do I always have to go to piano? It’s not fair!
her (from the other room as she’s getting her books): Why don’t I ever get to skip piano! It’s not fair!
me: You skipped last week, remember?
her: I don’t like piano. It’s not fair that you make me take piano lessons (and on and on and on while she gets her shoes on).

In the car
her: Why do you make me take piano lessons? You must hate me. You Hate me! And I hate piano lessons and I hate you. I can’t wait until I’m 16 and then I’ll NEVER have to take piano lessons ever again.
me (turning up the radio) I am not listening to you.
her (louder): Because you Want to Make my Life Miserable. You Hate me and you want me to suffer. You want me to live a painful life.
me: Here I am putting up my soundproof invisible barrier so that I cannot here you. I’m singing along to the radio as loud as I want because now I’m the only person in the car and I can sing as loud as I want. La La LAAAAAAAA!
her (shouting): I CAN STILL HEAR YOU! YOU ARE NOT THE ONLY PERSON IN THE CAR! I’m not going in. I’m not getting out of the car. You can’t make me!

pulling up to piano lessons
me: I’m putting down my invisible sound proof shield, now. Here we are. Hop out.
her: I’m not going.
me: Yes, you are.
her (getting out of the car): I hate piano lessons and I hate you.
me (rolling down the window): You’d better apologize. You cannot speak to me that way young lady. Apologize or I’ll leave you here. You can live here and have piano lessons every day.
her (quietly): I’m sorry. But I still hate you.
me: Not going to fly. Apologize again right now or you’ll be staying here.
her: I’ll just run home.
me: Fine with me. See you later.
her: I’m sorry.
me (driving off): -sigh-

Does this sound familiar to you? This is really how our conversation went today. And I’m tired of it. I’m tired of the fighting and the whining and the complaining. It would be so much easier to give up and let her quit. But I will not. I will stick to my guns and persevere and she will take piano lessons for 3.3 more years, even if it kills me. And it might.

I wasn’t going to post this, but when I told a friend this story, she laughed and laughed and insisted it was SO FUNNY! And looking back (this happened a couple of weeks ago), I guess it was kind of funny, if you remove yourself from the situation. But sometimes it’s just not possible to remove myself far enough.

When I checked my email this morning, I got this message from my husband:

FYI.

“A certain child” (only he didn’t say that, he said her name) is not allowed to play Wii or XBox or play on your computer tomorrow.

If she is mean to her sisters, that expands to being TV as well, through
Saturday (which means no XBox during Jenna’s baptism party… — Mean
Dad!).

and this one:

Oh, I forgot. She’s also doing her sister’s jobs tomorrow. Trash and Hall
Bathroom.

Any suggestions would be appreciated.

Our fun almost free President’s Day

February 17, 2009 / / 4 Comments

Oh, the fun we had yesterday. Seriously. After I forced my children to do their jobs, we went out and had some fun. I call it Free Fun, which is the best kind.

1st- We stopped at Krispy Kreme with report cards in hand. Since we had four report cards, we got 6 dozen for each, thus two dozen free donuts. Yum, if you like that kind of thing.

2nd- We went to Toys R Us. I’ve had this giftcard rattling about in my wallet forever, and since littlest pet shops were on sale buy one get one free, we thought we’d check it out. The selection was terrible on the littlest pet shops, but we did manage to pick up four of them to use for future birthday party gifts. We also got some valentines and a hot wheels car. I used my gift card, but didn’t manage to use it all up. There’s still $3 on it. I should have just turned around and picked up something for $3, but didn’t want to hassle with it, so back in the wallet it goes.

3rd- We had some Barnes and Noble gift cards to use up, so off we went to the book store. The girls each picked out a book, I got a book each for Cole and Megan, and bought To Kill a Mockingbird for myself. I’ve (gasp) never read it, and I’ve been meaning to. So, now I own it, and have no excuse not to read it. John was a hard sell, and didn’t want any books. He did, however, want the baby Jaguar from Go, Diego, Go. What can I say, I’m such a pushover. I let him get his jaguar instead of a book. That whole venture cost me $7 after the giftcards. Not completely free, but almost.

4th- We stopped at Del Taco and got four free kids meals with coupons we had from Reflections.

Last- was a stop at the grocery store to get our free Redbox rentals for Monday. If you didn’t already know, you can get a free rental at redbox every monday if you go to their site and sign up. They’ll send you a code every week. And you can use it more than once if you use different credit cards. So the kids picked some silly Mermaid movie, and I picked Mama Mia. They watched their movie last night while the pizza cooked (we made individual pizzas for dinner–yes, I am that fun), and then had donuts for dessert.

Ryan picked up the kids at my parents’ house, and they also had a fun fun weekend. They helped my dad put up and take down flags, they went to the planetarium, and my mom got them started on knitting and crochet projects. And we actually missed them.

It was a good weekend for everyone.

Now if only we could find a way to get the truck’s suspension fixed for free. That would be REALLY great.

Help me, Obi wan Megan. You’re my only hope.

February 3, 2009 / / 2 Comments

The other day I went to a soccer game with my soccer playin’ daughter, Megan. Indoor, soccer, in case you were wondering what kind of insane team plays in the frigid weather and the snow. We were joking before the game that she was a Jedi knight, and the other soccer players would come to her and say, “Help me Obi Wan Megan. You’re my only hope.” She hit my arm and said, Maaa- ommmm. Typical response.

But during the game, I looked up from my book (yes, I do read at my children’s sporting events. Doesn’t everyone?) and saw that they had put Megan in as goalie. My little, not quite 5 ft tall, 80 pound 12 year old was playing goalie. Why is she playing goalie? That’s not her position. Eek. Needless to say, I put the book away.

Every time the other team got near their goal, my stomach tied itself into knots. Argh! No! No! Get back in the goal! Nooooooo! My little Obi Wan Megan WAS their only hope, and it wasn’t going well. Not only were they outsized and outplayed by this older, better team, but now they have my tiny little daughter as goalie. I felt like standing up and screaming, “Use the force! Use the force Obi wan Megan!” but I didn’t. I let her play out her stint as goalie with dignity.

About 1/2 way through the period, the coach switched her out and let someone else take a turn at the carnage, and I could breathe again. I much prefer watching her dashing across the field kicking the ball instead of trying to use her body to stop the ball. When the game was over, I braced myself for the disappointment and sullenness that might follow a loss such as this one. After the game, I met up with my little jedi and said, “Good game. How was that, playing goalie?”
“It was kind of fun. But I’m not really tall enough to be a good goalie,” and that was it. No sulking, no anger at the loss. Just joy to be able to play soccer.

Now if only I could make piano a sport.

The morning breaks, the shadows flee

January 29, 2009 / / 1 Comment

Oh, it’s a rough morning here at the Erickson house.

Wednesday nights are rehearsal, which is great. But it’s exhausting, and I came home with an aching back, partly from ringing bells all night, and partly because I used 8 pound weights in my workout class on Tuesday instead of my normal 5 pounds weights. When I came in the house, I started the dishwasher, and then went to say hi to Ryan in his office. Only he wasn’t in his office. He was in bed.

Seems he’d had a violent reaction to something he ate for lunch at Apolo Burger (let’s hope it wasn’t peanut butter), and he’d been in and out of the bathroom all evening. Enough said? So, he was in bed not feeling happy. Well, I got ready for bed, too, and came to bed to try to sleep.

Here’s the thing. Ryan doesn’t usually go to bed at the same time as me. He is a night owl and I’m usually crashing into bed at the earliest possible moment. Seriously. If we don’t have anything going on that night, as soon as I get the kids in their pajamas, I get in my pajamas, too. Then once they are in bed, I’ll crawl in bed to read or watch tv and go to sleep. I’m not one of those people who say, “I get SO much done after the kids are in bed!”. Nope. After the kids go to bed, I breathe a sigh of relief and say I’m done for the day, and enjoy the quiet. But Ryan is one of those putterers, who works on projects at midnight or 1 am. I’ve tried to convince him that it’s not healthy to stay up so late, and he gives me the story that he’s not sleepy, and why go to bed when you’re not sleepy? Whatever.

At any rate, we’ve gotten into this routine that I usually go to sleep alone. In the quiet. With no one breathing or coughing or changing position to try to get comfortable. Get my drift? I like to sleep in the quiet. And when it’s not quiet, or someone happens to be there sleeping at the same time as me, I can’t go to sleep. I can try. I can pretend I’m asleep and hope that it happens. I can lie there thinking of all the things I need to change or work on in my life while silently hoping I’ll get so bored that I’ll eventually fall asleep. So, that’s what I did. For an hour or so. Until Ryan got up and visited the bathroom.

“Great!”, I thought, “now I’ll fall asleep while he’s in there, and then I’ll be asleep, hooray!” But, no. Sleep didn’t happen. I just lay there listening, wishing I knew where my earplugs were, and wondering how long he was going to be in there.

Eventually I gave up. I said goodbye, that I was going to sleep downstairs, but I would reheat my wheat bag so he could have warm toasty feet. Wasn’t that nice of me? I was sacrificing my own warm and toasty feet so he could have warm and toasty feet. Really, my feet were already warm, and he had cranked the heat up to -like-69, so it was plenty warm. I grabbed some blankets and went to go sleep on the couch. Nice plan that it was, I couldn’t really sleep on the couch, either. I must be getting old and stuffy because I want to sleep in my own bed. Sigh.

I did eventually sleep, but when one of the kids woke up to use the bathroom at 5:30, I decided I might as well haul myself back up to bed, so that when they all get up they won’t come and poke at me. I think I also must have turned my alarm off, so that it wouldn’t wake Ryan up when it went off. Oops.

I woke up at 7:26 with an “Oh, crap.” I hobbled down the stairs hoping that my kids had been responsible without me there telling them what to do. Sure enough, they were all gathered around the counter in various stages of getting ready for school. I told them I was so sorry I had slept in and wasn’t up helping this this morning. “That’s ok, Mom,” Megan said, “you were up late last night.” Wow. I had time to brush some girls’ hair, sign some homework, write a check for lunch money and have a prayer before the first group left for the bus at 7:30. I was impressed that they got up, got dressed and got breakfast without me. At least I think they got breakfast. I hope they got breakfast. The Jr High kids left a few minutes later and I breathed another sigh of relief. They did it without me.

That makes me wonder, what am I getting up for? They could just get ready and go to school on their own while I languish in my nice warm bed, right? Ha, ha, ha, ha! Things do not always go so smoothly.

But today I’m thankful that my kids can be responsible enough to get ready (at least today) without any prodding from mom. And I’m hoping that my sweet husband gets feeling better soon. So that I can sleep.

Christmas Highlights

December 26, 2008 / / 4 Comments

Snow, snow, and more snow.

The snow has been lots of fun to play in, if you enjoy freezing your extremities off, that is. The problem, however, lies in the fact that it takes about an hour to find everyone’s snow stuff, see if it’s dry from the last time they went outside, and get them into it. We’ve had cousins staying with us, and at one point had 10 kids to outfit into snow gear. And once we get them all outside (and lock the door–no, not really), they are only out there about 20 minutes before they are inside complaining of how cold they are. Then they leave all those wet, snowy clothes all over the place to “dry” out, and they demand hot chocolate.

And I’d like it stop snowing sometime, so I can go out and find my after Christmas bargains, thank you very much.

The Neighborhood Party.
We have some neighbors who host a party every year. There’s tons of food, and you get to talk to your neighbors without any kids pestering you. I haven’t been able to go for the past couple of years, but Ryan will go to this one by himself. This year, however, they did it late enough that I could attend, and it was super fun. And even better than a party? Leaving my brother and sister-in-law in charge of the masses at home. They had 10 kids to send to bed, but hopefully it wasn’t too bad. They let them watch movies and play games until bed time. The highlight of the party, of course, is the white elephant game. I thought my gift was cool but kind of weird, but apparently, it was just weird. Not the worst gift, though. I think the pre-flyed fly paper was the worst. Or the viagra. Thankfully we didn’t come home with that one.

The annual Christmas Nativity Puppet show.

The kids enjoy the Nativity puppet show each year. We read the story from Luke and they act out all the parts with puppets. It’s easier than coming up with costumes (or bathrobes, rather) for them to act it out, and they love it.

Screaming Monkeys.

The kids got Webkinz and flying slingshot Monkeys in their stockings. Who wouldn’t love a flying monkey? I think these might be good gifts for the neighborhood white elephant party next year.

Rock Band Surprise.

I was thrilled to give the kids an X-Box and Rock band. It’s doubly nice when I didn’t have to pay for it. Had I known I was going to be winning an X-Box, I might have bought less presents for them. But they were very surprised and pleased, since I would normally never buy such a thing. We finally got it set up today and are rocking out. And just so you know, Tina, I suck. But then, we all suck, so I’m in good company. I’m sure after the kids spend hours playing it and I still have only played it 5 times, they will totally smoke me, but right now we’re on a pretty even playing level. Except for Cole, who’s played guitar hero a lot more than me, and Megan, who actually plays the drums in the band at school. But since there are 5 kids and only three instruments, John is having a total melt down right now.

Chaos. And Mess.

I don’t know about your house, but our house is pretty much a mess after all the present opening. I wouldn’t say the mess is a highlight, really, just an unavoidable part of the eqasion.


Faster, Stronger, Better than it was before.

Ryan got me a new computer for my Christmas/Birthday present. The old one was the “free” computer he got back when he was fired from Intel many many years ago. It was old, slow, and frequently refused to do what I asked it to do. Now it has like eleventy times the memory and ram and all that computer language. So far, it’s working out nicely. Can you tell just by reading the blog how much faster it uploaded? Good job, new computer! And he secretly transferred all my old crap onto the new computer without me knowing what he was doing. He’s pretty sneaky that way. Ryan and I also both got new phones. Yes, you heard right. Ryan now has entered the 21st century and has a cell phone. Or, as he calls it, a leash. So I can call him. And you can call him, too, if you want! Everyone can call him! Hooray for phones. And yes, that does leave one extra phone for the kids to share. We haven’t worked out the details of that, but they haven’t seemed to care, yet.

Giving a Great Gift
We decided to give my sister and her family a gift that they really really needed this year. A van. Our van. They have three kids and can barely squish into their truck, plus my sister was left without a car most of the time when her husband went to work. We had been talking about it for a while and trying to figure out if we can survive with just the suburban and the little truck, and decided it was time to take the leap. We gave them the present a month early, and they have been enjoying it since. It really makes us happy to give something that is really going to be appreciated and used. And we hope it lasts for a long long time and they get many years and miles of use out of it.

Family Time.

We went up to my parent’s house on Christmas day and had the fun and folly of being with the whole family. Except for my sister’s family. Now that she’s got 10 kids we may never see her again. But even without her, we had something like 22 people there, and it was fun. It was actually the quietest Christmas celebration we’ve had in quite some time. Most of the kids stayed downstairs or watched a movie, and we’d call them up one family at a time to get their gifts from Grandma and Grandpa. The picture above is my brother actually blowing out his birthday candle that is there in the birthday pie. Yes, his birthday is on Christmas. A fact that I try to remember when I’m feeling picked on by the unfortunate timing of my birthday.

Food, Goodies, Sweets, Temptations.
I think I’ve eaten my weight in cookies, candies, chex mix and goodies. Seriously, people, don’t bring any more yummy food to our house ever again. Or at least until my birthday.

Singing Silent Night
Ryan and I sang Silent Night for our talent portion of his family party, and it was fun to sing with him. He actually played the guitar (my guitar that I don’t play), and I sang, and it was nice to sing to a guitar. I think this year I really DO need to learn to play the guitar. We also sang Silent Night with our family on Christmas eve before the kids went to bed, and then in the morning before we opened presents, John said, “I want to sing the PEACE song”. So, we sang the peace song together and it was nice. It’s one of my favorite Christmas songs, and if he wants to sing it anytime, I’m game.

Since I hadn’t yet watched Rejoice and be Merry with the King’s Singers (last year’s concert), I made the kids watch it on Christmas eve with me. You would have thought I was torturing them with hot pokers or something, to hear them complain. I mean, come on, people! Who doesn’t love the Twelve days of Christmas? You can see the video from that song here. I think I might just watch it every day just to make them crazy. Right after Rock band.

Christmas letters.
I know I was late in getting my Christmas card and letters out this year, and I may have inadvertently forgotten some, and didn’t have addresses for others. I felt very disorganized in my card sending. But I do enjoy getting those letters from friends. For some, this is the only communication we receive all year, so it’s especially fun to see pictures of their families and read what they’ve been up to. And even if I have to hear all about their perfect kids, I still enjoy the cards. (I know that their kids can’t be perfect ALL the time, right?) My sister and brother-in-law actually send out the funniest letter, and I really look forward to reading about their mishaps and adventures.

That warm Christmas feeling.
I love everything about Christmas. And I love the feelings of love and peace that we have each December as we prepare to celebrate the birth of Jesus. I almost didn’t want Christmas to come because I don’t want Christmas to be over. But, yes, it’s come, and now it’s over. It’s up to us to keep those feelings in our hearts even when we don’t have people telling us Merry Christmas, and we aren’t hearing beautiful Christmas music on the radio. It’s up to each of us to keep Christ in our hearts.

Deep thoughts from the 5 year old set

December 19, 2008 / / 0 Comments

As I was driving the boys to their preschool “Polar Express Party” today, the running conversation went something like this:

You might slip and fall on your butt.
That is a BAD word! You shouldn’t say bad words.
Yeah, like swearing.
Or like saying “I’m going to beat you up.”
Jesus doesn’t like it if you swear. If you swear then you are going to die and go to Satan, not to Jesus.
Yeah, and then you’ll come back alive in like 8 days.
Or 3 days.
Or maybe you’ll be dead a long time. Like 800 years, until Jesus comes back again.
And we don’t know how long that is going to be, until Jesus comes back.

About this time we drove by something that was more interesting than their discussion on Jesus and his impending resurrection, like a big truck, and the subject was changed. It’s so much fun to listen to these boys and their conversations, especially when they don’t think I’m listening.

Thankful–a list

November 26, 2008 / / 3 Comments

I am so thankful for my many many blessings. I would be remiss if I didn’t list some of them here.

~I’m thankful for my husband. Ryan is in many ways a better person than I am, and he’s a great husband and wonderful father. He’s handy, he’s smart, and he’s funny. He supports me, he encourages me, and he is my partner in all things. And I love him.

~Cole, who is our lawnmower in the summer, our babysitter when we go out, and our resident “know-it-all” teenager. He tries hard to be a good person, and he thinks about things a lot. He’s also a lot of fun.

~Megan, who is either spunky and full of energy and helps out around the house, or the worst grump you’ve ever encountered. We never know which one it’s going to be. But she’s growing up and entering that “fun” teenage time, and becoming more responsible. She’s making my practice my patience.

~Natalie, who even when she was little was always singing or talking. She’s fun to be around, unless she’s forced to clean her room. Then it’s best to just close the door. She likes to bake and wants to help me with our pies for Thanksgiving dinner.

~Jenna, who likes to be helpful, and likes to be nice. She leaves little notes and pictures for all of us around the house to cheer us up. She takes gifts to her teachers just because.

~John, who at 5 is finally a “big boy” and we are proud of him. He is an easy going child who loves to play pretend by himself. I lay on the couch watching him the other day and asked if I could play with him, but he said No, that it was only a game for boys and cars, and not for moms. Ok. I’m ok with that.

~My wonderful group of friends. I really have been blessed with the best friends in the world. I have this group of friends that I’ve known since my early years. We’ve been together to support and help each other for more than 30 years. We’ve celebrated together, we’ve laughed together, gossiped together, and we’ve mourned together. I don’t know why I’ve been so lucky to have them as friends, and why they have loved and stuck with me for all these years, but they have, and I’m so blessed.

~In addition to these long time friends, I have met and grown to love new friends through the years. I am so thankful to live in the neighborhood where I do. I have wonderful friends who are here for me, and help out. I made a comment to one of my friends (as we were arranging carpools and picking up each other’s kids from piano) that together, we make a great mom. I know I can call them in a pinch to help me out, to pick up a child, or loan me an egg or an onion. And they are so much fun! I really do love to hang out with them. It really does take a village to raise children, or at least a neighborhood.

~And my bell choir friends, I can’t forget them. Who would have thought four years ago that I would have a new group of people that I would grow to love so much. During the slow times, we meet once a week, and even though we are rehearsing, and sometimes it is hot and exhausting and frustrating, we love it. It’s so wonderful to get together with people you love, and learn and play beautiful music. We have been set apart as musical missionaries, and that really is our goal–to share the gospel and our love for our Savior through our music. So, even though we are having so much fun, we really try when we perform to “show our testimonies on our faces” and share our love with the people who attend. During the busy times, we are often together every night of the week, and I see these people more than I do my own family. And I love them. And I am so thankful for this calling that is such a blessing in my life.

~I’m thankful for Ryan’s job. He’s been the provider and protector of our family, and allowed me to stay home and raise the children. My job is to save money where I can, and to provide the most comfortable home for the family. I get to be the decorator, the homework monitor, the cook, the cleaning lady, and the mommy. I get to go on field trips and drive carpools. And even though I get tired of those things, I’m so glad I don’t have the added stress of having to “bring home the bacon” AND fry it up in the pan. I’m also the “entertainment budget”. I often drag my family to fun and interesting things because I won passes, and while it’s always unexpected, it is usually fun. I’m so thankful that we’re able to afford our house, take care of our bills and obligations, and that we have enough left over that we can give to others.

I could go on and on here, counting my blessings, but then I wouldn’t get anything done today. And I have a maple pecan pumpkin cheesecake to make, and have to decide on some kind of green bean dish. Maybe this one.

I hope you have a wonderful holiday, and that you don’t forget to take the time to count your blessings, too.

Our weekend in pictures

October 20, 2008 /

This weekend we took a little vacation.

After checking into our hotel, we had a little fun at the pool.

After our swim, we went out for dinner.

In the morning, we had a fabulous breakfast and it was off to the amusement park. You know how when you go to Disneyland you have to get there an hour before the gates open so you can park and get your tickets and all that? Well, at Lagoon, you don’t have to get there so early. The park was scheduled to open at 11:00, and we drove into the parking lot at about 10:25. There were about 6 other cars in the parking lot. No joke. I should have taken a better picture of our parking spot, since we were the FIRST car in the row after the handicapped spots. We bought our tickets (thankfully, we only had to buy two, since I had won one season pass and four regular one day passes) and waited in line for them to open the gates.

The it was off to ride the rides! I stayed with the little kids in the kiddie section, while Ryan took the bigger kids on the icky rides (you know, like the roller coaster, wicked, and other things that make people sick). I really do enjoy hanging out in the kiddie section, anyway. The rides are so colorful, and it’s so much fun to watch the kids–both my kids and other people’s kids.


Of course, mine are the cutest.

We even had time to “try on” some Halloween costumes. Some of us are more enthusiastic than others, you know?

While the big kids endlessly rode the Rattlesnake rapids (I rode it once, but decided I was wet and squishy enough from that one ride), We let Jenna and John try their hand at the shooting water game.
It only took two games (at $6 each for the three of us) for the two of them to win stuffed animals.

We enjoyed how the park was all decked out for Halloween.

John and I rode the train.

While Ryan took the bigger kids on more icky rides.

We enjoyed the dancing of the Hackenslash chainsaw gang,

and the musical musings of Elvira and her crowd.

Soon it was dark, and we were getting tired.

We decided to call it a night, and head home.
The kids said it was “the best day ever”, and the greatest vacation they’ve had all year. The only vacation they’ve had this year, but who’s keeping track?

On Saturday, we went and saw Wal-E, and today, Monday, they STILL have off of school, and I’ve let them play and play and play. Right now there’s about 8 little boys and two extra girls over here watching Cole play Wii. Now that’s the sign of a good day off.

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