Too Many To Count 2

divide and conquer

2012-03-04T07:12:00.001-08:00

Saturday dawned bright and early with lots of important things to do. Lucy had her Daisy scout world thinking day activity. DH and Bub took her and reported that it went well. She said she had a good time. Daisys has been a very fun activity for her and she looks so sweet in her little blue vest.

Meanwhile I spent the day with Hannah at the D.I. regional competition. It was amazingly awesome. I had no idea the scoop of the whole event. Their team rocked the house and took first place so now it's off to states!!!
The challenge Hannah's team chose was to write a movie trailer showing how different cultures come together and accept one another differences. They had to write their own script, make their own set and costumes, make their 'technical spectacular" and have an original soundtrack. And they could have no adult interference. They worked for literally 5 months and countless hours and it really came off wonderfully and wowed the audience and the judges!
I was an appraiser and got to watch the world outreach challenge which was inspiring. The kids had to organize and execute a community service project and then have a performance to showcase it. They had great ideas and really did a lot of good.

It was a super long day but really a great day too.

Hannah with her medal!

march march march

2012-03-01T17:18:00.000-08:00

Today March came in like a lamb, the sun was warm and I opened windows and breathed in deeply the beginning of spring.

I was supposed to sub today but Lucy was sick. Actually she wasn't that sick but last night she was sick, had a fever. R pumped her full of Gatorade, Tylenol and cough medicine and put her to bed early. I cancelled my job for today then this morning found her certainly under the weather but she probably could have gone to school. We actually had a very nice day together. We put together her swaps for world thinking day this Saturday. I cut out the little sombreros and stuck pins in them then she strung little colorful beads on the pins. Very cute and fun. When we finished that we made a cute shirt for her to wear to Dr Suess' birthday celebration at school tomorrow. We read our library books, headed to the library to restock and then she wanted to go to McDonalds so we had a very posh lunch in the play land there. Sometimes it's nice to have an unexpected day together.

Last night I went the Capital Ward's New Beginnings. It was pouring rain and the weather kind of matched my mood, it felt a little gloomy...well not really, but I was apprehensive. I got a new calling several weeks ago and I am trying to figure it out and I wasn't sure what to do , what to say, how to help. Anyway, it was very nice. They had some wonderful talks and my favorite part was at the end each of the YW stood up and said how they were like Jesus. Each was heartfelt and sweet. They expressed their desires to do good, to be kind, helpful and loving. They shared their love of art, good music, family and the gospel. I left uplifted, much more so than I lifted I am sure. On the way home I got to listen to conference talks from last Oct. The rain was still pouring down but then it felt like a clean shower washing away the grim of the day. I am so grateful for the gospel, for the love of the Savior, for my opportunities to serve, to grow, to learn, for the trust (largely undeserved) put in me to be a wife, mother, daughter, servant, leader, etc.

snowman

2012-02-27T17:10:00.000-08:00

Lu is getting ready to play this song in primary, it's coming right along.

I am subbing the rest of the week but today didn't have a job. I went to the dentist, spent some time at the MVA and did some DIing. The competition is this Saturday and the kids are working hard.

FHE tonight went well. Ethan made the treat, fruit pizza. Lu did the lesson and everyone enjoyed it.

kind of a long day

2012-02-25T20:43:00.001-08:00

6:45 am Beloved and I are snuggling under the covers reading facebook together. We learned that Sierra loves MMA and went to a tournament :), she's been taking a few classes and loves it and is pretty good at it too I hear. She's having a great semester, learning so much and having such a fun time. We also learned about Romanian Lovers Day and Jenna's "soul mate". Love the Internet.

7:00 time to get up

7:30 Lucy loses her first top tooth, it's been wiggly for a while so we were happy it came out!

8:10 warming up for Ethan's soccer game. They won 5-1. It was lots of fun!

9:00 Take Hannah and Chelsea to day two of the model UN. They both had a great time. Hannah represented Germany. They discussed three issues: Palestinian Statehood, nuclear proliferation and Somalia.

10:00 Blue and Gold Banquet. It was a brunch and had an Olympic theme. Well done. Ethan got several awards and it was fun to see all the boys skits and funny antics.

noon: soccer clinic. E's love. It was cold and windy but he didn't care.

1:40 Lu has her soccer game.

2:30 Daisy Scout field trip to Dr Jen's vet clinic. So interesting. The girls learned a lot and got to try on a vet coat, check out x-ray, surgery and the grooming suite and play with a bunny.

4:30 pm got the kids settled with pizza and movies and went with Pete and Katherine for some delicious dinner at Bone Fish, then on to stake conference. Loved it.

10:50 pm. Home

fun things Ive done this week

2012-02-24T06:46:00.000-08:00

went to the passport office 5 times to get the children's passports applied for spent 2 hours at jiffy lube started a new diet did some laundry assorted meetings cleaned a couple of toilets and next week I "get" to go to the dentist. I'm a lucky lucky lady

Heidi and her little brother Fritz

2012-02-22T04:00:00.000-08:00

Anna sent me some old photos last night. So fun! There were some I didn't even remember taking. I don't know why Alec and I were dressed like alpine sheep herders but whatever :) Funny bit of family trivia, we had pets with both those names, Heidi was a cat and Fritz one of our dogs.

GW bday

2012-02-20T18:29:00.000-08:00

pinterest success

Capt. Underpants does chores

RISK

No school today made for a busy day. This morning I finished a craft, we did some chores and then the fun began. Hannah had spent the night at Alyssa's and I went over to pick both girls up and take them to DI practice. Then we dropped Lu over at Maggie's to play with Mags and Izzy. And then we came home so John and Ethan C. could come over to play at our house. The boys played in the snow, then played RISK. It was funny to listen to their game. Ethan C kept rooting his guys on "Fight strong my men." The boys required some sustenance to keep up their game so I was enlisted to make chocolate chip cookies. Perfect battle food :)

FHE

By mid afternoon everyone was back and we headed out to the movies to see Star Wars Episode 1 in 3D. We had a good time, although we have seen the movie many many times it was still fun and theater popcorn is always good :)

After we put the children to bed R and I went out to deliver the last of the cookies. We had a nice visit with Amy and Mark. We need to get out and visit more. Rob and Tori used to come over when we lived in TX, just to visit, and we loved it. I miss that, guess it's time to make more of an effort.

cloud 9

2012-02-20T11:00:00.000-08:00

Tonight we skyped with Tatum and she told us the fabulously exciting news that she is going to be a big sister!!! Whoo Hooo!

snowy

2012-02-19T14:37:00.000-08:00

While we were in church today it started to snow. It's our first snow of the year and is so pretty. We had a tremendous sacrament meeting today. Every talk was awesome and the musical number was beautiful.

Jenna visited this monestary the other day. I love reading her blog and seeing all the wonderful and sometimes not wonderful adventures she is having. This picture is particualry pleasing to me. I love the lights of the little village below and little pickle's silhouette looking out into the world ready to do good works.

weekend

2012-02-19T06:07:00.000-08:00

Friday night I drove some of the Laurels (a couple boys too) to the Stake Priest/Laurel dinner dance. It was so lovely. I was lucky enough to get to stay and sat in the corner with the other wives who had a husband serving or playing in the band or whatever. The decorations were stunning. I have truly never seen such lovely flower arrangements, I wished I had my camera and not just my cell phone. The theme was an evening in Paris. The youth dressed up like it was for prom, had a delicious meal accompanied by a string quartet, then danced the night away to a live jazz band that were wonderful.

While I was doing that Hannah was at a birthday party for Alyssa and Ethan and Lu were playing at the McCombs and Rob had a work shindig.

Saturday morning, too bright and early, found us a the soccer court. First E had a game. They won 15-0 in an embarrassing victory. I don't like matches that are so uneven because I feel bad for the losers. Then we went and grabbed a quick breakfast and headed back for Lu's game where they had their first win of the season! Yeah!!

this picture is pre shopping trip

Rob went shopping for motorcycle armour and the girls and I went shopping for a new dress for miss Maggie Moo (H). Then R and I enjoyed a quick date to Red Robin...yumm :)

STEM

2012-02-17T05:19:00.000-08:00

Wednesday I subbed third grade, then for YW we played human foosball. It was busy and good.

Yesterday was a STEM family challenge night. Lu and I went and it was a lot of fun. The kids had math Olympiad questions that they were working on when we got there, they love it and we watched them figure stuff out. Then the challenge started, they had some plastic spoons, 5 paper clips, a piece of aluminum foil, a couple band aids, a couple straws, some spaghetti, cupcake wrappers, a paper cup, package labels and a piece of string and they had 30 minutes to design and construct the tallest tower possible. It was super fun to watch. There are some real alpha males in that class and they are serious about their competition.
When we first got there the teacher had a picture of some famous bridge that suffered some terrible resonance disaster (I don't know what but some of the alpha dads did :) ) on the picture was a quote Failure is an option, expect it, learn from it....or something like that. It was met by the hugest shocked "what" from the kids...fail?? You mean like when so and so got a "C???"
In other class news, Dana (one of the smartest girls) missed her first spelling word all year this week. There is general sadness at this development. They were rooting for her to have a perfect record.
It's a different class, different in the best way, at least for E. He loves it and gets to do lots of cool things with lots of great kids that think a lot like he does.

Valentines Day

2012-02-14T17:20:00.000-08:00

It was a good one. This morning as soon as the kids got on the bus Johnna and I headed up to the temple. We had fun visiting and serving together.
This morning I was cracking up at the differences between boys and girls, at least my boy and girl. So several weeks ago I bought a couple packages of valentines and brought them home for the kids. Lu immediately got her box out and started looking at them and choosing which friend would get which one. She has had her box sitting on the table ready to go for a week. She hand made extras for her daisy troop and thought of all the people who would like one.
On the other hand this morning at 7:40 Ethan said oh no! I forgot to do my valentines. Lu and I jumped to the rescue, formed an assembly line, and signed his name, tucked in a laffy taffy and threw them in the bag. No special consideration he would just randomly hand them out at school. The end :)
In other news R got a new toy...now he needs to get a license. Hope he's a happy boy.

cue music by ABBA "slipping through my fingers"

2012-02-13T17:32:00.000-08:00

Sierra and her friend Alex

From time to time it occurs to me how fast time is going. My girls are all grown up and doing great. They are happy and productive lovely women. Seriously it seems like just yesterday that they were cute little girls running around.

the Brandts

Of course I wish they were right next door to me :) but I am so proud of them and happy with the lives they are living and the experiences they are having.

J in her Romanian pants

I am glad I have three more, some more chances to do a good job, more chances to see them grow, to tuck them in, to hug them tight.
I hope I am accomplishing enough with my life. I kind of thought that when I was 40 something I would have done more. Cured some dread disease, written a life changing book, helped a small village, memorized the scriptures, ran a marathon. I better get on the ball, I've probably got a good 40 years left in me and at the end of that I want to have something to show for it. Something in addition to the greatest accomplishment of all, raising 6 lovely children. If I don't though 6 great kids would be awesome enough.

fundraiser

2012-02-11T10:05:00.000-08:00

some of our silly YW after the dinner was over

Last night was our fund raiser dinner. The decorations turned out so nice and we had dancing and olive garden yummy food. The girls did an awesome job baby-sitting and serving. We also had a dessert auction.

This morning R had to work and H baby sat our kiddos while I went the general leadership broadcast. It was really really good.

decorating

2012-02-09T18:36:00.000-08:00

The YW are having a fund raising dinner tomorrow night. Tonight we went to decorate. It looks great! Cant wait for tomorrow. Ethan was sick all day. Poor boy.

leather seats

2012-02-08T18:50:00.000-08:00

Cleaning up throw up is one of my least favorite activities. Tonight I had a new experience with it. We were driving home from cubs/young womens and he said he didn't feel well. I said, "well you can go to bed when you get home". Then I heard the tell tale "brap" and quickly rolled down the window and told him to throw up outside. Too late. Then he did scoot over and throw up out the window..and it blew back in. Great.

We got home, got him showered and cleaned up and in bed then headed out to survey the damage. Glad I have leather seats. Still gross.

Taught 5th grade again today. I really like the big kids, they are fun to talk to. Unfortunately their math stumps me every time. Today I "taught" how to measure cubic volume. I love teaching writing and literature to them and discussing stories. I was supposed to go back tomorrow, now I'll be home with bub. Maybe playing RISK.

today

2012-02-07T18:27:00.000-08:00

This morning Ethan gathered a milk bottle, some stuffing and duck tape to take to school with him. This weeks project is designing a crash helmet and testing it. Yesterday John and Ethan were telling each other their respective team's "secret" plans and wondering which team would win. Today they started assembly of the helmet. Tomorrow is the test day. John's team is focusing on slowing the speed at impact, while E's is thinking more about buffering the subject. We will see who wins.

Lu had her piano lesson, she loves lessons.

I subbed in 5th grade, which is always fun, until it comes time for math and I always can't do it.

Han had DI practice. They are spending hours and hours and hours and she is really enjoying it. Can't wait to see the final production.

every day stuff

2012-02-06T17:47:00.000-08:00

spent the day driving to Annapolis with a friend, we had a great chat, stopped at the new sonic (yea!) and I wandered the mall while she was at an appointment. I remember why I don't spend a lot of time recreationally shopping, I wanted everything :)

Hannah started swim team today. She'll be going 3 days a week and she is excited.

Tomorrow is the 100th day of school, Lu has to bring in 100 somethings in a paper bag. She chose to bring 100 glow sticks.

We had to buy Brother some new shoes and jeans. He somehow manages to rip holes in both every other month...or faster. What is he doing?

ski school

2012-02-04T20:22:00.000-08:00

The kids loved skiing. After 8 hours of school they both wanted to hit the slopes. Unfortunately Lu couldn't quite keep up and after some time on the belly flop R and E were ready to try the mountain so she had to come home with me. There was a kicking and screaming temper tantrum getting her off the hill but when we got in the car she settled down and had a pleasant drive home.

I am glad they had fun. Both children want to go back, tomorrow :)

Wisp Fun

2012-02-04T20:15:00.000-08:00

This weekend we had a fun wintery trip planned. It wasn't really a YW activity but we did take all the young women who wanted to go. We left after school and drove to our hotel. We stayed at a really nice comfort inn. Everyone had a good time. Sharon brought games for us to play and then we had a devotional. In the morning there was a nice breakfast and the girls really enjoyed hanging out in their rooms and watching TV, dancing and talking until late in the night. Just what I wanted for them.

Lu and Lydia

in the hotel room

Victoria, Anna, Cristianna, Katie, Han, Katelyn and Ashleigh

Rob left with Lu and Ethan early in the morning. We had signed them up for ski school and they needed to be there much earlier than the rest of us.

When we arrived we split into groups. The Bishop took his 3 girls and Susanna (we never got the Reeds in any of our photos :( ) and they hit the slopes.

R and Calvin also went out.

Sharon and I took the rest of the girls to the tubing hill, to ice skate and to ride the mountain coaster. All three activities were very very fun.

We had such a fun two days. Those girls cracked me up the whole time. I know the girls had a great time too, in fact while we were driving to the resort this morning they said they had already had such a good time traveling together and staying at the hotel that the trip was completely satisfactory right then and the snow stuff was just icing.

Our drive home was fine as well. It took a little longer due to some bad traffic, a couple of accidents and slushy roads but we made it so yea!

baking

2012-02-02T06:30:00.000-08:00

I spent most of the last two days getting ready for new beginnings. It was last night and I felt like it went well. Our theme this year is "Arise and Shine Forth that thy light may be a standard for the nations". We got the incoming beehives pillow cases with that embroidered on it so every morning when they arise they can remember to shine forth :) I also wanted to make these cute cupcakes in a jar...which I did spend many hours trying to make. Mine didn't turn out like this at all. I hate pinterest. Well anyway they were all eaten and luckily Rachel and Sharon made lovely lemon bars so there was something pretty to eat too. The girls sang a beautiful musical number and we had some talks and I think the girls had a nice evening.

In better pinterest news I also made these delicious waffles and served them with ice cream for dessert on Sunday night and they were yummy!

We've had the usual daisy scouts, cub scouts, piano practicing, D.I. and laundry to do and the most lovely weather.

FHE & a new baby (but not mine)

2012-01-30T17:58:00.000-08:00

We got to spend the last two days with these two cutie patooties! Frankie and Addie are new big sisters and we are so excited for them and their awesome parents. We had a fun day playing and eating mac and cheese and drawing pictures. Yesterday Lu was very disappointed that they didn't get to spend the night, luckily they came back today so we could play again. (Millie was hoping for someone to drop a tasty morsel on the floor, she had a lot of luck today : ) )

E was in charge of FHE tonight. He started out by making the treats. He made brownies and even added in a couple of spoonfuls of peanut butter and swirled it around.

Then he told us it was very important to take care of our bodies and planned a fun family kinect game in the basement. It was lots of fun.

...and here's a photo of the bowling winner :)

Hannah

2012-01-28T19:22:00.000-08:00

Hannah had a busy day today. First she spent from 9-2 at Alyssa's house working on their ~~giant evil dust bunny~~ top secret project for D.I. Then she spent from 2-6 at Chelsea's making dinner for our two families. Busy happy day.

The rest of us were busy too, with soccer, cleaning, driving Hannah from place to place :), R worked, we went on a family walk/bike ride. Love Saturday.

Lucy

2012-01-27T15:53:00.000-08:00

playing math games

every day after school

what do people talk about?

2012-01-26T08:25:00.000-08:00

I often will see people chatting away and I wonder what they are talking about. Especially husbands and wives. Not that R and I really run out of things to talk about, luckily he's very chatty, but I am just curious.

We talk about

politics
our kids
logistics (who is going to pick up which kid when and where, what time will he be home, who is paying what bill, how many games do we have to attend on Saturday)
where we'd like to go, or what we'd like to do (whether we actually go or do is separate)
other people we know (who is getting married (our kids friends), who had a heart attack (our friends), who died (our parents friends))
what I want to paint
exercise R wants us to do
miscellaneous

in that order

catching up

2012-01-26T04:02:00.000-08:00

I wrote the other day, and it somehow got lost in cyber space. Most annoying. So now just a bullet form up date.

Saturday soccer game, E scored 3 goals!
YW camp pants making activity, also on Saturday, we made 11 pairs of lime green pants...a few more to go :)
D.I. instant challenge plus a few D.I. practices have kept H busy.
Subbed a few days.
Took a trip Waldorf where Lu spent her Books a Million money and H spent some Forever 21 money and we all enjoyed ourselves.
Daisy scout meeting, red petal earned.
Cub scout meeting
recital pieces chosen for spring recital at piano lessons this week.
some laundry done.
checking on J's Romania blog each day, so glad she keeps it :)
Fear Factor for YW. H ate pigs feet, cow tongue, and anaconda meat. I did not try the feet. Kids had a good time.
R likes his job again.
weather has been mild

birthday fun

2012-01-21T12:39:00.000-08:00

Friday was Lu's actual birthday. Now she is 7. She is getting very grown up. Even though we had a party for her a couple of weeks ago we wanted to still celebrate today. For lunch she requested that I bring her a happy meal at school, so I did. I also brought mini cupcakes for her class, which they loved. She enjoyed passing them out to everyone. In the evening she chose a restaurant and we all went out to eat. She chose "olive garden" which is always yummy! The last fun thing we did was go to Target. Lu had two gift cards and really enjoyed walking around and choosing things she wanted. She ended up buying some winter gloves, a bathing suit, a cute outfit, a country critters frog family and school play set and a polly pocket splash toy. Pretty lucky ducky! She said she had a great day.

Picture of Lu when she was 2. So cute!

7 Things about Lucy

1. She loves to read and is a wonderful reader.

2. She loves soccer and swimming and biking.

3. She loves taking piano lessons and practices all the time.

4. She is sweet and silly and a little sassy.

5. Her favorite TV show is Sponge Bob.

6. She has a herd of stuffed elephants and loves elephants.

7. She likes to help in the kitchen.

dream room

2012-01-19T06:42:00.000-08:00

I totally love love love this room and want it. Except for the oars above the window, which I don't mind but don't love. I have no style. If I had bank this would be mine though....honey??

Got to skype with J this morning, it was frustrating and reminded me of skyping mom and dad in Belgium. Calls dropped all the time. Annoying. But she looked great and was excited and I was glad for a few minutes to chat. Maybe next time will be better. She was on her way out the door anyway to buy bleach to soak her produce in, which reminded me of reading Grandma Peg's letters to Uncle Brian (which I loved and would love a copy of) when she was in Turkey and he in the states at college. She wrote about doing the same thing.

I am home today, alone. This is the first time in over a month that I have been home alone. I do love that. I really love having everyone here...but I am one who enjoys a bit of solitude from time to time. I am cleaning and laundrying and working on New Beginnings and just happily putzing around.

Other things I love:
my green new york mug, makes me happy
my kindle, love it!
minty toothpaste!
warm weather (or the memory of :) )
good friends
hugs
engaged kids
a heated mattress pad
and to finish off the list for today DQ, where I have not been in forever until I took Dani to the airport and we stopped at one and I remembered how yummy their ice cream is.

Back to singing my happy little working song, sans the roaches

pinewood derby

2012-01-18T18:11:00.000-08:00

Ohh, it's been a crazy few days. We've had so much going and so many projects. R and E have been working on his pinewood derby car, they cut and sanded and soldered. We painted it black with white stars and had high hopes that this year the car would be fast.

We also had Lu's trash sculpture to build, which we did.

Anyway we had a poor start finishing last in a number of heats, which led to great discouragement on the part of our boy.

Then they raced all the cars backwards and his did great. Oddly enough. Then he was happy. (we need to work on losing with dignity)

It was a fun night.

Jenna's blog

2012-01-18T08:09:00.001-08:00

jennaandromania.blogspot.com For all you who want to read about her adventures!

field trip

2012-01-17T15:34:00.000-08:00

January beach fun with my boy

Today was Ethan's field trip to Elm's Beach, take 2. We woke up and it was raining, plus in January it's not all that warm anyway. Brrr!

looking for fossils

As always we had a good time at Elm's. We learned about latitude and longitude, fossils, hunted fossils, played some awesome games and went geo cacheing.

Having lunch with the boys was a lot of fun too. I learned so much, like if you put pop rocks in the toilet it will make a loud sound, and playing infection is better than regular freeze tag.

lunch break

she's off

2012-01-16T18:00:00.000-08:00

We spent the weekend in a flurry of getting ready, squeezed between derby car making, scrub monogramming, laundry doing, church meetings, and what not. We copied documents, read security reports, printed out emergency numbers and decided between bringing black boots and brown boots.

Finally everything was ready and J was out the door. Lu and I drove her to the airport. On the way we stopped for one last lunch at Salsas. Yummy!

After we got her on the plane I got to enjoy a two hour drive home with this cheerful camper asking over and over again "why does she have to go?", "why can't they (her big sisters) live here and use your money?", "why?, why?, why?"

trash sculptures, derby cars, sets and costumes

2012-01-14T18:41:00.000-08:00

Subbing Lu's class went well. She was perfect and cooperative. The class was cute, rambunctious. It was fun to see her with her friends and in her element.

After school Jen and I went to Waldorf. We needed to get a few things for her trip. I was actually going to take Han also, she needs some new jeans. On Thursday I asked her to clean her room. She did not. On Friday morning I told her if she was done at 4pm when I got home she could go to the mall. She did not. She was very surprised when I left her home with R and the little kids. Hopefully next time she will do her job. I hated to leave her. We have a problem with her doing what I ask chore wise and I hate to have her miss out on fun things, but she has to obey and so I left her and hope she will do much better.

On the bright side Jenna and I got to spend a lovely evening together. We had so much fun. First she treated me to cold stone! yumm! Then we went to TJMaxx and found two super cute dresses for her to take to Romania, and then we went to Hancock fabric and bought some fabric for a project R is building for me. We walked in and immediately spotted the cutest fabric, at the same time we loved it. Lastly we went to Red Lobster and enjoyed a nice dinner and a great talk. It is so nice to have grown daughters and to spend time with them. She is doing so well and I am really proud of the young woman she is. It was a precious evening.

Today was a busy day. E had a soccer game at 7:30 am. They lost, 8 to 0. They played the wolf pack, which we knew would be a their hardest game although we were hoping for a goal or two. I don't know why but those boys are really awesome. Individually they are not any better than our little guys but for some reason as a team they really are great. I don't know if it's the cool name, the stickers they have slapped on the back of their minivans/suburbans or the wolf pack flag they post where ever they go but they are tough.
Then we worked on my project, E had 4 friends over to play soccer and eat food :), we went to Lu's game, then divided and R, H and E went to the Zawadas so Han and Emily could build their D.I. set and I took Lu to a birthday party and went to Wal-mart. We made a good dent in our to do list, although still left on the agenda for the weekend is: E's pinewood derby car, H's D.I. costume, Lu's homework sculpture to be made out of recycled items (trash), and to put "Y"s on J's scrubs for the orphanage. We did have time for a fun date with Pete and Katherine and J went back to the mall with Alexis for the last things she needs. I can't believe she is leaving across the world on Monday.

polar and grizzly and pooh, oh my

2012-01-12T18:40:00.000-08:00

It was cold today. It was raining in the morning and I subbed for kindergarten today so that meant I had indoor recess to look forward to. Then the sun broke out and we had lovely time outside. Yeah for outside recess!!

In kindergarten this week the children are learning about the Arctic. Which gave me a brilliant idea: in the hall we played penguin and polar bear. They were the flock of penguins quietly walking down the hall so that the big bad polar bear (me) would not see them and then do what polar bears do when they see penguins. It was great. They were so quiet! Yeah for quiet kids in the hall.

Right now I am laying in bed with my lap top, and NCIS on the TV, and my hubby next to me on his ipad, and a small boy laying between us and the boy said "google grizzly bear sleeping bag images and you will see Dani and Tatum". What? So I did and guess what, there they were. Funny. Also while there I saw a very funny picture of a human arm sticking out of the mouth of a grizzly bear sleeping bag, which I didn't even know existed until tonight and now I wonder why we don't have one.

So tomorrow I am subbing Lu's class. She is thrilled and can not wait, like it's Christmas morning or something. I am a little concerned. She is not big on "quickly I obey" lately and I hope it's not a disaster, and I hope it doesn't rain.

Tonight we skyped with little Pooh bear and her momma. Santa brought her an egg in her stocking which she hatched today and guess what was in it...a penguin. How's that for a coincidence?

they left

2012-01-11T18:29:00.000-08:00

fun new puzzle

Dani and Tatum

Oh what a good time we had with these two girls. I am so happy they could stay awhile so we could mix in some days of doing nothing special, which was special anyway, with some days of doing fun things. We went to Salsas for lunch one day. We had a fun FHE. We played and read books and sang the songs from Beauty and the Beast.

Dani cut hair and we visited. I am really really grateful that even though we live all the way on the east coast so very far away from everyone we still have lots of opportunities to see our family. This last year we saw all my brothers and sisters, all the girls, Tate a few times, my parents, R's parents, and UB. Family is really the most important thing.

So today I took D and T to the airport. We stopped at the AG store at the Tyson's Corner Crossing mall on the way. The mall was fabulous, I don't know why I have never been there before. Unfortunately the girls missed their flight, by 2 minutes, fortunately they were able to get on the next one.

So our visit is done.

everyone loves girl scout cookies

2012-01-08T17:37:00.000-08:00

Lu reached her girl scout cookie selling goal this weekend. She wanted to sell 1000 to get an e-reader, but we set a more reasonable goal of 115 so she could win the stuffed giraffe. They were super easy to sell. Everyone loves cookies and anyone we asked bought a couple of boxes, or more.

This weekend was busy. We had soccer games, a primary activity, a stake dance that I chaperoned, and today was ward conference.

Conference was wonderful. I especially enjoyed our ward council because the Stake President gave us some great council and I learned a lot. We had a linger longer after with tons of delicious food & great company.

Lucy celebrates turning 7

2012-01-07T21:02:00.000-08:00

This month is Lu's birthday month, her actual birthday isn't for a couple of weeks but she wanted to celebrate while Dani and Tatum and Jenna were still here. She wanted to have Sierra here too but it didn't work out. She wanted to go to Chuck E Cheese. A couple of years ago Andrea and Yoho took her there and she loved it and has wanted to go back ever since. We've been watching Veggie Tales "wonderful wizard of Ha's" so Tate was excited to go to the "land of ha's" the most fun place on earth :)

We had a fun fun time. We ate expensive pizza and soda and salad bar.

The kids played lots of games and won fabulous cheap plastic prizes.

We ate some cute monkey cupcakes with purple frosting.

And Lu was very happy with her presents and her party.

soccer

2012-01-07T12:59:00.000-08:00

This morning bright and early we convened with all the other soccer families for a friendly game, ...right. The boys all filed in, like little warriors, each decked out in their uniform and wearing on top of that emblems of their passion, whether it was a Barcelona jacket, a hoodie with DC United's logo or Beckham's number on a shirt. They gathered at the net and watched the game before theirs with the intense interest of those knowing it was their turn to next battle. Finally the whistle blew and the moment they've been waiting for all these long weeks since the fall season ended was here: game time! Our little "Freedom Fighters" were playing a team that was both older and bigger than they were, but they had not a doubt that they would dominate. And dominate they did. It was a fast paced, exciting game ending in a devastating 9-0 loss for the opposition. E scored 2 goals himself, which pleased him very much. Our boy loves soccer.

Fast forward a couple of hours and we were back at the same court, this time for Lu's first soccer game ever. She met her team, got her jersey and was ready to play. The game was cute as can be as little kindergartners and 1st graders ran after the ball. They kicked, they swerved, they touched the ball with their hands, they fell down, and the ball sometimes got near the net. She had fun and after we went out to Big Larry's for some celebratory ice cream :)

going home

2012-01-06T13:18:00.000-08:00

Greg left this morning, Sierra left yesterday. It's very sad. It's been so fun having everyone here. We took this picture on NYE when we went out to eat after our temple morning. It's a little blurry but I still really like it.

Lucy is a writer

2012-01-06T07:24:00.000-08:00

This week for homework Lu had to write about her best friend, and draw a picture. She thought about it a lot and just couldn't pick one of her real live girl friends so she decided to write about Notdog, her very first elephant..which lead to writing about her whole herd and how much fun she has with them. Instead of drawing a picture we took one of her with the herd and she was proud of her good work. She writes very neatly with lovely penmanship, she also writes with a lot of detail and interesting thoughts. Every week her writing gets a "VG" which stands for very good, she loves to write.

our week

2012-01-06T04:23:00.000-08:00

lots of baking

bathing

tower making

tea party, barbie playing

New Year

2012-01-02T17:16:00.000-08:00

New Years Day we went to church and the propane tank was empty so it was chilly. The Bishopric decided to only have Sacrament meeting and we got out early. After we went to the Martines' for dinner to celebrate little Alexis' blessing day. It was yum-my! We spent a last nice evening with all the family here.

This morning we got up early and I took Greg, Dani, Sierra and Jenna to DC so they could catch the bus to NYC. They were excited (me too cuz I get to keep Tinkerbelle for a couple of days!!) Dad stayed home to get the kiddos off to school, vacation went by too fast.

When Tate and I came home DH and I de-Santafied the house. I am always happy to put up the Christmas decor, and equally happy to take it down. The house always looks like a clean slate after we take everything down. Our house really turned into a tornado since Christmas so even though we cleaned a lot we only got one floor done. I guess Tate and I will do the other two tomorrow.

Then we went shopping. Got some warm gloves for J to take to Romania (where I am afraid she will freeze) and some running pants for R, who is now a runner and a Tinkerbell outfit for little miss who picked it herself and walked up to R and said, and I quote, "Grandpa, do you want to buy this for me?". He said yes.

Then we went to Panera.

Tonight we had a nice FHE. We sang lots of songs, played bingo and wrote letters. Now princess pony and little Lu are snoozing and we are watching NCIS with the "big kids".

Sierra and Greg won't be coming back. They will go from NYC back to Utah. Si is excited to go back and looking forward to school and seeing her friends. I am glad, and sad to see her go.

NYE (6 year old style)

2011-12-31T19:22:00.000-08:00

Today was a great last day of the year. Jenna watched the kids and the Brandts, R and I went to the temple. It was wonderful to be there with the people I love most, in the place I love most. It's so peaceful and calm and I loved sitting next to my girl and then quietly visiting after.

When we were done we went to Bobby's Burger Palace for some delicious burgers and shakes. Then we came home to celebrate:

We dressed up, made treats, decorated, rented movies, blew our horns and made merry. ...at 10pm. cuz our babies needed to go to bed and the new year is as much a state of mind as it is a minute on the clock.

movie,lunch,cookies

2011-12-30T16:53:00.000-08:00

Another fun fun day. We went to the movies this morning, R and E went to see War Horse, the rest of us saw We Bought A Zoo. It was really cute. Then we went to Asahi for lunch. Fun and delicious.

Later on R took Greg for a Lockheed tour and the girls and I made cookies. Tatum is a good baker :)

so much fun at the zoo (and I'm not talking about our home)

2011-12-29T18:49:00.000-08:00

Today was zoo day! Love the zoo! We rode the metro down (always part of the fun), then did the hike to the zoo. It was a bit chilly but really for December it was nice. We could bundle up and it was okay and although not all the animals were out we got to see plenty and the ones that were out seemed lively and happy.

We got to watch the giant panda lumber around. He had a great time and was so fun to watch. Tate liked him and so of course Mimi and Grandpa got her a stuffed one to take home with her.

We enjoyed the lion, who put on a show roaring, the elephants that were literally jogging in their enclosure and playing with their toys and the always favorite tamarinds and elephant nose shrews.

R took a nap in the think tank while the rest of us watched the orangutans get fed and Bub almost lost his lunch in the ape house, because he thinks it stinks!

Lu bought a new member for her herd, a cute little brown elephant she named "zookeeper".

And we played on the playground.

When we got home we went to Salsas and ate the most delicious dinner.

Bowling

2011-12-28T18:41:00.000-08:00

Today we went bowling. It was so much fun. We were there for three hours, we are all really bad so only played two games in that time but it wasn't packed and so it worked out great. Our first game was played in the traditional fashion. Our second game we played charade bowling, which the kids loved!

R won both games. Lu won the charades part of the game.

Tate liked bowling but spent as much time dancing to the music and running around as anything else. After we went to Ledo's for dinner. The food is good and our server was awesome (Sierra) but still every time I go there something is annoying.

Oh well it was a good day!

Mount Vernon

2011-12-27T18:02:00.000-08:00

Tatum and Mimi and Mommy

So happy to have them here!!!

We went to Mt Vernon today and had a great time. It was raining the whole day but besides being a little wet and chilly we had fun. We got to go to the 3rd floor again, see Aladdin the adorable camel, tasted some chocolate, ate at the cute little inn and just enjoyed being together.

Sierra and Jenna. Cute sisters.

playing dress up in the children's discovery room and a little romance with Martha and George ;}

They are here!!!

2011-12-26T17:10:00.000-08:00

Happy 21st Birthday!!!

2011-12-25T17:49:00.000-08:00

Happy Happy Birthday!! Today Si is 21, now she can buy spray paint and rent cars! Whoo hoo!!

21 Things about Sierra

She is smart
She's got a great brain for math and logic
She is even tempered
She is kind
She is beautiful inside and out
She loves art
and is a wonderful artist
She plays the piano (but doesn't tell anyone so shhh)
She is good at assembling things
She is a good cook
She is funny
She is a great friend
She is unpretentious
She is a hard worker
and great at saving money
She is dependable
and helpful
She has a great smile
She is the athletic
and coordinated
and I love her very much, I am so proud of the woman she has grown up to be.

Merry Christmas!!

2011-12-25T17:37:00.000-08:00

We had a great Christmas day. Lu has really been looking forward to it and woke up many times last night asking if it was morning yet. We had planned to open stockings then go to church and then when we got home to open the gifts under the tree. However the kids couldn't wait and we ended up opening some in the morning before church and the rest after.

It was really nice to go to church on Christmas day. We had a wonderful program, I especially enjoyed the musical numbers and seeing all our friends and sitting with my family.

When we got home we got back into jammies and spent the rest of the day enjoying each other's company, opening and playing with gifts and eating yummy food!

My three monkeys

This is my favorite present that Lu got, isn't this the cutest little kitchen!

Christmas Eve

2011-12-24T20:48:00.000-08:00

We had a good day. R and E,H went back to help paint some more. They all really enjoyed helping and were glad they got to go again. S worked and then she and J went to the mall. Lu and I did some errands. My kitchen torch is dead so I have been searching for a new one all week and would you believe I could not find one anywhere? Crazy. I am making creme brule tomorrow but now I don't know how I will carmalize the top :(
We did a lot of cooking, Lu.
We had the missionaries over for dinner.

Lu helped Daddy open the cider.

After the Elders left we opend our Christmas Eve presents...new pajamas! surprise! Then read scriptures and had prayers and put Lu to bed.

I went back into the kitchen to do some cooking from tomorrow , and Lu joined me, so R put her to bed. Then she joined me while I was cleaning up...and I put her to bed. Then she came down again and got put back to bed and finally she fell asleep.

While I was writing my talk for tomorrow (at 10pm- yes the talk I have known about for 2 months) she came in my room to ask if it was morning yet. Not yet.

Now it's midnight and Bub just came in to check....still not morning.

Paint party

2011-12-23T13:13:00.000-08:00

We had a very fun day helping our friends prepare to move! Thanks for sharing your day with us :)
Tonight R and I are going to an adult party! Whoo Hoo! Should be fun.

Crazy dayz

2011-12-22T19:34:00.000-08:00

Counting down to Christmas is making everyone a little crazy. Sierra has been working like crazy. Jenna went ice skating, the kids played with friends, we worked on some cub stuff and watched a special on crazy trees around the US, including one made of lobster traps and one that held a 300 person choir. Hannah loves hair and is always trying something creative. Tonight she's giving "sock rollers" a try. Crazy girl!

third times a charm

2011-12-21T19:18:00.000-08:00

Introducing Gloria Eloise, the good enough mermaid. She's not perfect but she's cute. Hopefully Tate will love her.

Hark the Hearld Angels Sing

2011-12-21T17:51:00.000-08:00

Ethan and Lu singing with friends

Some of the gang in the hallway

Robert, Alexis and Jenna

Bethany, Katelyn, Madeleine, Chelsea, Melanie and Han

refreshment bar

Tonight the YW/YM, scouts and activity day girls all went Christmas caroling together at the nursing home. We had a huge group and it was a little crazy but I think the residents enjoyed it. After we split into three groups for refreshments. The youth came to our house. It was a fun Christmasy night!

6 going on 16

2011-12-20T11:14:00.000-08:00

The kids have been playing. Yesterday Ethan played with Webb and Grant in the morning and Matthew in the afternoon. In the morning they rode bikes and played soccer. In the afternoon they played soccer, then wii soccer, then at the playground, then some more soccer, then watched youtube video's of..soccer. Lu played with Julia and built a fort with all our bedding in the linen closet. Jenna played with Brian and Sierra went to work. Hannah tortured people and watched TV.

Today we had family cleaning hour. I let everyone choose their jobs. Lu wanted to clean the toilets, she is newly proficient at it and thinks it is very fun to "clean with poison". She also did sinks. Ethan emptied all the trash cans and wiped the kitchen cabinets and cleaned his room. Jenna fixed the linen closet and Sierra washed the windows, Hannah vacuumed the house and I cleaned the kitchen including the fridge. It was so fun for me to work along side cheerfully working children.

Then Lu invited Mags over. Ethan played with Webb and Grant and later he had Eric over, Hannah invited Chelsea. Jen had Bri and Sierra went to work.

Sierra and Jenna also went to the dentist and had no cavities and oddly they each have one wisdom tooth (only) on the lower left of their mouth that they need to have removed.

Brian and Jenna making peppermint pinwheel cookies for me to take visiting teaching tonight

Chelsea and Hannah wrapping gifts

It's great to have minions!

monday morning cookie party

2011-12-19T09:50:00.000-08:00

Daisy Scout cookie exchange

say cheese!

Lu and Delaney and Kyla

yummy cookies

anticipating

home

2011-12-19T06:07:00.000-08:00

I am so enjoying having Sierra and Jenna home. It's been a delight to hear their stories, to laugh with them, to have their help in the kitchen, to hug them.

I've missed J's piano playing. She forgot all her music in Utah so has only played things from memory and we had to sneak up on her to record this so this is by no means a perfect performance but I wanted to remember it anyway :)

body builder mermaid

2011-12-18T18:59:00.000-08:00

fins too small
shoulders too big
neck too skinny
bad hair day
button eyes or thread eyes??

maybe I need to buy a pattern...or maybe I'll try again tomorrow. She's getting better. This one is named Fanny the finless.

Don't worry Tate I still have 7 days.

last believer

2011-12-18T15:08:00.000-08:00

My baby is getting big, almost 7. It's exciting and sad at the same time. In our house we only have on kid left who believes in Santa and she's a little iffy about it. Today Santa rode into our neighborhood on a firetruck and little kids flooded from their homes and ran to the clubhouse to see him. There was a lot of fun and excitement in the air.

Lu waited her turn patiently and then told him she would like a real elephant...and a Barbie.

E refused to see him and after a short time went home...I didn't know the last time he talked to Santa was going to be the last time but here it is, another step away from childhood.

After all the kids got to sit on his lap and talk to him his sleigh pulled up and they got to take rides through the neighborhood.

Merry Christmas!!

the trouble with pinterest

2011-12-17T13:45:00.000-08:00

Here is the trouble with pinterest. I look at it and see all these crafty, creative, cute ideas for projects, home decor, baking, sewing, you name it....and I think I can do it. Based on what I am not sure.
So, I decided it would be so fun to make Tatum a little mermaid softy doll. And it would be "easy and inexpensive".
May I present attempt number 1: Bethany the "a shark bit off one of my arms and then I went to clown school" mermaid. I do not know what is up with her lips or what happened to her other arm, when I was cutting it out she had two. I feel like she has hope and I still have 8 days to come up with a decent mermaid but it will not be easy (or inexpensive)

R on the other hand wanted to surprise us with a treat and so he went to the bakery and bought a beautiful cake.

Perfect product.

Hmmm??

Happy 19th Birthday Jenna!!

2011-12-14T13:39:00.000-08:00

Nineteen things about Jenna

Jenna is a mermaid, she is fast and graceful in the water. I love to watch her swim.
She is an artist and draws well.
Jenna is a fashionista and knows how to put together cute outfits.
She is bubbly and fun.
She is a linguist, and has studied many languages...actually I am not sure that she speaks any of them but she likes to study them :)
She is a hard worker.
She is always happy.
She cares about people and treats them well.
She makes everything more fun.
She loves the outdoors and loves adventure.
She is smart.
She is funny and makes me laugh.
She is thoughtful.
She is always up for an adventure.
She likes to read.
She burns everything she cooks (or at least she did 6 months ago)
She is a musician and has the gift of music in her heart.
She is a true friend.
Jenna isn't afraid to try new things.

I am delighted she is my daughter and could not be more proud of her, she is who I want to be when I grow up :) Happy Birthday Jenna!!!

getting closer

2011-12-14T09:46:00.000-08:00

Christmas is almost upon us! We are almost ready.

I have the gifts wrapped and under the tree
boxes shipped to where they need to go
turduken ordered for Christmas dinner
cards bought...but not sent
menu in mind

I have not:
written my talk for Christmas morning
taken care of snokards (what E called stockings when he was 2)
or done anything about our charlie brown outside lights

Ho Ho Ho!!

duet

2011-12-12T18:45:00.000-08:00

The girls had their Christmas piano recital tonight. They ran through their song before hand. They each had two solo pieces and then they had their duet.

The evening went really well. They played well and it was a nice evening.

Fireside

2011-12-12T14:36:00.000-08:00

Last night we had a special fireside at our house. A lot of the girls were able to make it and we had a wonderful time visiting and discussing matters of eternal importance and then eating yummy treat. I made wassail, Sharon and Rachel both brought treats and I begged Laura to make these cute Christmas mice.

I love our young women, they are such valiant, lovely, good girls and are really striving to do what is right. It is a huge blessing in my life to be able to work with them.

Christmas Tree

2011-12-10T19:34:00.000-08:00

When we got home the plan was to go get a Christmas tree. Well we got home a little later than anticipated and made it over to the lot after it closed. This was a huge bummer and we were all disappointed. We drove around a bit looking for the tell tale bonfire warmly beckoning customers to peruse their lots and chose a tree. We lucked out and finally found one shortly before it closed and chose a beautiful tree.

We brought it home and decorated it then tucked the children into bed later than we wanted but they were happy and had a great day.

Mount Vernon

2011-12-10T19:27:00.000-08:00

Mount Vernon Christmas

Gingerbread Mount Vernon

chocolate demonstration

Tom the pardoned turkey

We went to Mount Vernon today. I love going there and have wanted to visit at Christmas time since we moved here. Surprisingly it's difficult to find a free Saturday but we did it today! Yeah. It was a really good family day. We started out the morning by going to tithing settlement. We got to visit with many friends while we waited our turn, then had a good visit with the Bishop.

As soon as we were done we headed off to Mt Vernon. I thought it would be super cold out but really it was quite nice, cold but nice and sunny. When we were there last month with Anna we saw a fleet of gingerbread bakers working on a replica of the mansion and grounds. Today we got to see the finished product and it was just beautiful and amazing. We stood there for a long time taking in all the details and really marvelling at the skilled craftsmanship. Now I am ready to make a gingerbread house of our own :)

When GW was living there he enjoyed exotic animals and once paid quite a sum ($1.25) to bring a camel on the grounds for his guests and grandchildren to enjoy. Every December there is a Christmas camel on the farm and he was a delight. Friendly and sweet, he gave kisses and charmed the visitors. We so enjoyed meeting him.

There was also a wonderful chocolate demonstration, the presidentially pardoned turkey, all the regular animals, the winter garden and a real high light, the 3rd floor was open for touring and the whole place was decorated for Christmas.

We had a really fun time. Ethan liked rolling down the lawn- over and over again. Lu liked it all. H didn't say but was happy and cheerful all day so I think she liked it all too. My favorite was Aladdin and the gingerbread house and Mr. liked the mansion tour.

our kids rolling on the lawn

Aladdin the Christmas camel

2011-12-09T06:52:00.000-08:00

Millie and I dropped Lu off at the bus stop and went for a little wander around the neighborhood. It was so lovely out. The air was cool and the ground was covered with frost. We meandered past lovely Christmasy houses, I like all the wreaths and decor. I also love the lamp posts in our neighborhood, they are so cute. While we were walking I was thinking about the things I need to do today and really feeling grateful for a lovely home to clean and make welcoming for a precious family. I am doing some holiday shopping and planning some food for festivities coming up too. Joyful, blessed life.

Wednesday we had our YW Christmas party. The Lyons' opened their home to us and we had a nice time eating, exchanging gifts, watching the Grinch and visiting.
Last night I went to the RS Christmas dinner. It was also very nice. I loved sitting and visiting with the sisters at my table, we had yummy soups for dinner and had a beautiful program.

Yesterday I also got to talk to all three big girls on the phone. That is kind of rare, I usually talk to one or the other of them but rarely all 3. Dani called to tell me she bought tickets for herself and for Tate to come visit!! Yeah!!! SO EXCITED! Now they just need to get Greg's ticket, I really hope he can come too. He is my favorite son in law after all :) Jenna called twice, she is taking finals and we love to talk while she's walking to classes. She is sad her Romanian class is over, but glad for the rest and has so far done well on her tests and all her classes except American Heritage which she hates and is required to take. Hopefully she'll do well enough. Sierra called and was excited because Mark & Bea sent her Christmas money and she was going to buy some new pots and pans that don't wobble and she told me she got to see John Bytheway speak at institute. Which is really fun. She and J both date a lot, hang out a lot, and are having a lot of fun. She is registered for next semester and is very excited about her upcoming classes. This momma could not be happier.

And I really want to say, for the record, that Mark has been the best ex husband I could ever have hoped for. I have a lot of friends who are divorced and it is often a total and complete nightmare. We have a very amiable divorce. He has always paid his child support, he always remembers birthdays and Christmas and has visited the girls when he could and whenever I have called him for help he has always come through, for which I am eternally and extremely grateful. Bea is likewise a loving fun step mom and although we don't see each other often we get along well and I have been happy for her to be in the girls lives and grateful for her loving supportive relationship with them. Although divorce is a sad, tragic ~~event~~ ~~decision~~ ~~choice consequence~~ I don't really know what is the right word to put here, and I wish no one ever did it I am glad that ours is a peaceful one. What a weird thing to write about in a Christmas post?, I am in a counting my blessings mood I guess and really just recognize how blessed I am with the people in my life.

Well, I have many things to do today and the good health and energy to do them so I'm off.

sand

2011-12-06T11:32:00.000-08:00

Saturday morning, early, while I was baking a breakfast casserole before going with Hannah to the shelter to serve breakfast I had some quiet moments to myself. The house was mostly dark and everyone was asleep (not surprising since it was 4:45am). I was on the computer waiting on the baking to be done and was browsing when I found something amazing. Sand. Magnified 250 x +. Look at it!!

Have you ever wondered how God could know all His children, how does he know your name and what you are doing. I have wondered. Oh, I have faith that He does, but I don't know how. Then to top it off there are those verses in the scriptures about how God's children are more numerous that the sands in the sea or the stars in the heavens...that is a lot, and frankly looking at the sand didn't comfort me much, it is all the same as far as you could see. But that quiet morning looking at what wasn't visible to the naked mortal eye I saw something beautiful, and the spirit whispered to me that this is what the Father sees. He sees each of us, magnificent and beautiful and unique. I can not see what He sees, but I can believe in Him and that He does. It was a sweet tender moment for me. One that I am grateful for.

Yesterday I subbed in 4th grade. Then last night we had FHE. We watched the First Presidency Christmas Devotional. It was lovely. Lu fell asleep on R's lap, so cute.

Today I subbed in special ed. Sweet kids. I had the worst sinus headache and was very happy that I only had to work a half day. I came home, took tylenol and watched Sabrina on AMC. Now the headache is gone and I am ready for piano lessons and daisy scouts.

silent night

2011-12-04T17:26:00.000-08:00

My little pianist loves to play. She practices 2 or 3 times a day.

sunday afternoon

2011-12-04T14:20:00.000-08:00

Today is a beautiful day. We came home from church and I took a nap! Yeah! I was tired, this weekend was a busy burning the candle on both ends kind of weekend and I needed to sleep. It was reported to me that while I was asleep a couple boys came knocking on the door looking for my boy to come and play, and it was further reported that I said yes. Lu told me all this while she was trying to get me up to go to the park. I was surprised, then alarmed when she told me he left with two boys but didn't know who. I texted R and he didn't know either, so I got up got the dog and Lu and we headed off to do a neighborhood tour. We quickly found him on the common area playing ball with a bunch of boys. I was concerned that he went to someones house and I wouldn't be able to find him. He was outside and easy to find though so we told him to come home in 15 and continued on our walk. We saw many neighbors out and about, walking doggies, playing, hanging lights.

While I was walking home I was chatting on the phone with R who told me he was there, Bub asked him, he said ask your mom and change your clothes, Bub changed and asked me, I said yes but stay on the green and don't go into any one's house. I didn't remember any of that exchange.

I think I am getting Alzheimers.

sunny winter fun

2011-12-03T12:53:00.000-08:00

Mags and Lu playing on the playground

This morning Hannah and I got up early (4:30) to make a breakfast casserole and then to take it to the homeless shelter to help some of the other youth serve breakfast to the people staying there. It was dark and cold out, but it was warm in the church and the people were friendly. We had a good time together.

After we stopped by Wal*mart. We went to buy a present for Ethan's friend Nick. As we browsed through the aisles we picked up 2 secret Santa gifts we needed to get, a couple of packages of socks, some m & m's for my YW hand-out for tomorrow and a cute shirt for Lu. Then we got in line at the register. H put all our items on the belt and said...didn't we come here for Nick's present? Umm..yep. We loaded everything back in the cart and went in search of a gift. Duh.

This afternoon H is off on the youth temple trip, R is working, I am home with E and Lu and their friends Maggie and Daniel (who's parents are on the youth trip). E had a party to go to (Nick's) while we ran a couple of errands. The party was playing soccer at Leonard Hall. Two hours later we went to get him and the girls took off to the playground and the boys from the party as well as Daniel headed to the field to play...yep, soccer. Eventually the boy with the ball had to go home so the game was over and I rounded everyone up and now we are home, warm, safe, happy, with food to cook for dinner and the promise of a pleasant evening ahead of us. We are blessed beyond measure.

Hannah's Christmas Party

2011-12-02T18:44:00.000-08:00

the whole gang

Hannah and Julia

Han and Jade

human pyramid

good times!!

Lu and her mom and dad

magnet board

proud artist

Hannah had a little Christmas party for some of her good friends from school. They drew names for secret santa gifts and she asked everyone to bring a favorite treat.

The girls arrived and I had a craft ready for them. They enjoyed making cute magnet boards out of cookie sheets and magnets of pictures we took of them and then printed and glued onto clear glass beads.

Everyone brought yumm-o treats and were loud and giggly all night. They crafted, ate, danced, laughed and listened to music. Lu was lucky enough to be included in the fun :)

December 1 already!!

2011-12-01T07:37:00.000-08:00

This picture was taken 5 years ago, well five years next week. We were in Utah for Dani & Greg's wedding. We should have had little jack in the box boy sit next to Dani instead of popping up behind, other than that though it's a keeper.

I am excited for this holiday season, December is always the grand finale of the year, bringing with it fun and excitement, a time to reflect, and a heightened appreciation for family, tradition and the Savior.

I am happy because some, although not all, of my Christmas shopping is done.
I am grateful for a mild fall with lovely weather and several opportunities to visit with family.
I am looking forward to several holiday celebrations that are planned in the ensuing weeks that promise to be festive and fun.
I am proud of my big girls. Jenna has done well in school these past two semesters and is ready to embark on a exciting journey to Romania. I admire her courage, her planning, and her willingness to serve in a country far away. I know her life and heart will be touched and changed by her time there. Sierra likewise is doing well in school. She recently changed her major to forensic science and is very excited about studying that. I am so thrilled for her, it's hard to know what you want to do and although she is blessed with a keen intellect and a hard working, honest character so she could have done anything she wanted, I am very glad that she has found something that she will find exciting and fulfilling. Life is too short to do something you hate, or just tolerate. Dani is soon to celebrate her 5th wedding anniversary and she has grown into a wonderful woman. I admire her patient, kind mothering style, her sense of fun and her deep and supportive love for her husband. I don't know how I did it but somehow I raised three perfect daughters.
I am excited about this season of raising the younger three. Hannah is really a delight, she is helpful and sweet and that girl's got style. I do not know where she got it but she is fancy and high fashion and so cute. She wants to be obedient, and responsible and is really learning who she is and what is important to her. She has become a conscientious student and R and I better start saving our pennies, we promised a Kings Dominion trip at the end of the school year if all three kids got all A's all year...they are well on their way. Ethan, of course, our only boy "the golden child" (as some of his sisters like to call him), is a delight. He's a good little scout, an excellent student, a wiz at electronics and chess and a mean soccer player. As well as all that he is loving and cuddly and kind. Finally we have Lucy, spirited, independent, sassy, sweet, fun loving, wants to try it all, know it all and do it all. She's the perfect little caboose for our family. What a fun, busy,exciting time in life to see them grow, schlep them around, enjoy their company, teach them.

What a great month!

this and that

2011-11-29T18:10:00.000-08:00

Although we had perfect weather the whole time we were in Ohio it rained the whole drive there and the whole drive back. Despite the weather we had a pleasant drive back. The kids travel well now, which is such a wonderful wonderful blessing. Love it! We got home kind of late, near 10, and quickly got the car unloaded and the kids into bed.

Monday morning I got a call to sub. I said yes, I normally do even if it's not convenient. I was in special ed all day, it's kind of tough in there. All the students are little and autistic and it's even though they are so cute it's sad to see them struggle. I am going back there tomorrow. It is definitely not a place I would want to work every day, but from time to time it's fine. When we all got home the Martines kids came over. They are going to spend a couple of days with us, baby Alexis finally joined the family this last weekend so we get the big kids. They are great, all the kids get along and play well together. My kids actually like it better than not having them here...it's like one long slumber party. The only hard part is when the kids don't want to go to bed, which honestly is a regular occurrence here now I have 7 kids not wanting to sleep instead of 3 :)

Today I unpacked, did some Christmas shopping, took the girls to paino, and made a yummy yummy dinner coconut rice and pork tacos with chili verde.

Now the children are upstairs ~~jumping around~~, ~~trying to sleep~~... ~~sleeping~~.... nope, still jumping around.

the Green

2011-11-26T18:55:00.000-08:00

Vacation days always go by too quickly. This morning we got up and went out to breakfast, always a favorite. Then we went to a play land. Lu won a stuffed penguins out of one of those machines that never give away prizes, the claw. She had a secret weapon...Abba :) E spent a lot of time at the batting cages with R and H tried the batting cages and the inside games. It was noisy and crazy, as those places typically are. The kids enjoyed our time there though and thought it was great.

After that we went to the Green and enjoyed some lovely shopping.

We came home and the menfolk all watched the OSU v Michigan game. Michigan won.

Lastly we went to Bravo for dinner then came home and packed. We are ready to leave in the morning, although sad to leave our family. It's always fun to spend time together.

11pm

2011-11-25T20:36:00.000-08:00

Too bad they never want to read...

Boonshoft Discovery Museum

2011-11-25T18:24:00.000-08:00

We went to lunch today at Rausch's with Great Grandpa Tom, UB and Becky and Harriet. After we went to GGpa's house for a bit then headed over to the museum. Unfortunately Nana got sick last night and still doesn't feel well so she missed most of the fun.

The museum was super fun. We enjoyed watching the otters get feed, running on the play structure, learning about water and playing with the animal robots. The kids went in a hurricane simulator, a turtle shell and a bear cave. It's a fun little museum.

R and I were going to go to the mall and do some Christmas shopping on the way home but changed our mind enroute and came home for dinner and "the Green Lantern".

turkey trot 2012

2011-11-24T13:14:00.000-08:00

Hannah and Lu

2011-11-24T13:07:00.006-08:00

greatgrandpa and E playing chess

2011-11-24T13:05:00.002-08:00

abba and bubba finished first in our family

2011-11-24T08:39:00.000-08:00

culinary knight

2011-11-23T14:29:00.000-08:00

R and Abba went on a bike ride this morning, then they went to pick up our turkey trot tee-shirts for tomorrows big race. The rest of us headed out to do some shopping. E got bored and started playing with the kitchen tools. He became a warrior :)

We also went to the book store, heavenly, and out to lunch. Very fun.

the road to Ohio

2011-11-23T06:04:00.000-08:00

We made it,
what should have been a nice days drive turned out to be more of an ordeal. On Monday we took the suburban to be checked out. R had a list of things he wanted to be checked. At the end of the day we got it back with an oil change. We spent the day packing and cleaning and then the evening at a very fun pie party at the Marshes.
Tuesday morning we woke up early and got everything in the car by 8. We were on time. The car didn't start. We did get it going, then headed back over to Mr Tire, with a packed car and all the kids. They fixed it, although we got to enjoy 3 hours in their lobby to do it. I did walk over to Food Lion for a few things we "needed" for the trip, in the rain. Our start was not promising.
The rest of the trip was okay. The kids did well. It rained the whole time, and the visibility was poor so we added a lot of travel time.
We had a pleasant dinner stop at Cracker Barrel and pulled in the driveway a little after 10. 14 hours, should have been 9.

strangely tired...and worst night sleep ever.

2011-11-21T03:36:00.000-08:00

We've been busy, staying up late, doing things, working. Yesterday I had to get up early for ward council and the children fell asleep during sacrament meeting, well Hannah did and Ethan almost did. Lu was too busy sticking candy cane stickers on her face. Tired was catching up with us.

After church Maggie and Daniel came over, Miss H went to the McCombs. I fixed lunch then sat down on the couch and fell asleep. When I went to sleep the four kids were playing beyblades...when I woke up 3 hours later they were playing hide and seek. Somehow they survived my negligent care. I am not normally a napper and was very surprised. In the meantime R had gone upstairs and also took a long nap.

Around 4 he left to go visit his friend Clint, who recently got out of the hospital and I went to meet with KT about her personal progress and to trade kids back. We got home and made dinner (chicken taco salad) put Lu to bed (she was playing at Maggie's house until 10 the night before while R and I went to see Breaking Dawn and was grouchy) and then Pete and Joey came over to HT us. When they left we cleaned up the kitchen and put in HP7 to watch. R went upstairs to bed around 8. Very very unusual. Before 9 we turned it off and went up as well. I turned off all the lights and neither H nor E switched them back on to read...very very unusual. We were all in bed by 9 ready to sleep.

I fell asleep pretty quickly but had the most interrupted sleep. I kept waking up. I kept having strange dreams. At one point I dreamt that I wanted to take the kids to DisneyWorld and was trying to convince R and he was saying no it's too expensive. Then he suggested we go camping in Orlando instead, that would be just as fun (he doesn't do camping) and I agreed (what?? clearly not the same thing), once we got there our friends the Harts were there and said they had 2 extra tickets so R said "great, I will take Lu" and I was so mad and thought that was so unfair...he doesn't even like Disney! Then in real life he moved toward or touched me or something and I went flying out of bed. Landed on Millie and hit my eye on the metal frame, cutting it. Strange. I have not fallen out of bed since forever.
I continued to sleep fitfully and was happy when my alarm went off (never happens).

So I feel rested...but what a weird night.

tournaments

2011-11-20T10:25:00.000-08:00

We had a soccer weekend. Friday night Big played in a charity soccer tournament dubbed "Claire's Cup". A little girl in our community is battling leukemia and she is a soccer player from a soccer family. E went with him ostensibly to watch, however he and the other sons all spent the three hours playing soccer in empty fields, getting muddy and running in the woods.
The girls and I went to the ward service project so we didn't get to watch but I heard everything went well.

Saturday was the Kohl's Cup. Our team split into 3 teams of 4 to play against each other and the other teams in short field, fast paced, jungle ball style soccer. E's team won 5 games and ended up the champions in their age bracket. E himself scored 5 goals. The boys had a "best day of my life" kind of great time. E came home as dirty as I have ever seen him, and sporting a new trophy for his collection.

The weather really was lovely and we all had a nice day.

Breaking Dawn

2011-11-18T10:54:00.000-08:00

Yesterday I got called in to work, I wasn't going to go because I wanted to clean the house and get everything done for the busy weekend ahead...but then I did. 5th grade. It was a good day. When I got home we went to piano lessons and home to try and do all the chores that were being neglected.

Then I met up with Johnna, Paige, Cristianna, Lexi, Robin, Michelle, Sarah, Carolee, Heather, Liz, Debbie and Dari, Christian, Christian and Alex for some midnight movie fun. We had a great time waiting in the theater for 2 hours, eating popcorn, laughing.

Then the main event: Edward. Even though the movie is so cheesy, with a rated B horror movie style birth scene, silly talking wolves and vampires I love it. I loved the wedding, so beautiful. I love Edward's tender care, unconditional love and total acceptance of Bella. I loved their honeymoon get away and really the whole thing. So next week I will go back with R and see it again.

We got home at 3:30 and I was in bed by 4ish. But couldn't sleep for awhile. At 5:45 my alarm went off. groan, yawn. I had intended to go back to bed and after I got everyone out the door I went back to bed but only slept an hour, I felt like I was wasting time so I got up, went shopping, did some clean up, and now I am making 100 cupcakes for tonight's ward service project.

count down is on

2011-11-16T18:39:00.000-08:00

9:30 pm. It's raining. Hopefully it will pass quickly because in 23 1/2 hours I will be leaving with 15 fabulous friends to see Breaking Dawn!! Midnight show tomorrow baby! Yeah!! Can't wait!

I worked yesterday and today.
Tonight was a pack meeting, also the YW played glow in the dark volleyball. Yesterday Lu had Daisys. This afternoon I scrubbed the play doh out of the carpet. I'd rather have J here with play doh then clean carpet without.

Mount Vernon

2011-11-15T18:07:00.000-08:00

Our last day together was Monday. The kids had school so it was just Joneaux, Anna and Amadeo and myself. We made the drive and it was a most beautiful day. The weather was perfect and it was not crowded so it was perfect.

I love my sister and am so glad we had this time to be together. It was such a treat for me to have sweet baby J here and to get to know him. I really enjoy Amadeo's company as well. It is really special to spend time together, to enjoy each others children, to talk about life and our families and just anything.

Cute family.

When we left we stopped at the gift shop for some East Coast souvenirs for J so he can remember us and how much we love him.

Sunday

2011-11-13T19:18:00.000-08:00

We went to church, played at the park, enjoyed some yummy dinner made by Hannah with Anna and Mom as sous chefs, played quirkle and that's it.

DC

2011-11-12T18:33:00.000-08:00

Today was a requisite DC tourist day. Fortunately the weather was perfect and the crowds were thin.

We started out at the National Archives were we saw the documents of freedom. Then we wandered around the monuments and ended with a stroll by the white house.

Anna and Amadeo's friends the Pollards met them for breakfast and joined us for some DC fun. They couldn't stay the whole time but we had fun with them while they were there. Lu liked Abby a lot and the kids were cute together.

We walked a lot and the kids were real troopers. They looked at everything, ate $11. hot dogs and ice cream and were great tour guides.

Little Man was happy to see his Momma and Daddy this morning.

Me and Anna in front of the white house.

calvert marine museum

2011-11-11T17:05:00.000-08:00

We spent our afternoon at the museum. It's small but cute and we love to watch the otters and the kids always love to get shark teeth and fossils from the exploration room.

parade

2011-11-11T09:45:00.000-08:00

Today is Veterans day and Lu's daisy troop was marching in the parade. E's pack was not marching but he dressed up anyway thinking he might march with Webb's den. We bundled up and headed over to Ryken to meet with all the other marchers.

It took forever to get going. Someone fell off their horse and a helicopter had to come and life flight them out. So while it was cool to see the helo come and land right in front of us, it was sad that someone got hurt, and it really slowed us down a lot. Joneaux didn't want to wait and was getting sad, also Robert didn't want to wait so eventually I took the little boys, E and H and left Lu to march with Miss Jen and Julia.

By the time we got to our car the little boys were happy and wanted to watch the parade, which was finally starting so we found a spot and watched the scouts, bands, horses, floats and parade fun. We got tons of candy thrown at us and the kids all enjoyed it.

Joneaux got in the groove and started dancing on the side of the road. It was so funny! We made it home an hour before Lu and had some lunch and got him down for a nap.

I'm such a good aunt :)

2011-11-10T13:54:00.000-08:00

We had the most fun day! First thing this morning, like 6am which is a lot earlier than J is used to waking up, the kids were up and waiting for J to wake up. As soon as he did there were squeals and book reading and bubble bath fun. Eventually the kids had to go to school. Joneaux waved goodbye to the school bus and then we had the day to ourselves.

First thing we did was go to the playground. Then we came home and ate snacks and read books and built with blocks. Then had an early lunch and he was ready for a nap. J slept for 2 hours and woke up ready to play again. He wanted to go to the park, so we did. Then we came home and played legos, read some more books, threw the ball and knocked over some more blocks.

When Hannah came home she brought Allie with her to show off how cute her cousin is! They played ball with him, took him outside for a walk and read a book.

Then E and Lu got home and we went back to the park....3x to the park in one day, sweet!!

E and Lu had so much fun playing with him!

Sadly it started to rain so we had to rush home.

On the agenda for tonight: dinner, playdoh, books, balls, prayers and sleep.

Joneaux

2011-11-09T18:43:00.000-08:00

Anna and Amadeo and Joneaux flew into our neck of the woods today. We had a fun visit this afternoon and went to Salsas for some yummy dinner.

Then they left :( and they left sweet baby J with us for a couple of days while they work. The cousins are super excited to have him here, as is his favorite auntie :)

This evening we played ball, a lot.

Read some stories, laughed at him laughing.

Played a little play doh.

Danced with some maracas, played some more ball, said our prayers and tucked him into bed where Lu won the "who wants to sleep with Joneaux" contest :)

such a long time ago

2011-11-09T09:57:00.000-08:00

I was looking through some old photos, I need to find a picture of Grandpa Tom in his uniform, Lu is marching in the Veterans Day parade on Friday and she needs to bring a picture on a stick to carry. Anyway, got lost in the archives. These pictures are from thanksgiving 1999. This adorable baby is Miss Hannah Margaret. She was 3 months old and so cute!!

Here are my big girls, now all grown up. We were at the airport ready to fly home and they were playing with the phone. Dani was 12, Sierra 9 and Jenna 7.

Me and Jenna. This year will be the first time we've been apart for Thanksgiving. I sure will miss her, she is sweet and fun and the life of the party.

My hubby, he was young and thin and hairless. :) and proud of his baby girl. So sweet.

Cute Sierra. She's an artist. This year she will be celebrating in Utah too (hate stupid Utah). I am looking forward to spending Christmas with her, she's such a sweet calm soul. She's been a joy to me her whole life and I am so proud of her.

How can women not be mothers? It is such a joy and blessing to me. (I know some people don't get a choice, I am just grateful that I am, that I did. That these sweet girls, and their little brother and sister too, are my children. Who would I be without them?

New Job

2011-11-09T07:30:00.000-08:00

Not me, Big B.

For awhile now he's had job change plans in the works. We haven't really said a lot because who knew how or when or if it would happen but yesterday there was an all hands meeting at work and an announcement was made and now he's got a new job.

Up until now he's been strictly technical, now he's "turned to the dark side" and is in a leadership role. Luckily he still will be technical part time.

I am real proud of him, he's a hard worker and a smart smart guy and I am glad he's finding joy and growth in his career. He's a good leader and the people he's been over up until now have liked him and really felt like he had their backs and valued their personal lives and time as well as the bottom line, I am sure that will extend to his new people as well.

Good job honey! your family is proud of you!!

good day

2011-11-07T14:25:00.000-08:00

What a beautiful day today was. I woke up feeling like I had extra sleep due to our falling back. It was light outside when Hannah left to walk to the bus, which I know she appreciated.

The weather outside was gorgeous. Cool and comfortable, trees ablaze with color.

Colleen and I met for lunch. I love our chats. She is an awesome friend.

Got home and skyped with Tatum and Dani.

Talked on the phone with Sierra.

Cleaned a lot of things.

Went to Marshalls and got a couple of fun things for Christmas.

Now dinner is in the oven, R is on the way home and the kids and I are watching "Sharkboy and Lavagirl"

soccer weekend

2011-11-05T18:53:00.000-07:00

Friday night we went to the high school to watch Hannah and Heidi play. They won. It was fun. It was C.O.L.D.!!!

Saturday morning we went to watch E play. Their team is undefeated and seated number 1. It's the championship weekend. This photo was taken seconds after E scored a goal. He landed on Blake's head but no one was hurt so it's all good.

These boys play full contact soccer.

Go Freedom Fighters!!

Post game celebratory ice cream cones at Big Larry's comic book store, gaming center and ice cream parlour.

news

2011-11-04T07:49:00.000-07:00

Jenna bought her tickets for her semester abroad. She is flying from Dulles to Bucharest on Jan 16, meeting the rest of her group and together they will take the night train to Isai. They will spend 90 days working, living in and studying in Romania. They will also do some travelling. After that they will fly to London and spend 3 days then to Dublin for 4. Then home where she will hopefully have a great job waiting for her for the summer.
In other news the whole give your candy to the troops was not well received. The kids did like the idea of doing service and came up with several fun ideas including earning money to buy a goat for a family in Uganda. If you have chores to do I have kids who want to work!

Also this week was YW in Excellence, went well and Hannah won a yearbook at school for dressing the craziest for wacky tacky day.

Also Sierra is headed for Vegas this weekend to go to Kinzie's wedding!!