Morning Beauty!

What is outside your window? This was the view outside mine this morning! It was so vibrant in real life that I told M to look quick, it looks like the leaves are glowing. 'Go take a picture Mom". So, I did! A Pretty good shot but the real thing was magnificent! It was one of those days that you have to make yourself really, really absorb the beauty. It is so fleeting. I know that by tomorrow, the color will have faded. Truth be known, it seemed to have already started by this evening.

Why is So much of life like that? So fleeting that we often miss it. I know that with my normal routine I get caught up in the monotany of laundry, dishes, dusting, driving, etc. etc. etc. that sometimes I forget to look up and just be IN the moment. I tried to do that today with the little man. Since he can't escape so easily(thanks for the new door knobs, Poppa) he really needed to go for a walk. I just let him lead me, it is so fun to really watch how he decides where he is going. He likes little trails, sidewalks, garages. He just wants to be. That is what the rest of us need to relearn.
Sometimes To Just BE!!!

Angel Hair No More!

I succumbed to the pressure to cut Angel Babies hair. Never mind the fact that he couldn't see because it was in his eyes. I have avoided having it cut for months because I knew that it would never be so soft and sweet ever again. I was right. I tried to have her just trim it up, a little. Well, it is ruined, and the sweet angel hair is gone.

I am sad that this little angel is growing so fast. All the other angel babies are now big and they don't think I am so wonderful, they sass me, and are not always sweet and yummy.

So, it is a sad, sad, day. Baby had a hair cut. Mommy is sad.

Button, Button!

Button Button who's got the button? Sweetie has the button! All over and all spread out! He got into my stitchery box (I didn't think he could open it!) and dumped them all out!

Do you ever feel like you are fighting a losing battle when trying to maintain a home? I am in the throws of a tornado all the time. If I don't keep going at an insane pace everything just seems to fall apart around me!

But for today, I will look at this little mess with this little messy boy and be grateful that it was buttons instead of eggs!

Finished Projects!!Yeah!!!!

I finally finished some projects! I have had these hanging out in my house for much too long. So, today when I knew that I wouldn't be going to the gym due to baby's cold I decided today was the day!

The yellow chair came started out with the intention of sanding to paint. However, once I started I decided that I liked it! A thinks it is awful! Oh, well, what does she know? I am sure Darling with hate it as well!

The shelf has been in the works for months. Sweetie even hung it up for me!!!

The bench turned out great! It is amazing how I just love the distressed look of things. I love old, ratty stuff that others put on burn piles!

I distressed another bench and shelf and painted a little
desk as well! Hopefully, tomorrow I can get it into Miss E's bedroom!

A few down, a few hundred left! Now on to some chairs!!!

 

Boutique Overload!

Our Cousins from California have been here since Wednesday evening. It has been so long since they have visited that we just had numerous places that we had to go! Boutiques were on the top of the list! Chris and I started on Thursday taking them to the Quilted Bear, Union Station and Pendleton Hollow. Friday Baby J was sick so Chris took them to the Rock Loft, which they said was incredible, then they went to the fabric store. Saturday we went to Rainbow gardens and then to 25th street. It was the street fest so it was really noisy, we were on overload at this point, I found at least 3 new shops for my next jaunt with Tina! At this point, we said no to those last 3 shops---they stopped again at the fabric store and then back at Pendleton Hollow!!!! That is what I call boutique overload!!!! It was fun! Funny thing, I didn't by anything except some tiny individual sauce cups, like for ketchup or maple syrup!

With all this looking it made me want to do some embroidery again! Carolyn bought a couple of patterns and I traced them on the muslin for her. It really made me want to do it. I haven't done it since the spring before the baby came! I have two Easter patterns that are so close to finished, 1/2 hour and they would be finished! Perhaps, the little guy is big enough I can do it again!

It has been fun to have family in town. We have eaten too much but had a great time. Makes you wish that we all lived down the street from each other. Although if that were the case we wouldn't be eating out and shopping all day and it wouldn't be so special!


Oh, baby J is still not well. Has a terrible cough, I hope that it doesn't turn into croup. My kids are so prone to that.

Patriotic Children

Tonight was the bi-annual patriotic program. The entire elementary school participated. It was fabulous. The students have been working on these songs since school started. The football stadium was lined with American flags, the kids were in Red, White and Blue and the excitement was in the air. The entire football field was full of parents, grandparents, etc. It really is one of the blessings of living in a smaller community, there is just a feeling of community that I don't know would be present in a larger place.

As the kids were singing a tribute song to all the different branches of the military and those that served in those branches stood, I got all choked up! We are all so blessed to have men and women that are willing to serve this country so that we can be protected. I hope that my children will always remember doing these programs, and somehow have that patriotism printed on their hearts. People with big hearts, that is the goal.

Busy Days

I have been so busy! The reunion was great! It was so much fun. My camera wigged out on me, so I have exactly one terrible picture! Oh, well! I was having too much fun visiting to take pictures anyway. Sometimes we need to be in the moment not just recording the moment.

I had a strange feeling after the reunion. A sort of void. I realized that some of these friends from so long ago, some that I have known since kindergarten are not part of my regular life. I realize that in this life things are ever changing and it is impossible to stay in contact with every person you have ever cared about. There is a poem about a friend leaving footprints on your heart. However, there are a few people that I felt like they just really should be more a part of my life, even if that amounts to Christmas cards. Strange how these things turn out! It was fun to be (for the most part) past all of the cliques and such that dominate HS. I noticed most people really trying to talk with many people. It was too short, there were people that I did not get to talk with. My dear friend Laurel was "elected" (hijacked is more like it) into heading up the next reunion. I am assuming that means that I will be helping her. She is an organized person though, she is already thinking about people that were not located, found websites, etc. She is amazing and I know that the time will go quickly.

One more thing!!!! We all looked pretty good! I was surprised that more people didn't look worse for the wear. Perhaps they actually do but I am familiar with their faces already and I am mature enough to look past the flab, wrinkles, baldness and gray hairs! I reallyonly noticed one gal that looked like life has been rough on her. The rest looked pretty good. I was so thrilled to not have lots of extra weight on me!!!! I actually bought a size 10 pants!!!! That is cause for celebration! I know, I am so vain.


On another note, Miss A is driving me nuts. I am hoping that this hormonal jr high thing ends and she gets better. She has a streak in her that causes me so much stress. I am constantly worried, she doesn't seem to have any common courtesy or common sense. I just pray she will outgrow this stage without something really terrible happening.

Where Did the Time Go?

20 years already!

I can't believe that I am old enough to have been out of highschool for 20 years! Tomorrow is our 20th class reunion! I am sure that it will be fun. It will also be a bit nerve wracking as well. As much as we hate to admit it, we all want to see how we have all aged! Fact is, we all have! For some, much more than others!!

I am lucky because I really had a fun HS experience. Of course there were those things that we wish wouldn't have happened but overall, I really don't have lots of baggage that is still junking up the trunk!

I am excited to see friends. I am so glad that I went to a small school so that I actually knew everyone in my class! So wierd though! 20 years, sounds like such LONG time, yet once you are through it, it barely seems like yesterday!

I do have to say that I have not been prepared for the 80's fashions that are back! Polo shirts with popped up collars, leggings, large low belts, cropped jackets, big sunglasses, lots of flashy jewlery!!!

Well, here is to OLD FOLKS! 

Happy Birthday!

Wow! Ten already! He came into my bed early and asked when he was born. 2:14 pm Sept 15 1996! It was a rainy day much like today! He was my largest baby, weighing in at 8lbs. 15 oz. However, his labor and birth was the easiest of all four. He is a good boy, strong yet quite tender hearted. A difficult place to be where he is surrounded by hard headed outspoken girls. I hope that all of the estrogen he has to deal with doesn't ruin him. He is considerate and kind. He doesn't like it when people are mean (unless it is him to his little sister). He is always the one that comes and gets me if one of his sisters or brother is sick, even in the middle of the night.

MY BOY IS 10! HAPPY BIRTHDAY! 

What is organized?

I went to our organizing class today. The Lazy Organizer always teaches us so well! I am always too chatty, too excited about learning! I am an interrupter, not intentionally, however. It is always so exciting to be learning new concepts and be discussing things with other people. I wonder why some people are so naturally organized, or they seem to become organized out of necessity, yet, the majority of us just wander around thinking about it and never really tackling the problem. Hopefully, this class will help all of us, I know that discussing these things makes me THINK about how I do things. Hopefully, in years each little baby step will add up to less CHAOS in our home!

Moving too fast!

It is always amazing to me that life just keeps going, going, going. After my little nightmare on Tuesday losing J I would think that the world would have stopped for half a minute and realized that I was a basket case and give me a warm bubble bath and chocolate ice cream and then slowly start to wind up again. No, full throttle, full speed all the time!

After the trauma I did manage to paint!!! This an amazing thing. I have had these things in the garage all summer! I painted 2 shelves, and two benches. One of them from the junk pile at my friends. It looks great! I need to do a second coat of black and then some distressing. Yeah, I worked on a project!!!! I do need to finish these and wait a few days before I start another so that Darling can park his car in the garage. No matter that the watercraft are in my spot!!! Just not enough hours in the day!

Grateful

This afternoon I am grateful. Grateful that my sweet little boy stopped walking. Grateful that the dog stayed with him. Grateful for a neighbor driving down the road knowing it wasn't right and stopping. Grateful he is now in his crib safe and sound. Grateful.

Another day gone.

Well, luckily for me, today was a much better day than yesterday! I must be PMSy or something! I went and had lunch with Miss E and she seemed so excited to see me. It was fun to see all the kids. My scouts see me and are excited--but only as long as noone else knows! I stopped at ACE and bought myself some black paint and a paintbrush! Hopfully, that means that the shelf that I have had for MONTHS is getting closer to being painted! I have done laundry, and then more laundry! Luckily for me, it is more done than not so that is a good thing.

Poor Miss E got sick as they were leaving for the bus! She threw up--luckily outside! She came home and slept for about 4 hours. I hope that she just got some little germ, and that J and I don't get it!

It is amazing to me how much of life really is just ordinary, monotonous stuff. I guess that the best way to really find true happiness is to really take that old saying to heart .Happiness is the journey, not the destination! I just wish that I didn't struggle with the journey quite so much!

Enjoy the Process!

Five years later 9/11

It is hard to believe it has been five years since the terrible day and weeks following 9/11. I know that many, many memorials and such will happen today. I feel badly but I will not be watching. I did not know anyone personally that perished that terrible day but the images are still so raw for me that I don't feel like I have the emotional strength to go over it again and again. I don't think that there have been many days in five years that those images have not replayed in ours heads. It is a constant in conversation, it is now a part of who we are. I read that for my generation that day is etched into our memories like JFK's assassination was to our parents. We lost more of our innocence that day. Our world changed because of some evil, evil men. I pray that today and every day that we will grab our family and hold them tightly, extra tightly and remember that we are blessed to be together.

What a change

Within ten minutes of that last post Miss E became a terrible stinker. I just don't know what to do with her. She is the most stubborn of my children and it hardly seems to phase her if she gets into trouble.
I am home from church in between meetings because my heart is so heavy because of her. She is constantly screaming or being screamed at. M usually has her going but not always. She is just so strong willed that she is constantly in trouble. I just really don't know what to do with her. What I have done in the past just doesn't work. She was good in the morning for quite a few days, only becuase of the reward. That is totally missing the point! I understand the difference between intrinsic and extrinsic and I really don't want the only reason that she is "nice" in the morning because she is going to be able to get a treat. I have tried to have the talk about how she feels when she is happy and gets things done. I just don't know how to get through to her on an ALL THE TIME basis. I am going to have to try something totally different with her. It has to be constant. I remember when we were watching TV and the show Super Nanny was on. She was fabulous, I may have to revisit her techniques. I also think that I may have to turn some of it over to Heavenly Father because I don't like the way that I feel towards this child of mine.
Well, now that I have put these thoughts out there I hope that I can find some solution. I know that I am not the only mother to really have a challenging child. Compared to many, my problems are minor, I do realize this, however, when you can actually understand where the point is people get to that abuse their children it is pretty awful. Hopefully, after a couple hours away from her I can deal with her a bit better--how awful does that sound?! Pretty awful.

You are perfect!

WE had a moment this morning. Miss E was painting a picture of a rainbow and M started to tell her the "correct" order of the colors. I proceeded to tell him that she was "perfect just the way she creates!"
Why is it that the older we get the less we just make things because we feel like it and let all the sounds from everyone else matter so much? I know that it happens to all of us. I just wish that it didn't.
So, I am taking on Donna Downey's mantra and making it my own!
YOU ARE PERFECT JUST THE WAY YOU CREATE! 

The End of Summer Fun!

Today seemed to really make it official! SUMMER IS OVER! Dave took down the pool! He started to drain it a few days ago but today was the day that it was torn apart. It was almost a sad thing. The kids have had so much fun. It certainly was more fun than going to Lagoon! M, E, and W have had so much fun with it, they have been the main three in it. All the others have been in it but not to the extent of those three.
So ode to summer! The pool is gone and the air is cooler, the leaves are changing, the days are getting shorter---every day we are inching our way to the dark, dark, days of winter. I often just dread the dark and dreary days of winter. Summer is just too short in this northern country. We all need to move to somewhere that is not full of people but has the climate of San Diego!!! Perhaps we wouldn't really enjoy it as much if we didn't have to deal with the big bad W! So, enjoy these last warm days, drink in the last of the summer flowers, enjoy those summer skirts and sandals, boots, coats, hats and snow are on their way!! The only good thing is I will get to go skiing!!!! Yeah for one bright light in a dark and dreary season!!!

Football!

We started the football scene last season. M just loves it! It is the only real leaverage that I have over him! Do you want to call you FB coach and tell him you can't come to the game because you won't practice the piano, do your homework or were fighting with your sister? I think not! I am glad that he loves it so. I don't think that there are that many things in life that we just LOVE to do. We like them but we don't get all twitterpated about them. Football does that for Manly boy!
We have a game this afternoon on our home field so that is fun!
I had my checkup for my eyes this morning. They look good, the left is not as good as the right which is great. I will go back in three weeks. The dr. said that often it takes the body a bit to heal and adjust--I sure hope so. I don't want to have spent the money and gone through the surgery and still have to wear contacts or glasses. I knew that it was a risk but you sure hope it doesn't happen. My sister had hers done and they kept changing for a year, and now they are great. So, hopefully mine will improve also!
We are off to football! Yeah for football! 

It's over!

The surgery is over! It was a rather freaky experience. I got in there and they were measuring again, and found that my cornea was very thin. There was a possibility that they wouldn't be able to do the surgery. Not something to say to a woman on Valium with her eye clamped open with metal clips! They decided to make the cut and then measure again, it always is thicker than the computer records, then if there was enough they would go ahead with the laser. If not they would put the flap down and I would go on my way--blind! Well, they did the entire thing.
I was home for an hour or so when the numbing meds wore off. It hurt like crazy! I had my pj bottoms wrapped around my head and sunglasses! I am sure I was a site! I finally fell asleep and woke up feeling much better!
I can see! I actually could see the clock this morning(awake at 4:10am what's up with that?) I can see right now better out of my right eye than my left, I hope that that balances out because I am not a candidate for a touch up. Scary, scary!
I have an appointment this morning for the follow up---hopefully all is well!
Hopefully here is to NO MORE GLASSES (at least until age happens and I need reading glasses!)

My Big Scout!

My little scout is getting not so little! Tonight M earned his Bear award and many other awards! He is starting to burst the seams of his shirt, it was extra large when we bought it two years ago! He is really starting to grow, he is almost as tall as me and is very muscular.

I went to the eye doctor today and had my "pre-op" for my lasik procedure. He dialated my eyes and they are still wacked out! He says that most likely I should have great results with the procedure. I hope so, I am still scared to death!

Can you feel fall in the air? I can! I can also see it in the trees. As I was driving down the canyon today I looked up and noticed all the red appearing. It seems to happen so quickly. With fall comes shorter days, which starts to signal ---Christmas! I know it is crazy but it does. I have to get to M's birthday first! It is in a few days and I don't have a clue what to get for him. He would love video games but I am not ever open to that. He would also like an ipod but no again! So, where do I go for ideas!!? He is a good boy, that just loves to tease his little sister. Is there a boy alive that doesn't like to bug and torment their sisters? 

More Flaming Gorge Shots!

Here are a few more Flaming Gorge shots! Poor W had crashed on his dirt bike and had a huge gash, stitches and all. The didn't like the water so he finally had to stay out! There are a ton of pictures--someday I will learn how to have albums that you can look at!! Learning, learning!

 

What a Great Weekend!

What a great weekend we had! We went to Flaming Gorge. I think that it was probably the very best weekend we have ever had there. The weather was PERFECT! There was no wind or rain, almost unheard of! The kids got along, had friends to hang out with and mostly just really had fun.
We went with Petersen's who we have been going with for 11 years! They are great. This time we invited Archibeque's. They all came, all 11 of them! It was fun having someone else around with some new attitude! Shaun is a lot of fun, however, we are all scarred for life with his "mooning" now etched in our minds forever! M was really into wakeboarding, he is getting good for how young he is! It looks like the next toy we consider is a boat! Too bad that these things have to be paid for! M also went off of the cliff rope swing. It is too high and scary for me to really be comfortable with him doing it. Luckily, he did it and survived!
We are so glad that we are fortunate enough to have good friends that we can play with.

It really was a Great Weekend!

(now for the dirty laundry--yuck!)

(not sure why blogger won't let me have more pcitures, I will post again with more!)