Library day!

I am at our local library using the computer.

Something that I have learned today: Never post about something that others will learn about but haven't! Case in point---I posted about not teaching preschool in May due to the crazy schedules of my kids. Well, I sent papers to each parent telling them of my decision---thing is that the postal service isn't as quick as I thought they would be! So, one of my friends(who shall remain nameless!!!!) who knows about this blog read it and was talking to one of my preschool Moms----she hadn't gotten the paper yet! I am sure that was a shocker to read about it with out being told in person. Do I feel stupid or what? Well, I expected all the Mom's to have had the notice yesterday(Monday) well, NONE of them got it. I had to talk to each parent today, without them having any prior knowledge about it. Not that big of deal really. I have great Moms but I wanted them to get the information in the mail first----oh, well!!

Well, the library is closing. Now, what do I do with myself for another hour while we wait for baseball practice to end?

My computer is almost finished! It will now have a HUGE hard drive. I can take even more pictures!!!

Life is busy--as always

My computer is at the computer doctor getting a bigger hard drive. 17,678 pictures takes up a lot of space!

Yesterday April 24, was my Mr. Sweetness' birthday! What did we do to celebrate? He drove five hours home from Boise Idaho and then went to SLC for a dance competition for the girls. Now if that doesn't show how deep we are into this family thing nothing will! We did all go to dinner after the competition.

We are headed back to the competition in awhile. A danced last night and MissE will dance tonight. Usually it is all in one day. I am not sure which is better.

This Thursday is the last day of preschool. We will have a little graduation ceremony and then we will be finished. I am actually quite glad that it is time for it to end. It has been much harder than I thought. My little man has struggled having the other children in his space, with his toys and with his Mom. I never imagined that he would struggle with it. I made the decision to not teach next year. He doesn't need another year of being in trouble by his teacher mommy!

I am hoping that by having the month of May without preschool I can get a few things caught up in my life. Perhaps by getting them done now I can feel a bit more in control of my summer. It is often pure chaos having all the kids home all the time. If we were used to it--all of us---like my home schooling friends it might be different. However, where we are not it takes some adjusting.
We do have a few fun trips planned so that is exciting.

Our biggest plans are a trip to Nauvoo! We went there for 1 1/2 days a few years ago and I have so wanted to go back ever since. We decided that we had to do this now so that MissA can go with us. She will turn 16 very soon and she only has two years before she graduates. Once that happens it is not a given that she would go on a trip with us. The old saying--time flies---is so true!

Well, have to go curl some hair!!

Yuck

Today was "park day" for preschool. I noticed while there that my allergies were going nuts. I was sneezing, my nose was runny and stuffy. Well----I officially have a cold. I am hot then cold. I sneeze a lot and my nose is totally stuffy and also running a race.

Funnest part? My Mr. Sweetness isn't here to make little boy food.

Little Town

My Little Town

I grew up in a little town. Population 3,312(I remember really trivial things!) My little town was the perfect place to grow up. We lived in a lovely older part of town. The homes were built in the early part of the 1900's. Ours was built in 1904. In front of our house is a huge pine tree, it must be over 100 years old. There are old picture's of the town and you can see our tree!

My parent's bought our home in 1967, a year before I was born. They were a young couple with three little children. The other neighbors were some years older. Their children were also a bit older. I remember playing neighborhood games. I was the youngest so I was usually overlooked. I specifically remember playing "Steal the Flag". We would usually play across the street at the Hillman's. They had a perfect sidewalk to make a center line. I was usually on someones team--just because they had to let me play. I was pretty little, under five, so I was not a reliable team member. On occasion, however, I would decide that no one was paying attention to me and I would be able to steal that flag without anyone the wiser-until it was too late. I remember having water fights across the street. We would hook both of our hoses together and the neighbors would as well. We would stand and spray each other from our own sides of the street.(once again, I was really little, my big brother and sister were the ones holding the hoses)

The Snake River runs through our little town. It is only a block away from our home. There is a place called "The Sand Bar". It is on the edge of the river. About 45-50 years ago a recreation area of sorts was built. Right on the waters edge, cement was poured with stairs going down to the water. We live near the Sand Dunes so the city goes every year and gets loads of the softest sand in the world and brings it and fills in the cement walls. There is a lifeguard in the summer and a buoyed off area for the younger children to swim. Up the river is a diving board and docks where the big kids hang out. We would spend hours at the Sand Bar. My Mom would put on a crazy flowered hat(it was the 70's) and bring a book to read. We would play and play. We would get in the water and then roll around in the warm sand. We would bury each other and then do it all over again. We built dams, sand castles with moats and caught minnows in buckets.

Our little town had a true "business district" when I was little. We had a movie theater, a jewelery store, variety store, sporting goods store, a bowling alley, florist, hardware store, two drugstores with soda fountains, clothing stores, fabric stores and others. This was before lumber mills went out of business and before large box stores were created. People shopped in their own little towns.

In our little town people knew who you were. I remember my Dad waving to everyone. He always knew them. My Dad taught at the High School for many years. He also owned a business in town. My Mom had been raised there along with eight siblings. There was a familiarity in our town.

I would ride my bike all over town. I knew many of the people that lived in the homes. There were parks that we played at constantly. The closest parks to us were "The Horsey Park" and the "City Park". Both of these parks had other official names but everyone knew them by these names.

I graduated from High School more than two decades ago. I have been married for 19 years. When I go to visit my Mom I usually end up on a walk, run or bike ride going around town. I notice the old homes that haven't been kept up as nicely. I notice the new paint job, new porch or burnt lawns. I notice the old buildings that have been torn down with a few new ones in their place. I notice empty store fronts. More empty than full. The movie theater has been vacant for more than 20 years. The two down town grocery stores have long since been torn down with new businesses in their place. I notice homes where my friends lived. Some of their parent's still live in them, they look like they should. Other's have moved. Those homes look foreign to me, like someone has switched the props around in a play.

As I continue on I notice that the sunlight is different here than it is where I live now. It seems softer, more gentle. The air even smells different. Perhaps it is the May trees or the wood burning stoves in December. The air is crisper, colder here. The snow is crunchier and the nights darker.

I am acutely aware of the differences when I am in our little town.

I now live in a different little town in a different state. We live outside of town but we are in town almost daily. Today as I was dropping off movies and picking up the Big Boy from baseball I looked around at this little town. It too, used to have a business district-it is now mostly vacant. It has lovely parks, trees, a library and schools. I see people of all ages walking, riding, running, and visiting with their neighbors.

I wonder ---will I ever feel "at home" again?

Eewh!

You know that there is a problem when you can smell the bathroom from the hall!

Monday

Once again it is Monday. Today I am trying for a love relationship with it.

What's on the agenda?
*Gym
*Attacking Mt. Washmore--it is deep
*Costco run
*new baseball pants
*dental appt. for 4 of us
*first baseball game of the season
*FHE

It doesn't really look like that much however, going to town actually takes almost my entire day. As women throughout time---I need at least six more hours in my day--in the good part of the day, not the middle of the night!

This is going to be a good week! This is going to be a good week! This is going to be a good week!

Laundry will have to wait

Today is Friday. I would like to stay in my lovely home and work in my studio(aka:the junk room). What will I be doing instead?

*Mt. Washmore--oh, that will have to wait again.(I am hoping that all family members have clean undies)
*Grocery shopping for Relay for Life(two teams sponsored from the singles ward--in honor of Paulette-a cancer survivor and dear friend)
*Birthday treat for MissE's class
*Take treat to school for MissE
*neighborhood lunch
*packing everything for Relay for Life tonight
*Registering M for baseball clinic
*waiting to pick M up from baseball clinic
*going to Relay for Life--ALL NIGHT LONG(we may freeze to death-or just hide out in the motor home instead of next to the duck pond!)
*cooking, walking, enjoying
*leave early, early to go to a wedding in SLC.
*go birthday shopping for an almost nine year old MissE!

My Little Bright Spot

A Bright Spot!

Today has been cold, dark, wet and a bit dreary. Then out of the corner of my eye I spotted a bright spot.

My flowers!

On Easter Sunday I opened the door to find my sweet friend Mia standing at the door with the most beautiful bouquet of flowers--for me! I was so touched that she would think about me. She is such a talented darling gal. I am so blessed to have her as my friend. Thank you so much Mia. They have certainly been a bright spot in my week as you are in my life!

I'm officially done

I am moving! Somewhere that it doesn't snow. Near water.

I am sick of winter-so sick that I actually told my husband to find a new job. Six months of winter is just too much. I have felt like a total slug since Thanksgiving. That was SIX MONTHS AGO---six months is much too long, it feels like it(winter) has kidnapped my very essence-my soul and has held it hostage.





(Christa--I can't look at your blog-you haven't added me. Call me or grandma for the email!)

Nineteen years and counting!

April 14, 1990

Nineteen years, 4 homes,14 cars,4 children, 2 dogs and a ton of gray hairs! Wow!

The funny thing about time is that looking ahead 19 years sounds like an eternity. Looking back at time-it seems like a moment.

The older I get(and the more wrinkles that find me) the more I realize that I was/am very blessed to have married such a good man. I have many friends who married when I did and they are no longer married. I realize how blessed we are to still really like each other every single day.

Over the course of the last two years we have had many conversations with single young adults about marriage. We have been to over 40 weddings. These young adults are so scared about getting married. They have heard how "hard" it is. I often tell them that if a relationship is hard when you are dating it isn't the right person. I have never felt that my "marriage" was hard. I have been blessed to have one of the really good men. I chose well in the beginning. Now, have there been hard times? Of course. Life is what is hard. All the stuff that surrounds a marriage--jobs, mortgages, children, other people and their ideas, illnesses, messes, expectations, etc. These things are hard.

Being married to my best friend--not so hard.

Happy Anniversary!

Easter Morning!

The Easter Bunny made it to our house. He had new rules this year--color coded egg hunt. Pink egg-E

Purple-A

Green-M

Blue-Little Man

It was so much fun to watch the little ones run around finding their colors-even helping the others find theirs. They realized that there were orange and yellow also-so they got to find those as well. I didn't take too many pictures-not one of M. Sometimes I have to make a conscious choice to just be IN the moment instead of trying to save it for later.

I did decide that when I am a grandma that I want to be one of those grandma's that has a huge Easter Party-with hundreds of eggs for the kids to find. I want traditions that they will remember when they are grown. I think that sometimes things like an egg hunt might seem silly but these are the moments that we remember forever.

Spring Break-Lake Mead

Spring Break at Lake Mead Nevada! One of our favorite places to go!

The water was COLD but it didn't slow the kids down-with the help of wetsuits. E tried to wake board-she'll be up going great next time. M and A loved the smooth water. Little man loved the sand and digging for buried treasure-or a sunken boat!

Camping/boating is one of my favorite things to do. There are no distractions. My children get along so much better here than almost anywhere else. There was a moment when the three were on the tube that I was so grateful for. They were having fun-together. That is what it is all for.

Taking a breather---check back Sunday!

Light

Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light not our darkness that frightens us.

We ask ourselves “who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented and fabulous?”
Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small doesn’t serve the world. There’s nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won’t feel insecure around you. We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us.

It’s not just in some of us; it’s in everyone. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same.

As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.

Marianne Williamson

Friday night movie

Last night Mr. Sweetness decided that we should take the two little ones to the movie-the bigger kids were both gone. They chose Monsters vs. Aliens.

Mr. Sweetness and the kids LOVED IT! It wasn't one of my favorite animated movies. The animation was incredible, however. It is just amazing how real things look now with computer animation--down to the individual hairs and freckles.

I am going to try and update my picture blog today-when I get behind it is so hard to stay motivated.

Fun Family Shots

Saturday March 28 --Afternoon boating at Willard--cold but lots of fun!

Random Bits of Nothingness!

*My computer is alive! However, we are going to be adding a bigger hard drive so we will be without it again. So, my posts will be sparse--with no pictures.

*It is still winter here. It is April-Spring must come soon!

*I bought lovely daffodils for my table. My wonderful tulips finally bit the dust.

*I am still struggling with energy, the cold and dark weather just doesn't help me want to go out and go running! I am trying to enlist a friend to start going to the gym in the mornings with me. Perhaps it will be the motivation I need.

*I have been studying my photography books. The more I study the less I know.

*I am avoiding laundry. I have mounds.

*My children have been doing more chores--happy Momma-not so happy kids!

*I went to a scripture study class today and came home depressed. I don't think that is the intention of the class. I felt unlearned and like a failure as a mother. I took the little man to McDonald's after to try and relieve a little gloom.

*I bought more frozen fruit and raw spinach so I can have my green smoothies again.

*My best friend leaves tomorrow for a trip to Germany---without me! I will miss her, every single day.