I've been tagged

Here's what a big goof ball I am, I was tagged by My Full Hands and I was so excited. Hey I have on-line friends Yeah!

So here goes

Seven things I want to do before I die:
1. go to Africa
2. serve a mission (or four) with my husband
3. see all my children married in the temple
4. learn how to quilt
5. teach seminary
6. become a good swimmer
7. live out of the country for a while

Seven things I cannot do:
1. go under water without getting water up my nose and gagging
2. blow my nose
3. think spatically
4. speak a foreign language
5. figure out how to put links on my sidebar
6. spell well
7. go to wal-mart without spending more than I planned on

Seven things that attracted me to my spouse:
1. his intelligence
2. he's tall, dark and handsome
3. he loves kids
4. he wants to do good
5. he's very sincere
6. he's hard working
7. he's dependable


Seven things that I say often:
1. I love you
2. clean up your room
3. dinner's ready
4. where are my keys?
5. remember who you are
6. brush your teeth
7. how was your day?

Seven Books I Love:
1. Baby Catcher
2. Pride and Prejudice
3. Where the Wild Things Are
4. The Book of Mormon
5. Anne of Green Gables
6. Harry Potter
7. Work & Glory series

Seven Movies I Could Watch Over and Over: I'm not big on watching movies a lot of times but some I like and could watch more than once are
1. The Other Side of Heaven
2. My Big Fat Greek Wedding
3. While You Were Sleeping
4. Santa Clause 2
5. Sleepless in Seattle
6. Doc Hollywood
7.Cheaper by the Dozen

Seven people I'd like to hear Sevens from:
I don't know very many bloggers, but if you read here and want to please do and leave me a link so I can read them!

what do teens like to do?

Week one of summer vacation is well under way. We have our house full of teens (4) of them. And littles (3) of them. And dogs (2) of them and a husbands (just 1). It's been fun. I've been playing the part of cruise director a bit, not wanting our visitors to be "bored". We've gone to blockbuster every day. They've swam every day. And we took one trip to the mall, 2 to wal-mart, two trips to the theater to see a movie, one to an ice cream shop and spent one day of rest at church. I love Sunday, it's such a commotion free day. No shopping anywhere, no wet bathing suits, no requests to go to Sonic or Wings 21 or anywhere :)

Yesterday we had several friends over to swim and BBQ. It was really nice. We stayed in the pool until after dark. I made a new kabob recipe that was really good and we had a fun time visiting.

Of all the movies we've rented the last few days I have liked Bride and Prejudice the best. It's a modern day spin on the Jane Austen classic set in India. It was fun and a little cheesy. Tonight after family folding party we are watching Cheaper by the Dozen 2 and eating my sister Val's secret popcorn recipe! Yum.

Jess, who is the only child at home, is shocked by our chores. She cheerfully participates but kind of shakes her head while she does it. Family cleaning hour she proclaimed 'fun' the first time. Today when I announced we were having a folding party tonight she asked what that was. I said to her, well what does it sound like. Like you fold something she answered, still not guessing the fun that was in store. Yep, we fold all the laundry pileing up in the laundry room and put it away. Wow, she said, how long does that take? Hours answered S and J. She believed them. Really when we all do it together it takes less than one hour. Even if we have loads and loads! Many hands really do make light work.

in his father's shoes

E is almost 4. He is counting down the days until his birthday. Right now we're trying to decide between a Star Wars party and a cowboy party. He loves his dad more than anyone. This weekend Dh moved our septic line to sprinkle in the side yard instead of the back. E "helped". He loves to play x-box with him, work with him, swim with him, go on errands, hit a baseball or any ball, and every night wants his dad to tuck him in and tell him a story. I'll be a long time before E fills his dads boots, but I am daily grateful that he has a good example to follow as he grows up to be a man.

room for one more

We have summer visitors. DH's young cousin Jess is here from Florida for 10 days. She and S and J get along really well and the littles love her so everyone was excited for her to come. I am hoping she won't be bored. Between the pool, the kids and Blockbuster hopefully it'll be fine. We also have a big sewing project this weekend that she's agreed to help with. S (read: with our help) volunteered to make 100 rice bags for our up coming youth conference. It's a good service project and we have the time. I wonder if we have the skill however :)

J brought a bitty baby crib with her for the girls. It's been a huge hit!

G wants to sit in it herself although she's finally getting the hang of putting babies in it instead of her own cute buns.






Today was the last day of school. This afternoon some friends came over to swim. This is Kelly, J, S, H and Jess. We also had Emma over. Our pool is so fun.

This shot cracks me up. What is she looking for?



Our other summer company is my little sister. My parents went walk about, or drive about, for the next three weeks and Em, who is 17, will be staying with us. Yes she is younger than my oldest DD. Yes it's weird, and yes it's fun. We had 5 biological children in our famliy and then we adopted 3. Two from India and Em from Peru. It's been very fun for my big girls to have aunts their same ages. We have a very crazy summer planned. Mom and Dad are off visiting some of my siblings. Then Dad will go to CA to teach for the summer and mom will come back with my sister and her kids and we'll all be here for 3 weeks (we can't wait!) then we all turn around and go to Utah for 2 weeks. So fun. Then we come home to lay around in the sun. I don't know what mom's plans are but dad will finish teaching and then come back here in time to greet his brother and sister visiting from France. Emily is at a hard stage in her life to leave for the summer as she needs to work and finish up her high school diploma. She doesn't drive yet, which will be busy for us, but we're happy to have her here. Also CJ, the dog is here. We're like The Mushroom That Grew in the Rain (I forget the author), or Jan Brett's Mitten. There is always room for one more!

Speaking of authors I am reading a good book. It's called the Life of Pi. I know I'm behind the curve in new literature but I am enjoying it. S has to read Grapes of Wrath and The Man Who Would Be King this summer. So many books, so little time!

tooth fairy

H lost her tooth. It's her fifth. First one on the top. Very exciting. She had been wiggling and wondering for days. Finally, just before bed time, it came out. Really that's the perfect time because then you get to postpone bedtime a bit.


At our house the tooth fairy is a real slacker . She often just plain forgets. EB and SC they show up like clockwork but that darn tooth fairy is another story. Last time H lost a tooth she took the tooth but didn't leave any money. Don't know what happened there. Once J lost a tooth on Sunday evening and put it under her pillow but nothing happened. We figured she probably doesn't work on the Sabbath and the next night she did come. Sometimes we wonder if she goes alphabetically to people's homes and since our last name starts with a letter at the end of the alphabet she runs out of time before day break. Whatever the reason there is often some delay. After a few teeth my older girls just started coming to me and handing me the tooth and asking for money. Which was okay, there is other magic to be had. :( insert sigh

H has another solution however. She got a toothfairy house that I painted for Grandma a long time ago and asked if we could have it for our house. You lift off the chimney and drop in the tooth and in the morning there is change in it's place. It worked well :) Hope it keeps working we have many more teeth to loose in the up coming years and I don't see my memory getting any better.

Letter Game. I got "W"

The object of the game is to come up with 10 words that start with your letter and explain why. If you want to play and don't have a letter I'll be happy to give you one just leave me a message.

1. Watermelon. We try and grow them, and love to eat them, and the kids love to spit the seeds. It seems as American as the 4th of July and fireworks and very summery.

2. Words. I love to read them. There is nothing better than a good book. I love to hear them- whispered in the dark by DH while we plan our lives and for our children's happiness, across the phone from sisters that I love who live too far away, shouted out by happy kids playing, uttered reverently in prayer, spoken tentatively by little ones learning their meaning and their sounds, punctuated with laughter at girls night out, full of meaning and love when shared with my kids.

3. Weight. The daily, yearly struggle.

4. Work. What my name means in Basque. Also key to happiness I think. We are here to work, to do things that are meaningful and of benefit to others. I struggle to teach my children to work hard and well and that real satisfaction and joy come from work.

5. Whale. One of my favortie animals.

6. Wait. Something I do a lot. I wait for kids at violin lessons and tap class and soccer practice and early morning seminary. I wait for the dryer to go off, for water to boil, for lights to turn green, in the endless line at wal-mart. I wait for teens to come home late in the evening, for little boys to learn to shoot pee in the toilet, for babies to fall asleep. I wait.

7. Watch. Something I can never wear very long. Ever since I had radio-active iodine treatment for thyroid cancer the batteries never last long on me. Wierd huh?

8. Walk. I try to walk the walk and not just talk to the talk. I want to lead by example and walk the path the Savoir would have me. I also try and mentally "walk a mile" in someone else's shoes and offer help not criticisim to them.

9. Wasabi. This represents my love of food. I think I am an adventursome eater and like to try lots of things. I like most things. But not all.

10. Wash. I am grateful that my sins can be washed away by the atonement of the Saviour Jesus Christ. What a blessing this is.

absurdly easy chocolate cake

Today H and I wanted to make chocolate cake. We didn't have any cake mix so we went on-line and found a recipe. She made it mostly by herself and it turned out so good!

3 cups flour
2 cups sugar
6 T cocoa
2 t baking soda
1 t salt
3/4 cup vegtable oil
2 T vinegar
2 t vanilla
2 cups cold water

Mix the dry ingredients. Add wet. Stir until smooth. Bake at 350 for 30 minutes.

Then we made frosting. We had so much fun together. E had Jake over playing so they were busy and G was napping and the big girls were off reading or doing homework or something.

Tonight we went to Mom's for dinner. It was very nice. After we invited Rick and Robin down to share some cake. Meanwhile Sheila had gone to their house too so we invited her and the boys. We ended up spending several more hours talking and visiting. It was good. They are so sad (they are Meridith's parents) but dealing with it. I think it was good to get out and be with people.

I have been thinking about time and what a precious gift that is to give someone. I was really happy we could spend that time this evening with them and I think it was good for them too. Sheila is moving to Ohio for her husband to finished his fellowship and then they are off to practice medicine in Utah. We have really only a few weeks left and everyone is trying to spend time together. That's what we'll miss the most. The kids want/need our time. Our friends need our time. Spouses, parents, callings, siblings, all these things need our time. How we spend our time is so important. There are times when I hestitate because I feel pressure to spend my time on things, good things but still things. I might not want to have someone over because our home isn't spotless but I think I need to a) yes have the house ready to be walked into but also b) realize that my time is more important and more needed than a floor that doesn't have toys on it. I might not want to read another story or go to the park because there is laundry to be done or errands to be run. Again see a and b above. Time is precious. The things I will miss about Sheila being gone is time. The thing we mourn about Meridith's death is the loss of time for her to grow and become and to spend with those she loved. The thing that's hardest about a daughter at college is the time I don't have. The mornings at family scripture reading, the standing in the laundry room laughing about something while we fold clothes, the late night time spent hearing about how the evening went. It's all about time.

Note to self: Spend your time on that which is most valuable.

friend or foe?

We went swimming this afternoon and everone was getting sunscreen on and getting ready, some of the kids already in the shallow end when S went to the diving rock to jump in and said "there's a snake in the water!" Well this was met with much excitement. I actually don't mind snakes. My brothers caught many growing up and we had several aquariums worth of pet reptiles. We didn't know what kind this was though and living in cotton mouth country we needed to find out. I ran inside to get the aquarium, recently vacated, and the camera. DH went for the lightsaber (the weapon of choice for almost any situation around here) and with cameras clicking he heroically swam in and retrieved the little beast.

Then we swam.

Then we came inside to check on the internet, hey we have our priorities straight swim time comes first! and it's not like he was going anywhere.

We think it's a blotched water snake. Non venemous but aggresive. Probably not the perfect pet. Darn, I kind of wanted a snake.

ps does agressive have two "g"s "r"s or "e"s? I am not a very good speller :(

funeral was today

Meridith's funeral was today. I didn't get to go. Around 2am E woke up with a 102 fever. He was sick. I actually tried to find someone to watch him but I didn't want to leave him with someone he didn't know well since he was sick and everyone we know well were going. Gma tried to watch him but I ended up being called home as soon as I had a seat. The place was packed. J was the only one who went. I really wanted to go, and I really wanted to help. I guess E only has one mom though and the funeral went well without me.

On the plus side I got a lot of laundry done since I was bummed about being home and keeping busy. And the hippies won! That almost makes up for Terry losing.

It's hot already and the kids are loving the pool. One more week of school and we are in full time vacation mode!

Now it's time to solve the 5 o'clock mystery. What's for dinner?

I love the Dollar Tree

We love to go to the dollar tree. They have so many treasures and the kids think it's so cool to go in and pick anything they want. Of course the toys often break in two days, but the happy memory lives on (Hopefully).

Today E picked this. He loves weapons and airplanes and such. Maybe he'll grow up and be a fighter pilot.

This isn't from the dollar tree but when I was takinga picture of my new gnome (below) I looked up and saw them blooming so beautifully on the porch and couldn't resist. I love our plumeria plant! It's so tropical.

I still want a bigger one but for a buck isn' he cute?

world's yummiest dessert

In February we went to Utah for the weekend and my cousin Tiffany made this yummy dessert. I got the recipe recently and it's quickly becomeing a family favorite, and it's easy to make too!
1 cup flour
1 cup water
1/2 cup butter
4 eggs
1pkg white chocolate pudding
1 pkg cream cheese
1 tub cool whip
hot fudge sauce
strawberries

boil water and butter together until butter is melted. Add in flour and then eggs, one at a time. Spread in greased 11x14 pan (I just use my largest cake pan). Bake at 350 for 15-20 minutes.

Make pudding according to pkg directions. Stir in softend cool whip. Pour on top of crust. Put in the fridge for 2 hours. Spread cool whip on top. Drizzle with hot fudge and slices strawberries.

Dad said this is "better than tapioca!"

family photo from picture people

feeling kind of guilty

Life continues. Yet there is such a feeling of sadness around. I can't imagine what it's like for the family. I feel guilty as I go about my daily business and we are happy, for the most part. That's part of the joy of the gospel, you feel happy. Obedience brings happiness it's as simple as that.

We had a good weekend with Dani. Saturday was Caroline's wedding. It was so nice. It was decorated so beautifully and she looked so happy. We had a lot of fun there. They had Irish step dancers perform that were wonderful. It's been such a treat for me to watch these young women, whom I've served with for so many years, grow up and have families, get married, go to college, grow in testimony and character and beauty. I am so grateful them and that chance I've had to know them and be their leader. This day, Caroline's wedding day, was one of great happiness.

Sunday was Mother's day. It was very nice. The girls gave me thoughtful gifts and I received many wishes for a happy day. Our good friends came over for a BBQ, we had an impromptu talent show with everyone required to participate. We had magic tricks, songs, violin solos, piano solos, poems recited, the splits done (twice), juggling, and a light saber fight. It was so fun.

Monday D and I took the little kids to the zoo. It was so fun. The weather was perfect and we enjoyed watching the kids run around.

A picture of my big girls all together! They are growing up so fast!

Monday night we went and took family pictures. They turned out so cute! I was so happy. I need to figure out if I can post one here or if that's not allowed.

D went home this morning.

Now we have many funeral related things to do for the next couple of days.

too sad to even say out loud

D came home on Friday. We have been having a wonderful time seeing her. Sadly we also had a great tragedy on Friday too. We had spent a lot of the day getting D at the airport and her luggage, which arrived on a different flight than she did. J skipped school to come with us she was so excited to see her sister. You can imagine the details and the waiting. It wasn't too bad for us, we visited and had lunch. E was playing with his friend Jake, and the other girls were in school so we only had baby G with us.

When we were finally driving home my friend Sheila, who had E, called sobbing. "There's been a terrible accident," she said over and over. I thought E was dead, or missing or something. It was an awful moment. Then she said Meridith is dead. Shock. Silence except for the sound of her crying on the other end. Then the reaction. There are no words really for the shock, the saddness, the loss. Meridith was D's best friend for many years of growing up, then there was a fall out over a boy, then a make-up, then off to college and they were friends again. She was almost 20 and beautiful and so nice. She and her brother were in Cancun and driving back to the hotel from the ruins in a jeep. Meridith was in the back seat, with no safety belt on. The car flipped, we don't know how. She was thrown. He scrambbled out of and searched for her in the jungle, finally found her unconscious. He gave her a blessing and she awoke for a moment. He said, talk to me you'll be fine. Sing to me. I can't breathe, you sing to me were her last words. And he did. And she died. A family's grief is too big to define.

I knew her well. Watched her leave for proms, swim in our pool, our daughter was part of their family, she was part of ours. They are the kind of family that lots of people feel that way about. Even though we know the plan of happiness and that she is in a better place. And we know she was a good girl and things were right with her it is still so sad. I am, frankly, not even a person who usually gets that upset at death. I know it's the beginning of a wonderful new eternity. But this one is hard. She left a big hole.

One more day...

and Dani comes home for the weekend! I can't wait. We miss her. All of us. I had hoped she would come home for the summer. I want to talk to her every day and see her laugh at stuff and know where she is and what she's doing. I also am so glad she's at school and loving living on her own. I want her to see and do and experience all the wonders life has to offer. Is that called schizophrenia? Or just being a mom?

S's school was missing part of her shot record, or so we got notice of last week. Today we went and got a copy and much to her relief she didn't need to get the missing shot, it was there. We also spent the morning at the orthodontist getting a new retainer. And we get to go back this afternoon to pick up the retainer.

J is at Medieval Times right now at what I am hoping will be such a fun field trip. Can't wait to hear about it when she gets home.

Yesterday we had a house full of boys. We babysat Carson and Mason while their mom went on a field trip. Then we had Peter and Kyle for short time too while their mom went to the school for teacher appreciation week. Not much else got done but the boys had fun.

Had a yummy dinner last night. Oriental chicken and fruited rice pilaf.

Rice recipe
1pkg rice pilaf
2T butter
1/2 cup pineapple
1/2 cup raisins
1/4 cup italian dressing
toasted coconut.

Cook rice according to pkg directions. Stir in butter until melted. Add pineapple, raisins, and salad dressing. Top with toasted coconut.
Yummy.
I have to double it for my family.

survey of my faithful readers :)
We are taking family pictures on monday.
E, DH, and S are wearing chocolate
J,G,H and D are wearing pink
Should I wear pink or brown? I have both.

not enough hours, the end

3pm the school bus brings H home. We usually wait on the porch for her.
Then we get to go pick up S. Today we also got to spend the next two hours driving to pick up DH at work and then taking him to pick up his truck. And then being caught in traffic.

6pm time for a quick swim while I fixed dinner.

banger and mash, & veggies.

At 7 the big girls went to YW, I gave baths and read stories got things settled for the night.

9pm finishing cleaning the kitchen, and other evening chores.

10pm clothes are folded and ready to put away. We are ready to get to bed.

I didn't document the 10 diapers I changed, the time on the computer, the time picking up and picking up again. The homework done, stories read or other small things but this is pretty much a portait of a day.

We were in bed by 11pm.

not enough hours in the day

8:00am Dropping the kids off at school. We stop at three schools. This is J with her science invention going to middle school.

6:00am S goes to seminary. It's a great thing. That said we are also counting down the days until the end of the school year and a chance to sleep in for a couple of months!

5am~ish. All is quiet on the homefront. And our day begins.

7:00am dropping off muffins for teacher apprication breakfast.

I started this post yesterday. I thought it would be fun to take a shot every hour and sort of catalog the day. The blogger picture uploading site was down most of the day, which put a kink in my plan. And I can't seem to load things in the order I want but even though it's not a perfect product I wanted to finish anyway. I am keeping my blog as a journal for my self, and my sisters (my only faithful readers to be sure :)) already know I mess things up!

not enough hours in the day cont.

Noon: G's story time.


11:00 am went to school to have lunch with H and her friends. After we got to play on the playground too. Very fun!




1pm: Time to clean the bathrooms. We walked over to Kyles to see if E was ready to come home from playing. He wasn't. Now G is napping andI have some quality cleaning time. This is the before shot.

10:00 am. Talked on the phone to D, who broke up with Greg and is so sad. It's hard to know what to say from a million miles away. I am glad she's coming home this weekend and am counting down the minutes!

9:00 Kids are off to school and it's time for G to get in the bath. (this is actually around 9:30 because E didn't go to preschool until 9:15.

Jazz costume, taken at home

Dance ~ picture day

Today is that wonderfully fun day that comes once a year when we get to go to the dance studio and take pictures. This is great fun, for the dancers.
H is in three dances this year: a Jazz dance, a ballet dance and a tap dance. She loves her costumes. The girls all get dressed in one dance room, do hair and make-up and prance around waiting for their turns. The pictures are taken in the other room. Meanwhile the mom's get to help them change. They get to keep track of costumes and assigned hair styles and paraphanalia. And in my case I also got to keep track of two little siblings, who started out excited to be there.

But ended up just bored. One other mom had a little sister there too. After about the first hour and a half of "fun" she said to me. Shelby is such a pain in the neck but just when I am ready to lock her in the car until we are finished I look at you and your two and think "it could be worse".

Glad to be of service.

We survived and came home to a quick swim for the kids while Grandma and I made a yummy dinner. I made garden veggies and ham and there was none left. She made spinach/strawberry salad. Again none left. We had FHE and then tucked the little urchins into bed.

It's so fun to have grandparents nearby. We are getting spoiled!

Paint, part 2

dad and DH finished painting this weekend. The new purple is nice. We like it. DH also put in his medicine cabinet. He likes it . I like it. It's good. After they painted the bedroom, which I also like but now the curtains and bedspread don't match...it's always something :)

The weekend was rainy. Girls night was fun. We went to a resturant that was maybe a little more expensive than I really wanted to go to but we laughed and ate and had a good time. Somehow we ended up going around the table and telling how we were proposed to and that was fun.

The soccer party also was a success. The kids got trophies and we ate pizza. The team got together and got the two coaches gift cards to Home Depot and Shady Oaks BBQ. It was thoughtful of them.

J is still mad. Hopefully she'll cheer up soon. This morning she forgot her history project at home and when I ran it up to her she was grateful and ran up all smiley and happy.

well, sadly I have cleaning up to do instead of blogging.

cinco de mayo

We've had a good start to the weekend. Yesterday Dad and DH painted. They got our bedroom done and I love it. Sadly now our curtains and comforter don't match the room. And the list never ends!

E got to go to Jake's birthday party. A big event to be sure. All day he kept asking is it night time yet, is it night time yet. He bought Jake Star Wars guys and was very excited to give them to him.

H had Emmaline spend the night. They put on make-up, polished toes, ate popcorn, played outside, set up a tent inside and watched movies. They were asleep before midnight so that was good. Now it's almost 8am and all is quiet except for G toddleing around the computer room with me.

S and J went to a girls camp kick off of star gazing, hot dog eating, tye dye shirt making and other fun activities. I went to pick them up late last night and drove through a beautiful TX thunderstorm. We've been getting rain on and off all week and lots of storms. Nothing severe for us so that's a good thing.

G got molars yesterday, at least I saw them for the first time yesterday. She's growing up :(

On the not so fun side of things we had some familial conflict. J and H sometimes have issues. H can be a pesky little sister and J isn't always tolerant. Yesterday what started out with an innocent bump escalated into kicking each other, not acceptable. H came crying, J got in trouble. It wasn't handled well and we had a downward spiral of crying and hurt feelings.
It's very difficult to know what to do as a parent. We really want to teach the children to be kind to each other and to foster an environment where feelings of love for one another can grow. I remember being the oldest kid in a large famliy that I often just wanted to ignore the fact that the younger kids were there, I didn't always want family obligations or even the joys of family life. So I understand J's feelings. I also know that now as an adult I love my siblings so much and love the time we spend together and hate that it's not more often. They are truely a joy to me. I think in the long run that will be the end result for these guys too. I hope it will. Still I want it to be nice now too. I want each kid to feel safe, loved, valued, important, heard, empowered, to have a voice and a place and a soft spot to land. Is that too much to ask?

Some time I'll post about step families. When I have the words sorted out. It's an added difficulty that's for sure. I am not a step mom so I don't know what that is like. But I watch DH, a good man, who loves my kids and our kids and wants to be a great dad but who isn't perfect (that's a shocker I know) and I see the kids and their struggles and I feel like I need to be a bridge between them and bring us all together. Someones not doing a great job of it.
This is why marriage is so important. Choose well, stay committed, be obedient to Heavenly Fathers commandments avoid some of these problems for yourselves and for your children; that is the advice I want to share with my girls. Choose well. (and Ethan of course)

Anyway, soccer party today. YW fund raiser is going on. Tonight is our about semi annual girls night so big fun plans. Hopefully it will be a good day.l

random good things

Thought I'd spend a minute being grateful.

The new purple is up and I love it. Batteries are charing so picture will be coming later. Dad came over yesterday and helped (read: painted almost all of it himself) and it looks SO much better! Yeah.

Tomorrow we're doing the bedroom! I love paint!

Yesterday I saw a roadrunner running across our yard. He was so cute. I like birds and we spot fun ones around here frequently. I wouldn't mind being a bird watcher and going on bird watching trips. I bet Africa would be a great place to spot birds (hint.)

Tomorrow is Cinco de Mayo and the kids have school off and R has work off. What a great day. Frankly I would happily celebrate the invention of the tube sock day if it got us all a day off!

D and Greg are coming to visit next weekend. I.CAN.NOT.WAIT!!!

The hippies didn't get eliminated!, now I have my fingers crossed for Terry tonight.

DH's truck needs repairs, costly repairs. How does that get on this list? Well it's tax return season so we have the money coming. I would have much rather spend it on a leather couch, a trip to Lagoon, a sprinkler system for the front yard, pretty much anything really; but I am still grateful that we can fix the car. We are on an aggressive debt elimination program scheduleing a debt free state for us in one year. It won't be pretty. But I am excited and so glad that DH and I are on the same page with this it will be so much much better and a real weight off our minds and in line with following the prophets counsel. This truck needs to last one more year. Then it can retire to sometimes used to haul stuff vehical status.

Count down's one to summer vacation. We're in the teens!!!

Everyone is healthy.

The sun is shining.

We get to see Grandma and Papa often and Nana and Abba are coming to visit in a couple of weeks.

Life is good.

Last thought: different topic but still pretty random, I think I want a gnome for the garden.

Uh Oh

We've (read: I) been wanting to paint the bathroom purple. DH wanted a medicine cabinet. He doesn't like to keep his shaving equiptment, vitamins, and what nots under the sink in the cabinet there. On top of the sink doesn't work either because it looks to cluttery and we are always fighting clutter. So a wall cabinet seems like a good solution. We've talked about it now and then but today he told me he was stopping at Lowes on the way home and buying one. I offered to meet him to look at them with him. For the record he chose the one he wanted. While there I mentioned that since "we" have been wanting to paint it might be a good idea to go ahead and do that before hanging the cabinet. So we went and got paint.

We made two mistakes. First we love Behr paint. It is the best. Lowes doesn't carry it. We should have left and gone across the street to Home Depot but no we decided to try one of their paints. We got American Heritage brand and don't like it. It's clumpy and thick and doesn't roll on the wall nicely at all. The second mistake was we tried to pick the shade together. This has happend before. We both try and be nice and compromise and then no one is happy. What works well is for me to go and buy the paint, after we agree on a color like:purple. I bring home the shade I like. He says it's too dark and grumbles a bit while painting. I "help" and say things like "this is turning out great", and "look how good you are at the edges now." Then when it's done we both like it, except for in the case of our red room which I LOVE and he doesn't.

After a short time of painting in the bathroom we called it a pause and now are reflecting over night. Neither one of us likes the paint or how it's physically rolling on. As for the color he thinks it's too dark. I am not sure what I think. I wanted a dusky, muted blue-grayish purple that is rich and warm . What does this color say to you?

Come on Honey, lets go steal brothers chocolate.

It must be in the DNA, that's the only thing I can figure. G is hooked, she loves chocolate. Despite my attempts at a healthy breastmilk and organic veggies diet she tried her first bite of chocolate and now she loves it. So do the other girls in the family. The boy however has an Easter rabbit, in it's box, sitting on his book shelf like it's a knick knack or something. How weird is that? The rest of us have walked by it on many occasion shaking our heads in disbelief, our own yummy easter treats long gone. This morning we needed chocolate.

Yesterday poor J didn't make Mascot. It was very disappointing. We didn't even have time to properly mourn the lose (by going to Sonic of course for an ice cream something) because we had to rush to a mandatory parent meeting for the drill team and I didn't even have time to drop J off first; so rubbing salt into the wound we went to hear about how much fun S was going to have next year. Not that J was a bad sport about it, but I felt bad. Then we came home to a stressful night. Dinner wasn't turning out well, kids stayed up too late swimming. R and I had a disagreement about something silly, ect. This morning I had plans to go swimsuit shopping (need I say more) and when I arrived back at the casa to get ready after dropping kids off at three different schools I saw the magic mop in the driveway. They weren't supposed to come until tomorrow. This was not a welcome site. I need several hours the day before they come to really get ready and to be able to fully utilize them and enjoy their visit. I like to have all the laundry done, toys picked up and things in general readiness.

With a big sigh I abandoned my plans and let them in and then spent the next hour cleaning with them so that the clutter was out of the way and they could find the kitchen sink. After that I quit and played w/ G and they finished. Things look nice but I don't want a repeat. I do think, however, that I will request these two girls to come back because they were friendly and quick and got stuff the last ones missed.

Meanwhile Kriste came to pick up E for preschool. We live on the same street and trade rides for the boys and usually trade boys after "school" to play. Thurday is my driving/keeping Kyle day. Today E didn't want to go, of course, and cried and complained. He also didn't want to stay after and play. Sometimes he doesn't. I am fine with that, I actually like his company. I always feel badly though because then Kyle is sad. E is all boy. He has some friends who, like him, love to make noise, battle, run around and dig in mud or anything gross. He lOVES those "guys". He has some other friends who are more calm and nice. Kyle is one of those. Even though he likes Kyle he doens't always want to play with him. Last week when they played E came home saying he always felt mad because Kyle treated him like a baby because Kyle can read and E can't. They are both three and this isn't a huge problem in my mind but I guess it is in E's. He asked me to teach him to read, so we've been having "reading lessons" during G's nap time and it's going fine. Kyle is a great reader, he has an exceptional brain, that said this isn't a competition. I have kids who have read young, and one who didn't read until well into 2nd grade. All are bright and good students. I've been a mom long enough to know that you can't compare your kids to your friends, or your kids to each other. Everyone has different strengths. I also know that when you are small you don't always feel that way and this is a real upset to E. So we'll happily work on it together.

So, we got E off. Got things clean and then D called. She moved into her new apartment. She's excited and we visited for a few minutes. Then the inevitable, I need some money. She's been really quite good at living in the budget we give her, plus the money she earns. This last month she's had some extra expenses though. sigh.

After I got off the phone I scooped up a fussy G and said "come on honey, lets go get E's bunny and eat just the ears" and we did.....

did it help? Yep.