Happy Day of Rest

Last night was the women's broadcast. It was awesome and uplifting. I went with several friends and we had such a fun time visiting and listening to the messages the Lord would have us hear. It was a good night.

weeping, wailing, gnashing of teeth

it's that season again....the most dreaded season of all to any mother of teenage girls. Worse than baby shots, worse than trips to the dentist, worse than Suzuki violin book 1 (squeak, screech)
It is formal dress shopping time.
Why is everything immodest, over priced, not in the right size, "makes me look fat", "looks like something you would wear", looks like something a street walker would wear?????

I was hoping to dodge the bullet, put off the pain a bit longer, avoid it all together...become Amish, ANYTHING!

but no,

J is going to her first high school dance. And I have to take her shopping.

Homecoming is in two weeks, and she's going to go with a bunch of girl friends. She likes the dress, above, and it would be cute with a little black shrug, which she has agreed to wear. But we are yet to step into a brick and mortar store and see if it exists on the racks.

wish me luck :(

who wouldn't want to come sleep over??

What kind of entertainment can you expect to find at a sleep over here at the Casa of Fun? Well, there is the dissecting of owl pellets. Very fun, and disgusting.


There is frolicking on the grass.


Leaping and jumping.

The catching of frogs.
Eating of ice cream, building of forts, reading of stories, tower construction, running amok, laughing hysterically, computer games, movies watching, x-boxing, hide and seeking, front porch roller coaster rides, somersaults...

just NOT a lot of this.

Certainly "sleep"-over is not the right name:)

camping

This would be perfect weather for camping. My friend Good Life and her family go camping and do outdoorsy stuff all the time. When ever she tells me about it I remember that I like to camp, or I did and I think I should take my kids. This would have been a good weekend because we have a bye in soccer and a week off in karate and the weather is perfect~ coolish but certainly not cold. But

1. we don't actually own a lot of camping gear.
2. the kids saved up tickets and invited friends to spend the night.
3. tomorrow is the women's broadcast so we would have had to come home early.
4. DH isn't much of a camper and the couple times we've tried it have kind of been a disaster.

This is funny to me because I used to consider myself quite the camper, but I might not be any more. When I was growing up we went camping every summer, for a week at the beach. And it was really the highlight of my childhood. It was SOOOOOO fun. I can not even say how fun it was. My good friend and camping buddy forEVER, Julia, is now in my ward (so fun) and every time we are together or on the phone we remember how F.U.N. it was. When my big girls were little girls we camped, several times a year. And it was always very fun.

Now when we go on vacation we stay in hotels, also very fun and, may I say, not: cold, lumpy, hard, wet, loud, buggy, uncomfortable, hard to set up, long to take down, or any other of the fun things that camping is. It's a different phase in life I guess. ...I do think we may camp in the north east, whenever we move, but maybe in cabins...a happy compromise.

So tonight J is baby-sitting, S is at a football game. K is spending the night with E and they are playing x-box, G,H and Alexis are outside catching frogs in the dark and everyone is happy as can be. Soon I'll put the baby to bed and the girls will make rice krispie treats and I will watch Survivor, DVR'ed from yesterday and it'll be good :)

*edited to say, I am very sad, this season of my second favorite show has SO much nudity that they blur the screen half the time. I am not going to watch anymore. It just doesn't have that fun adventure feeling. I haven't seen that much b**b in the nursing lounge ~come on it's family tv time!!

It's 11pm...do you know where your scout master is?

I do, that would be sitting in my living room, having a "committee" meeting. Which means Tori and Rob and DH and I.
We (meaning mostly T&R but DH&I jumped on the bandwagon as soon as it was pulling out of the docking bay) started an all girl venturing crew this summer. We have a parent committee but so far it's mostly been DH helping them and me doing some scut work. Which is okay. I would like to see more parents get involved at a higher level, and i think that will happen. Since we're new it's harder to know what needs to be done.
Meanwhile the girls are having a great time and making great plans and getting a lot done, thanks almost entirely to Tori's efforts. Thank you. I really feel like this is a great activity for them.
Our neighbors across the street have teens who appear to be involved in nothing. They spend their time loitering in the street, shooting off firecrackers, skate boarding, throwing stuff. They are aimless and I think this is really dangerous. I think that parents need to make sure that their children are busy in worthwhile pursuits. Of course with school, seminary, after school jobs, homework, mutual, music lessons, sports and all the other things that come up it is easy to do that and a balance needs to be struck so that you are not too busy, family time needs to be guarded and worked in, as well as down time. So there is too busy, not busy enough and something in the middle...piece of cake :) This venturing is a great activity. It is outdoorsy and exciting, which draws the girls in. And it's with friends. At the same time it is building valuable skills and gives opportunity to foster confidence, leadership and appreciation for a bigger world than the halls of their own HS.
I wish our young men's program would really embrace this and that the boys would take advantage of being fulling engaged in scouting as well. It seems to me, an outsider looking in, that it could be a powerful tool for helping the boys have fun, stay strong in the faith and have really great experiences. We lose a lot of boys...sadly.

anyway, I digress ...one of the things that came from our meeting is our fund raiser, which is a great one! The girls are selling beautiful, fresh, Christmas wreaths. I think they will make a lot of money, which they need, and they are offering a great product. I need to go to the scout shop and drop $100 on shirts for S and J so they can be outfitted and ready to sell. It's always a $100. Why is that? I guess I need to put my money where my soap box is so... off we'll go.

Today is crazy hat day in Kindergarten:

option A: brought back from a TDY in England a couple years ago
option B: DH has the companion "Big Guy" version
option C: ski bum meets spidey
option D: just cause she looks cute :)

I think I am losing my brain. Last night I had to drive to Hurst to get my recommend signed. On the way, in the car, by myself, I had the AC on and the radio. I was a little too cold so I reached out and turned down the radio. Why??? Then I was embarrassed and felt ridiculous and turned down the AC as well...I often do stuff like that, random, small, retarded things that make me question if I really am operating at full capacity or not.

On the way home I stopped at Barnes and Noble and got a great book called Owl Puke that the kids are so anxious to read.

Last random thought: I think that the Berenstain Bear books are being written by someone new. The style of writing in the new books is really different from the older ones.
For example, here is the first page from the Trick or Treat book that has been around for a long time and that we love, a true BB classic:

The sights and sounds of autumn were all around as Mama Bear pushed her shopping cart along the path that led to the Bear family's tree house.

The trees and shrubs were ablaze with color. Farmer Ben's pumpkins stood bright orange in the October sun. The crows cawed noisily as they searched the stubble for bits of corn. Wild geese in great V-formations honked high in the sky as they flew south.

Now from the new Halloween book, first page:

Papa bear always loved Halloween.

He loved going trick or treating when he was a cub.

He also loved going on haunted hay rides when he was a teen.

He loved giving out treats to trick or treaters who came to the tree house.

horsey love

Wishing we had our own....

... See my Tabblo>

tag, you're it

someone I heart very much told me I've been a bad blogger lately! So to make up for it: 3 in one day!

Seven Sillies in a Row

inspired by my OLF Wendy

1. I am afraid of eggs, when we are cooking with them if the kids even touch a shell I make them wash their hands. You'd think they were handling a rabid animal.
2. I have secretly started watching "The Biggest Loser" and I like it, I hope those fatties (I can say that because I am one with the fluffiness, the 2 cheese burgers and a side of double chin-ness, the start a new diet every Monday, the....)lose weight. I think they are really nice and encouraging to each other...I hope it stays that way.
3. Today was Dani's first meeting as the den mother in her ward. I think that is so crazy, little Dani a den mother :) She's also her ward's camp director. They liked her so much last year they asked her back. Look at my little girl, all grown up and wearing a scout shirt!
4. Tonight one of our bedtime stories was "The Safari before Christmas" w/ 5 big baboons, 4 shy giraffes,.... it is a silly story and a little early in the season but Lucy picked it so there we go.
5. our ward's Halloween carnival was cancelled, not by me and against my wishes, and replaced with the somewhat boring but easy to plan and "traditional" trunk or treat, that really kids love so even though I was going for something with a little pizzaz this year it's okay and EVEN though I hate being party princess, and loathe to plan the activities I am, with H's help, and Teresa and her little rug rats help as well, planning a back yard carnival for friends. AND I am excited about it. I like to have parties, despite the fact that I am a boring person....maybe that's why I like to entertain in big chaotic groups...the boring is less noticeable!
6. I had to pAUSE because J needed the computer for homework...she has a lot of it. I am really happy not to have homework, although...and this part is SHHH very secret: I didn't always hate homework. In fact some kinds of projects I really liked. I liked it so much that I used to love to help my sister Anna with her homework just cause I missed those assignments. My Favorite one was when she read "Like Water For Chocolate" and I also read it, so I could help, and we she had to assign the people in our family a food that represented them...it was so fun!
7. my favorite way to watch tv is with a book in hand...and even then I often fall asleep.

Ps We started Spanish yesterday and it's very fun.

H's first time meeting a horse

Midnight

Today was horse day. The best day of the month. Well actually we get two horse days a month! Very fun. Midnight is "H's" horse. She loves him. Taylor is her teacher. She loves her.
Look at that big smile!
H is our 2nd horse woman. S also loved horses and she took riding lessons for about a year. She took at a stable near our home from a very nice lady, Deb, who was very serious about horse back riding. She learned a lot and had fun.
Taylor is young and laid back. H is having a lot of fun as well and it costs a lot less. I think I am going to have to have a talk with her though because our lessons end early and she chats a lot and really I want at least 45 minutes of our hour to be riding, not sitting on the horse and chatting. It's not bad, I just think we can do better...but I loathe to have the chat.

monday

List of things I need to do really soon

1. start Christmas shopping, I've been thinking about it but haven't actually started.
2. prepare a FHE lesson
3. work on dinner groups
4. start a diet
5. get my recommend signed on Th night
6. get a passport in case we actually decide on a vacation destination for next year
7.go through our 72 hour packs
8.start Spanish with H
9.look for affordable flights for D&G for Christmas (LOL)
10. put away the clean laundry
11. find a new battery charger for my camera
12. get chlorine
13 go VT

Random thoughts

Yesterday brother and was on my lap and I was looking at Yahoo for something and we saw Victoria Beckham's picture. He said, that looks just like Mrs. T (his teacher) and it did. She is very pretty. (when I get my charger I'll take a picture to share)

Lucy wants to use the potty, but is having issues right now. Hopefully she'll be well soon and can wear her princess panties.

Today I went to Once Upon a Child and got Lou two pairs of jeans. Both size 3T. One fit great, the other didn't why??? Also got a cute Christmasy play dress and two purple shirts (the madness continues) I love resale!

DH and I are leaving for our MD trip in 11 days and I have nothing to wear. Do you think I can lose 20lbs in 11 days? Me neither :(

H was the only one in her violin class who memorized twinkle twinkle. I was proud of her. She's been doing very well lately.

Lucy wants to be a purple princess for Halloween, instead of Strawberry Shortcake, after I already bought her the hat. Hopefully Nana hasn't started sewing.

killer bunnies Q&A from not an expert

http://www.killerbunnies.com/game/howto.html

Killer Bunnies is a card game. Our good friends Justin & Teresa and Brian & Heather introduced us to it. They had already been playing.

DH became obsessed (surprise) and bought a set as well. Since then we have been playing with our kids, our parents, our friends and on very special occasions we get to go back to J&T's home and play against B&H and J&T in what has become affectionately called "the tournament". There is talk of a rotating trophy to travel with the winner on a monthly basis.

For me the fun is in the visiting with friends and letting the kids play together. For DH it's the weapons and the competition. Anyway, there is something for all to love. Unless you hate 4 hour long game marathons punctuated by crying kids, diaper changes, snacks to be fetched, trash talk, laughing, ganging up, pauses to clean a broken/spilt/ lost things, and general mayhem and merriment.

not "Daisy" Scouts!

I am not sure why this super cool, all girl, venturing crew would chose to take pictures of setting up the tent, hauling equipment and general goofiness instead of the swimming, hiking, jumping, fire building contesting, smore eating, bug killing, getting in shape type activities gearing up for the uber cool CO trek they have planned next summer but here you have it none the less.

busy is our middle name

J had a great time! She came home covered with bug bites, very dirty, and full of fun stories. She took some fun photos so maybe they'll be up later.

Friday night we had a marathon Killer Bunnies Tournament. The game lasted over 3 hours. The kids had a great time playing while the grown-ups sat down to the serious business of bunny extermination. We ate "bunny food". It was fun.

Saturday was soccer and karate and a birthday party BBQ for Elijah and Justin, our friends who moved to Azle not long ago. It was the first time we went to their new home and they had tons of people over. Again the kiddos had so much fun running around outside, hitting the pinata and playing with friends.

Lucy told me Friday that she was too big for diapers and wanted underwear. I bought pull-ups and she stayed dry for two days!!!
This morning she woke up covered from head to toe in diarrhea (yuck) so I think today might not go as well but the good news is I think she's ready!
Brother is also complaining about a stomach ache and sore throat...I am prepared for round three of the creepy crud :(

noon on Saturday...and the house is quiet ?!?

How did that happen?

J is off camping at Camp Cherokee with her venturing crew.
S is at work, she missed the camp out.
H, E and DH are at karate
and Lucy is taking a rare nap.

What shall I do with myself?

I do have a messy kitchen, a ton of laundry to fold and a Sunday School lesson to prepare so I guess I'll find something.

take 2

this afternoon I was the mother helper at Activity Days. The girls sewed bean bags. They had fun, and it was hectic. We had a huge car pool and I ended up with a full suburban to drop off so I got E and G from Julianna's a little on the late side. She didn't mind, but I felt so bad because Lucy threw up there, twice. I didn't even know she was sick.
We drove through Taco Bell for dinner. No sooner had we got home and I sat down and picked up my taco to take a bite when Lou walked over and threw up again, in my lap. Yuck.
H was sick 24 hours almost to the minute. Hopefully it will be over quickly for Lou too and it will stop here.... I can hope.

Today Lucy had her 6 month speech evaluation. She "graduated". She tested 33 months for expressive speech (she's 31 months old) and 4 1/2 years plus for receptive speech and cognitive ability. The two therapist said they had never had a child go so far in the test book. She is a smart girl, like her siblings and many of our friends. It seems like we really know a lot of bright "gifted" kids. I don't know why. Is it because a lot of our friends are stay at home mom's who read to the kids for hours on end? Is it the vitamins they don't take? Is "normal" really so low that it makes average kids look brilliant? Maybe it's good genes, our friends are smart people and we are not too dumb so....Again, I just don't know. In any case it was interesting to see how she did and it was fun to tell the grandmas that they were right: their grandchildren are brilliant!
She still needs to work on articulation and has a big gap between her thinking and speaking but she no longer qualifies for help and I am confident that she will do fine.

twinkle variations fill the air

kids say the darndest things...

Today after school brother asked me if he "could have a drink of the kind of milk that starts with a 'G'?"
What kind is that?
"You know, ggocolate."

Lucy walked into her room a couple days ago and let out a scream. H and I ran in to see what was the matter.
"dis room a mess!" she shrieked.
"Who made this mess?" I asked.
"H did." was the very confident reply.

Monday we were driving to TAFA and H said to me "it's too bad that Lucy's best friend moved away, now she's sad"
"Who was her best friend?"
"Evelyn"
Then Lucy interjected emphatically "NO! Emma my friend!" (Lucky Emma :) )

Most of my funny kid stories are from when they kids are little. Once they are about 6 they are smarter than me and I am sure they huddle in the bathroom laughing their heads off "at the crazy thing mom said, did, wore, cooked"

One story that I will never forget is when S and J were little S's name was everywhere. It was on street signs, our ward name, mountains, everywhere. J noticed and was bugged by it. One day we were driving and listening to the radio and they were talking about genocide.
J piped up from the back row, "FINALLY, someone is talking about my side!"
It was too funny!

finishing in style

to finish off a great day:

H is throwing up and very green around the edges :(

The missionaries came over for dinner. I made lasagna. One of them is a vegetarian...some how I never saw that note.

bummer

I am mortified

I have, accidentally but still, done the most horrible thing. And now I am so embarrassed.
I am the ward party princess, a calling I don't love.
In July we had a breakfast/bike parade planned for the fourth. Unfortunately there was a scheduling mishap and another ward had the same plan. We both found out about it on Sunday, the fourth being a Tuesday. Well I worked with the other activities chairman and it turned out okay, not great, but not bad.

As a result we wanted to check our dates for the rest of the year and make sure we wouldn't have any more conflicts.

Well, that resulted in several e-mails back and forth, giving dates and times and places and information. I was asked for more details several times (which was new to me) but kept giving it.

Finally we got an e-mail for the building coordinator in BIG RED LETTERS asking for more specifics on the dates we wanted. And I wrote a smartmouthly reply to David (who is in our ward and working with me on this) but accidentally sent it to Sis. H. YIKES!

this is what I wrote to David, but sent to her.

My goodness but she’s a bit of a pain in the neck. We need all the room, we don’t want anyone else in the building during that time. Just kidding.
Let me think for a minute and I’ll send you a reply with rooms needed.
Is our conference pot luck okay because I need to start advertising that.
Thanks so much!!

this is what she sent back to me.
sent: Sunday, September 16, 2007 1:57 RE: ward activities reply Pain or no pain that is the question... As with all members of each ward. It is best to go through your building scheduler. This way the proper persons our kept informed. I will get back to Bro M as to the request made. I have already confirmed some of them
Sis H


then I wrote this, with a very red face and feeling ridiculous for not checking and mean for saying it in the first place.

Oh NO!!!
I am mortified, I am SOOOO sorry. I thought I was sending this to David, and we joke all the time. I didn’t mean anything by it. I am just trying to get our dates set up and it seems to be taking a bit of time and being a little difficult. We had that big mix up at our last activity and everyone is just trying to get things lined up without mishap for the future.

Again I am really really sorry!!

she nicely wrote back today:

Yes i understand. That is the bad thing about emails because they can so easily be forwarded.I try to have a protocol just to keep things all straight. And even I have my mistakes

Sis H

lesson: don't say anything mean and

double check when you send out an email.

Happy Fall Y'all

It's starting to feel more fallish around here. When we went to Sherry's house Friday night she had her fall decorations out and her house looked very pretty and very seasonal.

Then yesterday when we were at soccer there was a slight breeze and I didn't feel sweaty (a sure sign summer is coming to an end).

And then last night at dinner groups they served apple pie ice cream, which seems like a very fallish flavor.

When we were at the library yesterday I checked out a pumpkin cook book. It has lots of yummy sounding recipes that will be so fun to try.

So, happy arrival of Fall!...that makes me happy it's one of my favorite seasons. (the other two being winter and summer, spring is last~ I don't know why)

Today is also Sunday, a favorite day. Today I have a dilemma. Brother woke up not feeling well. He has a sore throat and I think maybe a little fever. I will have to take his temp to be sure. If he has one he'll have to stay home and then we always have the problem of who will stay with him. If I stay I have to find a sub for my class, and I have to find some one else to give the young women their "yw in excellence is coming up~ get ready speech" and Lucy wont get to go and she's been dying to wear her new purple church dress that grandma bought her all week. If DH stays home he won't pick up the house and I would if I did. So clearly you can see the conflict. Maybe he won't have a fever.

Dinner groups was very fun. We went to David and Caroline's and their new house is very nice so that was fun to see. They also had several couples come that we didn't know very well so it was fun to get have a chance to visit with them. Kayla played her oboe for us and sounded so pretty. I hope all the groups had fun.

Bocce Ball

This afternoon, after E's soccer game, and after the library, and after mom and I went to Noodles with Lucy, we played Bocce ball.

It was hot but fun.

Last night we went to Justin's birthday party. We had a very fun time. They had dinner and games and gifts. I guess he had never had a birthday party before.

It's Friday!

Woo Hoo! SO many things to love about Friday's!!

Here's my Top 10 for the week

1. Tomorrow dawn will crack a little later :)

2. Tonight DH and I are going to a birthday party for a friend.

3. Saturday night we are going to dinner groups, two dates in one weekend, unheard of!

4. This is "O" week at Kindergarten. Today they are eating "octopus stew", brother is very nervous about it, however I know it's really shell pasta and hot dogs cut into octopi and he will be thrilled, so I am excited for him and to hear about it tonight.

5. Pay day

6. It's a beautiful morning and promises to be a lovely day.

7. I am going to make a yummy treat for the kiddo's today.

8. Today H and I will finish our book.

9. This morning when I woke up there were clean undies in every one's drawers and I didn't have to go searching.

10. ...running out of ideas but still happy it's Friday :)

day in and day out

A few days have passed and even though we have had some great photo ops I am without camera. DH has asked me not to use his because it might break (whatever) so I won't. This morning H picked flowers and stuck them in Lucy's braid. It looked very cute. Can't you just see it in your minds eye?

S is home sick. She and J went to YW last night. They went boating and tubing. J had a great time, S had fun but didn't feel well. This morning J came and told me she needed a ride to seminary so I got up and took her and Emma. It was fun to sit and visit with Deana. Not fun enough to want to do it again tomorrow, but you know fun for 6 am-hair a mess- visiting in the foyer.

D has a new calling. Cub scouts. She'll be fun, maybe she's going to have 6 sons and needs the experience :)

Brother is liking K a lot. Yesterday he had cute homework. We made an opposite book.

Homeschooling is going well, some days. We've had some really good days. I got a new curriculum this last weekend, and while H doesn't love it she will do it and doesn't hate it. We are almost done with our book about Louise May Alcott. When we finish we are going to watch "Little Women". Then we'll chose our next historical text and move on from there. We still don't get done a lot of what I think we should each day. I don't know if that means I am expecting too much or if we are still getting up to speed or if she needs to cooperate more or all of the above.

I am helping Alicia get ready for You Women In Excellence in November. I am excited, it will be a fun night.

H goes riding today! The highlight of her week.

G's obsession with all things purple continues.

Dinner groups is this weekend, I hope everyone will have a fun time.

Tonight is soccer practice and I need to make a snack schedule to hand out.

We've been looking at cruises. We had a Mediterranean cruise all planned out and were ready to go and exited. But we realized that the sad fact is it just doesn't fit our budget. And we couldn't justify the expense. I talked with my brother and sister and they decided to switch with us, which I was very glad about. Now we are looking at Caribbean Cruises. That will cost us thousands less, it's not as fabulous sounding but how bad can a cruise to a warm tropical place be? Anyway I guess we'll be settling on one soon.

in memory

A couple of weeks ago I remembered. We talked about it at pack meeting.
Then I went about my business.

Last week I remembered, briefly, I don't recall what spurred the memory.
Then I was distracted.

Yesterday I didn't give it a thought. I was busy with kids and laundry and dinner.

This morning my husband said, today is 9-11.

Oh, that's right, I forgot.

So while J was waiting on the porch for her bus to come and the littles were hopping in the car to take brother to school I got our flag out and hung it up.

"Why you doing dat, mama?" a small voice asked.

and then I took a minute and told them the story. The story of two towers, four airplanes and a nation changed forever. Tears came to my eyes as a choked on the words.

Solemn eyes looked at me and sober faces listened carefully.

"We're still fighting 6 years later?"

"Why do bad people hate freedom?"

"What if we have to fight?"

We do have to fight, every day. We fight to remember our freedom and to protect it if necessary. We fight for what's right.

So now, the sky is gray outside my window, but my flag flies proudly. And I remember. And my children remember. And we are so grateful that we are free, that brave men fight to keep us that way, and we pray for the continued blessings of the Lord on our land.

a day in the life of a sixth.

I have to laugh at poor little Lucy. Her life is a lot different than her older siblings. When D and even S and J were little we had quiet nap times, a bedtime that was sacred, a boo boo bunny in the freezer for owies and trips to the playground, the library for story time, and to the pond to feed the ducks. We watched "The Little Mermaid" (a lot) and sang kid songs and ate fish sticks and mac n cheese. It was a very kid centered life.

By the time Lou born though things were different. We are much busier.

Today was a perfect example of that. This was a day that no one but a sixth child would ever experience.


Lucy's day started early when she staggered down the hall and crawled into bed with her daddy and me. (something the three big girls would not have done~ but the littles do all the time). She slept a while with Daddy while I showered, then she got up to make the rounds and see who else was up and out. She checked J's room, "where J?" Then everyone else.
Finally after doing her head count, and I was dressed and brother and DH were done in the bathroom, she and H hopped in the shower. Company in the shower is something you don't get unless you have a big family.

We helped the girls find gymnastics shirts, math papers, etc then drove E to school. After we got back home Lucy and H ate then we gathered stuff again and went to TAFA. While H had violin Lucy ran around the room tried to grab another little girl's stroller lay on the floor bored tried her best to sit quietly. Then during the next two classes she and I walked around, looked at the fish tank, walked on chairs, played the ever popular "count all the M&M's in the bag" game followed by the "lay as stiff as you can while mom pushes you on the table top" game.

When TAFA was finally done we went and got lunch, went to Wal mart, picked up Brother and came home.
The kids had Popsicles outside while I cleaned up and started dinner. E and H came inside. After a few minutes (maybe 10) I realized that I hadn't seen Lou so I called for her. No answer. I opened the door and called "Lucy where are you?" then I heard a little voice call back "Swing". What? I went out and there she was, sitting in the swing, waiting for someone to come back for her. Poor thing, I felt bad for her being abandoned although she didn't seem to mind, so I pushed her for a few minutes then got her out to come inside. Guess what she was more upset about. Being left outside in the swing alone? or having to get out of the swing and come inside?
The latter.

Not too long later in the evening Grandma came over for dinner/FHE. Lucy ran to the door to say hi, Millie followed and smashed into her somehow resulting in L hitting her head on the door. She cried and it looked like she was going to get a bump. Sadly we are out of ice, permanently. Our ice maker is broken:( and although I am hoping this old fridge will not move with us to MD I am also hoping it will last until we choose to replace it and don't have to in an emergency situation. So we offered her a bag of vegetables to put on it, she declined and requested a waffle instead. J got her one and Grandma and I laughed our heads off at her. She looked so pathetic it was funny. She kept it on for awhile and then got bored and ate the waffle.

The rest of the day was uneventful. She ate dinner, washed up, sang songs for FHE, went fishing during Grandma's cute Jonah and the whale lesson, had a treat and went to bed.

Things are not as kid centered, at least not baby centered. Lucy goes to soccer games, HS football games, big restaurants, shopping trips to the mall, big kids lessons, mutual night, orthodontist appointments, etc. She watches Hannah Montana, Gilmore girls and Ace of Cakes and listens to big girl music. She also always has someone to play with, someone to look up to, and someone in her family to watch her when mom can't. She's never bored and although she's sometimes cranky because we can't fit in enough sleep I think for the most part the pluses way outweigh the cons. I just have to stop to laugh every now and then when I compare.

soup to die for

DH and I went on a very fun date last night. We had free passes to the movies in Southlake from when we went before and they showed the wrong previews to us. (lucky)

DH wanted to see Bourne Ultimatum, and that was our plan. However his cousin Lisa called just as we were ready to leave and they talked for half and hour (+) and then it was too late so we were stuck seeing what I wanted to see.

I like Anne Hathaway a lot, and I like that era of history so I enjoyed it a lot. It wasn't fast paced but sweet and sad and Austinesque.



Then we walked around the square looking for somewhere to eat and decided upon Brio. It was a good choice, I think that was the best meal I have had in a long time. I had the lobster bisque which was so delicious. It came to the table in a lovely white bowl and smelling heavenly and it only got better from there. I also had the Ensalada Roma, which was the best salad I've had in a long long time.

Then we went to Barnes and Noble. A perfect evening.



Today Brother had his first soccer game, I had super Saturday and tonight the girls have a stake dance. A typically fun and busy weekend.

you know you're married to an engineer when...

he is fixing a clogged drain and accidentally breaks a small part that goes on the stopper. Then while examining it says "that's an interesting failure".

Engineers are weirdos (said with love)

a hymn

I know a lot of the words to a lot of hymns. And often they come to me in times of stress or sadness and bring me great comfort.
There is nothing more joyous than a Christmas hymn!
I know music has great power and is truly a prayer.

Today I heard a hymn I was completely unfamiliar with, but the words touched me. Doing a small part is all I can manage right now, but I am glad to know that it is enough. I am enough.

Hark, the voice of Jesus calling,
“Who will go and work today?
Fields are ripe and harvests waiting,
Who will bear the sheaves away?”
Long and loud the Master calls us,
Rich reward He offers free;
Who will answer, gladly saying,
“Here am I, send me, send me”?
If you cannot cross the ocean,
And the distant lands explore,
You can find the lost around you,
You can help them at your door;
If you cannot give your thousands,
You can give the widow’s mite;
What you truly give for Jesus,
Will be precious in His sight.
If you cannot speak like angels,
If you cannot preach like Paul,
You can tell the love of Jesus,
You can say He died for all.
If you cannot rouse the wicked,
With the judgment’s dread alarms,
You can lead the little children
To the Savior’s waiting arms.
If you cannot be the watchman,
Standing high on Zion’s wall,
Pointing out the path to heaven,
Offering life and peace to all,
With your prayers and with your bounties
You can do what heaven demands;
You can be like faithful Aaron,
Holding up the prophet’s hands.
If among the older people,
You may not be apt to teach,
“Feed My lambs,” said Christ, our Shepherd,
“Place the food within their reach.”
And it may be that the children
You have led with trembling hand,
Will be found among your jewels,
When you reach the better land.
Let none hear you idly saying,
“There is nothing I can do.”
While the lost of earth are dying,
And the Master calls for you;
Take the task He gives you gladly;
Let His work your pleasure be;
Answer quickly when He calls you,
“Here am I, send me, send me.”

soccer season under way

Our first game is Saturday. It'll be a good one!

homeschooling

Our morning begins.
The end of the day.

it's better I find out after

D&G had a fun labor day. She how they, with safety first and foremost on their minds, are wearing helmets and safety belts and pedalling slowly down paved roads with special bumpers on the side!? They are cuties! Hopefully they'll come visit for Christmas and we can find some exciting activities to do: like decorate gingerbread villages, watch Santa Clause (the trilogy) and play KB. I miss them and at the same time are so happy they are doing great and are happy. (no one told me motherhood causes split personality disorder)

Speaking of SPD, Brother is doing great at Kindergarten. He told me he is the best reader (read: only reader) in his class, they got to play on the playground today and he opened his juice box all by himself at lunch. I am so proud...and at the same time I miss having him here. He's so sweet and fun to have around.

H had a better day, we got a lot of work done, finally, she's enjoying our book on Louise May a lot and she and G play nicely together. She went to activity days this afternoon and had a lot of fun.

We had a little incident tonight. Brother was watching TV and H walked in and didn't like the volume he had chosen so she karate punched him in the gut. Which lead to much weeping and wailing and a girl sent to her room in her pajamas at 6pm. After a long while she felt bad and wrote a sorry note. I think we won't see any more of this. Self control is number one in the class and while I like the group thing for them to do, and the confidence it gives her hitting her brother is not okay.

this and that

E started Kindergarten today. He was very excited. He had a new back pack, a new lunch box, an arm load of school supplies and he was on his way. The girls and I drove him to school and walked him in. He put his stuff away and sat right down with his hands folded ready to learn. I wondered about how he was doing all day. When I went to pick him up he was very excited. I asked if he had made any friends and he said yes. Who? Well, there was one boy who is also a "orange frog" he said I don't know his name but I'll call him...Um... door holder and he was REALLY nice. I asked him why he called him door holder and he said because he held the door open for everyone. Okay.
He found the bathroom okay, got to go to computer lab, heard lots of stories, everything was great except for lunch. He was too shy to raise his hand for help and so couldn't eat his applesauce or drink his juice. We didn't practice lunch this summer because I thought he'd be home with me this year. So when he got home we sat down and ripped those pesky straws off those darn boxes and unwrapped them and stuck them in the box. Luckily Lucy is a willing drinker because we had to open several until he felt confident that he could handle it on his own. The applesauce was too hard so we practiced raising his hand to ask for help. Tomorrow I think I'll stick in only zip locks and the juice so he can have an easy day. Other than that it was two thumbs up!
I thought he'd be exhausted but when he got home he went swimming, ate dinner, went to 2 hours of karate and then still wasn't ready for bed so I guess he'll be fine. Maybe it'll catch up with him tomorrow.

Now it's 9:30 and we have everyone tucked into bed and I am watching Throwdown. Seminary started this morning and S and J are tired. It's a pie throwdown. I am not a huge lover of pie, although DH likes it a lot so I try and make it regularly. I do like pumpkin on the holidays and strawberry. Back in the day we used to go to Marie Callendars after __________(fill in the blank) and I almost always got the strawberry pie.

This morning S and I went to see the judge about her ticket. Once upon a time when I was shopping for little diapers and little pink dresses (the early years) I never thought I'd do some of the things I have done with and for my kids. Seeing judges is one of those things. She got a fine, and traffic school and a 90 day probation. I thought that was very fair. S is stressed, as she should be. I think we won't see such a lead foot in the future. There was a creepy guy flirting and smiling at her yuck! so we made a break for it as soon as we could.

Yesterday was labor day. DH has a three day work week this week. Nice.
We spent the day cleaning up the garage, front porch and bathroom closet, also outside and pool took DH's time. Then we went to see "Surf's Up" which was really cute. It was playing at the dollar theater and Monday is their family day so if you have a group of 3 or more it's only 50cents. We had 11 people (J brought friends) and we got in for $5 total. Sweet!

H and I are reading a very interesting book about Louisa May Alcott's childhood.

Dinner groups are coming together.

I got bit by fire ants today :(

Cooking tip of the day: if you are baking cookies and still haven't remembered to buy more brown sugar you can add molasses (don't ask me why I have that and not brown sugar) to some white sugar and make a substitute. I made a batch tonight for my karate kids and they were a yummy warm before bedtime treat.

exhibit B

teenage girls, delicate blooms of young womanhood!

I am somewhat of an expert on teenage girls, having a) been one and b) having had three daughters who are or have recently been teens and c) having served in YW for 7 years and now am teaching the 15-16 year old Sunday School class.

So, when they are not in public~ going to school, looking nice, smiling sweetly; what do they do?

They like to make faces for the camera and for each other and in the mirror.

and in the car and with their friends and while eating green eggs and ham.

speaking of eating...they like to eat. and run amuck in the dark, they wake up when the sun goes down and get very silly.

They catch frogs, and swim and laugh and run around...loudly.

and eat. Did I say eat?
A house full of teens and their friends can clean out the pantry quicker than a swarm of locust.

They also watch youtube video's of people burping, falling down, breaking things, being silly and being loud.

Did I mention they are loud?

Of course they love movies, books, swooning over Edward (even if they claim to "hate the book" they still can talk about it for hours)

They play with make-up, scream, try on clothes, lay on the bed dreaming and talking and laughing.

They are a delight. Full of energy and fun and hope for the future.

I love teens

even if our house is loud, our pantry empty and my computer is sequestered in a cloud of Cheeto dust, giggles and flying fingers on the key board so that I can't get to it.