Thank Goodness For Thanksgiving!

I love, love, love this time of year. I love the leafless landscape. I love the weather. I love the pilgrims and turkeys that dress my home. I think that Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday not because of the huge Thanksgiving Feast, but because it is a quiet yet significant bridge between two crazy holidays.

I am thankful for so much. I really am grateful for this month to think of all my many, many blessings. I guess since I have used the word thankful about one hundresd times already I will make a short list of thankfulness.

I am thankful for the gospel that is the foundation and anchor in my life. I am grateful for its goodness and peace that it brings if I choose to tap into it.

I am thankful for a Dave who makes me crazy sometimes with all his ideas and obsessions yet he always supports my crazy ideas and plans. I seriously would be lost without him.



I am thankful for my Ben who runs out every morning to grab the paper to check the basketball scores, who gets embarrassed when I try to give him basketball pointers like boxing out with your bum. I love that he is a self-motivated, kind, kid who loves to play.



I am thankful for Nick who loves first grade because of all the art projects, who loves that his class is quiet and says it is the "worst day ever" if kids are talking too much. I love that Nick is my middle child who loves to play and takes care of his little brother and idolizes his big brother.



I am thankful for Will who is the most amazing artist, who will sit for hours and draw his books as he jabbers away to me. I love that Will enjoys his school so much that he has already decided not to go to kindergarten. I love that he is so interested in counting and numbers he is subtracting and adding and counting to at least 50.



I am thankful for health. Things can change so quickly, I am grateful for a working body that is capable of anything if I choose.

I am thankful for home. Not just a house but a home that I look forward to being in at the end of the day.



I am thankful for the great outdoors. I love the smell of every season. I love walking in sun, rain and snow. I love that I live in a place with seasons, beautiful sunsets and mountains.



I am so thankful for where I live. I am so close to family and wonderful friends. I am truly blessed to be a part of this community.

I am thankful for opportunity to do anything that I want if I set my mind to it. I am thankful that my boys have this same opportunity. What a blessing.



I am just thankful and that is why I love this time of year. How is that for a whole lot of "THANKFULNESS"?

Happy Halloween!

Here are a couple of "ghosts" from Halloween past. Did we have fun or what? I hope all of you have a great Halloween and a wonderful fall season. Isn't great? Have you seen more beautiful leaves?

One year, Shannon and I decided to be "pumpkin heads". I do still have the overalls in case I choose to put a pumpkin on my head again. Anyway, the hole that I cut for my head was too small and suffocating so I cut a bigger hole and the result was less than desirable (it kind of reminds me of that one dude with some sort of cap on his head from the Fat Albert cartoons) but I still had fun. That's what I get for having a big head! The following is the next year (I'm guessing) but wow, give some girls some vinyl, spray paint, some time and you get some sweet looking super heroes! I loved this year. The costumes that we made were so much fun. We just went from party to party showing off our awesome looks! Shannon as Bat Girl, Me as Wonder Woman, Meg as Poison Ivy and Nancy as Cat Woman All I can say is Happy Halloween! I wish you all many years of creative costuming (someday I will return)! I would really like to be Wonder Woman again, maybe I'll make Dave be Superman.

Guess what I did?

Yeah, a couple of months ago my cute sister-in-law decided to go skydiving and talked me and my mom into it! I usually try to do most things once by the way. I flippantly said I would go and filed it away, until the day before!

Yikes, I was scared on the car ride to the airport. But from then on, I was surprisingly peaceful. I was even peaceful as I stood on the edge of the plane looking down knowing that I was about to plunge head-on toward the earth. My mom even noted how calm she felt as she watched her daughter jump out of a plane! The experience was amazing. It was beautiful and we all will probably go again. My mom giving the thumbs up. She paid for the picture package, I couldn't afford both the jump and pictures. My mom may never do it again so she paid to document the event. We might be able to convince her otherwise. My mom jumping out of the plane. Look how beautiful O-Town and surrounding areas look. She Rocks! These two definitely have the RIGHT STUFF! I'm on another planet. I can't believe I did it. I think I would do it again, although there is a bit of anxiety with that statement. So who is in next September?

The Death of a Blog

Here are some reasons for the death of my blog:

1. Everyday in the summer my kids woke up and said, "what are we doing fun today?" and even though I would say "life is not all fun and games, dang-it!", we still managed to have fun and games the entire summer.

2. My sweet 4-year old has declared himself the king of my universe, without notifying me. I am constantly watching music shows, puppet shows, and every other show you can think of...not that it is bad its just that it takes up time!

3. Now that school is in session, everything else is...and with everything else comes practice. There's piano practice and soccer practice, reading and homework. I know that I am not the one doing it but often I feel like I might as well be.

4. Cub Scouts...need I say more? I take a lot of time preparing for 13+ awesome and energetic boys...if I don't, then I am sunk.

5. I am so tired. With one step still in summer and a foot reaching toward fall, I am not going to bed early enough, yet I still get up around 5:30 or 6:30 to exercise. Something has got to give!

6. I hate to admit that I spend time thinking about how I would like to just be a housewife. You know the one who does the ironing in front of the daily soaps and then calls her friends to talk about the latest new twist in the plot, oh yeah and wears curlers in her hair all day until her hubby comes home from work. She also bakes bread and cookies for the little dears when they get home too. What ever happened to those days where that was o.k.? Instead I seem to be running kids here and there, running to the school to volunteer, etc.

7. Christmas is coming and I have been working with Dave to get our printing website up to speed. We have some great Christmas cards...take a look in about a week www.stonemountainpress.com. It is not too soon to prepare.

8. Our Book Club read Les Miserables in the summer. I think that I was the only one to finish all 1400+ pages but that takes tons of time and commitment to just sitting on the hammock and reading! I would rather read than blog I guess.

9. I really have tried to enjoy the outdoors this summer. I try to be outside for the balance of the day because I know that a day will come when I am longing to lounge outside and I can't. Plus with the great outdoors, comes gardening, which I love but there is a lot to do as well as keeping the house clean! I bought a bike too and have been enjoying riding in the great outdoors.

I will stop on nine just for Perla, but there are a few reasons for the death of my blog. It seems like a whole lot of complaining because some people are busier and manage to blog plus train for triathalons, index and make dolls for Haiti! I am not really complaining but rather explaining my full life.

March Madness turns into May, What IT'S JULY!?

Those of you who know me, know that I have a strange fascination with time. I am amazed at how fast it flies, scared that I am going to be 85 any day now, yet I am then pulled back by a day that seems to take an eternity! Oh well, I am doing my best to be in the present and I guess the only way to do so is provide a brief synopsis of the past couple of months...so I can move on!


In March we got to go to Mexico with some amazing people, minus some other amazing people who should of been there but went to Miami instead! Someday the stars will align! There were plenty of stories, laughs and guacamole shared. I am so lucky to live by so many kind and fun friends.
Then our Will turned four. Yes he is obsessed with rainbows. He loves them and draws them, so he had a rainbow cake that he was quite excited about. He has almost let go of Baby Jake (more on him in a later post) to replace him with rainbow creations. We love this Will. All I can say is that he is something else. His latest thing to prove his point is to say, "I'm right you're wrong, I'm smart you're not, I know everything you know nothing, I'm big you're little". We have talked about how that might make others feel bad but I guess he knows his opposites.
We threw in a trip to Moab. We rented a Jeep and Dave tried the "Widow Maker" as the boys (who got out) yelled, "Stop Dad it's not worth it, don't die!" Well Dave didn't die and we had a great time. There is nothing like the beautiful red rock contrasted against the blue sky. I love it!
Soccer Saturdays, the boys in Easter Best and Bubble Fun on a sunny spring day. Our Benny turned 8 so we took him on a backpacking trip to my "happy place" with uncles, his papa, me and Dave and his cousin. It was so amazing. Nothing can describe the serenity of backpacking. Ben loved it and it was fun to be with him on a different level. He is pretty funny! He also got baptized it was such a special experience to share with him. I am grateful for an 8 year old. We also slammed a great hike to a nearby waterfall and finally, Thomas came to town. I took Will and cousin Jack to see him. What fun! No wonder time flies. I cram so much into a day and week there is no other choice. I am so blessed to be able to experience so many fun things with my family.

This One

Although it seems like there are one million things to blog about, this one seems the most urgent...I know this may be cheesy but I guess I am allowed to be that way from time to time...

REASONS WHY I AM GRATEFUL FOR DAVEY-BOY...

He doesn't get too sad when we call him Davey-Doodle, David Stool (my boys call him this making fun of his middle name) or DA-Veed.

He becomes obessed about something and does not quit until it is perfected, right now it is ice cream and we might be purchasing a soft-serve machine in the near future.

When I read him articles like the "Dear Abby" below, and when I ask him if he thinks it is the most hillarious thing he has ever heard he replies, "I don't really think it is funny but I can see why you do."

He can fix anything. He has a good relationships with most machines. His first bit of advice to anyone is to unplug it and then plug it back in.

He is calm when I am not.

He is calm when I almost back over him and kill him and other assorted things that I have done in our married life.

His parenting philosophy boils down to this statement, "If the kids do not have the chance to experience pain how will they know what will hurt them?" I am more the parent that wants them to not make mistakes because then I feel like I will have to deal with it. I want to be more like him.

He is more than willing to help our kids to follow through with their desires and experiments (that's why they are outside sleeping in a tent in the pouring rain, if they had asked me I would have said, "let's do it another night").

He bought me a cat trap and a grout removing machine for Mother's Day...he is a great gift giver...he always knows what I want.

He brought home a TV today for my craft room and he dramatically handed me the keys and said, "go look in the car, ok you really don't need the keys because it is unlocked but I wanted to add to the drama of the moment."

He cries more at movies than I do.

He lets me drag him all over Ogden (sometimes very reluctantly, mind you) and the world when he would be just fine never seeing the light of day in the basement.

He wears the sickest motorcycle t-shirts that are probably 20 years old, I guess that I am grateful that he doesn't care or spend more on his appearance than I do.

He eats leftovers and he says he loves my cooking.

He feels like home.

Who finds this funny?

I like to read "Dear Abby" from time to time and this letter had me crying it was so funny. Does anyone else share my love for this kind of humor? The sad thing is that it is not really funny to the letter writer...

"DEAR ABBY: My wife thinks it's funny when she hits me. The other day I was splitting some wood and decided to take a break. I began driving golf balls into the field. She came out, grabbed the club out of my hands and whacked me in the leg with it. When I asked her why, she said, 'Get back to work!' and started laughing. I was left with a large welt and a big bruise.

Another time she bought some king crab legs for dinner. When I asked her if she was serving anything else with them, she picked up a crab claw and hit me in the forehead with it. She thought it was funny. I ended up in the emergency room with three stitches.

Last night, I was trying to add up our bills on the computer. She walked in and smacked me in the chin with the keyboard. She said I should be able to do the bills on paper like a normal person.

We have been together nine years, married for three. I love her with all my heart, but I'm getting tired of her little 'jokes'. How can I approach her? I want her to know how I feel, but I'm afraid to offend her or make her angry. -Frustrated in Oregon"

Obviously, Abby gave the advice to run don't walk away from his sadistic wife but I think that it is hilarious that she thinks it is funny to hit him with a golf club, crab leg and a key board. Her comments were the best too, like "do the bills on paper like a normal person". I am not that kind of wife but does anyone else want to read the letter again because they thought that was the funniest thing in the world? And who would love to meet this husband and wife? Come on admit it.

What the...

I just told my friend that I was such a "HAIR BRAIN". What in the world?

I know that words and phrases have their origins, but come on, where did this come from? Could I seriously open up my scalp and see hair in there? That is gross but the real gross part is hair where it absolutely does not belong like in the cranial cavity.

Speaking of hair, where it doesn't belong, have any of you seen those pioneer rugs that they used to make out of BRAIDED HUMAN HAIR? Who had the fine chore of "gathering" the hair? Who had to groom it and braid it? That was a really sickening experience for me when I saw one of those "treasures" on display at a museum.

I could go on and on about the grossness of hair in other places rather than attached to heads but I won't.

Now get on the origin of "HAIR BRAIN" for me!

This little man

It has been almost a month since my sweet second son's birthday. I feel like I want to write a few things about him.

Nick is in kindergarten. He is so smart and is happy when he gets home from school but when it comes right down to it he would rather not have to attend school at all. The other day we went to his parent-teacher conference and his teacher asked, "Nick are you enjoying school a little more now?" and after a pause he said, "Not really".

Wednesday he accidentally poked his eye before school and then he kept rubbing it. He allowed his teacher to believe that it was pink eye and he got promplty sent home! Only later did we find out that he poked his eye. He is getting better but it might be a long 12 years at least.

Nick definitely has a love for animals. He is constantly finding and observing pets. Usually they are bugs and worms. He really would like us to have a pet that actually has fur so he can pet it. The other night we were on our way to Home Depot and I suddenly said to Dave, "Oh, remind me to get some cat spray and some of that deer repellant stuff, those deer have eaten some of my tulips, can you believe it?" And we hear from the backseat, "Gosh mom, why don't you just let animals do their thing. They need to walk around and eat stuff and you want to spray stuff that they hate." That's my Nick, he really is fascinated by animals and he is always looking out for the little guy. I still bought the spray though.



Nick is so sensitive and kind. He especially loves his brothers. One day he came home from school and told me that he got to go to recess and play with his older brother Ben. Nick said, "We got to play together, Mom, and when I had to go in, we hugged and I almost wanted to cry." Nick's school also required the kids to send some items in a bag that might comfort them in an emergency and so I asked him what he would like to put in the bag, he burst into tears and said, "Just a picture of my brother Ben." I added some pictures of his OTHER family members but I thought that was sweet. One time at school, one of Nick's friends fell and got a really bad goose egg on his head and Nick just could not get over it until he called his friend to see if he was ok. Nick has a heart of gold!

Nick also says some of the coolest things that sound like trivia. And his statements always start with, Mom... "...if we didn't have volcanoes we would be extinct..." "...Heavenly Father can hear you too when you yell you know..." (ouch) "...all animals love their babies even if their moms leave them..." "...you say that I have to read but I don't have to read ALL the time..." "...ants love their babies too..." "...sometimes people don't have to eat their dinner but they can still have ice cream later, they really can..."

He says so many cool things. I sure do love this second son of mine. I can not believe that he is six! He is so amazing. I miss him as a baby but I love his giggly sweet personality and it is so much fun getting to know him. I am surely blessed to be his mother.

8 Things to break a blogging blank

Tash tagged me a couple days ago and maybe just maybe if I sit down and make myself answer the tag I might be able to create more blog entries in the future! So here goes-

8 favorite TV shows (not in any particular order)
1. American Idol
2. Jazz Games
3. Survivor
4. 30 Rock
5. The Office
6. My Name is Earl
7. Man vs Wild
8. Desperate Housewives

It is becoming harder and harder to sit down and actually watch TV anymore and now that my kids are starting to enjoy some evening TV, my tastes have changed, hence #1, #2, #3 and #7

8 Things I did yesterday (since yesterday was just work I am going to go with Monday)
1. Exercised at 6:00 am
2. Cleaned the house
3. Picked Will up at Preschool
4. Made Lunch
5. Made heart cookies
6. Shoveled some heavy, wet snow
7. Put together a billion puzzles
8. Had Family Home Evening


8 Things that I look forward to
1. Trip to Mexico in March
2. Spring
3. Gardening
4. Sun
5. My brother's mystery murder night party
6. My craft room/utility room being done
7. Book Club
8. Warmth


Wow, someone has seasonal affective disorder!


I thought I might add some summery pictures to enhance my longing for being outside. I hate to wish away time because it goes all too fast but at this time of year, the sights, smells and feelings of spring and summer seem like they will never get here!
The last cool picture is of Will's ear that got chomped on by some mysterious bug in Hawaii last March...he has such a cool face!

8 Favorite Restaurants (I eat out too much so nothing sounds good)
1. Warren's, not really a restaurant but good fast, fattening food
2. Pizzeria
3. El Matador
4. Biaggi's
5. Roosters
6. Ligori's, some don't like the fake mushrooms but it is all good
7. Eastern Winds
8. PF Chang's


8 Things I Wish For
1. Be the tambourine shaker in a disco band
2. Run my own school
3. Live in a different country for at least two years
4. Learn to speak Spanish more fluently
5. Earn a doctorate degree (ew did I just type that?)
6. Be a better mother
7. Completion of my craft/utility room
8. Be a better wife

I don't think that 8 people read my blog but I will tag a couple people who might be out there

Kass
Maribeth
Sherice
La Perla
Mugsy