The Piggy Slippers....Part One

Okay...in my 6 weird things I mentioned that I love pigs and that I would talk more about that later....guess what!? It's later!
I have all kinds of little piggy things in my home...small statues, a modified door stop (pictured at left), and piggy notebook paper. At one time I had some really cute piggy slippers. I LOVED my piggy slippers. I would wear them everywhere. I wore them into the discount store I worked at and all of my fellow employees commented on how cute they were (and how strange I was.) I wore holes in those poor things! I even wore them on several important occasions...the first of which will be covered in this episode of Dawnyel's Memories.
My husband and I were dating and he was in town for a visit. He was only supposed to stay for one day and then go home that night, but my mom convinced him to stay and go home the next day and being madly in love with me and wanting to spend as much time with me as possible he agreed.
At the end of the day I had to take my sister's friend home. As we were leaving my parents' neighborhood, Steve leaned over and asked if we could make a detour. I knew what he was talking about. I live in an area where there is a temple close by, and I knew he wanted to stop there while we were out and about. I thought I was just doing some quick driving, so I was wearing my piggy slippers. After we got to the temple parking lot, I found a spot and heard a romantic song come on the radio right before I turned the car off. The whole way to the temple I was thinking in the back of my mind that he was going to propose to me, but I kept telling myself that it wasn't true....I was wearing my piggy slippers....he wouldn't propose while I was wearing those mangy things! No...he couldn't...he wouldn't....would he?

After turning the car off I told him that I was going to stay in the car because I was wearing my slippers, but he could walk around if he wanted to. He held my hand and told me that he wanted to be with me. Then he told me that he had a question for me. In the back of my mind a voice was screaming, "HE'S GOING TO PROPOSE!! WHAT ARE YOU GOING TO DO??" I asked him what it was. He then asked me if I loved him. I told him I did...then he asked me, "Will you be my wife? Will you marry me?" Tears sprang to my eyes!! I loved this man and I knew I wanted to spend the rest of eternity with him...so, of course, I said yes. He kissed me and then I started laughing....I remembered my slippers!! I told him why I was laughing and he told me that now we had a story to tell our kids about. I laughed again and kissed the man.

On the way back to my house I drove down the wrong side of the road...I was so euphoric! Luckily it was late at night and no one was around. But that was the start of my piggy slippers being a part of some important occasions in my life.

Sadly, I don't have those slippers any more. After years of wear and tear we decided that they needed to be retired. I miss them and want to replace them someday...I just have to find the right ones!

I Believe

I got this cool email from a really good friend and thought I would share these thoughts with all of you...I'm feeling very thoughtful after reading it!

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I Believe

Have a seat....relax...and read this slowly. It kind a sums it all up..........

I believe - That we don't have to change friends if we understand that friends change.

I believe - That no matter how good a friend is, they're going to hurt you every once in a while and you must forgive them for that.

I believe - That true friendship continues to grow, even over the longest distance. Same goes for true love.

I believe - That you can do something in an instant that will give you heartache for life.

I believe - That it's taking me a long time to become the person I want to be.

I believe - That you should always leave loved ones with loving words. It may be the last time you see them.

I believe - That you can keep going long after you think you can't.

I believe - That we are responsible for what we do, no matter how we feel.

I believe - That either you control your attitude or it controls you.

I believe - That regardless of how hot and steamy a relationship is at first, the passion fades and there had better be something else to take its place.

I believe - That heroes are the people who do what has to be done when it needs to be done, regardless of the consequences.

I believe - That money is a lousy way of keeping score.

I believe - That my best friend and I can do anything or nothing and have the best time.

I believe - That sometimes the people you expect to kick you when you're down, will be the ones to help you get back up.

I believe - That sometimes when I'm angry I have the right to be angry, but that doesn't give me the right to be cruel.

I believe - That just because someone doesn't love you the way you want them to doesn't mean they don't love you with all they have.

I believe - That maturity has more to do with what types of experiences you've had and what you've learned from them and less to do with how many birthdays you've celebrated.

I believe - That it isn't always enough to be forgiven by others. Sometimes you have to learn to forgive yourself.

I believe - That no matter how bad your heart is broken the world doesn't stop for your grief.

I believe - That our background and circumstances may have influenced who we are, but we are responsible for who we become.

I believe - That just because two people argue, it doesn't mean they don't love each other. And just because they don't argue, it doesn't mean they do.

I believe - That you shouldn't be so eager to find out a secret. It could change your life forever.

I believe - That two people can look at the exact same thing and see something totally different.

I believe - That your life can be changed in a matter of hours by people who don't even know you.

I believe - That even when you think you have no more to give, when a friend cries out to you - you will find the strength to help.

I believe - That credentials on the wall do not make you a decent human being.

I believe - That the people you care about most in life are taken from you too soon.

The Ball is Rolling....

Today I had my meeting with the place that will be providing an in school aide for Cam next fall. We went through his development and made a plan. I'm so relieved. They will be taking care of most of the paperwork....although I did sign my name to a lot of papers. He'll be getting other helps through this company too. They will help keep his school goals up to date and keep his learning going in a forward direction. It went well.
After I had the meeting I came home to a message from his current teacher letting me know that another little boy bit him on the chest today. He was okay...not bleeding or whining about it, but just so I knew where the small teeth marks came from. After I got the message I called his teacher to discuss what had happened. I was worried that Cam had caused the problem and that he probably deserved it. His teacher kept apologizing for it happening....he turned around for a second and saw that the other little boy had latched onto Cam and that's when he jumped in. Cam didn't do anything to deserve it...it just happened. Luckily Cam didn't freak out for too long and he was working fine without whining. Then his teacher started to update me on the summer school situation and I mentioned that I had my meeting this morning for his extra help in the fall and his teacher commended me on doing all of this for him. I told him that I was just getting what I want when I want it and if no one else was going to stand up for my son then I was going to do it. He then laughed and told me that he likes my attitude. I said thanks and then we chatted for a while and then we finished and he apologized again. I told him that he can't control what little kids do....it's not his fault! I LOVE his current teacher and I'm not really excited for him to get a new teacher next year, but I know that he needs to grow and move on. I just hope he gets the same support that he's been getting!

6 WEIRD Things You May NOT Want to Know

I've been tagged along with the rest of the blogging community...so without further ado....

Six Weird Things About Me:

1. As I mentioned in my previous blog....I'm my mother's daughter. And as such we both have a unique laugh that is easily recognizable in any large group setting. If I'm ever in a movie theater with my mom and we are not sitting together, I can easily find her if I hear her laugh! My laugh is a lot like hers and I'm okay with that!
2. I have several oddities about my appearance. My ears are flat on top...they don't curl like most people's ears do. My second toe on my foot is about a half inch longer than my "big" toe. (That part in Shallow Hal where they talk about how disgusted they are by the girl with the long second toe made me feel a bit sad...I have the same affliction!) And I have a small pin-sized hole in the roof of my mouth that every once in a while will open and I can whistle through it! While I was talking with my mom tonight she reminded me of my most unusual physical feature...I have a branchial cyst on my neck. It looks like a bone sticking out of my neck. People would ask me about it all the time growing up and I'd take the comment from my younger brother..."I swallowed a chicken bone and it turned sideways and got stuck!" It gets them every time!
3. As mentioned in one of my good friend's blogs, I have a tendency to dream instantly after falling asleep (or on my way to sleep!) I can almost just close my eyes and the dreams are there ready to go! (She found it VERY entertaining one night to see what I was dreaming about....it's there in her blog!)
4. When I was in college my friends and I had a strange night where we showed off our "untalents." "Untalents" are those strange stupid-human tricks that you might not want to show off and I discovered one of my "untalents" is I can do Elvis Lips. My mother can do them both ways (to the right and the left) but I can only do them to the left.
5. I have a strange love of anything with pigs in or on them. I think pigs are such cute animals and I have a small piggy collection. I will mention more about piggy things later when I have the pics to go with it! :)
6. I am a Neptunian. Okay...there it is....out there for the world to read! While in high school my group of friends and I decided that we would claim Neptune as our "home" world. We had a leader and a hierarchy that made certain events fun! We each came up with our own Neptunian names and we had a wonderful mascot in the Super Wonder Whooper. Whenever we were bored or in need of entertainment we would make movies. After we graduated we made copies of them and each person in our group has one. As soon as one of the members of our group gets famous the videos will be out for the world to see our true colors! :) I WON'T be the one doing this...it's another friend who has claimed this right! I'm not upset over it...because I don't care, but there are others who might!

Well, that's it....6 strange things about me. I'm sure there's more, I mean, if you are a regular reader of my blog you already know this, but it was fun to share other strange things I probably wouldn't have admitted to!

Now I'm gonna tag a few more people...

CareBearMommy....TAG!!

Mattsmom......TAG!!

Like Mother, Like Daughter

The older I get, the more I realize that I am slowly becoming my mother. When I was younger if someone had told me that one day I would be just like her I would have gone to my room brooding and being angry for a long time, but now it's not so bad!
There are several ways I'm becoming like her, first off are the sayings we use. When I was younger I remember that my mom always said WEIRD things. She would say, "I can NEVER have nice things." Or the famous, "Just wait until your dad gets home!" She would always curse us with, "One day you'll have kids that treat you the same way that you treat me, and then you'll understand." There was a time when I thought that these comments were uncalled for and that she was just rambling....but guess what...I now say these things and I understand where she was coming from when she uttered them....She was on the verge of a nervous breakdown. The one phrase that I find myself using a lot is the famous, "Just wait until your dad gets home!" When I was told this, I would immediately freak out and hope she'd forget...I feared my dad. When I utter this to Cam, he simply nods his head and carries on in what he was doing. He has no fear of his father. It's sad that this SAME phrase, uttered in the same exasperated tone of voice has such different responses.
The other way that I'm becoming my mother is the fact that I need quiet time daily. When I was younger she'd gather all of us into the living room (I'm the oldest of 6...so there were lots of bodies sprawled out all over) and she'd turn on a quiet cartoon (usually the Flintstones or Tom and Jerry) and she'd conk out and insist that we'd either nap or quietly watch cartoons. I LOVE that tradition that I'm carrying on with...the only problem is I cannot get Cam to realize that this is a GOOD thing! The little girl I babysit EASILY realizes the brilliance of this plan and will sleep for me for a good hour to an hour and a half. Cam on the other hand is a pill!! I'll turn on cartoons and turn the volume WAY down to where he can barely hear it, and I will fall into my beloved nappy time! All the while Cam is roaming the house trying to find something to keep him occupied and entertained. The boy just won't obey me!
And finally...the way I'm morphing into my mother is the fact that we both have the same warped sense of humor and sense of justice in the world. We both laugh at the same STRANGE things...both get angry at the same things....and we both realize now that the only thing a mother ever truly wants in her life is peace and silence!
I love my mom. She and I are a lot alike, but it took us many years, many hours of crying, many hurt feelings, and many arguments to get to this point. I love her and I'm glad that I grew up to be JUST LIKE HER! (Happy my birthday to my mommy! After all, she is the one who made me possible!)

Crazy Mother on the Loose

I just realized today that I'm NOT ready for my son to grow up! (For those of you with children over 5...you're probably thinking I'm INSANE for thinking this, but it's true!) When I was younger I lived in a very nice neighborhood...there were tons of kids running around and we pretty much knew everyone who lived around us. My parent's would let us roam the neighborhood and didn't really worry too much, I think. Well, tonight the rowdy neighbor kids came over and asked if Cam could come out and play with them. My first reaction was to scream out "NO WAY!!" and slam the door in their faces, but I held back and told them that I was making dinner and he was going to have to eat soon. Cam then looked up at me with those bright blue eyes as if to say, "Please, mom, you never let me do anything." I'm such a softy...I told the kids to wait for him to put on his shoes and he'd be out for a little while. Cam was so thrilled with that idea that he hurried and had his shoes on and was out the door before I could say, boo!

I cannot convey to you the feeling of panic that overcame me. If I could have I would have shrunk myself down to teeny size and stood outside to keep an eye on him the ENTIRE time while trying not to embarrass the kid, but since I don't have access to that machine I stayed inside making dinner. I stood next to the window the whole time. If I didn't see his body or the kids he was with, my heart would palpitate and I would get light-headed. I was SO worried about him that I almost burned dinner! Our neighborhood is not the same kind of place that I grew up in...it's freakin' scary!! One of my friends who lived here told me once that she looked up the registered sex offenders in our area and noticed that our neighborhood was almost all red with the dots marking where they live. Ever since then I've tried to stay inside of our home and keep the doors locked tight. It's a rare day when our street isn't mentioned in the police log for drugs, domestic violence, or something like that. Even without knowing that this is the breeding ground for those scumbags, I'm a worrier. My husband will be late coming home from work and I'll imagine him in a horrible car accident, dying in the hospital, or losing his memory and not knowing where he lives. I know it's bad, but I can't control these thoughts. So here I am...literally pacing my small kitchen praying that dinner will cook quickly so that I will have an excuse to call Cam in for the night. Every car or truck that passed was, in my mind, a potential murderer or kidnapper. When dinner was finally finished I was relieved to call him back into the safety of our home. He was so mad at me for calling him in, but I knew it would pass. So, during dinner we had one of my famous conversations. During the time he was outside, I realized that I'm way too paranoid and I need to let the kid grow, play, and learn things for himself. So our conversation consisted of the new rules that he must obey if he wants to go outside ever again. As I was getting on in my speech the poor kid covered his ears and said, "I don't wanna talk to you, no more!" I threatened him that if he didn't listen to me then I wouldn't let him leave our house ever again. He, naturally, threw a fit, then he calmed down and listened to the rants of his insane mother.

Am I alone in this crazy paranoia? Please give me hope that I can get through this time in his life. I think this crazy side of me coming out is a HUGE sign that it's time for another child...which I know all too well. Other than getting that other child we've been wanting what can I do?? HELP ME!!

Primary Music Time Ideas

I went to a stake leadership meeting tonight and was told the basic overview of my calling in our ward. I'm the Primary Chorister. I was hoping that we could get through the boring informational part of the meeting and get to the meat of this calling...the ideas for teaching these kids the primary songs and getting them excited about singing. But the overview took so long that we didn't get around to those great ideas that I love to hear and often take and use for myself. In my last ward, (where I had the exact same calling) I got the best ideas when I went to these meetings and I used them and they worked brilliantly, but I feel like I was jipped out of the chance to glean these wonderful ideas from the people going through the same things I'm going through!
At our meeting the woman teaching it told us that we need to sing the song to the kids at least 3 times before they are going to join us successfully. I haven't been doing that and hope to try that and see how well it works. But I'm stumped as to what kind of fun activities and games I can get going for the kids to keep them excited about singing.
Let me give you a sample of some of the fun things I've tried and have been successful with and then you tell me what works for you! I'm all about sharing and "stealing" these ideas and thoughts, we're all in it together!

Ideas I've Tried and had Success with:

• Cutting ties. Okay, so it sounds insane, right...it is! What we did was we had two men from the ward and asked them to come in to judge singing time for us. What the men know that the kids DON'T is that we're going to cut their ties piece by piece. Which ever side sings louder that man's tie gets cut. I usually buy those ugly and inexpensive ties from Deseret Industries, or have the men donate ties they don't like anymore. It's been a riot seeing the men "react" to having their "favorite" ties cut off. One time the daughters of our second counselor in the bishopric saved his tie...because he loved it so much! They wanted their mom to sew it back together! This is a fun one, but can only be used sparingly! (Kids catch on fast!)
• Follow the Leader. When the kids get really rowdy and a wiggle song just won't do, we try playing this easy game. I sit on a chair in front of the group and tell the kids to do what I do. I silently wiggle myself: rolling arms, patting shoulders, doing head, shoulders, knees, and toes...and they follow me. It's a fun thing to get the kids to be quiet and pay attention, but like the tie cutting thing...it's only to be used sparingly.
• Word Searches. I've tried this idea once and the kids ate it up. It was fun, and very educational for me! The only problem with it is the time thing...not much time for singing time and it's spent searching for words on the puzzle!
• Using the books from Primary Partners. Okay, so this is my one splurge for Primary. I usually buy it when it's cheap and use it and use it and use it! They come out at the beginning of the year, and these books have all of the songs that are part of the sacrament presentation and they have broken them down in easy to learn pictures and phrases. The other nice thing about this book is that it's chuck full of games and singing awards...just a great idea maker. I don't want to over use this book, but I often can't help it simply because I'm not creative enough to make my own ideas.
• Online sources. I've got links to a few like the Idea Door, Jenny Smith.net, and ldsfiles. Like I mentioned earlier...I will find ideas and use them as my own. I've been told many times that I'm a great chorister...I tell them honestly, that I'm not the one to come up with these ideas...I just borrow or "steal" them and use them.

And that's it...all of my brilliant ideas....not much...is it? I'm hoping that you can help me come up with ideas that will have ME singing praises!

The more I look online for resources...the more I find! I've run across 2 really good sites. You can see them here and here! Thanks for the ideas...please keep them coming. I'm feeling so inspired!

My "new" Exercise Program

Okay, so I've been told repeatedly that I need to lose weight. After that last pic of me on my blog I was quite disgusted with my rolls showing and my butt taking up my "mommy chair." I admit it...I'm a disgusting blob! I have decided that I will try exercising at least once every other day. My doctor recommended running my stairs in my apartment, but I have one big issue with that....MY KNEES! I didn't notice it until we moved here, but my knees creak and grind as I go up and down the stairs. (Not so bad going down as up, but that's what defying gravity will do to you!) Sometimes if I want to bug Steve I'll lay in bed with my leg extended and slowly bend my knee. It makes him cringe, it's so funny. But I digress...so running the stairs is something I do anyway, but to add "exercise" to my routine I've decided to take up dancing, again.
For years and years I was a dancer. I was never one of those teeny ballerina types, but I was a rotund jazz dancer. I was in drill teams from age 7 until I was 16. I loved dancing, and I was really good at it (as long as someone else made up the moves for me, I'm not so good at choreography for myself.) So my youngest brother was shopping for his birthday last week and bought a CD with "Fishin' in the Dark" on it. I LOVED doing the line dance to that song. I used to be able to do it over and over and over and never tire of it. So when he played it for me last week I tried to do the dance to show him how it looks. (Here's the pathetic part of my story....) I was worn out and out of breath after 3 rotations. I couldn't believe it...my stamina had left COMPLETELY!! So I made him give me a copy of the song and I'm working my way up to dancing to that song for at least a half hour. Right now my short term goal is dancing through the entire song, but baby-steps...right? Speaking of which...I think I'll attempt it now...before I have to babysit. Who knows, maybe Cam will join me! :)

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Okay, for an update on how well my "new" excercise program went...I made my first baby-step goal! I danced thru the entire song without passing out or giving up! Now I'm onto my next goal of dancing for an entire hour! My husband seems to think that I should get out and walk around, but I told him I'm baby-stepping my way up to it. I do want to get out and be able to walk everywhere like I used to when I was younger, but I need to slowly work up to it. I don't want to get going and suddenly lose my momentum and give up! Baby-steps work for me! Tomorrow I hope to dance thru the song twice!

And for the changing comment thing...it's been taken care of! I love the comments, they're what keep me blogging! Keep it up!

Speaking "Dawnyelese"

As I sit in my "mommy chair," I have been thinking of how I can educate others of this new language that has been plaguing me for years and years. Now I can share my new talent with all of you.

For a long time now I've had a problem that has mostly been kept within my family. Whenever I need something and can't find the words I need, I will shout out the first noise or mumble that comes to my mouth. Let me give you an example: When my brother started to take away the food that wanted to put on my plate I immediately mumbled, "(Grunt) ghwob a (snort)shoevewhuh!" If you were to hear it there would be multi-pitches in my voice too. My brothers, sister, parents and now my husband will laugh at it and immediately try to duplicate the sounds that come out.

Sometimes this new "language" isn't just mumbles and garbled noises...it's also words said in mixed up ways. One of my famous Dawnyelese phrases is "Ah, that adds much!" If you were to use this phrase in proper context, it would have to be used after a noise that has been repeated over and over in an annoying fashion finally stops making the noise. The original use came when we were on a car trip to Utah. Anytime we go to Utah there is road construction somewhere along the way, and this stretch of road construction had the vehicles driving over those noise strips along the side of the road. So we were driving 65 mph hearing "wumph...wumph....wumph....wumph..." over and over. When we finally got out of the road construction area and only heard the silence of a normal drive, I sighed, "Ah, that adds much!" Hence a new phrase was born.

My brother has coined a definition for my "new" language. (I call it new, but I've been speaking Dawnyelese for YEARS!) It is officially Dawnyelese if there is at least one word in the phrase that you cannot spell with letters from the English alphabet. Since coming up with this definition we've found that I'm not the only person who speaks this language. My youngest brother has a strong propensity for speaking Dawnyelese. It's easy...if you want to learn a new language that is fun and hard for others to understand then you should take up learning Dawnyelese, your family will soon be making fun of you too!

Drumroll please....

Finally....after WEEKS of waiting, we have our new furniture! We were thrilled when we got the call yesterday that told us that our couch had finally caught up with the love seat and chair and as soon as I got the message I called them and scheduled the delivery. We had a little bit of running around, getting rid of the old couches, but now we have nice STURDY furniture.
Our last set was one that someone had just given to us because they had gotten a new set themselves, so it was in fairly good condition when we got it, but after using it over and over we finished breaking the springs and when people would come over to visit, they would SINK in those awful things. So we were excited to give those old things a new home and get our own brand new furniture. I don't think I ever expected to utter those words. How is it that when you are young the only "new" things that people ever got that was exciting was a new car? And now that we've matured (or just in my case...aged) getting new furniture is the thing that excites me?? I don't get that logic, but I don't really care...I have new furniture!! And to my amazement I'm actually sitting in what I have officially dubbed the "mommy chair." Yes, that is a CHAIR...not a love seat! It's HUGE! And I'm so glad!
My husband told me when I took this picture that it should be subtitled, "My husband in his natural habitat!" Which is very appropriate for him! He has always been a couch lounger and now that there isn't a spring in his hip when he lounges, I think I'll be seeing him in this position more often!

And here is Cam in his new favorite piece of furniture...the love seat. You can't tell from this pic, but our previous coffee table has now been shrunk. It used to be the perfect height for throwing up your feet and relaxing, but now it's about 4 or 5 inches shorter than the couches. It's silly, but we'll get used to it! NO PROBLEM there!
We actually had a busy day on top of getting the new stuff. We had our transition meeting for Cam's entrance into Kindergarten and it went fairly well. I don't know what it is, but his teacher for next year was great, the special ed person was helpful, his therapists and current teacher heavily lobbied for him to have an aide next year who would be there to keep the boy on task...it seemed like all were in agreement, until the principal came in. She heard me mention that Cam can be aggressive with kids and automatically assumed that he's aggressive all of the time. He usually only gets that way when he's been distracted and isn't doing what he's supposed to. So suddenly after feeling like we could get what we had hoped from his entrance into kindergarten the principal throws out all these extra services that she thinks would be helpful for him. I do have to interject and put in here that she was 30 minutes late to the meeting and missed all the background info that would have probably stopped her babbling. So she tells our service coordinator that she should get him signed up for counseling, IBI (not sure what all the letters stand for, but "B" stands for behavior), and treatment in the community where he will learn to interact with other kids. I just wanted to hit her in the head and say, "HE'S A NICE BOY!! LET IT GO!!" But she just went on and on...we were all frustrated, and his current teacher kept telling her that he hasn't had ANY major conflicts with the boy in the 3 years he's been dealing with him. But she wouldn't listen. I was just annoyed and left my husband and service coordinator to fill out forms while I went with Cam and his future teacher to see the kindergarten classroom. While I was there I learned something that just shocked me! They are teaching these little 5 year olds to READ!! I remember that I didn't learn how to read until I was in first grade! They have put so much pressure on these kids that now they are teaching them to read. Kindergarten is less social learning and more mental learning. I was just in awe. I can't believe that by this time next year they will be having my baby reading! (At least that's the plan!) Cam was so excited after visiting the school that now he wants to stop with preschool and go to the "big kid school." It's so hard to see him grow up and become independent. I guess it's just a part of the circle of life! The funny thing about this whole situation from this morning with the principal going on and on was that I received a call this afternoon that made me feel much better about my desire for Cam just to have an aide. His OT from school called and told us that in her professional opinion she doesn't believe that he needs all of those things that the principal suggested. She is certified IBI (I'm still not sure what it means, but when I learn what it means I will tell you...from what I have deduced IBIs are specialized therapists.) And with her expertise she thinks that if we can get him an aide he will succeed. It was a load off my mind! I just hope that Cam will continue to bloom the way he has this past year. I'm crossing my fingers and I'm going to continue working with him and hope all goes well!

Hunt for the Perfect Easter Candy

The other day I realized that Easter was just around the corner and it dawned on me that the Easter Bunny nearly forgot the holiday. Usually when it comes to Easter I go way overboard, so I planned to get a few bags and that’s it. I discussed what candies I wanted with my husband and he agreed. And while my son was at speech therapy I went to Walmart to stock up. I can normally find ANYTHING that I want when I go there, so I expected to find the candies on my list easily. That was not the case. We had decided to get one bag each of our own personal favorites from the store: for him it’s those Reeses Pieces Eggs, and for me it’s the Dove milk chocolate eggs. I found the jelly beans and cream eggs easily enough, but Walmart’s shelves were clearing out pretty fast and those candies were NOT there. I was a bit frustrated because Cam’s therapy time was up and I had to take him with me any other place I went searching at and bamboozling a 5-year-old is hard to do.
I convinced Cam that I was at the stores we went to in order to find some yeast. (Which was partially the truth.) On the way back from therapy we stopped at Albertsons. I looked at their selection and realized that their variety was worse than Walmart’s! I wasn’t going to give up though. There are more stores than those in town, I just had to remember where I had seen them before. (In fact, I had bought some of those candies earlier, like at the end of February!) I went to Winco and looked, no luck. Then I tried going to our local Saving’s Center. I ended up finding the yeast I’ve been looking for, but their candy selection was worse than ANY other store I had been to. I had to quit my search because I had to go and practice singing with a couple of other women from my ward for a musical number we have planned for the end of the month. The song was harder than we had anticipated and so I ended up staying there for over an hour trying to figure out the song. When it was over I had called my hubby and told him that I remembered where we had found the candy, it was at Smiths, and that I wanted to get it before I forgot about it. So after my day-long search we now have the perfect candy...just to make us sick and break our "diets." But the search will be worth it!
What is your perfect candy that you will search all over for?

Save Our Sanity!!

I am so excited about something that I got in the mail today! I usually dread the drivel that I receive, mostly because I end up with envelopes with mine or my husband’s name on them saying that we’re approved! Ooh, I can’t tell you the frustration I feel when I get 3 to 20 of those a day! I was thrilled to learn that there is something that you can do about those annoying letters. I tried it and I’m excited to see if it works! I thought that I would pass the good news along, since I consider you all my best friends! There is a way to "Opt Out" of credit card offers. Call toll free (in the United States, at least) 888-5OptOut (888-567-8688) and follow the instructions for opting out.
Why might you consider opting out?
1. Save your sanity. (Haven’t I already touched on this point? That was my main reason for doing this in the first place!)
2. Save a tree. By cutting down on the number of offers you receive, you may contribute to a small degree to a decrease in the number of trees cut down in order to make paper.
3. Save your identity. If someone were to steal your mail they could theoretically return one of these offers and open a credit card in your name at a different address.
4. MOST OF ALL, it will make your life much better. I mean, sure, you won’t be "approved" as much as you currently are, but you will be getting actual mail that you want (well, with the exception of bills!)
I called the number and it only takes a few minutes...unless you have an unusual name (like "Dawnyel," what was my mom thinking?) It won’t take effect immediately, but hey...you will be on this list for 5 YEARS!! It couldn’t hurt! I’m excited for the decrease in my mail.

DACC vs. Regular Kindergarten

This morning was a busy one to say the least. I woke up at the usual time and tried to rouse my son from his deep slumber. I succeeded after a few minutes and he was off to bathe. After his bath I told him to dress himself and that's when the whining began. I have been trying to wean myself out of his room for when he gets dressed, and yesterday he dressed himself fully for the first time EVER! So I figured that since he had done it once he could do it again. I ended up sitting outside of his bedroom in the hallway waiting for him to get his rear in gear and get dressed, but he continued whining. I finally told him that I was going to go to the basement to get the laundry and that if he wasn't dressed soon I was going to call the bus and tell them that he couldn't go to school because he was whining. After gathering up the clean clothes and bringing them upstairs, he emerged from his room dressed in HUGE pants. Well, I told him that he couldn't wear those pants, so I found some other pants for him. Then we ended up looking for his shoes and getting him ready to go. Distraction after distraction after distraction. Finally we sat down in front of the television to watch Dora until the bus arrived and waited and waited and waited. The bus seemed awfully late today so I called transportation for the district to find out if the bus was running late. The lady told me that he had already been there and I quickly realized that I was going to be his transportation for the day. I usually DON'T get fully dressed to put him on the bus, so I drove him to school while I was wearing my jammies and slippers. Prime embarrassment attire for this type of thing!
We got to the school and noticed a parked bus waiting for the teacher to come out and get the kids off the bus and I asked Cam if it was full of kids from his class. He said it was and wanted to wait for them to get off the bus. I was cold and decided to walk him inside to his classroom. We went inside and as we walked in, his teacher and his aide walked around the corner. His teacher saw me and we started chatting. He told me that he was glad that I had to come in so that we could talk about what's going to happen. We have a meeting scheduled for this Friday to discuss Cam's transition into kindergarten. He told me that he wasn't very happy with the school district at the moment and that if I noticed he was making unhappy faces at the meeting that was why. I mentioned to him that we were really hoping to find a person to shadow for Cam (to keep him on task) when he enters kindergarten and that we DO NOT want him in the DACC (Developmentally Accurate Curriculum) because of some of the things we had heard about the teacher. He asked me what we had heard and I told him that someone my husband worked with had been a shadow for a child in her class and noticed that the kids only got ONE crayon a day to use for the ENTIRE day. She doesn't want a mess, so she cuts everything for the kids and glues things for them too. I'm sorry, but to me that ISN'T what kindergarten is about. To me, it's about making messes and LEARNING how to do these things! So I told him that if the district decided that he needed to be put into DACC we were going to transfer him to another school. He told me that it was our choice and that we had to do what was best for Cam.
So here's my dilemma. We are going to the meeting and we want to do what's best for our son, but we don't want to be rude either. If they suggest DACC should we just ignore what we've heard and let him go into this class or should we push for him to go to regular kindergarten? Even if we can't get a shadow for him and they recommend regular kindergarten should we seek out alternative ways of getting him a shadow or should we just let him fail? We feel that it would be best to get Cam transitioned into regular kindergarten but with a shadow. He's a smart kid, but he needs someone to constantly keep him on task. I'm quite annoyed with the whole situation and hope that the district can help us get him the things that he needs, but with his teacher's attitude with the district I don't think it's gonna happen unless we push for it. What would you do in this situation?

Funerals and Family

This weekend was a crazy one. We had a couple of funerals to attend. Since one was a family member, we had some family from out of town visiting so they could attend. It was so fun! (Not that funerals are fun, but having family here is!)

We had fun exchanging pictures and stories. The first night they were here we stayed up talking until 2:00AM! We're so tired, but so happy to have had them come to visit!

This is my husband's aunt and the family member that came to visit with us. I met her for the first time on our trip! But after this weekend I really got to know her better and love her like one of my own aunts. She even gave me a private tutorial on how to make my family history program do really cool things! I wish they could have stayed longer, but they had other family to visit. We'll make sure that we can keep in touch though! They were so much fun. Cam immediately noticed the resemblance between my husband's mother and her sister, so he began calling her and her husband grandma and grandpa. I was going to correct him, but figured that it was a sweet compliment to them, so we didn't worry about it! Now the poor kid thinks that he has like 20 grandparents!

With two funerals going on at the same time this weekend we had to split up, or miss one while going to the other one. So I went to one and my husband went to the other one. The one I went to was for a family friend who had complications to surgery. It was VERY sad. This man was younger than my own dad (who is only 20 years older than me.) The thing that shocked me about this man's death was the fact that I had just seen him a few months ago and he was fine...or so it had appeared! He was smiling and joking and being himself, then I find that he had died. I went to the viewing and the funeral with my parents and learned how very loved this man was! We went early to his viewing at the funeral home and the line was already moving OUT the door! Then when we went to the funeral the church was packed! The speakers talked about his love of family, friends, and the Lord. I made a resolve to myself to try to act in the same manner. This man had been in the hospital in a coma for 2 weeks before he had died and everytime someone would come in to visit him they would introduce themselves as his best friend. The bishop had commented on how he had never seen anyone with so many best friends in his life. This man had treated everyone that he knew as if they were his best friend. What a tribute! Like I said, I have resolved to myself that I will begin that practice! You can NEVER have to many friends and how cool would it be to have all your friends be your best friends?

Pure Randomness...

I was just reading some things my hubby printed off of the computer and found them highly annoying and fairly accurate! I thought I'd share with all of my friends...beware, they may apply to you even if you aren't from Idaho!

If you consider it a sport to gather your food by drilling through 18 inches of ice and sitting there all day hoping that the food will swim by, you might live in Idaho.

If you're proud that your region makes the national news 96 nights each year because Stanley is the coldest spot in the nation, you might live in Idaho.
If your local Dairy Queen is closed from November through March, you might live in Idaho.

If you instinctively walk like a penguin for five months out of the year, you might live in Idaho.
If your dad's suntan stops at a line curving around the middle of his forehead, you might live in Idaho.
If you have worn shorts and a parka at the same time, you might live in Idaho.
If your town has an equal number of bars and churches, you might live in Idaho.
If you have had a lengthy telephone conversation with someone who dialed a wrong number, you might live in Idaho.
YOU KNOW YOU ARE A TRUE IDAHOAN WHEN:
1. "Vacation" means going east or west on I-86 for the weekend.
2. You measure distance in hours.
3. You know several people who have hit a deer more than once.
4. You often switch from "heat" to "A/C" in the same day and back again.
5. You can drive 65 mph through 2 feet of snow during a raging blizzard, without flinching.
6. You see people wearing camouflage at social events (including weddings).
7. You install security lights on your house and garage and leave both unlocked.
8. You carry jumper cables in your car and your girlfriend knows how to use them.
9. You design your kid's Halloween costume to fit over a snowsuit.
10. Driving is better in the winter because the potholes are filled with snow.
11. You know all 4 seasons: almost winter, winter, still winter and road construction.
12. Your idea of creative landscaping is a statue of a deer next to your blue spruce.
13. You were unaware that there is a legal drinking age.
14. Down South to you means Utah or Nevada.
15. A brat is someone else kid.
16. Your neighbor throws a party to celebrate his new pole shed.
17. You go out to a tail gate party every Friday.
18. Your 4th of July picnic was moved indoors due to frost.
19. You have more miles on your snow blower than your car.
20. You find 0 degrees "a little chilly."

Today was one of those "ugh" days! First off, Blogger was messing up my 13s, and by the time I got it all fixed I was planning on taking a shower. But then I noticed that we had a voice message from one of my husband's aunts asking us if she could bunk here for a night while they were going to a funeral. I had to call her back to tell her what she could do, and by the time I finished talking with her it was too late to get showered before Cam got off the bus. So I waited for him and figured that I'd shower after he got home. As soon as he was off the bus I was ready to get ready for my shower. I attempted to put in my contacts, the first one worked, but the second one caused instant pain. I pulled it out and realized that it was ripped right down the middle. Luckily I have a few spares, so I pulled out an old one and realized that it was dried beyond all recognition. I rewet it for about 5 minutes and when it was finally soft enough to put in my eye I noticed a small hole in the middle of it. I was quite annoyed, but found another spare contact and got it on. By this time it was 11:30....the regular drop off time for the little girl I babysit. I did the quick hosedown and jumped out and began to quickly dress, when I heard the door bell ringing! I threw the rest of my clothes on as I hurried down the stairs and as I opened it the phone rang. It was my husband wondering about the situation with his aunt. So I'm trying to talk with my friend while talking to Steve and trying to out talk a crying little girl. She wasn't feeling well at all. So I managed to juggle the three things and get the kids moved to the living room. Once there Cam put his hand on her shoulder to help guide her and she began to howl at the top of her lungs! Apparently she's extra sensitive to touch. Anytime he touched her all day long she'd scream and bawl. Well, at this outburst I was annoyed and I told her to stop crying for no reason to which she began to hyperventilate! I was beginning to get frazzled! After a noisy day with a wound up 5 year old and a screaming 19 month old I tried to relax and make dinner. But that was NOT to be. I ended up burning my dinner and filling my house with smoke! YUCK! Add on top of that family coming to our messy house after our vacation and it sounds worse than it should be. I guess it was just NOT my day! I'm sure it'll get better...right?

Well, I guess there is one thing that makes everything all right...my wonderful husband! A couple of weeks ago he whipped up a poem and entered it in a contest and he's a finalist! I'm so proud of him! I didn't even know he had written anything. Then to make my shock complete I found out that it's about me! It's SO sweet! Here...tell me what you think!

Love

I love you
you love me
we entered as two
and came together as one
bound with trust and love
taking the road of life together.
loving you and you loving me
the road, it might be hard.
it may be rough,
but with one heart
our love will burn
while loving you and you loving me.

Isn't he great?? I just love him so much!

Thirteen things I can't stop talking about from my vacation...

Thirteen Things about Dawnyel 1. We had so much fun seeing family! 2. It was a VERY long drive (but very pretty) 3. We pretty much saw all 4 seasons of the year just on our drive (with the McCall area being WINTER!!) 4. We got to see lots of cute animals along the way...from deer to pheasants to cute bunnies 5. We wish we could move to Moscow...it's just so darn pretty there! 6. It should have been longer...but what vacation is EVER long enough!? 7. We want to live there, but only on Grandma and Grandpa's farm. It feels like camping, but inside a house. 8. Cameron was such a trooper with the whole driving thing, only asking if we were there yet 50 or 60 times! 9. We're so glad that we went to the places we did...we couldn't have taken the same pictures without friend's help! (You know who you are!) 10. We took a LOT of pictures. Our camera had 26 pictures on it when we left, now we have almost 200 pics! 11. I seriously need to get in shape...just wandering around the farm wore me out! I enjoyed the walks, but I was out of breath and RED in the face! 12. Did I mention that we LOVED seeing our family and spending time with them?? 13. We made so many memories it's gonna be hard to remember them all, but we're gonna try! Links to other Thursday Thirteens! 1. Frog Legs 2. Diana The purpose of the meme is to get to know everyone who participates a little bit better every Thursday. Visiting fellow Thirteeners is encouraged! If you participate, leave the link to your Thirteen in others comments. It’s easy, and fun! Be sure to update your Thirteen with links that are left for you, as well! I will link to everyone who participates and leaves a link to their 13 things. Trackbacks, pings, comment links accepted! View More Thursday Thirteen Participants

Sniffle, sniffle!! SNEEZE!!

I've been hit with the latest "virus!" Diana from Toronto Teacher Mom Blog got me. It's called the Indie Virus. It's actually a good thing! There are 2 goals it has which are: To bring exposure to lesser known blogs (especially those outside of Technorati's top 100) and to explore the metrics behind a viral linking campaign launched by the "little guys" (less popular blogs) In other words, it helps lesser known blogs to be more visual! I'm so excited about it! I think I may try and see what blogs I can find by accessing the Indie Virus! But as the virus goes...I'm infecting some of you! Oooooohhh! Beware!!

• Carebearmommy from I am a Crazy Mom has the Indie Virus

• Frog Legs from My Rambling Thoughts and Jots has the Indie Virus

I would infect my friend Mattsmom, but she still wishes to only invite people to her blog! When you change your mind let me know! If anyone else wishes to be infected let me know! It should be fun!

Post Vacation Blahs

I can't believe the post-vacation hang-over I'm experiencing! I have been so tired in the mornings that I don't know what my alarm is....I litterally cannot understand why that machine is making that noise and why it won't shut up! I've been so worn out that I ended up going to bed last night at 8:00!! I NEVER get to bed that early! My husband was a bit exasperated with my early bedtime, but he survived it! I feel a little better now that I got more sleep, but I still feel worn down and tired! I'll get through it.
Okay, so since I couldn't post ALL the pictures that we had taken on our trip I will try to post a few for a while until you all tell me that you're sick of hearing about what we did!

Now I have the pic of the deer in their backyard. The first night that we were there was the only night that the deer were there to eat. I think they could sense that there were other people there who weren't there normally. This barn is also kinda special! Everyone around knows their farm by the star on it. They light it up every Christmas and it's the only thing that you can see for a long ways! They were telling us that people come up to them and tell them that they're the people with the star. They keep it up all year though, because it would be too hard for them to take down!

These pictures were taken in Robison Park (which isn't very far from the farm.) I wanted to get a picture of my boys peeking at me through the trees, but Cam just started laughing. I LOVE how these turned out! They're so cute!

A Small Taste of Our Family Trip

We're finally back! We really didn't want to come home, we were having so much fun! We went to Boise and saw some of my husband's family, then the next day we were off to Moscow.

I have a good friend who lived there for a while and she told us the fun places to go while we were there....thank goodness. I'm sure we would have had some nice pictures, but not nearly as many as we ended up with. We took several pictures along the way, then when we got there we took even more.

This first picture is of my son near a pond in the arboretum at the University of Idaho. We were hoping that the trees would have been more in bloom or even more green, but it wasn't, but we still had fun. Cam even got to get close to a REAL live bunny rabbit. He was standing by the pond looking at a goose. He wanted to pet it!

This next picture is of Cameron and me. We were at a rest stop along the way and my husband found this really cute rock, so we all had our pictures taken on it. I think this was one of the best pictures of me for the entire trip, so that's why it's here.

This was a picture of the homestead. This is where most of my husband's best childhood memories come from. They live way outside of town and it feels like you're away from the rest of the world...it was an amazing place!

Our first night on the farm we were getting ready to eat dinner and suddenly out of the back window we saw two deer eating some feed that Grandpa had put out earlier. They said that they usually put out the feed for the pheasants, but the deer have been coming down and eating it too. We had to be fairly quiet, because the deer could hear us through the windows. Cam kept asking us if he could pet the deer. He was so excited to see wild animals! He was so cute! (I keep trying to upload this pic, of the deer, but blogger is pitching a fit! I'll try to post it in another update!)

This is the whole group of us. We hurried and got these pictures while my husband's cousin was visiting. Grandma and Grandpa are in the middle. (Aren't they cute?) We were lucky enough to stay in their home and spend LOTS of time with them. There was one night where the "boys" went out exploring and Grandma and I stayed home and she told me all kinds of fun and interesting family stories. Most of the art in their home has a story behind it and I was asking all kinds of questions about who was in them, and what was going on. She talked and talked and I was in heaven. She even started to tell me another story, and she stopped and said, "You probably want me to shut up, don't you." I told her to keep going, I was happy listening to the stories!

All in all our trip was a marvelous success. We all learned a lot and got to spend quality time with our family. The only bad thing about the whole experience was that it had to end so quickly! We really didn't want to leave, we were even toying with the idea of living there, but we'll see exactly how far that theory goes.

We ended up getting in fairly late last night, I didn't like the LONG car ride home, but it was okay. There weren't any major accidents or problems, just the incessant whining of a 5 year old, needing a potty break! We loved it and decided to make this an annual affair!

I'm still on Vacation, but I couldn't stay away!!

Steve just got back from Priesthood session of conference (I made him go) and told me that he had called his aunt and she wanted us to email her, since we get zip-o cell phone service where we are staying! So here I am...hacking in on my husband's grandparent's computer...BLOGGING!! I can't help myself...is there a self-help group for people like me??

We are having so much fun here...we really DON'T want to leave. It feels like we're camping because his grandparents live so far out of town and there is a little bit of wooded area nearby. It's just gorgeous here! It did snow and rain today, but luckily we got out yesterday when it was nice weather and took the pics that we wanted! When I get home we will post them, but I don't know how to do it on their computer, so I won't mess with it. They're pretty terrified of technology. They use it, but they don't like messing with their routines on the things they have or they'd get lost!

Steve just came in the room and told me that his grandparents are waiting for us. I guess I should go. I'm really looking forward to using the hot tub again tonight! They've been so good to us, I'm so glad that we got to come and see them. Look for the more exciting and updated blog from this adventure!