We Are Family!!

I absolutely LOVE having my family here! We've been just sitting around chatting and giggling or laughing out right! I hope to check in every once in a while, but don't be surprised if I'm not around this week!

I'm going to miss you, my little corner of the house!

It's Finished...Can I Nap Now?

The one reunion is over with. And I am wiped out!

We started by gathering things last night, and making sure we had everything. I didn't end up leaving my parents' house until 11:30. Needless to say, Cam was whining to be taken home, because he was tired. (He RARELY does that...so you know that he was needing to sleep!) I got home and ended up getting worked up into a tizzy and called my husband at work like 2,000 times. He came home and we "discussed" the situation until 3:30! When all was worked out, we slept until 8:00. (I'm tired...did I mention that!?)

We got to the park for the reunion at 9:00 and started setting things up. Once we got it settled, people began arriving. We liked how they had the families "divided" last year. Each family wore a certain color. (We were given black....in the summer???...ICK! But we decided as a family to make it black and white camouflage...fits with our family more!) So we assigned the same colors this year. Some showed up in the right colors, but others did not, but it didn't matter. What we did find though, was that each family kept to their own groups. I did get to chat once in a while with other family members, but not very much...because I was with the group who was in charge.

My uncle did an AMAZING job keeping the little kids occupied, while the big ones (the adults) played their own games. I don't think I saw Cam more than 5 times the whole day. He was thoroughly entertained! They had set up wading pools, had water balloons, and had a water slide thingy set up, and Cam was wet from the INSTANT that water was in those pools. The boy came to me while we were playing card-bingo shivering with blue lips. I asked him if he wanted a towel to dry off with, and he said, "No! (chatter chatter chatter)" I wrapped him up in the towel anyway!

We had fun. I even won a game of bingo...I ended up with some really cool flashlights that don't need batteries or lightbulbs! Then we had the auction. My poor tile pictures went for a pittance! I guess I really shouldn't feel bad, but sometimes people just don't realize the work it takes to make them. I'm still kicking myself for letting a copy of my great-grandparents' wedding license get away from me, but what can you do? Anyway, we raised a lot of moolah for next year, and the big item of the day was the quilt! The can with raffle tickets for the quilt was STUFFED to the brim! They opened up the can to pull out the winner, and TONS of tickets fell out. Steve was helping to pick up the tickets and the first one he pulled out of the pile on the ground was MINE! (It should have counted....) But someone else got the quilt...even after my mom put in $75 worth of tickets. The winner stood up and SQUEALED! I think she was glad she had won! It's so pretty!

All in all we had a good day! Now, I wait for my mother's family reunion. I'm not in charge of that one, so I can relax now! YAY!!

Pretzel Salad and Quilts

I don't know why, but I'm feeling like my WHOLE week was gone in a flash! I can't believe it's the weekend already. Maybe it's because I've been recovering from a previous vacation, but I guess that's just how things go sometimes! We have my big JPH reunion tomorrow, and I thought I was all prepared for it, until I realized that I had to take a dish for the pot luck lunch. ACK!! Talk about running to the store fast quick for a good stand-by!! (Actually, it's what I'm famous for now...I usually get in trouble with my brothers if I DON'T bring it!) And since I have very little to share with all of you today, I'm going to share my recipe with you.

Dawnyel's FAMOUS Pretzel Salad
first layer:
2 cups crushed pretzels
3 Tbsp sugar
3/4 cup melted butter (don't substitute margarine...it doesn't work the same!)
Preheat oven to 400 degrees and cook first layer in 13x9 inch pan for 7 minutes. Let cool.
second layer:
1 cup sugar
1 regular container whipped topping
8 oz. pkg of softened cream cheese
Whip these three ingredients together until smooth, then layer over COOLED crust. Make sure this layer covers the pretzels completely, or they will get soggy!
third layer:
1 large box raspberrry jello
2 cups boiling water
10 oz. (or larger) frozen raspberries
1 large can crushed pineapple (with juice)
Dissolve jello in boiling water, then add fruit. Pour over whipped topping layer, and put in fridge to set up for at least 2 hours.

It's simple and easy...my kind of cooking!! :) If it wasn't easy, I wouldn't do it!

One more thing....I'm showing off this amazing quilt that I helped SLIGHTLY with. (I cut many a jeans to help out the cause, but that's about it!) My mom and grandma Sue did the bulk of the work. I think it's GORGEOUS, and I hope that the person who wins it in the raffle tomorrow truly appreciates all of the hard work that was put into it!

Dawnyel Wants...

For a while now I've been reading other people playing this fun game. I tried it with my given name, but got NONE of the same sayings. So I tweaked the game a bit....and got better results.
The rules are simple: you Google your first name followed by the word "needs"... the results are pretty funny. Here's the enlightening information I found. (Like I mentioned before...I had to tweak the rules a bit, but the results are still silly!)

Dawnyel wants to start a family on 43 Things. (WHAT!? Does this mean there's more WORK involved in starting a family?!)

Dawnyel wants to do 14 things. (What they are, I don't know!)

Dawnyel wants to know. (Yes!)

Dawnyel wants one for Maya. (Why not!?)

Dawnyel wants to see NSGC continue to excel. (okay...)

Dawnyel wants justice and wants all the footage of when she was in the house so she can prove she was not a cheat or smelly. (I think the adding of the word "smelly" at the end there really just summarizes my thoughts perfectly!)

Dawnyel wants More Poker Content. (Uh....)

Dawnyel wants to maintain a casual atmosphere. (Wow, one that works!)

Dawnyel wants solid surfaces. (Yes, because floating on Jello is just not what I want to do with my days!)

Dawnyel wants to be a pirate. (Argh, me maties!)

Dawnyel wants to help the trees. (Grow, baby, grow!)

Dawnyel wants to buy a nice dress for the graduation, she also wants to take everyone out to dinner afterwards as a thank you. (But you are going to have to pay for your own food...I'll just get you there!)

Dawnyel wants to pay to go on a vacation to a 3rd world country and work twelve hours. (Any more than that and I turn into a pumpkin!)

Dawnyel wants to go to school during the day. (So I can escape the kids!)

Dawnyel wants to be a catalyst for the planting of congregational as well as cell churches, house churches and New Generation churches. (I'm just a churchy lady!)

Dawnyel wants Cal to take an active role in the child's upbringing -- just on her own terms. (Who is Cal? And WHY would I want HIM to take an active roll in my child's upbringing!?)

Dawnyel just wants people to stop having sex when they get too old to want more kids but are still fertile. (*snickering* I DO NOT want this one...what you do in your own home is YOUR business! Old foggies have the right to do what they want too....they've earned it....)

Dawnyel wants to move over the email and website services. (Seriously considering this one!)

Dawnyel wants to move from her parents' house to a home of her own. (Uh...)

Dawnyel wants luxury surroundings. (Definately, but they need to be taken care of WITHOUT my help!)

Dawnyel wants to work for the FBI or CIA. (If I told you that, then I'd have to kill you...)

Dawnyel wants to be loved by everyone she meets and will put her front legs on you to be picked. (As opposed to my BACK legs!!)

Love at First Burp

Have you ever asked your spouse when they first fell in love with you? I have many times, and I always get the strangest answer. "When I heard you burp."
Here is the story behind the comment.
I am not...I repeat....NOT a girlie-girl. I was when I was little, but as I hit my teen-age years I grew out of that phase! You can ask my many friends who went to girls' camp with me, they'll tell you all about my gross moments. But I digress....Since I'm not a girlie-girl. I enjoy a good belching contest, and that was where the love-burp came from.
In college I was in the institute choir, and we were involved in a "musical." Since we had VERY few men in the choir, we had to combine multiple choirs to get enough guys to make it work. The musical was successful, and afterward they wanted to have a celebratory dinner. The girls were asked to bring the food, and the guys were asked to bring the drinks. Every guy that brought something to drink brought ROOT BEER!
Another friend and I were talking with another girl (who definitely is not afraid to show her true self...) and the three of us decided to have a belching contest. I thought it would be fun, and after downing 10 little Dixie cups worth of root beer in like a minute...we began to burp.
Steve had been one of those men recruited to join us in the musical, so he was there for the party. As the contest got underway, we lost the momentum we had started out with, so we gulped down more and more cups of root beer. I don't exactly remember who won the contest. What I do remember, is that afterward Steve had to help roll me up the hill to my dorm. I was so miserably sick with bubbly root beer that he had to walk right next to me...holding me up.
When I ask him WHY it was the burping that made him fall for me he tells me that he'd never heard any girl burp like that before...I had impressed him.
I guess you could call it one of my previously untapped talents. I had never thought to burp to attract guys to me, but hey, I have the guy I want now, and he loves me....burps and all!

My Poor Boy...

I fear that my poor boy may have contracted pink eye while we were at Lagoon. He went on some of the water rides, and got the water squirted directly into his eye. He complained a bit about it hurting, but quickly found something else to entertain him, and get his mind off of the pain. Now after being home for a few days his eye is no longer beautifully blue, it's an icky shade of redish-pink. I coo, and sympathize, but what else can I do? I specifically went to Walmart (my favorite store of all time) and bought him some specialty eye drops, and if those don't work, he's going to the doctor, whether he wants to or not! Oh, did you think I was talking about Cam? Nope, it's my sweet hubby, Steve. Get better soon, babe!

What? No Pictures!?

The day before we left for our weekend in Utah, my husband pulled our camera out of its handy carrying case and discovered that it did NOT work anymore! Argh! Luckily we have a warranty (somewhere...) and we'll be getting it fixed soon...we hope! :) So because we didn't have a camera, you're going to have to rely on my words to paint you an amazing picture in your heads!
The day we left was hot and not a lot of fun. We had planned on leaving town by 1:00 so that we would get to Utah with PLENTY of time to check into the hotel, eat a delicious dinner, and leisurely make our way to the Conference Center to watch the Mormon Tabernacle Choir's Tribute to the Pioneers concert. Unfortunately, we almost never make it out of town at the time we plan, but we were close this time...leaving at 2:00! I mean, only an hour later than we normally wanted!!
We decided to drive down with my parents and brothers, but this caused a bit of a problem. My husband is 6'3'' tall and we had to fold him up into a wad to stuff him into the back seat of my parents' suburban. The poor guy had several cramps because of this shoving and squeezing, but he's fine now...I think. We thought we were doing pretty well in our travels until we got STUCK in the road construction. Ugh! I hate sitting in the middle of a non-moving line of cars, trucks, minivans, and semis all waiting to move. After realizing that instead of getting to Salt Lake by 5:00, like we would have if there hadn't been a wait for the construction, we called my grandpa and his wife to tell them to get dinner without us, because we were stuck and most likely would have to find a quick fast food place to eat at along the way. My mom gave my dad the directions to the hotel and low and behold...there was a Wendy's RIGHT next to the hotel. We went to the drive thru and ordered our meals, when the drive thru lady told us the total, it didn't sound right at all. We have since learned that 1: Wendy's makes yummo food, and 2: they're quick, but 3: they almost always screw up any order they get.
We finally got the food figured out, and went to the hotel. I had made reservations weeks ago, and put different people in the rooms and thought all was well, I was wrong. My parents went into the hotel, leaving us out in the car to try and get out. (Not a fun thing...) Once we got in, they couldn't find our other room reservation anywhere. My dad was getting grumpy (his usual trip mood...) and I said, "The room was reserved under Steve's name." My dad wanted to know why I didn't tell them earlier, I sighed, and hurried to the room so we could quickly change out of our sweaty, icky clothes into our clean church duds. I had planned on wearing the same shirt for the whole day, not worrying about changing it for the concert, but I had slobbered Frosty all over my boobs...normal procedure for me when eating any yummy meal. If it's not good....then my shirt is clean. So I grabbed another shirt, and we all hurried and tried to catch the next Trax to the Conference Center. Let me just say right now, that I LOVE public transportation!! YAY! We were crammed into this train like sardines in a can. Not only was it crowded, but it was WAY hot! Anyway, we got to the stop and hurried to the concert. I highly recommend that if you plan on doing a lot of walking on a trip, break in your NEW shoes before you leave!! I ended up blistering up both feet, and was kind of miserable the whole weekend because of it. We got into the building and found our seats....we were like 10 rows back from the stage! HOW COOL IS THAT!? We sat down and waited for the concert to begin. While we were sitting there I watched as several apostles walked in and found their seats. I was so close it was awesome! I watched as Dallin H. Oaks and Joseph B. Wirthlin came in. Their presence just amazed me. I was in awe like some star struck teenager. I found myself whispering to my parents, "Hey, look!! It's Dallin H. Oaks....Look!! Wirthlin! It's Joseph B. Wirthlin!!"

After a while of sitting in our seats, my mom and brothers decided to visit the bathroom before the concert started. We kept our eyes peeled for who would come out next. After my mom came back, my husband and other brother decided to take their turns. Just as they left our row, the room became still and people came to their feet. I knew from a previous experience that actions like that meant that the prophet was entering the room. I stood and watched as President Hinckley walked into the room. He was just 10 rows away from me! Following him was Thomas S. Monson, and wheeled in behind him was James E. Faust. The three of them came in and found their seats and motioned for the rest of us to sit. My husband hurried back to our seats and told me that he was upset that he missed him walking in, but wasn't going to miss him leaving. Soon after they came in the concert began, and it was wonderful and so spiritual! I bawled a couple of times!

When the concert was over, I felt a closer connection to the pioneers who made my life here in the West possible. Soon after the end of the concert we stood as President Hinckley and his councilors left. I watched as people around us waved to him and saw the smile on his face as he hurried out. Then we waited and were rewarded with seeing MORE apostles!! Boyd K. Packer, Russell M. Nelsen, and Deiter F. Uctdorf. It was a fun time!
After the concert we caught up with my sister and her husband and decided to get something cool to eat and talk at the hotel. We ended up at McDonalds, which was right next to the hotel...eating yummo shakes and then heading back to the hotel for bed.

When we made the reservations we planned on having my brother Doug sleep in the same room as us. We all got ready for bed, and climbed in for what we thought would be a good night's sleep. The first thing wrong with that picture was my brother watched tv until 11:30. And since the tv was on, Cam wanted to stay awake to watch. I had to make Doug turn it off, and we all tried to sleep. I heard snoring by midnight. (Which woke me up for a while.) Then at 3:30 my husband's mouth was hurting him, so he got up to take some ibuprofin, after that I was awake. I decided that since we were going to do a session in the Salt Lake Temple at 6:00, we needed to be awake by 4:30. We both got out of bed and hurried to get dressed, then we were off to catch the Trax, again. This time, the train wasn't full at all...we actually got to sit and enjoy our short ride!

We then hurried to the temple and went to do a session. It was so cool there! I was admiring the woodwork and artistry the whole time! I can't believe that pioneers did all of that with the little resources that they had. WOW! After our session, which was small, cozy, and very spiritual, we went back to the hotel for breakfast. We hurriedly ate and then we cleaned and repacked and hurried to Lagoon.

Lagoon was so busy! Cars were EVERYWHERE! Following a parking attendant, we parked the car, and went to enter the park. The first ride we headed to was Colossus. I knew Cam wouldn't be able to go on the ride, so I took him for a quick ride on the carousel. I had taken some Dramamine before, but apparently it wasn't early enough. I went with Cam and he picked the swirly seat that spins as the carousel spins. ICK! I almost threw up. Luckily I kept it under control, we went and found my family had just gotten off the Colossus, and was getting ready to go again. This time I got to ride with them. The metal from the walkway was hot and very miserable to the touch, but the ride was AMAZING! I love that ride...I could go on it over and over!! For the rest of the day we tried to keep cool. From what I heard it was over 100 degrees! The line to get into Lagoon-a-beach was so long we didn't want to wait, so we ended up going to the fountain that they have at the front of the park and walking through that! It was heaven!!

Since I had only slept for 4 hours the night before I was grouchy and needed a nap. So around 4:30 in the afternoon, I found a shady spot by the log flume and napped for an hour. It didn't matter that people riding the log flume were screaming or that the people in the pavilion next to me were playing Bingo (really loudly) I slept! I rolled in the dirt and got gross. And since I had been in the shade and was still damp from my romp through the fountain, I was freezing! (How crazy is that in 100 degree plus weather!?)

We went on a few more rides, and then we headed out. We went to the Cracker Barrel for dinner (yummy!) and then we followed my sister and her husband to their house in Logan. We arrived at their house at 11:00, exhausted and ready to crash! My sister and I set up their tent in the backyard, and then we quickly set up the beds and slept.

The next morning started very hot! The heat woke me up and got me going. We all had to share my sister's ONE bathroom, and found that we didn't get as clean as we'd thought! We hurried and went to her church, and tried VERY hard not to sleep during sacrament meeting! I ended up going to Primary with Cam (until he stopped crying) and then I joined my mom for Relief Society. I haven't been to actual Relief Society for YEARS!! It was nice, but I missed Primary! What can I say, I'm where I'm supposed to be!!

Then we went back to my sister's sauna...uh, I mean, her apartment. We ate dinner, snoozed a bit, cleaned up, packed, and then we left for home.

It was a crazy, busy weekend, but it was a fun time! I'm just glad to be back home where the HIGH temperature is in the lower 90's! Ahh.....the cool air!!

My Pioneer Heritage

Our weekend trip to Utah helped me to feel more grateful and thoughtful about my ancestors for the things they've done! I'll talk more about what we did this weekend tomorrow, but today with it being Pioneer Day and all, I want to honor one of those ancestors.

This is Thomas E. Ricks. He is my great-great-great-grandfather. He was an amazing man. He helped to settle many areas in Utah and Idaho. When I was younger I really wanted to go to school in Rexburg because then I could go to the school my relative had started. (I did go there, but after a semester of commuting everyday, I dropped out.) Anyway, he did many things and is one of my many heroes.
After the initial migration of Latter Day Saints to the Salt Lake Valley, there was a need to make the trip quicker and cheaper for those immigrants coming to this area from other countries. So in 1856 Brigham Young came up with an idea. The coming Saints would cross the country in handcarts.

These handcarts were easy to make, and needed no animal power to pull. The Saints could even make them themselves. It was a brilliant plan.

In the fall of 1856 there were a few companies who came along too late in the season. Those faithful and amazing Saints came anyway, not knowing what lay ahead of them. They got caught in Wyoming with an early, bitter winter swirling around them. Those early Saints came with very little anyway, but as they traveled they left more and more along the way, including extra clothing and blankets. Their thought was that the less they had to pull in their handcarts, the easier the way would be. Unfortunately, they didn't realize that those things that they left behind would be beneficial to them later on. These handcart pioneers were hungry as well. There wasn't enough food and there was little rations to go around. So, when these two handcart companies came along, they were already hungry and tired, and now, because of the storms, they were freezing. They went as far as they could before they stopped. The plan for the handcart pioneers was that once they got to a certain point in the trail, wagons from Salt Lake would meet them and refill their low reserves. But since these companies came so late in the season, so the supply wagons turned around and headed back to the Valley, not knowing there were others out on the plains. Those poor people were in a bad situation, and didn't know that the situation wouldn't get any better.
Eventually, Brigham Young found out about these stranded Saints and immediately called for the people to prepare to take desperately needed supplies to those people. The call also went out for strong and willing men to go, and Thomas E. Ricks volunteered to go with this rescue company. Within two weeks they had caught up to these people, but not before death had taken many of these handcart pioneers.
The rescuers followed along with these people and took them the rest of the way to the Valley. They came to a place called the crossing of the Sweetwater River. Those poor people had been through so much and crossing a frozen river was not something that they wanted to do. Many of them just sat down in the snow and cried at the thought of crossing this obstacle. Some of the men who had come to save them carried those people across the river so that they wouldn't have to do it alone.
In the end they had lost over 200 people from both companies. They came to Salt Lake and were welcomed and taken care of. On a whole, the handcart experiment worked wonderfully with little loss of life. These two handcart companies, the Willie and Martin companies, were the only disasters to hit this great experiment.

At this time in our church's history, many men practiced polygamy, and my great-great-great-grandfather was a part of this practice. (To see what our church's stand is now on this practice visit this website.) Thomas was already married, but wanted to take another wife...one that came from the rescued handcart companies. In order to take another wife, he had to get the permission of his first wife. I think I would have gotten along well with this woman...she did NOT want him to marry Tamar Loder, this beautiful woman who had just come in with these other handcart pioneers, so she had a plan. She told him that he could marry Tamar as long as he also married Elizabeth Jane. She didn't think he'd go through with it because Elizabeth Jane was very homely. She was even said to have a cocked eye. Thomas E. was such a rascal though...he ended up taking her offer and married both women on the same day! Marrying wife 2 and 3 out of his total five wives.
You're probably wondering what this has to do with me, well, I'm going to tell you...I came from one of those great women who married that great man....can you guess? Do I come from the brilliantly devious Tabitha, the first wife? Do I come through Tamar, the beautiful newly rescued brave handcart pioneer? Or do I come through the humble cock-eyed Elizabeth Jane?
Well, I guess I'll dispense with the suspense...I come through that humble cock-eyed woman, Elizabeth Jane. I've always thought that story was kind of silly, but I still admire Thomas's get-it-done attitude. He was a man who I admire and look up to and I'm SO grateful for his, and my many other ancestors', sacrifice on my behalf!

Is Throttling Your Child Illegal?

It was another CRAZY day for me. It started last night. Usually, we don't get phone calls after 9:00, but we got two within a few minutes of each other. The first was my cousin. She wanted me to babysit her daughter today for her.
Me: "Uh, I'm going to have 2 other kids tomorrow too, but I mean, if you need me to..."
Her: "OH! Well, never mind. I just need to find someone else to babysit her. Her daddy's parents have been feeding her cow's milk...and I don't want them to watch her again!"
Me (thinking): "Holy cow! She's only 6 months old...are these people INSANE!!??"
Me (saying): "I don't blame you. If you need me to watch her and can't find anyone else, then call me and I'll do it...."
Her: "No, don't worry about it. Thanks anyway!"
Then a few minutes later my funny (stressed-out) sister called. She wanted me to bring along our tent for sleeping in her backyard on Saturday.
Me: "I don't think there'll be ANY room in the car for an added tent."
Her: "Well, I just thought it would be easier to set up than ours..."
Me: "Why?"
Her: "Well, ours has about a million parts to it and it would take forever to set up at 11:00 at night!"
Me: "Uh, Michelle? Don't we already have to set it up at 11:00?"
Her: "Yeah, but then you know how to set yours up, so it'll go faster!"
Me: "O....k.......a.........y......"
Her: "We've only set ours up two or three times, so it would take more time to set up. If you bring yours its easier, isn't it!?"
Me: "Let's see...ours has....(counting) 4 poles, plus multiple loops, but if you really want us to, we can bring it...."
Her: "Oh, I guess ours is easier to set up....never mind!"
I love my sister....but sometimes she can be a bit over-prepared. She's been worrying about this trip for weeks (Like, since we planned it!) And she's upset that the rest of us aren't freaking out over it! Come on! It's not that big a deal! We slept out under the stars ALL the time as kids...it wouldn't hurt us to do it now! I mean, is there rain in the forecast? Geez!
As of this moment, I'm not sure what we're going to do....I'm SURE my sister would really freak out over that information!
Then today I completely FORGOT everything I planned on doing! I was supposed to meet my visiting teachers at a park today....oops! Then I was supposed to pick up my friend L from work today....oops! WHY am I so scatter-brained!?
My son has also decided that it's FUN to tell me "no" when I tell him to do things...okay, so he screams at me, but it still makes me sad that my sweet boy is this bratty! Is there any good advice anyone can give me? (Other than throwing him into time-out 20 times a day? He just sits there, spits at me, and kicks my chair to bits!) I want to throttle him when he gets this ornery, but I don't. (Sorely tempted to, but don't!) HELP!
As of right now, I'm signing out from thinking for the weekend! No more! I'm off...to enjoy the hotel, swimming pool (which I neglected to mention!), Lagoon, (going on Colossus 20- bazillion times!), and Lagoon-a-beach! Then I'll worry about where I'm sleeping then...Not NOW!! :) Hope you all have a GREAT weekend!

Oh, What Do You Do in the Summertime?

I am really excited. The next few weeks we're actually doing things that are SUMMER related! YAY!

On Friday we're going on a "family" reunion to Utah. It's actually a new thing we started last year for my siblings and parents. We're going to hear the Mormon Tabernacle Choir's concert on Friday and then we're spending the next day at Lagoon! We're doing some last minute planning and then we're off to have fun! Steve and I are HOPING to squeeze in a session at the Salt Lake Temple EARLY on Saturday. We're planning on like a 6 AM session. Neither one of us have ever been in that temple, so we're both really excited! I even did a session at my own temple today, just to have a recent experience to compare! (Actually, I REALLY needed to go and was VERY blessed for going!)

We're supposed to stay at my sister's apartment Saturday night and join her at her ward on Sunday. My sister lives in a basement apartment, and it's TEENY! So my small family (Steve, Cam and me) will be camping out in her backyard in a tent. I'm hoping that it will be WAY cooler outside than it will be in her apartment.

Then next weekend, we've got a larger family reunion planned for Saturday. I was supposed to babysit on that day, but they've worked it out so I won't have to! It's going to be outside and should be lots of fun. We're making a rag quilt that has family info on it and it's just STARTING to come together! It'll be pretty when we're done. I'm going to have to take many pictures of it to show it off to all of you! (Since I don't think we'll win it in the raffle!)

Then the NEXT week we're going camping for my mom's sibling's reunion. She's one of twelve kids, so there should be TONS of people there! I'm really excited to see everyone again!

Then our final summer activity will be my husband's 10 year high school reunion! (Geez...has it been 10 years already?!) He's so excited for it, but I'm not really looking forward to it. I'm not even sure if I want to go to my OWN high school reunion next year. (The only people I want to see are my fellow Neptunians!) We'll see how it goes! :)

So what do you do in the summertime that makes it feel like you're doing something productive? Let me know! Maybe we'll steal your idea and try it next year!

P.S. Blogger, WHY do you hate me?!

And Now a Word from Cam

Boo tagged Cameron to do a 3 things Meme. This should be interesting...I'm going to ask him for his answers, so be forewarned! :)


3 Things That Scare Me:
a movie (me: what movie?) Uh...Pirates
cars
dark

3 people who make me laugh:
teachers
Mama
Daddy

3 things I love:
mama and daddy
my trike
my truck...I too big for it

3 Things I hate:
being alone
being lectured to
sitting still (at this point of the questioning process, Cam has abandoned his mama!)

3 Things I don't understand:
The meaning of the word "no"
How to be gentle
The difference between some pronouns (he'll say things like, "Her's hitting me!")

3 things on my desk and table :
Cars
Cars
Cars

3 things I'm doing right now :
Destroying grandma's basement
Dragging toys up the stairs
Whining

3 things I want to do before I die:
Be a good boy! (please, please!!)
Go to school and make friends
Stay outside for as long as possible

3 things I can do :
Pop-a wheelie on my tricycle
Hit a wiffle ball with a bat (he's really good too!)
Write my name (HUGE!)

3 ways to describe my personality:
Bossy
Stubborn
Spoiled (Can you tell it's been one of those days?)

3 things I think you should listen to:
Voice Male's version of "Popcorn Popping" (it's his FAVORITE!)
Me; at all times!!!
The television in the background no matter WHAT you're doing

3 things I think you should never listen to :
My mom's lectures
Screaming cries of L as she's trying to escape my death grip on her arm
Scary sounds coming from outside

3 absolute favorite foods:
Yogurt
Chocolate Milk
M&M's

3 things I'd like to learn :
How to drive a REAL truck
Why my mom is so crazy all of the time
How to be a good big boy

3 things I drink regularly:
Milk
Water
Capri Suns

3 shows I watch as a kid :
Looney Tunes
Spongebob Squarepants
Dora the Explorer

Other kids and babies I tag:
Jazz or Tyler, Roz and Matthew

My Little Secret

"Red light stop, green light go, yellow light go very fast." --Starman

Okay, so I admit it...I follow this rule of thumb for driving more than I follow the "driver's ed" rules. Yesterday I was driving along to my mother's house and at one intersection, the light I was about to come to turned yellow, and I floored it. Before I got through the intersection, the light was red, but hey, I made it through quickly, right!? Well, at the same time a guy pulling a fifth wheel trailer decided to cross the street right in front of me, figuring that I'd stop at the light...but apparently he didn't learn my very handy rule....and he was going SLOW! I pulled to a stop so that I wouldn't ram into his trailer and the grumpy old fart was wagging his finger at me and his mouth was moving...so I know he was chewing me out, but lucky for BOTH of us, I didn't hear it.

I know I have some bad habits when it comes to driving, but sheesh! Everyone I know goes fast through yellow lights. Get over it! :)

P.S. Why is this stop light INDOORS?! *hee hee*

Short-Term-Memory-Loss

I swear, I'm brain-dead! All day at church I was thinking about how I need to get a sub for Primary next week, and I never really thought about why. After church was over with, I was cleaning up and one of my fellow-Primarians asked me where we were going on our trip next weekend. "Uh....I'm going on a trip?" Okay, so I claim that I suffer from Short-term-memory loss! Will I ever find my brain again!? Yikes!

On a happier note, singing time ROCKED today! The kids sang SOOOOOO well, I was really proud of them! Yay for happy moments!

The Pay Day Bear with a Tag

Why do they call it "pay day?" Is it because of the "act" of paying people? Or is it because once you get the so-called money, you end up paying YOUR bills? Man, I wish we could have money left AFTER one of these "pay days..." we'll just have to wait and see what happens!

I read a really funny poem the other day, I want to share it with you all now, but be aware...I'm feeling rather "bear-ish" lately...GROWL!! :)

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In this life I'm a woman. In my next life, I'd like to come back as a bear.

When you're a bear, you get to hibernate. You do nothing but sleep for six months. I could deal with that.

Before you hibernate, you're supposed to eat yourself stupid. I could deal with that, too.

When you're a girl bear, you birth your children (who are the size of walnuts) while you're sleeping and wake to partially grown, cute cuddly cubs. I could definitely deal with that.

If you're a mama bear, everyone knows you mean business. You swat anyone who bothers your cubs. If your cubs get out of line, you swat them too. I could deal with that.

If you're a bear, your mate EXPECTS you to wake up growling. He EXPECTS that you will have hairy legs and excess body fat.

YUP! Gonna be a bear.

(Unknown Author)

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I got this idea from Naddin J...it's fun, I swear!!

Copy this letter to my comments and fill in the blanks. Then copy the blank letter to your blog with your name after "Dear," and I will come and fill one out for you. :)

Dear Dawnyel,

I _____ you. You have a nice ______. You make me _______. You should _______. Someday I will ______. You + me = ________. If I saw you now I'd __________. I would build a _______ just for you. If I could sing you any song it would be _________. We could __________ under the stars.

Love, _______________

(P.S. ______________.)

Someone Call the WAAAAmbulance for Me

Today completely STUNK!! It didn't help that I was completely exhausted before everything happened! Here's my whine:
Last night Steve decided it would be fun to go to the Drive In to see two movies that we REALLY wanted to see, and, stupidly, I agreed. So we went to watch "Pirates of the Caribbean" and "Cars." Now, someone had told me that "Cars" was going to be played first since it's the lesser rating, and that way the kids going to see it could before they all conked out for the second movie....well, that was a wrong assessment. They played the very long "Pirates" movie FIRST! So, once it started we told Cam to lay down in the back seat and sleep, then we'd wake him up for "Cars." The movie was good, although I missed a couple of parts for some food and a desperately needed potty break. I totally was unimpressed with the ending....GRRRR!! Anyway, as the second movie was starting it was 12:30, and I knew that I had to babysit in the morning, so I attempted to snooze for a few minutes here and there. (Didn't really help me much!) ANYWAY, to make this random story short...we ended up getting home from the movies at 3:00!! YUCK!
I had to be up BEFORE 8:00 to be ready for the kidlets that I babysit. SO I woke up at 7:30. I got dressed, ate breakfast, and cleaned up our mess from the night before. As soon as I was finished with that the kids arrived. The baby was okay for a while, but soon was starving, so I fed him, then put him (sleeping) back into his car seat. Then I held little L down on my lap for a nice nap. She was just about to sleep when Cameron decided to make an appearance. He was WIDE awake and extremely NOISY! I finally got them calmed down when the phone rang. Someone wanted some information that I keep in my kitchen. Well, when L and E are at my house I lay my kitchen chair on it's side blocking entrance into the kitchen, so in order to get in there I have to high step over it and into the kitchen. E was awake again and in my arms, so I tried to gracefully step over the chair, I lost my footing, and nearly fell. I kinda squooshed E a bit and really made him cry. I gave the lady the information that she wanted, and then I was back to soothing the kids.
Soon after that call, I was taking a quick potty break (how do mothers of many kids go to the bathroom?? I hope I get the hang of that quickly!) and Cam came crying to the bathroom door. I asked him what was wrong and he told me that he had a piece of cold cereal stuck up his nose. ACK! It's not the first time he's done this, but it's the first time I was completely on my own with multiple kids when he's done this. I remember the last time that after a while his boogers softened the crunchy cereal (I know, gross image) so I went in search of my bulb syringe to suck it out of his nose. Do you think I could find it?? NO!! So I pulled out a regular syringe that I use for medicine and sucked it out. Not a fun thing to do with a little kid crying that he can't breathe and another kid running around the house screaming!!
After a while I had to wake my hubby up for work (he got to sleep in!) I sent Cam upstairs to wake him and I tried to wrestle a cranky L to a sitting position. My hubby came down, kissed us good bye and then went out the door, he stopped and called Cam over to him. He handed him the mail and sent him to give it to me. There was a letter we had been expecting for MONTHS and I was hopeful everything was going to be okay. After I opened the letter I was devastated....we were COMPLETELY denied! On top of that, at that moment I was changing a poopy baby who had a bit of diaper rash, so he was screaming, and the other two were in the middle of a fight. I called my hubby to tell him the bad news and he was upset too, but as I was talking my sleeplessness, emotional state got the best of me...I BAWLED! I whined to him, and he tried over the phone to comfort me, telling me that everything would be okay, and that I should call the people and see what exactly was going on. I was so upset and weepy that I told him that I was in NO state to do that. I let him go, and tried to get a hold of myself. Cam sensed that I needed a squeeze and gave me one of the best hugs I'd had in a while, and I tried to calm down.
After a quick lunch, I turned on cartoons and sat down with L and Cam on my lap. I managed to get L to sleep, and I laid her down on a pillow, then I held Cam and he and I fell asleep. As we were sleeping, I heard weird noises around me. Little L had woken up and was creating messes everywhere she went. I was very cranky at this time, so I yelled at her to sit down and go back to sleep. This only caused her to look at me with those puppy-dog eyes, pouty lips and whine. So I got up and grabbed her, and she stunk! Yup...she had woken up to go potty. UGH! I cleaned her up, and then I had to get Cam ready for therapy. The poor kid was wiped out and didn't want to move. But he got off all right.
Soon after that my friend came and got her kids, and I thought I would be able to sleep...nope! My body was AWAKE!! Now, here I am, with a major headache, and ready to cry AGAIN! I certainly hope that this emotional state is temporary...maybe I'll regain my senses after a GOOD nights sleep tonight!

Where Did This Innocent Kid Go?

What can I say, it must be a "show-off-your-brat-day" today! I figured that if I wanted to show off ANY pics, I'd have to pick them FIRST, and then maybe change my mind later! So I went through my mom's gallery and found these gems!! This first one is SOOOOO old!! Holy COW!! look at that "innocent" face! (And ignore the bad haircut!) He looks like he's begging grandma for some sort of treat. Those out-stretched fingers, the look on his Kool-Aid stained face, the whole package! I can't believe he once looked like this! Man, what a mind-boggling thought....he went from pure sugar in this picture, to....
This: thinking his taped up face is hilarious! My sister was the culprit for the look he's sporting in this picture though...she took the tape and gave him the pig nose and Spock ears. The poor boy probably thinks we're laughing WITH him, not that we're really laughing AT him! OH! And look! This picture was PRE-self haircut! It shows his cute smile though. I think he's pretty funny! He's said some good ones lately...hey! I think I'll share one of those good stories now!

A few weeks ago, Cam was in a clingy mood (when is he NOT!?) He was sitting on my lap and running his fingers along the curves of my face. All of a sudden he stopped. He looked me straight in the face and asked, "Mama, Why you got a moustache!?" I was shocked...stifling my laughter I tried to explain to him that usually it's daddies that have the moustaches, but I am a rare woman that actually does have one. (It's a part of my PCOS! But it's also a family trait...although I try to claim that I never had one before....I'm such a bad liar!) He giggled (WITH me, I'm sure of it!) and then he innocently asked, "When I get my moustache like you!?" I guess I was just asking for it! Isn't it amazing the things that our honest children ask us?

I'm Speechless....Amazing!!

Read these shirts carefully....

I really have nothing to say, so I thought I'd post one of my favorite pics! Have a great day all!

Oh, and I'm going to plug my hubby's blog ONE more time...he needs the readers! :)

Monday, Monday

I feel a little lost. I have nothing to do for My Life Monday! I guess I'll just have to find something else to talk about.

Today was a weird day. All weekend I've been working on making tile pictures. (Two for a family reunion, and one for a friend's birthday.) Anyway, I figured that I should get them going, since I have to have them done by the end of the month. So yesterday I painted the two for the family reunion and then I took them home to cut and glue the pieces on. (I've had my friend's done for a while...)

Steve had to work last night, so I thought I'd stay awake until he got home. I worked and worked and finally, after hours of work, they were finished (well, without the resin on them anyway!) As I was sitting on my comfy couch looking at my progress, I noticed that one looked too orange. So I grabbed some white paint that I just happened to have and added some white squares to it. It really helped it...so then I added some more color to the other picture...it was kinda blah! Anyway, around midnight I got it looking the way I wanted and was satisfied. Then a little while later my husband came home from work. We stayed up for a while watching Iron Chef America and just talking about what we'd done since last seeing each other. Then I decided that I should go to bed, and I did. I read some of the Ensign and then turned off the light and ATTEMPTED to sleep.
I don't know what it is about the lights being out, but it's a signal to my hubby that he should start tickling me. I wasn't going to put up with it, so I fought back. We ended up having a huge tickle war, completely messing up the bed, losing some hair, and catching our breath for a while. Anyway, to make a long story short, he decided to retaliate against my superior tickle skills by getting his cologne. Once I started getting his ticklish spots he started spraying me with the cologne...good plan, right?? WRONG!! We have several fans blowing the air around in our room and the fan blew the spray directly into my eyes and in my mouth. I was miserable. I flushed out my eye to stop the stinging, but it still hurt a little. PLUS, I couldn't even lick my own lips without having the taste of cologne in my mouth...YUCK! Anyway, that was the END of our tickle war...it was 2:30 in the morning!
So after that LONG night, I had to get Cam ready for school at 7:30!! I didn't get NEARLY enough sleep! As soon as I left the bed my husband, who happened to have today off, rolled to my side of the bed and grabbed my pillows and went back to sleep. I wanted to punch the guy!! SO NOT FAIR!! After I got him off to school I had to get ready for our Pioneer Primary activity. I wish they hadn't made it for 10 am....yucko time! But I went and as the kids were shaking jars of cream into butter we would sing fun pioneer songs. The kids had a blast!
Then I went home and we had planned to see a huge flag display and take some pictures. Unfortunately, they started taking the flags down today....SAD! So we turned around and went to my mom's house.
As soon as we got there I was wiped out, and Cam was beginning to show his whiney, cranky side, so I determined it was naptime! We napped for a couple of hours, and then I got up to help make dinner! Then I FINALLY went online for the day (I'm so proud!) And I found that NO ONE commented on my last post! HOW SAD for me! (No, don't feel guitly and go back and comment....it's fine...I understand...not all of them can be exciting!!)
Then as I was typing up this post Cam rushed past me to the bathroom and I hear a high pitched whine coming from the bathroom. I'd heard the same whine yesterday in church when he thought that the primary presidency had forgotten that he was the prayer....another fun story.... Anyway,I hurried in the bathroom to see what was wrong. He held out his fingers to me...he'd accidentally pooped his pants. He was devastated. Poor kid. I cleaned him up, and sent him on his way. He kept whining over and over that he didn't want to poop his pants anymore, and I kept reassuring him that it was an accident and that it was okay. I hope he's not traumatized now because of it!
Now, I have a whining husband who wants to go home, watch a movie and probably start ANOTHER tickle fight....I've got the water ready, just in case!

Results, Plans, and FUN

I'm ending my silly make-up poll. It was completely fun, and I think it's time for a new question anyway...still trying to think of a fun one...if you have any suggestions, let me know! ANYWHO...as for the results to my FIRST ever poll...10 WHOLE votes!! (And two were mine, so they don't really count!) The main consensus from the masses (if 10 is considered "masses") is that make-up is okay, we wear it once in a while. Five people voted for it. I guess that's the majority...2 people actually LOVE make up, and wear it everyday. And since I don't count...one other person out there hates the stuff, and only wears it when they have to. I don't really know if it'll be worth it to post another poll, seeing how I only got a few people voting, I guess it just depends on the subject! Just let me know if you want to even do it!

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Now for my plans for Primary tomorrow. I'm actually switching places with the other chorister, and I'm back with the older kids. They haven't learned the song from last month, so I'm going to review it. We're going to play a game, don't really know what yet, but I'll come up with something. Either Mixed up words...putting them in the right order, or pulling out cards with specific instructions on them as to who sings what. I'm thinking more along those lines...since I already have them made up. But we'll see.

The other chorister came up with some HILARIOUS and helpful actions to the second verse to "Holding Hands Around the World." Since I can't really do them the same way that she did, I'm going to have her teach the younger kids those actions. I'm going to attempt to remember them now....

• "There are children sharing all around the world" - Hold out hand like you're sharing something
• "Leading other children to the gospel fold" - Wave arm in "leading" fashion, then fold arms
• "With the strength of youth we do the Father's work" - Make muscle arms, then bang hands together like you're "working"
• "With our hears and our hands we will serve." - Touch heart, hold out hands, and cup hands like serving something
• "We are cov'nant children with a gift to give" - Cross heart (like crossing heart and hoping to die)
• "We will share the gospel by the way we live." - Stand in a pose like "see, this is how I live." (the other chorister kinda bobs a bit like a stuck up model...not that she's stuck up or anything...)
• "With each word and action we will testify" - (This is really cute!) She does the "chicken dance": When she says "word" she does the 'quacking' action...when she says "action" she flaps her arms....when she says "testify" she shakes her hips.
• "We believe and we serve Jesus Christ." - She points to her head, and cups her hands in her "sharing" action, then points her hands heavenward for Christ

Then the kids know the chorus from singing it OVER AND OVER....but there are actions to that too...but I got them from the Friend (June 2006) in the sharing time section. They ALWAYS have good ideas for the new song at the end of the sharing time ideas. Sometimes I try them and they work AMAZINGLY well, other times, they don't work at all. This one was an idea that worked!!

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One more thing, and then I'm off to sleep-land....I had a huge family picnic today that was SO much fun! We went to my uncle's farm and had a ball. The little kids were completely worn out by day's end, and so were the adults. I haven't been outside for hours on end for a LONG time, but today I was. I'm thinking I'm going to be paying for it, with my red face in the morning. Cam got to play in my cousin's pool and nearly drowned (lucky for me, he's a complete wus, and wanted out of the pool immediately.) Then anytime he was around the animals he freaked out and came running to me.

I did get to see more of my cousins than I have in a long time...and I do mean that I got an eye-ful....these cousins have NO sense of modesty. They were stripping in their backyard to jump into the pool...and they're nearly teen-agers. I mean, I babysat these kids when they were younger and they were streakers then, but I thought that they'd grow out of it. Boy, was I ever WRONG!! I had to turn my head constantly. Those boys just DIDN'T care who saw what they were doing.

Even with the streaking it was a fun time. And I hope we can do it again!

Elementary Memories

Before I start my tag for the day, I have a quick story:
My son came back from the Learning Center where he's apparently learned a new song: I'm Bringing Home A Baby Bumblebee. Now, I've learned a different version than he's picked up, but his is hilarious, and at times...quite gross! It starts with taking the baby bumblebee home to mommy, then after it stings you, the squooshing commences. After squishing the baby bumblebee, it's a mess, so you wipe it on your pants. After trying that, it's still a mess, so you (here's the part that made me gag a bit) lick up the baby bumblebee. That causes you to not feel so good, so you (more grossness to follow) puke up the baby bumblebee. Then you feel much better. I was laughing so hard at the kid, he thought I was in a playful mood, and he started belly-bumping my typing arms. Not a good choice, kiddo!! Now he's sulking in his bedroom. Oh, well...Anywho...
Stephanie from For Better or For Worse tagged me with a new meme. You get to tell some of your elementary school memories. I've shared some of them before, but I guess I'll share them in order now! :)

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Kindergarten: My teacher was Miss Richardson. She was so cool. She taught us how to play jokes on people. She involved us in her April Fool's trick on her family...it was a good one. Kindergarten was the year I learned about boys chasing girls. We had a game we'd play where the boys would catch the girls and take them behind the side of the gym where they were held until the boys kissed them, allowing them to leave. I prided myself on never being captured...until one day....the boy who caught me was Brandon Killian. At the time I just thought of him as a good friend. He finally kissed me (on the cheek!) and I was free to return to the jungle-gym for the rest of recess. A big kid (3rd grader) asked me if I was a kindergartner and I said I was, then he told me that all of the teachers had rung their bells and recess was over. I hurried over to the other kids at the side of the gym and told them what I had found out. We all rushed into class, VERY embarrassed and very humiliated at being late! The end of kindergarten I got chicken pox from a boy in my class and I missed the last few weeks of school. Not a very fun time!
First Grade: My teacher was Mrs. Knibbs. I HATED this lady! She and I did NOT get along. For most of that school year she was pregnant and very moody. I was an early reader and felt that the reading sheets they sent home with us were BORING. So I didn't read them with my parents like I was supposed to. I ended up being taken out of class to catch up on my reading. I also had a few accidents that year. Mrs. Knibbs did not like the fact that she had to call my mom those few times to tell her that I needed clean clothes. She and I butted heads so much that she helped to put a mental block on my math skills (which until then had been very good.) This was also the year I got glasses. And Mrs. Knibbs didn't like having to accommodate for me to see the chalk board...It messed up her perfectly organized rows. Ack!!
Second Grade: My teacher was Mrs. Welker. She was so cool. Our theme for the year was circuses. So we had small reading groups and I was in the trapeeze artists. (I can't believe I remember that!) This was also the year I made a really good friend named Maryeah. She and I hung out during recess and played all kinds of things. We had some girls in our class who told the teacher that they didn't have any friends, so she had a thing where the girl feeling left out would pick a friend to play with at recess. As I thought about it, I felt like I didn't have friends either. I told the teacher and she started letting me pick who I wanted to play with...unfortunately that thought was wrong and I ended up hurting Maryeah's feelings. Our friendship was never the same after that!

This year was also the year "the net" happened. I was playing at the back of the field with my best friend, Carrie. We were doing something weird I'm sure, although I can't remember the exact thing, it's okay...that's not the important part. Anyway, while we were back there some boys came up to us and somehow they managed to wrap me up in the broken fence. It resembled a net...hence "the net." Anyway, while I was wrapped up in the net one of the boys, Chris Baldwin, leaned over and began kissing me. I was mortified, but my "friend" Carrie just sat back and laughed at me. She DIDN'T save me!! She just laughed and kept that memory stuffed in her endless supply to bring out, remind me of, and laugh again!

Also that year I was bit by a girl who got mad at me. I was standing up for my rights and she leaned over my shoulder and laid her teeth into it. My mom wondered for years why, and I still haven't told her the whole story. Maybe someday...

Third Grade: My teacher was Mrs. Budge. She lived in my ward growing up, so she knew me fairly well. She was very stiff and not very pleasant (to a third grader anyway...she's a sweet lady...now that I'm older!) She favored me because she knew me, and because of that she brought me back to school on a Saturday to finish my Iowa basics skills test. I didn't get my math section finished in the time they had given us, and she wanted me to do better. I don't think it was really very fair, but she did it anyway. This year we got the chance to go to another classroom for reading. I was in Mrs. Swenson's reading class. She was kind of stiff and uppity too. I guess I just saw them that way because I was young and they were OLD!! At this school we were the top dogs. It was a small school and after 3rd grade we went to another school. We thought we were so cool!

Fourth Grade: My teacher was Mrs. Lind. This was the year that my friend Carrie was FINALLY in the class with me. She and I caused a lot of trouble. (Just thinking about the things we did makes me giggle!) She and a guy who sat beside me would start "Fart You" wars. (Where they'd write "fart you" on one another's desks...just to make the other person mad.)

We played WEIRD things at recess. We confiscated the monkey bars nearly every time, climb up on top of them and sit. We would imagine that we were astronauts and we even had invisible diplomas that we stored in our hands. If we weren't playing on the monkey bars, we were making nests in the field; picking grass and shaping it into a circle where our toys could play house.

We also split off into reading classes this year, and my reading teacher was Mrs. Balgeny. (Man, I can't remember how to spell her name!!) Mrs. B went to school with my mom, so she was ANCIENT!! I remember her husband sending black balloons and a coffin to school for her 30th birthday.

Fifth Grade: My teacher was Mrs. McMurtury. She was so cool. She reminded me of a beatnik. She wore loose clothing and berkinstalks. She was so neat. (Carrie was ALSO in this class...which she had to remind me of....because I forgot! Another friend was in this class, but I didn't remember it either...until she reminded me!) We had white tickets that we'd earn each week and they'd be drawn out of a bucket for prizes. I won something EVERY week! I was always picking free time on the computer where I'd play Wheel of Fortune.

I was very much the teacher's pet, and one time when Mrs. McMurtury was gone some kids thought it'd be cool to switch seats and mess with the sub's head. I immediately told the sub what was going on and one girl, Meagan, remembered it. Years later we were working at the same place and she told me that she HATED me after that because I was such a goodie-goodie! By that time, she had gotten over it and we were friends again. I just remember being terrified of her because she knew Karate!

Sixth Grade: My teacher was Mrs. Woodhouse (aka Mrs. Woodhead.) No one in this class liked her. One of my good friends, Ellen, didn't even like her. Mrs. Woodhead was rude and just miserable to be around. If we got all of our homework done for the week we were allowed to go to German class on Fridays (taught by my friend, Ellen's, mom.) One week we had all had it with Mrs. Woodhead's attitude and we whined to Ellen's mom and she told the teacher about our complaints. After that the teacher had a "pow wow" with us where she bawled about how we were her worst class ever and how last year's class was AWESOME! I just remember her crying and crying. We all felt bad after that, but didn't stop with our behind the back complaints about her.

That year was also the year that I broke my tailbone...for the first time! I had to carry around a pink crocheted pillow to sit on. It was NOT fun!

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Well, now you all know that I was a major brat, but I'm hoping that I've changed for the better. I learned a lot in those short 7 years...somethings I love to remember, and some I wish to forget. But they will always be a part of who I have become!

Now it's my turn for tagging! *mwahahahahaha!!* I'm going to tag carebearmommy (see her side of the same events), Mama D, and Nikkie. Have fun ladies!!

Recipe for Disaster

Here's a new recipe I found the hard way today...I hope it makes everyone else feel that they're not alone when it comes to struggles! :)

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How to make a Crazy Lady:
For best results, start with an early morning after a long night.
Add 1 part cranky son.
Sprinkle a pinch of boredom.
Stir in 2 younger children.
Let run around the living room for an hour, cover and let simmer for the next hour.
Completely REMOVE any formula for month old infant.
Add incessant screaming on said infant's part.
Watch as cranky son swats sleeping girl on the forehead, waking her from her 10 minute nap.
Find that cranky son has found secret stash of Peanut butter Kisses...to which the now awake girl is SEVERELY allergic to.
Allow screaming children to continue screaming while trying to think of a solution to the formula problem.
Stir up lady to a crazed frenzy....and VOILA....crazy lady!!

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Thankfully, my husband was home and was able to run to the store to buy a can of formula. I don't think he enjoyed the crazy lady waking him from his sleep, but he was HEAVEN sent! He really did help me to calm down....a bit! Now, we're keeping a can of formula at our house, just in case this happens again!

Spending My Free Time Wisely

I'm missing my bygone posting days!! Lately, just to keep up with all of you, I have to read and enjoy your blogs during the wee hours of the morning. I'm back to my regular babysitting schedule, where I babysit from 9 in the morning until 3 or 4 in the afternoon. After that I'm usually off to my mom's house to escape the heat, and help her with finalizing of the family reunion stuff. (Like today, we cut old jeans into quilting squares for a raffle item that we're making.) It's sad, but true!

Is anyone out there watching the shows I'm loving right now? I know it's the middle of re-run-summer, but I'm LOVING all the catching up I'm getting with Family Guy and the new NBC show, America's Got Talent. (Couldn't the writers at LEAST find one of those "talented" people to give the show a proper name?!) How could this spin-off of American Idol (and those other idol shows) get me laughing as much as I have been? This show has the same type of judges that Idol did, only in different forms: Piers...Something (the snotty British guy who doesn't like ANYONE), Brandy (the pop diva-turned reality-show judge), and David Hasselhoff (okay, so he's NOTHING like Randy Jackson, but he's fun to watch crack up at the ridiculous "talents" anyway!) The first time I saw the previews for this show I was NOT impressed. I did not want to watch, but after finding NOTHING on television one night, I watched a few of the "talents" and was slightly amused. Then I went to my parent's house the next day...they had recorded parts of the previous nights try-outs. The guy that got me hooked was a ventriloquist. Piers, of course, buzzed him the first few seconds into his skit, then the real funny stuff came out! The guy showed what it would be like to watch those cheesy Japanese voice-dubbed shows live. His mouth moved DIFFERENT from the words he was saying...his throat wasn't even moving...the funniest, most amazing thing I've seen in a LONG time! SO funny! It's amazing the things people will do to get on tv!!

On a final note: Does anyone have some helpful advice when it comes to training 3 kids to nap on command? Anyone? Okay, I thought it was worth a shot. I'll try and come up with my own methods...updates to come!

What a Holiday!

Tonight I sat with my husband and son, watching the brightly colored lights, listening to the strains of my favorite patriotic song and tears were rolling down my slightly sunburned cheeks. I am SO blessed!

Today I felt so truly grateful to those men and women who have given their lives for me to live in a country where I can be free. It all started this morning where we sat with cousins and other family members to watch our city's parade. It wasn't that impressive. But the fun part was when a mouse decided to run through the people and see if it could get a good view of the parade. You could tell where the mouse had been because there were people standing and screaming at the top of their lungs. Steve called it a forced "wave!" The mouse was one of the BEST parts of the parade. (Sad, but true!)

Then we went to my grandparents' house for a "weenie roast." I laughed and had fun, but not nearly as much fun as the kids did! One of my cousin's brought her kiddie pools and my mom said, "Hey! We've got a slip-n-slide...we could bring that!" So they had my brother bring it over for the kids' enjoyment. They had SO much fun with it. I was even asked a few times to recreate my belly flop from a few weeks ago...I politely declined. We had such fun, laughing and just enjoying one another's company.

Then the end to our fun day was the biggest show west of the Mississippi. (I know some other cities boast the same thing, but I did say it was the "biggest," not necessarily the "best!") The wind began to pick up and we worried that they may have to stop the show, but they managed to finish without having to stop. Once the show was done, the wind REALLY picked up! It was an amazing end to an amazing day! Even now some people are setting off their illegal fireworks in our neighborhood. I hope they end it soon...booming is not fun to try and sleep through! I hope you all had a day that was as great as mine!

My Life Monday...or is it EVERYDAY??

Our topic for this week was to tell about the family we grew up in. (Rachelle, HOW DO YOU COME UP WITH THESE??) So, here goes nothing.
I am the oldest of 6 quite obnoxious and sometimes hilarious kids. My mom and dad got married when they were just out of high school (after my dad had proposed like 6 different times!) I was born 10 months after their wedding. My dad was always working hard while we were growing up, and so I really didn't know much about him. Our favorite times with dad were after he got home from work. Usually two of us would straddle his legs and untie his boots and pull them off. We were always rewarded with a grunt of satisfaction and maybe a tickle fight where we'd cry out in pain from laughing so hard. I really had a great childhood. I don't think I was denied in anyway!
I have 4 brothers, which was cause for NO survivors when it came to Barbies. I think every Barbie I EVER had became decapitated within minutes of being out of the box. But, thanks to these brothers, I have lots of funny memories.
My oldest, younger brother is Shad. He was always a sweetheart, if not a bit gullible. He really couldn't help himself though. He has Asperger Syndrome which is a VERY mild form of autism. The sad thing, is that we didn't get his diagnosis of this until he was in high school. For years they thought the boy had ADD. He is brilliant in any sciences and an AMAZING artist. He was always tender-hearted and had difficulties making GOOD friends, but he's now the "black sheep" of my family. After coming home from his mission, he joined the Marines, attempted suicide to get out of boot camp, and now has some drug, alcohol, and smoking issues. I love the boy, he's my brother, how could I not? I just hope that he goes back to being the sweet boy I remember growing up.
My second oldest, younger brother is Daren. Daren and I were so close in personality growing up that we COULD NOT stand to be around one another. For years and years I would beat on him (I'm the oldest, it's my perogative!) And my mom always told me that he would grow up to be bigger than me and would turn around and beat ME up. Eventually, it happened like she said. After a rough couple of teen-age years, he left home for the summer and we learned that we really do love one another and we have been good friends since. Daren was hit by a car when he was 2 years old, and we always teased him that it flipped a switch in his head. He went from being all BOY to loving My Little Ponies and playing with girls. Despite his love of "girlie" toys, he's a funny and amazing young man. He was always the more responsible sibling in our family, and it's carried through to adulthood. People would ALWAYS think that Daren was older than Shad, they still do! He was my childhood nemesis!
My only sister is Michelle. Whatever I'm not, woman-wise, she is. She's the complete perfectionist. (I'm only aspiring!) She's picky, I'm relaxed...she's got a GORGEOUS complexion, I'm always breaking out....She's girlie, I'm kinda boyish....The list goes on and on. Living in a smaller home, the girls had to share a bedroom. So, Michelle was my constant roomie. We shared a bed for a while, and eventually we ended up with similar bedroom habits. We were both fairly cluttered bedroom keepers. Her bedroom NOW is spotless (I'm thinking it's more her husband than her, but who knows!) And my bedroom has piles of stuff all over the place. See, we're still polar opposites!! About nine years ago, my beautiful sister was burned very severely and had to have skin grafts. She still has bumpy arms from where she had the surgeries, but she's become a better person thanks to this experience. There are many times we don't see eye to eye, but we will ALWAYS be close!

My next brother is Doug. Doug has always been a LARGE child. He was 11 pounds 7 ounces when he was born...(my mom DID NOT have a C-section...he was all natural!) I remember the day he was born too. My mom's water had broken and she was standing over a towel in our bathroom. I was confused (I was only 7 years old!) And I told her that the toilet was right there. She laughed at me and told me that it wasn't what I thought it was. When my aunt came to tell us the news that we had a brother she said, holding her arms out as far as they'd go, "You have a brother, and he's this big!" My thought was "Whoa!!" Fortunately, he wasn't THAT big, but he's a large guy! Doug was always the diffuser/peacemaker in our home. When there were disagreements, or whenever I got punished, he'd be right there, arms out wide ready to give a hug! He STILL comes to us when we seem upset, arms open and ready to give comfort! He's like a giant teddy bear!

My youngest brother is Braiden (aka BJ). Braiden is 2 weeks shy of being exactly 10 years younger than me. He was often the butt of our jokes. We'd do things to him that I'm not really proud of. There was the time we convinced him we were all vampires, pointing out our very sharp eye teeth! Then there was the time we fed him a baby worm out of the sand box. The poor kid was always doing things that he really didn't want to do. And since he was the baby of the family he was spoiled...rotten! He wasn't just spoiled by my parents though, I was guilty as well! If he had a choice of who he got to sit with, he'd pick me. We had a special bond, that some days can be fun, and can also be annoying! He is notorious for licking people! Yes, he licks us! (He just licked my mom a few weeks ago!) He's a very good looking kid and he knows it!

Growing up in this brood was fun at times, and down-right hard at others. We'd stick up for each other, and we'd also be the cause of one another's pain. Some of my favorite memories come from times when it was late at night and we'd pile on my mom's bed and listen to her tell stories about when she was younger. We'd laugh or have some sweet heart-to-heart talks there. We were at times each other's best friends, at others, our worst enemies. I think it was a very typical large family life. I learned so much from this family (I still learn from them now!) And I wouldn't change anything.

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I didn't post what I was going to do today for Primary, and now I'm thinking I should have planned things out a bit more! It's a new month, meaning we learn a new song today! I don't know what it was about Junior Primary, but they were all wound higher than a kite. ACK! I attempted to teach the song, "Tell Me, Dear Lord," but it did not sink in. We're going to be reviewing this one again in a few weeks...whether they like it or not!