Mother of the year award goes to........ not me.

Today I was having a super great time watching my boys game of pitching machine. Until it dawned on me that only one of my boys was actually in the game. The other had been left at home held hostage by computer games. I assumed he had ridden his bike to the park. When we left the house he wasn't in sight. Took me about 20 minutes to realize my own kid wasn't there. I looked like a stellar parent when I had to admit he wasn't there and drive home to get him.

The kid who DID make it to the game on time

My late arriver

My little catcher! Makes me proud. Never thought I'd have a kid who'd love to be the catcher. Don't know much about sports but I think she might be good! She about roasts to death in her outfit.

Appreciation for husband Sunday the 25th

I appreciate all the work Corey did to hold down the fort this week while I was a leader at girls camp. Even though he bragged a little too much about what a great job he did, and how easy it was, and how they got along fine without me, (wah!) I still appreciate him keeping up on the house and feeding the kids and taking time off work so I could have an amazing learning experience.

More on girl's camp to come later!

Moms are so cruel sometimes.

Today I was cleaning the garage when Rhett found his old shoes.

This is what he does...

and then he says to me, "Mom, I like these shoes...why did you make me throw them out?!!!"

I'm so mean!

15 things I learned from girls camp

Warning, everytime I use the stupid bulled points it is a big disaster and they are where they shouldn't be. Ugh!


1)When camping, a rock is your best friend.

• The first night we all froze... all-night-long. I HATE sleeping bags. I actually hate camping. But I really have anxiety over the sleeping thing. Because for one, I am on the ground usually, two, I ALWAYS freeze. So this time, against Corey's "you can tough it out for a few nights" attitude, I bought a blow up mattress. I also was given the idea to make my bed with blankets and sheets. Which I did the first night and FROZE. Like shivering all night long. Like thinking I could die from hypothermia cold ALL NIGHT long. So the next night my camp leaders friends taught me the trick of... wait for it...duh nu nu nuhh....the rock. It has changed my world.

• So I cooked a rock in the fire and them wrapped it up in my towel. I slept so warm and cozy and WONDERFUL all night. The rock stayed HOT for a long time! I might try that here at my house with our fire place. It was pure heaven. I actually decided if I can solve that night time problem I might only hate camping 75% instead of 100%. So that is good.
  
• The one draw back was, as I had my rock cradled in my towel, like my sweet little loved newborn, it started smoking. We thought maybe it was steam from a wet towel. But the smoldering proceeded to get worse until we decided it was on fire.
  
• Yep...Fire. Not steam. It was worth sacrificing the towel, though. I think I might make a few bags out of it for next time when I want to hug my rock but not with the same towel I use on my bottom. Sorry for the visual.
  

2)I really like a helpful man around.

• For girls camp we always have two men come up. They are our "Priesthood Holders".
  
• In the LDS religion, priesthood is considered to be the power and authority of God, including the authority to perform ordinances, and the power to perform miracles.
  
• So these men are our Priesthood holders and they come to camp should anyone need a blessing due to injury. They probably come up for other reasons as well but I don't know of them off hand. But I really appreciate them because they are men. I am sorry. You will never find me promoting women's rights. I like a good man to do the hard work for me. Don't get me wrong. I think women can do many a thing just as good as a man. I had my group of girls figuring out how to set up the tent. We didn't need the men to do it for us. We can do amazing things. I have figured out things that were "guyish" before my husband. He has been known to ask my advice on how to fix the car. Okay, that only happened once, and I was clueless, but still...he asked. So I know women are as good as men.
  
• But I love having a gallant men around who never let our wood supply go down, who started our fire for us each morning, who didn't eat until we had all eaten, who stayed up at night and took responsibility for the fire and closing up the bear box. I just like it. It is a nice security.

3)There are some really nice people out there.

• I forgot my toothbrush. No big surprise there. I do it every time I go some where. E-V-E-R-Y-T-I-M-E. And I love to brush my teeth. My nice friend found out and offered to loan me hers. I declined. A little to "eww" for me but nice offer none the less.
  
• I also forgot my pillow. Not a big surprise there either. I LOVE my pillow. I like a really flat pillow. It takes time to get them that way, you know. So the first night I slept on my towel. I complained enough that that next night when it was time for bed I found three pillows on my bed. Left by sweet friends who had gone home that day. It was great.
  
• I also had some great friends at home watching my rugrats while I was gone. Since I don't love baby sitting, I really appreciate them doing it for me. They also took them to ball games which was all the more hassle! Thank guys!

4)My girls are stronger than I thought they were.

• The camp offered some really amazing things. Like rock climbing and repelling and a sky high obstacle course. I REALLY wanted my girls to try these things but didn't think they would ever try. Some girls just flitted around the activities with not a care or a scare in the world. But my girls struggled. But they tried anyway and I was so proud.

5) Teenage girls aren't impressed when their leader screams in the sail boat.

• I guess I am scared of boats. I was so scared to get in that I ripped the life jacket in doing so. Then I screamed every time the boat moved one way or the other. Freaky. The girls were not amused. Not at all. I thought it was funny.
  

6) Out door showers are the way to go.

• Shout out to out door showers! Who knew? Not me! But there is something fabulous about being outdoors when you shower. The cool mountain air blowing about you. They were enclosed on the sides and I doubt anyone would care to look under so I felt pretty safe out there in the wilderness shower. It was super relaxing! I'm going to build one.If I ever become rich I am building myself an outdoor shower.
  
• 
  I tried to find you more cool pictures of out door showers but quickly discovered it was not a safe area of internet exploring. Wah.

7) There just might be another 2 1/2 year old girl who is just as cute as my 2 1/2 year old girl.

• The naturalist, gave us a little tour of the woods. He was oh so smart and it was really informative. When we started out on our hike his little darling girl was on his shoulders. The naturalist, Jesse, was telling us that there was a beetle kill in our area that wiped out all the trees. His little girl repeated it, "there was a beetle kill". That was so stinking cute it got us all to laughing so hard. The light bulb went on and she realized she was making us laugh. So she said, "there was a beetle kill, guys" We busted up again. Her little eyes looked like little rainbows when she smiled. She was so cute. And she loved making us laugh. She said it a few more times and it never got old. Not once. We laughed every time at her. It was so funny. I think her dad was getting a little worried if he was going to make it through the tour because she liked talking to us so much. But we did, and it was great and don't eat mushrooms you find in the wild. You'll die.

8) In my next life I might need to become a marksman.

I hit every bullet into one of the black targets that I was shooting for! All ten! Go me.

9) Here is what you do if you see scary wild animals according to Jesse, the naturalist... (by the way just typing and hearing the name Jesse, rekindles my want for another baby. Jesse has ALWAYS been my all time favorite boys name. I don't even know why we never used it. But I want to!)

Anyways advice from Jesse,

Jesse says,

It is Jesse's opinion that,

(I could say the name all day)

• If it is a black bear you be big and loud and try to intimidate it.
  
• If it is a grizzly bear you lay on stomach criminal style with hands behind neck and elbows out so the hear can't turn you over.
  
• If it is a cougar... Jesse shrugs his shoulders...well, lets hope you don't see a cougar. Nice. Thanks for that, nature expert.

10) I learned an old Indian legend.

Something about mice getting into the Indians tee-pee. So the gods sent down a pine cone with nuts in it. The mice jumped inside to eat all the nuts and the gods clamped shut the pine cones.

• 
  See all their little tails sticking out from being shut in the pine cone? Cute....huh?
  
  

11) The power puff girl wig just never gets old! Never!

• One of the best things I learned at camp was how priceless a tub of props are. The girls made up skits by this beautiful lake and we got to perform this on this stage and it was fantastic! I truly could not believe the hystericalness the girls came up with in the short time they had to prepare the skits. Talented girls, for sure!
  
• Us leaders did a skit also.

• We were all kids in bed. Our baby sister kept asking if it was time to go wee. We would have to ask the next sibling who would ask our mom. It was not time. When it was finally time we all got up and said yay and pretended to play the Wii.
  
• The old twist on this would have been we swung the baby sister in our arms while she said "wee". That was a goody from when I was in camp. I loved that the leaders came up with a modern twist to it that still applied by playing Wii,instead of swinging and saying "Wee" . It cracked me up though, cause all the girls just stared at us. I don't think they got it at first....AWK-WARD.
  

12) No, ants do not taste like lemon drops.

• My cool geological friend was informed they do. But they don't. We both ate one each and they don't. Neither of us swallowed though. They are too crunchy for that. And you can feel their legs. Like little wires.
  
• Google says the fat ones taste better, Melanie. We'll have to go for those next time.

13) Our family is so grateful to belong to a church that gives us the avenues for such growth.

• The girls spent time everyday in "solo" time were they went in the woods alone. (not too far off, of course, lest they see a cougar) In "solo" time they had a chance to ponder the scriptures and talks from our Church leaders.
  
• They also had testimony night were they had the chance to bear witness to the things they believe such as the Atonement of Christ, prayer and Joseph Smith.
  
• The girls also spent time learning camping things like fire building and shelter building and how to purify water.

14) If it is flat it is Fir, if you can roll it, it is....shoot. I already forgot. Spruce, maybe?

15) Girls camp is FUN! And we have the sweetest girls around!

• I remember the last few years, when I dropped my girls off to church for camp, feeling so sorry for the leaders and glad it was not me going up to camp. Now I hope I get invited back! It was so cool!
  
  

• A few days after we got back the girls set up a spa night for us. The rubbed our feet (ha ha) and head, and shampooed our hair, and did something to our cuticals and rubbed our hands, and gave us a facial... It was so sweet of them and so fun. I have NEVER had that before.
  

Appreciation for husband Sunday the 24th

I am thankful for an active husband who makes me be active too. Against my will. But it always turns out cool.

Today for Father's Day we went to a cool place in the hills. We hiked straight up with all 6 kids and hung out in this cave looking for fossils and taking pictures. Even though I am pitifully out of shape, I made it and was great.

Then we went back down and ate a picnic lunch including the best watermelon ever!

Pictures later!

Happy Fathers Day, Dads. You are super important in helping us moms raise our kids!

Happy Fathers Day!


Corey and I took a parenting class on raising boys. We learned about the importance of fathers and it was absolutely incredible how important they are. If it wasn't so late I'd spend more time telling you all about it. It is so interesting.


I have been preparing to go to girl's camp for church with my girls and it is keeping me busy! That and summer and t-ball. Phew! So that is why my blogging has diminished so much. Don't give up on me. Ill be back.


But I did want to say, Happy Father's Day to my sweet daddy.

Great listener, Super smart, Funny, Friend. Love you!

And Happy Father's Day to my sweet Father in law, Bruce.

The kids sure have missed out on you. They missed out on going to the dump, the hills, and your love.

And Happy Fathers Day to my sweet second Father in law, Roger.

You sure made Carolyn happy. You were a great grandpa. We were so sad to see you go.

And Happy Fathers Day to my husband.

I cannot thank you enough for supporting me in being a stay at home mom. It was my biggest wish as a mom and you let it be possible. I love you.

Corey and his trick that he did with all of our kids...

Kassidy

Justine

Nathan

Rhett

Bo

Kate

This is what we gave him for Father's Day. A frame displaying his trick with each kid. It was going to be great but when I ripped the frame out of the box I discovered two extra frames attached that were hidden in packaging. Now I have to put a quote or something in there. Oh well. He liked it.

Why must it be this way?

Dear Blogging,

How I miss thee. How I miss the fun times we have had together talking about my crazy life raising children. How I miss your gentle way of releasing my anxiety through words. How I miss the laughing we have shared and the exposing of all my stupidity.

Some day I will come back to you. I really want to tell you about my vein explosion and suprise Corey with news that will make his heart sore. And no, it is not that I have made my hysterectomy appointment. Isn't hysterectomy such a yicky word? Bleck.) It is in regards to someone he loves, William Wallace. And I also want to tell you about about the two cute things my nieces have said. And about my beautiful son who is almost taller than me now. Have I ever mentioned that I love heigth and I think tall people are superior? (Apparently heigth isn't a word. I can't find it on spell check) I also want to talk about my son and his TWO forms of dyslexia. And how I am still mad. Oh yeah... and I want to tell you about Brett Michaels and Cat Stevens and have you seen Zac Efron on the cover of people? Suddenly he has turned into a man! I was a little horrified, frankly. And also I need to tell you about the fabulous change in my daughter regarding books and movies. Remind me about all those items later. And about Chinese food.

Anyways, I hope to get back to you soon my blog friend. I have been suffering in silence without you. Frowny face. Until we meet again...

Love, Susan

You're killing me here, kid! What might be missing in this picture?

Guess what Bo swallowed this time....

He then promptly wanted to go to the doctor. Didn't go. Hope it isn't lodged somewhere... Is anyone else having this kind of life?

T-ball Happenings....

Today I was truly a T-ball mom....Here was my day...

• I was following Kate every where because she needs constant supervision. She ran unexpectedly (to her) into Bo. She was so happy to see him. They gave each other a great big hug. Bo's hug was a little more brotherly with some pats on the back and a "I got to get playing" attitude but it was PRECIOUS.
  
• My poor Rhett today didn't get any hits. A few games like that and it is so easy to have all your confidence shattered. Then it seems like you can go a while without hitting anything! It is hard to go from the T to the pitching machine even when you have done it for a few seasons.
  
• Nathan got a bunch of good hits. He seems to be very consistent.
  
• I sat in a chair a ways away from all the moms, so my social hour was shot, but I had to sit where I could see Kate at the park. At one point I had Kate on one knee and Bo on the other and we were watching the game. I showed them that Nathan was hitting and talked with Bo about him going to first base. Hoping Bo can grasp the idea of the game and get a little more into it for his game. Kate's cute little chubby toddler body sitting on my leg was a memory I want forever. Love those little toddlers. When it was Rhett's turn I yelled "go Rhett" and she yelled the same thing and clapped and it is just a dang good life with these little kids.

• Went to Justine's game. She plays catcher. She LOVES it. I am not sportsy so I don't really know but she seems to be getting pretty good. She and the pitcher are a great team together. I almost started bawling (for reals) when I saw her catch a crazy high ball. She had to really go for it and I was so proud. Didn't get the girl out in time but I didn't care. I was going to cry. Caught it with one hand stretched way up high in the air.
  
• Felt extra old as I was pushing kids in the swing with a few young moms and they were like "wow! you have six kids?" and they were all shocked and horrified.... "How old are you?"
  
• Lost a kid at the park for a while. But he found his way home. Ha.

• Bo got a kid out! Astonishing and shocking I know, but true. Then the little kid cried and because we wouldn't want to hurt self esteem they let him stay on base. That is how it is played at that age. Then Bo cried. Argg. Those little kids have no idea what is going on! It is a CIRCUS! A friend got some hilarious pictures of me trying to coach. Someday when I get them I will post them. They consist of me in the out field with my hand on my head thinking "what in the world is going on out here...." and me trying to help a kid and almost knocking him off his feet. Great day!

Waaahhhhhh! No time for blogging. So sad. But always must make time for Appreciation for husband Sunday the 23rd!

So grateful Corey took time this week to teach the girls camp girls about knife safety! I was in another meeting but heard he did a really great job!

I have been led to my newest potential passion!

It won't be able to take place for a while yet as I am still in the trenches with the little people, but very soon you will find me building. Yep, building! Very soon!

Check out my newest, favoritest, coolest, dang coolest, blog.




I want to make every single thing in here! EVERY SINGLE THING! Especially the glorious, swaying, outside bed!!!!! I have always enjoyed wood work. I showed you pictures of my rabbit hutches. So very proud of those! I love sawing and messing with wood. But I have no skills and am not good enough to make anything more than a rabbit hutch....YET! I am dreaming of making some stuff!!!!

Garden Boxes...

A tall fort.....

A swaying bed in which to read on.....

A loft bed....

A bed with cubbies under it (yes! I have a pattern now)

A bench for the fish tank I am saving for...

A bench for flower pots to sit on...

Lawn furniture...

I got all sorts of plans and it feels good! Although I deeply mourn the possible end of my babyhood days, I am excited for the thought of some time in which I don't have to follow a little person around all the time.

I gotta get me some power tools!

Also I should mention the cute girls who led me to this blog....They have a cool blog of their own...Check it out!

Wiki Answers....

How long does the average American spend in their lifetime waiting in lines?

The average person spends approximately an hour a day waiting in line, which totals to about 2 to 3 years in a lifetime.


How long does Susan spend in her lifetime getting Kate a drink?

On average Susan spends approximately an hour and a half a day getting Kate a drink, which totals I have no idea. But I am about ready to install a drinking fountain for this kid!

Don't you love it when something smells gross and you have to try to get other people to smell it? Why is that, I wonder.

I have NEVER really been a candle person. I don't really like a whole lot of "fake" smells, and after my mom in law had a house fire due to a lit candle, I sort of never like them. Plus I can't keep the kids from blowing them out. Plus I don't like to keep matches anywhere obvious. And if you don't know why then you haven't been reading my blog long enough. And when we moved into this house the person before us used candles and there was black something all over the house. So I really never use them.

I have a friend who asked me to give a "scentsy" party. I didn't really know what they were but because I just might be the wimpiest person alive I said yes anyhow. In case you care, "scentsy" turns out to be candles. Blah blah.

But after I got to selling them for the book party, and smelling the fifty bazillion samples she left with me, and seeing that they are fireless and only warmed by a light bulb, and seeing the adorable little jars you put them in, I might have changed my mind. Plus, thanks to my cool sis in law who got me a whole bunch of orders, I got a ton free.

So Justine and Kassidy and I were smelling like over a hundred samples, to choose which one we wanted. We had a good system of deciding if we like them or not. We would each open one and let the others smell and then put in a yes or no pile. Justine insisted we keep one because it smelled like her dad. How do you say no to that. She also wanted to keep one that smelled like camping. I kept one that smelled like my favorite flower smell, gardenia. Kassidy of course wanted to keep the one called "flirtatious". We had a good little, torturous decision making, time.

As we were smelling, our noses burning, the headache queen of America (Justine) getting a headache, I came to this one smell that just about floored me. I had to smell it a few times before my brain could recall the smell. The scent was called, "Inner Peace"

I told Justine, as I put the sample under her nose, "This is the smell when they hand you your new baby at the hospital." And it was. Heaven. So Heaven.

She says,"Is that why it is called Inner Peace?"

Very wisdomy. Because maybe this isn't the case for everyone, but bearing children and having my family has been my inner peace. (even if it has led to my outer chaos!) I can think of no better time in my life then those first few days in the hospital with a brand new baby. And the fabulous hospital crushed ice. It is all just so grand and so...all that is wonderful and sacred.

I carried that sample in my pocket all day and smelled it occasionally. I also ordered a brick of it. I think I will just keep it somewhere special. And when I need to, or want to, I will pull it out for a little smell and go back in time and remember those gifted days I was so blessed to experience.

Although I am the wimpiest person alive, I am the bravest when it comes to laughing at myself. So I thought you might enjoy the following crazy after labor "me". I never was one of those cute little pregnant girls who just have a basket ball on their front. How I covet them! Like on a regular basis.

Anyway, here it goes...

I had basically spent the whole night crying and worrying about giving birth. I was THREE, yes you read right, THREE weeks late! I didn't even care because I was so scared to go through child birth. Oh. Hilarious picture! Sandals and all. I had no dignity left! What is up with that miniature purse strap?



Kassidy. I remember after we got home, Corey and I left her for an hour with my mom to go get take out. The whole time I was just swooning to Corey. "Don't we have the cutest baby ever?" I was IN LOVE! Thus began my journey.

Very soon after, here comes baby # 2! I love this little picture of Kassidy. Her whole world about to change. We got pregnant super fast... again... on purpose! Kassidy (not even that close to one yet when I got pregnant) was so wonderful and cute we wanted another one! Ha ha! Oh the naiveté! It's classic.

Justine- We knew that was her name. Little petite thing born with a broken collar bone. We didn't know it at first but when I would hold her I could hear the occasional grinding.

When I came home from the hospital with her arch enemy, Kassidy would have NOTHING to do with me. Only my mother could help her. I was broken hearted. CRUSHED. She wouldn't let me get her a drink...nothing! My older and wiser friend came over who had raised eight children. She told me one of her kids did that and she shared the funny story and we laughed and my heart un broke a little and I carried on.

Nathan... Best baby of the bunch! Went like more than two weeks without a name because I was unsure and Corey only wanted Nathan. He does that. He finds one or two names and can't budge.

#4 Rhett- Cutie pie! Gag that short hair! (me, not Rhett) Way adorable baby. Was just barely home from the hospital when his brother turned his car seat up side down. He was still strapped in just hanging away.

My little lovey, Bo. I swear I had given birth to my sister in law. He looked so much like Aunt Sherri. Sorry for that visual. He has a different nose from all five of the other children. Round like Corey's. Not square like mine. Fussiest baby. I remember before we even got out of the hospital I knew I was in for trouble. Now my loviest kid!

Kate...I lost thirty pounds in a week or two after this baby. I was so swollen with toxemia. Because of this toxemia issue and the severity of it, unless I see an angel, she will probably be my last. I know you are all dying to know... Devastating. And a bit "Yea" all at the same time. I spent two weeks on bed rest after she was born. Nuts! But it was good. We got to bond. And watch Texas Walker Ranger.

See what a few smells do to you? They make you go clear through memory lane. Maybe that is why Julie is so successful at selling "scentsy".