yep. I'm doing it.

I'm going camping. Thoughts of Smeagol from Lord of the Rings are running through my head. When he is being the cute side of him and they are dragging him along with something around his neck and he is crying and whining so pathetically. That's me. Only I am pretending I am happy about going.

Oh no they are not going to have fun without me!

Also my Glenny is going to be there. Just thought you should know I am off to see him. I teased with my friends that I was going to smooch him because I love him so much. And then I was going to smooch his wife for sharing him with us all the time.

So hopefully we will have some sort of bonding moment like we did once before. I got it all worked out in my head. And it may include five minutes of uninterrupted eye contact. Bahaaahhaaa. Steve Martin in Baby Mama. That busted me up.

Okay...I leave you with a great statement from my Glenny.....It was an article from his website....

"Glenn will be spending his upcoming vacation searching the world for courage. He is set to begin what he is calling “the search for courage and I’m going around the world and I’m looking for examples of courage.”

“Courage doesn’t come from a bag or a bottle. Courage doesn’t come in mobs,” Glenn said. Courage comes alone, quietly. You won’t be drunk and you won’t be in a mob at the ultimate test of courage. You will be alone.”

I am such a wanny when it comes to any sort of confrontation. It just makes my innards flip flop. I hope I can have more courage. Love Glenny!


Also I leave you with #5 nice thing I did for Corey. He made Justine and I a mini dinner when we were rushing out the door. Instead of taking it for granted I texted him a big thanks!

Hi Friends....

Remember last year when I watched half a game of pitching machine before I realized my son hadn't even made it to the game!!!!!?????? He was still home playing computer games....

Yea. That was a good mothering moment.

I have another one for you.

This morning I forced my 5 year old to get into some shorts. He was insiting on wearing pants in 90 degree weather.

Of course there were no clean shorts. So being the grade A mom that I am.... I told him just to find a pair off his floor. (Come on...I know you'd do it too.)

So he shows me a pair of shorts from the floor and asks if they would work and of course I said yes and of course I didn't even hardly glance at the shorts.

So in the middle of the t-ball game of course my boy has to pee.

And of course the toilet is plugged and trying to over flow.

So of course I have to hold him in the boy's bathroom, mid air, so he can pee in the too tall urinal. (Miracle upon miracle, his aim was true. For that I am thankful.)

So as I am holding him, mid pee I take a moment and glance at his shorts. Upon further examination I realize they were in fact not shorts at all. They were indeed...older brother's boxers. As in underwear. Picked up off the floor. As in dirty. Yea. it was great.

Anyhoo.....Life is grand.

Our month of June is always over whelmed by playing ball.

I know some people think I am nutso. It is not uncommon for me, or a lot of other moms I know, to have 3 games to attend in a day.

But we just loves base ball. I never would have guessed it really. I don't care that much about sports but there is something special and contagious about this little community and summer baseball. We have played for nine years now.

I have coached and been the assisstant coach many a year. Coaching has been a proud moment for me because I know my kids think I'm pretty cool. One year my boy told me "Thanks for being my coach mom. " Sweetest words ever!

This year Justine and her friends coached a cute little team with my assisstatnce. It was great fun. They were called the "Smurfs". And the girls had the name "Smurfettes" on the back of their shirts. And their shirts were blue. It was sweet! Bo was on the team.

Yesterday we had a Smurf party where we let them watch an old Smurf video. Uh... yea. Not so cute anymore.

Against my better judgement.... I am putting this in print...so NOBODY steal my idea (actually it was a 7 year olds idea). But I want to coach Kate's team next year (she will be 4) and I want to do a girl's team and call them....wait for it. wait for it.....

"The Cranky Poodles"!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Baahhhaaaaaahaaaa!!!!!

IS THAT NOT THEN BEST NAME EVER!!!!!!!! Let me know if you want to be on our team.

and if you aren't appreciating that name than your not invited anyways. Sorry. But it's true. You're not.

But if you can see the vision of a group of sassy four year old girls in hot pink shirts with pink sweat headbands and sweat wrist bands named "The Cranky Poodles" then your good to go.

Doesn't it sound classic?

Bo spent the majoirty of his time in the outfield....playing in the dirt. He didn't love outfield so much. He's playing strickly to bat and to eat treats. But yeaterday he got to play Pitcher.

An inning before he had been taged by a kid who touched him with the ball. I lovingly teased him... "Awww...that boy was fast! He got you out!" Bo smiled but he knew that sucked!

So when it was his turn to be the Pitcher, a little light bulb went on. And cute little Bo, in his brother's dirty underwear, did the same move on a boy and got him out!


Afterwards my sweet friend said all oohsy gooshy to me "Did you see Bo' eyes when he got that boy out? It was pure joy"

It made me teary becasue it was true. It was pure joy.

Justine coaching Bo

Great treats!

Catcher

Great ball moments I tell ya!

Wow! It's lots harder to be nice to your husband than I thought!

When I decided to do 52 nice for my husband I had planned that it would be consecutive. As in daily. But....WOW! It's a lot harder than I thought.

I do the normal nice wifey things that should count for something. Wash underwear, cook meals WITHOUT onions, when ordering out remind him to order food WITHOUT onions, make his appointments, buy his favorite food items,...etc....

But the 52 nice things I was thinking about were supposed to be just a little above and beyond. And yes. It has been hard. Isn't that wrong and stupid that it is so hard to think about doing the extras for your spouse? I do them for my children for sure. Anyways...so maybe it wont be consecutive but I am determined to get to the 52 things.

So...... (Sorry these are little and lame. But the plan is to just do everyday thoughtful things. Not necessarily huge things)

#3) Saved Corey a homemade rice crispy treat before all t-ball kids and church potluck people ate them. I wrapped his in tinfoil with a note telling him I loved him.

#4) Back rub. Okay....I admit it. I read my book at the same time but I still got the job done.

That's all for now!

Girls can do stuff ya know!

Sometimes I have it in my head that it is Corey's job to do certain things in our household. Like a few nights ago for instance. It has been getting hot and I just had it in my head that it is his job to decide when it is time to bring the fans for the windows inside. Then I thought..... I guess I can get them. Because it was hot and seemed like time for them to come in. And they were only sitting in the garage. It isn't like it is hard. So I did it. I don't know why I think certain things are the husbands job.

Another thing I think is Corey's job is fixing the plugged tub. But he has fixed it before and is annoyed by it and didn't care. So I finally decided it doesn't have to be the husbands job. I can do stuff too ya know.

Ohhh....I get so excited just thinking about it. I SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO want my own tools. I really want my own drill. I love the chop saw. In fact...I lurve the chop saw. And I hate the word lurve. But I feel that strongly about the chop saw.

So I got out Corey's tools and I fixed the tub! All. by. my. self! Wanna see?

I had to use this tool which I think is called a ratchet and get the top of the plug off.

I put the ratchet in here and twisted and that is how I got it off. The tub was super dirty because someone played in mud and then had a bath. And, of course, the tub wasn't draining.

Then I had to do something that grosses me out TREMENDOUSLY. Remove gagging amounts of hair and sludge and a toy. Eeewwww. That just grodies me out.

And I used the "snake" to push anything else grody through.

Then after using the snake I bleached my hands off. Bleck!

Then I use this tool my friend gave me that has spikes and you shove it down and zip it back up and it brings with it nasto stuff.

Then I put it back together and it drained perfectly and I was dang proud!

I love it so much when I figure stuff out by myself!

I can do stuff!!!!

Something I hate about myself is.......

It is very hard for me to cheer for my kids during sports.


Am I even yelling the correct thing? Some people yell crazy funny things and I am not even sure what they mean. What if I yell the wrong thing?


So if I do yell it is always very safe things such as...."go"(...which ever kid I am cheering for) or I yell "you can do it" or "nice try" Those are basically the ONLY things I yell. And they sound so LAME! And I mostly just don't yell. And it doesn't help that one kid informed me I was embarrassing.

I am just really shy at the yelling thing. Which is strange because at home I am a serious Pro. As in Professional.

I think my voice sounds weird. It just seems like it is always quiet right when I yell. It is embarrassing. I don't know.

I really envy this mom I sit by for softball. She yells EVERYTHING for ALL the kids and I just think it is a service to the sport of girl's softball and their morale. I really really really like it. You just know she loves her kids and she doesn't care WHO knows it also! I wish I could do be that way.


> Today though...I had my yelling moment of GLORY. I screamed loud and like three huge WAHOO'ES!!!!!!!

Why? Cause my girl CAUGHT the pop fly of all pop flies know to the history of all pop flies. It was a most glorious moment. Honest.

She has spent a spring season and a summer season dutifully playing in the outfield which can be a bit boring. But not today. Today was her moment.

It was totally EXCITING!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I mean I have NEVER seen a pop fly caught that was this pop of a fly! Love that girl!

I almost cried. It embarrased Rhett. That and we had a clean discarded trash bag wrapped around us because it was raining. (my spell check quit just now. Actually it quit on embarrased. Grr)

I also REALLY REALLY like softball and pitching matching and t-ball. And summer home with my kids to be able to enjoy these times. So thankful. I have much more to say about our month of June sports but I just don't have time cause I am busy living my life. Boo at not documenting but yay at living life. Love life.

Look at her cute softball nails...

Yea. I did the base. I'm pretty good that way. (actually I did them all but only becasue it was her right hand that was being polished and, unlike me, Justine can do NOTHING with her left hand.)

Which now brings me to another story. It annoyed Corey, but we have a son who is a lefty. After we realized we could have lefties Corey spent all his time making sure our babies were all righties. Like putting food on the right side of their high chair tray, or handing them toys to their right hand...etc.

Me? I could care less. I think it is cute and interesting. Besides, Rhett's first Grandpa on his paternal side was a leftie. And we loved him. So I love lefties.

But the story is...I was supposed to be a leftie and my dad forced me to be a rightie because "life is easier for righties becasue it is a right handed world" (true) and therefore becasue I was supposed to be a leftie but was forced to be a rightie....I am ampedextrious. (remember...spell check...broke) I don't know whom declares you an official ampedextrious person but whomever does that would be sure to declare me as one becasue I am. So there.

And if you don't believe me come play softball with me. (Actually, don't. I totally can't play anymore.) But I use to hit leftie and I was better that way then rightie! Oh well, who cares. I gotta go watch whose got talent with the kids now. That show should practically be rated PG-13!

Just thought I'd mention.....

It is so bizzzzzaaaaarrrrrrooooo that girls keep calling my 12 year old son.

But they do.

And I don't mean to brag at all but I don't think they'll find a nicer boy then my Nathan. (Is that such a old fogey mom thing to say? But it is true!)

He is a sweetie. And I have been training him like crazy! He is a door opener for the human race. Sometimes I am stepping on him because he is trying to hold the door for me and it befuddles me and so I step on him. But I always apologize for my rudeness in trying to halt his job as a gentlemen and we try again at the next door (And I usually step on him again!).

I love him. Just saying.....and I want the girls to quit calling. He's mine for a bit longer!

Go and BUY!

It is weird and heartbreaking. I know my daughter will ALWAYS need me as her mother and I hope I will always be there to give advice and that she will always want it but MY. KID. IS. NEARLY. SEVENTEEN!!!!!!! That is like almost grown!!!!!!




The time I have left to teach her is almost completely gone!




The list of things I still NEED to teach her, or want to teach her, is ENORMOUS. But sometimes life just teaches you. Sometimes one busy mom just can't get it all in in eighteen years.




One thing I am pretty "STOKED" about is this....




I had the great idea to start stocking up Kassidy with the books that have changed my perspective.... even my life.



Books that had life lessons in them so deep and powerful that it would rock a teenage selfish self into complete"lets go and start an orphanage" mode.




So the two books I started her with (and I would LOVE your advice on more life altering books)

were of course.... Corrie Ten Booms, "The Hiding Place". Life. Altering.




And a new beloved gem called..."Left to Tell". I shan't tell you what it is about. You must go and buy. It is that good.


So today when I got home from somewhere Kassidy was late to where she was suppose to be. I knew she had been reading this book because she kept asking me questions. But she said she was confused and bored. I told her to get through the first few chapters. (By the way, it isn't boring. It is just a lot of story before the real story starts, kind of thing.)




So when I got home I was agitated at why she wasn't ready. She shakes the book at me! "Because of this!!!!!"

SHE WAS LOVING IT!!!!!!! My heart was so swollen! I mean this book is about a genocide, and clinging to God and it was AMAZING. And she was loving it.

And I was very happy mom. Love inspiration!



Hey....started a new thing yesterday....And it is going to be VERY HARD. I am going to list it on my blog and you can help me stay accountable. I challenge you to do it as well. In fact now that I am typing this I think my friend had some kind of game with points and rewards for this same idea. But I'm not doing points and rewards. I'm just saying you should do it.



I did my 52 "appreciation for husband" posts and now I am going to do 52 days of nice things for my husband. They are going to be simple. Or maybe not. But probably just simple. Shhhhh. Don't tell him or comment on Face book about this, but you can comment the real way. After I quit doing appreciation posts he quit reading my blog (PHEW) so now I can talk about him again if I want to. But Face book will catch his eye.



So here are the first two simple nice things...



#1. Left a package of wet ones out for him with a note telling him they are for his car.

#2. Cleaned his already almost spotless sock drawer. (He's too clean) But there were a few socks strewn about. So I folded those and laid them all really nice and flat.



Help! Give me ideas!


Also have you ever seen the movie "Fireproof"? Yes? No? Go and Buy! SO GREAT!!!!! (a little cheesy acting but so great!)

Hi there!

Does any one read my blog anymore? I just haven't been feeling the love lately.

But then I remember the great peace I get from writing this blog and I don't care so much.

Ever since my neighbor died at like 38 I have been tormented by the thought of not being remembered by the little people I have given my "ALL" to. And knowing I have a year or more of almost daily thoughts and memories written by me helps me feel safe that they would be able to get to know me through reading my blog. I am almost done turning the first year into a book. It has taken holy moly foreva!!!!!!!!

Anyway there is a funny saying that is tossed around our church occasionally that I LOVE!!!!!!

It is about family Home Evening.


Family Home evening, according to Wikipedia, is this...(and they are right!)

"Family Home Evening (FHE) or Family Night, in the context of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, refers to one evening per week, usually Monday, that families are encouraged to spend together in study, prayer and other wholesome activities. According to the LDS Church, the purpose of FHE is to help families strengthen bonds of love with each other as well as provide an atmosphere where parents can teach their children principles of the gospel."



So the funny saying is...Family Home Evening is an opening and closing prayer with a fight in the middle.

BaaaaaAAHaaaaaHaaaaaHAAA!

I think that is funny.

Any family with many children trying to have family home evening will likely find this very amusing.


It gives me great comfort that if there is actually a saying going around... that is it must not just be me who is dealing with the problem.


Today for FHE we had a little lesson on prayer which included...Sit up! If you do that one more time you are going in the house! Knock it off! Stop putting grass on me! Get back here! Go stop her from opening and shutting the garage door over and over. Are you listening? Hurry. Shut the book!

Then we played a game of capture the flag which included....Three CRYING meltdowns from two separate children caused by bullying, One "She isn't doing it right". One bloody nose, Several voluntarily quitters, one getting forced to leave, one face slap in the name of tagging the person, One bloody nose and a I'm not playing anymore!, One slammed elbow, and sadly..... one peeing of pants....and it wasn't Kate....or Bo.......

I heard a quote that is suppose to help me keep plugging away at my "Calories in, Calories out" life change (did I mention I have had like 29 bowls of Carmel Corn tonight?) but I have been applying it to lots of aspects of my life. Like raising children. It is...

"Just keep Swimming"

And that is what I'm doing.

Order yours today!

We are suffering from cuteness overload around here!!!!

oh wait...not for sale but definitley contributing to cuteness overload...

Delilah- Good mom! Did you know rabbits only nurse twice a day? They have super rich milk. They nurse so little because in the wild they don't want to lead prey back to their nest.

Want one?

They do EXCELLENT in the cold weather!

Jillian hates my guts.

She is trying to kill me.


I mentioned a long time ago how I was doing Calories in and Calories out which is my name for me watching my calories....well I had a month where I quit but now for almost a month I have been at it again. I just haven't mentioned it must because...

a) it's annoying when people talk about it too much.

b) what if I don't stick with it?

c) it's annoying when people talk about it too much.

d) somehow I think if I keep it more private I will do better. Some sort of odd inner strength thing. Which "private" is so not me.

e) it's annoying when people talk about it too much.

So thanks to a nice organized motivated friend, a group of us have been walking with our boys to help them get their fitness merit badge. They are supposed to run in our town's 5K in July. We have been going at 7:30 AAAA.MMMM.!!! On our summer break! At first I was sort of sad about not sleeping in but now I am loving the invigoration I feel. And I have even been coming home and doing Jillian. Who. is. trying. to. kill. me.

Anyhoo....

is it strange that I eat a whole onion a day mixed in my eggs?

Cause it is pretty good. But a whole onion? But it fills me up and is low in calories....(See? Annoying)

GROWING MEN

Remember my Dear Sons post the other day? About always helping other people when they are moving…. no matter what?

When I wrote that little did I know that the sweet opportunity to help someone move would be just around the corner. And that dad would be unavailable to take son. But since the move was announced in church for all young men and grown men to be there…. I knew my son would be.

And I also knew that if I didn’t take him, after I had just wrote the Dear Sons post, that I would have to walk the walk of shame…and trust me, I couldn’t live with that.

So he and I went together and I am telling you what a sight to behold. Many men and many young men there to help move. Maybe even over twenty men. And a lot of the young men came alone. Just to help. No grownups forcing them there.

I love watching men work. There is just something about men. They are so naturally capable. Hard working. So united without really communicating much. (Which is why Corey and I can NEVER move anything without fighting. I need words people! Words! Is it really so hard to say lift your side up a little higher? Really?) But guys don’t seem to need that. They just get it somehow.

So we helped to move for a few hours and I was thrilled inside that he was rubbing shoulders with these other honest to goodness good men and soaking in their example.

At one point there was a man chain of maybe 15 men going from the moving truck, down the basement stairs, into the basement. With boxes just pouring through the chain and into the basement. It was some kind of fast moving.

I loved it when the older man who was standing above the younger boy on the stairs would say things like “Brace yourself, Cowboy” or “plant your feet” when a heavy box was coming. Just pure goodness was abounding the whole time. It felt like I was witnessing something sacred. Honest it did.

I loved it when I would try to help and they would about run through me because they didn’t want me touching any box that might be heavy. I felt like such a lady getting to stand there and just help give directions of where to put the boxes.

When it was time to go, my sweet friend was thanking me for coming and thanking me for bringing my son. There were no thanks needed.

I told her I wanted him to come and see how to be a man.

And trust me he did!

It's hard work being a toy!

When I was a child I had this crazy burden in my life of thinking my stuffed animals had little souls. I would NEVER give one away and I ALWAYS wanted new ones for every gift getting occasion.

I was such a tender little person. I remember a time when I had saved my money to go buy a popular item which was a heart pillow with two little stuffed dogs sitting on it next to each other. When I went to buy them there was one who had it's little stuffed partner ripped off and that little doggie sat by himself on the heart pillow. IT. BROKE. MY. HEART. Looking back I wonder if I may have had some mental issues. Anyhow, needless to say, I purchased the puppy sitting on his heart pillow....alone. I couldn't bear for him to be lonely.

At night I would feel guilt over the boxes of stuffed animals my patient mom stored under our stairs for me. I would feel guilt because not everybody could make the cut and some had to be chosen to be packed away. I felt guilt over a specific monkey who could suck his thumb that I packed away. I would even pray for them remembering each one in my head. A little OCD you think?

When I was ready to go to college (or was it marriage?) it was time to get rid of them. The only way I could do it was because my cute mom had found a battered women's shelter for them to be donated to. I knew they would be loved so I could do it. Nice mom, huh?

At our house being a "lovey" can be a FULL time job. It is their job to comfort and to play and to understand when they have been cast aside. You know assuming they can understand...But I'm not saying that I believe that........er......uh...really....honest.)

On this day it was a full time play day.


First....Pig, Puppy, Bunny, and Bear had to spend some time watching T.V.

Second... they had to spend some time looking out the window....

Third...they had to wait it out piled in a box....

Then as the evening came to a close they were read to. Likely their favorite task, assuming I know stuffed animals. And I think I do.

Disclaimer....These pictures were taken before Pig was put in storage for safe keeping. This was right before rabbit started making her move as favorite "lovey". Pig was just too old to compete. Sigh.