Hound Dog News

We chose Chloe's favorite Christmas event for her (because it is our favorite memory of Chloe this year). We have one of those giant singing Santa Claus' (it was going to be a gift for mil, but when we tested it out to make sure it worked the kids loved it so much that we kept it and got her something else!).

This is Chloe's first year of really "getting" the singing Santa Claus and I wish I would have had the camera going when we got it out. She went up and held both of his hands and danced with him as he sang...in fact she pulled him over a few times and so we had to rig him not to fall.

Now she doesn't hold his hands, but she does dance and then keep pushing his button and dancing. (don't mind the hair...we are on vacation and really you all are lucky that she even has clothes on instead of pj's!!)

Joslyn and Drew were in the Nutcracker a week ago. Drew had quit ballet and a few months before the Nutcracker she decided that she wanted to do dance again so that she could be in the Nutcracker. Their teacher (Miss Mary . . . aka Sister Noriega--Ellie's teacher in Primary) puts the whole production on. Last year was the first year and I spent a few days with Miss Mary painting backdrops (which THANKFULLY weren't destroyed in the flood since her basement had been 6 feet under water/mud/murk) . . . it was fun seeing the backdrops again! This year I was a slug and didn't help with ANYTHING . . . I'm so sorry Miss Mary!! I got sick on the day that I was going to help with the Dragon head. Although once I saw it I was sure glad because it never would have been as cute with me helping!

So here are some pics and a little video of the girls.

Drew was in the car with me as I was pondering my lack of Christmas enthusiasm. The radio was on and the announcers started talking about how everyone has so much MORE Christmas spirit this year and how important their traditions were . . . WHAT??!!! Oh CRAP (yes . . . I confess, Ellie DOES get that saying from me Karen, I will do better!)

I was tagged by a new tag made to punish me and put up my Christmas tree . . . and what do you know??? The Christmas spirit finally found me! I was feeling a bit hum-bug-ish and really thought that I could do without Christmas this year (except for my selfish excitement over my own present that I already know about, but am not allowed to touch until that very day). My lists are too long and the time too short, so I haven't felt the peace and joy that I normally feel during this season. I think that the late Thanksgiving was a large part of my problem!

As time was speedily passing me by I realized that I was barely getting through the motions of Christmas and I needed to make sure that I made it special for my kids. So I asked each of them what their favorite Christmas tradition was so that we made sure that we did it. As we do each of them I will blog about them (some of which surprised me!).

Since this is my blog . . . I get to go first!!!

There is something about Christmas lights that make me happy! There are soft glowing lights around my nativity. This nativity makes me happy. My mom painted two of these before she died. One was for my Grandma Hazel and the other one was for our family. After I got married I inherited the sacred nativity. I had painted ceramics with my mom and so I could imagine that I had helped with the nativity (I'm sure I was never in the same room when the nativity was being painted!!). I love the rich colors that she picked! After my Grandma Hazel died, my sister inherited our Grandma's (thank goodness . . . I was having major guilt issues!!).

I put Christmas lights at the top of my cupboard and at night I will turn just the Christmas lights on and snuggle up with a cup of hot cider and just feel HAPPY!

So my favorite tradition is indoor Christmas lights . . . subtle indoor Christmas lights that don't overpower and just give me a sense of "special."

(Sorry that the pictures don't show the "special" side since they were during the daytime and I'm not a very good photographer.)

As for my tag. I am supposed to post a picture of my tree . . . which began this whole process of de-hum-bugg-ging me . . . so THANKS Krin! As for my tree . . . in the past I have done two trees and let the kids have their own. This year I let them decorate the family tree (I did the lights for sanity's sake . . . I still remember my first attempt at doing the lights & it is NOT a good memory and this was all about making good memories!). My only instructions were to put the glass and breakable items at the top half of the tree away from Chloe. (later that evening the Menace did manage to get a small glass bulb and break it . . . in her MOUTH because she was BITING it!!!!!! great sharks that was a close one!)

I tag LINDY (LOL after last night . . . & you TOTALLY have to do it!) and Karen (since your tree is up & missing an adorable ornament that my tree now proudly wears . . . wait a second!!! it never made it into my house . . . it is MISSING from my purse!!!!!!)

Last night Joslyn had her FIRST band performance. She had to miss her dress rehearsal for the Nutcracker (which Drew chose to go to because she doesn't know the dances as well as Joslyn and this literally brought Joslyn to tears that Drew would choose going to her dress rehearsal over seeing her perform at her band concert).

I LOVE Mrs. Gallahan! They are building a new Middle School and the only thing that has me worried about being rezoned to the new school is losing Mrs. Gallahan. Here is a sampling of the concert last night. This is the 6th grade band who all began band this year, learning new instruments. So keep in mind as you watch this that none of these kids knew how to read a note or play their instrument a mere 3 months ago! (I really should have taped one of the 8th grade songs so there could be a comparison to playing with her for 2 years). Note: Joslyn is on the front row the third person in from the right...it looks like she's tapping her leg to the beat, but that is the kid behind her & sorry about the shaky beginning...I was having a child swap on my lap as Chloe & Ellie decided that they wanted to trade seats (one of which being my lap).

And how can you NOT love a teacher for being surrounded by that beautiful sound day in and day out and still loving it??!!! I wonder how long it takes band teachers to lose their hearing??

And for everyone needing a laugh...seriously tears-streaming-down-your-face-laugh, go here.

Note to self: Next year you want to go here for Thanksgiving . . . what is the point of cooking a Thanksgiving feast that your family really doesn't even like??!!! Trust me . . . you won't be missing anything!

A moment that made ME happy & I'm sure there are those of you who would be sad.

Conversation with Ellie which included mom mentioning that she should be nice so that Santa would be sure to come for Christmas.

Ellie: "Who is Santa?"

I watched Dennis the Menace this weekend and I have a whole new understanding of that child. Chloe has been renamed "Chloe the Menace" and before anyone gets on my case...please understand that Dennis really is a decent kid & he just seems to be a magnet for trouble & isn't afraid to try ANYTHING at least TWICE! I'm SURE that his mom cleaned a whole tube of toothpaste off of her bathroom floor, counters & child at LEAST TWICE! I'm sure that HIS mom had to run back and rescue him off of the bunkbed 20 times during one meeting (well no...he would have jumped...but MAYBE his mom heard him before that happened!), & shattered a mirror so that we ended up banning that bedroom for the remainder of the marathon meeting (sorry about the marathon meeting btw!). Well I will leave the nickname at that (Drew was nicknamed Stitch directly after watching the movie Lilo & Stitch...she lived through it so I'm sure that Chloe the Menace will as well!).

You Tube can be such a great resource for finding those clips of American Idol's past. Every so often I have to do a search for Constantine Maroulis & see what he is up to & reminisce over my favorite American Idol performance of all time. The season ended for me with his early departure. Do you all remember this??? *sigh*

And for fun I clicked on this amazing performance of Bohemian Rhapsody by the Ten Tenors...quite entertaining!

Ever since Drew taught herself to read and write she has been writing stories of all kinds, dreaming of publishing. She will make up songs writing down the lyrics with many "oh"s and "ah"s added. Last year she discovered Shel Silverstein and has a new passion for writing poems. They rarely make a LOT of sense...but they ALWAYS rhyme!

Yesterday she came home from school and had written a poem on the bus that totally cracked me up and I find it quite publishable.

When Your Old
by Drew Bassett

When your old,
You are bold.

When your old,
You don't fold.

When your old,
You will scold.

When your old,
You feel cold.

When your old,
You don't need to be told.

When your old,
You smell like mold.

(published as written...spelling & punctuation)

Okay...so if you have followed my blog you'll notice that there haven't been that many entries as of late. I am at a blog block because my friend Rachel tagged me:



Well I did a post a while back revealing 100 things about myself which really covered a LOT of quirks! I have been pondering and just couldn't really come up with any good ones because I am blog blocked.

Last night I decided that instead I was going to write about 7 amazing things that have happened in my lifetime (really in no particular order).

1. The Space Shuttle was introduced. We watched the first launch on tv at school...it was BIG news! Since that first launch 2 of the shuttles have disintegrated in flight...one at the launch at one at the reentry. I am not a part of the generation where even landing on the moon sounds crazy...but it is still amazing how much exploration there has been going on in space.

2. Technology is amazing! Computers have gone from taking up an entire building to being as small as a notebook. Microwaves can boil water in a matter of minutes. VCR's & DVD's, CD's, i-pods...well you get the picture!!!

3. The Red Sox won the World Series (oh come ON! You KNEW that one was making the list!!!)

4. All worthy men are given the priviledge of holding the Priesthood in my church.

5. The World Wide Web is a mainstay in most homes & used as a resource MUCH more often than the hard-copy alternative. (For us oldies...remember researching a report in college and using the catalogs to look up different topics and then praying that the University subscribed to that particular journal & schleping around the library finding stacks of journals & copying millions of articles to research???)

6. One of the most horrific terrorist attacks in history happened in the US. I will never forget because it changed me forever.

7. A black man can not only run for office, but win an election.

I know that there are so many other things...and so many that you may think are MUCH more important than the ones I listed. I am AMAZED at the changes occurring all around us. So many things happen that people think will/can never happen. I haven't lived THAT long of a life and I think that this list is rather impressive! I wonder what 7 things my kids will list when they are 36...

Here's my 4th picture from my 4th folder. This picture makes me both laugh and cry at the same time (and not the crossed wires crying when I'm laughing problem I have). Ellie is talking on the phone to grandma and I took a picture to send to grandma. I want to laugh when I see how cute she was, but I want to cry when I see how sick she was & I didn't know because I didn't know what she SHOULD be looking like. It's one of those things where I see how healthy she looks now and when I see her back then I truly have a shudder go down my spine!

I tag 4 people from 4 walks of my life: Karen (my NV buddy), Becky (my Boston buddy & only friend who really understands the Sox thing), Krin (my NIL...niece-in-law in UT) & Stephanie (my old on-line boss, since you did the 6th one...now you can do the 4th!!)

Ellie is still in the funniest stage of life where she cracks me up when she says things in an almost-right-way. Like when my kids call the Muppets the "Muffets" (they still do that a lot too).

She brought me out a tub of bubbles that was empty of any bubble-juice and said, "Will you unfrisbee this so I can fill it up?" (you know...unscrew this?!)



The kids have a new favorite treat...Pirate's Booty. She calls it Captain's Booty (and when she says that I think of a captains bum!)



I have an unsightly group of spots on my chin...I'm not sure what it is & I should really go to the dermatologist to figure it out...but, she calls it my "humongous hu-fungus"

I am surprisingly at peace with the Sox. It really is a successful season when you make the playoffs and the Yankees don't!!

That would have been good enough.

It's amazing to demolish the best team in baseball on the way to the World Series (the team everyone expects to WIN the World Series).

That was enough!

They didn't QUITE make it to the World Series this year...but they came CLOSE! I only missed one game...and wouldn't you know it was a doozy! The Sox down 7-0 in the 6th inning (losing this game would lose the series with Tampa Bay ahead 3-1), but, NOOOO, my Sox won't go down without a fight! They come back to win the game 7-8!! They win the next game as well which ties the series to 3-3. The last game decides who goes to the World Series and they lost in extra innings. What a fight! And what a great season.

on a funny note for either Sox or Yankee fans...we went to Scheel's yesterday (FUN store!), and they had a rack of gear. Half was Red Sox and half was Yankees. Hmmmm...who put THAT together??!

OKAY...for all of my non-baseball friends (do I have many pro-baseball friends?!), I'm done for the season. Maybe I can put up a cute background now...although I did like the Sox one!

I've been feeling a little sick lately. And then something happened today that made me want to call in sick!




It SNOWED!!!! Okay...so this isn't a picture of Ferntucky...but it does represent why I'm so sick. I am HOMESICK!!! I LOVE the snow! I'm not into the snow sports...but I LOVE the snow. This picture is from my home town on a very good year. (My Logan friends...can you tell it is a parking lot by campus?)




This is my valley. I am going to drive into that valley next week and it thrills me every time I meet this picture!

I am so excited to turn my oven on today and cook a turkey for no good reason (how beautiful is it that I don't have to worry about the oven heating up the house...that's an added bonus!). I am so excited that my heater is on. I love the smell of the first use of the heater...you know the musty/dusty smell of something that hasn't been used in many months?! (I'm weird that way...it is smellin' good to me right now...a side effect of homesickness, like how cow manure smelled so good when I would go home to visit in the summers from Boston) And for my Boston friends...it's the same wonderful feeling as the hiss and rattling of the radiators for the first time of the year.

It is a sign...a sign that winter is here. I love winter! I love to curl up with some hot cocoa and a blanket with the kiddos and watch a good movie (I hope Austin's soccer game is canceled so that we can do it tonight!!!)

I miss driving through the canyon (after the snow plows have been through of course!) and seeing everything in a blanket of snow...there is nothing more beautiful to me (I think it's even more beautiful than the fall foliage or the spring flowers).

Editor's note: My baby is standing in the windowsill right now very distressed about the white stuff falling on the garden. Keep it coming baby!!!

(Now if the Sox win tonight...what a perfect day that would be!)

We were watching Austin's soccer game one day in the car (mom, Ellie & Chloe) because there had been a sudden downpour just before it started & even though the skys were blue...I wasn't in the mood for another naughty picture.

There is a girl on Austin's team who...how shall I put this...has a sort of swagger as she walks that is meant to attract boys in a way that is "I'm so cute...but I'm so cool at the same time" Does that make ANY sense...do you all know of that swagger that I'm talking about?? not the cute way that Karen sways her hips as she walks...more like, oh I don't know, someone who works at Wild Horse (more to post on Wild Horse at a later date).

Ellie watches the game for a bit, and this girl made a good play and I commented on it. Ellie says, "She walks like she has a boyfriend."

How does my 4 year old know what a girl with a boyfriend walks like?!

I think the black & white version is my favorite...how about you?

There are many faces of NAUGHTY, and sometimes this is one . . .

AWESOME...AWESOME game!! The Sox have advanced to play the Rays. We had awesome plays by Pedroia, Varitek (could you BELIEVE that squeeze play he pulled off in the 9th??!), Kotsay...well I think I could name the whole team! And Lester pitched an amazing game.

Go here and pay particular attention to the "Personal Life" section and the "No-hitter" section. I like this guy.

So, Vladimir, I'm truly sorry that your reign of terror over me (because I would tremble slightly with fear when he would step to the plate) is now over and your season finished. Until next season...

I think I should get some sleep after the loss of sleep from last night!

Let's just say that I had a hard time getting to sleep last night after a (deserved) loss in the 12th inning.

I think the Sox were really off their game last night and the Angels were back on their game.

Sad...they were ALMOST able to say that they had beat the Angels in 12 straight post-season games (4 YEARS!!!)

We'll get 'em next time!

Saturdays at Winco (local cheap grocery store...you all have one of those! Macey's in Logan, Market Basket in Boston, Winco in Reno), are always crowded...I NEVER go on Saturdays!! However...did you know that the FIRST Saturday of the month might be even WORSE?!!



You may find crowded aisles, people stopped with their carts in front of what you need to get and you patiently wait, and when it's YOUR turn some old guy in a striped t-shirt might just start huffing at you. And a little later might do the same thing to your son who has a second cart helping you grocery shop while your husband is in Japan.

And when you FINALLY make it to the checkout line you might be a little irritated that two little girls that you MAY have let go to the Dollar Store next door with instructions to meet up with you in the grocery store have STILL not come back...well you might just be a little more irrate when an even younger little girl announces that she needs to go potty yet AGAIN and you can't leave your cart/food.

You might even have two full grocery carts that will need to be transported an hour away & so properly packed away. You may have a wonderful boy who is helping a whole bunch with all of this.

And then it MIGHT happen to you!! You may be so caught up in trying to hurry and get all of your groceries packed up that you forget to move your cart so the person behind you can move their cart to the other side (because Winco the customer bags their own groceries & one register runs two conveyer belts at the same time). And some big scary/ornery Mr. Clean Man may give you the stare down and snap, "Could you MOVE you know I have to load MY groceries TOO!" And you truly can't figure out how the three feet to the side of you is too small for this man to pass by (you completely forget about the cart!)




And you may decide that HE'S not going to intimidate YOU! And you just move as close to the side as you can and say, "I'd be happy to let you by." (you may say it in a I'll-take-you-on tone rather than a sweet I'm-so-sorry tone...seriously you might do that)

You may not notice the wife behind him glaring at you with her cart. You may even still keep bagging and THEN notice the wife as she goes around the OTHER way and then SLAMS (she SERIOUSLY may *slam* it!) the cart into the center of the bagging area. They may even stand opposite you and both glare at you and then start ripping into you and letting you know that YOU are the SCUM of the earth!!!

You may even have visions of yourself jumping over the conveyer belt to start pounding on the Mr. Clean couple. But instead you probably just keep going about your business and TRY to hurry and get your stuff bagged and get AWAY. You may snap back a couple of responses to them too.

Your son may even say to you, "I really want to say a swear word at them right now."

When the cashier is done ringing up their groceries they may say to her, "Well I can't use the debit machine because SHE won't MOVE her cart!!!" (You may secretly find it funny that your cart isn't even in front of the machine.) And you may even then to decide to REALLY be a pain to them and move your cart out of the way...first you may move your sons cart against the wall and then you may move your cart to the end (where EVERY single other time you've been to the store you probably put it), where it now might be next to their cart (which they put in the middle) and so your cart now HAS no choice but to block half of the aisle, and as chance MIGHT have it the people at the aisle next to you have their cart blocking the other half and there is only now a foot of space between...but hey you MOVED your cart like they asked!!! (and while doing this you may have said, "okay...I'll move my cart for you and now you'll REALLY be blocked in!!")

And then after they finally leave (after still cussing you out), you may be shaking so hard from FUMING...the NERVE of some people!!! (What happened to, "excuse me please, but I can't get my cart past you because you have yours blocking the aisle"...you may think to yourself would that be sooo hard????)

And then you may timidly look up at the cashier who witnessed the whole thing, and you may wonder if she thought you were such a horrible person for not noticing that you were blocking the aisle with your cart. Your heart may just feel a little lighter and your hands may shake a little less if she said, "they were so rude...he never asked you nice or anything."

You may now realize that your girls have still not returned and so your son runs to look for them as you try and muster two full carts out of the probably over-crowded store.

As you get outside you may see the girls standing near a post and they may run up to you and then STOP dead in their tracks right in front of the train of very heavy groceries you are sandwiched between...you may even mutter a little loud under your breath, "oh you'd better MOVE out of MY WAY!" And you may look up and notice a nice old guy pushing his cart in front of the girls and you may notice him kind of glance back and then hurry and push his cart to the side with a questioning look on his face. As you go buy you may touch his arm and say, "I wasn't talking to you...I was talking to my girls." And he may smile at you and say, "Well I mind well!!" He may just make you laugh after the diabolic shopping trip!

It might just happen...really!!!

What a riot to read Candy's first installment of 100 things...I'll take you up on it and post my own 100 things that you may have known and many you didn't know and even some you wish you NEVER knew about me!

1. I LOVE the Red Sox (did anyone guess that??) I really enjoy watching baseball...all 3-4 hours of the game.
2. I have naturally curly hair, although I didn't know how to get past the kinky and into the curly stage until after I was married and my niece Melise (who inherited a much better version of my hair) taught me how. In fact I got perms in high school.
3. I HATE to sweat.
4. I have lived in 4 states (MO, UT, MA, & NV), my brother Larry could add WY, NC, NE & MI to the list (minus MA & NV).
5. Speaking of my brother Larry...he is almost 18 years older than me and used to drive a motorcycle wearing a helmet with horns on it (I'm not sure if he always wore that helmet or if I just think he did because we have a picture of it).
6. I love classic movies (and we're not talking what AMC considers classic these days!!!), with people like Lana Turner, Cary Grant, Rock Hudson, DORIS DAY, Sandra Dee...oh I could go on and on!
7. I love murder mystery shows...I don't know what this tidbit will do to you, but, my favorite tv show is Murder, She Wrote (seriously!).
8. My brother Ross (6 1/2 years older & my closest sibling in age) used go pick me up Chinese food from Formosa and drive it all the way out to my high school for me. Thanks Ross!!
9. I hate when people say "En-sun" instead of "En-sign" (If you look at an Ensign from 15 years ago it has a part in the front that says "pronounced en sign NOT en sun" and then all of a sudden it switched to "pronounced en sign OR en sun"...how could they do this to me????
10. I have been put "out" with anesthesia 6 times in my life.
11. I have 5 kids and have never had an epidural (I'm scared of the needle going into my spine during the middle of a contraction...formula for something going WRONG!)
12. I love to cook.
13. I love to play games (and Mike...I don't make you count up the points any more when I stomp on you to see just how bad I stomped on you...in fact I rarely even KEEP score anymore!)
14. When I was in high school there was a freshman who died every year but my senior year...we totally thought we were cursed!
15. When I was in middle school I got sent to the office & almost sent home because I was wearing bermuda shorts to school...I had been out of town and my friends said they were letting us wear shorts on friday...very funny "friends."
16. In high school I was voted "best dressed" (now THAT one had some of your mouths drop!).
17. My favorite vacations as a kid was going to my aunt's ranch in WY and spending a week riding horses. MY horse was Thunder & I LOVED her so much!!
18. My internal wires are crossed and I cry when I laugh.
19. My vision is about 20/900 (last time I got it checked...I need a new prescription since having Chloe).
20. When I was a kid I had a problem with stinky feet (due to cheap man-made shoes...once I found leather I was a different person!)
21. I went to D.C. 4 times in middle school and high school. One time we went after my mom died & my dad had a work conference there and he let us run free around the city...can you IMAGINE letting your 5th grader loose in a strange city with no cell phone?????
22. My mom was diagnosed with cancer when I was 2 or 3, then went into remission for a while and died when I was in 5th grade.
23. My sister is perfect...ask anyone who knows her!! (and we totally don't hate her for it either...I love her to death...she's always been the pretty one too!)
24. My son is a lot like my brother Ross...it's a total crack-up!
25. I have a school picture where we forgot it was picture day & the outfit is awful & the hair is TOTALLY bed head!!!
26. I hate cleaning, but love a clean house...what a cruel world!
27. I love watching tv...have loved it alll my life (remember when MTV first came out & they played videos all the time??!! Remember when they had the world premiere of Michael Jackson's "Thriller"???)
28. I like to type.
29. I have blue eyes
30. I never thought I would have girls (and Katie...secretly I really like it!)
31. I love to scrapbook and make homemade cards
32. I like to read.
33. I love things that are homemade.
34. I love meeting new people (I hate to physically move...but love the adventure of moving).
35. I have a bachelors degree in History.
36. I'm a true Aggie.
37. I used to work as a car hop at a drive-in (no roller skates though)
38. I once dabbled in some modeling when a guy approached me at the mall.
39. I was on the debate team in high school (no good at it but wanted to go on trips with the team)
40. My sister and I are very small chested and we want to know what happened to the gene pool??????
41. I went down the stairs in my walker as a baby (still have the scar on my head).
42. I used to run into walls...ask Scott he LOVES that one!!
43. We used to go camping and my friends and I would stand on the picnic tables and do cheers (you know...open up the barn doors, kick out the hay, we're the girls from the US of A)
44. I used to pretend to have my own cooking show and make some cookies or something. I would talk to the camera and everything!
45. I'm horrible at getting my haircut and tend to do it about once a year.
46. I used to cut my own bangs to make it inbetween cuts & one time I cut them so short they were only about 1/2 an inch long!!! And crooked too!!!!
47. I was in 4-H as a kid (cooking, sewing...mmm can't remember what else).
48. I put my kids through a spanking machine on their birthdays.
49. I was in the DECA club in high school (Distributive Education Clubs of America), and was the VP over something or other. The best part of this was the Fashion Show part...we would compete in malls & WON every time!
50. I always wanted to be in the marching band like my brother Ross...the competitions were the funnest things EVER!
51. I used to go to Ogden with my mom for her chemotherapy appointments and sit and wait in the hospital for hours.
52. One time my mom was in the hospital in SLC (I think...or was it Provo??) and Barney Clark was there (first artificial heart recipient), and they were doing press conferences there and everything.
53. I didn't want to go to my senior prom, but had to.
54. I had Elvis & Bon Jovi posters in my room growing up.
55. When Scott and I first got married we wore the same size of clothes & didn't have any money so we would just share them.
56. My cousin used to always sing, "Julie, Julie, Julie do you love me?" And my other cousin would sing, "My names not Lisa, my name is Julie...Lisa left you years ago" (two songs on the radio when I was a kid).
57. The cousin that sang the Lisa song would always call me Lisa.
58. I don't remember a time EVER in my life that my dad has called me Julie on the first try. (I'm usually Shelley and Shelley is usually Julie)
59. Now my sister calls her daughter Katie "Julie" and Katie's husband "Scott"...we're flattered I hope Katie & Doug aren't too offended!
60. I sometimes call Austin or Scott "Ross."
61. I love office supplies.
62. I love modern-vintage (is there such a thing??).
63. My second toes are longer than my big toes.
64. I took many years of French and can barely count to ten!!
65. One of my friends moved to Egypt in 6th grade and would come home in the summer and teach me all of the arabic swear words.
66. I am an Olympic-Junkie...LOVE them!!
67. I inherited my dad's out of control bushy eyebrows (what will be next...out the nose and ears?!).
68. My husband travels all over the world and I really don't have any desires to do it myself...I've said no on MANY occasions. Maybe it will change when the kids are grown.
69. I have a MILLION projects I want to do and I'm sitting here thinking of 100 different things about me (typical).
70. I am completely uncoordinated & can't dance.
71. I love Outback Steakhouse
72. I remember when cartoons were only on Saturday mornings.
73. I love to eat.
74. Why do I still have zits???
75. I love Harry Potter...can't wait for the next movie!
76. If I were still in middle school or high school I would TOTALLY have Zac Ephron's poster all over my room!! (LOL)
77. I broke both of my thumbs on two different skiing trips.
78. I hate skiing.
79. I took piano lessons for many years and can barely play!
80. I love the winter...you know the kind where there is snow and not just ugly dead trees and lawns!
81. I hate beans...and wished that I liked them because they are so healthy!
82. I love having a garden & especially fresh tomatoes...YUM!
83. My baby looks just like me...I always wonder if I acted like her too.
84. Every seat in my mini-van is full.
85. I make my bed every day (can you believe it mom?!)
86. My dad remarried 6 months after my mom died (as per her request) and she has been my mom longer than my birth mom.
87. I once had a guy ask me in D.C. if my dad was a polygamist and I told him YES! My friend about died with me...and then I said, "Well, my mom died and then he remarried and he is still sealed to both of them...so yes I guess he is!" LOL we walked away giggling pretty hard!
88. My grandma lived in a tiny town (blink and you'll miss it...and I LOVED it!) and they had one general store & one time she sent Austin the exact same birthday card two years in a row...I thought it was so funny! I mean they probably didn't have a very large variety at the Merc! And would normally never know, but I kept them for his scrapbook.
89. I love getting my back tickled.
90. I love when my two youngest girls give each other hugs...cutest thing EVER!
91. My brother used to give me fake Chinese-Water-Torture...and he loved to pin me down and threaten to spit a loogie on me...it would start to drip out of his mouth and then he'd suck it back in just in time.
92. I hate cheating.
93. I loved playing basketball as a kid.
94. We had one of the first microwaves in the neighborhood and my friend and I used to melt a plate of cheese or cook a potato and think it was the coolest thing!
95. My friend had a VCR before anyone & we thought it was way cool.
96. I always had the best reports in elementary school because my dad would take me up to his office and type it for me on the computer and then copy pictures to put in it...I totally ROCKED!
97. I still love and prefer Word Perfect.
98. Some day I want to learn how to use Photoshop & learn how to do digital scrapbooking.
99. I have only dyed my hair once and it was when I was in high school...I wanted it really dark like my mom's was...it went black.
100. Some day I want to ride in a limo, get a pedicure, get a massage, fly first class...

Game #2 recap...

I love my Red Sox! I know each and every player (well...except for some of the new pitchers that rarely play...but, some day I'll know them too!) I'm always sad when one of them gets traded.

Good-bye Johnny Damon...but, SERIOUSLY the Yankees??!!

Good-bye Manny Ramirez...I'll really miss you and the sense of excitement that came as you stepped to the plate (I won't miss the 'tude), but we'll be okay without you.

Manny left...and in return we now have Jason Bay. Way to BE Bay!!!! He hit yet another homerun last night which brought in 3 runs. Dice-K pitched a great game (minus the bit of trouble in the 5th inning).

At the end of the 4th the score is 5-2. In the 5th & 7th inning the Angels score runs and bring the score to 5-4. On to the 8th inning and the Angels FINALLY get more than a base hit with a lead-off triple...and then my man Papelbon steps up to the mound.



This guy is SOOOO much fun to watch!! Especially when playing at home and so the cameras/announcers are pro-Sox and they eat up the drama that is Papelbon. He SERIOUSLY gives this stare-down with EVERY SINGLE PITCH!!! At away games they just show the back of his head, but, when home...they zoom in on his face and you feel the fear that those batters must surely feel!!! This dude ROCKS as a closer!!! He ended the 8th inning allowing only the one run on 3rd (really ALMOST impossible to not allow that run...possible but really TOUGH).

Now we are tied up 5-5 and the Angels fans are going NUTS! 9th inning Cocoa Crisp (seriously his name...and I can't believe that all of the hair is gone!) gets on base & steals 2nd base (although the announcers don't think it was a good call...I beg to differ). JD Drew steps up to bat & smacks a homerun with an injured back.

We go in to the bottom half of the 9th inning now 7-5 (much better), and Papelbon does his job and finishes the game with a King Kong beating of his chest to boot.

*SIGH* Sleep well Red Sox Nation

91 words

Speedtest

It seems like when that first day of high school starts that someone presses the fast forward button on life! It feels like there are so many things that I had planned on doing as a family (1,000s of camping trips, going to Disneyland, having kids in bedrooms with less than 3 kids, spending millions of hours together playing games and laughing together...) and it FEELS like my boy is leaving the nest next week...okay I know I have a lot more time...but it FEELS like it.

Austin turned 14 last month. FOURTEEN!!!!!!!

At the beginning of the month we had Stake Conference. On the way home Austin turned to me and said, "I hope all of those girls live in Fallon!" Usually I am a perceptive mother...but I TOTALLY missed the boy checkin' out the girls! And then it dawns on me that just a few days after his birthday was his first stake dance. I grew up in Utah and so a stake dance was not all that fun...I mean we had sock hops almost EVERY week!! But HERE a stake dance is totally RAD! I mean WICKED COOL!!! We have gone back and forth on this thing because someone told him that if you told a girl "no" when she asked you to dance that you had to go home (LOL!!!!). STRESS...I mean the one and only dance he went to in middle school he told 3 girls "no!" ("No, I don't feel like it." WHAT?!! Then WHY are you at a DANCE?!!) Scott and I about DIED when he told us he'd said "no". Thus began the lectures on the fragilness of a girls feelings and how you don't just say, "no...I don't FEEL like it".

So when we first learned of stake dances...we were SOOOO excited!!! And then we got news of no-saying-no (totally not true by the way...but I'M not telling them!) So we decided that we weren't going to the dances. Then came Stake Conference and our view completely changed!!! And their mother gave them the advice..."if you don't want to dance with someone who asks you, than you ask SOMEONE to dance first!!!"

Fastforward to picture...





We are tired of waiting inside for our ride to the dance...so we'll go outside and watch up the street...WE can't WAIT!!!!


And of course we don't get home until midnight and so mom stayed up late cleaning (yes folks...you heard it right! I cleaned!!!). We had a very content aura about us as we came through the door. We had a good time.

(I wonder if his favorite part was waking up the next morning and smelling the leftover perfume on his pillow...hahaha...my last dance at the sock hop during my freshman year was often with a boy named Shane & he wore lots of cologne & I would sleep in the next morning smelling my pillow)

Okay...so my friend Rachel gives great recaps of "Dancing with the Stars," one of the few reality shows that I haven't gotten into. It cracks me up & I tune in for about 5 minutes of it or look it up online.

So, I thought...I bet most of you need a recap of the awesome baseball game last night!!! Can you guess who played...and (from my sheer enthusiasm) who WON?!!!

I forgot about my new, totally incredibly fabulous ability to pause live tv and so was busy putting kids to bed and missed most of the first 4 innings. I caught the Angels score their first run (dang the timing of one of Lowry's FEW errors this season!). And when I tuned back in I had just missed Bay hit a homerun and bring the game to a more acceptable score of 2-1.

7th inning was the charm when Ellsbury (one of my most FAVORITE players) had an amazing catch! On to the 8th inning where the Sox scored 2 more runs.

For those of you baseball-ignorant people...the Angels have had the best team in baseball for the entire season! The Sox made it into the play-offs as the Wild Card (and the fact that the Yankees didn't even make it to the play-offs makes this season a successful one no matter the outcome!!!) I'm hoping that the Sox can hold it together...it seems (as usual) that half of the pitchers are injured just in time for play-offs & world series. But, hey---they beat the Angels at home on the first game!!!

It was a good night...I slept with a smile on my face.

I'm a little late in posting about this (you know...since it was over a month ago!)

Over the summer the kids were involved in a little community acting group. They would go two days a week for a couple of hours and they would teach them how to act through various games. They had a BLAST! I hated having us so tied down in the summer...but they REALLY loved it! At the end of the summer they put on a production of Peter Pan. I must say that I was rather impressed with our little local-ocal production! And the beauty of it was that it was only 45 minutes long and it kept my little kids entertained the whole way through.



(I gave Chloe a bag of cheese popcorn & she sat in her chair and didn't move for the WHOLE show!)




There were a group of girls who played the parts of stars and they narrated the play. Joslyn played one of the stars, Stellar. She had to be on stage for the whole production and help change the sets and tell everyone what was going on. (She's the girl on the far left)




Austin played the father...they stuffed a suit with a pillow for his costume. (This is the curtain call...the picture looks like he's doin' a little jig)




Then he came out as the Indian Chief and did a little dance for us. (He had a lot of fun until the last performance when there were some kids from high school in the back and he all of a sudden didn't feel very "cool", and he decided that he didn't want to be in the plays anymore...likes the classes though)




Drew began the play as Peter Pan's shadow and I can't believe that I didn't get a picture of it!!! It was soooo funny! Then she played one of the lost boys (she's the one in the fluorescent orange hat). All of the lost boys were girls.

They all did so good projecting their voices! By the end of the plays they were dripping with sweat because it was so hot on the stage. I think it was one of the highlights of the summer for them.

Okay Annie...here goes your tag...I'm sure I'll forget most of what I have done in a week...but it definitely has the boring day to day stuff!!

We wake up around 5 or 5:20 (closer to 5:20 the later it gets in the week!), Austin & Scott get ready and I make breakfast (I need new ideas too!!). We made a deal last year that I would make breakfast and then everyone would read scriptures and have family prayer before they left. It worked great!! Austin leaves the house now at 6am and we just can't get it together...need a new plan!

Feed kids, unload dishwasher, & get ready then go pick up Austin from seminary and take him to the high school and then drop Joslyn off at middle school on the way back. Home to feed the last two kiddos & eat breakfast myself (I can't eat for an hour after I get up because of my meds). Pick up what I can...try to get in a job like vacuum, sweep, start laundry, etc. before I scramble to get the little ones ready for the day and we run out the door...either to pick up a friend and go to pre-school or go to work for the day. (Usually by 8 or thereafter).

I work until 11 or 11:30 & then we go home to eat some lunch...continue trying to get some jobs done...hmmm maybe today is the big one--the BATHROOMS! Some days we'll run to Wal-mart and come away curious at how MUCH I spent and how LITTLE I came away with!!! (I think I need to go back to my WinCo schedule of shopping!)

Pretty soon it's time to run pick up Austin & Joslyn from school. And now comes the RUSH...TRRRYYYYY to get the kids to accomplish something! Like get homework done, do jobs, make beds, pick up clothes (nothing HARD!!!!! but why do they THINK it is?!), and as Drew wanders in the door we are now ready to figure out what we're going to have for dinner & then get organized for going to dance or soccer or mutual or activity days for the evening. On average we have 4-6 soccer games per week and 4-6 practices. Add special band performances, dance recitals, art (hopefully soon Annie!), and play practices (starting up soon!). Don't forget 3 hr primary meetings & secretary stuff (although I kind of like that stuff!) & back to school nights & buy stuff for new clubs, and the ever elusive VTing...we talk a lot about getting it done & we TRY.

We get home and somewhere in all of this we have some dinner and get Ellie a snack and do shots and TRY to remember to brush/floss everyones teeth (okay so I really only do two of them...but WHY IS it hard to remember??? I'm with you on that one Annie!)

Try and get everyone to bed by 8:30...IN bed & trying to SLEEP! And then make sure I remembered shots & get Chloe to bed...get her a binkie, pajamas, blankie & milk and lay on my bed watching tv with Scott.

Do the dishes and have the kitchen clean for breakfast (or it will take an extra 20 minutes in the morning...don't have an extra 20 minutes in the morning!), and pick up all of the kids stuff and pile it up on the cubbies to put away...when??? THAT would be a good question! Then I get ready for bed, transport Chloe to her crib (still just a few feet from my bed...can't wait until she's ready for a real bed!) & lay down to unwind for a bit.

Then as I'm getting discouraged I get an e-mail with this video



and I decide that it's alllllll worth it and what MORE can I do?!

Just over 8 years ago my sister and I made a trip to a place I thought I would call home for maybe a year or two (that was a regular theme for us...one reason that it took us so long to buy our first house!). We had never had a house before...Boston was our closest opportunity when we rented a two-family-home, and before moving there we had a trailer (that's right...white trash and PROUD of it!). So more than anything I wanted to rent a HOUSE...and not share it with ANYBODY!

When Scott had first brought up the idea of moving to Reno I had thought that at least the cost of living would be a lot cheaper than in Boston...hah! you would think that wouldn't you?? I was SHOCKED at how expensive it was!

Do you know how hard it is to find a decent place to live where your kids will go to schools that speak English as their first language??? Well neither did I! We gave ourselves 3 days to find a place to live. I laugh when I look back at the places we thought about renting...who in their right MIND would live in those places!!! We looked at a lot of different houses and they were all in awful places. Then you would be driving through a nice neighborhood and your spirits would soar, and you would think, "this will be the one!" And then you would see a dive in the middle of paradise...hmmm YEP, here's the rental!



So we FINALLY bought our own house a little over 4 years ago...and it has TOTALLY looked like the rental of the neighborhood (okay not of the WHOLE neighborhood...but still looked like a rental with NO personality!)



Add trees & bushes and voila!! A START to some personality!!




Our house is no longer for rent! Still a lot of work to do...but at least we've made a start!! Still to come...shutters, upgrade in screen door, fix patchy lawn, flowers, bark....

(editor's note: The only one that knew we were getting the plants was Joslyn & when Austin got home from school he knocked on the door because he wasn't sure if it was his house!)

I SWORE that I would never get a new puppy!! I mean they WHINE so much!! They tear everything you have apart...eat all of my plants I try and grow...you get the picture.

Well I broke down and got a new puppy...meet our new l'il Rosie

You know the mother's phrase, "PICK YOUR BATTLES"?? Well there is a certain battle which I have decided NOT to pick. I picked this battle with Drew (it never WAS a battle with Austin or Joslyn) and finally seceeded & she won. I decided that it was not a battle worth fighting again. I mean...REALLY...it doesn't make them a better person...it doesn't bring them closer to Heavenly Father...nope NOT WORTH IT!

I know you are all itching to see what battle I am NOT fighting. No it's not the nail biting one (I am full-force-fighting that one!), not even the Pick Up After Yourself one (I'll still give that a go!)

Here's a little teaser...let's see if you can guess it from the picture:






If you can't guess...than I think you gave that battle up as well!! Look at what this kid has picked out to wear...not just around the house...NO! To her FIRST day of pre-school!

Take it all in...the socks, the shoes, the striped shirt & the zigzag skirt. All of the colors & the designs...just absorb it ALL!!!

I might add that Drew does put together some pretty cute outfits these days (not quite to 100%...but we don't put THESE kind together anymore!!!)




Chloe wasn't too thrilled with the fact that Ellie was leaving on her first day to pre-school & screamed at us and then went and clung to the wall. She kept turning away from me as I tried to get a picture.




I zoned in on her face...you can see her peeking out the corner of her eye...trying to see what is going on but making SURE that I understand that she is quite irritated with the whole situation!!

This year I have 4 kids playing soccer...and I can't believe that it's not as bad as I thought...in fact almost everything that COULD go right has!!! There are often two games going at the same time...the beauty of it is that the two kids having a game at the same time have fields right next to each other and so I can sit in the middle and watch both at the same time. Here in Fern-tucky we have a giant field (everyone calls them the "soccer fields") and they have it set up so there are at least 7 different fields. There are about 6 feet inbetween the fields where the parents all sit & cheer/yell/scream, whistles blowing all over the place so that I can't tell which ref it is (& neither can the kids a lot of the time). In years past I have had games playing at the same time and they are at opposite ends of the giant field.

Ellie is playing her first year. She has always played around the house with the kids & loved it & we thought that she was a natural...I mean she could dribble the ball and everything! We were all excited to see just how this whole thing would pan out. Practices went wellll, not the best but well. She would play with the kids, but was a bit shy.

Scott had to work on the night of her first game so I was there on my own & she was acting like she had a sugar low when we arrived & I have her a snack and sent her out. She wasn't going to go...threats were made of the no-playing-at-the-playground-after-the-game type...no go...bribes were made of the you-can-have-a-special-treat type (usually a BIG one for her!)...nope...finally mom just laid down the law and said, "You wanted to play and so we signed you up...now you are part of a team and you don't have a choice so you WILL play!" She went on the field and just looked at the ground and occasionally moved to different areas of the field. Sighhh I kept my word though and we didn't play at the park or have a special treat (and dang it I REALLY wanted a special treat!!)

Game #2 mom went to watch the kids in their first performance of Peter Pan with Chloe while dad did the soccer bit. He called part way through and was so frustrated that she wouldn't even GO on the field this time. He couldn't get the threat/bribe thing to work and didn't know about the "law". When we got home from the play Ellie was in her room asleep (you know the fall asleep crying bit) & dad had taken away her uniform and soccer ball if she wasn't going to play..."OHHHH NOOOOOO WAY" I said! & not because that was too mean...but the "law" states that once you sign up you don't have the CHOICE!!! (I was afraid she would be relieved by not having to play!!! & the sad part is that her team is supposed to have 5 players but one moved away & so they only have 4 & they need everyone)

The next day they had a quick practice & Ellie was ALLLL over it! She was playing, giggling, having SOOO much fun (the coach looked at me and asked, "What's the difference with today?!" Later she also was laughing about how Scott was being so nice about her not playing & letting her sit out while trying to talk her into playing (& you KNOW he was BOILING inside!!!) and she just thought...oh MOM would just make her play and threaten her with her LIFE!!...is that sad that that's how I'm seen??!! or is it normal??!!)

Game #3 dad was working again & there was much talk prior to the game about playing with your team and how much fun it was at practice & a GAME could be fun too! "Is dad going to be there??" "No...he's at work...but, maybe he'll make it back early to watch part of it." "I'll only play if dad isn't there." I was so tempted to call Scott and say DON'T COME TO THE GAME!!!! She was treat and so we made some cookie suckers & were off to the game. She played from the get-go & had a BLAST!!! Dad didn't make it until the game was over so he didn't get to see the turn around. She even kicked the ball a couple of times...for the most part she followed the pack running around. They are so cute at this age!!!



The fourth game went just as smoothly and she now loves to play soccer!! Woohoooo!! (Drew was much the same...only took MUCH longer to break!) Scott even showed up for the last half of the game & she was VERY happy to see him! All battles over...everyone a winner!

WARNING...not for the feeble

YES...the flu has already hit our house! On Sunday one of the girls in Ellie's sunbeam class had a little case of the "runs". Tuesday morning Ellie woke up and threw up and then had the runs for the rest of the day. In fact..."I keep pooping my panties and I don't know how...I don't mean to!!! I am peeing poo poo" (editors note: add one package of panties to shopping list). Poor thing didn't know what diarrhea was...NOW we do! Note: remember how Scott left town the same morning as the outbreak of the flu...seems to be a theme around here! Along with the coming home to suffer the same consequences.

We were all fine the next day and then Thursday morning we woke up peeing poo poo again and looking a little green.

Friday Ellie seemed good...Chloe on the other hand had some of the stenchiest, gooiest diapers to grace the planet earth. By evening she seemed to be out of goo...good thing because I have a DATE!

Scott and I went out to dinner with our friends the Brazell's and had a fun time chatting with them...I think the waiters/waitresses were taking bets on when we would leave because they seemed to be congregated behind us when we left and I SWEAR I heart a little ovation that a table had FINALLY opened up (I hope that the doggie bag hadn't gone bad by the time it got home to the Brazell's house!!!) Afterward we went to Sam's Club and stocked up on some lunch-making supplies as well as a birthday present for Gus...almost 14 & legal to go to Stake dances!!!

On the way home Joslyn called begging to go to a party at a friends house...we'll see. I WANTED to say no SOOOOO bad!!!! I was so tired and had been so excited to go to bed early and sleep in the next day. "Sure...I'll take you" I thought it was over by 10:00 & found out it was 11:00 when we got there (argh!). When I picked her up she was beaming from ear to ear and had SOOO much fun playing night games & even Fear Factor (eating REAL worms...seriously?!! They said something about that when I dropped her off & I seriously thought they meant gummy worms!!!!). I got to bed at about midnight & at 2am was awoken by screams from the bathroom. I went running and Ellie was standing in front of the toilet with a groggy best-buddy. She will often do this and need to go to the bathroom (I don't know if she isn't fully awake or WHAT but she doesn't know how to pull down her pants and get on the toilet...I don't know if she knows WHY she's even there!!!!!). So I hurry and take care of business for her and while she's sitting on the toilet a warm & chunky flow of vomit protrudes from her body onto MY FEET!!!! And then again...and then AGAIN...I'm just standing there in shock...I can't go get anything to help because my FEET are covered in PUKE! (some of the foulest smelling stuff EVER btw) I get her into the shower & wipe up the floor (& my feet!) As I'm getting her pajamas out of her room it smells AWFUL in her room & we ask Joslyn if she threw up in there...no idea. So Scott gets a flashlight (seriously...EVERYONE is awake!! haha), and sure enough there is puke all over the bed and floor. I get Ellie settled & then I go to work scrubbing the bathroom...picking up the house and finally at 4am I lay down on the floor and sleep until about 6am when Austin decides to get up and play a computer game behind us.

My friend is a teacher at school & said that it's ALREADY going around school here. I'm not kidding when I tell you that last year was AWFUL! There were FEW weeks that there wasn't someone in the family who was sick. We've even been sick a couple of times throughout the summer. (and despite what my family will tell you...it's not just my kids...it's all over around here!) I'm dreading the winter this year!! I've always hated when my kids get sick (because I'm sure the rest of you LOVE it right?!), but we've entered a whole new dimension...aye the TWILIGHT ZONE...since Ellie came along!! Everything affects her soooo much worse & we have to monitor her so carefully & I always have that worry that I may need to run to the hospital at any minute.

Next week will be better!

The school year has officially begun (sob). For the most part everything is new this year...so it all began with a sense of wonder, fear & trepidation.

Austin began high school this year...I know WE can't believe it either! Still no growth spurt to speak of, so he is in the low 1% in height in the whole school. With high school comes early morning seminary and so a new schedule for the Bassett clan which leaves us all with zombie-ish demeanor and dark circles under the dark circles under our eyes. (YAWN) He's in the band playing trumpet and didn't realize that he has to play at all of the games...hehe!

Austin's report: It was okay. It was NEW. It was school (as he enunciates the ssss part of it and adds, "I said SSSchool not cool, okay?!")

Joslyn is officially in middle school. We were so excited to find out that she had the same group of teachers as Austin (in fact...Austin had four teachers in his group and really liked two of them, was fine with one of them and hated the last of them. This year they have the teachers in pairs and she got our two favorites!!!). We had a meet your teacher night and said hi to our new teachers. She's so lucky that all of them really liked Austin...wouldn't you hate to be in a class where the teacher hated your sibling & now YOU got to deal with it?! I remember a couple of teachers knowing my brother (considering he's 6 1/2 years older than me that is saying something), but I never could tell if that was a good or if was a bad thing. I guess Joslyn's most exciting part of middle school is that she now has her own phone (we often hear different ring tones playing...not from getting phone calls, just so people will notice that she has her own phone :)) She is also playing in the band...flute is her game.

Joslyn's Report: It was GREAT!

Drew is in 3rd grade this year. She took 3rd grade math last year and has that same math teacher this year. She loves her and is so excited! This is of course the child who was truly sad to see school come to an end & was up at the crack of dawn on the first day of school. This is her first year at school on her own...in fact it's Joslyn's first year on HER own as well.

Drew's Report: it was...good

Ellie starts pre-school next week and is very excited. One of her friends from church is in her class which will hopefully help with her shyness (SHOCKing that one of my kids is shy...NOT!)

Chloe is stuck with me 24/7. She is devastated any time she sees one of the kids leave and gives a high pitched scream followed by a slew of nonsense gibberish. She is finally used to them playing soccer...before she would scream that they were on the field and signal them to come here with her hand (one of my favorite things that she does).

Scott started school this week as well. He taught on Tuesday afternoon and then flew out to San Diego until Thursday when he flew back in time to teach two more classes and get home at about 9pm...totally WIPED out & then up sick all night. See next edition for more on "The Epidemic".

We're happy to be back on a schedule (or is that only mom??), but I miss the kids horribly while they are gone & am anxious when I pick them up every day HOPING and PRAYING that the day went well.

A friend posted this on her blog and I checked it out. I was so touched by this blog of a woman helping her sister in such a time of need. I'm sure many of you have heard or seen this...especially my family in Utah...but it was a first for me. So, if any of you are in the dark I'll turn on a light for you! Have the tissues ready and be prepared to love your family even more!!

WHYYYYYY do babies INSIST on putting their hands in their hair when they eat things like pudding or applesauce?!?!?!?! WHYYYYYYYYYY??????

This summer has been so busy! Thursday was the icing on the cake!

We began by having dentist appointments for Drew & Ellie (remember the cavities?!) at 8:30 in the morning (which means that we have to be ready to leave by 7:30 in the morning since it is in Reno), and we decided to all go out for breakfast together before school starts up next week so we left by 7:00! We arrived at the dentist RIGHT on time and Austin decided that he wasn't feeling so well so he would sit out in the fresh air for a bit.

A little into the appointment Austin came in & whispered that he threw up...GREAT! By the end of our visit he did one more time...carsickness is now ruled out.

On the flip side I overheard the office people saying things like, "she's sooo good...she's just sitting there!" And after Ellie was all done the dentist came out and raved about how good she was and that she just sat there for the whole thing...yay Ellie!! Drew did well too...it's just more amazing for a 4 year old to be that good on the first cavity. I hope her next one goes as well...NOW she knows what is going on!

Well we couldn't just drive home because it was the last day of the Stuff n Save sale at Old Navy & we really hadn't done a lot of back to school shopping. So we ran up there and shopped as quickly as we could with Austin in the car resting with the windows down (that is a whole other story that we won't get into). We got home with enough time to hurry and get the kids ready for their dress rehearsal for Peter Pan...Austin was a little stressed that he wasn't going, but he was fine because he knew his parts really well.

While they were at rehearsal I got a call from a friend and found out that all of the patio furniture at Lowe's was half off...RUNNNNN!!!! I was so excited...they even had almost all of the things I needed! I got home in time to go pick the kids up and do my share of carpool and then get everyone ready for soccer. (I'll post some pics & maybe even the play later)

Joslyn & Ellie both had practice (hurray...Ellie actually played and had fun for once!), and Austin had his first game. He was feeling good by now and would not hear of missing a game! So we got him good and hydrated before he went and made sure that he let his coach know what was going on (and instructions to not BREATH on or TOUCH ANYONE!). They slaughtered the other team in our non-competitive league (hehe)...and he had an awesome goal that I missed seeing while I was at Ellie's practice.

I left the game a little early and ran over to the church where I gave a little mini-lesson at Enrichment on (get this) Time Management! (haha...I'm late for EVERYTHING!).

We didn't bother with the back to school waterslide activity at the high school for Austin (wasn't time even if he did feel up to it!), skipped the meet your teacher night at Drew's school (she did 3rd grade math last year and had this teacher so she already knows her & loves her), and we just couldn't make it to Ellie's meet the teacher night at her pre-school (that's okay too because we have to go some other time anyways and teach her what to do for her diabetes). (This all fit in nicely to the lesson on the point of prioritizing!)

I'm amazed at how much nicer my schedule looks after school starts (usually that's when we REALLY get busy!)

BREATH...in...2...3...out...2...3

We had a fun day yesterday and took the kids to Wild Island. For the past two years the JDRF has taken all of the kids with Type I diabetes and their families to Wild Island and fed us and we got to meet other families doing the same things that we are. Last year we sat with everyone because the little girls didn't care much about swimming, but this year they liked to be by the kiddie pool and so we set up camp over there. A girl was behind us with a little boy close to Ellie's age who was freaking out on her boy and yelling at him to eat a snack because his numbers were way too low. I almost spoke up and I still feel guilty that I didn't. I think she was new to the whole thing because she made him eat A LOT and for their little bodies it doesn't take much to get their sugars back up. I remember feeling the same way that she was acting in the beginning...but things are much more low key now!

Ellie was out swimming for a while and Scott and I were sitting on the chairs watching. One time she came back to us and said, "Oh GROSS mom! There is some guy swimming over there and his butt crack is showing." (I'm sorry to those of you where "butt" is a naughty word...it's not for us when naming a part of the body). I was SOOOO thankful that she wasn't standing next to him pointing and yelling...so I was ALMOST red in the face...well maybe I really WAS red in the face from laughing so hard!

I took the girls to get new haircuts before school started. My hair was beyond control and I needed a shorter do for the winter months (Scott loves when I straighten it and when it's too long I just can't do it). We had lots of fun and felt very pampered when we were done. I even made appointments to do it again!! (seriously...I don't mind keeping an appointment, I just hate MAKING them! And you KNOW I have a problem when I only go about once a year). Austin got one a few days later but we forgot to do before and afters on him. I highly approve!!! (He went from Shaggy to clean shaven)



Julie's shorter do









Joslyn's tamed do








Drew's new style