Hound Dog News

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!