Once upon a time......

Once upon a time there was a happy little family of 7.

A new baby was upon the knee of mama as 4 other little ones ran and played and daddy went to MBA school.

One day, when baby boy was 2 months old, mama said to daddy, "I think there is a little girl waiting to come to our happy family."

Daddy said, "Are you crazy? I think we're done."

Mama just smiled and knowingly tucked her knowledge away in her heart.

Baby boy grew, older children grew, the little family moved to Washington and Mama and Daddy pretended that their family was complete.

When people would ask (they always do) if their little family was complete, Mama and Daddy would look at each other quizzically and say, "Yes?"

But one night Mama had a dream that a little girl was on her way. She didn't tell Daddy. The idea of 6 little ones was scary and frightening to both of them. But especially Daddy.

And then it happened. Mama found out that a little tiny person was growing and becoming in her tummy.

Mama found out at 2 in the morning when she couldn't sleep. She just happened to have a magic wand in the bathroom that told her so!

So Mama woke Daddy up. "Guess what?" she said. "We're going to have a baby!"

Mama and Daddy were nervous. Would they be good enough parents to 6 children. Was their house big enough? NO! And then Mama felt peace wash over her and she knew that HER father in Heaven trusted her to be the Mama to all of these children. He sent her one more because he knew they could do it, even if they were unsure.

And that feeling stayed and grew and apprehension became excitement and joy.

The beautiful day came and brought a little pink bundle. A bundle that the whole family came to love and spoil and bend over backwards for.

And guess what? That little bundle turned 4! And she is still adored, and loved and immensely spoiled by everyone.

So much so that she got two cakes! Well, mostly cuz her and Mama are gluten free now and Mama couldn't resist two different kinds!



However, when it came time to blow those candles out, her little 4 year old lungs just couldn't seem to do it on their own.

1

2

3

4

5

6 times, and some help from siblings, is a charm!

Nora also has proven to be amazingly fun to give presents to. She gets excited about everything!






Happy Birthday Nora Jane! We're so happy to came to our family, it wouldn't be the same without you!

Oh, and Henry I'm sorry, but someday you will think this picture of yourself is really funny!

Beauty is all around us. You just have to drive an hour and then hike six miles:)

Where have I been? Oh, here, there, ALASKA!

Yup. I went to Alaska with my sister Maile, my other sister(in-law) Amy, my aunt and my mom.

It was pretty much the most beautiful trip I've ever been on. Hands down.

But I will blog about that next week.

Today I'm blogging about something equally gorgeous, but a little closer to home.

On Tuesday, I got to go on a hike with my Julia and a bunch of other 12 and 13 year old girls.

They were all getting certified for girls' camp. One of the requirements is a 5 mile hike.

We went with this awesome lady who has climbed Mt. Rainier 3 times!! So she knows her stuff.

Just that should have been a clue as to what we were in for. What's easy to someone who has climbed a mountain, is not the same as easy to the rest of us.

And the fact that I was still recovering from my trip added a little to it. But over all, it was sooo amazing. And the girls really should have been proud of their accomplishment.

I exaggerate not when I say that the first three miles was mostly at a lovely, glute strengthening incline. And the 3 miles back down was equally as wonderful for calf sculpting.

It wasn't until we were done that Alyson let us know we had really hiked 6 miles instead of 5.

And yes! That extra mile does make a difference.

On the way up we stopped at an overlook to see one of God's most beautiful creations.




I was talking about Julia. But Mt. Rainier is nice too:)



Part of what increased the length of our hike was an on purpose detour that let the girls and leaders take a gander at this:



I don't remember what these falls are called.

I was in a de-oxygenated state, okay?


And I only had my cell phone to take pictures with. Cuz as much as it would have been nice to have my good camera, lugging that thing around seemed, well, stupid.


When we got to the top, we sat to eat our lunch. And we found ourselves to be surrounded by Canadian Jays.


No, unfortunately that is not a really good looking Canadian hockey team. They are birds. And they are not afraid of people. 


So all the girls sat with their hands out, with a little food perched on top. And the birds would land quickly and then take off with their plunder.



They did actually land on Julia's hand, but my phone is not quick enough, aaannnddd to be honest, I got a little bored waiting for one to come back. So did Julia. We're too easily distracted. By what you ask?

Oh I don't know. Maybe by the view from our lunch spot.

I give you Mt. Rainier. But you can't keep it.



Yup. This is what I saw as I sat and ate my turkey sandwich on gluten free bread.

I could have sat there forever if my seat had not been Engagement Rock. My bum started to hurt. But it was so beautiful and I tried to imagine what it would be like to sit and listen to the mountain without the surround sound of 15 girls.

Oh side note. I gave the rock I was sitting on the name of Engagement Rock. Because as we walked to the lunch spot, there was a couple sitting there that had just got, gotten?, engaged! And I'm sure they were glad to share it with 20 teenage girls and women. *ahem*

Actually, it added to the memorable experience I'm sure. Nothing like the love of your life saying yes to your hand in marriage, only to then be descended upon by a large group of people.

Hence, Engagement Rock.

It was fun, beautiful and totally worth the copious amounts of sweat that we all produced. Except for me of course. I'm in such top shape that I............I can't even finish such a lie.

Lets just say that it took me an hour to fully dry out.

Next week I'll show you the pictures from Alaska. Sadly, the pictures are sad because I decided to forgo the good camera because I thought it would be too bulky, and only take Julia's little point and shoot. Oh how I rue that decision!!!!!

Til next week.

I am re-posting this from three years ago, because it still applies, and it just made me happy today.

I am re-posting this from three years ago, because it still applies, and it just made me happy today.

I'm a Goonie

"Don't you realize? The next time you see sky, it'll be over another town. The next time you take a test, it'll be in some other school. Our parents, they want the best of stuff for us. But right now, they got to do what's right for them. Because it's their time. Their time! Up there! Down here, it's our time. It's our time down here. That's all over the second we ride up Troy's bucket. "

I used to think that my brother and sister and I were the only ones who truly knew and loved the Goonies. Hey, I was 12,what did I know? We watched it over 50 times probably, and could quote along with it word for word.

Simply because I grew up in such a small little town, I felt a connection with Mikey, Mouth, Chunk and Data. Why? Because it felt like there was nothing ever to do except what your imagination provided. I imagined great adventures where I found a secret treasure. Not adventures like Brand and Andy. Kissing wasn't a totally awful concept, but it would be another 4 years before I would kiss a boy, so the boy/girl relationships bored me. But the adventure of Goonies called to me. It whispered in my ear that I wanted to do great things. That I wanted to discover something lost and mysterious with my brother and sister and a few friends in tow.

And yet, I never did anything daring, or adventurous, or discover-ing. I've only been to Canada. I've never sailed the ocean or tramped thru a jungle. I have not hunted lions or delivered aid in Africa or even bungee jumped.

But I do not regret my life

Because....in no particular order....I got married at 22.

Had my first child a year and 3 months later.

Then had my second, third, fourth, fifth and sixth children.

I moved around the country, waded (I don't swim) in the Atlantic Ocean, and saw the Statue of Liberty with my sister.

I've seen Niagara Falls, Nebraska corn fields, and the Rocky Mountains.

I sang with the Providence singers, went to college, broke my collarbone, and climbed unknowingly into a mountain lion's cave.

I have served others, made others laugh, and given love when it was most needed.

Those are some of the highlights of my life. Nothing exciting, nothing worthy of an unofficial tell all type biography.

But it is my time, my time down here. And I will never ride up Troy's bucket. That is for sure.

What to do.....

I have been thinking this week. No, this is not a new thing for me, I usually think.

Maybe the better word is pondering. Okaay.

I've been pondering about kids growing up, people changing, life throwing funny things your direction.

We really don't know what is going to come our way. It can be wonderful, amazing, fantastic things that make you soar and feel like the world is yours.

It can be painful things. Events that make you wonder what your purpose on earth is other than to just feel physical pain and emotional sorrow.

Or it can be sudden realizations that much of your life experience is completely yours for the making.

I actually hate that realization. Cuz if it's up to me what my life is like, then who the heck do I have to blame? Just kidding, sort of.

I have found myself wishing for a life that is more simple, less complicated, less busy and more fulfilling.

Owning a farm, Jeff working from home and 300 days a year of sun? Yes, I will take 1 awesome life please. 

But if that order is not fulfilled, I can be happy with the life I have. Yes I can!

And in a year and a half, when I am 40 and all my kids are in school, what is my plan?

In 5 years when Kate and Julia are both at college, what is my plan?

When kids start getting married and having their own babies, but I still have 2 teenagers at home, what is my plan?

Yes, I have decided I need a plan.

Up until now, I have kind of let life happen to me. Which is fine. It has happened in many good ways.

But I'm feeling this funny tickle in my gut that is suggesting ever so kindly, that I need a plan. Otherwise I will feel like I'm wandering. And that is very unsettling.

Do I decide that 40 is the new 20 and become a fitness model like so many 40 somethings do these days? Uh, probably not.

Do I get a job? No stinking way. *ahem*. I mean, no thank you:)

Do I volunteer more at school since I will have time?

Do I stop answering the phone when people start calling me to babysit because they think I have all this free time now? Um, maybe?

Do I go back to school and finish my degree? Sounds interesting.

Do I enjoy the fact that no one is home with me during the day and the house can stay clean? Yes.

Do I bide my time until I have grandbabies and then just spend all my extra time travelling to see them?

(Kate holding my wonderful friend's adorable baby girl)



Grandbabies and visiting my children sounds kind of awesome. I mean, I could be a grandma in as little as 5 years. I probably won't be. But I don't know what life holds for my children either. Kate wants to finish school and go on a mission for our church, but she could be married at 19 and have a baby when she's 20. Who knows!! Wait. I can't think of that as a possibility. Sorry, being a grandma at 43 sounds too weird.

Anyway, I'm all curflumuxed about what my future holds. Can you tell?

Some of this has come from a recent diagnosis I got. Nothing serious. Just a little degenerative disc disease. But the person I have always been, the go get em, busy, million projects at once, accomplish whatever I set my mind to person I have been, has had to slow down because of horribly annoying and painful back issues.

And it's made me wonder what makes up my identity if I physically can't do many of the things that I have used to define myself?

If we had lots of money rolling in, then maybe I could be more like the ladies in previous centuries, where they don't actually do all the work themselves, but they manage everyone and tell their gardeners and cooks and housekeepers what to do.

That would be kind of fun. A huge rolling estate with stables and 40 bedrooms?

(The Breakers in Newport, RI. Previously owned by the Vanderbilts. I've been inside, it's amazing!!)

Or maybe I plop it in a chair and wait for my spine to fuse together? Nah. That would just annoy me.

So tell me, because I desperately want to know, that is if anyone is out there. I haven't blogged in so long that I feel like I'm talking to an empty room-tell me, do you have a plan? A life plan, a next five years plan, anything! Share please, give me ideas. Because life is not exactly how I planned it would be and I am having to readjust. It's thrown me off a little, and I'm ready for inspiration.

Go. Inspire me. Solve my dilemma. Please:)

Tuckered

Mid-afternoon nap after playing all morning with friends. Good thing they were still in their pajamas. Well, Nora wasn't in her pajamas, but since she insists quite frequently to sleep in her clothes, it's pretty much the same thing:)

What is it about sleeping kids? I think it's that there is something so angelic and lovely about their faces. It always makes me want to curl up next to them.

I love being a mom.

Fantastic year

Our middle school has an awards night at the end of every school year.

Julia was invited to attend since she was receiving something. We weren't entirely sure what it all would be.

We knew she would receive the all A's award because she has busted her hiney this year. She did really well last year as well, with a 3.7. But something clicked in her and she decided that wasn't good enough.

But I told her, now that I know you can do this.........

But the surprise of the night was the departmental award for Math. There might have been some whooping and hollering from the Allen section (Kate!!!).

As you can see, Julia is preeety please with herself. As she should be:)



And my younger kids were just happy to be out of the house obviously.



The conquering school girl. She has every right to look that darn proud!

Letting Jeff have his way

Hello! Yes. I'm alive.

We're finishing up all the last stuff for school.

Awards nights, final choir concerts, last projects,etc.

I'm so ready for summer.

It's weird, I always look forward to school starting so that I can get back into a routine and get organized.

But then I look forward to school getting out for practically the same reason.

I'm random like that.  Or maybe you all are the same?

One of the things that we have done over the last week was to go to Maple Valley Days.

We've lived here 4 years and have never gone before. Mostly because we either had a small baby, or the youngest kids were young enough that the thought of trying to wrangle them during a parade and then in a large crowd for another 5 hours after that made me feel nutso!

But mostly because I just have not wanted to go. I'm fussy that way.

But this year Jeff persisted. He really wanted to get out of the house and go. So we did. And thankfully, it didn't rain!!!!

The lack of rain was a miracle. It was still cold, especially in the morning for the parade, but it didn't rain! We all had coats and blankets, on June 2nd for crying out loud!!!

And of course in all my planning that would keep things free or cheap, like bringing our own lunch, I forgot the camera. What kind of blogger am I?

Luckily Jeff pulled out his phone and at least recorded that we were there.














That balloon Charlie's holding? Um, he spent a good amount of time annoying us and those around us by making it "scream". Jeff finally had enough, and popped it with his pen. Good parenting? Maybe not. Thankful parade neighbors who were sitting near us? Most definitely.

We also let the kids go on 1 of the amusement rides.

Why am I so mean and only let them go on one ride? Because the rides were 3 or 4 dollars, each!

I'm sorry. That's ridiculous.

But a bunch of local churches sponsored a free kids area that had bouncy houses and free games, a magic show and entertainment.

We spent most of the time there. And I am sooo grateful. Cuz by the time we left, the kids forgot that they only rode one ride.

All in all, I'm glad we went. And I even admitted that to Jeff. I don't love crowds, they give me anxiety when the kids are with us. And I hate spending money on expensive rides and overprices fair food.  But the kids had so much fun and were so easy to put to bed, that it was worth it.

How was your weekend?

Can't touch this!

I love my sister.

I was there.

The loud one laughing so hard I could hardly breathe.

It was worth every penny of the 25 bucks it took to drive to Gig Harbor.

I'm posting it here because no one should miss thirty and forty something women doing a dance to MC
Hammer.

Enjoy.

Crazy, wonderful week

I have been out of the blogging world for a little bit. Some of it has been sheer busy-ness.

In our church, I serve as a leader over the young women. It requires my attendance in class on Sunday, Wednesday activities, girls camp, and whatever else comes up.

But for the past 5 months, we have been preparing for a dance festival. A dance festival involving 1200 youth from Seattle, Federal Way, Kent, Maple Valley, Renton and Auburn.

These kids practiced and practiced for months, and then on Saturday they performed for parents, friends, family and strangers at the ShoWare center in Kent.

It was phenomenal. I was blessed to be able to chaperone most of the day. We arrived at 7:30, rehearsed for the first time all together with the other youth from around western Washington, and then the kids performed at 3:30 and 6:30.

My job was to stay with my 11 girls all day. And then help them with their costume changes in the 3 minutes they had between numbers.

And let me tell you, 3 minutes is not very much time! I was tired and sweaty by the end of it and I didn't even perform!

The week leading up to dance festival was nuts. The kids had rehearsal Tues, Wed. and Thurs.

Jeff was helping to teach the boys their dance, the Haka,(google it, it's AWESOME!) so he was there some nights, and I was there on a different night.

Then Friday, Charlie had a track meet.  He's been going to track practice at the elementary school for a few weeks. And then they had one track meet with other elementary schools at the end.



We learned that he doesn't love it. But he stuck it out and learned a lot.



Henry and Nora had their own races in between. It was also crazy hair day! No really. His hair doesn't normally look like that. I swear!!!



Saturday morning Kate and Julia and I left the house around 7. It was honestly one of the best days ever. Despite being tired, despite me getting in a little argument with a grumpy lady, and despite having to bust some kids trying to sneak into the dance that was held afterwards for all of the participants, :(, it was so fun and I will never have a bad attitude about dance festival ever again.

Not that I EVER had a bad attitude about all the practices. *ahem*

My girls were lovely. My own flesh and blood girls, and my girls that I get to go to church with every week. I love all of them!!!!

Kate doing the HULA!!



The HAKA!!!!

 


Julia doing the beautiful fan dance!!





It was really an amazing thing to be part of. To be in one place with that many LDS youth was a highlight in my life. To be around that many kids who have high standards and values, who love their Savior and strive to do what's right, what could be better?

Sunday we were all a little tired, but after some nap time and a mostly relaxed day yesterday (except for a hike, which is a story for tomorrow!) we are recovered and ready for a back to normal schedule.

Hope you had a wonderful weekend!!

Bad luck doesn't care if it's Mother's Day

I hope you all had a wonderful Mother's Day.

As far as being a mother goes, my weekend was fantastic. Kate and Julia surprised me by taking me out to lunch and taking me shopping.

As in, they paid for everything! It was such a wonderful surprise and I spent the whole day with them. It was so much fun and I can't even begin to tell you how proud I am of them and how touched I was that they wanted to do this for me.

I really have the best kids. Sorry everyone else!

When we were at the Supermall, we thought it would be fun to take a picture in one of those photo booths.

Well, as luck would have it, none of us had any cash left. And I am way too paranoid to use my debit card in a machine that is hidden behind curtains where anyone could switch out the card reader. Yes. That does happen.

So I had the brilliant idea of getting in the photo booth anyway and taking a picture with my phone. We got some fun ones, but for some reason this is the only photo that my phone would send out.



By the time we were done, we were hot and super giggly. It was a highlight, I must say.

When we got home, my dear husband who loves me sooo much, had done all the laundry. All of it!!!

He honestly could not have given me anything better for Mother's day.

Every year growing up we would ask my mom what she wanted for Mother's day. She would reply, "A clean house. "

No mom. What I meant was, what do you want me to BUY you.

I totally get it now, why she wanted that. All I want every year is a clean house I didn't have to clean! I got it this year. That, combined with having my lunch paid for and getting new clothes really made this one of the best years ever.

Sunday's plans involved my parents and my aunt coming over and my brother and his family joining us for dessert. It was so fun. Originally we had talked about going to Ellensburg to see Jeff's mom, but because of lack of gas funds, we were unable to do so. And oh how fortunate we are that we didn't go to Ellensburg.

Why?

Well...

Just leaving church to try and go home, proved to be just a tad difficult. The big van's engine decided it was time to die. Right there in the parking lot.

A really nice guy from church helped us tow it home. And I love his wife for giving up part of her mother's day so that he could do that!

We thought it might just be the spark plugs, but it is not. It still won't start and probably never will again. And thankfully we were not 90 miles from home when this happened.

So now the question is, how long can we get by as a one car family when that one car only carries 5 people?

Yeah. This should be interesting.

It goes to show that bad luck is no respecter of persons or Mother's Day. Even if that Mother's Day was the best ever!!!

Mother of the Year. Or not.

I entered a contest through the Today Show for Mother's Day.

Not because I think I'm a fantastic mother, but because the prize was $112,000!!!!!

They asked entrants to write a 200 word essay on Motherhood.

First of all, 200 words is not very much.

Second of all, I really wish I had won.

But as a gift to my mom and mother-in -law, sister and sisters-in law and all my beautiful friends, here is my essay on Mothers. Happy Mother's Day!

"Mother of the year?  Who would consider herself so?

 Is it title-worthy to change the diapers of six children? To love, bathe, cuddle, feed, teach, nurture and watch over six distinct personalities? 

Maybe.  

Are there accolades and glory in comforting  a child whose feelings are hurt, who was treated unkindly, didn’t get the part they wanted, or discovers life is unfair?

Probably not.

Is there an award I don’t know about for cooking approximately 17,000 meals to date?  Can that award be made of chocolate?

If I received an award, would it make any sweeter all of the firsts I’ve enjoyed? 

The newborn smell, kisses from a one year old, my darlings snuggling their way between their daddy and I, and loose teeth?

On the top of this award can we list all the sleepless nights, volunteering at school, helping with homework, play dates, potty training, time in the car, loss of privacy and forfeiture of having a bag of M&M’s all to myself?

And most importantly, is there an award for how much bigger my heart is after 14 years?

Because they didn't have to share what love I had, my heart just grew to fit them all."

What doesn't kill you makes you stronger.

I'm trying to hold back tears as I write this.  About 8 weeks ago, Anne Marie's best friend was diagnosed with leukemia. She is 9 years old. She is brave, beautiful and has the best family in the world.

We adore them all and watching our neighborhood pull together for this family, and seeing the love my daughter has for her friend have been beautiful to say the least.

Well, she is currently at Seattle Children's Hospital undergoing treatment. One of the other patients there, made an awesome video and guess what? Jenna is in it! It has gone viral and was featured on the Today show.

I cried buckets as I watched it. Jenna is the one holding the sign that says Stronger. And she also has some pretty good moves later on in the video.

And those nurses? What great sports. Who wouldn't want them taking care of your child?

Watch. Try not to cry. I dare you.

(That's Jenna in the screen shot)

Going to college, know someone who is? Giveaway!

Jeff and I at his 2000 graduation. I know. 12 years later, he still looks the same. I, however, do not. Boo hoo.

There are two things that have encompassed a greater part of my marriage to Jeff-one is how much of it I was pregnant or nursing.

The second was the 6 years we spent as poor college students.

Yes, poor. Weren't we all during college?

Our parents helped a lot in the way of gifts of money here and there, buying us groceries when they came to visit. But the cost of college itself? The tuition and books and rent and food and living?

We did that.

The first time for Jeff's undergrad, we had two children by the end.

The second time for his master's degree in business, we graduated with 5 kids.

There were times that we weren't sure how we were going to pay for the things we needed. We had a lot of miracles, a lot of scrimping and a lot of meatless dishes.

But we did it.

Some people think that if you go to college it's because you are rich, or that your parents pay for it all.

That may be true for some. And my best friend's ex-husband thought that about us. She was trying to convince him to go to college, a kind of, "Look, Jeff and Amy can do it, so can we."

But he told her, "No, their parents pay for it."

I actually laughed when she told me that. No folks, we paid for it, we're still paying for it. And we will STILL be paying for it when Kate goes to college.

So when I got an email last week from a company whose aim is to help college be less expensive, how could I not get behind something like that?

The company is www.CampusBookRentals.com.

Here are some of the wonderous things they offer.

-save 40-90% off of bookstore prices-no joke!
-free shipping both ways 
-can highlight in the textbooks 
-flexible renting periods 
-etc...(you can find more perks on their website :) 




The other great thing about them is that for each book rented, they donate to OperationSmile.


This is an organization that touches my mother's heart in profound ways.


My children have beautiful smiles. But if any had been born with a cleft palate, I would have been able to, through insurance and my husband's good job, to have that fixed. I wouldn't ever have had to look at my child in sorrow and worry that they would never be treated equally or with kindness.


But many mother's throughout the world, and their children, must endure this.


Operation Smile's mission is to help these children one donation at a time.


And CampusBookRentals.com has committed to donating enough for 1000 life changing surgeries.


So lets see, Campus Book Rentals helps make college less expensive and they donate money to changing kids lives, how much better can it get?


I'll tell you.


To one lucky Spoonful reader, they are giving a 50 dollar coupon towards books from CampusBookRentals.com.


So if you are going to college, enter, enter! And this time of year, as kids are graduating from highschool and setting off for higher learning, wouldn't this be a fantastic graduation gift? 


I think so.


To enter, tell us one great memory from your school experience-it can be high school, trade school, beauty school, what have you. 




Today is Tuesday, right? sure. You can enter to win through Sunday at 9 pm Pacific time.


Good luck!

Lovely friends

Notice anything different?

Wait, how could you. I haven't shown you my new entry way. I get bored, we know this about me. So I re-did the entry way a few months back.

It's a little more colorful and reflects my personality more than this. 






But the new addition? That green frame? Look closer.





This lovely swirl drawing is by my good, awesome, wonderful friend Frances, of Just Frances.

She makes these indredibulous drawings for those she loves. Me.

Yes, I'm bragging.

 It takes her about 5 days to complete a drawing.  And when you look really close you can see why. It's perfect. And she does it all freehand. Any attempts by myself to do such a thing would only end in messy, scribbly frustration.

And she color coordinated it to my house!

I got it in the mail on Tuesday, and by Tuesday afternoon it had a new frame and is hanging in my entryway.

Do I love it? Just a little bit. I think she should sell them. But I'm not sure she could charge enough to match the effort and the gloriousness of them.

Anyway, maybe if you beg her, or offer her lots of money, you can own one too.

But either way, I had to show it off. Seriously, love it.

And if you want to see a video of the process, go here.

Thank you dearest Frances!!!!

Oh, to be a child

Sunday afternoon-Nora playing with Charlie's DS. She's not asleep, I just couldn't seem to get a picture of her with her eyes open. I love her crossed legs.






Anne Marie somehow got Henry to sit and tickle her feet. He seemed bored, but he kept doing it.


I remember thinking how hard life was when I was a kid. I couldn't do what I wanted, I had to listen to grown ups, my mom wouldn't buy me the Strawberry Shortcake bedroom set.....

And now I would give anything to have all my cares and worries gone for just one day. And not just pretending, to really not have them, for just a day.

There are some great things about being a grown up-getting married, having kids, college. But some of the annoying things about being a kid come with it too.

I listen to my children worry about friends, clothes, being embarassed. And guess what? I worry about those things too. Those things haven't left me just because I'm an adult.

The sad thing is that we can never see how good we have it until that time in our life has passed. I know when I'm old and gray haired, I will look back and laugh at the things I worried about in my 30's.

Wouldn't it be nice to stop worrying about it now? Maybe that's the secret to being a kid and an old lady, it's not that things aren't there to worry about, it's just that they've mastered the art of not worrying.

They just let it go.

Hmmm, maybe I can too.

30 day challenge update-why am I doing this again? oh yeah, pride:)

So....this challenge has been good for me. It has helped me to create better habits and to examine how I REALLY do things.

Things I have learned:

~If I'm really tired at night and don't tidy the kitchen and family room before bed, then the next day starts out annoying somehow.

~So when I'm really tired, I need to enlist (even more) the help of my family to accomplish this.

~When your house is clean, mostly, all the time, you can invite your brother and his family over for dinner, and not need to scramble to have everything clean. That, was AWESOME!

~You start noticing that your older children are so happy that the house is clean, that they start to help without being asked. Love that.

~When the doorbell rings, you don't panic.

~When things are starting to get messy, you think, "Darn that 30 day challenge, I have to CLEAN!"

So I wanted to let you see how my house is really doing. So I took pictures.

Lets start with the good, shall we?

This room doesn't get used much, so it stays nice without needing anything than an occasional dusting.



The dining room wasn't too bad...the kitchen needs to be wiped down from breakfast still and I see some stray blankets that find their way downstairs with my sleepy eyed children:) Oh, and a fortune teller. Remember making those?



And then we come to the photo of the post breakfast apocalyptic kitchen. Honestly, still having dishes in the sink from dinner(the dishwasher was full and running, no more room folks!) and then the aftermath of 8 breakfasts and getting lunch together and give-me-a-break-it's only 8 o'clock in the morning makes for a kitchen I'm not proud of. But by the time everyone's home? It's better, I promise.




So there you go. Reality. My reality. This house and the 8 people that live in it are a full time job. Keeping it clean-ish is a full time job. Never mind other responsibilities and things I need to chaperon-ok sideline for a second. Did you know that the correct spelling of chaperone is actually chaperon? I hate it. It seems wrong even though spell check is telling me otherwise. Frances? Any thoughts?

Aaaannny way.

Basically even with all my effort, my house is not spotless. Right now the bathrooms need their weekly cleaning, the kitchen floor needs a thorough mopping, and the tv is dusty. Which as you know, according to Martha Stewart, that's when it's time to dust.

BUT. I am honestly quite pleased with how it's going. I feel like I have my groove back, for the most part. I still hate laundry and it still piles up. But that's been true for me for the past 10 years. So I'm not going to stress.

How have you all done? Has anyone stayed with me on this? I hope so. It's awfully nice to be able to invite anyone in at anytime and know that I don't have to make excuses. Well, too many anyway.

Happy cleaning!

We love the theatre!

Kate was in a fun-tastic play last weekend called "Let's hang him and read the will!"

It was fun to see her shine and look so dang beautiful! Honestly, her grandparents and Jeff and I all gasped a little at how she looked when she walked onto the stage.



I won't even go into the plot because it was a funny murder/mystery that left you a little confused, on purpose I think.

But my favorite part was that all the parts were played by girls. And the girls who played boys? They got it down! They were taught to walk like boys, use boy-ish mannerisms. I forgot from time to time that they were, in fact, girls. They pulled it off beautifully.



It was so fun. Everyone did really well. The best part of the night though, was when Charlie, who was sitting right at the front of our table (it was dinner theatre) got distracted by the spotlight and started to put his hand up to do shadow puppets, or something.

Jeff and I were on that in a second. And you should have seen the sheepish grin he gave us. He forgot where he was momentarily and the spotlight became a huge flashlight in his mind. Silly, wonderful boy.



My kids are all super supportive of each other. Julia was so supportive that she stayed home with Henry and Nora so that Kate could have her parents at opening night. (She got to see it the next day). Charlie and Anne Marie posed with Kate, and Charlie even let Kate kiss him! But I promised not to put that on the blog:(
It's rather fantastic, and I am super lucky to have such great kids!

Bravo Kate!

Date night surprise.

A few weeks back, Jeff decided to take me on a date. But the whole thing was a surprise. ooohhhh.

I searched my brain for what he could be planning. All he told me was that I needed to wear clothes that I didn't care about.

First problem. I don't own clothes like that. Most of my clothes should probably fall into that category right now, but they can't, because, well, they're the only clothes I have. So that sent me into a tizzy.

I started guessing. Pottery? No. Glass blowing? No. Rock climbing? No.

Jeff came home early on the day of, picked me up and we were off. I tried to get him to tell me more.

All he revealed was the same thing about the clothes, and that he hoped there would be nothing inappropriate going on.

Define inappropriate?

He couldn't.

But he laughed.




When we arrived at our destination, I was preeety sure we should just keep driving. The view, combined with possible inappropriateness and the need to not care about our clothes did not inspire confidence.


However, it proved to be nothing that my imagination was leaning me towards. It was a simple, quaint little art studio. When I saw the sign on the door, I pulled Jeff back and said, "I DON'T PAINT!"

Ok, I didn't yell, but I hissed rather loudly. He told me it would be fine. My nervousness comes from the fact that while I am artistic in many ways, and even though I have in fact been an art docent at the elementary school, I only really do stick figures when it comes to actual art. Jeff is the artist, so he was in his element.

But our instructor was wonderful. His name is Mark Miller, and if you have the chance and are in Seattle, take a class from him. I was completely at ease and we had soo much fun.

We're pretending to be doing something artsy. Do you believe it?

Me neither.



I think my impression of artists was a little off, and blurry. I just imagine them so much more intelligent and refined than myself. Don't look at my ketchup squiggles drawing. Shoot, you just looked didn't you?


Jeff's was really cool. He recreated a picture of us in front of the temple on our wedding day. Love him.


This was the most fun. I don't even remember what the technique is called, but you paint onto canvas, then you accidentally squeeze the bottle of paint so hard that the top pops off and splats a huge puddle of red paint. Oh wait, just the first part. I invented the second part:)


You then poor white or black paint at the top, and then....



you squeegee the whole thing.


When you're done you have a new picture. Some of the pictures others did were waayy cool. Ours was, well, unique.


Here we are with the finished product. Our clothes are still intact, and nothing inappropriate happened.
Well, I might have said some inappropriate things, but that's nothing new, or unexpected for that matter.


It was actually really, really fun. Jeff bought a Groupon for this, but lovely, wonderful Mark Miller told him that we were so fun that we could come back any time at the Groupon price.

Yeah, we're awesome like that.

Oh, and I'm not showing you my barn picture that really looks like a lean-to with squiggles because, well, I don't want you to be intimidated by my impressive art skills.

Truly, I'm genius:) Ok, not really. But I'm fun. That counts for something, right?