So Much for the Sabbath

We really work on keeping the Sabbath holy. We don't shop on Sunday, we try to keep our activities focused on spiritual matters. We allow religious tv. We allow service, we visit and do things for Kent's grandmother, my mom, other family members. Music has to be approved by Kent or myself. We go to church.

We try to live the spirit of the law and not just the letter of the law.

This Sunday morning started out extremely strange. I woke up at nine and no one except Kent was up. We have little boys that get up extremely early yet they were all asleep.

Odd.

So I went to wake the girls and have them get dressed. I also got dressed since I was suppose to be conducting music in Relief Society. I figured if the boys were asleep, they were asleep for a reason. There was movement when I was ready to go out the door but overall, not much.

Jane came up with snow boots, she couldn't find her shoes. Uh no, there's no way we're letting you wear snow boots. She went and found her shoes.

At this point, it's five minutes before church and we were just barely going to make it. Ean moved all the way from his bed to the couch in the front room. He still wasn't really moving.

Then I realized that Kate was having issues. I told her to take a shower, wash up and dropped Jane off. Came back home, walked in the door and Dave stood up, started down the hall, throwing up the whole way. Kent and I worked as a team and got everything cleaned up. Kate was dressed again, so I took Kate to church.

Missed everything except the last five minutes of Relief Society, conducted the closing him and checked with a wonderful lady named Ada if her daughters could bring mine home. They bring several vehicles so chances were pretty good they would have space. Ada assured me it wasn't a problem, double checked to make sure she knew which kids I was leaving behind and home I went.

Just in time for Ean to throw up in his room, right outside the door. He looked like he was going to again and I told him to run to the bathroom.

So, Sunday has consisted of running several children to church and cleaning a whole lot of laundry, carpet and the couch.

Yay?

The good news, the boys all seem to be doing better. Actually they're begging for more food but I'm leery with all the vomiting this am of letting them eat to much to fast regardless of how they feel.

Here's hoping next Sunday is more restful, more spiritual and less, well, less everything today was. Blech!

Grillmaster? HARDLY!

I have a decent amount of talents and I do alright with feeding my family. I've never given anyone food poisoning and with the exception of Kate and Ean (who's opinions with food don't count) my family usually enjoys what I've prepared.

Obviously I do some things better then others. I've, quite pridefully, mentioned that I am very adapt at baking. I have a good feel for bread dough, instinctively knowing how much flour, how much kneading, how warmth the bread needs. My pastries are exceptional most days and when they're not, it's usually because I was completely distracted with a child disaster.

Some humorous mishaps include the great banana bread smoke out, that happened not once, not twice but three times using this one recipe where the bread really rises fast and if you don't get it in the oven immediately the pans just overflow. The first overflow, flames were involved.

I'm pretty sure this happens to keep me humble.

However, grilling alludes me. I mean, what possibly could be difficult. Throw food on fire, allow to cook, make sure it's done, eat.

Oh yeah right.

Grilling is right up there with dutch ovening in my book. It's hot, messy and makes my hair smell. Using real fire, whether the source is propane or charcoal is just not something I like to mess with. Please note the controlled flame on my gas stove does not count. I know exactly where to set my knobs, thank you very much.

I had six chicken quarters, that had been sitting in this fantastic marinade for over a day. I was expecting to feed the missionaries so I had more then I'd use for just my family. To go along with the chicken, I had mashed potatoes planned (cheated and used instant since it's to hot to make them from scratch) and a garden salad with greens provided by Kent's boss, from his own garden.

It should have been fantastic.

The obstacle standing me and dinner perfection, that darn grill.

I lit it. I turned the heat down. I placed the meat on the newly scrubbed racks and closed the lid. Then I asked Jane to wash pots and pans because I really needed the help so I could do the rest of dinner. Ten minutes later, I notice Jane is gone, so I go looking for her.

*insert swearing and panicked running around.*

Loads of smoke pouring from the grill and the child that "should" have been washing pots and pans? Out on the lawn, facing the opposite direction and petting the neighbors dog.

I gaze just a moment at my eldest and resist yelling at her as I focused on the grill. SCRUD, five times more flames then the great banana bread fire, most coming directly off the chicken. Apparently those birds had a lot of fat on them.

Grrrrrrrr.

Blacked chicken was in front of me. I turned the heat down more, moved the chicken up a rack and flipped it, hoping it'd be okay. Oh no, went to check a few minutes later and there were even MORE flames. There was nothing to do but turn the grill off and let the chicken sit there. Carcinogens and all.

Kent said it was fine and went to look, said peel the skin off and it was all good. He then realized the chicken wasn't actually cooked. Well, I could have told him that. I mean, I may suck at grilling but I knew it wasn't enough time to get the center done, even if the outside was in flames.

Did I mention the complete meltdown I had in the kitchen after turning the heat off? Greg came in, very concerned and asked what was wrong. I told him no one was helping me and that made me sad. He promptly took two dirty dishes off the table and told me I couldn't be sad. The dirty dishes were carefully balanced on the pile of unwashed pots and pans my teenager left to do more important things. Like pet the neighbor's dog.

Kent turned the grill on, left the chicken on the top rack and finished cooking them. We managed to find enough meat under the blackened outside to feed the family and we never did hear from the missionaries to find out when and where they wanted dinner.

So I could have kept this to myself.

But if you lived in the neighborhood, I'm sure you were wondering about the smoke. Oh and Kent ever helpful said "we should have just dutched oven these". Thanks hon, that's a fabulous idea, four hours to late.

Early Jazz

Forget smooth jazz and all the other incarnations of this particular genre. Think early jazz, think Louis Armstrong, think Billie Holiday, think of strong brass and even stronger voices.

Jane was just begging me for some Michael Jackson, she's so tired of listening to "my" music. So I cut the deck and promptly created a new radio station on "Pandora". One devoted to music that her grandfather loved.

So yes, being in my forties, this is most definitely before my time but I heard an awful lot of it growing up. Maybe it's time to torture, er, share this with my children. I need to play classical too.

To be perfectly clear, at times, I find jazz, classical and other other genres enjoyable but it's not really me. Mostly I listen when I'm feeling nostalgic. Or possible mischievous. Today it's a little of both.

The boys went camping last night and with Kate at a friends, I'm feeling a little put out that my oldest didn't even want to try to spend time together. With just her and me, you'd think she'd maybe even try? Oh no, she was completely in her own world.

So I read her new book "Breaking Dawn" and well hoped the boys had better bonding. With you know, that manly stuff that is fire and dirt. I do believe worms and fishing poles may also be involved. So lots of manly bonding there.

Although I may have struck a small conquest this am. Apparently torturing Jane (I did switch the jazz to classical for a change) and eating breakfast together was a great opportunity to discuss how much her grandpa would hate all her music.

But hey, we finally talked.

Liar Liar Pants On Fire

So we've dealt with a bunch of lying the past four weeks or so. All boys. Mostly it's been denial over who's gotten into mischief in the garage. Greg has been the only honest one in our bunch of boys. David and Ean, well, we've had issues, to say the least.

This morning, lying has taken a new form. So far, it's been mostly denial of guilt. This morning, Kent dealt with actual framing of a sib.

Picture, Kent's out of the shower and Ean is playing a joke on his dad. Ean is holding the door shut so it's not easy to open and Kent's playing along.

I'm in the shower so all I hear is bits and pieces. There's a cry, there's the sound of someone in trouble by daddy and then Kent comes in to tell me that David had tried to help Ean hold the door shut and that Ean chased him down and bent his fingers back.

Unfortunately for Ean, this sort of thing has happened before so it wasn't hard to believe. However in talking with Dave, Kent gleaned the subtle hints we've learned that gives Dave away as lying.

Ean, in an extremely mature manner, let his dad know that Dave was lying. Dave's response showed that yes indeed he was lying. It was a frame up and Dave got exactly what he wanted, he got Ean in trouble.

I responded immediately by calling my mom and letting know that her preplanned visit with the twins was canceled. Greg was coming alone.

After a big point of showing Greg going out the door with his dad, there we were with Dave in tears begging to go to Mormor's house. No son, there are consequences to your actions and I'm not rewarding deviousness with a play date at grandma's house.

We will be talking about it more this weekend. Really, it's not how I pictured the day starting. Those wonderful parenting moments? Challenges like this morning make me appreciate those even more.

This Time of Year is Hard

I've found myself being extremely moody and over sensitive the past week. While I do suffer the normal "girl" moods and my husband is extremely tolerant, this has been beyond what's normal. Throw in multiple nights of restless sleep, it becomes obvious something is wrong.

Oh.

Look at the calender.

While September fourth is the anniversary of my dad's death and this September fourth will be nine years (hardly seems possible I've lived nine years without him), I struggle late July, early August with his death.

It's the anniversary of the last time I got to see my dad.

You see, there was a wedding my parents went to in Colorado. Something like July twenty second. By the twenty eighth my parents came to visit us. I was pregnant and experiencing morning sickness and I told dad I wasn't cooking. Much to my mom's dismay, my dad took us out to eat every night of his visit.

Mom's always been much more budget conscience then dad.

Dad played with the dog. Oh he loved our pound saved mutt named Jesse. Dad played with the kids. We repeatedly saw grandpa alternating between throwing dog toys for the beast and kicking a soccer ball for the girls to chase.

Jane was four that visit, Kate was only about twenty months. Dad loved on them so and I was able to see his growth, in how he embraced being "grandpa" with every bit of his being.

I split the only apricot we had on our sapling with dad somewhere in that first week in August.

Then my parents went back to their life. They said their goodbyes, visited family in Utah and went back to Vermont. It was only a few weeks later I lost that pregnancy and before I could even morn my lost, mom called to let me know that my daddy had suffered a fatal heart attack.

So September fourth isn't so hard for me. I mourn the last time I was able to see him. I can't believe how long it's been. I miss our late night talks. I miss having him as a sounding board. I miss chewing him out for just handing the phone to my mother and assuming I wanted to talk to her.

I wish I could tell him stories of my boys. He'd love my boys.

I wish the girls had more memories of him. Kate was a baby still, she doesn't have any.

At least he knew I loved him. Every time we talked, I told him. I know he counted me as one of his best friends.

Miss you daddy.

Browsing Through the Blogs

So today I was browsing through the blogger blogs, and I must say it was interesting. There were several types of bloggers. Variety ranged from the advocate, all the way from political to breastfeeding, to the advertisement (hey, look at my business), to the hobby and finally to the family.

Even the family blogs had a large variety. I noticed lots of short sentenced, describing pictures types of blogs and some very rambley sort of of stream of thought type blogs. There's simply something for everyone.

Just so there's no mistake by anyone reading my personal jibberish, I do have some extremely strong opinions although I will seldom share because I am a peacemaker by nature. I don't like confrontation. If you say something completely moronic, I will call you on it. Oh an example would be my brother telling me (his twin girls were two months old and I was going to babysit them with my mom, my daughter was five months) that his babies needed Japanese milk, when I offered to nurse them. You see, his wife is Japanese. I flat out told him, that was the stupidest thing I'd heard in a long time. Stupid enough to repeat for prosperity, obviously.

I'm enough of a jerk, that I nursed one of his girls just to spite him. Please note, this was okay with their mom, we already had a long discussion on nursing other peoples babes.

Back on track, even though I do have opinions, this isn't the place I'll chose to share them. Sometimes I'll feel inspired to share some insight or experience that's a bit more spiritual in nature. Sometimes I might even hint at something political, but my true purpose remains to chronicle my family.

I've tried to stay true to that purpose although I've found it impossible to write everything I would like to write. I am the mother of five very active children.

The temptation to use my blog as a platform is definitely there and I've certainly started my share of soapbox posts over the past few years. Most get deleted although I often feel better for just writing everything out.

Sometimes I suspect, my time spent writing is just an excuse to rock out to Pandora, I've got "Creed" playing right now.

Writing has been my therapy, especially when dealing with personal ordeals that I can't talk about in real life. Starting with out of context feelings and thoughts inevitably brings my perspective back to my family and how blessed our life is. We are blessed.

Speaking of blessings, for those that asked, Kent is loving his new job. His stress is at an all time low. He is more comfortable with what he needs to do. He's having fun. It's been ages since he's had fun at work. I love when he's home, he's 100% ours.

As a business owner, phone calls came at all odd times. Phone calls from everyone. Spending time with him focused on us is simply a God send. Another blessing, one we didn't even know we were missing.

We still don't know what the long term will be on this job but I'm pretty sure as I speculate, my mussings will be blogged.

Probably while listening to "Saving Jane". Cause that's how I roll, uh, I mean write. :)

Being First in Line

For reasons that I cannot comprehend, Kate and Ean are a bit obsessed with being FIRST in the lunch line. As in, they'd rather go a half hour early and WAIT then go five minutes after serving starts and not wait at all.

So Kate and her friend Boo left a whole half hour before lunch was even served. Ean followed on his bike. The only reason Jane didn't join was because Jane was mowing my mom's yard. Good project for her.

Basically they're getting lunch at the same time, but something about being first seems extra special. It's a goal I cannot understand since logically to me, if I had to wait anyway, I'd rather wait at home then stand in line, at the park, on a hot summer day.

However I am a few years *cough*decades*cough* older then my children.

Speaking of being older, today I informed Jane she was doing yoga with me. You'd think I'd told the teenager we were feasting on "eye of newt" for dinner, so distasteful was her look. Oh she tried to tell me that she didn't need to exercise, she already does.

I told her to bad, this would be good for her. Well, tough kid, 30 seconds into any pose and the complaints ran RAPID.

"My back hurts!"

"This kills my wrists!"

"I hope no one from school can see me, how embarrassing!!!!"

As if I needed more confirmation that we do have a teenager in the house! I made her work out with me anyway and we'll keep doing saying, even with the complaints. In case any yoga people read this, she didn't do anything that would cause her great pain, she just wanted to let me know that she had other plans.

Like wait for the phone to ring and hope it was her best friend on the line.

Other news for the day, mom took Ean to the only bookstore in town, that is unfortunately closing. However this means SALES! I have to go next week and snag a copy of the final book in the "Twilight series" for Jane, I want to make sure I get one of those. Right now everything is 25% off. So I figure, I get that book and then I wait until it reaches 50% off or so, and shop whatever is left for anything that looks good for future gifts.

We do have that annoying "three birthdays within a week of Christmas" thing at our house.

So those were the highlights of the day.

Here We Are

As a mother, how much time do I spend wondering, pondering and praying if I'm doing alright in raising my children. Am I meeting their needs? Do they know they're loved? Am I teaching them about our Savior and his love? Will they grow up and know happiness? Will they care for others, show empathy, be caring, giving, loving people that nurture and give back. Will they have a good work ethic? The list is endless and the worries never cease.

Yet somehow I have to step back and realize that raising my beautiful children is a process. Something that must be done one step at a time. One prayer at a time. Sometimes, it's a very long prayer that last on and off for days because I know I can't do it alone.

Sometimes I fail and have to start over. I've made it a point to tell my children when I've made mistakes and to ask for their forgiveness. So much of parenting is by example and I want them to be able to admit to their own mistakes. Admit and go forward, becoming better, stronger people. Learning from our mistakes is part of that and if we can't admit, we can't learn.

I do want them to be their own people but I want to teach them the tools they need to be the absolute best JANE, KATE, EAN, GREG and DAVID, they each can be. Really isn't that what every parent wants?

Our family doctor said it best. He said his family motto is "Be the Best". This isn't some dogma about pushing kids further then they can go, it's about realizing and rejoicing your accomplishments, your children and families accomplishments when they've done their best no matter what the outcome.

I don't think my children realize their potential. Humor me.

Jane. Jane is a service oriented person. She loves to DO for others. Now this love of service doesn't yet translate into siblings but give her time, she's young. :) Also, I've never seen a child pour so much of herself into her school work. She tries so incredibly hard and even with her struggles. Jane is very accepting of other people. She'll include anyone that wants to be included.

Kate. Kate can be another hard worker. Once she's decided to do something nothing holds her back. She's another kid that has succeeded in school despite lots of learning problems. Her sheer tenacity shows in her grades. Kate loves without abandon. If Kate loves you, she loves you all out. Kate also has a lot of trust for her family and friends. Please note that trust doesn't translate yet into younger brothers. We're working on that.

Ean. Oh my goodness, the boy is bright. He's smart, sometimes scary smart. He knows how to plan ahead when he's learning to reach a goal. When he's made a decision, he sticks to that decision. He forms theories on pretty much everything. And when he's wrong, he's quick to input his new knowledge into the file of "learned", sharing with all around him, his new discoveries. Ean loves people.

Greg. Greg is my love. I've told Kent he should be embarrassed he obviously doesn't love me as much as this little boy does, that will cheerfully kiss me fifteen times in a row and falls to pieces if I fail to hug him before leaving his side. Greg's smile lights up a room. He shows joy in his every action and word. Greg still struggles with his language delays but bless his heart, he's really improved at expressing himself. In the struggles we've had in the house with honesty Greg is the one kid that always tells the truth, even if it means he'll get in trouble.

David. Dave loves to explore. He's not afraid. David is quick to defend his twin when he's accused. David loves to be read to and he enjoys playing with anyone. David loves to dance, loves to run and loves to learn. Dave is the one that corrected me when I said "Cocoon" and told me "You mean Chrysalis mom". This from my five year old that struggled with so many delays since birth. How precious is that?

My point in these ramblings. I'm trying to keep my perspective focused on all the beautiful and wonderful qualities my children possess. There is so much potential there and even though I get frustrated, I need to remember all they have to offer.

They were sent to my family for a reason and I take my job as mother very seriously. The rewards are worth it.

Cherries!

I've mentioned before, we have a hard time watering. We're just busy and yard work isn't our priority however we do try to water plants that feed us. Even though the corners of our front yard are yellow, there's a lovely green circle of grass right around the cherry tree.

Our tree is about ten years old. It is seriously the best thing we ever could have planted. The type of cherry is "Stella" and it's one of the few self fertile sweet cherries out there. Actually I don't know if you can get a hold of it now, it's been a few years since I've seen the name.

The tree is amazingly hardy, we've had to cut a few branches due to children abusing it, we've battled aphids and of course Idaho dry summers are a constant battle.

Just a side note, a non-pesticide treatment for aphids is water with a bit of dish soap spiked in it. Works wonders!

It must be the area but we've never had a worm problem with our cherries. Now lots of worms in the neighbors apples and of course earwigs in the apricots out back (earwigs are the ickiest bugs!) but worms in the cherries? Not ever!

So we love our tree and it's a great producer. The only year we've never had cherries was the super late frost two years ago that killed the blossoms. Of course late frost isn't the only problem, we have birds and as soon as these babies start to blush, it's time to net. Any branches that break free are fair game for our feathered friends and they take on the challenge willingly!

There's also the two legged red headed pests that adore any and all fruit. They start eating while everything is still green! They also work on the currents and sour cherries out back. How they can eat the green sour cherries is beyond me! The birds wont even eat those when ripe and cherry red! Fortunately we have the twins convinced death will occur if they touch the grapes.

Anyway, it was a late season, usually we pick a week after the fourth and here it is almost the end of the month.

Our netting was slipping and the birds were getting in, so even though the cherries could have stayed on the tree for another few days, I decided to pick yesterday. It took almost an hour and moving the ladder half a dozen times before I could free the tree and start picking.

It was a good harvest, about ten pounds of cherries! I noticed aphids up top and after picking sprayed my magic dish soap solution all over. I'll probably retreat later this week.

Now for the cherry goodness. There was a minor meltdown and a bit of frantic searching when gadget boy realized I didn't know where the cherry pitter was. Luckily dad found it. Who knew a missing gadget was a sign of the end of the world?

So a few pounds were put in a crisp last night, a few pounds in the fridge, unpitted for fresh eating and of course the rest went into the freezer.

Ean pitted them all and the cherry pitter gave it's life so a seven year old boy could live in gadget heaven. I need to the cannibalize the parts for the next pitter.

Fortunately I won't need one until next years harvest.

I think we need another tree too. Really, ten pounds of fresh cherries isn't nearly enough. :)

WOW

Sometimes you really just wonder how your child's mind works. I mean, you think there is no possible way to interpret what I just said other then what it means and yet, they find some obscure way to put their own spin on your words.

This creativity is amplified by how much work you're requiring them to do.

For instance, Ean's interpretation of "Unload the dishwasher" was very much a "The sky is blue"/"The sky is red" sort of argument. He simply did not want to do it so he was very liberal in the actual meaning of the spoken words. This was the first time two times I told him what was expected.

After that he flat out ignored me. He went so far to go out the door right after I spoke so he wouldn't have to listen to me anymore. So with that little gem fueling my fire, I cheerfully emptied the dishwasher (which was only half full) and then filled it completely for him to empty after dinner.

The little turkey took it upon himself to get hurt right before dinner, so he got out of it again! Never fear, it's waiting for him right now, for him to do, before he gets to go to the movie in the morning.

*evil laugh*

Then you have the flat out literal interpretations. The twins are extremely adept at literal. You see, those darn language delays, some days all they do is literal.

We were at my mom's after dinner and "So you think you can dance" was on. Okay, I haven't seen it in a few years but man, I love that show so I was watching this episode. So much fun! However David was standing right in front of me with his head square in front of the screen. I said "Dave, move your head."

Without moving any other muscles, the kid slowly dipped his head to the right, as low as it would go. Oh my! HYSTERICAL!!! We all just sat there and giggled!

Then there's the, on one day something is bad and the next day something is good!

Ean argued with me for a good twenty minutes before showering last night. You'd think I was demanding he eat pigs feet for dinner with the lengths he was going to avoid this apparently terrible fate.

Today he took three showers. All on his own, with no encouragement or requirements from me. Why three? Only Ean knows. The kid loves baths and I think deciding a shower isn't so bad is an extension of that. He also got both little boys in with him and washed them.

This could be a very good thing in the evening.

So there you have it. What I say is probably not what I meant, just ask my kids. They'll straighten the whole thing out. Or at least, keep us laughing while showing how it's suppose to be done. Oy!

Got a call this AM

From the doctors office. They had a cancellation and wanted to know if I wanted to hurry things up with Jane and bring her right in.

I found it rather funny that they main reason I couldn't bring Jane in wasn't the lack of transportation. The minivan is being worked on and since our movie day was moved to Thursday, I opted to let Kent take the car, ride our bikes to the park and not drive Kent in this morning. So the 'burb, is sitting in front of the loan company right now.

The real hindrance? The girl being out of state this week of course trumps everything else. I also found it funny that since Jane's on medicaid and there was a big shpeel given while making the appointment on how medicaid has to approve the testing before they do it, that they even called.

I really have my doubts it's been approved yet.

Since her testing will be done before August and before school starts, I'm not worried about getting her in quicker. Life or death this is not.

I'm wondering if I should see if Kate can talk to someone. I have no concerns about ADD or ADHD with Kate but yesterday we had a real tough emotional time. Kate said some very hurtful things that can't be brushed off. I had to go head on and find out exactly what she was thinking.

No small feat. This child is a closed and locked book most days. It's like pulling teeth to get the minimal amount of information out of her.

I still need to talk to Kent about it but we've been going so many directions, I haven't had the chance.

*sigh*

Parenting can be so joyous, so humorous and it can suck the life out of you ten minutes later. Thankfully God's provided parents with rechargeable batteries. I don't think I'd make it otherwise.

Oh Where to Start?

So we managed to get everyone off in the directions they needed to go this AM. Ean road his bike to my moms while Kent drove the twins over on is way to work. Marja picked up me and the girls and we dropped Kate off at a friends house and finally after a quick stop at Winco, Marja's two were dropped off at their dad's house.

Kate came home about an hour ago and Kent picked up the boys after work. Marja and I probably had just finished eating Mongolian Barbecue in Layton when Kent got the boys. Kent was very optimistic and called to ask if he needed to pick up the boys. Since we hadn't made our way back to the state, that'd be a yes dear.

Apparently my boys used all their charm on my mother. (please note the subtle use of sarcasm there) The morning went smoothly enough, but my mom reports things got a little rough at snack time. See mormor doesn't have a sea of junk food to snack on. And the boys took it upon themselves to let my mom know that her snacks were less then desirable and that it was time to go to the store and get new snacks.

My mom let them know (gently I'm sure) that wasn't going to happen.

The boys let mormor know there was another obvious solution and that was to put them in the car and take them up to the other grandparents where there's far better snacks.

Oh yeah, obviously the boys missed my lessons on being gracious. Thankfully my mother isn't easily offended by small children without filters. At least, she better not be.

So off we were to Utah. Jane did her very best to be her non-verbal teenage self. Marja was suitably impressed! A stop for a quick lunch and a round about way to reach the hotel to "drop" Jane off.

Forty minutes later, Jane was at her room and ready to go. Oh my socially awkward girl. We met a young lady that recognized Jane from last year. It was like pulling teeth to get Jane to engage in conversation. She so needs these type of experiences! I'm hoping for as good an experience as last year. She loved it last year!

So onto me and Marja, hitting the town. Marja had plans, to start with, I let her know Kent thought we should visit Cabela's. With an evil laugh Marja said we had to go to Cabela's. Not go in Cabela's, just go outside the store and take a picture and email it to Kent. Well, oKAY, if that's the plan then lets do it!

Our main problem, we were headed south away from the store. There was this little factoid I read in Jane's camp material that stated we were getting off, the same exit as Cabela's. Marja of course hadn't read this and apparently I had internalized this nugget and when Marja turned onto the interstate, I just didn't say anything.

Really I can't explain my brain, but at American Fork, I mentioned maybe we were to far South. Marja assured me we'd see it in a mile or two while we were both distracted with some massive highway construction. Finally we passed the construction and I noted we were at the first Orem exit. I mentioned that we were just about at Orem, and Marja responded that meant nothing to her. So I explained Orem was to Provo what Chubbuck is to Pocatello.

Apparently we were to far south.

At this moment I mentioned that tidbit of information from the camp booklet. You know, that we were actually just down the road from the desired location.

I am a goof. Thankfully my friends embrace all that is me and Marja had a hearty laugh as we headed back to where we'd just been. The picture was taken and all humor was lost on my husband who just couldn't understand the point of going all the way there and not going in. I mean, what's the point?

The point was any time spent in Cabela's was time lost that could have been spent in Ikea!!!

Okay, so I've never stepped foot in Ikea before. It was so much fun!!! Marja drooled over furniture she loved while I showed off how much swedish I've forgotten. Just a footnote, In swedish, you don't capitalize languages, so *s*venska, or *s*wedish is correct. I'm being nostalgic not lazy whenever I fail to correct this for the rest of the post.

There were tidbits about the store that cracked me up. I pointed out these embroidered lampshades. Marja mentioned that she's admired them before. Well the embroidery design is actually based on the tole painting style that is so characteristic of the country. See what happens when you go through Ikea with a swede loving American?

I will admit to geeking out when I found svart vinbärssaft, throw in a delicacy that I adored as a teenager plus buying yellow peas for yellow pea soup. Oh my SWEDISH HEAVEN.

We had a blast and I spent far more then I should.

Then we went to Marja's favorite tea shop, where we were going to have a late lunch. (they do serve herbal teas). Unfortunately they have shortened summer hours, which really bummed Marja out. We're planning a trip in the fall, on a Saturday. So that was our one disappointment.

We cheered ourselves up with a trip to whole foods. I have never been!! I was so excited to find raw honey. You see, raw honey, from wildflowers has many medicinal properties and I really wanted to find some to use with herbal concoctions to increase potency. So score! I found a few more edibles that called to me and then famished, we called it quits.

So we went to find food.

After much debate, we decided on the Mongolian Barbecue, conveniently located near a good friends house. She may be out of town, but that didn't stop Marja from stopping by and taking a picture of her house and emailing it to her.

Did I mention that I laughed. A lot. Pretty much from start to finish on this trip.

It was time to head home. I think my boys missed me. Missed me or not, I'm not sharing my Swedish goodies from Ikea!

Oh No You Did NOT!

Oh yes she did!

Jane that is. Okay, so my oldest has been granted the privilege of having her own facebook account. There's a few strings. She can only be friends with people pre-approved by me. I'd say her dad too, but he's really out of the loop sometimes, so the responsibility has been mostly mine.

So far she has family, aunts, uncles, cousins, family friends and a few friends her age.

There's a girl down the street from us. Oh we have a long history together. Starting from the time she was in my house and asked me if I ever bothered to clean. Yeah. That went over well.

This last year we had a problem with her bullying Ean on the way home. She's got issues and as far as "facebook friend potential" I told Jane it was a no go and I explained why.

So this morning I pop on the internet while eating my breakfast. I hear a chat beep and check Jane's window. See part of her getting to be on facebook includes me having full access, so checking on her chats, totally acceptable. She was actually chatting with my brother in Japan but there was another window open, to the girl whose friendship I had vetoed the night before.

Included in the conversation was a question on whether she had done the bullying to our middle child.

Oh she was so busted.

We had a complete Jane moment when she said that hadn't friended her, this other girl had sent the friends request. I of course pointed out that she ACCEPTED and that it doesn't matter who sent it. She was grounded from the computer today and I let her know that I was sending the girl in question a note letting her know that Jane's only allowed to have a couple of friends on facebook so I was deleting her.

Yes I totally took the blame.

I also cleaned up Jane's list, taking out a few local DJ's and making sure I knew who everyone was. The moral, if you want to be friends with Jane, it has to be cleared with me first!

We also had the great drawer practical joke this am.

We're trying to get ready for church and Kent let Ean know he needed to move his dresser drawers out of the front room and back into his room. WELL, after moving them, Ean was missing two entire dresser drawers. For the record, he was rearranging his furniture yesterday, that's why they were taken out.

But back to the point, HOW does a kid lose whole dresser drawers??????

Kent was really getting frustrated and Ean was on one heck of a hot spot and he was about to get into heaps more trouble then he's been in for a long time when a little voice across the room said that she knew where the drawers were.

Kate was talking but apparently it was Jane's idea to play this trick on Ean. Please note the child responsible for starting this was NOT the child confessing.

So the drawers were hauled back up and our peaceful Sunday morning before church was completely ruined.

Thank you teenage girls!

Miss Manners I'm Not

Nor am I the authority on all that runs this world but there are few minor things that have bugged me and I'm going to let it all out.

Let me start off with gifts. Gifts belong to the recipient and there should be no strings attached. Now we all try to not openly flaunt regifting and exchanges but not everything will work for everyone. Sometimes it's even okay to point it out, I certainly pointed out my exchange when I was gifted a shirt from a not-so-observant Brother in law that was a size small. Oh hello, last small I wore was in sixth grade!

That deserved chuckles.

But regardless of what the gift is destined to become, be it your new stylish favorite to wear or a doorstop at the bottom of the closet until you can go to the thrift store, you should always be gracious.

Or at least have a sense of humor.

The Christmas after we were married, we went to Vermont for a second reception. My little brother, bless his heart, had bought us a set of glasses as a wedding present. Keeping in mind my brother was only 21, it was extremely thoughtful of him to think of us. As he handed me the unwrapped, still packaged glasses he made a big point of saying that he bought us something every newly wed needs.

I thanked him and said that brought the glasses count up to 106 (we were also up to four crockpots and over 12 sets of anchor baking pans.)

He promptly turned around, found my mom downstairs and repeated his shpeel about what every couple needs, changing newly weds to "old married couple" and handed her the glasses.

I about peed my pants.

Truthfully I had a lot to learn about being gracious but that particular exchange would only have happened with Malcolm.

There was this odd dynamical thing that went on one Christmas with the requesting that certain people got to "keep" the gift bags after the presents were opened. It was awkward and entirely inappropriate. Yes everything you wrap the gift with is also the recipients. If you're that attached to a gift bag, then you should just keep it.

Maybe on a shelf for all to admire.

Being gracious extends to parties and get togethers. If you suspect that you will be hating what is served, you should either eat lightly before going or provide something to share with the whole party.

It's really not good manners to bring your own little main course, that is exactly the same as what is being served, just a different brand because you are being ultra picky. So provide it all yourself or buck it up and eat what's served.

The obvious exceptions are extreme allergies and babies.

A non-food, non get together, non party gripe! Folks when riding bikes you ride with traffic. This means, the direction the cars are going, you also go that direction. Do not, I repeat DO NOT go against traffic.

I can't tell you how many people I've almost took out because they're going against traffic and I'm turning RIGHT. So of course, I look, left, right and then left again before turning and boom there's some idiot on a bike that I've almost taken out going against traffic.

Also, if you swear at me as you're swerving around me, and you're the one going the wrong way. I. Will. Tell. You. You're. Mistaken. Loudly if needed.

Those traffic laws for cars? Yes indeed apply to bikes too! So for the love of Pete (who is pete anyway?) go with the flow of traffic.

I've had my share of mistakes and snafus and I hope that those I've offended have forgiven me. It's pretty clear that my biggest problem is opening my mouth and letting it all out. Just read the above.

Addiction and Food

I come from a family of addicts, mostly alcoholics. I grew up with my dad actively drinking along with a good deal of my extended family.

My dad wasn't a mean drunk, he was very congenial even fun to be around when buzzed. However he drank daily, stayed up late at night to drink and it took an incredible amount of alcohol before he even appeared tipsy.

Addiction comes in many forms and while alcohol, drugs, gambling and even porn are acknowledged as seriously detrimental to the family, there are other addictions not even talked about.

No matter what the addiction, it will screw up your life. I believe there are no good addictions. I've watched the family member obsessed with exercise so much, he did nothing else. Not date. Work only enough to spend his time recreating and now at middle age he has no life.

Oh sure, I understand he has some great pecs but in the terms of long term happiness what does that bring?

If there isn't a balance, then there's something wrong.

I see addictive behaviors in myself, mostly concerning my relationship with food and I have no doubt that if I didn't live my life abstaining from drinking alcohol, I'd inevitably become an alcoholic. I think I'm wired that way.

Why the post on addictions? I worry about my children and the unhealthy behaviors I still deal with and how those behaviors affect my children. Worse, sometimes I flat out see my behaviors mirrored by my children and frankly it scares me that they have the same struggles with food. It seems I haven't broken the cycle.

We had an issue tonight dealing with compulsive eating and it broke my heart to have fears confirmed that one of my daughters struggles with the alcoholic type of addiction that compels her to eat. I think an outsider might look in and think I'm reading way to much into a bag of swiped chips however knowing my own struggles to find some kind of healthy relationship with food, I understand my daughter far more then I think most could understand.

I see myself in her. At the same time, my heart breaks for her knowing what she'll deal with.

We're trying to build a healthy relationship with food. We're offering healthy foods here at the house. We're working towards making the options appealing and yet somehow I feel like I've failed her.

When asked why she made the choices she made, in tears she made it clear that she didn't feel like she had a choice. With something dangling in front of her, the only choice is to give in.

Of course this isn't true. Of course she always has a choice but she doesn't know that. All she knows is that saying no doesn't seem to be an option for her. So I guess we play hard ball.

It's time for a carb vacation at our house. My girl honestly believes that if she doesn't have sweets then life has no good option and since that's the farthest from the truth, I (hopefully) can help her see what living really is. It's not about the junk food. It's about making the most of every minute and I hope and pray to break through and teach her that.

If nothing else, she needs to know how good the good really is. And I'm not talking food!

Hopefully, I can get some divine help in reaching her. I have a feeling that this is not an issue for me to tackle alone.

Be The Best You Can Be

So Jane's getting ready for camp. I know, I know, but Lisa, she already went to girl's camp!

Yes she did.

This isn't girls camp though. Well it's sorta a girls camp. Okay, it's a camp for girls but it's not the church organized and sponsored sleeping out in tents experience. This is a camp based out of Utah organized by a woman named Barbara Billings.

The whole camp experience is about building young girls through testimony building experiences coupled with lots of service. It's a chance for teenagers to look outside themselves and in the process learn to love themselves by helping others.

I need to purchase a yard and a half of fleece so Jane can make a blanket and buy a children's book for Jane to read to underprivileged children and then give as a gift. When Jane went last year, she went to temple square in Salt Lake City amongst a whole host of other activities. It was a jam packed week.

I noticed a change in Jane too. She was more confident in herself. Also the empathy she showed to others was amazing. It's not a church sponsored activity but LDS standards as outlined in the Church's"Strictly for Youth" pamphlet are closely followed.

I won't sugar coat it. It's expensive. It's $450.00 for this M-F camp, that includes board, meals and transportation plus (Jane loves this) a t-shirt to boot.

Not the sort of thing in our meager budget however the past two years some extremely giving relatives have paid for Jane's tuition, allowing her not only to have this wonderful experience once but this second year to boot. My heart goes out to the love shown to our girl by this extremely generous gift.

Kate's green with envy of course, but she's not twelve yet and there's simply nothing we can do about that. Hopefully in two years we'll be able to send her. Kate needs what they have to offer.

I love the changes this program has made in Jane.

So I Make Up Words

For the record I also misspell words and while I have spell check because I'm using firefox, sometimes I am so far off spell check hasn't a chance in hades of fixing it and I knowingly leave it.

I also am not an editor.

It's an extremely common occurrence for me to post a new piece from my blog and over the next 24 hours go back and find mistakes and fix them.

So, my point?

If you are obsessed with grammar, spelling and hate made up words, then my blog is simply not for you. Also, I'm sorely tempted to delete all know-it-alls from my facebook friends list. Overreacting? Of course! But guess what, I can.

Alright so my initial beef today really isn't the spelling Nazi's that chose to self righteously correct any and all that they see (you know who you are), I'm actually frustrated with children messing with my desk and having crucial papers disappear. Throw in the fact I can't get my camera card to register on the computer so I can download camping pictures and finish that blog post, I'm at the breaking point!

So, who do I take it out on? Why the self appointed spelling police, that's who!!! Logical, hardly, but I never claimed to be the master of logic. Just ask my children how unfair I really am?

Speaking of illogical, last night Kate had a fit because there was salad on her plate. Oh it gets better. She had spinach and alfalfa sprouts.... Nothing else. Like, the spinach that was placed in my green smoothie that morning, and she drank a nice big glass of and the sprouts she and Ean were eating like candy that afternoon.

Put those together on a plate and they're evil!!!!!

Makes my rant at the spelling police downright sane. Carry on. There may or may not be pictures later from camping.

Yeah Yeah, I Know

It's been DAYS since I blogged!

Actually, it's been days since I published. What you can't see is the small list of partially written nonsense that hasn't made the cut. I either

A. Became distracted with the myriad of activity that we call "life" here at house. I know, weird huh? You'd think a house with five kids in eight years would be the epitome of tranquility...

B. I didn't like what I was writing. Either it doesn't feel right, I got off track, or it's something I'm having second thoughts on the subject matter. Believe it or not, I actually hold back on personal information. My close friends can stop laughing now.

Speaking of personal matters. I have a slight update on my oldest and her appointment with the psychologist. This appointment is the stepping stone for ADD testing. You may or may not recall that my daughter has struggled with school for years, was on an IEP (Individual Education Plan), then wasn't on one and finally is on one again after two painful years of middle school.

This appointment was really just to get to know Jane, her home and I suspect her relationship with me and her dad. So there was a bunch of questions asking about personal life. Her feelings. Any struggles with depression. Relationship with her siblings. Stuff like that.

My oldest seemed determined to show off her teenage skills with the monotone, one syllable answers.

"Nooo"

"Yeah"

"What?"

"mOoom" (oh yes, my answers warranted an extended vowel in "mom" on her response)

The highlight was, while asked if she'd ever smoked or drank, her "horror at the very thought"

"Noooooooo!"

Thank you for that honey, that's just what your mom wants to hear!!!

She'll go back for more testing. She has to have a three hour appointment and then a one hour appointment followed by a meeting with all of us to discuss the results. Oh and then there's the physical.

The one she should have had originally, and the psychologist's office requires, but I didn't know. So we have to go back and do the physical. A little frustrating because I couldn't talk to the psychologist's office before getting the referral or I would have done the physical and referral at the same time. So back and forth we go!

Ahhh, red tape.

Camping Highlights

My quick little camping update hardly did our trip justice. There was so much more in those three days and I just didn't take the time to jot it all down. So here we go, the low down.

We had planned on leaving around 9:00 AM, so of course, hitting the road promptly at 10:30 was no big surprise. Really we tried however, pulling together everything, including children slowed us down. Throw in a child determined to buy worms because we might possibly fish, and we were really slowed down.

Unfortunately he didn't get to fish either.

You see we went to the first campground. There are only a couple of decent spots and the rest is pretty desolate. However there's fishing and Kent was hoping for a good spot. Marja however is a bit more particular about where to camp and fishing or not, wanted a better campground. Kent, properly trained, yielded to the opinions voiced by the women in the group (Marja and my mom) and off we went to try the other spot.

The tricky part, the campground we were headed to only had three fire pits and two other spots on top of that. So really only 4-6 parties can fit and anymore and it's rather crowded. Kent was just sure the spot he wanted was taken and it was another hour until we got there.

I was riding with Kent and we spent that last hour driving with me reading President Monson's biography to him. It was an extremely pleasant way to pass the time although I did spend the whole weekend talking awfully horse.

Imagine out surprise when we discovered an empty campground?! The whole place to ourselves. The spot Kent was hoping for, although obviously open, it wasn't picked. You see, that incredibly wet spring we had down South? They also had it up North too. Even though it was the second week in July, the stream was extremely high.

There was also a lot of down trees in the stream. This is how the kids spent a lot of time entertaining themselves.

The Creek.



That's Jane, Maryah and Kate.

Maryah never misses a photo op, while Kate is just plowing foward.



Dave.




Greg was so cold, at one point he went to his daddy in the middle of the stream and asked if "I I I, C C Could, H H H H H Have, A a a a, H Hug D D Daddy?"



Oh yeah, Kent was in the water.



So lots of stream play.

We also went to a hot springs to rinse the camp off our last night. Nice! On our way home we ended up having a picnic lunch at these really old kilns off in the middle of nowhere. No pictures of the kilns but there was a water pump and here's what happens when boys that weigh less then 40 pounds each tried to pump it.







I'm sure I'll come up with more tidbits later. Like Marja's youngest yelling "I'm GOING TO DIE TODAY!!!" While his mom was driving up the side of a mountain but for now, there's some pictures and a bit more on our three day camp out.

No Deaths, Near Deaths, or Major Medical Emergancies

Also, no lost children, at least for very long. Really the kids didn't get super sick of each other until the long drive home. We also didn't run out of food and no one got food poisoning.

There were only a few bug bites. Only a few meltdowns and most children just had a few moments where parental supervision was required.

There was water to wade in during the hot afternoons. Snacking on good food when dinner was being made (even when not sanctioned by the adults present). Lots of great talking between friends. A great drive through the mountains in the Salmon area of Idaho. A picnic lunch in the middle of no where with only the pine trees and wild life for Company.

An Eagle, four antelope, a bear, numerous deer and endless wildflowers were spotted. Three types of flowers were even identified by Jane in a book of native wildflowers.

One morning allowed Kent and myself a leisurely bike ride before anyone else was up.

Camping success?

I vote yes.

No I'm not Deserting my Blog

But even though we now have a camp trailer that includes an actual potty, a laptop and access to the internet just won't be available until Sunday afternoon.

That is roughing it, right?

So this downright odd writing streak I've had will have to end for a few days. I will be communing with nature. Enjoying the wildlife. Reading some books. Spending quality time with my children. Eating great food in the even greater outdoors.

Okay, so I'll be reading in between refereeing the sword fights my kids will have with sticks, policing the use of fire wood so we can fix breakfast the last day and probably sneezing my brains out.

I better pack tissues.

I Loathe Camping

I had a friend point out that "loathe" is a pretty strong word, to which I assured her that I meant the statement to be strong. Just to be sure, I looked up loathe in the dictionary.

My old Random House states: Loathe-to feel disgust or intense aversion for; abhor.

While abhor might be a bit strong, I think the statement "intense aversion for" aptly applies. I could go into great detail on the little reasons why camping is not my thing but why waste the space when I could explain why I do something I don't enjoy.

Besides, if anyone looked back into the blogs written in June, there's a piece called "My Spiritual Backyard". I go into great detail why I don't enjoy yard work. Copy and paste my first paragraph and it pretty much applies. If you don't want to look, I'll explain with the word that is allergies.

But onto the good. Everyone else loves camping. Kent loves it, the girls think it's fun and boy do the boys love it! Cooking and eating outside is so much fun! Being away from home and since Kent bought the camp trailer, peeing in the portable potty apparently is immeasurable fun!

I don't think I'm a very good or creative campfire cook. Not that my kids care, they could live on hot dogs and smores, although that gets a little old on anything more then one night. Oh and the campfire! That's a great way to set allergies off!

Sorry, I wasn't making this about me.

Okay, the good.

Let me say that I didn't grow up with camping but I did grow up with parents that loved the beautiful world around us. We went on lots of hikes. We saw nature on a regular basis. I heard my grandfather express extreme amazement at the beauty of a flock of wild turkeys that he saw in the early morning from his front porch.

I remember being obsessed with drawing trees and trying to mimic the beautiful flow of branches from one to another.

I love nature. I love this world that God has created and all the beauty within it. I want my children to appreciate the outdoors as much as I did as a child. It's only through appreciation that our children will learn to love and respect the outdoors and in turn, take care of the Earth the way God wants us to.

I'm pretty sure Kent would want me to point out that camping is pretty cheap too. Other then food, we have what we need. The family time is very good for our children. They're less likely to bicker and fight while camping.

We need that.

So my own *cough*misery*cough* aside, we're camping this weekend, for three days and two nights. I know it's worth it.

Somedays You Wonder

Why? Why do I get out of bed.

It hasn't been a bad day but it's been full of kid frustrations, much worse then usual. As much as I'd like to focus on the positive and the good stuff with our family, days like today provide growth for us all and because of this, they need to be remembered too.

Today was movie day. We have a great local movie theater that does the second string movies dirt cheap. For summer they run series tickets, 12 movies, one a week all summer long for only $7.50 apiece. It's a great way to break up the week, especially after it gets hot.

We've been going at the 10:00 am show, mostly because there's usually less people then the afternoon shows. The movie gets out in enough time for us to finish with lunch at the park. This is our Wednesday routine.

Well, not today. Everyone was dressed, everyone had shoes, the girls had even (sorta) brushed their hair and I couldn't find my keys. We've lived in the house for over a decade, I have a routine. My keys are either on my desk, hanging by the front door or the kitchen counter.

I realize that last one might not make sense but since cooking dinner involves unlocking multiple doors, the kitchen counter is much more common then you'd think. The exception would be when I bring in groceries, then there's a small chance they'd be on the kitchen table but I always check the table if my last stop was the store.

None of the usual places. I was extremely frustrated because, if it wasn't in one of "my" spots that meant a kid had moved them. I checked the usual kid spots (freezer padlock) and the unusual me spots (my pants pocket from yesterday, my purse, desk drawer, even behind the computer, floor around my desk). You get the picture.

Nothing.

Jane finally gets this look, she resembled a comic strip drawing when the light bulb appears over the characters head. Yup, Jane had taken them and once she focused, she walked right over to where she placed them.

By the time this happened, I had already called Marja to cancel the movie. She could have gone alone but bless her heart, she decided to reschedule with me and we'll go tomorrow morning.

I opted to do a TON of laundry and pack kids. Got a lot done, went to the store for camping food. and my keys are hanging by the door Thank. You. Very. Much.

In between all that, there was a whole lot of kids getting into stuff they shouldn't. Ean repeatedly doing what he'd been told not to do three seconds after I spoke. The twins deciding to copy every single annoying thing Ean does.

Oh and it was HOT. Hot outside, hot in the house and I couldn't sit two seconds without there kids leaning on me. Greg, Ean and sometimes Kate, I couldn't stand it.

*Deep Breath*

I'm trying to focus. They're excited. We're going camping. We just had a long weekend with lots of fun stuff. Kent's schedule has changed. I need to breath deeply, be firm, be loving, keep limits in place and we will get through this.

Friday afternoon, I may let them scream like banshees while we camp and not even care. As long as they're far enough away it's not to loud but I can still tell no one is hurt.

I'll leave the organized activities to Kent. He's the outdoors man.

BOYS!

I would simply ask why, why, WHY must little boys do things that we as adults KNOW shouldn't be done?

My thoughts turn a "Calvin and Hobbes" strip where Calvin is pounding nails into the coffee table only to have his mom run in and demand to know what he's doing. He asks her "Is this a trick question?"

My apologies if I messed that up, it went something like that.

Anyway, last night I carefully collected every drop of fireworks outside. I put them in a metal can where they could cool off and we wouldn't start any garbage can fires in case they weren't out completely.

My boys, my darling boys ripped them all to SHREDS. All over my lawn.

I am livid.

My insides are screaming WHY? But the answer will be, guaranteed "Why not mom?" There are few things more frustrating then parenting. Grrrr!!!!!!!

David, Zen with Common Sense

While driving down one of our neighborhood roads last week, a car pulled out of their driveway right in front of me.

Keeping in mind that the speed limit in our neighborhood is only 25 mph and there's kids everywhere, I wasn't going very fast. However there are only two choices when someone is suddenly in front of you, either you hit them or you don't. I chose the latter and stopped just a little bit more sudden then I usually do.

I do drive a suburban and the car seats are positioned in different rows. One seat just behind my head and the other in the third row on the passenger side. Neither seat has a very good view of what's directly in front of the car but their language delays often make explanation really difficult if there's something that can be explained.

David was directly behind me, so when he spoke the voice was right behind my head. Sound usually just resonates in the back compartment, throw in back ground noise and it's sometimes extremely difficult to hear what's being said unless the child is speaking up.

Dave spoke up.

He told me "Mom, you need to not stop so quick. It is very dangerous!" Please note that "very" is actually pronounced "verwy" by Dave.

I quickly let him know it was far more dangerous to hit the car that was front of me then to stop suddenly. He let me know under no uncertain terms that I was wrong and repeated himself. I told him again that there was a car in front of me and I. would. have. HIT. IT. if I hadn't stopped.

David starting to feel the frustration that was his mother not getting what he was saying and reworded his original sentence before repeating himself again. This went on for a good ten minutes.

Throw in Ean pointing out loudly (because Ean doesn't usually do low on his volume) that seat belts were for quick stops and you have one pretty loud, headache inducing ten minute ride. David never did figure out that hitting a car was bad and we would have and I'm pretty sure he still thinks I'm dense for not understanding the dangers of sudden stops.

We'll just have to not understand each other this time.

Another common sense tidbit from our very own Dave happened yesterday during the downpour that occurred in the middle of our weenie roast. The downpour wasn't actually during the roasting of the weenies but shortly there after when it was time to do smores. Fortunately I had Marja there, so it wasn't a big deal to head out and roast anyway. The first batch that is.

We stood at the fire pit with light sprinkles coming down as Jane, Kate and my niece Sarah decided the weather wasn't "that" bad and joined us. We went back inside, assembled smores for everyone that one wanted one and decided to risk the rain again for more "adult" smores. I'm talking the heavenly combination that is a roasted coconut marshmallow and Hershey's "special dark" chocolate sandwiched between two graham crackers

Even Kent who doesn't like smores will eat one or two of these decadent babies.

We started outside. The rain was really coming down and it was a COLD RAIN. We stood side by side roasting our coconut covered marshmallows when we heard Dave, speaking from above.

See my inlaws house has a walk out basement so the back door entrance is on the deck which is up a flight of stairs. The voice was over a flight above us, about five feet behind our heads.

"Hey you guys! It's raining. You don't belong in the. RAIN! You get out, right now!!"

Overtaken with a fit of giggles, I told Dave that I knew it was raining. David repeated his ever so sage advice and you could tell by the tone of his voice, he felt the dangers of roasting marshmallows in the rain were obviously far to great to be ignored.

And foolish us, just laughed and continued down this dangerous avenue.

So he tromped down the stairs and while getting completely dumped on, yelled at us to get out of the rain.

Oh the fit of giggles!

I told him to get out of the rain and followed him up the stairs. We were drenched. But the heavenly dark chocolate, roasted coconut marshmallows, so worth it. Even if Dave didn't agree.

The Fourth of July

The good, the bad and the ugly.

Overall I'd rank today as an "Okay" fourth. Nothing spectacular with a few, could have been disastrous if I didn't have one heck of a sense of humor.

Of course raising my children has taught me to laugh, often. Otherwise life is just to depressing. But back to the fourth!! To start off we went to the local parade. I mean, that should be safe enough right? Someone, not thinking changed the time of the parade from 10:00 am to 11:00 am.

Then they told no one. I do mean no one! The people in the parade were lined up and ready to go at 9:30, the normal time!

My mom had picked up Scott so between Scott and the kids, they were going nuts waiting an hour and half before the parade actually started. Then there was the rain at 9:50, followed by some decent weather until the almost microburst, we're talking the most intense wind that sent everyone's belonging's flying up and down the street.

I ended up with David on my lap just sobbing, telling me how afraid he was. Everyone took cover in the car except me, I was chasing down a camp chair cover that took off. When I finally ducked my sopping wet and wind blown self into the car, I found out I was interrupting a prayer. David was praying for good weather, bless his wonderful, faith filled heart.

Light sprinkles followed and finally after what seemed like most of our day wasted, the parade started.

I was extremely disappointed to note that there was no color guard. Yes that's right, no American Flag in the Fourth of July parade. That is just wrong.

Kent just told me that a couple of years ago, his younger brother's Ward's Scout Troop had contacted the parade organizers and told them they would love to carry the flag. They were told absolutely not because they were a Mormon Scout troop.

I am. Sickened.

So the organizers of the parade are so against the LDS Church, they won't let teenagers, who happen to be LDS, honor the flag in a color guard meant to celebrate our Country? Would that happen to any other Religion?

Throw in that the whole parade was pretty darn lame, we're just not supporting them anymore. It's not worth the aggravation. The bad weather was just an ironic twist.

However, Kent spent a good six hours tackling the project that was putting together shelves in the garage. He ran into all kinds of snags including not only having to cut part of another shelf off to make room but he had to empty the fifty gallon water drum because it was two inches worth of in the way.

I got to help with the empty the drum. Lucky me!

We also netted the cherry tree. Our only hope for cherries, those birds are piggies!

We then made it up to Kent's parent's house where we roasted hot dogs and ate lots of other foods. We made it back home where Marja had the kids churn the most delicious homemade ice cream. Throw in some great fireworks fun and the day didn't end so bed.

The highlight of the evening was watching Kent help a friend's disabled son light his first two fireworks. The first was a smoke ball and the second, I remembered a larger piece that also just discharged smoke. Perfect because there was nothing to startle him or hurt him. Oh my goodness, how his face lit up when he knew he did it!

The shining moment of the evening for sure.

The Garage is BANNED!!!!

Banned?

Why yes banned. The little boys that is.

You see, we've had a rash of mischief pretty much all over the garage. The list includes, squirting wood glue all over the cement floor, silica sealer that was in a dispenser that resembles some kind of space gun, shot all over the floor. A ladder was climbed and someone found an oil can with a trigger, they got Jane's bike and that too was on the floor. They took the rivet gun and scattered the rivets all over.

The crowning accomplishment, Kent has an elaborate system set up to lock the freezer. There's a metal cable hung the entire circumference of the freezer (it's an upright). Then he has the cable cinched into place forming loops with cable clamps. Just to be clear when asking Kent what those were called, I said "Kent what are those woohickeys called that hold your whatchamathig together to lock the freezer?"

I'm so technical minded.

Anyhoo, Kent called all the possible culprits into the garage. There was a line-up followed by a whole lot of denial from all three boys. To be fair, only one crime at a time was investigated. We didn't need more finger pointing and blaming.

Kent started with the freezer. The cable clamps hold the cable laced around the handle of the freezer. Just one little way to keep from losing the whole cable around the bottom. An observation was made that someone loosened the clamps enabling it so they could just thread and unthread the cable to get into the freezer.

I might add that an entire bag of candy has disappeared the last week or so I knew something was up, but I thought someone was swiping my keys and I had no proof on who was doing the thieving.

Ean blamed the twins and the twins blamed Ean but this type of thinking, well really there is only. One. Suspect. And he denied for ten whole minutes before his daddy got it through his stubborn red headed demeanor, that it would be to his benefit to fess up but yes, Ean did spit out the truth.

So the punishment was fitted to the crime. A complete banishment from the garage the entire, holiday, three day weekend. Since the bikes are stored in the garage, this meant no bikes as well. Nothing. Nada. There was a firm chance for more on top of that if so deemed during the weekend.

Then Kent tackled the oil. Same story, everyone blamed everybody however the suspect list was quickly narrowed to the twins and we were both 99% sure that David was the do-er of the deed. See, Greg is a follower and really not an instigator like the other two. He's often along for the ride but he doesn't the light bulbs above his head that scream "Hey, this would be GREAT FUN!"

David's mantra was "Always say no and never confess" however when I finally leaned over and quietly whispered in his ear "Are you saying no because you're afraid of getting in trouble because you did it?"

He shook his head yes and I had to bite my tongue because dang, in trouble or not, the kid was so precious.

So we put a ban on the twins too. Greg actually didn't get nailed for any crimes but it's

1. Easier to keep everyone out the garage rather then just a few and

2. As stated above, we're pretty sure Greg was in on at least some of the mischief even if we didn't have a specific crime nailed to his booty.

Now ironically enough, Kate had just recorded her brother's committing mischief rather then just telling me they were a mere two nights ago. That's a whole 'nother story I think because the need to record them with PROOF really was kinda funny on Kate's part.

I should add, don't feel to bad for Greg. He got to go run errands with daddy a half hour later because he was the one boy that was honest and didn't lie to us.

He almost didn't mind not being allowed on his bike.

Irrigation Ditch Equals Child Magnet

The park we have lunch at has an irrigation ditch that runs through it. Even though we live in town and this town is bigger then the town I grew up, it still feels pretty rural.

For instance, my mom lives about three blocks from us and on the way from her house and our very typical family type neighborhood, you pass three different horse pastures that will have their horses grazing. For that matter, the horses in the pasture behind my mom's place, helped break her privacy fence.

It wasn't their fault, they were being curious and leaning w a y over on a rotting post. It would have broken soon on it's own.

So, the public park where lunch is served to kids, has an irrigation ditch that runs through it. It's full on Thursday and can still be pretty full-ish on Friday. Luckily by Monday it's dry again.

It's darn hard to keep the kids out. There's not a kid of any age or size that doesn't head that direction even if they have no clue there's water there.

For the most part my kids have been pretty good this year. There's been the catching of "water skippers" some kind of long legged native water bug. Please note, I don't know if this is what they're really called. We've had a few attempts at wading and the usual "I'm so brave watch me jump the ditch and almost brake my ankle multiple times, but all ditch rules went out the window today.

Yesterday I had such a nice bike ride, I was thinking of doing it again, so I called the twins over to say it's time to go. I didn't' spot Greg right away but Dave came over just sopping wet. Since he had on shorts it was pretty darn obvious he didn't have his shoes.

I said in my mean mommy voice "Where are your shoes?" You know, the type of voice where you punctuate after every word. He gazed up at me and responded that "Greg, he get dem mom!"

I looked over and there was Greg standing in the center of the ditch, only his torso and up exposed. He was making "air traffic controller" type hand gestures with intermittent cheers obviously signaling that the shoes were indeed making their way down the ditch, straight to him.

If they could explain it all, I'm sure they'd say, that was the plan all along.

It was cute and sweet and downright freakin adorable. It was obvious that we all are missing out by not having a twin! I wish it could have ended on that note however, it didn't.

You see, Greg lost his shoe in the ditch. I'll report later this month on how well the new, shoes don't ever come off your feet, rule goes.

I wouldn't bet money on this one.