Off to School We Go!

It is finally here the first day of school. It is so weird to be at home with just one child again. I keep saying what am I going to do all day--have no fear things like that seem to be a fleeting moment once nostalgia runs out and reality sets in.
S has been such a great big sister. She was explaining to me that she is going to walk L to her class every morning and make sure to sit with her on the bus. She was even telling L not to worry about bullies cause if anyone messed with L they would have to answer to S.

**Doesn't L look happy she just completed a full day of school? Personally I like the dress, I know it is a little costumey but she wanted to wear it and besides it's only kindygarten!**

I remember having my older brother in school one grade above me and feeling so secure like he would take care of me. I just told Carl this summer thanks for being such a great older brother. Watching my oldest makes me respect his role as the oldest sibling in my family. They really do lead the younger ones and help them feel secure and watched over when mom and dad are not around. Thanks Carly for being a great big bro!

***Here's the big sis--doesn't she look rather responsible, maybe school's not that great cause it's about 150 degrees outside, or so it feels.***

I have a top five list of things my kids told me on their first day of school.

5. S says very gruffly "Don't worry L if there is someone who is a bully just tell them you have a big sister who will find them and make them get in trouble!"

4. L says, "Mom can I wear lipstick to school?"--(inside my head, "Heck no! she can wear makeup maybe in college, Man, I am going to have to insist she not play with my bright red old lady lipstick anymore!)

3. S after school says, "I am soo sick of school!" I say, "Already?" She says, "yeah all my teacher wanted us to do is do math all day--I am really starting to hate school!"--I think my kids had too much fun being bums this summer!

2. 7 am--S says, "Hurry up! I don't want to be late for school!" I say, "School starts at 8:50 you will not be late don't worry." S replies, "Nooooo---you don't know mom, believe me I went there last year, school is going to start hurry up!"

And last but not least the #1 best thing said on the first day of school is.....

1. L is laying on her bed ready to sleep and looks up at me and whispers, "Mom how many times do I have to go to school?" I reply, "Five times a week sweetie." L sighs, "Ahh Man."

--I repeat my kids had too much fun being beach bums, jumping on trampolines, being spoiled by grandmas and grandpas and being full fledged cartoon addicts this summer. You would think I'd worry about their attitudes right? Nope, the way I see it you're only little once, right?

Case in point, my childhood---

When I was little, in the eighties of yore; before regular use of video games, you know, pre-computer and pre- internet, even cable tv was a novelty, Cartoon network you say?--non-exsistent!--I lived on a street fittingly named Pleasant Street and I had a real rip roaring time during the summer. Carly, Christel, and I would start the summer off probably riding lots of bikes and red wagons and having races down the long hilly street. I'd say our starting line was by the McGrath's house and we would race to the end of the street, which meant we would have to brake real fast to: One, not get hit by a car that could pass on the street perpendicular to ours or Two, brake real fast so we wouldn't go tumbling down the driveway at the bottom of the hill which was all rock and had a steep slope. Yeah baby--Fast and the Furious Missouri style!

Does anyone remember when David switched bikes with me and I rode his cool BMXy looking bike while he took my Yellow Banana Bike? Does anyone remember how when we decided to race the chain came off the bike HE lent to ME (infact my last memory before waking up was me frantically trying to brake Flintstone style and barefoot no less). As I was told by onlookers I flew off my bike and landed in the previously mentioned driveway of doom; battered and unconscious, waking up in my bedroom with mom's face looking at me like I had died or something. Ha! The days before knee and elbow guards, helmets, and bike saftey. We were a tougher stock back then weren't we? Hmmm...all of a sudden I feel a sudden urge to watch Karate Kid--Wax On! Wax Off!















My favorite part of the movie--When Daniel-son finally "gets it". You think a kid nowadays would wax all those cars or stain all that fence, or paint a whole house? Heck No! Well maybe it was pretty unbelievable back then too. How good of you Daniel-son!

Mr. Miagi's the BEST around!

What was that move anyway? Cause it never worked on Carly!

Times-a-changing

Well I have done a facelift or two on my blog. I've just been messing around trying to make it more my own. I thought I had made a cool design--maybe some of you saw my pastel and snail motif--it was yucky you can admit it. However I spent a little more time and brain energy and while it still looks a little unprofessional it is waaaay better than before.
anywho...
What can I say the summer (for us at least) is almost over. Our over scheduled days are numbered and now we are preparing for the school year. I can't believe S and L are going to be in school all day. We have had some good times this summer. My mom came out last week to visit us in Washington DC. This was a BIG deal, because I don't think my Mom really goes on vacations. She and my little brother and all of us went to Virginia Beach, Williamsburg and Jamestown. On a whim we rented that movie The New World, we heard the scenery in it was beautiful. It made us want to go to Jamestown and check it out. When we drove to Jamestown there is still nothing there (by way of buildings) so it is great to imagine what it would've been like when they landed here in America. It is an interesting drive because there are little roadside markers that tell of various events that occured in different places leading up to Jamestown. If you are a history buff (like me) then it is the coolest thing.

Before my Mom left we toured the memorials in DC. We left at 8pm to try to avoid the sweltering heat of the day. On the way down my father-in-law, who is actually a really great tour guide--the man is like a Washington DC encyclopedia!, was telling my mom we'd stop by the white house then the memorials. My mom didn't want him to drive out of the way so she kept saying no, no, I don't need to see the White House the memorials are what are meaningful for me. However my father-in-law had a little trick up his sleeve. If you've never been to DC, you head down 14th st and you're surrounded by huge tall buildings then out of the blue right in front you where the street ends is a tiny white speck--which is of course the white house--you have to be paying attention or you'll miss it. Anyways--he got a tricky look on his face pointed directly in front of us and my mom let out a HUGE gasp, she was like oh my gosh it's the white house, it's the white house!! As if it was the Beatles or something! We were cracking up! She actually shed a few tears before we jumped out of the car and walked down to the white house. Our pictures didn't turn out so well cause it was dark out, but it was wonderful seeing all the sites with mom.

S in front of the first lighthouse commissioned by the United States.

Me striking a pose in front of a different lighthouse built in the 1800's.

During our trip to Virginia Beach we went to Busch Gardens, here's the crew as we wait to ride the Haunted Mansion--They just might kill me for publishing this photo--I'll take my chances!

Ouch!

The crazy gang. . .Whatsa matta fa you!

Here's Mom and I at the Jefferson Memorial--can you see the admiration in my mom's face (remember she's the one who screamed "It's the White House, the White House!"

Ahhh....the Summer

Yesterday was a whoppin' 100 degrees--maybe some of you can relate. Yet, did I feel the heat? Nope-I spent the day lazing about in the pool. It made me appreciate being a mom. Don't get me wrong, I have my moments where I decidedly do not want to be a mom. For example, last night, when the missionaries came over and my two oldest chose to stick cut cucumbers on their faces and then on their mouth, of which they blew into it like a bubble wand and the cucumber seeds shot across the table (thankfully missing the missionaries)--no in that moment I wanted to sink to the ground and join the dining room rug. However yesterday afternoon, when the children were playing nicely and I was lounging in the pool lounger I was thinking this is the life--and I am grateful to be home dealing with tantrums and food fights and messes and stinky diapers, because if I wasn't doing that I'd be missing out on relaxing pool fun during 100 degree heat. It also reminded me of the song that embodies summer laziness to me (although after reading all the lyrics I realized that maybe it was the tune that felt like summer and not so much the lyrics, but these words do the job anyway).

The song is Pinch Me from barenaked ladies:

It's the perfect time of day
To throw all your cares away
Put the sprinkler on the lawn
And run through with my gym shorts on.
Take a drink right from the hose
And change into some drier clothes
Climb the stairs up to my room
Sleep away the afternoon.

ahhh... summer, is it wrong of me never to want to see icicles hanging off of my car door handle again?

Here's some family picts that typify summer for me.



The mandatory family portrait at a nice touristy spot, drenched in sweat from the blazing sun. I say, you can always see the truth in the face of the baby in the stroller. We're pretty much wishing we were poolside ready to jump in.


Nothing says summer like mom (grandma) up in the tree with a saw!

Noodle fights in the Inflate-A-Pool--woohoo!

Spraying kids on the trampoline with the garden hose then letting them jump until the sun goes down!

4th of July--What a Week!

It's official I was never meant to grow up landlocked in the Midwest! Our family spent all last week at the beach and my girls had the best time, I loved it as well. My kids are natural beach bums, all they wanted to do was spend all day at the there, building sand piles by the surf, body boarding, and once the waves got good jumping through the waves. S was the kid who I had to pry out of the water everyday, L (who is always shy and quiet) made the most friends just sitting there playing in the sand (the little kids were drawn to her because she kept finding shells and putting them in cups of water and telling the kids the shells would turn alive again--they actually believed her --it was pretty funny). Then there's X. She swims underwater andlooks as graceful as a sea creature, I could honestly watch her swim all day, it is that entertaining. Even strangers stopped and watched her swim, always with the same question "how old is she?" To which I would reply two, which shocked them because she wasn't afraid of the water and she was actually jumping over the little waves to swim over them. The best thing for me was seeing dolphins and kyaking in the ocean--always hoping they'd come and swim by us. Mom and Emma were the lucky ones. When they went out the waves were so choppy and hard to kyak in, they were just about to come in when one dolphin jumped right past them. Then Emma said a whole family swam past them and she could feel the water shoot out of the blow whole of one of the dolphins. Then three jumped right next to them. Everyone on the beach pointed and screamed with excitment at the site of it and Emma and Mom were right there. Emma was so scared, because they were so close, she was worried they might knock them off the kyak. They were sooo lucky!

Here is S pointing to something in the sand. It may have been a little crab.

L digging away making stuff.

X playing around in the water--happy as can be!

X swimming underwater at the pool.

Us riding a 6 person bike on the boardwalk.

Do Blondes have more fun? Only if they DON'T look like that, I think! I'll stick to brunette hair for now.

Father's Day Fun

Today has been such a nice peaceful day. I took a three hour nap (I guess that was my father's day treat---Thanks Derek. This summer has been all about family and it is definitely nice to be with all of our family right now. I am so blessed to have wonderful family and friends in my life. We had a delicious dinner--fry bread, salads, watermelon, and bbq ribs (they got a little burnt--it was kinda funny). In honor of father's day I am going to write a Top Ten List of my favorite dadisms--this one's for Dad and Derek.

10. The way Dad makes you feel better when you tried hard and didn't do so great. ex. Like the time he was my basketball coach and I made a basket for the other team--afterwards he said I had a great shot and had great "potential" (thanks Dad).

9. The way Dad can pick up a kid throw them in the air and miraculously catch them. Except when the child jumps off a bed with out warning Dad and falls face first on the floor (Just greatful Leah recovered from her fall).

8. When Dad comes to town expect to eat out!--my favorite! Chinese was good Thanks!

7. The way every child and grandchild gets to be called Boo-Boo.

6. The way dad (Grandpa Ah Mu) can kill a squirell with one shot of the pistol--Wow that man had aim.

5. The way Dad says Meow before requesting something--Meow please get me a cookie? Meow what? --weird I know

4. I really love how Dads will take driving for hours and hours rather than keeping the kids entertained (I like the trade off!)

3. Love the way Grandpa always had a jar of candies just for the grandkids!

2. The way Dad seems to be able to watch TV even when it sounds like World War 3 in the house.

1. My most favorite things dad do or let you do to them-- when they fall asleep and the kiddos put makeup on his gorgeous, stubbled face--Wish I had the picture of that one!

To the dads in my life Love you all!


I don't have any picts of Dads but I couldn't help but post this picture of Abel, he looks like Popeye.

the beautiful couple!!

Well my sister was married today. She looked so beautiful!! It got pretty teary eyed, everyone was hugging and telling each other that they love each other. Lots of pictures, etc. My family is so sappy! It is a lot harder to let her move on and be an official "grown up" now. Justin is a very nice guy, we like him a lot. They look so happy!

On Your Mark, Get Set, GO!

So you've probably read that the crazy summer has begun. We are back in Provo--watch out I might be coming over and saying hi to people in the neighborhood! We hardly have any free time even though I thought I would once we got into town. My Mom has been making food non-stop for my sister's reception. Wednesday my sister is surprising Mom with a spa treatment and she needs it!
Let's see there is so much that has happened. Let's rewind to May, my kids were still in school and we had a million activities crammed into the last month of school.
S's class put on a wonderful Mother's Day Program (only Moms were allowed to attend) and then we had a picnic on the playground. The real end of the school year event was the dance recital for S and L. There were like 35 dance numbers and they were in four of them. They had it at a local high school and I have to tell anyone who has never seen a Tulsa area school before, their highschool are HUGE and that is an understatement. The auditorium was huge and I felt like I had to walk a mile just to go back stage for costume changes. But the recital was wonderful.

L kept "reapplying" the makeup every two minutes. It was so funny, she rarely left her place at the mirror in the makeup room.

Here is the only picture I have of S at the recital she was off with her friends playing around she wouldn't stay still to pose for a picture, so we took one together.

One of the other end of year events was S's talent show. She signed up to do a hula and she performed it wonderfully, I was so proud!

L's preschool graduation was in May as well. Her teachers were the best! She'll miss her class this summer.

This post is super long and there is actually more but that is all I'll post for now.

What was I thinking???

I have a riddle-- What do you get when you put 2 infants, 4 children, 2 teenagers, an engaged woman, two mothers, a grandma and a dog in a car for 16 hours?

Just another masterful idea of Bucky's that seemed so perfect in her head, yet when executed seemed to be the most ill planned idea on the face of the planet!!!

But we made it! Yes!! When I look at the last two weeks I feel exhausted all over again. Let's see Last friday I was in Tulsa, Oklahoma--Saturday--Maryland, Tuesday--West virginia, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Indiana, Wednesday--Illinois, Missouri, Friday and Saturday--Iowa, Nebraska, Wyoming and finally Utah!! Where my sister is getting married and the real reason for all of the state hopping. Yesterday I swear to you I was in Bucky robot mode. I am just now (it's sunday) getting some feeling back into my brain. We are doing remarkably well for all of that traveling. We are alive, still laughing and enjoying ourselves. All though my baby has been talking to everyone by barking (just like her favorite pal our dog benji), that can't be normal! I'll keep everyone updated later! Love you all hope everyone has a great summer!

Sick, sick, sick!

S came home from school on Tuesday crying because she felt so sick. Wednesday she was feeling better so I sent her back to school on Thursday. Only she came home with red cheecks and feeling even more sick. Friday I woke up with a scratchy throat. It must be the mom in me but I refused to believe that I was getting what S had. I had a trip planned to visit my mom this weekend- all by myself! Of course Saturday morning when I was going to leave I was not in a good state. Yesterday I had the shivers, sore throat, runny nose, aches, and pains it was AWFUL. Last night L started crying and she was feeling sick too! So here I am at home, while Derek took S and X to church--we even have stake conference, he is a brave man taking a seven year old and a two year old all by himself. I have a great husband! L is currently making me look "falubous", that is how she says fabulous. She put a handful of gel in my hair and the brightest red lipstick she could find in my makeup box. She even brought me a flower to put in my hair. So I guess we are making the best of being sick and uncomfortable.





Here are our sicky-poo glamour shots. L did the makeup and hair, she is such a girly-girl!

The Joy of a Mom

S was at an event where she had to walk around the track a few times. She was walking by herself and after one lap she wanted to quit, so I told her if she finished what she started I'd take her out just the two of us. She was so excited she ran right back to the track and started walking. I was so proud of her that I decided to join her (stroller and all) for her laps. She loved having the company. That evening as I got my journal out to write my thoughts this is what I found. If you can't read it it says, "On thursday me and s are going on a date, just us. We are going to the "movie-dollar"-dollar movie :) We don't know what we're seeing yet." Isn't that so wonderful! I love S!

Here is S with her beautiful smile. She and I went to go see Aquamarine for our dollar movie. I can't believe she's growing up so fast.

Here is Benji wearing his mickey ears.

We always have to keep an eye on X. Here she is this moring. She climed up the dresser and was trying to grab our bird.

A Trip Down Memory Lane

We took a cake decorating class last year sometime. Here is Mako with her "tribute to Dallen" cake. Actually I think it was his birthday cake. I thought it turned out really
cool.

Here is my cake. I did a Totoro since my kids were really into that movie at the time. I love the transfer technique. I used it to do a Harry Potter cake which looked amazing, no pict of it though. The cakes tasted really good too. Problem was I ate so much cake I started to get a little tubsy, yet it was totally worth it!

Renee took the class with us. She forgot her picture to transfer so she used my Totoro picture. I think her kids thought it was cute. In the words of Homer Simpson Ahhhh.....Cake!(drool, drool)

Hail Storm

It finally hailed and it was amazing. The hail had to be the size of marbles. L wanted to go outside so we suited up with umbrellas and boots and ran in the rain.

Hot Morning

It's been hot and muggy all morning here in Tulsa. On the news they're saying thunderstorms and hail. Sophia has a tendency to freak out during "bad" weather here. She is very frightened of tornados. I've lived in the midwest my whole life and thankfully have never been affected by one.

Also this morning, Xela was playing with our little dog Benji. He snipped at her. He's a good dog and he has to be messed with a lot before he'll do that. I don't know what she was doing but she's been poking my eye for fun lately, so I bet that has something to do with it.

Silly Monkeys

Here are the girls at the Zoo. X, L, and S love that place. I think this picture sums up the three of them pretty well. They are my little monkeys sneaky, silly, and stubborn. Yet I love them what can I say! Their favorites are the shark feedings, train rides, carousel, earthquake machine, and the reptiles.