She's BACK

There is a movie that a young Jack Nicolas is in.
I don't think I know I have never actually seen it,
but there is a picture that sticks out in my mind where he is trying to push his way into a door and is saying
"I'm back".
Well that's me--sort of

maybe not with the crazed look in my eyes
but I am hoping....
that I am back :)
 
I am embarrassed.
      Penitent.
           Truly sorry.
but in my defense--where has the time gone?
Has it really been 21/2 years since I last updated my blog?
As I lower my head in shame I acknowledge that
            yes,
 YES it has been!
   {{{SIGH}}}
It is not that I have not had any thoughts...
or written anything...
oh contraire.
Lots of thoughts...
and many papers have been written,
just not much time to fiddle on the computer.

It has been so long since I posted I am wondering if this will even work.
Apparently while I was away the format has changed.
I shall give it a college try--since that is what is taking up most of my time.
I have so much explaining to do
so many stories to tell...
and realistically they won't be told.
All I can promise is to try from this point forward.

I miss this creative outlet.
I miss documenting my life,
my thoughts...
even if they are a bit crazed at times.

Oh the memories that family pictures creates

There is nothing like family pictures to build family ties....
NOT!!!
Why is it that my normally loving children have melt downs when it comes to family picture time?
Am I asking too much to have them clean up and put on a smile?

Apparently the answer to that question is YES!
I don't know how families take pictures each year--
I don't think it would bode well for our family relationships if we did.

If it is not one child it is another..
{{{SIGH}}}

A few years back i tried to get family pictures taken on the beach in Rosirito, Mexico..
ahhh...the best laid plans.
I made the mistake and asked a child to move to a different spot in the picture
at which point the said child told me that they were fine and did not need to move.
Who needs composition anyway
--or balance in a photo--
not our family
(yes this is all written tongue in cheek)
at which point the said child went climbing off in a big huff
(maybe that was the start of their love of climbing?)

All i want is some cute smiles...
I know they have them in them.

This will be the last picture that we will be able to have together for awhile so i wanted to take advantage of my friend Katie and her wonderful  photography skills while we were hanging out in Rocky Point--I would like to believe that she took off from school and flew home just to take our picture, but i think the love she has for her family had more to do with her coming home than her love of taking my families picture...anyway i digress.  So at some point I think she asked for a smile and that managed to set a child off--Ahh the joys of being a parent. It is not enough for them to just embarrass you--they need to do it in front of others to really make it count. So we went walking down the beach after she told us that we could take five to cool off--unfortunately the love fest escalated during those five minutes and i found myself watching my boys show ultimate love for each other as they rolled around and wrestled in the sand like three year olds--even fighting. My normally peace at any price husband felt left out of the fun and got involved showing them that he is still  boss and can kick their butts--lol

fUnNY now...not so much then....

I really liked when the child threw himself down in the sand and got irritated at the rocks and went to kick them, and then realized it would probably hurt him more than it would the rock....who said he doesn't learn from his mistakes. The rest of the photo shoot went off with a few snarls and a lot of attitude but i am hoping that in the midst of all of the family fun we managed to get a few good pictures. One word that managed to get us all to smile was the word Hemorrhoid--I guess you go with what works lol. Katie had Hubby and I take a picture together at which point she asked us to "kiss". That was a hoot. We were having  a laugh fest and finally did manage to muster up a smooch worthy of our love--lol. Oh the things that the camera catches.

Once again, family pictures did not disappoint on the memories that it created...it is a good thing that we really do love each other and manage to smile on the days we are not having our picture taken--because there are a lot more of those days than there are of the perfect outfit picture days.

growing up before my eyes

Kids have a way of growing up and changing. It is just the way it is. Happens whether we want it to or not.

2nd born son has been away at scout camp and now he is at wrestling camp. Wrestling camp is across town and they are actually rooming at the University. He has been gone for 5 days and will be gone for another 5 days. Seeing as how he forgot some stuff we ran over there today and hung out with him for a bit. In just the short time he has been gone it looked to me like he had grown. This kid is changing right before my eyes--it is only when i step back and reflect do i realize how much he is changing in such a short period of time.

Recently at his promotion they had some pictures of the kids. One of the mothers commented on how young the group of boys looked--more specifically my son. She said "Oh, that must have been sixth grade"--only problem was my son was not at that school in sixth grade. That picture was actually seventh grade--less than two short years and my little boy changed into a teenager. He now weighs as much-maybe more than his brother who is four years older and is now taller than his dad.

I have added some pictures over the past few years of him in his scout uniform so you can see the change as well


April 24, 2008--11 1/2



September 18 2008--11 years 10 months

August 20, 2009--12 years 9months

13 years 4 months

February 20, 2010

May 19th 2011--14 1/2

the most recent documented scout picture of how he is changing--

he finally got his LIFE rank officially--

yes it is already sewn on his uniform--i refused to take it off from when his brother got his

My/our goal if for him to get his EAGLE SCOUT before he outgrows his shirt.

At the rate he is growing it better happen sooner than later!

'sploding

It was just a short while ago when i spoke about
things that should NOT be kept in the car when it gets hot.
One of the things on my list was SODA....
'member why?
Cause the cans will explode when it gets hot....
guess what???

Somewhere between Saturday night and Sunday afternoon i managed to forget my own advise.
Literally the tops popped.
I brought in the remainder of the cans to wash them off and i put them in the sink--
only to have one EXPLODE like a gun had gone off.
Then another one started shooting off like a geyser--
Nothing like sticky soda all over everything.
One more reason i should quit this bad habit...
but sometimes it just tastes so good....
but only when it is really cold and over ice....

which brings me to another story about soda....

A few years back when i was in New Hampshire working I was craving a soda to kick start my morning.
We had gone to breakfast at this little bar across the street from the hotel--it was yummy and i asked for a soda to go. I was expecting a soda in a cup with ice--not what i got. Instead i was handed a bottle of soda.
They did not have to-go cups and ice was rather a foreign idea. Later that morning we had to go to the airport to pick up some boxes--off we went. On the way back we figured we would find a gas station/convenience store and pick up a soda there. I live in the land of pharmacy's and convenience stores on just about every corner so i didn't think it would be a problem. Let's just say it was short of looking for a needle in a haystack. We did finally find a gas station that had a sign outside totting its grand opening. We thought we had struck gold. We walked in and walked around looking for the fountain drink machine--only it was not to be found. What convenience store does NOT have a fountain drink machine? When i inquired about soda he told me he had bottles. When i asked about ICE he responded to me. "Mame', 9 months out of the year when we want ice, all we do is stick our hand out the window." Case in point--I guess it gets cold there, so no real need for ice in the drink. Such a foreign idea that it actually is cold other places--although i am liking the idea of some cooler weather right now. I know that summer had only begun and i am already getting tired of it. The only way i will get through it is with LOTS of ICE...and maybe some Ice Cream

mom gives a mohawk

I am sitting here try to take in the fact that today is the last day of school for most of my kiddo's.
I seems like it was just a month or so ago that I the year started....
My senior was done last week and has been hanging out the last few days waiting for graduation.

My sophomore has been frantically finishing up her online class and studying for exams that she says are going to be easy. I ask her "why are you stressing over studying when they are going to be easy?" and her response is that "she would rather be prepared... just in case." Can't really argue with that logic.
 
My soon to be high school er is counting the days till he is out of his school--but that does not keep him from continuing to cause havoc and bring home a note because he was being a tad bit too "chatty" in one of his classes. I also am counting the days till he is done with that school. It has been somewhat of a thorn in my side...so grateful that my husband took point on that one. I don't think, actually, I know that i could not have dealt well with the "rules" and pompous attitudes that exude from that school.

SOOOO....with that statement being said I am allowing and even encouraging my soon to be freshman to rebel against the man just a bit. He has promotion tomorrow. Personally I find the whole idea of promotion a bit ludicrous. I had never heard of it until I moved here...but it seems to be a tried and true tradition that for whatever reason we can not give up. It has been scaled WAY back over the years. I guess things were getting really out of hand with Limos and fancy dresses and it being celebrated with the idea that this was indeed the end of the kids schooling instead of the start to the next step. Why we celebrate the kids finishing the 8th grade is beyond me--I expect it. That is part of the continuous step to HIGH School graduation--then college.

Promotion has changed since my oldest child did it. When she promoted it was held in the multi purpose room/cafeteria. We had tickets. There were student speeches, and awards. It was a bit of a celebration. Then the next child came two years later. Same sort of event but scaled back. Then my third child. Talk about a change. Hers was held in the classroom. It was a joke, but for those looking for validation of  promoting, I guess it fit. I spoke with a teacher/friend about it and she made the comment that the ENTIRE district was scaling way back the idea of promotion, with out completely eliminating it. Fine with me--I would even be in favor of elimination but alas my opinion was not asked...So here we are a promotion time again. Apparently my son's school did not get the SCALED back memo. NOOOOO.! We are having a promotion breakfast...catered....away from the school...at a church. We had to RSVP months ago. They are charging $18. per person for the luxury of going to promotion. Personally if I am going to pay $18. per person I would rather pick where and what i am eating. And really? $18. for breakfast foods? When we spoke with the principal about this we were told "the kids have worked really hard and they deserve to be recognized"
WHATEVER....I can tell you that my daughter who's promotion that was held in the classroom worked just as hard, if not harder than this son. So I have to take off work and pay for the opportunity to watch my son promote. Personally I am going just to see their reaction.

Reaction to what you ask? Remember the part of being a rebel and sticking it to the man. Well.....in all their ability to make my son conform, he has. Until NOW.!? He mentioned weeks ago that he thought it would be funny if he had a flat top Mohawk for promotion. I agreed. My husband was not in favor of it. He does not like to make waves. I on the other hand, like the bumpy ride on occasion.
I caved.
Or actually.
I shaved, is more like it.

It is only hair.

It is only temporary.

It will grow back.

He was told that he has to have a "normal" haircut to perform his priesthood duties. He agreed. It could always be worse--he could have dyed it some wild color or even bleached his hair like his brother did. I know hubbers is not happy with my encouragement of the rebelling against the man--and the fact that i cut the Mohawk right before seminary graduation--but it wasn't his seminary graduation. Plus if it was going to be done i wanted it to look good, and if his brother had done it, there was no telling how it would have turned out. I did have to do some touch up the next morning before his actual promotion....but that is a blog entry for another day

Senior pictures

Time is a funny thing.
There are moments that fly by and others that creep along.
Has it really almost been a month since i posted last?
March felt like it moved at a snails pace--
April moved at light speed,
and then here we are in the middle of May already?!
School will be ending for my senior son this week--
and then next week is graduation and the end of school for the rest of my piglets.

Summer here we come....

This was my sweet boy just four years ago at 8th grade graduation

such the cute boy.

He has grown (some).

Put on some weight

and gotten (some) facial hair,

and his braces finally removed.

Time does not stand still--it keeps moving. 

Life keeps changing.

Here he is four years later....

red pants and all.

He is his own unique person

 This has to be one of my favorites--I love the reflection in the window

These pictures were taken by his friend Katie.

She is amazing.

(Katie is the one on the left with her sister)

Since i have known her since birth I can say that.

She has become quite the accomplished photographer

(check out her blog) 

Jake and Katie have a special relationship--
When they were young pups on the playground they were swinging on this tire swing that we fondly refer to as the hurler. Let's just say that centrifugal force does not bode well for the person next to you when you loose your lunch---Katie has either blocked out that memory, or has chosen to forgive him and his childhood indiscretion. Not that he had much control over it. I am soooo grateful for the fact that she was able to draw the smile out of him--he is not the easiest in that regard.
My number two child will graduate...in four more years and i will loose two more--leaving little man to hang out with his dad and I...ALONE. It is hard to believe we are at this point in our lives...fun and yet sad at the same time. These pictures are just proof that time marches on and waits for no man.


Changes will happen whether i want them to or not. I am excited and nervous to think about what the future will hold for my kidlins. I guess i just need to embrace these moments/memories and be thankful for the pictures that have frozen them in time.

“We all have our time machines.

Some take us back,

they're called memories.

Some take us forward,

they're called dreams."



The anticipation of GOOD Friday

This Friday is Good Friday--
I am ready to declare it GREAT Friday.
I am ready for a break.
I am ready for a day to play
I only wish i didn't have to work tomorrow...
I am sick and tired of it.
The worst part of working in the morning is that it is going to start even earlier than usual.
Some knuckle head at work decided to add another student to this route i am driving
and i have to pick her up at 5:45 am
--which means i need to be at work even earlier.....
way to early if you ask me.
The only redeeming grace is that the sun is coming up earlier and earlier,
so getting up isn't quite as bad--but it still sucks.

This has been a tough week around our house--
more disappointments
and then van issues on top of it.
I think it is safe to say that both my hubby and i are emotionally exhausted.
We are both ready to get away...
even our little trip that we planned was almost derailed by a need for a expensive new transmission that was not going to be done in time for us to use our van,
thank goodness for a grandma with a van, and her willingness to let us borrow it--
that way we can still get away...
Even if it will only be for a day

how much sleep is too much?

Today i woke up and felt like I had been ran over by a Mac Truck.I have been battling a sore throat and runny nose the last few days, and in my mind was the debate,
Allergies, Cold, Flu or just plain tired?--
I am not sure if it was not a bit of all of them.
After i decided that i was not up to going to church,
i crawled back into bed and slept...
and slept....
and slept!
Does sleeping for 8 extra hours constitute a NAP or a new day?
I slept the day away with only a few minutes of alertness to get something to drink and snack on and then i was back to bed.
I did awake feeling better, but still not up to par.

I remember as a young child
my mom wanting me to take a nap.
I remember fighting her over it,
explaining to her that naps were for "babies",
and i was not a baby and therefore did not need a nap.
She then went on to tell me that daddy was taking a nap--
what could i say to that?
My young brain could not find any logic as to why my father would be taking a nap.Being an adult now i understand the attraction of finding a few hours rest in the middle of the day.

With all the sleep i got today,
The real question is if i will be able to sleep tonight/
My sleep has been so messed up this past week--
there were nights when i got plenty of asleep only to awake and  feel so tired that i would come home from work in the morning and go back to sleep till i had to go back in the afternoon. Then there was the night where i couldn't sleep and stayed up till 3:30am and only go TWO hours sleep and went on to work the entire day and was FINE?!
So i sit and wonder what tonight is going to bring me--
one of restful sleep or....?

public service announcement--marshmallow mush

Can i just say
sometimes it is the small and simple things
that make me happy?!

I found these little bit of yumminess at the dollar store the other day.

In true Goldilocks fashion,

they are bigger than a miniature marshmallow,

but smaller than a full size--

they are the momma bear marshmallow--

Just right for this momma.

And to boot, they are tasty with different flavors-- not your boring bland white marshmallow. Not that i don't like plain marshmallows-- I just like them dried out. Some might even refer to them as stale?. Is it strange that i like dried out, plain white mallows? There is just something about the crunch that i find appealing. In fact i have been known to leave the bag open in hopes that they will dry out-- unfortunately they usually don't last that long...

So what do Marshmallows and public service announcements have to do with this blog? This blog is about many things, but the last thing i want this to turn into is a blog about the weather. Currently we are riding the weather roller coaster-one day we are having unusually HOT weather and then one week later we have dropped over 40 degrees and it is raining, and dare i say COLD?.
It is hard to know how to dress-

the question is: bikini or thermals?

(EWWEEE--what a mental picture-- the bikini it out of the question).

 So, really the question is:

--expose the pastey white (marshmallow like) legs

or leave them covered?

 There are things you take for granted when the weather is cool. Things people never have to think about unless you live in the toasty warm state of AZ.--Phoenix specifically. The things i am talking about are the things you can"t leave in the car even for a few hours.



Growing up (when life was much safer) my mom would run errands with us kids (not by our choice or hers). Often, if it was a quick errand (quick is a relative term when you are a kid) she would leave us in the car--usually with the windows up and when it finally would get warm (again relative term when living in CO) with the windows down. She didn't worry about us being taken (no one would want the whole brood--we were too onerie) The only thing that she worried about was whether or not we'd kill one another while she was gone. Now this is NOT something i recommend these days, but i can understand why it was so appealing--and lets face it, we lived on the wild side. We ran around the neighborhood (without cell phones) and my mom's only requirement was that we were home by dark. But this blog entry is not about my carefree safe childhood--it is about leaving things in the car.

Here in AZ,in the summer, even a few minutes in the car can leave you breaking out in a full sweat (and that is with the AC on). Once years ago, I was taking a sleeping child into a friends house and left my keys sitting in the car. My older children shut the door and the automatic door lock--LOCKED. It wouldn't have been such a problem--you can always get a spare key (only i was 20 minutes from my house)--but for the fact that when they locked the door, they locked my baby in as well. There he sat, in his car seat--smiling through the window at me. 

(dang he was a cute little bugger)

It was high noon in the middle of the summer and I knew the temperature in the car was going to increase real quick. We tried breaking a window to no avail and quickly gave up and called the fire department. They did manage to get him out and declared him FINE (i am still left wondering about his humor and wonder if his brain didn't get a bit baked)--he was a tad red, but really no worse for the wear. On occasion I hear about parents leaving a kid in the car by mistake and I think of that day--things would have turned out much different if i hadn't realized he was in there. It makes me sad to think about that kind of loss--but i do understand how those accidents can happen.

Once again today i am reminded just how warm it can get in the car.
Let me preface this by saying that it hasn't really been HOT this week--
the weather has been
BE-UTE-I-FUL

--lest i say almost PERFECT these last few days.

So nice in fact, that i was able to open the windows in my bus and read and nap without melting. So with all this perfect weather i never gave a second thought about it being TOO HOT in my car --that was until i went to grab something out of my backseat and saw this.

Apparently while i thought the weather was perfect,

it was a just a tad warmer than i thought in my car--

warm enough to melt the DNA of the marshmallows bunnies into each other

I had just bought these yesterday.

Unfortunetly, I don't think there will be any recovering from this though.
Just one big ooeey gooey mess.

Other things i have learned over the years not to leave in the car when it gets hot--

• Deodorant--yes it melts as well, but it does leave the car smelling, ohh so fresh and clean.
• Candles--do i really need to explain? Again, good smell but often the wick goes MIA
• Glue sticks--hot glue--glue glue--they ALL melt! It is NOT pretty, and leaves quite the MESS, because it is glue! And when glue cools off, it glues everything back together--even things you didn't want glued--like the bag it was in.
• Magazines and Books--again back to that glue thing. This time it manages to UN-glue the bindings and you end up with lots of pages loose
• Crayons--creates a waxy mess--not so good on the carpet or upholstery
• Bottles of Milk--now it has been a long time since i have found one of these hidden gems in my car but i can still remember the curdled solid mass it was. Often that bottle would get tossed before i would dare to open it
• Chapstick--ends up in the cap--or melted sideways
• Soda in cans--when it gets hot enough it will EXPLODE. Yes, i am afraid to say that it has happened...MORE than once over the years(you think i would have learned)

 Now i feel i can add to this list...

• MARSHMALLOWS

I am sure there are more things that i have overlooked--

they will have to be added to the list at a later date.

I know the heat is coming--

my melted marshmallows
only served as a reminder of that fact.
In true Hill Street Blues fashion I will say:

"Let's be safe out there people"
Time to make sure everything gets brought in from the car, lest we have any more "accidents"



POINGO and Sunday with the BOYS

Ah Sunday--a day of rest. Usually you can find me taking full advantage of the rest part... buried under the blankets in my bedroom enjoy an afternoon nap. I guess with the day off yesterday, that eliminated my need for a nap. Instead i spent the afternoon hanging out with my boys upstairs, while my girls were buried under blankets, taking naps in their room. Maybe that has something to do with fact that girls(for the most part)could care less about Sunday sports. I really didn't care who was playing or even won the US Open (at least i think that was the golf tournament) The men on the other hand acted as if they had a vested interest. Little man has had these Poingo books. He LOVES them. Months ago his little poingo stick quit working. If you know our little man he does not give up when he wants something-- needless to say that the inoperable poingo stick was a large source of consternation for US as well as him. He just could not understand WHY it was not working. I called the company and they sent us a new one--problem was it was the NEW one. As in: they redesigned the toy and the new one would not work on our old books. Well now that was no good. In fact the new one had a major flaw in my mind--it had these things that you had to plug into the stick in order to make it work. If that was how it had been when i originally gotten the books i would have NEVER bought it. Who needs parts to lose? Never mind the fact that each time you change books you have to change cards--which means we as the adults would be in charge of that. The old one was much easier and user friendly--he didn't have to plug anything in and the only thing he would lose would be the books or the stick itself. I called the company and to see if i could get the old version of the stick sent to me. NOPE! They no longer make it? Well i did proceed to tell them what i thought of their new design and explained as a parent the major flaw. Was there anywhere i could get one of these sticks??? Again i was told that they no longer manufacture them and have NONE in their warehouse--SIGH--what is a mom to do? Well as i was talking to the Poingo man i had googled Poingo on my computer, and low and behold there was a site that was selling this little golden stick. I NEVER buy anything off the computer--but this was dropped into my lap. Not only did they have the original poingo they also had some other books for CHEAP. I could not resist...I knew how happy it would make my little man . And HAPPY he is! This little boy has been playing with these for the last two day It has kept him busy for most of the day. While i was taking pictures of little man and his books, i took the opportunity to aim my camera at the rest of the people in the room. Ever feel like everyone is against you? once they figured out that i had a camera in hand they quickly buried their faces even the dog who had been resting her head on a pillow lifted it up and turned away and then she gave me a yawn to show how bored she was with the whole process even my husband got in on the obnoxious picture face--

the finger on the nose was just for the camera here he is with the glazed over golf look and here is the whole reason the camera was in the room to begin with.

My husband wanted a picture of the three boys hanging out together I know it won't always be like this.

I wish i had gotten a picture of the two older boys sleeping on the couch together...

so sweet...reminded of me of when they were little--

somedays i wish we could go back...

like when they actually liked getting their picture taken