It's that time of year...

This handsome young man headed off to 5th grade with a happy smile but not before he gave me a big hug and a kiss on the cheek. I'm grateful he is not embarrassed by his mom. His cheerful wave good bye was full of confidence.

And here is my 1st grader...all rested up after a wonderful night's sleep under the sweet influence of magic confetti.

And we got to school and found his spot to line up long before anyone else showed up.

Cooper has been asking for about a month now, just what I'd do without him at home with me. He was happy to offer suggestions like: go visit your friends, go on your blog, and my personal fave ~ do a craft. He's funny.

But this was a tough day for me.

I didn't go visit a friend.

I didn't go on my blog.

And I didn't do a craft.

I just sat in my quiet house and did a lot of pondering and wishing I could make a phone call to a number I have memorized but knew the voice that I wanted to hear would not pick up.

Yeah...it was a tough day.

But at 2:50 in the afternoon I walked outside to this happy sight...

They both came home with lots of happy things to report.

It all got better from this point on.

Have I really reached this time in her life??

A Freshman in highschool.

When did I get old enough for this to happen??

But she is so excited to be on her way.

Off she goes!

...and here she comes.

With Jana making fun of the fact that I'm standing in the driveway, documenting the moment.

Okay, so it IS kinda silly. But really...

4 more years just isn't long enough.

Back to School Eve...

At our Meet the Teacher night, Ms. Liddy had two very magical gifts for her new class.

First was a ball of plain ol' playdough. Not very exciting, and not at all colorful. But there was a note attached, instructing the kids to play, mix, push and pull the playdough. The note continued and said that if their playdough magically changed colors while they played then that meant the child was going to have a very fun and exciting year in 1st grade.

Cooper was thrilled to see his playdough change from plain to red!

He was hooked!!

Next came an envelope sealed tight. The note attached read that it was not to be opened until the night before the first day of school.

Cooper asked for the next three days when it would be time to open the envelope. He even begged me during Sacrament meeting if it would be okay to open the envelope as soon as he got home from church - even though I had meetings to attend afterward.

He just couldn't wait!

So when I got home from meetings he about plowed me over with a handful of Magic Confetti!

Here are Ms. Liddy's instructions (in part) to unlock the magic:

But sometimes we all get the jitters down deep
And that makes it hard to fall fast asleep.

So I've made you some magic confetti, it really is cool.
It will help you be rested and ready for school.

Just place the confetti next to your bed
On the night before school starts, where you lay down your head.

The confetti will help you sleep through the night
And you will wake up in the morning fresh and bright.

Cooper went to bed like a champ and carefully placed his magic confetti in his pillowcase. And when I checked on him 15 minutes later...

He was OUT like a light!

Oh how I love smart teachers.

And to report, Cooper has continued to use the confetti for the past three nights with the same incredible results. He told me he knows why it keeps working. Because he said a prayer that it would.

And the sparkling stuff now has a special spot...

In a treasure box, above his head with the lid cracked

"so that the magic can come out".

Thank you Ms. Liddy! We are so excited to spend 1st grade with you!!

And the finishing touches to a great trip...

Fishing with Grandpa.

Although they didn't catch anything.

But like my brother Craig always says,

"That's why they call it fishin' and not catchin'."

And if you are not familiar with this wonderful place...

...I'm so sorry.

You must take a trip to Perry and enjoy yourself one of the most wonderful, melt in your mouth meals you will ever partake of. (some of that raspberry whipped butter slathered on their homemade rolls would really hit the spot right about now.)

Coming home is always a good thing.

A big squeeze for my Dad!

The exploding outhouse is still a hit.

Thanks for a fun visit and all the love.

Within these walls...

It was a wonderful trip back to Lynnwood Drive.

Spending time with my brothers means something so much deeper now.
They always took care of me when I was small.
I remember the relentless teasing but with faded edges...
like the time I had a crush on a boy named Steven Underwood.
My brother Jim would chant things about underwear I think.
And he had a nickname for my best friend Carrie - Pipe the Snipe.
Where did that come from? He still calls her that now.
And there was a nickname for me but somehow I don't really remember it.
Faded edges.


But I do remember vividly the time I was walking home from school as a first grader.
With a hairdo I loved.
Mom always fixed my hair just so.
It was a perfectly Dippity Do'd slicked back ponytail,
spun into a beautifully rolled bun,
bobbypinned to stay in place with a hair never to come undone.
I arrived home from school with tears streaming down my round, rosy cheeks.
Along the way some mean, ugly boys told me I looked like I had a piece of poop laying on my head.
Oh the hurt to my seven year old heart!
I retold the story to my brothers.
They immediately asked who it was and marched back along the route,
intending to "destroy those little jerks!"
I didn't know who they were...
lucky for them.
'Cuz my brothers would have carried out their threat.
It's one of my favorite memories of Lynnwood Drive.

I also remember the night before I was to leave on my mission.
I was sitting on the bed in my mom and dad's room.
Jim came in and closed the door.
He sat down on the bed beside me and we just talked.
Having served a mission to France he knew a lot about the journey I was about to take.
He talked about being in a foreign land,
living among strangers,
not speaking their language,
about being homesick,
and about the feeling of wondering "what in the world am I doing here??"
But then he talked to me of faith,
of prayer,
of scripture study,
and of love.
His love, my parents love and the Savior's love.
It's one of my favorite memories of Lynnwood Drive.

I also remember a time when I was a sassy preteen.
I had spoken something or used a tone of voice that was not acceptable.
My dad had sent me to my room with a promise to give me the "lickin' of my life."
I sat in my room waiting for the punishment.
My dad came in and told me to bend over and touch my toes.
Oh man, this was going to be bad.
I hesitated, staring at him with pleading eyes.
Once again he told me to bend over.
So I did but suddenly I was wrapped up in his arms.
Enfolded in strong arms of love and forgiveness.
Both of us gushing "I'm sorry's" and "I love you's".
It's one of my favorite memories of Lynnwood Drive.

Mostly I remember Mom.
Everywhere...
whether physically there or not.
Once we were mad at each other.
Or rather I was mad at her.
Now that I'm a mom, I'm sure she was trying to help me.
But I couldn't see it that way through my young, inexperienced eyes.
I stomped dramatically to my room.
Yelling. Crying.
And I slammed the door.
LOUD!!
I threatened to run away.
I opened my closet door trying to decide what I would take.
All the while, rambling about how mean and unfair my mom was.
She let me get it all out.
It took awhile.
And then with the perfect timing of my mom,
she quietly knocked on my door,
peeked her head inside and asked very gently,
"Do you need some help packing?"
I threw myself into her arms.
It's one of my favorite memories of Lynnwood Drive.

And I saw that smile and heard that laughter twice upon this visit with her.
It makes going home so bittersweet.
She is everywhere...
Within these walls.

4th of July highlights

The happy day began with a small town parade.

How can you not love the old cars,

the cheesy floats,

the great floats,

the cowgirl princesses on their horses

and don't forget the marching band!

Add in some salt water taffy thrown to the waving crowd,

ice cold snow cones

and the F-16 flyover in formation!

It gives me the chills every time.

Our niece/cousin was riding in the parade with her dance team. Go Chelsea!!

A BBQ with Brent's sister Becky and her family was lots of fun.

There was yummy food and then we jumped into their pool for a vicious game of volleyball.

And the illegal firework show right in the front yard.

Although I was against the trip to Evanston to purchase the contraband,

it was pure delight to see them burst into the sky ~ just as lovely as any city firework

display. And seeing my boys grin with adrenalin and excitement as they lit

their first firecracker was pretty great too.

Boys. Gotta love 'em.

I just love the 4th in Utah!!

GREEN with delight!!

 

Such a great evening!
Such an incredible show!
Such a wonderful daughter!
So going again!!

my week is looking soooo good!!!

Tuesday!!

Maddie and I have been looking forward to this for months!!!!

and then Friday is triple goodness...

It will start with dinner here.

My taste buds are already dancing for the
Macadamia Nut Crusted Chicken...OH MY!!

then it's off to enjoy this...

All the while holding hands and sneaking kisses with him...

...'cuz we are celebrating

18 incredible years together!

such a darling piece of our Utah visit

I've posted pictures of this cutie before but here she is again...

Sophie Joan! My sweet niece Kami's baby.
(that's my brother. um, I mean Sophie's grandpa that can't hide his love for this little one)

A bit unsure of all this attention from our family...

Starting to enjoy the attention...

Yeah, lovin' it now! And Cooper's antics are definitely helping bring on the smiles and laughter.

This one is for Fishy

About the beginning of summer I saw a change come over my middle child.

It was during the bedtime routine and I was becoming increasingly frustrated with my youngest child. He will remain nameless.

This youngest child has manipulated his bedtime routine since...

since...

FOREVER!!
See already I'm getting worked up.

As my voice began to rise and my youngest child continued to cause distress for the both of us, my middle child was lying in his top bunk ever so quiet.
When I had had enough of the child in the lower bunk, I turned my eyes up to the child above me.
His eyes were filled were tears.
My heart was breaking.
I'd let him down.
I fear I do that way too often with this child.
I asked if he was sad because of me getting upset or if he was sad about his little brother's behavior. (silently praying it was the latter)
And then he said ever so bravely,
"Well, kinda both."
Wow! I felt so small.
And then he said,
"I just wish he would obey so that it wouldn't upset you so much."

And that is when it started.
Suddenly this boy emerged as the OLDER BROTHER
or rather his little brother's SHEPHERD.
He is ever so gentle in his reminders to help his brother listen and obey.
He guides him away from the "wolf" (aka: mom) when he sees me getting frazzled.
He offers alternatives to choices which could bring the wolf from hiding.
He sacrifices (nearly always - I mean he IS 10 after all) his own desires to that of this little brother.
It happens time and time again.
I have even taken this shepherd boy of mine aside and expressed my gratitude for his selflessness. Reminding him also that it is okay to make his OWN choice and not be influenced by the need to protect, guide or lead his little brother who we enable too much already.
But of course he responds with,
"It's okay. Really."

I've seen these brothers embrace more than ever before.
I think the little one knows he is being watched over.
And finally I saw my youngest offer his gratitude.
He asked for minimal help with this offering...

and my shepherd boy, being the treat-lover that he is, gave it back to his little brother.

And what did little brother say??

"He wanted me to have it. But I let him have a bite."

And before you get all caught up in the sweetness of it all, here is what the little brother said when he saw this in his bowl of sugar coated cereal:

"Hey, mom! Can you guess what this is??"

No, I couldn't guess.

"Come on Mom! Can't you see it? It's a toilet!"

I'm not the only one so glad when Daddy comes home

One of the joys of marriage

is watching your children love their daddy.

He is the star player in our home without a doubt.

If the kids want to play ~ they ask Dad.

If the kids want a favor ~ they ask Dad.

If the kids need to understand something ~ they ask Dad.

If the kids need a batch of awesome sugar cookies ~ they ask Dad.

As for me...

I still fit right under his chin and that is the safest place of all.

Happy Father's Day!!

We love you to the moon and back.

what are we doing around here??

Just growing up!

So Maddison makes it to yet another birthday.

Her birthdays are bittersweet to me.

The sweet and bitter come from the same source ~

loving watching her grow

and wishing she wouldn't.

Love you 17 Maddison!

And another one doing some growing is this kid:

losing your first two teeth makes for great excitement when your six years old!

experimenting...

FIRST ~ a HUGE disclaimer!!
I don't know the first thing about taking pictures.
I just know I enjoy messing around with it.
And I haven't even moved my camera off AUTO yet!
I hear there is a whole new world to explore when I get the nerve.

So with that said...

One of my favorite things to do is play with my photos in a post editing program.
I don't have Photoshop so I use two simple and FREE programs.
One is Picasa and the other picnik.
I don't mess around too much.
Just some tweaking here and there.

Both of these shots were taken within minutes of each other.

In this one I enhanced the cool tones, deepened some of the shadows and then added just a little bit of highlights back in.

In this one I enhanced the warmer tones, barely touched the shadows and then added a few highlights.

I really like them both.

The top ones just feels watery and swimming pool-ish.

The bottom one feels warm and summery.

more experimenting...

One of my favorite subjects...
my kiddos!

In the first two pictures I brought in more shadows to darken up his eyes.

In these two shots I left the shadows and highlights alone.
I added some saturation so the blue of his eyes was enhanced and then I softened up the edges.

P-u-leeeeeeeeeese!!

I love this kid.

Is it him or the flowers??

Cooper loves to play at Ethan's house.

When it is time for him to come home he usually steals a flower from Ethan's entryway and brings it home to me.

This time was no different.

He came through the door with not just one flower in hand, but two.

He said to me:

Mom! Mom!
(putting the bloom right smack on my nose)
You have to smell this one first.
It is just delicious!


Sigh...
just delicious indeed.

Our ward is what? CORNERSTONE!!

Back from another year at

GIRLS CAMP!

I'm sad this picture does not include all 34 of our girls!

We had a troop - that is for sure.

And such fun ~ every single one of them!

Our Stake Camp theme this year was

BELIEVE IN ME.

It carried so many meanings and the Stake did an

incredible job of pulling out every possible angle

and providing the Young Women a beautiful experience.

Sister Cavenee in our stake wrote a song especially for camp

to compliment the theme. She was truly inspired.

The words are so sweet and tender and yet carry such a power

that it was always a rush to sing this song and hear

the strength and spirit just pouring from these young ladies.

Goosebumps, again and again.

The Spirit always confirms truth but

high in the mountaintops it is a whole other experience.

I was blessed to be surrounded by these Young Women

for nearly a week and I marvel on every occasion at these

amazing YOUTH OF ZION.

The Lord is preparing them for incredible things.

And spending time with Maddison is such a highlight for me.

I love you Sis. 17 and then some!

2008~2009 School Year ends with much celebration!!

Maddison is now a freshman and ready for Highland High.

I, on the other hand, am not sure I'm ready for her to keep on this fast track to growing up.

You had an amazing year Sis!

Cooper sang his heart out and moved and grooved in the kindergarten program.

His performance pleasantly surprised me.

And I could never say enough about his fabulous teachers.

Thank you Mrs. Monsegur and Mrs. D - we love you!

What a fun night!

The girls got a bit caught up in the excitement and left a piece of themselves on the tour bus...

yeah, they kissed it.

The Highland Jr High Ladycanes basketball team ended the season with a

CHAMPIONSHIP!!

It was amazing to see Maddison try something new, work hard, improve and be a part of such a fun group of young ladies.

And thanks Coach Little for believing in her.

Davis' Little League team had an awesome season.

They battled an undefeated team for a place in the championship game and lost in the final moments of the game. It was a nail biter!!

They were a great bunch of boys and Davis and Brent enjoyed being together for another season of ball.

The Trailer

The Twilight Saga: New Moon 'Trailer'

Come on! You know you want a sneek peek.