Glenn Beck, Baby! Bring It On!

Yesterday, as I was driving home from dropping Laena off at Riverton High, I just about choked, I was laughing so hard.

Why, you ask? Two words, Children: Glenn Beck. Hysterical. The funniest show I've heard in a while. And it was so . . . random, so seemingly unrehearsed. . . It was great. : ) I am truly disappointed that we are going to miss out on his remarks at the fabled '08 Stadium of Fiyah, there in Happy Valley.

And why, you inquire? Simply because the system crashed, and we were in the middle of a birthday party and didn't have time to pursue online tickets further. Or maybe it's just Karma. Or fate. Whatever. (FYI, they sold out in about an hour. 50 thousand seats.)

But yeah. . Glenn, you rock! Love the show. I am a big, big fan. : )  At the risk of sounding ostentatious, or . . . presumptuous, hey, if you happen to have any extra tickets, feel free to send 'em our way! Yeah, Baby!  : )

Really, he makes it all better, just like Rachael Ray.

I wonder why he won't confirm me as a friend on Facebook. . .  

Spring Teasers

Well, Spring has sprung, my friends! : ) Except not really.

Monday and yesterday were both exceptionally warm, almost to the point of deceiving us into thinking that Mother Nature had finally gotten over her perpetual moodiness. Except not so much.

Monday afternoon, our 2 littler children decided to play in the sprinkler, out in the front yard. Some of the neighborhood kids came over and they made it into a party. Warm breezes flew lazily through the open windows, skeptical tulips and colorful bathing suits brightened the yard, the happy sounds of children playing could be heard . . Then yesterday, Jeffy got to take the treat to his T-ball game, over at the field behind the indoor pool. . We had the windows down when we drove home.

Now today, the forecast calls for snow. . . round about dinner time. Can you believe it?! I can.

I mean really. . . to let the little kids think that summer is finally approaching, and then to make them get out their winter coats again. . . It's just downright mean. 'Course, maybe they don't care, least not so much as us grown-ups. . . cause what's a little bit of snow gonna do? 'Cept make it so they can build snowmen and make angels, right? Sure.

: )

Is there some sort of chant that we can do? Like maybe a rain dance or something, that would bring on the warmer weather, without all these ups and downs. . . ?

Flavors of Summer

This should be a good week. Yesterday was the first really warm day of the year for us here in Utah. Lea and Jeffy naturally had to throw a 'pool party' in the front yard yesterday afternoon. Several neighborhood kids came over. They had fun playing in the sprinkler, filling up the coolers and having water gun battles. : ) My flowers are coming up. . It was quite pleasant.

Charlie had the good sense to bring home a beautiful bouquet of pink roses this past weekend. What a man. : ) He and Tommy had a good time at their island campout. Chili dogs, with all the trimmings, heating rocks for their sleeping bags, unauthorized air soft wars, and of course their clothing smelling of woodsmoke and dirt, were topics of conversation when they returned.

I love my man. He's so freaking energetic. Irritable, sometimes, yes, but he spent the entire day yesterday working on math homework, studying for his final last night. Poor guy. . . Just hearing words like parabola, matrices, evil polynomial functions brings back bad, bad memories of . . . school. The very thought makes me shudder. I've got chills, and not the good kind. EEeeyyyaaaah. We don't much like. . . MATH.

Anyway, Charlie's been very nice these past few days, to help me out in various ways, even though he probably should've been studying. Ah, me. The sacrifices that man makes for the good of the family. . . Ha ha ha. : ) I did appreciate him cleaning out the vacuum, however. It has been suggested that perhaps Cheerios should be swept up, rather than vacuumed. . . My philosophy is this: If it can't pick up a Cheerio, I don't need it, thank you very much. Sigh. I do hope the balmy spring weather remains. Then we can go outside with a playpen or whatever, and just leave the crumbs for the birds. . .

It is pretty funny, how summer's imminent arrival has tweaked the brains, and therefore the behaviors, of our children. . .The latest craze right now is action movies. Well, and dating for Laena. . I suppose we should've seen that coming. . . But our boys have recently discovered these 'Ironman' slurpy cups at 7-Eleven. Now, every chance they get, they've gotta run over there and get a slurpy. They're trying to collect all the different cups. They're pretty cool, actually. . They even have an action figure attached to the straw. Oy.

p.s. Slurpys are great! Wild cherry's my favorite. : ) Can't beat it. Although once they came close, with an amazing Sunkist Orange flavor worthy of the tropics. It was to die for. Good times. . .

Random Thursday. . .

Today I was feeling emotional. . . for whatever reason. I told Charlie that I really needed to go and cry somewhere for a couple of days. . This was his tender response:

"Can you wait until I'm done with my finals?!"

Sigh.

Boy oh boy, this has been a fun week. A random day. . . Here's how our Thursday went. . I'll give you the run-down:

Got 4 hours of sleep. Got up. Got kids off to school. Had breakfast. Hopped in the shower. Changed poopie diaper #1.Worked on laundry. Cleaned up kitchen. . sort of. Fed cats. Changed poopie diaper # 2. Checked email. Talked to Grandma. Got boys ready for Jeffy's field trip. Changed poopie diaper # 3. (I only have on kid in diapers) Walked over to the school in the middle of a driving snow/hail storm. Picked up Aleia from school. Met Charlie. Drove up to Planetarium for preschool field trip. Slept through half of movie on solar system. Grabbed lunch at Wendy's. Drove down to Coke Plant during a freaking rain storm. Dropped Chaz off at work. Took kids home. Told Laena good luck with the Orchestra competition. Laundry. (Dishes?) Ha. Gave Lea a bath. Got mail. Put baby down for a nap. Helped kids make cardboard rockets. Tried to vacuum up popcorn. Clint came home and had a snack. (full-sized bag of chips, 32 oz jar of salsa) Tommy came home and had a snack. (4 chimichangas, half a gallon of grape juice) Ran to get doughnuts from the grocery store for Tommy's Orchestra concert. Also picked up another dozen donuts that Aleia bought with her birthday money. Got Jeffy's T-ball uniform together for game and picture day. Took Eric a sweatshirt for track practice. (still snowing) Convinced Clint to get out of bed. Called Charlie and wished him good luck on his Anatomy final. Drove Clinton over to Pizza Hut. Encouraged Tommy to find his Sunday clothes. Loaded up for T-ball game. Eric came home and had a snack. (couple of protein drinks, jar of applesauce, walnuts) Got Eric to do some dishes. (stinkin' dishwasher's broken) Went over to Rec Center ball field. Wrestled stroller out of trunk. Cheered Jefferson on at T-ball game, amidst alternating snow and wind, and sun. Endured indoor team pictures in the gym, next to the pool, (air heated to 80 degrees), together with 500 other parents. . . Raced over to the middle school for Tommy's concert. Showed up late for Tommy's concert. Took bunch of pix at Tommy's concert. Recorded quartet at above-mentioned concert. . . Wolfed down doughnuts and cookies, with half the middle school, in the band/orchestra room. Carted everyone home. Jeffy threw up. Jeffy went to bed. Helped Aleia with homework. Ran bath water for Jeffy. Unsuccessfully tried to awaken Jeffy. Warmed up chili for dinner. Went to pick up Clint from work. Got mail. Picked up Laena from the high school. Fed baby his 10th bottle of milk/juice. Helped Aleia with curlers. Encouraged Laena and Clint to do homework. Read stories with kids, brushed teeth with kids, said prayers with kids. . Put kids to bed. Collapsed onto couch. Got up to greet the Hubby Man. . Fell into bed. Died and went to Heaven.

And that was my day. Don't even ask about Friday. . . Suffice it to say that my Scoutmaster husband was off camping, on an island somewhere, at an overnight Scouting event. . Eric got home at eleven, Laena . . showed up at 1:32 AM, and the baby was up half the night with a fever that spiked to 103 degrees . . Fahrenheit.

Check Facebook. It'll tell ya. . . Mama . . is exhausted.

C'mon Jenny, where's that neck rub? : )

Some Things are Worth the Wait!

Rowr!

http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1734838-1,00.html

I cannot WAIT until Stephenie Meyer's new book comes out!

Baby . . Come to Mama!

Wait a minute. . .

'A thirty something Mormon housewife. . typing one-handed with a baby on her lap. . .'  Hmm. Sounds sort of familiar. . . Hey hey!   Maybe there's hope for me after all!

Kid Quotes!

My cousin has the coolest blog! Ever! One of the fun things she's been doing lately is recording the cute, adorable things her little children say, and they are entertaining. . .

I've got a couple of my own today, that I would like to share:

1. Jeffy, the other day, was sampling some chocolate milk.

"Delicioso!" he yelled, after a good big swig.

I raised an inquisitive eyebrow. He rolled his eyes condescendingly, and tried to help me out.

"That means yummy." he informed me patiently, holding onto his chair, and kicking his foot in the air aimlessly. Hilarious!

And THEN. . .

2. Yesterday, Jefferson was sucking on a Popsicle sometime around lunch. Before he was done, he figured out that we had popcorn! He loves popcorn. .

"Mama, do you want the rest of my Popsicle?" he asked, whining a little so I'd be sure to take him up on his offer.

"No thanks." I responded, surprising him.

"Mommy", he said after a brief moment of innocent contemplation. "Are you allergic to Popsicles?"

He was crackin' me up. : ) 5 year old boys are fun!

p.s. Just now Jeffy said he wants to watch 'The Seeker' for pizza/movie night.

"No way!" I told him. "It's too freakin' scary."

"But Mommy, I like it!" He decided to negotiate. "I'll skip over the bad parts. . . " he offered, holding the movie case with both hands, and giving me his best pouty face.

Again, you can't buy entertainment like this! So cute! : )

Ping!

I have just discovered that I am technologically impaired. Sigh. I borrowed Laena's cell phone, to try and text somebody a late 'Happy Birthday!', and I just couldn't seem to figure it out. Apparently my lack of literacy was irritating to my not-so-patient teen-age daughter. Instead of explaining the intricacies of mo-dren communication, she grabbed the phone, took over, and let those little thumbs of hers fly. . . I was not entirely amused, as I would, at some point, like to figure out -maybe even familiarize myself with- how to 'do' the texting thing. . . She wasn't interested, and commented that it wasn't important that I learn, considering that I don't currently have a mobile phone.

It wasn't pretty. You wanna light a spark, just say to me "It's not important that you know." Rowr, spit, hiss. Get ready for a fun time! : ) But, as is customary, and keeping with tradition, the very fact that I was so easily upset was an indication that yes, it is true. . I am, in reality, basically illiterate with regard to computers. . and other unnecessary, expensive gadgets popular with our young people today. When it comes to dealing with computers, I can turn one . . on, (ouch), I can email, and I can . . evidently . . blog. Shall I burst into tears? I sort of feel like it. I feel so inept. . . If I didn't have a programmer, gadget-friendly husband, who claimed the title of computer guru, I'm not sure what I'd do. But I also don't care, because of said technologically capable man. . . So, because of this little tiff with Laena, I am now somewhat motivated to go and get a cell phone. Maybe one of those little hot pink numbers. : ) But also, because I am so incredibly tired at this moment, right now I just don't care about . . texting, or much of anything else. . and I certainly don't want to shell out the 50 dollars a month. Besides, I only have 3 friends, and we're not so much phone people. : )

Yawn. . .

p.s. Charlie's has finally convinced me to use 'live writer' almost exclusively for blogging. . . Because, he explains, when you publish, it reaches more . . people, I guess. . . Pinging, he calls it. We shall see. : )

Goldie and Rachael Ray! Memoirs of a Frazzled Mama!

Okay, this morning I've gotten off to a slow start. I'm just bummed. Sluggish, depressed, in a deep blue funk. If Charlie were a romantic, he might say something like "Then your mood matches your eyes!" But most days he's not, (sigh) so here I am, mourning the loss of Goldie the Goldfish, (who has just made her journey to the great beyond), and wishing for some kind of pick me up. I need the influence of something . . . perky. Bouncy and perky. I need a little Rachael Ray! My personal fix, every morning at ten! She makes it all better. She really does. Maybe we could be pals. Do you think she'd approve me as a friend on Facebook? : )

Sure.

Anyway, let me tell you how my day has gone so far. . Wait a minute, would that be considered whining? Fine, I'll tell you about my Monday last week. How's that? : )

Okay, so I woke up, late of course, remembered that my husband was taking the car because his truck had broken down. . got the kids off to school, mostly on time, by some miracle of fate, and then checked the fridge for 1 % milk to put on my Cheerios. I prefer Shredded wheat, but naturally the kids had put the box back in the cupboard empty, so that wasn't happening. (Did they forget where the trash can makes it's residence?) The minute I opened the fridge, I knew something was . . awry. The uncooked beef roast that our next door neighbor had brought over the night before, (her freezer was on the blink), that she had wrapped in plastic, was still sitting on the top rack/shelf, without the support of a plate or a bowl. I made a face, and exhaled audibly, dismayed. Meat juice, roast drippings. . (blood) had dripped/leaked over everything underneath of it. Two shelves of left overs and condiments. . . I don't know if you've ever washed up a batch of mustard and salad dressing bottles in the kitchen sink, but I didn't think it was necessary. Certainly not in my contract. . . Sigh.

Later, a few minutes after tossing in a load of laundry, I heard something that sounded like the virtual rushing of a river somewhere close to the laundry room. I ran down to check it out and discovered that water was gushing, unchecked, out of an open pipe in our downstairs, unfinished, 'project' bathroom. Momentarily stunned, shocked and horrified, I did what any experienced Mama would do. I squealed, and turned off the main water source to the entire house. Sigh again. Try washing your hands and flushing the toilet without it. : ) Uh-huh, yeah. Anyway, after frantically disclosing the symptoms to Charlie over the phone, he decided that it had to be blockage in the pipes there by the washer, so I turned the washer off. Now we had water again, but no washer, and no car to go to the laundromat. These were his words of comfort. "Buck up, Miss Pouty Face! We'll figure it out. . Suck it up! You could get a ride from a neighbor. . . (my favorite) Get it together! Hop up off of that tush of yours, and make it happen! Gotta go. Bye Honey!" Oh brother. Apparently he has forgotten his lines, the ones that we rehearsed over and over.

#1 - "I'm sorry, I hope you feel better. . . " (complete with a bear hug of course)

and . . .

# 2 - "It's okay, everything will be all right!" (with a tilted smile)

Sigh.

You know, you try to train your man, to get him to understand. . . but some days they just don't get it. Some days, they're just. . . guys.

So you have a good cry, curled up on the couch with Rachael Ray, and then things right themselves, the next day things are better, and you continue on your merry way. . .

Aagh! Gotta get Jeffy from preschool! Gonna be late! Coat, coat! Keys. . keys! Hair. . hair! Hat, Hat!

Chuckle. : )

And such is the life of a Mama. I guess some days are better than others. . .

Circus Down South

http://www.deseretnews.com/article/1,5143,695272400,00.html

Ridiculous bunch of garbage. Cops are being jerks. Shouldn't be taking people's kids.

And according to a friend of mine, and logical, thinking people everywhere. . .

"I hear you. It does seem like massive overkill. I understand the state's interest in protecting children against abuse, and in enforcing minimum age on marriage. I have never heard of a situation, though, in which such concerns have been said to justify this kind of massive separation of families.

What if the city of Chicago had gone into a project and said that, because we know there are some kids being abused here, and because there seems to be a culture that consistently produces a certain amount of abuse, ALL of the children in the project are going to be taken from their moms? Riots would begin within the hour, and the media would demand the head of whoever authorized the plan.

So I ask myself...why not here?"

Nailed it.

Accordingly I responded: "Oh, and hey, where are all the 'dads' in the Chicago projects? Are they going after them? Does anybody care?"

Pow.

And there it is.

So if you're Christian, you can take a hit. . . If you're anything else, it's a violation of your personal and religious freedoms.

Uh-huh. I don't think so.

Spring Training and Purple Pansies/A Typical Day with The Masons

The other day, Monday, I believe, Aleia brought me flowers from the store! : ) Purple pansies, to be exact. What a cute little Rosebud! Then Wednesday night, we all went to a book review, family activity thing at her elementary school. It was quite fun. They had free hot dogs, (gag) and Leatherby's ice cream available to all who showed up. Not bad. Yesterday Jeffy started playing Tee-Ball! His first game was last night. They were supposed to have had practices and another game earlier this week, but these were called on account of SNOW, which we've been blessed with 3 consecutive days this week. Isn't spring supposed to have sprung?! But Jeffy was great! He had so much fun! I should say we had so much fun. Charlie got the biggest kick out of watching him play. "Throw it to first!" they'd yell. And he'd huck it down that way with such energy that everybody cheered! Yay for Jeffy! I had a great time taking pictures. I probably took to many, but that's the beauty of digital photography. . you can delete the crappy ones, (which are very few, by the way), and you don't have to print them all out! It's fantastic! Later yesterday evening, Charlie and some colleagues/co-workers took a guest from Vienna out to a Bee's Baseball game. They had a great time. He came home happy. : ) Also, there was minimal fighting amongst the older kids. We had track practice, Pizza Hut, homework, NBA Street, gabbin' on the phone. . .typical teenage stuff. I guess you could say that yesterday was a good day! : ) Right on, Baby!

Writing - Not My First Love

Okay, here it is. . .

For the past few months, I've been working on doing some writing. I've written a few articles, a couple of stories, and I've even got an idea for a book. So far, it's been slow going. I did sell one of my stories, but it seems like it's taking FOREVER to get anything done.

For instance, right now, our 2 little boys are literally climbing all over me as I try to sit at the computer and type. Yeah, try getting anything done with a screaming, irritable 18-month-old attached to your left arm. I'm getting pretty good at typing one-handed. . . : )

It seems like the only time I ever have any peace and quiet is in the early morning hours, before the kids wake up, when I should be sleeping. So I jot some stuff down, and then later, after everyone's off to school and/or work, and breakfast is over, etc, I attempt to type some stuff up, get some stuff done.

Sure.

Sometime around the middle part of the day, either before or after lunch, and, of course, in between errands, perhaps after some half-hearted house cleaning, the baby finally nods off and takes a nap. Yawn. So I get maybe an hour or so in the middle of the day, if I'm lucky, and Jeffy's in a good mood. He usually is, thankfully, so I generally manage to stay awake long enough to get something down 'on paper', if you will. . .

But goodness, writing takes a lot of TIME. Not kidding. It requires an insane amount of concentration to organize ideas, think up new stuff, and then organize it again. . . And that only happens if there are very few distractions. Cause if you're interrupted, then you have to go back, regroup, and start all over again. . .

: )

So we'll see what happens. . . Chances are I'll get a manuscript in to some publisher. . sometime before I'm 45. Ha ha ha.

Sigh.

I guess that's the way it goes. But as we all know, when you're a Mama, your life is not your own. You have very little time to yourself, projects get put on the back burner, and frankly, I'm okay with that. I'd rather invest time with my kids, developing quality relationships and making memories, than sell 14 different best sellers and receive the praises of men. : ) Besides, writing's not my first love. It's just convenient. I'd much rather be out in 'the field' somewhere taking pictures of panoramic mountain ranges, or some similar glorious work of the Master, maybe at sunrise . . .

Absolutely! And THAT, my friends, is where it's at! What a rush, capturing time. . .

My Life on Fast Forward

I remembered who the other girl is! The other girl, (friend of our 17 year old daughter's), who is engaged to be married this summer. It's Lori Ann!

So now it's Katie, Jalaire, Krystal . . . and Lori Ann!

Yay! I haven't lost all of my short term memory! Wahoo!

Ya know, this is way to much for me to handle. . . Pardon me while I stagger into the bathroom and try not to get violently ill. : )

Just kidding. : )

Swallow. Sigh.

Sigh again. . .

I guess we all have to go sometime. . . better update that address list. . . choke gasp. . .

Ann Marie and Her Man!

Speaking of weddings, these are some of my favorite photos from my little sister Annie's engagement portfolio. They're counting down the days until their May nuptials.



Can you tell she's fallen engaged? ; )

The Big Dance

Here are some very nice pix from the big Prom weekend. Notice how I capitalized 'Prom'. : )

Everyone said she looked like a mermaid. I suppose her skirt, on loan from Aunt Annie, did resemble seaweed in some ways. . . It was very shimmery. . but how they got seaweed out of hot pink, I'll never know. I thought it was very pretty! I love how the sun lit up the material, and turned it sort of florescent! : )

Oh! P.S., The boys surprised them, and took our girls out to the Garden Restaurant high atop the Joseph Smith Memorial Building! It has a one of the most fantastic views ever, of downtown Salt Lake, particularly the Temple, and is surrounded by greenery, flowers, and glass walls. : ) Sigh. It's one of my favorite places. What a cool bunch of guys! I hope they took a lot of pictures. . .

Wedding Bells . . a Little Too Close!

I am disturbed, shocked and dismayed. I must blog. I must document this moment. jeffy (had to type his name) I heard the news today, if you can believe it, that yet another of Laena's friends is getting married this summer! AAAaaahhhhhh! This is unacceptable. I, at least, had the decency to wait until I was a year out of high school. . . . This simply will not do! I demand a recount! Could this be true?! This is the fourth one! Pardon me. . . (Sob, sob, sniffle, sniffle.) Swallow. Ahem. Cleansing sigh. I refuse to accept these happenings. Surely there must be some mistake. Jefffy. I need to validate the authenticity of these claims. . .

Does it mean anything that I just found the wrench and the candlestick from our clue game, that we've been looking for for the past 2 years . . ?

Laena has just announced that she's calling the bathroom for the next 3 hours. I wonder what it will be like in the far distant future on her wedding day. . .

Sigh. Evidently it's true. After consulting my sources, I have discovered the appalling truth. Si! Es verdad! Apparently these rumors are indeed. . . accurate! Eeek! I am in no way prepared to go to weddings in which the principle characters/players are . . . friends of my daughter. She's only 17! She's just a baby! Sniff, sniff. I suppose one of the girls is very capable. . . and 3 of them are seniors. . . (One's graduating early. . )

No, now I'm just rationalizing. And as much as I enjoyed drinking in the ultra-romantic Twilight series, I still disapprove of girls getting married when they are 18 years old. So there. I said it. True, I am the world's biggest hypocrite, and yes, it would be worse for boys, but I still think people should live their lives a bit first, just for a minute please, before tying the knot! Hooking up, hitching up, taking the plunge. . . whatever you want to call it, I believe in a conservative couple of years of college first. After all, it's a big decision. . . Am I wrong?!

But hey, maybe that's not for everyone. . Call me CRAZY! . . . Aaahhh!

Prom Night Approaches

Well, tomorrow is the big day! : ) Yup. We got baseball tickets. Hee hee. No seriously. But while we're snarfing down hot dogs at the big game, our not-so-little girl will be dancing the night away up at the Capital Building in downtown Salt Lake. (Should I have capitalized Capital Building? It would make sense. . .) Anyway, should be fun. She's going with a very nice Latin fella. . . Well, actually I should say a very nice young man from Bolivia. Fond sentimental Mommy sigh. She sure seems to like those Latin boys. . . But I can't say that I blame her. . . Before I hooked up with my red-headed Swedish/English husband, I had a certain, shall we say, -affinity- for dark, Mediterranean type boys who . . subscribed to Newsweek.

And then came Charlie. : )

So here we go with Prom Night. Sigh. Her Junior Prom. . . It's funny, but our boys aren't the slightest bit interested. And they're definitely old enough to go. . . Brother. I think they'd actually rather sleep. Silly boys. Lame. Maybe next year. . . Actually, what am I thinking?! This is great! I just realized that if they were going, we'd probably have to pay for a tux, and flowers, and pictures and everything. . . It's gonna be hard enough to come up with car insurance here in a couple of months! Wow.

Well, I hope Laena has a great time tomorrow evening. I hope she doesn't feel rushed when she's doing her make up. I hope she remembers to wear her seatbelt. I hope they pick a good restaurant. I hope that kid doesn't forget his wallet. I hope they remembered to buy tickets. . . . All the things a Mama thinks about when her girlie-poo is heading off to play Cinderella.

Prom Night! : )

Injuries - Incurred in The Line of Duty

Well, this is just. . great. I finally get to take a break from the babysitting, and that very same day I discover something that I knew already, but didn't want to think about. Validated by a seasoned medical professional. This is my third opinion, by the way. Not gonna jump into it like last time. No-thank-you! But, yes, evidently I have a small tear in the muscle wall on the right side of my abdomen, otherwise known as a hernia! Yay! Yippee! I get to have surgery. . again! I wonder if the almost eleven pound baby, or maybe her 2 younger 9-and-something pound brothers had anything to do with this. . . Hmmmm.

You know what? I'm gonna pass. The doc said it's not particularly dangerous at this point, so it's more of an elective procedure. . . for now. Well, I'm electing to bag it. I'm baggin' the whole idea. Last time I went in, to fix my dysfunctional gall bladder, it was a horrible experience. I couldn't seem to wake up from the anesthesia, and when I finally did, I was conscious, but I couldn't move, and I couldn't breathe. . . It was just . . unpleasant. I ended up having to stay the night in the hospital. . I do not want to voluntarily put myself there again. Ew. For now, I'm gonna pass. Sigh.

Naturally, because of this information/revelation, I am very depressed. I am bummed, bummed, bummed. Down in the dumps. Lethargic, unmotivated, in need of some sort of pick me up. Ah! I have it. Pier 49 Pizza! Best take out pizza on the planet. I think I'm gonna call them up and order a large Alfredo tomato bad boy just for me! And yes, I'm gonna eat it all by myself! Or at least try to. . . We'll see what happens. . . Wish me luck! : ) Italian food, dripping with cheese, will of course make it all better!

Rosebud Blossoming

Last Friday, April 4th, was Aleia's birthday. She's 8 years old already! Can you stand it?! Not me. It's absolutely surreal. Anyway, apparently time has been on fast forward/skip ahead all this time, because it seems like she was just born the other day. . . a few short years ago, in the spring. Sigh.

Well, let's see if we can remember all her little friends that came to her birthday party. . We went to the Classic Family Fun Center, formerly known as Classic Skating. They've classed it up quite a bit in recent years. They now have a huge blow-up bouncy playground, and an enormous jungle playland, sort of like at McDonald's, but much, much bigger. Our big girl Laena recently got a job over there. . . so we scored a small discount. That was nice, but more importantly, the party was a hit! : )

Okay, let's see. . There was Brittany, there was Allison, Becca Boo. . . Caitlin, Sammy, Riley. . Of course Jeffy and Tommy. . . Elece, and well, naturally the birthday girl Aleia. . Wow, only ten children. . It seemed like a lot more when we were there. . . And then there was Uncle Clint, Charlie, and our friend Shae, who helped out a lot. Oh, and the baby Binky! It was great fun. We all had a good time. : ) I just can't believe our little girl is eight. It's so weird. Now she'll be wanting to do grown up things like putting on make-up, so she'll look like the big girls on High School Musical and things like that. . Just kidding. She's been doing that for years. : ) But at least we're not in the dark. We know what we have to look forward to. . . Because we just went through this with big sister Laenabug. So here it comes, my friends . . girl scouts and make-up, tantrums and boys, summer camps and best friends, chocolate ice cream and broken hearts. Tennis lessons, dance lessons, piano lessons, DRIVING lessons . . swimming parties and sleep overs. . . As long as there are some Daddy-Daughter dates thrown into the mix, I think we'll be okay. . . Anyway, here's hoping! Compared to her older sister, Aleia is really, really high strung. And that's saying something! She actually asked for a Hello Kitty clip board for her birthday! She always knows what day it is, and just what we've said we'd do. : ) She's way on top of it, and never let's us forget anything. So yes, we're in for a bumpy roller coaster ride, to be sure. But I wouldn't miss it for the world. She's our sweet, temperamental Rosebud. : ) On her way to growing up!

A Full Schedule! / Screaming Monkeys and Fun With The Kids

This morning we were laying in bed, when we heard the large, gutteral motor of a delivery truck pull to a stop in front of our house. Charlie hopped up like it was Christmas morning. One of the kids got the door.

"Who was it?" Charlie asked anxiously.

"UPS." responded our child sleepily. Daddy grinned. The box had a big Woot! sticker on the outside.

"Oh, I bet this is it!" he said excitedly. "The monkeys are here!"

Please, no. I closed my eyes and groaned. If anyone knows the secret to getting your man off of Ebay, or Woot.com, please pass it along, and let me know. This week it's flying monkeys that you flip across the room. When they hit the floor, or the wall, or someone else's cubicle, they break into this incredibly annoying, shrill siren-type monkey call. Gag. I hate monkeys. Those guys in the office are gonna be lovin' it next week. . . : ) Well, at least he didn't buy the classic 'bag of random crap' they had listed on Thursday. . . He wanted to though, and I will admit that the item description alone is entertaining enough to put you in stitches and bend you over double. . But to actually buy something labeled 'random bag of crap'. . I'm sorry, but that's just stupid. Yeesh. We do in fact work for our money. Hey, I could go get my nails done, randomly, and maybe he wouldn't give me any . . crap! Sounds about the same. . .

Okay, so this week I've taken the kids to Golden Corral, the dinosaur museum, Classic Family Fun Center for Aleia's birthday, and the flipping zoo. Charlie's headed off right now, with 4 teenage boys, driving up to the Conference Center in downtown Salt Lake City for the Priesthood Session of General Conference. What a brave man he is! Actually, it hasn't been so bad. . . For some reason, this week, I haven't been really stressed out . . really at all. Of course it's all relative, but I've been relatively. . relaxed. Whatever. I even made it to the temple Wednesday night. : ) Wow. Maybe it's because this is the last week that I'll actually be responsible for TEN CHILDREN. . . every afternoon, every day. Their dad will be back in town on Monday. Army guy. I suppose I was finally beginning to get used to it. Ha ha ha ha ha! How weird is THAT?

So, pshaw! So I have to take 5 or 6 kids out to the skating rink or whatever. . . Cake. A walk in the park. Nooooo problem. I've finally figured it out. How to chill. Bizarre. What a bizarre realization. . ! Huh. Anyway, here we are, the girlies and the little kids. . . trying to figure out how to entertain ourselves on a Saturday night, whilst the men, and the big boys, are off at Conference. Learning about how to be good. Guess I can't complain. . .

Hmmmm. What to do. . . . Ah, my favorite past time. . . Picasa! Wahoo!

Mama Fun : )

Our daughter Laena wore a tee-shirt to school today that said: "Don't You Wish Your Girlfriend Was Hot . . . Like . . Me" on the front. I thought that a bit ostentatious, so after a moment of pondering, I called her on her cell phone. They were still driving to school.

I pointed out that . . "Don't you think it's a bit presumptuous of you . . to assume that you are hotter than everybody else's girlfriend. . . " She didn't think that was one bit funny. : ) Hee he hee, chortle.

"Is that why you're calling me?!" she demanded.

I grinned and hung up.

Later, when we were on our way home from school, we passed a young man with a skateboard. He wasn't 'skating', he was looking down at a little black contraption his hand. It had buttons on it.

"Hey look! He's got his cell phone out too!" I gushed cheerily. And then, as if enlightened. "Are you guys talking . . ?" Big obnoxious smile.

"NO." She exhaled abruptly, annoyed. "Mother, you are so immature!"

: )

It is so much fun teasing those kids. . . I don't do it all the time, of course, but when Mama gets on a roll. . . better watch out!

Future Memories

Well, you guessed it, my friends! Yes, the twin annoucement from the other day was indeed. . . . fabricated. That stinker! Charlie was right on, as usual. : ) I asked him "How did you know?" He said "I know how guys are." Nailed it.

Anyway, obviously the only thing for them to do now, to make it right, or to at least fix things with the grandmas, is to get pregnant, as fast as they can, and hope for twins. : ) That's right, Baby! Now you've done it! Hee hee hee. Let's get going. We really do need some more cousins. Pix for the scrapbooks. . .

So you all know, yesterday was the anniversary of Charlie's asking me to be his wifeypoo. Yup. It's been . . that long! There's something about spring. : )

Annie's getting married soon. . How long have those 2 been dating? 2 years at least. Maybe 3 . . We only needed 10 months. I don't know what that means. . . probably nothing. Some people run off to Vegas, and make it work for 40 plus years! ; ) Here's to weddings! May we have more and more such happy occasions as the years go by/roll on. May . . will be a wonderful month, full of happy thoughts, great expectations, new beginnings, and sweet future memories. : ) Sniffle, sniffle.

Life is good.

The More, The Merrier! : )

Welp, looks like someone's trying to be funny.

I can't tell if this is a JOKE, or if my obnoxious brother is just releasing this information on April Fool's Day on purpose just to keep people guessing. He'd do it, I know he would. . . You be the judge. And I do think you're stealing a bit of Mark's and even Annie's thunder, little bro. . . Just kidding. Ha ha ha. Gotta play along with the holiday. . . : )

(from an email)

Kim and I have some exciting news. We've been waiting to tell anyone because we didn't want to rain on Mark's parade (for those of you on Kim's side, my brother Mark and and his wife Sarah recently had their first baby), but this morning we had our first ultra-sound and we decided this was the right time to let everyone know that yes, Kim is pregnant, and yes this is the last time we're ever making that mistake again. Why a mistake? Because we're having twins, and being mentally prepared for one new bundle of joy doesn't quite prepare you for the news that your joy is destined to be two-fold. We're hoping for a boy and a girl, but it's too early to tell yet. Due date is mid September, so hooray for more September birthdays! (For those of you on my side, Kim's family has like 5 or 6 September birthdays already.)

Thought you'd like to know. Have a lovely day.

(end of email)

Hey! My birthday is in September! Cool!

I called and asked Charlie if he'd read my blog. His response was immediate.

"You've sold me out, haven't you."

"No! IIIII. . uh. . " He exhaled, disgusted, before I could even finish.

"Ahhhh! I knew it!"

Hee hee hee. : P

He's convinced that this is a grand old prank. : ) I don't think so. The people in our family, with a couple of obvious exceptions, are just too . . . serious. Ha ha ha ha ha. But I shall get to the bottom of this! I'm going to call Kim! She'll come clean. She'll give me the low down!

That's right Baby! Or should I say . . . babies!

FYI, identical twins run in our family. My mother is one, Charlie and I have a set of twin boys, his brother's wife had a set herself, my mother's aunts on her dad's side are identical twins, my paternal grandfather's dad was an identical twin, LeeAnn's brothers are twin boys. . . we could go ooonnnnn, and on and on. : )

Permit me a crooked smile, and a sideways glance at the sky. Keep sending 'em down! Isn't this great! If it isn't a joke, it sure is a joke on Hyrum! Someone up there certainly has a sense of humor. I think it's fantastic! I'm all about babies. : ) I kinda wanna have 9. . . Ha ha ha ha ha.

April Fools! It's Your High School Reunion!

All right here's the deal, Y'all. . . There is mischief afoot!

Being as today is April Fool's Day, my mischievous husband decided to mix things up at work a little bit. Yesterday he sent a memo to everyone in the office. Everybody but the boss, Mr. Edwards. He asked everybody to wear khaki pants and a blue shirt to work today. Then he recruited me to call up said boss's wife, to ask her if she might be able to get him to wear same said attire. I wasn't sure she was that interested, but it turns out she laid out his clothes for him this morning. When they assembled for 'team meeting' this morning, he got that sort of glazed, dubious look on his face. He paused a moment, and then commented that "Hey, this wasn't a coincidence! This was planned!" He was correct, as usual. Hee hee hee. What a cute joke for April Fools! Ha ha ha. : ) Anyway, it went over great. Charlie the jokester has pulled it off again.

Also yesterday, my main man Charlie got an email from his high school girlfriend. "The 20 year reunion is all set up." she said. "We'd love to see you there!" Well, that's just great, except that's Charlie's gonna be down at Powell with the boys that same weekend! He was mildly excited for about 2 minutes, until he noticed the dates. I'm so disgusted, I could spit. I've actually been sort of looking forward to this for a couple of years now. He doesn't really care either way, but he'd already committed, about 5 months ago, to go camping/boating/fishing at Lake Powell, down by St. George, with some guys from the neighborhood and their boys. It's sort of a father and son . . thing. No getting out of it now, even if he wanted to. Chuckle, chuckle. Last night, when he broke the news, he was prepared with his usual reassuring manner:

"It's okay, Honey. It's not like it's a once in a lifetime event. . . It's not like they're only putting this together one time!" Naturally he had to display his usual highly amused grin.

Disgusted pause. Of course not. No sarcasm there! This stinks, stinks, stinks.

"Hey, I know! Your could go anyway! Take a hot date. . . maybe someone you met at the gym. . . Or I've got it! We could hire a paid actor to go along and pretend he's me! Of course we'll have to get someone good looking. . . You could say I've had some plastic surgery. . . "

I won't tell you the rest. It's just too annoying. Yep, dryyyy as the desert. Maybe I'll take my gal pal Jenny. Sigh.

And this, my friends, is truly. . . the story of my life. : )