Nine Years Old

I remember one day last week. . . Lea looked so cute, in her light yellow sweatshirt, silver blue coat, red hair, and pink cheeks! A beautiful child. : ) I refuse to believe that she's gonna be NINE years old on Saturday. She's not old enough to be nine! How did this happen? One minute, she's our bouncing baby girl, 10 and a half lbs, newborn, cute and chubby, and the next second she's 6, 7, 8 years old. . . and now NINE!?

It's impossible. Time simply cannot go by that fast!

Can it?

Sigh.

So Saturday, April 4th, 2009, our baby girl will be having a birthday. And a birthday PARTY, she's let us know, in no uncertain terms. . .

Looks like we'd better gear up for the big bash, cause when Aleia plans something, (and she LOVES to plan), it's always a big deal!

Happy Birthday, Rosebud!  : )

Haircuts

Earlier today I gave Eric and Tommy much needed haircuts. Later on, I passed by Tommy sitting on the couch.

"You look so good with your new haircut." I told him, running my hand through the top of his hair.

"I know." he said matter-of-factly. "I'm very good looking."

: ) Big grin.

That's my Tommy!

Easy Cookie Recipe

 

We got this fabulous recipe from Tommy's and Aleia's piano teacher! Lea insisted that we write it down. : ) Brook is so cute, she makes cookies for the kids every week, and they get to have one (read 3 or 4) if they've practiced their lesson. Easy, yummy cookies that take about 3 minutes to make! It's fantastic! You can use several different combinations of cake mixes and baking chips. Yum, yum, yum! Sigh. Unfortunately, they're so fantastic that we've been making them almost every day, and this just simply isn't good for my diet. . . white flour, cane sugar, most times chocolate, and oil.

As Tommy would say. . .

"THAT'S nutrition!" : )

Perspective

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/29867937/

I really liked this quote:

"The right question to ask is not if we want the president to fail or succeed, but whether we want America to succeed."

Saying "the time for talking about the past is over," Jindal said Republicans have begun to find their voice after back-to-back elections losses — motivated by what he called historic Democratic spending excess.

Now that's what I'm talkin' about! Seems like we've finally acquired some perspective. I hope we can continue on, in the political arena, with this goal in mind.

Eagle Scout Blood Drive

Here we go! We'll see how many people show up. . . Eric is just about finished with his project also.

Maybe we'll end up having a joint Eagle Scout Court of Honor for our twin boys! Ya never know. . . By some quirky twist of fate, that just might work out!  : )

The Weekend List

And it goes a little somethin' like THIS:

Friday:

Jeffy's fever is down, Charlie has the day off

Get all the big kids to school

Drop little kids off at Kim's

Drive up to Park City with C-Man, tour galleries, take notes for Art assignment, take lots of pictures - THIS, I can do! -  : )

Drive back, pick up little kidlets, (enjoy the fabulous weather) take Aleia and Tommy to piano lessons

Drop film off at Target, grab Tominator and Lea, pick up Laena from Tardy School (read detention)

Deal with big kids, conjure up an after school snack, take Clint to work

Figure out dinner, get Eric from Track practice, take Eric to work

Eat dinner, hook Laena up with car/ride to Spring Fling, try to fix camera

Work on BYU-I detail, EFY sign-ups, acquire tickets for temple dedication Sunday, take Aleia to sleep-over

Bag Twilight party, more calls for blood drive, fetch Eric, wrap things up, Family Prayer, get to bed (Ha!)

Wrestle little buggers into bed, take Diego home, beautiful, beautiful sleep

Saturday:

Kids up, Laena off to Tardy School, me to gym, (scratch that, slept in), wonder why I agreed to fill in for Diann on Tuesday with that 45 minute presentation. . .

Laena babysitting for Laura, get Clint working on recruit times for Eagle project, make job lists, clean house, do laundry, get Aleia to Activity Days, homework (sure)

Take Jefferson to doctor, (thank you Charlie), put together Singing Time lesson for Sunday, take Lea to birthday party, grocery shopping, pick up prescriptions

Make disc for Mama, encourage Laena to drop off applications, cut Tommy's hair, give Jeffy medicine

Take Eric to work, score babysitter for double date with Charlie and Bullards, catch movie, get ready for church at 9 am

Take Diego home, pick up Eric, grab Sprite for Laena, (who now has the flu), finish up laundry

Wind it up, put them down, collapse into bed (didn't actually happen, because Charlie happened by a Red Box, brought home Twilight, and we stayed up half the night watching it)

Sunday:

Get up, take care of sick kids, get family to church

Teach 40 little children Primary songs, help Clint and Charlie with Blood Drive sign ups, get little guys home, deal with Choir practice, help Laena apply for scholarship

Home Teachers coming over, Draper Temple Dedication with family (unfortunately I missed it, Jeffy was still sick)

Picked up touch of the flu, took a beautiful, beautiful NAP, (THIS DOES NOT HAPPEN, angels singing, baby asleep, no teenagers in the house, bless you Charlie), made pasta

Helped Aleia with Theatre Class memorization, wondered about the sudden cold snap, got ready for school Monday morning, tried to do homework

Read scriptures with the kids, watched Easter Beagle with the Binky, pinned down the fort, somehow made it to bed

Monday:

Woke up to a full-fledged snow storm, big kids off to school, broke windshield wiper AGAIN, got Lea to class, picked up muffins in my bathrobe

Called high school about announcements, called Miss Roybal about presentation, contacted Red Cross about eligibility, verified appointment time for refinance

Got assignment together, went over schedule, discovered that Eric's Track meet, Aleia's play, Clint's Eagle Project, and Charlie's class for work are all scheduled for the . . same . . . time.

My question is. . .

HOW DO SINGLE MOTHERS . . . DO. . IT. . ?

It Starts

The Binky just fell asleep in the middle of the living room floor, a baseball mitt stuck hopefully on his chubby little paw. Poor little guy. . .  : ) He wants to be just like his big brother Jeffy! But mostly he wants to play ball! Too bad they don't have a little league . . for little 2 year olds. : ) There's probably a good reason.

Monday Charlie signed Jefferson up for T-Ball. Then last night they went out 'bat shopping'. : ) Jeffy's eatin' it up, wearing his baseball hat everywhere, and now the whereabouts of the mitt and the bat are being carefully monitored. Such a cutie! : )

Sigh. They grow up too fast.

But here it comes. . .

Spring, I think, is finally here, and with it chaos to our home and our lives. Not that that's anything new, but May and December, December and May. . . are crazy, busy months, and now, with the coming of warm weather, I can feel it coming. . . Craziness in general will once again reign supreme at the Mason residence. It's just a matter of time.

Graduations, birthday parties, reunions, baseball practice, swimming lessons. . . Soccer, Scout camps, Youth Conference, Girls camps. . . Summer.

Big grin.

Here we go!

A few years back, we decided to limit the kids' extracurricular activities to one per child per year. This works out to 'almost manageable', if you do the math, and makes it so much easier to keep it together. . . because, my friends, there are only seven days in a week.

And how many kids? : )

Mama. . .

You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown

Last week I was heading to school, in a driving snow storm.

I had studied all day. I was brain-fried. There was no way I'd be able to remember all the stuff I'd read.

Just when I thought it couldn't get any worse, the driver's side windshield wiper somehow went from slightly torn to shredded, making visibility a mildly urgent issue. At that moment I realized that the heater had stopped working, eliminating the defrost mechanism. To add insult to dubious injury, the low-fuel light chimed in, with it's not-so-pleasant beeping, letting me know that we were almost out of gas.

Oh brother.

Was I not supposed to take this test? Had the elements literally combined against me? What to do. I had left the cell phone at home, no gas station within a mile or so. . .

There was no time, I'd have to chance it. . .

Coasting into the parking lot, I realized that I had just enough time to make it to class. Battling a head wind, in almost blinding snow, I hurried across the frozen campus toward my building and shelter.

Throwing open the door, I darted inside, and shook the snow out of my hair. I'd made it!

The instructor mercifully gave a short lecture, allowing us slackers to cram in a small amount of studying before he administered the test. Arghhh!

"This test will probably take you 30, 35 minutes. . ." he droned.

Heaving an internal sigh, I began, going with my first gut impulse, first reaction to each question. I only got stuck on a couple, which I flubbed my way through on the second go-around.

Yay, done!

I looked at the clock. It had been about 5 minutes. Since we were free to go when we were finished with the test, I decided to high-tail it out of there, maybe try to limp back home. Thankfully, the storm had let up. You know how it is in Utah. . I'd heard it a hundred times. "If you don't like the weather, wait ten minutes." Yeah!

I made it back to the car without too much trouble, but noticed, to my momentary alarm, that someone had been in it! There was a red and yellow box sitting on the passenger seat that had not been there before. I hesitated, took stock of the situation, and realized that it was okay. The car was locked, no one in the back seat. . . It was still light outside. . . Once I saw the Almond Joy on the dash, I knew I'd been been saved. Charlie had left a note, with my favorite candy bar, and had changed the wiper blade while I was in class. : ) Wow.

I always knew I had a guardian angel, and now I know why my Daddy let me go ahead and marry this guy, even when we were so young and goofy. Sigh. Because of little things like this. : ) Which add up to life.

Charlie's a good man.

Busy Weekend

Friday before last we were pretty busy. . . At 6 pm, a guy from the Red Cross came over to help Clint get started on his Eagle Scout project. Clinton has chosen to hold a neighborhood blood drive. Yay! : ) At 7-ish, Charlie and I, and the 3 little kids, drove across town to Hyrum's and Kim's for ice cream. The little buggers had a good time playing with their cousins. . . Then at 8 pm, I took Laena and Clint to meet their friends, Morgan and Kalin, who were in town for the High School Basketball State Championship Playoffs. They were staying at a hotel over by the E- Center, with about 300 or so other supervised adolescents. I spent the evening in the lobby, reading my POLYSCI book, and trying to tune out dozens of giggling teenagers who kept buzzing in and out. . . Yeesh. . Yawn. Laena went to one of the games the next day, before her date with Trevor. West Jordan ended up winning later that weekend. : ) Champion Jaguars! Pretty cool. One of these days, I'll figure out how to stop procrastinating my Singing Time lesson. . . Ha ha ha! It just never stops. . . .

Idy-Heidy-Ho!

Never thought it'd be Idaho, but a few days back, Laena got her acceptance letter from BYU-Idaho! Formerly known as Ricks' College, up in Rexburg, it's now a full-fledged, 4-year University. : ) I think Laena was pretty excited. She smiled, and hopped online to verify her intentions. Sigh. Should be interesting. . . We were almost expecting her to stick around and go to the community college, but Charlie and I feel like this would be a much better idea, a fantastic opportunity for our little girl! Except she's not so little anymore. . . and now we won't get to take Math 1050 together. . . . Sigh.

Anyway, we're way excited for our Laenabug. : ) Should be a good experience for her.

An Exhange

H.R. 45: Blair Holt's Firearm Licensing and Record of Sale Act of 2009 (GovTrack.us)

Source: www.govtrack.us

A bill in the U.S. Congress: To provide for the implementation of a system of licensing for purchasers of certain firearms and for a record of sale system for those firearms, and for other purposes.

"Once this bill becomes law, you'll need a license before you can exercise your 2nd Amendment right to obtain a handgun.
I wonder what would happen if Congress tried to require that you get a license before exercising your 1st Amendment rights?"

Dot, dot, dot. . .

"I might feel differently about the licensure for exercising First Amendment rights if words and pictures were as capable of killing as firearms."

Etc, etc. . .

"And I think you're making an awfully big leap to think this will become a law. Something like the Stimulus bill can go on a straight party line vote, but there's no way something like this bill would. Too many moderate Dems and Republicans that will sway one way or the other. Plus there's plenty of crap McConnell can do in the Senate without 60 votes against him. This might get a vote there in 2011."

"The most comforting thing I find in this potential legislation is that I am sure, absolutely sure!! (like all of you should be) that the current administration will be able to assure - even guarantee - that EVERY American, good guys like me and bad guys like rapists and muggers and home invaders will go get the license. Oh, and that any licensee will use such license and weapon for the protection of others not to do any harm. I'm sure after such a great law is enacted there won't be a soul in the country possessing any firearm without a license. I also hope to see the President and his family out in public without the protection of firearms, because after all there won't be any threat to their lives by an unlicensed firearm user."

"Maybe they could give the secret service guys mace, or something. . . maybe really heavy flashlights."

"And whatever is Hollywood going to do when firearms are no longer politically correct? All those sexy action movies. . . I mean, James BOND!"

"He definitely has a license."

"As, I'm sure, do all the bad guys. Sounds like effective legislation. I feel like it's Obama and crew out and out saying "Yes, we CAN take away your 2nd Amendment rights." Let's make it as difficult as possible for law-abiding citizens to obtain protection for their homes and families, while all the bad guys will have whatever weapons at their disposal, because that is simply the nature of things. I will NOT leave my family defenseless. Sportsman's Fast Cash, here I come! Hmm, also might buy Charlie's 30 ought 6 back from our neighbor down the street. I wouldn't move to Phoenix, but if you do, and when those 'bad guys' are breaking down your door, I'll gladly lend it to you. . ."

"Do you guys remember the days, back in HS, during hunting season, or not, when you'd drive to school with your rifles mounted in the cab of your pick up? Doubt that'd be tolerated anymore. Slowly, but surely, our rights are being stripped away. . . I ask you, why should I have to have a license to exercise my Constitutional rights? Isn't the fact that this is the central document, upon which all of our country's law are based, enough?! And why should it be concealed? I've never killed anybody. Why should I hide my weapon? Is it gonna freak somebody out? Realistically, crime would drop if everyone packed them some heat. It's just common sense."

"Food for thought: If your teacher were strapping a Glock, and you could see it, would you mess with him? Doubtful. Anyway, you'd be a little more hesitant than some of the disturbed teenagers we've heard about these past few years. . I have some beef with schools not allowing firearms on campus. Number one, it goes against the Constitution. Number 2, the very idea is ridiculous! They're sitting ducks! Ever think, if the teachers at that unfortunate HS in Colorado had been required, or simply had had the OPTION, of choosing to carry firearms and thereby protecting their school, classroom, students, that maybe a few more of those kids would've had a shot, literally, at survival while attempting to acquire an education? As it was, many people, most of them children, died, because of an obvious lack of preparation. I think every teacher should be asked to take a gun safety class, and also to carry a firearm while on campus, whatever the learning institution, in order to protect against possible uprisings. If some crazy kid gets out of line, there they would be to take care of it, and to protect the life of your child.

And what is the cause of such behavior? Let's get down to the real issue here, the unbelievable onslaught of negative, violent programming/movies/videos games, which cleeeeaarrly affects and influences the young mind, and certainly does not promote peaceful behavior. Perhaps we could spend some of the 'stimulus money' on programs to eliminate drug use! Maybe we could go retro and acknowledge the existence of right and wrong, something that seems to be regarded as old school or outdated. It's still in effect, y'all! Right is right, and wrong is wrong, however ya wanna slice it. I know it's ain't politically correct, but that's the way it is. All of my 7 kids are going to be taught these principles, and hopefully pass them along to their own children.

Schools should be institutions of learning indeed, where we can feel protected, relatively safe, and be able to concentrate on our studies.

Oh, and FYI, nowhere in the Constitution does it mention anything about concealment of 'arms'. Just the right to keep (have) them, and bear (carry) them. Meddling with these freedoms/rights is just not smart. We're just a couple of notches up/away from what happened to the citizens of Germany right before World War 2. They took guns away from the people. How'd that work out again. . ? Hmm. . . Exactly. And that's where we're headed, if we stand idly by, and do nothing about some of this ridiculous, oppressive legislation that is being proposed. Squelch it now, make it stop, retain your rights, and protect your families."

Something important to think about.