Scout Master Man!

Amy Tanner Mason is quite amused that "Charlie Manson" was unanimously approved as Stake Scout Master! : )

It’s true! We were sitting in church, and they called his name for consideration. . . but mispronounced it most egregiously! : ) Happens all the time! All . . the time. : ) You wouldn't believe how many people just automatically throw in that extra letter. . .

So, anyway, Mr. “Charlie Manson” is now in charge of a bunch of 12/13 year old boys, innumerable campouts, Courts of Honor, and all that goes along with. . . Quite a significant responsibility, to be looked up to as an example by the youth of our acquaintance. . Fortunately, it’s right up his alley, as Charlie has been affiliated with the Scouting program for the past 9 years, since the spring of 2000, just after the twins turned 8. Cubs Scouts, Blazer Scout Leader, Committee Chairman, Assistant Scout Master . . . He’s been there, done that, pretty much all of his life! So, like the rest of our neighborhood, I’d have to agree that he’s the right man for the job! : )

Pirate Ships and Loose Teeth

Today is a very important day indeed! Jeffy lost his first tooth this morning! Hopped right out of bed, ran in and showed me his tooth, with a big ole grin and an air of importance. : ) He was so excited! It’s so cute!

Aleia has been exercising her creative tendencies again the last couple of days. Yesterday she built a pirate ship for Lincoln out of a laundry basket, plastic forks, and a homemade paper flag. Sooo adorable! I really need to get my camera fixed! Then today she dressed Jeffy up in a fanciful outfit made almost entirely of kitchen utensils and tape. I think it was meant to be a suit of armor. . . Darn cute! Wish I could’ve taken a picture! Sigh. Laena’s taken her camera to EFY, and Eric’s doesn’t have batteries. Argh!

Clint is 2/3 done with this session of summer school. He went on his ‘first date’ with Hanna last night. . . Of course, Hanna is not allowed to ‘single date’, so her mother and a couple of friends ended up going along with. But he was pretty excited, and they had a lot of fun! : ) We gave them our tickets to Cowabunga Bay, a new water park, which I’m told they thoroughly enjoyed.

Eric is talking about going up to visit Grandma, and her miniature horses, in Idaho sometime soon. . . The movie theatre’s just not working him all that much. Just the weekends, but personally, I think that’s perfect for Eric. He wants to relax and enjoy the summer as much as he can. . .

Tommy is off at a Varsity Scout Camp this week. . . They’re down somewhere close to Manti, and the really cool thing is. . . they get in on the Manti Pageant dress rehearsal! Way cool!  : )

Laena is at EFY this week. She loves it, being our eldest social butterfly. . . Monday we’re taking her up to BYU Idaho for some business and the big tour! : ) Should be fun!

Binky is, as always, the Binky! Two years old and livin’ it up! : ) Beating the snot out of everybody, throwing fits, learning to talk. . . So much fun to watch him learn and grow! : )

This Week. . .

My FB posts from this past week, in reverse order:

Amy is cleaning her house.

Pictures of Grandma’s 90th Birthday Party. . .

Amy is frying up some rice.

Family picture from 1982.

Amy says Happy Father’s Day to all my peeps!

Amy is sooooo excited about Hyrum and Kim having another baby! Wahoo!

Amy Grandma brought over a big bag of candy bars. She had twix, snickers, etc. Jeffy asked if he could have just one 'twick'. . .

Amy is having fun w the folks! Happy 90th Birthday, Grandma! : )

Amy agrees that there is NOTHING like strawberries fresh from the garden out back!

Amy: Jenny called from the airport. . . They're on their way to Ireland! Nice twist on Vegas, I must say.

Amy is enjoying the kids! : ) Baby in a diaper w mismatched sneakers and an old camo T-shirt, toting electric guitar. . . 6 yr old in red jammie pants, tearing through the house on his bike! A newly discovered talent.

Amy likes the sound of the rain. . .

Amy is soooo excited that she gets to look through Grandpa's old box of stuff! : )

Amy is not sure what to do with the 75 lbs of buttered popcorn. . .

And there you have it! My world in a minute. : )

‘Tis The Season!

There is NOTHING like strawberries fresh from the garden patch out back! Mmmm. . . . I don’t know what it is exactly. . . There’s just something about the flavor of homegrown, organic, just-picked, red ripe strawberries that can’t be beat! Like Heaven in your mouth! And best of all, they’re good for you! Packed with Vitamin C. . . One of the most healthy things you could eat! Wow, Mama!  : )

Ireland

Jenny called from the airport yesterday while we were packing for Scout Camp. She and her man are off to Ireland! : ) A nice little twist on Vegas, I must say.  : ) Yes, they are eloping! So much fun! And about dang time. They’ve been dating for 3 years now, engaged for one, and personally, I would have gone nuts long time ago. Guess I’m just impatient. But also very happy for our friend, Jenny, who I think has finally found her soul mate. They’re exactly the same age. . . they even look alike! I expect that they will continue to be very happy. : ) Can’t wait to see pics!

Morning

This morning, driving Clint to Summer School, I was taken aback by the breathtaking beauty of the landscape all around me. Traveling east, driving back across the valley, I was struck by the light, and the colors, the joy of an early June morning in Utah. From my perspective, everything was fully lit by the morning sun. Sadly, I missed the best shot ever of the Jordan River Temple. Gloriously bathed in radiant sunlight, it shone as white and pristine as I’ve ever seen it, blue summer sky as it’s back drop, washed clean by the rain, white and gray clouds dancing contentedly together, set perfectly in the sky behind it. . . It was better than a renaissance painting! It was fabulous. FAB U LOUS. Wow, Mama!  : )

One of these days, I will finally learn to carry a camera. Just another piece of me, a mandatory appendage. That image of the temple. . . How do you duplicate something like that?! Photographers the world over wait years for the opportunity to capture an image like that! Chuckle. Wow. I’m just glad that I got to see it. . What a blessing! What a memory. Anyway, it’ll make for the start of a pretty good day!  : )

Friday Night

Well, at last! It’s just the four little kids and me! Ha ha ha!

Laena’s off at a movie with Diego and Melissa, Clint’s out walking with Hanna, Eric’s at work, and Charlie’s supervising a Scout campout out at Horseshoe Springs.

Semi-dramatic exhale. . . (sigh)

I’m so glad that the end-of-the-school year craziness is finally over and done with! Things were WAY out of hand! But now they are finally winding down. . . Technically, Tommy should probably be with his dad, camping, but he did turn 14 last week, so we left it up to him.  : ) These kids are getting so big. . . .

Recently, the weather has been unseasonably cool. . Cool and cloudy. With lots of rain. Not so much fun when you’re trying to air out a tent. . . If our lawn mower wasn’t broken, we’d probably be frustrated about that, too. But not right now. I’m too exhausted to be concerned about much of anything. Just wanna sleep. . . Hopefully, the evening will wind down soon. . . and these little buggers with it. They’re out of the tub, jammies on, watching a little Pink Panther. . . This would induce drowsiness in any adult!

Stretch, yawn. . . .

Well, we’ll see how it goes. But, for the most part, I’ve got what I wanted! What every Mama wants. . . .

Relative peace.

Thank goodness it’s Friday!

Summer!

Most of yesterday afternoon, I found myself walking around in a zombie-like state, barely able to take it all in. First, Eric had awakened me with the fabulous news that he’d encountered cat vomit on his bedroom floor. Then, for the rest of the morning, we dealt with jobs, errands, and disrespectful teenagers. At some point, we picked up new shoes for Tommy. Within the hour, we discovered that he’d somehow stepped in cat poop, and completely oblivious, had ground it into the rug in several areas, while exercising downstairs. Gross! Evidently one of our cats is sick. Charlie said he’d gladly take care of the problem, but I think that might involve . . . well, anyway. . .

After lunch, we decided to make brownies, which naturally Mommy wasn’t allowed to have, because of this new-fangled “discipline” thing that I am trying out. . . During the course of preparation, our 2 year old managed to wrestle his way to the kitchen table, where he dutifully jammed both chubby hands into the gooey brown batter. It was funny to watch. He stood there for a minute, contemplating the best possible solution, and then instead of licking it off, he started shaking his hands vigorously, evidently thinking that flicking chocolate goo all over my kitchen would make things all better! Hmm. Yeah, I think all of us old people should just totally avoid brownies. I could eat a whole pan full by myself, but that’s just not a good idea. : )

A few minutes later, I discovered that same 2 yr old, trying to drink contraband strawberry lemonade through a Darth Vader mask that his mischievous siblings had stolen from the big boys’ room. I can’t imagine how people do this all day. Home school! Seriously?! What crazy shmoe thought of THAT?! I can barely handle them in the afternoon/evening! Ahhhhhh! Where’s my ticket to the day spa! Violent workout, massage, chocolate sundae. . . I have soooo much respect for people who choose to be school teachers. . . Or maybe they just didn’t know. . . .

Anyway, a little more about our day. The little kids had been acting up in all kinds of creative ways, boys fighting with PVC/noodle bats, we’d just gotten Tommy’s shoes all cleaned up, and him back to the grind, when we discovered that he’d stepped in it again! Apparently we’d missed another contribution from our feline friends. . . which I was once again obliged to scrub out of the rug.

For real?

I bought these shoes . . how many hours ago?!

Befuddled, exhausted, I stumbled around the house in a semi-conscious state, trying to make sense of it all. . . Dazed and confused, I fried up some hot dogs, and ran Laena to work. Charlie made an appearance. . . He took Tommy to check out a Tae Kwan Do class, and then it was off to Scouts! Turns out the campout this weekend has been postponed due to excessive rain. Big surprise there! It’s been raining every other day for about 3 weeks. It might as well be April!

The last thing I remember, Laena needed a ride home from Dairy Queen just after 11 pm. . . at night. . . . The baby was still awake, and he hadn’t even had a nap!

And people wonder why Mommys want to sleep in. . . Ha ha ha ha ha! : )

Smooch

This is what Jeffy said to me today on the way home from school: (I had visited the school earlier that day and dropped by his class. They were practicing for the dance festival.)

“Mama, it’s embarrassing when you give me a smooch.”

Good Night! He’s in Kindergarten, for Petey’s sake! What next?! They’re usually okay till 3rd grade at least! : ) What happened to my baby? Sniff, sniff. . .

End of the Year Shenanigans

Got the book situation handled, Laena’s off to Graduation practice, summer school taken care of, lunch money on it’s way, and Mama still has some energy! Yaaaayyyy! Probably because it’s not even ten o’clock in the morning! : )

This has been an exciting couple of weeks, accompanied with all kinds of different emotions. Excitement, frustration, sadness, fear, joy, regret, you name it! Anyway, once we get past the dance festival on Friday, and a couple of parties, I think we’ll be okay. Sigh. Tommy’s birthday is on the fifth. It always seems to land on the last day of school, or somewhere close to it. Poor kid. But not really, ‘cause he gets the whole summer to celebrate! : ) Aleia’s freaking out because she wants to provide cookies and other treats for the entire 3rd grade class. I had to tell her no. She always has these fantastic plans. . . just not the ways and means to accomplish them. Over doing it a bit just doesn’t adequately describe our Rosebud and her intentions. But so sweet! : ) Love the little Strawberry bugger! It’s just that with all that’s going on, we have to continually reorient, and reevaluate.

Last week, for instance, was nuts. We had Clint’s tech center graduation, Eric’s track banquet, the Senior dinner dance up at the U. . Seminary Graduation on Sunday. . . It goes on and on. May is almost as chaotic as December! But things were running pretty smoothly. . Everything went off without a hitch! : ) Well, almost. . . We thought it was just fantastic that our daughter's name was spelled "Mayson" on the program Sunday . . .

This was my Facebook update a day or so ago:

“It seems that the end is in sight. . . We’re almost done with this crazy ride. . . Just a banquet, dance festival, ceremony, field trip, graduation party, birthday MORE, and we're THERE!”

Ha ha ha ha ha! We may make it after all!

Pray for me. . .